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Church declines to discipline gay pastor - My role in it all

The last time I was interviewed for a paper was back when the Washington Post ran a story on pastors who blog. Today however I am in the papers on an entirely different issue, as a member of the prosecuting committee in a church trial on the issue on whether an officer of the church can be married to their same sex partner.

Here's the link to the article in today's Star Tribune.

As the article makes clear the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area was divided 3-3 on the charge before them and therefore their decision had to be an acquittal.

The next step is for the prosecuting committee to decide if we will appeal this decision to Synod. As the Star Tribune article reports, we almost certainly will be appealing the decision.

How did I become involved in this case?
Back in October of 2009 I received a phone call from the state clerk of our presbytery asking if I would be willing to serve on an investigating committee (IC) to examine an accusation that had been brought against a minister member of the presbytery. I had to agree to participate on this IC without knowing the person accused or the nature of the accusation. As a service to the church I agreed to become involved in the process.

After the IC decided there were grounds for a charge to filed, the process our church follows states that the IC will appoint from its members those who will prosecute the case, they then become the prosecuting committee (PC). It is the responsibility of the PC to represent the church at the trial before the PJC and through any subsequent appeals.

I now find myself reflecting on some of my favorite lines from Lord of the Rings. It is part of a dialog between Frodo and Gandalf.

'I wish it need not have happened in our time,' said Frodo.
'So do I,' said Gandalf, 'and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time given us.'

But it has happened in our time and my decision is to use the time I have been given to serve as faithful member of the church and see this issue through to its conclusion.  

Peace on Earth

This past Sunday I found myself talking about Jesus as the Prince of Peace and the wonderful sentiment we often read on Christmas cards, "Peace on Earth, good will to all."

As part of the sermon I quoted the lyrics of U2's song 'Peace on Earth,'

Jesus can you take the time
To throw a drowning man a line
Peace on Earth
To tell the ones who hear no sound
Whose sons are living in the ground
Peace on Earth

Jesus this song you wrote
The words are sticking in my throat
Peace on Earth
Hear it every Christmas time
But hope and history won't rhyme
So what's it worth?
This peace on Earth

I find myself resonating to these words and more than that I am brokenhearted that 2,000 years after the coming of Christ, the Prince of Peace, the one who calls his followers to be peacemakers, that the church hasn't done a better job of it.

At the end of our service I was choking back the tears as I looked into the eyes of a young member of the US Marines and challenged the church to do better at becoming a tranformative community in the world so that more young men and women would not have to die due to lack of peace.

Lord, when did we see you...

Lord when did we see you...

Hungry and feed you...

Or thirsty and give you something to drink?

When did we see you a stranger and invite you in...

Or needing clothes and clothe you?

When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?

The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'

The Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month

Armistice day. The day on which The Great War, the "war to end all wars," the First World War, finally came to an end.

My grandfather, his brother-in-law and many of their friends spent time in the frontline trenches of this war.Upon his return grandpa would never again speak of the horrors he saw as he fought for king and country. To his dying day he was willing to contribute to the Earl Haig Fund but would not wear the poppy that contributors received because it bore the name of Haig, the man who sent so many young men up the line to meet a brutal death.

The feeling of so many who fought on the front lines of this war are summed up in the words of the war poet Siegfried Sassoon...

Base Details

If I were fierce, and bald, and short of breath,
I’d live with scarlet Majors at the Base,
And speed glum heroes up the line to death.
You’d see me with my puffy petulant face,
Guzzling and gulping in the best hotel,
Reading the Roll of Honour. ‘Poor young chap,’
I’d say—‘I used to know his father well;
Yes, we’ve lost heavily in this last scrap.’
And when the war is done and youth stone dead,
I’d toddle safely home and die—in bed.

If only it had been the "war to end all wars," but it was not.

The sin of humanity, pride, greed, covetousness, idolatory pit nation against nation over and over again. Who will speak "peace" into a violent world? That is the call of the church, the people of God, we are to offer an alternative way, the way of Jesus, the way of the cross. It is not an easy way, but it is God's way.

What's the big deal about a Mosque in New York?

I know this is a politically sensitive issue for many, and judging by the comments on my facebook page when I asked this question there is a great deal of diversity on how to respond to it.

My only concern here is to help people think this through from a Christian perspective, and by Christian I mean a people devoted to Jesus Christ and him alone. This is a critical starting point because the moment we add an adjective before 'Christian' or use 'Christian' as an adjective for another noun we end up with something less than truly Christian and perhaps even something that is non or anti Christian.

From my vantage point I would say it is none of my business if they build a Mosque in New York. That decsion lies solely with the city of New York and its citizens.

Is it offensive to build a Msoque in this location? I suppose that depends on your vantage point. If you think that Islam in general was responsible for the 9/11 attacks then it probably is offensive, if you don't, then probably not. Of course if you believe that Muslims as a whole have responsibility for 9/11 then every Mosque in every place would be offensive (you need to be consistent).

So how should Christians respond to those who don't share our faith?
1 Peter 2:11,12 "Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us."

As Christians we have to constantly be asking ourselves if our actions towards others reflect the love of Christ for a broken world. Do the words we use and the tone of our conversation reflect the love of the God who died for humanity? Or does our tone and language represent a fear and resentment? Are you thinking from the perspective of an American who demands protection from the state or from the position of a Christian who can say, "to live is Crist, to die is gain." "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." I'm not opposed to good stable government, I think its wonderful and a gift from God, but, and its an important but, no governemnt of this world can ever represent the Kingdom of God and it is God's kingdom that we, as followers of Jesus are called to build and represent in this world.

So much of what I've heard and read from conservative sources is based on fear and sounds like a little child crying out to the state, "Please, protect me and my Christian faith from the big bad wolf of Islam!" Many of the liberal sources I've read appear to be a little naive. We can  not afford to be naive, we are to be as "wise as serpents and as innocent as doves." Unfortunately we often get this mixed up and end up as innocent as the serpent!

What about the extremists? A good question and one that should be asked, especially if there  is a sense that this particular Mosque is being built by extremists. Let's suppose that extremists really are the enemy, after all Scripture acknowledges that we will have enemies and Jesus and Paul both give us instruction in how we should treat and respond to them.  I'm not going to get into that here as you already know what they said, so just do it.

The bottom line for me is this, whether you are for or against the building of this particular Mosque, be careful to demonstarte the love of Christ and live your life as a faithful disciple.

 

Politically Correct

We live in a world that values political correctness, but what is politically correct?

We no longer seem able to use the term "man" or "mankind" to refer to all of humanity yet we are still OK with the terms man and woman as descriptives of humanity's gender differentiation. Does this strike anyone as odd since "woman" is the derived from two old English words, 'wife+man' = woman. I just learned that the word, "lady" comes from an old English word that means "bread kneader" while the word "lord" is derived from the old English term that means "bread keeper." I'm not sure that's how I want my daughters to think of themselves.

I understand that language can play a huge role in shaping people's perceptions but language alone is not enough. Just because something is PC it does not mean there is no underlying resentment or discrimination taking place. Indeed a PC environment can be used as a cover up for discrimnation.

What we need are changed hearts and minds, we need people who have been transformed by Christ and can see all of humanity as beautiful creatures, created in the image of God, who while imperfect are loved by God. The church should be the first place (and often has been) in declaring the value and worth of all people.

Unalienable Rights?

It's that time of year when I seem to be unavoidably drawn into conversations about politics and why I have not renounced my British citizenship and become a US citizen. The other night I had such a conversation with a group of guys over a few beers. It was, as it usually is, a good natured, spirited time!

Part of our conversation focused on the Declaration of Independence and the phrase that all people have certain unalienable rights that include life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. My question for the group that evening was whether these three things were actually rights that all people have or gifts given to us by God?

Life, is it an unalienable right? I contend it is not, rather it is a gift. A gift from the Creator who has been revealed to us in Jesus Christ. God is the one who sustains our lives, who grants us what we need to live each day. It is because life is a gift that we treat all life with respect, even to the point of turning the other cheek and loving our enemies. 

What does Scripture teach us about liberty or freedom? It teaches that a fallen humanity is bound to sin, and that real freedom is found in Jesus Christ who through his life, death and resurrection, paid the price for our sin and won our freedom for us. Real freedom is a gift that God gives us in Jesus Christ, it is not based on any political or philosophical ideology but rather on God's action in history. It is not an unalienable right of humanity, it is a gift bestowed by the Creator on creation.

As for the pursuit of happiness, or fulfillment, Maslov may well say that based on the hierarchy of needs only those who have attained a certain level of well being can even begin to think about this. But is it an unalienable right of all people? Again I believe it is a gift and not a right. I would also suggest that the only way to truly find fulfillment (happiness) is through a relationship with God in Christ and a commitment to following Christ's way in this life. Anything else will ultimately prove less than fulfilling.

So does it really matter if we view these as rights or gifts? I think so. When we see these as gifts from God and have a proper theological understanding of them we are inclined to extend them with an open hand to others. When we see them as rights we may want to protect and defend them as political and philosophical ideals that have little to do with God, resorting at times to violence and even stripping others of their "rights" so they cannot strip us of ours (ie. war, death penalty).

What do you think, rights or gifts, and does it make a difference?
How much does it matter that we develop a solid theological understanding of these topics rather than a national, patriotic ideal?

Why Evangelicalism Is Failing A New Generation - A Response

My colleague, Carol Howard Merritt, posted a blog over at the Huffington Post on "Why Evangelicalism is Failing A New Generation." After reading her piece I felt, as an evangelical, that I needed to respond.

As I read the article I found myself wondering how Carol defined "evangelicalism"?

Does she agree with the widely held definition developed by David Bebbington that evangelicalism is built around four posts, Conversionism, Activism, Biblicism and Crucicentrism? Conversionism being the changed life that comes after a person has encountered Christ; Activism being the work of reaching out to others with the gospel message; Biblicism is the deep devotion to the Bible among evangelicals; and Crucicentrism being the central position of the cross, atonement, in Christian theology. 

At no point does Carol suggest that these core elements of evangelicalism are the reason that a younger generation is leaving the church. Rather the three reasons she gives, "pernicious sexism, religious intolerance, and conservative politics," have no place in the commonly held definition of evangelicalism. It may be a form of fundamentalism or conservatism that people are rejecting but if these are the reasons for their leaving then its not classic evangelicalism that is failing them.

As for Robertson and Dobson being the spokesmen for evangelicalism I couldn't disagree more. I've been to a lot of evangelical conferences and never once has Dobson or Robertson been on the platform. I don't believe either has ever been on the platform at Willow Creeks Leadership Summit (one of the largest, if not the largest evangelical leaders conference) which along with having a number of women on their platform they also have started offering a pre-conference day for women in ministry to help address their particular concerns and needs.

Who are the major voices of evangelicalism today? On the more senior side, J.I. Packer and John Stott still carry the banner high. Through his theological insight N.T. Wright is helping evangelicalism find a 21st century voice. On the pastoral side, Bill Hybels, Rick Warren, Andy Stanley, Erwin McManus, John Ortberg and a whole host of others are working to equip God's people. To the best of my knowledge none of these folks have ever been accused of pernicious sexism, nor are they known for displaying religious intolerance, and as for conservative politics, I don't think any of them have preached a political agenda from their pulpits. Perhaps I should add Tony Campolo and Jim Wallis to this list of major evangelical (not conservative or fundamentalist) voices.

I think every evangelical I know would agree that 'pernicious sexism' has no place in the church. I think they would all agree that 'religious intolerance' has no place either, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't engage people of other faiths with the gospel, it simply means that our engagement and dialogue should be courteous and respectful. As for 'conservative politics' we all seek to be faithful to Scripture in our civic life, at times we disagree on what the scriptures teach and often we then pigeon hole others, never a good idea.

As for the assetion, "Many Evangelical megachurches began with a specific inquiry: "Why aren't men going to church? "" I'm left wondering which congregation began with this particular inquiry.

I'm 100% behind anyone who leaves a church because of, "pernicious sexism, religious intolerance, and conservative politics." But I strongly disagree with the assertion that evangelicalism is failing a new generation.

A Time For Peace

Last night I sat down to watch, "Joyeux Noel." It has become a holiday tradition for my to watch this movie based on the actual events of Christmas in the tranches of World War I. I highly recommend the movie and then don't forget to watch the interview with the Director in the special features section, you'll be surprised to learn that even the cat in the movie is based on a true story from the war. 

It is a powerful movie and a powerful true story.

It is also well articulated in Stanley Weintraub’s book "Silent Night."

So what is the story? It was Christmas Eve 1914, the War had been raging for several months and to celebrate Christmas the German high command had sent miniature Christmas trees to the men on the front lines. They set these trees up on the parapets and lit the candles. The British soldiers had been sent ‘Princess Mary’s Christmas Boxes’ filled with goodies from home. As the German, British, and French troops settled in for the night, a young German soldier began to sing the well known carol “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht.”  Soon others joined in. When they had finished, the British responded in English singing “Silent Night, Holy Night.”

A ceasefire was called for Christmas day. One by one the men from both sides left their trenches and met in no-man’s land. They shook hands, exchanged gifts, and shared pictures of their families. Informal soccer games took place and a joint service was held to bury the dead of both sides (In the movie the mass is given in Latin and beautifully transcends the language barriers of English, French and German).

The higher ranking officers, who were not at the front, were not pleased when they heard of this. Men, who have come to know each other’s names, play together, seen pictures of each other's families and exchanged gifts with one another are much less likely to want to kill each other.

Indeed when the fighting resumed the men who had participated in the ceasefire spent a few days simply firing aimlessly into the sky. The war didn’t start back in earnest until the frontline troops were relieved and new troops who hadn’t participated in the ceasefire where brought to the front. The war would rage until the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, 1918.

Here's John McCutcheon's song that I post each Advent season.

Do They Know It's Christmas

Well, its been a lot of years since it was written but the need is still there. There are plenty of hungry people in the world this time of year, and I'm not one of them. "So tonight thank God it's them instead of you!" Bono said this may have been the hardest line he has ever had to sing because there is an element of honesty to it.

How is God stirring your heart this advent to think about those who won't be sitting down with family to a sumptuous feast, who don't even know if they'll be eating at all?

It's been my favorite Christmas song for almost 25 years now.

A Call To Treason? Maybe... What do you think Paul means?

 
Do you ever find a particular verse of Scripture just eating away at you? Gnawing its way deep into your being? I've had that experience recently.

Paul's words in Romans 12 as he quotes from the Proverbs have been gnawing at me now for a while. It is a chapter that opens with Paul's call to no longer, "conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." It is then followed by a call to live humbly, exercising the gifts we have been given to support the body of Christ and then, as in Corinthians, he talks about love.

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Good stuff!But then comes the hard stuff...

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.Do not think you are superior.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary:

"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

So why should I feed my enemy when he is hungry and give him a drink when he is thirsty? Apparently this is one way to show your enemy you love them. OK, but surely giving aid to the enemy is an act of treason in the eyes of the state.

Imagine you are part of the Roman army laying siege to Masada (these verses went written with 21st century enemies in mind), what is you goal? To force them to surrender by depriving them of access to food and water, the main military strategy behind a siege. Now as part of that Roman army you are a Christian and you read Paul's words, what do you do? Do you feed your enemy and get them something to drink? What do you suppose would happen to a Roman soldier providing this sort of support for the enemy?

I wrestle with these verses, they gnaw at me because they are not simply a call to provide basic needs for even our enemy but rather they go against the powers the state uses to suppress and defeat the enemy. How do you think a first century Roman would have read these words? What would Paul say if he were to write this to 21st Century America?

Jesus said his kingdom was not of this world, clearly we are to live by a different standard, a different way than the nations of this world would have us live.

On the eve of Remembrance Day

All over the world its known as Armistice Day, or Remembrance day, it was the day that was to bring an end to the war known as "the war to end all wars." The eleventh hour of the eleventh day on the eleventh month.

My grandfather fought in that war, he was with the North Irish Horse regiment in 1914 and then receieved a commission and served with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment for the remainder of the war. He was one of the fortunate who survived, but because of the horrors he experienced would never tell his story. His brother-in-law, too survived the war and did tell his story, but not until late in life when he shared that when the whistle blew for them to get out of the trenches and charge the enemy lines one young (maybe 18) year old got scared and froze. My grandfathers brother-in-law was a member of the firing squad that shot him for cowardice. I guess if you won't charge the enemy then you have to be the enemy. What a needless waste of life!

Of course "the war to end all wars" didn't! It simply marked the beginning of modern warfare. Many have killed and been killed in the pursuit of their vision of freedom and we are indeed reminded of this on Remembrance Day.

English Poet Laurence Binyon wrote...

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

But freedom that is bought and defended at the cost of human lives is hardly one that jives with the gospel. It is (or should be) an uneasy alliance that exists between church and state. For the church tells us to love our enemies, it tells us to pray for those who persecute us, it tells us to feed our enemy when they are hungry or provide them a drink when they are thirsty.

I love the freedom I have and I recognize that many have died in trying to keep it that way. I do wonder though if there isn't a better way and if the freedoms I enjoy are worth the price that has been paid?

While we honor those who fought for freedom, let us never honor war and let us not get the two mixed up. War is a horrible thing, it represents the worst of humanity.

As Wilfred Owen wrote of his WW1 experience...

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, 
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, 
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs 
And towards our distant rest began to trudge. 
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots 
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; 
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots 
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! –  An ecstasy of fumbling, 
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; 
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling, 
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . . 
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, 
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, 
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace 
Behind the wagon that we flung him in, 
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, 
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; 
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood 
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, 
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory, 
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est 
Pro patria mori.

I don't suppose to many kids today are memorizing this poem in school the way I did in Northern Ireland. Perhaps they should.

Pastor almost fired for not wearing a clerical robe!

I don't often link to newspaper articles but this seemed to be a point worth raising. In this case a famous congregation almost fires their pastor for... wait for it... not wearing a clerical robe in worship and not preaching politics from the pulpit.

That's right, no heresy, no immorality, no biblical wrongdoing of any kind.

Billy Graham's grandson will keep Florida pulpit

The Rev. Tullian Tchividjian, the grandson of evangelist Billy Graham, will remain as pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, after dissidents failed in their attempt to oust him. (read the entire article here.)

Remembering 8 years later - just war?

Eight years ago the waitress at Perkins came over to our table and told John, Buck and myself that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center. We waited for the punchline but it never came, it wasn't a joke. I spent the rest of the day in my office watching the days events unfold on the TV. I wept.

Having grown up in Northern Ireland and having worked with Prison Fellowship I knew something of terrorism and even counted some former terrorists among my friends. I had witnessed bombs going off, I had friends who had lost family members to terrorists but this was something different.

When I moved to Virginia in 2004 this particular attack became a lot more personal as several members of our congregation worked at the Pentagon and one of our members, Bud Boon, lost his life in the attack. It was a very moving moment for me when I entered the Pentagon to give the invocation at a change of command  ceremony and we entered the building where the plane had hit.

What I don't get are the tens of thousands of lives that have been lost in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since then. I suppose its Jesus teaching to love your enemy that causes me to pause here. Perhaps its Paul reminding us of the proverb to feed our enemy if they are hungry and to give them something to drink if they are thirsty that causes me pause.

I know there is a long tradition of just war theory but every major Christian body outside the USA and many within, rejected the war in Iraq as a just war.

A truly Christian just war theory allows the believer to question every order to discern whether it meets the criteria of a just war. In reality this makes this position untenable for military service and is only one small step away from pacifism. What the nation and the military want is a patriotic just war approach where people will follow orders and act because the authorities determine they are just, the authorities are not to be questioned. But this is not and never has been the Christian position.

I mentioned in an earlier post how Ray Davey responded to seeing Dresden afrer the allied bombing. Certainly the bombing of Dresden like the current campaigns demonstratecd superior military strength on the part of the US and the allied forces, but is that the way of Christ?

A further thought on the CIA and other intelligence agencies...

Having worked for the last five years in Northern Virginia I served as a pastor for a large number of people with high level security clearances. Some of them worked for the military, others for the various private companies performing classified work for the government and still others for one of the intelligence agencies, both FBI and CIA.

At times we had spirited debates about the role of the United States in the world and the implications of Jesus teaching on certain aspects of their work but they were all passionate about their relationship with God in Christ. The sought to grow in their knowledge and love of Jesus and cared deeply for the needs of the poor in the world. 

I have been to heavily influenced by Bonhoeffer, Yoder and Hauerwas to fully understand how they can reconcile their line of work with their faith but I have the utmost repsect for them as brothers and sisters in Christ and I pray that they more closely reflect the ethos of these agencies and the government that the abuses that we see.

CIA, Torture, and the Sinful Nature

With the declassification of the report on the interrogation of terror suspects there has been much said about the behavior of some CIA operatives, simulated drowning by waterboarding, simulated executions by threatening with guns and drills, even going as far as threatening to kill someones family if there was another attack on the United States. Many people have cried out and said that such behavior is un-American and not becoming of the way the United States should operate in the world. Others have said that these were necessary actions to help prevent further attacks to Americans and that while some of them may have pushed the envelope of acceptable practice they are justified if they save lives.

What do I make of all this? Simple, I'm deeply saddened but not surprised by it. As a pastor/theologian I understand the nature of humanity is the nature of humanity and is not dependent on someone's national identity. The prophet Jeremiah reminds us that in our fallen nature, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure." The apostle Paul reminds us that unless we have found freedom through Christ and live according to our new spirit-filled nature we are bound under the old sinful nature.

There is not a question in my mind that under certain circumstances people, all people, have the capacity to do great harm to others, particularly if they believe that in doing so a greater good will be served. History bears this out time and time again, where educated smart men and women, do awful things to others, the holocaust, Pol Pot in Cambodia, Rwanda, Darfur, Apartheid in South Africa, the Crusades... We could go on and on. Some might say, 'well we don't do those sorts of things in America.' Really, what about slavery and the native Americans, how long did it take to give women the right to vote? The truth is that all people have the capacity for great evil. We don't like to think of it like this we prefer to talk about the side of the coin that we have great capacity for good, which with God's help is indeed true but we can do evil all by ourselves.

And that's exactly what we have here, evil. Not necessarily evil people, certainly they are fallen people but then we all are and we all need redemption. It is evil actions we are talking about here, and yes there are consequences for such actions, and no they (either those who carried out and/or those who ordered these barbaric methods)  should not simply be given amnesty because they were working for the government.

What makes these particular action un-American or un-civilized? The answer I believe is a theological one. It has to do with the rule of law. One of the understandings that the reformer John Calvin had of the law was that it served the purpose of ordering and restraining sinful creation. America is a nation built on the rule of law, it is what prevents us from slipping into anarchy, it is what allows us to have peaceful transitions in government, it is what allows us to repsect (even when we disagree) with court decisions. When we see the rule of law being undermined it makes us uneasy, and rightfully so, for it threatens to undo the stability that exists in our governmental structures. 

Everyday I pray that God's name would be revered and that God's kingdom would come and will be done on earth in the same way it is being done in heaven. Then all this nonsensical violence all this evil will be gone. Until then I will continue to serve God and proclaim the peace that is our in Christ so we can become peacemakers in this world.   

Strangers in a Familiar Land

Some folks have been asking about the sermon I preached last weekend. At this time our church doesn't record the sermons on a weekly basis but because of the interest expressed what follows is a close approximation to what I said. It differs in a couple of ways, I have expanded here on the Philippian church and removed a portion of what I said about us being ambassadors for Christ and the sanctuary being God's sovereign ground in the same way US embassies overseas are considered sovereign ground and guarded by Marines. I never follow a precise script when I am preaching so these are not my exact words but they do reflect the intent and passion of my thoughts on this subject.

Strangers in a Familiar Land

Once a year when the 4th of July rolls around I find myself in a slightly odd position. you see the front cover of my passport reads, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the flag of my country is, well, the Union Jack. So every fourth of July I am reminded once again that we lost the war! Come to think of it we didn't so well in 1812 either.

According to the United States government I am a permanent resident alien. What exactly does that mean? It means that I get to live and work here, it means that I can interact with people who live here, it means that I can travel freely around the country, it means that I have to pay taxes here in the same way that any American does. The one major difference between a citizen and a permanent resident is when it comes time to vote, I can't vote here. When I cast my ballot is in another kingdom, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

While I am a resident alien in the United States and have the accompanying documentation every one of us as followers of Jesus Christ is, as Peter states it, an alien and a stranger in this world.

The Apostle Paul in writing to the Philippians uses a different metaphor as he declares to them that their citizenship is in heaven. When Paul make this statement it is not simply a pleasant allusion to everlasting life in heaven. It is a radical declaration that their allegiances are shifting right here and now from an allegiance to the emperor and the Roman Empire to Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God. The power of this image would not have been lost on the Philippians.

Paul in writing to people of Philippi is writing to a people who were been very proud of their Roman citizenship. Citizenship was a much sought after privilege in the Empire. There were three ways you could become a citizen of Rome, you could receive it as a reward for the service you performed for Rome, you could buy for a large sum of money or you could be born a citizen. For the people of Philippi, a Roman Colony, they enjoyed all the rights and privileges that would come from being citizens of Rome.When we read in Acts of Paul and Silas' visit to the city of Philippi, we find that the accusation leveled against them by the Philippians (Roman Citizens) is that they were "advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept of practice." (Acts 16:21) As Fred Craddock notes in his commentary, "Proud of itself as a little Rome, official, patriotic, suspicious of any persons or movements not aligned or loyal to Caesar, probably quite anti-Semitic, this city could and did make it difficult for the disciples of Jesus."

Aliens, strangers, citizens of heaven, citizens of another place, as Jesus reminds us, "My kingdom," Jesus states before Pilate, "is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place."

Here's the rub for us, as citizens of God's kingdom we are called to be much more than merely good citizens of this world. We are called to be ambassadors, representatives of God's kingdom to this world.

We are "a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession." We are here for a purpose, "that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

I recently had lunch with the moderator of our presbytery, Jin Kim. Jin is the pastor of Church of All Nations in Columbia Heights. We met at their building and Jin gave me a tour to show me the work they have been doing in renovating the church. As you enter the sanctuary you can see flags of nations from around the world hanging the full length of the room on both sides. African nations, European nations, South American nations, Asian nations, Autralasian nations all hang, nations that are our allies and nations that our enemies hang there together. Jin pointed out to me that they had made a conscious decision to have the Korean and Japanese flags hanging side by side, as a reminder that old enemies can stand together in Christ because they now have a new identity, a new citizenship in the kingdom of God and that they now lived aliens and strangers in the nations of this world.

This stands in contrast to another story I heard about a large congregation in the Twin Cities that began their worship service by having an emotional video presentation on the Pledge of Allegiance and followed this in their worship service by playing the National Anthem and the congregation stood, placed there hands over their hearts (presumably in reverence) and sang pledged their allegiance to flag and country as they worshiped God. When I heard this story I was left wondering how the body of Christ around the world would fit in a service like that?

What I'm tying to get at here is the question of identity. Who are you? What defines you? What framework or paradigm do you see the world through?

You see as Christians we have to learn to see this world and our life in this world as if we are aliens and strangers in this land. This land we call the United States of America, this land that many of us love and have even served, this land that is part of the world that God loved so much "that He gave his one and only Son" to redeem it, is still a foreign land to those of us who are citizens of God's kingdom, for it is not the kingdom of God. It may be a great land by the world's standards, it may have one of the best forms of government and may offer greater freedom than other nations but we cannot and we must not mistake it for being a Christian land or in some way representative of the kingdom of God.

Perhaps you've never thought of it like this before but as followers of Jesus Christ we are called to adopt a way of looking at the world that is different from the way nations of the world see things.

Christian conversion, that is initiation into the kingdom of God brings with it a shift in perspective of the same magnitude that the shift from Ptolemy's view of a universe centered around the earth to the Copernican view that saw the sun at the center with the earth moving round it brought. It was a view that was met with great suspicion and would see Galileo accused by the church of heresy for supporting it.

Christian conversion, initiation into the kingdom of God requires a paradigm shift in how we view the world. It requires us to learn, as the title of the sermon states, to be strangers in a familiar land.

Paul is quite clear about this when he writes to the church in Rome and tells them, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..."

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world." Don't conform to the way the world thinks. Don't conform to the way the world reacts and responds to various situations. Don't conform to the values of the world, materialism, prosperity, greed, selfishness, wealth etc.

"...but be transformed..." Be changed, this change is a process. Undergo a metamorphosis (this is the actual Greek word) in the same way a caterpillar undergoes a metamorphosis in becoming a butterfly. A caterpillar sees the world for a perspective that is locked into the gravitational forces of the world as it crawls its way over plants munching on leaves focused on nothing more than eating and having a very limited perspective. Yet that caterpillar is transformed into something completely different, a butterfly that can now throw off the forces of gravity and take to the air. moving through the world in a very different way it gains a whole new vantage point from which to see things. The butterfly can see the whole forest while the caterpillar only saw the tree it was on. The transformation brings with it a new paradigm.

How sad it would be if the butterfly never took the air and spent its entire life in the same tree it had been in while still a caterpillar. Yet so often I find that we, as Christ followers, remained stuck, trapped, in old patterns of thinking and we never stretch our wings and see the wonders of the world from a kingdom of God perspective.

"be transformed by the renewing of your mind." We are to learn to think in a new way, we are to learn to think from a new perspective. We are to have renewed minds, Godly minds, minds that learn to see the world as God sees the world. We are to develop Christ-like imaginations that allow us to dream and envision a different world, a world in which God's kingdom comes and God's will is done on earth in the same way it is in heaven.

This transformation begins with a wholehearted commitment to following Jesus Christ into the world. It's the kind of commitment that allowed Francis of Assisi to see things differently from others in his day and rather than support the crusades as much of the church did he crossed the front lines in 1219 to share the good news of God's love for us in Christ with the sultan.

It is the kind of simple commitment that Shane Claiborne had when he boarded a plane for Iraq in March 2003. Why did he go? In his own words he makes it clear, "I went to Iraq because I believe in a God of scandalous grace. I have pledged allegiance to a King who loved evildoers so much he died for them, teaching us that there is something worth dying for but nothing worth killing for.
    I went to Iraq in the footsteps of an executed and risen God. The Jesus of the margins suffered an imperial execution by an oppressive regime of wealthy and pious elites. And now he dares me and woos me to come and follow, to take up my cross, to lose my life to find it, with the promises that life is more powerful than death and that it is more courageous to love our enemies than to kill them.
    I went to Iraq to stop terrorism... I went to Iraq to stand in the way of war. Thousands of soldiers have gone to Iraq, willing to kill people they do not know because of a political allegiance. I went willing to die for people I do not know because of a spiritual allegiance.
    I went to Iraq as a missionary" (Taken from "The Irresistible Revolution.")

You may or may not agree with Shane's actions but can you see how Shane is living his life shaped by a different paradigm? Shane is living his life based on the premise that Jesus meant what he said in the Sermon on the Mount and that he meant it to be applied here and now.

Some people would accuse Shane of being naive, a fair accusation if you are looking at things from the perspective of the kingdoms of this world, in other words from a different paradigm. From the world's perspective it is most certainly naive to think that prayer and non-violence can impact the like of Saddam Hussein, Bin-Laden and other despots around the world. Others would accuse him of being idealistic, I have to say that I've usually found that accusation thrown out by people who simply don't have the courage to live out their beliefs in the world. It is an accusation that is often tainted with a hint of jealousy.

If we were to take the Sermon on the Mount or Luke's Sermon on the Plain and state that they were to normative for follower's of Jesus we would have to acknowledge that the systems of this world would not understand and may even oppose us for doing so. Following such radically subversive teaching may even get us crucified. Let's be honest, from the world's perspective, as Will Willimon and Stanley Hauerwas state in their book, Resident Aliens, "nothing in the Sermon on Mount suggests that the way of disciples is "rational.""

We are strangers in a familiar land.

While we are all works in progress I want to ask how is your transformation into a citizen of God's kingdom coming along. As you grow and mature in your faith are you able to more clearly see and live in this world in a new way, in God's way, from a new paradigm or are you still still trying to see and explain things the way the world does?

May we learn to live faithfully as strangers in a familiar land.

A thought on American Religion

It's that time of year again when patriotic fervor spikes and I try to hide (not really) the fact that my passport reads "British" on the front cover! This Saturday there will be lots of bombs "bursting in air" as fireworks light up the sky in celebration of a war that took place some 200 years ago. It's a great celebration and people will have a lot of fun.

As a pastor I've been charged with thinking through events like these with a theological lens.To that end we have to remember, as Augustine taught us, that all nations of the earth no matter how great are still part of Babylon, that is they are kingdoms of this world. The kingdom of God is different and stands apart, over and at times against every kingdom of this world. That is why Scripture tells us that we are to think of ourselves as strangers, aliens in this world.

You see every kingdom also has its own religion, America is no different. As Greg Boyd notes concerning the "religion of American democracy."

"Like all religions, this religion has its own distinctive, theologized, revisionist history (for instance, the 'manifest destiny' doctrine whereby God destined Europeans to conquer the land). It has its own distinctive message of salvation (political freedom), its own 'set apart' people group (America and its allies), its own creed ('we hold these truths to be self-evident'), its own distinctive enemies (all who resist freedom and are against America), its own distinctive symbol (the flag), and its own distinctive god (the national deity we are 'under,' who favors our causes and helps us win our battles).

As Christians we need to be careful not to buy into this religion. Yes, we can and should celebrate all that is good and right in the nation but we must never lose the prophetic edge that allows us to stand up and speak of those things that are wrong.

Peace on Earth?

They are familiar words to us all this time of year, “For unto us a child a is born, unto us a son is given… and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” It is this last title, Prince of Peace that intrigues me.

Shortly after the Prince of Peace is born we see Herod ordering the slaughter of the infants in Bethlehem and the surrounding area. This is hardly an auspicious start to the life of the one we know as the Prince of Peace.

On Saturday August 15, 1998 a car filled with 500lbs of explosive was detonated in the center of Omagh in Northern Ireland. The explosion left twenty-nine people dead and over two hundred injured. This tragedy led Bono, of U2, to write a song titled “Peace on Earth.” The lyrics of which read in part, “Jesus this song you wrote / The words are sticking in my throat / Peace on Earth / Hear it every Christmas time / But hope and history won’t rhyme / So what’s it worth? / This peace on Earth”

Today we live in between times, we celebrate during Advent the incarnation of God in Jesus the Christ but we are also waiting for that time when the New Heaven and New Earth are established and peace on earth becomes a reality.

Perhaps my favorite Christmas story (outside of the Biblical story) is the story of Christmas 1914. It is beautifully articulated in Stanley Weintraub’s book "Silent Night." It was Christmas Eve 1914, the War had been raging for several months and to celebrate Christmas the German high command had sent miniature Christmas trees to the men on the front lines. They set these trees up on the parapets and lit the candles. The British soldiers had been sent ‘Princess Mary’s Christmas Boxes’ filled with goodies from home. As the German, British, and French troops settled in for the night, a young German soldier began to sing to well known carol “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht.”  Soon others joined in. When they had finished, the British responded in English singing “Silent Night, Holy Night.”
A ceasefire was called for Christmas day. One by one the men from both sides left their trenches and met in no-man’s land. They shook hands, exchanged gifts, and shared pictures of their families. Informal soccer games took place and a joint service was held to bury the dead of both sides.

The high ranking officers, who were not at the front, were not pleased when they heard of this. Men, who have come to know each other’s names, play together, seen pictures of each other's families and exchanged gifts with one another are much less likely to want to kill each other!

When the fighting resumed the men on both sides, who had participated in the ceasefire spent a few days simply firing aimlessly into the sky. The war didn’t start back in earnest until the frontline troops were relieved and new troops who hadn’t participated in the ceasefire where brought to the front. The war would rage until the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, 1918.
For one moment there was peace. We, God’s people are called to be peacemakers, glimmers of hope in a world of spiritual, emotional and physical violence.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will called children of God.” I’d like to be known as a child of God.
My grandfather was on the front in 1914. He was not part of the ceasefire. He never spoke of his experience in the war, but declared forever after that violence of any kind was never the solution.

John McCutcheon wrote a song about it that I like to post this time of year...

Just a thought on why Christians voted for both major candidates

Over the past few days I've heard from people who have been elated at the election of Barack Obama to the office of President of the United States. I have also spoken with people who are furious about his election and are convinced that America is done for, that he is a socialist, anti-American and a secret Muslim (yes this idea is still out there).

What's interesting to me is that all of the people I have spoken to, without exception, would state that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior.

How can this be?

There are number of reasons for this...

• The priority that we put on certain social issues
• The best way to address certain social issues
• Questions of foreign policy
• What we think is the best economic policy for the country
• How we were raised
• The influence of our peers

This is a short list and I'm sure many more issues could be added and each of the above could be expanded greatly.

My point is simply this, Christians did vote for candidates of different parties for many different reasons and that's OK. No political party in the United States (or any country) represents the Kingdom of God and neither party in the United States is so anti-Christian or so wholly Christian in its morality that it would require all Christians who chose to vote to vote for only one party.

The election is over, Barack Obama is the President elect. Romans 13 will apply as much to Christians under the national leadership of Obama as it did under the leadership of Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan, Carter... all the way back to Washington and even King George!

My prayer is that followers of Jesus, from both sides of the divide and even those in the middle, will pick up their bibles, read them and be challenged by what they read. That we will see our own imperfections and take the logs out of our own eyes before we go after the specks in the eyes of others.