Way of the Cross 1
February 27, 2009
On Friday’s from now until Easter Sunday we will accompany Jesus from the Hall of Pilate, where Jesus is condemned to death, to Golgotha (Calvary) where he was executed.
Station #1 Pilate Condemns Jesus to Die
Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You say so.” But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?” But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed. . . . So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” . . . and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified. (Matt 27:11-14, 24, 26b)
Jesus, I wish you would say something. Defend yourself. Declare who you are. Where are the lepers you healed, the blind who can now see? Why don’t those who were lame stand up for you now? Where are your followers? Why are you standing there alone?
Why is Pilate such a coward. He has the power and authority to do something, to put an end to this cruel injustice. Why doesn’t he? What is wrong with him? What is he thinking?
But wait, I see in Pilate me.
I am Pilate when I fail to use my strength and power to help the innocent and the weak.
I am Pilate when I fear the crowd and choose what is easy rather than what is right.
I am Pilate when I seek to save myself rather than suffer for the sake of others.
What is wrong with me?
Jesus I see in you a quiet strength and a humble resolve I long for myself. O Lord, I want to be like you. Free me from the need to defend myself, while giving me a voice to speak up for those who suffer.
Rule of Benedict 13
February 27, 2009
In chapter one of the Rule of Benedict we are treated to the Saint’s preference of the kind of monk and monastery he wishes to have. In this chapter he names 4 types of monks: The cenobites, the anchorites, the sarabaites, and in today’s verses (10-13) he names the last, the gyrovagues. I quote the verses:
The fourth kind of monks are those called gyrovagues, who spend their whole lives seeking hospitality in province after province, monastery after monastery, staying three or four days at a time; always wandering and never stable, they are slaves to self-will and the snares of appetite: they are in all things worse than the sarabaites.
Of the most wretched life of all these it is better to remain silent than to speak. Leaving these behind us, therefore, let us proceed, with the help of God, to make provision for the cenobites–the strong kind of monks.
Lectio: With nothing good to say about the wretched existence of the gyrovagues, Benedict prefers silence to speech; grace and love, to condemnation. Benedict is a discerning leader.
This is what I heard and am meditating on: You have nothing to say? Say nothing. You don’t think your words edify? It is best to keep them inside and not sound like a clanging cymbal and a noisy gong. Jesus kept silence when his life and ours hung in the balance and I am sure many other times. That takes training of the will. Our tendency is unbridled speech. Too much to say if only some will listen. Say little and many will listen when you have something to say. I don’t have to say everything that comes into the mind. Too much talk is a human luxury no one could afford.
Experience also taught gracious Benedict that stability, staying put in one place for a long time, if not until death, provides a grounding in God, and helps overcome a life governed by self-will rather than by the will of God. Stability is one of the vows Benedictines take, if my memory serves me well. Doing life together with a few other people for life is a feat not many accomplish. Loving the same people, foibles and all is no easy thing. Serving God with others in the same congregation for life for life. Is that ever a consideration when better job opportunities come knocking? Heck, 50% or more of us can’t do it with a wife/husband! Mobility has its drawbacks. By raising all these questions I am becoming aware that stability is no longer a core value to us as a society or perhaps as a society of Jesus.
Is this true in your experience? What do you think we gain by stability? What do you think we lose without it?
Prayer: It is good for brothers to dwell together in harmony in your presence, dear Lord. Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Missio Dei 3
February 26, 2009
A favorite and simple definition of spiritual formation comes from the heart of Robert Mulholland. Spiritual Formation is the process of becoming conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others. The words “for the sake of others” are missional words. Spirituality is about change, personal change that spills out into the world. Christianity is the movement of people who gather and scatter in participation with the work God is doing in and out of the church to expand his kingdom.
What I am concerned with here is to build a life around this principle of living that includes a “for the sake of others.” What will it take to become the kind of person who sees himself as sent by God? How do I change to become aware all the time that I am a missio dei tool in the hand of God? Last week I began to tackle the question of time. So I have made a commitment to “unbusy my life.” Now what? What goes, what stays? What do I do? That’s too big to tackle all at once. So what goes this week, what stays this week, what do I do this week? Too big still. Today?
I will walk up and down the street I live on twice, east and west sides. I will pray for each home’s residents. I will ask my life group to join me so we are doing it in community.
My prayer will be simple: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on the people of this home. Open their eyes that they may see and enter the kingdom of God. I am a tool in the hands of God.
The Year of Living Rhythmically: #1
February 25, 2009
Today is Ash Wednesday the beginning of the Lenten season where we carefully begin to review our lives in relationship to God for the sake of growing in repentance.
We frequently discuss the concept of Sacred Rhythm in these pages. Our focus is almost always upon the idea of Sacred Rhythm as it relates to our daily practices of prayer. But this sacred rhythm also applies to the seasons of the year. Through Christ’s resurrection we can now redeem time.
This redemption of time, which we see take place through various sacred rhythms, is bluntly expressed on a day like today. Smudging ash on our foreheads in the shape of the cross and quietly reminding one another: From dust you have come and to dust you shall return.
We are frail and fruitless. Any life we have is what we receive from God. Whatever good we do in this world is a ricochet of God’s grace bouncing off of us only to bless others.
A year of living rhythmically includes observing, as most Christians have done for centuries, the seasons of the Christian year: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter and Pentecost. Each season either anticipates Christ’s coming or dramatically relives a part of Christ’s life. Christmas, Pentecost and Easter are seasons of celebration. Lent is a season of repentance, reflection and fasting. A season of intentional sadness.
Christians are naturally buoyant. This maybe why Lent has been prescribed as a corporate discipline throughout the ages. We love the resurrection too much. Though a season of sadness it is not a sadness without hope. It is a sadness of preparation. After our season of sadness comes our greatest season of joy…
Rule of Benedict 12
February 25, 2009
Chapter 1: 6-9 of Benedict’s Rule tell of the third kind of monk. He says,
A third and detestable kind of monks are the sarabites, who have been tried neither by rule nor by experience as gold by the furnace (Proverbs 27:21); but, being as soft as lead, still keep faith with the world in their behavior, lying to God with their tonsure. Living in twos or threes, or even singly without a shepherd they enclose themselves not in the Lord’s sheepfolds but in their own. Their law consists in their own pleasures and desires: whatever they think fit or choose to do, that they call holy; and what they do not like, that they consider unlawful.
I quote Norvene Vest’s comments on this passage from her book Preferring Christ (23-24). She expresses my thoughts upon reading these verses better than I could do.
“Strong language here! In Benedict’s day the Roman world as it was known was falling apart. Many persons were intensely seeking roots, something that would give security and stability in a time of great change. Yet Benedict suggests that there are those who try to fool themselves–or others–into believing that they have found something worthwhile, but it is really a vast illusion, and a cynical one at that. When someone pretends to believe in God and is quite without inspiration, he or she either doesn’t believe there is a God or believes that God has no power.
True commitment to God demands submission both to tradition and authority. Both tradition and authority have their limits, but we are only qualified to speak to those limits after being tested. At first and for a long time we must submit to the wisdom contained in tradition and in the elders. We must find a good school and undergo strenuous training–training that will often demand something different than what we would “freely” choose. Even our wills must be taught to recognize the good, and to choose it in daily situations.
Make no mistake: there is real and awesome power here! It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, and while we may do so gladly, it behooves us to do it with the utmost respect and obedience.”
Norvene’s reflections on the passage are these:
“Again I hear the phrase: ’still keep faith with the world in their behavior’– and I am indicted and humbled by it! I keep forgetting how deeply my most ‘personal’ desires have been formed by the crass, egoistic, and compulsive culture in which we live. What are most damning are those moments I realize how utterly incapable I am of choosing for myself that which (even) is my own good. I don’t yet know enough to make such choices; more profoundly, I don’t yet love enough. I am often aware of what a puny thing my loving is!
There is great comfort in the possibility that I can rest in and be formed by something I can trust which is “bigger” and wiser than I am. Something [someone] incarnated, something that [someone who] belongs to the human community as God’s gift. There is also great risk in the vulnerability entailed in giving myself to such tradition and authority. But perhaps the power of my need and any longing is now great enough to allow me to take that risk.”
Amen. Lord, have mercy!
Rule of Benedict 11
February 23, 2009
Chapter 1: 3-5 of Benedict’s Rule:
The second are the anchorites–(for the first see RB10, the Cenobites) hermits: that is, those who, not in the first fervor of monastic life, but after long probation in the monastery have learned by the help and experience of others to fight against the devil. They go forth well-armed from the ranks of their brethren to the solitary combat of the desert. They are now able to fight safely without the support of others, by their own strength and with God’s assistance, against the ices of flesh and thoughts.
In chapter one of the Rule, Benedict describes the kinds of monks he knows about. By rule Benedict means the set of guidelines by which the community takes its direction from in order to live obediently into Christ. I don’t think Benedict intends to recommend any kind of cloistered or monastic existence for everyone. But those who are called to rule their lives will truly find him helpful in or out of the monastery.
Lectio: As I carefully read this passage, and reflect on it, there is one thing that attracts my attention: The much needed help of the community in preparing each other for the tough slugging life takes. There are temptations to be fought and won. Sin to be overcome. Without a fight, without active resistance, and the crucial help of the community, the battle looms larger. I know few communities that mount a communal active resistance to temptation and sin. Perhaps you do.
Would you mind sharing? How is active resistance to sin done together in your community?
Does your community practice “catch and realease” quickly Christianity, or “catch and keep till ready” Christianity? When ready release them to overcome the lions, the wolves, and the inner self with the help of others.
Praying this passage down from my head into my heart: Lord, you teach us in Hebrews (10:24-25; Acts 2, etc.), that we ought to do life together in community. Teach us to resist temptation in our communities of faith. Teach us, Lord, to learn to say no together. Train us to be fighters of injustice. Coach us in doing life that is truly life as one body. If Christ be for US who dares stand against US? Lord, pluralize our individualistic American Christianity. Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Rule of Benedict 10
February 22, 2009
Today we begin a reading of chapter one and verses 1-2.
Says Benedict: It is plain that there are four kinds of monks. The first are the cenobites: That is, those who do their service in monasteries under a rule and an abbot.
Lectio: Living under a rule. A rule is not some kind of arbitrary measure or random boundary to live by. Rather the rule or regula is a straight edge that sets a true and proper alignment. In other words, it is an agreed upon way of life in community in a cloistered space (a monastery). For the first twelve years of my life I lived under such a rule in a convent and didn’t know it. It so becomes a part of life and existence that one is no longer aware he is living a rule. The rule becomes the rhythm of life, the way of life. It sets the true boundary of the community life. I don’t think I can describe the rule with any certainty of accuracy. But I know it was not oppressive. Norvene Vest’s take on who Benedict thinks is a monk is this: one who live in monastic community, serving under an abbot and a rule.
Maintaining a routine way of life and doing it with others is not easy. Imagine living with the same group of people for life (like family). Some you may not even like but you learn to love. I remember some of the nuns who used to talk about their colleague’s “foibles” or “quircks” yet do it lovingly. What is lost in such communal living is the ego, the self that would rather live independently of anyone.
Reflection and prayer: My lectio take away from this is coming to terms with life in community while intentionally letting go of ego. Let go my ego! Lord, when my brother is unlikable help me let go my ego. When it is hard to love one and all, help me let go my ego. When I don’t get my way, help me et go my ego. When others are better servants than I, help me let go my ego. When Christ blesses the other more than me, help me let go my ego. When I fail, help me let go my ego. When I am fruiful, help me let go my ego. When my will is not done, help me let go my ego. Amen. Lord, have mercy.
The imitation of Christ
February 20, 2009
To be truly redeemed by Christ is, therefore, to impose on oneself the task of imitating him; As man Jesus is my model because as God he is my Redeemer; Christianity can be defined as a faith together with a corresponding way of life. - Kierkegaard
I for one, find it extremely difficult to live the way Jesus lived. I continually fall short. I am a sinner. I am completely dependent upon God’s grace in my quest to love others the way Jesus does. But that is my hope, that I would become more and more like Jesus and because of that hope I continue to work and strive (1 Timothy 4:10)….
I am part of faith community committed to three basic rhythm’s (”rules” for you Benedictines out there). Our desire is to be an intensive fellowship of friends ignited by the missio Dei. Together we are seeking to live our lives in the way of Jesus by…
- Listening to the Father
- Loving one another and
- Living as agents of redemption in the world.
These three basic practices are our attempt at working and striving because of the hope we have in God.
What are some of the common rhythm’s or rules of your faith community?
What practices do you find most helpful in your “training” to become more like Jesus?
Rule of Benedict 9
February 20, 2009
The prologue of the Rule of St Benedict ends with these verses:
We have therefore, to establish a school of the Lord’s service. In the institution of it we hope to establish nothing that is harsh or oppressive. But if anything is somewhat strictly laid down, according to the dictates of equity and for the amendment of vices, or for the preservation of love; do not therefore flee in dismay from the way of salvation, which cannot be other than narrow at the beginning.
For as we progress in this our way of life and in faith, our hearts shall expand, and we shall run the way of God’s commandments with the unspeakable sweetness of love. So that, never departing from his guidance, but persevering in his teaching in the monastery until death, we may by patience participate in the suffering of Christ; that we may deserve also to be partakers of his kingdom. Amen.
Many of us would be uncomfortable with the way Benedict states his case for the purpose of Christian discipline. Surely, we say, rightly, we need no monastery to live out the Christian life. But we cannot say that others don’t need a cloistered way of doing the Christian life. (By the way cloistered does not mean the absence of service in the community where monasteries exist. Most monasteries have a ministry in their areas. I myself grew up in a monastery which was also an orphanage. It is there I received an education. Without the monastery of the sisters of charity, I cannot perceive what my life might have been like otherwise).
We may also be uncomfortable with the language of “deserving to be partakers of his kingdom.” I don’t think Benedict is talking about earning our way to heaven. Rather, he speaks of deserving to be called citizens of the kingdom of heaven because of the way we live the life of the kingdom.
Notice also what Benedict calls his monastery. A school. The life with Christ is a learned process in community. I wished we could get this in our churches. I wished we could get that doing Christianity individually only, and privately, is not the way of the kingdom. This is more than worship and study together for a couple of hours on a given day of the week. The way of the kingdom is more, much more. It is living the community life, in the Lord’s service, while we develop the skill and the character necessary to follow Christ into the world where he is at work expanding his kingdom.
Lord, may it be so with me. Amen. Lord, have mercy.
How has your community enriched your understanding of life in the kingdom of God?
Missio Dei 2
February 19, 2009
I am wondering: “What would I need to change, eliminate, or add to my way of life in order to live missionally?” I will try to tackle this question for the next several weeks and would like to enter into a shared exploration with the readers of this blog.
Here’s the dilemma as I see it. The problem, I think, does not begin in the church. In other words, asking the questions of living missionally are even more basic than church in the life of the Christian. The issues we all face is how busy life has become. We have to maintain busier schedules than ever before, manage more gadgets than ever, experience more things in a year than our ancestors did in a lifetime, while working more hours than we did a few years ago when we thought the 40 hour work-week was passe.
My point is this: Living missionally takes intentional time or timing. Without availability of chunks of otherwise uncommitted time, living missionally is practically impossible. I don’t want to be simplistic here. I am not saying that we cannot be missional because we are busy with life. But because we are busy we are not being missional. The rub is we always want to institutionalize our responsibilities and manage our time from within institutional church life. Perhaps we should, but we should also chose to live freely or independently of institutional restrictions. In other words saying no to the needs in the institution might free up some needed time to live more missional lives.
If our time is eaten up with the mundane things of life (buying and getting and all the effort these imply, running this ministry or that, taking care of this business or that) to the point of becoming preoccupied by them are we going to be aware of missional opportunities that surround us? What do you think?
So, if I intend to live missionally, it’s not in the gathered community that I would do it. The gathered community is a missional community that gathers to celebrate the fruit of God’s kingdom expansion work. This does not mean that I live missionally individually. Rather, I get the impetus to live missionally from the example of Jesus, and from the community that is, living for the sake of others. Any true community must be engaged in being part of the expanding work of the kingdom of God.
I believe I may have arrived at my own definition of being missional: Living my personal life and my community life in participation with the work of God in his world.
Two questions I think we need to answer here are: One, what do we do with the problem we have with time? Is time a problem, do you think? Or is it what we do with time? Two, how would you define missional or missio dei living?
It Is Making Me
February 18, 2009
In his book Orthodoxy, G.K. Chesterton sets out to establish the basic coherence and beauty of orthodox Christianity (that’s orthodox with a small “o”). In this process he acknowledges his is not a system that he created but one that he discovered, or rediscovered as it turns out. He says:
I have attempted in a vague and personal way, in a set of mental pictures rather than a series of deductions, to state the philosophy in which I have come to believe. I will not call it my philosophy; for I did not make it. God and humanity made it; and it made me. (Orthodoxy, pg. 13)
What Chesterton here ascribes to the work of theology, philosophy and apologetics I want to ascribe to prayer. I created neither prayer nor praying the daily office. The concept of sacred rhythm has been around much longer than I have. In fact, it predates Christianity itself. Yet, when praying the hours of CDP, I feel a thrill of rediscovery. The words are now so familiar that they have become a part of my mental soundtrack. The words of prayers which didn’t start with me, nonetheless, follow me throughout the day. Rather than reducing my experience with Christ to a routine, the familiarity of these words, enlarge it so that I find myself enjoying God’s friendship during the moments of prayer (the “hour” itself) and all throughout my day.
This kind of prayer is formative. Rather than merely comprehending the points in my praying I discover that the various phrases and ideas in the prayer are working on me at all times and in all kinds of occasions. Words such as, “…be within and without me lowly and meek yet all powerful” from the morning office, or from the midday, “…all things are passing, God never changeth”, and from the evening prayer, “Lord, You have always spoken when time was ripe; and though you be silent now, today I believe.”
These words weren’t crafted by me but I find that they are crafting me. From the Psalms and the prayers of ancient others these words are, much like Chesterton’s discovery, making me. (Perhaps re-making me?)
In his musical rendition of the Apostles Creed Rich Mullins ends the song with a phrase that is not from the creed by his brief and powerful reflection upon it. He says, “I did not make it. No, it is making me. It is the very truth of God not the invention of any man.”
No, I did not make it. But it is remaking me.
Rule of Benedict 8
February 17, 2009
The prologue is almost ended (one more). It’s been general in nature. Verses 35-44 read
With these (admonitions) concluded, the Lord is waiting daily for us to respond by our deeds to his holy guidance. THerefore, in order that we may amend our evil ways, the days of our lives have been lengthned as a reprieve, as the Apsotle says: Do you not know that the patience of God is leading you to repentance> (Rom 2;4). For the loving Lord says: I do not desire the death of a sinner, but that he should be converted and liv (Ezek 33:11).
Since then brethren, we have asked of the Lord who is to dwell in the his tent, we have heard his commands to those who are to abide there, it remains for us to complete the duties of those who dwell there. Out hearts, therefore, and our bodies must be prepared to fight in holy obedience to his commands. And let us ask God to supply by the help of his grace what by nature is hardly possible to us. And if we wish to reach eternal life, escaping the pains of hell, then–while there is yet time, while we are still in the flesh and are able to fulfil all these things by the light which is given us–we must run and perform now what will profit us for eternity.
What I appreciate about this rule is its constant reminder that the Christian life is not only about believing, or gazing into spiritual realities, or repenting, or dwelling. It is also total engagement on our part. This engagement is obedience, it’s effort to be in control of our actions and behaviors, it’s being responsible for the attitudes and duties we need to perform the Christian life. It’s bringing our bodies into submission.
Here we can err on both sides. Some are by leaning contemplatives and some are action oriented. There must be balance.
The key in this balance is what the prologue has been calling to: Respond to the invitation of the Lord. Doing life with him is bound to bring the needed balance. Our lack of response to his invitation constitutes a response too: rejection
Lord, how I need a balanced life. I run in this direction and that, helping here and there, losing sleep now and then. Jesus, you never seemed to be in a hurry. Make me like you, my Lord. Amen. Christ, have mercy.
Rule of Benedict 7
February 16, 2009
The Prologue continues with verses 29-34. I appreciate the way Norvene Vest takes small enough portions in the way she divides her sections.
These are they (dwelling in God’s tent) who, fearing the Lord, are not elated over their own good works; but knowing that the good which is in them comes not from themselves but from the lord, they magnify (Ps 15:4) the Lord who works in them, saying with the Prophet: Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto your name give glory (Ps 115;1). In this way the Apostle Paul imputed nothing of his preaching to himself, but said: By the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Cor 15:10). And again he says: He who glories, let him glory in the Lord (2 Cor 10:17). What form does glorying in God takes for you? Do you do it? How?
Hence also the Lord says in the Gspel: THe one who hears these words of mine and does them is like a wise person who built his house upon a rock: the floods came, the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it did not fall; because it was founded upon a rock (matt 7:24-25).
I am convinced that St Benedict knew the Scripture by heart if not entirely, in large portion. Of course the Bible was not yet divided into chapters and verses yet? Yet Benedict knew waht went together in the word of God for the edification of his people.
Perhaps I should park here, Lord, and think a little. How many ideas could I string together like Benedict because my knowledge and memory of the Scripture has such a great place in my life? When I have a command of the content of the Scripture, the Scripture then has a great command of my life. This will be one good work that the Lord will have to work in me. I too will then say with the Psalmist “unto your name I give glory.” In a session with Dallas Willard a couple of years ago, someone asked him what disciplines are most important in his life at this stage in his journey with Christ. I did not expect this answer from him, given his age. “Fasting and Scripture memory”, he said. Here is a man who could be coasting on his life long achievement. But instead he is still learning to hid God’s word in his heart that he may not sin against him. And fasting in humility before his God.
Lover of my soul, may I glory in the work of knowing your word and count myself joyful having been found to be read all day long by your word. Your word is truth. Amen. Christe eleison.
What role does Scripture memory play in your spiritual formation if any?
Rule of Benedict 6
February 15, 2009
Norvene Vest, in Preferring Christ, goes through section by section of the Rule of St Benedict, comments on the section, reflects on it, and invites here readers to pray or respond to what they read. The text of the Rule is one translated especially for Norvene’s book by Fr. Luke Dysinger, O.S.B (for those unfamiliar with letters behind catholic priests or friars’ name they indicated the order to which the person belongs, in this case it is the Order of St Benedict).
I am simply using the text and reflecting a bit on it with prayer. It is a form of lectio divina or divine reading or spiritual reading of a text. I read the text slowly, I meditate on a word or phrase that catches my attention. I pray the application of the text into my life, and finish with contemplation which is a way to simply rest in the presence of God allowing Him to deepen our relationship and guide me. This form of spiritual reading is common among the Benedictines when reading the Scripture.
Prologue Continued Verses 23-28.
But let us ask the Lord with the Prophet, saying to him: Lord, who shall dwell in your tent, or who shall rest upon your holy mountain? (Ps 15:1). After this question, brethren, let us hear the Lord answering and showing us the way to his tent, saying: One who walks without stain and works justice; one who speaks truth in his heart,, who has not practiced deceit with his tongue; one who has done no evil to his neighbor, and has not believed false accusations against his neighbor (Ps 15:2-3).
One who has brought the malignant devil to naught, casting him out of the sight of his heart with his suggestions; and has taken hold of his bad thoughts, while they wre still young, and dashed them down upon Christ (Ps 15:4, 137:9).
Notice again the copious use of Scripture in the RB. Note also how Benedict interprets “dash their children against a rock” in Psalm 137. The children become our thoughts which he wants dashed against the Rock from early in our life.
Lord, I want to dwell with you but often am unwilling to do the dusting and cleaning necessary for it. I am lazy about that. But you are eager to show me the way. There are no short cuts to youn no loopholes provided. Repentance and confession are always prescribed. When I expect others to confess their wrongs to me I expect specifics. When it come to me and You, I falke out. I know I am a sinner and admitting it is no big deal. It’s easy to say forgive me my sins. It’s harder to name them one by one and throw them against the Rock, who is Christ Jesus. But it is what you desire. Amen. Christ, have mercy.
Faith is caught
February 13, 2009
So this week I’ve been reading 2 Timothy, following the Daily Lectionary in the BCP. The phrase that stopped my reading was, “…how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures…”. Before long my mind was back at the beginning of Paul’s letter, which stated, ” I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and am persuaded, now lives in you also.”
I am convinced that God intends families to be the primary environment where the seeds of faith are planted and nurtured. God has given the privilege and responsibility of “spiritual guide” to parents. But lately us parents (especially pastors) handed that responsibility to “church programing” and “paid experts.” Today our families and churches are suffering because of this fatal mistake. Children are left spiritually bankrupt, youth are bored with church programs and parents are left standing in the midst of a family in chaos, wondering what happened and who to turn to.
Ivy Beckwith explains the current state this way, “At the end of the 20th century, churches were seduced by the sirens of consumerism. They came to believe that providing Disneyesque children’s programs constituted the path to larger adult attendance numbers. In doing so they disregarded and lost a sense of what it means to spiritually form children and help children know and love God and live in the way of Jesus. they lost a sense of what children need spiritually from the adults in their lives.
What does your faith community do to resource and encourage parents as “spiritual guides”?
Am I way off suggesting something needs to change in our approach to children/youth ministry?
Rule of Benedict 5
February 12, 2009
Prologue Continued… Verses 19-22 of Rule of St Benedict
What can be sweeter to us, dear brothers than this voice of the Lord inviting us? Behold in his loving kindness the Lord shows us the way of life. Having our loins, therefore girded with faith and the Gospel, that we may deserve to see him who has called us in his kingdom (1 Thess 2:12).
And if we wish to dwell in the tabernacle of this kingdom, we shall never reach it unless we run there by our good deeds.
Note: Benedict is fond of using biblical allusions in his rule. I appreciate this commitment to Scripture.
Response and Prayer: We get the impression that Benedict calls us to work our way to God. This is not so. The work is encouraged in the context of faith making it a faith that works. He calls, we hear, we respond, we act. And this: Nothing is sweeter to us, dear brothers, than the voice of the Lord inviting us. Sweet may not be your or my choice of words for God’s invitation. It is Benedict’s. And it has it attraction. Obedience to God’s voice is sweet, pleasing, satisfying.
May I be found sweetly warmed by your voice, O Lord! Amen. Lord, have mercy.
Missio Dei 1
February 12, 2009
Missional Order is our way of living by three main commitments. One is the commitment to connect with God daily in a sacred rhythm by stopping 4 times a day to acknowledge, pay attention to God and to our lives and relationships. We embody this sacred rhythm by saying prayers, by following a particular way developed by the Northumbria community called Celtic Daily Prayer.
Two is the commitment to embody the gospel by dehabituating ourselves from the old life, and by habituating ourselves to the new life in Christ. This is the putting off the old and wearing the new clothes of righteous living in Christ we see in Colossians 3. This is continuous conversion or sanctification. We are comitted to be conformed to Christ by surrendering our will, developing new habits of devotion, continuous learning of the ways of Christ, and the intentional training of our character (the shaping of our hearts, souls, minds, and bodies).
Third is the commitment to live God-like missional lives. By that we mean that God is a God of mission or a missio dei God. By participating in the life of God we too subsume this mission in daily living a la Jesus. We are one image of the participation in Christ life, the ecclesia (or the church), that is shaped by the life of Christ.
Starting today we would like to begin exploring this missio dei living we are leading. Warning: We all lead imperfect lives. We are scared of going all out on a limb with Christ. We fear relinquishing possessions, we hesitate to go to the reprobates, we keep at a safe distance inside stained glass church widows. We need your stories of living the missio dei in your life, your settings, your make up as a person or preferably as a community created in the imago dei.
Here is the challenge of our involvement in the missio dei and it comes from the French philosopher and theologian Jacques Ellul. This learned churchman sees a divergence between the church which is participating in the life of Christ as visible from the New Testament and the church visible in his surroundings. Comparing the church today with the church in the New Testament yields dissonance (unlikeness). Is it fair to compare the two? Does Ellul get it right? Is he overstating his case? Is the Christianity you see subverted? I quote him from REJESUS by Frost and Hirsch who are trying to come to terms with what a Rejessussed church (a Church reshaped by Jesus, emulating Jesus in EVRYTHING) might look like.
The question that I want to sketch in this work is one that troubles me most deeply. As I now see it, it seems to be insoluble and assumes a seious character of historical oddness. It may be put very simply: How has it come about that the development of Christianity and the church has given birth to a society, a civilization, a culture that are completely oppossite to what we read in the Bible, to what is indisputably the text of the law, the prophets, Jesus, and Paul? I say advisedly “completly opposite.” There is not just contradiction on one point but on all points, on the one hand, Christianity has been accused of a whole list of faults, cirmes, and deceptions that are nowehre to be found in the original text and inspiration. On the other hand, revelation has been progressively modeled and reinterpreted according to the practice of Christianity and the church … This is not just deviation but radical and essential contradiction, or real subversion.
Is the church operating in society with a pervasive absence of the sense of the mission of God to the society? Is it the Church’s faux pas that society is the way it is? To go from the church to the individual: As a believer, how do we live congrently with revelation that is modeled on the life of the radical Jesus we see. What would that look like from 6 in the morning until 11 at night?
My personal take is this: The church has let society shape it in its likeness. Society looks nothing like, cares nothing for the life of Jesus and his church in the New Testament. The church interprets the Scriptures but continues to have a modus operandi that resembles society’s.
Now our goal here is not to dis on the church. We are insiders who are wannabe subversives who truly believe that Jesus reshapes us in order to reshape society. But we see a church that is society-shaped, not Jesus shaped.
How do you see yourself, individually or in community: as a sending agent or the sent agent? How does your community embody (I love this key term) the mission of God in its setting and around the world? Chime in with your story.
Rule of Benedict 4
February 12, 2009
We continue with the prologue of St Benedict’s Rule verses 8-14
And the Lord, seeking his own workman in the multitude of the people to whom he cries out, says again: Who is it who longs for life, and desires to see good days (Ps 34:12).
And if you, hearing him, answer, “I am the one!” God says to you: If you long for true and everlasting life, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn aside from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it (Ps 34:13-14).
And when you have done these things, my eyes will be upon you, and my ears will be open to your prayers; and before you call upon me, I will say unto you, Behold, I am here (Isa 58:9)
Response and Prayer
Benedict knew the Scripture and he really liked Psalm 34. By the way, Benedict did not use the references included here. These come from Norvene Vest’s book: Preferring Christ which is also a meditation on the Rule of St Benedict and the inspiration for what I am doing here.
The Lord seeks, I hear and respond, God responds back. This is a movement evident throughout Scripture. In every prophetic call, in the call of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Solomon, the disciples, and Paul, you and I and so on, there is a pattern: He calls, we obey, he takes care of us and is always present to us. This is the very foundation of living in longing for life that is truly life.
God calls us to consecrated living, not out of sheer will power but living in Christ and modeled on Christ that glorifies God. I yearn for this life. Every lover of Christ and the Father also longs to live with loyalty to the call of God. One thing I know for sure: Living this life solo will not get you there. Living it in community will.
Have you discovered the limits of individualism in spirituality?
Lord, as you are a community of love, so make us one we who love Christ. May the world know us by our love fruit (John 13:35). Amen. Christ, have mercy (Christe eleison).
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