SEEING THE SIGNS FROM STREET LEVEL

BOOK REVIEW: David Leong's Street Signs

David Leong has done us all a great service. With his recently-published book Street Signs, he has added appreciably to an understanding of what it means to live and proclaim the word of God speaking both from and into the cultural landscape.

Using Seattle as his paradigmatic exemplar, Leong, who serves as Assistant Professor of Missiology at Seattle Pacific University's new seminary, writes compellingly about what it means to exegete the neighborhood (the "signs" at street level) and to weave it into a theological context for embodying and witnessing the good news of Christ. His insights, which draw broadly on semiotics and sociology as well as missiology, will provide an additional and likely powerful filter for local churches, parachurch ministry, judicatories, and the academy in their understanding of the nexus of religion and American life -- with untold potential. Especially evocative is his three-"lens" model for urban contextual theology, discussed at length in the book but graphically encapsulated with a diagram on page 220.

As an opening salvo in the emerging subdiscipline, Leong's work does have a few rough edges and places which call for more development. The book reads a bit like a dissertation -- which, apparently, it is, in reworked form. (Leong has his Ph.D. from Fuller Theological Seminary.) At times, the insistence upon reading with the culture and being influenced by insights from the context threatens to overshadow the Biblical mandate to speak into the human story of history, culture, and society. I would have liked to see a bit more of the "hows" of practical application -- which, to be clear, are there to be mined and have great potential for working even interculturally.

For those who are serious about urban ministry, about Christianity's confrontation and interplay with culture, and about how the everyday characteristics of neighborhood life can be potent memes with semiotic significance for mission, this is a book not to be missed. David Leong has given the future of urban Christian work -- indeed, all ministry -- a true gift.

(Leong, David P. Street Signs: Toward a Missional Theology of Urban Cultural Engagement. American Society of Missiology Monograph Series, vol. 12. Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick, 2012. Pp. xx + 250)


Prince Frederick, Maryland (Providence)

"For the unholy and profane ..."

THREE KINDS OF IMPIETY: 1 Timothy 1:9 (part 4)

... understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers ...

Paul continues his roll call of those for whom the Law is divinely tailor-made with a delineation of three kinds of impiety.

Contempt for the things of God. To be "unholy" is to think, speak, and act in a way which deliberately repudiates or denigrates what God has made holy. It is a form of blasphemy, slandering God through the misuse of His good gifts for evil ends. "Profane" means to treat the holy as common, failing to make a distinction between what is sacred and what is common and disreputable.

Still, it is not necessary to say the Lord's Prayer backwards or hang a cross upside down to act in an unholy way; nor is Belshazzar's use of the sacred temple vessels for a drunken party (Daniel 5) the one and only paradigm for treating the sacred as vulgar and common. There is a certain casualness which can creep into our spirituality, to which those who handle holy things routinely may be most vulnerable, which by its levity can not only passively dishonor God's majesty, but rob others of the sense of the mystery of the beauty of holiness.

Failure of filial piety. The law of Moses decreed death for those who strike their parents (Exodus 21:15). Most people would say, "I would never do that; I would not in a hundred years hit Mom or Dad." But again, this law says more than it at first seems. Too often I have had occasion to witness the abandonment or rejection of family members by parents, children, siblings ... those whose homes and lives should have been ever open. We live in a culture which glorifies youth at the expense of age, and in ways too many and complex to delve into here, sets the interests of generations at odds with each other.

Disdain for human life. "All life is sacred," intones our society with its facile credo, but actions say otherwise. In fact, we tend to hold sacred the life that we value in some way, and dismiss other life -- whether it is the unborn child, the prisoner, the victim of poverty or warfare in the third world, the unseen worker or victim of human trafficking. Nor is "murder" limited in its scope to the actual ending of biological life, for the casual disruption of someone's livelihood and willful character assassination can be just as destructive, as is the robbing another of a future which might have been his or hers. A worker's years of devoted service to a company fail to receive their due reward in old age because a corporate raider breaks it up to sell off its assets; a young person's place in a college or training school is stolen due to corrupt practices; a home is destroyed or a dream shattered by another's selfishness.

The law calls for respect in fact where there is a tendency to offer only lip service and platitudes. The Gospel ethic of course is higher still: active love.

Lord, when I first read this list I think these things cannot apply to me. I don't take Your name on my lips in vain; I don't hurt my parents; I don't commit murder. Yet the deeper impieties of heart and contemptuous ways of mind and spirit convict me to the core. Forgive me, O holy Lord, and let me be conformed inwardly as well as outwardly to the holiness without which "no one shall see God". For the sake of Christ: Amen.


Prince Frederick, Maryland (Providence)

"For the ungodly and sinners"

COMMISSION, OMISSION, AND FOOLISHNESS: 1 Timothy 1:9 (part 3)

If the contrast between the "lawless" and the "disobedient" turns on whether or not one has the law, that between the ungodly and sinners falls on the fault line between those who have God but do not walk in God's way, and those who are fully apart from God.

"Sinners" is a straightforward word. To be in sin is to be alienated from God; to commit sin is to violate God's law or God's will. Original sin is the term for that alienation from God which is our common lot as human beings apart from grace; actual sins are those actions or inactions which cause us to runafoul of God's purposes for us. The latter come in two varieties: transgressions or "stepping across the line", which are active sins of commission; and the neglectful sins of omission, which can be just as active in their own way but feel to us to be passive.

But who are the "ungodly"? Who else could they be, but those who do not know God or acknowledge Him as Lord? The Psalmist declared: "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" (Psalm 14:1; 53:1). Yet the distinction is subtler than it may first appear, since we can confess God's existence and sovereignty with our lips, while functionally denying Him (as Jesus pointedly reminds us in Matthew 7:21). In fact, it's tempting to say that while many "secular" seekers in the world are indeed sinners, the great tragedy is the way in which conventional religion -- even much of what passes for Christianity -- is nothing less than an exercise is pious-sounding ungodliness.

Lord, I echo the apostle's sentiment that I am the chief, the very king, of sinners. Forgive me, I pray. Even more, forgive my bent toward ungodliness and deliver my heart from the casual neglect and denial of You. Amen.


Prince Frederick, Maryland

A HAPPY AMENDMENT TO HISTORY

Witnessing Lincoln

Steven Spielberg's new historical movie, Lincoln, is a tour de force, if not always of historical accuracy (on which, see Howard Holzer's piece in The Daily Beast, http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/22/what-s-true-and-false-in-lincoln-movie.html), at least of something of the drama and spirit of the history surrounding the sixteenth President.

Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Field do a masterful job of portraying the Union's first couple, mired in the national as well as personal heartache of the Civil War. Ever noted for his immersion in the roles he plays, Day-Lewis captures a sense of both the man and his remarkable placement in history. The tenor voice, the war-weariness reflected in his shambling gait, the bent to diffusing tension with a pertinent (or not-so-pertinent) story or bon mot, the sense that he was a smarter man than given credit for yet found his element at just the nexus of national crisis when otherwise he might have been a wanna-be politician of merely local prominence (not unlike his great general U.S. Grant) -- all of these add depth, authenticity, and lustre to an exceptional performance. Let's not forget that this actor portraying one of our greatest Presidents is from the British Isles -- a fact easily put out of mind, the more so as he cracks one very funny story at English expense. He may add a third Best Actor Oscar for this performance and if so, it would be well-earned.

The portrayal of Mary Todd Lincoln likewise captures the alternation between high purpose and venality, machiavellian lucidity on the one hand and borderline hysteria on the other. In this, Field avoids the excesses of portrayals like that of Mary Tyler Moore a couple of decades ago.

Even the likenesses are well-done: David Strathairn makes a very credible William H. Seward, but the winner in my estimation is Jackie Earle Haley as Alexander Stephens.

The depiction of black Americans, while in some ways anachronistic (their welcome into the House gallery, for instance), lends gravitas and drama and highlights the importance of the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, ending slavery in all U.S. territory. This points, for me, to the greatest achievement of Lincoln: its almost religious faith in how democracy, for all its messiness and even squalor, can by a confluence of interests and guided by visionary leadership, "get it right" in ways which are truly profound and bear immense and lasting consequences.

If you haven't seen Lincoln, do. Not a regular movie-goer by habit, I did so, twice. It was not only a delight, but a worthy investment of time. And a reminder of what there is to believe in about America, and why we do.


Prince Frederick, Maryland

"The lawless and disobedient"

THE CARE AND FEEDING OF THE CONSCIENCE: 1 Timothy 1:9-10 (part 2)

The Apostle writes to his protege that the design of the law, and therefore we infer God's intention for the law, did not have its first or main reference to those who do right and live according to God's revealed will, i.e., the "just". For whom is it, then?

The Lawless. These are those persons who recognize no authority beyond themselves, a malady of soul which manifests itself with many symptoms. For some, it is the continual questioning of the authenticity, relevance, or applicability of the law as revealed in the word of God. Questions are good, and skepticism to what one is told or taught is a useful tool. But beyond a certain point, honest seeking becomes dishonest obstructionism, an unwillingness to bow the will. A seemingly relatively inert comment such as, "I have my own religion" or the so-common-as-to-be-almost-trite "It doesn't matter what you believe as long as you're sincere" may be symptoms of this disease.

Great evils, like great achievements, start from tiny seeds which take root in the soul. When someone asks, "How can there be such great wrong in God's world?" it is unnecessary to look any farther than the unwillingness to honor God as God by recognizing and submitting to God's will. "The fool says in his heart, there is no God." A Biblical exemplar of lawlessness is Pharaoh, whose "foxhole faith" under fire from the ten plagues is the contrast note to a background of practical atheism where the God of Israel is concerned. The first result is lawlessness. The second result is death for the Egyptians, but freedom for God's chosen people Israel.

The Disobedient. These are those who know perfectly well that God is real and just and that the law of God is valid, but do what they want to do, anyway.

The offense may appear small. While acknowledging it is wrong to steal, someone pads his expense report, fails to disclose a bit of income on her tax return, trims the time on the clock at work, pirates the occasional movie or software. Recognizing that there should be no other "gods" in our hearts ahead of the one true Lord God, one fails to spend time acknowledging that God in prayer and praise and Bible study, neglects worship, and allows the Name or the sabbath to be violated without concern or comment. ("After all, God will always be there. This opportunity won't be ....") The commandments, a framework for our lives, number ten. The ways in which we violate them are nearly endless. Perhaps all the while, professing faith in and love of God.

Every human being falls into one of these categories at times, perhaps often. Rare is the disciple who readily and determinedly faces her or his own transgression honestly, and doggedly seeks to root it out, with the help of the Holy Spirit. Instead, self-justification flows from a happening to a habit, to a hobby, to a habitual way of life. The Biblical definition of a saint is one who, conscious of this trend and the gravitational force of wickedness, overcomes shame and sloth to stand desperately bare in the blinding light of God's holiness, to be embraced in the warmth of God's gracious love, no matter what the cost.


"King of sinners though I be, Jesus shed His blood for me." Lord, the lawless man and the disobedient child both reside in my spirit. Often, they are me and I am they. Forgive me, O God. Teach me to invite you into the remotest parts of my life, and the secret places of my soul. Prompted by your Holy Spirit, let me not stand for any rebellion against you in my life. And let me be alert to -- lovingly -- help to alert for and remove it in others, as you direct. Amen.


Prince Frederick, Maryland (Providence)

"Understanding this ..."

THE LAW IS NOT FOR THE JUST: 1 Timothy 1:9-10

... understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murders, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine ...

Now Paul is coming to the heart of his understanding of the law; and we see here what will become Martin Luther's first purpose of the law, viz., to restrain evildoers. But on a deeper level, we understand that all of us transgress the law at one point or another, in one particular or another. We understand also that, even if we are able to keep up an external appearance of righteousness, we all transgress inwardly in our desires, intentions, and thoughts. By ourselves and under our own power we are all, as Jesus accused the Pharisees of being, "whitewashed tombs". Only God is truly just.

The old theological category of "concupiscence" -- a term not much heard anymore, at least not in the circles I worship in -- is helpful here. Concupiscence is that "tinder of sin" which, like the tinder one gathers to start a campfire and becomes a roaring blaze -- or which can become a massive forest fire from one carelessly tossed match -- still resides even in the redeemed while we are in the flesh. So we, too, even filled by the Holy Spirit, need the guidance of God's law to tame our unruliness and as a check to bring us under submission to the Father, that God may be "all in all".

As the lines from Charles Wesley's hymn have it:

Take away our bent to sinning;
Alpha and Omega be;
end of faith, as its beginning,
set our hearts at liberty.


Lord Jesus, set my heart at liberty this day. Put your law within my heart once more and in a fresh way, so that I can be free to serve you fully and truly. My flesh continues to put itself first. Tame my unruliness but make me wild for Your holiness. Lord, I ask this for Your dear Name's sake. Amen.


Prince Frederick, Maryland (Providence)

"If one uses it lawfully ..."

WHEN LAW GOES WRONG: 1 Timothy 1:8 (part 2)

In the last post, I lifted up the uses of the law, implying also its purpose: a sign of God's holiness to His people, and thus a guide to their own -- and therefore also part of God's providential care for the world.

But what can Paul mean by "if one uses it lawfully" ? How can someone use the law "unlawfully"?

There are at least three ways in which this can happen.

1. The law can be used as a pretext for what is really lawless behavior, as a cover for attitudes, words and actions which are contrary to the intention of God's commands to us.

We see this in the Scripture: the priests and temple officials use the code on perfect sacrifices as a way of extorting money from the people and turning God's house into a "den of thieves"; Herod uses the law on marriage as a cover for his illicit relationship with Herodias and then compounds the error by using the law on hospitality as a pretext for killing John the Baptist; James excoriates a community for using the laws and customs on respect as a pretext for showing partiality and oppressing the needy (Jas 2); Christ rebukes the Church at Thyatira for allowing its fellowship to overwhelm its sense of God's justice (Rv 2). When the law becomes a cover or excuse for sin, we use the law unlawfully.

2. As I wrote in the last post, the purpose of the law is to be a guide for us -- not meaning "suggestions" or "not binding", anymore than the laws of physics and principles of engineering are "not binding" when building a skyscraper or a bridge so that it won't fall down. One expression of God's judgment upon the world's sin is when actions contrary to God's will follow to their natural consequences.

But when we rely on the external code rather than on the grace of God, transforming us from within, we are using the law unlawfully. One of the problems the Church in America faces in the twenty-first century is that it is widely perceived as being harsh and judgmental, at the same time that it is dangerously unserious about many areas of sin which Scripture addresses directly but which are difficult or unfashionable to talk about. The sin of the Pharisees was that of binding heavy burdens for others, while blocking their way to the true riches of the Kingdom. This sin is very much in evidence in the modern Church.

We are not saved by the law; we are saved by grace. And while our holiness will, if we follow Christ aright, take on the shape of the moral law, a people of grace are called to rely humbly on grace, and to be gracious in our dealings with others.

3. The law can also be used as a license for lording it over other people. It is always amazing to me that the Scripture describes Moses, who was God's instrument for bringing the Divine Code to Israel, as the humblest man there ever was. This is a call to us. The conundrum for leaders (especially) in the Church is that there is a certain kind of people who want to tell others what to do -- as Oswald Chambers puts it, who want to "make converts to their opinions"; conversely, there are those who want others to tell them what to do, so that they are spared the difficult work of creative thinking and application and responsible moral agency in the world. A certain codependency then begins to work, which can create a tidy fellowship but does not work God's redemptive work in the world.

The Greek for "lawfully" is nomimos -- its sense is nicely expressed in the Latin Vulgate with the expression legitime utatur. The law is a good gift from God; our call is to use it "legitimately", according to its true purpose, as an aid to the worship of God with full hearts and lives and to holy, life-affirming interactions with one another.


Prince Frederick, Maryland (Providence)

"Now we know that the law is good"

THE LAW IS A GOOD GIFT OF GOD: 1 Timothy 1:8

Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully....

"But aren't we supposed to be under grace, and not under the law?"

I hear this question on occasion. Many Christians have the attitude that the law is "Old Testament" (meaning passe') and grace is "New Testament" (meaning for now), the law being a heavy burden which no one could bear and that has been superceded by the Gospel.

So in particular St. Paul is frequently misread.

It's important to remember always that Paul was a Jew -- even as a believer in Jesus (I might say, especially as a believer) he held his Jewish roots in high esteem. And if you ask any observant Jew, s/he will tell you that the Law of God is a privilege, not a burden, a gift to be embraced with awe.

So the Law is good. In fact, without it, we really cannot understand our need for grace or its effectiveness at all.

Then why do we not continue to offer blood sacrifices at church on Sundays, and avoid cheeseburgers, shrimp cocktail and blended fabrics?

John Calvin, the great French reformer and commentator on Scripture, offered a guide which can help here. He writes that there are three uses of the Law in Scripture. The first of these is the "civil law", which contained those guidelines for Israel as a nation and people at a historical time and place. This contains information like where the cities of refuge were to be, how much a man had to pay to replace his neighbor's sheep that he lost, and so forth. These laws, though part of God's divine guidance for Israel and (later) Judah, are no longer binding on us today.

The second kind or use of the law is the moral law, which has to do with avoiding evil such as dishonoring God, stealing, adultery, murder, etc., and pursuing those goods which are enjoined on us, such as honoring our parents and elders, and engaging in honest business practices. The moral law is binding for all time; however, by grace we have been set free from seeking to earn God's favor through rigid adherence to an external code.

Thus Calvin offers a third classification: the usus in renatus, or "use of the law among the regenerate", those made new in Christ by grace. For the believer, the law is a guideline, not in the sense of nice but elective rules to be adhered to at one's option, but in the sense that our holiness in Christ, when filled with the Spirit, will naturally assume the form of the moral law. The moral law is the shape of a believer's walk.

To make what may be an imprecise illustration: a person I know grew up wearing a body-brace all the time, very rigid and very painful, because of a condition with her spine that she was born with. After many years of enduring the brace and all its physical (and social) limitations, her body had adjusted and grown to the place where she could maintain a correct and healthy posture without the brace. She had to remember to do so, and could not become complacent -- but she no longer required the brace to do it. For humankind, the law is a kind of brace, enabling us though seriously compromised by sin to adapt to the shape of life and holiness that God desires for us. Still, it's an incomplete an difficult process. In Christ by the Holy Spirit, we are enabled to assume the correct "posture" toward God and our fellow human beings so that the brace is merely a reminder, not required. We cannot become complacent, and good posture is still needed. But the guidance brought by the brace, so to speak, has moved from being external to being part of our makeup.

But how does one use the law "lawfully"? That's the next look ....

Lord, I give you thanks for your Law, which is holy, good, and true. Forgive me for denigrating it in my mind, and let my holiness in Christ, enabled by your Spirit, assume the shape of that which you require. As Augustine prayed, "Command what you will, but give what you command." For the Lord Jesus' sake. Amen.


Prince Frederick, Maryland (Providence)

"Certain persons"

BLIND GUIDES: 1 Timothy 1:6-7

Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.

The Apostle has just stipulated the three "legs" on which the "stool" of the charge of love rests: a "pure heart", a "good conscience", and "sincere faith". Now he addresses the problem of those who have abandoned these legs, seeking to rest the basis of ministry (the "stool") on other things, namely discussion and opinion.

Dialogue is good, and in the Wesleyan tradition we regard Christian conferencing as a "means of grace". But unless grounded in the word of God and the life of the Spirit, discussion and debate, even with the best of intentions, drifts into mere sentimentality or worse, rationalization in which we reinforce one another's errors.

James warns us that we need to be careful about being teachers, because we will be judged with greater severity. This passage goes a step farther, and warns not only about the behavior of teachers, but the content of their teaching as well.

Humility is in order here. So is continuing grounding in the word in Scripture, and attention to one's faith and life. Quality, sound teaching relies on all of the above.


Lord, safeguard my life and my teaching. Let me not run ahead of where You lead and guide, nor make things up where You have not given light. If you would have me be a teacher and guide of others, let me be a sound one, filled with faith, keeping good conscience, single in heart, and above all aglow with Your love, reflecting it to others. Amen.


Fulton, Maryland

"The aim of our charge"

LOVE'S THREE SUPPORTS: 1 Timothy 1:5

The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

"The ends justify the means." Though most folks would probably deny, when put so baldly, that this is their life's operative philosophy, it certainly appears to be an underlying principle for much of our culture. What Paul tells us is that ends and means are tied together, that one proceeds from the other and cannot be separated so cleanly as the world tells us.

Love is the end, the aim, the goal: love of God, both expressed and experienced, lived out in sacrificial service at the same time it is received as a free gift. Love of neighbor, both in word and in deed -- in the specifics of day-to-day life as we live it in the microcosm each of us calls "my life", and in the great questions of the day and their reach all around the world, addressing the great issues of justice (e.g., human need such as adequate food and water) and stewardship (e.g., the environment) and mercy (e.g., care for the unborn and elderly).

The aim of the Gospel is love.

This love rests on three great supports, like the porch of a temple on three great columns:

A pure heart. The heart that is single in its devotion to God, tolerating nothing that gets in the way: "Nothing between myself and my Savior". A life devoted to the Great Commandment of love of God with the whole being and neighbor as self.

A good conscience. A life which keeps short accounts. None of us is flawless, and none of us is sinless. But the Bible says that we can be blameless, washed in the blood of the Lamb of God received through repentance and confession and faith (trust) in His word and work. The "good conscience" lives out of that repentance with integrity (a life in which conviction and action align) and when it fails or falls short, trusts, repents, and acts again to realign it.

A sincere faith. How can faith be "insincere"? By playacting, the root meaning of "hypocrisy". It has been said that hypocrisy used to be the compliment that vice paid to virtue, but these days it's the charge which vice hurls at virtue. But whether it's an act or an accusation, this "external" view of hypocrisy misses an important point: that "internally" it's an illness, an ailment, which needs to be diagnosed by the laser-like light of the Holy Spirit, and healed by Christ our Great Physician. Left untreated, it is like a spiritual cancer which breeds and spreads and consumes all of life, leaving fruitlessness and cynicism and confusion and dispiritedness in its wake. It needs to be excised and replaced by sincere faith, which by definition relies not on the self ("my" holiness) but on Christ (grace).

Lord, let love -- love of you, and of neighbor, pure and true and unfeigned -- be the great aim of my life. Purify my heart; strengthen my conscience; actualize my faith ... and these not for my ends, but that I might better love and serve You and reflect Your great love in the lives of others. For Christ's own dear sake, amen.


Prince Frederick, Maryland

Aux armes, citoyens!

BOOK REVIEW: Simon Schama, Citizens

The French Revolution possesses a certain mystique -- positive or negative -- in the American historical consciousness. Thomas Jefferson famously saluted it and saw it as an extension of the American Revolution, overlooking even its most violent excesses as part of the price of liberty. Far more cautiously, John Adams was repelled by its hostility to Christianity, law and order (except as defined by the National Assembly), and the bloody vengeance of the "national razor" (guillotine). Most average Americans seemed to have harbored strong francophile sympathies -- a carryover from the role of Louis XVI's government in support of the nascent United States during the War for Independence -- until the extremes of the Terror and the perfidy of the Directory (crystallized in the "XYZ Affair" and the Quasi-War during the administration of the elder Adams) soured them on the French.

Even today, confusion tends to reign in American memories and perceptions of the French Revolution. I can remember being taught about the excesses of the late Bourbon monarchy, the massive exemption from taxes enjoyed by the nobility, and the "let-them-eat-cake" attitude of an out-of-touch court. (There is no evidence that Marie-Antoinette ever said that, by the way.) "It's no wonder they had a revolution," seems to have been the attitude of my teachers. Yet without the French monarchy -- and the military leadership and connections of men like Rochambeau, de Grasse, D'Estaing, and (let us not forget) Lafayette, there would have been no victory over the British, no Yorktown. The same schizoid attitude prevails for later periods, as well: Wellington's victory over Napoleon at Waterloo is remembered as a great moment, yet that same British Army not a year before had been gloriously repulsed at Baltimore Harbor in a shelling that is immortalized in "The Star Spangled Banner". If we are conflicted and confused on our attitude toward Great Britain during this period, how much more about France, veering as it did from friend and ally to false friend to near-foe, as its political gyrations lurched from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy, to republic to dictatorship, to monarchy again, to empire, and back to monarchy before settling on a second republic?

Enter Simon Schama for a note of reason. His Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution is a thorough but highly accessible and generally very readable assessment of the confusing period from the reign of Louis XVI through the Terror. In so doing, he covers a great deal of material with depth and color, from the pornographic politics that swirled around Marie-Antoinette to the various permutations of how the ci-devants (former nobles) adapted to the new revolutionary realities (or didn't), to the campaign of hostility against Christianity, to the great struggle between the Girondins and the Jacobins.

For me, there were several striking take-aways from the book. One was that the general bankruptcy, which was the true proximate cause of the fall of the absolute monarchy, came about not as a result of taxation policy per se, but as the result of the adventure of a foreign war in America. We got a republic; Louis got the guillotine. Some of the myths around the royal family's flight to Varennes were nicely exploded, as well.

Throughout, Schama makes a convincing case (though he has been roundly criticized for this) that violence was not merely incidental to the French Revolution or an unfortunate byproduct of excessive energy; rather, it was the engine of revolution. He also goes into detail concerning matters which we tend to hear too little about in America: the September massacres, the revolt in the Vendee (which left perhaps 250,000 dead), and not only the Terror but the Counter-Terror. True followers of Jefferson, Americans tend to be naive and assume an exculpatory stance toward the ghastly excesses perpetrated by the French one upon another. Schama's contribution is to show how this violence and death was, from the first days of the liberation of the Bastille in July of 1789, endemic to the Revolution. I also very much appreciated the ambiguity and texture that the book brings to its portrayal of figures such as Talleyrand, Robespierre, Malherbes, and even the King and his brothers the dukes.

Citizen is a true tour de force (in every sense of that term!), and a worthy addition to the reading list of every American who is interested in France, the Revolution and the period leading up to the Directory, and an understanding of how political movements -- even those, like the French Revolution, which are rooted in the reforming aristocracy as much as the masses -- can become daemonic with a life of their own.

A really good and informative read.

[Simon Schama, Citizens: A Chronology of the French Revolution. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1989. Pp. xx + 948.]


Prince Frederick, Maryland

"Myths and Endless Genealogies"

SPECULATION, DEBATE, AND DISTRACTION: 1 Timothy 1:3-4 (part 4)

At first glance, this warning would seem to be as far away from our experience as the world of late classical Asia Minor, where Timothy lived and served Christ, is from modern America.

But that would be a way too facile conclusion!

We may not labor under the polytheistic tales (that we call "myths") of the ancients -- which many of them didn't believe, either, for various reasons, one of which is that they were often offensive to reason. (This was important to folks even before the Enlightenment, though we often forget it!) Or the myths of the Jewish people about various kinds of odd creatures and spiritual forces that would also seem alien to us. We also don't find it imperative to trace our ancestry back to remote times in order to establish our links with Abraham or other "greats" of old. (DAR/CAR members and others with similar noteworthy ancestry may be an exception here, too.)

Still, we have our own chimeras which distract us from the faith. The myth that God really doesn't care very much about my petty and fully understandable lapses, but is very concerned about my neighbor's. The myth that it doesn't really matter what I believe, as long as I'm sincere (or what I do, so long as I mean well and my intention is "pure" -- which turns out to be a pretty fluid category). The myth that all roads lead equally to God. Then there are the genealogies. In this election season, one of the most persistent and annoying ones is that "real" Christians must think and vote a certain way ... their political pedigree must be pure to be spiritually authentic. And speculation follows: what happens if the other guy wins? if the ideology I'm so passionate about (economic, political, social) doesn't carry the day?

The Apostle reminds Timothy to sweep aside, or rather to eschew in the first place, these tugs which tend to pull us off the road of discipleship and into the thicket of fruitless wanderings, arguings, and imaginings. They also tend to produce controversy which we don't need. He calls us instead to stick to the "stewardship" (or "good order") -- the right way of organizing our minds and actions which come to us from God by faith in Jesus Christ. To focus radically on what God has revealed and requires of us, rather than what we tend to substitute for it.

Lord, how easy it is for me to get sidetracked by the bright and shiny lures of pet ideas, partisan alliances, and idle speculations that glitter before me every day. Keep me single in my focus on you, and let me be an encourager of others for the same, to the end of good stewardship of your message of salvation. Amen.


Prince Frederick, Maryland (Providence)

"Not to Teach Any Different Doctrine"

TEACHING MATTERS: 1 Timothy 1:3-4 (part 3)

There is a bias today among some Christians, particularly it seems in America, and including (lamentably) some pastors, toward the notion that doctrine doesn't matter ... or at least, doesn't matter a lot. In my tradition, Wesleyan Christianity, there is a built-in bias toward actions that holds too-fine distinctions in teaching suspect. There are reasons for this, both historical and practical, but it is, to be candid, a weakness. Doctrine without praxis drifts into a kind of quasi-gnostic detachment from the brass tacks of where God is at work in the world; but praxis that is not rooted in sound doctrine is just busy-ness that too easily become completely detached from Christ. (It reminds me of the riddle, "What do you get if you cross an agnostic with a Jehovah's Witness? Answer: Someone who rings your doorbell for no particular reason.")

A recent series of articles in the Lutheran Witness magazine made this point clearly, detailing the testimony of church leaders before Congress regarding the impact of some public policy proposals on the conscience of believers. The testimony is deeply rooted precisely in the teachings of the Gospel. Apart from them, we are simply adrift, with nothing more than that shadow of Christianity which Kenda Creasy Dean has tagged "therapeutic moralistic deism".

Paul knew the importance of doctrine. The apostle who has given us the clearest references to grace in all the Scripture was clearly willing to go to the mat for it, if necessary. There is always the temptation to trim, to equivocate, to cut the Gospel message to fit the pattern imposed by the world around, compromised by sin and alienated from God. This way lies bondage and death, the death of the spirit. Paul, who would ultimately face martyrdom, reminds his protege that above all, even in the gravest circumstances, we must remain true to the teaching of and about Jesus Christ.

Lord, the temptations to compromise are strong. The world's temptations glitter and threaten to draw my eyes from you. The pressures of society, of friends, even of family are strong. Even the Church is not immune from attack from within. Keep me true, and resolutely oriented to You. And grant me, gentle Lord, the added grace to be gracious about it. Amen.


Prince Frederick, Maryland (Providence)

"As I Urged You ... Remain"

THE MIRAGE OF SAMENESS: 1 Timothy 1:3-4 (part 2)

It's easy to pass over, but Paul tells Timothy to stay in Ephesus, while he goes on to visit Macedonia. Can't we charge Paul with a simple case of: "Do as I say, but not as I do"?

The Miasma of "Fairness". As the father of two sons with six years' difference in age, I have long been very familiar with the question, "How come he gets to do that and I can't?!" -- usually (though not always) raised in complaint by the younger about the older. Yet not only in age and understanding but in temperament, talents, and needs, the two, now young men, are very different. To treat them identically would have been a dangerous mistake.

We live in a society burdened by -- sometimes, seemingly paralyzed by -- ideas of fairness that can approach the ridiculous in application. Paper cups are stamped, "Warning! Contents may be hot!" when they are designed and used exclusively for steaming beverages, as a bowing to fairness (I presume) toward the clumsy or not very bright. A parent objects to a costume party in a classroom, so an entire school district bans such celebrations for all students, all the time. In seminary, a bulletin board in one classroom had a round of pocket bread attached followed by the formula "divided equally = justice". Catchy and facile, but not usually true because people's needs are rarely identical.

A growth point in discipleship is recognizing that God's call in my life may be quite different from that of someone else. This is part of what Jesus is getting at with Peter at the end of John 21. As Oswald Chambers points out in My Utmost for His Highest, this can also mean that some activities and influences, while not sinful in themselves and okay for someone else, may be wrong or dangerous for me.

None of us is "special" in the Kingdom of God in the sense of being preferred over others or being exempt from the demands of discipleship; yet each of us has been made unique by the Creator. Timothy's path of service paralleled Paul's for a time, then they diverged. Paul's call was one thing; Timothy's, another. The same is true for each of us.


Lord, thank you for your call in my life. Forgive me when I look with envy on your calling in other lives, or receive with distrust what you say to me. Let me neither react with resentment, not lord it over others in pride, when the differences in calling become apparent. Help me to remember, as Jesus said, that I am "an unworthy servant" -- but even an unworthy servant is still blessed to be Your servant. Amen.


Prince Frederick, Maryland (Providence)

in Resurrectione Carnis

BOOK REVIEW: N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope

Doug Strong is a person I have tremendous respect for; so when he highly recommends a book, it get serious attention -- especially when the author is someone I already have found to be one of the leading theological voices of our time.

N.T. Wright's Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church stands out as one of the best books I've read, especially on the topic of ultimate issues, in a long time.

Wright, onetime Bishop of Durham (England) and now a professor once again at the University of St. Andrews, takes aim at common -- unscriptural -- misconceptions around the nature of heaven and the resurrection in popular culture, misconceptions that often owe more to Greek thought or sentimentalism than to the word of God. Unfortunately, many of these have permeated even the teaching and worship of the Church (e.g., through popular hymns and songs). This is not a harmless development, since it corrupts the Church's witness to the Gospel, robs believers of their true (and exciting!) hope, and tends to foster a fatalism about the world that is very contrary to the message of Jesus and the apostles. In its place, Wright sets forth a vision which is not only thoroughly Biblical, but engaging and invested in the world around us, while not losing sight of the glorious destiny of God's children.

This is truly a must-read for Christian thinkers of all stripes, including pastors and teachers of doctrine (like Sunday school teachers). Accessible without being dumbed-down, it opens a vista on the destiny of God's children that is quite irresistible. If you have to pick one Christian book of substance to read this year, you can't do better than this one.

Thanks, Tom Wright; and thanks, Doug!


[Wright, N.T. Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church. New York: HarperOne, 2008. xiv + 332 pp.]


Prince Frederick, Maryland (Providence)

"As I Urged You"

STAYING THE COURSE: 1 Timothy 1:3-4

"As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith."

In journalism, I am told, one always leads the story with the most important piece, first. On the same principle, Paul wants to get his instruction to Timothy right on out on the table, first thing: Stay in Ephesus!

Tradition, perhaps informed by this passage, tells us that Timothy was the first settled overseer, or bishop, of the Church in that town. Ephesus was an important site in the Greco-Roman world: ruins of the library of Ephesus, one of the major research centers, remain to this day; it was also the center of the cult of Artemis (compare Diana). At the time, it was also a major port on the western coast of Roman Asia, and a small metropolis -- all belied by the relatively insignificant Turkish town (Efes) which is today's successor to the ancient city.

Research site, crossroads, cultic center, urban zone: Ephesus was a place of influence; indeed, a place whose reputation and influence went far and wide in the ancient world. It was a strategic center for Christian witness.

At the same time, it was probably not an easy place to serve. Paul was subjected to riot and abuse there, when the tradesmen found their idol-making dealerships threatened. If the tradition is true that Timothy ultimately suffered martyrdom at the hands of the pagan priests, he and the Christian community there were likely subjected to attempts at threat and intimidation long before it came to that. Little wonder, then, Timothy was subject to "frequent ailments", brought on either by rigorous fasting with prayer, or by stress!

Did Timothy want to leave Ephesus? Hard to say. Perhaps he desired an easier, or more fruitful, venue for service. Maybe he just missed his friend and mentor, Paul. Perhaps hard work brought discouragement, frustration, and depression -- what we today call "burnout". Or maybe Paul is just emphasizing the importance of the mission to Ephesus. Whatever the case, Timothy was God's man -- and the apostolic representative -- for that place at that time. He was called to "stay the course".

Where are the strategic places in the world today where Christian witness is hard, dangerous, or just frustrating -- yet where it is urgently needed? Where are the places in my community where the Gospel needs to be, because they are the crossroads points? (Starbucks, schools, soccer fields, gyms, and shopping malls all comes to mind.) Perhaps just as important, where are the places in my life and world where it is particularly important to maintain the witness, though it is tough and maybe seems like an exercise in futility, or self-immolation?

Lord, give me the staying power to be your witness in my life and world, wherever you put me. Remind me that each place is strategic in its own way, and help me to live worthily of the charge that you give me. Forgive my desire for flight or easier venues of service. Let me look to you, and be faithful to those who depend on me; remembering that sometimes, as with Paul and Timothy, those on whom I think I depend are also truly counting on my service as well. In the Name of Christ. Amen.


Prince Frederick, Maryland (Providence)

"Grace, mercy, and peace"

DISCIPLESHIP STEPPING STONES: 1 Timothy 1:2 (part 3)

To Timothy, my true child in the faith:
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul, having recognized in Timothy his "true child" in the faith in Christ, now goes on to adorn his salutation with a benediction.

Grace. The word charis means "favor", especially of the undeserved kind. St. Augustine categorized grace into "operating" and "co-operating"; John Wesley further compartmentalized it into "preventing" (we say "prevenient"), "justifying", "sanctifying" and even "glorifying". But it is all one, even though it operates differently for us: God's love, vectored toward us as favorable regard.

It is hard to get the mind around this. In a world where services must be bought, grades earned, wages merited, and budgets balanced, something true and free is hard to grasp. I get a gift, I feel the obligation to offer one in return. Someone does me a kindness, and I'm looking for ways to repay it. Here in Southern Maryland, when someone brings over a dish of food to assist during an illness or following a death, the vessel is returned to its owner not only clean but full of some food, treat, or accompanied by flowers or some other offering. We talk the language of free gifts, but how hard it is for us truly to understand it!

God is gracious. Even in the language of faith, we hear, "Christ died for the sins of the world", and we think, on some level, "That's darned nice of him to do." It's not until we realize that Christ gave Himself to forgive (in Wesley's words) my sins, even mine, that we truly begin to know how to respond. As John Newton exclaimed, "Amazing grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!" It is easy to confess others' sins; harder to acknowledge our own. It is easy to intellectually assent to the idea of grace; infinitely harder to receive it. But what joy there is in knowing that the Savior is not just the Savior of the world; He is the Savior of me!

Mercy. The word is eleos, and stems from "to help". Mercy is God's grace, targeted to help me in a particular way. In what way? This depends on my need. God forgives my sin. God delivers me from sickness, or ignorance, or death, or bondage to addiction, or the power of Satan ... or all of the above. If grace is an arrow, mercy is the entry wound on my life, a wound which destroys the power of death and brings healing in its wake.

I deserve nothing but death, bondage, sickness and destruction. Not because I was made that way, but because of my own choices and the common lot of a very broken and corrupted humanity. Grace means that God moves toward me for good; mercy means that the movement is effective on my behalf for life, freedom, healing and resurrection; and the result in my experience is ...:

Peace. Eirene is the Greek, picking up the meaning of the ancient Hebrew shalom. Not just the end of violence and chaos, but an utter "rightness", when all is as it is created to be. This peace is the effect of God's grace and mercy, and slowly invades the individual life and through our lives, the world around us. It is a contagion to be spread; it is a work to be built; it is a feast to be shared at the table of God's acceptance, when the hands have been washed by God's righteousness.

These are three gifts from God. But there also seems to be a sequential aspect to them, like stepping-stones: grace to mercy, mercy to peace, all from God in Christ.

Lord Jesus Christ, I deserve none of your gifts. But it is your will that I and all your human creation receive all of them. First your favor, then the effects of it, then the experience of wholeness which it brings. Let me, having been blessed by these things, turn and strengthen my brothers and sisters and extend the news of your gracious presence to the world. For your own dear sake, and out of love for your children I beg this of you. Amen.


Prince Frederick, Maryland (Providence)

"To Timothy"

PROTEGE OF AN APOSTLE: 1 Timothy 1:2 (part 2)

Just who was Timothy?

His name (Greek Timotheos) means either "one who honors God" or (less likely, I think) "honored by God". It turns out that most of what we know about him comes from the New Testament, in which he is shown to be a protege of the apostle Paul. The son of a Greek (Gentile) father and observant Jewish mother (Eunice) and grandmother (Lois -- see 2 Tm 1:5), he traveled with Paul on his missionary journeys. Paul had met him at Lystra, and arranged for his circumcision as a Jew, for the sake of the mission to the Jews (Ac 16:1-3). The author of Hebrews tells us that a Timothy (presumably the same person) was imprisoned but then released, a sign of his suffering for the sake of Christ. He also had strong ascetic traits, for instance frequent fasting; hence Paul's encouragement to him to make medicinal use of wine (1 Tm 5:23).

Other early Christian sources tell us a little more. Eusebius (History of the Church 3.4) tells us that Timothy became the first bishop of Ephesus, and was evidently Paul's troubleshooter and undershepherd there, as Titus was on the island of Crete. That's suggestive, since tradition also tells us that the Blessed Virgin Mary Theotokos and John the Apostle both spent their last days at Ephesus, which may mean that Timothy was their pastor. If this is true, it's a second tie between the Theotokos and Paul, the other being Luke the Evangelist and (traditionally) first iconographer, whose first work was of the Virgin.

He is believed to have been martyred at Ephesus during the reign of the Roman emperor Nerva by enraged pagans, for honoring God (timo-theos!) by opposing idols.

Timothy learned this reverence of God on his grandmother's knee and at his mother's breast, and under the guidance and tutelage of his mentor Paul. A generation after the man from Tarsus laid down his life for the Gospel of Christ, Timothy followed, but not before serving long and well as the trusted leader of one of the most important sees of the Christian Church.

Lord, thank you for the example of Timothy, and for his faith. Enable us to learn well and to teach well, so that those who are guided by us and who follow us will also minister well and faithfully to your people, blessing Your own heart. Let me, also, be truly found to be "one who honors God". Amen.


Prince Frederick, Maryland (Providence)

"To Timothy, My True Child in the Faith"

BORN TO REPRODUCE: 1 Timothy 1:2

Paul now identifies his addressee: Timothy, his protege. Paul refers to him as "my true child". This should raise several ideas in the mind.

Each of us should ask himself / herself: Who are my children in the faith? Who has come to Christ because of my testimony? Hopefully this includes any natural children (if applicable) -- our kids at some point make decisions for themselves; but we, like Augustine's mother Monica, can be fervently praying and using our gentle, loving influence to try to guide them to the Cross and to faith.

But it's not just about our natural children, grandchildren, or others who are part of our socially-recognized nurturing responsibility. The circle extends to friends, coworkers, fellow-students ... in fact, every life we touch. As C.S. Lewis said: You have never met a mere mortal. Each life is move a little closer to Heaven, or to hell, by your influence and mine. Who are our children in the faith, and how are we feeding, tending, encouraging, challenging, and protecting them?

There's no question that John and Nicholas belong to Elizabeth and me: their looks and their personalities, though different, each bear the stamp of their parentage very clearly. They are our "true children". What of our children in the faith? Are they "true children"?

Each of us must first ask: do they bear the stamp of my character, my influence? Have I given myself, poured myself into them, opened my heart and life so that they can see who Christ is in and for me? Most of all, are they themselves reflecting more and more the character and likeness of Jesus Christ? For that is what is most important.

And if they are our "true children", it is for us to ask whether there is some alloy we are risking putting into the pure substance of their faith, character, and life. Is my heart single toward Christ? Or is there something else that I am passing on, some flaw, some admixture, some dross or brokenness? I have asked this question on numerous occasions regarding our missionary work in the world, and what the Western, especially American, church exports in our church planting elsewhere. Are we planting our problems all over again, along with our churches? Congregations of local churches should ask this: what kind of disciples are we making? Are they "true children" of Christ? And I must ask the same question of myself: am I planting my failings and misunderstandings, along with sharing the Master's love and example and the lessons of faith? May it not be so! But it reminds me of my responsibility, and the call to be ever on guard. Satan is subtle. But Christ is both stronger and wiser still.

In 1955, Dawson Trotman gave a 47-minute talk called "Born to Reproduce". (You can read it here: http://www.navigators.org/us/ministries/college/navfusion/assets/BorntoReproduce.pdf)Trotman, founder of the Navigators, understood this to be part of the very core of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Every species must reproduce or die; but while each individual human may not have natural offspring, and extinction of the Church is guaranteed by Christ not to happen, every Christian believer is responsible to use those opportunities that God gives to work at replicating the chromosomes of faith in the life of another ... in the lives of others.

Who are our children "in the faith"? And are they true?


Prince Frederick, Maryland (Providence)

"By the Command of God"

WHO CALLS?: 1 Timothy 1:1 (part 2)

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope ...

The first striking aspect of this verse is the reference to "God our Savior". We often hear the phrase "our Savior Jesus Christ". Here, though, Paul says "God our Savior". So we understand, just as in John 3:16 and other passages such as 1 John 3:1 and 4:19, that it is of God's eternal purpose that God's own creation be redeemed, and that God is the primary Actor in our salvation. This gives the lie to the idea that the God of the Old Testament is a vengeful and judging and even capricious Dictator, where the Savior is kind, loving, and forgiving. God is the loving Father, the eternal Spirit of both love and justice, who has purposed to redeem and restore all of His creation. Moreover, because we believe that God is revealed as Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we understand from the apostle that the whole of the Godhead is bending toward our salvation.

The second striking feature of the passage is the double mention of "Christ Jesus". Paul is an "apostle" (apostolos, "one who is sent") by Christ Jesus; and he also identifies the same Christ Jesus as the end of his quest and every believer's ("our hope"). Christ is therefore both the origin and basis, but also the end and goal, of our life's purpose.

There are two ways at least of understanding this. One, and I think the wrong way, is to see Christian profession as the limitation of our personhood. The great science fiction writer Robert Heinlein, himself an atheist, pointed this way when he maintained, "The worshiping mind is not a creative mind." This is to make Christ a barrier that one cannot get across. But this is a mistake: the fashioner of our minds, our hearts, our creativity, our very dreams when whole and healthy, is the limitless Mind and Heart which created all things and set before us and all beings an open future.

The other way is to consider this belonging a bit like being part of a family. I was born into my clan, my tribe, my nuclear home gang; and, having lived my life connected to them directly or not-so-directly, I will always belong there and pass from this life with my identity still rooted in that belonging. What I do with that identity is up to me -- but it is a big part of defining who I am. Even if I should abandon the family connection and take another name, that name too will be part of my self-definition. As a Christian, we are born anew into the family of God by the grace of Christ; and that identity is part of our inheritance and points us onward to the great destiny which belongs to all of God's true children.

Christ is "our hope". Hope implies something identified, but not fully realized; a goal, an end. He is our hope because He has made us His own. He is our hope because we look to make all that we do serve His purpose, and win His approval and applause. He is our hope because He has begun to reform creation, un-corrupting and healing that which has become broken and corrupted through sin and rebellion.

He is our hope. When that Hope is the one who has called and named and identified, how can one go wrong? What confidence this brings! What daring it can inspire! And this is exactly how Paul is fired -- and so is able to encourage the protege he will now begin to address in the letter.


Prince Frederick, Maryland (Providence)

"Paul, an Apostle"

CONSIDERING THE CALL: 1 Timothy 1:1

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus ....

Paul's letters to Timothy have always stood out for me as reflections on the nature and meaning of the vocation of ministry with Christ's Church, and into the world. When I was a college student and again as a seminarian, they often formed the basis of my devotional reading as I considered where and how God calls to ministry, and my place in that. In these latter days as I am reflecting again on vocation, I find myself irrepressibly drawn once more to these Scriptures.

"Paul, an apostle". An apostle is one who is sent: that is the meaning of the Greek apostolos. Sent by whom he is about to answer in a minute; but one is not sent for no purpose, so we are right to ask, sent for what?

He is sent to tell. Paul always understands his first call as that of proclaiming the message of Christ crucified and raised, His cross, His power, His grace, His restoration of all things. He has a message which is the guiding principle of his life, because Christ is the central Person in his life.

He is sent to plant. Paul is a pioneer, not a settler; he sees his mission as establishing churches and then visiting again long enough to ensure that they are growing and thriving, responding to problems and conflicts as they arise. He is ambitious in his zeal for Christ, willing to endure the labor no matter how breakbreaking in a stony field, as long as the planting is done.

He is sent to serve. He is a "tentmaker" (literally! the first one!), so to outward appearances he "works for himself". But his occupation (artisan) is the support mechanism for his vocation (disciple-maker). No doubt, he wove the two together where he plied his trade; but his real labor was on behalf of the Lord's churches. He serves Christ by serving Christ's people.

He is sent to be sent. This may sound odd; but Paul went on four missionary journeys (at least, of which we have information), and they built upon one another. The more he did, the more he could do; the more he was faithful, the larger his field grew. He was sent now, not only for the needs of now, but to build the ministry scaffolding to be sent later. I dare to imagine that in God's economy, he continues to be sent, in ways which we cannot begin to dream.

"Paul". His Hebrew name, "Saul", was the name of the first King of Israel, a tall and handsome Benjaminite, the kind of alpha-male that men naturally follow and make women go a little weak in the knees. This Paul was apparently not much to look at, nor even a superb orator (witness poor Eutychus!). But his labor of planting and teaching and discipling changed lives. "Paul" -- Greek "Paulos" -- is Hellenized from the Latin "Paulus". Paulus was a Roman surname of some significance, and we know that Paul was a Roman citizen from the time of his birth in Tarsus. But the word also means "small" -- could it have been a nickname, like my uncle who was always known in the family as "Shorty"? An unremarkable presence, an unremarkable name, for a man who was made quite remarkable, set aglow by Christ.

Paul, an apostle. Not of his own doing, but by another -- for one is not "sent" by oneself. That is for later.


Prince Frederick, Maryland (Providence)

Smooch and Relate

BOOK REVIEW

On the way home from Seattle, I had the chance to finish Dr. Donna Gibbs' book Kiss & Tell: Truths That Will Transform Your Marriage. This compact work (under 150 pages) was given to me; and honestly, I wish I had known about it a couple of years ago, about the time it was published -- it might have been a real help in my own marital situation.

Dr. Gibbs, or "Dr. Donna" as she is known in her home community of Hendersonville, North Carolina, is a Christian counselor specializing in marriage work. In her book, she offers ten principles which she recounts as Biblical keys to a successful marriage. They are: (1) centering the marriage on Christ; (2) praying (together); (3) healthy communication; (4) protecting the marriage against the "unacceptables"; (5) preparing for and dealing well with stress; (6) good financial priorities, planning, and management as a couple; (7) investing in quality time; (8) studying to be the expert on your partner; (9) competing to put the other's needs first; and (10) making room for laughter.

None of these is a dramatic revelation, or rocket science. The book is poorly edited in spots, such as on p.127 where Hosea's wife is named as "Homer" rather than "Gomer". In numerous places, word choice or metaphors don't quite work. Still, these are quibbles. While not providing earth-shatteringly new information, the way in which
Gibbs weaves the insights together and humanizes them is uplifting and potentially very helpful, especially to couples who, like many, feel isolated and as though they must be unique in their struggles.

The gift of marriage is one of God's great gifts. This work, like the classics "Letters to Karen" and "Letters to Phillip", could be a good resource for premarital couples; or still more, I think, for those who are a couple of years into the marriage, beyond the honeymoon stage and well into the long-term serious work of making their union work.


[Gibbs, Donna. Kiss & Tell: Truths That Will Transform Your Marriage. Bloomington, Indiana: CrossBooks, 2009. xvii + 129 pp.]

Prince Frederick, Maryland (Providence)

Journey to the Emerald City

SEEING THE SIGHTS IN SEATTLE

It's always enjoyable visiting the Northwest, and this time was certainly no exception. The flights in on Tuesday were a little bumpy, but the excellent service by Alaska Airlines certainly made up for it. In the afternoon, I was treated to a behind-the-scenes tour at one of the mission agencies here in the Puget Sound region, and got to see how state-of-the-art technology and know-how is being harnessed to the work of serving God by serving the poor around the world.

Next morning, there was some time available to see a bit of the city. "Lonely Planet", the outfit which publishes guides for tourists the world over, also maintains a website with advice on top sites for different locations. Picking several, I set out to see some sights that hadn't yet made the agenda on previous visits, plus one that I just wanted to see again.

The first stop involved a drive over to the Ballard section of town, to the Hiram M. Crittenden locks, or rather the salmon ladder next to the locks. Wanting a bit, I made a stop at Nellie's, a lean-to coffee bar adjoining the Lockspot Cafe. There Jeanette (pronounced the French way, zhen-ETTE) and Todd made up a delicious steaming cup of hot, bold coffee, plus a thick slice of toast with butter and cinnamon. Just the ticket on a morning when the temp was in the mod-40's and I had to go back to the car for my jacket.

Access to the locks, which were built by the US Army Corps of Engineers, is via the Carl S. English, Jr., Garden, a lovely collection of paths and trees and perfectly-maintained plants. There are two locks, one large and the other much smaller, and it was fun to watch them both in operation. The system connects the access to Puget Sound with Lake Union and ultimately Lake Washington to the east. During my visit, which was also in the company of a school group that appeared to be from the Far East, we watched a large scowl or barge pass through the larger lock, and several fishing and pleasure boats make their way through the smaller. The whole process took maybe 40 minutes, and was a delight to watch. The salmon ladder was also fascinating; it is toward the end of the salmon migration season, but a few were still making their way into the system and past the observation windows. King, Sockeye, Coho -- and soon, the Steelhead will be coming through.

From there, the next stop was in the Fremont section of town -- Seattle's answer to Greenwich Village, with a little Haight-Ashbury or Adams-Morgan thrown in -- driving past the statue of Lenin (brought to Seattle after the collapse of the USSR), to see the strange bit of public sculpture titled, "Waiting for the Interurban", a collection of bystanders waiting by an empty platform. The figures get dressed up for different occasions; when I was there, one of them was wearing a birthday hat and was surrounded by balloons. The figures are still "waiting" as the whole collection is a protest for the commuter train which was to be built, and for which the neighborhood is still waiting. I have been told that the dog in the collection bears the face of the politician who delayed and ultimately blocked the project -- a fact which was not revealed until the unveiling of the statue.

From there it was down to the heart of town, near Pioneer Square, for the National Park Service's Klondike Gold Rush Museum. On the way, I stopped at the Waterfall Park, built by UPS on the site of their first-ever office, where the famous brown-van delivery service was born. The Klondike Museum is free, and a real gem, with lots of interesting facts and stories about the great rush to the Yukon in 1897-1898, in which Seattle played an important part. Some 100,000 persons set out for the Klondike, of which about 40,000 made it there; some 20,000 prospected for gold, and just a few hundred realized any appreciable wealth, or about 0.33%. After the Northwest Mounted Police (today known as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or Mounties), fearing widespread starvation, ordered that each "stampeder" had to bring supplies for a year, Seattle merchants helpfully drew up lists of supplies and helped to provision, at a cost of around $350 per person -- about $10,000 in today's dollars. The movie was also great; it's well worth an hour or so.

After stopping for a delicious sandwich of jerked turkey at Rex's Deli, I went to the Seattle Art Museum, a world-class collection in a gorgeous modern building expanded and refurbished about 2007. The visitor is greeted in the entrance atrium by a white car -- one of nine, mostly suspended from the ceiling at various angles and stretching across the museum -- before going upstairs to the excellent collection of paintings, porcelains, religious art, and most notably African, East Asian, and Native art from the Northwest, British Columbia, and Alaska. The $17 ticket was well worth the price.

The day finished off beautifully with pizza at the Wallingford Pizzeria, which my son John has acclaimed the "best in Seattle", and perhaps even better than the family's favorite deep-dish pizza house in Chicago. (I'm not sure I agree, though the pizza was super-good.) We had one with goat cheese, spinach, and some anchovies standing in for the salami (which I can't eat), washed down with excellent local suds. Father-son bonding lingered over a long coffee chat as the evening grew dark.

All in all, a fabulous day. Seattle continues to amaze and satisfy.


Seattle (Queen Anne), 19 October 2012

MUSINGS FROM A TRAVELLING WORSHIPER

My, this has been an eventful summer.

One of the silver linings of my absence from the church this summer, was the opportunity to visit a number of churches: five churches, six weeks in all. For the interested, this is a short sketch of the experiences.

A surprising aspect of those weeks was a craving for the consolatory features of liturgy, that "traditional" (what a misused word!) aspect of the ancient worship of the Church.

Accordingly, the first week I visited the main Russian Orthodox church in Washington, St. Nicholas on Massachusetts Ave., kitty-corner to the much larger, but less ecclesiastically elevated, St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church. (St. Sophia looks like a cathedral church. St. Nicholas is one.) This was not my first visit to St. Nicholas, where there is liturgy on steroids: the Old Church Slavonic liturgy of the Church, rooted in Byzantium and tracing its roots to the misty, pre-Irenaean roots of Christian worship. Though I could not commune -- and as a Protestant, I always have to adjust to the different ethos of congregants' coming and going throughout the service -- it was soothing and refreshing to my troubled spirit. At the end, I joined the line for the blessed bread and diluted wine distributed to the congregation (not the Eucharist, which is reserved for those baptized in the Orthodox communion). While I prefer for congregational participation, it was a true tonic on a day when standing (for about 2 hours -- seats are for the elderly and infirm only) and attending was about all I could manage. It was all that was needed. Though we may sniff at what some call the "superstitious" or "idolatrous" aspects of Eastern Christian piety, what is more important is that grace abounds in all God's houses where the Lord is honored, and He met me there.

The next week, still hungering for liturgical worship (and not wanting to drive as far), I attended a Lutheran church across the river in Charles County. The pastor, a large and friendly man with large and strong hands that made me think of a butcher's, welcomed me before the service as he made his way through the congregation. (I was sitting at the back, hiding out openly like so many who have visited my parishes over the years.) "Nice to see you again," said the man whose church I had never visited before -- making me wonder how many times I've done the same thing. But he was very friendly and I liked him immediately; and he delivered himself of a good, Scripturally-rooted sermon on Ephesians 5:21 ff. (The one thing I didn't like was his concession to contemporary prejudice with his statement that he didn't know whether it was more dangerous to read that passage, or to preach on it. Otherwise, he did a great job.) The service music, though simple, was plentiful, rather like a Pennsylvania Dutch lunch. The very Lutheran emphasis on grace and relatively weak protreptic made my Wesleyan sensibilities yearn for him to tell us to do something -- yet I left refreshed and ready for the week. And reminded that, for all that, it isn't "about me". It's about Christ.

On the third week, Nick and I were planning to do some sightseeing in Washington, so we visited a church that was -- sort of -- on the way. We attended a tiny Anglican (not Episcopal, note) chapel in lower Anne Arundel County, a historical building where the 1928 Book of Common Prayer is still honored and used. We were there for the early prayer service, and together made up 40% of the congregation of 5 persons, one of whom was the organist. (We were told that the later service would be much better-attended, as there was a baptism scheduled for that morning.) The beautiful Cranmerian prayers of the '28 Prayer Book and the readings (from KJV? Geneva Bible?) were lovely. The pastor, a friendly man with long grey-white locks who looked like he stepped out of the late 18th century, delivered an ex tempore meditation on forgiveness that spoke to my mind, if it didn't quite touch my heart. Nick seemed to enjoy the service; and at the end, everyone (all 4 of them, including the rector) welcomed us warmly and said they were glad we came (clearly indicating the small number of worshipers, and clearly very sincere!). Two take-aways from this experience: one, that it doesn't matter how small the congregation is, it's important to give it one's all, as the clergyman clearly did. Second, the witness of presence, even with small, even tiny, numbers, is powerful. They were there for us on a Sunday we needed them to be -- even though we may never visit there again. They make a witness for the Word of God in Scripture and heart-felt worship. A gentle rebuke to our worship of numbers in Methodism -- and much of the Protestant tradition.

By the next week, I was ready to take a chance on hitting something contemporary -- strange reaction, isn't it? given my usual preference for contemporary worship, but it just felt wrong in a context of heart-pain -- I looked up some of the area non-UM but Wesleyan-tradition congregations. That's how I found New Life Church, a congregation of precisely The Wesleyan Church in the La Plata area (whose campus is cheek-by-jowl with that of South Potomac Church on US-301). This parish (if one can call it that) has overlapping services in three buildings on the same campus. My first week, I went to the service in the main building -- where I was greeted warmly at the door, and invited to sample the snacks (cheese! grapes! cookies! coffee! orange juice! -- and you can take it into the worship space!). The service was well-done contemporary with a good band -- loud enough that anemic congregational singing wouldn't matter but not overpowering. The simple (Wesleyan!) decor featured a large, rugged cross, and a warm, carpeted feel. The pastor delivered a very, very basic (intentionally so) message on the first of three "ABC's" of repentance and salvation -- "admit" -- and was very engaging. I liked him immediately (though if the preaching is always at or near this level, I'd grow restless in a few weeks), and was blessed by the call to trust in Christ in all things, including dealing with our sins, our need, our struggles. There was a very Methodist call to DO something about one's faith, and clear signs that this congregation is on the move through its outreach-- and plans to plant a second campus in Waldorf, just to the north. I decided to visit this congregation again, and attend a different service, thinking it might be more traditional.

On my next visiting opportunity, two weeks later, I did just that. But the "Kneeling Point" service, rather than being traditional, was just a different demographic (older), led by what seemed clearly to be the "B team" in terms of both preaching and music. There was something charming and nice in this: perhaps it is a built-in laboratory for those who need to grow and develop their worship-leading talents.

On the whole, I'm really impressed with New Life, as someplace which is focusing on the essential basics in a good way, and on the move, and is open to do what is needed to reach people. If I lived closer than 45 minutes away, I'd look for ways just to drop in more frequently.

My last week of visiting before retirement took me quite local -- again, to a place where I knew I'd find the comfort of liturgy, this time in the Western rather than Eastern mode. I went to St Francis de Sales, just over in Benedict across the Patuxent from Calvert County. Again, a good homily: not riveting, but very thoughtful, with some nuggets that will be helpful to me in some work that I'm doing. I take it the parish is very, very traditional: they offer the mass ("extraordinary office") in Latin twice weekly in addition to their English-language offerings, and Communion was in one kind. (Did the sixteenth century really never happen?) But the feeling was of a warm and loving parish, and snatches of the service music have continued to echo in my head all week at unguarded moments, and blessed me. I also got a Catholic newspaper to read -- man, they don't like the current administration or the direction of the DNC! But again, not the rants that one too often hears from the reactionary (mainly Protestant) right, but thoughtful, and historically-nuanced, critique. While I don't ever see myself becoming a Roman Catholic, there is much in Roman piety to commend itself -- as many Protestants have found, including in such (unlikely?) places as Cursillo/Walk to Emmaus.

This week, it will be a new adventure. I trust, anyway. But in all of these settings, one thing stands out -- something I, as a pilgrim, certainly needed:

"The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him."

Amen.


Prince Frederick, Maryland (Providence)

RUSSIA REFLECTIONS

In late June - early July, I enjoyed the opportunity once again of leading a team of Volunteers in Mission / Russia Initiative connection folks, to Russia. As always, it was a great blessing. It was also a greater challenge than some previous trips. Part of that was due to the more complicated logistics of this venture, which had five purposes: (1) a visit by Trinity and Bel Air churches to Millennium UMC in Orel, our sister congregation there; (2) an exploratory visit by persons connected with the Board of Child Care, looking at possible new partnerships with ministries with children and youth on the Central Black Soil District and in St. Petersburg; (3) a visit by the pastor and members of Bethany UMC (Ellicott City) with their sister church at Latnaya near Voronezh; (4) exploration of a new relationship between Grace UMC (Gaithersburg) and a church on the CBS district; (5) repair / refurbishment work and visit with a youth camp at Camp Kristall, the Eurasia UMC’s camp near the town of Ramon’, in the vicinity of Voronezh.

The visit with the Orel church: Pastor Lev Mikhailov and his congregation, was delightful as always. They are wonderful at welcoming hospitality, and we were able to dine and share in their homes and spend time together worshiping, touring, and talking about our relationship together. We do detect some discouragement and fatigue, due to the changed and less open cultural environment in which they do ministry. Our commitment to them this year is to hold them in prayer and be more energetic in communications. We love them dearly as brothers and sisters in Christ, and want to help them to flourish.

At Kristall, we see slow but steady progress. The main dining building (stolovaya) now has functioning bathrooms, and we also helped with exterior refurbishment and sprucing up, and work on two of the smaller huts (domiki). Our group returned very enthusiastic, to the point that we are looking at possibly having two teams next year: one in the spring to do advance work and focus on the water supply (the Trinity - Bel Air focus) and another to complete that work and focus on the kitchen (the Baltimore-Washington Conference emphasis). Our team came back pumped about Kristall, and has already been meeting to begin working on next year.

Julie Wernz and Rev. David Simpson of the Board of Child Care’s board found some promising connections for supporting and resourcing the work with orphans and children/teens with special challenges. They will be developing this, but returned with their interest strongly sparked. Pastor Rauza Landorf (Grace UMC, St. Petersburg) gets a heroine’s award for leaving the hospital in order to meet with our folks while they were there.

More is yet to come. God is doing amazing things; and though the path has become stonier in some ways than before, the light beckons on like never before. Our love and prayers are with the Eurasian church, especially during this year of leadership transitions at both the DS level (CBS District) and episcopal level (Eurasia Area).


(Sheep Springs, New Mexico; 26 July 2012)

The Anti-Seminary

Seattle: beautiful in the spring. Ignore all the stuff about the rainy season being ten months long -- that's propaganda designed to keep away the sun-worshipers from two states down. (As they say here, "Don't californicate Seattle.") Trees budding, flowers blooming, all of life an amazing, rich, west-of-the-Cascades green.

Something else bursts with new life, here, too: the theology program at Seattle Pacific Seminary, a branch of Seattle Pacific University. Evangelical, Wesleyan, socially-active and culturally-aware, it may be one of the best hopes for renewal of Methodism in the Pacific Northwest, with ripple effects nationwide. (And I write that as a loyal Dukie.)

Founded in 1891 as Seattle Seminary, SPU started with 34 students and two faculty members: Alexander Beers (whose Christian name still graces the oldest building on campus) and his wife, Adelaide. Free Methodist by association -- a large FM church and the local FM annual conference headquarters buildings are both located across the street from campus -- the original mission of the school was to train missionaries for overseas service. That commitment to Christian faith and learning -- embraced in Charles Wesley's famous dictim, "Let us unite the two so long divided, knowledge and vital piety" -- remains at the core of SPU's DNA and mission. That commitment was deepened further by the leadership of its recently-retired latest president, Dr. Philip W. Eaton, who determined that the School of Theology should be at the center of the intellectual life of the university, and who was the institutional patron and champion of the expansion of the SoT into the new Seattle Pacific Seminary, under the deanship of Dr. Douglas Strong.

At this point, I should come clean: our elder son, John, is a third-year student and is about to walk at commencement in the first graduating class of Master of Divinity candidates. (The first students in the Master of Arts in Theology program, a two-year curriculum, graduated last year.) And Doug Strong is a man whom I admire professionally and count as a good friend personally. So I may be just a touch biased. But still and all, I know quality when I see it, and the potential and budding of great things -- and all that is here.

It has just been my privilege to attend two days of sessions in the third meeting of the Advisory Council for SPS, one of two East Coasters to serve on that body. We celebrated the accreditation of the program by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS), and its acceptance by the United Methodist Church's University Senate, which means that UM students can officially study here in preparation for service in the ministry of the UMC. All good news.

Still, the really good news is not in the recognition SPS is receiving -- important as that is -- but in what's actually happening here. Committed to the "three A's": the Academy, the Abbey, and the Apostolate -- or classic study, spiritual formation, and hands-on ministry in the world -- SPS also has cutting-edge programs in Reconciliation and Intercultural Competence and Asian-American Ministry, rounding out a strong academic palette. In a time when many of the pastors of dynamic and influential independent churches are not seminary trained -- in the East, we ask about how to make seminary relevant and in the West, they ask if it can be relevant -- SPS is deliberately positioning itself as the "anti-Seminary", an institution with a difference that will prepare students for service in the ever-shifting landscape of today's world. At the same time, there is an insistence on community, spiritual depth, and integrity of service in the form of outreach to the poor or otherwise at-risk that turns the classroom inside-out and deepens students' appreciation for, and commitment to, the life of ministry.

But even that is not the best news about SPS. You will find that in its students. Even discounting the one who grew up under my roof, the level of passion and commitment, and the personal stories of these scholars -- who range in age from their early 20's to their 50's -- are extraordinarily inspiring. It has been my privilege as an AC member to hear several of them offer their testimonies; and if the future leadership of Methodism in the region looks anything at all like them, we are in good hands, indeed. Add to that the personal nurturing and formation they receive from a faculty who literally gives themselves away in discipling as well as in academic preparation, and it's a powerful mix. One can feel the Holy Spirit moving in this place.

There are 13 official United Methodist seminaries. Some of them (Duke in North Carolina, and Wesley in the District of Columbia, to name two) "get it" when it comes to serving well the church which brought them into being and continues to rely on their leadership. Others don't get it so well, or not at all -- yet we pour hundreds of thousands of dollars as a denomination each year into what amounts to divinity welfare for some of these schools. Asbury in Kentucky is not one of the 13, yet trains more UM pastors than any other institution. Meanwhile, the University Senate has been pruning its list of "approved" schools, narrowing the reservation for those UM braves, young or old, responding to a call of God to become leaders and elders in the UM tribe. The UM bishops' "A Call to Action" is premised on the sad, sorry, sick state of our denomination -- which is particularly acute in the Western Jurisdiction and highly evident in the Pacific Northwest. Yet here is a small, upstart institution, belonging to a denomination once described by Leonard Sweet as belonging to "the Methodist farm system" or minor leagues, which is responding vigorously to the very needs articulated by the UM bishops and which are acutely felt by the PCUSA and other mainline denominations, as well.

It is a great cause for rejoicing for Methodists of all stripes, and truly all Christians, that this little seminary is taking root and growing. And perhaps it could only happen in Seattle, with its creatively rebellious roots, charmingly iconoclastic outlook and out-of-the-box thinking.

The town which buried the whole bottom story of its downtown buildings when they got in the way, the window to the Far East from which the Alaska Gold Rush was launched. The home of the Space Needle (now 50 years old!), where environmentalism is not merely a good idea but a matter of local creed. The birthplace of grunge rock and Microsoft, which gave us Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, and Bill Gates.

And now, the Anti-Seminary.

Alexander and Adelaide would be proud.

(Seattle, Washington)