If you are interested in how we as the church might faithfully incorporate visual elements into worship and teaching, then perhaps this article would be of interest to you. An exerpt of the opening paragraphs follow the link.
Building Church Leaders Newsletter:
"Visualcy."
No, it's not a real word. Not yet anyway. It was coined by author Andy Crouch to describe a new skill needed in our image-soaked society.
'Just as the shift to writing required the skills we call literacy,' writes Crouch, 'so visual culture requires its own skills—for lack of a better word, visualcy.'
What does visualcy have to do with ministry? Everything! Today people expect a church service to engage their ears and eyes. Even more traditional churches that shun technology can't avoid using visual media entirely. Remember when carousel slide projectors were a staple of missionary presentations?"
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
A Study on "Life Together"
Life Together: A Discussion of Christian Fellowship
The book was written in 1935 in Finkenwalde near Stettin, where he shared a common life in emergency-built houses with twenty-five vicars. Originally published in 1938 as Gemeinesames Leben. It was here that he also wrote The Cost of Discipleship and The Prayer Book of the Bible: An Introduction to the Psalms which more fully explores the themes in chapter two of Life Together. Shortly after this last publication the Gestapo shut down the underground seminary.
Plan
Session 1
Introduction and I Community 33 pages
Session 2
II The Day with Others 36 pages
Session 3
III The Day Alone 14 pages
Session 4
IV Ministry 20 pages
Session 5
V Confession and Communion 12 pages
Introduction/Biography
“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church” Tertullian 160-220 AD
Dietrich Bonhoeffer -1-
Born - February 4, 1906in Breslau, Germany
Died - April 9, 1945 (age 39) in Flossenbürg concentration camp
Church - Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union Confessing Church
Education - Doctorate in theology
Writings - Author of several books and articles (see below)
Congregations served Zion's Church congregation, Berlin German-speaking congregations of St. Paul's and Sydenham, London
Offices - held Associate lecturer at Frederick William University of Berlin (1931-1936)
Student pastor at Technical College, Berlin (1931-1933)
Lecturer of Confessing Church candidates of pastorate in Finkenwalde (1935-1937)
Title - Ordained Pastor
Family - Father was a noted physician and first to occupy a Chair in Psychiatry in Germany. One of seven children who were always close and played with the VonHarnack and Delbrueck children (Famous scholar and historian)
As Hitler rises to power in Germany and the church ‘cooperates’ with the Third Reich, Bonhoeffer leaves the country to serve in England and to study in New York City. It was there that he gained a great appreciation for African American Gospel music as he worshiped in Baptist congregations. Preparing to visit Gandhi, in India in order to pursue an interest in pacifism, he is contacted to lead a group of men from the “confessing” church in their studies at an unapproved, “illegal” seminary which was at Zingst and then moved to Finkenwalde.
Now immersed again in the world which was Nazi Germany, and in which many of his family were involved in the resistance, he too became involved in the plot to over through Hitler being led by Genera Beck and others. Thus, “The man who felt all the force of the pacifist position and weighted the “cost of discipleship” concluded in the depths of his soul that to withdraw from those who were participating in the political and military resistance would be irresponsible cowardice and flight from reality. “Not,” as his friend Bethge says, “That he believed that everybody must act as he did, but from where he was standing, he could see no possibility of retreat into any sinless, righteous, pious refuge. The sin of respectable people reveals itself in flight from responsibility. He saw that sin falling upon him and he took his stand.” -2-
April 5, 1943 he was arrested, along with his sister Christel and her husband Hans von Dohnanyi, and sent to Tegel, a military prison. During his time there the guards recognized him as a strong pastor and secretly arranged for him to minister to other prisoners despairing in their cells. They preserved his papers, essays and poems and even established a courier system to get these to his family and friends outside the prison.
After the Putcsch of July 20, he was transferred from one prison to another including Berlin, Buchenwald, Schoenberg, and finally Flossenburg, when all his contacts to the outside world were severed. His last weeks were spend with Russians, Englishmen, Frenchmen, Italians and Germans. On April 8, 1945, the day before his execution, he gave his last sermon to them, the text of which was based the words ‘With his stripes we are healed.” He was taken from them by guards as he finished his last prayer and was never seen by them again.
Chapter One: Community
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity” Ps 133:1
“It is not simply to be taken for granted that the Christian has the privilege of living among other Christians." -3-
1. This, the second, non-scriptural, sentence of the book, is quite amazing, considering the title, Life Together, would seem to speak of some sort of community of believers. Why would it be important for Bonhoeffer to start off his book with this phrase?
Bonhoeffer shows the example of Christ right at the start (17). Jesus did not hide from those he disagreed with nor from those who were clearly leading people away from God. He says Christ was “in the thick of foes.”
2. Who/what might our spiritual foes be? What does it look like for us to be “in the thick” with them?
3. Contrast our times and our setting with 1935 national socialist Germany; though we and the church are protected by our government through the First Amendment, what other pressures do we as the Church face today?
The “confessing” church was a group of believers who could not, by conscience, participate in the “German Christian” church which the Nazi’s had orchestrated and by which most protestants had followed into. This made them easy targets for arrest and harassment.
4. When we make decisions to join one church or another, what “confessions” do we make? What consequences do these confessions bring?
“Christianity means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ.” -4-
5. As Lutherans (and Bonhoeffer was Lutheran) we believe in the solas: Grace alone, Faith alone, Christ alone, Scripture alone. So, how can/do we arrive at a place where we can agree with the quote above?
Bonhoeffer explains this statement in three parts (21)
6. “First, a Christian needs others because of Christ.” In what/where do we meet and discover that need?
7. “Second, a Christian comes to others only through Jesus Christ.” Why is this true?
8. “Third, in Christ we have been chosen from eternity, accepted in time, and united for eternity.” How are we united with Christ? With others?
Note: Bonhoeffer’s comments on what makes us brothers and sisters in Christ (25) is not our “Christianity” but what we are in/to Christ.
“The more genuine and the deeper our community becomes (in Christ, remember) the more will everything else between us recede, the more clearly and purely will Jesus Christ and his work become the one and only thing that is vital between us. We have one another only through Christ, but through Christ we do have one another, wholly, and for all eternity.” -5-
9. What can we expect if we grow closer to each other in community?
10. And how is this closeness in community realized? Or, is it just a pipedream? (see ital. at end of second para. Pg. 26)
“By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world…Every human wish dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive. He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial” -6-
11. What are some of the ‘Wish Dreams’ we might get caught up in as an organized church?
12. What are some of the personal ‘Wish Dreams’ we might try to inject into our Christ-centered community?
13. When our ‘dreams’ don’t come true, who do we blame? Where does the blame lie?
14. How do we then ‘plan’ for ministry? What is our guide?
“We enter that common life not as demanders but as thankful recipients.” -7-
15. How does this statement then organize us as a community?
16. How does this statement inform our interactions with each other--especially when we are at odds with one another? (bottom 28)
17. How does being thankful affect the community? How does God respond? (top 29, bottom 30)
“Because Christian community is founded solely on Jesus Christ, it is a spiritual and not a psychic reality. In this it differs from all other communities. …The basis of the community of the Spirit is truth; the basis of human community of spirit is desire. The essence of the community of the Spirit is light, for “God is light and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5) and “if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another”(1:7)-8-
18. In this line of reasoning where the community of the Spirit in truth seeks light, which is God, what might a human community of spirit seek? i.e. what is at the center of community based upon the human ‘spirit’ as the world defines it? (top 33)
19. How are spiritual love and human love at odds with each other? (35)
We sometimes think that in order to show ‘Christian love’ we need to make them love us back if they are to be saved. But Bonhoeffer says, “I dare not desire direct fellowship with them.” -9-
20. How, then, can we be community, if we are not desiring fellowship with each other? (bottom 35)
21. In whom is our fellowship based, and thereby are we joined to each other?(36)
22. Therefore, spiritual love proves itself in __________. (middle 36)
23. Which is more profitable, to speak to a brother or sister about Christ, or to speak to Christ about a brother or sister?
24. So, then, our love for others is completely bound up in what truth about them? (top37) (see also III John 4)
25. What is Bonhoeffer’s caution about failing to project our human relationships and communities into our Spiritual community? (bottom 38)
“It is not the experience of Christian brotherhood, but solid and certain faith in brotherhood that holds us together.” -10- And that faith is built on our brotherhood with Christ, the hub of community.
End notes:
-1- “Born” through “Title” taken from table found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_Bonhoeffer as of 2/18/2010.
-2- Bonhoeffer, Deitrich, Life Together: A Discussion of Christian Fellowship. New York, Harper and Row, 1954
p. 11
-3- Bonhoeffer, D p. 17
-4- Bonhoeffer, D. p. 21.
-5- Bonhoeffer, D. p. 26
-6- Bonhoeffer, D. p. 27
-7- Bonhoeffer, D. p. 28
-8- Bonhoeffer, D. p. 31
-9- Bonhoeffer, D. p. 35
-10- Bonhoeffer, D. p. 39
The book was written in 1935 in Finkenwalde near Stettin, where he shared a common life in emergency-built houses with twenty-five vicars. Originally published in 1938 as Gemeinesames Leben. It was here that he also wrote The Cost of Discipleship and The Prayer Book of the Bible: An Introduction to the Psalms which more fully explores the themes in chapter two of Life Together. Shortly after this last publication the Gestapo shut down the underground seminary.
Plan
Session 1
Introduction and I Community 33 pages
Session 2
II The Day with Others 36 pages
Session 3
III The Day Alone 14 pages
Session 4
IV Ministry 20 pages
Session 5
V Confession and Communion 12 pages
Introduction/Biography
“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church” Tertullian 160-220 AD
Dietrich Bonhoeffer -1-
Born - February 4, 1906in Breslau, Germany
Died - April 9, 1945 (age 39) in Flossenbürg concentration camp
Church - Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union Confessing Church
Education - Doctorate in theology
Writings - Author of several books and articles (see below)
Congregations served Zion's Church congregation, Berlin German-speaking congregations of St. Paul's and Sydenham, London
Offices - held Associate lecturer at Frederick William University of Berlin (1931-1936)
Student pastor at Technical College, Berlin (1931-1933)
Lecturer of Confessing Church candidates of pastorate in Finkenwalde (1935-1937)
Title - Ordained Pastor
Family - Father was a noted physician and first to occupy a Chair in Psychiatry in Germany. One of seven children who were always close and played with the VonHarnack and Delbrueck children (Famous scholar and historian)
As Hitler rises to power in Germany and the church ‘cooperates’ with the Third Reich, Bonhoeffer leaves the country to serve in England and to study in New York City. It was there that he gained a great appreciation for African American Gospel music as he worshiped in Baptist congregations. Preparing to visit Gandhi, in India in order to pursue an interest in pacifism, he is contacted to lead a group of men from the “confessing” church in their studies at an unapproved, “illegal” seminary which was at Zingst and then moved to Finkenwalde.
Now immersed again in the world which was Nazi Germany, and in which many of his family were involved in the resistance, he too became involved in the plot to over through Hitler being led by Genera Beck and others. Thus, “The man who felt all the force of the pacifist position and weighted the “cost of discipleship” concluded in the depths of his soul that to withdraw from those who were participating in the political and military resistance would be irresponsible cowardice and flight from reality. “Not,” as his friend Bethge says, “That he believed that everybody must act as he did, but from where he was standing, he could see no possibility of retreat into any sinless, righteous, pious refuge. The sin of respectable people reveals itself in flight from responsibility. He saw that sin falling upon him and he took his stand.” -2-
April 5, 1943 he was arrested, along with his sister Christel and her husband Hans von Dohnanyi, and sent to Tegel, a military prison. During his time there the guards recognized him as a strong pastor and secretly arranged for him to minister to other prisoners despairing in their cells. They preserved his papers, essays and poems and even established a courier system to get these to his family and friends outside the prison.
After the Putcsch of July 20, he was transferred from one prison to another including Berlin, Buchenwald, Schoenberg, and finally Flossenburg, when all his contacts to the outside world were severed. His last weeks were spend with Russians, Englishmen, Frenchmen, Italians and Germans. On April 8, 1945, the day before his execution, he gave his last sermon to them, the text of which was based the words ‘With his stripes we are healed.” He was taken from them by guards as he finished his last prayer and was never seen by them again.
Chapter One: Community
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity” Ps 133:1
“It is not simply to be taken for granted that the Christian has the privilege of living among other Christians." -3-
1. This, the second, non-scriptural, sentence of the book, is quite amazing, considering the title, Life Together, would seem to speak of some sort of community of believers. Why would it be important for Bonhoeffer to start off his book with this phrase?
Bonhoeffer shows the example of Christ right at the start (17). Jesus did not hide from those he disagreed with nor from those who were clearly leading people away from God. He says Christ was “in the thick of foes.”
2. Who/what might our spiritual foes be? What does it look like for us to be “in the thick” with them?
3. Contrast our times and our setting with 1935 national socialist Germany; though we and the church are protected by our government through the First Amendment, what other pressures do we as the Church face today?
The “confessing” church was a group of believers who could not, by conscience, participate in the “German Christian” church which the Nazi’s had orchestrated and by which most protestants had followed into. This made them easy targets for arrest and harassment.
4. When we make decisions to join one church or another, what “confessions” do we make? What consequences do these confessions bring?
“Christianity means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ.” -4-
5. As Lutherans (and Bonhoeffer was Lutheran) we believe in the solas: Grace alone, Faith alone, Christ alone, Scripture alone. So, how can/do we arrive at a place where we can agree with the quote above?
Bonhoeffer explains this statement in three parts (21)
6. “First, a Christian needs others because of Christ.” In what/where do we meet and discover that need?
7. “Second, a Christian comes to others only through Jesus Christ.” Why is this true?
8. “Third, in Christ we have been chosen from eternity, accepted in time, and united for eternity.” How are we united with Christ? With others?
Note: Bonhoeffer’s comments on what makes us brothers and sisters in Christ (25) is not our “Christianity” but what we are in/to Christ.
“The more genuine and the deeper our community becomes (in Christ, remember) the more will everything else between us recede, the more clearly and purely will Jesus Christ and his work become the one and only thing that is vital between us. We have one another only through Christ, but through Christ we do have one another, wholly, and for all eternity.” -5-
9. What can we expect if we grow closer to each other in community?
10. And how is this closeness in community realized? Or, is it just a pipedream? (see ital. at end of second para. Pg. 26)
“By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world…Every human wish dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive. He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial” -6-
11. What are some of the ‘Wish Dreams’ we might get caught up in as an organized church?
12. What are some of the personal ‘Wish Dreams’ we might try to inject into our Christ-centered community?
13. When our ‘dreams’ don’t come true, who do we blame? Where does the blame lie?
14. How do we then ‘plan’ for ministry? What is our guide?
“We enter that common life not as demanders but as thankful recipients.” -7-
15. How does this statement then organize us as a community?
16. How does this statement inform our interactions with each other--especially when we are at odds with one another? (bottom 28)
17. How does being thankful affect the community? How does God respond? (top 29, bottom 30)
“Because Christian community is founded solely on Jesus Christ, it is a spiritual and not a psychic reality. In this it differs from all other communities. …The basis of the community of the Spirit is truth; the basis of human community of spirit is desire. The essence of the community of the Spirit is light, for “God is light and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5) and “if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another”(1:7)-8-
18. In this line of reasoning where the community of the Spirit in truth seeks light, which is God, what might a human community of spirit seek? i.e. what is at the center of community based upon the human ‘spirit’ as the world defines it? (top 33)
19. How are spiritual love and human love at odds with each other? (35)
We sometimes think that in order to show ‘Christian love’ we need to make them love us back if they are to be saved. But Bonhoeffer says, “I dare not desire direct fellowship with them.” -9-
20. How, then, can we be community, if we are not desiring fellowship with each other? (bottom 35)
21. In whom is our fellowship based, and thereby are we joined to each other?(36)
22. Therefore, spiritual love proves itself in __________. (middle 36)
23. Which is more profitable, to speak to a brother or sister about Christ, or to speak to Christ about a brother or sister?
24. So, then, our love for others is completely bound up in what truth about them? (top37) (see also III John 4)
25. What is Bonhoeffer’s caution about failing to project our human relationships and communities into our Spiritual community? (bottom 38)
“It is not the experience of Christian brotherhood, but solid and certain faith in brotherhood that holds us together.” -10- And that faith is built on our brotherhood with Christ, the hub of community.
End notes:
-1- “Born” through “Title” taken from table found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_Bonhoeffer as of 2/18/2010.
-2- Bonhoeffer, Deitrich, Life Together: A Discussion of Christian Fellowship. New York, Harper and Row, 1954
p. 11
-3- Bonhoeffer, D p. 17
-4- Bonhoeffer, D. p. 21.
-5- Bonhoeffer, D. p. 26
-6- Bonhoeffer, D. p. 27
-7- Bonhoeffer, D. p. 28
-8- Bonhoeffer, D. p. 31
-9- Bonhoeffer, D. p. 35
-10- Bonhoeffer, D. p. 39
Monday, February 15, 2010
Downward Mobility
The Alban Institute - 2010-02-15 Downward Mobility
Just when I was beginning to feel a little overwhelmed in my pastoring role comes a great article this week about how we are most useful to God when we see ourselves as practically useless; dieing to self in the truest sense so that God may be glorified and his kingdom cared for and expanded through our deficient, helpless selves.
Though written for pastors, I think it can be applied to all Christians
Just when I was beginning to feel a little overwhelmed in my pastoring role comes a great article this week about how we are most useful to God when we see ourselves as practically useless; dieing to self in the truest sense so that God may be glorified and his kingdom cared for and expanded through our deficient, helpless selves.
Though written for pastors, I think it can be applied to all Christians
Saturday, February 13, 2010
It's Good Lord, to be here.
Luke 9:33 Transfiguration Sunday--February 14, 2010--Redeemer Lutheran, Olathe, KS
1. It’s good to be here! As we make a habit of gathering here on Sundays we get to see old friends again. Today we have the blessing of singing the old liturgy—what we used to call “page 15”. We will be spending time together around the coffee pot between the services. For many of us, this Sunday routine is so engrained in us that we wouldn’t know what to do if we weren’t here each week. It’s just so…comfortable.
2. For many of us, we were raised on this stuff. As Christians we know God expects us to observe the Sabbath in the 3rd commandment. We feel a sense of duty to be here. Our attendance and our offering are missed when we are absent. It’s…just…what we do. I think that most of us here today could honestly say, “It’s good Lord, to be here.”
3. Peter’s declaration was of a similar nature to ours. He, along with James and John, got to see Moses and Elijah. I can just about hear him say, “How blessed are we?” They even got to hear them talking with Jesus! To experience this once in a life-time event with his closest buddies must have been truly awesome. It’s no wonder, then, that he said, “Let’s remember this day forever and build some tents so we can make the most of this moment—make it last!
4. It felt good to be there because it just seemed right. Being on that mountain with Jesus—and seeing Moses—surely Peter must have had visions of what it must have been like when Moses received the 10 Commandments from God on Mt. Sinai. And when he and the others made this connection in their minds they were reminded of the gift they had received from God. While we are so often quick to associate God’s Law with being a burden we can never fulfill, Israel saw it as a sign that he cared so much for them that he personally gave them a piece of his mind and his heart so that they could strive to please him and ask for his forgiveness when they failed. That was so different from all the other gods and idols which other people around them worshiped. With those supposed deities one had to guess at what they wanted. One had to manipulate them into acting favorably. One had to buy the love of those cold, lifeless statuary idols. And sadly, as their bargaining and sacrificing went unheard, they built higher altars on higher hills and offered more and more sacrifices of an increasingly horrific and immoral nature.
5. But here on this mountain, on this day, it wasn’t like that at all. Here Peter and the others got to see for themselves, not a cold, distant, uncaring god that may or may not hear them, or who may or may not even exist but, instead, one whom they now saw before them as a man, yet God at the same time. And they watched as they saw his figure transformed—his face glorified; “like lightning” as we hear it in the Greek language by which it was originally written. And as they watched the events unfold, as they saw Moses and Elijah visit with their teacher, they were at peace. They knew that this was the place they needed to be. They knew, as they saw the whole thing unfold before them that they were there precisely because Jesus wanted them to be there so that they could have this shared experience between them as a memory in their minds forever. The sights of the prophets and the fog engulfing them, the sounds of the voice of God speaking to them all, the smells of the mountain air and the plants all around them. The view of the valley below as the cloud bank dissipated. All of it culminated to a point to where Peter just couldn’t contain himself any longer. He finally just had to blurt it out! “Master, it is GOOD to be HERE.”
6. Remember when said it was good to be here and listed all the reasons why? Place them aside the image we just painted of Peter’s experience on top of the mountain and you might have noticed one important similarity. All of those comments and accolades were focused on the self because that’s our nature as human beings just as it was Peter’s nature. We tend to get caught up in our own excitement and feelings and emotions. We let our desire to encounter God get sideswiped by our need to feel safe and our propensity to do things that are safe and not risky. And so we continue along in our faith walk never stretching ourselves, never quite reaching where God is leading us as we continue in our old ways, listening to the same old stories and following the same old lessons, perhaps expecting to find new answers, but probably relieved to hear that, no, they haven’t really changed all that much. Like Peter, James and John, we want to just linger in the moment of our experience and bask in the glow of our God.
7. As comfortable as it is to be here, however, at times it distracts us from Christ. “How can that be?” you might ask. “How can I be distracted from Christ when all I want to do is be surrounded by his glory and revel in his words and the words of the prophets? Surely there is value in that? Pastor, how can you say that that is wrong?” Well, the answer to that is another question. That question is, “On what is your heart focused?” If it is focused on finding your inner peace, if it is focused on finding a way for you to feel better about yourself or what you are doing, if it is focused on you escaping from the rest of your life, then your presence here is no different then Peter, James, and John’s on the Mount of Transfiguration.
8. You see, the transfiguration is all about Jesus and his mission and his ministry. It marks the beginning of a new phase of his “work”. His disciples have all been called and he has introduced them to his vision and plan to share the Good News with the world. But in the preceding verses we read that he has also just made the first prediction of his suffering and death. His ministry now has a different thrust as he moves from teaching to training, and eventually, turning the ministry over to his disciples. He has begun the process of bringing his work to an end and he needs to get the disciples up to speed—as quickly as possible—so that they can continue his work. He’s getting them ready for the battle ahead. If Jesus’ temptation in the desert at the beginning of his ministry was difficult, his last trials as he suffers and dies on the cross will be exponentially more painful. He’s going to need Peter to be up for the job of leading the group after his death. He’s going to need James to a take leadership role as well, and John will be called upon to look after Mary, Jesus’ mother, upon his death and he will be Christ’s witness, not only in the Gospel written by him, but in his “revelation” which he will write to seven persecuted churches; a letter we now know as the last book of the Bible, The Revelation of St. John.
9. As with everything he did, the Transfiguration of Christ was more than just a miracle, but a fulfillment of earlier prophecy and a completion of work begun generations before. On this mountaintop Moses and Elijah were passing the torch to Christ so that Jesus could eventually pass that torch to the disciples before his ascension. By bringing them to the mountain with him he was letting them know that this work they were being called into was a continuation of the work God had been doing through his people from the very beginning of history.
10. Moses delivered the people out of the bondage of Egypt, but he was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. To finish the task of deliverance into Canaan Joshua was called to be Moses’ successor. The name Joshua is Hebrew for “The Lord Saves.” And as surely as they entered the land under his leadership they were reminded of the One who made it all possible. Later in Israel’s history, Elijah was called to deliver the people of God out of the hands of unfaithful kings. He too did not see the end of his work, but passed his work onto Elisha, a variation of the name Joshua, so that through his very name the people would know where their salvation would come from. And God delivered them away from Baal worship as the worship of the true God was once again restored in Israel. And now today in our Gospel we find Jesus—Greek for Joshua—whom the angel told Mary and Joseph will free the people from the slavery of their sins. Moses and Elijah and many other men and women were called by God throughout the Bible to effect salvation for Israel in one fashion or another, but it would never last and there weren’t speaking to all people. Just as Joshua and Elisha completed the earthly tasks set before Moses and Elijah in their ministries, Jesus had come to complete the deliverance that no man could accomplish for any portion of man-kind throughout the millennia—the final deliverance of our bodies and souls from sin, death, and the power of the devil.
11. Although Peter’s intentions may have been wrong, his words were right on the mark; it truly was good for them to be there on that mountain that day. It was good because Jesus wanted these 3 leaders—the first of his disciples to follow him—to witness this significant, historic, event. Jesus wanted them to see his work in the context of salvation history—to allow them to connect all that he had been teaching them with all that they knew from the Law and the Prophets. Jesus wanted them to get a glimpse of what lies ahead for them; in ministry, in mission, and in the glory of heaven.
12. It is good for US to be HERE as well but not for the reasons we stated at the beginning of our message today. It is good for us to be here today so that we too can become witnesses of Christ’s transfiguration and his ministry through the scriptures we hear read and proclaimed. By hearing the stories of the Bible we can see how he continues to work in our lives just as he did in the past. In the Divine Service we too get a glimpse of our future glorified state as we partake of Holy Communion—that foretaste of the feast to come. As we gather here each week we surely do soak it all in, but not only so that we may be soothed and comforted, but so that we might be inspired, strengthened and lifted up to give God the glory. We say, “it is truly good, Lord, to be here”
1. It’s good to be here! As we make a habit of gathering here on Sundays we get to see old friends again. Today we have the blessing of singing the old liturgy—what we used to call “page 15”. We will be spending time together around the coffee pot between the services. For many of us, this Sunday routine is so engrained in us that we wouldn’t know what to do if we weren’t here each week. It’s just so…comfortable.
2. For many of us, we were raised on this stuff. As Christians we know God expects us to observe the Sabbath in the 3rd commandment. We feel a sense of duty to be here. Our attendance and our offering are missed when we are absent. It’s…just…what we do. I think that most of us here today could honestly say, “It’s good Lord, to be here.”
3. Peter’s declaration was of a similar nature to ours. He, along with James and John, got to see Moses and Elijah. I can just about hear him say, “How blessed are we?” They even got to hear them talking with Jesus! To experience this once in a life-time event with his closest buddies must have been truly awesome. It’s no wonder, then, that he said, “Let’s remember this day forever and build some tents so we can make the most of this moment—make it last!
4. It felt good to be there because it just seemed right. Being on that mountain with Jesus—and seeing Moses—surely Peter must have had visions of what it must have been like when Moses received the 10 Commandments from God on Mt. Sinai. And when he and the others made this connection in their minds they were reminded of the gift they had received from God. While we are so often quick to associate God’s Law with being a burden we can never fulfill, Israel saw it as a sign that he cared so much for them that he personally gave them a piece of his mind and his heart so that they could strive to please him and ask for his forgiveness when they failed. That was so different from all the other gods and idols which other people around them worshiped. With those supposed deities one had to guess at what they wanted. One had to manipulate them into acting favorably. One had to buy the love of those cold, lifeless statuary idols. And sadly, as their bargaining and sacrificing went unheard, they built higher altars on higher hills and offered more and more sacrifices of an increasingly horrific and immoral nature.
5. But here on this mountain, on this day, it wasn’t like that at all. Here Peter and the others got to see for themselves, not a cold, distant, uncaring god that may or may not hear them, or who may or may not even exist but, instead, one whom they now saw before them as a man, yet God at the same time. And they watched as they saw his figure transformed—his face glorified; “like lightning” as we hear it in the Greek language by which it was originally written. And as they watched the events unfold, as they saw Moses and Elijah visit with their teacher, they were at peace. They knew that this was the place they needed to be. They knew, as they saw the whole thing unfold before them that they were there precisely because Jesus wanted them to be there so that they could have this shared experience between them as a memory in their minds forever. The sights of the prophets and the fog engulfing them, the sounds of the voice of God speaking to them all, the smells of the mountain air and the plants all around them. The view of the valley below as the cloud bank dissipated. All of it culminated to a point to where Peter just couldn’t contain himself any longer. He finally just had to blurt it out! “Master, it is GOOD to be HERE.”
6. Remember when said it was good to be here and listed all the reasons why? Place them aside the image we just painted of Peter’s experience on top of the mountain and you might have noticed one important similarity. All of those comments and accolades were focused on the self because that’s our nature as human beings just as it was Peter’s nature. We tend to get caught up in our own excitement and feelings and emotions. We let our desire to encounter God get sideswiped by our need to feel safe and our propensity to do things that are safe and not risky. And so we continue along in our faith walk never stretching ourselves, never quite reaching where God is leading us as we continue in our old ways, listening to the same old stories and following the same old lessons, perhaps expecting to find new answers, but probably relieved to hear that, no, they haven’t really changed all that much. Like Peter, James and John, we want to just linger in the moment of our experience and bask in the glow of our God.
7. As comfortable as it is to be here, however, at times it distracts us from Christ. “How can that be?” you might ask. “How can I be distracted from Christ when all I want to do is be surrounded by his glory and revel in his words and the words of the prophets? Surely there is value in that? Pastor, how can you say that that is wrong?” Well, the answer to that is another question. That question is, “On what is your heart focused?” If it is focused on finding your inner peace, if it is focused on finding a way for you to feel better about yourself or what you are doing, if it is focused on you escaping from the rest of your life, then your presence here is no different then Peter, James, and John’s on the Mount of Transfiguration.
8. You see, the transfiguration is all about Jesus and his mission and his ministry. It marks the beginning of a new phase of his “work”. His disciples have all been called and he has introduced them to his vision and plan to share the Good News with the world. But in the preceding verses we read that he has also just made the first prediction of his suffering and death. His ministry now has a different thrust as he moves from teaching to training, and eventually, turning the ministry over to his disciples. He has begun the process of bringing his work to an end and he needs to get the disciples up to speed—as quickly as possible—so that they can continue his work. He’s getting them ready for the battle ahead. If Jesus’ temptation in the desert at the beginning of his ministry was difficult, his last trials as he suffers and dies on the cross will be exponentially more painful. He’s going to need Peter to be up for the job of leading the group after his death. He’s going to need James to a take leadership role as well, and John will be called upon to look after Mary, Jesus’ mother, upon his death and he will be Christ’s witness, not only in the Gospel written by him, but in his “revelation” which he will write to seven persecuted churches; a letter we now know as the last book of the Bible, The Revelation of St. John.
9. As with everything he did, the Transfiguration of Christ was more than just a miracle, but a fulfillment of earlier prophecy and a completion of work begun generations before. On this mountaintop Moses and Elijah were passing the torch to Christ so that Jesus could eventually pass that torch to the disciples before his ascension. By bringing them to the mountain with him he was letting them know that this work they were being called into was a continuation of the work God had been doing through his people from the very beginning of history.
10. Moses delivered the people out of the bondage of Egypt, but he was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. To finish the task of deliverance into Canaan Joshua was called to be Moses’ successor. The name Joshua is Hebrew for “The Lord Saves.” And as surely as they entered the land under his leadership they were reminded of the One who made it all possible. Later in Israel’s history, Elijah was called to deliver the people of God out of the hands of unfaithful kings. He too did not see the end of his work, but passed his work onto Elisha, a variation of the name Joshua, so that through his very name the people would know where their salvation would come from. And God delivered them away from Baal worship as the worship of the true God was once again restored in Israel. And now today in our Gospel we find Jesus—Greek for Joshua—whom the angel told Mary and Joseph will free the people from the slavery of their sins. Moses and Elijah and many other men and women were called by God throughout the Bible to effect salvation for Israel in one fashion or another, but it would never last and there weren’t speaking to all people. Just as Joshua and Elisha completed the earthly tasks set before Moses and Elijah in their ministries, Jesus had come to complete the deliverance that no man could accomplish for any portion of man-kind throughout the millennia—the final deliverance of our bodies and souls from sin, death, and the power of the devil.
11. Although Peter’s intentions may have been wrong, his words were right on the mark; it truly was good for them to be there on that mountain that day. It was good because Jesus wanted these 3 leaders—the first of his disciples to follow him—to witness this significant, historic, event. Jesus wanted them to see his work in the context of salvation history—to allow them to connect all that he had been teaching them with all that they knew from the Law and the Prophets. Jesus wanted them to get a glimpse of what lies ahead for them; in ministry, in mission, and in the glory of heaven.
12. It is good for US to be HERE as well but not for the reasons we stated at the beginning of our message today. It is good for us to be here today so that we too can become witnesses of Christ’s transfiguration and his ministry through the scriptures we hear read and proclaimed. By hearing the stories of the Bible we can see how he continues to work in our lives just as he did in the past. In the Divine Service we too get a glimpse of our future glorified state as we partake of Holy Communion—that foretaste of the feast to come. As we gather here each week we surely do soak it all in, but not only so that we may be soothed and comforted, but so that we might be inspired, strengthened and lifted up to give God the glory. We say, “it is truly good, Lord, to be here”
Monday, February 8, 2010
The Alban Institute - 2010-02-08 The Power of Story in Local Congregations
The Alban Institute - 2010-02-08 The Power of Story in Local Congregations
An interesting read on how congregations might make better decisions in the future by being able to understand and re-tell their collective "story" of their past history in narrative form. It sounds kind of like a sort of group therapy for the masses.
Any reactions? let me know.
An interesting read on how congregations might make better decisions in the future by being able to understand and re-tell their collective "story" of their past history in narrative form. It sounds kind of like a sort of group therapy for the masses.
Any reactions? let me know.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Life Together
Spend Lent with us at Redeemer as we encounter the last words of Christ with the enlightenment of Peter's first Epistle and Dietrich Bonheoffer's book Life Together. This short, 5 chapter book is quickly becoming a devotional classic even though it has only been in print in the English language since 1954 (VERY recent in church-age thinking).
This series is being produced by Students of former Lutheran Hour speaker and current President of Concordia Seminary, Dale Meyer as part of an advanced preaching class. I look forward to working with their outlines and being able to help us all work through the process of not only making the passion of Christ real, but relevant to our every day living beyond the Sunday morning church routine.
We will be putting together a group order at church or you may order on your own by clicking on the Amazon ad in this post.
This series is being produced by Students of former Lutheran Hour speaker and current President of Concordia Seminary, Dale Meyer as part of an advanced preaching class. I look forward to working with their outlines and being able to help us all work through the process of not only making the passion of Christ real, but relevant to our every day living beyond the Sunday morning church routine.
We will be putting together a group order at church or you may order on your own by clicking on the Amazon ad in this post.
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