My Blog

Tag: Trinity Episcopal Church Lawrence Kansas

  • 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)


    Ron




    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.

  • More on Raising the Profile of the Episcopal Church

    On April 22, I published an article in which I provided several ideas for raising the profile of The Episcopal Church.  I was thinking that it's not only about raising the profile, it's also about how the profile impacts people.  Is it positive or negative?  For what will The Episcopal Church be known on the community grapevine?

    Then, on Saturday night, May 1, I decided to practice what I was preaching.  I decided to launch a facebook fan page called "Unapologetically Episcopalian."  It is a gathering place to celebrate the many positive ways Episcopalians in 16 nations are spreading the Gospel of Christ.

    In four and one-half days, over three thousand people have subscribed.  I am amazed but, to be honest, not entirely surprised by the response.  During the last three years, I've had opportunities to communicate with Episcopalians of all walks of life and all kinds of places.  The one theme I have heard more than any other is that people on the extreme ends of the spectrum seem to have control of the public image of The Episcopal Church and the vast, vital, moderate center has experienced difficulty in finding its "voice."  Like many of them, I have dear friends and colleagues on both ends of the spectrum.  Whether I agree completely with their views or not, I respect them and desire to walk with them "in love as Christ loved us."

    It is not that The Episcopal Church doesn't have a public profile.  We do.  However, for a number of years it has been out of balance.  Many Episcopalians have felt they needed to apologize for their Church because our internal conflicts and many angry voices have been the topic of the community grapevine.  It seems to me that it's time for the public profile to change.  It needs to change at every level, but especially at the local level where most of the day-to-day mission is being carried out.

    • When people in Lawrence, Kansas think of The Episcopal Church, we'd like them to think of the Trinity Interfaith Food Pantry, the BackSnack program, and the outstanding music ministry, all of which we share generously with our neighbors.
    • When people in City Island, Bronx, NY think of The Episcopal Church, will they think of the Healthy Aging Program at Grace Church?
    • When people in Raliegh, NC think of the Episcopal Church, we want them to remember that St. Mark's Church there has an AIDS Care Team.
    • When people in Tuscaloosa, AL think of The Episcopal Church, maybe they'll be aware of the Arts and Autism after school program they sponsor.
    • When people in Kansas City, MO think of the Episcopal Church, they'll think of the St. Luke's Hospital system with 11 hospitals and a hospice program, or, maybe they'll remember that St. Paul's Church just across the state line in the Diocese of Kansas, has a remarkable ministry of feeding the hungry.
    • Maybe all of those Episcopalians who have found their spiritual home in this Church will be salt, light, and leaven in their communities in ways that make a difference.

    While we are attempting to work through our differences in this Church, God's mission and our ministries continue on a daily basis.  The stories and experiences of ALL sorts and conditions of Episcopalians who are rolling up their sleeves and transforming lives need to find greater expression and form more of the public profile of our Church.  Episcopalians who are trying to find ways to accomplish Christ's work need to hear from other Episcopalians who've discovered solutions.  We need to "rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep" without the angst that comes from protracted, polarizing conflict.  Unapologetically Episcopalian provides a place for that to happen.

    I am not suggesting that our issues and the convictions of our members are not important.  They are important.  What I am suggesting is that the rest of the world is watching closely to see how we treat one another as we work through those differences.  Jesus told his disciples that our love for one another, not our differences, is what will let everyone know that we are his disciples.

    So, I thought it would be a helpful thing to let the spotlight be on the love of Christ at work among us.

    Unapologetically button 1

    Click the Pic to connect with the Unapologetically Episcopalian facebook page.  I invite you to take part!

    Ron

  • 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!

    RDP Short Sig

  • 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."

    Ron

  • 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.

    Ron

  • 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.Ai-spiral

    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).

    Ron

  • Eleven Proven Techniques to Help You Become Depressed and Miserable

    I recently attended a workshop on reconciliation during which Episcopal priest and theologian Michael Battle introduced me to "Eleven Proven Techniques to Help You Become Depressed and Miserable" by Charles B. Beckert, Ph.D.  I commend them to you as part of your Lenten self-examination.

    1. Dwell on past mistakes and failures. This is most effective when you focus on things that cannot be changed.

    2. Set unrealistic expectations for yourself and others. Expect perfection TODAY. This way you can guarantee failure.

    3. Constantly compare yourself with others. To get the most out of this technique, compare your worst traits with their best.

    4. Avoid all involvement and responsibility. It would be unwise to try something new and risk success and satisfaction.

    5. Remain negative and problem oriented. Spend all the energy and effort you can criticizing and judging yourself and others. There are always faults to be found if you look long enough.

    6. Allow yourself and others to be controlled by people and circumstances. This way you can dislike yourself for being weak and others for controlling you.

    7. Internalize and personalize the problems of others. Believe that you are somehow to blame and should have the responsibility to make things right.

    8. Don’t forgive yourself for anything. You deserve to be unhappy. To really suffer,hold long and deep grudges against yourself as further proof of your unworthiness.

    9. Seek isolation and avoid contact with those who care about you. Be cautious and reject any help offered.

    10.Do everything you can to please others. Believe that your personal value depends on their acceptance of you. You might find that compromising your standards and values for someone else will help you feel even worse.

    11.Base your worth as a person on external things. View things as “How you look”(appearance), “What you can do” (performance), and “What you have”(possessions), as measures of your personal value. In other words, love yourself conditionally.

    NOTE: If you really want to be unhappy and miserable, do several of these at the same time. Remember, the more of these you can make a part of your life, the worse you will feel.

    If by chance you are not happy being depressed and miserable, turn each of these statements around and do just the opposite.  You could discover miracle.

  • In this day and age, is gluttony still a sin?

    Sarah Henning, the Features Editor for the Lawrence Journal-World, asked me to respond to a question for "Faith Forum," which is a weekly Saturday column in which two local religious figures share their views on a topic.  The topic for this week is "In this day and age, is gluttony still a sin?"  I suppose the question is related to the season of Lent.  Here is my response:


    If sin is seeking our own will instead of God’s will, thereby distorting our relationship with God, others, and creation itself, and gluttony is overconsumption of the gifts God provides, then in light of what we now know about the impacts of overconsumption, there is more reason than ever to consider gluttony a sin.

    The biblical revelation makes us conscious that we were intended to have a dynamic relationship with our Creator.  The privilege of stewardship is a vocation given to no other creature.  Caring for creation involves consideration for the needs of others.  When my overconsumption (gluttony) results in a shortage of the necessities of life for others whom God also created and loves, my relationship with God, other people, and creation is distorted.

    As much as 64% of the adult U.S. population is overweight.  One-third are obese. The chief causes are simple: eating more food than the body needs, drinking too much alcohol, and getting too little exercise.  The impact on healthcare alone is startling. Studies indicate that increases in the prevalence of obesity in the U.S. accounts for 12% of the growth in health spending.

    Our appetites are enormous in a world where people are starving. The World Health Organization estimates that one-third of the world is well-fed, one-third is under-fed, and one-third is starving.  During the time you’ve been reading this, at least 200 people have died of starvation. Over 4 million will die this year.

    This condition is a distortion of God’s vision. To live my life in a gluttonous way contributes to the perpetuation of the distortion.  So, yes, gluttony is still a sin.  Since I’m 20 lb. overweight, I’m among the sinners and need to repent. Better stewardship of the body God has given me expresses love for God and for my neighbor.

    Ron


    P.S. The following sources were helpful to me in preparing my response and I commend them to others who are exploring the relationship between gluttony, obesity, and world hunger.

    Obesity in America

    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

    An End to World Hunger: Hope for the Future

    World Health Organization: Millennium Development Goals

  • Congratulations! Keep moving.

    The official feast day for the Transfiguration of Our Lord is August 6.  Since it is normally not on a Sunday, it doesn't get much attention.  However, the planners of the Sunday lectionary have placed the Transfiguration on the Last Sunday After the Epiphany each year.  You can read Luke's account here.

    Peter, James, and John were with Jesus on the mountaintop when they saw this itinerant rabbi in a whole new light. It was one of the most powerful and numinous of all the manifestations of Jesus as the Messiah.  They heard the voice of God confirming the divine nature and mission of the Only Begotten.

    The appearance of Moses the Lawgiver and Elijah the Prophet assure us that Jesus was the One who had come to fulfill the Law and the Prophets.  It was as if Moses and Elijah were passing their ministries on to Jesus the Messiah for him to complete. 

    Peter's suggestion that they build dwellings and take up residence in the experience reminds us of our tendency to want to stop the procession.  When something wonderful happens, we feel as if it can't get any better than this and we want to preserve everything just the way it is.  But Jesus had to come down from the mountain, respond to human need, and face the cross.  Mountaintop experiences have their place.  But there is always more to be done in the mission to which we are called.

    I once heard about a university commencement in which the president's lapel microphone remained on as he was presenting the diplomas to the graduates, broadcasting his voice as he said to each one of them, "Congratulations!  Keep moving."

    Perhaps that is a message for us when we have an epiphany, a mountaintop experience.  It is an important and wonderful thing, but not an end in itself.  We draw inspiration and derive courage from it and we keep moving toward new opportunities God is preparing for us to walk in.  "Congratulations!  Keep moving."

    Ron

  • Networking

    Next Sunday's gospel is Luke 5:1-11.  It is the story of Jesus' encounter with Simon, James, and John on the shore of Lake Gennesaret (the Sea of Galilee).  You might want to read the story here to refresh your memory of their miraculous catch of fish and how Jesus told them they would be catching people.

    The Greek word zogron, which means "catching," was commonly used of teachers: they "caught" their students and brought them new life. At dinner one evening, my wife, Gay, who is a high school English teacher, was talking about a new data projector she had been issued by her school.  She explained how she can project a movie on an entire classroom wall for the students to watch and she described their response to a movie she wanted them to see.  One of our dinner companions exclaimed, "You caught them!"  That is what Jesus means when he says to Simon, James, and John, "don't be afraid; from now on you will be catching people."

    The sense in which the followers of Jesus are called to "catch" people has to do with inclusion in a redemptive, prophetic, community of faith.  We are woven into a network.  Someone has said, "Christianity is more easily caught than taught." Another person expressed it like this, "We belong before we believe."Enhanced_organ_plus_cross_pipes_etc  Our life and witness as disciples, students, followers of Jesus Christ is not done in isolation either from Jesus or from the community of faith.

    The First Baptist Church of Austin, Texas is remarkable for its progressive faith and its architecture.  It is one of the few Southern Baptist Churches with the pulpit on the side instead of in the center.  A large communion table sits in the center, surrounded by seats.  Rising above the table in a recessed area are about four stories of organ pipes.  And draped in the opening in front of the pipes are two enormous fish nets.  I don't know that I've ever seen a more powerful reminder of the network of disciples Jesus has called to carry on his work in the world.

    As we live and grow in our relationship with him and with one another, we are woven into this amazingly strong and reliable net that the Lover of our souls casts out into the world so that his love manifested among us may catch others, draw them in, and give them life.  This net really works!

    Ron