different and still the same

We hosted an open time for folks to drop by on Tuesday to view and hear the inauguration via our large screen and good sound system in the sanctuary at Fairlawn West.

I was teary eyed and pumped.

Now time is the same again. The news reports have the same voices on the same topics with different policies implemented, but the world has not changed!

The election of Obama is the culmination of wider change. Oh, maybe not the culmination, but a major accomplishment on the road. But the world has not changed.

These are the times when I am confronted by and reminded that true change comes from God and it is a change that happens from the inside out of all of us. Barack Obama is no more a change agent than the rest of us. Right now he is a great gift of a vessel used by God to show us on what God can do with each of us. And all of us as a human family. And many have allowed God's work in them to change them which has led to where we stand today with the son of an immigrant from Africa (we've had lots of European immigrant children become president).

However the election, new policies and directives, a Democratic controlled Congress and White House...these in and of themselves do not indicate true change. Whether we are joyed by this reality in Washington or are cynical and critical of it, we all need to be changed...from above. Day by day. Step by step. Breath by breath. And this is what Jesus Christ has done and is doing as God's change agent. Thanks be to God for servants like Barack Obama who accept this change from above as the guide of their life. There are more like him. They may be much more anonymous than him. But no less vital in God's action in human history. And they aren't all overtly "Christian." Yet they are no less followers of Jesus Christ than those who are overtly Christian. In truth many who follow Jesus and aren't overtly Christian are more true to God than a number who claim the title "Christian" for themselves. That's a sign of how God is in charge and we aren't!

Here's the link for a great, short youtube video by Brian McLaren on what it means to follow Jesus today...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NtgjNLNpao

back to "sabbath" again

This thing about the practice of sabbath as a center piece of the journey of the Christian community continues to come back center for me. Not as an ought or a should, but seeing how the erosion of the spiritual center of much of Christian church life is due to many local churches and denominations accepting the terms of the culture and particularly the business model of the culture as the way to be productive and to accomplish. Ironically, I just read a note on Facebook by another local church pastor that now the business community has caught up with the church community in facing empty coffers.

I have read both Eugene Peterson and Abraham Heschel about sabbath and have posted in the past months on their comments. I started reading yesterday morning (Sunday) before the worship service in my study the book "Sabbath Time: Understanding and Practice for Contemporary Christiasns" by Tilden Edwards. I am copying below some comments in describing the book. This and the book by Brian McLaren "Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices" about recovering our ancient worship and spiritual practices as a daily piece of our life, I think are the stream that much of the church needs to pay attention to. We still need to focus on social justice and organizational life as well as our method of education and stewardship and so on, but I think we have lost our center. Thus we have lost our identity not just as individuals, but as a church. We as the church no longer have anything to communicate or offer different from any other secular organization in our society because we try to live part of our life using the terms of the culture, and then put a spiritual veneer over it.

Well, here is the one summary of Edwards books from a book review at Spirituality Practice.

Edwards begins with a description of the sabbath as an alternative to the drivenness of contemporary 24/7 culture. In both the Jewish and Christian traditions, this holy day anchors the rhythm of time. The author discusses the sabbath as a day of rest, a commemoration of liberation, a sign of covenant, and a sign of hope. Best of all, it offers a surcease from the pressures of achievement in the work arena and the mind-numbing escapism of so much contemporary entertainment. Edwards goes on to examine some the factors that have eroded this oasis in time, specifically individualism and a devaluation of the contemplative.

Sabbath time offers a release from our normal routines and work while also delivering us into a free space where reverence, play, laughter, a celebration of the arts, relaxation, and quiet contemplation take center stage. We especially like the following passage where Edwards salutes the value of intention and the Sunday morning service: "Corporate worship, in order to be its intended self, needs to be surrounded by a protective time zone, a time of preparation and reflection, of quiet openness with nothing to do except appreciate the presence of God in the smallest random thing in and around us. If this is done, then corporate worship is more likely to become a radiant crystal whose facets catch up all of life in God's light, placed in the midst of a velvet Sabbath bed that sets it off. Without such surrounding sabbath time, worship more likely will resemble an opaque rock that reveals nothing of life's giftedness and integrity in God, only our own rushed anxiety."

In four practical chapters, Edwards outlines how Christians can deepen their experience of the sabbath, stretching from dinner on Saturday evening through sundown on Sunday evening. He covers rituals, silences, readings, and blessings. This classic resource ably demonstrates how, as Edwards puts it, "an understanding and living of sabbath time can help support a sane and holy rhythm of life for us."

(United Church of Christ, sabbath)

9 years since Y2K

Remember all the anxiety 9+ years ago about Y2K? That was the fear that with the new millenium dating, computers would not rollover and all kinds of systems world wide would shut down. From the Pentagon to the banks, they weren't sure if their computers would keep functioning.

Little did we know that there were going to be rollovers that would change much but not due to Y2K. 9/11 changed everything in regards to the Pentagon and much of the life of our nation and the world. Then, the last year has changed the banking system. Again not due to computers, but due to human behavior.

And the fears we thought were behind us as the first week of the year 2000 unfolded when the computers did rollover, we find are deeper and wider with the events of the unfolding decade.

So, should we begin a watch for Y2K10? What should we prepare for? Everything will change. It is certain. Just as everything seems to have changed in the last 10 years.

Ten years ago I was hearing how the church would change in 15-20 years. It seems that the predicted struggles and changes started showing up in 5 years. There are folks talking about how the traditional/denominational/institutional style of church is making a comeback in recent years. I don't see it. And the present economic down turn is hitting churches up front as the first line of charitable giving declines. Churches are not viewed as an "essential" "charity." So folks will stop giving to it before they will to food banks, social services and other people helping groups. It will feel like everything has changed for the church as we have relied on buildings and staffs to make the church run. But God is turning things 1 step back to take 2-5 steps forward. "Church" will more and more be identified not by street addresses or buildings or favorite pastors tenures. Church will be identified by spirit, faith, love, and courage...that come from beyond anything we could provide on our own.