Unchurch on Salvation

We decided this Lent to look at atonement in Unchurch and are leading up to it by looking at images of salvation in scripture. We began Monday evening by looking at Luke 15 and talking about what it is to be lost. My favourite image of Jesus is the image of the Good Shepherd - it is largely because of the story of the lost sheep that I came to faith when I was 17. So we talked about the three parables and about being lost and found. Of course we sang Amazing Grace.
I am so looking forward to this term!

(Real Live Preacher got me hooked on the wonderful clipart of Steve Erspamer and I recently purchased the three volumes of clipart for the lectionary. For reasons I don't understand only years A and C had accompanying cds so don't expect to see images from year B).

Light

Tonight was Unchurch and during Advent we've been following a different format. We've been doing readings on themes with one of the folks who comes sharing on the theme. Last week the theme was doors and one of the group shared a picture he had drawn of the doors of the Temple. This week our theme was light and another member shared a quilted hanging of a candle she had done. It was a really powerful evening of sharing what the image of light meant to us. For many of us the stories were stories of candlelit worship of one variety or another. The coffeehouse were we meet was being used for a Christmas dinner so the owner gave us her own living room to meet in. Maybe it was the homey, warm atmosphere but the sharing was more personal and reflective than usual. I love Unchurch!

In the course of looking for readings for the service I came across this quotation from a long time favourite theologian of mine (I did doctoral work on him - didn't finish the degree but learned a lot), Karl Rahner:

If God's incomprehensibility does not grip us in a word, if it does not draw us into his superluminous darkness, if it does not call us out of the little house of our homely, close-hugged truths...we have misunderstood the words of Christianity.

from Poetry and the Christian, cited by Kathleen Norris is Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Grace

Biblical Translations

At Unchurch last week we were looking at the covenant between God and Abraham. We were talking about the promise of children made to Abraham which reminded me of one of those funny moments in church.

We use the Good News Bible in our church. I often don't like the translation and the 18th chapter of Genesis is a good example. One Sunday, when the first reading was Gen. 18, one of the women, a middle-aged woman, got up to read. The Good News bible reads this way:

Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah had stopped having her monthly periods. So Sarah laughed to herself and said, "Now that I am old and worn out, can I still enjoy sex? And besides, my husband is old too."

As she was returning to her pew she looked at me and rolled her eyes. I had a hard time containing my laughter. But there was more. After the service she opened the door into the hall, forgetting that all the Sunday School kids would be there, and says loudly, "I'm sorry, but you are never too old to enjoy sex!"

Unchurch Week 5

Tonight our theme for Unchurch was the Tree of Life. It was a great evening. Sleeping Monday night is always a challenge! I've had a passion for the image of the Tree of Life for years. I've painted, drawn and created umpteen versions in all sorts of different media. So I was very excited to talk about it with them.

We looked at the passages in Genesis, Proverbs and Revelation concerning the Tree of Life and then some of the other 'tree' passages. In the Middle Ages the cross was interpreted as the tree of life (picking up on some of the Acts, Galatians, and 1 Peter passages that talk about Jesus dying on a tree). Legends developed about how Seth put a seed from the Tree of Life in the Adam's mouth as he lay dying. From Adam another tree grew and the wood from it eventually was used for the cross. A further legend said that the wood of the cross burst into leaves and flowers when Jesus was nailed to it. Now I understand why there are crucifixions in which the cross looks like it is made of branches or actually looks like a tree. Another variation on the tree image in the middle ages were Jesse trees. Based on the Isaiah passage about a shoot coming forth from the stump of Jesse, a Jesse tree is a picture of a dead or reclining Jesse with a tree growing out of him. At the crown of the tree is Mary holding an infant Jesus.

I love the way the images run through the Bible playing off each other like themes in a symphony. It is so neat watching the ways in which an image like the tree of life keeps generating new insights, new representations, new appreciations for the generous vitality of the life God gives us.

I ended my meditation by asking what difference it makes that so many of the central images of God and our relationship with Him are organic. We ended up talking about the devastation of the forests in BC by beetle infestation, Eugene Peterson's take on the poetry of T.S. Eliot, our experiences gardening, the possibilities of new life in the worst of devastations physical, emotional and spiritual, and a sermon by my friend Andrew on the Isaiah passage about the stump of Jesse. Afterwards we sang "Jesus Christ the Apple Tree" twice because we knew two different tunes for it.

I'm loving the ways in which people are sharing insights, praying, singing, providing food.... Our liturgy is evolving slowly into something pretty loose. We sing, read scripture, preach, talk while we eat, sing, and pray. I love it!

Jesus Christ the Apple Tree

The tree of life my soul hath seen,
Laden with fruit, and always green:
The trees of nature fruitless be
Compared with Christ the apple tree.

His beauty doth all things excel:
By faith I know, but ne’er can tell
The glory which I now can see
In Jesus Christ the apple tree.

For happiness I long have sought,
And pleasure dearly I have bought:
I missed of all; but now I see
‘Tis found in Christ the apple tree.

I’m wary with my former toil,
Here I will sit and rest awhile:
Under the shadow I will be,
Of Jesus Christ the apple tree.

This fruit doth make my soul to thrive,
It keeps my dying faith alive;
Which makes my soul in haste to be
With Jesus Christ the apple tree.

Unchurch Week 4

Tonight was Becky's turn to preach and she spoke on the story of Adam and Eve, Genesis 2-3. Beginning with Walter Brueggemann's interpretation of the story as essentially about the problem of knowledge Becky preached a very interesting sermon on the centrality of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. She's said she will send it to me so that I can post it.

The thing I love best about Unchurch is the conversation after the sermon. Tonight we started to get into all the other interpretations of Adam and Eve but Becky drew us back to the issue of knowledge and we got into a very interesting conversation about the difference between knowledge and understanding or wisdom. We talked about the way in which knowledge can change us, particularly the knowledge of evil. And we talked a lot about the relationship between intimacy and knowledge.

We are becoming a little community too. People are sharing more and seem more and more comfortable together. At the same time a friend of mine came for the first time tonight and seemed comfortable sharing despite being new. He was also included in the conversation which I thought was really neat.

I'm loving this!

Unchurch Week 3

We held our third week of Unchurch last night and I'm still stoked. Becky and I have been preaching on foundational stories, the birth of Moses, the burning bush, and last night the passover. I looked at Exodus 12 and talked about the way in which the people were called out to fulfill their vocation as the people of God. I started by looking at something Jon Levenson has written about - that the freedom given the Hebrews is not freedom as we usually think of it. It is not freedom from constraint but freedom to serve God. It is leaving the service of Pharoah who is oppressive to serve God who is loving and righteous. At the end of that chapter are instructions for how the foreigners are to be treated. There is only one Torah for Hebrew and foreigner so foreigners can participate in the passover if they first are circumcised. So the distinction between who is in the community and who is not is not racial, biological, or even based on participation in a significant event like the exodus but is rather the willingness to serve God. And it is the willingness to be a part of the community. I finished by looking at Martin Luther King's last sermon the day before he was martyred. He talked about the way in which Pharoah planted seeds of disunity among the slaves and called on African Americans to remain a community in the face of opposition and in those famous closing words he spoke of knowing that he was serving God and how he had seen the promised land.

Our discussion afterwards was incredible. My favourite element of Unchurch is the response to the word in our conversation. The starting off point was someone's objection that God would choose some and not others and that He would kill the first born of Egypt. So we had a long conversation about the problem of reading troublesome texts. And then the issue turned to who belongs to the community and who doesn't and what happens if you feel like you are the kid Jesus didn't pick to be on his team. We're getting to know each other better and people are speaking more and more personally about their struggles with faith, the church, Scripture. I don't know where this is going but I am so grateful to be a part of it. The only problem is that I can't fall asleep Monday nights anymore because my brain is going a mile a minute.

Theology Reading Group

Tomorrow night we start our discussion of Miroslav Volf's The End of Memory. I can't wait. Tonight we held Unchurch and the discussion was wonderful. More later. But in honour of these two things the following:

“ I think that often atheists are closer to God than any theists, than any Christians. It’s taking God seriously to rebel against God. ”

Miroslav Volf

First Night of Unchurch

Well, Unchurch has been birthed and it was wonderful. We had a good group and Becky preached on the birth of Moses. The discussion centred on the issue of the women deception for a good cause and the issue of what role God had in the saving of Moses. Following the sermon there is time for discussion and most people spoke up with thoughts and response. It was a great way to begin! Round St. Cafe is a really hospitable place to meet. Can't wait until next week.

Bible Study

I've been reading reports from General Synod taking place this week in Winnipeg. I'd love to be in Winnipeg visiting friends but I'm glad I'm not at the meetings. I really don't enjoy meetings unless they are very action oriented and short. These kinds of meetings bring out every ADD cell in my body.

It is much more satisfying to spend my time like I did last night. We had our last Revelation bible study and while most of them still aren't so keen on the book we did have a really interesting discussion. I had read Barbara Rossing's excellent book The Rapture Exposed and she convinced me that the fundamental message of the book is one of hope but my parishioners remain unconvinced. The thing is that they are such kind, gentle people that they can't really believe God can be wrathful.

It is hard to do justice to the Book of Revelation in three sessions but on the other hand I didn't want us to get lost in it either. Not with summer coming on. It took us two years to do our study of Mark. I learned a lot from that but it is a long time to do one thing. In the fall we are going to do some study of the Torah which should be interesting. Like many Anglicans they have a better knowledge and appreciation of the New Testament than the Old Testament.

I'm looking forward to preaching on some of the challenging texts of the Torah in our Unchurch service in the fall. My friend Becky and I are doing some planning for the service and I'm getting really excited about it. Here is the blurb she wrote to explain who we are and what we are doing:

We are a community of people who wonder who Jesus Christ is for us today. Some of us are Christians and are active members of Christian churches. Some of us are not Christian, but continue to find merit in wondering what value Jesus’ message and life have for us and our world. We meet weekly for study and discussion led by those steeped in the Christian tradition, but the aim is neither to push people towards faith nor away from faith. Our goals are explicitly spiritual: what beliefs and actions will increase our love towards others, peace within ourselves, and peace for the world? We are inclusive: if you share these goals you are welcome here. We also believe that our learning occurs not only through thought but also experience and so worship and the worship arts will also be present in our community.

Socrates Cafe

There ought to be a law against rainy cold Victoria Days. Instead of working out in my garden I'm inside worrying that all the bedding plants I put in pots yesterday are getting very cold. (Observation: in Manitoba they are called bedding plants. Here they are called bedding out plants. Where else but out would you bed them?)

So in preparation for Unchurch I'm reading Christopher Phillips' Socrates Cafe. Interesting book - interesting concept. Create opportunities for people to come together to talk about philosophical ideas and they will come and engage the examined life.

From the book:

"Contrary to popular belief, the more questions you have, the firmer the footing you are on. The more you know yourself. The more you can map out and set a meaningful path for your future."

The Book of Revelation

We started a Bible study last night on the Book of Revelation. We had a great turn out too with some folks who don't normally come but who are fascinated with the book and with the way in which it is interpreted. We spent the evening looking at the way in which it has influenced our hymns, our Eucharistic prayers and Christian art. And then we looked at popular apocalyptic interpretation and the way it shapes some Christians' political views. We read passages from chapter 4 and chapter 11 last night. Their assignment for next time is to read the whole book and then we'll start diving in to the text more. My plan is to do just two more sessions on it before we break for the summer. I haven't decided what I want to do in the fall but I think it will be Genesis. I'm hoping to do some preaching on Genesis when we start our unchurch service this fall and to that end I've ordered a half dozen commentaries in the last two months from Amazon and Chapters. My book shelf is heavy ladened with new books to read. Now if I only could get out from under all the bits and pieces of stuff I have to do to finish up the term!