The Internet Monk Archives

The Homily

I have heard that a good sermon will comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable. It seems that two men, much much greater than I, have done just this in recent days.

Pope Francis, speaking at the World Youth Day in Rio De Janeiro, certainly afflicted the comfortable when he urged those in attendance to take their faith to the streets and make a mess in their churches.

“I want to tell you something. What is it that I expect as a consequence of World Youth Day? I want a mess. We knew that in Rio there would be great disorder, but I want trouble in the dioceses!” said the Pope. “I want to see the church get closer to the people. I want to get rid of clericalism, the mundane, this closing ourselves off within ourselves, in our parishes, schools or structures. Because these need to get out!”

Then, speaking to a luncheon with more than 300 bishops in attendance, Pope Francis urged them to get out of their churches and seek out those who are hurting, who are hungry, who have been shunned by the church.

“We cannot keep ourselves shut up in parishes, in our communities, when so many people are waiting for the Gospel,” Francis said. “Let us courageously look to pastoral needs, beginning on the periphery (of where we live), with those who are farthest away, with those who do not usually go to church. They, too, are invited to the table of the Lord.”

A few weeks before this, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia did his own afflicting of the comfortable when he said,

“A new evangelization must start with the sober knowledge that much of the once-Christian developed world, and even many self-described Christians, are in fact pagan.”

Did he really say that many who think themselves Christians are really pagans? Yes, he did. And, from my standpoint, I would say he is right. Wikipedia tells us that “pagan” can be used to describe a person who is “sensual, materialistic, self-indulgent, unconcerned with the future and uninterested in sophisticated religion.” That describes much of the Christianity and many of the Christians I observe.

Continue reading “The Homily”

Saturday Ramblings 7.27.13

How was your week, iMonks? Here at the iMonastery we have have had a busy week chopping vegetables, peeling fruit, baking bread, and … and … whatever you do to meat. Grill. We grilled meat. And all of this chopping and peeling and baking and grilling has left quite a mess around the place. So now it’s time to clean up the joint. And the scraps we scrape up are what we call Saturday Ramblings.

It’s started already. We’re more than three years away from the next presidential election, but already the candidates are acting like candidates. And those who are Christians and candidates are praying for revival in America, as sure as the sun rises to the right of north. Can I say right now I’m already tired of the campaigning?

But I do see some good on the Southern Baptist horizon in the person of Russell Moore, the head of the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. He is described as having “Jesus in his heart, Wendell Berry on his bookshelf and Merle Haggard on his iPod.” I might just like this guy.

A judge in North Carolina has told a group of county commissions they can no longer pray in Jesus’ name before their meetings. I’m still waiting to hear that Christians are being persecuted in the Tar Heel state. And how we need to return our nation back to its Christian roots. Anyone? Anyone?

Continue reading “Saturday Ramblings 7.27.13”

Difficult Scripture – Why Did Jesus Stop Reading When He Did?

Over the past several Fridays we have been looking at extracts from Michael Spencer’s upcoming book, Reconsider Jesus – A Fresh Look at Jesus from the Gospel of Mark. In our extract a few weeks back Michael Spencer wrote:

The good news is about God and what God is doing. It is not about me. It is not about some idea of success or happiness as the world might define it. You have probably noticed that in our culture God is judged by how much he fills out our shopping lists of needs and wants. This is not good news. This good news is an announcement that things are going to be different.

Check out what Jesus has to say in his first sermon, a further proclamation of the good news:

Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”…. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” – ESV

When you read the Gospels, Jesus is including the excluded, healing the hopeless, remaking Israel, reaching out to the pagan, overturning the religious professionals, redefining all the predictable terms, shocking those who know all the answers and, in general, making it unmistakably clear that the Kingdom isn’t just about forgiveness and “heaven,” but about the life we are living, and will live, both in the Kingdom here and now, as well as in the future. As Jesus walked through this world the Kingdom of God was like a big ship cutting through the waves. Every place he goes, the work and the fruit of the Kingdom flow out from him. Blind people see, hungry people are fed, deaf people hear, those with leprosy are cured, outcasts are included, people who are left out are brought in and beloved. The guilty are forgiven, the dead are raised. If you don’t know who Jesus is, you miss it.

A couple of weeks ago one of my Pastors pointed out something to me from this passage which I found very interesting and I had never heard before. Jesus is quoting from Isaiah 61, and he stops mid sentence. Look at what Isaiah says in chapter 61:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;

The phrase “and the day of vengeance of our God” is excluded from Jesus’ reading of the scripture.

My thoughts went immediately to verses like John 3:17: “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

Do you think there is any significance to the fact that Jesus stopped mid-sentence? Were they waiting with baited breath for Jesus to read the next phrase and then astonished when he didn’t? Is the coming of Christ all about God’s favor, and not at all about God’s vengeance? If so, does that impact how we preach and how we teach? Are Hellfire and Brimstone sermons out of line? Is condemnation and vengeance Good News?

Or is it possible that when he read that portion from Isaiah, his listeners has the rest of the Isaiah passage in mind? Scott Lencke commented to me, that the situation might be similar to Christ on the cross quoting from Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Perhaps when Christ exclaimed this, his listeners would have had the whole Psalm in mind and so would have had a fuller understanding of what Christ was saying. If this is the case, does Christ’s message in Luke 4 also include the idea of vengeance? What other Biblical texts would support this?

I would be interested in reading your views on this? Do you tend to lean towards the first or second view? If so, why? Are their other options that we might want to consider?

Summer Sounds from CM: Soothing Summer Nights with Pat Metheny

guitar-i-love-eva-1912.jpg!HalfHD — Guitar (I Love Eva) – detail, Picasso

One of my favorite musicians is Pat Metheny, jazz guitarist extraordinaire. I especially like his work with his band, Pat Metheny Group. In previous posts I have listed their 1987 album, “Still Life (Talking)“ as one of my top five records of all time. In addition to his regular colleagues and collaborations with other musicians, Metheny has put out a couple of solo acoustic albums that are perfect for quiet summer evenings.

The most recent record, What’s It All About, is his first cover album. It consists of soothing solo guitar arrangements of classic pop songs, mostly from the 1960’s, all of which hold personal meaning for the musician. Of course, a record like this would have to include a Beatles’ tune. So today’s video features Pat Metheny’s take on “And I Love Her.”

Just right for sitting under the stars, sipping a glass of wine, breathing deeply and taking in the night.

Longing for a Mother, not a Babysitter

I was talking to some old friends the other night and explaining why I had decided to practice my faith in the Lutheran tradition. As we were conversing, it struck me how many of us here at Internet Monk, post-evangelicals in spirit, have taken refuge in historic traditions.

Michael Spencer, the original Internet Monk and our muse, did not ultimately find a settled home in a church or denomination. Having moved on from his Baptist roots, in his later years he preached in a Presbyterian church, loved to attend Anglican worship, maintained a love for Lutheran theology, and deeply appreciated Roman Catholic resources for spiritual formation.

His wife became a Roman Catholic and his daughter and son-in-law worship as Anglicans.

Gail and I became Lutherans. One of our daughters and her family participate in a mainline United Methodist congregation, and one of my sons joined a traditional Lutheran congregation.

When I first met Damaris and her family, we were attending a non-denominational evangelical “community” church together. Now they are members of the Catholic church. Jeff has made clear his attraction to Rome as well. We’ve had Martha from Ireland writing for us about church history and the Roman Catholic perspective for some time now, and I think she’s winning converts!

More recently, our friend Mule has been challenging us from an Orthodox perspective.

We have contributors like Lisa, Craig, Adam, and Dan who continue in evangelical churches, but they are thoughtful and, when appropriate, critical in their writings about the evangelical path.

Over at The Christian Pundit, Rebecca VanDoodewaard has written a piece I’ve seen widely shared across the web called, “Young Evangelicals Are Getting High.” In it she asserts, “Young Christians are going over to Catholicism and high Anglicanism/Lutheranism in droves, despite growing up in low Protestant churches that told them about Jesus. It’s a trend that is growing, and it looks like it might go that way for a while: people who grew up in stereotypical, casual evangelicalism are running back past their parents’ church to something that looks like it was dug out of Europe a couple hundred years ago at least.”

She suggests that casual evangelicalism feels outdated and passé to many of them, like the church of the 1950’s felt to the Baby Boomers of my generation who created the church growth movement and the contemporary forms of evangelicalism. In another memorable line she says that young people are looking to historic traditions because today’s churches seem stuck in trying to be “fun babysitters” when what people really want is “dutiful mothers.”

VanDoodewaard cites another piece in her article, one by Andrea Palpant Dilley warning churches to proceed with caution when trying to be culturally relevant to the young:

Consider the changes that people go through between age 22 and 32. Consider that some of us in time renew our appreciation for the strengths of a traditional church: historically informed hierarchy that claims accountability at multiple levels, historically informed teaching that leans on theological complexity, and liturgically informed worship that takes a high view of the sacraments and draws on hymns from centuries past.

Some of us want to walk into a cathedral space that reminds us of the small place we inhabit in the great arc of salvation history. We want to meet the Unmoved Mover in an unmoved sanctuary.

So as you change — or as change is imposed upon you — keep your historic identity and your ecclesial soul. Fight the urge for perpetual reinvention, and don’t watch the roll book for young adults.

We’re sometimes fickle. When we come, if we come, meet us where we are. Be present to our doubts and fears and frustrations. Walk with us in the perplexing challenge of postmodern faith.

Even so, your church (and your denomination) might die. My generation and those following might take it apart, brick by brick, absence by absence.

But the next generation might rebuild it. They might unearth the altar, the chalice and the vestments and find them not medieval but enduring. They might uncover the Book of Common Prayer and find it anything but common.

I don’t have statistical evidence to prove that, as Rebecca VanDoodewaard says, young people are returning to historic traditions in droves. If our roster of authors and families here at Internet Monk is any indication, many of us who are Baby Boomers may be. I think that most of us here would say that the older we get, the less stomach we have for the shallow pandering to culture that characterizes so much of contemporary American evangelicalism. Our journey has been a long and winding road through decades of experimenting and fads.

If some of those in younger generations are feeling that way now and doing something about it, perhaps they won’t have to endure some of wilderness experiences many of us had.

He Descended Into Hell

It is a strange thing for me to say that Great and Holy Saturday is one of my favorite services in the entire Orthodox Church year. The adjectival phrase ‘favorite service’ would have had no meaning for me when I was Reformed, because all Reformed services are either identical or aspire to be so. The idea that certain seasons are more ‘Godly’ than others is a superstition, and as we all know, superstitions cannot be redeemed, only repented of. It made more sense to me as a Pentecostal to speak of a favorite service, because Pentecostal services for all of their aesthetic failings have a wonderful open-endedness to them that invite our Lord the Spirit to participate. I still remember Pentecostal services where there was a palpable presence and God seemed especially close. Interestingly, none of them occurred in an air-conditioned building. I often remark that Pentecostals do instinctively what the Orthodox do liturgically. There isn’t a one-to-one correspondence; there is a lot of fleshy indulgence in even the best of Pentecostalism as there is a lot of tedious, flesh-crucifying ritualism in even the best of Orthodoxy. Nevertheless, that statement is roughly true, but only roughly.

I never miss the Great and Holy Saturday service. It is scheduled at an inconvenient time, on Saturday morning after you’ve already spent the entire previous day in church re-enacting the Passion and sacrifice of Christ on the Cross in three separate, seemingly interminable services. I do not fault my fellow Orthodox who wish to take a breather on Saturday morning between the rigors of Holy Friday and the bright explosion of the midnight Paschal service, but you’ll always find me there. The church is somber, still decorated in the funereal black of Great and Holy Friday. Everything is incredibly still. Great and Holy Saturday is the pause between the cosmic systole and the cosmic diastole. The Bridegroom icon, so prominent in the previous Holy week services, is nowhere to be seen. Chances are, you’re a little woozy from lack of food. Strict fasting, meaning water only, is enjoined between midnight on Great and Holy Friday and the end of the Paschal liturgy. This is the final sprint after the long marathon of Lent, and it bites deeply.

Continue reading “He Descended Into Hell”

Growing Old

Fourteen years ago, when I was forty, I happened to glance into a mirror. It was a winter evening, and the room was lit by only a bare bulb. In the poor light my face for the first time looked old. “I’m a severe old lady!” I thought, and thus began my mourning.

Mourning is definitely the right word for the denial, sadness, and endurance I experienced then and still do now. I feel about my youth the same way I feel about someone who has died – the forgetfulness that buries the loss until something brings it to mind, the subsequent gut-wrenching sorrow, the resentment and desire to bargain . . . Why do I feel this way? I’ve thought of all the obvious reasons, but I’m not sure that they entirely explain my reaction to aging.

There’s some vanity behind my mourning, of course. I was never beautiful, but I was nicer looking and in better shape thirty years ago than I am now. There’s also the related loss of hope – thirty years ago, if I didn’t like how I looked, I could work out, get a different haircut, change my life, and somehow fix myself. But now no matter how hard I swim upstream, the current is still taking me downward. And each year I can’t swim quite as powerfully.

There’s the realization that all those things I planned to do one day are a lot less likely to get done. I may still learn another foreign language, but I don’t think I’m going to climb Annapurna. And I’ll ultimately be left behind by the young people who will – or at least might – do the things I no longer can.

Do I dread the kindly condescension that I’ll receive if I live long enough? I already don’t like the check-out clerk calling me sweetie and asking me if I have a senior discount. I may have some fear about my husband’s and my ability to take care of ourselves, especially as I watch the nightfall of my mother’s dementia. Perhaps I also sense my children’s worry that we will grow old and leave them alone one day.

Continue reading “Growing Old”

Good News for Women — and Men and All Disciples

The Lord answered, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things. One thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part. It won’t be taken away from her.”

– Luke 10:41-42 CEB

This Gospel story provides a brief glimpse into a household setting that must have been common as Jesus traveled around Palestine during his ministry. We see him in a home. We meet his hosts. We learn that he and others were in what was known as the “public” area of the home and he was teaching and talking about the kingdom of God. At the same time there were others in another part of the house fixing food and taking care of the detailed work of providing hospitality.

The text focuses on two women, Mary and Martha. Martha was energetically working in the kitchen while Mary was with Jesus while he was teaching.

This setting reminds me of when Gail and I took mission trips to India, where the organization of the household was often like this. When we were invited to a home for a meal, it was primarily the men of the household and the guests who sat at the main table. Meanwhile, the women would be in the kitchen or scurrying around serving them. Sometimes they actually had a separate table. Sometimes they did not eat until after the men and all the guests had eaten.

In such cultures — and in biblical times it was like this — you can see clearly that women have an actual “place” in which they are expected to fulfill their roles, and it is separate from the men’s space. In such cultures and in the days of Jesus, men and women generally were not to mix in the public spaces, even in the home. I can recall many churches in India in which men and women did not sit together in church, but had their own sections.

The roles of men and women were also strictly demarcated. We see this in today’s Gospel. Martha was fulfilling the expected role of hospitality and serving, while Mary was “sitting at Jesus’ feet.” That indicates that she was taking the place of a student or disciple. In doing so, she was doing what only men ordinarily did. This was because to be a disciple of a rabbi meant that you were his apprentice and you were preparing to be a teacher yourself. That was a role that was not open to women in those days.

Mary’s act was unusual, perhaps even bordering on scandalous. However, Jesus affirmed her and blessed her for making a good choice.

So the first thing I want to say about this text today is that it contains good news for women. Jesus commends Mary for taking the place of a disciple. Though women in that culture were generally discouraged or even forbidden from having that role, Jesus opened the door for Mary and all women to become students, followers, and proclaimers of the Kingdom.

One characteristic of the kingdom of God is that it challenges our traditional human and societal rules and boundaries. In this case, it is the false opinion that women are not cut out to be disciples, followers of Jesus, and witnesses of his kingdom. This story affirms that women have a “place” sitting at the feet of Jesus just like men do.

Continue reading “Good News for Women — and Men and All Disciples”

The Homily

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. (Genesis 6:8, NKJV)

Well then, no judgement stands now against those who live in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1, Knox)

Nothing stirs up dust in these Sunday morning visits like the topic of grace. Getting something for nothing is just so unAmerican. It makes us feel as if we are getting away with, well, murder. And yet we cannot escape it if we are honest. God’s grace is not a topic of creation. It is THE topic of creation. The blood of the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world covers our sins past, present and future whether we like it or not. That is the Good News. There is no other Good News but the Good News of the grace of our marvelous Lord.

Still, I seem to not be able to communicate it well, as I continually get stopped after the service to be told how I am missing it. You all constantly tell me that we have a role to play in all of this as well, that we need to do A, B or C in order to be made righteous in Christ. I’m often asked, “Are you saying all we have to do is believe Jesus’ death on the cross forgives our sins and it doesn’t matter how we act?” When I say, “Precisely!” I know I won’t be invited out to lunch anytime soon. So today I have asked priest, author and cook Robert Capon to share some thoughts on the topic of grace with us. Perhaps his words will present the idea of God’s Good News better than mine can.

I am and I am not a universalist. I am one if you are talking about what God in Christ has done to save the world. The Lamb of God has not taken away the sins of some — of only the good, or the cooperative, or the select few who can manage to get their act together and die as perfect peaches. He has taken away the sins of the world — of every last being in it — and he has dropped them down the black hole of Jesus’ death. On the cross, he has shut up forever on the subject of guilt: “There is therefore now no condemnation. . . .” All human beings, at all times and places, are home free whether they know it or not, feel it or not, believe it or not.

But I am not a universalist if you are talking about what people may do about accepting that happy-go-lucky gift of God’s grace. I take with utter seriousness everything that Jesus had to say about hell, including the eternal torment that such a foolish non-acceptance of his already-given acceptance must entail. All theologians who hold Scripture to be the Word of God must inevitably include in their work a tractate on hell. But I will not — because Jesus did not — locate hell outside the realm of grace. Grace is forever sovereign, even in Jesus’ parables of judgment. No one is ever kicked out at the end of those parables who wasn’t included in at the beginning.

Continue reading “The Homily”

Saturday Ramblings 7.20.13

It has been a busy week here at the iMonastery. Here is what has not happened. We have not, along with what once was a decent Midwest city, declared bankruptcy. We have not delivered the royal baby. We have not been spying on our fellow iMonks’ email or cell phone calls. And we have not led any round of the British Open. So what has kept us busy here this week? Well, there was a lot of birthday cake to be eaten on my behalf, and if you know anything about the eating habits of those here, that is enough to keep anyone busy. Now it’s time to grab brooms and sweep up the crumbs, crumbs we call Saturday Ramblings.

My oh my. How things can get misunderstood so quickly. Did the Vatican really say that Catholics can receive indulgences by following Pope Francis on Twitter during the World Youth Day? No, says fellow Jesuit James Martin.

World Youth Day is happening in Brazil. What isn’t happening in Brazil these days? The World Cup is. The Olympics are coming. Well, I guess one thing that isn’t happening in Brazil is the Catholic Church. Or at least that is the perception as the pope’s visit nears.

Did you know that Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby speaks in tongues? No? Neither did I. Here are some more interesting things to know about the head of the Anglicans.

Continue reading “Saturday Ramblings 7.20.13”