Category: Theological e-piphanies

Who exemplifies Christ’s humility?

Today I was reflecting on a favorite passage of scripture, Philippians 2:1-11, sometimes called the "Philippians Hymn" or the "Kenosis (meaning "emptying") Hymn." The writer exhorts Christians to conduct themselves toward one another with humility and to have the same mind as Christ.

Who, I wondered, have I known that exemplifies such humility as described in this passage?

In a split second, a person and a situation came to mind. In a way, it was a very small thing, almost imperceptible, but at the time it touched me and cemented my respect for this gracious person.

Gay and I were being introduced to the Vestry at Christ Church Cathedral in Houston. We had been visiting with the Dean, Walter H. Taylor, and his wife Mary. When it was time to go into the room where the Vestry was gathered, as we started through the doorway all four of us were together. But when we arrived in the room, Mary was not with us. The instant I realized she had waited out in the hallway, I knew why she did it. She wanted us to be the entire focus of the Vestry's attention. It was a simple, but profoundly thoughtful and gracious gesture on her part. I've never forgotten it nor have I forgotten the lesson Mary taught me. She stepped back so that we could step up!

Mary's gesture that evening exemplified Christian humility of the sort described in the Philippians Hymn and particularly the fourth verse, "Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others."

Who have you known that exemplifies Christian humility? Who in your life has stepped back so you could step up? How has their example touched your life and taught you a lesson you needed to learn?

It's something to think about.

July 29, 2010
Hunger never takes a vacation.

We're having a special emphasis on relieving hunger at our church this Sunday. We're calling it "Loaves and Fishes Sunday." Leaders of our Trinity Interfaith Food Pantry will provide inspirational talks at both services and educational materials at the receptions that follow in the Parish Hall.

The idea for this summertime emphasis comes from St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church in Granby, Colorado, where my family and I have worshiped from time to time. They realized that donations of food and funds to fight hunger drop during the summer months while people are on vacation. Yet hunger never takes a vacation! Therefore, this is an important time of year to ask people to be mindful of our Lord's call to feed the hungry.

Our three-year Revised Common Lectionary includes the story of the Loaves and Fishes as told by Matthew in Year A and as told by John in Year B. However, for some reason, Luke's version (Luke 9:10-17) is skipped in Year C. So, in order to set this up as an annual emphasis, I petitioned the Bishop of Kansas to allow us to use the story of the Loaves and Fishes from the Gospel of Luke instead of the Gospel reading appointed in the lectionary for this Sunday.

The story of the Loaves and Fishes is the only miracle story that is recounted in all four of the Gospels and it carries a powerful message. Here's the gist of it:

• The disciples come to Jesus with a problem – the people need food.
• Jesus told them, "You give them something to eat."
• The disciples protest that there isn't enough food.
• Jesus told them to "Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each."
• Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, blessed and broke them, then gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.
• All ate and were filled.
• There were twelve baskets of leftovers.

The lesson: When we place what seems not enough in the hands of Jesus, he transforms scarcity into abundance to fulfill his mission.

We place our contribution and our commitment into the hands of Christ. He adds his blessing and returns them to our hands, multiplied, so we can carry out his mission. Recognition of our inadequacy is the first step, but never the last. That recognition reminds us that God's work is always humanly impossible and prompts us to trust him to add everything needed to make us adequate to the task. Without him we can do nothing!

So, on Loaves and Fishes Sunday, we are aware of the immensity of the problem of hunger in the world, in our nation, and in our community. It is overwhelming to realize that in 3.8 million U.S. households, (3.5 percent of all U.S. households) one or more household members were hungry at least some time during the year because they could not afford enough food. We feel inadequate to even make a dent in the problem, Jesus. And yet he says, "You give them something to eat." So we bring what we have – food from our pantries, funds from our pockets, the work of our hands – and give it to him. He will take it, break it, bless it, and give it back to us to share, with the promise that because it is his work that is being done, there will be more than enough.

Let's try it and see what happens.

June 24, 2010
The Most Resilient of the Resilient

In September of 2008, Galveston Island was inundated by Hurricane Ike. Two and one-half feet of salt water (infused with who knows what else) covered our lot.

The following spring, I was amazed at the resiliency of the trees, shrubs, grass, and other plants in our gardens. I posted photographs on this blog of the blooming things as evidence.

Then, last winter, we had a hard freeze in Galveston. We had a hard freeze in Lawrence too, where I have been working. The freeze in Galveston was not kind to the tropical and semi-tropical plants. When I was in Galveston two months ago, I felt heartsick over the damage the freeze had done to our gardens.

Today, Gay and I pulled into the driveway in Galveston and were greeted by a happy sight. Several of our hibiscus plants, which had been cut back, have new growth from around the roots. And, a duranta is blooming its heart out, as if it is the cheerleader for all the other plants.

I'm amazed at the extent of resiliency of the plants in our gardens. To paraphrase Jesus, if this is possible with the plant world, who knows what might be possible with human beings, with whom God has a very special relationship?

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
   the moon
and the stars that you have established;

⁴ what are
human beings that you are mindful of them,
   mortals^*
that you care for them?
⁵ Yet you
have made them a little lower than God,^*
   and
crowned them with glory and honour.

⁶ You have
given them dominion over the works of your hands.

                                                                -Psalm 8:3-6a

Human beings are the most resilient of the resilient! Maybe you'd like to be a hibiscus or a duranta. I'll take my chances as a human being any day.

June 17, 2010
When it really matters, we discipline ourselves.
When something really matters, we discipline ourselves to take care of it.
- In relationships that matter, we make time for others, stay in touch, remember birthdays, give gifts.
- In work that matters, we arrive on time, do our best, take pride in the product or service, maintain loyalty.
- In regard to the environment, we conserve natural resources, refrain from polluting, use recycled materials.
- In regard to family, we show up for meals, we contribute, we encourage each other, we protect, we provide, we help each other grow physically, spiritually, and intellectually.
- In athletic competition, we wear team logos and apparel, attend games, tune in for broadcasts, cheer without restraint, and, if we're on the team, we show up for practice, train, and do our part for the team.
- In regard to our health, we maintain an exercise routine, get plenty of rest, avoid foods and other substances that are harmful, have regular checkups.
Why are we willing to discipline ourselves? Because these things matter and we are human beings. Humans have this amazing ability to take care of what's important. Christians call it "stewardship." We believe we were given this ability by our Creator in the very beginning.

It is often easy to discipline ourselves. But sometimes it is difficult. When we experience the difficulty, it is an opportunity to fully engage the gift of stewardship that other creatures do not have. Other creatures are limited mostly by instinct and conditioning. Humans are not. Humans have the ability to create something new, to act with purpose, to agree or disagree, to decide how to respond, to have complex two-way communication with each other and with the Creator. To be "only human" is to be the crowning glory of God's creation! To be "only human" is to be a member of the only race that has the vocation and privilege of stewardship.

I recently officiated at the funeral of a gentleman from our church. He was a top-flight accountant, churchman, family man, and community leader throughout his long life. On the way home from the cemetery, his family shared a photocopy of a card they found in his wallet. The card contained this prayer:

O Heavenly Father, who by Thy Son Jesus Christ hast taught us that all our possessions are a trust from Thee: Help me to be a faithful steward of my time, my talents, and my wealth, and gladly consecrate to Thy service all that Thou hast given me; and may I have grace to give myself to Thee. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

By this prayer, this man disciplined himself to be not just a steward, but a faithful one.

Let us take inventory of all that has been entrusted to us, especially those things that matter most. Then, let us ask God to help us be disciplined in how generously and faithfully we take care of this sacred trust.
June 3, 2010
Reflections on Ascension Day

I'm in a highly theological mood today as I meditate on the significance of the Ascension of our Savior Jesus Christ.

It occurs to me that the Nativity and the Ascension are bookends. The bodily ascension of Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, completes what was begun in his Nativity. God became as we are so that we might become as God is. An Orthodox hymn says, "Today has God come down to earth, and man gone
up to heaven."

The Incarnation, in its fullness, is God's supreme act of deliverance, which restores us to communion with God. But more is happening here than fixing something that was broken. Humanity is also advanced to a new level. There is a new creation!

In Jesus Christ, fully human and fully divine, we are able to see the possibilities of human nature and the implications of personhood, lived in the image and likeness of God. We are not only saved from our sins, we are saved for that
life – eternal life, the life God lives.

Medieval theologians made a distinction between the image and likeness of God. The former referred to a natural, innate resemblance to God and the latter referred to the moral attributes that were lost in the fall. In the Incarnation, those moral attributes are realized in the first perfect human, Jesus Christ. His earthly ministry is the beginning of a new creation and we are the beneficiaries. "For as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ" (I Cor. 15:22).

The saving work of the Incarnate One, including his being taken bodily into the heavenly realm, is more than a reversal of the fall and restoration of our original state of innocence. Joined to him in Baptism, we live his life as new creatures through whom God's will may be done "on earth as it is in heaven."

     Thou hast raised our human nature on the clouds to God's right hand:
        there we sit in heavenly places, there with thee in glory stand.
     Jesus reigns, adored by angels; Man with God is on the throne;
        mighty Lord, in thine ascension we by faith behold our own.

        Christopher Wordsworth (1807-1884)

P.S. You may have difficulty accepting the Ascension as an historical
event. It does sound far-fetched in light of scientific knowledge.
However, recent advances in scientific knowledge have caused us to think of
matter and energy in different terms. For example, new science tells us that our bodies are made up of the
dust and ashes of stars that burned out billions of years ago. If that is the case, the Incarnation and all the mysteries associated with it may not seem so far-fetched after all.

May 13, 2010
Do you have a corporate relationship with God?

Theologian Michael Battle recently lectured at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Mission, Kansas. He spoke to us of growing up in a culture where he often heard the question, "Do you have personal relationship with Jesus Christ?" In reflecting on that question, he said that an equally important a even more biblically significant question is, "Do you have a corporate relationship with Jesus Christ?"

In our post-Modern age when we are beginning to shed some of the enlightenment emphasis on the individual, this is a "word in due season."

I was reminded of the importance of our corporate relationship with Jesus Christ last Sunday when Bishop Wolfe spoke to the vestry about his concern over the decline in worship attendance in the Diocese of Kansas and across the Church. His concerns resonate with my own! Let me share five reasons why.

• The first three Commandments tell us to love and obey God and to bring others to know him; to put nothing in the place of God; and to show God respect in thought, word, and deed.

• Jesus' summary of the Law tells us to Love God with all our heart, mind, and soul.

• Together, we have entered into and repeatedly reaffirmed our covenant relationship with God in Christ. The Baptismal promises we make for ourselves and on behalf of our children involve the promise to "continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers."

• Our Catechism teaches us that "The duty of all Christians is to follow Christ; to come together week by week for corporate worship; and to work, pray, and give for the spread of the kingdom of God."

• Christianity is meant to be shared. It is a corporate faith and corporate worship is our duty, our joy, and our opportunity to know God in the company of God's covenant people. When we gather for worship we are formed spiritually into Christ's body, nourished with God's grace in Word and Sacrament, and sent back into the world in God's mission "to represent Christ and his Church" and to "bear witness to him wherever we may be." There are many ways to know, love, and serve God. Worship is the first of these ways and, in God's administrative policy, it is not optional. It is who we are and how we live.

So, let us heed the exhortation of the Letter to the Hebrews: "And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching." – Hebrews 10:24-25.

I'll see you in Church!

April 29, 2010
Rush to Judgment

We all use judgment every day as we make and enact decisions, form and express opinions, determine and embrace truth. Judgment is a process as well as the actions we take on the basis of the outcome of that process.

Here's the Webster's definition of judgment:

The process of forming an opinion or evaluation by discerning and comparing; an opinion or estimate so formed; the capacity for judging; DISCERNMENT; the exercise of this capacity; a proposition stating something believed or asserted.

Most of us make reasonably good judgments most of the time. Problems arise when our judgments are faulty, wrong, or premature. It's the premature ones that are on my mind today.

When we reach a judgment with too little discernment or investigation, we speak or act out on the basis of ignorance. The position we have formed is not correctly oriented toward reality or is lacking in factual basis. A rush to judgment is often referred to as prejudice, especially when it involves an individual or group of individuals. It is harmful to relationships when opinions toward other people are formed and expressed in ways that discredit, disrespect, or demean them. Something similar happens when our premature judgment has to do with a policy or viewpoint. And, when prejudice involves both policies and the people who espouse or enact them, the consequences can be serious.

In a recent television series, a character made a statement that goes something like this: "Eternal ignorance is a result of failure to investigate." I asked my Facebook network if anyone knew the origin of the statement, because it sounded like a quotation to me. One of my friends shared a quotation from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous.

"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance – that principle is contempt prior to investigation."

The concept expressed in that statement has become a part of the A.A. way of life. It is often attributed to Herbert Spencer, although others believe it is derived from the writings of 18th Century British theologian William Paley.

Someone I once knew described prejudice as "a blend of arrogance and ignorance." When I asked him to expand on that for me, he said, "it's when you are proud of what you don't know."

We owe it to our neighbors, whom we are called to love, to avoid rushing to judgment and to resist the primitive human inclination toward prejudice. Prejudging others is behavior that is contrary to the vow we have taken in the Baptismal Covenant:

Q: Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?

A: I will, with God's help.

Overcoming the tendency to rush to judgment has to be intentional. Jesus offered some sound wisdom on the matter:

"Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbour’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbour, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye', while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbour’s eye." – Matthew 7:1-5

Stephen Covey puts it this way in Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, "Seek first to understand, then to be understood."

It is a simple principle. Yet our own experience and observation tells us it is difficult to apply. That's why our answer is, "I will, with God's help." If we could accomplish it on our own, we wouldn't need God. Prejudice is an offense against God because it is harmful to others and stems from a disregard for God's influence in our lives. As such, it is practical atheism – we say we believe in God, but he just doesn't have much to do with how we live our lives.

Why is this on my mind today? There are probably several reasons, but the main reason is a man who recently told me the story of how he embraced the Christian faith under the influence of Christian missionaries in his African village. When he came to America to attend a university, he encountered racial prejudice. He was so shocked that he believed the missionaries had lied to him and he rejected his faith. I had the privilege of presenting him to the bishop for Confirmation last Sunday.

While the story has a happy ending, I have to wonder how many others have been so hurt by prejudice – any kind of prejudice – that they have rejected Christianity and will never return.

So, let us pray today for the humility to look beneath the surface of our own limited perceptions in our search for truth and that all people – not just those who govern – may be led to "wise decisions and right actions for the welfare and peace of the world."

April 29, 2010
Raising the Profile of the Church

Recently, I was asked how I would go about raising the profile of the Episcopal Church. It was a brief conversation and there was much I could have said that the time and context did not permit. There is much that can and should be said about the topic and I am certain much of it will apply to other churches just as well as the Episcopal Church. For starters…

Focus on the Mission. ~ This will require overcoming the tendency to dwell too much on internal issues. Differences over race, war, human sexuality, and the language of worship have consumed enormous amounts of time and spiritual energy for the last half-century. When those outside our Church think of us, what do you suppose comes to mind. If they are honest, they might tell us things that reflect an inward focus and a preoccupation with differences. What if, instead, they were to tell us about where they have seen us reaching out to others with the love of Christ? I encourage my congregation to turn facing the doors of the church at the end of the service. When the Deacon gives the dismissal near the Baptismal Font and the doors that lead out into the world, we are reminded of the Great Commission to "Go into all the world…" We came here today to be fed in Word and Sacrament so that we would be equipped and nourished to return to the good works God "has prepared for us to walk in." Those red doors we are so proud of open outward!

Stop apologizing, roll up your sleeves, and get to work. ~ Who wants to come to a Church whose members talk about how we don't have much Bible study, don't all look and think alike, or don't have many children or youth. We have much to offer! Our Church is grounded in a tradition that embraces diversity, exults in artistic expression, loves beautiful liturgy and music, encourages people to think and wonder, and regularly asks God to "make us faithful stewards of thy bounty." I once got so tired of hearing people apologize for being Episcopalians that I considered a campaign with bumper stickers and buttons that read "Unapologetically Episcopalian." Remember the Johnny Mercer song?

You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between

You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene

Learn to live with change. ~ Here's how some people think of us. Q: How many Episcopalians does it take to change a lightbulb? A: Four. One to change the bulb and three to sit around talking about how much we liked the old one. We are a Church that has high anxiety about and strong resistance to change. That is difficult to reconcile with a faith whose founder's core message was metanoeite! – repent! Turn your life around! Change! Inability to change interferes with life in the kingdom of God. We also live in an era of rapid change. Organizations and individuals who lack agility and are slow to change are left behind. The needs and opportunities around us change daily and if our response does not change we will fail in our mission.

Tell the story. ~ Don't be shy about it! It is the greatest story ever told and it must find expression in your life and mine "wherever we may be." We had a Discovery Class last weekend to prepare several people for the Laying on of Hands when the Bishop comes to visit. One man was raised in Nigeria near the border with Cameroon. When he came to America, he gave up on Christianity because the he felt that the missionaries had lied to him by not telling him about racism in this country. When he came to Lawrence, he felt called back to Christianity but was not able to find a community of faith that was right for him. So, one day, he was thinking about his friend, Garth. He said, "I want a faith like Garth's. So, I asked Garth where he went to Church and he told me about Trinity Episcopal Church. I've been coming here ever since and now I want to belong." How did Garth tell the story? He lived it! Perhaps his approach is an illustration of St. Francis' admonition, "Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words."

Be redundant. ~ In carrying out the mission and telling the story, we have to be redundant. That's not so hard to do when you realize the media available to us. Social networking, electronic newsletters, interactive blogs and websites, video recording, public appearances, interviews with broadcast and print media, and innovative use of our physical locations are but a few ways to spread the word. Some congregations with active environmental stewardship teams put the church emblem on reusable shopping bags with a message such as "Caring for God's Creation." We have to be more assertive about getting the message across. Jesus promised that we would do even greater works than he did. When we think of the abundance of resources at our disposal to do his work and deliver his redemptive and life giving message, we can see the truth of his promise.

Here's a video about "The Missional Church" that may help tie these thoughts together as we consider how to raise the profile of the Church.

One thing is for sure: no one of us can do it alone! The first thing Jesus did was to form a community and the last thing he did before his Ascension was to commission that community to continue his work in the world by involving others in it.

April 22, 2010
What in God’s Name is Going on Here?

That's the question The Rev. Dr. Rob Voyle asks whenever he walks into a church. Voyle is an Episcopal Priest, transitional minister, consultant, and leader of one of the top interim minister training programs. He explains the significance of his question in this description of the first time he asked it in a sermon at a church in transition:

What the question had raised in the minds of the people was the unintelligible gossip, or everything that was going on that was not in God's Name. What I am most interested in however is the real answer to the questions: Where is God at work in your midst? Where do you find God? Where do you see God acting in your life and in the lives of your fellow parishioners? Or in other words; What in God's name is going on here?

Voyle is a leader in the development and use of appreciative coaching in his work with clergy. He describes Appreciative Inquiry as a congregational development process:

Where the Church and its leaders are a mystery to be embraced rather than a problem to be solved. Our Purpose is to transform the Church from being a place of fear to a place of love, where duty and obligation become passion and delight, threat and intimidation are replaced by freedom and joy, and mediocrity is redeemed to competent excellence.

Appreciative Inquiry, founded by David Cooperrider, is the model Dr. Voyle uses in coaching clergy and congregational leaders. It is based on the idea of discovering what works and gives life to an organization and building on these life-giving properties.

This model follows a process of inquiry to discover people's best experience as a basis for imagining a future and designing the processes and structures that will make the imagined future a reality. In other words, it is a process that asks, "What in God's Name is going on here?" and concentrates on the discoveries in the lives of parishioners, rather than on problems or deficits. It is less prone to initiating a negative, blaming, and judgmental atmosphere. Or, in other words, it is NOT focused on what is going on that is NOT in God's Name!

Dr. Voyle describes Appreciative Inquiry as a five phase (5D) process:

1. Define: Committing to the Positive
2. Discover: Valuing the Best of What Is
3. Dream: Visioning the Ideal
4. Design: Dialoguing What Needs to Be
5. Deliver: Innovating What Will Be

Dr. Voyle is presenting a workshop, Appreciative Inquiry for Vestries and Church Leaders at several locations in the Midwest, including one sponsored by the Diocese of Kansas on April 24 at St. David's in Topeka. The Very Rev. Steve Lipscomb, Dean of Grace Cathedral in Topeka, says this workshop is designed for vestry members and church leaders of churches:

• wanting to discover their purpose and grow their sense of mission;
• in transition and are seeking new rectors;
• that need to embrace the future rather than run from the past; and
• that want to grow in the love and joy of being children of God.

We have been quietly applying Appreciative Inquiry during this time of transition at Trinity Church in Lawrence, Kansas. In contrast to the old model of interim ministry as maintaining the status quo between rectors, we have been discovering places in the life of the parish where people are encountering God and opening hearts and minds to a future grounded in those positive faith experiences of its people.

I find it all very hopeful! "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jer. 29:11).

April 15, 2010
Now The Green Blade Rises

Three weeks ago, the Lawn of Trinity Church in Lawrence, Kansas, where I'm serving as Interim, was covered with snow. Then, during Easter Week, the snow was gone and the grass is amazingly green. I'm reminded one of my favorite Easter hymns, Now the Green Blade Rises. Take a moment to read these wonderful words of new life, hope, and springtime:

Now the green blade rises from the buried grain,
Wheat that in the dark earth many years has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

In the grave they laid Him, Love Whom we had slain,
Thinking that He’d never wake to life again,
Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

Up He sprang at Easter, like the risen grain,
He that for three days in the grave had lain;
Up from the dead my risen Lord is seen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

When our hearts are saddened, grieving or in pain,
By Your touch You call us back to life again;
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

We all know those seasons of life when things seem frozen, lifeless, hopeless, or entirely unfair. Easter is God's word of hope that life and love will triumph over all that. In the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, we find that news most perfectly expressed.

May the Great Fifty Days of Easter be filled with reminders of that good news. And, beyond that, may we all be Easter People throughout the year, bringing that message of hope to others.

Enjoy this video of the Midland Lutheran College Choir singing Now the Green Blade Rises.

April 8, 2010