Christ Is Victorious

A Brief Meditation on The Other Lord's Prayer from John 17: A PCUSA Pastor-Theologian Reflects on The Unity and Disunity of the Church

 

I have been teaching class on Prayer at West Side Presbyterian Church here in Seattle and one of my invitations to pray has been a challenge for us to pray “The Other Lord’s Prayer” (John 17) with the same passion which we pray “The Lord’s Prayer…Our Father…” particularly In light of the issues confronting us personally, as local churches, as denomination (mine being the PCUSA) and as the global church. Let us face it---there is great chaos and conflict in the church which is probably reflective of how encultered we have become as a church since much of that chaos and conflict is openly on display in American culture---made clear in a presidential election year. I believe the need to pray and faithfully participate in the Prayer of Jesus in John 17 is critical for us in these times. 

Most are at least familiar with the prayer, but a quick synopsis is in order. The prayer that the Apostle John records for us in John 17 is the prayer Jesus prayed to The Father immediately after sharing The Passover Celebration with his Disciples. The evening had begun with Jesus washing his disciples’ feet; an incredible demonstration of his love toward and service to his disciples. Then Jesus spoke of his impending betrayal by Judas and denial by Peter, responded to by questions, accusations and protestations all around the room. Jesus then moved on to speak words of comfort by inviting them to trust in God and pronouncing that he alone is “The Way, The Truth and The Life” with Thomas and Philip having serious questions of what Jesus had just said. Then comes the promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit as the gift of God the Father and the Son to the disciples and to the church as it abides and participates in the life of triune God. Jesus concluded with further words of comfort and peace with the triumphant declaration “I have overcome the world!” In the other Gospel accounts we are told that Jesus had ordained and celebrated Holy Communion with the disciples (why John leaves this out is a bit odd?) and after their celebrations, Jesus and the disciples (except Judas Iscariot) sang a hymn and headed for the Garden of Gethsemane/Mount of Olives.

It is in that place that the prayer of John 17 is placed even while in the other Gospel accounts, Jesus begs the disciples to stay awake and to pray with him, but they could not. We are also told that Jesus’ praying was intense (powerfully depicted at the beginning of the film The Passion of the Christ). What is revealed in the prayer is the very heart and soul of Jesus’ concern as he is heading to the cross and completing the work for which he was sent by the Father and empowered by the Holy Spirit. And what was the focus of that prayer Jesus prayed? The Glory of God shows up several times…that God would be glorified by the work of Jesus Christ and that God would be glorified through the witness of His followers. The Word of God as truth is a strong word throughout the prayer. Eternal Life is spoken of as being grounded in faith belief and obedience. So does God’s protection for all who would be disciples of Jesus Christ. So does a sense of divine holiness founded upon the truth of the Word of God. So does the mission of all disciples to be sent into the world just as Jesus was sent into the world by the Father. And oh yes, the joy of Christ would be evident in “full measure”.

The question is this: Is Jesus’ Prayer of John 17 being answered today? I know it is a provocative question. We all know it will ultimately be answered in the eternal Kingdom of the new heavens and the new earth, but what about here and now. Are we personally and communally living into this powerful prayer of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? It humbles me greatly to ask that question. At the heart of my reflection is a further question "In the eyes of Jesus Christ who is Lord of all, Lord of the Church and my Lord, 'Am I/we, by my/our attitudes and actions contributing more to the unity or the disunity of the Church of Jesus Christ?'

I found it interesting and helpful to go back to two major movements in the church that sought to embody the prayer Jesus prayed in John 17, both grounded in a deep missional theology with a passion for a faithful witness to Jesus Christ, the building up of the Church of Jesus Christ and the advancement of the Kingdom of God in the world.

First, over 35 years ago, Billy Graham and John Stott brought together Christians from every part of the evangelical church in the world and formed what is now known as the Lausanne Movement, they expressed their deep commitment to a visible expression of the John 17 prayer of Jesus with these words:

We affirm that the Church's visible unity in truth is God's purpose. Evangelism also summons us to unity, because our oneness strengthens our witness, just as our disunity undermines our gospel of reconciliation. We recognize, however, that organizational unity may take many forms and does not necessarily forward evangelism. Yet we who share the same biblical faith should be closely united in fellowship, work and witness. We confess that our testimony has sometimes been marred by a sinful individualism and needless duplication. We pledge ourselves to seek a deeper unity in truth, worship, holiness and mission. We urge the development of regional and functional cooperation for the furtherance of the Church's mission, for strategic planning, for mutual encouragement, and for the sharing of resources and experience. (John 17:21,23; Eph. 4:3,4; John 13:35; Phil. 1:27; John 17:11-23)

And at the first meeting of the World Council of Churches at Amsterdam in 1948 (which has now strayed far from its founding but there are some who continue to faithfully live into this) equally affirmed Jesus prayer from John 17 with these words:

The World Council of Churches is composed of churches which acknowledge Jesus Christ as God and Savior. They find their unity in him. They do not have to create their unity; it is the gift of God. But they know that it is their duty to make common cause in the search for the expression of that unity in work and in life. The Council desires to serve the churches which are its constituent members as an instrument whereby they may bear witness together to their common allegiance to Jesus Christ, and cooperate in matters requiring united action…The purpose of the Council is to express its unity in another way. Unity arises out of the love of God in Jesus Christ, which, binding the constituent churches to him, binds them to one another. It is the earnest desire of the Council that the churches may be bound closer to Christ and therefore closer to one another. In the bond of his love, they will desire continually to pray for one another and to strengthen one another, in worship and in witness, bearing one another's burdens and so fulfilling the law of Christ.

I find these words helpful to reflect upon and pray to God in these days. Could it be that oneof the primary reasons the church is for the most part "failing" in its call to be a missional witness to Jesus Christ is our failure to truly pursue a faithful embodiment of Christian Unity that would let the world know that Jesus is Lord. Even so, 'Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus Come.' I would value your thoughts, reflections, etc. Thanks.

 

 

 

 

The Sacred Wilderness of Pastoral Ministry: A Collegial Review of a PCUSA Pastor's Reflections on Preparing a People for The Presence of the Lord

  Upfront, I have to let it  be known that I have known Dave Rohrer for many years, so I am somewhat biased. We meet together regularly, serve in the same presbytery (Seattle) and work together in the Preparation of Students for Pastoral Ministry in the PCUSA (CPM). But I will also be honest in saying that I have other friends, who shall remain nameless and who have written books, which have challenged me to be polite while being encouraging out of fear of "speaking the truth in love"---that is not the case with this book. When Dave let me read his first draft, I called him and told him the book was "disturbingly honest" and that I was going to require it for my classes in pastoral/practical theology at Fuller Seminary and Regent College. Now publishers do not usually put such a response on its covers to sell books, but that is exactly what Pastor Dave Rohrer has done in his first book entitled THE SACRED WILDERNESS OF PASTORAL MINISTRY: Preparing a People for The Presence of the Lord (Inter-Varsity Press. 2012). While it may be too early to call Dave the next Eugene Peterson, it is on the same par as Peterson's pastoral/spiritual theology.

The introduction asks "How do pastors remain faithful in the wilderness of denominational strife, rapid demographic change, falling numbers and a general malaise among church members?" His answer is a journey through the life and ministry of John the Baptist. While endorsements of the book come from the likes of Eugene Peterson, Stephen Hayner, Mark Labberton and Scott Cormode---Dave and I, among the endorsers and others, have been talking and struggling around this question for a long time and this book gives some great words of wisdom in the midst of that struggle.

Why John the Baptist? "Because John the Baptist lived in the wilderness, yet crowds journeyed to hear him...[He] affirmed what people already knew---that they were in desperate need of something more than the mundane practices of religion." "And pastors [of churches and leaders in any kind of Christian ministry] don't simply have an institution to create or maintain. They have a prophetic word to proclaim." After setting forth his introduction concerning the church seeking survival and the pastoral role of moving the church beyond survivalism and why John the Baptist, Rohrer walks through nine significant chapters engaging the issues of pastoral calling, identity, roles, responsibilities and privileges in light of the current landscape of the church.

Chapter One: Consolation: Making Ready a People vs. Being the Parson

Chapter Two: Call: Work vs. Our Vision

Chapter Three: Covenant: Proclaiming the Good News vs. Managing the Message

Chapter Four: Commission: Accepting our Office vs. Cultivating Loyalty

Chapter Five: Context: Inhabiting a Place vs. Propogating a Program

Chapter Six: Confrontation: Inviting Awareness vs> Administering Anesthesia

Chapter Seven: Conflict: Trusting Truth vs. Fearing Instability

Chapter Eight: Confusion: Risking Doubt vs. Denying Dissonance

Chapter Nine: Confidence: Receiving God's Blessing vs. Seeking Approval

Each chapter provokes and leads the reader to go further up and deeper in to the realities of being a minister of Jesus Christ. Each challenges the status quo and predominant expectations of pastoral ministry. He finishes with a Postscript entitled "It's Not About You...Or is It?" with these words: "The church in America is in an interesting place of transition right now. We (pastors/leaders) are not here to save the church. Our work is catalytic. Like a catalyst it has value in that it fosters reaction...If we don't take up the call that God places on our hearts to invite people to consider truth that is bigger than themselves, then we miss out. We miss out on the incredible blessing and affirmation of participating in what God is doing. It may not be about us. But God, in His mercy, invites us in to be a part of what He is doing. And there is nothing more affirming that this. We (pastors/leaders) get to be that burning shining lamp (see John 5:35-36) for a time. We get to engage the people who it in the pews of "stupid little churches" [you have to read Dave's reflections on this]. We get to invite them to be part of an adventure that is more magnificent than anything they could possibly plan for themselves. And we get to watch the transforming power of God usher them into their unique role in a story that only God could write."

This is not a book on pastoral and ministerial technique, but rather an invitation into the messy work that is the ministry. It is not neat and tidy. That is why this book is required reading, for the very reason that it is disturbingly honest and truthful about the realities of life and ministry today.

I think most of us are still unwilling to accept the fact that we are ministering among the people of God today who are in the midst of wilderness and exile. Many pastors/theologians/writers have been trying to convince us that we in the western church reside in the place of wilderness/exile and NOT the Promised Land. We are living in the transition between modernity and post-modernity---between Christendom and post-Christendom. Rohrer is yet one more voice reminding us, in very raw terms, that this is true.

I have to admit that much of what Dave writes resonates with me, in that it was from Karl Barth that I learned that our primary vocation, as followers of Jesus Christ and as the Body of Jesus Christ/the Church, is to be faithful witnesses to Jesus Christ. Barth had Matthias Grunewald's THE CRUCIFIXION (see the painting above) over his desk when he wrote his great works of theology or his most recent sermon. While Dave alludes to the portrait, Barth would have been another voice for him. Barth believed that in order to be faithful witnesses to Jesus Christ and The Gospel, we are called to be a people who point and say "There He is. There is the Lamb of God who takes away the Sins of the World. I must become less so that He can become greater." That is to say while we are called to be and become more like Jesus, perhaps a better understanding is to admit that we cannot be Jesus to anyone. We will always fail and fall way short, even though we are being (re)made into the very image of Christ. In the end, we can only point people to Jesus through our lives---through our words and deeds Only by adopting this position will we be kept from the sin of pride that seduces us to think more highly of ourselves, our ministries, our efforts, our churches, than we ought. Our calling is to point and say "There He is." But our calling is more than that...it is to proclaim and prepare people for the coming of the Lord Jesus into their lives and sometimes we are "voices crying in the wilderness"...a place and space I do not particular welcome but must embrace if I am to be a faithful witness to Jesus Christ and His coming.

So Dave...Thank you for writing a disturbingly, honest and truthful book about the realities of ministry today. The book made me laugh and made me cry. But most of all, rather than discouraging me, it "disturbingly" reminded me of why I am still a pastor after all these years. I remember Eugene Peterson saying to me once, after asking him why pastoral ministry was so much of a struggle and asking why it wasn't easier, "Bryan, when did you believe the lie that faithful pastoral ministry has ever been easy?" I have never forgot that wisdom and Dave you simply said it in a new way with a different language. For that I am grateful to you and I hope the book gets the audience it rightfully deserves.

 

Forget The Church-Follow Jesus: A PCUSA Pastor Responds to Cover Article of Newsweek

 This cover of Newsweek appeared during this past Easter/Holy Week. Pastor Rick Warren was quite critical about the cynical methods and messages of various media in relation to the Christian Holy Days of Christmas and Easter. I do not share his critique as I have found these issues to be a gateway to significant contributions with those inside and outside the Christian Faith and Church, often written by very insightful authors and journalists, albeit at times seeking to assert some sensationalist angle on faith. Therefore Andrew Sullivan's article "Forget The Church-Follow Jesus" is provocative to say the least. Quite frankly I am getting a bit tired of many who seem to argue that one can follow Jesus without being an active participant in a Christian Community, either of a more traditional or emergent type. However, when you open the magazine to the actual article, Sullivan takes things in a very different direction when he begins with "The Forgotten Jesus...Christianity has been destroyed by politics, priests and get rich evangelists" and then states the main argument of his piece: "Ignore Them and Embrace Him."

Then Sullivan takes us to the National Museum of American History in Washington DC to a copy of Thomas Jefferson's BIBLE...the project of founding father Jefferson to edit the Bible to suit his deistic philosophy of religion by reducing "our volume [The Bible] to the simple evangelists, select, even from them, the very words of Jesus" and "Setting out to remove what he felt were the misconceptions of Jesus' followers expressing unintelligibly for others what they had not understood themselves." Jefferson went on to state that the difference between the real Jesus and the evangelists embellishments as "diamonds in a dunghill" glittering as the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man." As the one whose assertion of a strict wall of separation of church and state which continues to be a foundational principle in the USA to this day, although often transgressed and misunderstood by all sides, Jefferson could affirm that he was a Christian if it meant to live the actual words of Jesus, or as some in the emergent/emerging church say today "being a red letters Christian" (those who have Bibles that have both black and red print with the red print being the actual words of Jesus).

Sullivan then attacks an overly politicized Christian Faith, of all political parties and ideologies, as a distortion ot the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to which I can only say AMEN. He then speaks to "organized religion" in decline, whether Roman Catholic, Mainline Protestant or Evangelical, by referring to a newly published book that shows great promise for further conversation, namely Ross Douthat's BAD RELIGION: HOW WE BECAME A NATION OF HERETICS. The book articulates the reasons for decline in all brances of Christianity and makes a startling claim, that what people are rejecting is not Jesus or even the Christian Faith per se, but bad religion a faith not lived; A Lord and Savior not embodied by the people who are called by His Name. People are looking for something that demonstrates the life and teaching of Jesus faithfully lived. People are still asking the fundamental questions and find the church's response(s) wanting, namely "Why does the universe exist rather than nothing? How did humanity come to be on this remote blue-speck of planet? What happens to us after death.

Then comes Sullivan's main point: "Christianity itself is in crisis." in that many Christians embrace materialist self-help" rather than an ascetic self-denial Christian faith and the reality that many younger generation Christians embrace an atheistic faith or a faith which denies the centrality of the church ...turning towards spirituality rather than an evangelical, ecumenical, orthodox Christian faith. Sullivan suggest that the Church must go back to the start (Karl Barth said that we must always be willing to go back to the beginning...to the fundamentals..."Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.")...to Jesus and those who have been faithful to who Jesus is, what He taught and how he called those who would follow Him to live. Then Sullivan offers a deeply counter-cultural paradigm for radically living the life of Jesus in the world...St Francis of Assisi...a person who was not only counter-cultural in his own day but is equally if not more so a totally counter-cultural figure for contemporary Christianity in the 21st century. He concludes by calling for a "resurrection of Christianity" a Christianity that "seeks truth without the expectation of resolution, simply living each day doing what we can to fulfill God's will". For Sullivan, this may be "the only spiritual transformation that can in the end transcend the nagging emptiness of our late-capitalist lives, or the cult of distracting contemporaneity, or the threat of apocalyptic war where Jesus once walked...You see attempts to find this everywhere---from experimental spirituality to resurgent fundamentalism. Something inside is telling us we need radical spiritual change. BUt the essence of this change has been with us and defining our own civilization for two millennia. And one day soon, when politics and doctrine and pride recede, it will rise again."

So what do we make of Sullivan's challenge? It seems that we must embrace his critique of contemporary Christianity. But we must be willing to embrace an ancient-future faith which calls us to live out the politics of Jesus Christ informed by an evangelical, ecumenical, and orthodox Christian faith which insists upon a life of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior which invites all of God's People to live out and embody the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their everyday lives.

Bottom line: We are called to a Christian Faith that embraces WHO Jesus Christ is as well as WHAT Jesus Christ calls us to be and become as we faithfully and obediently live out that life in the world today. We cannot simply be content to be red letter Christians. It is silly to say that we are called to live out the words of Jesus apart from what we actually believe about Jesus. Not only is it silly but is a totally unfaithful position to take from a biblical or theological perspective. What we believe about who Jesus Christ is has everything to do with what we believe He has called us to be and become as His People. Jesus not only asks us to do what He says/commands but to believe in who He is. We cannot separate that which belongs together...Thus, back to Sullivan's challenge...One cannot follow Jesus without being an active participant in the Church of Jesus Christ....Belief in Jesus Christ (fully human and fully God) necessitates a commitment to the Body of Christ (the Church)...not only belief but a life of faithful obedience as a life that demonstrates true Christian Discipleship...to follow Jesus is to be part of the Body of Christ. Anything less is a life of faithlessness and disobedience to the call of Jesus Christ to follow Him, to be part of His new community the Church and to be active participants in His Mission in the world.

Practicing Lent on The Road to Emmaus: A PCUSA Pastor's Holy Week Reflection (Lent #5)

Every year, sometime during Holy Week, I go back and read in one sitting, Henri Nouwen’s With Burning Hearts, which is a series of reflections on the Gospel Story of the resurrected Jesus encountering two of his disciples on their journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus (see Luke 24:13-35). Every year I find Nouwen’s reflections so helpful in guiding me into the story anew and in so doing being transformed by a fresh encounter with the crucified and risen Jesus Christ.

First the story…Luke tells of two disciples who are making the seven mile journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus. We are not sure if they live in Emmaus or just visiting. While they are walking, they are deeply engaged in a conversation with one another about what had just happened in Jerusalem when Jesus himself, albeit unrecognizable to them, joins in the journey and begins by asking a quite simple unassuming question, “What are you talking about as you walk?” To which one of the disciples named Cleopas responds with quite a condescending question in light of who is talking to, namely “Are you the only one who does not know the things that have happened in Jerusalem?” to which Jesus asks a further question “What things?” (as if he did not know...what grace to let them tell hims the story from their limited and despairing perspective).The disciples then give a lengthy and faithful discourse of what had happened to Jesus of Nazareth ending with the report that the tomb of Jesus was empty and that Jesus was resurrected and alive. The still unrecognized Jesus then responds quite abruptly with “How foolish you are and how slow to believe all that the prophets had spoken” referring to the fact by asking another question, namely “Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” From that point Jesus begins to teach the Scriptures all the way to Emmaus where the disciples offer hospitality to this stranger by asking him to stay with them. As they then sat down to eat their evening meal, the still unrecognized Jesus takes bread, gives thanks, breaks it and begins to give it to them. It is only at this point that they recognized it is Jesus and at the moment, Jesus disappears.

Their response? It was two-fold. First, they ask one another “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us and taught the Scriptures to us?” and second, they immediately take action and immediately go back to the other disciples in Jerusalem and tell the story of their encounter with the crucified and risen and very much alive Jesus Christ. 

What an incredible story! Incredible for them and Incredible to us. Henri Nouwen skillfully articulates five stages of the journey in Luke 24 which have great relevance and significance for us on our own Christian journey. They are:

Stage 1: Mourning our Loss

Stage 2: Discerning God’s Presence

Stage 3: Inviting the Stranger

Stage 4: Entering into the Communion and the Community

Stage 5: Going on a Mission

Taking Nouwen's insights as a beginning, I would offer the following:

1. This story serves reminds us again that the Christian Life is a journey with many twists and turns and that the journey of the Christian life is made up of many journeys. It is about moving from place to place, from time to time, with many different people, with many different thoughts and emotions.

2. This story reminds us about the many different ways Jesus encounters us in the midst of our journey(s), namely that at times we are not able to recognize His presence with us for many different reasons, while at other times it is so easy to recognize Him with us and among us. Yet, He faithfully remains  Emmanuel (God with us) when we can as well as when we cannot recognize and acknowledge His presence in our lives. And when He does encounter us and we recognize Him in our midst he transforms our despair into hope, our faithlessness into faith, our self pity and doubt into agape love.

3. This story reminds us that we most readily acknowledge the presence of Jesus when we encounter Him in community with one another, in His Word and in His Sacrament, specifically in the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Jesus enters our communities and relationships as the mediator of all relationships (see Dietrich Bonhoeffer) and comes bringing His Word, inviting us to His Table and calling us to graciously love others with the love we have received from Christ himself. The Christian Life/Journey is not a solo pursuit nor an individual effort. It is a journey best traveled with God and others at our side.

4. This story reminds of how important hospitality is for those who seek to follow Christ. What if these two had not offered hospitality to this “stranger”? It may be hard for us to acknowledge but sometimes we have a sense that God is "a stranger" among us and with us and that even we must continually be willing to invite Jesus to join our journey(s), to be part of our conversations, to be willing to be challenged in our thoughts and emotions about faith and life, to be willing to spend the time together in His Presence. And we must be willing to invite the strangers of our lives to be part of the journey of faith with us.

5. This story reminds us of the need to speak the Gospel of Jesus Christ to one another as those Emmaus disciples did by going back and sharing their encounter with the crucified and risen Jesus with those who were also trying to discern what was going on and what it meant for them. But we must also be willing to speak the Gospel to a world that is looking for Hope in the midst of despair and disappointment; looking for a reason to have Faith in anything; looking for Love in the midst of self-centeredness and narcissism.

As Karl Barth famously said, “In Jesus Christ we come to know that the goal of human life is not death but resurrection.” Have a blessed Easter. May we all be encouraged by the presence of Christ on our Christian Journey, no matter where it may be leading us in the days ahead. Yet we know that the journey ends in the eternal Kingdom. "Come Lord Jesus Come."

Practicing Lent as a Protestant with a Great Word from Pope Benedict XVI (Lent #1)

 Well Lent begins on Wednesday February 22 and I am so looking forward to going to the Ash Wednesday Service at St James Cathedral here in Seattle (http://www.stjames-cathedral.org). While in the previous congregations I served as senior pastor had several Ash Wednesday Services, the congregation where I am currently serving as an interim associate pastor does not have an Ash Wednesday service. So I look forward to being able to begin the Lenten Journey again this year at St James. Again, Father Michael Ryan is one of the finest priests I have known and he preaches the Gospel with such clarity and especially in Lent articulates such a powerful vision of the Cross of Jesus Christ for which I am so grateful. Also during this season I am teaching a class at WestSide Presbyterian Church on "Why Jesus? A Reaffirmation of the Lordship of Jesus Christ through the Barment Declaration" and am looking forward to how we will engage this incredible witness of Christ and its continuing meaning for us today.

So as we enter this season again, no matter what Christian tradition, other faith tradition or no-faith tradition you may be, may I invite you to explore the question "Who is Jesus Christ for me today?" I would also love to hear how you are celebrating Lent this year...(please post or email me)

And finally a word of invitation to celebrate Lent 2012 from Pope Benedict XVI:

“To stir a response in love and good works”: these words of the Letter to the Hebrews urge us to reflect on the universal call to holiness, the continuing journey of the spiritual life as we aspire to the greater spiritual gifts and to an ever more sublime and fruitful charity. Being concerned for one another should spur us to an increasingly effective love which, “like the light of dawn, its brightness growing to the fullness of day,” makes us live each day as an anticipation of the eternal day awaiting us in God. The time granted us in this life is precious for discerning and performing good works in the love of God...Sadly, there is always the temptation to become lukewarm, to quench the Spirit, to refuse to invest the talents we have received, for our own good and for the good of others. All of us have received spiritual or material riches meant to be used for the fulfillment of God’s plan, for the good of the Church and for our personal salvation. The spiritual masters remind us that in the life of faith those who do not advance inevitably regress.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us accept the invitation, today as timely as ever, to aim for the “high standard of ordinary Christian living”… In a world which demands of Christians a renewed witness of love and fidelity to the Lord, may all of us feel the urgent need to anticipate one another in charity, service and good works.”

Pope Benedict XVI, Lent 2012

Vocation vs Occupation: A Very Short Reflection

  A Simple word...God has called us to live out the life of Jesus Christ wherever He has placed us. The Call of God is central to our Christian identity and can only be lived when we are paying attention to the voice of God and faithfully responding in obedience. Sometimes THE CALL is all we have. I have had the privilege and honor to preach at two ordination services over the past two weeks here in Seattle (Colin Robeson at 1st Bellevue Presbyterian Church this Sunday and Brian Moss at Maple Valley Presbyterian Church the following Sunday). Each have heard the call of Christ to follow Him and be pastors in the church. I am humbled to be part of that work of discerning and hearing the voice and call of God on their lives. But it is not just pastors or missionaries who are called but every Christian is "called" by God to serve God and others in the Spirit of Christ, no matter where God has placed His People. The first call for all of us is to receive the invitation of Jesus to "follow me" and the second call is to discover where we are being called to live that out.

I just finished Scott McKnight's (I believe one of the finest Christian thinkers in the USA today) great book ONE.LIFE where he recounts a word he heard John Stott speak several years ago (1975). Oddly enough, Dr Stott spoke the same words to me nearly 10 years later when I asked him "How can I know the will of God for my life and ministry?" to which he responded "Go where your gifts will be exploited the most." That thought has never left me. And so I leave it with you.

Vocation is to live life in response to the voice/call of God. Occupation is just that...to occupy space and time but nothing more. Vocation is to live where your gifts will be exploited most. Occupation is to live where you work and receive a paycheck. God wants all of us to live life so much more deeply, responively and responsibly before Christ and others.

Don't settle for living life occupationally. Seek to live life vocationally. In that there is great joy and satisfaction. In that one can hear on a daily basis that which we will hear face to face when we stand before Christ "Well done, good and faithful servant!"

(for further reading Os Guinness' THE CALL)

  

Reflections from An American Visiting China (Shanghai) for the 1st Time...

  

Well we were told that our visit to China would be like nothing we had ever previously experienced in all our travels and those words of preparation were proven true on a recent trip my wife Caroline and I made to Shanghai. I had said in my previous blogpost before departing that I had a sense of "ambivalent anticipation"...a mixture of not knowing what to expect and of looking forward to the totally new cross-cultural engagement that China offers. Well my ambivalence quickly melted away into a deep sense of wonder and awe as my anticipation became reality. From the moment we arrived at the large Shanghai Pudong Airport (the newest of Shanghai's airports) on the southeastern outskirts of Shanghai to our departure nearly two weeks later we found ourselves time and again saying "wow", "fabulous", "incredible". New York City, Los Angeles, London, Paris, etc all are dwarfed by this city of 20 million+ people. We found the people to be extremely hospitable and gracious on the streets, in their homes, in the restaurants and in the church. The food was exquisite, although we really did appreciate our local Starbucks near our hotel. Yes, we ate eel, jellyfish, fish and seafood of all kinds, and various other meats, vegetables (I actually really like bachoi!), dumplings, etc. We tried everything our hosts offered! We so valued the way in which the Chinese eat meals as they often last 2-3 hours. The mixture of contemporary and ancient was evidenced many times often within blocks of each other. Our regret, often spoken too each other, was how much the language barrier effected our time there, although we were very fortunate to always have someone with us who could speak/translate for us. We also found that the younger generations, especially under 25, were far more likely to speak English with you. At any time walking on the street or standing in an elevator or riding the subway, you could hear a voice 2-3 feet below you with a smile on their face say "Hello..." Furthermore, the language barrier did not stop people from asking us "Take picture?" which we assumed meant for us to take their picture, but it turned out that they wanted to take a picture with you! We also struggled with TV as there was only one English language channel and it was the Chinese equivalent of CNN/Headline News, which also gave us a very unique perspective on the world, especially as we were visiting during one of the most significant Chinese holidays National Independence Day which lasts for a week. We did however hear alot of Western music, but as we were told, most people like the sound but cannot understand the words!

The wedding, which was our primary purpose for going in the first place, was a grand mixture of ancient Chinese customs, Christian tradition and a western-eastern mix, particularly the reception. It was truly and honor to joyfully celebrate with William and Amy, along with William's mother Mao Mao and other family and friends.

The sight-seeing allowed us to see every place one would want to visit in Shanghai...The Old Town, The Bund, Pudong, The French Concession, the museums, the restaurants, the shopping malls, the street markets, the gardens and parks, the "canal towns", the Buddhist Temples, the Christian Churches, the subways, the wild taxi drivers and even wilder rides(We thought New York City cabbies were wild...). Caroline and Mao Mao went on to Beijing after I left Shanghai and they loved the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.

On Sunday we attended an incredible church called SHANGHAI COMMUNITY CHURCH (see the picture at the top of this blog and the church's excellent website [more than a few churches in the USA could take a lesson here] at http://shanghaifellowship.org/). We went to the morning Chinese language service at 10am and listened to the sermon through a translator while everything else we were allowed to sing, pray and read Scripture in English while everyone else did so in Chinese. By the way, the church pews and every space inside and outside was filled 30 minutes before the service began and the service lasted 1 1/2 hours...a fact which is true for all 4 of their services. The senior pastor is currently preaching a series on 1 Corinthians 13 on the nature of Christian love and he preached for about 50-55 minutes. I had a great and lengthy conversation with him afterwards and I came away very encouraged by the passion for Christ in their worship, their hospitality in welcoming the stranger, and the great variety of their ministry and mission locally and globally (Notice the church website's front page which shouts "The World is Our Congregation" and the words of Matthew 28 and Jesus' Great Commission as their ministry/mission statement). How I wish, hope and pray that the church of Jesus Christ here in the USA would recover a vision that says that! May I also recommend a GREAT book on Christianity in China just recently published and very favorably reviewed (written , entitled GOD IS RED: The Secret Story of How Christianity Survived and Flourished in China by Liao Yiwu)

So the visit to China was an incredible one to say the least. I am reminded once more as to why global travel is so important to me as a human being and as a follower of Jesus Christ, namely my world becomes so much larger when you visit and engage other peoples and cultures...my world looks so small but is enlarged every time I leave my world here in Seattle and enter the world in China, Africa, Europe, South America, etc. The question I always ask after I return is this "How has going to China (in this case) transformed the way I will live?" If I can't answer that question, I think I have missed out on the greatest gift that God wants to give in these opportunities to travel. The one thing I know to begin with is that I have a far deeper respect for China, its people, its culture than I did before and several misconceptions about China have been rightly corrected. For now, I am so grateful. Full stop.

Visiting Mainland China for the 1st Time: Some Random Thoughts from a 1st Time Visitor

 My wife and I are leaving for mainland China soon. It is our first visit and the primary purpose is to perform a wedding for a very close family friend whose family and fiance's family live in Shanghai. We go with great anticipation and wonder at what we will see and experience while there. We have traveled alot through the years and have been on every continent except Asia. It has been interesting to have people tell us what it will be like...We have many Chinese (1st, 2nd and 3rd generations) offer their insights and recommendations, as well as others we have known who have visited or even worked there for a while. In preparing to go, I first had a similar sense that I had preparing to go to Africa my first time in 1996 (which was and continues to be an incredible continent to visit and minister), but the closer I have come to departure, I have a very different sense...I call it an "ambivalent anticipation"...a mixture of not knowing what to expect and of looking forward to the totally new cross-cultural engagement that China offers. The overwhelming words we have heard from all the people we have spoken to is that "Shanghai will be unlike any place you have ever been." We will be spending time in ancient, old, modern and contemporary Shanghai and beyond, SO we are ready to commence the journey. I have found several books to be very insightful in preparing:

JESUS IN BEIJING: How Christianity is Changing the Global Balance of Power by David Aikman (former TIME Magazine Bureau Chief in China)

WHAT GOOD IS GOD: In Search of Faith that Matters (PART TWO entitled "CHINA: WINDS OF CHANGE") by Philip Yancey

CHINA: The Church's Long March by David Adeney

THE RESURRECTION OF THE CHINESES CHURCH by Tony Lambert

CHINA: A HISTORY by John Keay

I will look forward to offering my thoughts upon our return. Would love to hear any thoughts you may have, especially if you have experience in China and specifically Shanghai...

Post Presbyterian Fellowship Gathering of the PCUSA in Minneapolis: Words of Wisdom from John Stott (Again)

 So now we know what it is being proposed by The Gathering of the Presbyterian Fellowship and other like-minded PCUSA elders (teaching and ruling according to the NFOG) [I include myself in this and had registered to attend but had some other commitments that arose that did not allow me to participate.]. I was delighted by the presentation by the President of Fuller Seminary, Rich Mouw, and his challenge to The Gathering. I believe his call to form ecclesial orders following the lead and history of the Roman Catholic Church to be something we should take seriously if, as I have argued earlier in this blog, we evangelicals are going to take ecclesiology seriously in such a way to stop the Protestant disease of schism. I am also grateful to those who stepped up and took the initiative to bring The Gathering together last week. As reported by The Presbyterian Outlook, this is the essence of what happened and what is proposed:

On Aug. 25-26, about 1,900 people came to Minneapolis to learn more about what the Fellowship of Presbyterians is proposing, and to help sort through their own decisions about whether to stay in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) or to leave.

Those attending included pastors and elders, as well as some presbytery and synod executives and national leaders of the denomination. While no details were released on demographic factors such as age, race, and gender, the crowd included people from all 50 states and 3 countries beyond the U.S., and appeared to be predominantly white and male. The list of speakers was somewhat more diverse. This was a meeting primarily for discussion of ideas – not for voting on a particular course of action. Here are some of the highlights:

 

Constitutional convention. The Fellowship will hold a “constitutional convention” in Orlando, Fla., on Jan. 12-14. At that meeting, the Fellowship intends to create a new Reformed body into which congregations could be dismissed from the PC(USA) and to propose overtures to the 2012 General Assembly.

Four tiers. The Fellowship is proposing four tiers of action for individual congregations to consider.

- Tier 1: Stay in the PC(USA), in the current presbytery. This is for congregations that don’t want to leave (perhaps because they are in a congenial evangelical presbytery), or feel they can’t leave, perhaps because the congregation is too divided.

- Tier 2: Create evangelical presbyteries or synods, which would overlap with existing presbyteries and synods, and would invite like-minded Presbyterians in a region to exercise oversight responsibilities for those congregations wishing to differentiate from their present presbyteries.

- Tier 3: Create a presbytery within a presbytery – with perhaps two committees on ministry, each applying distinct ordination standards, the one following the new language in the PC(USA)’s constitution calling for “joyful submission to Jesus Christ” and the other holding to the “fidelity in marriage, chastity in singleness” language removed from the denomination’s constitution in July.

Tier 4: Join a new Reformed body the Fellowship will create.

New Reformed body. The Fellowship already has created a legal structure for such an entity – what leaders of the group described as an “empty warehouse” that will be filled during the January 2012 meeting. Those choosing to join the new Reformed body could potentially have three options – including two that would bestow what as “dual citizenship.”

- Leave: Leave the PC(USA) altogether and belong solely to the new Reformed body. That would mean formally asking to be dismissed from the PC(USA) to the new body and negotiating with the presbytery regarding property issues. Pastors and church employees would cease participating in the Board of Pensions retirement and medical insurance plans. In the new body, congregations would own their own property.

- Union. Become a union congregation with membership both in the PC(USA) and the new body. Those congregations could continue participation in the Board of Pensions medical insurance and retirement plans.

- Affiliate. Seek some sort of “affiliate status” – either by joining the new body and being an “affiliate” of the PC(USA), or belonging to the PC(USA) and being an affiliate of the new body. Creating a new affiliate status for congregations (rather than for individual members) would require approval from the General Assembly.

Essential tenets. The January meeting will spell out the “rights and responsibilities” involved with joining the new Reformed body, and it will include a statement of essential tenets that those drafting the document consider evangelical, orthodox and morally sound. “By golly, we’re going to stand on Scripture and its authority,” and not be embarrassed to describe essential truths, said Jim Singleton, a pastor from Colorado and one of the Fellowship Organizers. A group will begin writing that document soon and will post its proposal on the Fellowship’s Web site this fall to solicit feedback.

Ecclesial orders. There has been discussion of creating a new order for Presbyterians willing to take a vow of theological orthodoxy. It would be  modeled on Roman Catholic orders that require those joining to take particular vows.

Proposed overtures. Among the overtures the Fellowship will suggest for the 2012 General Assembly is likely to be one for a national “gracious separation” policy for congregations wanting to leave the PC(USA).

Leaders acknowledged that each of these ideas is a work in progress. Based on feedback gained and questions raised at this gathering and through subsequent conversations, they will roll out more clearly formulated proposals for action at the January meeting.

I currently find myself engaging churches as they seek a new senior pastor as well as teaching Presbyterian Distinctives in two of the great evangelical schools of theology (Fuller Seminary and Regent College). For PNCs as well as candidates for ordination in the PCUSA, there is massive confusion. We need decisive action sooner rather than extended conversation and belated action.

So, while I and many other evangelicals continue to process this and seek to discern what is best for us personally and for the churches and church we are called to serve and minister, I have again found John Stott a voice that I cannot avoid. In his excellent book (one of his last books before his death a few weeks ago) THE LIVING CHURCH: CONVICTIONS OF A LIFELONG PASTOR (a book I highly commend to all!), Stott asks, in the face of such cultural accomodations of the church (in his case the Anglican/Episcopal Church) where there has been a sustained  "assault on traditional Christian doctrine and morality", what should we do?

Stott says there are THREE Options available to us. The FIRST OPTION is separation or secession, for to stay in a doctrinally mixed church is an intolerable compromise that gives the impression that we condone heresy. So...to maintain our evangelical testimony without compromise we must get out." He asserts that this is the position of what he calls "independent evangelicals" who pursue the purity of the church at the expense of the unity of the church. He goes on to share that even the Protestant Reformers of the 16th century sought to reform Roman Catholicism from within, reformed by a return to the proper authority of Holy Scripture and the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Even Calvin wrote to Cranmer that the separation of the churches is "among the greatest misfortunes of our century...that if indeed learned men and women were to seek a solid and carefully devised agreement according to the rule of Scripture I think that for my part I ought not to spare any trouble or dangers."

The SECOND OPTION is at the opposite extreme, a position of compromise and even conformity, which for Stott and most who are identified with evangelicalism, is totally unacceptable. In the end it is a total acquiescence to unity without doctrinal or moral purity...a peace at all costs. It pursues unity at the expense of truth. I remain shocked and surprised by many in the PCUSA, even within evangelicalism who have taken this view and who in the end often betray their evangelical convictions for the sake of God knows what...

The THIRD AND PREFERENTIAL OPTION is what Stott calls comprehensiveness without compromise...what Stott says is "a staying in without caving in." He also acknowledges that it is the most painful of all the options because the other two options are ways of "easing the tension and escaping the conflict...you either give up or give in." This is the call to live in "constant tension within the church as it really is, unwilling to compromise or secede." For Stott John 17, the prayer of Jesus on that last night before going to the cross, is a prayer for all of His Church to seek truth and unity together. Stott then defines (utilizing the thought of Dr Alec Vidler, with whom Stott would not necessarily agree theologically or otherwise) the principle of comprehension this way:

"The Church ought to hold to the fundamentals of the Christian faith [Mere Christianity of CS Lewis] and at the same time allow for differences of opinion and interpretation in secondary matters, especially rites and ceremonies." For Stott this is reflective of New Testament and Apostolic Christianity, namely a call for loyalty to the apostolic faith and liberty of consciences on secondary issues.

Stott then offers this Question and Response:

"Can we envisage a situation in which orthodox believers (Presbyterians) feel absolutely obliged to leave? Such an EXTREME SITUATION might be:

1. When an issue of first order is at stake such as deserves the condemnation of antichrist (1 John 2:22) or anathema (Galatians 1:8-9).

2. When the offending issue is held not by an idiosyncratic minority of individuals but has become the official position of the majority.

3. When the majority have silenced the faithful remnant, forbidding them to witness or protest any longer.

4. When we have conscientiously explored every possible alternative.

5. When after a painful period of prayer and discussion, our conscience can bear the weight no longer.

Stott concludes "Until that day comes, I for one intend to stay in and fight on! I do believe in the Church, in the rightness of belonging to it and of maintaining a faithful evangelical witness within it and to it [because] I believe in the power of God's Word and Spirit to reform and renew the Church. I also believe in the patience of God [for as Max Warren wrote] "The History of the Church and the People of God is the story of the patience of God."

I remain so grateful for the wisdom of John Stott in this matter. It challenges me and I hope that many others will seriously think and pray through this matter and how we are called to respond. I remain grateful for the reminder of the tension between truth and unity. I also sense that I am called to renew my praying and studying not only The Lord's Prayer within the Sermon on the Mount but the Lord's Prayer of John 17 which I often find little passion or conviction among many of my Evangelical Friends and Colleagues.

I would truly value your thoughts, reflections and reactions...

Some Words of Wisdom and a Prayer by John Stott: Another Appreciation from a PCUSA Pastor in Troubling Times

 After attending John Stott's Memorial Service in Vancouver this past Friday (Dr JI Packer preached an incredible sermon see youtube links in previous blog entry on John Stott) and reading Roger Steer's magnificent biography, THE LIFE OF JOHN STOTT: The Inside Story, I discovered a powerful word he gave several years ago about Evangelicalism and Christian Unity during an intense debate with Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones. Martyn Lloyd Jones who was the minister of Westminster Chapel in London (a non-denominational Bible Chapel) for years continued to chide evangelicals who remained within the Anglican Church, including Dr. Stott. Jones had said,

"Theologically orthodox Anglicans and others with similarly orthodox believers should consider leaving their denominations. Instead of trying to infiltrate the various bodies to which they belong, evangelicals should stand together...Liberal/ecumenical people put fellowship before doctrine and practice, while we evangelicals put doctrine and practice before fellowship. I make this appeal to you evangelicals, 'What reason have we for not coming together?' What do we really gain by staying in these denominations and what do we lose in leaving? Where is the Holy Spirit? You cannot continue to justify your decision to remain by saying that you maintain your independence. You cannot disassociate yourself from the church to which you belong...and most people in your congregations will find this hard to understand. Don't we feel the cal to come together, not occasionally but always?"

Dr. Stott replied:

"I affirm my conscientious and continuing membership of the Church of England. Its formularies are biblical and evangelical. Therefore, Evangelicals are the true Anglican loyalists, and non-evangelicals the deviationists...And I wish to make four brief points on church unity. First, spiritual unity should be expressed visibly. Second, the visibility of this Christian unity must be full communion. Third, this visible unity of the Church must be founded on the Biblical Faith. Fourth, this visible unity of the Church must also allow room for divergence of belief and practice in matters of secondary importance."

This debate within the Anglican Church years ago seems to me to reflect where we stand today in the PCUSA as evangelicals, for that matter where all evangelicals stand in relationship to the mainline churches today. Do we separate with our independent ecclesiologies or Do we remain as faithful witnesses as true "loyalists" (see Stott above)?

A second discovery which moved me deeply was a prayer John prayed every morning, the contents of which I discovered in Steer's biography. It is rich, deep and faithfully trinitarian. The prayer was:

Good morning heavenly Father, good morning Lord Jesus, good morning Holy Spirit. Heavenly Father I worship you as the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. Lord Jesus I worship you as Savior and Lord of the world. Holy Spirit I worship you as the Sanctifier of the people of God. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Heavenly Father, I pray that I may live this day in your presence and please you more and more. Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you. Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Holy, blessed and glorious Trinity, three persons in one God, have mercy upon me. Amen.