Visions From Our Story: Grace and Discipline

So what is a good creating God to do when part of what God has created has gone rogue? That is the question which the readers of God's story are faced with at the end of Genesis chapter three. To recap the last episode of the story we find Adam and Eve living in fear, not of God, but of their own finiteness. By choosing to go their own way, rather than follow God's way, they have discovered that the world is a very frightening place in which to live when God is not your partner. So again the question is, how is God going to deal with these renegades?

This being the Old Testament, what most people would expect would be some fire and brimstone raining down from heaven to teach Adam and Eve a lesson. What we find is something very different. God first expels them from the garden (God following through in a way that they suffer the consequences of their actions) but then makes them clothes and gives them children. In other words God shows them grace.

Many of us have grown up with an image of an angry Old Testament God and a loving New Testament God. A more thorough examination of God's story however reveals that from the beginning to the end of the story, grace is part of God's character. This does not mean that God is a pushover who ignores the pain giving side of humanity…sort of like some parents who appear on Super Nanny. Instead it means that God loves God's creation, including God's often disobedient people, enough to both discipline them so they learn better ways, and to show them grace that they might remember they are always loved.

We see this discipline vs. grace theme in the next several stories. Cain slays Able. God disciplines Cain by sending him away from his family, but shows grace by protecting him from those who would try and take his life. Humanity has become completely evil. God disciplines by bringing the flood and wiping out most of the human race, but God shows grace by saving some (Noah and his family) in order that humanity continue its task as stewards of God's good creation. Finally we have the story of the Tower of Babel in which humanity ineptly tries to invade heaven (a careful reading of the story reveals that the tower they are building was bound to collapse long before they got very high). God disciplines them by confusing their language but shows grace by spreading them out across the earth…thus insuring they will fulfill their destiny. Discipline and grace are woven together in God's story.

The combination of discipline and grace becomes one of the key lenses through which the story of God and God's people needs to be read if we are to come to grips with what God is up to in the world and in our lives. Remember that God created this world, and the people in it, in such a way that we can live together in right relationship with God, with one another and with our creation. That was God's purpose and God's goal. These Genesis stories remind us that God will accomplish God's purpose and goals with the discipline and grace of a loving parent.

My hope is that rather than spending time looking for Noah's Ark or the Garden of Eden (favorites of the Discovery Channel) we will instead see the God we worship Sunday after Sunday as one whose desire for our lives is wholeness, and as one who is willing to help us find that wholeness through the grace and discipline that comes from love. (Next week…making promises)

John

Visions From Our Story: The Fall

So what went wrong? That is the question that should be asked by everyone who reads the first two chapters of Genesis. As we left the story last week we were offered two very different, yet very convergent pictures of creation. God created all that is, including humanity, and declared it to be good. Humanity had all that it needed: provision (food to eat), purpose (to care for creation) and companionship (Adam, Even and God). God was still interested in and connected with humanity and God's creation. Yet as most of us will admit, much of what we see around us is not "good" in the fullest sense of that word. So what went wrong?

The third chapter of Genesis attempts to give us an answer to our query. The story centers on a tree (of the knowledge of good and evil), a talking snake (a very clever one at that) and our two humans (Adam and Eve). Adam and Eve had been commanded not to eat of the tree. This is often a bone of contention for 21^st Century people. We ask, "Why shouldn't they know the difference between good and evil?" The answer is relatively straightforward…we ought to depend on God and not creation for our moral guidance. The tree symbolizes out desire to ignore God's life giving guidance and follow instead our own life limiting choices. Our choices are life limiting because we cannot clearly see either the motives for or consequences of our choices. God on the other hand knows us and our needs perfectly.

The narrative opens with a very bright, yet canny talking snake approaching Eve and asking a question. The question is, "Did God say, 'you shall not eat of any tree of the garden? " (Which introduces an element of confusion.) Eve's response, while partially accurate, "…but God said you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge"…" is also partially inaccurate, "…neither shall you touch it lest you die." (more confusion) The talking snake then offers a 180 degree different take on what God had told Adam and Eve. "You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." What is introduced here is an element of doubt about what God said as well as God's motive for saying it (God isn't all that smart and is jealous of humanity). This sets us up the eternal struggle for humanity: shall we trust God or ourselves (or a talking snake) for deciding what is good or evil?

The consequences of the choice Eve and Adam make, to trust in their own ability to be moral guides has disastrous consequences. Not only are they removed from Eden, a place of perfect connection with God, one another and creation, but they usher in physical pain and struggle, murder (Cain slaying Able), wickedness (you name it humans did it), and ultimately an attempt to storm heaven and overthrow God (the Tower of Babel). In other words, trusting in self rather than God leads to death dealing and not life affirming ways of being human.

My guess is that as we look at the world around us (hatred, war, AIDS, poverty, drugs, etc.) we would agree that the choices that humans often make are indeed death dealing and not life affirming. While the story of the Fall is not an historic depiction it paints a clear picture for us of what happens to creation when human beings fail to listen to God. Humanity becomes enmeshed in continuing cycle of self-destructive behavior (sin) which threatens the good world God has created. Fortunately as we will discover, our death dealing choices are not the last word in the matter. God has something else in mind.

Next week: God's response to our misguided choices

Visions From Our Story: Creation

It all begins at creation. The story we have come to know as the Bible begins its long journey in a two chapter account of creation. Chapter one is a marvelous poetic description of God powerfully "speaking" creation into being. The culmination of this creating is the making of human beings in the image of God. "So God created human beings in God's own image; male and female God created them." Along the way God had declared each part of the creation "good". The closing words of this act have God declaring that the entire creation, taken together, is better than good; it is "very good."

The second chapter offers us a very different look at creation. In this story we find ourselves in an earth that looks more like the moon. There are no plants or animals…just a rocky landscape. God then causes the rains to come (bringing plants forth) and creates a perfect environment for humanity, Eden (delight). From the dust of the earth (the name Adam is closely related to the Hebrew word for dirt) God creates the first man. The man, Adam, then works alongside God to name all of the creatures God forms to help Adam in his job of watching over the creation. None of these animals are adequate co-workers so God takes a rib from Adam and makes the primordial woman (the Hebrew for woman is "ishshah" meaning the one who came from man "ish").

Though there are Christians around the world who take these stories at face value (those who believe the earth was created in six 24 hour days; that the earth is only 10,000 years old; and that Adam and Eve were the two original instantaneously created humans) the Bible makes no internal claim that these stories are historically and geologically accurate. They are instead presented as theological explanations of who God is, who we are, and what our task is to be as God's creatures.

We discover who God is. God is the one who creates. God is not a created being, but the one who has the power and inclination to create all that is. God is the one who chooses to create and personally interact with human beings. God is not "the force" from Star Wars. God is not a feeling. God is powerfully and personally connected to all that God has created; humanity and the physical universe in which we live.

We discover who we are. We are part of creation. We are loved by God and have been declared to be "good". We are not God or gods. We are creatures who are different from other creatures only because we are made in the image of God. Being made in the image of God does not give us special privileges; instead it gives us special work to do.

We discover what our task is. We were created for a purpose. Our purpose is to steward (care for) God's creation. This means caring for both one another as well as caring for the world in which we live. We are able to carry out this task only by being in relationship with and God, with one another and with creation itself. Our relationship with God is the primary relationship because God as creator show us how to care for one another and our world.

As we close these chapters we are presented with an idyllic vision of how the world could be. The next chapter in the Bible story shows us that humanity is responsible for derailing this idyllic state through its failure to listen to God's loving directions. Next – The Fall.

John

From Whence Commeth Our Vision

So where does vision come from? Over the past couple of months we have been talking about vision as coming from the churches previous statements and from the Book of Acts (the story of the church in its infancy). While both of those sources offer us insight into what our vision ought to look like at FPC Birmingham, the larger question is where did those visions come from?

The answer to that question is that they came from the larger story contained within the Bible. I realize that even as I type out those words…the larger story contained within the Bible….many of you don't know what I am talking about. And that is OK. It is OK because the church has not been very good about helping people see that the book we call the Bible is not only a compilation of stories, sort of like a book of short stories, but that it is also one story to which all of the smaller stories contribute.

My belief is that if we understand the larger story, or as I have called it elsewhere, the meta-narrative of God's people, then all of the smaller stories will make more sense. Additionally, if we understand the larger story it will offer us a vision of who God is, who we are supposed to be and how we are to live out our lives as God's people. In other words, it will offer us a vision for our life together.

Background: The Bible and the story it contains are organized around a series of major movements (literally and figuratively) and a major theme, the blessing of God. The Old Testament story begins in Eden, moves to UR, then on to the Holy Land, then to Egypt, back to the Holy Land, then to Babylon and back to the Holy Land. Each of these moves offers us a chance to know God, God's people and God's desires for our lives in a more complete manner.

The theme of blessing begins with the opening words of the Bible (God's good creation) but becomes clearly expressed when it is given to a man named Abram (Abraham). This promise of blessing was one that was not only for Abram and his children but was to be shared with the whole world. During each move we watch as the promise of God's blessing becomes endangered by human actions but is then saved by God's faithfulness.

The New Testament story begins with the announcement of Jesus' coming, his birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension (the fulfillment of God's promised Blessing). The New Testament continues with the giving of the Holy Spirit and the spread of the church (how the promise of Blessing goes to all people). All of the letters that follow the book of Acts (from Paul, John and others) are intended to help this fledgling group of Jesus followers become people of the blessing.

The difficult part of gaining a foothold in this meta-narrative (like the way I slipped that in again?) is that it occurs in places, times and with people with which we are mostly unfamiliar. It seems very ancient and often confusing. Thus it makes it even more difficult for us to draw any coherent vision from it.

My goal over the next several weeks is to help us rediscover the story (the meta-narrative) in such a way that we can not only understand it, but that it will help us more clearly take hold of the vision God is offering us as people who are called not only to be blessed but to be a blessing to those around us.

Next week: The Story Begins in Eden

Visions From the Early Church: Sharing

"And all who believed were together and had all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need." Acts 2:44-45

Robert Fulghum in his poem "All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten" lists nineteen learnings which if practiced, he believes, would enrich all of our lives. As the title implies he acquired these learnings not in graduate school but "there in the sand pile of Sunday School." These learnings include: don't hit people, put things back where you found them and clean up your own mess. My favorites are flush, and hold hands and stick together. However for our purpose here let's return to the first learning on his list: share everything.

 

Kindergarten is a time in life upon which we seldom look back. My impression is that our memories of that grade fade quickly in the mad rush of the years that follow. Yet kindergarten is a time when we are taught many of our most basic social skills including how to interact with others in appropriate ways. One of the essential skills we are taught is to share. We are taught to share crayons, books, toys and the teacher's time.

 

Sharing, as a social skill however, does not last long. Almost as quickly as we learn it we are taught to set it aside. As soon as we enter any type of competitive environment we are told that "the ball" is ours and we are not to share it. We are taught not to share answers on tests. We are taught not to share the spotlight on stage. We are taught not to share patents with others because they might gain a competitive advantage. We are taught not to share insider information or we will go to jail.

 

The early church had a very different view of sharing. Sharing was essential for the life and work of the first Christ centered community. As Luke tells us they had everything in common and shared whatever they had so that no one was in need. This sense of sharing was not learned in Kindergarten but at the cross. When they saw what Jesus had done for them, dying that they might be reconciled to God and one another, there was nothing they possessed that was not available to be shared. What mattered were not only the needs of the community, but of strangers as well. Sharing was not a lesson to be learned and then forgotten. It was at the heart of life itself.

 

Our task as 21^st Century believers is to figure out what this idea of sharing has to do with us. I believe the starting point in that discovery process is to remember that what we have is not ours. It is God's and God is sharing it with us that we might share it with others. We are given abilities, skills, families and wealth in order to carry out God's purposes in the world. If we adopt such a view, it will change our perspective so that we will gain some sharing clarity.

(How to; take a moment this week to do two things. First, look at your calendar. Then look at your check book. Ask yourself these two questions: How much of my time did I share? How much of my money did I share? Next ask, how can I share more of each? Do this for a couple of months and chances are you will begin to relearn what we were taught in the "sand pile of Sunday school"; the joy of sharing everything.)

Visions From the Early Church: Prayer

"And they devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching and fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer." Acts 2:42

How does prayer work? It was a not question I was expecting. I was being interviewed by a reporter from the small town newspaper in Pampa, Texas because I was the newest pastor in the city. He had asked a number of background questions but the prayer question caught me by surprise. It caught me by surprise because I had never thought about prayer as a mechanical process.

One of the things that separates humans from most other animals is not only our ability to accessorize but our ability to be tool makers. That tool making ability means we always want to know how things work, so we can fix them when they break. We see a problem, we figure out what kind of tool we need to fix it, we build (or buy) the tool, we fix the problem, and then we move on to the next problem.

The interesting thing about this mind set is that we do not confine it to broken mechanical devices (including the human body). We have applied it to relationships, psychology and faith. There are thousands of books in circulation describing the six secrets to fixing relationships, psychological struggles, churches and our prayer life. In fact one of the largest areas of religious writings is how to insure that our prayers work…that we get what we want.

The issue I have with this way of viewing prayer (as a mechanistic process) is that it ignores the relational aspect of our interaction with God. To see prayer as mechanical is to see God as no more than a miracle dispensing machine at best and at worst a god who can be manipulated. This view ignores the fact that at the heart of prayer is not getting something, but entering into an intimate encounter with the living God.

Prayer is the act of speaking with and listening to God. The early church understood that prayer was a gift that allowed them to engage and be engaged by God in Christ. While the church did pray for healing they also prayed for guidance, strength and forgiveness. In other words prayer was about seeking to have the will of God made clearer so that the church (both individually and corporately) might live out that will.

This is why prayer is essential for any vision that we might share with one another. Without prayer a vision might be simply our vision, and not necessarily God's vision. The challenge before us is to make prayer a regular part of our spiritual life in order that God's will for our lives might be made more and more clear.

(How to: there are many good books on prayer that would give direction to our practice of prayer. However a short course on prayer is to 1) find a regular time to pray 2) find a place where you can be undisturbed 3) use the ACTS formula (adoration…praising God, confession…asking God's forgiveness, thanksgiving…giving thanks to God for all God has done, supplication…asking for God's help). 4) listen…try to hear what God has to say. Like any spiritual practice this one takes time to become a habit, but when regularly practiced, I believe one will gain a deeper and more profound relationship with God.)

John

Visions From the Early Church: Breaking Bread

"And they devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching and fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer." Acts 2:42

What in the world is Luke talking about when he says that the early Jesus followers devoted themselves to the breaking of bread? The other activities to which they devoted themselves seem pretty apparent: teaching, fellowship and prayer. The one that gets us is the breaking of bread.

Some people have taken it to mean simply eating together. They take it as people coming together to share a common meal. After all how many times have we spoken of having a meal with someone as breaking bread together? Such an activity would not seem out of place in the first century world. People would regularly share meals with friends and strangers who arrived from out of town. What would make this sort of bread sharing different was that they were sharing it with total strangers…with people from different social classes…people of different backgrounds. It was a more expansive sharing.

Other people have taken bread sharing to mean coming to the Lord 's Table…or an "agape" meal (a love feast). There are many scholars who see in this reference the very beginning of a formal remembrance of the of Jesus last meal with his disciples. These new formal meals began to take place early on in the life of the church. We can see this from Paul's letters where he quotes the already established table liturgy (on the night in which Christ was betrayed he took bread…). Again, this would be a new vision for a Jesus centered community because it would replace the Jewish Passover and Sabbath rituals which focused on the Exodus with one focused on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

While I suppose it would be nice for us know for certain, I am not sure it is all that important which the correct understanding is. I say that because each points to the same reality…which can be summed up in the Spanish word "companeros." One of my Spanish speaking friends introduced me to the word and the concept. It is formed from the ideas of "com" meaning with, and "pan" meaning bread. It refers to people who are buddies because they share bread together. It is an intimate term referring to those who share more than a common meal. They share a common life.

This idea of sharing a common life through a common meal calls us to rethink our connection to one another. Whether it is sharing food at a pot-luck supper, a Wednesday night meal, a Dinners for Eight or at the Lord's table, these are all reminders that we are called to be more than strangers eating at another fast food restaurant. We are called to be companeros. We are called to be a family connected in Christ who share our lives with one another.

(How to: First Presbyterian offers a number of ways in which we can connect with one another. Why not try signing up for a Dinners for Eight group, a Covenant Group, a Sunday school or Wednesday night group, come to Wednesday Night Connect dinner, and use that time to meet and come to know others. In this way you will find the joy those early Christians found in being companeros in Christ.)