Everyday Liturgy

Vacation!

Thomas — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:13:51 +0000

I have been on vacation this week in Montana and won't be blogging. I am staying with my brother and his wife. I would have wrote sooner but we were camping in Yellowstone (poor us).

Until next week!

Virtual Sacraments? I Beg To Differ.

Thomas — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:05:10 +0000

Paul S. Fiddes, who I looked at with some skepticism based on what he wrote down below, is a very smart man, David Opderbeck assures me. I trust that opinion and must confess that even though a lot of us are wicked smart, we still often write things that just don't quite add up (I am sure you can find some thinking like that on this blog). One of the necessary elements of theological or any other thinking person's inquiry is that sometimes we have to push the bounds into things that will just never make sense, a brainstorm or thinking game to stretch our minds. That being said, I feel it is important to bounce off of Fiddes resent burst of provocativeness on the Eucharist:

Summary of "Sacraments in a Virtual World"---An avatar can receive the bread and wine of the Eucharist within the logic of the virtual world and it will still be a means of grace, since God is present in a virtual world in a way that is suitable for its inhabitants. We may expect that the grace received by the avatar will be shared in some way by the person behind the avatar, because the person in our everyday world has a complex relationship with his or her persona.

An avatar, for those who don't know, is the visual representation of one's self in a virtual world. Most often these are the pictures you have in Yahoo! chat or in a game like Second Life. First, Fiddes makes an overall excellent point about the boundlessness of God, and he really pushes us to see God present everywhere, even in the virtual extensions of computing, because all computers and the Internet has a physical base to its virtualness. There is light and pixels and servers running on electricity behind every virtual world.

What is lacking in this understanding of the Eucharist, and Fiddes hints at it himself when he writes that the Eucharist performed virtually is "an extension of the church sacraments," thus separating the virtual sacrament from the physical sacrament of the Eucharist. Physicality is the key here, for the bread and wine of the Eucharist are properly a symbol of the incarnation to all of us, as it is both spiritual and physical food. Part of the problem with an understanding of virtual worlds is that they are too often equated with the spiritual or supernatural world, because they are both unseen or "other-ly" worlds, but this is dead wrong. The spiritual world we live in is extra-dimensional, in the sense that it is real but beyond us in many ways, whereas the virtual worlds of computers are simulations: extensions of our own physical world and are never "other" by any ways or means other than what Tolkien called suspended disbelief. We enter into virtual worlds like we enter into novels or movies.

The spiritual world meets the physical world in the Eucharist, and as such the physicality of the sacrament is what makes it sacramental. Just as Christ was fully man and fully God, so to is our experience of the sacraments: it is both fully divine, a gift from God, and fully physical, prepared from dust to dung to fertilizer to seed to plant to crop to harvest and then to bottle, or then for bread from harvest to millstone to flour to dough to oven to loaf. Hands touch these things, the weather and the climate touch these things. Truckers and shippers and boxers touch all these things. The Eucharist is a feast of new creation, of our salvation, and this must be always held before us as an immensely physical happening. N.T. Wright can only sound the alarm so many times that heaven is not a disembodied place but instead a real, physical New Earth and New Heavens. Going down the road of Fiddes thinking separates physicality from the sacraments and begins to blur the lines between spirituality and virtuality.

Or:

When Jesus turned water into wine in Cana he physically changed it. It was not a gnostic charade. It was not the glimmer of pixels on a monitor showing a picture of a jug transforming from watery colors to wine colors. This was the real thing. The physical happening of miracle. We must not forget the physical nature of miracles. They don't happen here. They don't happen in some far of heaven. They happen when heaven, the kingdom of God, kisses our earth. And new creation begins.

FAIL: Emergents Destroy Christian Weddings With Communion

Thomas — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:47:59 +0000

A dubious publication called the Christian Courier published an article called The "Emerging Church"-The New Face of Heresy with this spectacular showing of poor journalism, scholarship, and lack of basic thought processes:

“Emerging” churches are restructuring the worship format. The Lord’s supper is being offered in conjunction with special events, e.g., weddings. The communion memorial is not restricted to the Lord’s day; instead groups step beyond the biblical pattern and provide it on weekdays, ignoring a New Testament that is [sic] undergirded with historical truth, namely the Lord’s resurrection on Sunday.

1) Jesus had the Last Supper on a Thursday...that's historical truth for ya.

2) I didn't want to waste a lot of time researching this, but I easily found evidence that in English language traditions the sacrament of communion was included in wedding liturgy since about 1078 under the Sarum Rite.

3) And some guy named Paul wrote that "whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." Whenever is a whole lot different than "on Sunday."

Christian Courier = Massive FAIL.

We Mend Ourselves But Not Our Clothes

Thomas — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:19:02 +0000

I noticed looking through pictures from vacation that on the last day I was in Delaware my wife snapped two pictures of me wearing a white Adidas visor and a yellow Relient K tee. I am tan from a week at the beach and my hair is all tassled.
I have another picture of myself in that yellow Relient K tee from eight years ago. I was a lifeguard then, a junior in high school, and very tan. My hair was short. My glasses were round and undistinguished. I had the white visor's twin on, a blue Adidas visor.
Now I have long hair and cool glasses. I also have stubble, which was impossible back then.
What most struck me though was that I was wearing the same clothing from eight years ago.
I don't want to pat myself on the back here (well, one, two, three...okay I'm done), but this juxtaposition struck me as profound in our consumerist culture. We're in a giant tornado of a receission ripping a path through prestigious business and yuppies bank accounts, yet everyone I know, including myself has new clothes.
I don't have nearly as many as most, I can proudly say that, but I also just shopped at a GAP outlet on vacation. Pray for me.
We can change a lot in eight years, whether in mind, body, or appearance, yet most of us stay the same. When we are broken we mend ourselves. When our clothes rip, when our computer malfunctions, when the plank breaks we don't mend them: we buy new wardrobes, new computers, and build additions onto our houses. We throw away everything when it is perfectly fixable or wearable. And that is in a recession. It's pathetic.

I've been taking inventory of my old clothes. The reigning champions are my pairs of shorts: two Umbro shorts and olive drab cargo shorts I got before I started eighth grade. They're over ten years old. Shane Claiborne would be proud of me. It encourages me if anything to trust in the ability to endure, that the "new" won't solve any problems. The new will become old soon enough anyway, so just stay with the old. Retro is in I here.

I'm Never Coming Back from Vacation

Thomas — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:44:38 +0000

My vacations are about recovery. Recovery of sleep. Recovery of the sun. Recovery of relaxation. Recovery of time. Recovery of cooking. Recovery of supressed passions.

This vacation was about novels. I used to be passionate about novels before graduate school. That's when novels became work. Hard work, dense work, work filled with theory and essays and turning up the heat on the art until meaning boiled over and dampened out the flame that kindled it. We can dig too deep, I suppose, and destroy our own foundations by doing what we love too much and too hard.

This vacation I finished one novel, Pontoon by Garrison Keilor, and started another The Maytrees by Annie Dillard. I read for fun. Fun! That was nice.

Another passion is music. I listened to music. Not while driving. Not while reading. Not while cooking. Not while writing. Just music. I think I had turned everything into a soundtrack. MP3s will do that. There is too much music now. It's too easy. It becomes a soundtrack.

So I read novels and listened to music. Sometimes at the same time. But I did most of it separately. And I remembered what it used to be like to enjoy this stuff.

And the goal is now to retain what was so passion-filled on vacation. Let me rephrase: it's high time to make our vacations the new normal. That phrase the new normal has been thrown around a lot lately as talking heads debate how much materialism Americans will give up in the new economy.

My new normal is going to be vacations. We often think of vacations as unrealistic life, but that's the world tricking us into the duldrums of mere existences. We are called to abundance, not existence. We are supposed to always be on vacation, not in "normal" life. Normal life isn't normal. Vacations are the norm.

Storing up stuff is quiet useless. Use it now. Treat everything as if it is freshly picked from the garden and will soon rot. Go on vacation, even if you go to work each day. Work should not stop one from being in vacation mode, because vacations are normal. Not caring about gossip is normal. Not needing to watch TV or Twitter all the time is normal. We have things so backwards.

Tonight I am going to do a bunch of bills and e-mails and writing then sit in my backyard and read while watching bees and mosquitos buzz around my garden. And I'll be on vacation.

You should go on vacation, too.

Why?

Staff — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:35:16 +0000

Guest post by Evan Curry

Recently, I’ve been asked to join the leadership team for a new church plant that will be happening in Bristol, PA. I’m excited about this venture. As of late, we have been struggling over the question, “Why?” Why are we doing this? What’s our purpose? Are we hoping to be the young, cool, hip group? Or are we hoping to reach the poor of Bristol? Or the families of Bristol? The question, Why?, gives us guidance and helps us understand what the next steps should be.

Late last night, after one of our meetings, when I got home, I snuck into my one year-old daughter Giselle's room where she was sleeping. I gave her a kiss, and I thought about what I would say (even though she can’t form sentences yet) to her if she asked me, "Why? Why do we do these things, Daddy?" The thought reminded me of Deuteronomy 6 where Moses is giving the now exodus-ed Israel instruction. All of Deuteronomy 6 is wonderful, but I think the end is great—

In the future, when your children ask you, "What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the LORD our God has commanded you?" tell them: "We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Before our eyes the LORD sent signs and wonders—great and terrible—on Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our ancestors. The LORD commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness (Deuteronomy 6:20-25 TNIV).

Perhaps, when we ask ourselves , Why?, we should remember this.

We are people who have been exodus-ed out of sin, from the devil's household, and into the light of Christ. Jesus has given us hope. We are no longer in slavery, but we are free. When you or your church asks, Why?, and your children ask, Why?, remember your exodus. As the apostle Paul said, “Remember you were once slaves to sin so don’t act like you once did.” Our reason and answer for Why?, has been completely revamped, transformed, renewed by Jesus, and so all our answers and reasons for living should be shaped by this very fact.

Thoughts From the Turnpike Part 2

Tim — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:40:33 +0000

A Guest Post by Tim Ghali

If you read Tuesday’s post, you’ll remember that I was listening to Radiohead as I drove past that billboard that got me thinking. Shortly after that thought, I remembered the criticism of a well-intentioned friend who was concerned for my appreciation of Radiohead. I remember the conversation well. He thought it was a bad example for a youth pastor to be listening to them and then he almost fell out of his chair when I told him that I burned OK Computer for one of my students. “Do you want to get fired? If you want to relate to the kids, give him Third Day.”

Then I fell off my chair.

I don’t have anything against Third Day; they’re good guys, they play their music, and I do like a few songs (like “Who I Am” from Conspiracy No. 5). As we conversed, I tried to express to him how much OK Computer made me think about God. Here we have these beautiful sounding songs accompanied by Thom York’s nihilism and I’m moved and saddened and motivated and perplexed and I love it because that's a bit how God is.

The point of this post is not to criticize the Christian Music Industry or those that support it nor am I suggesting that worship bands become Radiohead tribute bands. My point is to say more that we tend to confine God’s glory in what we deem as “safe” and “appropriate”. While there is a emptiness in the music of Radiohead, there is also a great sense of hope. For instance, one of my favorite lyrics is from “Let Down” on OK Computer:
“You know, you know where you are with
You know where you are with
Floor collapsing
Floating, bouncing back
And one day....
I am going to grow wings
A chemical reaction
Hysterical and useless"

In my mind it invokes the ideas of losing, dying, despair, emptiness …. But there’s hope. There’s a promise and one day I am going to have wings and overcome … but they might not work … Like many, I enjoy paradox and irony. If you'd like more about Radiohead from a Christian's perspective, I happily recommend David Dark's Everyday Apocalypse. He devotes an entire chapter to it.

Many like to think that that their faith gets stronger by the feel-good nudges found in our Christian sub-culture. And suffering is from God for when we need a bigger nudge of faith. These are ideas that fall flat with me. In addition to the spiritual disciplines that are necessary for faith, my faith is also encouraged from less likely sources like Michael Shermer’s Skeptic Magazine or movies like Bill Maher’s Religulous or Fight Club (remember what Tyler tells “Jack” about God in the chemical burn scene?). The thoughts and conversations these moments have led to have been very beneficial to my faith. As you know, it’s a big world out there, as Christians, let us be blessed by the many ways God speaks into it.

Thoughts From the Turnpike – Part 1

Staff — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:08:02 +0000

Note: My name is Tim Ghali and I am a happily married husband, a father, a student ministry pastor, a Biblical Seminary student and I infrequently blog at www.blackcoffeereflections.com. Please know that my words do not reflect Thomas in any way, he uses better grammar and less sarcasm.

A couple weeks ago, I was entering Pennsylvania on the Turnpike and headed to seminary. Radiohead was in my ears, my trusty spill-proof mug was in my right hand and a backseat full of books that should have been read were sleeping like a pew full of Baptists. As I was speeding and tailgating my way through the morning traffic, I saw that they had a changed a particular billboard and this caught my attention.

Flashback to the last time I drove through. The previous billboard was about Islam and how you could learn the truth about it. It was warm, friendly and implied that you, the driver, have probably been misinformed. Solution – check out our website. They probably wanted me to understand more but I would only glance because, well, I drive too fast.

Back to the present – the billboard had changed and now it was a … you guessed I …t a billboard promoting Jesus as the only way. Pardon me for forgetting the exact wording for again, I was speeding but this glance got me chuckling and then it saddened me. As sure as the Lord lives, let me tell you what happened. Mind you, I have no evidence, I have no insider information, nor have I ever bought/sold billboard space before but I do know what happened. We know by now that you can’t argue with experience. I’ve been a Christian for all 32 years of my life and if you are a Calvinist, please factor in all the years that I was pre-destined to be one.

What happened was this. The day the billboard featured Islam, a collection was taken by well-intentioned Christians who needed to “take back the ground lost to the enemy!”. Add to the fact that this billboard is right before a beautiful large church that can easily be seen from the highway and whether they were the new buyer or not, I know how we Christians think.

The rationale is very corporate, advertising sells. We already lost the kids to smoking, drinking, pre-marital who knows what; we’re drawing the line somewhere and it’s here! Unfortunately, the rationale does not take into account actual people. Do you know anyone that has ever been saved by a Christian billboard? I believe the Holy Spirit can speak through asses and Christian bumper stickers but I have yet to hear that testimony firsthand (“Well, I was driving on the turnpike and saw this billboard and said, ‘I am sinner in need of grace. And I pulled over and prayed …”)

If we are serious about reaching the lost, let’s love them and show our love to all, including the Muslim. Let’s leave the billboard space for car dealerships and upcoming movies and pour our energies and resources into our communities and build relationships with our neighbors.

Answering The Wrong Questions

Thomas — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:38:25 +0000

A Guest Post by Evan Curry

I’ve had my fair share of encounters with Christians over the years. I have found that Christians are in the business of asking the wrong questions and giving poor answers to wrong questions.

How many of us have heard this – Is global warming true or a hoax? Now, Al Gore and company would say that global warming is, indeed, true, and Rush Limbaugh and company would state that global climate change is nothing but a liberal hoax.

Christians have often joined in and asked the same question – Is global warming true or a hoax? Mainline Christians often align with the “Al Gorian” camp, and evangelicals have aligned themselves with the “Rush Limbaughian” camp. Both camps will debate one another, spit fire, and demean each other’s character, but nothing is ever resolved. Why?

Because we are asking the wrong question.

Asking, “Is global warming true or a hoax?,” is the wrong question. The right question is, “What are we doing to preserve God’s good earth presently and for those in the future after we are long gone?” If the question is asked this way, Christians are no longer facing and debating Al Gore or Rush Limbaugh, but they must face, debate, and wrestle with the Creator God [who really wants to do that?].

The same is true with the question, “Are homosexuals born gay, or do they choose to be gay?” Again, the Christian extremes are one side will say they are born gay/lesbian, and the other says, “You’re not born-a-gay. You’re born-again” (yes, that’s from Saved). The correct question is, “What are you doing to share the love of Jesus with people in general—gay, straight, bi, whatever?” This way you have to wrestle with Jesus, not Ellen, not Elton John, but Jesus.

What’s worse is we give poor answers to these wrong questions. We say (by actions more than words), “Well, the earth is for people, and we can use it however we want.” Or “Well, we take care of the earth just because it’s the ‘right thing’ to do.”

Not only do we ask the wrong questions, but we follow them up with poor answers.

Thus, we answer the wrong questions. Instead, we should push back on people to ask the right question. The right question focuses on the Christian wrestling with the love, grace, and peace of Jesus and giving such to the inquirer so he or she must wrestle with it as well.

So, what questions do you ask? Are you asking the right question or the wrong one? And, when someone asks you the wrong question, are you pushing back on him or her to ask the right one? Are we pushing each other to wrestle with the love of Christ?

The Hopes of Men

Thomas — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:33:01 +0000

The hopes of men rest in God:
Wearily we have trod and trod,
Yet the end is just the beginning.

Sand fills the world, the shores,
With fruit and grit and darkness,
Depending on how little the wind blows.

Babel falls and falls,
Rising again somewhere else,
Like a transplanted Jenga game.

Pick up the brick,
Pick up your stick,
Lay it back in place,
With reverence and grace,
For this is how the world will end,
With a still voice in a garden grove

---------
Another poem in the written and typed stages. These are poems that are part of my daily rhythm of writing. Some are good in their entirety. Some only have good lines. But they are all my friends. Or at least acquiantances.