EXCESS VERBIAGE
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Treasure Valley Mennonite Summer Gathering
Isaiah 61: 1-4 The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me
because God anointed me.
He sent me to preach good news to the poor,
heal the heartbroken,
Announce freedom to all captives,
pardon all prisoners.
God sent me to announce the year of his grace—
a celebration of God’s destruction of our enemies—
and to comfort all who mourn,
To care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion,
give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes,
Messages of joy instead of news of doom,
a praising heart instead of a languid spirit.
Rename them “Oaks of Righteousness”
planted by God to display his glory.
They’ll rebuild the old ruins,
raise a new city out of the wreckage.
They’ll start over on the ruined cities,
take the rubble left behind and make it new.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
**Use this Scripture passage to help you focus on these questions: -~What is the transformation that God is seeking in my life?
~My congregation’s/neighborhood’s life?
~In what ways is God calling me to work at helping with the transformation in those places/people around me?
My Heart... Christ's Home?
by Karla Morton
The beginning
Not long after I began to follow Jesus, I read a brief pamphlet called, “My Heart Christ’s Home”. As I refreshed my memory about this pamphlet, I found that it was written by Presbyterian minister, author, and professor Robert Boyd Munger. In it the author/storyteller speaks of inviting Jesus into his heart and taking Jesus on a tour of his home that includes the library, the drawing room, a messy (stinky) closet, the dining room and at the end the author gives over the deed of the home to Jesus. Throughout the telling of the story, scripture is used and Jesus helps the storyteller make changes to his life based on scriptures used and the room that is described.
I read this as a college freshman and it made an deep impact on me. It was a straightforward way of making clear the call to be a disciple of Jesus and to have his life and teachings form me as his follower. Over the years I have understood that having Christ as Lord of my life means that I allow Jesus, through my understanding of him in the Gospels, especially through the lens of Matthew 5 – 7 (the Sermon on the Mount), to transform me more into his likeness.
While walking mika
A few weeks ago as I was walking Mika, our beautiful Aussie/Border Collie, I saw a heart decal on a car in my neighborhood. On closer inspection, I saw that the heart was created by white semi-automatic rifles. My immediate thought was, “With all those rifles in their heart, there’s no room for Jesus!” This thought reminded me of the old pamphlet by Professor Munger.
Maybe the person who drives that car isn’t a Christ follower or doesn’t identify as a Christian. I don’t know. And, as my husband Craig said to me, “They probably see it as love - to be ready to protect/defend their family.” Either way, to me, there’s no room for true love or love of Christ if you’re willing to put a decal of guns in the shape of a heart on your car (or somewhere else).
What does jesus say?
Why might I think that? Jesus was asked by religious leaders what is the greatest commandment, we see his answer in Mark 12:28-31 and Matthew 22:34-40. Jesus tells these leaders that the first is, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind [and all your strength – in Mark]. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22, NRSV) In ancient thought, especially among the Hebrews, the heart was considered the place where one’s thoughts originate, and in ancient Egypt it was thought to be the home of one’s thoughts and soul. We now think of the heart as the place where love is seated.
If I love God with my whole self, and I love my neighbor as myself, there is no room for loving guns, material things, worldly things because I am filling my heart with Jesus and his love. My goal is to love God fully, wholeheartedly, and to love my neighbor as myself. Loving God and loving others means that I am not allowing a gun (or other things) to fill my heart because I’ve made room for Jesus, his life, his words, his teachings in my heart. If I’m focused on guns and “things”, then I am focusing on my worries and anxieties rather than allowing Jesus to rule in my heart.
let’s be explicit
In his most explicit teaching, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break , in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21, NRSV, emphasis mine)
Later in the same chapter, verses 25-27 and 32b-34a, Jesus teaches us, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink or about your body what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? … and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. …”
All this worry about bearing arms, about protecting what’s mine, in the light of Jesus, is shown to be worthless. Jesus comes to us, he invites us to learn from him. When I do that, I find that if I want him in my life, I must be willing to be transformed and allow the values, and the love, of Jesus to form me and mold me. I must seek these kingdom values first, otherwise, I am being anxious and not allowing my heart to be Christ’s home, as Dr. Munger wrote over 50 years ago.
the end… well, almost
Jesus asks you as well, may I come in and live in your life/heart? Learn from me. I’ll talk more about that the next time, but for now, is Christ fully in your life?
Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash
Father, Abba, Daddy
by Karla Morton
This coming weekend is Father’s Day. Like Mother’s Day, this, too can be a day of joy or pain for men and women alike. For many women, Mother’s Day is painful if they do not have children or if their relationship with their own mothers was not easy. I believe the same can be said for Father’s Day. For men, it can be the same two-fold pain – not having children or having a painful relationship with their own dads. Sadly, for many of us, the pain causes us to have views of God as Father that are distorted and skewed.
One of the main places in the Bible where we see God as Father is in the New Testament seeing Jesus in relationship with his Father, and in places where Paul refers to God in this way. I think of all the ways Jesus speaks of the Father in the Gospels, especially when Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane:
“My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.” (Matthew 26:39b).
Matthew says he threw himself on the ground in prayer. Prayer is talking to God, and the verses where Jesus is praying to God have been important to me. In the Gospel of John, Jesus does a lot more talking about God as Father to those who oppose him. In chapter 10, verses 14 and 15 Jesus states:
“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.” In verse 25 we read: “Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me, …” and in verse 30 Jesus states clearly: “The Father and I are one.”
Later in John, Jesus prays for his disciples, then and now, which shows how deeply we are loved. Of course, most importantly, Jesus teaches the disciples to pray “Our Father…” and that is how we see God as we pray the Lord’s Prayer.
Paul, too, refers to God as Father which then makes us as Christ followers, brothers and sisters. In most of his letters he begins with a blessing of “Grace to you and peace from God our Father”. In Philippians 2: 5-11 we see Paul’s richest description of Jesus’s equality with God so that our image of the Trinity is one that shows each aspect is equal to one another, none is in subordination to any other Person.
Interestingly, many people who go to church, though, have a view of God the Father as an old, grandfatherly man or a father who stands over us ready to spank or slap us any time we mess up! This view of God comes from reading the Bible as “flat” which means that the Old and New Testaments as equally viable in how we follow Jesus as Christians. This point of view, however, is not supported by the writers of the New Testament. In the first chapter of John, it’s very plainly declared:
“In the beginning was the Word [Logos, Message], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
In many places throughout John, Jesus speaks “I am” statements which is his stating that he is equal with the Father. In the letter to the Colossians, Paul writes:
“He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, thinks visible and invisible, …” (vs. 15-16a).
We also see this in Hebrews where the author opens their letter this way:
“Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, though whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God’s glory ad the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word….” (Hebrews 1:1-3b, emphasis mine)
We see in these verses, and from Jesus’s words, that we need to read the Old Testament, as well as the letters of the New Testament, through the Lens of Jesus in the Gospels. Jesus shows us exactly who God is, and what I know from the teachings and actions of Jesus is that
God is LOVE (I John 4: 16b)
and Jesus shows us what God’s love looks and sounds like. That grandfatherly, old man who is waiting to pounce on you when you mess up is NOT the way Jesus presents God to us.
I began to think about God as Father in my teen years, particularly when I was about 16, almost 17. I had been to a Young Life Camp after my junior year in high school and had asked Jesus to be my Savior (I don’t think I had done this before, but I had attended church most of my life, going on my own with our neighbors in 6th grade).
I had been baptized as a baby and then in the Baptist church I was attending with our neighbors. My parents had divorced when I was seven years old and my relationship with my dad was awkward, at best. So, as I read the Gospels and the stories of Jesus in prayer, his relationship to God as Father – Abba, Daddy – resonated deeply within me. I wanted that relationship with God, I wanted to see God as my Father, too.
After that Young Life camp and starting a more intentional walk with Jesus, I began to see God as my Father and to trust that he was interested in me, in my life, and wanted the best for me – like most fathers want for their children. My relationship with my own father continued to be awkward and strained, but I am thankful that God’s fatherhood has been instrumental in my life of faith in this journey with Jesus.
Eventually in my walk with Jesus, I began to understand his Lordship, which has also shaped my view of God as Father. And, seeing God as Father (I have also embraced the mothering aspects of God, but that’s another story) has shaped how I relate to God – he is one to whom I can go with my struggles, my anxieties, my sadness, times when my faith is weak – and as a Father to me, God comforts, loves, and guides me.
My hope for you, Friend, is that this Father’s Day and all that follow, can be for you a healing time where you begin to see God our Father as the loving God he is. That you will know that God desires to comfort you, guide you, and be gracious unto you! In God’s love may you go out into the world able to love others in the way that God loves you – giving life for you, teaching you, comforting you – and that God’s love will spread beyond you to those you meet wherever you go!
Photo by Chelsey Faucher on Unsplash
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Photo by Naassom Azevedo on Unsplash
Ash Wednesday: Staring Death Down for Lent
We need to talk about death. I know, you don’t want to, neither do I. But occasionally we need to have this talk.
We’re all going to die.
Usually, a line like that gets screamed in desperation and fear. But, thanks to the practice of Ash Wednesday, we get to say it in resolve and faith and hope.
But there are lots of deaths, not just the death that comes at the end of life, but all the deaths we die in the process of living. The losses mount, relationships falter, skills and ingenuity wane. As we go through these experiences, we know little deaths are happening. But to admit to this means that we might admit that our myth of progress, of everything getting better, isn’t quite true. The appearances we craft of having it all together just are not quite accurate.
In such a time as this, pandemic, police killings of people of color, international conflict, warfare, invasion, and powerful autocrats and dictators (as well as those who gladly carry their water), we need to have a talk. About the reality of death, and the way we seek to soften the blow of those many daily defeats and deaths.
Richard Beck, in The Slavery of Death, reflects of the power our fears have over us. Primarily our fear of death. That phrase, “slavery of death” arises in some translations of Hebrews 2.14-15, “through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death “, depicting Jesus as a destroyer of the power of death, and thereby a liberator, freeing us the fear of death that keeps in bondage to it. Beck writes,
In contemporary American culture our slavery to the fear of death produces superficial consumerism, a fetish for managing appearances, inauthentic relationships, triumphalistic religion, and the eclipse of personal and societal empathy. These are the “works of the devil” in our lives, works produced by our slavery to the fear of death (The Slavery of Death).
Beck continues to say that in the midst of this slavery, our denial of the reality of death temps us to make friends with addictions, masks and personas we live behind, and other habits to hide our brokenness from others, and ourselves.
Every American is thus ingrained with the duty to look well, to seem fine, to exclude from the fabric of his or her normal life any evidence of decay and death and helplessness. The ethic I have outlined here is often called the ethic of success. I prefer to call it the ethic of avoidance. . .. Persons are considered a success not because they attain some remarkable goal, but because their lives do not betray marks of failure or depression, helplessness or sickness. When they are asked how they are, they really can say and really do say, “Fine . . . fine.
Photo by Ben Lambert on Unsplash
Decades ago, I used to tell stories. Lots of legends, myths, and fairy tales, along with a mix of extended biblical narratives. Some of my favorite stories were The Fisher King and Without Blinking an Eye. The Fisher King tells the story of a king so frightened and broken by unfilled sense of purpose, the slavery of death is crippling. The other in its brevity depicts one who is free of that bondage.
During the civil wars in feudal Japan, an invading army would quickly sweep into a town and take control. In one particular village, everyone fled just before the army arrived - everyone except the Zen master. Curious about this old fellow, the general went to the temple to see for himself what kind of man this master was. When he wasn't treated with the deference and submissiveness to which he was accustomed, the general burst into anger. "You fool," he shouted as he reached for his sword, "don't you realize you are standing before a man who could run you through without blinking an eye!" But despite the threat, the master seemed unmoved. "And do you realize," the master replied calmly, "that you are standing before a man who can be run through without blinking an eye?”
Ash Wednesday is about death.
There’s no sugar coating that. Ashes and dust. Base reminders of our substance. Reminding us from whence we came, and to where our bodies will return. For all of us. For all life. We cannot escape it.
To receive the imposition of ashes is to stare death down without blinking an eye. And to remove from it the power is has to enslave us. The ashes one carries is an act of defiance, announcing liberation, and rests in hope.
You are welcome and invited to join us in a brief time of prayer, bible reading, and reflecting on ashes, mortality and the ever-present God who continues with us.
Photo by Ahna Ziegler on Unsplash
Jesus and Lost in Space
21st Century Lost in Space
When I was a child, I remember watching the 20th century version of “Lost in Space”. I didn’t watch it closely, I wasn’t a child who dreamed of going to space (unlike my husband). I was a girl and the idea of being an astronaut didn’t really cross my mind. Watching the 20th century version was purely for entertainment. Then, along came the 21st century version on Netflix and we began to binge watch! We have now finished the series (3 seasons, season 3 has only eight episodes), and I will warn you, there are spoilers in my writing.
The series begins with the initial crash landing of the Robinson Family and Will meeting “Robot”. In the first episode we see how Will encounters an AI (Artificial Intelligence) that has been torn apart in its own crash landing. Will is afraid, initially, and who wouldn’t be? The robot seems angry and lashes out at Will as they’re both stuck in a tree, but the robot’s legs are still on the ground. As a fire engulfs the area, Will brings out his retractable saw and saws the limb so that the robot falls to the ground. Robot is miraculously healed and saves Will. We find that not only is he transformed physically (more on that later), we find that Robot is transformed, reprogrammed, to a being who can understand love and compassion. Robot’s transformation is one that interests me as the rest of the series unfolds. Transformation from who you are to who you can be.
By the end of the first episode we also meet Don, a pilot, and “Dr.” Smith. Neither of these two are very good people, and as the series progresses, we also see in the Robinson Family human foibles at play.
What about artificial intelligence?
I also recently finished reading the Space Trilogy, three books written by C.S. Lewis, that have me thinking about life in our galaxy and beyond. In his books, Lewis re-imagines God at work on other planets in our galaxy, however, being able to read these books in light of the Hubble Telescope pictures showing the birth/death of stars and other galaxies, I, like Lewis, am wondering about God’s work in other galaxies on other planets with other life forms. Do they look like us? Is God’s image just like us, or could God have created life to look quite different from us? Keeping in mind what I’ve read, I have had deeper thoughts about Netflix’s Lost in Space. In one of the final episodes of this 21st century “Lost in Space” we learn that on another planet creatures that look spider-like created the AI robots, which are causing havoc for the Robinsons, and all of the Earth colonists going to Alpha Centauri. Robot is one of these creations, but when Robot saves Will from the fire (Season 2, Episode 1), something changes in Robot and we see a physical transformation from a spider-like, red-faced creature to a more human looking, blue-faced creature. Throughout the series, there is Robot who watches over Will (and sometimes “Dr.” Smith) and Sar, a robot who continues in its spider-like, red-face form. Robot is the AI protagonist, while Sar is the AI antagonist. About midway through the series, we learn that the AI creatures have been mistreated and enslaved by some of the Earth colonists, which also opens up the understanding that the AI have feelings. Odd? Perhaps, so, but when we look at this from the end of the series, we can begin to understand the AI better. The AI are in need of healing from the brokenness caused by their mistreatment.
Jesus - God With Us
Jesus, when he walked Earth, spent his time with people who were outcasts and he brought them healing. The healing Jesus provides still today causes a transformation of character, or it should. In the three seasons of the series, possibly spanning about 3 years in the show, I began to see as it ended, that there are some connections to the life of Christ and the people (and AI) in the series. Slowly, but surely, we begin to see that there is transformation as various characters engage in acts of compassion, moral dilemmas, stepping into leadership, and offering forgiveness to others. We see that Will’s initial act of compassion, saving Robot from the fire, is not an anomaly. In the final scenes, Penny, Will’s older sister, offers compassion and an act of healing to another AI after an attack. This robot also transforms. At Penny’s urging, other members of the colonists’ children begin to offer these same acts of compassion/healing to other AI, and all are transformed into AI that are able to act morally, kindly, and with a sense of being in unity with the humans that they were attacking.
For some, choosing the right way is not always the easy thing to do. For “Dr.” Smith, it takes her until the series finale to truly find her redemption and transformation, and it’s through Robot’s intervention that she finally sees herself as someone worthy of love and care. As a result, she becomes an ally to Will and Robot as they journey to another planet to tell AI that are there that they don’t have to be in conflict or enmity with humans.
What Is Our Response to Jesus?
In so many Hollywood movies and shows, we see the story of Christ re-enacted time and time again. We see it here, too, when Robot offers himself as a sacrifice for Will who is dying after not taking the needed time to heal. As mentioned above, Will, Robot, and “Dr.” Smith (as their pilot) return to the robots on another planet to preach the Good News to them. Robot tells them of having a heart, but the robots turn away. These robots have free will, and do not have to accept the good news that they can be free of anger, hatred, and violence. Robot, Will, and “Dr.” Smith are all saddened by the refusal of the robots to listen. In the end, Robot sacrifices himself to bring healing to Will’s new heart, and leaves some of himself in Will’s heart. Isn’t that what we’re to know when we choose to follow Christ? Jesus is “in our hearts”, although the Bible never quite states that (yes, in Revelation 3 we have that sense, but Jesus always said to follow him). Trust is also a key idea here at the end. In every season of the series, trust of one’s self, one’s family or friends, and even Robot is key. At the end, this message of trust is quite explicit, and the robot, Sar, finally is able to understand what Robot tried to get across to all of the robots. Trust, love, compassion – these are what ALL creatures need to have in their lives. These convictions are the key to helping all creatures to work together, to live beside one another, and to be able to get along. The Apostle Paul used the term “one another” a lot, such as in Colossians 3:13 where he says to “bear with one another” and in verse 16 he says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another…” (emphasis mine). Paul uses this term a lot, so much so that I’ve taken to calling it “one anothering”, where we are so focused on the other that we act more selflessly in our lives in order to put others first (Phil. 2: 1-4). Isn’t that also what Jesus taught us when he walked Earth 2,000+ years ago? In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus teaches us to forgive, to turn the other cheek, to go the extra mile, to give up our coat. In John 13 Jesus teaches us that we must be servants of all by washing the disciples’ feet. He tells us that the greatest commandment is to love God with our whole selves, and the second is like it – to love our neighbor as ourselves (Luke 10:27). Jesus also tells his disciples that the world will know us by our love.
If Hollywood can figure this out (and they do time and time again), can we figure this out as people who claim to be Christ followers? Can we act in love? Can we choose to live in trust of the One who came to Earth, who taught us a new way to live by following him? When I watched the last episode of the 21st century “Lost in Space”, I was reminded that Jesus has shown us the way to live. It’s shown in this TV series in such a way that can remind us to live for and with Christ each and every day.
About the Writer:
Pastor Karla Morton is a wife to Craig, mom to Ian, Jessie, Meg, and Nathan, mother-in-law to Brooke, and Grammy to Lincoln and Jackson. She also teaches a self-contained 5th grade Gifted and Talented class. She holds a Bachelor’s from Northern Arizona University and her Master’s of Christian Ministry from Friends University (Wichita, KS). In her spare time, when she isn’t working or being a Grammy, she reads (this was her 2nd year in the Meridian Library Extreme Book Nerd Reading Project), writes (she was a 2017 Boise State Writing Project Fellow), watches sports, helps out with track meets, and crochets baby blankets for family and friends.
Joy vs Happiness: Thinking about Gaudete Sunday
Gaudete is a fancy Latin word used for the tradition of Advent. In many Advent candle wreaths, the Third Sunday of Advent is represented by a pink candle. Pink is the color for the gaudete candle. Gaudete, means ‘rejoice’, or sometimes just ‘joy.’ It is the same word we use for some one with extravagant and eccentric style when we say they are a bit gaudy.
Be gaudy.
You will draw water with joy from the springs of salvation (Isaiah 12.4)
MCC, Mozambique, 20214
There’s an argument, that I often find to a be an unnecessary splitting of hairs regarding happiness and joy. On this, the Third Sunday of Advent, the traditional bible passages highlight joy as a constant refrain. So joy is the focusing concept for the week. Yet, innumerable preachers using this or similar texts will tell their congregations how happiness is a pointless chasing after momentary pleasure and that joy is a deep abiding sense of lasting satisfaction.
Poppycock.
Sorry to use such a strong language.
I’m not a historian of words and their meanings. I have not written a dictionary. I could be all wrong.
But happiness is not a low-grade aspiration over which joy reigns supreme. So if something makes you happy, something just, something compassionate, something relationship-enhancing, something loving and kind. Don’t get all wrapped up in the happiness vs joy argument. The Epistle to the Philippians puts it this way,
“anything is excellent and if anything is admirable, focus your thoughts on these things: all that is true, all that is holy, all that is just, all that is pure, all that is lovely, and all that is worthy of praise” (Phil 4.8).
Being joyful makes us happy. And happiness orients us toward the giver of all good gifts, the Source of joy.
Perhaps happiness and joy are parts of the joyous path. Happiness can get us started; joy is the destination. Either way, to accomplish either, there must be some sacrifice, suffering, and painful choices. Perhaps joy is the promise of happiness that is accepted on trust, a promise powerful enough to sustain through the greatest difficulty.
Carry some of the spring water.
As we close in on this third Sunday of Advent, how do you understand Isaiah’s metaphor? What is a story about “drawing water”, about your active expectation, your part in creating, doing, working “with joy”? What is the “spring of salvation” for you? Sure, the easy answer is Jesus, or God, or some churchy sounding answer. But is a spring is life-giving, sustaining, cleansing, and so much more. What thing, relationship, activity, or work in your life is the presence, the assurance, of that spring of salvation?
I bet thinking about it makes you happy.
Hurry Up and Wait: Welcome Advent
This is late coming out. Advent is nearly here. Thanksgiving in the USA is tomorrow. Then many folks think about Black Friday.
I suppose if your not in the church habit, the idea of being in church on Sunday seems like just one more thing. An unnecessary thing. Just another thing to schedule.
I get that. In fact, I feel like that a lot. In those moments, there’s a need for me to pause and remember what “going" church is about. It’s a bigger story and larger issue at stake.
It’s not about being holy, or righteous, or good.
It’s not about “getting something out of the sermon”
Its not about “being fed"
It’s not about not going to hell
It’s not about believing all the right things
It’s not about doing all the right things
It’s not even about getting to heaven
When I get the priorities misplaced, I find church to be boring, which is pretty bad since I am one of the pastors. Yup, even we don’t always feel like going to church. Those misplaced priorities become obstacles and even a barrier:
to growing
to becoming resilient
to wisdom
to being courageous in compassion
to challenging the injustices of race, gender identity, age, and income.
I lose sight of the hell on earth Jesus pointed out, one of our own making, that we are invited to dismantle as we enter into the life and gift of Jesus' love. The point of “going to church" to create a community in the fashion, the style, the steps, and the way of Jesus.
So, there’s a journey that begins at Advent, the four weeks of expectation, preparation, and hope before Christmas morning.
And this journey ends… it ends… um….nope. It doesn’t end.
This journey knows no end. Join us.
APEST - What About Being Prophetic?
When we use the word “prophet,” our thinking may go off in two different directions:
A prophet is someone who can tell the future. Almost a soothsayer with a crystal ball.
A prophet is a leader who speaks truth to power.
There might be other ways to think of this word. What might they be? How do we describe a “prophet.?”
Revealing God’s Heart
There are other ways to describe what a prophet is and what a prophet does. In the Hebrew Bible, there are fifteen books of “the prophets.” But there are also the books of Judges, I & II Samuel, and I & II Kings. The Hebrew Bible is filled with prophets who hold kings and the people accountable for their actions.
The New Testament, also has many prophets, but they are less well known. Except, perhaps John the Seer, author of the Apocalypse of John, more commonly called The Book of Revelation. But, there are more. Jesus, Paul, Agabus, and Anna are all described as prophets.
To continue our conversation of characteristics of apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers, we will watch two short videos produced by The Bible Project. And then ponder on the questions:
What is a prophet?
What does the role of prophet have to do with starting (restarting) a church?
Ascension Day
Ascension Day is an invitation to view things from a different vantage
My First Thoughts of Ascension
I remember trying to see things. My vision was limited. All I could see were people’s backs and legs. I was probably four or five years old at the time. Our family was in downtown Tempe, Arizona for a parade. In my mind, it was either an Arizona State University Homecoming parade, or a Fourth of July parade on Mill Avenue. I remember Joe Sella’s Sporting Goods store, the Monster Burger, and Dairy Queen also. but, of course, I couldn’t see them. Not this time. A crowd of people talking and cheering. Some moving slowly. Many standing still. And I could see nothing.
I remember the view was busy and meaningless.
Then, I was lifted. Hands grasped my sides and the sky began to open. A wider view. Higher, until I remember sitting on my dad’s shoulders and seeing what everyone else was seeing. Colors of marching bands, cars with local celebrities and dignitaries waving, and colorful floats.
Whether I was high atop the crowd, or down on the ground, it was the same setting. The same place. Only my view of things had changed.
“and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”
My thoughts of Ascension Day also lead my to the backyard of the home where I grew up. My dad, a HAM radio operator, had a 70’ tower in the backyard. At one point, he had encased the bottom eight feet or so with plywood so that curious children would not climb it without supervision. But was we got older, and we had some safety belts, it became a favorite view. Again, it was the same place, only my view of things had changed.
“When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people”
As we seek to replant our church, we have begun talking about the foundational roles we each have. We begun looking the “voices”, “archetypes”, or “personas Paul mentions in Ephesians 4.11-12. Alan Hirsch mentions nontraditional ways to view these roles in more expansive terms: the Pioneer, Creative, Connector, Nurturer and Guardian; or the Dreamer, the Thinker, the Lover, the Warrior, the Lookout, and the Voyager; or, the Visionary, the Messenger, the Storyteller, the Nurturer and the Teacher (Is APEST Key to Our Identity?).
He Made Captivity a Captive
I remember the view in the mass of people at the parade. I remember the view was busy and meaningless. Busy. Sounds without context. Figures and movement. Smells of popcorn? Pressure from all sides moving me where I didn’t freely chose to go. I was tangled in the herd without any real choice.
Captivity in the flow of people. Media, Images and implied judgment. News of epidemics, earthquakes, and murder hornets. Bounced in the stir and whirl and busyness of the moment. It all becomes captivating. Captive. And then it becomes noise, and boundaries, and meaninglessness.
There is something about being raised with Jesus that says there is another view of the busyness, the hubbub, the limiting captivating agitation. To raised on the shoulders, to climb a tower, to get the new perspective. Our captivity falls away and wider views open. Even now, when I know the limitations of my views, I do know there is another perspective. There is a view I vicariously share with Jesus, because he invited me to see it with him. It is from the view, I need to look at my neighbors, friends, and even the political and cultural machinations of desperate fearful people. To see with the eyes of Jesus.
APEST in Context
Ephesians 4 in Context
My friend, Keith Giles, “rejects” the five-fold ministry that we are talking about. He has his reasons, and there is a lot of validity in his critique.
You can read his comments here: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/keithgiles/2020/02/why-i-reject-the-5-fold-ministry/
The Apostle Paul, Rembrandt, 1657
Keith highlights that fact that these are not Paul’s only lists of aptitudes, qualities, or skills, that are important for the full functioning of the body of Christ. First Corinthians 12 and Romans 12 each, in their own way, speak to the communities to which these letters were headed. But there are some fine points of difference that does make Ephesians stand out a bit.
First, Ephesians 4 is elaborating on the celebrating the differences in the community. First Corinthians was to a community embroiled in conflict. Romans was to a community is an identity crisis. So each letter has a different audience, each receiving a different message, specific to what they needed.
Second, lifting up the Ephesians passage, it comes upon the celebratory remarks of the dividing wall being broken down, and now those who had formerly been apart, may now be together in peace (Ephesians 2.11-16). Chapter 4 of Ephesians is building what this newly united community needed to continue on that path. The path is reconciliation and peace.
And third, none of these texts are meant to be exhaustive. But, in reducing the gifts in Ephesians to five as opposed to many more, in many ways the roles of each become broader and more inclusive. We are each, in one way of another, a participant in one of these five. Yet, even in Paul’s mind, I don’t believe Paul would have said “only” these five.
Nonetheless, with those spoilers out there. I do believe Keith’s article is valuable. One of the key points is that we need to resist the modernist trend to become reductionistic. In other words, we don’t need to reduce everything to small lists which become the only and essential list.
There is an aspect of the list used in Ephesians, that (I could be wrong) is unique. It is the use of the word, apostolous, from which we get the word “apostles”. This term was crucial in the early church to connect the gospel to the different cultures in which presence of God’s reign and realm were announced. In fact, so elevated was this role that the other apostles pushed Paul to justify his calling to apostolic service. But, rather than limiting this role to the original twelve disciples, Paul witnesses to God’s act of opening up of this role, to whomever the Spirit chooses.
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