The Ancient Future Church

Proper 29, Friday, November 30, 2012

Romans 15:7-13

“Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”

Are you welcoming of newcomers? Is your church?

When I walk into Home Depot or Lowe’s I am wondering if I will get what I want. I haven’t in the past nor do I have plans for the future to be concerned about whether other customers are being satisfied. The store exists to make me the most important person in it. I am a consumer with money in hand.

How much of our consumer mentality makes its way into church life? With much regret I must admit a great deal. If you want to create tension in the average church, seek the lost and unchurched. Challenge the people to devote themselves to those on the outside (Colossians 4:5). Exhort them to leave the 99 for the sake of the 1 (Luke 15). Literally all hell will break loose.

Do something simpler. Change the music to appeal to children instead of grandparents. The revolt may be greater. The people can always dismiss the exhortation but when you change the music meddling has begun, what is considered real loss to some occurs, and consumers rise up. Think of how you feel when your local Target only offers LED Christmas lights and instead of your favorite not so white minis that you have valued for decades. Change the music and people feel that in spades (see Who Stole My Church?).

“Welcome” is diminished if not precluded by ownership. If it is mine it can’t be yours at least without me losing some portion of mine. That I will resist. And therein lies the problem. We conveniently forget the church is not ours. It was bought at a price by a very specific Being. The music is not mine. The building is not mine. The pastor is not mine at least not any more than is the pastor of the man next to me.

The welcoming is not negotiable as it is for the glory of God (not the pastor’s success). If we want to invest in welcoming we will necessarily divest ourselves of ownership.

Proper 29, Thursday, November 29, 2012

Zechariah 13:1-9

“I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so they shall be remembered no more.”

Idols change but idolatry abides. The heart is designed for worship. It will worship. Consequently, there will be an object of our hearts’ devotion. That’s an idol. Then it was bending the knee to the carved images of false gods. Now it is bending the knee to the symbols, tangible and otherwise, of things to which we wrongly ascribe power. When all is said and done, there is very little difference in then and now.

What are the idols in your life? In mine? In ours together? I see an idol in those who are gloomy following the election. I see an idol at work in those who are gloating. Both ascribe power to something unworthy of praise and, regardless, unable to produce what the gloomy or gloating desire.

Cut off the names Lord. Let us forget them and remember you more!

Proper 29, Wednesday

Luke 19:1-10

And when they saw it they all murmured, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”

An English Bishop once challenged his congregation, “Oh the murmuring, do you want message or a massage.” Paul raised the question in another way. Do we want the truth or do we want to have our ears tickled? Truth be told, we can have our ears tickled but only by grace and that only by way of a truth that does not tickle at all.

People often murmur at the Gospel, that Jesus hangs with sinners who invite him in. The murmuring disposition can only come from one of two lies, I’ve never been bound by sin or I’ve been released from sin and am therefore no longer bound. It is an utter rejection of the biblical truth that even in my redeemed state I do things I do not want to do and I don’t do things I want to do (Romans 7). This indicting truth does not tickle.

I for one am grateful that Jesus chooses to hang with sinners and this in spite of the truth or perhaps because of it. Why? Because I am so good at being a sinner!

My NT prof was fond of saying, “I like sinning and He (Jesus) likes forgiving.” This resonates with me. The system God created serves this sinner well. It is not always obvious. Certainly I am not immune to glamorous sin but most of sinning is more ordinary, rather pedestrian, unseen and unspoken.

I covet what others have, even if it is just security. I am disciplined enough not speak aloud my coveting. It is beneath the surface. Is my desire for a 67 Stang any different than my neighbor’s desire for his brand new Jag?

I forgive but I still catalog wrongs (1 Cor. 13). I am saying I forgive but struggle to forget. A friend had to point this out to me recently. I had forgiven him at his repentance and request. But two years later I was quick to remind him of what God had already forgotten, that thing for which my friend had already fallen on his sword.

I never ever love in the way God would have me love. It is not possible. My greatest philanthropy is tainted somewhere somehow by self-interest. Conditions on my love may be small but they are still ever present.

So thank you Jesus that you come in at my invitation. Thank you too that I need not climb a tree to be noticed. Deliver me from lies that would cause me to scoff at the company you keep. Thank you for numbering me among those in the company. Thank you Jesus that my neighbor’s scoffing nor mine keeps you from that RSVP.

Proper 29, Tuesday

1 Corinthians 3:10-23

“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s spirit dwells in you?”

It is convenient to read “you” as singular, especially in culture that covets individualism and privacy. But Paul grants no such convenience. You is plural as “you yourselves.” It is a bit of royal you (as opposed to royal we), you as in a holy and chosen people, “a” people made royal by “the” Royal.

This terribly important to note in what we call church life. We have a collective witness. We are meant to be on the same page. It is hard to imagine we can be at odds with each other over something as fundamental as the sacredness of life. Our lack of unity here is a horrible witness. This does not mean we easily come together in regard to how this plays out in public life and certainly public policy. But the called out people of God cannot be ambivalent about life and its sacredness. Leaders, show some backbone. Do not let the absence of agreement on policy squelch a proclamation about which we should be solidly united.

This is terribly important to note in what we call church life. We keep lone rangers at bay. The whole is more important than the individual. Controlling people are not meant to control the church regardless of what they give or how much they volunteer. There is no love in insisting on one’s own way. If “less” love is possible, it is in yielding to the one’s own way. Leaders, show some backbone. You will survive the absence of the gift. If you can’t, reassess what you have built.

Proper 29, Year Two, Monday

Galatians 6:1-10

“For if any one thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.”

To those following, it is apparent that I have taken an unannounced hiatus from Gleanings. Other things required attention. There was/is much to do with regard to planting a church. Tempted I was to think my time is better spent. But I had also grown weary. I write in hopes of conversations with brothers and sisters past and present. Those were inspiring (especially one with a classmate from 32 years ago) but fewer and fewer as time passed. “What’s the point?” I asked. But in these last few months the Lord has shown me that He wants me to write for me or better said for my relationship with Him. Others may benefit. Regardless, He will take me deeper.

I made the fundamental mistake. Gleanings had become about me. Paul seems to share this constant battle. There is always the temptation to think of ourselves more highly than we ought. Rick Warren had it right in the opening line of his most famous work. “It’s not about you.”

Remedy? The right order of things. Sow from the flesh and reap weariness. Sow from the Spirit and reap life. I choose life.

The King of kings Speech

Have you seen the Academy Award winning film The King’s Speech? Under my radar for years, it now is among my all-time favorite movies (sorry, nothing will eclipse “The Mission”). It is at its core a story of depravity, love and transformation. Let me explain.

God is pleased to meet us where we are but is not satisfied to leave us there.

I would like to believe that statement originated with me. In some sense it is so simple it could have been me. In some ways it is so profound to make that all but impossible. Regardless, germane to all of us in relationship to this truth is what prevents us from getting from the place where we were met to the ultimate destination or where God would have us go. .

It is grace that saves us. It is no less grace that sanctifies us. What is sanctification? It is to be transformed into the likeness of the son. It is God acting upon us in the first instance. It is God acting upon us in the second. In 2 Corinthians 3 Paul outlines this as he makes clear the work of the Holy Spirit under the new covenant even as the glory of the old fades away. Said another way, the Word that creates us (ex nihilo) is the Word that recreates us in the image intended for us from the beginning of time. As Luther states in the Heidelberg Disputation, “The love of God does not find, but creates, that which is pleasing to it.”

What I have experienced personally I have observed in others throughout my 25 years of ministry. And it is this. In my own feeble attempts to grow in the likeness of the Lord I have found voids in my early life that prevent me from moving forward in maturity. I have heard words from the world. They have formed me and shaped me for better or worse.  And they have not been addressed by the Word of God.

I disciple and/or counsel people routinely who are unaware of how powerfully this dynamic is at work in them. This is especially true among men. Without making the typical universal, it is fair to say we are less self-aware. Ask your wife o(r girlfriend or sister) if you doubt me.

This is illustrated so well in a true story made into an academy award winning film “The King’s Speech.” Bertie (nickname for Prince Albert) who becomes King George VI when his brother abdicates the throne struggles in his adult life due to words from his childhood that have not been addressed, indeed healed, by the Word of God or Real Royal Words. The struggle is made manifest in a stammer that is as crippling as polio would be. About this, Bertie is keenly unaware.

Bertie’s father, King George V, dies while Bertie is second in line to the throne. Overwhelmed with emotion at his father’s death he appears unannounced in the office or studio of his speech therapist Lionel Logue (Bertie’s unconditional love incognito). In the next nine minutes (see it beginning at 45:46) he reveals indescribable pain associated with his youth. He does so without much emotion or affect. He is unaware of just how much what he is saying has become embedded in his DNA.

Bertie describes a number of scenes from his youth. He casually says he always wanted to build model airplanes but his father would not allow it. His father was a stamp collector so he had to be one as well. When Lionel asks him, who he was closest to when he was a child, without hesitation Bertie said nannies. He describes a childhood in which he was dressed by others and presented daily to his parents along with his siblings. He was necessarily close to nannies but not his first nanny! She loved his brother David but not him. She did not feed him adequately. It took his parents three years to notice.

Elsewhere, Bertie speaks of his father’s method of parenting. “I feared my father. My children will damn well fear me.” At the end of their time together he spoke of correction made in his life. He was disciplined out of being naturally left-handed. Though Bertie is unaware of the catharsis taking place he thanks Lionel for being available to him. Lionel says “what are friends for!?” Bertie quietly says, “I wouldn’t know.”

Any reasonable person would watch these nine minutes of film and wonder how Bertie has made it in life as far as he has. Can you imagine your most intimate time with your parents being a daily viewing? Can you imagine those responsible for your nurture not noticing you weren’t being fed properly for three years? Can you imagine (and I bet many can) fear being the governing principle of parenting? Can you imagine life without friends?

These are the words, the grotesquely painful words, that have shaped Bertie’s life. They have left him with a stammer. More significantly they have left Bertie unprepared for adult life. What would God say in response? We have heard The King’s Speech. But what would the King of kings say? What are the Real Royal Words there for Bertie, the Words that would heal his broken heart and life?

It seems self-evident to me that God would want Bertie to know he is fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:13-14) and that he is unique in that way. He need not be governed by his father’s need to live through him or his own urge to satisfy his father by being his father (as a stamp collector and otherwise). It seems self-evident that God would want him to know that his Heavenly Father knows the number of hairs (Luke 12:22-34) upon his head. He cares for sparrows. How much more does he know when a child of His is not being fed? It seems self-evident that God would want him to hear that perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:16-18). And that absent that fear we are much better able to love in the likeness of Jesus. It seems self-evident that God would want Bertie to hear Him shout in Jesus what a friend he has in him (John 15:9-17).

The painful words of Bertie’s youth must be addressed by Real Royal Words. Otherwise they become wounds untreated and an obstacle to health (salvation as wholeness). Real Royal Words in response to all the other words we hear are the milk that prepare for us for solid food. They are the nutrients that we take in during the early miles that allow us to run with perseverance the race. This is not a shallow “power of positive thinking” nor an even more shallow healing to be named and claimed. It is being healed by a Word that saves, by a powerful Word that prospers the purpose for which God sends it and does not return to Him void.

God is pleased to save us right where we sit. But he is not satisfied to leave us there.  He wants to remake us more in the likeness of His Son. But words spoken to us in our youth far too often stand in the way. We are wounded. To God be the glory, “Yes, Jeremiah, there is a balm in Gilead.”  Let us hear again real royal words that heal and reshape us. Let us hear the real King’s Speech that we take up the goal of maturity (telos), that we might run again the race set before us and move toward the prize, an ever increasing likeness of Jesus.

October 1, 2012

Yesterday we celebrated our first public service of worship at Grace Community. It took place at Ashford Park. The weather was dreary but the atmosphere filled with light.

At the end of our dinners at home we have “high/low.” We speak of the thing that blessed us the most and the thing that disappointed us the most during the day. We begin with “lows” and end with “highs” believing there is always more to be grateful for than to lament. In that vein, I reflect on our first service.

Candor? I was disappointed (somewhat and short-lived) not to see many folks that I anticipated coming, both supporters and folks engaged in Grace Community. However, this is me getting ahead of the Lord. His timing is always perfect and consequently far better than mine. Finally, it is pride. I also failed to take a single photo or video during the service. Kristen managed to get a few of the children’s artwork. Consolation? When push comes to shove it is better to love on people present than be overly concerned about making our service accessible to those on-line.

Now for the highs. The service was amazing. With children there were some 85 souls there. For many, this was their first experience of Grace. Four families came through direct invitations of those actively involved in our fellowship. Two want to attend our Monday night study. Praise the Lord!

The King’s Kids lead all the musical aspects of worship and performed their “What Christ Sees in You” skit. They accounted for more than half of all the people present. They exceeded all expectations as to attendance and worship. As to the latter, they always do. They hit a high water level with the addition of Liz, a talented 15 year old violinist. All are talented but they lead well because they are actually worshiping. They are blessed with great adult leaders too. Thanks in particular to Bobby, Nan, and Bill.

The message was sound and touched souls that had not experienced grace enough of late. The message is about 20 minutes in length and can be heard here: http://gracecommunityatl.org/2012/10/01/we-are-grace-community/. During the sermon the children were discipled well by Sandra Corner and Jordan Mallory. See their handiwork to the right.

Having broken bread together at the Lord’s Table we concluded the afternoon with fellowship and a hot dog supper. Children enjoyed the Park in spite of the steady rain. A good time was had by all.

There are many ways in which to measure something. But my last word is that the entire afternoon was imbued with GRACE. That was the ball we teed up. With His help, I think we got a lot of wood on it.

A sermon preached at the first public service of worship of Grace Community.

We Are Grace Community! (9/30/12)

Church for the Sake of Others AKA C4SO

Poor Dancing. Great Worship