Wonderings & Wanderings

Praying at Antioch

On Wednesday Night, four friends from Emmaus Way and I joined Antioch Baptist Church in a prayer gathering - truly a prayer march.   Antioch is a primarily African-American church in Northeast Central Durham - one of Durham's most underserved communities.  A group of around 50 disciples (that is the best definition I can think of for the adults, youth, and children who comprise Antioch's prayer ministry) gathered on a small lot just North of Antioch's building to pray.  Over the next hour, we moved around their building to pray on each point of the compass.  This movement of prayer gave us a wider perspective on the neighborhood, offered opportunity to collect a few passers-by into our circle, and gave us a sense of the infinite trajectories of God's mercy and purposes.

Our community at Emmaus Way has been invited for the past month to join Antioch in a special season of prayer.  Rev. Michael Page had just formed six prayer cells to help Antioch discern their place in God's will for their community.  Our invitation came on the heels of a lunch where Michael and I discussed the future possibilities of our ministry partnership.  We have many future activities planned with Antioch — gleaning, a Christmas Day dinner for the neighborhood, and a summer math/science camp for local middle schoolers.  But this collaboration certainly has meant the most to me.

Antioch has asked that we take time to join with them in listening to God.  Listening for opportunities, responsibilities, and the gentle words of "I love you" from God.  I confess that I'm much better in building networks, forming strategies, and making plans a reality than often listening to God beforehand.  A valuable lesson taught and learned once again.

The passion of the prayers that we have joined this past month are another reminder that we live sustained by God and clinging to God's grace.  Two huge hurricanes and tsunami should reinforce that lesson.  But I forget it - daily.   

Roberts Confirmation - The Myth of Objectivity

I was stuck in my car...
a few days ago listening to Roberts Confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee.  Much of the dialogue wasn't really dialogue.  Several of the Senators never even got around to asking legitimate questions.  They used their allotted 30 minutes to make a political statement or to promote an allied political agenda.  Some of the questions asked of Roberts (who is a very skilled communicator) were motivated by the politics of specific issues like abortion, civil rights, etc.  Regardless of the question, one theme repetitively appeared, the claim of objectivity.   

When pushed on these emotional, political issues, Judge Roberts rightly claimed that he would examine any issue within the context of a specific case brought before the court.  He was also very wise to point out that previous briefs that he had written on many of these same issues had a context.  His briefs were written while providing legal advice to the administration that employed him.  The political needs, interests, and perspectives of that administration (I think the Reagan Admin.) created a distinct historical context for these opinions. 

Despite this obvious sensitivity to context, Roberts often appealed to "objectivity" as a shield to the specter of an "activist legacy," the fear that his personal opinions and experiences would affect his judiciary work.  His well-spoken metaphors of objectivity (often comparing himself to a umpire that enforces acknowledged rules rather than a "player" in the game) were met with relief and affirmation even by would-be opponents to his nomination.  Such is the strength of the myth of objectivity in our culture, one of the dangerous legacies of the modern world.

But of course, Roberts' personal experiences and beliefs will shape his judgments during his term on the highest court!  To do so is to be human and to act honestly with integrity.  A Roberts term on the Supreme Court will be affected by many cultural contexts.  His interaction with his colleagues and their posture (which includes all of their own experiences and perspectives!) will be one critical context.  The political climate of our nation will dictate the issues that reach this court.  Obviously, the Constitution of the United States — to use Roberts' metaphor, the rule book — will be part of a critical interpretive context.  This is resoundingly true because the Constitution must be interpreted as this great historical document encounters the new issues and questions brought forth by history.  It is a text - a proclamation of great values written in a specific (and past) historical context. 

For example, the "right to bear arms" certainly does not mean the freedom for private citizens to procure biological weapons!  Or does it?  This proclamation must be interpreted in light of the historical context of the framers (What freedom, right, and specific acts were they protecting in their time?) and the contemporary contexts where weapons have been developed that potentially go far beyond the needs of self-protection and can threaten the lives of whole populations.  Or is the Bill of Rights to be read literally always - protecting the right to bear any weapon.  Even to interpret it this literally demands a personal opinion on the value, or the lack thereof in this case, of historical contexts. 

Why do I care...?
The postmodern world has opened our eyes to the impact of our many contexts on the truth we perceive.  Acting with integrity now typically implies a great sensitivity to the personal stories that shape our perceptions rather than pretending that these personal stories do not exist or that they have no measurable impact on our lives and decisions.

Embracing this reality has tremendous implications on how we read Sacred text, encounter the traditions of those who have followed Jesus throughout the ages, and how we enter the lives of others who have different stories. 

For example, I am just finishing a marvelous book by Brian Walsh entitled  Colossians Remixed.  In his introduction, he explains why some dismiss and even fear the Scriptures.  Referring to a conversation with a friend who has, after long reflection, has become a theist but still claims no interest in the Bible, Walsh writes:

William responds to Biblical texts with a deeply set hermeneutic of suspicion.  And he has good reason for his suspicion.  This text has been used — in his experience and throughout much of Christian history — as a repressive book of absolutes that silenced all questioning.  Indeed the Bible seems to be a text suffused with certainty.  And if there is one thing that William and his generation are certain of, it is that there is no certainty.  Certainty needs to be abandoned because it claims too much for any human perspective.

Walsh continues on, quoting philosopher John Caputo, on the damages done in human culture by claims of objectivity and certainty by persons in power:

The modernist pretense to have objectively grasped a total reality invariably results in a totalitarian social practice.  Failing to recognize that human knowledge is always constructed in particular historical contexts, "total systems" are invariably achieved "only at the cost of violence, by repressing what doesn't fit and erasing the memory of those who have questioned it."

What does it mean...?
This is certainly not an attack on truth.  Truth and reality certainly exist.  As do values that shape our lives and human societies.  But, of course, as servants of truth and meaning, we operate in a world of subjective impressions and perceptions.  Being open to this reality, we are driven to community and relationship knowing that our knowledge is incomplete and that our perceptions need to be balanced by the experiences of others.   In this process of community formation, many certainties are not only allowed but are resoundingly endorsed with the voices of so many.  My certainty in the existence of a loving, redemptive, personal God because of this process - that this same God has touched the stories of so many that I love and respect. 

Such an understanding releases the Bible from its captivity as a book of a-cultural directives and a-historical prescriptions.  The Bible William and so many others fear can become a sacred text that encounters human dramas and contexts with grace and eternal meaning. 

By the way, I have little doubt that Judge Roberts also understand the importance of context in interpretation.  But sadly, our current context that idolizes certainties and bows to the myth of objectivity forces him to speak as if it were true. 

Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Cohort 2.0

I just got back from from the re-start of Raleigh-Durham's Cohort Meeting...

For the uninitiated, "cohorts" is term Emergent uses for local communities that gather to discuss the intersections of church, culture, theology, and life. These local groups have been developing all over the country. Just over three years ago, we only had a handful...but in the past year cohorts have been developing in most major cities around the country. For an example of a great cohort, check-out Uprooted in Chicago .

Chris Marlow (pastor of Sacred, a church plant in Raleigh), Tyler Jones (pastor of Vintage21, an Acts29 church near N.C.State's campus) and I are working to get the second version of our cohort going this fall. In the past, we've meet mid-week in the mornings and have had a great small group of professional pastors join us. But in this derivation, we have changed our monthly meeting time to the evenings to include a much wider group of persons who want to join us but are not available during the day. We have several friends in Greensboro, Eastern NC, and Southern Virginia who are also hoping to join us.

The Plan: We will meet for the time being at Vintage21 (off of Oberlin Rd., near Cameron Village and N.C. State - see Vintage21.com for better directions) at 7:30pm on the fourth Monday of each month.

Please feel invited to join us for a wide range of theological and cultural dialogue. One of our primary goals is to build/restore the voice of the church in the Triangle and a post-Christian culture.

Also, please feel free to drop me a line if you have questions or suggestions (Tyler and I will be developing the topics and "content" for the cohort meetings).

Katrina...Jonah...Horror...Shame...and liturgies of Hope

Though certainly not entirely planned - our worship examination of the life journey of Jonah collided with the horror and tragedy in the wake of hurricane Katrina. Pastorally, I talked with several in our community and in my own family (include Mimi and me on this list) who are encountering fear, guilt, shame, and missional fervor in this week or terrible images and urgent need.

Jonah offered a portrait of courage (albeit misguided), nationalism (certainly misguided), thankfulness (perhaps short-sighted), stubborn participation in God's plans, and downright cussin'-tantrum throwin'-anger at God's mercy and kindness. One of the trajectories of this great Scriptural story is that of a gracious God who goes far beyond our meagre expectations and captivating prejudices. Jonah cannot accept the greatness of God's mercy. He is forefather of the workers in the vineyard described in parabolic detail by Jesus (Matthew 20). Those who worked only one hour are paid a full day's wage in the face of those who worked all day. The owner of the vineyard invites them to celebrate his generosity. But they cannot take this path. The cling to their own entitlements. Jonah also fails in this challenge. He cannot accept God's generosity to the notorious Assyrians. His proud nationalism creates a prejudice where his hopes for Israel (who will surely be punished by a penitent Assyrian nation) that stands above a relenting, mercy extending God.

As I said last night, Jonah creates great issues of worship for us. We are challenged to faithfully accept that God's intentions for our lives, community, and world are far greater than our plans, perceptions, and prejudices for our context. We must adore and worship in spite of inability to understand or accept God's mercy and sovereign planning.

The hurricane's wake is a context that confronts us squarely with this test of worship. The injustice of poverty and the implications of that poverty in escaping the wrath of the storm, the horror or human loss, the obvious failures of our government, and the failures of the human spirit have dominated our viewing of this tragedy for the last week. How does this context include a merciful and sovereign God?

So many of you have described intense shame, guilt, and fear in the aftermath. How can we be free of such suffering when we clearly are not specimens of perfect humanity? We are participants in a world that creates such a great gulf of wealth and poverty. Where does our confidence lie - in the mercy of God or the powers of our government? How have our prejudices affected our viewing of this tragedy? Many of us have cringed as Christians have incredulously claimed this as act of God's judgment. Despite the humor of some Christian being in consensus with Al Queda, such foolish words are clear examples of moral and political prejudice dominating one's perspective.

Our journey of response to this event should a path of both spirtual reflection and urgent mission. We will be offering many opportunities for mission to our community. But I also want to post the prayer liturgies that we used last night as part of our response. The words of these prayers are taken from Richard Foster.

I offer these as liturgies of ADORATION (we must embrace God as merciful despite human tragedy), SUFFERING (we are called to come close to human suffering), TEARS (we are free to let tragedy touch our emotive core), EXAMEN (we must confront our shame and guilt in the wake of our world's injustice and the pain of others), INTERCESSION (we must let spiritual reflection motivate us to mission), and HEALING (our acceptance of a merciful God demands that we embrace the reality of God's intervention into the horrors of our world).

A LITURGY OF ADORATION
Most high, glorious God, it is love that calls forth my speech, though it still feels like stammering. I adore you. I worship you. I bow down before you. Thank you for your gifts of grace:
— the consistency of sunrise and sunset
— the wonder of colors
— the solace of voices I know.
I magnify you, Lord. In the name of him whose adoration never failed.

A LITURGY OF SUFFERING
O Holy Spirit of God, so many hurt today. Help me to stand with them in their suffering. My temptation is to offer quick prayer and send them off rather than endure with them the desolation of suffering. Show me the pathway into their pain.

A LITURGY OF TEARS
Gracious Jesus, it is easier for me to approach you with my mind than with my tears. I do not know how to pray from the emotive center of my life… Still, I come to you just as I am…Break my stony heart with the things that break your heart.

A LITURGY OF EXAMEN
Precious Savior, why do I fear your scrutiny? Yours is an examen of love. Still, I am afraid… afraid of what may surface. Even so, I invite you to search me to the depths so that I may know myself, and you, in fuller measure.

A LITURGY OF INTERCESSION
Gracious Holy Spirit, so much of my life seems to revolve around my interests and my welfare. I would like to live just one day in which everything I did benefited someone besides myself. Perhaps prayer for others is a starting point. Help me to do so without any need of praise or reward. In Jesus’ name. — Amen.

A LITURGY OF HEALING
My Lord and my God, I have a thousand arguments against healing prayer. You are the one argument for it… You win. Help me to be a conduit through which your healing love can flow to others. For Jesus’ sake. — Amen.

May these prayers challenge and dislodge our prejudices, shame, fear, and finite expectations of an infinite God. May these prayers guide us into mission. May these prayers give us new eyes for the needs of our own community.