Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
23 March 2011
jamming: New York Hymns- Songs for Lent
09 March 2011
reflecting: Ash Wednesday
Growing up going to Catholic school, it never really occurred to me how odd it is that so many Christians show up at work or school on some seemingly random Wednesday with a dark smudge on their foreheads. The more I think about it the stranger it is. It can certainly remind us of our mortality (the whole “ashes to ashes, dust to dust” thing). It marks off a season of penance for that hard-partying during Mardi Gras the night before?
Ash Wednesday is a pretty enigmatic holiday for Christ-followers. Historically, it marks off the beginning of a Lent season, a lean period before Easter, which in itself is wrought with paradox. The word “Lent” comes from the word meaning “Spring.” This is a season of longer days, abundant flourishing, and a brilliant turn of seasonal weather. But it is also during this change that we’re asked to stop for a second and consider where we’ve come from, and who we are.
Perhaps its only by having a big, sloppy smudge placed right between our eyes that we are stopped from jumping into the feast of spring by observing a period of fasting and repentance. It is this forty day period of hesitation and evaluation that slows us down enough to see where we are, what we depend on most, who we are becoming, and where we are headed.
One of famed poet T.S. Eliot’s most renowned poems reflects on Ash Wednesday and Lent’s ability to do just this, letting him re-center himself. When he starts to till this ground, he turns up all sorts of mis-directions that require acknowledgement and repentance: from false hopes, to distorted love and vain wastes of time. Eliot’s prayer starts the Lenten season by entreating that God may “Teach us to care and not to care, Teach us to sit still;” that we may be reoriented in our wants and needs and freed from anxiety enough to be present to God.
Because I do not hope to turn again
Because I do not hope
Because I do not hope to turn
Desiring this man's gift and that man's scope
I no longer strive to strive towards such things
(Why should the aged eagle stretch its wings?)
Why should I mourn
The vanished power of the usual reign?
Because I do not hope to know
The infirm glory of the positive hour
Because I do not think
Because I know I shall not know
The one veritable transitory power
Because I cannot drink
There, where trees flower, and springs flow, for there is
nothing again
Because I know that time is always time
And place is always and only place
And what is actual is actual only for one time
And only for one place
I rejoice that things are as they are and
I renounce the blessed face
And renounce the voice
Because I cannot hope to turn again
Consequently I rejoice, having to construct something
Upon which to rejoice
And pray to God to have mercy upon us
And pray that I may forget
These matters that with myself I too much discuss
Too much explain
Because I do not hope to turn again
Let these words answer
For what is done, not to be done again
May the judgment not be too heavy upon us
Because these wings are no longer wings to fly
But merely vans to beat the air
The air which is now thoroughly small and dry
Smaller and dryer than the will
Teach us to care and not to care Teach us to sit still.
Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death
Pray for us now and at the hour of our death.
[T.S. Eliot, Ash-Wednesday, 1930.]
Let us take this time to realize where our loves lie, where our time goes, who and what we are dependent on, and where we are headed.
Let us see the new creation of the springtime through the smudged realization of our own brokenness, mortality, and lack.
Let us follow Jesus through this season, to the cross and into the resurrected, free, and abundant life he made possible for us and gives to us.
22 December 2010
02 December 2010
29 November 2010
preaching: Advent I: Hope
Sermon text: Isaiah 2:1-5
Stream it from the Gathering Church site or subscribe to the podcast via iTunes.
Download a Reading Plan and Devotional here: http://www.allgather.org/advent/.
Check out the upcoming 'Christmas Nights' record here: http://www.allgather.bandcamp.com/.
06 April 2010
preaching: The Shape & Sound of Resurrection (Mal 4)
Here is my second sermon for preaching class. My first sermon started Lent, this one concludes Lent and anticipates Easter. I went for it a little by using music (the Welcome Wagon's rendition of the preaching text). I also tried to improve my delivery, there's still much work to be done. I had fun with this one. Let me know what worked and what can be improved, I'd love feedback...
04 April 2010
Easter!
Intro to Tom Wright's Easter sermon yesterday titled, "Resurrection & Rock'n'roll.":
The taxi driver looked back at me in his mirror. His face was a mixture of amusement and sympathy. We were stuck in traffic and he’d asked me, as they do, what I did for a living.
‘Ah,’ he said, ‘you Church of England people’ (having told me he was a Roman Catholic himself). ‘You’re still having all that trouble about women bishops, aren’t you?’
I had to admit that that was indeed the case.
‘The way I look at it,’ he said, ‘is this: if God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, all the rest is basically rock’n’roll.’
Rob Bell's (dynamic, as always) new work, "Resurrection":
01 April 2010
April Fools & Holy Weak
For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. (1 Corinthians 1:25)
I hope the irony of April Fools’ Day and Maundy Thursday coinciding hasn’t been lost.
Though, Maundy Thursday may strike even the most ardent churchgoer as the junior varsity of Holy Week activities, it may actually hold the key to the whole week. Sure, we all know: Friday=Cross, Sunday=Resurrection (chocolate bunnies, special outfits and hats, peeps, etc…). But what about Thursday?
Maundy comes from a Latin word for mandate/command. This refers to Jesus saying, “A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (Jn 13:34) . This statement, of course comes well after Jesus interrupted a nice dinner with his palls, tied a towel around his waste and got on with the washing of the feet. Foolishness. Weird stuff. At least Peter thought so.
Jesus explained himself by saying, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” Perhaps the best summary for the whole of Holy Week. Foolishness that later comes to make sense in light of Sunday. We later come to really see that foolish weakness overcomes conventional wisdom and strength.
Peter didn’t understand the foolishness of what Jesus was doing. Frankly, neither do I most of the time. Jesus patiently uses this as a teachable moment saying, “If I am your Teacher and Lord and I wash your feet, do this to each other.”
Think about how silly this would be for us. “You mean you want me to drop everything and getting down to the dirt of where someone has been? You’re kidding me. You want me to clean feet? No way.” Jesus shows us a foolish type of friendship and asks his friends and us to follow suit.
I wish these two “holidays” coincided a bit more often. It might make it a bit easier to remember how Christ’s wisdom looked like foolishness, how his strength looked like weakness, and his victory looked like defeat. The shape of his very life, looks on first blush, like death.
I pray that we really embrace this call to be holy April fools, that we take on this free and costly life. That we see strength in apparent weakness. That we get comfortable under the table doing this foolish work of friendship and service. Amen.
18 March 2010
What's The Deal With St. Patty?
After a long day of widespread celebration and Danny Boy singing, one is left to wonder in typical Seinfeldian fashion, “What is the deal with Saint Patrick?”
I ran across an online article that put it pretty accurately: this mythical Saint Patrick had become all things to everyone.
The scarcity of facts about St. Patrick's life has made him a dress-up doll: Anyone can create his own St. Patrick. Ireland's Catholics and Protestants, who have long feuded over him, each have built a St. Patrick in their own image…Outside Ireland, too, Patrick has been freely reinterpreted. Evangelical Protestants claim him as one of their own. After all, he read his Bible, and his faith came to him in visions. Biblical inspiration and personal revelation are Protestant hallmarks. Utah newspapers emphasize that Patrick was a missionary sent overseas to convert the ungodly, an image that resonates in Mormon country. New Age Christians revere Patrick as a virtual patron saint. Patrick co-opted Druid symbols in order to undermine the rival religion, fusing nature and magic with Christian practice. The Irish placed a sun at the center of their cross. "St. Patrick's Breastplate," Patrick's famous prayer (which he certainly did not write) invokes the power of the sun, moon, rocks, and wind, as well as God.
Not included in the article, but perhaps most revealing and forgotten come from Patrick’s own words in his Confession (testimony):
“But this much I know for sure. Before I was humbled I was like a stone lying in the deep mud. Then He who is mighty came and, in His mercy, he not only pulled me out but lifted me up and placed me at the very top of the wall. I must, therefore, speak publicly in order to repay the Lord for such wonderful gifts, gifts for the present and for eternity which the human mind cannot measure.”
The beauty of this testimony of confession, repentance, mercy, and praise is precisely Patrick’s willingness to be a “dress-up doll.” He is clothed not in Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Mormon, New Age or Druid garb, but rather in and by Christ (Galatians 3:26-27). This “Humpty Dumpty” tale tells of the Lord’s mercy and grace, faithfulness and generosity. Patrick is concerned with wearing this on his sleeve, speaking publicly about it, and wrapping his head around the crazy thing that God has done in his life and homeland.
I pray that my life be this transparent. That I put on Christ, not creating and re-creating myself, but being clothed and formed by Jesus.
View original post: allgather.org.
22 February 2010
preaching: To Be A Good Note-taker (Rev 10)
Here is my first sermon for preaching class. It is Lenten-themed and inspired by my study in Revelation this semester and enjoyment of Eugene Peterson's insights (Reversed Thunder, Eat This Book). I would appreciate any comments, feedback, and constructive criticism as I seek to hone this daunting and beautiful craft of preaching.
17 February 2010
processing: Ash Wednesday- T.S. Eliot
Because I do not hope to turn again
Because I do not hope
Because I do not hope to turn
Desiring this man's gift and that man's scope
I no longer strive to strive towards such things
(Why should the aged eagle stretch its wings?)
Why should I mourn
The vanished power of the usual reign?
Because I do not hope to know again
The infirm glory of the positive hour
Because I do not think
Because I know I shall not know
The one veritable transitory power
Because I cannot drink
There, where trees flower, and springs flow, for there is nothing again
Because I know that time is always time
And place is always and only place
And what is actual is actual only for one time
And only for one place
I rejoice that things are as they are and
I renounce the blessed face
And renounce the voice
Because I cannot hope to turn again
Consequently I rejoice, having to construct something
Upon which to rejoice
And pray to God to have mercy upon us
And pray that I may forget
These matters that with myself I too much discuss
Too much explain
Because I do not hope to turn again
Let these words answer
For what is done, not to be done again
May the judgement not be too heavy upon us
Because these wings are no longer wings to fly
But merely vans to beat the air
The air which is now thoroughly small and dry
Smaller and dryer than the will
Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still.
Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death
Pray for us now and at the hour of our death.
14 February 2010
processing: Barth on Love (for Valentine's day)
This quotation from KB hangs on the bulletin board above our desk in the office:
"Love does not question; it gives an answer.
Love does not think; it knows.
Love does not hesitate; it acts.
Love does not fall into raptures; it is ready to undertake responsibilities.
Love puts behind it all the 'ifs' and 'buts,' all the conditions, reservations, obscurities and uncertainties that may arise between a man and a woman.
Love is not only affinity and attraction; it is union.
Love makes these two persons indispensable to each other.
Love compels them to be with each other."
(Karl Barth, CD III.4)
13 February 2010
processing: The Wild Rose- Wendell Berry
The Wild Rose
(written by Wendell Berry for his wife)
Sometimes hidden from me
in daily custom and in trust,
so that I live by you unaware
as by the beating of my heart.
Suddenly you flare in my sight,
a wild rose blooming at the edge
of thicket, grace and light
where yesterday was only shade,
and once again I am blessed,
choosing again
what I chose before.
05 January 2010
preaching: GC Epiphany sermon podcast
The podcast just went up on allgather.org.
My text was Luke 2:21-40.
We explore the bearing epiphany
(albeit a little calendrically early)
might have on our new year,
looking at Simeon's example.
01 January 2010
preaching: GC Epiphany blogpost
When a new year rolls around, it’s a funny thing. Kind of a hinge, some people are left on one side picking up the pieces of 2009 or trying to keep momentum on what they’ve started. Others giddily leap forward into 2010 saying, “Good Riddance!”
We’re bombarded with advertisements and infomercials trying to help us start off with a bang. Gyms are packed for the first two weeks of the year with “resolute” people trying to treadmill their way to six-pack abs. Whether we’re part of the demographic that grudgingly crosses out the 9 ans squeezes in a 1 on their personal checks well into February or the set that has big plans for “O-Ten,” there is one thing that we can hope and pray for: Epiphany- light-bulb moments that help us recognize God in our midst!
This Sunday when we gather, we’ll continue in St. Luke’s “orderly account” (Lk 2:22-32) and explore Simeon’s clear vision of the child Jesus as Messiah. This vision, given by God and rooted in faithfulness, results in an understanding of who God is, where God is working, and what that looks like. What a light-bulb moment!
Epiphany.
Rather than mere resolutions or prayers only asking the Holy Spirit to convict and change us, let us pray that God’s Spirit inhabits, reveals, and animates us in ways that surprise and include us in on God’s redemptive reality. That’s what I pray for our New Year.
31 December 2009
preaching: Epiphany wordle
I won't let the cat totally out of the bag, but here is a "wordle" for what I'm preaching Sunday, (Luke 2:22-32) in preparation for the New Year and celebrating Epiphany: tangled, wrapped, and wide-open. Always encouraging when the most frequent words are God, Jesus, and Spirit.
21 December 2009
Christmas Eve Service
If you're around Durham/Chapel Hill on Christmas Eve,
come join the Gathering Church at 6pm
for a special candlelight service.
20 December 2009
Advent Week 4: You Have Stirred My Soul
Brett sang this one by Robbie Seay Band following our incredible children's recital and sermon. It really captures the soul-stirring we've read about in Mary's experience, Elizabeth's pregnancy, and Zechariah's prophesy. Perhaps my favorite is the last line, "To you this love be given back." As we ponder the attitude, emotion and posture of our love in response to the soul-stirring, in-breaking love of God, may this be our prayer...
You Have Stirred My Soul
You have stirred my soul I am overwhelmed
At how this came to be That I would know such love
You have stirred my soul
Not by my own deed
But your sacrifice It has made me whole
And love more beautiful today
With offerings of grace
You're calling me away
And love more beautiful today
I am not the same
You're calling me away
To you
To you our voices rise
To you our spirits rise
To you this love be given back
15 December 2009
Screening: Sad Santa
Advent season, at it's best, forces us to make room for the manger-born Messiah (the God-man) whose birth was foretold by an angel to a virgin in a backwoods Middle-Eastern town. Bearing the ridiculousness of each part of that last sentence in mind, we might do well during this time to look upon casual things which we normally would take for granted through a bit more of a critical (but ultimately sensitive) lens. When we do this, the lustre often fades, the appeal is fleeting, and the foolish things shame the wise (1 Cor 1:27).
I present to you, not a smeared portrayal of Santa, making obvious what you are supposed to feel; but rather a realistic and infinitely more unsettling imaging of a symbol of something much larger. Could we use this technique more? Instead of tactlessly calling idols out, might we powerfully but subtly reveal these untruths for the disappointing counterfeits they are; trusting the Spirit and letting people figure it out for themselves?
14 December 2009
Advent Week 3: Here Comes the Sun Again
Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's alright
We managed our second George Harrison song for worship at church within the last month this past Sunday. It was fun singing "Here Comes the Sun" (and no we didn't opt to change the U to an O, to make it more holy), and the mood correlated well to both the atmosphere of Joy as we lit the pink Candle on the Advent wreath and the joy emanating from the children and families as we had our first Child Dedication.
Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's alright
While I'm not involved in any way with producing the music, which is great and done brilliantly by Jeff and his merry men (& occasionally women), I am involved with worship planning. Thus, I must apologize. Not for the song, I stand behind the song for this week and this season. I apologize instead for my failure to communicate how this song accurately depicts what is happening during Advent. It was not merely picked to satiate some sort of Abbey Road void or be that kitsch-factor for an upstart church without a lot of rules (though it probably accomplished both). So I apologized if it appeared novel for the sake of novelty or cool for the sake of coolness.
Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it's alright
It's alright
It's rare that we can sing a worship song using "little darling" with a straight face, but I think we can her. Far from being a merely sentimental bit of (as my high school history teacher used to put it) froth, this delicate affection comes to us from God in a time of cold, darkness, sadness, and despair. God, the 'Lifter-of-heads', then comes and whispers affectionately to us in our hoping and waiting, "Little darling...here comes the Sun...it's alright." This isn't something only the Beatles knew, but is actually the modus operandi of God throughout the history of his relationship to his people. Our job in during Advent (which can be woodenly translated: 'the arrival of a notable person, thing or event') is to not lose hope, and above all, to remember the cold, dark winter before Christ came initially as the Light of world & in preparation and expectation for His second coming in Glory.
To this expectation I share Matt Ward's brilliant addendum:
Kingdoms and queens they all bow down to you,
Branches and ranch hands are bowin' too
And I've taken off my straw hat for you, singing
Here comes the sun again
The leaves on the trees they all call out your name,
Chrome on the freight line shines the same
And the stars in their cars roll their tops down for you singing,
Here comes the sun again
Oh but if you're gonna stay show some mercy today
Blow a little breeze on my face
Snow banks drift down the hillside for you,
Slides inside sandy river before the day is through,
And before evenin' falls I may find myself there too, singing
Here comes the sun again
Isaiah 60:1-5, 19-21 (emphasis mine)
1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended. Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified.
Lord, give us eyes to see and ears to hear. Make us an expectant people, hopeful and comforted by you. Light us, warm us, grow us with your presence. Amen.
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