I will never have anything to do with the church

Howard Thurman wrote in his autobiography, “With Head and Heart,” the story of his father’s funeral. When Howard was a child, his father Saul died “out of Christ”. As a result, the family's pastor refused to perform the funeral. Instead, a traveling evangelist agreed to perform the service. However, the evangelist preached his father "into hell”.

After hearing his father condemned, the young Thurman said, “One thing is sure. When I grow up and become a man, I will never have anything to do with the church.”

Fortunately, for the church, Thurman did not live out this vow as he became one of the most important theologians and civil rights leaders of the 20th Century.

Yet, the fact that Thurman stayed with the church does not excuse the evangelist’s condemnation.

How many times has the church spoken words of condemnation instead of comfort? How many people have experienced judgment instead of grace? How many have nothing to do with the church, because of experiences like this?

May we as the church strive to be more. May we work to bring the presence of Christ into the broken areas of peoples lives with hope, peace, and love.

Baldwin on Salvation

From the ages of 14 to 17, the writer James Baldwin served as a Pentecostal preacher. However, when he witnessed the chasm between Jesus’ teachings and so much of Christian behavior, he left organized religion. He not only left the church professionally, he left the Christian faith, only identifying himself from this point forward as a writer.

Baldwin left the church because of the way it separated people into haves and have-nots, black and white, saved and transgressors; and, because of its complicity with slavery, segregation, and apartheid.

And yet, in the last year of his life, Baldwin painted a beautiful picture of salvation in his essay, “To Crush A Serpent”. Baldwin writes:

Salvation is not flight from the wrath of God; it is accepting and reciprocating the love of God. Salvation is not separation. It is the beginning of union with all that is or has been or will ever be… There is absolutely no salvation without love: this is the wheel in the middle of the wheel. Salvation does not divide. Salvation connects, so that one sees oneself in others and others in oneself.

 Jesus taught this same understanding of salvation when he called on people to love neighbor as self and to even love the one labeled enemy.

May we find the true meaning of salvation, as we seek to live in union with God, ourselves, and all of our neighbors.

In Memory of Walter Wink

Yesterday, the theologian Walter Wink died. It is funny when your personal celebrities are people few other people know. I can’t even find out how he died on the internet.

Nonetheless, Wink shaped who I am. If I had to pay him royalties for every time I used the phrase “power, prestige and position” I would be a poor man.

Wink redefined the role of power within the understanding of scripture. For Wink, the command to turn the other cheek is no docile passivism, it is a bold counter-cultural stand. Wink writes in his book, Jesus and Nonviolence:

Why then does he counsel these already humiliated people to turn the other cheek? Because this action robs the oppressor of the power to humiliate. The person who turns the other cheek is saying, in effect, “Try again, your first blow failed to achieve its intended effect. I deny you the power to humiliate me. I am a human being just like you. Your status does not alter that fact. You cannot demean me.”

How much could we learn from Wink, to stand strong and not allow ourselves to be defined by positions of power, prestige, or position?

Unfulfilled Dreams

It has been a month since I have updated this blog.

In the interim, I spent a week in prayer at the Norbertine Center. I recently read Tavis Smiley and Cornel West’s book, “The Rich and the Rest of Us” that paints a stark picture of poverty in the United States. I spent two weeks observing and tweeting the events of the United Methodist Church’s General Conference.

Appropriately enough, last night I read Martin Luther King Jr’s sermon, “Unfulilled Dreams”.

In this sermon Dr King talks about the temples that people build that are not completed in their lifetimes: David’s heart to build the temple in Jerusalem, Wilson’s desire for a League of Nations, the Apostle Paul’s yearning to bring the gospel to Spain. None of these happened within those leaders lifetimes.

After General Conference, many of us yearn to build the temple of a church where all people are treated with dignity, respect, and sacred worth.

Amongst this burning desire, King’s words are hard to hear. When it comes to matters of offering basic human compassion, I am not a patient man. Not as patient as King.

In this sermon, given a month before his assassination, King says you may not get there in your own lifetime. For King, it does not matter who completes the temple, the things that matters are the direction you are headed, having your heart right, and having faith.

As we travel the road that leads toward the direction of mercy and justice, may our hearts stay true and our faith in God remain strong.

Renamed Blog

If you were looking for the blog, "Reading Theology." you might find it no longer exists. I have renamed this blog from "Reading Theology" to "Alive Theology".

When I started this blog, my intention was to write about the works of diverse theologians. However, I have found that studying theology is more than an intellectual pursuit, but these studies have shaped how I live my life. In recent months, many posts on this page have specifically focused on my work with the homeless and marginalized.

Despite its ominous sound, the word theology means nothing more than to speak of God. Anyone who speaks of God is a theologian. My new hope for this blog is that it will not only explore words in books, but how we live our lives, shaped by our discussion and understanding of God.

Urban Way of the Cross, Part II

Here is another post on the Urban Way of the Cross, by Carlos Navarro.
http://breadnm.blogspot.com/2012/04/few-thoughts-and-prayers-along-route-of.html

Urban Way of the Cross

Today, Christians around the world gathered to remember the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Most of these remembrances took place within church walls.

Today, about 50 people journeyed through downtown Albuquerque. The gathered peoples marked places where people continue to experience pain, violence, and oppression; places where people wipe the brow of Christ by helping those in deep need; and, places where people carry the cross of Christ in their daily burdens.

The Urban Way of the Cross brought together people of varied Christian backgrounds, ranging in age from one year old on up. As the mass of people wound through parks, schools, around courthouses and shelters, some onlookers honked car horns in support while others gazed in wonderment.

At each stop, a scripture was read, a reading shared, and a prayer offered, as the group sang, "Were you there when they crucified my Lord."

Concluding at Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless, people prayed for healing.

At every step between, the cross marked a place in Albuquerque where the hope of Jesus Christ was made present.

Convicting Words

This poem appears at the end of chapter 2; a chapter that challenges the reader (at least it challenged me) to wonder about the motivation for our actions. There is a lot of truth in this poem.

Don't struggle and strive so, my child,
There is no race to complete, no point to prove, no obstacle course to conquer for you to win my love.
I have already given it to you.
I loved you before creation drew its first breath.
I dreamed you as I molded Adam from the mud.
I saw you wet from the womb.
And I loved you then.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Stop racing ahead at your own pace, you will only be exhausted, flamed out, and spent before the task is accomplished.
Pace yourself with me, walk alongside me.

Do you think I don't know the demands of your life?
I see you striving for perfection, craving my acceptance.
I see you bending yourself out of shape to conform to the image that you have of me.
Do you imagine that I did not know who you were when I made you, when I knit you together in your mother's womb?
Do you think I planted a fig tree and expected roses to bloom?
No child, I sowed what I wanted to reap.

You are a child after my own heart.
Seek out your deepest joy and you will find me there.
Find that which makes you most perfectly yourself and know that I am at the heart of it.
Do what delights you and you will be working with me,
Walking with me, finding your life hidden in me.

Ask me any question.
My answer is love.
When you want to hear my voice, listen for love.
How can you delight me? I will tell you. Love.
The tough, unbreakable, unshakable love. Are you looking for me?
You will find me in love.
Would you know my secrets? There is only one: Love.
Do you want to know me?
Do you yearn to follow me?
Do you want to reach me?
Seek and serve love.

Made for goodness?

After hearing an interview that featured the innocuous laughter of Desmond Tutu, I decided to start reading the book he and his daughter wrote, “Made for Goodness.”

In the first chapter, he makes the claim that goodness is the norm, that we are fundamentally good. Tutu states that the reason we hear about the bad things people do on the news is because it runs counter to our natural state of goodness. He writes, “We are made for goodness by God, who is goodness itself. We are made for and like God, who is the very essence of goodness.”

I like how that sounds, but I struggle with it in the wake of violence and injustice. Last week a homeless friend was jumped and beat up as he slept; his shoes stolen.

There is so much suffering, pain, disrespect, and addiction, I often fail to see the goodness in creation and in humanity.

Perhaps the Tutu’s can bring some light and perspective into my world.

The Cross and the Lynching Tree

Last night I finished reading James Cone's latest book, "The Cross and the Lynching Tree." This is one of the most significant books I have ever read.

In this book, Cone lays out the historical tragedy of lynching, as roughly 5,000 African American men, women, and children were openly murdered. Reading this book during the season of Lent underscored the connection between the mobs who called for Jesus to be hung on a cross and the mobs that hung innocent human beings from trees.

While the history of lynching is shocking in its own right, what struck me most in the book was the silence of church leaders. From the most prominent national theologians to local pastors, the white church either said nothing in the midst of lynching, or, even worse, offered legitimacy to the dehumanization and slaughter of people created in God's image.

This led me to wonder, how does the church today continue to deny the humanity of our brothers and sisters? When are we silent in the face of injustice? How can we, as the church, learn from the failures of our past to live more faithfully in the present and the future?

Published!

Five years in the making and our book is finally out today!

Order online at http://www.amazon.com/Institutional-Change-Theological-Education-Divinity/dp/0875654061/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331936629&sr=8-1

If God....

On Easter Sunday of 1917, Karl Barth preached on Colossians 2:15, “He disarmed^* the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.”

In this scripture, Barth saw the resurrection of Christ as the event that turned the tables and disarmed worldly powers.

Barth asked “If God is, then good is no longer difficult and evil no longer frightening. If God is, then sin is no longer damned but forgiven. If God is, then what is and what can Mammon, this murder of souls be? If God is, then what is the “experience” and what are the social and economic conditions of this world? If God is, then how small and unimportant become the human things that separate us from one another.”

Barth dared to ask these questions in the midst of the darkest hours of the Great War, the day after the United States entered the fray, in a month the British called “Bloody April”.

If, in the midst of this carnage, Barth could dare to ask, “If God…” how can we learn to look past the temporal powers of the world to the divine power of Jesus Christ? How can we look past the things that are “small and unimportant” and find unity in Christ?

Community of Hope Blog

I have created a new blog solely for Community of Hope. If you want to follow the life of this ministry, go to http://cofhope.wordpress.com/.

I will continue to post reflections of theological readings on this page.

Thanks,
Greg

Community of Hope First Sunday: The Planting of a Seed

All photos courtesy of Berin Kinsman

Under an unseasonably warm January sun, the prayer response “Lord, Hear our Prayer,” echoed among a diverse group of people. Names were spoken, known only to those who called them out--“Lord, Hear our Prayer,” A man suffering with addiction asked for strength--“Lord, Hear our Prayer,”.  A group of people who may not have found themselves together in any other social circumstance (Black, White, Hispanic, Native, Homeless, Wealthy, and Marginalized) united together in prayer, lunch, song, worship, conversation, communion, and community--“Lord, Hear our Prayer"

A man named Freddie read scripture. Although nervous behind a microphone, Freddie eloquently talked about the importance of home. As he looked into the eyes of the congregation, he said that this is the beginning of home, a place where people of all backgrounds come together to worship God.

After the service, Michael shared the difficulty he has had in finding a church--his journey of looking for a place he could consider home.

Karen Navarro, Client Advocate at St Martin’s Hospitality Center, noted the comfortable feel of Community of Hope. She talked about how people sat together around café style tables and shared lunch and worshiped God in what Karen described as "a gathering".

Unlike many ministries that worship first and serve food after, Community of Hope shared a lunch first and then taught the word of God. Approximately 150 people shared a meal of chili, bread, and fruit. Nearly half of them stayed to worship around the open able of communion.

However, perhaps the greatest moment came after the last amen was spoken. While most church services end with a sudden exit of the congregation, the people of Community of Hope remained for a half hour after the service ended. People who had little in common before the service, continued conversation after worship. The seeds of genuine community have been sown.

Altar with materials made by ArtStreet

Community of Hope Congregation

Sharing the love of God at Communty of Hope

Sharing Lunch

Contemplative Prayer

Although I preach grace, I often really want works.

When I train for a marathon, I know that if I put in the miles, I will make it across the finish line. I want to be able to achieve the same level of spiritual strength by my own works.

However, in his book “Contemplative Prayer,” Thomas Merton writes:

From these texts we see that in meditation we should not look for a “method” or “system,” but cultivate an “attitude,” an “outlook”: faith, openness, attention, reverence, expectation, supplication, trust, joy.

This is what I want, but it is much harder.

I want to do, when I need to be.

I want to achieve, when I need to rest.

I want to speak, when I need to silence.

I want to have the spiritual maturity of an 80 year old man, when I only have four decades of experience.  

May God grant me the grace of "attitude" and "outlook" so I might more fully rest in joy.

Love Your Enemies

Love your Enemies

Last week I began reading the sermons of Dr Martin Luther King Jr as a way of honoring his holiday. Now I can’t stop. Not only am I struck by his eloquence, depth, and richness, but by the fact that these sermons sound so contemporary. The proclamation stands as if it could be preached today, not half a century ago.

This morning I read the sermon, “Loving your Enemies” that King delivered to Dexter Avenue Baptist Church on November 17, 1957. In this sermon King takes on one of the truly “hard teachings” of Jesus. Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount, “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

King not only gives the theological and psychological background for the necessity of this command, but also gives practical instructions on the redemptive power of love:





Love Your Enemies

Here’s the person who is a neighbor, and this person is doing something wrong to you and all of that. Just keep being friendly to that person. Keep loving them. Don’t do anything to embarrass them. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with bitterness because they’re mad because you love them like that. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies

For King, the belief in the redemptive power of love was not merely the instruction of a pastor to a congregation. Rather, Jesus’ words became the ground of King’s ethic of nonviolence. In this same sermon, he went on to point to redemptive love as the means to change:

It seems to me that this is the only way as our eyes look to the future. As we look out across the years and across the generations, let us develop and move right here. We must discover the power of love, the power, the redemptive power of love. And when we discover that we will be able to make of this old world a new world. We will be able to make men better. Love is the only way.

Let us all recapture the hope of Dr. King and center ourselves on the teaching of Jesus who calls us to love our enemies so that we might be changed, they might be changed, and our old world might become a new world.

MLK Rediscovering Lost Values

Today, many people remember the words of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Mostly, these observances focus on the transformational, but well-known, words of “I Have a Dream” or “I Have Been to the Mountain Top”.

Now that I have the world’s library on my fingertips, through my kindle, I decided to read the sermons of Dr King.

I am humbled all over again.

The first sermon I read is the oldest known recorded sermon of Dr. King’s, “Rediscovering Lost Values”. This sermon was delivered to Second Baptist Church in Detroit when King was 25 years old and a graduate student at Boston University. While commentators note that this was one of King’s early sermons before he fully developed his prophetic voice and oratory style, this is a sermon of great substance.

The subject of this sermon is strikingly modern. In this sermon, King notes the incredible advances of modern sciences, technology, and communications that took place from the industrial revolution to the middle of the 20th century. However, King calls people to not put their faith in modern technology, but to return to living by a moral ethic. King notes that despite incredible advances, moral truths remain constant:

But I’m here to say to you this morning that some things are right and some things are wrong. Eternally so, absolutely so. It’s wrong to hate. It always has been wrong and it always will be wrong. It’s wrong in America, it’s wrong in Germany, it’s wrong in Russia, it’s wrong in China. It was wrong in 2000 B.C., and it’s wrong in 1954 A.D.

Not only does King advocate for a moral ethic, but he warns that the inherent danger in placing our trust in new technologies is that in doing so God is left behind. King unequivocally lays out his conviction that his life will be grounded upon absolute moral truths over the accumulation of possessions.

And I say to you this morning in conclusion that I’m not going to put my ultimate faith in things. I’m not going to put my ultimate faith in gadgets and contrivances. As a young man with most of my life ahead of me, I decided early to give my life to something eternal and absolute. Not to these little gods that are here today and gone tomorrow, but to God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

King’s words echo boldly today. Our dependence on technology has grown exponentially, our faith in things is beyond what he imagined, and our capacity to hate remains unchecked. On this day, may we hear King's words anew and dedicate ourselves to God’s work of justice, mercy, and compassion.