As Christians around the world observe Good Friday, it seemed appropriate to offer some links that offered some perspective on this darkest of holy days:
In a column for the Huffington Post, Jaweed Kaleem turns to those who regularly deal with death and dying for wise and heartfelt reflections on the meaning of Good Friday and Easter:
If you are not clear in your head about your understanding about somebody dying tragically, if you cannot reconcile that with the higher power of God or force of nature, this will be tough work for you,” said Handzo, who teaches chaplains and palliative care specialists. “You will probably not do it well, and you will burn out. You have to go through death to get to resurrection.
It’s important for me to be reminded that this part of the of the Christian story. … It’s painful, but it’s also what can make things meaningful,” he said. “We can make a mistake a lot of times with people who are dying. We can take our beliefs and say ‘the resurrection is coming,’ or ‘things will get better.’ But some people are not ready for that, they are still hurting and mourning, and they don’t need that happy good news stuff. They need to be allowed to be where they are, to have that Good Friday time.
Emily and Ronan Rapp, courtesy of CNN and Parenting.com
A moving interview with mother Emily Rapp who has just published a book on the experience of losing her 2-year-old child Ronan to a devastating and un-curable disease known as Tay-Sachs:
I went through what I think any parent who loses their child suddenly goes through. I was out of my mind. When he died, he was ready to die. Anyone who has witnessed a death or knows someone who died knows that in that final moment the body is unraveling. It will do its thing and you just have to witness it. It’s really wrenching but he was really, really sick when he died, and I wanted him to go because I didn’t want him to suffer any more. I miss him, but there was nothing for him here.
Renown author, activist and Jesus follower, Shane Claiborne, founder of The Simple Way in Philadelphia writes about the importance of taking the story of Jesus’ death, found in the scriptures, into the streets. He recalls courageous acts of worship and witnessing of Christ’s non-violent and loving way smack dab in the middle of grand symbols of violence and hate within the city:
As we approached the final station of the cross, about 20 of us crossed onto the property at Lockheed Martin. We bowed on our knees and began to pray the Lord’s prayer, interrupted by police officers who placed us under arrest. As we stepped into the police van, there was a solemn sense of peace. It was the right place to be. It was a magnificent thing to hear folks honk as they went by. We even had a police officer who had arrested us thank us for our witness and decry the evils of violence and war.
Pope Francis washing the feet of inmates at a juvenile detention center, AP and Huffington Post.
While Pope Francis may be deserving of criticism for refusing to take a stand on particular issues when he was an archbishop in Argentina or his antiquated views of homosexuality, it’s hard to deny that his affinity for the prisoner, the poor and the stranger is not genuine. Clearly, Francis is trying to break down barriers put up by the Catholic Church that has strayed away from Jesus’ command to proclaim good news and care for the least of these. Francis put his compassion on display on Maundy Thursday by washing the feet of 12 young inmates, two who were women. Although Francis has washed the feet of the people throughout his ministry, this marks the first time a Pope has ever washed the feet of those who were not bishops or priests:
The pope’s washing the feet of women is hugely significant because including women in this part of the Holy Thursday Mass has been frowned on – and even banned – in some dioceses,” said the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and author of The Jesuit Guide. ”It shows the all-embracing love of Christ, who ministered to all he met: man or woman, slave or free, Jew or Gentile.
Don’t lose hope,” Francis said. “Understand? With hope you can always go on.
“Crucifixion at Barton Creek Mall” by James Janknegt, 1985
What Pope Francis so beautifully practices, Rev. Ruth Hawley-Lowry brilliantly describes in words as she urges readers on this Good Friday and beyond to love one another, even our enemies:
Those of us in the Christian tradition are mandated to love one another. Period. But Jesus pushed the issue: “You have heard it said, ‘Love your neighbors and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” (Matthew 5). (Excellent examples of such love exist in Bishop Oscar Romero and the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement.) Archbishop Tutu, who endured the hate and injustice of Apartheid, insists: “God Love Your Enemies As Much As God Loves You” which brings shocking comfort. (“Shocking” because it’s so wrong — and “comfort” because it’s so right.)
Over the past couple of days, seminary classmate and colleague in ministry, Teri Peterson, and I have been having a good discussion on Lenten practices. While I stick to this view on how Presbyterians can best observe the season, Terri makes an excellent point about how Reformed Christians get too caught up in the busyness of doing-doing-doing, thus ignoring the importance of rest and discernment.
It certainly makes sense from a theological standpoint to put more emphasis on how we ought to give of ourselves to follow Christ and build God’s kingdom, as opposed to giving up trivial things like chocolate and beer. And yet, there is a real danger in making a commitment to do more during Lent when it’s abundantly clear (at least in the PC(USA)) that many church professionals and congregations are doing much in the ways of justice already. Instead of being in the midst of Jesus’ ministry-filled journey to the cross, we are burned out and lying face down in the sandy road to Jerusalem after only taken a couple of steps. Even active ministry or the joy of serving others in the name of God’s love and mercy can be too much of a good thing.
So then what? I pondered this much of last evening before going to bed and this morning as I got into the shower. As the water cascaded over my head, I recalled how Teri said in our discussion that giving up things for Lent can be meaningful to one’s faith if it “makes space.”
“Makes space…That’s it!” The light bulb went off, it became much clearer as I thought about Terri’s words as well as a podcast I heard over the weekend on God Complex Radio.
The focus shouldn’t be on what we give up nor on what we give to, but on making or creating space–an act of being and receiving more so than doing and giving.
And when I say creating space, I specifically mean creating space for sabbath and sabbath practices.
If we create MORE space for rest and renewal, i.e. sleeping, making/looking at art, running, reading, praying, listening to/playing music, wood-working, playing with our kids on the playground, sitting on the front porch talking to a friend for a couple of hours, going to a movie, etc…then we automatically do LESS of the things that keep us busy-busy-busy-doing-doing-doing.
We tend to get lost in the sabbath practices and make time for things that truly matter–things that sustain us and give us life; tha refresh and reshape us; that remind us who we are and whose we are. Instantly, we do away with or fast from the things that weigh us down and cause burn out, i.e. over-working and the bad habits that can come with it like unhealthy eating, shorter tempers, worry, frustration, impatience, and so on.
By creating space, we just might allow room for God in the Spirit to dwell inside our minds, our hearts, our bodies and souls–freeing us from the trappings of busyness and burn-out so that we can fully experience a journey of…
A Sermon for Sunday July 1, 2012, Micah 7:18-20 and Mark 2:1-12
On a beautiful Saturday afternoon in April 2008, Sarah Tucholsky approached the plate in the top of the 2nd inning with two runners on base in a scoreless college softball conference game between Western Oregon and Central Washington.
Some Central Washington fans taunted the tiny part-time starter-outfielder and senior from Western Oregon who had only three hits in 34 at-bats during the season. She took a strike on the first pitch while trying to block out the jeers. But when the ball was thrown a second time, Tucholsky smacked the ball straight over center field and into the stands—her first-ever home run in four years of playing collegiate softball! And an overly excited Tucholsky started her home run trot around the bases.
However, as she headed toward second, she realized that she missed touching first base. Tucholsky reversed direction to tag the bag when suddenly her right knee gave out, causing her to crumble into a heap on the baseline. The two runners who had been on base already had crossed home plate, leaving Tucholsky as the only offensive player on the field, although she could hardly move. The physical pain was too excruciating for Sara to even crawl back to first base, much less get back up.
If Tucholsky received any assistance from coaches, trainers or teammates, the result would be an out and her home run wouldn’t count. Umpires confirmed that that the only option available under the rules was to replace Tucholsky at first base with a pinch runner and have the hit recorded as a two-run single instead of a three-run home run. Either way, it appeared that Tucholsky, who doctors later confirmed had torn her ACL, would lose the run and a memorable moment, a devastating end to her collegiate career.
As Western Oregon’s coach started to tell the umpires they would replace Tucholsky, another voice spoke up. “Excuse me, would it be OK if we carried her around and she touched each bag?” said first-basemen Mallory Holtman, a four-year starter who owns nearly every major offensive record in softball at Central Washington and who was expecting to have surgery on both her knees at the end of the season. Holtman explained her decision to help out her opponent in an interview with reporters after the game:
Honestly, it’s one of those things that I hope anyone would do it for me. She hit the ball over her fence. She’s a senior; it’s her last year. … I don’t know, it’s just one of those things I guess that maybe because compared to everyone on the field at the time, I had been playing longer and knew we could touch her, it was my idea first. But I think anyone who knew that we could touch her would have offered to do it, just because it’s the right thing to do. She was obviously in agony
Sara Tucholsky being carried by Central Washington’s Liz Wallace, left, and Mallory Holtman. Photo by Blake Wolf, ESPN.com
Holtman and shortstop Liz Wallace lifted Tucholsky off the ground and supported her weight between them as they began a slow trip around the bases, stopping at each one so Tucholsky’s left foot could touch the bag.
When they finally reached home plate, Holtman and Wallace passed the home run hitter into the arms of her teammates. They were all greeted with a standing ovation from the fans that had never seen anything like this! Holtman said of the moment:
We all started to laugh at one point, I think when we touched the first base. I don’t know what it looked like to observers, but it was kind of funny because Liz and I were carrying her on both sides and we’d get to a base and gently, barely tap her left foot, and we’d all of a sudden start to get the giggles a little bit.[1]
…………………………………..
I like to imagine that the paralytic and his four friends were having a mighty fit of the giggles as they made their way through the crowds and up to the roof so they get their sick buddy inside the house where Jesus was teaching.
“I can’t believe we’re doing this!” the first friend says, clutching his aching ribs with one hand while trying to steady his buddy’s cot with the other.
“Some of these folks might think we’re taking Bill up top to get a sun-bathin’!” the second friend suggests with a couple of loud cackles.
“I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces when a hole starts to appear in the roof,” the third friend bellows. “Somebody is going to get dirt in the eye!”
“Look at the twinkle in Bill’s eyes. I know he can’t move but I think he’s laughing on the inside fellas. Might even be thinking about how those scribes are going to get their parchment in a wad over this!” the fourth friend chortles while he slapping his knee.
It must’ve been quite an unexpected and peculiar sight (much like a softball game where two players carries an injured opponent around the bases to score a home-run) for the people in the house to see four grown men digging a hole in the roof several feet above Jesus’ head. Their jaws probably dropped as the men were lowering the paralytic through the opening and onto the floor.
Even Jesus appears to be moved by this surprising interruption to his afternoon storytelling time with the folks from Capernaum. The gospel writer tells us: “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’”
When Jesus saw theirfaith.
When Jesus saw the faith of the four friends, he told the paralyzed man that his sins were pardoned.
The faith of the paralytic’s friends rid the paralytic of his sins. This is an amazing detail to note in the story. The paralytic did nothing on his own to receive mercy for his wrongdoings before God and the community. The paralytic didn’t confess his sins nor was he required to confess, whatever those sins may have been. And yet, the paralytic was rewarded…because of the faith of his friends.
It’s kind of like a softball player who lays paralyzed on the field after hitting a home run and two friends pick her up and carry her around the bases. The softball player did nothing on her own to deserve the help. The softball player didn’t ask anyone to carry her to home plate nor was she obligated to make the request. And yet, the softball player was rewarded…because of the faith of friends.
The faith of friends is what helps makes the merciful kingdom of God visible for all to see.
My theology professor at Columbia Theological Seminary, the late Shirley Guthrie, used to say that our responsibility as Christians is to tell outsiders about the good news of the God who is redeeming all of creation from sin and brokenness:
Why should we tell them? Not so that God may come to love if they believe and obey, but so that they may hear and believe that God does love them….so that they may receive the gift of freedom now. Not by words only, but by demonstrating as individuals and as a Christian community the freedom for God and for fellow human beings that is the gift of God’s grace. If there are some who never ‘enter in’ who will be responsible? Will God ask them accusingly, ‘Why did you not believe and obey and accept the gift of a free life?’ Or will God turn to us and say, ‘Why did they not believe? Why did you not tell them? …You who talk about the love of God for guilty, lost, helpless people, why were you so unloving toward them? You who talked about God’s justice, why were you so indifferent to injustice in the world around you?…Instead of worrying theoretically about what God thinks of unbelievers or those who follow other religious traditions, could it be that we as Christians ought to worry more about what God thinks of us when God sees people who are still outsiders because of what we have said and done, or not said and done?[2]
Jesus watches the paralyzed man being lowered through the roof. Courtesy of Google Images. Slavujac, artist. 2001
The scribes, and other religious leaders of the time, are more concerned with who fits in, who is perfectly worthy of God’s mercy and love (as I mentioned last week) than about their duty to teach people about the goodness of God. The gospel writer recounts that the scribes are practically spittin’ nails about Jesus forgiving the paralytic. They are too cowardly to say anything out loud but angry questions are stirring in their hearts. “Who does Jesus think he is? God? How dare he forgive this man of his sins, that’s something only God can do!”
It was a common belief in Jesus’ day that one’s suffering in life was a punishment from God for their sins or a sign that one lacked a certain amount of faith and belief in God. But Jesus exposes this inaccuracy by declaring that it’s the faith of (the paralytic’s) friends—the way in which they embodied God’s steadfast love for another human being—which eliminates sin and also relieves pain and suffering.
The angry scribes ignore their calling to embody God’s love and to be compassionate toward another person who is hurting. Jesus, sensing the contempt in the scribes’ hearts, says, “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say, “Stand up and take your mat and walk”? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he said to the paralytic— ‘I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.’”
The answer is that it’s easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven” because each and every one of us has the ability and choice to be merciful, loving and compassionate toward another as God has been toward us. None of us has been given the ability to miraculously heal someone’s physical pain with a few words. Butwe can forgive them. That is the more extraordinary miracle of God’s goodness in our lives. We can reach out and pick them up and carry that person in the grace of God.
I know we can do this because… we have already done it! Over and over again, we have seen folks in this congregation reaching out, picking up and carrying others—fellow members and complete strangers—who for whatever reason were in stuck in pain and needing help.
PHPC Middle School Youth Mission Trip Group, June 2012
A couple of weeks ago, I witnessed the act of carrying others while on a mission trip in Asheville, North Carolina with 8 youth and 2 adults from Pleasant Hill Presbyterian Church. Over the course of four days, the group crossed barriers to carry a load of God’s love to others who are often deemed unworthy of such a gift. The PHPC group, along with two other church youth groups (one from Boone, NC and one from Maryville, TN) did the equivalent of 667 service hours, more than 16 weeks of work (the amount it would take 1 person working 40 hours per week), for a living wage total of $7,559.10.
More importantly, they fed the homeless; laughed and played with low-income and developmentally challenged children; shared stories, served ice cream and played badminton and bean-bag toss with low income veterans; worked in thrift stores; helped several non-profit agencies with mulching, gardening and cleaning projects, built relationships, and as one youth said, “We changed people’s lives.”
Their faith helped make the merciful kingdom of God visible for all to see.
Their faith was (and still is being) shaped, molded, nurtured and carried in God’s love through the promises the congregation made in each youth and adult’s baptism.
Fountain in downtown Asheville, NC
It is in the baptism of every person, we are reminded who we are, whose we are, and from whom our faith flows.
Earlier in the service, during the baptism of William Charles Goorsky VI, the children of the church were asked if they would be a good friend to William and support him in all he does and share God’s love with him. Similarly, the parents, the family and the congregation were asked if they would promise to nurture William in the love of God in this church and beyond. By responding with “WE DO!” we essentially affirmed our calling to reach out and pick up and carry, not only William, but every child in the grace of God!
Our faith compels us to do no less. And when we carry the load, the merciful kingdom of God is made visible in ways we’ve never seen before…around the bases and all the way to home.
[2]Christian Doctrine by Shirley C. Guthrie Jr. Westminster John Knox Press, 1994. Shirley Guthrie also shared this thought and others from his book in two theology classes I took from him at Columbia Theological Seminary, 2002-2005.
PHPC High School Youth Super Mario Racing Team: Alex “Luigi” Reinecke, Brad “King Boo” Kirch, Chandler “Princess Peach” Thurlow, Harry “Princess Daisy” Kirch and Philip “Mario” Sligar
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1, NIV)
A week ago, the High School Youth of Pleasant Hill Presbyterian Church participated for the first time in The Family Promise of Gwinnett County Bed Race and…unexpectedly won FIRST PLACE in the Youth Category as “The Super Mario Brothers & Sisters.” The 3rd Annual Bed Race, whose motto was “We Roll For Others” was an awesome event that raised more than $12,000 for Family Promise which seeks to lift families out of homeless and poverty for a lifetime. Check out the coverage from The Gwinnett Daily Post: story, photo gallery and video.
Here is a video I took of the 5-member team coming down the stretch against the Lawrenceville Presbyterian High School Youth “Bed Bugs” in the exciting final heat …
Many thanks to the all of the HS youth and adult advisers who helped assemble the bed, the church members who financially sponsored the youth’s entry in the race (all proceeds of which went to Family Promise) and the members who came out to cheer on their team! And kudos to all of the other churches and organizations who participated in the race and event. With this much energy, we might just roll homelessness right on out of town!
A Sermon For Sunday April 22, 2012, Psalm 18:1-3, Luke 4:16-19 and Luke 19:37-40
If you’ve ever had the privilege (or misfortune) of standing next to me in worship during the singing of a hymn or heard me sing along to tunes off an iPod during a summer youth trip, then you know I can’t sing a lick! As a former member of Pleasant Hill’s youth group once said quite pastorally (with a sweet smile, head tilted to the side and hands clasped together): “You have many gifts Andy Acton, but singing isn’t one of them.”
It’s quite true and unfortunate that I lack that particular talent because I LOVE MUSIC! I enjoy many kinds and could be considered a musical mutt like (senior pastor) Dave Fry. But actually deep down, I’m a pureblooded rock hound! AWOOOOO! (Albeit one that sounds like his tail got run over by a car.)
Of all the genres of music that I listen to on a daily basis, none of them truly move my heart, mind, body and soul more than rock n’ roll! Whether it’s classic, modern, alternative, indie, or folk rock, I savor every bit of those stirring guitar riffs, drum beats, keyboards and vocals. Rock music gets my blood pumping and makes me feel alive!
I was introduced to rock n’ roll at the age of 10 when my parents purchased a brand new stereo system that was capable of transferring an album recording onto a cassette tape. We spent an entire weekend listening to one amazing record after another, my younger brother and I dancing and singing to the music of my parents’ youth—The Beatles, Elvis Presley, James Brown, CCR, the Kingsmen, the Troggs, Jefferson Airplane, The Beach Boys and many more.
In the years that followed, my love for rock music grew as my family would tune into radio stations that played the hits from the 60s and 70s. For a while, I simply viewed rock music as a joyful form of entertainment, something that gave you a good feeling and made you want to tape your feet and nod your head.
Sinead O'Connor on Saturday Night Live, October 3, 1992, Wikipedia Images
It wasn’t until my junior year in high school that I started to realize how a rock artist and song could express such a powerful message on faith, God and the human condition. October 3, 1992: Saturday Night Live was on TV with a popular Irish-rock singer named Sinead O’Connor as the musical guest. While performing an a cappella version of Bob Marley’s protest song “War” –which she intended to be an objection over the sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church (by changing the lyric “racism” to “child abuse,”)—she held up a picture of then Pope John Paul II. And as she sung the word “evil,” she tore the photo into pieces and then said loudly “Fight the real enemy!” before throwing the pieces toward the camera.[1]
A devout Roman Catholic and ardent champion of women and children’s rights, Sinead O’Connor received immediate backlash for her courage to speak out on an issue that has only grown worse in both the Catholic Church and mainline Protestant denominations 20 years since.
Although I didn’t fully understand O’Connor’s actions, the motivation of her beliefs or the child abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, I knew there was something more to rock music than dancing and head banging. I began to pay closer attention to particular artists, the references to faith and social messages in their songs and the meaning behind them. I also discovered new artists, like U2, who would ultimately help shape my faith and beliefs as it related to God’s love for the poor, abused and oppressed.
Formed at a Protestant-run school in Dublin Ireland in 1976 when the members were teenagers, U2 has become one of the greatest rock bands of all time, selling more than 150 million records. The band often uses Christian and spiritual imagery to comment on social, political and cultural issues of the past and present and to dream of a more hope-filled future. [2]
Consider these lyrics from their hit song “Pride” about the prophets like Jesus and Martin Luther King Jr., who were martyred for speaking in the name of love:
One man caught on a barbed wire fence /One man he resist /One man washed up on an empty beach /One man betrayed with a kiss. Early morning, April four /Shot rings out in the Memphis sky/Free at last, they took your life /They could not take your pride. /In the name of love /What more in the name of love.[3]
Or how about the wonderful gospel anthem “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” in which lead singer Bono shares his belief for Christ in a world that is not yet healed entirely from brokenness:
I believe in the Kingdom Come /Then all the colors will bleed into one /Bleed into one./But yes, I’m still running. /You broke the bonds/ And you loosed the chains /Carried the cross of my shame /Oh my shame, you know I believe it./ But I still haven’t found /What I’m looking for.[4]
Bono of U2 visiting children in Africa, from Google Images
Bono once explained the vision of U2 this way:
I’d like to think that U2 is aggressive, loud and emotional. I think that’s good. I think that the people who I see parallels with are people like John the Baptist or Jeremiah. They were very loud, quite aggressive, yet joyful, and I believe they had an answer and a hope.[5]
Over the band’s history, when one least expects it (especially from a rock star wearing a black leather jacket and sunglasses), Bono declares his love for God. Like the 2002 Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans when Bono—while the names of the victims of the 9-11 terrorist attacks were displayed over a huge backdrop—prayed Psalm 51:15: “O Lord, open my lips, so my mouth shows forth thy praise.” [6]Or the numerous times he leads 70,000 plus fans in a rendition of “Amazing Grace” during a U2 concert.
A longtime activist for those afflicted by extreme poverty, particularly in war and disease torn Africa, Bono never hesitates to talk of God’s presence in the world. As he said in a speech in 2006:
God is with the vulnerable and the poor. God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house…God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them.[7]
Bono and U2—through their music and the ways they serve those in need from New Orleans to Zimbabwe—show that God and God’s love is on the move in people’s lives, including our own. Their work is a testament to how rock music can remind us that God, according to Psalm 18, is the “rock in whom (we) take refuge.”
Lenny Kravitz (Cinna) with Jennifer Hudson (Katniss Everdeen) in the 2012 film The Hunger Games, Lionsgate Films
Another musician who wears God on his sleeve (or who more accurately has “My Heart Belongs to Jesus Christ” tattooed on his back) is Lenny Kravitz. Many of you may know him as the Cinna, the stylist and dear friend of Katniss Everdeen in the recent movie adaptation of The Hunger Games.
For the older generations in the pews who are not familiar with Kravitz, you might recall his mother Roxie Roker. Roxie had a groundbreaking role in the mid-70s sitcom The Jeffersons, as Hellen Willis, the wife in the first interracial couple to be shown on regular prime time television.[8] Appropriately enough, Roxie Roker, a black Christian woman, was married to television news producer Sy Kravitz, a white Russian Jewish man. [9]From them came a multi-cultural son who would spend his entire adult life performing rock songs about his faith in God and the importance of love and racial equality. In the song “Are You Gonna Go My Way,” written from Jesus’s perspective, Kravitz says this:
I was born long ago/I am the chosen I’m the one/I have come to save the day/And I won’t leave until I’m done/So that’s why you’ve got to try/You got to breath and have some fun/
I don’t know why we always cry/This we must leave and get undone/We must engage and rearrange/And turn this planet back to one
So tell me why we got to die/And kill each other one by one/We’ve got to love and rub-a-dub/We’ve got to dance and be in love
But what I really want to know is /Are you gonna go my way ? /And I got to got to know /Are you gonna go my way?[10]
Another artist and contemporary of Lenny Kravitz offered a similar message, declaring that people need to stop fighting and come together as children of God. Raised in a Presbyterian church in the small town of Kennett, Missouri, Sheryl Crow sings the following in her song “Out of Our Heads”:
If you feel you wanna fight me/There’s a chain around your mind
When something is holding you tightly/What is real is so hard to find
Losing babies to genocide/Oh where’s the meaning in that plight
Can’t you see that we’ve really bought into/Every word they proclaimed and every lie, oh
If we could only get out of our heads, out of our heads/And into our hearts/Children of Abraham lay down your fears, swallow your tears and look to your heart.[11]
In Luke’s Gospel, the Pharisees demand that Jesus order the disciples to stop praising God’s name. But Jesus replies, “‘I tell you, if these were silent, the rocks would shout out.’” As its been proven by several artists, rock music makes the best and most intimate connection with people and their faith when the songs are crying out to God…in praise, thanksgiving, lament, love and hope. Even if rock musicians stopped recording songs, the music would still shout out forever. And no rock musician cries out to God for the poor and oppressed than Bruce Springsteen.
Last month at a concert in Tampa, Florida as part of the tour for his new album, the blue collared bard played a song first performed in Atlanta in June 2000: “American Skin (41 Shots). The song, originally written about the 1999 police shooting death of Amadou Diallo, has taken on a new resonance in light of the Trayvon Martin killing. [12]
Take a moment to watch the footage of “American Skin”[13] from the Tampa show and observe the artist’s facial expression and mannerisms as he prays the song from deep within himself.
Rock music cries out and in doing so, it can shatter the barriers we put up before God and others. Rock music demands that we release the pressure of prejudice, anger, hate and violence that daily consumes us by shouting it all out to God. And simultaneously, the music beckons us to instead breathe in a new way of being, the way of love. As Queen and David Bowie so eloquently put it in their 1981 masterpiece “Under Pressure”:
Pressure pushing down on me/Pressing down on you/no man ask for
Under pressure that burns a building down/Splits a family in two/Puts people on streets
It’s the terror of knowing/What this world is about/Watching some good friends/Screaming let me out/Tomorrow gets me higher/Pressure on people – people on streets
Chippin’ around, kick my brains across the floor/These are the days, when it rains it pours/People on streets – people on streets
Insanity laughs under pressure we’re cracking/Can’t we give ourselves one more chance?/Why can’t we give love that one more chance?/Why can’t we give love, give love, give love..?
‘Cause love’s such an old-fashioned word/and love dares you to care for/The people on the edge of the night/And love dares you to change our way of/Caring about ourselves/This is our last dance/This is our last dance/This is ourselves/Under pressure/Under pressure[14]
“Under Pressure” continues to remain relevant more than 20 years after it was written. In 2005, the band My Chemical Romance recorded a cover of “Under Pressure” to raise money for the victims of the tsunami that hit Indonesia. [15]
My Chemical Romance’s co-founder and lead singer Gerard Way is by all appearances the last person you’d think would sing about God. But beneath his alternative rock persona is a man (raised as a Roman Catholic) with a deep and abiding faith.
Recalling a time when he was 15-years-old and held at gunpoint with a .357 Magnumgun pointed to his head, Gerard Way told Rolling Stone Magazine that “no matter how ugly the world gets or how stupid it shows me it is, I always have faith.”[16]
Gerard’s belief that God calls each of us to make a difference in a broken world that attempts to muffle the voices of the oppressed is echoed magnificently in the March 2011 hit tune called “SING.”[17] The song—re-recorded a month later with a symphony and vocals from Japanese musicians to raise support of those affected by the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami[18]—is a beautiful reflection of Jesus’ prophetic declaration in Luke 4 where he says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Rock music can strips away all pretensions and falsehoods and reveals us for the flawed human beings we are. And rock music can communicate a prophetic message of hope for a world in which all are redeemed and made whole by the love of God.
[5]Spiritual Journeys: How Faith Has Influenced Twelve Music Icons by Steve Beard, Chad Bonham, Jason Boyett, Scott Marshall and Denise Washington. Relevant Books, 2003
[7]On The Move by Bono, speech from the 2006 National Prayer Breakfast, W. Publishing Group, 2006.
[8]Spiritual Journeys: How Faith Has Influenced Twelve Music Icons by Steve Beard, Chad Bonham, Jason Boyett, Scott Marshall and Denise Washington. Relevant Books, 2003
“In the fullest sense, Easter is a new way of life — in which we are ‘dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 6:11),” called to do justice, love mercy and give selflessly.
Celebrating the Season of Easter (50 days from Resurrection Sunday to Pentecost Sunday) and participating in resurrection living doesn’t mean life is going to be any easier.
Pain, suffering, brokenness, evil and death still exist and will continue for some time, but not forever. In resurrection, we are assured that even in the worst of times “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39)”
Or put another way, dear friends and readers…
Easter is coming, it is here.
Death has lost its sting, love has cast out fear
An empty tomb changes everything, the way toward hope for a better day (and tomorrow) is clear…
What Americans avoid facing is that while we are very generous in charitable giving, much of that money is either wasted or actually harms the people it is targeted to help.
Giving to those in need what they could be gaining from their own initiative may well be the kindest way to destroy people. We mean well, our motives are good, but we have neglected to conduct care-full due diligence to determine emotional, economic, and cultural outcomes on the receiving end of charity. Why do we miss the crucial aspect in evaluating our charitable work? Because, as compassionate people, we have been evaluating our charity by the rewards we receive through service, rather than the benefits received by the served. We have failed to adequately calculate the effects of our service on the lives of those reduced to objects of our pity and patronage.
This is the premise that underlies Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help by Robert D. Lupton, community strategies expert and founder/president of Focused Community Strategies (FCS) Urban Ministries based in Atlanta. With numerous first-hand accounts as well as solid facts and figures about the unintended affects charity has on the poor or system of poverty, Lupton champions a better and more faithful way to care for “the least of these” (Matthew 25:31). It’s a revolutionary book that shifts the paradigm on how many of us have viewed our relationship with the poor and the vision of our call to serve those in need.
Through the lens of the church where I serve as associate pastor for Mission & Outreach (and Youth Ministry) I was pleased to discover that there were many things we are doing that are healthy. But I also encountered passages that were convicting of some of the toxic charity we do practice, albeit unintentional of course. That’s the point of the book. We, especially those in the Church, don’t realize how much harm our good intentions cause. Even when we’ve served in good faith and with a solid scriptural and theological understanding of Jesus’ command to care for the poor, we still can and do make huge mistakes! A synopsis of the book on the FCS website puts it this way:
The poor end up feeling judged, looked down upon, only worthy of charity and handouts that end up making them more dependent instead of learning skills to help themselves…a better system would be to treat the poor as business partners, empowering them to start businesses, build houses, plan communities, etc. He offers specific organizations as examples of this healthier model of charity and gives practical ideas for how to get involved in service projects that truly help.
I won’t go into the examples Lupton shares to support his point but once you read them, it’s hard to ignore that Lupton is on to something here about the toxicity of our mission work and giving. But more revealing is the idea that we can turn our toxic charity into transformative charity, according to Lupton. There is, the author says, hope for doing mission work in such a way that the poor are truly empowered to rise above their poverty and contribute their own gifts to the betterment of the world and God’s kingdom. Lupton suggests that true change begins by adopting what he calls “The Oath For Compassionate Service”:
* Never do for the poor what they have (or could have) the capacity to do for themselves.
* Limit one-way giving to emergency situations.
* Strive to empower the poor through employment, lending, and investing, using grants sparingly to reinforce achievements.
*Subordinate self-interests to the needs of those being served.
* Listen closely to those you seek to help, especially to what is not being said–unspoken feelings may contain essential clues to effective service.
* Above all, do no harm.
In addition to explaining each of these points in detail, Lupton also proposes that we also need to evaluate our mission ministries and ways of giving (to determine their toxicity) by asking the following questions:
* Does the proposed activity strengthen the capacity of neighborhood residents to prioritize and address their own issues?
* Will the proposed activity be wealth-generating or at least self-sustaining for the community?
* Do the moneys generated for and/or by local residents remain at work in the community?
* Does the proposed activity have a timetable for training and transferring ownership to indigenous leadership?
If the answer to some or most of these is “no,” then there is a lot of work to be done. The solutions Lupton offers are definitely daunting and challenging but also practical and doable. This is a book that is worth picking up for yourself if you are a church leader and recommending to your church’s staff and mission committee or members actively involved in mission work in the community. I recently grabbed a few copies for our church’s staff, the three elders on the Mission & Outreach Committee and a long-time member who helps coordinate the church’s Adult International Mission Trip.
Already we’re finding God changing our hearts and minds through Lupton’s wisdom and experience and are beginning to enter into some thoughtful and caring conversations. I look forward to sharing more of what we end up doing different in our mission work as a church. So what about you, dear reader…
If you or members of your church or non-profit have read Toxic Charity, how has your perspective on “giving” changed?
In what ways have you unintentionally contributed to “toxic charity” as an individual or as a church or non-profit?
A friend and colleague of mine, Patrick Marshall, who I studied with at Columbia Theological Seminary, recently joined the blogosphere that I encourage you to check out. Although Patrick, a full-time solo pastor of a Presbyterian congregation in Nebraska, devoted husband and father of two, doesn’t write on a daily or weekly basis (just a few posts since August) his blog (Wr)ekklesia: Reckless Love For A Wrecked Churchis worth bookmarking. Patrick asks a lot of important questions that many of us Christians need to be asking of the churches we serve and worship in as well as the Church Universal in which our faith and understanding of God in Christ finds shape and meaning. In his writings and ministry, he challenges us to re-examine the ways in which we’ve turned the experience of Church into a set of comfortable and mundane rituals and motions, and envision a new way of being Church that is radical and life-transforming–the way God intends for it to be.
And he is not shy (as the blog title says) to point out that for the Church to be transformative or world changing, it has to recognize that it is made up of flawed, wrecked and imperfect human beings who are in need of God’s recklessly loving kingdom. Only by embracing God’s kingdom, the Church can help establish justice, love and grace for the poor, the blind, the prisoner, the sick and the oppressed.
In a post he wrote Friday, Patrick recommends Peter Rollins’ book Insurrection along with an excerpt that he describes as “(Rollin’s) hauntingly brilliant analysis of the Church in North America.” Rollins’ analysis is striking. In addition to making me want to purchase his book to see what else he has to say about the Church in North America, it also reminded me of quotes from two other authors whom I’ve referenced in sermons in 2010:
“Jesus was a dangerous man—dangerous to the power structure, dangerous to the church, dangerous to the crowds of people who followed Him. Shouldn’t the followers of Christ also be dangerous? Shouldn’t everyone be awed and dazzled by Christians? Shouldn’t Christians be known by the fire in their souls, the wild-eyed gratitude in their faces, the twinkle in their eyes, a holy mischief in their demeanors? Shouldn’t Christianity be considered dangerous—unpredictable, threatening to the status quo, living outside the lines, uncontrollable, fearless, wild, beyond categorization or definition? Shouldn’t those who call themselves Christians be filled with awe, astonishment, and amazement?
–Michael Yaconelli, Dangerous Wonder: The Adventure of Childlike Faith, 1998
“Conservatives stand up and thank God that they are not like the homosexuals, the Muslims, the liberals. The Liberals stand up and thank God that they are not like the war makers, the yuppies, the conservatives. It is a similar self-righteousness, just with different definitions of evildoing. It can paralyze us in judgment and guilt and rob us of life.”
–Shane Claiborne, The Irresistible Revolution, 2006
“Many congregations are in love with their mission and vision, and rip one another apart in committee meetings trying to attain it. And many social activists tear each other up and burn themselves out fighting for a better world while forgetting that the seeds of that world are right next to them…Alluding to the Old Testament story where God speaks through a donkey, Rich Mullins used to say, ‘God spoke to Balaam through his ass, and God’s been speaking through asses ever since.’ So if God should choose to use us, we shouldn’t think to highly of ourselves. And we should never assume that God cannot use someone, no matter how ornery or awkward they appear to be.”
–Shane Claiborne, Becoming The Answer To Our Prayer, 2008
Several voices continue to reiterate the same mantra over and over again–the Church can’t remain stagnant and self-focused if it is to be Christ’s hands, feet, heart, mind and body in the world and for those in need of a body of people to love and care for them. When will the Church (in all places) embrace and live out what God calls it to be?
A couple of weeks ago, Elizabeth and I saw the movie Moneyball starring Brad Pitt as the Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane’s successful attempt to put together a winning baseball club, under serious financial straits, by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players.
The film is terrific and deservedly joins other greats in the Baseball Movie Hall of Fame, like The Natural, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, Sandlot, Major League, A League of Their Own and *61. Moneyball also focuses on themes that can easily be applied to the Church, i.e. how to let go of the old ways of ministry that no longer work and embrace new perspectives on doing ministry; how to value the person and their gifts instead of treating members like giving units; how to be innovative, creative, risky and bold instead of being stuck, resistant, unwilling to compromise or move forward, etc.
Essentially, Moneyball is a great lesson on how to go “back to the start,” how to get off the busy wheel and return to the simple love and joy of being, living and playing..in God’s creation. Even more striking than the film itself is that it is preceded (at least at the showing we attended) aptly enough by this new commercial from Chipotle called “Back to The Start.”
The incredible animation and Willie Nelson’s beautiful cover of the Coldplay song “The Scientist” (which features the line “I’m going back to the start”) pulls you into the story of this farmer who realizes that his efforts to streamline his farm to keep up with a super fast and demanding consumer society is causing more problems instead of making life easier. The commercial is a reminder of how we as individuals and as the Church need to step back and revaluate our fast paced streamlined lives so that we can slow down and focus more on being in loving and nurturing relationships with God, creation and one another.
“More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them.”
Dec. 7. Prompt. Community: Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2011?
Over the past couple of years, I’ve discovered community in the ministries of Pleasant Hill Presbyterian Church where I serve as an associate pastor for Youth and Mission & Outreach. During the week, Rainbow Village Inc., hold after-school sessions at Pleasant Hill for elementary-high school kids whose families are accepted into the program. On Tuesday and Thursday evenings, volunteers from various churches in Duluth come to Pleasant Hill to cook and serve a meal to the Rainbow Village families (PHPC members serve meals on the third Tuesday of every month). Following the meal in which volunteers and families eat together, the kids continue doing homework and other activities (same as they were doing in the afternoon) while the parents (mostly single moms) attend a class to learn skills that will help them be more self-sufficient and create more stable home environments, thus breaking the cycles of homelessness, poverty and domestic abuse that have been consuming them.
The part I enjoy most about the Rainbow Village-PHPC community is the work we do together during Advent-Christmas. Last Saturday, the Rainbow Village Children’s Program Coordinator and I, along with 14 church members took 15 Rainbow Village kids shopping at Target for their mothers, and then came back to the church for a gift-wrapping/pizza party. And in a couple of weeks, the church will host the Rainbow Village Christmas Store (a joint venture that is organized by the Rainbow Village Family Program Coordinator, myself and another church member) in the Fellowship Hall. The store is filled with numerous donations from the church and other organizations and businesses that support Rainbow Village; and the moms get an opportunity to go through the store and pick out (at no costs) Christmas presents for themselves and their families. Rainbow Village and church members volunteer to serve by wrapping the gifts, being personal shopping assistants, loading cars with packages as well as canned food that’s been collected, providing hot chocolate and cookies. It’s a joy to be able to interact with the families that Rainbow Village supports and the idea of interconnectedness and community takes on greater meaning when the church is building relationships with others from different cultures and socio-economic backgrounds, especially during a season in which we celebrate the coming of the child who desires for us all to be in one unconditionally loving community.
In February, July and October/November of every year, 70 plus church members participate in Host Week for homeless families who are part of Family Promise of Gwinnett Countyprogram. The Middle School Youth Group transform the upstairs children and youth Sunday School rooms into comfortable living-spaces (like mini-apartments) with fold out beds, blankets, pillows, flowers, lamps, alarm clocks, stuffed animals. They also make fun signs with the family members’ names to go on the door. Throughout the week and weekend, church members volunteer to provide evening meals, serve the meals and host the meals (i.e. provide hospitality and eat with the families). Members also serve as overnight hosts, spending the night in the church and are available if a family has an emergency or there is a building issue (like a clogged toilet or a light that doesn’t work). Often members bring their young children or youth and it’s always a thrill to watch them play with the children in the Family Promise program. As they run up and down the halls laughing and chasing one another, the boundaries are broken. There is no more poor or rich. Black or white. Young or old. All are one in community in Christ.
On the second Sunday of every month, the church holds a Fellowship Meal followed by an alternative and more contemporary worship service in the Fellowship Hall called “upWord.” And while the food is always delicious and worship is always uplifting, the true highlight of the evening is the men from Clifton Sanctuary Ministries who break bread with church members and then stay for the service, either as participants or as worship leaders (singing music, reading scripture or giving testimonies).
Pleasant Hill has had a strong partnership with Clifton for many years. The church’s Men’s Group has helped the Clifton guys do repairs on their facility and the High School Youth have served breakfast at Clifton on a few occasions. Another group of volunteers provides monthly dinners on Friday evenings. And many folks support the work of Clifton through financial donations.
The Clifton guys are such a huge part of the life of Pleasant Hill and I was reminded of what a blessing their relationship and community is for the congregation when some of the residents spoke to a group of Middle School Youth this summer. MS Youth Groups from four Presbyterian churches (First Pres in Shelbyville, TN; Harpeth Pres in Harpeth, TN; Davidson College Pres in Davidson, NC; and Swarthmore Pres in Media, PA) joined Pleasant Hill’s Youth for a week of mission work in Duluth-Atlanta, i.e. “Mission Possible” (And let me tell you, nothing creates community like 70-something middle school youth from different churches living for a week in a church building without access to showers )
After dinner on the first evening of Mission Possible, three Clifton residents shared their lives, their story with everyone. They shared how they became homeless (via a serious accident where there resources were eaten up by medical bills or through losing their job), the struggles they endured on the streets and how Clifton Sanctuary Ministries helped them get back on their feet. These men reminded us how the power of loving communities (whether non-profits or religious institutions or neighborhoods or cities or towns) can make an incredible impact in the lives of those who are hurting and in need.
I’ve also found community in a group of Columbia Theological Seminary classmates and friends. It’s been a blessing to reconnect with the Ball, Hay, Davis, Howard, Fouse and Tolbert families once a month in each other’s homes or Mary Mac’s Tea Room in Atlanta or at our old stomping grounds of Los Bravos Mexican restaurant in Decatur. All of us have children below the age of 3 (except for the Tolberts whose three boys are now teenagers!) and it’s fun to see all of the kids interact with one another and grow up together. It’s especially neat to see the Tolbert boys play with the little ones, considering that many of us were their babysitters during seminary. Elizabeth, Katie and I are looking forward to hosting the group (dubbed S3–Third Saturdays of the month–a spin on a program Columbia offers for pastors who’ve recently graduated seminary) at our house in a couple of weekends. Nothing better than seeing good friends, sharing our lives, families and careers and (this time only) playing the time-honored Christmas game The White Elephant Gift Exchange.
Last but certainly not least, I’ve seen community in the hit NBC comedy Community. It’s one of the funniest shows on TV and is chock full of great insights and lessons about what it means to build community among folks with diverse backgrounds, politics, religious beliefs, personalities, hang-ups, quirks, problems, etc. And as zany as the antics can become (which would mean cancellation for a lot of shows) the absurd situations end up being brilliant metaphors for how we can all be better to be a community.
My hope for 2011 is to continue to make deep connections with the communities I’m currently in and also make room for other individuals who might be able to stretch those same communities with their own unique identities and perspectives.
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