στρἑϕω

Are You the One to Build Me a House? - Sermon

2011-12-27T14:56:00.000-08:00

To listen to the full sermon go to

http://www.sermon.net/mccsermon/sermonid/119783270

Sermon Excerpt

How do you know you might be serving a co-opted God? That is to say, a god of your own making?

1. When God always agrees with you, you may be at risk of trying to co-opt God.

2. When you are never surprised by God - because you believe that he’s safe, or fully known. When there is no place for mystery in your spirituality – you may be at risk of trying to co-opt God.

3. When you think that God needs you to do something that He can’t do for himself or that your success is simply of your own making, you might be at risk of trying to co-opt God.

Advent Prayer - For the Waiting Done to Us

2011-12-05T10:24:00.000-08:00

Lord,
As we pray during Advent – we wait –

And we learn once again that waiting is not something we do
But something done to us and something that will be done –
And so we ask, “Teach us to wait, O God!” And we cry, “Come Lord Jesus!”

We wait for your promise that every tear will be wiped away, that heartache shall cease and crippling pain would scar us no more
Come, Lord Jesus

We wait for your justice. For the crooked to be made straight, the dark places filled with light, and the chains that bind the poor and abused to be removed.
Come, Lord Jesus

We wait for your assurance of peace. That nations will come together, enemies will eat and laugh as friends, that even the lion and lamb will share the same space.
Come, Lord Jesus

We wait for the hope of love that caresses our face, invites us to belong and dance, and that listens deeply, knows us intimately, and showers us with praise and applause.
Come, Lord Jesus

We wait for joy that arrives in the nick of time, that catches us off guard, and that makes us think of others first and often
Come, Lord Jesus

We wait
We wait
We wait

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – we declare that what we wait for is you and your kingdom
And so we wait expectantly, pray fervently and work fearlessly,
with the knowledge that our waiting is not in vain,
the groans of labor pains echo in our ears - birth will take place.
You will come soon!
Come quickly Lord Jesus! Amen

Prayer for Healing

2011-11-30T10:44:00.000-08:00

God of the present
We thank you for your compassion and love.
That you care as much about the body as the soul,
As much about emotions as the spirit.
But we live in a fallen world, where illness, suffering, and pain are part of the fabric of our existence.
So we ask for greater recognition of the faith that has been given to us
That you were present fully in Jesus Christ, in the human condition,
To share our pain and to heal us. “It’s only a matter of when – not if ,”
We declare with a grateful heart.

God of healing
We are glad for your friends who knowingly and unknowingly join with your mission,
The doctors and nurses who with skill and compassion help our bodies and minds fight against disease and sickness,
We celebrate the growing army of women and men who seek to bring healing to whomever they meet and we are grateful for every cooperative effort of pastor, psychologist, and physician for healing comes from You. “We rejoice that you are willing,”
We announce with patient expectation.

God who is willing
Help us to listen deeply to one another
Help us to practice our faith – to bring everyone and everything in prayer before you
Help keep us from unbelief, sinful pride, hollow skepticism, or vain certainty
Help us adopt your words not ours, your faith not ours, your mission not ours and declare with your Son, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,”
For in heaven our future finds it rest, our bodies find their health, our lives find your perfect will, and our world meets its anticipated end.
We pray this in your name. Amen.

A Prayer for Rest

2011-07-06T15:32:00.000-07:00

Lord, You told us to “Come” and that You would “give us rest.”
Well – we come now – many of us bent, sweaty and exhausted, weary indeed.
Mentally and physically we are bone tired, wound up, and beaten down.
Some of us are too tired to think, eat, or even sleep. Our mental and physical fatigue is more than we can bear.
Some of us have fashioned a yoke for ourselves –
Others have been grabbed and shackled, held hostage,
slaves of a master who wishes to break our spirit and whither our hope.
Speak to us that word that silences our restlessness, breath on us your breath of peace, and free us from the tyranny of our schedules, schemes, and the tiring work of religion devoid of faith, hope and love.

Give us this day, O Father, the peace of mind which is truly rest
Free us from the binding yoke of sin – that we have done to others – and from sin that has been done to us.
Take from us
All envy of anyone else
All resentment for anything which has been withheld
All bitterness against anyone who has hurt or wronged us
All tiresome rage devoid of grace
All boring laziness filled with idleness
All foolish worry about the future and all futile regret about the past.
Let the feverishness of our efforts to earn your love find its cure in Jesus’ work on our behalf – the cross and resurrection.
Help us to accept what you have already done for us – saving us from our sins.

As we share this restful meal
Help us to recline at the table,
Loosen our belts,
And laugh with thankfulness.
Help us to be
At peace with ourselves
At peace with others
At peace with you

Help us to
Accept your easy yoke of friendship,
your loving arm of compassion draped over our shoulders
Help us to discover a light burden that we can bear, even enjoy,
And help us to find rest for our weary souls.

After Worship Ministry Team

2011-06-06T09:06:00.000-07:00

At MCC we desire to offer an altar ministry, regularly following each Sunday morning worship service, that welcomes and receives those who desire prayer for healing, encouragement, and salvation. Our goal is to express the compassion of the triune God, modeled by Jesus, to help people become whole, healthy, integral parts of the church community. We recognize that Jesus’ own ministry involved inaugurating the Kingdom of God by listening to those in need, praying for those in pain, and inviting those who were marginal and alienated into table-fellowship with himself (Matt. 4:23; Mark 9:21; Luke 9:48, 15:1-2; John 4:1-42). Moreover, he frequently commanded that his disciples engage in those same kingdom practices (Matt. 10:1, 7-8, 28:18-20; Mark 6:7, 12-13; Luke 9:1-2).

The purpose of this ministry is not simply to address medical or emotional problems alone but to express God’s solidarity with us through active listening, empathy, and prayer. We seek to aid people on their journey of finding restoration and reconciliation (physically, emotionally, and spiritually) with God, others, and themselves. This ministry of God-with-us (Emmanuel) and his willingness to share in our sufferings is demonstrated by knowing people by name, listening to their stories and sharing our own, and letting them know through words and gestures, that we do not see them as problems to solve but people to love (John 13:34). Patch Adams, the doctor who made great strides in offering generous medical care for those who were impoverished or terminally ill, stated it this way, “You treat a disease, you win, you loose. You treat a person, I guarantee you, you'll win, no matter what the outcome.” We believe that personally expressing familial love and forgiveness in the name of Jesus and a willingness to embrace pain and suffering through prayer and friendship are central to Jesus’ model of ministry and a proper Christian theology of redemption.

This ministry is also aimed at furthering MCC’s vision of “making disciples” in a number of ways. First, this ministry seeks to mentor people by teaching them to follow Jesus’ model of ministry (Matt. 4:23, 9:35; Luke 4:40-43). Second, it offers an opportunity for those who are called to After-Worship ministry to use their God-given gifts and talents so that they might grow and find their meaningful place of service in the church (Eph. 4:12). Third, this ministry allows for the sharing of pastoral responsibility within the wider church community, affirming the important reality that we all have a significant part to play “for the common good” (1 Cor. 12:4-7).

Ministry Description:

Those who would wish to join the After Worship Ministry team will be willing to be:

Trained
Dr. James Bradley, a church historian at Fuller Theological Seminary, wrote, “Physicians of the soul treat deeper wounds than physicians of the body and those who wish to be soul physicians without rigorous study are at least as dangerous as quack physicians.” Due to the serious and sensitive nature of caring for potentially wounded and vulnerable people, theological and pastoral training are necessary for anyone who would wish to participate in this ministry venue.

Topics to be discussed:
The Kingdom of God in the OT and NT
Theology of personhood and the image of God
Theology of healing and suffering
Models for prayer
How to interview and listen to others
How to share the Gospel message

Sensitive
Because people who come forward are normally struggling with a variety of anxieties and apprehensions, sensitivity, compassion, patience, and good listening skills are essential.

Committed
This ministry requires consistent church attendance and active praying participation within the church.

A Dangerous Healer: A Meditatio in Montpellier

2011-01-31T00:55:00.000-08:00

Healing is a dangerous thing. Most of us might be quick to recognize it but doctors, therapist, and yes, even pastors, often perform tasks that can both help and harm. I was reminded of this reality in a discussion led by one of Marianne's friends, Serge Bernard. Serge is a social worker who works with a very particular community of those who are deaf-blind. These are individuals who experience both deafness and blindness simultaneously and therefore are confronted with a unique set of challenges and issues. As Serge speaks of this community, however, what becomes clear is that this group does not define itself as being handicapped. They do not understand their condition as one which needs to be healed. In fact, they not only communicate with one another regularly but also acquire a range of sensitivities and abilities that sound, well, almost like something from a comic book. They can tell if the lights are on because they feel the heat in the room from the bulbs. They can sense and discern different vibrations in the floor and what they signify. One man Serge knows could even tell that he had made a wrong turn in a car trip of 500 km. In other words, many of them do not experience or suffer from alienation, disability, or lack of personhood. At least no more than you or I experience even with two eyes and two ears that work. To put it another way, most of these people don't feel disabled or diminished. This fact, however, is placed in stark contrast to the position taken by most doctors who have argued that infants with such conditions should receive painful operations to correct their deafness without parental consent - even if this alienates the child from his or her parents. Even worse, other physicians have argued that such a condition should allow women an easy abortion because such an existence is simply too awful to contemplate. What comes through Serge's talk, however, is that the doctors describe this group in ways that appear to have no grounding in their own experience as human beings.

Serge's discussion has haunted me and reminded me of the myriad difficulties faced by those of us who care for people with difficult, complex, even chronic illnesses, challenges, diseases, that defy our best prayers, practices, and medicines. What follows are some rambling thoughts, maybe intellectual graffiti, that has crossed my mind as I consider Serge's talk and its implications for me as a pastor.

Healing is about restoring persons not fixing illnesses. Often when I am confronted with someone who is struggling I remind myself of this by simply repeating, "This is not a problem to solve but a person to love." The distinction may seem trivial but it is at the heart of God's mysterious transforming work. We can all to often forget that well people can feel great anguish and alienation while those who are sick or struggling can not only find peace but serve others and live fulfilling lives. I love the quote from Patch Adams, the doctor who made great strides in offering generous medical care for those who were impoverished or terminally ill, "You treat a disease, you win, you loose. You treat a person, I guarantee you, you'll win, no matter what the outcome."

When healing professionals focus on a problem and not the person, we can quickly lose sight as to what is ultimately important. We can become frustrated by our lack of results wrongly reversing our disappointment upon the very person who has come to us for help. I am often delighted by the person who first comes for help - willing to listen, share and dole out an ample amount of advice. The second time will find me much the same way - happy to help. By the fourth or fifth time, however, I can become disenchanted even angry with such individuals, secretly harboring the belief that he or she is unwilling, complaining, or even faking. Their difficulty becomes my failure and, like the doctors mentioned by Serge Bernard, I want them gone. This frustration is due to the fact that I focus on the supposed problem and fail to see the person before me. Serge and Patch Adams are right. The person is the one that deserves our focus and attention and it is with his or her personhood that true healing is ultimately found. This means that those who are sick or so called disable can be healed even while maintaining their original state. If healing is fundamentally about restoring one's life to love God and love others then we can approach the person with a range of care often missed by focusing solely upon the specific concern. This reality was made all the more clear to me in seminary when a student who was deaf wrote into the school newspaper thanking the many people who asked to pray for him but asking them to stop. He remarked that he didn't suffer from deafness but remained part of a community, a culture, a language that he was quite proud of and stated his firm conviction that one of the many languages spoken around the throne room of heaven in the book of Revelation would be sign language. In other words, he wished everyone to know that he was not sick, sad, alienated or diminished. He was - healed.

There are a lot of issues going on in this blog which simply can't be unpacked here but I certainly welcome your questions or comments. It has taken me a long time to publish this blog simply because I feel like I have not tied up all the ends that I should have. Nevertheless, for my own thinking, I have written a prayer that I intend to use in my own encounters with those who need healing which tries to acknowledge the multifaceted and complex reality that I have tried to lay out for you so far. Some of you may be asking, "If what you've written is true then why pray for healing at all?" Well, I would respond, we should always pray for healing - yes, even miraculous healing, but be mindful that such a miracle can come in ways we never expect because we are not praying that problems will be solved but that persons will find their lives made whole in God. Here is my prayer - feel free to offer helpful changes or criticisms:

Prayer for Those in Need of Healing:
To the God who is healer
we give thanks.
To the God who gave us
NAME OF THE ONE BEING PRAYED FOR
to care for we give thanks.
Out of your compassion
and through your church
we ask that you would
provide all that s/he need
to be whole in body, mind and spirit.
So that s/he can love you, her/his neighbor, and herself/himself.
We pray that your kingdom would come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
And we pray for the courage and grace to see it
when it does.
Amen.

Which Saint Do You Follow? A Meditatio in Montpellier

2011-01-15T23:37:00.000-08:00

One of the themes of our time here in Montpellier is the subject of travel - why do we travel? how do we travel? as well as different forms of travel - pilgrimage, crusade, grand tour, immigration, etc. One aspect of travel that relates directly to this region and Montpellier in particular is the pilgrimage of Santiago de Compostela - the pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint James. One of the many beginning points of this pilgrimage is Arles, France moving across the bottom of France, over the Pyrenees and into Spain. After Rome, this is Europe's most important pilgrimage site.

Pilgrimage is an interesting concept, though not one that remains terribly important to Protestants, particularly Americans. But the externalizing of the inward journey in which one travels in order to recognize one's identity as a stranger to this world and to strengthen one's identity as one who faithfully follows is certainly worth considering. Christians throughout time have understood Abraham as the first struggling pilgrim and the Epistle of Hebrews speaks of Abraham and others with the compelling remark in ch. 11:

And if indeed they had been mindful of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God; for he hath prepared for them a city.

To desire a "better country" is a daily choice and if you are like me, however, you wake up somedays and just want to return, go back, and forget all about this journey with God and the promised land. It is a journey of success and failure, of hope and hardship, of faithfulness and doubt. The spiritual life is always the pilgrim's choice.

This pilgrimage choice is also starkly offered on the route to Santiago de Compostela by two different images of Saint James that a pilgrim can encounter along the road in churches as altar pieces, sculptures, and paintings. One common image is Santiago Peregrino (St. James the Pilgrim) in which the saint holds a staff in one hand while the other opens toward the viewer as if he is offering it to hold, an invitation to walk together as companions in the spiritual life, toward a better country. There is another image of James, however, that is neither offering a hand in friendship nor inviting companionship on the way to Compostela, Santiago Matamoros (St. James the Killer of Moors). This image embodies the historical reality of tensions between Christianity and Islam and shows James astride a mighty steed, his right arm thrashing with a sword down upon a turbaned figure beneath the rearing hooves of his horse. Both images are part of the historical memory of the Christian faith in its pilgrimage on the earth. One wields the sword in conquest while the other, explained in a medieval sermon, is "armed and defended" by Jesus' command to love one's neighbor as one's self.

Of course, James's two conflicting images - killer and pilgrim-have nothing to do with the saint himself and everything to do with the Christians who followed the route toward his tomb. The images reflect their choices along the way to either love or hate, pray or fight, walk or chase. These images also offer us, I believe, an important question. In this journey of life, which path will we walk? Will we follow the example of James the Pilgrim or James the Killer? Will we follow the one who heard Jesus' call to love others, even one's enemies, or will we join with the one who succumbed to that impulse that we all share - to kill our enemies in order to save ourselves? As you consider your route, I offer you a prayer that pilgrims to Santiago pray for their journey.

Teach us, apostle and friend of the Lord,
the WAY which leads to him.
Open us, preacher of the Gospel,
to the TRUTH you learned from your Master’s lips.
Give us, witness of the faith,
the strength always to love the LIFE Christ gives.
We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Parlez-Vous Anglais? A Meditatio in Montpellier

2011-01-07T23:33:00.000-08:00

Well, my family and I have just finished our first week in Montpellier - part of our larger pilgrimage lasting for 5 months as we lead a semester abroad program for Westmont College. As many of you know, my wife is a French national and I have only come to loving and learning about all things French, myself being a German historian, later in life. All that to say, my French is not very good. Being a PhD who gains a lot of his identity from words - their creativity, their beauty, their power, their eloquence, I have been reminded daily this week that to live in a culture where one does not speak or understand a language is a unique place of powerlessness - where one is totally "at the mercy of others." That last phrase is telling because it is not a phrase that we would relish or consider positive. To be at another's mercy is to be vulnerable, exposed, and defenseless. But once we push past this initial wave of fear we realize that it is a bit misplaced. We are always "at the mercy of others" and more often than not, I have been reminded, they are merciful. Furthermore, I realize that I often hide behind an illusion of self-sufficiency which obscures the fact that I rely upon others for a whole range of things - I can't change the oil in my car, grow my own food, medically care for my wife or my children, and I don't even know where the local dump for my trash is. But more than that, embracing my own powerlessness has allowed me to grow particularly aware that I live every day by God's mercies, which, the psalmist reminds me, are new every morning. So, what does this mean right now? Well, it means that the most important phrase that you should learn first in any language (spiritual included) is "thank you." Second, to be at the mercy of another is what salvation and our life with God is founded upon - at our most vulnerable, incapable, and powerless point - God was merciful to us in sending His Son. Finally, it means that being a Christian is not simply the recognition that one is to be merciful to others but to also be ever thankful and aware for the mercies that one receives from God and strangers. And who knows, maybe that smiling Frenchman named Jean Michel is an angel unaware. Just maybe, on the rue de l'Universitaire when you are lost and a bit afraid - at the mercy of others, he is the mercy of God.

Prayer for Children

2010-08-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

Below is a prayer that I cobbled together and offered for our Noah's Sunday following our week long Vacation Bible school which focused on introducing our kids to the issues surrounding our friends on the streets

A Prayer for Children

Lord of Life,
We pray for scampy children
who sneak popsicles before supper,
who erase holes in math workbooks,
who can never find their shoes.

God of Compassion,
We pray for children
who can't bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers,
who never play tag or go to the circus,
who live in an X-rated world.

Loving Father,
We thank you for the children
who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money.

And we hurt for those
who never get dessert,
who have no safe blanket to drag behind them,
who don't have rooms to clean up,
whose pictures aren't on anybody's dresser,
whose monsters are real.

Gracious God, help us be gracious to children
who spend their allowance before Tuesday,
who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food,
who like ghost stories,
who shove dirty clothes under the bed,
who don't like to be kissed in front of the carpool,
who squirm in church and scream in the phone,
whose tears we sometimes laugh at and
whose smiles can make us cry.

Almighty God, help us bring justice for those children
Whose nightmares come in the daytime,
Who will eat anything
Who have never seen dentist,
Who aren't spoiled by anybody,
Who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,
Who live and move, but have no being

Lord Jesus, we thank you that you are the One who welcomes children, may we do so as well
We pray for all children
Who want to be carried, who don’t want to be carried and for those who must,
We pray that we would never give up on any of them
And that you would gather them up,
Cuddle them like lost sheep
And release them to be your love, light, and salt in the world.
For we believe Lord in your kingdom – your playground
Where goodness is stronger than evil
Love is stronger than hate
Light is stronger than darkness
Truth is stronger than lies
We need not be afraid.

Alternative Giving Campaign Kick-Off

2010-04-21T21:15:00.000-07:00

Below is the speech that I gave for the Kick-Off of the Alternative Giving Campaign Press Conference on April 20, 2010. To check out the website see http://www.realchangesb.org/

Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) would like to thank Mayor Schneider and the City Council for their year long work on the critical problems of poverty and homelessness in our community. We also appreciate their ability to gather diverse stakeholders including the business community, social service workers, and faith communities and believe that this collaboration remains critical if we are to create real change. But we also recognize that WE are the city. The problems of poverty and homelessness are not only a concern for governments and social service agencies but for all of us.
CLUE supports the fundamental premise of the Alternative Giving campaign that the problem we face is not panhandlers. We support neither demonizing nor romanticizing those who are daily struggling on our streets. The campaign, then, creates an exciting challenge for all of us - the challenge for our community to give – creatively, abundantly, and responsibly to HELP our neighbors on the street.
But what does such neighborly giving mean practically? Where does your money go? The point of the Alternative Giving campaign is to encourage caring and thoughtful individuals to give directly to programs that connect those in need with local social services. It means that the dollars that you donate in local area businesses, from church budgets, or through text-giving, go directly to helping hands –to street outreach workers who seek to:
1) help people off the street and into more permanent, stable housing with services; (2) secure food for the hungry; (3) provide more space in shelters and critical medical care; (4) offer freedom from addiction and substance abuse. CLUE particularly encourages faith communities to join the city in this effort to encourage compassionate giving. Yet we believe that dollars are not enough. We urge everyone to go out into the streets to greet and recognize our brothers and sisters who need our help. Caring for the most vulnerable people in our city – the elderly, the mentally ill, the disabled, those without homes – needs to continue and increase. Compassionate action is neither exceptional nor optional. It is a fundamental expression of what it means to be human. It is our spiritual duty. And it is within our reach. Thank you.

90° Initiative

2010-02-17T12:51:00.000-08:00

We at MCC endeavor to take seriously Jesus’ command to all those who would follow him:

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ Matthew 22:37-39

By coupling the second commandment “to love your neighbor” with the command “to love God,” Jesus is saying that these two actions are indelibly linked. This divine connection is the ideal that we as a church are working towards an active love that seeks nothing less than the holistic transformation which touches all parts of life (spiritual, economic, emotional, and physical needs). On February 28th, I will be promoting the 90° Initiative - loving God ↑ and loving others →. This initiative seeks to help people discover how they can partner with organizations to experience and express the good news of a gospel life – where their deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet. The kick-off will involve a survey to assess current volunteer trends within the community and to connect interested parties with specific, relevant opportunities that fit their schedules and skill-sets. Please pray for this work as we seek to engage opportunities for service that embody love and initiative of Jesus.

Working as a Waiter in the Kingdom of God: Sermon Podcast

2010-01-25T13:18:00.000-08:00

To listen to the sermon, visit http://drop.io/miketech

If you would like a printed version, simply email me at gospelaction@mcchurch.org.

Peace,
Jon

The Community of Promise: Repair, Rebuild, & Reveal

2010-01-15T15:49:00.001-08:00

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus quotes a passage from the scroll of Isaiah to express who he is and what he is doing. Reading aloud from the scroll he said,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 3:18-19, cf. Isaiah 61:1-2).

That passage is a fantastic declaration of Jesus’ calling, but do you know the rest of Isaiah’s passage? Aha, I didn’t think that you did. The passage goes on from this prophecy about the servant of the Lord who would save Israel to a people who will follow his way. Isaiah writes,

“They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, to display his glory. They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations” (Isaiah 61:3-4).

To remember that we believe Jesus was foretold about by the book of Isaiah almost 600 years before he arrived is certainly cool. To be reminded that he came to proclaim “good news to the poor” gives us pause as we try to follow his way and heed is message. But to realize that the prophet also wrote about us leaves me empowered and humbled in a way that’s hard to articulate through words and ink. As I write this, the steady stream of news too horrifying to compute continues to pour out of Haiti where the death toll from a recent earthquake has left the country “devastated” with “ruined cities” and a death toll that will almost certainly be the “devastations of many generations.” It was for such events as this that you and I were promised by Isaiah to be a “planting of the Lord” that repairs and rebuilds, revealing the glory of God who cares for all. As we begin the new year will you join me in declaring this to be the year of the Lord’s favor as we seek to send ripples of kindness and grace (that were promised so long ago) out into our communities and wider world. Join with me in reading aloud Isaiah 61:3-4 so that we can express who we are and what we are doing and say like Jesus, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 1:21). Let them hear this prophecy in Haiti, on State Street, on Westmont Road as well as the West side and around the world, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.

"How to Save the World"

2009-12-09T14:04:00.000-08:00

"What would happen if aid organizations and other philanthropists embraced the dark arts of marketing spin and psychological persuasion used on Madison Avenue? We'd save millions more lives." ~ Nicholas Kristof, Outside Magazine (December 2009), 87

Nicholas Kristof's words elicit a visceral response in most. But before you weigh in on the merits of his remarks let me summarize his brief argument as fairly as I can and then reflect upon our response as Christians.

Kristof, far from being a media exec on Madison Avenue, has spent the bulk of his life on the front lines of disasters as a reporter for the New York Times covering such devastating travesties as the crisis in Darfur, the ravages of AIDS in Swaziland, and crimes against women in Pakistan. He writes as someone with great experiences from the trenches with a credibility in humanitarian circles that is difficult to match. Despite covering these many atrocities, however, Kristof is also quick to acknowledge that the experience of apathy and collective shrugs from people who read his work led him to question his approach: logical arguments about the scale of suffering, withering statistics which promote guilt and expose the opulence of American culture, and consistent descriptions of victimization of countries and peoples through horrific stories. Instead, Kristof turned to the work of social psychologists and came to two simple realizations:
1. "We intervene not because of stories of desperate circumstances but when we can be cheered up with positive stories of success and transformation." He points out that average people find greater pleasure and are therefore more likely to give when we focus our attention on smaller numbers rather than large, full-scale disasters which overwhelm people creating apathy. The higher the number of desperate people, in other words, the less likely people are going to be motivated to do anything about it.
2. The solution, he says, is for storytelling to focus on individuals with personal stories of triumph in the face of disaster, rather than groups. People know that AIDS is devastating and catastrophic, he points out, and depressing stories only leave them with little hope of doing anything. The work of social psychologists reveal that people are much more willing to give when they know that they can change one life than when they might help a large number of people or even a person who represents a suffering group. As we all know, he declares, one death is a tragedy, a million deaths, a statistic. Or, quoting Mother Theresa, "If I look at the mass, I will never act. If I look at the one, I will."

The challenge, Kristof acknowledges, is to recognize both the desperate needs and also the very real progress in devastated areas, the prospect of improvement in real people's lives if the help goes forward. We are moved not by statistics, he writes, but by fresh, wet tears, with a bit of hope glistening below. Moreover, he writes, we look for heroes and not victims.

Kristof's argument is quite compelling. Why shouldn't we give hope and utilize the tools of marketing to help people find that helping others is as "every bit as refreshing as, say, drinking a Pepsi?" Of course, the problem for many of us in a media saturated world is that we often equate marketing with false advertising which Kristof is in no way advocating. As a Christian, I am tempted to use Jesus's opening words for his own ministry to explain Kristof's saavy thesis. In the beginning of Mark's Gospel Jesus declares, "repent and believe the Good News." Softened by Kristof's argument and the belief that one should accept the truth from whomever gives it, Jesus words hit me squarely between the eyes. How often I think of "repent" in a moralizing way - a stop doing this now and feel bad about it you filthy, little sinner sort of way - but Jesus' statement, I believe, goes much further. That word repent comes from the Greek word metanoiete. It is based upon two words, meta (beyond) and nous (mind or spirit), and thus, in its simplest form, means something like "go beyond the mind that you have." The Catholic theologian Robert Barron writes, "Jesus is urging his listeners to change their way of knowing, their way of perceiving and grasping reality." What is he asking people to see? "Good news!" The call of Jesus isn't from a life of sin into an eternal life of dreary, eternal guilt. He seeks to heal us by calling us to accept a different reality, a transformation of sight where we jump to action not because of guilt, sadness, disillusionment but because of hope and good news. Now, anyone with a smidgen of knowledge about first century Palestine would know that the facts on the ground were desperate. And yet Jesus declares "good news." Shouldn't we? Isn't Kristof's point of positive stories a parallel that we should readily embrace because of who Jesus is and what he has done? I think so. Moreover, shouldn't we heed Kristof's words about personal stories precisely because the Bible itself is filled with them. Isn't our own spiritual narrative promoted by the Bible a litany of personal tales of disaster and triumph as God works in people lives? Finally, doesn't Jesus tell us that the good shepherd is willing to leave the 99 sheep and look for that one who is lost (Matt. 18:12-13). Kristof is telling us, "write about that one!" Jesus calls us to repent and see the good news. He promises us hope and Kristof reminds us that that's the story we should tell. Can such a story change the world? Yes, it can.

A Magnificat Christmas: A Helpful Guide for Celebrating Christmas Differently

2009-12-01T10:28:00.000-08:00

A Perspective for Celebrating Christmas Differently:

Read Luke 1:46-55

Questions: What ideas or phrases in Mary’s song catch your attention? Does her song reflect your understanding of Christmas? Why or why not? What carols or Christmas traditions echo her vision of Jesus’ birth?

A Reason for Celebrating Christmas Differently:

Ipsos-Reid reports that 77% of North Americans said they didn’t need anything for Christmas, while only 36% said there was something in particular they actually wanted.

A 2006 survey done by Leger Marketing reported that when respondents were asked to name their favorite aspect of Christmas – 26% said “gift giving” compared to 8% who said “gift receiving.”

Questions: Are you surprised by these statistics? Why or why not? Apart from gifts, what are your favorite things about the Christmas season? What is your favorite Christmas memory?

A Prayer for Celebrating Christmas Differently:

Dear God,
Christmas is your light breaking into the darkness. We confess that we are sometimes blinded – not by your glory – but by consumerism, greed and the oppression of packed schedules. Help us, this year, to do Christmas differently. Strengthen us to resist the lure of getting more in a world where so many have so little. Equip us to use this time, to set aside moments to remember your birth, to think about how we might do your will here on earth, as it is in Heaven. By breaking into human history, you showed us a different way – the way of reconciliation, redemption and resurrection. As we celebrate how you came, help us remember why you did. And live differently because of it.
Amen

A Way of Celebrating Christmas Differently:

Make a mini-documentary about your parents. Interview them on video about their memories (childhood, adolescence, courtship, marriage and family life), interview other relatives and friends about your parents; include family photographs and heirlooms in the video and use your parents' favorite music as background. Give copies as a gift to your parents, siblings and relatives.

Collect quotes that make you think of someone. If you are feeling more creative, turn it into a small scrapbook, that can easily be carried in a backpack, briefcase, or purse.

Assemble a box of vintage dress-up clothes and accessories from grand-parents’, aunts’ and uncles’ closets. This box of shoes, bow ties, pants, hats, funky bracelets, clip-on earrings guarantees hours of creative fun for girls and boys aged 5 to 10.

Write stories (with illustrations) with your children and/or nephews and nieces as the chain characters and read it to them aloud as you are gathered around the Christmas tree.

Make a scrapbook for your son or daughter (e.g. memories of ages one to 10), which includes photographs, mementos and stories about them.

Bake holiday cookies, pies or cakes and deliver them to family and friends before the Christmas rush.

Make a recipe box, which includes family and personal favorites on note cards and put them in a personally decorated box.

Take your nephews and nieces, elderly relatives, or your harried neighbors' young children out on a special day in December to give their parents and or/caregivers a much-deserved break. A half-hour walk in the park, with a thermos of hot drinks, freshly-baked goodies and good conversation will keep everyone warm. You can also visit a museum or just go for a ride around town at night looking at Christmas lights and eating munchies.

Celebrate an international Christmas by having an afternoon tea with homemade cookies from around the world (you can feature a little flag on each plate). Check out http://www.christmas-cookies.com/recipes/bycountry for recipes. To make it more lively, play a Christmas trivia game by assembling a set of questions about Christmas (the Web has 163 million entries for "Christmas" alone).

Visit the elderly in nursing homes and be prepared to sing some Christmas carols.

Help out at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter on Christmas Eve.

Prepare a Christmas basket for someone who is going through rough times.

Use cartoon pages of newspapers and colorful pages of magazines as gift wrap.

Give a daughter, niece or granddaughter, the pair of earrings or necklace that she has always admired.

Collect tins from relatives and friends and return them as care packages (e.g. stuff them with chocolates, scented candles, baked goodies).

Shop at fair trade stores like the Mennonite-run Ten Thousand Villages (online), which sells products that provide employment to co-operatives in developing countries.

Suggest a spending limit of $10 or less; challenge everyone to stick to it and be creative.

Check out the online catalogues of church and non-profit Organizations which suggest alternative gifts: e.g. www.covchurch.org/cwr, www.unicef.org, www.oxfamamerica.org, www.beyondborders.net, www.worldvision.org, and www.invisiblechildren.com.

To discuss different opportunities or to find out more about how to serve Santa Barbara this Christmas season contact Pastor Jon Lemmond, jonucsb@yahoo.com

Visible Invisibility: How to be the Church in the World

2009-11-27T11:07:00.000-08:00

I believe that a big part of the Christian life is the amazing miracle of invisibility. No, I'm not confused by Hollywood sci-fi and those bad movies by Chevy Chase and Kevin Bacon but puzzled, confounded, and stretched by the words of Jesus who advocates for a generous invisibility. He warns

Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. ~ Matthew 6:1-5

These words seem clear and I don't feel the need to belabor their point. Jesus is challenging a piety, all too familiar in his day and our own, of those whose main goal in practicing their faith is being seen and congratulated. The desire for such visibility is not to please God or care for others but to achieve some form of celebrity status. Let's be honest - we all know this temptation. In response, Jesus argues, we should practice our faith, particularly caring for the poor and prayer, secretly, without another's knowledge save God's. Apart from the difficulty of living out such a position, however are two related issues that deal directly with my job at the church which involves promoting gospel action and connecting people to to ministries and service organizations. One problem is biblical and the other practical. First, the biblical. Earlier in the sermon on the mount, where our invisible piety warning comes from, Jesus announces

“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. ~ Matt. 5:14-16

The obvious question is, "how are we to shine and reveal God's glory like a city on a hill if we must also be secret to the point that our left hand does not know what our right hand is doing?" Second, the practical. If Jesus is advocating for an invisible piety then how can we promote particular ministries of giving and care without mentioning people and their stories? What are we to make of Christian witness and the offering of testimonies or even worship if such acts must only function privately? Yet, how are we to bear such witness while avoiding vain recognition?

These are important pastoral and theological questions which I can only briefly deal with now but here are a few thoughts. First,if we begin with the assumption that Jesus is neither being contradictory nor inconsistent, how might we reconcile these two passages? Well, first and foremost, we need to recognize that we are hampered here by our own language and its inability to differentiate between the second person singular and the second person plural, both indicated by the pronoun "you." The "city on a hill" passage reflects the second person plural while the "giving in secret" passage reflects the second person singular. To be corporately visible while singularly invisible is certainly tricky but hardly insurmountable. Despite its difficulties, surely Jesus is not sanctioning any visible absence of showing the love of God to those in need in the community. Second, if we return to Jesus' initial warning we see that he is not so much challenging visible piety but the practicing of piety "in order to be seen." The notion of intent does not resolve the problem but shifts it to the difficult arena of our inward lives and relationship to our community. Okay, so what practices might we advance to help navigate these two commands.

First, one of the goals of my position is to offer visible opportunities for invisibile service. This does not mean that I am interested in promoting particular personalities, but wanting to introduce members to acts of service that others have found meaningful. One of the ways that I hope to do this is through the sharing of stories by church members who are engaging the gospel in exciting ways and inviting some of us to participate. The point of the story is invitation and not self praise.
Second, my goal is to help us be accountable as a church to the mission of Jesus Christ. This is a mission that includes good news and justice for the poor, the hungry, the thirsty and so forth. Here, a helpful point of similarity is the role of treasurer who does not speak about individual tithing but overall giving. We are the body of Christ, we all have a task to perform and it is the body that should be visible. This means that when I go anywhere I am an emissary for the whole church just as many of you are when you serve others in Jesus' name on behalf of us. To visibly promote such tasks and service opportunities thus serves as a reminder of our desire to follow Jesus and that we do this together. We are accountable to one another as we seek to live out the gospel in the world. When we go into the world as the church then the visibility is about Him and we realize that we are small part in the mosaic of Jesus in the world. Then, we are visibly invisible.

The Greatest Charity by Maimonides

2009-11-19T11:14:00.000-08:00

Maimonides, the twelfth century Jewish scholar, wrote a brief but profound mishnah on the Torah concerning charity. Summing up and explaining the vision of charity found in what we consider the Old Testament, he defined and described eight degrees of charity. His words are worth considering as we seek to be faithful to God's vision of compassion, mercy and justice as well as effective in battling poverty and homelessness in our city. He writes:

There are eight levels of tzedaka [often translated as "charity" is the Jewish legal requirement to do rightly with your fellow person -- that is, to support him (or her) when he is in need, Deut. 15:7-8], each greater than the next. The greatest level, above which there is no other, is to strengthen the name of another Jew by giving him a present or loan, or making a partnership with him, or finding him a job in order to strengthen his hand until he needs no longer [beg from] people. For it is said, "You shall strengthen the stranger and the dweller in your midst and live with him," {Leviticus 25:35} that is to say, strengthen him until he needs no longer fall [upon the mercy of the community] or be in need.

Maimonides admonishes us that the true meaning of charity is not the easy gift of a handout or donation but the hard effort of providing meaningful employment and help so that such a person no longer has need. This isn't a claim that those who are homeless or poor simply need "to get a job" but that we must work to create a society that seeks to welcome and strengthen the stranger rather than simply appease him. Such a philosophy would reorient us toward practices of justice that, I would argue, are more in keeping with both the Old and New Testament perspective of caring for the poor.

Below is Maimonides text for you to read:

Eight Degrees of Charity:
Rambam, Hilchot Mat'not Ani'im 10:1,7-14
(Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Gifts of [that belong to] the Poor)
Translated and copyright 1990, 2003 by Jonathan J. Baker
[Interpolations] in brackets, {scriptural citations} in braces.

1) We are required to take more care about the mitzva ["command"] of tzedaka [Tzedaka, unlike "charity" (from Gk. karitas, "love"), is the Jewish legal requirement to do rightly with your fellow person -- that is, to support him when he is in need.(Deut. 15:7-8)] than for any other positive mitzva. For the mitzva of tzedaka is the sign of the righteous descendents of Abraham our father, as "[God] has made known to him [Abraham], so that he shall command his sons to do tzedaka." {Genesis XVIII:19} The throne of Israel is not established, nor does true faith stand except through tzedaka), for "through tzedaka will I [God] be established." {Isaiah LIV:14} And Israel will not be redeemed except through tzedaka, for "Zion will be ransomed through judgment and returned through tzedaka." {Isaiah I:27}
7) There are eight levels of tzedaka, each greater than the next. The greatest level, above which there is no other, is to strengthen the name of another Jew by giving him a present or loan, or making a partnership with him, or finding him a job in order to strengthen his hand until he needs no longer [beg from] people. For it is said, "You shall strengthen the stranger and the dweller in your midst and live with him," {Leviticus XXV:35} that is to say, strengthen him until he needs no longer fall [upon the mercy of the community] or be in need.
8) Below this is the one who gives tzedaka to the poor, but does not know to whom he gives, nor does the recipient know his benefactor. For this is performing a mitzva for the sake of Heaven. This is like the Secret [Anonymous] Office in the Temple. There the righteous gave secretly, and the good poor drew sustenance anonymously. This is much like giving tzedaka through a tzedaka box. One should not put into the box unless he knows that the one responsible for the box is faithful and wise and a proper leader like Rabbi Hananya ben Teradyon.
9) Below this is one who knows to whom he gives, but the recipient does not know his benefactor. The greatest sages used to walk about in secret and put coins into the doors of the poor. It is worthy and truly good to do this if those who are responsible for collecting tzedaka are not trustworthy.
10) Below this is one who does not know to whom he gives, but the poor person does know his benefactor. The greatest sages used to pack coins into their scarves and roll them up over their backs, and the poor would come and pick [the coins out of the scarves] so that they would not be ashamed.
11) Below this is one who gives to the poor person before being asked.
12) Below this is one who gives to the poor person after being asked.
13) Below this is one who gives to the poor person gladly and with a smile.
14) Below this is one who gives to the poor person unwillingly

"Real Change Not Spare Change"

2009-11-10T18:45:00.000-08:00

Dear City Council Member,

“Real Change Not Spare Change”

As people of faith, we are hopeful that the Alternative Giving campaign (beginning March 2010) will provide greater generosity from faith communities, increased awareness about the plight of those who are homeless, and more compassion and dignity for those who are currently living on the streets. We fundamentally believe that permanent housing with services for all those who are chronically homeless remains the most proven, compassionate, and cost effective solution. Until this goal is met, however, we believe that by promoting alternative giving we can provide a wonderful opportunity for a shared sense of responsibility and mutual accountability that meets people’s needs while promoting compassion, mercy and justice that makes the best use of our desperately needed resources.

We encourage you to promote the following goals associated with the campaign that we are communicating to our faith communities:

Give generously to those in need. Each year more than 6,300 people experience homelessness within Santa Barbara County. On any given night, over 4,000 people are homeless. We believe that we can alleviate this problem by being compassionate and strategic in our giving.
Give good gifts that promote real change. A fundamental premise of the Alternative Giving campaign is to encourage everyone in the community to provide gifts that won’t promote a life of dependency on the streets. We are encouraging everyone to give creatively: hygiene related items, clothes, shoes, pre-packaged foods, and bottled water not to mention equally important gifts like time, compassion, and a listening ear.
Redirect giving to helpful hands. We continue to affirm the importance of social service providers who remain on the “front-lines” and an important bridge between the needs of those who are homeless and the resources required to meet those needs. These workers represent the best means of helping people off the streets and into more permanent housing.
Get involved. We are encouraging all of the Santa Barbara faith communities to explore further, ways in which they can personally address the problem of homelessness. In the next few months, we invite you to explore with us the plan in more detail, as well as other related efforts: creating alternative food distribution locations to lessen the impact on particular neighborhoods and the need for greater funding to provide a volunteer coordinator at Casa Esperanza and more outreach staff who can serve the mentally ill on our streets.
Educate and empower yourself and others for systemic change. We truly support the city’s efforts to make a difference. We commit to collaborate with you in this effort and to keep everyone accountable to the purpose of the campaign – “real change.”

We are excited to join you in this new giving campaign. We urge everyone to give – compassionately, generously, and strategically. We promise it will be worth it – people always are.

With Humble Hearts,

CLUE Homeless Sub Committee:
Dr. Jon Lemmond, Pastor for Gospel Action, Montecito Covenant Church
Maureen Earls, Facilitator, Justice Peace and Integrity of Creation, St. Barbara’s Parish
Dr. Wayne Mellinger, Social Worker for WillBridge & CLUE Board Member

Flannery O'Conner and the Sin of Smugness

2009-11-07T17:35:00.000-08:00

"The operation of the church is entirely set up for the sake of the sinner, which creates much misunderstanding among the smug." ~ Flannery O'Conner

I believe that "smug" represents not merely a people in the church but an attitude that signals a need for repentance. I often have found that where I am "smug" is where I need to confess and repent. "Smug" represents that place where I believe I am better than most, independent, autonomous and succesful without a need for God's generous grace. My story in these areas of my life are not the gospel, saved by God's grace, but the story of the ant and grasshopper where I can shake my head in amazement at the laziness and lack of others. What's the best way out of "smug"? The recognition of "smugness" is addressed directly by a particular Christian practice. The practice of confession. In his famous little book, Life Together: A Discussion of Christian Fellowship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminds us that the Bible on a number of occasions enjoins us to “confess our sins to one another” (James 5:16). In fact, without such concrete confession between Christians, Bonhoeffer argues, you simply cannot have real Christian fellowship. You can have a country club or reading group but you will not have a church. Bonhoeffer understood that it is confessing your sins to a trusted friend that allows you to move beyond the illusion of your own goodness. A person who confesses her sin in the presence of another can no longer perpetuate such smugness but experiences the truth “I am sinner but God forgives and loves me.” Luther in his Large Catechism said: “Therefore when I admonish you to confession I am admonishing you to be a Christian.”

It’s important to remember that the practice of confession requires three moves. First, there is the confession of how I feel - the honest recognition of faults and feelings apart from trying to sound holy. Second, there is a confession of sin – that deep down we are broken, prone to flee and run from the One who loves us. Third, there is the confession of God’s truth - that we are sinners saved by grace.

Parables of Justice: Angry Jesus

2009-08-11T11:25:00.000-07:00

In the Gospel of Mark we find the following story (Mark 1:40-41):

"A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, "If you choose, you can make me clean." Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, "I do choose. Be make clean!"

Recently, I noticed (and my seminary professors would be so proud) that one of the oldest manuscripts of Mark's Gospel does not use the word here translated as "pity" but uses the verb which means "being angry." If "angry" is correct (see Mark 3:5 and 10:14 which suggests Mark's willingness to speak of Jesus being angry) then it's not hard to imagine why a copyists would want to remove it. Most of us, I suspect, are uncomfortable with an "angry" Jesus. We want, as the song goes, a "gentle Jesus meek and mild." What does it mean to say that Jesus was "moved with anger" when approached by someone desperately in need of help? Obviously, Jesus was not mad at the request nor at the person - he "chose" to make him clean. Jesus was, however, mad at the condition. Mad at disease that marred his creation. Mad at pain that dehumanizes. Mad at the things that seek to steal, kill and destroy. Unlike Jesus, I rarely get mad at these things. I find myself often "angry" at people. People who don't share my beliefs or ethics. People who should know better or work harder or act right. Jesus' anger, however, reminds me that I need to reorient myself to love all who are broken with a particular fierceness at the conditions that put them there. That I need to be angry about poverty, exploitation of the environment, abuse, violence, homelessness, even sickness and disease. Jesus' rage at the leprosy that wracked this man's body reminds me of the words of Kaj Munk, a priest and playwright who was killed by the Gestapo for his outspoken beliefs, on holy rage:

"What is, therefore, our task today? Shall I answer: 'Faith, hope, and love'? That sounds beautiful. But I would say-courage. No, even that is not challenging enough to be the whole truth. Our task today is recklessness. For what we Christians lack is not psychology or literature . . . we lack a holy rage - the recklessness which comes from the knowledge of God and humanity. The ability to rage when justice lies prostrate on the streets, and when the lie rages across the face of the earth . . . a holy anger about the things that are wrong in the world. To rage against the ravaging of God's earth, and the destruction of God's world. To rage when little children must die of hunger, when the tables of the rich are sagging with food. To rage at the senseless killing of so many, and against the madness of militaries. To rage at the lie that calls the threat of death and the strategy of destruction peace. To rage against complancy. To restlessly seek that recklessness that will change and seek to change human history until it conforms to the norms of the Kingdom of God. And rember the signs of the Christian Church have been the Lion, the Lamb, the Dove, and the Fish . . . but never the chameleon."

Join me in being angry with Jesus and then choose, like him, to help others.

Amen, angrily

Parables of Justice: Beauty over Baseness

2009-05-19T13:11:00.000-07:00

When thinking about justice – a word association game can be very revealing. I asked my co-workers to name as many synonyms for justice that they could in 30 seconds. The list they came up with wasn’t surprising and, in short, reflected the particular litigiousness of our western culture. They came up with words like: law, legality, cop, judge, compensation, and fairness. None of these words are bad in and of themselves but they can reflect a much too narrow vision of how we should enact the gospel in the world. Is the kingdom of God only a court of law? I don’t think so. In fact, I think a corrective for many of us is to realize the significance of beauty in relationship to God’s kingdom work.

When I was in seminary I did a brief internship at the Los Angeles Catholic Worker who, among other things, staffs a community kitchen in the downtown area. Prior to this, I always thought that I understood what a “concrete jungle” looked like but nothing could truly prepare me for what I witnessed. There simply was not a tree or blade of grass in sight - nothing but gleaming and burning broken concrete and blacktop which in the sun resembled a bleached, decaying skeleton. As I entered the serving line to take my place I was utterly dumbstruck by what I saw after I moved through the mass of people. When I exited the line I entered a courtyard which could only be described as colorful, lush, cool and vibrant – beautiful. Here – many of those who were homeless sat and ate among fragrant flowers and much needed shade from fecund fruit trees and I realized that my view of justice was too small, too cold, maybe even a bit lifeless. My experience at the Catholic Worker taught me that justice isn’t about meeting people’s needs with a cold and calculated rubric of necessity sprinkled with “just enough.” The Catholic Worker reminded me that giving my “leftovers,” whether food I normally wouldn’t eat or clothes that I would no longer wear, is not an accurate reflection of God’s giving. God gives better than that and has called me to give in the same way. Jesus’ reminder to “consider the lilies of the field” (Matt. 6:28) remains more than a promise but also serves as an indictment on my giving and challenges what I often believe justice for the poor should look like. God’s justice is not simply the provision of need or bare minimum giving but the offering of beautiful gifts to the marginalized and oppressed - God’s kingdom work is nothing less than beautiful and extravagant. To link beauty with justice is to recognize that what we give matters as much as how we give. I’m not arguing that we be wasteful or that the amount spent somehow makes a gift more acceptable but that beauty should be one of the words that encompasses what we do as givers of God’s stuff – “even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.”

How does this bear out practically? Well – two things strike me as particularly pertinent at this point in the life of our church. First, as we seek to care for those in our community, particularly those who have suffered great losses due to fire – give good stuff. Jesus didn’t say, “consider the scrub brush of the field.” Simply put, don’t give away anything that you wouldn’t accept yourself – the base, the battered or the broken. As you give, be mindful of the One who creates beauty all around us and made us both appreciators and creators of beauty as well. To think and act this way is to move closer to God’s vision of justice. Second, our church has a wonderful opportunity to offer such beauty to our city by engaging in the Spring Clean-Up hosted by the city on May 30th, 2009 at Eastside Park from 9 am-12 pm. The event will include tree planting, graffiti removal, electronic waste collection, etc. Since 2003 Santa Barbara churches like ours have provided 1,700 volunteers amounting to 5,100 hours of service. What a beautiful vision of God’s kingdom and His salvation which encompasses not just human beings but all of creation! Believe the gospel and bring the extravant good news that is nothing short of beautiful.

Borrowed Words

2009-05-05T09:17:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the wisest words we can speak are the ones we borrow. I as sit here struggling with the reality of fire in Santa Barbara and my often singed prayer life I have wrapped myself in the words of this poem. May they keep you warm and safe.

Praying by Mary Oliver

It doesn't have to be the blue iris, it could be weeds in a vacant lot or a few small stones; just pay attention, then patch a few words together and don't try to make them elaborate, this isn't a contest but the doorway into thanks, and a silence in which another voice may speak.

Parables of Justice: Humility over Hubris

2009-04-23T11:54:00.000-07:00

In her article in the Covenant Quarterly (February 2007) Just Churches in an Unjust World: A Pastor's Reflection, M. Karen Lichlyter-Klein acknowledges that a well-found fear for the Christian working for justice is the

danger of thinking that somehow I have figured out what God's
justice is all about, and that I have somehow magically arrived
at a conclusion of my faith . . . And if for a moment, I come to
believe that I have finally unlocked the mysteries of God's
identity, I fear the sin of hubris might be my legacy" (25).

As I seek to be a faithful pastor helping the church enact God's justice - grounded in the revelation and activity of Jesus Christ, I am cognizant of the fact that I am often woefully inadequate to the task. Justice is just so, well - messy, intricate, and complex. Not only must I confront the inadequate definitions offered by secular political theories, whether liberal or conservative, but also my own brokenness reflected in my failure to see the ways in which I participate in injustice and in my failure to change when I do see it. None of this is meant to absolve myself from heeding Jesus' invitation to enact His kingdom but it does re-frame the project of justice as a whole to include my continued need for repentance and perpetual need to be reminded that this is not my kingdom, my cause, my project or my issue but His. Both needs, in other words, require that I return to the Scriptures and prayer as I seek to divest myself of the self-righteousness that Pastor Lichlyter-Klein so rightfully fears. And when I return their - looking, listening, pondering, I am reminded that Jesus's own teachings acknowledge my surprise, wonderment, even bafflement at what such kingdom justice looks like. In one parable, Jesus tells of a landowner who goes out into the marketplace three times rounding up workers to labor in his vineyard at 9 am, noon, and 5 pm (Matt. 20:1-16). When night falls, he asks the manager to call the workers in, beginning with the last group hired, and instructs him to pay them all the same wage. Needless to say, and I would agree with them, the earlier workers feel slighted stating, "These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat." They are incensed to put it mildly and I can't blame them. But as the narrative continues the landowner responds, "Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?" This isn't a place for a sermon, despite my willingness to give it. But as I reflect upon this text I am struck by the deep grumbling in myself that agrees with the 9 am workers. Their complaint makes good sense and hardly reflects wickedness or selfishness. What it does reflect, however, is that they don't understand what true justice looks like - justice that is grounded not in equality, or rights but in God's deep generosity. And however we might wish to think about the implications of such a text in a civil society which defines justice precisely as equality, a significant meaning of this text is that it forcefully points out the inadequacies of our understandings, definitions, paradigms, and programs for justice. I believe that as we acknowledge this lack, we once again become followers of Jesus - followers of the one who came to teach us who God is and who redeems us from ourselves. Being a follower means that to understand truly what justice is - we must begin by listening and watching the One who knows - the One who confronts our grumbling and says that justice is being generous.

The Divine Vocation of Irrelevance

2009-04-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

“Why are you doing this?” I was asked by someone who was homeless as he sat down for me to wash his feet. It’s a good question. Despite the significance of Maundy Thursday in the Church calendar, what did I hope to accomplish? How does such an act work to end the burdensome issues of our city and world? The act of foot-washing placed against the background of such crushing need and dire circumstances seems well – just so irrelevant. And yet I recently reread a favorite book on Christian ministry that calls pastors to just such a vocation – irrelevance. Henri Nouwen points out that our fast paced and technologically savvy world appears to want to leave pastors behind for more competent professionals – doctors, lawyers, psychotherapist, etc. Yet, despite all this secular wonderment, success, and competence, he argues, people continue in great numbers to feel cut off from one another and God - unloved, and unknown. So many people long for success, acknowledgement and fame, because this is how one supposedly finds meaning, how one finds love in the world. In response he declares,

The Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her own vulnerable self. That is the way Jesus came to reveal God’s love. The great message that we have to carry, as minister’s of God’s Word and followers of Jesus, is that God loves us not because of what we do or accomplish, but because he has created and redeemed us in love and has chosen us to proclaim that love as the true source of all human life.

This is a good reminder as I seek to engage the wider Santa Barbara community. O how I long to be seen as helpful, successful, and respectable. But in the end, Jesus knows better. He gives me a basin, soap and towel, and asks me touch the body of one who is considered a failure in society. He asks me to listen to his stories and share my own. He measures success not by numbers served, dollars given or applause received – but by the giving and receiving of love.

Recently, I have been thinking more and more about my task in this position that the church has been so gracious to ask me to fill. Don and I have been working on an affiliation policy to help guide the church and staff members in ways that are best in keeping with following Jesus. Here are some clarifying thoughts for myself:

• I am to be God’s advocate on behalf of the church for those in need of compassion, justice and mercy (1 Peter 4:11). In short, I am to be an emissary of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am not a social worker, an activist, or a politician, but a servant of the Church whose task is to proclaim the good news and invite others to follow Jesus. This declaration means that there should be no distinction between evangelism and advocacy. My goal is not the transformation of the world per se but to help the Church live out its call faithfully in the world.
• Following Jesus may place me in questionable company and may mean that I “suffer for doing good.” (1 Peter 3:17) The Gospel accounts reveal that Jesus often associated with sinners and was reviled by religious people for just such an association. However, the issue for Jesus was the invitation of sinners to enter into God’s kingdom. In other words, get in trouble for proclaiming and enacting the gospel and avoid what distracts from it.
• Get in trouble with trustworthy and upright believers. Partnership begins (but doesn't end) in the Church rather than outside of it. (Mark 6:7) I may “participate” and “associate” with others because the gospel remains a welcome to all but “partnership” should be reserved for Church members and likeminded Christians. The intimacy of partnership demands personal commitment.

This last point has spurred me on to begin creating a Gospel Action ministry team to help facilitate the work that God has called our church to do. My recent experiences in the community and further reflection on my role, have reminded me that Jesus did not send his disciples out alone to preach the word, He sent them two by two. I have had a recent success in this area of corporate ministry by bringing together different business leaders in our church to reinstate a Benevolence Committee, which will be used to empower parishioners struggling financially by offering them practical financial and spiritual advice.

Now that I have a better sense of the myriad things that are currently going on in our community I am going to seek to bring people into partnership so that we can be faithful to the irrelevance that Jesus has called us to perform because God’s fundamental means of change remains the gospel of Jesus Christ, and God’s primary agent of change for the world is the Church.

The Lesson No One Wants to Learn: A Reflection on Suffering (Excerpt)

2009-04-02T15:44:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday I was asked to preach on a difficult text: Hebrews 5:5-10. The text includes the startling truth, “All though he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.” I began by telling the congregation that this is a sermon best whispered because like Peter, who was rebuked by Jesus for questioning his suffering, I have more questions than answers, but I don’t want to sin. I don’t want Satan to use me. Because of this I decided not to preach. My wife called what I was doing an “anti-sermon” but I decided to call it a reflection. The Apostle Paul tells us that this side of God’s kingdom we “see in a mirror dimly” (1 Cor. 13:12). Acknowledging my lack of sight in discerning the clarity of God’s word and the difficulties of our world seems easy enough, but often the older I get the more my sight seems to fade. Even talking about suffering points to our own present fragility and limits, both as subjects and as students of God.

I went on to explain that Jesus defined obedience as being compassionate as God is compassionate. How is such obedience learned?

According to our text, what elements are critical in Jesus’s learning of compassion amidst suffering - obedience to the Father?

1. Jesus learns to acknowledge suffering honestly

He doesn’t pontificate about the causes of suffering, argue a particular view of good and evil, or defend God. The text says that He responds in tears.

On the one hand, Jesus refuses to engage in a common sort of Christian stoicism – indifference to suffering – “keeping a stiff upper lip.” A state of being that I call “holy lying” where due to some vision of spirituality we choose to deny the realities of life. We here it in the “I’m okays” and “fines”. Now, this is a difficult truth. And I in no way wish to chastise those who are suffering for failing to somehow fall apart. What I want to say is that God recognizes that suffering hurts and that Jesus invites us to acknowledge it to God. To do so, is to confess a deeply human truth that we are fragile creatures, vulnerable to things beyond our control.

On the other hand, if Jesus weeps we must remember that not only is such an expression human but also divine. If Jesus weeps at suffering then on a fundamental level it means that suffering is not the way it should be. That God doesn’t revel and traffic in painful circumstance or horror for our good.

If Jesus weeps as one who suffers he also weeps for those who suffer. To weep with those who suffer is to express the fundamental ache of God for those who need redemption. I’m not saying that God is not providential nor in control – I willingly confess that these things are true. But to weep with those who suffer is a fundamental aspect of compassion. It is a form of suffering and a critical part of God’s redemptive plan. BUT the fact that Jesus weeps surely challenges any glib explanation of God’s providence amidst suffering. We must always remember that the God who uses suffering is also the one who weeps over it.

If Jesus’ fundamental response to suffering was to choose to share in our sufferings, to acknowledge the difficulties of suffering, to weep with us and willingly enter the dark uncharted spaces of our lives, then what do we make of the miraculous, the desire to end suffering though acts of miraculous power? What does it mean to be a healer?

Well, if Jesus’ miracles were the central event of the Gospels a cynic might rightly point out that most people during Jesus’ day were not cured. Mark 1:34; 3:10. It is true that Book of Revelation tells us that ultimately suffering will have no place in God’s kingdom where he will wipe away every tear, death will be no more and mourning, crying, even pain will vanish (Rev. 21:3-4). Yet, there are many who are so eager for this reality that they refuse to weep because they want suffering gone right now. They believe that what is required is power and that suffering is entirely evil and irredeemable.

I don’t have an answer for this tension but understand that Jesus’s obedience to the Father, his compassion for those who suffer and the healing of some while others wait brings us back to the mystery of God’s love. He did not cure to prove, to impress, or to convince. His cures can never be separated from his being with us. This brings us back to the great mystery that the expression of God’s love is not that our pain is taken away, but that God first wants to share that pain with us – that our salvation is because of divine solidarity. If God’s compassion in Jesus Christ is located in solidarity first and foremost rather than any expression of great power or authority, then Jesus’s obedience invites us to be as close to each other as God is to us. It means that no matter what happens we are to be present – healing, no healing – the test of our faithfulness as a Church will not be how we respond to suffering but those who suffer. In the movie Patch Adams, Robin Williams character says it well, “If you treat the disease you win or your lose. If you treat the person you always win.”

This side of heaven, what is important is not the cure of the sick, but the deep compassion that moved Jesus to these cures, his presence with us in our suffering. We would do well to remember the response of Job’s friends to his plight:

“Now when Job’s three friends heard of all these troubles that had come upon him, each of them set out from his home . . . They met together to go and console and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him and they raised their voices and wept aloud; they tore their robes and threw dust in the air upon their heads. They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.” Job 2:11-13.

It is when they stop weeping and start speaking that are confronted by God and called to repent. The same is often true for us.

Three Action Verbs (part III): PARTICIPATE

2009-04-02T15:36:00.000-07:00

Participate with others in God’s collaborative kingdom work – The summons to join God’s kingdom is an invitation to collaborate in work that He has already initiated and to which He has asked all believers to participate joyfully in. It recognizes that God’s kingdom is more than any individual person but found in the bringing together of the near and the far, Jew and Gentile, men and women, slave and the free – it is a corporate work that can involve both those inside as well as outside the church. In other words, God's kingdom work defines the community as both the means and result of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

GUIDING TEXTS: Ps. 24:1; Mark 12:28-34; Luke 10:1-2; Acts 10:1-8; Gal. 3:28; Phil. 2:1-4; 1 John 4:7-13
GUIDING QUESTIONS: Where is God at work in our city and how can we partner with Him? How can we integrate works of mercy more into our corporate life? What does it mean to act as the Body of Christ?

Three Action Verbs (part II): ADVOCATE

2009-04-02T14:53:00.000-07:00

Advocate for those who need to experience God’s kingdom – To advocate is to live out the prophetic call of inviting everyone to recognize, receive, and enact God’s reconciling message of compassion, mercy, and justice – his kingdom rule. It means speaking and acting on behalf of Jesus Christ and his Church as well as for those who are poor and marginalized.

GUIDING TEXTS: Deut. 27:19; Psalm 10:17-18; Isaiah 61:8; Micah 6:8; Amos 5:24; Matt. 25:31-46; Mark 1:14-15; Luke 18:1-8; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19; James 1:27
GUIDING QUESTIONS: How are we currently praying for our community? How can we extend God’s compassion, justice and mercy to everyone in our community? How can we create long-term systemic change that is in keeping with God’s design?

Three Action Verbs: A Reflection on Identity and Action - EDUCATE

2009-03-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

The next following posts are reflections on my current mission statement that I have been ruminating over for the last couple of weeks. It revolves around three action verbs: educate, advocate, and participate. My pastor has tasked everyone on staff to develop a ministry team with respect to his or her area. My reflections here are predicated upon casting my vision to the congregation for the hope of finding those who will join me in the exciting activities associated with "Gospel Action."

Educate others in God’s kingdom message – The education component of "Gospel Action" extends in two directions. The first direction is back to the Scriptures for the purpose of understanding God’s vision for His kingdom and the tasks of compassion, mercy and justice that He calls all disciples to engage in. To aid in this effort will involve educating church members with Bible studies and with the current educational resources offered by the Evangelical Covenant Church’s Compassion, Justice and Mercy Department, which seeks to engage complex social issues in a theologically credible way. The second direction reaches out into our particular community for the purpose of highlighting the on-going needs in our city as well as explaining to members the broader kingdom efforts that other organizations are already performing.

GUIDING TEXTS: Matt. 6:33; Luke 4:18-19; Luke 6:46-49; Luke 13:29; Luke 14:12-14
GUIDING QUESTIONS: What do the Scriptures teach about God’s kingdom? What does the Evangelical Covenant Church teach about different social problems/issues? How does a particular organization’s work connect to God’s kingdom message expressed in the New Testament? What are the current needs and resources in our city?

A Litany and Theology for Work

2009-02-24T09:52:00.001-08:00

The following litany was written by Pastor Diana Trautwein and myself for a church service where we prayed for a variety of service/ministry organizations in our city and led the congregation in a commitment to God's work. The service was then followed by a ministry fair where people could be educated about different opportunities for service and volunteer their time and talents to aid an organization in their work. In my opinion, a strong theology of work is a necessary component for a healthy church in order to recognize God's activity, practice true worship as well as advocate and partner for kingdom justice. I offer the following litany for prayer and meditation to connect with the God who cries "Mine!" over all the world and those who live in it.

A Litany for Work
Referencing Psalm 24 & 145, Haggai 2, Ephesians 6 & 1 Peter 3

Leader: “The earth is the LORD’s, and all that is in it, the world and those who live in it.”

People: Christ, our Sovereign Lord, cries, “Mine!” over every square inch of our human existence.

Leader: “The Lord is generous and his grace is abundant for all who are his. He upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down. He opens his hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing.”

People: The Lord of all life invites us to join this work of giving grace, raising up the bowed down, upholding the fallen.

Leader: Forgive us, Lord, when we ignore your invitation, when we forget that true worship means loving you and loving our neighbor; that we worship you by loving our neighbor.

People: Empower us now, O Lord, to be your true partners, joining in the work you are already doing in our community.

Leader: “Search for peace, and work to maintain it,” you tell us; “Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord,” your word declares.

People: Give us eyes to see and the will to do your gospel work. Help us to take small steps toward the healing of our broken world, for Jesus’ sake.

ALL: May we hear and heed your call:
“And now get to work, for I am with you, says the LORD.”

Don't Go to Church!

2009-02-17T09:51:00.000-08:00

My son is a junior higher at Santa Barbara Junior High and recently told me that he likes hanging with his History teacher after school before I pick him up. Aren't historians the best? Anyway, the two seem to have hit it off allowing their conversations to turn toward more personal matters - namely, religion and religious belief. One of these conversations revolved around the teacher's challenge that he didn't need to go to church because he could worship just fine on his own. In his mind, and I'm paraphrasing based on the remarks of my son, organized religion is a sham filled with tactics to exclude others on the one hand while attempting to pilfer people's pockets on the other. This is a standard critique and one that any pastor who chooses to dismiss it does so at his or her peril. Why go to Church? Indeed. I imagine that even the most faithful believer has asked himself or herself just that question at least once. Well, what follows is my answer. For the most part it is an answer for my son first and his teacher second. In part because I think that we as Christians need to answer such a question for our own theological maturity and stability. Moreover, my son cares about the answer. His teacher, on the other hand, while well-meaninged and a nice guy doesn't seem terribly invested. In other words, I'm not sure that his question is a real one (would he change if I answered his critique?) nor do I believe that he actually cares about the answer (does he actually "worship" by himself?). My answer will be brief because this is a blog site and not a theological tome, so extend grace where appropriate. First, the problem with the question is that it suffers from a faulty understanding of what "church" means? More than just a facile critique of definition, however, I was recently reminded that how we talk about things affects how we experience them. Eskimos, for example, have a number of different words for “snow”. Young Eskimos learn to experience snow differently from English speakers because of their verbal climate. Language, in other words, guides our experience and shapes our reality. Similarly,the teacher's understanding of church (one also shared by many Christians)is that church is a place or event. We often speak of “going to church” or ask, “What time does church begin?” Such phrases turn the church into a building in which services are held. God’s church, however, Charles E. Moore reminds us, “the ekklesia (Grk. for “church”, from ek-out, and kaleo – called), is a called-out, called-together, and called-forth community: a visible, organic reality distinct from its surrounding environ.” Simply put, the church is all y’all. I have witnessed some amazing things that have reminded me of this great theological truth – that God does not want us simply to “go to church” but actively to “be the church”. Second, I can't be who I am called to be by myself - otherwise I fall into the trap of self-delusion or selfishness. I need others to keep me accountable, to pull me out of myself, to recognize that my vision of God belongs to others outside of my own limited grasp and that God is simply not a God of my own making. In other words, the setting matters - it is conducive to thinking about God and occurs in a relationship of healing and community. If you are really sick should you go to the doctor? I think so, because it is a place and a setting created for that purpose. Can you do the same thing at home? Maybe, but you do so at your own peril. In the same way that you would go to a hospital for surgery to experience thoughtful care, by gathering with others (the ekklesia) you are committing yourself to the wisest chosen venue for spiritual wholeness. Third, the work that God calls us to involves others. We need each other, warts in all, to fulfill God's mandate of bringing justice to the world. I'm sure that my son's teacher would laugh at a football player, even a good one, who believes that he can do the work of the whole team. In the same way, the Apostle Paul tells us that the church community is a body in which all the parts are necessary. Can you imagine a finger telling the arm it doesn't need it? Or a stomach claiming it doesn't need a mouth? In the same way, we need each other to do the work that God calls us to. My answers are brief and therefore flawed but I hope that they create the necessary heat and light for my son as he continues on this journey with the God of "all y'all."

Loving Our Enemies [an excerpt]

2009-02-03T11:48:00.000-08:00

The following brief points come from a recent sermon I offered on Jesus's command to love our enemies (Matt. 5:43-48). This is a hard text to preach because Jesus' words are so clear and yet necessitate a particular empathy for those who have, or are currently experiencing, an abusive relationship. These three points seek to address the question, "Who are we to love?"

1. Who are we to love?
• It’s quite a list. The text mentions: enemies, those who persecute you, the evil, unrighteous, tax collectors. One commentator says, “He speaks of those at the bottom of the moral scale.”

A number of issues strike me about this list:
• First, all “enemies” are accounted for. The list is essentially inclusive filled with those who would do us harm, cheat us, even destroy us. There can be no group outside, none whom we may deny God’s love or our own. Jesus speaks of the enemy in all of his harshness and brutality – the addict, the abuser, the gossiper, whoever.

• Second, in this love there is a place for acknowledging “evil” (even referring to people as being evil) This is not an ooey-gooey vision of romantic or feel good love. This is not about sentimentality. Christian love is not the same thing as being nice but begins with the often harsh recognition that things are not right with the world, that we are not all united, “that I have been" or "am being abused.” The command to love your enemies only makes sense if you recognize that you have them. Jesus reminds us that without honest recognition true love cannot exist.

• Third, Jesus is saying that while we may have enemies, they fundamentally don’t determine our response. To acknowledge that we must love our enemies is not the same thing as saying that we surrender or give up what is right or true. To love our enemies is to rob them of the power of making us behave the way they want us to – with fear, violence, or apathy. Who they are does not determine what we do. The love that Jesus advocates is not a weakness or helplessness in the face of forces that seek to steal, kill and destroy us. You are not cross-embroidered doormat. In other words, Don’t say “no” to love - even love of enemeis - but remember that love can say “no.” Sometimes, love says no extravagantly! The love of God is powerful and is best classified as a weapon. To love as a follower of Christ is to acknowledge that whoever they are, whatever they have done they don’t determine our response or our end – God does! A great expression of this truth comes from the farmer/Bible translator/grumpy advocate, Clarence Jordan who started an inter-racial farming community in Americus, Georgia in the 1940s. He tells the following story (taken from a sermon) about a burly farmer who calls his work for peace and justice, particularly loving one's enemies, cowardly.

The farmer said, "You know what I don't like about you folks?" I could have named quite a few things, but I asked him what. And he said, "I don't like it 'cause you won't fight." I said, "Buddy, you've got that wrong." He said, "You fight?" "Yes, sir," I said, "we'll fight." He said, "Well, I heard you wouldn't." "Well," I said, "we don't fight that way ." "Oh, then you won't fight." I said, "Wait a minute now." And I looked out across there and saw an old mule with his head stuck out the old barn that was about to fall down, and I said to this fellow, "Suppose you walked by the barn out there right now, and that old mule reached out and bit you in the seat of the britches, would you bite him back?" "No, I ain't no mule!" I said, "Of course you wouldn't, and you've given the reason also why you wouldn't bite him back, because you're not a mule. "What would you do?" He said, "I'd get me a two by four, and I'd beat his brains out."

"Sure you would," I said, "you wouldn't let the mule choose the weapons, would you? You'd fight him, but you'd do it on your terms, not his. Suppose you'd say, 'Well, old mule, I ain't scared to fight. You bare your teeth, I'll bare mine; you bite me, I'll bite you; you kick me, I'll kick you. You'll lose! Now," I said, "you've got to choose some weapons that a mule can't compete with. You go to the jungle and fight a lion and say, 'Old lion, let's fight. I feel good today.' Old lion say, 'Okay, let's fight with fang and claw, that's all, let's go.' The man will not exert his superiority over the lion. He's got to choose the weapons." I said, "Now, we will fight, sir, but we will choose the weapons."

Don't let your enemy pick the weapon. Choose love - it's the only weapon that truly works.

If you would like a CD of the sermon or further notes answering the questions, "why are we to love our enemies?" and "how are we to love our enemies?" - email me at jonucsb@yahoo.com.

"The Least of These": an Open Letter to the Santa Barbara City Council

2009-01-27T08:39:00.000-08:00

The following blog is a letter that I recently sent to the Subcommittee on Homelessness and Community Relations created by the Santa Barbara City Council. The council has taken on the daunting but important task of addressing the growing problem of chronic homelessness in our community - a topic that we as Christians should certainly address. You can read the subcommittee's report and recommendations as well as get updates at http://www.santabarbaraca.gov/Government/Other_Committees/Homelessness_and_Community_Relations/. In Matthew 25 Jesus himself addresses the issue and makes one of the most compelling claims for enacting justice by claiming solidarity with the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the prisoner. It's quite a list. As followers of Jesus we must take up the cause and give voice to those who are marginalized in our community. Moreover, such a stance reminds us that to enact justice is not an abstract desire but must reflect a practical effort to extend a welcome and acceptance to those who often meet with alienation and derision. Let's discover what that "welcome" might look like together and invite Jesus not simply into our hearts but our homes - our very lives. If you wish to help take up this cause then please email me and I will tell you about current efforts aimed at ending chronic homelessness in our community. Peace to you. Here is my letter:

Dear Santa Barbara City Council Committee Members,

My name is Jon Lemmond and I currently serve as Pastor for Gospel Action at Montecito Covenant Church. I am also part of the subcommittee on homelessness for CLUE (Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice). In this letter, I am responding on behalf of both communities to the Discussion of Strategies to Address Community Issues Related to Homelessness. Please know that your work is welcomed and appreciated. Your efforts bring us closer to the goal of empowering those who are homeless to a life of greater self-sufficiency and dignity. For this, we are truly grateful.
In keeping with the stated goals of the Ten-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness we urge you to prioritize and implement the strategies that focus on intervention and prevention (recommendations 5-12). We understand these approaches to be more responsible fiscally and more effective for producing long-term systemic change. In these tough economic times, we caution everyone to remain vigilant against language and measures that serve to criminalize and alienate those who are homeless. Philip Mangano, reminds us that “the punitive approach has never worked anywhere. It’s expensive and demoralizing to everyone involved, and at best it can only hide the problem briefly.” In other words, the most effective recommendations will recognize everyone’s needs and, in turn, offer everyone justice – equal access to shared economic resources which ensures lives of dignity and respect for all.
Combining deep compassion with unflinching realism we specifically recommend that you give priority to the following strategies:

• Forty more beds annually allocated for Casa Esperanza to be made available to the most vulnerable of those experiencing homelessness: women, the elderly, and those struggling with mental illness. (recommendation #6 & #7)

• Greater coordination and cooperation between police officers and street outreach teams and increased funding for mental illness screenings, mental health staff, and restorative policing. (recommendations #5 & #9)

• Securing locations and funding for more detox beds allocated to those recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. (recommendation #8)

• Developing an education campaign (e.g. Santa Barbara Cares) about homelessness that includes current efforts associated with the Ten-Year Plan and utilizes donation boxes, in lieu of simply handing money to those on the street. Such funds could help provide hotel vouchers for those who are vulnerable as well as fund measures to move chronically homeless men and women into permanent supportive housing. Nevertheless, we caution the use of language like “panhandling” which fails to explain adequately the needs and issues of those who seek both money and connections with others. (recommendation #11)

• Formulating appropriation measures for use of the Coastal Zone Affordable Overnight Accommodation Fund to provide emergency hotel vouchers as well as aid in helping people move into more substantial, long-term housing. If the real goal is to help get those who are chronically homeless off the street, then they must be offered a place to belong, not simply be removed. We support the research and work of Roger Heroux who argues that moving people into more permanent supportive housing is both humane and a cost-saving measure that, over time, will pay for itself. (recommendations #10 & #12)

• Finally, because we desire concrete solutions rather than sentimentality we ask the council to create and implement an assessment protocol which, in six months time, will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the above stated recommendations.

We thank you for your time in thinking through this complex and important issue. We are willing to help mitigate some of the cost by pledging the financial support of our faith communities. As people of faith we pray for you in the critical work that you do to help create a more just community. We also urge you to consider a critical element of such justice: our capacity to welcome all members of our city. Jean Vanier, the founder of the L’Arche community in France, writes, “Welcome is one of the signs that a community is alive. To invite others to live with us is a sign that we aren’t afraid, that we have a treasure of truth and of peace to share.”

With warm regards,

Jon Lemmond, Pastor for Gospel Action
Montecito Covenant Church
Member of CLUE

Cleanliness is Next to Godliness

2009-01-15T15:27:00.000-08:00

“Cleanliness is next to godliness,” is a saying that most of us have encountered at one time or another. This well worn cliché figures prominently in those parental truisms that grubby children easily ignore and as one precocious but dirty little kid once remarked, “But didn’t Jesus play with dirt?”(c.f. John 8; 9:6). Well – I would like to renovate this phrase theologically to promote the new M-4 Project which involves demolishing and renovating the bathrooms at a local camper park in Carpinteria that is run by a fabulous local organization - Peoples’ Self-Help Housing (www.pshhc.org). This is a down-to-earth project that will involve financial support but more importantly our own time and talents as all four congregations provide volunteers to perform the actual construction work. During the month of February, every Saturday from 9-3, we will be needing workers to help rebuild the bathrooms, paint, clean the grounds, and offer hospitality to workers and residents. You don’t need to have strong skills in construction work (though we are happy to have them) because there will be a variety of jobs for the skilled and those, like myself, who are unskilled but willing. I invite you to come and be a part of God’s work in our community as we seek to give recognition and respect to those whom Jesus loves.

More information will be forthcoming but if you would like to sign-up as a volunteer in advance please contact Jon Lemmond, Pastor for Gospel Action, jonucsb@yahoo.com or 259-8450.

Sewing Machines, Bathrooms & the Homeless

2009-01-13T09:33:00.000-08:00

Sewing machines, bathrooms, and the homeless – these are the objects, places, and people where God’s kingdom is being encountered. The sewing machine refers to the generosity and care of donations and gifts given to fire survivors reflecting our continual care and concern for walking with them on the long road back to their homes. I am increasingly trying to pinpoint particular needs and working with others, both staff and laity, in ensuring that no one is forgotten or ignored. There is still much work to be done but the donation of a very nice sewing machine by a member of another church is one more reason to recognize and celebrate God’s faithfulness expressed through His church which extends beyond our congregation. Bathrooms are equally exciting. These refer to the new M-4 project in response to People’s Self-Help Housing which has asked the four Montecito churches to fund and refurbish bathrooms at a mobile home park in Carpinteria. The project has received an immense amount of enthusiasm and energy from two meetings and we now seek to gather community support from our individual churches in terms of helpers who can build as well as those who could offer hospitality to workers as well as those within the park. I am obviously new to working with M-4 but have been so impressed with the care, concern and spiritual maturity of all of those involved – such an ecumenical move of the Spirit bears much of the good fruits of God’s kingdom. Finally, the issue of homelessness refers to my recent participation in CLUE (Clergy and Laity United for Economic justice) – this is a faith based group which seeks to respond to the needs of those marginalized by economic inequities in the Santa Barbara area. I recently attended a symposium on homelessness involving city councilwoman Helene Schneider and am seeking to represent our church as one of many who hunger for enabling structural changes for justice within our city on this difficult issue.

Doing Doubt

2009-01-06T09:33:00.001-08:00

I was raised on "Bible drill." For those not familiar with Bible belt culture imagine a game show requiring military-like speed and accuracy where the purpose is to locate and read, as fast as humanly possible, a passage of scripture mentioned by a Sunday School teacher. All this to say, I was taught my Bible with a certain feverishness that, while at times could be stressful, has often reaped great rewards later in life. Of course, such tactics, however well-intended, can have unfortunate consequences and the main one from "Bible drill" is that it makes Scripture reading a pinpoint target where you focus on the bull's eye without seeing the bigger landscape behind it, so to speak, those verses surrounding the pericope - contextualizing it. This reality was made all the more real for me when I was caught off guard by one of those passages that I knew - memorized, believed, and attempted to walk - the Great Commission, Matt. 28:18-20. I knew the bull's eye but failed to notice the lay of the land and thus a critical context for this passage - the audience. "Wait a minute!" You're probably saying, "The audience is the disciples - everyone knows that!" (Okay, I'll drop the fictitious, rhetorical dialogue). The critical context for the Great Commission is supplied in the two verses prefacing it. I'll quote them in full: "Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, . . . " Here we find a worshiping community of the risen Lord who doubts. I find great comfort in doubt and worship coexisting together but that will have to be for another blog. What I find even more pertinent for us as a community is Jesus' response to the disciple's doubt and, I would suggest, for our doubt as well. What is that response? He give them/us something to do! What this suggests on the one hand is that doubt is normal even biblical. Those who walked with Jesus and encountered him risen from the grave were not immune to the doubts which remain part of discipleship - remember they had already encountered and worshiped him earlier (see vs. 9-10). What such a context also suggests is that when we doubt, Jesus isn't terribly interested in securing our faith through fancy arguments and incontestable proofs; no, he simply gives us something to do. You see it is in doing that doubt both matters and in critical ways dissipates. It is in doing Kingdom work that you will ultimately find God's presence and activity. It is in responding to doubt outside of yourself that you make such issues like the lordship of Jesus more than points of dogma but meaningful and critical facts for changing the lives of others and your own. Don't let doubt sideline you in the Christian life; rather, let it lead you into a richer life of service to others knowing that God has called you to participate in his work. For a final analogy (and given my bull's eye imagery earlier maybe a mixed metaphor) I simply point you to my youngest daughter who is learning to swim. She often doubts her ability to move through the water without sinking down and frets about swallowing water and sputtering and spewing chlorinated H2O. Nevertheless, you and I both know that the only way through this doubt is for her to swim - to do it. Otherwise, she would be fretting over something that didn't matter - why worry about swimming if you never swim? In the same way, if you struggle with doubt in your walk of discipleship remember its normal and then step up to the edge, point your hands above your head and dive. Otherwise, what's the point?

Bethlehem and a Bicycle

2009-01-02T12:52:00.000-08:00

In a recent time of prayer at my church during this Christmas season I heard myself confessing to God and other staff members that I often found myself looking for Bethlehem only to find myself at the mall - crowds, consumption, etc. Well - as only God can - I later found myself at a Bicycle shop only to discover that I was actually in Bethlehem. Okay, maybe that sounds too preachy but let me explain. Recently, I was told that one of the Tea Fire Survivors at our church had lost her bike in the fire - her transportation to her job. After talking to my pastor about it he encouraged me to contact a group within our church who love to ride bikes together - you know with the bright colored, tight fitting clothes as they whiz by in a blur - called Domestiques for Jesus. A domestique (French for "servant") is a cycling term which refers to a rider who works for the benefit of his team and leader. When I approached the Domestiques with my problem they quickly pushed me out of the way and before I knew it had pulled their funds together and bought her a beautiful, new bicycle. When I arrived at the bike shop so that the Fire Survivor could be fitted for her new bike (right, it was such a cool bike that she actually had to be "fitted" to it) I had the immense privilege of watching this person receive a gift born from the faithfulness of those who had put their trust in God. I was asked to offer a blessing but have since been struck by the scene of this so-called bicycle nativity. Each of these guys, like Mary, were humbly declaring, "Here am I, the servant (domestique) of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." (Luke 1:38). These guys, like Mary, were servants who acted out of a desire to see the leader's (God's) goals accomplished. Giving gifts as God has given - unabashedly, extravagently, graciously - is what Christmas is about. I always thought you had to travel by plane to get to Bethlehem but apparently a bike will suffice.

στρἑϕω

2009-01-02T12:28:00.000-08:00

Why στρἑϕω for a blog name? If I were honest - always a good quality in a pastor - I would say such an odd title comes from a love for words, especially foreign ones that appear educated, old and mysterious. What former seminary student doesn't love to dust off his or her Greek lexicon and hold up a Koine word in a sermon like its a precious, handcrafted object to be looked at with awe? Apart from showing off, however, the word itself is helpful for me as I enter into a new job of helping our church engage our community as agents of God's kingdom. I am new on staff at Montecito Covenant Church and along with this honor I was given a shiny new title to go with it - Pastor for Gospel Action. "Gospel Action" is a bit bombastic but nicely framed by this Greek word στρἑϕω. The word means "to turn" or take notice. If someone called my name I would "στρἑϕω," as it were and then respond. But how would I respond? Well, that's where another meaning of στρἑϕω becomes important. The word also means "the changing of cursing into blessing." We often live in a culture of cursing or ignoring - where the bruises of life often bring the curses of those whom we bump or where our cursed lives are ignored with no one who turns or responds to our needs with blessings. My prayer and aim is that I will be a catalyst for στρἑϕω in our church - to help us see the needs of those around so that we may respond and change people's lives from cursing into the blessed life offered by our Lord and Savior - that's the Gospel in action!