Let me point you toward some good sources on the recent ratification of an amendment to the Presbyterian Book of Order on ordination standards.
Go to the presbytery website or to Terry Epling's facebook page and find an excellent article.
Go to www.pcusa.org. Look for the letter signed by 24 moderators.
See Whitewater Valley's executive presbyter's piece. (www.wwvp.org)
Go to Cathy Hahn's facebook page for a link to a piece in the Washington Post.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Thursday, May 12, 2011
May 15 Acts 2:42-47, Ps. 23, John 10:1-10, I Peter 2:19-25
I was never thrilled with the sheep and shepherd image. I resist being seen as a bleating sheep. I resent being virtually indistinguishable in the herd. As Americans, we are raised to depend on oneself, to distrust groups. On the other hand, my aunt had a large picture of the Good Shepherd holding a sheep that I always liked. Psalm 23 is one psalm that many of us have memorized or close to it. Yes, the Lord is my shepherd but our readings also tell us the Lord is our shepherd.
I was never thrilled with the sheep and shepherd image. I resist being seen as a bleating sheep. I resent being virtually indistinguishable in the herd. As Americans, we are raised to depend on oneself, to distrust groups. On the other hand, my aunt had a large picture of the Good Shepherd holding a sheep that I always liked. Psalm 23 is one psalm that many of us have memorized or close to it. Yes, the Lord is my shepherd but our readings also tell us the Lord is our shepherd.
Our reading from Acts 2:42-47 serves as a template for worship and of one flock. Prayer and Communion created a joint spiritual endeavor, but it also worked out economically as well. As they share a faith, as they share their lives in worship, they share their possessions.Quite simply, how could they be given a spiritual banquet and then let members go out hungry? Instead of every person looking out for number one, each gets as they have need. In our time, we might do better to see it as sharing possessions, given the hold they have on us. Church could be the sheepfold.
Worship is the gathering place for the sheep-this Acts community is a worshiping community God asks for so little, to keep holy the sabbath. Most of us don;t rest on the sabbath, and now we ignore the clear organizing staple of church life:worship-with glad and generous/sincere/open hearts, as the only imaginably proper response to Easter. (Note well, worship is not a procession of potential mistakes, it follows a narrative flow where we come in and empty leave with a blessing) Indeed maybe worship is the one place where we allow ourselves the luxury of feeling dependent on the hands of God. We organize time and space to reflect being in the presence of Shepherd and Guardian of our souls. Worship is where the flock is the flock of Christ. So much of our time is spent being independent, standing on our own two feet, as we know if you want a job done well do it yourself. Worship is a place where we can say that God restores our souls. then we can out out to explore the pasture. These passages lead us to consider that the flock is important, not only the separate sheep. Jesus keeps the flock together. (coach and team) Life together is resurrection life. Look to the vast array of unifying aspects of the church, instead of mania over small points often lost in the mists of history. Of course, Jesus Christ is the core of being Christian. We cannot arrogate to ourselves the judgment of insisting, no, the unity of one flock and one shepherd is wrong. We are not the gateway to the flock. Jesus Christ is the gate and guardian of our resting place among the many many sheep on this planet. Our job is to stay with the flock and now that our welfare is connected to the welfare of the entire flock. The whole point of this is that the shepherd wants us to have life, abundant life. that life is enjoyed together. (George Clooney quote in Up in the air)
The shepherd job is filled, so we don;t arrogate on to ourselves who is in and who is out. Indeed the likely context of the passage is not Christian and non-Christian but different Christian communities in the first place. Shepherds had a poor reputation in the time of Jesus, maybe akin to not being up to the job, of looking out for themselves as much as those under their care. Our shepherd gave his life for the flock, for us. We are in this church together, equal members of the body of Christ.. When one of the flock is elevated or diminshed, we too are elevated or diminished.
Monday, May 9, 2011
May 8
Upon suggestion from some of our older members, I am going to start to include short devotionals on the back of our printed sermon copies, as we did during Lent. To help organize the project, I'm going to pick out a passage or short quote from the biblical books in order for the next 9+ weeks.
Joseph and forgiveness-Gen. 50 I just spoke to someone who has held a political grudge for over 40 years. that seems to me to keep and old wound too fresh in the freezer section of our memory. Joseph spent his adult life in a foreign land due to the jealousy of his brothers. With their father dead, the brothers fear that Joseph will now not be inhibited in extracting revenge, even though he has made it clear he has forgiven their deep wrong. the fundamental base of forgiveness is to let go of the right to revenge. when that happens, the pain of the incident starts to drain away as well. At v. 20, his perspective is important. He knows that did wrong, but God was able and willing to work it for the good. In the end, god is not bound to our wrongs; God can transform them.
Upon suggestion from some of our older members, I am going to start to include short devotionals on the back of our printed sermon copies, as we did during Lent. To help organize the project, I'm going to pick out a passage or short quote from the biblical books in order for the next 9+ weeks.
Joseph and forgiveness-Gen. 50 I just spoke to someone who has held a political grudge for over 40 years. that seems to me to keep and old wound too fresh in the freezer section of our memory. Joseph spent his adult life in a foreign land due to the jealousy of his brothers. With their father dead, the brothers fear that Joseph will now not be inhibited in extracting revenge, even though he has made it clear he has forgiven their deep wrong. the fundamental base of forgiveness is to let go of the right to revenge. when that happens, the pain of the incident starts to drain away as well. At v. 20, his perspective is important. He knows that did wrong, but God was able and willing to work it for the good. In the end, god is not bound to our wrongs; God can transform them.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
First cut. I may revise at some point.
1) Cutting alert. Our section is in a household code section. Small problem, the opening, topic sentence on slaves is omitted. So this seems to become a generalized statement when it was not written with that audience in mind at all.
2) We are in dangerous territory here, as it uses Christ as a model of unjust suffering to which we also are called? What about healing suffering? What about justice?
I especially fear that his could be used for people who are not suffering to people who are suffering. It is easy to give advice on suffering when one is safe and sound.
2) We are in dangerous territory here, as it uses Christ as a model of unjust suffering to which we also are called? What about healing suffering? What about justice?
I especially fear that his could be used for people who are not suffering to people who are suffering. It is easy to give advice on suffering when one is safe and sound.
3) Notice the echoes of the suffering servant toward the suffering of Christ.
4) Notice the move that Christ died so we may live for righteousness.
5) v.23 is an example of turning the other cheek.
6)Shepherd and guardian of the soul is a phrase that deserves some sustained attention.How do sheep go astray/ How are our moral failings similar and dissimilar?
Acts 2:42-47
1) I want to note the explicit linkage between worship and social life here on sharing possessions. I need to find the citation to a new book on this topic I noticed recently.Simply put, how can we receive a spiritual banquet at Communion and enter a world where people are hungry in the bellies?
2)William Willimon picks up the phrase, with glad ad generous hearts, in his little book on worship. That does not seem to be the prevailing attitude in church does it?
3) After all these years this little rubric still governs the basic pattern of worship.
4) "having the goodwill of the people" Does that seem to be in short supply as well?
5) since shepherd seems to be the theme for Sunday, to a degree at least, this is a good intro to discuss the needs of the flock instead of the individual, or as Mr. Spock said, sometimes the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one, or words to that effect as he was carried from the reactor in Wrath of Khan.
6) This passage could also be a clarion call to worship, or an intro to how the structure of worship is basic, but its ornamentation is fluid.
Ps.23
1) Why is this passage so popular?
2) i shall not want= I will lack not.
3) What are contemporary version of green pastures?
4) Where does the soul need restored in 2011? I assume soul=nephesh here, the self the vital center, the life force.
5)How does one know we are in right paths?
6) Give 3 examples of darkest valley/shadow of death.
7)How do rod and staff comfort? By sight, by use?
8) What feeling is evoked by a banquet with enemies?
9)Where does your cup overflow? Where is it empty or half full? We just went through a church time when cup=wrath. What happened?
10) How do you handle my whole life long/length of days with the old forever at the end?
Monday, May 2, 2011
May 2, 2010 the Morning After
Like many people I have some conflicting feelings over the reaction to the death of Osama bin Laden. First, I am in the middle of the clear New Testament message toward pacifism and the long standing issue of foreign policy realism in the just war tradition. I am led to re-read some of the arguments between Niebuhr and pacifists at the outbreak of WWII and his insistence of an aggressive policy toward the containment of the Eastern bloc after the war. I respect the pacifist response and even assert that any Christian needs to consider it fully. On the other hand, I cannot understand how we can assume to foist the pacifist response on to a nation-state. At any rate, the fundamental purpose of just war models is the protection of innocent life, and a murderer of innocent life is gone. We do well to pay attention to the levels of our analysis, the individual and the social.
I can sympathize with the distaste of some with the chants of USA. It smacks of hubris. We offered him support when it was conducive to our foreign policy objectives. Yes, we are all God's children, all connected; life is too precious to be sneered away. We are told to, called to, love the enemy. I can sympathize with the explosion of the chants as well. I can imagine ill-considered religious opinion making this some sort of moral competition where the U.S. won. I am frankly mystified that folks would post comments about their distaste for some demonstrations, as their primary response, as opposed to the plain fact of a mass murderer meeting his justly deserved end. 9/11 was a terrible crime, an affront to decency. To see its instigator thumb his nose at justice for so long was a bitter pill for almost ten years. To a degree it wipes away the bitter taste of the failed mission to release the hostages in Iran thirty years ago. It is a retort to those shrieking demonstrations almost ten years ago that applauded the death of thousands.
Prayer can take the worst and best of our emotions and wrap them in a peaceful delivery to God.
Mourn the dead. Mourn the families ripped apart. Yes, that would include Osama's family.
One starting point for loving the enemy is to pray for them.
We look toward the resolution of Ps. 85:10, where justice and peace shall kiss. we look toward the day when 'the leaves of the tree will will be for the healing of nations" (Rev. 22:2)
I will pray that no Ester light shines on his organization, that dreams of a caliphate and terror as a means of achieving it stay in the grave.
with the hymn, may we pray that "God mend our every flaw" especially in a foreign policy that goes off the rails repeatedly, in the name of realism.We pray for a shield of protection and prudence over all within reach of vengeful reply from militants, again especially the innocent civilians.
I pray that our poisonous politics stop demonizing opponents and stop clouding our minds about difficult and complex decisions.
we pray for the conditions in nations that can spawn a murderous ideology that they can look to establish peace, justice, and security within.
Prayer is not a plea for passivity. it mobilizes us for action. It energizes hope, in this case, hope for a better, more just and peaceful world. When our daughters were born, not long before the new millennium, the Stalinist wall had broken down. I had real hopes for their future in a more peaceful time. That was a vagrant hope, of course. Now, their lives have been shadowed by 9/11 and the response to it. One day, one bright spring day, perhaps their children will hear of terror no more than my generation hears the word, polio.
Like many people I have some conflicting feelings over the reaction to the death of Osama bin Laden. First, I am in the middle of the clear New Testament message toward pacifism and the long standing issue of foreign policy realism in the just war tradition. I am led to re-read some of the arguments between Niebuhr and pacifists at the outbreak of WWII and his insistence of an aggressive policy toward the containment of the Eastern bloc after the war. I respect the pacifist response and even assert that any Christian needs to consider it fully. On the other hand, I cannot understand how we can assume to foist the pacifist response on to a nation-state. At any rate, the fundamental purpose of just war models is the protection of innocent life, and a murderer of innocent life is gone. We do well to pay attention to the levels of our analysis, the individual and the social.
I can sympathize with the distaste of some with the chants of USA. It smacks of hubris. We offered him support when it was conducive to our foreign policy objectives. Yes, we are all God's children, all connected; life is too precious to be sneered away. We are told to, called to, love the enemy. I can sympathize with the explosion of the chants as well. I can imagine ill-considered religious opinion making this some sort of moral competition where the U.S. won. I am frankly mystified that folks would post comments about their distaste for some demonstrations, as their primary response, as opposed to the plain fact of a mass murderer meeting his justly deserved end. 9/11 was a terrible crime, an affront to decency. To see its instigator thumb his nose at justice for so long was a bitter pill for almost ten years. To a degree it wipes away the bitter taste of the failed mission to release the hostages in Iran thirty years ago. It is a retort to those shrieking demonstrations almost ten years ago that applauded the death of thousands.
Prayer can take the worst and best of our emotions and wrap them in a peaceful delivery to God.
Mourn the dead. Mourn the families ripped apart. Yes, that would include Osama's family.
One starting point for loving the enemy is to pray for them.
We look toward the resolution of Ps. 85:10, where justice and peace shall kiss. we look toward the day when 'the leaves of the tree will will be for the healing of nations" (Rev. 22:2)
I will pray that no Ester light shines on his organization, that dreams of a caliphate and terror as a means of achieving it stay in the grave.
with the hymn, may we pray that "God mend our every flaw" especially in a foreign policy that goes off the rails repeatedly, in the name of realism.We pray for a shield of protection and prudence over all within reach of vengeful reply from militants, again especially the innocent civilians.
I pray that our poisonous politics stop demonizing opponents and stop clouding our minds about difficult and complex decisions.
we pray for the conditions in nations that can spawn a murderous ideology that they can look to establish peace, justice, and security within.
Prayer is not a plea for passivity. it mobilizes us for action. It energizes hope, in this case, hope for a better, more just and peaceful world. When our daughters were born, not long before the new millennium, the Stalinist wall had broken down. I had real hopes for their future in a more peaceful time. That was a vagrant hope, of course. Now, their lives have been shadowed by 9/11 and the response to it. One day, one bright spring day, perhaps their children will hear of terror no more than my generation hears the word, polio.
May 2, 2010 the Morning After
Like many people I have some conflicting feelings over the reaction to the death of Osama bin Laden. First, I am in the middle of the clear New Testament message toward pacifism and the long standing issue of foreign policy realism in the just war tradition. I am led to re-read some of the arguments between Niebuhr and pacifists at the outbreak of WWII and his insistence of an aggressive policy toward the containment of the Eastern bloc after the war. I respect the pacifist response and even assert that any Christian needs to consider it fully. On the other hand, I cannot understand how we can assume to foist the pacifist response on to a nation-state. At any rate, the fundamental purpose of just war models is the protection of innocent life, and a murderer of innocent life is gone. We do well to pay attention to the levels of our analysis, the individual and the social.
I can sympathize with the distaste of some with the chants of USA. It smacks of hubris. We offered him support when it was conducive to our foreign policy objectives. Yes, we are all God's children, all connected; life is too precious to be sneered away. We are told to, called to, love the enemy. I can sympathize with the explosion of the chants as well. I can imagine ill-considered religious opinion making this some sort of moral competition where the U.S. won. I am frankly mystified that folks would post comments about their distaste for some demonstrations, as their primary response, as opposed to the plain fact of a mass murderer meeting his justly deserved end. 9/11 was a terrible crime, an affront to decency. To see its instigator thumb his nose at justice for so long was a bitter pill for almost ten years. To a degree it wipes away the bitter taste of the failed mission to release the hostages in Iran thirty years ago. It is a retort to those shrieking demonstrations almost ten years ago that applauded the death of thousands.
Prayer can take the worst and best of our emotions and wrap them in a peaceful delivery to God.
Mourn the dead. Mourn the families ripped apart. Yes, that would include Osama's family.
One starting point for loving the enemy is to pray for them.
We look toward the resolution of Ps. 85:10, where justice and peace shall kiss. we look toward the day when 'the leaves of the tree will will be for the healing of nations" (Rev. 22:2)
I will pray that no Ester light shines on his organization, that dreams of a caliphate and terror as a means of achieving it stay in the grave.
with the hymn, may we pray that "God mend our every flaw" especially in a foreign policy that goes off the rails repeatedly, in the name of realism.We pray for a shield of protection and prudence over all within reach of vengeful reply from militants, again especially the innocent civilians.
I pray that our poisonous politics stop demonizing opponents and stop clouding our minds about difficult and complex decisions.
we pray for the conditions in nations that can spawn a murderous ideology that they can look to establish peace, justice, and security within.
Prayer is not a plea for passivity. it mobilizes us for action. It energizes hope, in this case, hope for a better, more just and peaceful world. When our daughters were born, not long before the new millennium, the Stalinist wall had broken down. I had real hopes for their future in a more peaceful time. That was a vagrant hope, of course. Now, their lives have been shadowed by 9/11 and the response to it. One day, one bright spring day, perhaps their children will hear of terror no more than my generation hears the word, polio.
Like many people I have some conflicting feelings over the reaction to the death of Osama bin Laden. First, I am in the middle of the clear New Testament message toward pacifism and the long standing issue of foreign policy realism in the just war tradition. I am led to re-read some of the arguments between Niebuhr and pacifists at the outbreak of WWII and his insistence of an aggressive policy toward the containment of the Eastern bloc after the war. I respect the pacifist response and even assert that any Christian needs to consider it fully. On the other hand, I cannot understand how we can assume to foist the pacifist response on to a nation-state. At any rate, the fundamental purpose of just war models is the protection of innocent life, and a murderer of innocent life is gone. We do well to pay attention to the levels of our analysis, the individual and the social.
I can sympathize with the distaste of some with the chants of USA. It smacks of hubris. We offered him support when it was conducive to our foreign policy objectives. Yes, we are all God's children, all connected; life is too precious to be sneered away. We are told to, called to, love the enemy. I can sympathize with the explosion of the chants as well. I can imagine ill-considered religious opinion making this some sort of moral competition where the U.S. won. I am frankly mystified that folks would post comments about their distaste for some demonstrations, as their primary response, as opposed to the plain fact of a mass murderer meeting his justly deserved end. 9/11 was a terrible crime, an affront to decency. To see its instigator thumb his nose at justice for so long was a bitter pill for almost ten years. To a degree it wipes away the bitter taste of the failed mission to release the hostages in Iran thirty years ago. It is a retort to those shrieking demonstrations almost ten years ago that applauded the death of thousands.
Prayer can take the worst and best of our emotions and wrap them in a peaceful delivery to God.
Mourn the dead. Mourn the families ripped apart. Yes, that would include Osama's family.
One starting point for loving the enemy is to pray for them.
We look toward the resolution of Ps. 85:10, where justice and peace shall kiss. we look toward the day when 'the leaves of the tree will will be for the healing of nations" (Rev. 22:2)
I will pray that no Ester light shines on his organization, that dreams of a caliphate and terror as a means of achieving it stay in the grave.
with the hymn, may we pray that "God mend our every flaw" especially in a foreign policy that goes off the rails repeatedly, in the name of realism.We pray for a shield of protection and prudence over all within reach of vengeful reply from militants, again especially the innocent civilians.
I pray that our poisonous politics stop demonizing opponents and stop clouding our minds about difficult and complex decisions.
we pray for the conditions in nations that can spawn a murderous ideology that they can look to establish peace, justice, and security within.
Prayer is not a plea for passivity. it mobilizes us for action. It energizes hope, in this case, hope for a better, more just and peaceful world. When our daughters were born, not long before the new millennium, the Stalinist wall had broken down. I had real hopes for their future in a more peaceful time. That was a vagrant hope, of course. Now, their lives have been shadowed by 9/11 and the response to it. One day, one bright spring day, perhaps their children will hear of terror no more than my generation hears the word, polio.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Possible readings Gen. 50, Ps. 25, Eph. 4:2-3 Part 2 on forgiveness Thoughtful Christian by Janet Ramsey
1) In the opening vignette,Should Charley apologize. should Alice accept it?
2) In your experience what do you consider a proper apology?
3) We live in a time of public apology. do any apologies seem acceptable to us in that forum?
4) What is more difficult being forgiven or forgiving?
5) Our writer moves in psychological territory with narcissism. It is a personality disorder that has a grandiose self-image, with image being the key word, as it does not comport with reality. think of the myth. They are unable to see things without themselves at the center/ their basic question is always what about me. She notes a sense of entitlement.Part of me wants to say we used to call this selfish.
6) She goes on to quickly go into attachment and basic trust. Erikson considered trust as a building block sense for us. as she says, if are care cared for, we can care.
7) She sees control as a major obstacle to forgiveness.
8) She has shame at the individual level. how would you define it? her sense is not doing wrong but a sense of being wrong (bad0. Again, Erikson found this to be a very fundamental human sense, connected to our emerging sense of autonomy. Has shame decreased as a social norm lately? she asks about anti-shame pill's ingredients.
9) she says shame pushes us to externalize hurt to avoid it by blaming or withdrawing. What do you think? How is that related to pride?
10) What are some shaming experiences in your life? Notice how easily you relive them once you center on some.
11) what do you think of her suggestion that our image of god affects our image of forgiveness?
12) Why is playing the victim enticing?
13) Why do we hold on to previous images of a person? Why are we then quick to label them as the one who hurt us?
14) What does her research points on anger do to the common presumption that anger needs an outlet?
15) Is human forgiveness impossible without the grace of God?
16) What do you think of her stress on forgiveness as gift and process?
17) How can we link the Lord's supper to forgiveness more fully?
18 ) Can you think of similar rituals to the closing one in Virginia?
1) In the opening vignette,Should Charley apologize. should Alice accept it?
2) In your experience what do you consider a proper apology?
3) We live in a time of public apology. do any apologies seem acceptable to us in that forum?
4) What is more difficult being forgiven or forgiving?
5) Our writer moves in psychological territory with narcissism. It is a personality disorder that has a grandiose self-image, with image being the key word, as it does not comport with reality. think of the myth. They are unable to see things without themselves at the center/ their basic question is always what about me. She notes a sense of entitlement.Part of me wants to say we used to call this selfish.
6) She goes on to quickly go into attachment and basic trust. Erikson considered trust as a building block sense for us. as she says, if are care cared for, we can care.
7) She sees control as a major obstacle to forgiveness.
8) She has shame at the individual level. how would you define it? her sense is not doing wrong but a sense of being wrong (bad0. Again, Erikson found this to be a very fundamental human sense, connected to our emerging sense of autonomy. Has shame decreased as a social norm lately? she asks about anti-shame pill's ingredients.
9) she says shame pushes us to externalize hurt to avoid it by blaming or withdrawing. What do you think? How is that related to pride?
10) What are some shaming experiences in your life? Notice how easily you relive them once you center on some.
11) what do you think of her suggestion that our image of god affects our image of forgiveness?
12) Why is playing the victim enticing?
13) Why do we hold on to previous images of a person? Why are we then quick to label them as the one who hurt us?
14) What does her research points on anger do to the common presumption that anger needs an outlet?
15) Is human forgiveness impossible without the grace of God?
16) What do you think of her stress on forgiveness as gift and process?
17) How can we link the Lord's supper to forgiveness more fully?
18 ) Can you think of similar rituals to the closing one in Virginia?
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