Sabbath

"the Sabbath erects a weekly bastion against the commodification of time, against reducing time to money, reducing time to what we can get out of it, against leaving no time for God or beauty or anything that cannot be used or purchased. It is a defense against the hurry that desecrates time.”
-- Eugene Peterson

I love the principle, for years I have believed that the point of the Sabbath was to show that we are not slaves to this world and its material pragmatism. We exist in time, but only for a time; the sabbath is like raising our heads to breathe a different air.

That being said, I have no idea what, in our Christian liberty, the Sabbath should actually look like in practice. Certainly the legalistic dreariness of the puritan/Victorian version chills my soul. But there is a principle we forget at our peril, that we need to have time for the unnecessary, the immaterial, whatever is pure and lovely, whatever refreshes us from the grimness of daily life. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? We need time to re-attach our souls to the things that are unseen, and so much greater than the things that are seen, and to be reminded that even in the most ordinary dailiness of life, we were created for worship.

This made sense

Found on the blog of PTC Sydney(the Presbyterian college where I did my Hebrew)was this comment on the issue of the emergent church:

McKnight's take is that lots of the questions are post-fundamentalist. In Australia where fundamentalism has not been the same phenomenon the emerging issues are not the same.

This makes so much sense, and explains why a lot of the conversations on American theoblogs don't sound like they're happening on the same planet I'm on. It actually is the same planet, but a different continent!

Another quote -- crucifixion of images

I just came across this -- much food for thought.
What other images is it true of?

Austin Farrer, in commenting on the debate between Rudolf Bultmann and several German colleagues on the question of "demythologizing" the New Testament, suggested as an alternative that in the New Testament itself we are presented, not with the demythologizing, but with the crucifixion of images. He had in mind specifically the crucifixion, in Jesus's death, of the image of Messiah as God's means of deliverance.

Creativity -- Michael Card

A great quotation from Michael Card (yes, that one, the singer)expressing something I really believe:

Creativity is worship because, at its essence, it is a response. I hear the Word and I respond with music, with silence, in adoration, in appreciation by picking up the basin and the towel. It is a romantic response to this Person whom I adore. He is beautiful! I want nothing more than to be in his presence. I love him! And so I sing and I write. If I could paint or dance I would do that as well. I forgive someone who couldn’t care less about being forgiven. I try to reach out across the vast distance between me and my brother or sister.

Because creativity is a response, it does not originate with me. God speaks. He moves. He is beautiful. We respond. We create. We worship.

Leadership

The next 4 Sundays (Apr 13th to May 4th) I'm going to be preaching on king Saul (my first ever go at preaching a series). I'm approaching the 4 sermons as follows:

1. Selection (why was Saul chosen? compare this to the selection of David, and ultimately to Jesus, who had "no beauty that we should desire him")

2. rejection (What went wrong? compare Saul to David. How do we rationalise our disobedience? what does real repentance look like?)

3. Dejection. (Saul's paranoid jealousy of David. The destructiveness of jealousy. God's solution to jealousy -- Psalm 73:23-28)

4.Disconnection. (Saul's involvement with the occult and final suicide. The sin of accidie -- spiritual sloth. The solution, childlike trust -- Psalm 131)

Soooo .. with all that on my mind, I just came across this great quote in my research:

The world needs leaders...

who cannot be bought;

whose word is their promise;

who put character above wealth;

who possess opinions and a will;

who are larger than their vocations;

who do not hesitate to take chances;

who will not lose their individuality in a crowd;

who will be honest in small things as well as in great things;

who will make no compromise with wrong;

whose ambitions are not confined to their own selfish desires;

who will not say they do it "because everybody else does it";

who are true to their friends through good report and

evil report, in adversity as well as in prosperity;

who do not believe that shrewdness, cunning, and

hardheadedness are the best qualities for winning success;

who are not ashamed or afraid to stand for the truth

when it is unpopular, who can say no with emphasis,

although the rest of the world says yes.

-- Paul Borthwick

Seeing Jesus: by faith

I quoted this in my last sermon as an example of how it takes the work of the Spirit and the gift of faith to see Jesus aright. It was written by someone called Gregory of Nazianzus in the year 381.

He began His ministry by being hungry, yet He is the Bread of Life.
Jesus ended His earthly ministry by being thirsty, yet He is the Living Water.
Jesus was weary, yet He is our rest. Jesus paid tribute, yet He is the King.
Jesus was accused of having a demon, yet He cast out demons.
Jesus wept, yet He wipes away our tears.
Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver, yet He redeemed the world.
Jesus was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, yet He is the Good Shepherd.
Jesus died, yet by His death He destroyed the power of death.

The Critic (via Ratatouille)

Went and watched Ratatouille with my daughter this afternoon. It was the usual dose of good Pixar fun, but one thing that was said in the movie really caught my attention. I went hunting on the net, and managed to find the proper quote:

In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so.

How often do we take on the "easy" role of being the critic of someone else's work, theology or service, rather than doing the hard yards of actually getting out there and doing what we really believe?

Wisdom after my hiatus

Ok, perhaps a mis;leading title, but all shall be made clear (I hope!)

Firstly, the hiatus. No particular dramatic reason for the break in blogging, I just needed a break. Sometimes you just run dry for a while, and it's good to step back from a particular activity and live life (which is a full time effort in itself) until one feels replenished. Today I do, so I'm back!

second, wisdom. Not mine (only the hiatus, which is beginning to sound like some exotic pet is mine), but apocryphal wisdom. Literally. from Ecclesiasticus, in the Apocrypha. I am not very familiar with the Apocrypha (something I must remedy) but I came across this quote from chapter 4, which really struck me personally. How often have I been led to believe that "being a doormat to a fool" was the path of virtue, even holiness?

20 WATCH YOUR CHANCE and defend yourself against wrong, and do not be over- modest in your own cause; 21 for there is a modesty that leads to sin, as well as a modesty that brings honour and favour. 22 Do not be untrue to yourself in deference to another, or so diffident that you fail in your duty. 24 Never remain silent when a word might put things right, for wisdom shows itself by speech, and a man's education must find expression in words. 25 Do not argue against the truth, but have a proper sense of your own ignorance. 26 Never be ashamed to admit your mistakes, nor try to swim against the current. 27 Do not let yourself be a doormat to a fool or curry favour with the powerful. 28 Fight to the death for truth, and the Lord God will fight on your side.

Grace from Argentina

My daughter showed me this, I think it's wonderful:

God, bless to us our bread,
And give bread to those who are hungry,
And hunger for justice to those who are fed.
God, bless to us our bread.

--- grace from Argentina

The messy heirs to the kingdom

Below is an illustration I did use in my last sermon. The passage I was preaching on was Mark 3:31-35 on Who is Jesus'family. I started by explaining that when Jesus defined who was in and who was out of His family He was actually saying who was in and out of His kingdom. Flesh and blood, lineage from Abraham, doesn't do it. You must be reborn "from above" (John 3) and adopted into His family. I used ben hur as a type of Roman adoption. Then we looked at some verses from Romans8 and Ephesians 1 on the benefits of being His adopted child. Then I brought in this illustration:

Watchman Nee tells about a new convert who came in deep distress to see him. "No matter how much I pray, no matter how hard I try, I simply cannot seem to be faithful to my Lord. I think I'm losing my salvation." Nee said, "Do you see this dog here? He is my dog. He is house-trained; he never makes a mess; he is obedient; he is a pure delight to me. Out in the kitchen I have a son, a baby son. He makes a mess, he throws his food around, he fouls his clothes, he is a total mess. But who is going to inherit my kingdom? Not my dog; my son is my heir. You are Jesus Christ's heir because it is for you that He died." We are Christ's heirs, not through our perfection but by means of His grace.

From there i finished by talking about how, if we are members of His family, we should be demonstrating the family likeness, ie love. Love is an action. Love is servanthood. if we are loving we will be involved in the messy work of digging up and weeding while Christ produces the fruit of the Spirit in us. Or we can stay clean and comfortable and just be plastic flowers!

Free will or predestination?

Came across this story while preparing my next sermon (yes, I know, it's my essay on Rev 4 I should be working on, but sermons are much more fun!) This one doesn't fit my sermon, but it's too good to pass by:

The story is told of a group of theologians who were discussing the tension between predestination and free will. Things became so heated that the group broke up into two opposing factions. But one man, not knowing which to join, stood for a moment trying to decide. At last he joined the predestination group. “Who sent you here?” they asked. “No one sent me,” he replied. “I came of my own free will.” “Free will!” they exclaimed. “You can’t join us! You belong with the other group!” So he followed their orders and went to the other clique. There someone asked, “When did you decide to join us?” The young man replied, “Well, I didn’t really decide–I was sent here.” “Sent here!” they shouted. “You can’t join us unless you have decided by your own free will!”

The Handkerchief

Isn't this just like what God does with our hurts and disappointments?

(1952) A woman friend of John Ruskin once received as a gift a beautiful
handkerchief which she highly prized. One day as she was writing, a drop of
ink fell on it, and it was apparently ruined. Sometime later the great
artist-writer was a guest in her home. Having heard of his hostess's
accident, he asked first to see the handkerchief; then, to take it home with
him. A few days later it was sent back, more beautiful than it was at first.
What had he done? With his own deft hands he had painted on the cloth an
exquisite picture, using the blot as a basis for it.

Masai Creed

Because it's sometimes helpful to read old truths in new words, here is the Masai version of the Apostles' creed (courtesy of Wikipedia)

We believe in the one High God, who out of love created the beautiful world and everything good in it. He created Man and wanted Man to be happy in the world. God loves the world and every nation and tribe on the Earth. We have known this High God in darkness, and now we know Him in the light. God promised in the book of His word, the Bible, that He would save the world and all the nations and tribes.

We believe that God made good His promise by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, a man in the flesh, a Jew by tribe, born poor in a little village, who left His home and was always on safari doing good, curing people by the power of God, teaching about God and man, showing the meaning of religion is love. He was rejected by his people, tortured and nailed hands and feet to a cross, and died. He lay buried in the grave, but the hyenas did not touch him, and on the third day, He rose from the grave. He ascended to the skies. He is the Lord.

We believe that all our sins are forgiven through Him. All who have faith in Him must be sorry for their sins, be baptised in the Holy Spirit of God, live the rules of love and share the bread together in love, to announce the Good News to others until Jesus comes again. We are waiting for Him. He is alive. He lives. This we believe. Amen.

This is the One we worship ..

A quote to ponder

The essential difference between orthodox Christianity and the various heretical systems is that orthodoxy is rooted in paradox. Heretics, as Irenaeus saw, reject paradox in favour of a false clarity and precision. But true faith can only grow and mature if it includes the elements of paradox and creative doubt. Hence the insistence of orthodoxy that God cannot be known by the mind, but is known in the obscurity of faith, in the way of ignorance, in the darkness. Such doubt is not the enemy of faith but an essential element within it. For faith in God does not bring the false peace of answered questions and resolved paradoxes. Rather, it can be seen as a process of 'unceasing interrogation'.
-- Kenneth Leach, "True God"

Depression

Well, after 5 days of no internet access, (entirely the ISP's problem)I am back online. There are several things I want to blog on in the next few days, but, for now, I want to put up this quote of Spurgeon's on depression (spotted over at cerulean Sanctum). I have never suffered clinical depression myself, but I know how it feels to have a shredded soul, and one of the things that upsets me in Christendom is the way we shoot our wounded instead of being a safe place where the grace and mercy of God is demonstrated. I was personally told, when i was in the throes of dealing with abuse issues, that my distress, doubts, questions, fears etc were sins. Oddly enough, that didn't solve anything!!
Spurgeon is well known, not only for his preaching, but for his heavy bouts of depression. This is what he said:

I know that wise brethren say, ‘You should not give way to feelings of depression.’ … If those who blame quite so furiously could once know what depression is, they would think it cruel to scatter blame where comfort is needed. There are experiences of the children of God which are full of spiritual darkness; and I am almost persuaded that those of God’s servants who have been most highly favoured have, nevertheless, suffered more times of darkness than others

Quote

“…the Christmas story is death to every heroic culture, every form of machismo, which depends on the belief that man can save himself, often without women, or that man’s role is to shake his fist at the heavens. As (Karl) Barth makes clear, Christmas, and hence the gospel, stand utterly opposed to every hint of male bravado and pride. Had the church thoroughly grasped, taught, and lived this, would feminism have ever been necessary?”

--- Leithart

Nails

This says it all:

The nails pounded through the paper into the wood of the church door at Wittenberg were important, but not as important as the nails driven through the flesh of Jesus into the wood of the Cross at Calvary. -Rev. James Douthwaite

I still exist ..

yes, truly! Just being snowed under with end of semester assignments (and sermons, and life) doesn't leave me in the mind-frame for thinking up things I want to blog about. Just 2 more weeks to go, then I will be bouncing out of my pickle jar again!
Meanwhile, just a quote to ponder:

Come to the edge. We might fall. Come to the edge.
It's too high! Come to the edge! And they came,
and he pushed...... and they flew.
-- Christopher Logue

left-handed power

Came across this quote out there in the cyber-verse. it says something so well that I really don't think I can add anything except a fervent amen:
There is one effect that cannot be the result of a direct application of force, and that is the maintenance of a relationship between free persons. If my child chooses not to cooperate with me, if my wife chooses not to live with me, there is no right-handed power on earth that can make them toe the line of relationship I have chosen to draw in the sand. I can dock my son’s allowance, for example, or chain him to a radiator; or in anger at my wife, I can punch holes in the Sheetrock or beat her senseless with a shovel. In short, I can use any force that comes to hand or mind, and yet I cannot cause either of them, at the core of their being, to stop their wrongs and conform to my right. The only power I have by which to do that is left-handed power – which for all practical purposes will be indistinguishable from weakness on my part. It is the power of my patience with them, of my letting their wrong be – even if that costs me my rightness or my life – so that they, for whose reconciliation I long, may live for a better day of their own choosing.

My point here is twofold. The power of God that saves the world was revealed in Jesus as left-handed power; and therefore any power that the church may use in its God-given role as the sacrament of Jesus must also be left-handed. Despite the fact that God’s Old Testament forays into the thicket of fallen human nature were decidedly right-handed (plagues, might acts, stretched-out-arm exercises, and thunderous threats) – and despite Jesus’ occasional use of similar tactics in the Gospels – the final act by which God reconciles the world to himself consists of his simply dropping dead on the cross and shutting up on the subject of sin. He declares the whole power game won by losing, and he invites the world just to believe that absurd proposition.

- Robert Farrar Capon, The Astonished Heart, pp. 62-63

Bonhoeffer again

When a man really gives up trying to make something out of
himself-a saint, or a converted sinner, or a churchman, a
righteous or unrighteous man, ... when in the fullness of
tasks, questions, success or ill-hap, experiences and
perplexities, a man throws himself into the arms of God...
then he wakes with Christ in Gethsemane. That is faith, and it
is thus that he becomes a man and Christian.
... Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)

Yep. I cannot make myself into anything (except as a sham cardboard cut out). The only reality I ultimately have is how much of my me is connected to God. The rest is mere formalism, and building houses of cards that one real breath will send flying. Me in God's arms, being carried through whatever I have to be carried through to bring me to Him .. that is reality!