The Church Wants You...For Your Soul or For Your Money...??

   So Jesus is credited with saying, "You cannot serve God and Money" and "Money is the root of all evil."*  These are cultural sayings that have done much to disassociate Christianity with Currency.  One big divider of people from 'organized religion' is the observation that churches are only obsessed with money.  In the era before every church could stream, how many 'big TV preachers' were lampooned for pushing on the fundraising even more than the soul-saving?

    There is this Christian technical term called 'tithing' that is at the basis of fund-raising, usually defined in a literal sense as 10%.  An amusing 'clarification' sought for this literal sense is 'pre' or 'post' tax?  It seems to be an adaptation of another saying credited to Jesus, "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's".  

   In my experience with the PCUSA, the more common technical term is 'stewardship'.  This one links back to the creation story in my understanding, where humans were made stewards of the whole creation (and an evaluation of our effectiveness would require a whole other set of posts).  We have worked out multiple 'campaigns' to achieve success in this thing called Stewardship.

    As if that is not enough, there is an entire way of thinking about Jesus that surrounds the idea of prosperity, that Jesus will give us more stuff if we are more faithful.  Is there a thread (cord) of greed in that way of thinking?  Is Jesus trying to buy our votes, our faith?  Does that mean if I don't have money, I am not a good and faithful believer?  It's messy, so very messy.

    As South Presbyterian Church, we begin in our self-identification 'as followers of the risen Lord..."  In our Seasons of Mission, we are in the time of Scholarships.  We have been SO blessed that we can give to support the academic dreams of kids at our area high schools and in our own congregation.  It is empowering and humbling that we can do this as a congregation.

    It is as though these scholarships were made for this church, something that allows us an 'in' to participate in the communities around us, it makes a difference in people's lives, and it is a demonstration of caring without regard to where a person comes from.  It is a joyful thing that we can participate in (a lot of work but a powerful witness).  

    There is the picture I want to capture for Stewardship.  That as followers of the Risen Lord, we have worked to create a place within the community, one that makes a positive difference, one that shows caring, one that we can take pride in, one that we can be excited about.  Can you picture the church, this piece of God's Kingdom, where it is our joy to give?  

    Would you share what that church looks like?

Peace,

Pastor Peter

* I am not going to verify or affirm the accuracy or inaccuracy of these quotes, we have bibles for that.

Making America Greater

Exercising Free Speech makes America greater. College campuses where there are protests against Israel over the Gaza War make us greater because we CAN protest. Throwing around accusations that colleges are somehow in sympathy with the Nazis because this is antisemitism a la Fox News says makes us greater because we CAN speak openly and freely.

Being offended by Free Speech makes America greater because we can talk back without fear or retaliation. 

There are things called slander and satire and deceit and hate mongering that we risk in Free Speech. But we talk it through, maybe even to the Supreme Court, and it makes America greater. 

Suppressing the freedom of speech strangles us. By all means, let’s fight with words, but raise a fist or a club or a gun or authority wielded to “shut it down” or retaliation or oppression, that makes America no different from what the WORST of the rest of the world does.

“Beacon of freedom to the world” is NOT hiding our dirty laundry but flapping it in the wind for the world to catch a whiff and working through it and coming out stronger. 

Not more uniformity in belief, not bowing to whatever strong type would like to dictate what we say or how we say it.

No secrets, that is the heart of free speech. Got an agenda? Sing it out. Selling your words to the highest bidder? Great, we are a capitalist society, but put it out there. Free Speech is double edged, triple edged, can bring the love or the hate in equal measure. 

We have to be greater. Not better. Not superior. But greater. We don’t hide speech but say what we want and have the guts to take responsibility for what we put out there.  And if we don’t have the guts to take responsibility for it, maybe we discover that we have the courage that sometimes the most powerful free speech is when we shut our mouths.

That’s what the people who made the ultimate sacrifice in uniform for this nation were protecting, America and the possibility for it to be ever greater.  Remember that as we remember this Memorial Day. Please.

Peace,

Pastor Peter

Who Are We? Who Who, I Really Want to Know...

 Any fans of CSI out there?  That brought a cultural anthem forward for a new generation.  Some who have greater life experience may go back to '78 in the Old Century when this old, old question found new expression, titling an entire album.  

Who are we?  South Presbyterian Church?  We are a merry band of Presbyterians who meet a 10 am on Sundays.  But we are privileged with more.

New Life Apolstolic Ministries, Inc. shares this campus and the Word of God at 12:30 pm on Sundays.  Pastor Isaiah D. Brisbon is the shepherd of this flock and we have the delight of inviting him to share the message with our congregation this Sunday, May 26, 2024. 

I will be away this coming weekend to spend some time with family in Maine.  

Who are we?  We are South Presbyterian Church and New Life Apostolic Ministries.  Ours is the privilege to share God's Word in God's House here in our little corner of God's Kingdom.

Peace
Pastor Peter

PS  Does anyone think The Band called The Who was named for The Doctor?

Reaction to Harrison Butker

 From the National Catholic Register Website: Editor’s Note: Harrison Butker, 28, the placekicker for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League, delivered the commencement address at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, on Saturday, May 11, 2024.  What followed was a transcript of the speech.

Here is the part that has been getting the press attention, from that transcript:

"I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabelle, would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother. I'm on the stage today and able to be the man I am because I have a wife who leans into her vocation. I'm beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me, but it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker."

I have a lot of responses to that, ranging from the theological to the visceral.  But I would like to answer this statement with one by Rev. Dr. Mark Sandlin,

'The moment Christianity became about confessing the "right things" rather than simply practicing love and inclusion was the moment it became a tool of the powerful rather than a movement that lifts up the people Jesus spent the most time with."

But that's not the part that really got to me.  It was not until I read the whole transcript and went back to reread it that this popped:

"It is not prudent as the laity for us to consume ourselves in becoming amateur theologians so that we can decipher this or that theological teaching — unless, of course, you are a theology major. We must be intentional with our focus on our state in life and our own vocation. And for most of us, that's as married men and women."

It is not prudent as the laity to decipher this or that theological teaching...

Not prudent as the laity for us to consume ourselves in becoming amateur theologians...

We must be intentional with our focus on our state in life and our own vocation...

Is not our state in life, as Christians, to love God and love Neighbor?  

Is Spirituality Confusing?

 Yes. Next post…

Lol?

What is the Holy Spirit? Is Jesus the Gift of Christmas and the Spirit the Gift of Pentecost? Might God gift us yet in the future in some other way?

And then there are terms like “being spiritual”, which seems to be a more popular faith-based self-identification than being “religious”. There is a whole category of books known by the topic of “spirituality”. Recently, I found myself stirring up the mud by trying to define spirituality in terms of “transcendence”. Yah, not helpful, even if I think I know what I am talking about.

The Bible throws around the term “spirit” a lot. My bible reading right now is around King Saul in the book of 1 Samuel. They talk about God sending evil spirits upon Saul. How can I unravel this word that I have been soaked in my whole life to try and make sense of it?

You decide whether it is a benefit or a detriment that knowing “how” to do something rarely gets in my way. That’s meant some problems in home repair issues, but never stopped me when it comes to thinking about my faith.

There is a contrast in the writings of Paul between Spirit and Flesh. It can be summed up essentially as “Spirit good” and “Flesh bad”. But that is another discussion.

Where this helps us is that “flesh” is a clear description of us, human, created, sinful beings (thus bad and needing Jesus). Jesus is God “incarnate”, ‘made flesh’, same root word in Carnivore, flesh-eater. I know, kind of icky.

But in clearly defining our existence as “flesh”, the idea of “spirit” can then encompass what is beyond the flesh. Christianity has specific definitions of “spirit” in terms of God, in terms of humanity in connection to God, as do many faiths and systems of belief.

The key takeaway is that “ spirit” is beyond the flesh. It might be capital H and capital S “ Holy Spirit” or a description of some kind of ghostly apparition. 

That is why, I believe, it can be hard to pin down a working definition because the word is so encompassing. 

So, by definition, we are Flesh and God is Spirit. But the reality that the spiritual is integral to who we are as beings of Flesh is evidence to me that the world can see and know the divine, the transcendent, the spiritual.

I hope that is helpful.

Peace,

Pastor Peter

Emmanuel: God With Us...Within Us...

 So God invested some special power in some special individuals in the First Testament.   Like when the spirit of the Lord entered into Samson and he tore apart a lion with his bare hands.  (Judges 14:3).  But it is more than a superhero with a fancy haircut.  A what with a what?  Judges 13-16 records his story.

But God is also someone who empowers the arts.  Bezalel was the chief architect of the tabernacle, the wandering house of God as the people wandered during the Exodus.  He was assisted by Oholiab, a master of carpentry, weaving, and embroidery (Exodus 38:23).  To read the second half of the Book of Exodus is to read about their work, inspired by the spirit of the Lord, to build a house for the Lord.  This was when the Ark of the Covenant was made (see "Raiders of the Lost Ark" for an outsized, mythological considertion of THAT artifact).

The spirit of the Lord also blessed kings.  When Samuel anointed David (1 Samuel 16:13-14), the spirit came upon him.  The spirit was also upon Saul, David's predecessor, but that spirit came and went with the attitudes of the man.

The spirit triggered the powers of prophecy that we find in the First Testament.  Isaiah claims that power explicitly (Isaiah 61:1), sharing what God has told him to share.

So, there is nothing new in Acts 2 in terms of what the spirit is.  We find many examples across the Old Testament.  What is new is Jesus.  First, the Spirit comes as Jesus among us once Jesus has returned to heaven (John 14).  Secondly, the Spirit accelerates that which is latent within us.  Those are the joys and the gifts of the Spirit that we can find in Paul's letters.  Last Thursday was Ascension Day, the day Jesus returned to heaven.  We are in a ten day period of quiet, perhaps fearful contemplation, by Jesus' followers.  They are waiting for something, something big.

It is nothing less than the birth of the Church.  And it comes with the universal and permanent expression of God's Holy Spirit upon them and, to this day, upon us.  

So there you go.  Questions?  I would be delighted to try and answer. 

Peace,

Pastor Peter

Why I Miss Newspapers

There are moments when I am not speaking as Pastor Peter, the minister and nice guy, blah de blah.  There are moments when I need to vent.  Like now.  

There are a lot of reasons why I miss newspapers.  The weekend Sunday color comics for example.  Black ink leeching onto my skin for another.  

Getting to the point especially.

I have defaulted to the Google's feed for my news stories.  Yes, that probably reduces the quality of my life, but that's another story.  But it makes me long for newspapers.

They got to the point.  After the Headline, they had one paragraph, maybe 1-3 sentences to get my attention and get me reading.  So the necessary stuff was in the opening.  If I wanted to read on, there were literal paragraphs to follow, if I was so inclined.

But now I have to click.  So the headline was "Final Notice: Dollywood, Dolly Parton's Theme Park, Suspends All Operations Without Refund."  I have been to Dollywood, more than once.  I like Dollywood.  I am a big fan of Dolly Parton, I love her album of rock songs.  I love Beyonce's cover of Jolene, but I love Dolly's more.  So this caught my attention.  It blew my brain to find out she wrote the theme music to the various rides.  I want to go back just to the blacksmithy 'make your own' part.

Not only did I have to click, but I had to scroll.  A teaser is dropped in the first paragraph, something about 'unsafe conditions', before an extended introduction extolling the virtues of the park.  The park is virtuous, get on with it!  What happened in Tennessee!!  Why is Dollywood gone??

It's not gone.  It's weather.  It is safety for guests and crew.  It is a necessary precaution in the face of conditions in the Southeast.  It took too many scrolls to get to the point.  "Final Notice"??  Makes it sound like "they paved paradise and put up a parking lot".  

What the Heaven Are You Talking About?

“God is love” and “To God be the Glory”.  I believe these to be the “objective” truths of our faith.  These are the presuppositions of our Lord Jesus in giving us the whole law in the call to love God and love neighbor.  I believe that Jesus, in laying down His life for us, is providing the ultimate demonstration of God’s love while showing us the ultimate Glory of the Lord, power over evil and death and all their minions.

I believe that if the whole world would embrace these truths, we could abolish war, poverty, hunger, climate destruction, pollution, all the evils of the world.  

But we cannot because we are broken.  And God will not impose goodness upon us, we must choose the Lord.  Which has led to people of manipulative spirit to seek to use our God (often in cruel and divisive ways) to advance their own causes and has led people of good intentions to act in unloving (often cruelly and divisively) ways to ‘advance the kingdom of God’.

So this is what I believe and I believe I can’t force them to believe for their own good and I have to respect them and the dignity of their beings because they, like me, are created in the image of God.  That is the point of view from which I am to act, to speak, and even to think.  But, but, but what about the ‘thought police’ and the novel ‘1984’ and Big Brother trying to control everything?

What about Jesus saying in the Sermon on the Mount that, in my heart, if I have hatred for my sibling, I have already committed murder?  Yah, but nobody knows.  Well, except God.

So no politicking, no fear-mongering, no hatred, no ‘othering’ (making an enemy out of some others because of some characteristic of their being or personality), no intimidation, no trickery, no sinful motivations like money or power, no manipulation, no power play, no power promising, no coopting of divine authority for our own…

So what am I left with?  Preaching universal love and forgiveness?  (God’s love is universal, we are all God’s children.  God’s forgiveness is universal, there for the taking).  And to God be the glory, so there’s nothing left for me?  Maybe that’s the whole point, take off the pressure.

This is what in heaven I am talking about?

 

Peace,

Pastor Peter

What Is The Bible Telling Us for This Week? 1 John 5: 9-13, Poking at the text.

So the Bible says we receive human words, but that God's words are greater.  

That leaves humanity in the DIRT, because can we even begin to measure how much GREATER God is than God's created humanity, notwithstanding that we are FALLEN humanity?

The reason is that the words of God are the words God has spoken in regards to God's Son.

The passage says 'testimony', which makes it sound like a trial.  Maybe it is.  But God's greater words than our own are in regards to Jesus.

It is not about knowing the words, but believing them, if we believe in the Son of God. 

Ok, God speaks better than us, God's words are in regards to Jesus, but they are not 'out there in the ether'.  God speaks to our hearts, God's truth is within us (more about this at Pentecost I would think).

But there is a flip side to this.  Those who do not believe in God have made our God a liar by NOT believing the words God has given us about God's Son.

But wait a moment, this is not some objective truth?  It is an internalized truth.  Not to believe in God is to make God a pretty gi-normous liar.  When I say 'internalizing', this is believing in what God has to say.  To believe makes God a truth teller about Jesus.  Not to believe makes God a liar about Jesus. 

What are these words of God?  God has given to us eternal life, and that life is in the Son.

God's greater words than those of humans are that we have eternal life in God's Son.

The result?  Those who have the Son have life, those who do not, do not have life.

To have the Son is to have the word of the Son, to believe it, having it in our hearts, from God, in the sure and certain knowledge that God has a superior word to our own, and having the Son is having eternal life.  Turn our hearts and backs on that and God is made a liar, and eternal life is not to be had.

This is why John is telling us who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that we KNOW we have eternal life.

It seems the people John is writing to have the part down about believing in Jesus, but have questions about whatn then comes of that.

So, in 1 John 5: 9-13, we are offered the greater testimony, witness, word-whatever works as the term for communication-that the Son, that Jesus is the basis of eternal life, not something we know, but somethig we internalize, we believe in with our hearts.  

Letter Writing and the Bible

Our Sermon Series has included Prayer, Theology, Contemplation, and Missions; is going to include Worship and Evangelism; all drawing on lectionary readings from the first letter of John.  1 John, with its associated 'books',  2 John and 3 John make up his trio.  It is written by the author of the Gospel of John and the book of Revelation.  What's a lectionary?  That's another post.  Today, the focus is on the single largest type of literature (by number of books) in the First Testament.  It is the 'epistle', the letter written by an apostle.  

 Paul is our big letter writer in the New Testament.  Romans to Philemon (and Hebrews?...fodder for another post, or maybe an old one...) are his, or attributed to him (again, another post).  They are different from the other letters, like John, because Paul's are named for their addressees, whether congregations or individuals.  

James, Peter, John, and Jude are the other letter writers, named for the authors.  It seems they are listed in that book order not because of importance as Apostles but on the lengths of their respective works.  Of John's three letters, the second is addressed to an unnamed lady and the third to Gaius, both with John calling himself 'the elder'. 

The first letter just gets into it.  "We declare to you what was from the beginning..."  He gives us a broad base of his beliefs, a powerful witness.  Best clues as to who the audience is come in the last chapter.  John says, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life."  Then he closes with "Little children, keep yourself from idols."

It is one thing to have a gospel, a gathered narrative that has a purpose around our Lord Jesus Christ.  Every gospel has its own focus and personality, but it is all about Jesus.  What do we do with letters?

Reverse engineering maybe.  I take this term mostly from military applications.  A piece of enemy tech is obtained and then deconstructed, engineered in reverse, to figure out how it works.  That works with letters too.

We have half the correspondance.  But these are not letters that discuss the weather or how the family is faring.  This is 'religio-business' correspondance, which required an investment is time, but also in writing materials, papyrus (maybe) and ink-all hand made, luxury items.  Then, it needed to be sent.  There was no general postal service, just an Imperial system based in the military.  So every word was valuable.  So, I am saying these letters were pricey enterprises, so their authors got to the point.

And they were a response.  So, when John  says 'keep yourself from idols' and it closes the letter, the last line, I believe we can assume there is an issue with idols.  When he writes 'to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life', that the question of eternal life is a 'thing'.  

Which is why, I believe, 1 John has lent itself to exploring the thoughts, words, and actions of the faith as we express our Love for God and our Love for Neighbor.  That is what John is exploring in his letter.  Maybe not in an explicit manner like this series of sermons, but definitely in how the faith is expressed and lived.

The story of Jesus, the story of His death and resurrection, the story of our salvation, it is all implicit to the entire text.  John does not need to tell it again (he can refer folks to his gospel for more information).  

Will we be able to construct the full backstory behind the letter?  No.  But that is okay.  The Bible was written at specific times in the past, to their present circumstances, with an eternal message.  The message does not change, but the circumstances do.  Understanding that is why the Bible continues to be relevant today.  It also mitigates against unloving interpretation that seeks to impose previous circumstances on the present day.

How can it do that?  Well, as we like to say, it is 'the Word as inspired by God.'  That's a 'church-ish' way of saying "God did it."  To read these letters to best effect means we need to understand what they are as literary pieces and why they were written.  I hope this helps make reading these books in the bible more accessible.  

As always, I am delighted to try and answer questions, and still learning when I get them wrong.

Peace,

Pastor Peter