What's Working?

During my first week on Sabbatical, in addition to getting settled at the Fuller Guest House and enjoying Southern California, I had the opportunity to sit down for ministry-related conversations with two people.  The first was my good friend Matthew Krabill.  I knew Matthew from our days at Eastern Mennonite University, and then we both found our way to Fuller.  Matt is currently working on his Ph.D studying immigrant congregations in Los Angeles.  The second was my boss/mentor when I worked at the Center for Anabaptist Leadership, Jeff Wright.  Jeff, in my opinion, is hands down the best urban Anabptist missiologist around.  Jeff is now the pastor at Madison Street Church, a Brethren in Christ church in Riverside, CA.

Among other things, I asked both of them a very simple question related to the churches and ministries they are in connection with:  "What's working?"

When I asked Matthew this question, he told a story from Wholicare Community Church, a congregation made up of Congolese immigrants affiliated with the Pacific Southwest Mennonite Conference where Matthew is a member.   Wholicare is a Congolese congregation, but recently a Latino man began attending.  The reason he started to attend is because he worked the night shift with a member from Wholicare and they ride the bus home together.  When they get off the bus together in Pasadena, the Wholicare member then often helps this man find a ride the rest of the way home.   After working all night Saturday night, the bus drops them off soon before Wholicare's church service begins.  The Wholicare member goes straight from the bus to church.  So soon enough the Latino man started going along to Wholicare, partly because it was something to do while waiting for his ride the rest of the way home.

This isn't an example of a church-growth strategy.  It's not an official program of the congregation.  It's simply a point of intersection between a person from the congregation and a fellow employee/bus mate.  And more than that, it's the awareness to not just remain in one's individual silo while riding the bus, but to make a connection, strike up a conversation, and make an invitation.

When I asked Jeff the question, "what's working?" being a strategic-thinking urban missiologist, he began to talk about flexible congregational structures and empowering lay leadership.  One of Jeff's mantras is "We invest in people, not programs."  He then told a story of city worker/beach-bum-at-heart member of the congregation who has a passion for biking.  This member always saw his passion for biking as separate from both his job and his faith.  But Jeff began to encourage to ask how he could use his passion for biking on behalf of God's Kingdom at Madison Street Church.  Out of this grew the idea to hold a bike clinic/workshop.  So one Saturday in Riverside, this member with others from the congregation offered free bike repairs and instruction for anyone from the community that came to the event.  They have held more of these events, and through this the congregation has gained a reputation as the church that cares about their community.

Two things strike me about these stories.  First, both have a theology of place (even if not explicitly articulated as such).  Having a theology of place is the understanding that God is at work in the places that they live, work, commute, and recreate.  Not only in a spiritual, big-picture sort of way, but the understanding that God is at work in the particulars of our place.   And then given that God is at work in our place, God calls us to join in God's redemptive work in those places.

Second, both are examples of the gift economy at work.  Both started by giving something.  In the example from Wholicare, it was a ride.  In the example from Madison Street Church, it was free bike repair and instruction.  It's easy to get caught up in the mindset of consumerism where it's all about getting.  But the Kingdom of God operates on the economy of giving.

So what's working?  Bottom line from these first two congregations: faithful men and women with eyes and ears and imaginations open to the work of God in the places they live joining in the work of God through small acts of generosity.  Lot's to think about in both those stories.  

Departure and Arrival

January 12th was our departure date to fly from DTW to LAX for the first phase of the sabbatical; a whole month in Pasadena staying at the Fuller Seminary Guest House.

I didn't sleep well the night of the 11th.  Partly excited, and partly nervous/freaking out about what these next 4 months have in store.  I ended up getting about 5 hours of sleep, and awoke to find 3 inches of snow on the ground.  So after a few sips of coffee, there was nothing to do but to begin shoveling.  Emiley and the girls got up, we had breakfast, finished all our packing, and were on the road by 9:15, only 15 minutes later than we had hoped.  Not bad.  

I was a little nervous about how the roads would be after the 3 inches of snow we got overnight, but the interstate was fine.  We made it to DTW by 10:15 and my good friend Tommy Airey was at the airport to meet us.  I met Tommy at Fuller in an Anabaptist Missiology class taught by Wilbert Shenk (no relation).  Tommy grew up in Orange County in the shadow of Saddleback, but was freshly disillusioned by the evangelicalism he grew up in.  He was compelled by the Anabaptist vision for faith and discipleship, and even started a small church plant dubbing themselves "The Orange County Mennonites."  Tommy and his wife Lindsay began drinking deeply from the wells of discipleship Christianity, and in 2013 embarked on a "radical road-trip" to visit discipleship communities across the united states.  That trip led them to relocate for this year to Detroit where they are learning from the Jeanie Wylie Community and St. Peter's Episcopal Church and exploring issues of peace, simplicity, racial justice, and watershed discipleship in the city of Detroit.  Tommy is car-sitting for us while we'll be in Pasadena.  It helps them to have an extra set of wheels this winter, and it saves us on parking fees.   

We made it through airport security with two of the cutest little travelers you could ever imagine, had

a fun time riding the terminal tram, and got lunch to take on the plane.  Then we sat... and sat.... for an hour on the plane before takeoff as they had to de-ice the wheel wells from the blistery cold and snow and ice of Detroit in January.  Needless to say we weren't thrilled about an extra hour on the plane with two little ones, but it's good practice for our longer international flights in February.  All in all the girls did fine.  Roslyn got antsy toward the end, and Liz didn't want to eat and was really squirmy.  But we made it.  We made it just in time to get our car rental and get stuck in LA rush hour at 4:30 pacific time.  Tired, hungry, and couped up all day, we were happy to make it to the guest house and turn in for an early night.  

Today has been a wonderful start to our time in Pasadena.  We traded the blistery winter of the mid-west for blue skies, sunny, 70-degree weather, and fresh strawberries from the farmers market.

 We basically spent the day getting groceries, running errands, and cruising the old familiar streets of Pasadena.   Around 3:00 I took my first walk through Fuller's campus, stopping at the bookstore and library.  I ran into a former professor Erin Dufault-Hunter, and a good friend Matthew Krabill.  Afterwards I spent some time reading, outside, in one of my old study spots.  

Yes... this is nice.  

TMC All Stars

Of course everyone at TMC is an all star, but I want to take the time to thank 3 people who are doing us big favors while we are away on sabbatical.  First, much thanks to Ellie who is house-sitting for us.  Make yourself at home and enjoy, Ellie.  It gives us much peace of mind knowing someone is keeping an eye on things.

Second, thanks to Joel N. for agreeing to take care of snow removal this winter.  (Ellie thanks you too, Joel!).

And finally, thanks to Doug.  Doug had agreed to let us park our second car at his house this winter so it would be out of Ellie's way.  But on Sunday as we were running our final errands before departure, the oil light in our 96 accord came on.  When I checked, it was completely bone dry of oil.  And I just had it into the shop earlier in the week.  I knew it was an old car and leaked oil, but never like this before.  Needless to say, we weren't driving that car anywhere.   I put some more oil in just to get it home and parked it on the street and was planning on leaving it there until we got back.  But when I told Doug about all this he graciously offered to take it back into the shop while we were away if we left a key for him to use.  I still need to call the shop and let them know about this, and that Doug may potentially be bringing it in for us, but so glad for a friend willing to go out of his way.

So thank you Ellie, Joel, and Doug for the major favors you are doing us, and for the many others who offer their support and love and prayers.

Close Call

Yesterday, Saturday January 10th.  We've just finished lunch.  It's about 1:30.  Emiley and I start talking about the international driver's permit I got from AAA for our sabbatical trip for while we are in Germany.  This get's Emiley thinking, "hmmm... my birthday is coming up... hmmm... I wonder if this is the year my driver's license expires."

She checks her license, and sure enough, it is.  Her birthday is January 14th.  Her driver's license expires on that same day, and Ohio requires renewal in person.  We leave on Monday, January 12th for Los Angeles for a month.  It's Saturday, January 10th at 1:30.  This is not good.

She jumps online and luckily enough the Heatherdowns branch of the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles is open until 2:00 on Saturdays.  We live 20 minutes away.  She immediately rushes out the door, gets into the car, and drives off.  Emiley hasn't done her hair today, Lizette needs to eat, and Roslyn is going stir-crazy; but none of that matters.  She needs that license, and she has exactly 30 minutes to do it or else a huge wrench is thrown into our sabbatical plans.

At 1:51 I get a text: "Made it here!!!"

I text back: "So as long as you are in the door will you be served?"

A few minutes later: "Yes, I am almost done."

**Big Sigh of Relief**

She was home by 2:30.  Not only was it amazingly providential that she remembered in just enough time to renew her driver's license before disaster struck, but that has got to be the fastest service ever rendered by a BMV in the history of human kind.

Crisis averted!  Tomorrow, we depart.

The World Militant: Preaching a Decentering Word

The Word Militant by Walter Brueggemann

“Preaching is foolish, dangerous, and exposing, because what must be said in proclamation constitutes a daring alternative to the ideological passions that may be present in the congregation, to the powers that conduct surveillance, either inside or outside the congregation, and to the preacher’s own sense of self.  The occasion of preaching is risky on all counts, inherently risky because something other happens in preaching besides the echo of our preferred ideologies, our studied interests, or our personal inadequacies” (2). 

I’ve had the privilege over the last four to five months to be in a book group with four other young pastors all in various congregational contexts in Mennonite Church USA.  Our text has been The Word Militant by Walter Brueggemann.  Rather than doing a chapter-by-chapter summary, this post will simply be a one-post review of the entire book. 

Walter Brueggemann is from the United Church in Christ tradition and is Professor of Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary.  He is widely regarded as a premier Old Testament professor, an engaging speaker, and, as a friend of mine once described, all of the biblical prophets rolled up into one.  I have had the opportunity to read several of his books and to hear him present at a conference on the topic of “God and Mammon” at Eastern Mennonite University.  He has become one of my favorite and most respected theologians, and so I was eager to read what he has to say about the task of preaching. 

From the Introduction, Brueggemann states that, “The task of preaching is redescription of the world, with reference to YHWH by appeal to the text through poetic imagination that is connected to particular context.”  This redescription of the world is a decentering process, as the subtitle, “preaching a decentering word” makes clear. 

Throughout the book, Brueggemans challenge to the preacher to preach a decentering word that redescribes the world involves two primary areas of our lives.  The first is the realization that in our modern, technologized, post-enlightenment world, we now live in a context in which it is possible to construe the world without God.  This is a unique, relatively recent phenomenon over the last few hundred years.  Prior to the enlightenment, there might have been differing understandings of god (or gods), but the existence of god was assumed.  That assumption is no longer the case.  Within this new reality, Brueggemann states, “It is the preacher’s primary responsibility to invite and empower and equip the community to reimagine the world as though YHWH were a key and decisive player” (148). 

In other words, in a cultural context focused on self, in a society obsessed with human achievement and human possibility, preaching a decentering word is the daring proclamation of God’s impossibility in the face of human possibility.  Preaching is thus a process of reimagining the world by proclaiming “thus saith the Lord” into situations in which it was assumed and expected and preferred that God not be present and active.  When the bible refers to the rich, the powerful, and the privileged it is referring to those who get along just fine in a world in which God does not decenter or inconvenience our assumptions, values, and lifestyles with calls for neighborliness, holiness, and justice.  Thus, the preacher who reimagines the world in which YHWH is active and in which YHWH is a God of justice and righteousness and love is the preacher that truly preaches good news to the poor and lowly (cf. Mary’s Song in Luke 1 and Jesus’ ministry manifesto in Luke 4). 

The second area of life in which Breuggeman engourages the preacher to preach a decentering word is in regard to the vested interests that we all have, including the preacher.  We all have ideological passions and convictions that are often in the interest of self, or one’s group, or the acquisition and maintenance of power, influence, and possessions.  It is the preacher’s task to reimagine in these areas as well. 

In this regard, one of the most helpful practical insights Brueggemann offers is how he applies the concept of triangling to the task of preaching.  Traingling is a term from the field of family systems.  Its basic premise is that in any emotional systems, a direct, one-to-one relationship is the most unstable.  Thus, a relationship between person A and person B involves risk, vulnerability, and anxiety.  When the emotional reactivity and intensity increases between person A and person B, it is often the case that one of those persons reaches out and “triangles” person C in order to defuse some of the anxiety and intensity.  Triangles are inevitable, but they can be very unhealthy.  Thus the importance of Jesus’ teaching to in Matthew 18 to go directly to the person who sins against you rather than gossiping and triangling with person C. 

Anyway… regarding preaching, in order to relieve anxiety between preacher A and congregation B, the preacher might triangle party C (be it God or the bible) against the congregation.  It may be done in the name of “being prophetic” or “speaking a hard truth” but often is a cover for the preachers own vested interests.  Likewise, when the preacher does faithfully preach a decentering word, and the congregation resists this decentering, they likewise may also triangle against the preacher by involving a third party (again, God, the bible, or perhaps tradition or “the way we’ve always done things”).  In the same manner, this can be done to protect the vested interests of the congregation. 

Rather, Bruggemann advises that the strategic triangle (since triangles are inevitable) of the preacher is to triangle preacher and congregation against God, or God against the preacher and congregation.  This is not to paint an overly-adversarial relationship between God and God’s people.  We affirm that the God of love and grace is for us.  Still, the God of justice and righteousness and neighborliness decenters us and requires that we live reimagined lives.  In this decentering process, the preacher is God’s servant to pronounce “thus saith the Lord,” but the preacher also falls under that same word.  This posture in a triangle correctly understands that the congregation and the preacher are in this together. 

So, the preacher’s task is to reimagine a world where God is alive and active within a world which assumes God is not.  The preacher’s task is also to proclaim “thus saith the Lord,” in ways that challenge the human vested interests.  In light of these two areas in which we find our worlds decentered by the word of God, I find three images offered by Brueggemann as especially helpful to conceptualize who the preacher is and what the preacher does. 

The first is the image of a scribe.  Scribes are those who tend to ancient and prophetic texts in order to “preserve, value, and interpret old scrolls” (53).  The task of the scribe is to help the listening community discern old stories.  The scribe practices the discipline of reading with new eyes and listening with new ears.  The scribe is thus an artist whose medium is imagination.  A scribe is also released from the burden of responsibility to manage God’s word.  A scribes task is to release God’s word into the hearts of listeners by simply and faithfully attending to sacred scrolls and keeping their ancient memory alive. 

The second is the image of a priest.  Not necessarily in the sense that a preacher/priest is a mediator between God and the congregation, but rather that the preacher/priest is an intercessor and advocate to God on behalf of the congregation.  The best priestly example of this is the example of Moses in Exodus 32.  After the people worship idols made of gold while Moses is on Mt. Saini, God resolves to destroy the people.  Moses as priest advocates on behalf of God’s people, appeals to God’s best self, calls upon God’s slowness to anger and abundance of steadfast love, and the text says God changes his mind (cf. Exodus 31:11-14).  Relating to the concept of triangling, the preacher/priest and the congregation are in-it-together in relationship to God. 

The final image is that of a testifier or witness.  In a context in which it is possible to construe the world without reference to God, in a context in which the forces of hegemony and accumulation marginalize the God of fullness of life and abundance, in a context in which the church has lost (or is losing) its privileged position as state chaplain, the preacher no longer speaks from a privileged platform guiding collective thinking based on shared worldview.  This is not only the case in regard to the church in relation to the world, but the congregation in relation to one another as well.  Therefore, Brueggemann states that “the sermon is de-position from the judge’s bench to the witness box” (125).  The preacher is a witness and the sermon is his/her testimony.  It is not a complete word, the first word, the last word, or the authoritative word.  It is a word.  It is a word of an alternative reality.  It is a word of a world reimagined.  It is a word that opens up the possibility of decentering ourselves and our vested interests in order that the limits of human possibility give way to the promises of God’s impossibility. 

There is much more that could be said, and I have simply highlighted that which has been particularly helpful to me.  This book is one of the densest I have ever read, but definitely worth the time to drink deeply and slowly from the well of insight that is Walter Brueggemann.  

Paul, Jesus, and Christian Origins

"Jesus was bringing Israel's history to its climax; Paul was living in the light of that climax.  Jesus was narrowly focused on the sharp-edged, single task; Paul was celebrating the success of that task, and discovering its fruits in a thousand different ways and settings."

Now, here, finally in this last chapter, N.T. Wright answers the question we've all been waiting for since starting to read What Saint Paul Really Said.  Was Paul of Tarsus really the founder of Christianity?  Wright says "no."

A big issue within the study of Christian origins is if and how the legacy of the Christian church has any relation to the person of Jesus of Nazareth.  Put another way, if Jesus of Nazareth came back today, would he recognize his teachings and his ministry within his church?  Often the question is asked to imply the answer "no."

In many ways and in many places this critique of the church is accurate and deserved.  However, Wrights argument is that while the church may have a checkered past, it is not because Paul himself was the one who departed from the person of Jesus and the announcement of his good news.

On the surface, it may appear that Jesus message and ministry about the Kingdom of God while Paul's message and ministry focused on justification.  Yes, their vocabulary and major themes of their teaching may not be identical, but Wright very much sees Paul in continuity with Jesus; even if Paul didn't exactly replicate Jesus' ministry.

The reason why Paul may appear to go in a different direction than Jesus is because Jesus and Paul had two different callings and vocations.  Jesus came to announce and inaugurate the Kingdom of God and to fulfill God's promise to Israel.  Paul came to announce Jesus' success in bringing the Kingdom, and, because of that success, to announce God's blessing upon the gentiles as well.  Jesus came to announce and inaugurate the Kingdom.  Paul came to announce how Jew and gentile alike enter into that kingdom (i.e. how they become justified).

Thus, Paul builds on Jesus' message and does so in such a way that it can be understood as good news to the gentiles as well as the Jews.  Paul is an apostle to the gentiles; he is a missionary.  And like any good missionary he contextualizes the gospel to communicate effectively.  But this is a far cry, according to Wright, from those who accuse Paul of jettisoning or downplaying Jesus' message of the Kingdom altogether.

Paul's Gospel Then and Now

"One is not justified by faith by believing in justification by faith.  One is justified by faith by believing in Jesus."

"The gospel is the announcement that Jesus is Lord - Lord of the world, Lord of the cosmos, Lord of the earth, of the ozone layer, of whales and waterfalls, of trees and tortoises.  As soon as we get this right we destroy at a stroke the disastrous dichotomy that has existed in people's minds between 'preaching the gospel' on the one hand and what used to be called loosely 'social action' or 'social justice' on the other.  Preaching the gospel means announcing Jesus as Lord of the world; and unless we are prepared to contradict ourselves with every breath we take, we cannot make that announcement without seeking to bring that lordship to bear over every aspect of the world."

Chapter 9, the second-to-last chapter of What Saint Paul Really Said, is essentially a summary of much of the Material that N.T. Wright has been discussing.

Wright has sought all along to place the doctrine of justification within the gospel proclamation.  The proclamation of the good news (gospel) of Jesus, the crucified and risen king is what creates a new community of people who have come to faith in Jesus and who live their lives in allegiance to him.  The doctrine of justification then is what says that all who have this faith in Jesus, and all who give their allegiance to him by living lives of holiness, obedience, and justice, are a part of God's people regardless of social divisions.

Throughout, Wright has been running against the grain of the Reformation legacy which understood justification primarily in regards to soteriology (the study of salvation) and has been arguing instead that justification is about ecclesiology (the study of the church) (without going so far as to say that those things are completely separate),

The job of the church, the job of those who are 'justified' into a new community based on their common allegiance to Jesus, is to continue to incarnate the good news message of Jesus, the crucified and risen Lord into all areas of life.  By living lives of holiness, by a lifestyle characterized by the obedience of faith, but working for justice, building peace, caring for the environment, and, yes, proclaiming the gospel of Jesus, the church provides signs of hope in the present of the way things will be in the future.

Therefore, when the church gets its theology in the right order, when it understand justification in relationship both to the church and to the Gospel itself, the church gains clarity in proclaiming the whole gospel to the whole world.  And that is good news indeed.