by Andrew Tatum
In many ways, I think, our understanding of what it means to be human (and by us I mean Westerners) is inherently related to an understanding of the imago dei - even if some people won't claim that relation. When we think of what it means to be human, we often turn to the idea of human capacities.
Hans Reinders, in Receiving the Gift of Friendship, reminds us that this view of humanity as related to human capacity is - unfortunately - directly connected to historical Christian conceptions of the imago dei. In other words, any Christian effort to insist that "people with profound intellectual disabilities are people just like other people" on the basis of the imago dei is bound to disappointed with what it finds.
Reinders notes that in his research on the imago dei, he found that the theological support for a capacity-oriented imago dei was broad and deep within the Christian tradition - and not only the Christian tradition:
"Personally, I have great respect for people who live profoundly disabled lives. But can one even say that? Are the people living such lives the proper object of respect? Any contemporary textbook on ethics will explain to its readers that they owe respect to all human beings, because of their capacity for reason and will. These textbooks do not say this because they are contemporary; readers will find the same view in all major Western thinkers, from Kant back to Aquinas to Augustine to Aristotle, to name a few. One only need substitute "rational soul" for "human being," and one will find the proof of this claim."
Reinders, of course, wants to counter this claim that our humanity or our lives as the imago dei are necessarily related to human capacity. In working through these claims, I am more than willing to go along with Reinders - but in a different direction that he is going. I want to say that our humanity is constituted by our relation to other people and to God and, thus, that none of us are fully human unless we participate in life with others and with God. Of course, this could be a dangerous move because it could lead to the oppression of those who do not understand "right relation to God and others" in the way in which I do. This is something that I'll have to deal with. But the further claim that I am inclined to make is that "right relation with God and others" is forged primarily in the fire of gathered liturgical celebration. Therefore, I have some questions. Implied in each of these is the question of how "historic Christianity" has asked and answered these questions.
Three interrelated questions on Liturgy and Human Disability:
1. In what ways can liturgy shape our understanding of what it means to be human?
2. In what ways can liturgy serve as a means of faith formation?
3. In what ways can the inclusion of disabled persons in the liturgical celebration of Christian communities become mutually edifying and spiritually formative?
Andrew Tatum is the youth minister at Centenary United Methodist Church in Smithfield, North Carolina and a student at Campbell University Divinity School. This post is taken from his blog, Methobaptist Musings, where he reflects on being a Baptist in a Methodist setting, and writes on matters of theology, culture and church.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
The Bribing of Converts
by Rev. Laura Barclay
As relief pours into Haiti from a variety of religious groups and the transition to long term aid begins, fundamentalists from a variety of backgrounds are clashing over beliefs. CNN reports some Christians are throwing stones at Vodou (also called Voodoo, a syncretic religion borne out of West African religions and Catholicism) practitioners during their ceremonies and defacing their altars. It’s very disconcerting that followers of Christ would turn to violence and disrespect in the name of God. I recently heard a pastor make the statement that when Paul went to Athens and was discouraged at the presence of local religious practices, he learned Athenian wisdom and culture from the Epicureans and Stoics and then debated the issue in front of the Areopagus, as the locals would (Acts 17). Paul respected the traditions of the Athenians and learned their ways, meeting them on equal terms as a show of deference.
The CNN article alludes to the fact that those throwing stones are Christian Haitians. It would be easy to say that violence and aggression are by-products of poverty and tragedy. But when you peel back the layers of this story, a disturbing trend begins to emerge. One pastor from Miami states:
“We would give food to the needy in the short term but if they refuse to give up Voodoo, I’m not sure we would continue to support them in the long term because we wouldn’t want to perpetuate that practice. We equate it with witchcraft, which is contrary to the gospel.”
This pastor is offering food for conversion, a manipulative prospect. Instead of witnessing the boundless hospitality of Christ, converts from external missions are learning to devalue the culture out of which they came to the point that they are ready to stone their neighbors who have not become Christians. This dangle-the-carrot type of missions is abhorrent, and is leading to conflict in this already ravaged nation.
In a previous post, I highlighted the work of ABC/CBF field personnel Steve and Nancy James for their diligent work as followers of Christ, providing medical attention and needed services. They were in Haiti before this tragedy occurred, and they will be there after, providing physical and spiritual healing without a time limit or a threat to deny aid. That is the example of Jesus—working for justice and exhibiting love and healing in the name of God. Wouldn’t the best way of sharing your experience with God be to love God and your neighbor unconditionally as God loves us?
Interested in continued support for Haiti in this time of great need? Read about the James' work in Haiti, learn about volunteering, or donate.
As relief pours into Haiti from a variety of religious groups and the transition to long term aid begins, fundamentalists from a variety of backgrounds are clashing over beliefs. CNN reports some Christians are throwing stones at Vodou (also called Voodoo, a syncretic religion borne out of West African religions and Catholicism) practitioners during their ceremonies and defacing their altars. It’s very disconcerting that followers of Christ would turn to violence and disrespect in the name of God. I recently heard a pastor make the statement that when Paul went to Athens and was discouraged at the presence of local religious practices, he learned Athenian wisdom and culture from the Epicureans and Stoics and then debated the issue in front of the Areopagus, as the locals would (Acts 17). Paul respected the traditions of the Athenians and learned their ways, meeting them on equal terms as a show of deference.
The CNN article alludes to the fact that those throwing stones are Christian Haitians. It would be easy to say that violence and aggression are by-products of poverty and tragedy. But when you peel back the layers of this story, a disturbing trend begins to emerge. One pastor from Miami states:
“We would give food to the needy in the short term but if they refuse to give up Voodoo, I’m not sure we would continue to support them in the long term because we wouldn’t want to perpetuate that practice. We equate it with witchcraft, which is contrary to the gospel.”
This pastor is offering food for conversion, a manipulative prospect. Instead of witnessing the boundless hospitality of Christ, converts from external missions are learning to devalue the culture out of which they came to the point that they are ready to stone their neighbors who have not become Christians. This dangle-the-carrot type of missions is abhorrent, and is leading to conflict in this already ravaged nation.
In a previous post, I highlighted the work of ABC/CBF field personnel Steve and Nancy James for their diligent work as followers of Christ, providing medical attention and needed services. They were in Haiti before this tragedy occurred, and they will be there after, providing physical and spiritual healing without a time limit or a threat to deny aid. That is the example of Jesus—working for justice and exhibiting love and healing in the name of God. Wouldn’t the best way of sharing your experience with God be to love God and your neighbor unconditionally as God loves us?
Interested in continued support for Haiti in this time of great need? Read about the James' work in Haiti, learn about volunteering, or donate.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Good News Doesn't Make Everyone Happy, Part 2
by Rev. Dr. Tim Moore
My children have been in our public schools for the past 6 years at Cotswold Elementary, a diverse school, where their classmates have been almost even numbers of white and black students with a smaller portion of Hispanic immigrants. My children are richer because they have friends who immigrated from Venezuela and Guatemala, because they’ve had the chance to befriend a Muslim boy from Russia, because they’ve attended parties just across the street from this sanctuary and their own birthday parties have looked like the world King dreamed of from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
This is an example of what can happen when parents and teachers from different racial and ethnic and economic classes come together for the common good of all. Unfortunately, I’ve watched Cotswold become a rare school in [Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools] during these six years as the school system as a whole has virtually resegregated. Most schools in our system now either have high concentrations of white students or black students.
When we did away with busing to integrate our schools we gave up the idea that we should all share the responsibility to educate the at-risk student, the child who lives in poverty, the student with behavioral issues, the pupil whose parents do not help her with homework and leave the TV on all day and let her stay up till midnight. All of us, black, white, Hispanic, rich, poor, we used to share in that responsibility. Now, it’s every school for themselves, every neighborhood out to protect their school boundaries. And more and more white and upper income families are just opting out for private school.
What is even more alarming is how this has happened with hardly a word of protest. The school board is even considering doing away with the citizens council for school equity. One board member simply called it a relic.
If Dr. King were alive today would he drive through our city of beautiful churches and ask, “What kind of people worship here? Who is their God?” Where were they when public school resegregated and relegated thousands of students to a poor education with inexperienced teachers and rowdy classrooms?
Every child deserves a quality education, but that good news must be carried on a cross by all of us. And that’s not going to make everyone happy.
We have to will things to be different. The privileged have to be willing to sacrifice some of their perks. The poor have to be willing learn new ways. If we are not willing to sacrifice some things for each other, then noble ideas and lofty hopes will just be artwork hung in a museum for us to admire.
We have to stop caring just about ourselves and our people – however we define our people – and start working for the betterment of all of us. We have to become less tribal and more open to our neighbor.
This is a task that has confounded humans for centuries. The prejudices that continue to divide our nation and the body of Christ are as wide as the earth is round and as old as human nature. It seems there is an innate tribalism within human beings. We mistrust the outsider, the other. Xenophobia, fear of the foreigner, runs in our veins.
This sin of tribalism is within all of us. I have to confess that I am a recovering racist and a recovering male chauvinist pig, a recovering nationalist and a recovering elitist. I cannot claim a cure, but like the recovering alcoholic, everyday I have a task – to love my neighbor as myself. This is not easy. Everyday we hit moments where we might prejudge people based on their gender, race, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other matters that group people.
Just the other day I was in line at a lunch counter and I was in a bit of a hurry and right in front of me were two Hispanic women who I soon realized were struggling some with their English. And I thought why did I have to get behind these women on a day when I’m in a hurry?
Well, a moment later another worker came to the counter and started taking my order, so now I was between the these Hispanic women and I could easily hear everything that was going on between them and the workers taking their orders. One of the women was having problems understanding how much her sandwich cost, which I could understand. I have three college degrees and a solid command of the English language and sometimes I can’t understand the menus at this lunch place. But the worker, who was actually the manager, was clearly annoyed with her and began being rude to her.
A couple minutes later after we’d all paid, the women sat down at a table and I prepared to leave with my to-go order. I looked back up at the counter and noticed no one was in line at the moment. So, I went back up, and told the manager that he’d been very rude to that customer. He apologized, but I said, “I’m not the one you should apologize to.”
I could have left the store feeling a little self-righteous, if I hadn’t realized something. I should have also thanked him. Part of my anger at his rudeness was caused by my shame for the impatience I had with the women in the first place and my apathy of minding my own business when I should have offered to help her understand the menu. He reminded me that I’m a recovering racist and recovering elitist and I’m called to everyday to love my neighbor as myself.
Jesus stood before his hometown people and said:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor."
And they loved hearing him say those things until they realized he meant that good news for them and for people not like them and then they turned on him.
Good news doesn’t make everyone happy, because God’s good news must be carried on a cross. AMEN
This is the conclusion of a two-part series that began Tuesday (scroll down to see Part 1). Tim Moore is the pastor of Sardis Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC. This series was adapted from a sermon Rev. Moore delivered on January 31, 2010. This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Greensboro and Winston-Salem sit-ins of February 1960, where black and white students sat at Woolworth's lunch counters and refused to move. Let us take this time to renew our commitment to social justice as an outward expression of love for our neighbor.
My children have been in our public schools for the past 6 years at Cotswold Elementary, a diverse school, where their classmates have been almost even numbers of white and black students with a smaller portion of Hispanic immigrants. My children are richer because they have friends who immigrated from Venezuela and Guatemala, because they’ve had the chance to befriend a Muslim boy from Russia, because they’ve attended parties just across the street from this sanctuary and their own birthday parties have looked like the world King dreamed of from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
This is an example of what can happen when parents and teachers from different racial and ethnic and economic classes come together for the common good of all. Unfortunately, I’ve watched Cotswold become a rare school in [Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools] during these six years as the school system as a whole has virtually resegregated. Most schools in our system now either have high concentrations of white students or black students.
When we did away with busing to integrate our schools we gave up the idea that we should all share the responsibility to educate the at-risk student, the child who lives in poverty, the student with behavioral issues, the pupil whose parents do not help her with homework and leave the TV on all day and let her stay up till midnight. All of us, black, white, Hispanic, rich, poor, we used to share in that responsibility. Now, it’s every school for themselves, every neighborhood out to protect their school boundaries. And more and more white and upper income families are just opting out for private school.
What is even more alarming is how this has happened with hardly a word of protest. The school board is even considering doing away with the citizens council for school equity. One board member simply called it a relic.
If Dr. King were alive today would he drive through our city of beautiful churches and ask, “What kind of people worship here? Who is their God?” Where were they when public school resegregated and relegated thousands of students to a poor education with inexperienced teachers and rowdy classrooms?
Every child deserves a quality education, but that good news must be carried on a cross by all of us. And that’s not going to make everyone happy.
We have to will things to be different. The privileged have to be willing to sacrifice some of their perks. The poor have to be willing learn new ways. If we are not willing to sacrifice some things for each other, then noble ideas and lofty hopes will just be artwork hung in a museum for us to admire.
We have to stop caring just about ourselves and our people – however we define our people – and start working for the betterment of all of us. We have to become less tribal and more open to our neighbor.
This is a task that has confounded humans for centuries. The prejudices that continue to divide our nation and the body of Christ are as wide as the earth is round and as old as human nature. It seems there is an innate tribalism within human beings. We mistrust the outsider, the other. Xenophobia, fear of the foreigner, runs in our veins.
This sin of tribalism is within all of us. I have to confess that I am a recovering racist and a recovering male chauvinist pig, a recovering nationalist and a recovering elitist. I cannot claim a cure, but like the recovering alcoholic, everyday I have a task – to love my neighbor as myself. This is not easy. Everyday we hit moments where we might prejudge people based on their gender, race, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other matters that group people.
Just the other day I was in line at a lunch counter and I was in a bit of a hurry and right in front of me were two Hispanic women who I soon realized were struggling some with their English. And I thought why did I have to get behind these women on a day when I’m in a hurry?
Well, a moment later another worker came to the counter and started taking my order, so now I was between the these Hispanic women and I could easily hear everything that was going on between them and the workers taking their orders. One of the women was having problems understanding how much her sandwich cost, which I could understand. I have three college degrees and a solid command of the English language and sometimes I can’t understand the menus at this lunch place. But the worker, who was actually the manager, was clearly annoyed with her and began being rude to her.
A couple minutes later after we’d all paid, the women sat down at a table and I prepared to leave with my to-go order. I looked back up at the counter and noticed no one was in line at the moment. So, I went back up, and told the manager that he’d been very rude to that customer. He apologized, but I said, “I’m not the one you should apologize to.”
I could have left the store feeling a little self-righteous, if I hadn’t realized something. I should have also thanked him. Part of my anger at his rudeness was caused by my shame for the impatience I had with the women in the first place and my apathy of minding my own business when I should have offered to help her understand the menu. He reminded me that I’m a recovering racist and recovering elitist and I’m called to everyday to love my neighbor as myself.
Jesus stood before his hometown people and said:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor."
And they loved hearing him say those things until they realized he meant that good news for them and for people not like them and then they turned on him.
Good news doesn’t make everyone happy, because God’s good news must be carried on a cross. AMEN
This is the conclusion of a two-part series that began Tuesday (scroll down to see Part 1). Tim Moore is the pastor of Sardis Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC. This series was adapted from a sermon Rev. Moore delivered on January 31, 2010. This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Greensboro and Winston-Salem sit-ins of February 1960, where black and white students sat at Woolworth's lunch counters and refused to move. Let us take this time to renew our commitment to social justice as an outward expression of love for our neighbor.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Good News Doesn't Make Everyone Happy, Part 1
by Rev. Dr. Tim Moore
Our story today tells us of Jesus’ return to his hometown of Nazareth [Luke 4:16-30], of how he went to his childhood place of worship and how initially the people were amazed at the changes in him, but how ultimately the reunion ended badly. Thomas Wolfe, the popular North Carolina novelist, once wrote, “You can’t go home again.” And that was the hard truth Jesus experienced that day.
Jesus has just started his ministry; he hasn’t even selected disciples yet, according to Luke. He was preaching in villages all over Galilee and the verse just before our passage today says, “He… was praised by everyone.”
By the time he returns to his hometown; people have already heard the rumors about Jesus and he is asked to speak in their synagogue, in his childhood house of worship. No doubt his mother, Mary, was as proud as she could be that day. His brothers and sisters and their families were there to witness their brother’s return, I’m sure as well. His neighbors and playmates. His teachers and mentors.
At the appointed time in the service he is handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He stands and reads: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor."
Good news. The Spirit of the Lord anointed Jesus to bring good news.
Everybody likes to hear good news. We want to hear inspiring sermons, idealistic speeches, messages of hope, stories of a bright future. We want to believe that things will be better, if not for us, then for our children and grandchildren. Everybody likes to hear good news.
Jesus said he’s been anointed to bring good news to the poor; that he’d been sent to proclaim freedom to those who are captive, to give sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free and proclaim the year of the Lord’s Jubilee.
This is lofty good news, inspirational good news. Freedom for those who are captive. Sight for those who are blind. Freedom for those who are oppressed. Forgiveness for those who are debtors. This is good news for the poor!
And who could not wish freedom for those who are oppressed? Who could not wish for sight for those who are blind?
It is not surprising that Jesus’ hometown folks spoke well of him upon hearing his words. Who could not wish for such good news?
Everybody likes to hear good news in the abstract. We dream of peace on earth and of all peoples treating each other like sister and brother. We proudly proclaim our nation’s ideals that all are created equal and have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Is there a person of good will in America, today, who would denounce Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream,” speech?
When he said, “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood,” who could oppose such a hopeful vision.
The problem with lofty ideals, with inspirational messages, the problem with good news is that it has to be lived in the real world in order to make a difference. They look pretty on paper; they sound wonderful over a speaker system, but if all we do is admire them like artwork at the Mint Museum or the Harvey Gantt Center they haven’t fulfilled their purpose. And the problem is that when we take lofty ideas and noble good news and try to live them out in everyday life they get messy.
Jesus said he’d been anointed to bring good news to the poor. This is all well and good, people will say, as long as this doesn’t mean bad news for the rich.
Jesus said he’d give sight to the blind. This is all well and good, people will say, as long as this doesn’t require us to give up something to help him.
Jesus said he’d been sent to release the captives and bring freedom to the oppressed. This is all well and good, people will say, as long as this doesn’t mean that the oppressors might have to sacrifice their privilege.
Jesus said he was coming to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, meaning the year of Jubilee, the year when debts are forgiven. This is all well and good, people will say, as long as we’re not stuck with the defaulted loans.
Everyone is for good news as long as it doesn’t cost him something. Everyone loves inspirational speeches as long as she doesn’t have to sacrifice anything. Everyone admires noble ideas as long they favor his people and not the other people.
When the townspeople found out that Jesus’ gracious words and amazing speech wasn’t going to favor them and in fact would bring good news to their enemies, they quickly turned on him. Drove him to the edge of town to hurl him off a cliff.
Noble ideals usually come with a cost. Good news when you try to live it out doesn’t make everyone happy.
While nearly everyone loves Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, the same cannot be said of his “Letter from Birmingham City Jail,” or of his sermon, “A Time to Break Silence,” which he preached on the Vietnam War exactly one year before he was assassinated.
In the Birmingham letter, King said that he had almost reached the conclusion that the greatest stumbling block to Civil Rights was not the Klansman, but white moderates who were more devoted to “order” than to justice. “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”
Pointing to the hundreds of steeples in Birmingham King continued, “In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon [African-Americans], I have watched white churches stand on the sideline and merely mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities… I have looked at her beautiful churches with their lofty spires pointing heavenward… Over and over again I have found myself asking: ‘What kind of people worship here? Who is their God?... Where were they when Governor Wallace gave the clarion call for defiance and hatred? Where were their voices of support when tired, bruised and weary [black] men and women decided to rise from the dark dungeons of complacency to the bright hills of creative protest?’”
There is no good news that hasn’t first been carried on a cross. Good news when you try to live it out doesn’t make everyone happy.
Part 2, the conclusion, will be posted on Thursday. Tim Moore is pastor at Sardis Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC. This series was adapted from a sermon Rev. Moore delivered on January 31, 2010. This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Greensboro and Winston-Salem sit-ins of February 1960, where black and white students sat at Woolworth's lunch counters and refused to move. Let us take this time to renew our committment to social justice as an outward expression of love for our neighbor.
Our story today tells us of Jesus’ return to his hometown of Nazareth [Luke 4:16-30], of how he went to his childhood place of worship and how initially the people were amazed at the changes in him, but how ultimately the reunion ended badly. Thomas Wolfe, the popular North Carolina novelist, once wrote, “You can’t go home again.” And that was the hard truth Jesus experienced that day.
Jesus has just started his ministry; he hasn’t even selected disciples yet, according to Luke. He was preaching in villages all over Galilee and the verse just before our passage today says, “He… was praised by everyone.”
By the time he returns to his hometown; people have already heard the rumors about Jesus and he is asked to speak in their synagogue, in his childhood house of worship. No doubt his mother, Mary, was as proud as she could be that day. His brothers and sisters and their families were there to witness their brother’s return, I’m sure as well. His neighbors and playmates. His teachers and mentors.
At the appointed time in the service he is handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He stands and reads: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor."
Good news. The Spirit of the Lord anointed Jesus to bring good news.
Everybody likes to hear good news. We want to hear inspiring sermons, idealistic speeches, messages of hope, stories of a bright future. We want to believe that things will be better, if not for us, then for our children and grandchildren. Everybody likes to hear good news.
Jesus said he’s been anointed to bring good news to the poor; that he’d been sent to proclaim freedom to those who are captive, to give sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free and proclaim the year of the Lord’s Jubilee.
This is lofty good news, inspirational good news. Freedom for those who are captive. Sight for those who are blind. Freedom for those who are oppressed. Forgiveness for those who are debtors. This is good news for the poor!
And who could not wish freedom for those who are oppressed? Who could not wish for sight for those who are blind?
It is not surprising that Jesus’ hometown folks spoke well of him upon hearing his words. Who could not wish for such good news?
Everybody likes to hear good news in the abstract. We dream of peace on earth and of all peoples treating each other like sister and brother. We proudly proclaim our nation’s ideals that all are created equal and have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Is there a person of good will in America, today, who would denounce Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream,” speech?
When he said, “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood,” who could oppose such a hopeful vision.
The problem with lofty ideals, with inspirational messages, the problem with good news is that it has to be lived in the real world in order to make a difference. They look pretty on paper; they sound wonderful over a speaker system, but if all we do is admire them like artwork at the Mint Museum or the Harvey Gantt Center they haven’t fulfilled their purpose. And the problem is that when we take lofty ideas and noble good news and try to live them out in everyday life they get messy.
Jesus said he’d been anointed to bring good news to the poor. This is all well and good, people will say, as long as this doesn’t mean bad news for the rich.
Jesus said he’d give sight to the blind. This is all well and good, people will say, as long as this doesn’t require us to give up something to help him.
Jesus said he’d been sent to release the captives and bring freedom to the oppressed. This is all well and good, people will say, as long as this doesn’t mean that the oppressors might have to sacrifice their privilege.
Jesus said he was coming to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, meaning the year of Jubilee, the year when debts are forgiven. This is all well and good, people will say, as long as we’re not stuck with the defaulted loans.
Everyone is for good news as long as it doesn’t cost him something. Everyone loves inspirational speeches as long as she doesn’t have to sacrifice anything. Everyone admires noble ideas as long they favor his people and not the other people.
When the townspeople found out that Jesus’ gracious words and amazing speech wasn’t going to favor them and in fact would bring good news to their enemies, they quickly turned on him. Drove him to the edge of town to hurl him off a cliff.
Noble ideals usually come with a cost. Good news when you try to live it out doesn’t make everyone happy.
While nearly everyone loves Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, the same cannot be said of his “Letter from Birmingham City Jail,” or of his sermon, “A Time to Break Silence,” which he preached on the Vietnam War exactly one year before he was assassinated.
In the Birmingham letter, King said that he had almost reached the conclusion that the greatest stumbling block to Civil Rights was not the Klansman, but white moderates who were more devoted to “order” than to justice. “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”
Pointing to the hundreds of steeples in Birmingham King continued, “In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon [African-Americans], I have watched white churches stand on the sideline and merely mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities… I have looked at her beautiful churches with their lofty spires pointing heavenward… Over and over again I have found myself asking: ‘What kind of people worship here? Who is their God?... Where were they when Governor Wallace gave the clarion call for defiance and hatred? Where were their voices of support when tired, bruised and weary [black] men and women decided to rise from the dark dungeons of complacency to the bright hills of creative protest?’”
There is no good news that hasn’t first been carried on a cross. Good news when you try to live it out doesn’t make everyone happy.
Part 2, the conclusion, will be posted on Thursday. Tim Moore is pastor at Sardis Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC. This series was adapted from a sermon Rev. Moore delivered on January 31, 2010. This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Greensboro and Winston-Salem sit-ins of February 1960, where black and white students sat at Woolworth's lunch counters and refused to move. Let us take this time to renew our committment to social justice as an outward expression of love for our neighbor.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Don't Rush to the Cross
by Rev. Laura Barclay
We are entering the season of Lent, a 40-day time of reflection and spiritual growth for Christians in preparation for Easter. This sacred time has been observed in some form since the 2nd century and more uniformly since the 5th century when Pope St. Leo preached of its importance. The 40-day length of time was most likely based on the days Jesus spent in the wilderness, fasting during his temptation. Throughout Catholic history, it was customary to fast or only eat small vegetarian meals during the Lenten days and have feasts every Sunday (Lent excludes Sundays, which are seen as miniature celebrations of Easter). Participating in Lent was required throughout all Christianity until the Protestant Reformation. Now, all denominations view participation during this season to be more of a voluntary event. Traditionally, Baptists did not celebrate Lent. More recently, some Baptists are trying to renew the observance of the liturgical year, realizing that cutting all ties with Catholic spirituality was a bit like throwing the baby out with the bath water. Christian reflection and spiritual growth are necessary components in one’s faith journey, and essential to absorb the meaning of the holidays and rituals our religion holds so dear.
One tradition that developed among Christians was to give up certain things they liked during this time, sacrificing a treasured routine in remembrance of Jesus, who sacrificed his life by speaking truth to power and demonstrating a new way of being in his ministry. A more recent practice has developed that has helped me in my spiritual journey—taking on a discipline like praying, meditation, volunteer work, etc. Last year, I took on wearing a cross necklace everyday for Lent. I have always struggled with the use, or rather misuse, of the cross. Instead of symbolizing the depth of love that Jesus had for humanity, it came to symbolize war and violence during the Crusades. In America, crosses became associated with terrorism and hate crimes committed by the Ku Klux Klan, efforts of some churches to exclude persons who may be different than others, and as a way to define “who’s in and who’s out” rather than the inclusive and boundless hospitality of Jesus. The 40 days I wore that cross gave me an opportunity to explore what the cross means to me, and gave me a chance to have deep and meaningful conversations with some of my friends, both Christian and non-Christian, who expressed the same reservations. The practice also forced me to slow down and reflect on Jesus’ life and ministry, which is full of meaning and instruction on human relationships toward one another and God, rather than skip to the end of the story. Rushing to Easter is something we all have the urge to do, but meditation on his life gives context and understanding to his death and resurrection.
This year, I am going to work on prayer. I have always found it hard to still the chatter and commentary on activities of the day inside my head. If you’ve seen the TV-show Scrubs, the main character’s never-ending thoughts that supplement the dialogue might give you an idea of my overactive brain. I also have a family history of high blood pressure, which silent prayer and meditation have been scientifically proven to lower. I will use www.pray-as-you-go.org, an online resource provided by Jesuit priests that CBFNC’s Executive Coordinator, Larry Hovis, used during one of our staff devotionals. It allows you to meditate on scripture, which is read several times, and think introspectively about spiritually related questions. I have found that focusing my mind on Scripture rather than trying to meditate in complete silence helps to keep my mind from wandering too far off topic.
If you want to try to add a discipline during Lent, you can try the website above or:
http://www.d365.org/todaysdevotion/ -- This resource is produced by Passport and sponsored by the Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church U.S.A., and CBF.
http://sacredspace.ie/ -- This resource is produce by Irish Jesuits.
http://anglicansonline.org/special/lent.html -- This Anglican website has many helpful Lenten resources.
I wish you good luck in your spiritual journey toward the cross and a fruitful path of reflection.
We are entering the season of Lent, a 40-day time of reflection and spiritual growth for Christians in preparation for Easter. This sacred time has been observed in some form since the 2nd century and more uniformly since the 5th century when Pope St. Leo preached of its importance. The 40-day length of time was most likely based on the days Jesus spent in the wilderness, fasting during his temptation. Throughout Catholic history, it was customary to fast or only eat small vegetarian meals during the Lenten days and have feasts every Sunday (Lent excludes Sundays, which are seen as miniature celebrations of Easter). Participating in Lent was required throughout all Christianity until the Protestant Reformation. Now, all denominations view participation during this season to be more of a voluntary event. Traditionally, Baptists did not celebrate Lent. More recently, some Baptists are trying to renew the observance of the liturgical year, realizing that cutting all ties with Catholic spirituality was a bit like throwing the baby out with the bath water. Christian reflection and spiritual growth are necessary components in one’s faith journey, and essential to absorb the meaning of the holidays and rituals our religion holds so dear.
One tradition that developed among Christians was to give up certain things they liked during this time, sacrificing a treasured routine in remembrance of Jesus, who sacrificed his life by speaking truth to power and demonstrating a new way of being in his ministry. A more recent practice has developed that has helped me in my spiritual journey—taking on a discipline like praying, meditation, volunteer work, etc. Last year, I took on wearing a cross necklace everyday for Lent. I have always struggled with the use, or rather misuse, of the cross. Instead of symbolizing the depth of love that Jesus had for humanity, it came to symbolize war and violence during the Crusades. In America, crosses became associated with terrorism and hate crimes committed by the Ku Klux Klan, efforts of some churches to exclude persons who may be different than others, and as a way to define “who’s in and who’s out” rather than the inclusive and boundless hospitality of Jesus. The 40 days I wore that cross gave me an opportunity to explore what the cross means to me, and gave me a chance to have deep and meaningful conversations with some of my friends, both Christian and non-Christian, who expressed the same reservations. The practice also forced me to slow down and reflect on Jesus’ life and ministry, which is full of meaning and instruction on human relationships toward one another and God, rather than skip to the end of the story. Rushing to Easter is something we all have the urge to do, but meditation on his life gives context and understanding to his death and resurrection.
This year, I am going to work on prayer. I have always found it hard to still the chatter and commentary on activities of the day inside my head. If you’ve seen the TV-show Scrubs, the main character’s never-ending thoughts that supplement the dialogue might give you an idea of my overactive brain. I also have a family history of high blood pressure, which silent prayer and meditation have been scientifically proven to lower. I will use www.pray-as-you-go.org, an online resource provided by Jesuit priests that CBFNC’s Executive Coordinator, Larry Hovis, used during one of our staff devotionals. It allows you to meditate on scripture, which is read several times, and think introspectively about spiritually related questions. I have found that focusing my mind on Scripture rather than trying to meditate in complete silence helps to keep my mind from wandering too far off topic.
If you want to try to add a discipline during Lent, you can try the website above or:
http://www.d365.org/todaysdevotion/ -- This resource is produced by Passport and sponsored by the Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church U.S.A., and CBF.
http://sacredspace.ie/ -- This resource is produce by Irish Jesuits.
http://anglicansonline.org/special/lent.html -- This Anglican website has many helpful Lenten resources.
I wish you good luck in your spiritual journey toward the cross and a fruitful path of reflection.
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