John: Baptist & Witness, baptizer and pointer…

         What a strange figure, John out there in the desert, 

All Camel Hair and a proto-paleo diet… 
he is almost embarrassing to the early church
—a fellow Jesus clearly looks up to, 
reveres, then mourns when John has died
—what does it mean that we’re disciples of one who looks an awful lot like a disciple of John?

         This year we get two starkly different version of John. 
         -Last week, the opening verse of Mark’s gospel contained a John 
who calls for Confession, Repentance, and Baptism, 
         -and now this week
—plucked from the middle of the Gospel of John’s famed opening poem that starts, 
“In the beginning was the Word” a John 
who witnesses, testifies, confesses, points to Jesus.

         The tension between John the Baptist and John the Witness… 
Baptizer and Pointer.

         Let us pray

 

         John the Baptist
—The Baptizer, 
a Prophet who has, some 4 centuries later, 
internalized the ending of the Book of Isaiah
—all is not well!

         The Return to the land is only provisional
—the people may not be able to bear the weight of a hoped-for Utopia
—as such, the people, to be a people, to end the Exile, 
end the exile not only physically, but also in their hearts
—must cross the Jordon into the promised land… 
must confess the weight of sin, 
repent, 
be forgiven (JTF)
—and be something different on the other side of Baptism.

         Confession and forgiveness
—preparing the people for something new… 
forming a people who await a new action by God.
Waiting for those promises to Isaiah to echo-forth for them!

         Not a promise to ancestors, but a present reality.

 

         Repentance
—the spark that set off the Lutheran Reformation, 
Christ intends the whole life of believers to be repentance! 
as Luther wrote as the first of his 95 theses.

         An ongoing acknowledgement that all is not well… 
and a continual return
—return to the font! 
Return to the promises of baptism
—for we humans cannot bear the promises of God alone. 
         Return to the Word of God,
for we people are like grass, we perish, 
like leaves, we blow away in the winds of this world.

         See yourself as you are, 
so that you might see God as God is
—our center, our core, our very breath and goodness.

 

Seeing God... that’s the second persona and role of John: 
John the Witness, 
the Pointer!

         Today’s Gospel reading is heavy with court language
—the Priests and Levites from Jerusalem are asking for sworn testimony
—they require the Truth!

         And poor John… 
he’s seen the truth!

 

         Whenever I read the first chapter of John’s gospel 
I feel a little like I’m watching Disney’s Fantasia 
or perhaps the more physical comedy of the cartoon The Roadrunner.

         You see, I imagine this lofty philosophical poetry literally falling from the sky 
like anvils from Acme, 
at the start of this gospel
—hefty words like 
“En Ache” 
“Logos” 
“Theon” 
“Zoe” 
and “Phos” 
heavy words that leave a mark on the landscape
come tumbling down around John, 
and in the wreckage that remains, 
John is declared “Witness” 
to this Grand Heavenly Heady, thing that has happened
—the moment of creation itself, 
a front row seat to the Cosmos coming into being
—A Beginning, 
God’s Word incarnate, 
to shed light upon us all, 
to give to us life… 
in the beginning.

 

         The blazing light of John’s Heavenly Lord falls brightly upon him
—and John casts a shadow so long 
that the Priest and Levites wonder, 
“Is he The One?” 
“Has he been anointed to save the people
—to bring them into the promises of God?”
John is, after all, a sort of shadow of the One
—the Word that sheds light and gives life to all the world, 
we see that reflected in his actions out there at the Jordon.

         

         And John responds to all of this by affirming, 
“I’m just a shadow! Look to the Light!” 
“I am not Messiah. 
I am not Elijah. 
I am not the Prophet—a New Moses.”
         I am the voice, 
testifying, witnessing, 
to the one in whom there is light and life! 
I am a servant to the one who is present in this moment
—you do not seem to know him
—but here he is, among us!

 

         Friends, Look!
         The One in whom we live and move and have our being!

         The One who is born into our broken world.

         The One who dwells among us!
         The One who took on mortal flesh, 
and followed it to the inevitable conclusion.
         The One who lives that we might have life.

         He is among us, 
-even as we long for light and life
in a world heavy with night and bereavement.
-even as we repent and return again and again 
to our unity with him.
-even as we prepare to celebrate his birth among us.

 

         As the tides of Christmas come in, 
let us prepare, 
let us anticipate 
the Presence of God With Us, 
with great hope.

         Let us prepare for the Christ Child.
         Let every heart prepare a throne and every voice a song!

Amen.

12 Steps to Finding a Partner for Your Congregation

 A while back I attended a seminar by an organization called Partners for Sacred Places. It was kinda Philly-centric, but still had a lot of important and useful information for congregations, especially ones with older buildings who are in the process of discerning how to more faithfully use their space.

I took 14 pages of notes, but here is my synthesis of those notes.

How to find a Partner for your space:

 

Step 1: Clean up the Church Rolls

Follow the actual definitions of membership in your polity. Be ruthless. And all those names that come off your rolls, put them in another category, Friends of the Congregation.

Cleaning the rolls will give both the leadership of the congregation and those who may want to partner with the congregation a more accurate sense of who you are. Also, this friends of the congregation list will be used later.

 

Step 2: Create or Update your Mission/Vision Statement

              At base this statement ought to answer the question “Why do we exist as a congregation?” Your congregation’s answer to this question ought to also, at least implicitly, answer the questions “Why are we seeking a partner?” and “What is the mission of our building?” Also, it ought to be concise enough that congregants can use it as a springboard for a 1-minute description of the congregation—an elevator pitch. I’ve heard 6-23 words are optimal.

 

Step 3: Create a Stakeholder Map and a Friends of List

              Print up a googlemap of the area surrounding the congregation. Really look at it for a while. Take a little time to think about where your congregation is. If your congregation closed, who would notice? Who do congregants regularly interact with, especially going to and from worship? What institutions already partner with you in big or small ways? Jot down all those people. These are your stakeholders.

Remember all those folk who you removed from the Church Rolls. It was painful right? Well, good news, you get to bring them back as Friends of the Congregation.

Now, between the Stakeholders and Friends of the Congregation you should have a substantial list of people. Merge them together into a Master List.

 

Step 4: Do a congregational walkthrough

Take a representative group from the congregation through EVERY room of the congregation. In each room stop and ask, “What do I like about this space? What are its amenities? What memories do we have here?” Additionally, to sharpen your imagination about future use of these spaces, also ask the questions: “Why was this room originally built? How was it originally used? How might that legacy continue through different means?”

 

Step 5: Follow up on impressions from the walk through

              Maybe a week after the tour, get everyone together and compare notes. Do so with an eye toward action. Have building/building use committee people there to empower folk to paint, reorganize, etc.

              One thing that it worth investing in if you can, is a dumpster. Often times, after the walkthrough those who took the tour will have an impulse to spruce up the building, as these sorts of tours often times uncover a lot of unused church things that ought to be chucked.

 

Step 6: Invite Master List people for a conversation and tour luncheon

              Having a clear idea about who the church is, both in membership and mission, having spruced up the place a bit, invite everyone from that list to a lunch at the church. The one agenda point at the lunch itself will be to listen to folk answer the question: What are the needs of the community? Then, take them on a building tour, and in each room ask the question: What could you see in this space?

 

Step 7: Imagine how your building can meet the needs of your community

              Gather together leaders of the congregation to review the information gathered at the luncheon. Look at the congregation’s mission and assets in light of the needs of the community. Dream a little!

 

Step 8: Create a Template Partnership Agreement

              Bring together all the major players in the congregation to determine what the congregation’s boundaries are for a partnership. For example, is the sanctuary off limits? Are there groups in the area who would not align with the congregation’s values? Are we comfortable with outside groups having keys to the building? Etc.

              Additionally, agree about who will be the contact person with partners and agree on the logistics of opening and closing the building. Hash out the practicalities of partnership in general before you get down in the mud of particularity.

 

Step 9: Reach out to Potential Partners

              Think back to the luncheon and your time of dreaming. As stakeholders dreamed about uses for rooms, as needs of the community were lifted up, were there concrete organizations who might make good partners? If so, reach out to them. For that matter, those dreams and conversations may have created some buzz and shaken loose some potential partners already.

 

Step 10: Create a space rental page on the congregation’s website

              If the luncheon did jar loose a community member who might now be interested in sharing space, the first place they’ll go is your website. Is your website ready for them? Do you have descriptions of available spaces, a generic rental agreement, etc available online for them to take a look at?

 

Step 11: Create an extremely clear particular partnership agreement

              When you go through the general agreement with a new partner spell out every little detail. Don’t assume this or that is common sense, don’t assume they will know your calendar or how to access it, don’t assume they know not to store stuff in empty cabinets, etc. Instead take the time to spell out the whole of how both the congregation and the partner intend to use the space. From this conversation create particular guidelines to govern that relationship.

 

Step 12: Meet Monthly

              Things will come up, that’s just how partnerships work. So, have a designated time where the contact person from the partner organization and the contact person from your congregation meet. In person.

Imagine with Isaiah

         Welcome to Advent

—a time to wait for Christ’s arrival: 
-his birth, 
-his presence among us, 
-and his future return for us… 
making all things right

         All which has already happened in God’s time…

         Advent messes with time, 
it disorders time… 
and in so doing, 
disorders our reading of Scripture, 
so that we begin at the end… 

         This way of reading scripture as a community makes a good theological point, 
but it means we don’t hear the argument Isaiah is making in the right chronological order, 
and in so doing, 
we miss the absolute genius of Isaiah’s Holy Imagination. 
So today, we’ll be imagining with Isaiah
—I’ll be taking you through the three readings from Isaiah in this Advent season 
in a way that you can hear and see Isaiah’s thought process
—the picture he paints of God’s relationship with God’s people.

         First the Threefold Commissioning of Return, 
         then the Returners’ Utopia, and 
         finally today’s reading
—a Lament that Invites God’s invasion.

         Imagining Commissioning, Utopia, and Lament with Isaiah.

 

Prayer

         Chapter 40 of Isaiah, 
which we will read next week, 
is the start of a new section of Isaiah
—it is a new author
—a new prophet who takes up the mantle of Isaiah of Jerusalem 
who wrote the first 39 chapters some 150 years earlier
—39 heavy chapters, 
overflowing with warnings, 
and accusations of betrayal, 
of the community rebelling against God
—warnings that there will be consequences…

         This new prophet for a new generation
—a generation on the cusp of returning to Jerusalem
A generation who were held for their whole lives in Babylon
—bearing the brunt of their parent’s sins.

         Through this new prophet, God commissions Isaiah’s generation.
It is a three-fold charge, 
-to the people who will return to Jerusalem, 
-to the Prophet Isaiah himself, 
-and to the City of Jerusalem.

 

         O Returners
—yours is a lifetime of longing, 
a generation spilled and wasted in Babylon
—it was awful beyond expectation, 
the experience was a double indignity…
but now God is making a highway through the desert, 
a waterway, so that we can all flow back home.

         God
—the King/Shepherd—
carries you tenderly along the way!

         Your anguish shall now be comfort, 
your terror transformed into hope, 
your sorrow to joy, 
your shame to dignity, 
your insecurity to assurance.

         “Comfort o’ Comfort my people!”

         Comfort too is your calling, 
the sound of your feet marching home, 
the slap of your sandals, echoing, 
the crescendo of your restoration.

         It is not for you alone
—you are to be a people of comfort!
         Your restoration is to be the restoration of your neighbors as well.

         O Returners
—you have found comfort, 
become now heralds of the good news, 
Tell everyone that God is doing a new thing!

 

         O Prophet
—these humans may not be able to stand it… 
humanity is weak and flighty.

         My Spirit and my Glory
—can be terrible to behold.

         This Holy Journey Home 
may turn the people into dried leaves, 
blowing in the wind.

         So do not hold onto them, 
but onto the promise of God
—the Word is weighty, 
it will not blow away, 
it will not leave you.

         O Prophet
—hold tightly to my promises.

 

         O Jerusalem
—prepare to be repopulated,
To function as a city should, 
all the happy sounds of life;
a capital giggling with joy!
         Your joy, Jerusalem, 
it will be a witness to the whole world
—the surrounding cities, 
the people who have longed for this day, 
shall rejoice!

         O Jerusalem
—Becoming again a great and good city, 
is a blessed act of God!

 

--

         From there, we fast forward to the return, 
they’re back home… 
now what? 
What is God up to among the people living in that city
—Jerusalem?

         In Chapter 61 (which we will read on the 3^rd Sunday of Advent) 
Isaiah answers, with a sort of Utopia. 
An perfect place!

         You see
—the term Utopia was coined to have two meanings:
—Not a Place, 
and The Good Place
—and Isaiah is calling on the people to move from one to another
—something that was no place 
to become a good place.

 

         Way back in the book of Leviticus 
there were rules written about how society was to be governed
—most people thing they were ideals that were never put into practice…
         One of them the Year of the Lord
—the Jubilee Year
—a year where all debts are forgiven, 
slaves are freed, 
and property is all returned 
to its ancestral owners… is central to Isaiah’s vision of the new city.

         Well, Isaiah takes these rules 
and ideals 
that were at the base of Ancient Israelite society, 
and renews them for his generation who had returned.

         A new covenant, 
a new constitution, 
a new pact 
for this new generation! 
This return a Jubilee of:
-Liberty and release 
for those imprisoned in Babylon

-Joyous tidings 
for those who had remained in the land, 
oppressed and heartbroken
-A new day of comfort and gladness, 
powerful praise and rebuilding, 
repair of not only the City, 
but the trauma of a generation.

         A society where the goodness of leaving Babylon is weaved into its very fabric,
it becomes a rolling return, 
echoes of rejoicing throughout the ages.

         A society that lives out these ideals so well that 
even outsiders, even enemies, 
join in and say, 
“Wow, joy like a wedding, 
fecundity like a freshly planted field, 
competency like sky scraper built on time and under budget.”

         A society that has went 
from not a place, 
to a good place. 
The Returners are called by God to build a Utopia.

 

--

         Then finally, we get to today’s reading
—Isaiah faced with unrealized dreams. 
Isaiah, on behalf of God’s people, lamenting to God, 
calling God onto the carpet, to account.

         It is a lament that insists on invasion:

         Get down here God! 
Invade our waiting world…
         We’ve been waiting… 
faithfully… 
and sometimes not so faithfully…

         It feels like you’re hiding from us! 
This absence, O God, 
waiting and absence… 
it is too much! 
The darkness of this time of waiting, 
is too much! 
The blank skeletal whiteness of waiting
—is too much!

         I cry against the silence! Wail that we will wait no longer!

         This relationship is broken!

 

         It feels like we’ve become a used menstrual rag, 
dried leaves bagged and abandoned, 
nothing but mud in your boots
—we’re dead!

         Yet, are we not the Artist’s painting? 
The Potter’s work? 
The Father’s Child!

         If we are those things, 
please invade this world! 

         If you are clothed with the heavens, O God
—tear it apart! 
Rend your garment in mourning, 
Join us in our sorrows!
         Repent, O God, of the rotten way things have gone between us
—division, insecurity, guilt, blame, distance…

         Please, O LORD, consider this simple proposition
—we are all your people.

 

--

         In this season of Advent,
let us hear with greater care 
the words of Isaiah’s longing for God.
         Let us see with greater clarity 
the threads that Isaiah uses 
to stitch together calamity and hope, 
covering his cold and uncertain generation 
with the garment of God’s ongoing care.

         Commissioning, 
Utopia, 
Lament & Invasion… 
Isaiah’s vision for all God’s people.

         A prophetic voice for 
times of waiting, 
preparing, 
journeying, 
yearning—for God’s arrival among us.
The Advent of God.

Amen.

The Parable of the Talents

          Parables are stories containing truth, 

that reveals itself gradually, 
then with a big ahah! 
They are like a tea bag, 
they steep in you until you are transformed. 
They sit with you until they become part of your story. 
You chew on a parable, 
until it starts to chew on you.

         In order to help you digest today’s parable
—I’m going to tell you version of it 6 times, 
to help you hear what it is saying about the Reign of God as: 
-A Gift, 
-An experience to be shared, 
-A reality more pressing in Christ’s absence,

-Always a surprise

-An unconventional relationship with God,
-The answer to a riddle
—What increases where it abounds and diminishes where it is absent? 
Love.

Let us pray:

 

         The Kingdom of Heaven is not, but is like, 
a pension managed. 
A lifetime of work and savings entrusted to another, 
to good stewards, 
good managers.

         Like the life of Jesus, 
his life’s work, 
given and entrusted to others.

         His life, 
given to those disciples, 
given too, to us.

         They were ministered to by the Messiah
—they got to follow after him, 
experience the generosity of God found in him.

         It is God acting first, 
sharing his son with them, 
with us.

         Generosity and trust, 
so far beyond our comprehension
—poured out in the person of Jesus. 
The Gospel
—God’s love for the whole world,
embodied in Jesus
—blessed by him, 
the beatitudes busting forth 
upon the miserable many,
Many made whole 
by the God we find in Jesus Christ.

 

         The Kingdom of Heaven is not, but is like, 
fruitful commerce, 
each time it circulates in the community 
it becomes more than it was before, 
touching and touching again 
hands and hearts.

         Like the community entrusted with the Gospel, 
God’s most precious gift. 
They’ve been ministered to by the Messiah, 
now they are tasked to go out and be merciful…

         The mission is mercy.

         Be salt, 
bring out the flavor already present, 
preserve that which is good.

         Be light, 
so we can see the colorful myriad of wonders 
that is the spectrum of God’s love. 
So we can navigate this blessed world well.

         Be fruitful in a Beatitudes kind of way
—so that your witness: 
-names the poor as possessors of the Kingdom, 
-and the meek inheritors of the earth,
-brings comfort to the mourning and persecuted,
-fills those who hunger for righteousness 
and thirst for justice,

-Makes mercy, 
-shows God to the simple of heart, 
and peace to a world 
that has forgot that we are all God’s Children!

 

         The Kingdom of Heaven is not, but is like, 
the MacArthur Genius Grant
—said to be cursed… 
its given to a younger person who does something amazing in their field, 
transforms the world in some way
—they’re given a couple $100,000 
to do an equally amazing thing as a follow-up, 
sort of start-up money, for a second act… 
and to a recipient, 
each one fades into obscurity
—they can’t replicate their earlier success… 
they fear failure, 
they get cautious, 
the pressure is just too much, 
the accolades make them afraid…

         Like those who wait for Jesus, 
and that waiting warps something in them
—makes a mean Messiah out of our loving Lord.

         They get cautious when they ought to be bold, 
they try to bottle the Spirit when it is meant to be freed, 
the pressure of being a community of God’s people, gets heavy.

         Somewhere along the line 
they have forgotten one of the watchwords of Matthew’s Gospel
—Jesus won’t be around, 
but he’s among us.

         They seek to find him in strange places, 
but miss him in places stranger still
—on a cross, 
beside criminals, 
executed.

         They seek the executioner, 
when their Lord is the executed.

         They wait, 
and grow tired, 
burn out, 
drop out, 
forget… 
forget that he is faithful. 
They cannot stay awake with him, 
even one hour. 
They are afraid.

 

         The Kingdom of Heaven is not, but is like, 
a father fretting about his daughter, 
who he has not seen for many years, 
she’s been abroad
—he is waiting at the train station,
will she come,
what will she be like?

         Like expecting a lion, 
and finding a lamb
—like calling for a King, 
but he does not wear your crown, 
he kneels and washes your feet. 
The stunning surprise of a Savior 
who does no damage, 
instead he heals.

         He does not conquer by 
breaching the walls of Jerusalem 
and slaughtering Caesar’s men, 
instead, 
he is slain outside the walls, 
outside the walls, 
with all of us.

 

         The Kingdom of Heaven is not, but is like, 
a dopy billiards player 
who turns pool shark 
when the stakes get high enough, 
and uses the proceeds to pay for the orphanage.

         Like this ner-do-well, Jesus 
that the religious leaders foam their mouths at. 
He expands the table 
to welcome all the people of the land. 
The rules of the game are purity and righteousness, 
and he imputes purity and righteousness 
on roughhewn humanity… 
he goes out and reaps among those who are unacceptable, 
he gathers from among the least, last, and lost. 

         Look at those who follow him
—revolutionaries and tax collectors, 
a clutch of women and fishermen, 
the scattered, 
are drawn in by him. 
He pays the interest 
with strange coin
—the self-righteous 
will call it dishonest wealth
—his very self.

 

         The Kingdom of Heaven is not, but is like, 
mustard seeds
—small grown large, 
and yeast
—as transformative as salt and light, 
bread enough and more 
for the joyous feast… 

         The Kingdom of Heaven is LOVE. 
A precious gift, 
doubled when shared. 
         “Here is my love twice over
—share it and it overflows.” 
“Here is my love, five times over
—share it and it is overabundant.”

         “Here is my love, 
and you roughly shove it 
into the ground, 
bury it… 
bury it 
because you assume the worst of the Lover, 
you decide I am a frightening and ungracious Master… 
that kills love. 
That is hellish, 
a closed lonely room, 
where teeth are ground down to the gums 
and there is much sorrow.

         But even that
—love buried
—shall be love raised from the dead.

 

         The Kingdom of Heaven is a gift, shared and spread, 
felt more insistently after Christ’s crucifixion. 
It is head twistingly surprising and breaks with religious convention.

It is Love.

A&A

Keep Awake

Keep Awake warns Amos

            Keep awake so you don’t sleep walk into revenge. 
Amos hears his people praying for the Day of the LORD… 
they remember back to the time of the Conquest of Canaan, 
when the LORD of Armies was on the march 
and smote those who stood against God’s people…

            They expect a day soon coming
when the weather would turn against their enemies, 
when the elements and the Cosmos itself 
would fight against the enemies of Israel…

            They expect a day 
when the sun will be held in place, 
so there would be daylight and time enough 
for a new Joshua to slaughter their enemies…

            And Amos warns
—you’re expecting the best day ever,
—but the Day of the LORD will instead be 
a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day!
Darkness and wild animals, 
venom and claw.

 

            Keep awake says Amos,
so you don’t use religion as a blanket to cover up bad behavior, 
baptize a society skewed for suffering and misery… 
Your religion literally stinks and can’t keep a tune,
You are using it as a dam that shuts up justice 
and makes righteousness into an irrigation ditch.

            Public officials take bribes, 
what little the poor have, 
is stripped from them, 
you hate the vulnerable immigrant.

 

            Wake up! 
            Instead of violence, 
embrace gentleness. 
In the face of tit for tat until the whole world runs with blood…
remember St. Augustine’s famous words, 
“Christians do not destroy evil, we redeem it.”

            Instead of sly festivals and offerings only for show, 
listen to the constant prophetic condemnation 
of self-righteous religion 
and hard hearted faith.

            Love is enough
—that is the only Law… 
            For when we are cured of all heaven storming ambition, 
we can look to our neighbor with love!

 

            Keep Awake, offers Paul in his earliest letter
—addressing the poor Thessalonians 
(they had hoped in end time prophecies, 
and they did not come to pass, 
and some had died, 
and the community was stricken to the heart).

            Keep awake, so you can see the Triumph
—the Parade that only Conquering Emperors are allowed
complete with an archangel as the official crier 
and heavenly trumpets heralding Jesus the Christ.

            You see, this piece of scripture we read today 
is NOT about “the Rapture”
but is a piece of encouragement 
to hold fast to the one historic confession of the faith
—JESUS IS LORD!

            This image of Jesus 
as the center of a Roman Triumph, 
points to Jesus’ Lordship…

            If you want to know what authority looks like
—don’t look to those stomping around in power and pomp
—but Christ, 
God human, God humiliated
—washing feet as a slave, 
executed as a criminal
—that’s real authority!

            

            Wake up!

            Such authority, such a God, such a Lord
—is not frightening, 
but represents the hope that we have in him…

            Our hope is not in some end times—whatever! 
No, our hope is that we have a home with God… 
For the Victorious One, conquering and exalted, 
is the one who joins us in our grief, 
who has loved us to death, and on to life!

            The one who is Lord forever, 
is the one who died and rose, 
who gathers us up and brings us to the Father.

 

            Keep Awake, warns Christ in this parable of Matthew.

            Matthew, who more than anyone other than Paul, 
wrestles with what Christian Community ought to look like
—and how it so often falls short.

            Matthew, who is the most cynical and critical 
of “Church-folk.” 
He consistently points out 
that there will always be those inside the church 
who are angels, 
and also those who are devils. 
We’re a mixed body
—the church is an admixture of these two groups, 
and we’ll never fully be able to judge 
who among us is the angel 
and who among us is devilish
—that is for God alone. 

            Matthew writes about One flock, 
filled with both sheep and goats.

            One field, 
filled with both wheat and weeds.

            And today, one wedding party
—10 bridesmaids
—all 10 have lamps 
and all 10 are in the same place, 
but five are wise, 
and five are foolish.

 

            I’m going to follow Luther’s reading of Matthew
—and push this maxim about the Church 
into the heart of every Christian
—We’re Simultaneously Justified and Sinner.
            I am both sheep and goat, 
wheat and weed, 
wise and foolish bridegroom.

            And so are all of you.

            There is division within us, 
within our church 
and within our souls.

            That’s to be expected, 
it should not surprise us, 
it should not shatter our trust in the Church, 
or make us fearful to come before God.

            Part of the jagged joy of Christian community 
is navigating each other’s rough edges 
and coming to terms with 
people with whom you disagree.

            For that matter, 
God already knows 
your foolishness and your wisdom, 
God already knows 
everything about your morality and mortality
—successes and stumbles.

 

            Wake up!

            For he is present among us, 
the Bridegroom!

            Open your eyes 
and light your lamps!

            The oil that runs freely
—you were sealed with it, 
the cross of Christ forever.

            Prepare and put on the Wedding Garb 
that is your Baptism!

            Go out into the world 
and find him in the eyes of your neighbor!
The Lord for whom we wait.

Amen.

Who is the Pastor’s Boss?

 

One of the questions that came up when I asked for topics related to the Renewed Lutheran Church, was the question “Who is the Pastor’s Boss?” as a way to talk about authority, transparency, and accountability.

On one hand, there are a few different places you can point regarding who an ELCA pastor is accountable to and supported by. Firstly, we have our baptismal vocation (I have a hunch many clergy struggle with prioritizing our baptismal vocation, I know I do) like all other Christians. Additionally, we have various commitments we make in the candidacy process, and our ordination vows, most of those are channeled through the Synod. Hopefully those commitments do not just function as Law, but also Gospel, we find both accountability and support in living out those vows and commitments. Then, with call and installation, commitments of support and accountability are made with the calling congregation(s). So, in a sense, a Pastor is in relationship with multiple expressions of this church, and they have multiple bosses.

On the other hand, all those commitments and relationship kind of obscure what the average person is really asking when they ask, “Who is the Pastor’s Boss?” The above description can feel like a lack of transparency. If a clergyperson has hundreds of bosses, it can sound like they really have no boss. This means they are accountable to no one and supported by no one. Now some folk would like that to be true, but it isn’t. So, let’s look at that question from a slightly different angle—power and efficacy.

I took a Political Science course in college called Theories of Power, it was a 300-level course and I wasn’t a polisci major, so I was a bit out of my depth, but here’s what I took away from the course and how it might speak to the question, “Who is the Pastor’s Boss?” There are three paradigms for interpreting power relationships:

Dictator-Person in charge causes the changes in the system.

Empty Suit-The Person in charge is a conduit or vessel for grass roots change.

Negotiated Leadership-There is a web of interconnection between all parties that regularly shifts.

These three descriptors can easily be applied to being a Pastor and to the question at hand.

In the dictator model the Pastor is in charge. In the Lutheran tradition we even have a funny name for this phenomena—Herr Pastor. The Pastor is the authority, what she or he says, goes. Full stop. The congregation is an extension of Herr Pastor’s will.

At the other extreme is the situation where the identity and will of the Pastor is practically irrelevant to the running of the congregation; the behavior of the congregation won’t change no matter who is installed as pastor; it could be Jesus Christ himself or a tail-less salamander leading them, and there would be no discernable behavior change. The Pastor will bow to the will of the congregation, or break.

Then there is the third way, authority is given and earned, relationships deepen or wane as situations develop. Often the Pastor is installed and is given enough political capital to do one big thing, there is a honeymoon period. After folk have kicked the tires for a while, the pastor buries someone, they weather a crisis, etc, more authority is given. At the same time the pastor learns who is worthy of trust in the congregation, who are the informal leaders, and tries to discern what the consensus of the congregation is regarding a vision. It is a dance.

Now, where all this gets tricky is when expectations and assumptions about who the Pastor’s boss is come into play. If a Pastor comes in hoping to be a Herr Pastor, and the congregation is used to negotiated leadership, there is going to be friction. Similarly, a Pastor coming in seeking consensus can look an awful lot like they are offering an empty suit and a power vacuum to a congregation that has experienced a Herr Pastor or has a history of running roughshod over the Pastor.

 

What does all this have to do with a Renewed Lutheran Church?

-It points to a need for both support and accountability throughout a pastor’s journey. Any change in how the ELCA does things ought to maintain and/or improve support and accountability.

-It touches on the informal nature of congregational systems. There is a reason they teach pastors systems theory, so they can exegete their particular congregation, and behave accordingly.

-This also touches on a lay/clergy divide. The Pastoral vocation is strange and doesn’t exactly have good secular analogies. This can lead to distrust between people and pastor, and that can be deadly to a congregation.

 

Note to readers—I intend to participate in National Novel Writing Month, as such, my morning writing time will be devoted to that instead of blogging for the month of November. That said, I intend to read A Journey of Grace and High Expectations, and re-read Anatomy of a Merger, all to think though the background of the ELCA merger. So expect a big blogpost about that sometime in December.

Commemorating the Reformation, a sermon

          Back in 2017, 

at the 500^th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation, 
the watch-word going forward for Lutherans 
was that we ought to switch from celebrating the Reformation 
to commemorating it. 
This allowed us to more easily see ourselves as part 
of the Body of Christ, 
but not the whole thing, 
and keeps us from getting stuck in the 1500s, 
because ours is a living faith!

         This means considering how the Reformation 
-was in continuity with earlier Christians, 
-the crisis of the Reformation period, 
-and the continued relevance of the Lutheran Reformation.

 

Prayer

         It must be stated clearly, 
The Lutheran Reformation was Necessary. 
After all there was much at stake:

         -The practice of selling indulgences 
shook peoples’ trust in God’s saving works for them. 

         -Questions of authority, 
both secular and religious, 
were up in the air.

         -The purpose and point of worship 
had become lost on many.

         -The identity of our Lord Jesus Christ 
had become hidden 
by heady words 
and arrogant pomp.

 

         And so, Luther and his cohort called the Church to repentance. 
-They pointed back to faithful ways of being Christian from earlier ages, 
-called out dead ends in Christian thought and action, 
-and innovated to see what the Spirit was now doing. 

 

         In fact, the Lutheran Reformation continues to be Necessary.

-The ideas the Reformers lived and died for still light our way.
-The Church is always reforming.
-The Gospel the Reformers confessed is still central to life itself.

 

1       Four centuries before Luther’s time, 
the Theologian Abelard had introduced the idea of Limbo, 
as a logical category between Heaven and Hell, 
to pastorally account for the death of unbaptized babies
—but in the centuries that followed 
the idea had grown into a money making scheme
—pay Rome 
to get your relative out of the cosmic waiting room… 
         That was the stock and trade of 
indulgence salesmen like Tetzel.

         And it terrified people... 
made them question their salvation, 
slaughtered souls.

 

         So Luther pointed back to St. Augustine, 
who affirmed that we are saved by Grace… 
Our Salvation, 
our Justification, 
our being made Right, 
comes from God alone, 
-we simply trust it to be true, 
-live lives leaning into the trustworthiness of God.

         

         And there are still terrified people out there
—people caught in an If/Then paradigm
—if I do this that or the other, 
then I am deserving, worthy, safe… 
         The Religious will toss Tetzel’s shtick at you, “Are you REALLY saved?” 
         The Secular world will insist you must be a Human Doing
—always on the move, 
always striving, 
always coming up short…

         But, ours is a Because/Therefore God
—Because God is Trustworthy and Kind, 
Therefore, we are loved and accepted. 
You are saved for Christ’s sake! 
You are a human being, 
made in the likeness of your beloved parent.

 

2       In the year 1054 Eastern and Western Christianity split
—ostensibly over doctrine surrounding the Holy Spirit, 
and just six decades before Luther’s birth 
there were not 1, not 2, but 3 popes in the West… 
all this, a crisis of Authority… 

         The likes of Wycliffe in England 
and Huss in what is now the Czech Republic,
urged local neutrality in these battles over authority 
and searched for other sources of authority
—ways to discern who rightly upheld the faith.

 

         Luther too searched 
for a Mighty Fortress as a buttress for the faith, 
and found Scripture as such a foundation. 
Scripture experienced as Law and Gospel
—pointing out Injustice and Sin, 
and assuring us of God’s unfailing love. 
Scripture Alone rang with authority, 
as nothing else in his age did.

 

         Since those days, 
Scripture has been co-opted in many ways
—everything from The Fundamentals written in 1910, 
insisting the Bible to be a science textbook, 
to Dispensationalists from Dallas Theological Seminary in 1948,
using it to predict the end of the world, 
to all kinds of grave misuses, 
upholding kooky conspiracy theories 
and treating the Bible 
the way a Pagan might treat a Spellbook
—all this, instead of simply letting Scripture be Scripture, 
attesting to God’s faithfulness.

 

3       So often the Church dabbles with power 
and finds itself poorer for it… 
         Some call Constantine’s elevation of the Church 
to the status of Roman State Religion, 
using it as the glue to hold together his empire, 
they call it, the Church’s original sin. 
         Later, just as Constantine 
inserted the State into the business of the Church, 
Pope Gregory the Great returned the favor, 
amassing secular power around the Papacy, 
the Kingdoms of Europe.

 

         Luther, on his good days, 
clung to St. Augustine’s enormous work “The City of God” 
where he tried to untangle the mess Constantine made
—Augustine tried to differentiate between 
being a Roman Citizen 
and being a Christian. 
Luther described this distinction as the Two Kingdoms, 
the Secular focused on Law
—restraining evil and encouraging the good, 
the Sacred—the Church, 
a messenger always delivering that love letter from God
—the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

         Yet try as Luther might, 
his ideas on this, 
were skewed by the political realities of his day
the sacred authorities trying to assassinate him, 
while the secular authorities kept him alive.

 

         Over the ensuing centuries 
those questions concerning Politics and the Church 
keep coming up.

         It is for the American Church’s benefit 
that the Two Kingdoms-like compromise 
of the Wall of Separation between Church and State, exists. 
         We can look to Lutherans in Germany in the 1930s, 
accepting Nazi control of the Church, 
as a cautionary tale.
         When partisans ask Pastors 
to preach politics from the pulpit, 
when they say Churches ought to close up for a Sunday 
and instead rally to Make America a Christian Nation
—we ought to remember St. Augustine’s Holy City, 
and Luther’s Kingdoms
and Lord Acton famous maxim: 
“Power Corrupts, 
and Absolute Power 
corrupts absolutely.”

 

4       There was a long history of standardizing worship
—especially by my favorite boogiemen 
Pope Gregory and his henchman Boniface. 
They squelched the indigenous Christianities 
of Ireland and Germany. 
Ignoring the simple description of worship by Justin Martyr some 5 centuries before: 
We Gather, 
Read Scripture, 
Partake in the Sacraments, 
and are Sent to serve our Neighbor.

 

         Lutherans one generation after Luther 
were also beset by imposed standardization of worship; 
Lutheran Pastors were being martyred over refusing to comply, 
and, before there weren’t any Lutheran Pastors left alive, 
they asked the question: 
What are things central to the Gospel 
and what are indifferent things
—to use the Greek, 
what is Adiaphora?

 

         And today, 
the Church is spread across the globe 
and embraced by so many different cultures. 
As such, worship questions go well beyond 
“What translation of the Lord’s Prayer ought we use?” 
or “What music is catchy?” 
or “Green Book/Red Book?”

         So, we do well to return to the font 
dug long ago by Justin Martyr
—Gather, Word, Sacrament, Sending. 
The Central Things that transcend indifferent things, 
and we know always illuminate the Gospel.

 

5.      Finally, the church regularly chases after certainty
—proof, not faith, 
to understand God, 
instead of stand under the cross 
and see God as God is. 

         This was the case with Anselm, 
who rolled out proof of God’s existence, 
and Aquinas 
who embraced a certain type of Greek Logic 
as a road into the heart of God.

         But there was another route
—St. Francis rebuilt the Church, 
then tamed and tainted in so many ways, 
by finding God in the least of these
—monks who lived in genuine poverty
—closer to God 
than all the academics and politicians.

 

         Luther too, was pushed 
by those enraptured by certainty
—people he called Theologians of Glory
—pushed to the margins, like Francis, 
and he was transformed 
into a Theologian of the Cross. 
He found God revealed only there
—in the person of Jesus Christ, 
God crucified among us and by us.

 

         And today, 
there are still plenty of Theologians of Glory, 
pointing to financial prosperity as the key to God’s heart, 

and anchoring the faith in all kinds of assumptions 
that have nothing to do with what God is really like.

         Because, 
when God shows up, 
it is on the Cross.

         If someone tells you that 
“Jesus wants you to have a new car,” 
or if they insist “God wants you to be ostentatiously religious,” 
or if certainty or success is the name of their game, 
you are dealing with a Theologian of Glory, 
not a Theologian of the Cross.

 

         As we commemorate the Lutheran Reformation let us:
-affirm its necessity,
-remember it as a return to the Church at its best,
 and consider its ongoing message to the Church today.

Amen.