So there's this classic. (and if you only have one Sam Cooke song in your life, this one wouldn't be bad)
There's something about a Sam Cooke song that just gets to what is real in every life. A longing, a passion, an earnest desire to see beyond the surface, and a sheer elegance of voice makes listening to Sam Cooke one of the best ways to spend three minutes of your life. This song is one of his best.
His lover has left. We've all been there. We've all been both the "leaver" and the "leveee." And it hurts. It always hurts. Even when it hurts to much to stay, it still hurts to leave; it still hurts to be left.
There's no pulling punches with this song, it is a no-holds-barred attempt to get love back, to return to better times, and the singer will do anything to bring that love back. But here's the thing--the love never returns. And at least when Sam Cooke sings it, he seems to know that too. That all his words, his promises, his pleas are to no avail. The lover never returns. yeah...
The Christian faith lives from the same song. God sings this song to each and every one of us every day, and we never seem to return. Of course, what God promises us is not jewelry or money, but rather purpose to your life, meaning for all your living, and a lover who will be there after you die. That's just who God is.
And I'm willing to bet my first-born (who is a HUGE Sam Cooke fan) that Sam Cooke knew that too.
May your tables be full and your conversations be true.
Your Blog Steward
- Scott Frederickson
- Omaha, Nebraska, United States
- I am more and more convinced that most congregations die from a staggering lack of imagination. Let's change that. Let's imagine a creative future with God and each other together. Drop me a line on email or leave a comment if you have thoughts on God, Jesus, congregations, the church or whatever.... I look forward to our conversations.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Ash Wednesday
Death does look like the end. I've seen quite a few dead people in my time, and it does look like the journey is over. Finito. Caput. There's no coming back from one, baby...but notice how that ash is formed on that young lady's forehead? That sign, my friends, is a cross. And a cross is a sign of a turning, a re-direction, a passing through from one time to another. The sign the ash is formed in makes all the difference in the world...
For example, the ash is not formed in circle. I get a kick out of the young, new evangelicals, who have discovered ritual. Many of these folks came of age in a Christian tradition devoid of ritual and other ancient spiritual practices. Nowadays, as their Christianity is aging right along with their bodies, they seek a Christian faith that is more than intellectual agreement with rationalizations about Christian beliefs. Ritual fits a bill for them, and they are so excited to discover the possibilities of a Christian faith, complete with ritual, that they go crazy in trying to explain their excitement, and talk about Ash Wednesday as completing some circle of life we are all in. The "imposition" of ashes (making the sign of the cross in ash) is really cool for that idea, I guess...
Unfortunately, for many of these newer-to-a-Christianity-with-ritual faith, they confuse the Christian tradition with Disney. Remembering we are dust is not the same as exclaiming the "circle of life." As true as the circle of life is, and great as the song is (see below), Ash Wednesday is NOT about the circle of life; that is, that all living beings die, and all dying beings contribute to living. In fact, Ash Wednesday and the imposition of ashes is directly AGAINST such a notion.
The Christian who receives the imposition of ash upon her forehead is witnessing to a reality that death is the end. Life will be over. There will be nothing. Unless...unless God is not through with you yet. The cross is the Christian symbol that God is not done with any of us yet, even when we die. Just as Jesus has life after his death (a crucifixion, which is where the symbol of the cross comes), so too ALL who gather in the power of the Holy Spirit have life after death. Christians call this the resurrection.
Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ of God and the power of the Holy Spirit is crucial to this resurrected life because his death unlocked the door, so to speak. He opened for us the reality the lies before us all (and even for those who died before him), that God and the power of the Holy Spirit cannot be defeated by death. the love of God is not stopped by death (even if it appears that ways sometimes). The cross, not the ash, is the important ritual of Ash Wednesday. Yes, your body may die and return to the earth, but whatever makes you You, is still with God forever.
May your tables be full and your conversations be true.
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Law-Gospel in Lutheran theology
This distinction is Law and Gospel in the Word of God is vital to understanding how and why I read the Bible, the story of Jesus, and am a conservationist for the environment. This distinction is crucial (literally that means "of the cross") if you want to appreciate God's beauty and wonder. Law and Gospel, in the words of the great Philip Melanchthon, "All scripture should be divided in these two main topics: the law and the promises." (Article 4, Apology of the Augsburg Confession), is all about living life to the fullest as you are created to be.
Our job as Christians, and especially as theologians and preachers, is to always be trying to discover what is Law and what is gospel (promises)? Sometimes God's word challenges, like in a prophetic rant; and, at other times, comforts us as in a soothing prayer. But you never know what's what--it depends upon the situation. That bothers people sometimes.
Isn't it relativistic to say that God's word means one thing at one time and another thing at another time? Well, how else does God become a God of truth, or love, or justice, if God is not willing to speak to our actual human situations? Sometimes we do things that the God of justice desires, so God sends a word of promise (gospel). At other times, we don't. God then sends a word of law. (To send a word of promise/gospel when we work against God's justice would not really help God's purposes much, it seems to me. It would just keep encouraging unjust behaviors and attitudes.)
A lot of Christians, for example, believe that it is unjust to practice non-monogamous, non- married, and non-heterosexual sexual relations. For these Christians only monogamous, heterosexual sexual relations within the boundaries of heterosexual marriage are just. They arrive at such conclusions by reading God's word as law, both the words of the Bible, and the laws of nature. For them, this is God's challenge to us and our sexuality--can we have sexual relations only in this way?
For other Christians, sexual relations outside of traditional heterosexual marriage are part of God's promise. You can, for example, be homosexual and still enjoy sexual relations outside of marriage, because marriage is not allowed to you in many societies. In societies where gay marriage is allowed, now the promise becomes a bit more of a challenge. (Christians have never dealt well with sexual relations outside of marriage; in main part, because marriage is the bedrock metaphor of Christian community, and what Christian theologian, regardless of their sexual orientations, wants to admit there might be some fun outside of Christianity? Hence, sexual fun outside of marriage is a big no-no.)
But no matter how you view marriage, how you discern Law and Gospel in God's Word goes a long way to pinning our behaviors and attitudes. Not just in sexual relations, but all of our activities can have the Law/Promise distinction brought to bear upon it. Should I shop at Walmart or locally? Should I conserve the environment or placate those who wish to destroy it? What do I do with my parents who are now aging? How do I raise my children? All these questions ask us to listen for God's word, and to distinguish between Law and Gospel.
And distinguishing between them is not always easy, if ever...But that's why it's important, because without that distinction, "easy" is just another word for sin.
May your tables be full and your conversations be true.
Here's a sermon that tries to be both a bit of Law and Gospel.
Our job as Christians, and especially as theologians and preachers, is to always be trying to discover what is Law and what is gospel (promises)? Sometimes God's word challenges, like in a prophetic rant; and, at other times, comforts us as in a soothing prayer. But you never know what's what--it depends upon the situation. That bothers people sometimes.
Isn't it relativistic to say that God's word means one thing at one time and another thing at another time? Well, how else does God become a God of truth, or love, or justice, if God is not willing to speak to our actual human situations? Sometimes we do things that the God of justice desires, so God sends a word of promise (gospel). At other times, we don't. God then sends a word of law. (To send a word of promise/gospel when we work against God's justice would not really help God's purposes much, it seems to me. It would just keep encouraging unjust behaviors and attitudes.)
A lot of Christians, for example, believe that it is unjust to practice non-monogamous, non- married, and non-heterosexual sexual relations. For these Christians only monogamous, heterosexual sexual relations within the boundaries of heterosexual marriage are just. They arrive at such conclusions by reading God's word as law, both the words of the Bible, and the laws of nature. For them, this is God's challenge to us and our sexuality--can we have sexual relations only in this way?
For other Christians, sexual relations outside of traditional heterosexual marriage are part of God's promise. You can, for example, be homosexual and still enjoy sexual relations outside of marriage, because marriage is not allowed to you in many societies. In societies where gay marriage is allowed, now the promise becomes a bit more of a challenge. (Christians have never dealt well with sexual relations outside of marriage; in main part, because marriage is the bedrock metaphor of Christian community, and what Christian theologian, regardless of their sexual orientations, wants to admit there might be some fun outside of Christianity? Hence, sexual fun outside of marriage is a big no-no.)
But no matter how you view marriage, how you discern Law and Gospel in God's Word goes a long way to pinning our behaviors and attitudes. Not just in sexual relations, but all of our activities can have the Law/Promise distinction brought to bear upon it. Should I shop at Walmart or locally? Should I conserve the environment or placate those who wish to destroy it? What do I do with my parents who are now aging? How do I raise my children? All these questions ask us to listen for God's word, and to distinguish between Law and Gospel.
And distinguishing between them is not always easy, if ever...But that's why it's important, because without that distinction, "easy" is just another word for sin.
May your tables be full and your conversations be true.
Here's a sermon that tries to be both a bit of Law and Gospel.
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Advent means walking with grace
I like this sermon for three reasons:
1) It takes seriously a world that is out there trying to kill us...
2) It takes seriously the reality that God blesses us in Jesus, and frees us to love our neighbors
3) It's got some jokes
What risks does your faith inspire you to take? How do you reach beyond your comforts to be a presence of peace in a world of violence and hatred? Whom would you walk with tomorrow who could use a friend?
Advent is the New Year of the Church year, and as we begin 2016, I wish you a Happy New Year (and the presence of peace.)
May your tables be full and your conversations be true.
Why do YOU go to church?
Reading about religion on the internet or hearing about it on media, the major assumption seems to be the people have religion in order to work on social issues. People go to church, mosque, or temple (or even the mountains) to work on some problem brewing within our culture these days. Maybe it's racism, maybe guns, maybe abortion, maybe wage equality...there's many, and each page or click or show seems to trumpet a faith that seeks its fulfillment in some type of social activity.It's almost like the social gospel is the only gospel.
But I wonder...
You see, each week about 300 people come to hear me preach. What do they come to hear? A story from my whacked-out life, and how I experienced the grace of God, and the power of salvation, and the gift of freedom from something crazy I did? Maybe. (I do tell a good story.)
Do they come because they want to hear how to balance their faith with this current insert current political, social, economic crisis here? Maybe. Although you would only ever come once to one of my sermons, because although I often reference the "world" and its problems in my sermons, I never offer advice on the morality or ethics of the situation.
If they come to hear me preach (and I am willing to entertain that few, if any, actually do), judging by my sermons they must want to hear about equality of creation, freedom to love, and God, the Creator Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And baptism and communion. Because that is all I preach about.
And that's precisely the stuff that never makes it on the internet pages or media shows. If the internet were to die, Christianity (and I assume other religions as well) would be just fine. If there was never another TV or radio or podcast of religion, Christianity would be just fine. Because none of that stuff is important to Christianity. Never has been. Christianity has always been about the love God shows us in Jesus Christ, and the power of freedom we have in the Holy Spirit to love God, our neighbors, and even our own selves. You don't need the internet for that. (and thanks for reading this on the internet)
May your tables be full and your conversations be true.
But I wonder...
You see, each week about 300 people come to hear me preach. What do they come to hear? A story from my whacked-out life, and how I experienced the grace of God, and the power of salvation, and the gift of freedom from something crazy I did? Maybe. (I do tell a good story.)
Do they come because they want to hear how to balance their faith with this current insert current political, social, economic crisis here? Maybe. Although you would only ever come once to one of my sermons, because although I often reference the "world" and its problems in my sermons, I never offer advice on the morality or ethics of the situation.
If they come to hear me preach (and I am willing to entertain that few, if any, actually do), judging by my sermons they must want to hear about equality of creation, freedom to love, and God, the Creator Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And baptism and communion. Because that is all I preach about.
And that's precisely the stuff that never makes it on the internet pages or media shows. If the internet were to die, Christianity (and I assume other religions as well) would be just fine. If there was never another TV or radio or podcast of religion, Christianity would be just fine. Because none of that stuff is important to Christianity. Never has been. Christianity has always been about the love God shows us in Jesus Christ, and the power of freedom we have in the Holy Spirit to love God, our neighbors, and even our own selves. You don't need the internet for that. (and thanks for reading this on the internet)
May your tables be full and your conversations be true.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)