Sermon:Baptism is not a Resolution, but a Revelation

         The owner of a beloved neighborhood bar announced he was getting out of the business, and he would sell the bar to the person who gave the best pitch.

         There was the guy who wanted to re-open the bar and call is Oktoberfest—complete with Oompa music and half price sauerkraut.

         Another pitch came from a woman who wanted to re-open as Lena’s, they would only serve Aquavit and Pickled Herring.

         Then finally, the winning pitch was to re-open the bar as Resolutions Gym… which would be a Gym for the first two weeks of each New Year, then become a bar for the rest of the year.

         New Year’s resolutions often only stick so long, right? Human willpower, and our overestimation of our own abilities and attentions… 
they are real hurdles.

         And there is a theological truth to that as well… 
we often get things twisted up and think of our Baptism as a resolution
—not unlike those made by the customers of Resolution Gym
—but Baptism is always a Revelation.

Baptism is not a Resolution, but a Revelation

Prayer

 

Baptism is not a Resolution, but a Revelation

         After spending 3 chapters linking John the Baptist to Jesus, Luke switches gears and disconnects them. 
It is only here in the 3^rd chapter that we can be pretty darn sure that the Gospel is about Jesus, not John… 
that John is not The One who the people ought to wait for, but Jesus is.

         Now, if the Gospel was a Resolution, instead of a Revelation
—John would have made a better Messiah…
If Baptism was a sort of New Year’s Resolution of the Soul
—John the Baptist would be our man.

         John’s Baptism, after all, is one of contrition
—water naming repentance and restitution, 
a sort of digging up of the soil of the soul, 
so that a seed might be planted. 
A holy emptying, 
a sacred preparation. 
“Right your wrongs!”
Reach the baseline of morality!
Repent, repair, restrain yourself… 
share and be fair.”

         Resolutions…

         But John affirms
—the one who is coming, 
is a farmer, 
is a seed scatterer, 
fire and Spirit winnowing and gathering
—He will make you fruitful!

         Jesus’ baptism is not a clearing up job, 
not only a righting of wrongs
—not a hasty last second decision before you kiss your special someone on New Years…
Not a Resolution.

 

         Remember that part of Fantasia
—the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, where Mikey Mouse makes the brooms clean for him… 
The Brooms do it themselves. 

         We sometimes think that’s what Baptism is like
—stalks of wheat or corn marching themselves to the granary…
Themselves being the operative word… 
but that’s John’s Baptism
—that’s a Resolution.

 

         Or… do you think Isaiah’s people made it a whole generation kidnapped in Babylon on their own—themselves?

         Or did the Earliest Church, who we read about in Acts, choose to make room for Samaritans, 
without the Holy Spirit’s intervention?

No—that would be resolving to be more inclusive, 
or resolving to white knuckle it through Babylon.

Resolving to be fruitful.

 

         Now, that image of wheat stalks marching themselves to fruitfulness, 
grains gathering themselves into the granary 
is ridiculous—Fantastical… 
but imagine if we had to make ourselves fruitful, 
if we had to redeem ourselves!

         When we do that… 
when we confuse the Baptism of John and our own baptism
—we end up like those out of control brooms… 
we resolve ourselves into insolvency… 
pouring water again and again until we’re dealing with a flood of our own making, instead of the saving waters of Baptism.

 

-I’m going to eat less and exercise more—Until February. 
-I’m going to lay off sweets—But what about the Holidays? 
-I’m going to read more books, get more sleep… until the cats keep me up or I want to watch a movie on Netflix… 
-That person who really annoys me… I’m going to will myself to like them… until they borrow my tools without asking.

         I’m going to save myself… God have mercy!

         I think of a man I met, 
whose Pastor told him that he wouldn’t need to go to Narcotics Anonymous any more, 
if he got Baptized
—because then he would always make right choices… 
that man relapsed and it destroyed his marriage, 
and his faith…

         Because our Baptism isn’t some sort of magical resolution making us perfect… 
it’s a Revelation!

 

         After all that hype by John the Baptist, 
Jesus’ baptism can seem almost too straightforward
—prayer and Spirit present, 
God the Father revealing who Jesus is
You are—my Beloved Son
—I am so pleased! —with you.

         Revealing who Jesus is
—as Luke will again if we were to continue to read 
—he gives Jesus’ genealogy, 
going all the way back, to God
—God’s Child.

         Dear ones, 
this is true of our Baptism as well.

The words of Isaiah to the people who God is freeing from exile, are true for us as well: 

You are precious, honored,
God loves you!

         Dear siblings
—trust Jesus
—God’s pleasing beloved son
—Jesus into whom we are Baptized. 
Be confident that you are joined to him, 
clothed with mercy and forgiveness, 
delivered, claimed, adopted, renewed and given life from the dead!

         That is what is revealed in Baptism.

         

         What of resolutions? You might ask.
What of change? 
What about that guy who believed that Baptism failed him?

         How does a Revelation of Jesus’ identity
—one we are graciously sewn into
—help him?
         Help people
to be more patient, kind, 
resistant to addiction, 
people desperate to be better? 

 

         Simply put, any theory of change and transformation, 
any new resolution, 
any movement from despair to hope,
has to go through love,
has to be grounded in kinship and acceptance.

 

         You can do the hard work of including Samaritans, 
because you’re already loved
and you get to witness and celebrate them being loved too!

         You can get through Babylon, 
because you know you are God’s people
—precious and loved.

 

         The desire to be a better person…
is not helped by being to-do-ed to death
         No, people change, 
because they have a stable loving place to begin their journey.

         The challenges of sobriety, 
are easier to navigate if you know you’re already accepted by God…

         The long slog of getting through some stuff, 
is sweeter and safer
when you can make the sign of your baptism… the sign of the cross
—you belong to God!

Baptism is not a Resolution, but a Revelation. Amen.

A Poem: Look upon the Invisible God

How to look upon the Invisible God: A reflection on John 1

It is a birth.

A generous gift.

Not something having to do with family trees or willpower.

 

The whole giant cosmos didn’t see it, 

but John did, 

and he pointed us to it.

The Logos, 

the culmination of God’s relationship with people 

and the crescendo of people’s relationship with God.

The Logos pitching a tent in our backyard.

That is the New Creation.

Amen.

When the Wine Ran Out--A Skit

 Three Servants (Rachel, Glen, Blanch)

Rachel: Did Glen tell you about what happened over in Cana?

Glen: No, I didn’t. It just seemed so… well… big. I didn’t want to share it without a friend.

Blanch: I heard… everyone heard… the Thompsons served the best wine last.

Rachel: That’s not the half of it. Really, Glen, you didn’t tell her where the wine CAME from?

Blanch: Now I’m dying to know. How’d you servants manage to convince Mrs. Thompson to serve the best last? I mean… it was her only son’s wedding for crying out loud!

Glen: It wasn’t us.

Rachel: It wasn’t. You see, we were on day three, we’d used all the good vintage, we were down to the dregs, Glen was watering down the wine we served to the less prominent guests. Then guess who showed up?

Blanch: Who?

Glen: Mary.

Rachel: And her kid. You know, the one who John was calling the Lamb of God out in the wilderness.

Blanch: He was getting some followers as of late, right? Fishermen following a Carpenter Scholar… strange days.

Rachel: That’s the one. Jesus. He shows up… right as the wine ran out… completely.

Glen: Nothing left… Nothing left to water down even.

Rachel:  So Jesus and Mary get in a back and forth, and she grabs Glen.

Glen: She just pulled me to the side, and said to me, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Intense lady, and a guest… so who was I to object.

Rachel: So Jesus, reluctantly, nods us over to the purification jars. You know the Thompsons didn’t skimp on them… pious people our owners, the Thompsons… and we go over to them.

Glen: Fill ‘em up, he says to me.

Rachel: And we did. All six of them.

Glen: And I poured some out… it looked like wine… and Jesus tells me to bring it to the boss man… and I do.

Rachel: I was kinda worried for Glen here… Mr. Chardonnay is a stickler—miracles or no—but he and Glen came back and said he said, “serve ‘em.”

Glen: So we did. I even took a taste.

Rachel: Same.

Blanche: And it was good.

Glen: The best wine… served last.

Blanche: It was a sign. Water into wine. The last and the first, reversed.

Rachel: Water, like Baptism, moved from cleansing and purity only, to the joy of it all. John’s baptism of repentance giving way to Jesus’ baptism of fire and fruitfulness!

Blanche: (Sigh) The first shall be last. Such good news to us servants, our lives not our own.

Glen: A sign… a heavy one—those stone jars, I’ve dragged ‘em around before, they’re the size of a person! Imagine how much of that fruitfulness and reversal it was filled with.

Rachel: Filled with joy! The joy of a wedding. A miraculous party. What if that’s what God’s Kingdom is like? Not another political or military ta-do, not rigorous religious doings, not whipping yourself in the wilderness, but a miraculous party!

Blanche: What if the second half of things is better than the first? What if the last things surpass the first? As people of the ancient world…

Rachel & Glen: Who are you calling ancient.

Blanche: As opposed to modern or post-modern people… like them (point to audience).

We pre-modern people ALWAYS look backward, to a golden age, an ideal past, and then judge everything else as lesser—"once an age of gold, now less than bronze we be” and all that… what if there is another way? What if there is a future, what if this reversal… praise God!!! What if this sign of Jesus is a promise that we all have reason to hope?!?

Glen: I could use some hope.

Rachel: Me too.

Glen: What if there is more to come… I couldn’t help but read ahead in the script… this isn’t the last sign of Jesus, but the first. If we read on we’ll see this abundance, the overflow, the “My cup runneth over” nature of Jesus’ life and ministry. We’ll see healings and feedings, walking on water and raising from the dead. That’s the kind of abundance we’re looking at!

Rachel: All of it a sign of hope—a torch in the gloom, good news in the flesh, life for the whole world!

All: Amen.

My top 5 posts of 2024

 

Looking at Blogger’s statistics, it looks like the following five posts are the most read, the last two by a wide margin.

5. 112 God Conversations—In this post I bragged about my congregation hanging in there and having 112 God conversations with their neighbors, really listening to them. Since then, my congregation has done a similar thing where they prayed for 200 people, and now we’re on to inviting 50 people to church, and so far, so good!

4. Smart People, Wise Faith—In this post I retire, and offer up to anyone who would like to use it, a Bible Study I call Smart People, Wise Faith. This bible study introduces about 20 different thinkers through the frame of 9 stories from scripture. I’m happy that a bunch of people used at least portions of this resource in their own congregations and for personal theological reflection!

3. The Chilstrom Map of the ELCA—This is a map of the ELCA I constructed from a description of a consolidated ELCA by the first Presiding Bishop of the ELCA. Because I used a map of the US mainland, it is missing the Caribbean Synod and the Bahamas portion of the Florida-Bahamas Synod.

2. Imagine A Church—I’m really glad this is one of the two posts that went viral. I’ve spent a lot of time talking about a 3D/4D Church, and mainly I focus on the nuts and bolts. This post focused on the results, what the goal of all that would be: A Decentralized, Diverse, Partnering, and Enchanted Church. Shooting for those four goals would not disappoint and would be faithful.

1. A Defense of the Liturgy—This post really hit a chord. Like the other viral post, it is sort of culmination of a line of thought, in this case  my thoughts on the 7 Central Things of Worship. At base I’m saying liturgical worship is an expansive good. It is good spiritually, individually, and societally.

 

Honorable mentions:

There are a few posts I did this year that I think are worth a read, even if they didn’t draw the wider internet’s attention:

I would be remis if I didn’t mention the Devotional that I poured my heart and soul into this Lent. It didn’t really catch on, but it was worth doing anyhow. 

Similarly, the Wisdom from Spruce Run pamphlet my congregation created was a good reminder to us pastors that we sometime need to just be quiet and listen to the wisdom already present among the saints in our congregations.

How have I Walked All that 4D Talk?—This one is a kind of companion piece to "Imagine A Church". I reflected on the things I have done to point the congregations I’ve served and my ministry more broadly in a 4D direction.

The Task of the Church in a 4D World—is another post that was important for my thinking through ministry. This was essentially a book review of Richard Beck’s Hunting Magic Eels, where I discover that there are not 3Ds shaping ministry today, but 4, the fourth being Disenchantment.

Happy New Year to all my readers!

Christmas Sermon: Up, Down, Out, In

             Now if I was to say UP, what would you say it the opposite? (DOWN)

            Similarly, what is the opposite of out? (In)

 

            When I went through seminary in Philly, we were all encouraged to seek Spiritual Direction
—a unique mixture of traditional counseling along with faith based reflection. 
By my Senior year most of my 12 person cohort realized we were being directed by the same lady, Susan Cole… 
and we all noticed that at the same time, about 40 minutes into a fifty-five-minute conversation
—Susan would ask each of us the same question, “Where is God in all that?”

            Locating God… 
Finding God… 
looking for God in my life. 
Heck of a question to answer, honestly.

            And I want you all to know, when you’re faced with those type of questions: 
“Where is God in all this?” 
Whenever you want to locate God
—you can do so using the sign of the cross:

God is: UP, DOWN, OUT, IN +

            “Where is God?” UP, DOWN, OUT, IN

Prayer

 

“Where is God?”

            We can look up, 
not to look for those overhyped drones,
but to see that army of angels overhead… 
to hear the heavenly songs of the angelic choir, 
serenaded by the hope filled message that they bring from God.

            To not look up, would be a mistake—a mistake often made… 
We are easily trapped in an imminent frame, 
meaning we believe that the extraordinary is off limits
—we confuse the transcendent and profound—the things sought by faith
with superstition and wishful thinking…
In our attempts to stick to the facts 
and begin everything as a healthy skeptic
(Modernism, the Enlightenment… all that)
—we sell life short. 
We limit ourselves to a life that consists of waiting for the next Marvel Movie
or anticipating the next family fight.

            But when we look up, we risk
—like a tightrope walker, 
or someone on the bomb squad,
—risk seeking God, 
seeking that which is greater than ourselves…
—we can at least be real about our meaning making soul
—“Gee I wish it was so.” “If only!” “God!”

            We can allow for awe, 
for those things that we can’t categorize… 
-friendship and beauty, 
-emotion and pathos, 
-rest and redemption. 

            

“Where is God?”

            We can look down, 
under the feet of Augustus and Quirinius and all of their ilk… 
When we look down we see a strange sigil—a strange sign
—one different from thosed used by all the great Lords of History, the winners of this world
—you wouldn’t plant it as a flag, to claim a foreign land, 
you wouldn’t choose to use it as a logo, to brand your business…

            A trough and strips of clothe
—swaddling clothes and manger.
“That’s how you’ll know your savior,” the angels tell the shepherds.

            We might want to work out our own salvation… 
Clinging to the big and mighty, 
crowning an ideology or party slogan, as something to put our trust in,
Perhaps our own hard work, or some unfailing system we see as deeply sacred
… but Salvation is being birthed into the world—our Savior—Jesus Christ. 
God comes down, 
dwells with us, 
doesn’t quit us! That’s Gospel!

 

“Where is God?”

            We can look out. Out into the fields, at the margins
—flocks at the edge of town flanked and cared for by Shepherds.

            Out in the cold and crisp night, 
tedium and vigilance, 
watching over those sheep.

            But we don’t know those shepherds, do we?
We don’t even want to! 
I know they’re right next door, 
I know they’re just down the road, 
one town over, 
neighbors we already know just enough about to render judgment.

            Going out into the field and meeting those men might mean extending trust, 
a thing so often shattered, 
its pieces are strewn about our world like
 a child’s broken mirror caught in shag carpet. 
            It might mean admitting you don’t always have it right… 
it might mean humility, crossing boundaries, 
not saying that thing you just want to say, 
listening a little, 
throwing away assumptions…

            All that hard, relational, work so the message, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom God favors” that was sung to those shepherds, might become a refrain for all humankind! 
So that we can experience what Francis of Assisi experienced when he embraced a leper
—it was the very embrace of God
We can experience that old bit of wisdom: 
the reconciled, siblings putting down their swords and seeing each other
—they see God!

            A commentator recently described his transcendent moment
—he was sitting in a packed subway 
and he looked around and saw how everyone sort of glowed and realized, 
“Wait, they all have souls! They’re all unique. Loved by God!”

 

“Where is God?”

            We look in… yes, like Mary we ponder these things
—this God with us—this savior, 
this night an echo of all previous Christmases, and also unique
—how is God meeting you tonight? 
“Where is God in all that?”…

            Looking inside is hard
—We want to be human doings, but we’re human beings. 
We would much rather act that reflect… 
shoot, ready, aim
—cutting before you measure… 
is a heck of a lot easier, than taking the time to ask, and sit with the one who sits with us
—dwell with the God who dwells with us
—consider the Christ Child.

            Our inclination is to be like Shakespeare’s poor player: “strutting and fretting, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing…”

            But something significant has happened
—in the midst of chest thumping Emperors and lowing beasts, 
apologies of “Sorry no room here” and the percussive trot of travel
—Christ is born!

            On this day, we can shift into the silence and quiet of it… treasure it, 
this night, 
these words of scripture, 
savor the savior born of Mary
—consider him with joy and gladness!

 

            That question Susan Cole asked all us Seminarians, when we had about 15 minutes left in our session… “Where is God in all of that?”
Everywhere!

Up, Down, Out, and In. 

The transcendent God breaking into our flesh and blood world, 

Incarnate among us—with us, in the flesh. 

Reconciling us all to God and to our neighbors, especially those on the margins.

Beating within us, a heartbeat to reflect upon, to mull over and adore.

            Ultimately wherever you look—there, there is God!
UP, DOWN, OUT, IN +

Jesus has come for us and will not abandon us, thanks be to God. Amen.

Longest Night Sermon: Elijah and the Gerasene Demoniac

         Elijah the Tishabite and the Gerasene Demoniac both find themselves in the depths of things…

         Elijah is fleeing for his life; the royal family wants him dead. He despairs of his generation
—they’ve all gone after Ahab, and Elijah believes that he may be the last good man. 
He collapses
—ready to die, 
done with it all.

         The Demoniac, literally a man possessed,
dispossessed of all of his belongings
—unhoused and naked. 
He is both captured and driven away, 
shackled and pushed out of polite society, 
and off to the graves.

         These two men, suicidal and stigmatized… 
They’re good company for us on this longest night.

Prayer

 

         We might be short on obvious angels
or demons discernable and front and center… 
but there is a sense of all that, here with us tonight.

         Now, it is easy to dismiss the demonic as simply a silly pre-modern thing that we wise post-modern people don’t have to give a moment’s thought to… 
but both sociologists and theologians who study the phenomena suggest otherwise. 

         Folk like Walter Wink and most post-colonial thinkers suggest that 
there is a real spiritual heft, 
a burden
to things that are too big for more than a small community to handle. 
For example, Gerasa or Gergassa, 
was a place occupied by Syrian Roman Legions, 
whose sigil was a swine…
a pig…

         -Violent military occupation 
-driving a person to bouts of violence, 
-calling himself legion, 
-living among the dead 
-and associating his ailment with swine… 
there can be a spiritual heaviness to such things…

         This kind of anguish disturbs all those who would rather look away…
so they don’t become like him…

         We too can feel that 
world events, 
illness, 
losses of all sorts… 
are just too much, 
it’s too big for me! 
Too much for us to handle
—we can’t get ahold of it, 
and it has a hold on us.

 

         Like Elijah, it can feel as if the world has gone mad, 
like we’re heading in a bad direction 
and there is no way to turn us from tragedy.
We’ve given every ounce of our strength, 
and it is just not enough… 
we are not enough!

Our woes can leave us so depleted 
we would like to die.

         Yes, surely there is room among us for these two men on this longest night.

         

         Those two men… 
Elijah, 
who rests, 
who is fed, 
who is given water to drink.

         Who naps a second time, who is:
again fed, 
again hydrates
—and this providence transforms him!
No longer hangry, 
no longer dehydrated, 
no longer bone tired
—he can keep on being faithful.

         Cared for and accompanied, 
Elijah can continue on!

         On,
through wind, 
earthquake, 
and fire
—come face to face with God in the silence.
Called by God to a new task
—to meet with his fellow faithful
—he is not alone!
Called to bring a new message, to keep being faithful to God’s people, 
come what may!

 

Yes! There is room for those two men…

         The Demoniac, 
freed from an occupied soul. 
Clothed. 
Healed. 
In his right mind! 
Seated at the feet of Jesus
—in the position of a student, 
a Disciple…

         It is a scary thing for all those who looked away, 
all the Gerasenes who couldn’t stand the sight of what the occupation was doing to the most sensitive among them, 
and turned away their eyes.

         Jesus, strangely, does not invite the Demoniac to join him
—instead of “Come, follow me”
—And to be clear, that’s Jesus’ go to phrase!
he says “Go home and tell ‘em what God has done for you.”

         Reconnect with community, 
name what it is like to be free of your ailments… 

         I think of the struggles folk who’ve gotten clean have when they return home… 
         How do you stay sober 
with your old friends?
         How do you keep on the straight and narrow 
when your family system dictates that you’re the bad daughter?
         Yet Jesus wants this man to show them another way, 
a way unscarred by the crippling chaos of Legion, 
of lingering at the tombs, 
of the abyss into which he’s stared. 
A better way
—the way that has freed him!

 

         A hard task for both men… 
a hard task for all of us
—keeping on faithfully, navigating new realities
realities we’d just as soon leave behind…

         We, like the Demoniac, 
find ways to keep connected 
and name our healing, 
look at what God is doing!

         We do like Elijah: 
eat, 
hydrate, 
take a nap, 
and keep on anyhow
—through the fires and wind and all the chaotic tumult, 
trusting that God will be there with us.

 

         All of us together, 
simply separated by time, and letters on a scroll…
We’re good company for each other, 
journeying through this long night together,
yearning,
anticipating, 
hoping for the longer days that are to come.
Amen.

My Top 10 Books of 2024

 Honorable Mentions:

The Book of Psalms by Alabaster Co.—Just a pretty psalm-book; it spoke to my soul!

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone—A fun sci-fi read, one part Romeo and Juliet, one part Edge of Tomorrow

 

10. The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin—I read the whole series. I loved reading a sci-fi work from a different cultural perspective.

9. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann—This book hit me pretty hard, especially the last quarter of the book. The history of the Osage Nation is one I vaguely knew, but the broader picture of how native oil wealth was suppressed and stolen, and that many wealthy natives were murdered is heavy but important.

8. Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman—An excellent corrective for anyone who has a system of time management or uses productivity apps or is just a type-A. Recognizing limits is freeing!

7. Low Anthropology: The Unlikely Key to a Gracious View of Others by David Zahl—I stuck this book next to Four Thousand Weeks, because it opens some of Burkeman’s points up to our relationships, including with ourselves. We humans have limits, and so does everyone else, what do we do now?!?

6. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman—This was a really fun read, senior citizens solving crimes in rural England. I intend to read other books in the series.

5. 11/23/63 by Stephen King—I don’t often read King, but I’m glad I read this book. King returns to Derry where IT took place, he play with temporal mechanics, and we get to experience a love story involving the Kennedy assassination.

4. A Guidebook to Progressive Church by Clint Schnekloth—I’ve been following Clint since I was a 19 year old Freshman in college. He’s one of the most thoughtful Lutheran voices out there, always practical, always faithful. Even if you disagree with Clint, this is a useful and important book!

3. Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford—I read this book based on a recommendation, and I’m so very glad I did. A hard-boiled detective story, an alternative history, a reflection on hybridity, syncretism, and Native American dignity.

2. A Declaration of Right of Magicians  by H. G. Parry—This is another book that came out of the blue. I’d purchased it for my kindle years ago, and never got around to reading it. Then I started, and read it and its sequel in no time flat. This book asks the question: How would the English Abolitionist movement, Haitian Independence, and the French Revolution have looked different if magic existed? Finding this book just sitting there on my Kindle, and then discovering just how good it was, felt like grace! An unearned unexpected joy!

1. Hunting Magic Eels: Recovering an Enchanted Faith in a Skeptical World by Richard Beck—A book recommended by the same person who pointed me toward Cahokia Jazz (Thanks Keith!) it was another unexpected gem! This book, and Beck’s framing of Enchantment/Disenchantment, has rocked my world! It has caused me to re-think how ministry works these days!

Sermon: John’s life is a parallel that proclaims and prepares us for Jesus!

            Imagine it—a group of scholars going line by line through the words and deeds of Jesus as found in the Gospels—and dropping different colored marbles in a jar to indicate if they thought the saying was likely that of the Historical Jesus, or not… well that was the work of the Jesus Seminar some 3 decades ago… 

            On one hand, most scholars today scoff at some of their methods as naïve, or at least so inconclusive as to be unhelpful… but one thing did become fairly clear, and I’m quoting the New Testament scholar Ben Worthington here, “in the midst of the church's collection of Jesus' sayings were also included sayings of John!”

            In fact, John the Baptist was so important, that, “Jesus was willing to parallel his own work and divine authority with John's.”

            John is “the one figure in the Gospel tradition to whom Jesus seems to compare and contrast himself, both in his words and deeds.”

            John as a lens for us to see Jesus. 

            John’s life is a parallel that proclaims and prepares us for Jesus!

Prayer

 

            John’s life is a parallel that proclaims and prepares us for Jesus!

            What does it mean that John is a parallel of Jesus? Honestly, it means he was his cousin—both literally and figurative.

            Think of your cousins… don’t they feel like parallel paths, don’t they open up for you “what if?” kinds of questions? They’re similar enough to you that the differences are more telling.

            When I think of my cousin Harley I wonder, “What if we’d stayed in the Midwest and I had a head for business?”

            When I think of my cousin Anne I ask, “What if I’d been artistic and really leaned into my whimsy?”

            Or Sara, “What if I’d stayed overseas?”

            And so too with John
—his similarities to Jesus draw us closer to Him, 
and his differences when compared to his cousin clarify what it means that we call Jesus the Christ.

            

            For example, Luke orders the beginning of his Gospel in such a way that we can’t help but look at John’s Birth and anticipate Jesus’
—if Jesus is the Christmas Baby, John is the Advent Child!

            John whose mother, Elizabeth, has an unexpected pregnancy that shows the favor of God, 
John whose Father, Zechariah, encounters the angel Gabriel and eventually sings a song about the Goodness of God, 
John who even from the womb points to Jesus.

 

            Or consider today’s lesson:

            It begins by anchoring John’s ministry of Baptism in history
—naming the powers that be, emperors and governors, rulers and high-priests.

            Powers that be… I might add… who eventually overpower John
—Herod Antipas ruler of Galilee, who eventually marries his niece Herodias, 
who had previously been married to his half-brother, 
Herod Boethius… also known as Philip—rules of Ituraea and Trachonitis
—all of whom militate to murder and mutilate John
—beheading him because he spoke out against them.

 

            John’s ministry of Baptism
—Called into the desert to journey through to the other side! 

In the dry and dangerous wilderness—be washed, satiated, saved!

—Repent!

Rethink Everything!

Turn around 

And keep going!
You are released from Sin’s wicked hold, keep moving!

Follow that path of John, like Israel’s escape from Egypt and Return from Babylon… God will make a way!

            Turn around and be ready for what God is doing next!

            Look! There is life!

            Look! There is salvation! All people shall see him!

 

John’s life is a parallel that proclaims and prepares us for Jesus!

            To peer through the highway in the wilderness and see him! His Baptism is like fire—the Spirit speaks and proclaims, “Beloved Son!”

            To see how Jesus navigates the desert
—moves through the three temptation and onward to pick up the mantle of the one who baptized him on behalf of his brethren—it fulfilled all righteousness, and now all flesh sees the salvation of God! For God is with us!

            

John’s life is a parallel that proclaims and prepares us for Jesus!

            To know what is at stake from the beginning—the dangers of that Christmas lesson often read by children, “In those days Caesar Augustus” “when Quirinius governed Syria” “Herod” “Pontius Pilate”
… names sharpened with deadly import—leaders on a crash course with a man who cross and nail could not nullify, John’s cousin Jesus.

            

John’s life is a parallel that proclaims and prepares us for Jesus!

            To anticipate Mary’s unexpected pregnancy—look oh Highly Favored Lady!

            To expect Mary’s encounter with Gabriel, and her famed song, the Magnificat, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.”

            To look and see what made Elizabeth’s womb leap with joy—John’s cousin, Jesus! A+A

How have I walked all that 4D talk?

 

              I feel, especially as the number of people reading my blog has recently spiked, I need to name my own limitations and that my words aren’t from a place of extra knowledge—I don’t have the inside track on anything! Like that nice Greek fella said to the cyclopes, I’m nobody.

I’m a parish pastor in “rural” New Jersey whose been blogging since I was a 19-year-old freshman doing Religious Studies at U of Oregon (hence the 19 at the end of the blog handle). I don’t have special insights from any sort of wider organizational perspective, I don’t have a background in statistics that allows me to essentially predict the future based on current trends. My non-M.Div. advanced degree, an M. Phil, is in the intertestamental period and wisdom literature. My 4D ideas simply come from on the ground observation, reading, and being a Christian in the Year of our Lord 2024.

              That said, I do have one thing going for me. I didn’t grow up in the church, so sometimes I have outsider moments where I look around a room full of religious people and wonder to myself, “What the heck are all these people talking about?”  There are times when folk are riding a shibboleth so hard it’ll never have another rodeo, and times when the working assumption in the room doesn’t comport with reality as I understand it. A corollary to not growing up in church, I’m also a Norwegian Lutheran who doesn’t see a connection between those two identities. That’s it, that’s who is writing about the world in which we are ministering.

              I first hit upon the 3Ds while reflecting with colleagues on the transition from Judges to Kings back when I was the counselor of the Raritan Cluster. We were wondering what changes in ministry were making “both of our ears tingle”—1 Samuel 3:11. It is wild to think that was a decade ago! Since then, the 3Ds, and now 4Ds, have become a shorthand I use to interpret what’s going on in ministry today.

              As I roll out all my 4D talk, I think it is worth naming my own experience of it, going from the big picture to the local and personal. How have I experienced and engaged with Disenchantment, Decentralization, Demographic Shifts, and Disestablishment? How am I a leader who shepherds souls, performs sacred science, rides waves, and crafts partnerships? 

Disenchantment and Soul Shepherding

Many of my ideas about our world as disenchanted and the church’s need to be enchanted comes from Richard Beck’s Hunting Magic Eels, though there are also shades of Root and Taylor floating around in the back of my brain as well.

I have shepherded souls in a variety of ways:

Most recently, I created a Bible Study of Wisdom Literature that invited congregants to answer the underlying questions of wisdom literature for themselves. This moved the conversation from paper to lips, ancient royal Israel to the lived present.

A few years back I invited my congregation to have God Conversations with their neighbors. This helped parishioners notice where the Holy Spirit was already at work.

Finally, I do my darnedest to help folk pray. After Hurricane Sandy, while I was without power for an extended period, I created a prayer book, Read, Reflect, Pray. Eventually that led to the privilege of being an editor of Minister’s Prayer Book.

 

Decentralization and Sacred Science

              My ideas about our world being profoundly decentralized come from the book The Spider and the Starfish by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom.

              I have been performed sacred science, harnessing the power of a decentralized world, in a variety of ways:

Inspired by a congregation in Baltimore, I’ve brought “PUB/lick Theology” with me to Jersey—an hour of learning, discussion, and fellowship out in the neighborhood. In its current iteration we meet at a local Pub in the winter and an ice cream place in the summer.

While we all became “Televangelists” on the fly during Covid, I’d been shooting my sermons and putting them onto youtube since 2013.

Taking Starfish’s admonition about classrooms shifting from front facing lectures to discussions in the round, I briefly tried a “talk-show” format for sermons one summer… it was a disaster… on one hand I don’t have the chops for that, but also the congregation’s architecture militated against the format.

 

Demographic Shifts and Wave Riding

              I was given the inestimable gift of learning, as a Field Ed student, a Vicar, and a student in Urban Theological Institute courses, in African American and African Descent contexts. Anything I say that is true or useful about being Church in a diverse country came to me from the hospitality of Black folk.

              In a very concrete way, I rode the waves of demographic shift as a Pastor in the ELCA at my first call. The first congregation I served was built by GIs returning from World War 2 and their new families, as well as refugees from the ruins of that horrible war, and that set of demographics matched with the community at the time, but by the time I got there the borough was much more diverse than the congregation, something like 40% non-white.

So, by accompanying a neighboring congregation that was closing, consistent curiosity about the India community one town over (one of the largest Indian Diaspora communities in the world) and giving thumbs up to most every cross-cultural contact a parishioner had—by the time I left, those worshipping on a Sunday looked demographically similar to the neighborhood as a whole.

Additionally, I co-wrote a commentary on Luke’s Gospel—Seeing with the Mind, Hearing with the Heart: A Thematic Bible Study on Luke by a Young Pastor and a Not So Young Parishioner—that attempted to bridge some generational divides.

 

Disestablishment and Crafting Partnerships

              Much of my thoughts about the Disestablishment of the Church comes from the Canadian thinker Douglas John Hall with a sprinkling of flavor from Andrew Root.

              Before I get into my foray into partnerships, let me share a story that solidified all those things I’d read by Hall.

I had just visited a hospital where I got to bless a newborn baby and celebrate with the parents, and I just about broke down outside the hospital afterward—you see, it was the first time I’d visited a hospital and it wasn’t for someone sick or maimed. For a decade every prayer I prayed was some variation of “Lord, be with the Doctors and Nurses keeping this person alive” never “Wow! Lord thank you for this new life!” Yet, when I went back through Pastor’s reports, even just a few decades back, they were blessing babies in the hospital monthly. Such a vocation affirming action—monthly! I couldn’t imagine how good the “good old days” once were. Problematic as all get out, but at least in that small way—getting to bless newborns, I was very jealous.

All those academic descriptions of how the church changed, how we used to be connected to the heartbeat of culture and society, were emotionally true to me in the parking lot of JFK hospital. Our ministry tends to be to a culture and a society that has passed away—if we do not become relevant and meaningful, partnering and engaging with the world as it is—we will never again get to bless a baby, nor walk with the child through to adulthood in a way that allows them to trust in God.

I am still a novice when it comes to crafting partnerships. I am convinced organizations like Partners for Sacred Places, from whom I gleaned 12 steps to finding a partner for your congregation, have a major role to play in helping congregations be good stewards of space, and Grace Duddy Pomroy’s Funding Forward project and book can point to not only examples of partnering well, but a way forward for the Church. Clint's "A Guidebook to Progressive Church" also points to some amazing ways to partner well.

Additionally, in the past I have welcomed a variety of non-Lutheran congregations into our worship space and, as indicated in the Decentralization section, have made relationships with pub and ice cream shop owners. All smaller versions of what is likely the future of ministry when engaging with disestablishment.

 

Conclusion:

              It’s funny, the last D I discovered, Disenchantment, was the one hardest for me to name, yet between prayerbooks and God Conversations, it is the aspect of the world as it is I’ve been engaged with the most, from almost the start. I imagine it is one of those “fish not knowing they’re in water” kind of situations.

              I hope these concrete examples from my own ministry flesh my earlier semi-viral “imagine a church” post.

Imagine A Church

               I’ve been writing around in circles about the 4Ds for a while now. Let me try to make it plain. Let me just try to describe what a church that engages with the world as it is--a world that is decentralized, diverse, disestablished, and disenchanted-- would look like for you. Here is some kindling for your imagination, dear reader.

 

A Decentralized Church

              Imagine a church with a nuanced and thoughtful web presence. They selected the online platforms that were manageable for their needs and did them well. The congregation’s web presence is up to date and supports its ministry, connecting the hospitalized and homebound to the congregation, encouraging acts of discipleship, and making sure outsiders feel welcome to join in the congregation’s ministries.

              Imagine a church that meets out in the community and is known there. A church that serves and fellowships outside its walls, so that there are porous boundaries that can invite others in and make connections with partners. Perhaps there is a Bible and Bagels study or a monthly Dinner Church service at a local restaurant.

              Imagine a church where experimentation is part of their identity. Where programs or events are analyzed after the fact, and improved. Where the disposition of leadership is “sure, let’s give it a try” and also, “lets glean as much data from the event as possible” and “what was the most faithful part of what we just did?”

 

A Diverse Church

              Imagine a church that is truly intergenerational, where wisdom is shared across age cohorts. Where young people can look around a sanctuary or soup supper and say, “Oh, I might look like that kind Christian when I’m 45 and will be doing stuff like that when I’m 85.” Where mentorships sprout and the young have a voice. Imagine a church where every generation’s gifts are welcomed, and everyone’s stories are told.

              Speaking from personal experience, I have felt the most Lutheran in contexts where Lutheranism is an act of cultural translation—How is the cowboy Chuckwagon an analogy for Koinonia and Holy Communion? How did we not see it before, the musical rests in LBW are the place where everyone does the black woman double clap? Why wouldn’t the prayers of the people involve everyone holding hands and last at least 20 minutes—talk about the Work of the People! How can I think of Theology of the Cross without the analogy to lynching? How does Galatians speak to the caste system as it is experienced today?

Imagine a church where multiculturalism is more than a buzz word. Where we are, to quote a NJ Synod program, “love struck.” Where the ideals of being color blind—deference to none and equality for all—are joined with appreciation of difference, it is met with curiosity and respect. Imagine the “multicolored wisdom of God” to quote the apostle Paul, on full displace in sanctuaries and service events, and integral to the leadership of every congregation!

Imagine a church that is comfortable enough with difference that they have God conversations with neighbors, and eventually look like the neighborhood they are in! Where listening leads to conversation and conversation leads to accompaniment. Folk of a variety of backgrounds walking alongside one another, making sure everyone makes it home alright!

 

A Partnering Church

              There is an Ascension Day tradition of beating the bounds, that is, congregations go out and walk the boundaries of the neighborhood (parish) they serve. It is a concrete way to let the community know that the congregation is there for them, and also reminds the congregation of that same fact—these are our neighbors! Imagine a church that knows thier bounds, and their bounds know them!

              Imagine a church integral and integrated with the community it resides in. Where the church building is a community center, where the do-gooders of the area congregate and collaborate. Where the building is shared with the community—the congregation is a good steward of their possessions—and the congregation is out in the community—evangelism and service are central!

              Imagine a church with a clear mission statement, one that is memorable and acted upon, one that is regularly renewed and reviewed as the mission field changes. One known not only by members, but also by those they meet, not necessarily because the congregation repeats it ad nauseum, but because they live it out.

 

An Enchanted Church

              Alas, all the above is for not, save that Christ is present. Without God’s love centered among us, every mission statement rings hollow, every culturally relevant move is moot, every experiment is an abomination. But imagine a church where the Spirit dwells!

              Imagine a church where prayers are not perfunctory, but from the heart and by heart! Where we are equipped to trust that God is our loving parent, who wants to hear from us, everything from babble to blessing. Imagine a place and a people where God sightings are plentiful and celebrated! Where we keep on the lookout, wearing cross shaped glasses, so that we will see what God is up to among us. Where we, like the church of acts, see the Spirit at work ahead of us, and are keen to catch up!

              Imagine a church where wisdom is won. Where our experiences, the stories of our life and our life together, are plumbed for wisdom and decency. Where we cultivate: humble success, uplift in crisis, and the ability to end things well by holding everything gently. Imagine a wise church!

              Imagine a church where scripture speaks! Where the pathos and evocative drama of the bible is alive! Where we can go deep, and hear the Word speak to the past and echo in the present. Where we can hear afresh the Gospel for us, for you!

 

Imagine dear reader, a decentralized, diverse, partnering, and enchanted Church.