Ekklesia, Transition, Leadership and Formation
Defenseless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.
W.H. Auden, 1939
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Just let me say how much I love you
Let me speak of your mercy and grace;
Just let me live in the shadow of your beauty
Let me see you face to face;
And the earth will shake as your Word goes forth
And the heavens can tremble and fall;
But let me say how much I love you
O my Savior, my Lord and friend..
Just let me hear your finest whispers
As you gently call my name;
And let me see your power and your flory
Let me feel your Spirti’s flame;Let me find you in the desert
Til this sand is holy ground;
And I am found completely surrendered
To you, my Lord and friend..
Geoff Bullock, 1993
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O GOD, Who taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit,
grant that, by the gift of the same Spirit,
we may be always truly wise, and ever rejoice in His consolation.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
* * *
Rain rings trash can bells..
And what do you know?
The alley becomes a cathedral..
Eyes can be archways
To enter or leave by;
Vacuum’s replaced by a crystal.
Oh Jesus, don’t let tomorrow
Take my love away..
Bruce Cockburn, 1974.
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“Busyness, of course, is not peculiar to the pastoral life; it is endemic to our culture.. We need a strategy that takes into account [the] two sets of demands that seem to cancel each other out.. The first set of demands is that we respond with compassionate attentiveness to the demands of the people around us.. demands that refuse to stay within the confines of regular hours and always exceed our capacity to meet them..
“The second set of demands is that we respond with reverent prayer to the demand of God for our attention, to listen to him, to take him seriously in the actual circumstances of this calendar day, at this street address, and not bluff our way through by adopting a professionalized role. This is a kind of attentiveness that we know from instruction and experience can be entered into only slowly and deliberately. There is a large, leisurely center to existence where God must be deeply pondered, lovingly believed… It means entering realms of spirit where wonder and adoration have space to develop, where play and delight have time to flourish. Is this possible for pastors who have this other set before them daily?
“It is possible for pastors. Because there is a biblical provision for it.. The name for it is sabbath. Read the rest of this entry »
Bob Webber writes,
“In the early church the public worship of the church was a prayer of praise and thanksgiving directed not to the people but to God. Seeing worship as prayer is a paradigm shift from the current presentational notion of worship. Today worship is frequently seen as a presentation made to the people to get them to believe in the first place, to enrich and edify their faith, and to bring healing into their lives. But the ancient church did not design (a contemporary word) worship to reach people, to educate people, or to heal people. Yet in their worship, which was a prayer of praise and thanksgiving offered to God, people were indeed nourished by offering God’s mighty acts of salvation as a prayer to God for the life of the world. The point is, of course, that worship as prayer shapes who we are. But how so?
“First, worship as prayer focuses on historical events. God is known to us in this world, in the revelation of himself in creation, in the salvation history of Israel, and ultimately in God made visible in Jesus. Worship prayer focuses on God’s self-giving love through which he recapitulates the human condition, restores our union with God, and promises a restored creation in the new heavens and the new earth. This history that we pray is not dead but alive and active, for it is God’s activity, God’s presence, God’s reality working within history to redeem and restore the world. Read the rest of this entry »
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The first song I ever wrote.. of the three or four in my lifetime.. was themed from the story of Pilgrim’s Progress. One of the lines was this:
“The dreamer meets the Dreamer, keeper of his warriors true..”
God is a dreamer! He created all that we see out of nothing but a loving community of conversation. He continually envisions an alternate future, passes his dreams on to us, and those of us with the courage to embrace them pray and work them into concrete expression – the subversive reality of the Kingdom.
This kingdom is literally not of this world – yet breaks into our world in power and in surprising and brilliant ways, bringing light into darkness, peace into chaos, and replacing sadness with joy.
Let’s face it – anyone who imagines an alternate future in this world will face many disappointments, and heartache and pain. Sometimes we don’t attain our dreams because they are too large for one life – they might take several generations to attain. We are “prophets of a future not our own.”
Sometimes we don’t attain them because they weren’t really God’s dream in the first place. They were our own distorted ego with a kingdom veneer. We sought success, and not fruitfulness. We were more concerned with looking good in the eyes of the broken world than in bringing a smile to God’s heart.
And sometimes we don’t attain them because we live in a broken world and we are broken people. Our dreams for a shalom future meet resistance from the world, the flesh and the devil. Read the rest of this entry »
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When someone at METRO recently asked for some teaching on prayer, I got thinking what I would say in a short space of time. What would I report on what I have learned over the years, yet keep it simple and accessible and practical? Well, I don’t know how well I did. But this is what I came up with. The link to the two page document follows.
* prayer is subversive
* prayer is submissive
* prayer is effective
* prayer is Trinitarian
* prayer is spiritual
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The LORD has established His throne in heaven,
And His kingdom rules over all.
Bless the LORD, you His angels,
Who excel in strength, who do His word,
Heeding the voice of His word.
Bless the LORD, all you His hosts,
You ministers of His, who do His pleasure.
Bless the LORD, all His works,
In all places of His dominion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
Ps. 103: 19-22
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Nouwen speaks of three disciplines from Luke 6:12-19. He writes,
“Jesus spent the night in solitude with God. In the morning, he gathered his apostles around him and formed community. In the afternoon, with his apostles, he went out and preached the Word and healed the sick. Notice the order-from solitude to community to ministry. The night is for solitude; the morning for community; the afternoon for ministry.
“So often in ministry, I have wanted to do it by myself. If it didn’t work, I went to others and said, ‘Please!,’ searching for a community to help me. If that didn’t work, maybe I’d start praying.
“But the order that Jesus teaches us is the reverse. It begins by being with God in solitude; then it creates a fellowship, a community of people with whom the mission is being lived; and finally this community goes out together to heal and to proclaim good news.
“I believe you can look at solitude, community, and ministry as three disciplines by which we create space for God. If we create space in which God can act and speak, something surprising will happen. You and I are called to these disciplines if we want to be disciples.”
The blurb reads,
“To search the sacred Scripture is very good and most profitable for the soul. For, ‘like a tree which is planted near the running waters,’ so does the soul watered by sacred Scripture also grow hearty and bear fruit in due season,” writes John of Damascus in Orthodox Faith (4.17).
“By helping us to read holy writings with ancient eyes, the church fathers help us drink deeply from the only water that can give us true life. This guide to prayer and reflection combines excerpts from the writings of the church fathers as found in the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture with a simple structure for daily or weekly reading and prayer.
“There are fifty-two weeks of readings following the weekly lectionary cycle A. You can read through them in order or by thematic interest. Each day you will also find a simple opening and closing prayer drawn from the prayers and hymns of the ancient church.”
I like this idea, and I like the cycle. The volume is hefy at 300 pages and published by IVP under their Formatio imprint.
But I haven’t told you much yet, have I? What you really want to know is, “what is it like in use?” Following is an excerpt of content from the third week of Easter.
OUT OF THE DARK
THEME
Just as Saul heard the voice of the Lord on the road to Damascus, was blinded and then regained his sight (Acts 9:1-6) so we who turn from our sins and follow the Lord find joy and healing (Ps 30). Because we love and trust in God’s Son, who became a man and dwelled among us (Jn 21:1-19), we offer him all praises and glory (Rev 5:11-14).
OPENING PRAYER: 3rd Sunday of Easter
This one from the Gelasian Sacramentary Read the rest of this entry »
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