If you want a brief rundown of the ensuing years, hit this.

And so began the Protestant movement, even though it wasn’t called that until a number of years later.

I am a product of that, especially now that I am a pastor of a non-denominational church near Va. Tech.  My question is, “do we as Protestants, or better yet, do I as a Protestant, protest too much?”  This question comes up as we as a church are in the midst of a series on the Lord’s Prayer.  A prayer that many recite weekly in church’s all over the world.

We as a church don’t.

And my question is, is that good?  Is it good to include in the general flow of a Sunday gathering time something that can easily become rote and mundane?  Or the counter, is it wise to not regularly participate in one of the traditions the church has widely participated in over the centuries?

My concern with the former is that we can easily mishandle very sacred things.  A bit like eating on the good china everyday somehow reduces the specialness of it.  But my concern with not engaging in its reading and reciting is that I am pushing away something very valuable just to show that we are different.

To be fair, to me and the elder team I lead with, we have thought about this a great deal.  We aren’t just pushing away tradition for the sake of pushing away tradition.  But, on the anniversary of this moment in time that truly created a fork in the road, I do wonder if there are areas I simply protest for reasons less well thought out.  How much of my decision making is influenced by the fact I am a Protestant, who is in ministry primarily among generations that are much more comfortable determining what they are against than what they are for.

So… thoughts?

Peace, Jim

I think that God is calling me to focus on a posture of grace and receptivity in this next season of life and ministry.  Just before my sabbatical started, I had the opportunity to be a part of a coaches’ training time through Ecclesia.  A good friend was leading it out.  Overall great stuff, fairly Jungian (in a good way), listening stuff.  The leader, Brian helped me to bring together the discipline of asking good questions and through doing so, helping someone hear God’s voice.

What struck me was how difficult it was to not insert my own.

In his fantastic book, Blink – The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcom Gladwell hits on that very thought.  “The key to good decision making is not knowledge. It is understanding. We are swimming in the former. We are desperately lacking in the latter.” (p. 265)  His point is that we have the capacity to, in areas that we feel competent and experienced in, to make blink judgements.  Draw conclusions in two seconds.  The longer I walk with God, I grow both more comfortable and less with that.

I am probably more comfortable, challenged, and clear on what God wants me to do than I have been in a long time.  I am seeing fruit from my efforts – it is working.  In the way I have asked God to make it work, on the timeline that I have asked for it to work.  It doesn’t always happen that way, so I love the ride.  That gives me a sense of confidence.

But I am learning I need to handle my confidence carefully.  The line between confidence in God’s work in my life and through my life and arrogance can be a very thin one.  I should know, I have crossed it many times and fully expect to cross it many more.  This isn’t a new thought.  Eugene Peterson, a writer who truly is a pastor for pastors, says that it is out of arrogance that pastors don’t submit to keeping a sabbath.  That they grow more confident in their own power and ability and so look to God less and less for his.  “American religion is conspicuous for its messianically pretentious energy, its embarassingly banal prose, and its impatiently hustling ambition.” ― Eugene H. Peterson

So, God has been taking opportunities like my coaches training, sabbatical, and watching men and women that I have been building into take those things and apply them their own ways, to show me my limits.  My weaknesses.

Paul the apostle said this, “Each time he said, “My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may work through me. 2 Cor 12.9

I am working to get there.

Again, this needs to be emphasized.  I love that God has blessed me with at least some wisdom and experience.  Scripture refers to it a bit like a prize you receive if you persevere.  I love that I have been serving in the context of [nlcf] for this long.  I love that it seems that my gifts are useful.  So the issue isn’t the wisdom, or the strength that it brings.  The issue is that all too often I can forget that God gave that wisdom to me, that this isn’t my accomplishment.  God has done the heavy lifiting.

Also, weakness in this context doesn’t mean I am hopeless, quite the opposite.  God is calling me to remember that I have been adopted into his family.  That he is available to me personally and as I move as a part of the family of God.  I am not weak at all, God gives me more than enough to walk through everything I will encounter…  My weakness means that I don’t rely on my own power, but his.  Not my own wisdom, but his.  Not my own plans, but his.

So, one of the things I saw over my sabbatical was that this next season of my life needs to involve more careful listening, more focus on how I need to move in God’s power and not my own.  My weakness is my strength.

My prediction is that I will do it better than anyone ever has before.  Count on it.  :)  Oh wait….

Peace, Jim

Fair question with an easy answer.  Since May 15^th I have been on sabbatical, and for the roughly month and a half before that, I was getting ready to go on that sabbatical.  It got a little nuts.

The first six weeks of my sabbatical is intended to be a writing sabbatical where I would be able to do some very preliminary work on the next book; very preliminary.   I also want to continue some things to help promote the first one.  The second six weeks would be straight sabbating.  Some focused reflection in the morning and then just enjoying whatever we as a family wanted to do, by ourselves or with friends.

A bunch of people have asked what the point of a sabbatical is.

• Is it just an elaborate word for vacation?
• Is it an indicator that Tracy and I are about to move somewhere else?
• Am I taking it because my life is spinning a bit out of control?

To the second question.  No.  Certainly God has the ability to guide us wherever he chooses to, but, no indications that we are leaving the area or [nlcf] anytime soon.

Now for the first question, is this just another word for a vacation? The simple answer is, kinda.  The word we get vacation from is actually vacationem (nom. vacatio) “leisure, a being free from duty.  It also means freedom or release from an occupation or duty.  So, in that way, it does fit.  This summer I am not doing the things that I have spent the last 15 years doing in my ministry work as they relate to my job.  No teaching, no coaching of staff and leaders, no meetings, no planning, no assessing, no networking or helping out with any of the churches, congregations, and non-profits [nlcf] has started or helped to start.  I certainly continue to live my life as a follower of Jesus, I just don’t do certain occupational activities I have been doing for [nlcf].

That is certainly a release from my occupational duties.  And it has been great!

However, it doesn’t fit most people’s idea of a vacation in other ways.  The term sabbatical comes from the Mosaic code of the Old Testament.  It meant, the 7^th year where the land was to remain untilled, slaves were to have been released, and debtors relieved of their debts.  If you look at the Mosaic code, you get the intent of the sabbatical or Sabbath year.  It wasn’t just do take a random break, it was to take a reprieve from the demands of yearly planting so the ground could actually be more fruitful in the future.  It was to stop doing some things to remember more fully who God created them to be.

That is very similar to what I am trying to do. I have been on staff with [nlcf] for 15 years.  I started as a staffer who had never led a small group and who was still a pretty new follower of Jesus.  Think of where I started as the equivalent of the corporate mailroom.  As the years progressed I have had just about every job in [nlcf] you can have.  I even led worship one pitiful Sunday.

The reason I think God guided me to ask for the sabbatical this summer, and the reason I think he guided my co-pastors, friends and Tracy to encourage it, was that I needed to take time away and let the ground remain untilled.  Get away from the demands of helping to guide a church and all that requires and take time to allow the ground to soak up a few extra nutrients.  Step back a bit and reflect on whether I am becoming more fully the man God has created me to be.

I have already had more time to spend with my family, and that has been wonderful.  God speaks to me so much through them.  I have already read five great books and look forward to many more.  I have been able to sit down and read Leviticus in a sitting (not everyone would say that is a good thing)   I have had more time than normal to pray and more time than normal to reflect.  We have had a few neighbors over, with plans for more.  We have had the opportunity to help a few people that needed it.   We have planted a garden for the first time ever and I am getting to some yard and house work that has been long overdue.

We look forward to going to several other local churches to see how they approach God as a community and that will be great.  We will get to spend a couple of weeks at the beach as well.

Tomorrow, or maybe later , I will go into more of why I think this time is so valuable in spite of the difficulty of getting everything ready.  I will also get to the issue of whether I am taking this sabbatical because I am about to spin out of control. Until then, thanks to everyone who is doing a bit more this summer so I can do a lot less.  Mike and Joe, you have made me feel very free to really get away.  Thank you.  Sarah, you not only helped me get ready for this, but you have been a great gatekeeper so that I don’t get drawn into things that I would like to get drawn into, thanks!   Jeanette and Steve I suspect one of the things we are seeing through this summer is how unnecesary I am.  I have had no doubt you two can handle whatever comes up on the campus side this summer.  Thanks.  To the rest of the staff team (especially the wise one who took me off the staff listserve ) thanks for praying for us during this great time.  To our board, thanks for approving it when we are working on big stuff with both congregations, planting another church and starting a Masters cohort in the fall.  Some would have said to wait, but didn’t.  Thanks.

Until tomorrow-ish.

Peace, Jim

We clearly live in a Westernized culture that has been deeply impacted by both the scientific and industrial revolutions.   Both of those have been unbelievably helpful to our culture and the world.  We are now able to break down complex systems (organic and inorganic) into smaller parts, study them, and in many cases reproduce or replicate them.  These processes are sometimes called systematic deconstruction, we organize something, break it down to its component parts, sort it out then begin to rebuild it. How many advances in medicine can be traced back to those processes?.  How many developments in the industrial sector (that we likely appreciate in our economy all the more now) as well?

One of the issues that has come with these advances, though, is that they can tend to be overused and applied in areas where they are less helpful, or even misguided. James Watson, often called the father of Behaviorism, famously stated,

“Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors. I am going beyond my facts and I admit it, but so have the advocates of the contrary and they have been doing it for many thousands of years.”

Even though Watson isn’t as radical as some might think him to be, he applied a deconstructionist model to parenting and most of us would say that was a misuse.

Applying a similar systematic deconstruction method, to the study of God, also is problematic.

Here is my point.  I think we very naturally apply a that model to God’s response (or lack thereof) to our prayer requests.

It becomes about input and output to us.  We make a godly request, and we expect God to come through on it.  If he doesn’t, it becomes a process problem.  Did I ask the wrong thing?   Does God not really care for me?  Is he even there?  We approach it the way I approach my garden hose when the spigot is on but no water is coming out.  I look for the kink, straighten it, and the water starts to flow.  We assume that if we can fix the problem with the process, that we will be able to get the result we desire.

The only problem is that we know God isn’t like that.

And that is a big problem.

We know that in the scriptures he did not respond to the repeated requests of Lazarus’ family that he wouldn’t die. Lazarus actually died and only a few days later was raised from the dead.  We know that he didn’t allow a woman to be healed of a terrible menstrual condition, until after years of her suffering.  And we know from the latter parts of Hebrews chapter 11 that some people, whose faith God honors by the way, didn’t get their requests granted.

“Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37 They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated– 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. 39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40 God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. Heb 11.35-40 NIV

How many of those do you think asked to not have their torture happen?  How many asked to not need to live in caves?  If you were in their position, wouldn’t you?  But they didn’t get those things. But, before we get too angry at God, let’s remember he plays by his own rules.  Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemeny, immediately before the process of his crucifiction was started made the most fail and honest request of the Father.  He asked God if there was a way this could be avoided.  There wasn’t, so it happened.

In those instances, God doesn’t intervene the way he is asked when he is asked because something larger is going on. Something bigger requires God to not use his own power.  And that is what makes it so tricky for all of us, including my friend.  He doesn’t know if he is in the middle of God setting something better up, in the middle of coming through regarding this job in a wild way, or if he won’t get the job at all.  How do we use our faith when we aren’t sure what God is up to?

I think that Hebrews 11.1 “Faith is he assurance of things unseen, the promise of things hoped for.” is drawing us closer to God than a strict deconstructionist/input output approach allows us to go.  God is calling us into something deeper and much better.  The thing unseen that we can be assured of, is his deep and committed love for us.  His full awareness of us, his commitment to us.  The promise of things hoped for goes beyond what we are asking for, now it includes it, to be sure.  Our requests matter to God and I believe impact him.  But that promise goes much deeper.  It is his promise to never leave us, to be more committed to our good than we are, to link with us, to love us.

Essentially, he is inviting us to take a deep breath and relax.  To realize that he has got us, and that he isn’t going anywhere.

I remember a time when I was a kid at the bus stop and I was being bullied by some kids that lived near us.  I had been cursed with a mouth that developed much more quickly than either my brain or my musculature had.  I had smart-mouthed some guys that were a fair bit larger than I was –  this wasn’t super uncommon.  These guys were messing with me and it was looking like things might escalate in a direction that I was not excited about.  And right at that time, my dad pulled up to take me home.  I think he caught wind of what was going on, as he usually just waited in the car for me to get in.  This time, he got out and walked up to me.  Said hello to my “friends” and then walked me back to the car.

In that moment, his presence was enough.

I think that God is a bit like my dad that day when he got out of the car.  Hebrews 11 is saying to us, “I have got you, trust that.  I am committed to you, believe it.”  Even if you cannot see that physically, trust it spiritually.  That is the focus of our unseen trust, our hope.

Come on back Wednesday and see how I think this thing works out…

Peace, Jim

He and I might be the two best looking men that are a part of the missional movement of the church.  I know for a fact that he and I are the two best looking men on the board of Ecclesia.

But do we fight?  No.  Do we try to bring the other down to raise ourselves up?  Not recently.

Instead, we took the road less traveled.  We  got to know the person behind the beauty, and (at least I) discovered, he is a great guy that I respect a great deal.

So, I am very excited to let you know about a conference that J.R. has guided into being.  It is called, Epic Fail Pastors Conference.  Let me share an excerpt from the conference site…

The idea for this conference came from two sources: A blog post from J.R. Briggs, a pastor at Renew Community in Lansdale, Pa and the wildly popular site www.epicfail.com.

A few dangerous questions were asked:

-What if we offered a space that is gutsy, hopeful, courageously vulnerable for pastors to let go of the burden to be a Super Pastor?

-What if we could hold an event that was free from the thrills and frills of other pastors conferences?

-What if we came together as epic failures and sought not successful models or how-do’s but instead celebrated faithfulness in ministry because of the reality of Jesus?

-What if we were reminded that we’re not responsible for being ‘successful’ in ministry, but we are responsible for being faithful to the calling that God has laid out for us – regardless of the outcome?

-What if we had a conference that was not led not by famous pastors who are household names, but by scandalously ordinary ministers and leaders who are faithfully attempting to join with God – even in the midst of glaring obscurity and anonymity?

I love those questions!

In my experience I have run into countless examples of two extremes.  I have been to many events where either those that are speaking or those that are attending find ways to let everyone know about the numeric success they have experienced.  Sometimes this is subtly done, and other times, less subtly so.   I have also seen examples of those that are so broken, usually by their reletive lack of numeric success, that they become bitter and ultimately frustrated with the very group they were trying to reach.

I can say that I have been in both of those camps.  During my time at [nlcf] I have experienced multiple seasons of numeric growth and also multiple seasons of having lower numbers.  Times where I have given in to the temptation to let others know how “well” we are doing and others where I have grown frustrated that the people I am trying to reach don’t want to be reached!

The thread that runs through all that, is that it is primarly about me.  My kingdom building, my success.

Yes, we get that numbers matter.  Each of those numbers is a person who matters a great deal to God.  To that extent, there is an important place for hearing from people that have seen God bless their efforts.  So, this conference doesn’t deny the value of that. Rather, it honors the fact that the life of faith is a challenge.  That living our lives in an honest way before our Messiah will mean that at times we will face frustration, confusion, difficulty and failure.  And in a culture that so highly values numeric success, not demonstrating that success; while not a failure, can certainly feel like it.

So, having a space where men and women can gather and be honest about what hasn’t gone right, what hasn’t shown results and what hasn’t been pleasant, could be a great thing.  A space that doesn’t worship failure, but one that worships Christ in the midst of it; a space, not to be cynical, but honest, is necessary.

So, go if you can and encourage friends in the ministry to do so as well.

I like the idea so much, I am going to encourage all 2,000 people that attend our church to consider it as well.  Wait, did that just drop out?

Peace, Jim

“I didn’t fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong” Ben Franklin

Jim Pace would like to officially indicate that likely he is never one of the best looking guys in any room (even when he is alone in it) and that his church isn’t close to 2,000 people…

The orthogonal approach would suggest that instead of letting it go that route, a tug of war if you will, you put a right angle in there somewhere and take the discussion a new direction.  Approach the interaction differently.

This approach doesn’t mean that both sides give up what they believe, that isn’t the case at all.  It just means we seek to reframe the discussion in a way that gives it some hope of avoiding the typical roadblocks.  This approach also isn’t new.  We are reminded in scripture to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.  This isn’t suggesting we don’t share truth, not at all.  It is more how we approach the interaction.  We are told that we can be absolutely right, but if we don’t communicate our views with love and respect, we drastically reduce the impact we can have.  So, this isn’t new.

As I have sought to apply this approach in the myriad of discussions about intense issues I find myself in I have learned a critical step in navigating them.  Not only should I seek to understand before I am understood, but I should take the additional step to reflect carefully on what about my life and my experiences would make it harder for me to truly understand where the other person is coming from.  I try to look at my filters and see if they are making things more difficult.

Hear me again, just because I look at my filters and reflect on them, doesn’t mean I drop them.  Our filters are born out of who we are; our beliefs and experiences, the aspects of our world that we understand, the things we have learned.  So, we don’t drop them, we simply ackowlege them and look to see if they impact the discussion we are in.

So… [nlcf] has been involved in a series called Show Us Your Buts — our reasons for not getting closer to God.  The idea is that most people in our culture today, if asked, would say some semblance of this statement:  I would be closer to God/Jesus but… this keeps me away.  Whether the issue of God’s reality or presence is a central one in their life, or a very distant one,research shows most would have some version of this phrase somewhere in their mind.

On October 17th, [nlcf] dealt with this but… I would be closer to God but… He allows far to much suffering.

When we asked the members of [nlcf] and others to contribute their ideas for what we should cover (and over 250 people did) the issue of suffering was one of the highest requests on the list.  And it was one of the most intensely emotional categories as well.

So, how does the orthogonal approach impact the issue of suffering that God allows?

It would cause us to take a step back and look at our filters.  Honestly there are many, but let’s start with this one.

Ready?

We expect those with great power to use it to help those in need.

I specifically mentioned great power to distinguish it from the power we typically have access to.  The reason for this is that we often can put more emphasis on entities that are more powerful than we are (fictional superheroes, the government) to use that power for the good of others, than we place on our own personal responsibility to use the power we have access to for the same purposes.  But that is a whole other discussion.

Let me explain using an example I used in Should We Fire God?.  Consider our approach to superheroes.  Superman, Spiderman, even Iron Man and Hancock.  In each of these instances we see a character that has access to great power.  Inevitably, because we like a flawed hero, that hero will show the wear and tear of constantly serving others.  They will walk away for a bit.  Stop helping.  But inevitably they will come around, see that their lot in life is just that, to serve.  To help.  And so off they go.  They give up the relationship if they must, they give up their vision for their life.

My point is that when they temporarily walk away from that service, we almost categorically view that as their time of weakness.  Having access to that kind of power, well, you just need to use it to help others.

What do superheroes have to do with our issues we have with God over the amount of suffering he lets through?

The reason that superhero plot lines are written that way is because that is how we view significant power.  If you have it, you use it. It typically isn’t very complicated, if you can protect, you do so.  To not use it is seen as selfish and wrong.

We take that view to God.  It can be awfully hard to look at the ugliness that is such a common occurrence in our world and align that with a view that God is doing the right thing to let it happen.   If you have the power and see a problem where the innocent are suffering, you get in the game.  Fictional superhero or real God.  Same idea.

In most polls I have seen in my research for the book, when asked what God’s main jobs should be, our protection was consistently listed as #1 or #2 (even among those who don’t believe in God)!

My point in bringing this up is not to say whether I think this is right or wrong.  At this point in the discussion, it almost doesn’t matter.  My point is that when you bring a strong opinion like this one to God over an issue like suffering, it can make hearing or accepting God’s truth even harder.   We need to at least be aware that for many cultures, our main issues with God aren’t their issues with God.  For some European cultures a thousand years ago it wasn’t the fact that God allowed so much suffering to get through that was so upseting.  For them, Jesus’ call to forgiveness when you are betrayed was a key sticking point.  For other cultures it is less that than Jesus’ challenge for his followers to be more devoted to him than their family.  I could go on and on.

Again, my point isn’t that those cultures were right or wrong.  My point is that every culture is going to struggle with some aspects of God, and those aspects shift.  This means, we need to keep our filters in mind.  And for those of us who are followers of Jesus, we need to ask if our filters align with God’s.  If, and more likely when they don’t, they simply make understanding God or communicating his truth to others harder.

What do you think?  Am I missing something?  Clearly the illustration of our view of superheros is an oversimplification.  But as a metaphor, does it work?

I have been blessed by not only Matt’s friendship and his walk with Christ; but also by his honesty and willingness to allow me to walk beside him on this path.  I am very fortunate.

Today, Matt passed along a letter written in 2005 by The Very Rev. Dr. Peter Short, Moderator of the United Church of Canada.  The United Church of Canada was responding to Canada’s passage of Bill C-38 which allowed civil marriage for same-sex couples.  The United Church had churches within it that both were celebrating this passage and churches that were against its passage.  Dr. Short speaks wise words to our neighbors to the north.

As the issue of same-sex unions and the definition of marriage come more and more into our cultural and political dialogue, we that are followers of Jesus (regardless of our perspective on those issues) would do very well to carefully reflect on his challenge to give primacy to what deserves primacy.  Certainly vigorous debate is ahead of us, and should be.  But as Paul reminds us in 1 Cor. 13, how we speak is as important as what we say.  So, let me allow The Very Rev. Dr. Peter Short to take it from here…

THE VERY REV. DR. PETER SHORT
Pastoral Letter Following the Passage of Same-Sex Marriage Legislation

June 29, 2005

Sisters and Brothers in The United Church of Canada,
Greetings in Christ!
Yesterday the Parliament of Canada passed legislation granting gay and lesbian couples legal access to civil marriage. This legislation comes as no surprise. The question has been debated and contested in a very public manner. The United Church of Canada has been an active participant in this issue in the 18 months since the 38th General Council asked the government to include same-sex marriage in the marriage legislation. During this time, United Church congregations have been encouraged to assess and determine their marriage policies with respect to same-gender couples.
This legislation is no surprise to anyone who has been in touch with current events in church and society. Nonetheless, it represents a profound change in civil society’s definition of marriage-an institution that stands at the heart of Canadian family life. It may not be a surprise to the mind that has been tracking the trajectory of the legislation, but the heart is deeply surprised as the legislation makes the passage from theoretical debate to law of the land.
I am writing to offer my support to congregations, missions, outreach ministries, chaplaincies, and all our people in ministry as you continue to live into the questions, celebrations, dilemmas, and opportunities that arise with the passage of this legislation. Although our hearts may be surprised in different ways-some dejected, others elated-I am inviting all to recognize that we are living in a surprising moment, one that calls for compassion for one another and faith for the journey as our church makes this passage into a changed world.
In the days before the legislation passed, the scripture spoke to me in a way I had not expected. I was listening to a text that is not specifically about marriage. It spoke to me just the same.
The text is in the 14th chapter of the gospel according to Luke; the parable of the great dinner to which many guests were invited (Luke 14:15-24). Jesus told this parable on his way to the house of a leader of the Pharisees where he was to eat a meal on the Sabbath (14:1). The conversation on the way to the dinner turned on the perennial gospel questions: What is near to the heart of God and who may draw near to the holy (14:2-6)? What is the relationship between honour and humility (14:7-11)? And what is the true nature of hospitality (14:12-14)? These questions form the prelude to the parable of the great dinner.
The parable begins when someone observes, “Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the Kingdom of God.” (14:15b). Jesus responds to this observation by telling of an invitation to a great dinner and of the litany of excuses offered in response to the invitation. One invited guest was tied up with real estate and sent his regrets. Another had just taken delivery of new equipment and had to test it. Yet another had just been-lo and behold!-married, and couldn’t make it. So the great dinner is on (“Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the Kingdom of God”) and all manner of busy people are rising up together to miss it.
This is what I heard as I listened to the text. The great table is set; the great dinner is on. One may be occupied and preoccupied by any number of compelling issues, but the great banquet is happening. One may feel that the world is falling apart and send regrets to the host because there is too much to be done in holding the world together. Still, the banquet is on. One may be committed to marriage and refuse to come, as if marriage were in competition with the great banquet and not the result of it.
All of this is to say that principles (no matter the stripe) may be what we have instead of faith. Principles (no matter the stripe) may be more to us than the great invitation. Though we may not intend it, principles may cause us to have ears only for the sounds of our own interests and not for the surprising invitation to join the unlikely guests at the table where there is room for all who will come.
As your congregation makes the passage into a Canada that welcomes civil marriage for same-gender couples, please accept my prayers and encouragement that you may hear the invitation and show up for the dinner you never intended to miss. And “blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the Kingdom of God.”
Meanwhile, I offer the following observations about the import of the legislation.
Bill C-38 is directed toward civil society and not toward religious marriage in church, temple, synagogue, or any other recognized place of religious marriage. The legislation provides for the protection of religious freedom, including tax exemption status, for communities where conscience does not permit the celebration of same-gender marriage.
The decision on who may be married in and by The United Church of Canada is made by the congregation through its Session or equivalent. Some congregations have been celebrating same-gender covenants for a long time. For them, the move to same-gender marriage may be a seamless one. Some congregations will be lamenting the passage of the legislation and will find it to be against conscience to permit same-gender marriage in the church. For them, the decision is a difficult one because they may be exposed to ridicule and to charges of homophobia. Most congregations include valued members on both sides of the issue, as well as people whose minds and hearts are still in a struggle to discern the good path. For them, the unity of the congregation is at stake and the stakes are high.
As Moderator of the whole church, not just parts of it, I acknowledge that we are not of one mind and not of one vision on this. We are surprised in the heart by what is happening. We find ourselves in a place that is both dilemma and opportunity. This place is dilemma because our unity is challenged by the differences among us. This place is opportunity because we have yet another chance to receive the gifts brought forth from the storehouse of diversity that we have so often put forward as one of our great strengths.
This would be a good time to pray for one another. This would be a bad time to be carried off by the songs of victory or by the laments of resentment. Beneath the louder music of public ideologies there is a gospel invitation that is being sounded, an invitation to a great banquet. And “blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the Kingdom of God.”
May the Holy Spirit guide you in the way of Christ, opening ears and hearts to the sounds of God’s surprising invitation. May you be aware of my gratitude on behalf of the whole church for your witness to Jesus Christ and your servant ministry in his name. And may you receive the bread that feeds you as his body, a sign of the banquet of God.
Sincerely,
The Right Rev. Dr. Peter Short
Moderator, The United Church of Canada

What do you think?  What would you add to this?  Let’s chat.

Others of you who are very, very, very clever already know why.  For the rest of you very, very clever people, allow me to explain.

Starting in three weeks, [nlcf] is going to start a series called, “Show Us Your Buts.”  Think of it like this.  I have coversations with people all the time about issues regarding their walks with Jesus, what they allow God to guide and speak into, where they trust him, and where they don’t.  In coffee shops, at 130 Jackson, before an [nlcf] gathering, after, at the gym, in my front yard, in stores.  You get the idea.  It comes up all the time.  And I am certainly not the only one that has conversations like this.

Many times in those conversations the following phrase is either stated or implied.  ”I would be closer to God/ trust Jesus more… but this keeps me away / but this makes it tough / but I cannot figure this out.”

So, this is your chance to show us your but.  I guess more technically it would be comment with your but, tell us your but, text us your but.  But those just sound too confusing.  Hence, Show Us Your Buts.

So… it’s pretty simple.  Comment back with what you and God stuggle with.  What you don’t understand.  What you would like to have covered.  What confuses you.  It might be a question of how to take something that is in the bible, it might be an experience you have had.  Then we will navigate through the responses and pick ones to deal with.  We will overall try to pick the ones that get the most votes, but we will see how it goes.

If you aren’t comfortable commenting back, then email or text me.  You do not have to go to [nlcf] to comment in and vote! You don’t even have to follow Jesus.  You just have to have a but.  I will try to let everyone know if we pick your “but” and you can also feel free to follow the series on our website.  Also, and I am very excited about this, we are going to try to make sure we have time to take questions during each gathering that deal with the issue we covered that day.

This has all the earmarks of something awesome.  So, now the ball is in your court.

We all have our questions, our doubts, or concerns.

What’s yours?

I haven’t been posting as much over the past month as things have been insane at [nlcf].  I do have several that are close to ready to go, and now that my schedule has died down, they will be coming soon. Everything from how I learned that I don’t ever have to attend another rave, to discussions of some of the most difficult topics that Christians face in our culture today. Impressive, eh?

Probably not.

Well, at any rate, if you were at any of our three gatherings on Sunday I said I would post a couple of times to help continue the discussion about how we reclaim an identity that has been stolen. If this makes no sense to you, my suggestion is that you take a look here, once you are on board, take a look here. And if that really piques your curiosity, the first talk in the series is here. (We are a bit behind on posting the talks as we are shifting servers and that can mean that our blah blah blah… all the computers that connect to the internet need to change where they are pointing blah blah… so that our site won’t crash… blah.  All that to say, please be patient with us as we shift our servers.

If none of that really interests you, then  you might want to just look at this video of a kitten being cute.

One of the greatest parts of being able to regularly teach the scriptures is that I take a few months (usually) before I teach on a book or a topic to try to immerse myself in it.  I was once challenged to never teach on scripture that I hadn’t read fifty times, the idea being that the more you dive into the scriptrues the more you can grab what was going on.  The Holy Spirit seems to really draw me into interactions that have really blessed me; and hopefully those that hear me!

I have been excited about us teaching on Amos for well over a year now, volunteered to teach the three weeks we will be dealing with it, and even am leaving our staff retreat early to get back August 8th to finish the series up.  But my excitement has been due to the sense that God wanted us to talk about it, not about the book itself.

Amos is the third of the minor prophets.  A section of short accounts of seasons in Isreal and Judah’s history when God is saying Enough! The minor prophets writings are full of God’s judgement, unpleasant verses, and involve a tough task of understanding what was going on then that led God to say what he did and how that connects with our experience today and what he is intending us to take from it.  It is not a very highly read book, tucked into the back of the Old Testament and full of tough stuff.

Honestly, it isn’t easy.

But I have been surprised.

As I have read Amos more times than I can count in various translations, relfected on how specific writers and the church has looked it over the centuries and spent a great deal of time asking God what he would want to say to us… I have started to see something that I had missed.  A great deal of love and hope.  An incredible example of how God blends the fact that he is fully in charge of everything he has created and that we as humanity seem to have genuine freedom in the choices me make within that creation.

In light of that, this week’s challenge is fairly straightforward.

Read Amos a couple of times.  You need to read it a couple of times to get through the initial feelings you will have when you do read it.  The language is strong, God is upset.  That is clear.  If you would like some of the context of why, you can listen to my talk from last Sunday.

As you are reading, ask God to help you look past how you feel about what he is saying, so that you can start to get to how he feels about what he is saying.  Then pose the question, am I doing what the Israelites were doing?

Pray that God will give you a heart that is more tender to both your weaknesses, but also to the love that God so clearly feels for you.  Remember, in God’s eyes, if you have accepted Jesus’ offer of forgiveness and call to follow him, you are part of the family of Israel.  Keep that in mind as you read.

Finally, share what you are seeing with someone else.  I would love if you would share it here so we can all be encouraged, but the most important point is that you share.

Last thing, if the website is a bit tough to get around, give us some grace, a totally new and revamped one is coming in the next couple of weeks!  Long overdue!

Peace, Jim