Our family is in North Carolina visiting our grandson, Max (and everyone else of course--but Max is center stage). Reading the Tennessean on the way over, I saw the obituary of a young man who went to school in Charleston, SC about the same time our daugher went. He was twenty-one. What a tragedy.
Our children needs our daily prayers. We need to pray for their protection and for a blessing on their relationship with God. My practice is to pray the Jesus Prayer over the folks in my family. "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on ____ a sinner." I'll pray the prayer several times, knowing that God understands the needs of the person better than I do. I ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. Sometimes, as I pray, I will be led to pray for something particular.
Please pray for the young man who died,Paul, and for his family.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Can We Talk About it?
A number of years ago one of the members of the St. B’s Men’s Group that meets Thursday mornings got cancer. His condition deteriorated, and it was obvious to all that he was dying. Unable to come to the meetings in the Parish Hall, he invited the group to come and meet at his home.
The Men’s Group meant there for several weeks, but finally they were uninvited. The sick man said, “You guys aren’t really talking about anything that is important to me right now.”
This true story could also be seen as a parable for our church community. What is the role of the Church in having discussions about important issues in our lives—issues that at times literally involve life and death?
Think about Jesus and His disciples. In the scriptures he often speaks to large numbers of people, and then he draws the disciples aside for an intimate conversation. I bet they talked about everything. Perhaps this is a model that our Christian community should follow. What would our community look like if we were a people who could have wide-ranging discussions about life and faith?
Sometimes we catch a glimpse of this kind of community. When it occurs it’s like a breath of fresh air, or maybe like the wind of the Holy Spirit. It happened at Men’s Group a couple of weeks ago. We were talking about the war in Iraq. We were talking about how the teachings of Jesus might inform our ideas about the war. At the end of the conversation one of the men said, “I’ve been thinking about these things for forty years, ever since I served in Viet Nam.”
I could identify with that. There are internal discussions that I’ve been having with myself for decades that relate to faith and the world, and they continue to trouble me. Why don’t I share these with others at church? Shouldn’t my faith community help me with the hard questions that I face in my life? Right now, can’t you think of several topics you’d love to talk over in the context of our faith? Why can’t we live in a community of conversation?
Some people believe that church should focus only on the “spiritual” aspect of our lives. I think that by this they mean we shouldn’t ignore the person and message of Jesus. Yes! Jesus is Savior and Lord. We repeat this regularly as we worship and study scripture. If He is Lord, then isn’t He Lord of all life? Is there any part of our life that is outside His Lordship? By living in a way that divorces the realities of life from our community conversation aren’t we saying that Jesus has no place in that discussion?
Aren’t discussions about difficult issues polarizing? We certainly don’t need more excuses to be harsh with one another. However, the Men’s Group has been helpful in thinking about this issue. We have agreed to try to listen to an idea that a person brings without immediately reacting to it. This is an attitude that is completely counter-cultural in this era of “shock-jocks” and trash talk.
Honest communication requires humility. Think about a controversial issue that you hold an opinion about. What would it take to convince you that you are wrong? Could God speak a corrective word to you through our community of faith which would bring a renewal of your mind, or has your heart been hardened?
Why is communication so important in the Body of Christ? Discerning God’s will is a community task. If we are to know what God desires of us, we are all called to listen for God’s leading. Then we are called to share what we’ve heard. If we cannot discuss issues related to the will of God, how can we be a community that follows God?
Here’s a vision. St. Bartholomew’s has a “dialogue evening” about an important issue of the day. Let’s say it’s immigration. The community comes together to consider what the Bible has to say about immigrants, strangers in our midst. How did Jesus deal with the stranger? Are there Biblical principles that relate to immigration? How should those Biblical principles inform our ideas as a Christian community? Folks might leave such a meeting with varied conclusions about immigration in America. However, perhaps we would have given the Holy Spirit an opportunity to shed Light on our belief.
The Men’s Group meant there for several weeks, but finally they were uninvited. The sick man said, “You guys aren’t really talking about anything that is important to me right now.”
This true story could also be seen as a parable for our church community. What is the role of the Church in having discussions about important issues in our lives—issues that at times literally involve life and death?
Think about Jesus and His disciples. In the scriptures he often speaks to large numbers of people, and then he draws the disciples aside for an intimate conversation. I bet they talked about everything. Perhaps this is a model that our Christian community should follow. What would our community look like if we were a people who could have wide-ranging discussions about life and faith?
Sometimes we catch a glimpse of this kind of community. When it occurs it’s like a breath of fresh air, or maybe like the wind of the Holy Spirit. It happened at Men’s Group a couple of weeks ago. We were talking about the war in Iraq. We were talking about how the teachings of Jesus might inform our ideas about the war. At the end of the conversation one of the men said, “I’ve been thinking about these things for forty years, ever since I served in Viet Nam.”
I could identify with that. There are internal discussions that I’ve been having with myself for decades that relate to faith and the world, and they continue to trouble me. Why don’t I share these with others at church? Shouldn’t my faith community help me with the hard questions that I face in my life? Right now, can’t you think of several topics you’d love to talk over in the context of our faith? Why can’t we live in a community of conversation?
Some people believe that church should focus only on the “spiritual” aspect of our lives. I think that by this they mean we shouldn’t ignore the person and message of Jesus. Yes! Jesus is Savior and Lord. We repeat this regularly as we worship and study scripture. If He is Lord, then isn’t He Lord of all life? Is there any part of our life that is outside His Lordship? By living in a way that divorces the realities of life from our community conversation aren’t we saying that Jesus has no place in that discussion?
Aren’t discussions about difficult issues polarizing? We certainly don’t need more excuses to be harsh with one another. However, the Men’s Group has been helpful in thinking about this issue. We have agreed to try to listen to an idea that a person brings without immediately reacting to it. This is an attitude that is completely counter-cultural in this era of “shock-jocks” and trash talk.
Honest communication requires humility. Think about a controversial issue that you hold an opinion about. What would it take to convince you that you are wrong? Could God speak a corrective word to you through our community of faith which would bring a renewal of your mind, or has your heart been hardened?
Why is communication so important in the Body of Christ? Discerning God’s will is a community task. If we are to know what God desires of us, we are all called to listen for God’s leading. Then we are called to share what we’ve heard. If we cannot discuss issues related to the will of God, how can we be a community that follows God?
Here’s a vision. St. Bartholomew’s has a “dialogue evening” about an important issue of the day. Let’s say it’s immigration. The community comes together to consider what the Bible has to say about immigrants, strangers in our midst. How did Jesus deal with the stranger? Are there Biblical principles that relate to immigration? How should those Biblical principles inform our ideas as a Christian community? Folks might leave such a meeting with varied conclusions about immigration in America. However, perhaps we would have given the Holy Spirit an opportunity to shed Light on our belief.
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