Church of the Locked Door: A [Mainline Protestant] Congregation

A few years ago someone preached a sermon on 2 Easter that didn't focus on doubt. I don't remember what he did preach on, maybe he did talk about doubt, but it's not the part of the sermon that's stuck with me. Rather, what stuck with me was his poking fun at his denomination in a few ways. He said that the disciples' gathering on Easter night could have been a "new" congregation in his ecclesiastical body. First, the name: [Generic Church Word Name]: A [Name of Denomination] Congregation. Second, what they're doing: hiding out for fear of authorities, not believing the Good News of Resurrection they've been told and that Jesus had foretold.

While sermons on doubt are good to hear from time to time, I think every year is too time to time enough. I'm seeing a lot on Facebook about doubt sermons. Facebook is a snippet and not representative, I know. While preaching about doubt where is the preaching about resurrection? How the preacher has experienced resurrection in the midst of doubt.

Today's sermon at the parish where I serve talked about how so many professional resources focus on crucifixion of the Church (i.e. its death) and not on resurrection. There's new life, and declines are slowly turning around certainly. Even so, there are some fearing that it won't happen and doubting that we can have new life at the parish, denominational, or religious level. The sermon continued with stories of new life from around the country and an emphasis on the power of the Spirit to stir new life.

I, however, was hung up on the first part of today's gospel text. The Church of the Locked door. I think I was stuck there because last week I went to the Episcopal Communicators conference and I had an amazing time. I had no idea that I'd be with such a group of people committed to church communication and Good News (not the right wing UMC group, either) communication. While Mary, Simon, and John have been to the tomb and Mary has spoken with the Risen Christ, the fledgling church doesn't believe the Good News.

They haven't had an experience of resurrection that they're dying to tell other people. They're scared for their lives and Jesus shows up. They believe and then Thomas doesn't until he does as well. Being with the Episcopal Communicators raised the importance for me of communicators helping others tell their stories. We, are not living in fear of authorities, and I hope that we have experiences of resurrection to tell other people.

My biggest take away from the conference was setting some goals for the Diocese of California's communications, but one of them is going to be about teaching people to tell their story — and to use language about how Jesus dying and rising again means something to them and how they experience resurrection regularly. If they don't I want to help them listen for it to live it.

What experiences do you have of resurrection? Who do you tell about it and how? Preachers from today, how did resurrection fit in to your sermons on doubt or anything else today? Christ is risen! Tell me about it.

Reflection on Titus

I actually really like today's Titus reading, gender norms and expectations aside.

But as for you, teach what is consistent with sound doctrine. Tell the older men to be temperate, serious, prudent, and sound in faith, in love, and in endurance. Likewise, tell the older women to be reverent in behavior, not to be slanderers or slaves to drink; they are to teach what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be self-controlled, chaste, good managers of the household, kind, being submissive to their husbands, so that the word of God may not be discredited. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, gravity, and sound speech that cannot be censured; then any opponent will be put to shame, having nothing evil to say of us. Tell slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect; they are not to talk back, not to pilfer, but to show complete and perfect fidelity, so that in everything they may be an ornament to the doctrine of God our Savior.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.

Declare these things; exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one look down on you.

There's some stuff in it that I don't like.  I'll own that.  And there are some things in it that have undoubtedly been used to dominate and oppress women and people of color.  But there's more to the text than that, and if we look at its wholeness I think there's some good things to glean.  This came up in Chapel a few weeks ago and it made people giggle because the gendering is so far from where we are.  I'm glad it came up today, though.

I'm reading Hauerwas and Willimon's Resident Aliens right now for my ethics class, and today's readings make me think about what they say about the Church being a community that is different and set apart and has its own stories and customs.  The text has older people teaching the younger people good habits and virtues.  Temperance, self-control, honesty, love of partner, etc.  It's all practical, too.  When you do what you're supposed to do and your behavior can't be called into question it's hard to have opponents.

And then there's the God part.  We can't do it alone or on our own.  This should be a given, it's kind of a part of our faith story, but I know that I'm having a hard time with it.  Having a hard time, have a hard time.  I need to get some help with something but don't want to.  I know I need it, but I want to be able to tough it alone.  And I think when I'm honest the help will say that I actually need a lot more and am not nearly as self-sufficient as I think I am.

I'm in a weird spot right now of trying to figure out support networks and who I can count on and who I can't and what is reasonable expectation for friends and what isn't.  And whether I'm being excluded intentionally or unintentionally and if I've done something I don't realize or if we're all just busy.  And why people I often want to invest in seem to not really want to invest in me.  And why I feel less close to people I felt close and if I'm not being not invited inasmuch as people know my schedule.

That's a lot of I in that paragraph, and I'm not going to try to be too hard on myself about that.  This Lent I'm going to work on cultivating some friendships and building some support so that I don't wind up going to bed at 7:00.  It's going to take more work than I'd like apparently.  There's a lot of ongoing processing happening and a lot of feeling rejected.  But I'm going to work on focusing on others in service and in listening...and remembering that I can't do any of it alone.

The Light of the World

Do Not Fear

I love when as I read a text I immediately think "I know a song that fits this so well!"  I'm going to try to do a better job of sharing those with y'all, too.  This song popped into my head during Morning Prayer this morning, and watching/listening to it just now brought back a lot of memories of praise band at the Wesley, both singing and planning it.  I thought about friends and beautiful harmonies.  I thought about how vulnerable we can let ourselves be if we will.  Hope you enjoy.

Slow to Speak

"You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness." - James 1.19-20, NRSV.

I'm sure I'd heard this verse at some point in my life, but can't recall an exact instance. Dean Ewing did a reflection during orientation on it, and I changed my blurb under my Facebook picture to verse 19. This verse came to mind today as I was writing some e-mails; I e-mailed a mentor this morning, I've had an e-mail discussion with a classmate, and I've sent a few official-ish e-mails, too. Being super-wired: Facebook (and chat), Twitter (140 characters!), and instant messaging don't encourage being slow to speak.

I find just the opposite, actually. I respond more quickly to chat stuff, or just click "comment" on Facebook or sometimes @reply someone without exercising much self-control before so doing. As I e-mailed with my classmate, as I e-mailed my mentor, and as I'm blogging I'm taking my time finding words...and these media encourage that moreso for me anyway. Submitting takes more effort, and pushing send on an e-mail makes me want it to be substantiative; IMs have been for one-liners for the last ten years of my life, and e-mails have been for more depth (at once).

While I can recall instant message conversations wherein I get to some good depth, it comes as a barrage of messages. In an e-mail I can muck through my feelings as I get down an e-mail. The person replying will get the entirety and know that I'm finished by receiving the information all at once. This gives the responder more to work with as s/he thinks about all that's going into the e-mail, and s/he can see my process so that they don't cover bases that I get to on my own.

I'm through four-days of fasting, a feast break, and into my fifth day...and I'm really liking it. I'm finding other kinds of distractions, but I'm also making room for other kinds of things (reading blogs more, reading for fun more, focusing on school reading more). This having to be slower to speak (by inhibiting my ability to speak quickly) is making me more contemplative. More time for contemplation has actually made me more God-focused and conscious of things for which I (may) need to repent, or maybe things that I need to check myself for before I get to that level. I'm reading Glamorous Powers, which like Glittering Images before it, is speaking to my soul. Sometime I'll post my quotations from Glittering Images.

Remember sisters and brothers, be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.

The Magnificat

A classmate's image of singing the Magnificat in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd to the Brian Forbes setting when no women sit on the dean's side:

"On this particular night, I am facing a Dean’s side which the women appear to have stayed home from, and it affords the unique opportunity of hearing burly voiced tenors and basses refer to themselves unblinking as handmaidens of the Lord, a turn of phrase which automatically fills my mind with images of tenors and basses dressed in 19th Century peasant farm girl garb, complete with milk pails. It only seems more ridiculous when I realize that it was not too long ago that it would have only been tenors and basses in this Chapel singing this song of Mary, men who, coming from Anglican influence were likely never among those hungry who had to wait to be filled with good things, whose hearts were almost certianly prone to proud, religious imaginations yet to be scattered by the strains of ordained ministry, and who would never be quick with child. In fact, this would place us in a long tradition of men singing the song of Mary in settings not necessarily always evocative of the lyrics' humble origins. On this particular night, we sing the Song of Mary to a setting by Sebastian Forbes and its the one that I had to try my hardest not to laugh during the first time I heard it. The slow, undulating tones of this Anglican chant always remind me of the Sea, and more specifically of sinking beneath it. Every time I hear it, my minds eye fills the wood planked stone built Chapel with blue water and sea weed, and so now we are 19th Century peasant farm girls singing bass- while we drown."

Things to Which I Return

For TSP today we had to talk about a thing or few to which we return when we need reminders of our faith or helps to keep going. These are what I brought, although I didn't share all of them in class. I'm sorry I haven't blogged in over two weeks, but I'm going to try to be more intentional about it. If I set time aside each day as part of my schedule I will. I've been writing at least one letter every day for the past two weeks. If anyone wants to send me something, stationery or boxed card sets would be much appreciated.

Here you go:

“Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping, that awake we may watch with Christ and asleep we may rest in peace.”

“Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” -1 Timothy 4.12 NRSV (but I prefer)

“Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” -1 TImothy 4.12 NIV

“No storm can shake my inmost calm/ While to that rock I’m clinging/ Since love is Lord of heaven and eart/how can I keep from singing?”

“Praise is everywhere and always right/ Praising God shall be our duty and delight/ So sing till sin and death are put to flight/ We are loved, we are children of God.”

“Lord, your summons echoes true when you but call my name. Let me turn and follow you and never be the same. In your company I'll go where your love and footsteps show Thus I'll move and live and grow in you and you in me.”

“May the bread on your tongue/ leave a trail of crumbs/ that leads the hungry back to the place that you are from/ Take to the world this love, this hope this faith/ take to the world this rare, relentless grace/ like the three in one/ know you must become what you want to save/’cause that’s still the way that he takes to the world.”

Here and Now

Canticle: Third Song of Isaiah
Surge, illuminare
Isaiah 60:1-3, 11a, 14c, 18-19

Arise, shine, for your light has come, *
and the glory of the Lord has dawned upon you.
For behold, darkness covers the land; *
deep gloom enshrouds the peoples.
But over you the Lord will rise, *
and his glory will appear upon you.
Nations will stream to your light, *
and kings to the brightness of your dawning.
Your gates will always be open; *
by day or night they will never be shut.
They will call you, The City of the Lord, *
The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
Violence will no more be heard in your land, *
ruin or destruction within your borders.
You will call your walls, Salvation, *
and all your portals, Praise.
The sun will no more be your light by day; *
by night you will not need the brightness of the moon.
The Lord will be your everlasting light, *
and your God will be your glory.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people.

Borrowed from Susan Russell

Check out the lesson from Romans appointed (in the RCL) for this coming Sunday ... here from The Message.

Romans 14:1-12

Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don't see things the way you do. And don't jump all over them every time they do or say something you don't agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently.

For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ's table, wouldn't it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn't eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God's welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help.

Or, say, one person thinks that some days should be set aside as holy and another thinks that each day is pretty much like any other. There are good reasons either way. So, each person is free to follow the convictions of conscience.

What's important in all this is that if you keep a holy day, keep it for God's sake; if you eat meat, eat it to the glory of God and thank God for prime rib; if you're a vegetarian, eat vegetables to the glory of God and thank God for broccoli. None of us are permitted to insist on our own way in these matters. It's God we are answerable to—all the way from life to death and everything in between—not each other. That's why Jesus lived and died and then lived again: so that he could be our Master across the entire range of life and death, and free us from the petty tyrannies of each other.

So where does that leave you when you criticize a brother? And where does that leave you when you condescend to a sister? I'd say it leaves you looking pretty silly—or worse. Eventually, we're all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgment, facing God. Your critical and condescending ways aren't going to improve your position there one bit. Read it for yourself in Scripture:

"As I live and breathe," God says,
"every knee will bow before me;
Every tongue will tell the honest truth
that I and only I am God."

So tend to your knitting. You've got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God.

This is the Word of God for the People of God.Thanks be to God