Merry Tossmas!

Thanks to Mike over at The Upper Room for posting this at his place. I enjoyed it so much that I too wanted to get in on the "holiday" fun. I think my family will be participating in this new "holiday" tradition! Take a look for yourself here and let me know what you think about the idea of Merry Tossmas!

Hope Comes Softly

Harsh reality can knock the shine right off the tinsel. There won't be enough money to buy everything we want to buy. $3/gallon gas will keep some from making a journey to be with family. Airport delays and cancellations will frustrate the travels of many, unmercifully stranding them with thousands of other disgruntled strangers in airports across our fair land. An unexpected death will cast an inescapable chill over an otherwise warm home. Notices of foreclosure or garnishment will reach mailboxes just in time to be placed under the Christmas tree with all the other gifts.

These are only the headlines on page 1 of the daily paper. Dig deeper and discover the student struggling through finals wondering if this single test grade is enough to salvage a semester or open the door to the next step. Find also the family entertaining the visitor from the Department of Human Relations questioning whether the kids should stay or go. There on page 3 is the man undergoing triple by-pass surgery the week before Christmas and the 97 year old lady who has outlived her family spending another lonely holiday with other forgotten people. I could go on but it seems this imagined paper is better suited for fire starting than enlightenment.

Most of us will pass through this season with a dim recognition that not all is well. Most will seek to push back the ugliness with a few extra ornaments. Others will seek to stifle the stench with another sprig of evergreen. Still others will drown the sorrow in glass after glass of Christmas cheer, only to discover that it is anything but cheer-filled. The pursuit of the perfect gift will preoccupy the thoughts of some, allowing them to ignore the dull ache behind the heart. However, there will be moments of quiet when the anything-but-lovely pokes its head through our consciousness to disturb us yet again.

And hope comes softly. As unmistakable and unobtrusively as Christmas lights shining from a front porch on a dark night, it comes. Made welcome by its absence, hope comes breathing life into our lifelessness, light into our darkness. It doesn't erase our burdens, it merely makes them bearable as we remember we are not abandoned to the darkness nor enslaved to despair. "In Him was life and that life was the light of men" (John 1:4). It comes softly, almost imperceptibly. Nevertheless it comes. Will we recognize it when it comes or will we rush by it in our pursuit of peace and joy?

Hope comes softly. A child. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory... full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).


(For further Advent reading start here.)

Advent Blogging 2007 - Synchroblog event

I will be participating on Fridays in this synchroblog event imagined and engineered by Brother Maynard over at Subversive Influence. Feel free to click on the title line of any of my posts and you will be linked back to the latest synchroblog posting at Bro. Maynard's place. In addition, you may find various links to the others who are synchroblogging as I run across those that ring the jingle bells in my head and heart.

Here's a list of the participants:

• Brother Maynard
• Lainie Petersen
• Peggy Brown
• Sonja
• Adam Copeland
• John the Shepherd
• Rob Robinson
• Christine Sine
• Lori Bjerkander
• Glenn Jordan
• Julie Clawson
• Cindy Bryan
• Robin Dugall
• Lyn Hallewell
• J. Michael Matkin
• Eric G.
• (Formerly Emerging) Grace
• Matt Stone
• Your Name Here?

I encourage you to stop by their places of blog and enjoy the journey.

A starting place for me today is to begin at the ending. Revelation 22:20 reads, "He who testifies to these things says, 'Surely I am coming soon.' Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!" As I come to this season of celebration I find myself in a Janusian quandary; wishing I had two faces. One to look back through history to the blessed first coming of Immanuel and one to look forward to the imminent blessing of His return. Alas, I have but one face and but one set of eyes with which to look upon this event that was and is to be. Is it possible that by gazing upon one I will be able to see the other? This is my hope and prayer.

"And because of His visitation, we may no longer desire God as if He were lacking: our redemption is no longer a question of pursuit but of surrender to Him who is always and everywhere present. Therefore at every moment we pray that, following Him, we may depart from our anxiety into His peace." (From The Meditation of Simeon in For the Time Being by W. H. Auden)

A Cartoon for the Blogging Community

Carol at Watch Me Paint emailed this to me and it was just too good not to share. You will need to open the image in its own window in order to read the complete text of the cartoon (blogger cuts off the last frame). I think it's a fair description of most of the blogs I've read (including my own!). I find it particularly entertaining in light of the fact that two blogs I read are in the process of publishing a book and a third is participating in the National Novel Writers Month Challenge! (Insert laugh track here.) Keep blogging my friends!

Monday Morning Message - Mission

"The church exists by mission, just as fire exists by burning. Where there is no mission there is no church; where there is neither church nor mission, there is no faith." Emil Bruner, The Word and the World.

Missions defines us as a body of believers. In 1707 a group of baptist churches came together in Philadelphia for the purpose of working together. Admittedly missions was not their first thought, but their association became the vehicle through which the task of missions found broad support. Baptist have always been a people on mission. Dr. Rick Lance, the Executive Secretary for the Alabama Baptist State Convention, has become well known for his statement, "We have one mission, the Great Commission." He's right on the mark. Missions defines us.

Missions also directs us as a church. All we do must be passed through the filter of missions. I was recently listening to NPR and a church had sponsored a segment of the broadcast. What caught my ear was the tag line the church used, "A church committed to social justice." Now I am in no way opposed to social justice, I am glad to see social injustice righted. However I take strong biblical issue with it being the primary purpose directing the activity of any church. The church is entrusted with the message of reconciliation by God? (See 2 Corinthians 5:14-6:1) If the church pursues tangential matters, it's resources and energies are drained from its primary purpose and objective. I believe as the church fulfills its mission the issues of social justice will also be addressed. As the hearts of men and women are transformed so to will the heart of a society be transformed. The axiom, "Keep the main thing the main thing" is readily applicable here.

Missions drives us as a church. Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:14 states, "The love of Christ compels us..." Because we are loved by Christ we also love others. Especially those who are not reconciled to God in Christ Jesus. This is what drives our lives, to see all kinds of people from all kinds of places come to know the wonder of salvation; to help them experience the grace of God for themselves.

Unfortunately the statistics say that our walk does not match our talk. A recent study conducted by LifeWay Christian Resources states, "A majority of the unchurched (57%) wonder why their Christian friends and neighbors never talk with them about spiritual matters. 82% say they would be open to attending church if a friend invited them. Unfortunately, only 21% of active church going Christians invited someone to church last year." (LifeWay Research, emphasis added). Beloved, we have work to do.

Of Saints, Angels, and Politicians: A consideration of Jean Bastien-Lepage's Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc, 1879 Jules Bastien-Lepage (French, 1848–1884) Oil on canvas; 100 x 110 in. (254 x 279.4 cm) Gift of Erwin Davis, 1889 (89.21.1) Metropolitan Museum of Art New York City, New York

My friend Carol has given me an arduous task. The first part I volunteered for by suggesting that we collaborate on this project from our unique points of view. The second part was more than I bargained for! After refreshing my memory concerning Joan of Arc's story I had to introduce myself to Saints Catherine and Margret and upon completing that I was then engaged in revisiting the theology of saints and angels. I feel as if I am preparing for an undergraduate paper! (Here's hoping that what follows is not too sophomoric.)

Allow me to begin by offering my philistine observations of this painting. I would love to see this marvelous work personally. I somehow believe seeing it on a computer monitor does it a severe disservice. One thing that immediately catches my eye is the distinct difference in the figure of Joan and everything else in the painting. Joan is painted with an almost photographic clarity while everything else is impressionistic and ethereal. It would seem the message Bastien-Lepage is communicating through this is the clarity of purpose in Joan's life. There is also a note of urgency about her as the stool she was apparently sitting upon has been overturned in her pursuit of the path being laid before her by the voices of Michael, Margret and Catherine. I note that the path also stands out with unusual clarity (a clear path to follow?) even though it may wind with unexpected turns. The images of Michael, Margret and Catherine very nearly blend into the background. It is as if they are a part of the scenery until you look more closely and discover them "hiding" there. This is, I think, a clever representation of the influences upon Joan's upbringing as well as a commentary upon the forces that shape all of our lives; they tend to blend into the background yet exert great influence on the trajectory of our lives. A beautiful and meaning-filled message in paint.

Now to the theological and pastoral considerations of this subject. Let's talk first about Saints. Do I believe in them? Unequivocally yes. Hebrews 11 and 12 speak of our being "surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses". (On this note, Carol, you must find your way to Birmingham, AL and tour the Chapel of Beeson Divinity School for a marvelous rendering of this scripture). However, my protestant heritage and Zwinglian penchant for iconoclastic thinking prevents me from embracing the notion of long departed saints speaking any word to me other than through their example. I cannot imagine pursuing a course of action because Adoniram Judson instructed me to do so, but I can easily imagine following his courageous example because, like him, I too am called to be a follower of Christ. So, imagining Joan acting on the direction of these voices borders on the absurd for me. After all, people that hear voices of the long departed are either in the looney bin, taking serious medications, or giving psychic readings at Lilly Dale.

The only recollection I have from the Bible of the dead speaking with the living is that of Samuel being called upon by the witch of Endor at the request of King Saul (See 1 Samuel 28). It was not a happy reunion. So, can it happen? Yes. Is it a course of action recommended to us by Scripture? No.

I am aware, if dimly, that in the Catholic church and tradition there is the belief and practice of praying to the saints for help and direction. This is certainly reflected in Bastien-Lepage's painting and, apparently, in the experience of Joan of Arc. Candidly, I find this to be incredible on two fronts. First, as I have already mentioned, the notion of someone who is dead communicating with me in the here and now is not beyond possibility but it is beyond the norm. Secondly, my protestant background questions the efficacy of such an exercise. My theology informs me that through the sacrifice made by Jesus upon the cross there is no longer any wall of separation between me and my Creator. If I can go directly to the source why would I rely on or request the help of some lesser intermediary? As a follower of Jesus I am promised the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all thing and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."(John 14:26). Having the very presence of God with me to guide and sustain me causes me to question why anyone would rely on something less.

As for angels, they have enjoyed a resurgence of interest over the last couple of decades. Our increasingly secular culture seems to be feeling that "God shaped void" of which Augustine speaks and is seeking to fill it with a variety of spiritual substitutes. Angels are a more palatable commodity than many things found in the modern spiritual marketplace. Typically imagined in feminine tenderness as a caregiver or rendered powerfully masculine as a defender and protector, the notion of "angel" brings to mind benevolent faces, gentle wings, and able defenders. This is so far afield from the Hebrew concept of angel that it is difficult to bridge the gap. Certainly there are Cherubim and Seraphim with wings, but most times angels appeared to individuals, in both the Old and New Testaments, as humans. What caused them to stand apart was the message they brought. In fact, the word "angel" means messenger.

Karl Barth has given the most extensive treatment of the subject of angels in any recent theology textbook and describes the topic as "the most remarkable and difficult of all." There are numerous references to angels in Scripture, however, the nature of those references is not very helpful in developing an understanding of angels. "Every reference to angels is incidental to some other topic. They are not treated in themselves. God's revelation never aims at informing us regarding the nature of angels. When they are mentioned, it is always in order to inform us further about God, what He does, and how He does it." (Millard J. Erikson, Christian Theology, p. 434).

But what about Joan? She was apparently examined by the theologians in residence and was passed as sanely sincere in her pursuit of a path defined for her by long dead saints and a warrior angel. Is it possible that she had an encounter with the divine that shaped her destiny or is it possible that she became an unwitting, if powerful, pawn in a game of thrones that consumed her brief and bright life? In truth, both possibilities exist here. It is even within the realm of reason that both possibilities came together in Joan's life.

Carol, in communicating with me about this particular painting, mentioned "the conflation of religion and politics", a nice turn of phrase for an historically bad arrangement. It seems to be a particularly cogent point for the right understanding of this painting as well as the right understanding of many bad chapters in human history, both ancient and modern.

In Joan's life the vision of the warrior angel Michael holding forth a sword for her to take up combined with the martyred saints, Catherine and Margret, seem to play into her psyche. Michael clearly points toward a military role most unusual for a woman. Catherine, martyred for out thinking the political heads of her day, and Margret, martyred for maintaining her virginity against the advances of a powerful magistrate, both point toward her too young death. It is entirely possible that those in power saw in Joan an opportunity to play upon the naive faith of a desperate people to move them to action in accordance with their plans for power. It is not the first time this has been done, nor will it be the last time.

In our own day there are concerns about just this sort of thing happening within American Christianity. There are those who seem bent on imposing their view of the Christian faith, not only on other Christians, but also, upon all who fall under the reach of their influence. Are there truths we should uphold? Absolutely! Some of the truths which find their source in the understanding of the existence of God are firmly planted in the founding documents of our nation. Truths like, "all men are created equal", and "the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" are "endowed by our creator" upon all men everywhere. However, these very truths uphold the right of others to disbelieve. It is a perilous balancing act but one which must be maintained at all costs. "Baptists know from experience that when the interests of the church are no broader than the interests of the state, the church loses its leverage to reconcile those divisions that condemn the world to perpetual strife. The distinctive Baptist understanding of religious liberty is not some denominational oddity, a mere hiccup on the side of history. Rather it offers an essential contribution to the development of a post-9/11 geopolitic by enshrining the insight that the awesome spiritual power of religion may not be linked to the equally awesome temporal power of the state if any semblance of freedom is to survive." (Bill Hull, The Meaning of the Baptist Experience, p. 21, emphasis added)

Abraham Lincoln famously said, "Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right" This is indeed the great challenge of our present day and it will be the great challenge of every coming day, to be on God's side. May He grant us grace to follow so closely as to always be found on His side.

We Treat Our Spiritual Treasures Cheaply

"O Lord God, how comfortable we are.
How exquisitely complacent.
How deliciously at ease.
We, you church, loll drowsily amid our privileges.
We treat our spiritual treasures cheaply,
as if possessing them in abundance
were a natural state of affairs,
always to be expected."

-Ray Ortland, Jr.