The former Prime Minister of Pakistan and recent martyr to the cause of democracy in Pakistan and around the world, Benazir Bhutto, left behind a powerful book, finished as her life came to a tragic end.
"Reconciliation" covers a lot of territory in its three hundred pages.
She lays charges at the feet of the West for what we have done as a ‘civilization’ to exacerbate conditions that have led to our global war on terror. She lays out the tragic but still-hopeful history of her beloved nation and her family’s sacrifices to build a sustainable democracy. She speaks of her beloved Islam and indicts the extremists who have sought to turn her religion into a sponsor of terror instead of a sponsor of peace. She takes to task and then takes apart the governing paradigmatic foreign policy essay “The Clash of Civilizations” by Samuel Huntingdon.
She leaves us with several conclusions. First, democratic ideals are NOT antithetical to Islam. Second, the “global war on terror”, in large measure, is a battle within Islam between moderates and extremists. Third, much foreign policy by the democratic powers of the West, especially the United States, has fed into the battle within Islam. Fourth, if the West would feed the democratic processes at work in Islamic nations, the ideals could emerge and as they did, as the economic benefits were advanced to the people of these nations, extremism would be starved on the vine.
What job does that leave for Christianity? How does the Church, seeking to fulfill the Great Commission, consider its role in the workings of Pakistan and other Muslim nations? Extremist Islamic rhetoric equates any mission work we do as continuing the Crusades of eight centuries ago. Even moderate Islamic reaction to the presence of missionaries has been to outlaw such behavior. There is also an identification of Western missionary activity with perceived Western ‘imperialist’ activity.
I believe peacemaking is part of the Great Commission. According to 1Timothy 2, God desires everyone to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. The purpose for that is mentioned one verse earlier, so that we may lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and dignity. Maybe our place in the mission field of the Islamic nations is to take the lead in bringing real peace, in bringing real, sustainable economic growth, in bringing real freedom. Maybe the place we must start is in the deeds that mark us as believers in Jesus Christ. The words will follow.
Remember the hymn, “They will know we are Christians by our love.”
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Media Observation: The movie "Doom", 2005
I wasn’t expecting to find a distinctly Christian character in “Doom”. I was indulging my genetic masculine predisposition to violent sci-fi shoot ‘em up bug-hunt type movies. I played the video game with a certain amount of blood thirsty glee. Besides, the Rock does pretty good violence.
Basic movie premise, an elite team of Marines goes to Mars via some cool wormhole bridge to kill things threatening humans up there. One of the Marines was a Christian, a counterpoint to a particularly disgusting character with amoral tendencies toward women, drugs, and so on. The Christian is nicknamed “Goat” (a play on the Lamb of God? A reference to the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew? Or was Lambchops just too uncool for a Marine nickname?).
“Goat” sticks in my head for two scenes, one negative and one positive, both in sick, violent, sci-fi, shoot-em-up bug-hunt ways.
On the negative, Goat takes the Lord’s name in vain. Punishment for breaking the Fourth Commandment? Self-mutilation. He carves a cross into his forearm with his combat knife. I think we were supposed to take note of the extensive scar-tissue.
That was a lot more introspective then carving a cross in his arm. I still haven’t decided whether I like it or not, but it made me think.
Basic movie premise, an elite team of Marines goes to Mars via some cool wormhole bridge to kill things threatening humans up there. One of the Marines was a Christian, a counterpoint to a particularly disgusting character with amoral tendencies toward women, drugs, and so on. The Christian is nicknamed “Goat” (a play on the Lamb of God? A reference to the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew? Or was Lambchops just too uncool for a Marine nickname?).
“Goat” sticks in my head for two scenes, one negative and one positive, both in sick, violent, sci-fi, shoot-em-up bug-hunt ways.
On the negative, Goat takes the Lord’s name in vain. Punishment for breaking the Fourth Commandment? Self-mutilation. He carves a cross into his forearm with his combat knife. I think we were supposed to take note of the extensive scar-tissue.
On the positive, okay, not positive, but rather interesting, Goat, like most of the humans in the movie, gets turned into a flesh-eating demonic creature by other flesh-eating demonic creatures. To stop them, they must be shot with extreme prejudice.
They play a minimal subtext where Goat calls these creatures demons. Then, while his redeemed nature is still in some kind of control of his free will after he is bitten/infected, he chooses to kill himself rather than lost his free will and his soul to this evil. It is grotesquely comical to watch him bang his skull on bulletproof glass to kill himself.That was a lot more introspective then carving a cross in his arm. I still haven’t decided whether I like it or not, but it made me think.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Easter Sermon 2008
Sermon Mar. 23, 2008 Luke 24:1-35 Easter Sunday
“This Is That Of Which I Speak”
It hasn’t really felt like Easter this year. I don’t know if it because Easter is so early, but the awe and wonder isn’t what it usually is. It may just be the news of the day. I don’t know if it is the bipolar reaction to the economy in the media. One day, doom, despair and recession, the next, oh no, an indicator is good, we are coming out of it. I don’t know if it is because we have been at war for five years, we are at four thousand dead. I don’t know if it is because this is the most convenient war we have ever fought. There is no draft, there is no rationing, there are no shortages. If you don’t look for it, you won’t see it at all.
The way the world is at the moment, it feels more like Good Friday, the death of Jesus, rather than Easter morning, Jesus come back to us.
It was that way for the apostles. They did not believe the news of the women. Mary Magdalene, Joanne, Mary the mother of James (apparently not to be confused with Mary the mother of Jesus) and the rest went to the tomb with ointment and spices to embalm the body of Jesus. They did not find Jesus in the tomb, but they did meet two men in dazzling clothes-angels. They reminded the women of Jesus’ own words, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again. Then, verse eight, “they remembered his words”. And they believed that Jesus was risen from the dead.
When they returned to the apostles to tell them this, those condescending QUOTE leaders of the church UNQUOTE decided their story was an idle tale and they did not believe them. At least Peter was curious enough to go check it out. He went, saw the empty tomb and the linen clothes inside, but, instead of coming back to speak of what he saw, just went home amazed.
Then Luke follows two of them were headed for Emmaus. They were having an animated discussion about everything that had happened. Jesus was dead, but the women were saying he was alive. How do you get your mind around that? When Jesus joins them and pretends ignorance, they give him a recap of the events of the last few days. And at the very least they confirm the “idle tale” of the women. They saw the empty tomb, not the angels, but the empty tomb. Something was happening, but they had no idea what. And unlike the women, they could not believe it was Jesus resurrected.
And Jesus clobbers them with it. The sanitized version appears in Luke, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!” A more contemporary rendering might be “Hey, stupid! You’re thicker than a brick! Remember what the prophets said?”
Now the angels at the tomb only had to remind the women of what Jesus had said. They thought back to Jesus’ words in Galilee and bingo, the light went on. Jesus was alive! Jesus was resurrected from the dead! That was God’s promise fulfilled! They remembered and believed. That was why the tomb was empty.
But now we have these two jug heads. Jesus starts with the same reminder. Was it not necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and then enter into his glory? For the women, that was the trigger point. In that instant, they got it. But not these gentlemen. Jesus has to go back to Moses, he has to go back to the book of Genesis, and then through all the prophets, all the way through the Old Testament, interpreting to them the things about himself in all the Scriptures.
What a glorious time that was for them. Their hearts burned within themselves while Jesus spoke.
The only problem is they still weren’t getting it. They are hearing all this incredible stuff and they are deeply moved, but Jesus is standing right next to them and they don’t see him. They are hearing all the promises of the bible but without believing Jesus was alive. This was seven miles of walking stupid.
So they get to the village. Jesus was going on, but they urged him to stay. It was almost evening, the day was nearly over, the evening rush hour was beginning, they wanted him to stay, and he agreed.
These two disciples were obviously not auditory learners. Telling them stuff was all well and good, but they did not break out to reach the conclusion that Jesus was aiming for. They did not get it that Jesus was alive and standing right there with them. Rather, these two guys were obviously visual. Jesus repeated the Last Supper. He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.
Baddabing! Their eyes were opened and they recognized him! And he vanished from their sight. So back they go to Jerusalem, tell the apostles, and they all finally believe it after corroborating evidence that Jesus appeared to Simon as well. Our final verse says, “Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he, Jesus, had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.”
Now imagine the women listening to this. Early dawn, they’d gotten the good news and believed it. But the men didn’t believe, they dismissed their testimony as an “idle tale”. But now, these two spend hours with Jesus teaching them, hours having their hearts and minds all fired up, hours having the bible explained to them in detail, they still didn’t figure it out until Jesus broke some bread for them. Then, they walk seven miles back to Jerusalem to tell the apostles. It took a round trip from here to Menlo Park Mall and a visitation of Jesus to Simon and an entire day for the men to believe what the women knew first thing that morning.
This sounds like a marriage. The wife knows the truth, but the husband doesn’t believe her, not until he figures it out for himself, and not until he figures it out the hard way.
No matter how long it took them to believe it, the Good News is that Jesus rose from the dead.
When we walk out of here this morning, we will still be at war. Our economy will still be wildly unstable. Poverty, climate change, all those things will still be there. What will be different is us. The Promise of Easter will suffuse us to our very souls. Jesus conquered death. People will still die, in Iraq, elsewhere, but in Jesus is the hope of heaven. Jesus conquered sin. Our economy is sliding, a lot due to greed and sinful business practice. In Jesus, we know there are things bigger and more eternal then any market fluctuation.
When we walk out of there, may the joy of Christ Jesus, risen from the dead, savior of us all, surround you and kindle in you a love for God and neighbor that will sweep us into Christ’s vision for us this year and for all time to come. May the bad things melt in the light of our Lord Jesus. May his grace be sufficient and his love all encompassing for us.
Amen.
“This Is That Of Which I Speak”
It hasn’t really felt like Easter this year. I don’t know if it because Easter is so early, but the awe and wonder isn’t what it usually is. It may just be the news of the day. I don’t know if it is the bipolar reaction to the economy in the media. One day, doom, despair and recession, the next, oh no, an indicator is good, we are coming out of it. I don’t know if it is because we have been at war for five years, we are at four thousand dead. I don’t know if it is because this is the most convenient war we have ever fought. There is no draft, there is no rationing, there are no shortages. If you don’t look for it, you won’t see it at all.
The way the world is at the moment, it feels more like Good Friday, the death of Jesus, rather than Easter morning, Jesus come back to us.
It was that way for the apostles. They did not believe the news of the women. Mary Magdalene, Joanne, Mary the mother of James (apparently not to be confused with Mary the mother of Jesus) and the rest went to the tomb with ointment and spices to embalm the body of Jesus. They did not find Jesus in the tomb, but they did meet two men in dazzling clothes-angels. They reminded the women of Jesus’ own words, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again. Then, verse eight, “they remembered his words”. And they believed that Jesus was risen from the dead.
When they returned to the apostles to tell them this, those condescending QUOTE leaders of the church UNQUOTE decided their story was an idle tale and they did not believe them. At least Peter was curious enough to go check it out. He went, saw the empty tomb and the linen clothes inside, but, instead of coming back to speak of what he saw, just went home amazed.
Then Luke follows two of them were headed for Emmaus. They were having an animated discussion about everything that had happened. Jesus was dead, but the women were saying he was alive. How do you get your mind around that? When Jesus joins them and pretends ignorance, they give him a recap of the events of the last few days. And at the very least they confirm the “idle tale” of the women. They saw the empty tomb, not the angels, but the empty tomb. Something was happening, but they had no idea what. And unlike the women, they could not believe it was Jesus resurrected.
And Jesus clobbers them with it. The sanitized version appears in Luke, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!” A more contemporary rendering might be “Hey, stupid! You’re thicker than a brick! Remember what the prophets said?”
Now the angels at the tomb only had to remind the women of what Jesus had said. They thought back to Jesus’ words in Galilee and bingo, the light went on. Jesus was alive! Jesus was resurrected from the dead! That was God’s promise fulfilled! They remembered and believed. That was why the tomb was empty.
But now we have these two jug heads. Jesus starts with the same reminder. Was it not necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and then enter into his glory? For the women, that was the trigger point. In that instant, they got it. But not these gentlemen. Jesus has to go back to Moses, he has to go back to the book of Genesis, and then through all the prophets, all the way through the Old Testament, interpreting to them the things about himself in all the Scriptures.
What a glorious time that was for them. Their hearts burned within themselves while Jesus spoke.
The only problem is they still weren’t getting it. They are hearing all this incredible stuff and they are deeply moved, but Jesus is standing right next to them and they don’t see him. They are hearing all the promises of the bible but without believing Jesus was alive. This was seven miles of walking stupid.
So they get to the village. Jesus was going on, but they urged him to stay. It was almost evening, the day was nearly over, the evening rush hour was beginning, they wanted him to stay, and he agreed.
These two disciples were obviously not auditory learners. Telling them stuff was all well and good, but they did not break out to reach the conclusion that Jesus was aiming for. They did not get it that Jesus was alive and standing right there with them. Rather, these two guys were obviously visual. Jesus repeated the Last Supper. He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.
Baddabing! Their eyes were opened and they recognized him! And he vanished from their sight. So back they go to Jerusalem, tell the apostles, and they all finally believe it after corroborating evidence that Jesus appeared to Simon as well. Our final verse says, “Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he, Jesus, had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.”
Now imagine the women listening to this. Early dawn, they’d gotten the good news and believed it. But the men didn’t believe, they dismissed their testimony as an “idle tale”. But now, these two spend hours with Jesus teaching them, hours having their hearts and minds all fired up, hours having the bible explained to them in detail, they still didn’t figure it out until Jesus broke some bread for them. Then, they walk seven miles back to Jerusalem to tell the apostles. It took a round trip from here to Menlo Park Mall and a visitation of Jesus to Simon and an entire day for the men to believe what the women knew first thing that morning.
This sounds like a marriage. The wife knows the truth, but the husband doesn’t believe her, not until he figures it out for himself, and not until he figures it out the hard way.
No matter how long it took them to believe it, the Good News is that Jesus rose from the dead.
When we walk out of here this morning, we will still be at war. Our economy will still be wildly unstable. Poverty, climate change, all those things will still be there. What will be different is us. The Promise of Easter will suffuse us to our very souls. Jesus conquered death. People will still die, in Iraq, elsewhere, but in Jesus is the hope of heaven. Jesus conquered sin. Our economy is sliding, a lot due to greed and sinful business practice. In Jesus, we know there are things bigger and more eternal then any market fluctuation.
When we walk out of there, may the joy of Christ Jesus, risen from the dead, savior of us all, surround you and kindle in you a love for God and neighbor that will sweep us into Christ’s vision for us this year and for all time to come. May the bad things melt in the light of our Lord Jesus. May his grace be sufficient and his love all encompassing for us.
Amen.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Creation and Evolution: Can they be the same thing?
I heard an intriguing statistic on the radio. One third of Americans believe in the fundamentalist inerrant interpretation of Scripture while two thirds of Americans do not believe in evolution as a scientific theory. My first reaction is to wonder at the polling process that resulted in these numbers. They seem to be widely disparate.
I do not doubt that there is a gap. To hear the media play, creationism, the religio-scientific theory drawn from Genesis 1 and 2, should stand in contention with the theory of Evolution. This religio-scientific theory of Creationism is achieved when a fundamendalist inerrant approach to the interpretation of Scripture is rigorously applied.
But to interpret these statistics, the conclusion I draw is that the Creationist theorists have convinced more people then fundamentalists. You don't have to interpret Scripture in a certain way yourself in order to identify with others who interpret Scripture in a certain way.
I thank the Lord that my salvation is not on the line with how I interpret Genesis 1. I accept the theory of evolution as the best interpretation of the data available in the world around us and in the words of Scripture. Because those are the two modes of God's revelation to us, in general and in a special way, we must take what each of them reveal to us, prayerfully asking the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
I have found myself correcting my vocabulary a couple of times here. The initial expression that came to my mind for Genesis 1 is that it is called a 'creation myth', but that has negative connotations. I also tossed around calling Genesis 1 the 'creation story', but that also rouses negative connotations for me. I recognize the real possibility that I am overly sensitive to language, but this debate is so emotionally charged that I feel I have to be.
Genesis 1 teaches that God created the universe. That is what I believe. "How" is a more complex question. And it is a story for another day. So is interpreting the contradistinction of the Creation accounts in Genesis 1 and 2.
I do not doubt that there is a gap. To hear the media play, creationism, the religio-scientific theory drawn from Genesis 1 and 2, should stand in contention with the theory of Evolution. This religio-scientific theory of Creationism is achieved when a fundamendalist inerrant approach to the interpretation of Scripture is rigorously applied.
But to interpret these statistics, the conclusion I draw is that the Creationist theorists have convinced more people then fundamentalists. You don't have to interpret Scripture in a certain way yourself in order to identify with others who interpret Scripture in a certain way.
I thank the Lord that my salvation is not on the line with how I interpret Genesis 1. I accept the theory of evolution as the best interpretation of the data available in the world around us and in the words of Scripture. Because those are the two modes of God's revelation to us, in general and in a special way, we must take what each of them reveal to us, prayerfully asking the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Over and against a fundamentalist inerrant approach to biblical interpretation, I would have to characterize the methods I use for Scriptural interpretation as a "literary inerrant approach". I accept the inerrancy of Scripture in the literary form that has been handed down to us. Genesis 1 is in the genre of other Creation accounts found in the ancient world. The difference is that this is the proper account.
I have found myself correcting my vocabulary a couple of times here. The initial expression that came to my mind for Genesis 1 is that it is called a 'creation myth', but that has negative connotations. I also tossed around calling Genesis 1 the 'creation story', but that also rouses negative connotations for me. I recognize the real possibility that I am overly sensitive to language, but this debate is so emotionally charged that I feel I have to be.
Genesis 1 teaches that God created the universe. That is what I believe. "How" is a more complex question. And it is a story for another day. So is interpreting the contradistinction of the Creation accounts in Genesis 1 and 2.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Time to fight the Culture Wars, Round 1
Bishop Gene Robinson and Bishop Martyn Minns are being sidelined for the upcoming Lambeth gathering of the world-wide Anglican Fellowship. These two bishops have become the flashpoints for two sides of a Culture War going on inside the Episcopal Church. Bishop Robinson is the first openly gay ordained bishop and Bishop Minns leads a series of conservative Episcopal congregations around the country who have broken away in large part in reaction to Bishop Robinson.
I pray for our brothers and sisters in the Anglican Fellowship. Their fight is one going on inside the Presbyterian Church as well. And like the Episcopalian Church, it is damaging and dividing us. A number of our churches have withdrawn to join the Evangelican Presbyterian Church.
Makes me wonder how we fight a Culture War and stay faithful to our Christian beliefs. Makes me wonder how two groups of Christians with polarized beliefs can function in the same denomination. Makes me wonder how the mainline will thrive if this is where we get stuck.
It is not an issue of the authority of Scripture. Some people want to make it that, but I don’t buy it. It only becomes an issue when the authority of Scripture is rejected to make the point of homosexuality and sin. But once the authority of Scripture is rejected, a fundamental presupposition of conversing as Christians is rejected and, for me, the conversation goes outside the sacred realm and into the secular.
And that is okay, but not here.
For me, the issue is the interpretation of Scripture. Are the famous (or infamous) verses in the Torah and in Romans speaking about homosexual activities in themselves as sinful or are they speaking of homosexual activities when used as religious rituals as sinful? Or are they condemning both? Or do certain passages address sexuality and certain passages address religious ritual?
The tough part of resolving this issue is that the interpretation of Scripture rests on settling a cultural/scientific question. Is homosexuality innate or is it chosen? Can it be both, chosen by some, innate in others? Are there people who are truly not sure? How does a discussion of transgender enter in?
The reason these two questions are connected for me concerns the question of innate behavior. If homosexuality is innate, it is created by God. If it is innate, how can we interpret Scripture to condemn what God has created?
If homosexuality is chosen, Adam and Eve is the biblical example of marriage, an heterosexual monogamous relationship. If homosexuality is innate, Adam and Eve is the biblical example of marriage, an exclusive monogamous relationship.
Some of my friends get upset with me when I say that this issue follows the pattern of interpreting the Scripture about slavery, about the ordination of women, about civil rights. In each generation, those issues generated their own anger. We fought a civil war over slavery. The Presbyterian Church split over the issue. We are apparently splitting again.
What do I think? I think there are no easy answers. I think this issue strikes to the heart and soul of many devout Christians on both sides. I also think that the flames of the debate have been fanned by the devil to suck away the church’s life blood from the real matters of gospel proclamation and world redemption.
I also think mercy is the order of the day. I know devout Christians who are gay. I don’t think they chose. Given the discrimination that goes on in this country about gender issues, I cannot imagine why they would want to choose. I would rather risk being wrong for the sake of the gospel going to include more.
I am also ordained in a church where the polity takes the opposite view. I know full well that putting this opinion up on my blog could catch me hell (literally) with my congregants and with my denomination. I smack of personal hypocrisy, saying one thing while working in a church that teaches something else.
But theologically, this is a minor issue. I don’t think salvation rests on it, one way or the other. There are any number of sins that could be listed which don’t grab the spot light like this one does which are as or more damaging to our Christian natures. I think this is a cultural issue first and foremost that has been taken up in the church and, as I said before, sucks energy away from what is really important.
I pray for our brothers and sisters in the Anglican Fellowship. Their fight is one going on inside the Presbyterian Church as well. And like the Episcopalian Church, it is damaging and dividing us. A number of our churches have withdrawn to join the Evangelican Presbyterian Church.
Makes me wonder how we fight a Culture War and stay faithful to our Christian beliefs. Makes me wonder how two groups of Christians with polarized beliefs can function in the same denomination. Makes me wonder how the mainline will thrive if this is where we get stuck.
It is not an issue of the authority of Scripture. Some people want to make it that, but I don’t buy it. It only becomes an issue when the authority of Scripture is rejected to make the point of homosexuality and sin. But once the authority of Scripture is rejected, a fundamental presupposition of conversing as Christians is rejected and, for me, the conversation goes outside the sacred realm and into the secular.
And that is okay, but not here.
For me, the issue is the interpretation of Scripture. Are the famous (or infamous) verses in the Torah and in Romans speaking about homosexual activities in themselves as sinful or are they speaking of homosexual activities when used as religious rituals as sinful? Or are they condemning both? Or do certain passages address sexuality and certain passages address religious ritual?
The tough part of resolving this issue is that the interpretation of Scripture rests on settling a cultural/scientific question. Is homosexuality innate or is it chosen? Can it be both, chosen by some, innate in others? Are there people who are truly not sure? How does a discussion of transgender enter in?
The reason these two questions are connected for me concerns the question of innate behavior. If homosexuality is innate, it is created by God. If it is innate, how can we interpret Scripture to condemn what God has created?
If homosexuality is chosen, Adam and Eve is the biblical example of marriage, an heterosexual monogamous relationship. If homosexuality is innate, Adam and Eve is the biblical example of marriage, an exclusive monogamous relationship.
Some of my friends get upset with me when I say that this issue follows the pattern of interpreting the Scripture about slavery, about the ordination of women, about civil rights. In each generation, those issues generated their own anger. We fought a civil war over slavery. The Presbyterian Church split over the issue. We are apparently splitting again.
What do I think? I think there are no easy answers. I think this issue strikes to the heart and soul of many devout Christians on both sides. I also think that the flames of the debate have been fanned by the devil to suck away the church’s life blood from the real matters of gospel proclamation and world redemption.
I also think mercy is the order of the day. I know devout Christians who are gay. I don’t think they chose. Given the discrimination that goes on in this country about gender issues, I cannot imagine why they would want to choose. I would rather risk being wrong for the sake of the gospel going to include more.
I am also ordained in a church where the polity takes the opposite view. I know full well that putting this opinion up on my blog could catch me hell (literally) with my congregants and with my denomination. I smack of personal hypocrisy, saying one thing while working in a church that teaches something else.
But theologically, this is a minor issue. I don’t think salvation rests on it, one way or the other. There are any number of sins that could be listed which don’t grab the spot light like this one does which are as or more damaging to our Christian natures. I think this is a cultural issue first and foremost that has been taken up in the church and, as I said before, sucks energy away from what is really important.
Monday, March 10, 2008
The Seven Modern Wonders of Sin.
“Polluting, genetic engineering, obscene riches, taking drugs, abortion, pedophilia and causing social injustice join the original seven deadly sins defined by Pope Gregory the Great in the sixth century: pride, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, wrath and sloth.”
“Gianfranco Girotti, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, responsible for absolving Catholics from their sins, named the new mortal sins in an interview with the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, yesterday.”
These are two paragraphs from the Sydney Morning Herald, actually listing the “new” seven deadly sins. The New York Times Online article did not provide such a categorical list. You read the headlines and it is like there is a new list published by the Roman Catholic Church. Read more indepth and you can see that the church is providing more information on what it calls “mortal” sins, sins that, if unrepented, lead to damnation.
I applaud the church for taking seriously how sin affects us today, and for taking on the systemic nature of sin in our globalizing world. The idea that sin existed in two arenas was one I learned
about in Seminary.
The first arena was in the human heart, the sins I commit, the ones I am responsible for, the pain and suffering that I cause by what I do. The second, more expansive, is that sin exists in institutions and systems. For example, sin exists in capitalism because by its nature, some people are left behind as other people advance. The trouble is, unlike personal sins, systemic sins do not leave someone specific to blame or to confess for what has happened. That seems to be the shift taking place in the Roman Catholic thinking.
The theological technical term for sin (although hardly universal) is “Harmatology”. And that is a tough sell these days. Point to something and call it sinful can make us anything from judgmental to irrelevant. We are judgmental for nosing into someone else’s life. We are irrelevant because “sin” as an idea has faded from real consideration.
I was getting ready for work today and I caught a promo for Good Morning America. A woman has discovered that her best friend’s husband is having an affair. The question was whether or not it was any of her business to let her friend know. The question of right and wrong, sin or not sin, was not in the affair itself. Now there is a commandment about that, it is a ‘shalt not’. Thou shalt not commit adultery. The question of right or wrong was whether the friend should divulge this information.
The implication I took away is that to reveal the affair could be an ethically negative activity, in other words, a sinful activity. That assumes that someone else’s sin is none of my business. The question of when sin becomes my business is generally at the line where it becomes criminal.
Adultery is not a crime, unless specific circumstances turn it into one (sex with a minor or someone mentally incompetent). If it were a criminal activity, I would have a civic duty to report it. But if it isn’t a crime, the implication is that I ignore the sin or leave the sin alone, or just make the sin NOT my business.
If sin is irrelevant, then the need for forgiveness is irrelevant. The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to give grace to the world becomes irrelevant. Heaven, the moral values that religion are supposed to provide as the very minimal token of its existence becomes irrelevant.
I am not prepared to argue for or against the sins added to the list of mortal sins by the Roman Catholic Church. I think it is a convenient media ploy to list seven of them so we can grab the soundbite made popular from Dante to “Seven” with Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt.
I think the culture at large has lost just about any sense of what ‘sin’ is supposed to be and the church has not been able to fill that gap of knowledge. Heaven, it seems like within the church, what sin is seems to be a lost subject. The news reports citing these new deadly sins also cited the statistic that 60% of Italian Catholics do not go to Confession, corroberating proof to the general irrelevance of sin to the modern mind.
Believing in Christ means accepting him as the Way. It is the Way to heaven, away from Hell. But we seem to be losing the very sense of what this Way is taking us from.
“Gianfranco Girotti, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, responsible for absolving Catholics from their sins, named the new mortal sins in an interview with the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, yesterday.”
These are two paragraphs from the Sydney Morning Herald, actually listing the “new” seven deadly sins. The New York Times Online article did not provide such a categorical list. You read the headlines and it is like there is a new list published by the Roman Catholic Church. Read more indepth and you can see that the church is providing more information on what it calls “mortal” sins, sins that, if unrepented, lead to damnation.
I applaud the church for taking seriously how sin affects us today, and for taking on the systemic nature of sin in our globalizing world. The idea that sin existed in two arenas was one I learned
about in Seminary.
The first arena was in the human heart, the sins I commit, the ones I am responsible for, the pain and suffering that I cause by what I do. The second, more expansive, is that sin exists in institutions and systems. For example, sin exists in capitalism because by its nature, some people are left behind as other people advance. The trouble is, unlike personal sins, systemic sins do not leave someone specific to blame or to confess for what has happened. That seems to be the shift taking place in the Roman Catholic thinking.
The theological technical term for sin (although hardly universal) is “Harmatology”. And that is a tough sell these days. Point to something and call it sinful can make us anything from judgmental to irrelevant. We are judgmental for nosing into someone else’s life. We are irrelevant because “sin” as an idea has faded from real consideration.
I was getting ready for work today and I caught a promo for Good Morning America. A woman has discovered that her best friend’s husband is having an affair. The question was whether or not it was any of her business to let her friend know. The question of right and wrong, sin or not sin, was not in the affair itself. Now there is a commandment about that, it is a ‘shalt not’. Thou shalt not commit adultery. The question of right or wrong was whether the friend should divulge this information.
The implication I took away is that to reveal the affair could be an ethically negative activity, in other words, a sinful activity. That assumes that someone else’s sin is none of my business. The question of when sin becomes my business is generally at the line where it becomes criminal.
Adultery is not a crime, unless specific circumstances turn it into one (sex with a minor or someone mentally incompetent). If it were a criminal activity, I would have a civic duty to report it. But if it isn’t a crime, the implication is that I ignore the sin or leave the sin alone, or just make the sin NOT my business.
If sin is irrelevant, then the need for forgiveness is irrelevant. The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to give grace to the world becomes irrelevant. Heaven, the moral values that religion are supposed to provide as the very minimal token of its existence becomes irrelevant.
I am not prepared to argue for or against the sins added to the list of mortal sins by the Roman Catholic Church. I think it is a convenient media ploy to list seven of them so we can grab the soundbite made popular from Dante to “Seven” with Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt.
I think the culture at large has lost just about any sense of what ‘sin’ is supposed to be and the church has not been able to fill that gap of knowledge. Heaven, it seems like within the church, what sin is seems to be a lost subject. The news reports citing these new deadly sins also cited the statistic that 60% of Italian Catholics do not go to Confession, corroberating proof to the general irrelevance of sin to the modern mind.
Believing in Christ means accepting him as the Way. It is the Way to heaven, away from Hell. But we seem to be losing the very sense of what this Way is taking us from.
Sermon from March 9, 2008
Sermon: March 9, 2008 Girl Scout Sunday
I Peter 4: 7-11
7 The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Be hospitable to one another without complaining. 10 Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. 11 Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
This coming Wednesday, it will be the 96th Anniversary of Juliette Low’s founding of the Girl Scouts of America. I wished I could have met this lady. In the first edition of the Girl Scout handbook, apparently she taught how to do things like tie up a burglar with eight inches of cord and how to stop a bucking horse.
But there is a legacy behind all the adventures that she wanted for girls to undertake. We have those listed in our bulletins. The Girl Scouts have a promise, a law, a slogan, and a motto. These condense into a few words what has developed from an initial group of a dozen and a half girls 96 years ago to two and a half million today. And when these words are spoken, they are the background for an incredibly wide ranging and rich heritage for every girl who experiences them.
I want to turn from that legacy to a legacy left to us in Scripture. In Peter’s first letter, he is giving advice to the people he is writing to on living as God’s children. In this passage, that service is expressed in five specific things, first, serious, disciplined prayer, second, love for one another, third, being hospitable to one another, fourth, serving one another, and fifth, speaking to each other. I want to talk about those five this morning.
First, Peter says to be serious and disciplined for the sake of your prayers. Why? Consider, what is a prayer? A prayer is a conversation with God, our Creator, our Redeemer, our Sustainer. God is all powerful, all loving, the giver of all good things. So if you are going to pray to God, you want to be serious about it, you want to be focused about it. This is something that you really want to do.
It also takes discipline to pray, to get into the habit of prayer. You can pray once, maybe when someone you know is sick, or maybe before a big test. But prayer, talking to God everyday, that takes a determined effort, applying to get it done each day.
It sounds like Girl Scouts. If you want something from Girl Scouts, you have to be serious about it. I mean, you can just show up at the meetings, you can hang out with your friends, but if you are going to be responsible for your community, if you are going to respect others, if you are going to do a good turn daily, that takes practice. And it takes discipline to practice, to do something each day until it becomes a part of your routine.
The second thing Peter talks about sounds easy, maintain constant love for one another. You know why? Love covers a multitude of sins. You all have friends, right? Some good friends? Do they ever annoy you? Have they ever hurt you, by accident of course? What do you do? Do you annoy them back? Well, maybe. Do you hurt them back? I hope not. Forgiveness is part of the Girl Scout way. You forgive them and they forgive you and your friendship continues. That is love overcoming the bad. Love in the good times is easy. Peter knows that. But he also wants us to know that love is important, no, its necessary for the bad times too.
The third thing is that you have to be hospitable to one another. That means you have to show hospitality. That means showing warmth, welcoming someone, showing kindness and generosity. And then Peter adds something, do it without complaining. Do something nice for someone without complaining about it. How many of you have little brothers and sisters? Have your mom or dad ever told you to watch them? Have you ever said something like “Do I have to?”
And if you do watch them, are you nice to them? Or do you sit on them to make sure they behave? That is not very hospitable, even if they are royal pains in the backside. Lets go back to Girl Scouts. Have you had new girls come into the troop? Have you been the new girl? Have you shown hospitality? Included them in the games? Shown them how to do things? See, there are a lot of places you can do this. And it takes discipline, you have to practice it.
Fourth, you serve one another with the gifts God has given you. And these are the gifts that God has given to you. We have any good joke tellers in the group? Any good story tellers? Do you share your jokes? Do you share your stories? Does anybody specialize in silliness here? Are there other special things you can do? Do you get to share those with your families? With your friends?
You know why it is so important to share your gifts? The bible language is a little thick, it says to be like good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Well, what does that mean? It means when God has put something in your heart or in your mind or in your body that you can do for someone else, you are the steward of that gift. You are in charge of that gift. And it is your responsibility to use that gift to serve other people. You good in some subject at school? Serving someone else may be helping them with their schoolwork. You a good athlete? Serving someone may be helping someone who is not as good as you to get better, to teach them, to practice with them.
The last one Peter talks about is speaking to one another. He says whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God. Here are a few things that God does not do when God speaks in the bible. God does not call people names. God does not lie to people. God does not use bad words against people. God does not play mean jokes on people.
We talked about love a little earlier and I asked if anyone had ever hurt you. Who here has ever had something really mean said to them? Maybe the words were so hateful you even cried, or felt like crying. Words can hurt if used badly. That is why Peter says speak the words of God. The words of God are loving, they are respectful, they lift you up, they forgive you, they are kind.
Finally, how do we do all this stuff? There seems to be so many rules, so many things to remember. Well, you have the Girl Scout promise to help you. How does it start? On my honor, I will do my best to serve God. Well, in our passage, Peter has something to say about serving God. It says whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies.
This means we are not by ourselves. When we do good things, God gives us the strength to do them. In the Christian faith, we believe especially that Jesus took all the bad things we do onto himself when he died, so that we can be forgiven when we do bad things, sinful things, instead of the good stuff.
But when the good stuff goes on, when we pray or show love, when we are hospitable, serving each other, speaking good things, that makes something beautiful. And that beauty we make here makes our God more beautiful, more glorious. And we celebrate one example of that this morning. Juliette Gordon Low, Daisy, wanted these good and beautiful things for the girls of her community. From her, we have received the gift of the Girl Scouts where good and wonderful things happen, all in service to God.
May the words of Holy Scripture and the words and actions of these blessed women show us the beauty of God today.
Amen.
I Peter 4: 7-11
7 The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Be hospitable to one another without complaining. 10 Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. 11 Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
This coming Wednesday, it will be the 96th Anniversary of Juliette Low’s founding of the Girl Scouts of America. I wished I could have met this lady. In the first edition of the Girl Scout handbook, apparently she taught how to do things like tie up a burglar with eight inches of cord and how to stop a bucking horse.
But there is a legacy behind all the adventures that she wanted for girls to undertake. We have those listed in our bulletins. The Girl Scouts have a promise, a law, a slogan, and a motto. These condense into a few words what has developed from an initial group of a dozen and a half girls 96 years ago to two and a half million today. And when these words are spoken, they are the background for an incredibly wide ranging and rich heritage for every girl who experiences them.
I want to turn from that legacy to a legacy left to us in Scripture. In Peter’s first letter, he is giving advice to the people he is writing to on living as God’s children. In this passage, that service is expressed in five specific things, first, serious, disciplined prayer, second, love for one another, third, being hospitable to one another, fourth, serving one another, and fifth, speaking to each other. I want to talk about those five this morning.
First, Peter says to be serious and disciplined for the sake of your prayers. Why? Consider, what is a prayer? A prayer is a conversation with God, our Creator, our Redeemer, our Sustainer. God is all powerful, all loving, the giver of all good things. So if you are going to pray to God, you want to be serious about it, you want to be focused about it. This is something that you really want to do.
It also takes discipline to pray, to get into the habit of prayer. You can pray once, maybe when someone you know is sick, or maybe before a big test. But prayer, talking to God everyday, that takes a determined effort, applying to get it done each day.
It sounds like Girl Scouts. If you want something from Girl Scouts, you have to be serious about it. I mean, you can just show up at the meetings, you can hang out with your friends, but if you are going to be responsible for your community, if you are going to respect others, if you are going to do a good turn daily, that takes practice. And it takes discipline to practice, to do something each day until it becomes a part of your routine.
The second thing Peter talks about sounds easy, maintain constant love for one another. You know why? Love covers a multitude of sins. You all have friends, right? Some good friends? Do they ever annoy you? Have they ever hurt you, by accident of course? What do you do? Do you annoy them back? Well, maybe. Do you hurt them back? I hope not. Forgiveness is part of the Girl Scout way. You forgive them and they forgive you and your friendship continues. That is love overcoming the bad. Love in the good times is easy. Peter knows that. But he also wants us to know that love is important, no, its necessary for the bad times too.
The third thing is that you have to be hospitable to one another. That means you have to show hospitality. That means showing warmth, welcoming someone, showing kindness and generosity. And then Peter adds something, do it without complaining. Do something nice for someone without complaining about it. How many of you have little brothers and sisters? Have your mom or dad ever told you to watch them? Have you ever said something like “Do I have to?”
And if you do watch them, are you nice to them? Or do you sit on them to make sure they behave? That is not very hospitable, even if they are royal pains in the backside. Lets go back to Girl Scouts. Have you had new girls come into the troop? Have you been the new girl? Have you shown hospitality? Included them in the games? Shown them how to do things? See, there are a lot of places you can do this. And it takes discipline, you have to practice it.
Fourth, you serve one another with the gifts God has given you. And these are the gifts that God has given to you. We have any good joke tellers in the group? Any good story tellers? Do you share your jokes? Do you share your stories? Does anybody specialize in silliness here? Are there other special things you can do? Do you get to share those with your families? With your friends?
You know why it is so important to share your gifts? The bible language is a little thick, it says to be like good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Well, what does that mean? It means when God has put something in your heart or in your mind or in your body that you can do for someone else, you are the steward of that gift. You are in charge of that gift. And it is your responsibility to use that gift to serve other people. You good in some subject at school? Serving someone else may be helping them with their schoolwork. You a good athlete? Serving someone may be helping someone who is not as good as you to get better, to teach them, to practice with them.
The last one Peter talks about is speaking to one another. He says whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God. Here are a few things that God does not do when God speaks in the bible. God does not call people names. God does not lie to people. God does not use bad words against people. God does not play mean jokes on people.
We talked about love a little earlier and I asked if anyone had ever hurt you. Who here has ever had something really mean said to them? Maybe the words were so hateful you even cried, or felt like crying. Words can hurt if used badly. That is why Peter says speak the words of God. The words of God are loving, they are respectful, they lift you up, they forgive you, they are kind.
Finally, how do we do all this stuff? There seems to be so many rules, so many things to remember. Well, you have the Girl Scout promise to help you. How does it start? On my honor, I will do my best to serve God. Well, in our passage, Peter has something to say about serving God. It says whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies.
This means we are not by ourselves. When we do good things, God gives us the strength to do them. In the Christian faith, we believe especially that Jesus took all the bad things we do onto himself when he died, so that we can be forgiven when we do bad things, sinful things, instead of the good stuff.
But when the good stuff goes on, when we pray or show love, when we are hospitable, serving each other, speaking good things, that makes something beautiful. And that beauty we make here makes our God more beautiful, more glorious. And we celebrate one example of that this morning. Juliette Gordon Low, Daisy, wanted these good and beautiful things for the girls of her community. From her, we have received the gift of the Girl Scouts where good and wonderful things happen, all in service to God.
May the words of Holy Scripture and the words and actions of these blessed women show us the beauty of God today.
Amen.
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