Winter Appreciation!

I am finding that I didn't fully appreciate winter until I moved to a place where winter comes with only half its force. Now that I have returned to the wonderful northland for Christmas, I thought I would post a few pictures of my winter scenery and activities for those of you who don't get to share the joys of Minnesota winter.

Proposal for post-liberal/conservative hermanutics

"Oh crap, Jesus really did seem to say that,.. this ruins everything, we are totally failiors if we follow him. There is no way we can successfully do this amidst the world of sin and make it out alive, much less make it through life respectably. After all, look where all this got Christ. Furthermore, I am a sinful bigot, and the only reason faith does not get me onto a cross like Christ's is that I am a perpetual sinner and I invent ways to deny the cross he gives every chance I get. But our King said to do life this way, so lets go out, lets give it our best shot and fail boldly together! Lord what other choice do we have?"

My Spiritual Consumerism?

For 7 years prior to moving to KC, I attended a church in Minneapolis where I felt increasingly uneasy and out of place. As I prayed and wrestled with God about what to do, I felt a clear calling to stay at this church. Finding church to be a peaceful and joyful home was something I was content to live without.
I have never imagined that I would find a place so fitting with who I am as I have found at Jacob's Well. It is hard to make it through a Sunday night worship without feeling profoundly blessed by God to be in the presence of a church family that I feel understood by as well as authentically challenged to follow Christ in all things reguardless of the cost.
I could not picture myself leaving Jacob's Well as long as I am in KC. On many levels, Jacob's Well is how and where I want to do life, for the rest of my life. I had never been able to envision myself feeling a deep personal connection with a church on the level that I feel with Jacob's Well. Yet I feel an internal unease;
My heart is also captured by a vision that runs counter to the racial, cultural and economic divides that are unusually strong in Kansas City. I live in east KC just off of Prospect and 28th. Yet when I go to Sunday night worship service, I feel almost as if I am abandoning a part of my neighborhood. I want to be deeply involved in Jacob's Well because I feel spiritually filled, nurtured and simply joyful to be there each week. How can the family I love be in one geographic and cultural place while the people and places I live with are in such a different geographic and cultural place? I can not invite my neighbors to meet my family without instigating a feeling of distrust and an affirmation of the very divides that the kingdom of heaven overcomes.
I have a theory that one of the greatest detriments to the new modern church has been the consumerist approach to church. We church shop, and by this we self select churches that have people who are like us. This is after all, much of my joy in finding Jacob's Well in KC. I am in a church where theologians such as N.T Wright and Jürgen Moltmann, or perhaps creative thinkers in the fine arts are not viewed as entry points to heresy, but rather Christians with wonderful gifts to challenge our family of faith. In a sense, I like Jacob's Well because the people at Jacob's Well are Christians in a way that is more similar to the way that I am a Christian than in other churches I've found.
But isn't this more of consumerist Christianity on my part? Am I not guilty of participating in the voluntary segregation which has wretched havoc in Christendom with increasing force?

Each Sunday morning, I also attend a small mostly non-white Episcopalian church where the average age is likely over 65 yrs. I feel totally out of place and alone there. I do not know how to interact. Few people there read things I enjoy. I do not watch the same movies.
My flesh desires similarity. The love of Christ is clearly a love of those who are uneasy to love. Christ asks reconciliation between His people, and that this is not a request made to just some special Christians, but that it is essentially woven into following Christ for all disciples to be reconcilers in the way of Christ. Am I turning my self away from Christ and His call of reconciliation by driving to Westport each Sunday night to be with Christian who are easiest for me to love?
Perhaps there is nothing wrong with venturing out from SantaFe neighborhood to Westport for a night of spiritual fellowship?
I could accept this, but to do so would require me to view Jacob's Well and this family of faith in the Church through the very compartmentalized lens of 'church' and 'real life' that we at The Well seek to avoid.
How can I be both a part of the faith family in Westport as well as a part of the Santa Fe neighborhood without compartmentalizing church from 'real life'?

Ressurection Sunday!

Christ, the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia!Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply, Alleluia!

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!Lo! the Sun’s eclipse is over, Alleluia!Lo! He sets in blood no more, Alleluia!

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal, Alleluia!Christ hath burst the gates of hell, Alleluia!Death in vain forbids His rise, Alleluia!Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia!Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia!Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Hail, the Lord of earth and Heaven, Alleluia!Praise to Thee by both be given, Alleluia!Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!Hail, the resurrection, thou, Alleluia!

King of glory, Soul of bliss, Alleluia!Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!Thee to know, Thy power to prove, Alleluia!Thus to sing and thus to love, Alleluia!

Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia!Unto Christ, our heavenly King, Alleluia!Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia!Sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia!

But the pains that He endured, Alleluia!Our salvation have procured, Alleluia!Now above the sky He’s King, Alleluia!Where the angels ever sing. Alleluia!

Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia!Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia!

Au­thor un­known, 14th Cen­tu­ry; trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by Charles Wesley 1739

Holy Saturday

Ah, holy Jesus, how hast Thou offended,
That man to judge Thee hath in hate pretended?
By foes derided, by Thine own rejected,
O most afflicted.

Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon Thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone Thee.
’Twas I, Lord, Jesus, I it was denied Thee!
I crucified Thee.

Lo, the Good Shepherd for the sheep is offered;
The slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered;
For man’s atonement, while he nothing heedeth,
God intercedeth.

For me, kind Jesus, was Thy incarnation,
Thy mortal sorrow, and Thy life’s oblation;
Thy death of anguish and Thy bitter passion,
For my salvation.

Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay Thee,
I do adore Thee, and will ever pray Thee,
Think on Thy pity and Thy love unswerving,
Not my deserving.

Herzliebster Jesu
Johann Heerman
1585-1647

Good Friday

Psalm 22
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent.
3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the praise of Israel. ^[a]

4 In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5 They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
8 "He trusts in the LORD;
let the LORD rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him."
9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you
even at my mother's breast.
10 From birth I was cast upon you;
from my mother's womb you have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13 Roaring lions tearing their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted away within me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me ^[b] in the dust of death.
16 Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced ^[c] my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones;
people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.
19 But you, O LORD, be not far off;
O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver my life from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save ^[d] me from the horns of the wild oxen.
22 I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the congregation I will praise you.$
23 You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or disdained
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.
25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you ^[e] will I fulfill my vows.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
they who seek the LORD will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
28 for dominion belongs to the LORD
and he rules over the nations.
29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
30 Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
31 They will proclaim his righteousness
to a people yet unborn—
for he has done it.

In the Presence of My Enemies?

In what ways today might one be able to willfully enter amidst enemies, to love where we are rejected? Both individually and collectively, how might we go amidst those who scorn and plot harm against us, so that we may seek to be a blessing toward them? The disciples seemed overwhelmed and called out to Jesus after his command to forgive others, and I must join them; "Lord, increase our faith!" (Lk 17:5).

Bless My Enemies

My pastor in read this recently in a recent sermon on forgiveness. It was written by Nikolai Velimirovica, a Serbian Orthodox Priest who was executed at Dachau for opposing the ruling powers of his day.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Enemies have driven me into your embrace more than friends have. Friends have bound me to earth; enemies have loosed me from earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world.
Enemies have made me a stranger in worldly realms and an extraneous inhabitant of the world.
Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an unhunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies, found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath Your tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul.

Bless my enemies, O Lord.
They, rather than I, have confessed my sins before the world.
They have punished me, whenever I have hesitated to punish myself.
They have tormented me, whenever I have tried to flee torments.
They have scolded me, whenever I have flattered myself.
They have spat upon me, whenever I have filled myself with arrogance.

Bless my enemies, O Lord.
Whenever I have made myself wise, they have called me foolish.
Whenever I have made myself mighty, they have mocked me as though I were a fly.
Whenever I have wanted to lead people, they have shoved me into the background.
Whenever I have rushed to enrich myself, they have prevented me with an iron hand.
Whenever I thought that I would sleep peacefully, they have wakened me from sleep.
Whenever I have tried to build a home for a long and tranquil life, they have demolished it and driven me out.
Truly, enemies have cut me loose from the world and have stretched out my hands to the hem of your garment.

Bless my enemies, O Lord.
Bless them and multiply them; multiply them and make them even more bitterly against me:
So that my fleeing will have no return; So that all my hope in men may be scattered like cobwebs; So that absolute serenity may begin to reign in my soul; So that my heart may become the grave of my two evil twins: arrogance and anger; So that I might amass all my treasure in heaven; Ah, so that I may for once be freed from self-deception, which has entangled me in the dreadful web of illusory life.

Enemies have taught me to know what hardly anyone knows, that a person has no enemies in the world except himself. One hates his enemies only when he fails to realize that they are not enemies, but cruel friends.
It is truly difficult for me to say who has done me more good and who has done me more evil in the world: friends or enemies. Therefore bless, O Lord, both my friends and my enemies. A slave curses enemies, for he does not understand. But a son blesses them, for he understands.
For a son knows that his enemies cannot touch his life. Therefore he freely steps among them and prays to God for them. Bless my enemies, O Lord.

"The early Christian would not fight war. They stood up before cesar and cesar's household and said "No we will not fight war!", sometimes because they would not obey the edicts of the Roman empire they were thrown into the lions den, they were torn on the chopping blocks, and they went with a hymn on their lips and with praises to God!"
"I call on Washington today. I call on every man and woman of good will, all over America today. I call upon the young men of America who must make a choice today, to take a stand on this issue. Tomorrow may be too late! The book may close… Don't let anybody make you think that God chose America as his divine messianic force to be a sort of the policeman of the world. God has a way of standing before the nations with judgment, and it seems like I can hear God saying to America, “you are too arrogant. If you don’t change your ways, I will rise up and break the backbone of your power and…place it in the hands of a nation that does not even know my name"
M.L.K.