I know it’s been a while since Bethke’s video about hating religion but loving Jesus came out. But when it did, a group of us got together (digitally) from around the country (including one in London, too!) to put together our own celebration of the Church and Jesus addressing some of the concerns we had with the other video. We don’t have expensive cameras or high post-production value, it’s just a few of us and our webcams, but enjoy.

Peace be with you.

Just an observation I’ve made thus far. :)

AP PHOTO/CHARLES DHARAPAK, POOL

I watched the Republican Debate last night, and a realization struck me at a later point in the debate. Santorum and Romney were sparring over pro-life records. Santorum asserted that he was so profoundly pro-life that he protects “the dignity of every human life.”  “I’ve done that,” he said.  Yet, for some reason I don’t believe him.  And it’s not just a problem with Santorum.  It’s not just a problem with Republicans.  It’s a problem with the level of discourse in the United States.  Santorum made this assertion on abortion, yes, but did he make it on every other issue — any other issue?  Was the “dignity of every human life” the basis for making any other decisions?

Listening to the Republican debate last night, the answer for all four of the candidates vying for the nomination was a resounding, “No.”  Let me give you two examples.  First, John King raised a question about Apple Inc.  The question specifically concerned the outsourcing practiced by Apple and many other companies in the tech industry. Inherent behind the question (by specifically mentioning Apple and its efforts in China) was the recent flare up about the Foxconn factories.  Every once in a while, these factories and the absolutely abhorrent conditions with which they are maintained.  (Jon Stewart did a particularly illuminating segment the other day.)  Yet, every answer from every Republican candidate had to do with creating a competitive environment in the United States to bring back Apple’s manufacturing efforts to American shores.  Why? — financial gain for Americans.  No mention was made of the working condition of people in China and around the world; the concern was purely for money.  There was no concern for human rights but only for expedient financial solution.  The second issue was that of immigration.  Similarly, the solutions were rarely centered on people but expedient financial solutions.  The concern in the room was for American jobs, not the lives of people.  The human rights of immigrants were not at issue, only how to most quickly and cleanly deport them.  And, yet, when it came time to talk about abortion, each of them wanted to affirm the “dignity of every human life.”

Perhaps they should offer a caveat.  These Republican candidates seek to protect the dignity of every American who happens to be above a certain income level.  Anyway. [Edit: If you examine the dialog that follows Santorum's statement, he essentially does.]

I think these snapshots reveal a fundamental flaw in the level of discourse in American politics and society.  In our politics (but perhaps even in our everyday lives), we make decisions based on utility and money before considering anything else.  We think that our politics are at their best when decisions are made together based on expedient financial solutions.  We also like to think that such decisions are morally neutral.  Because the decisions are based on reason and logic, because the decisions are based on quantifiable gains and losses, we think that they are morally neutral.  Such a claim is simply false.  Alasdair MacIntrye, one of the most significant philosophers of our time, makes that point. In his work, he claims that two of the significant “characters” that represent our time are the “managers” and the “bureaucrat.”  The manager falsely believes that his or her decisions are amoral and based simply on finance and utility.  However, his or her decisions are simply based on a standard that is not virtue or any other “good,” but instead on expedient financial solutions.

We need to understand that such decisions are not morally neutral. They are based upon a particular foundation of morals that revolves around money and material gain.  We need to also question whether such a foundation is right and just.  In the current arena of American politics, that might be the most valuable question for a presidential debate: “What is justice?”  Because right now, justice is to the advantage of the stronger (i.e., those who typically has more money).  We need to understand that justice and the moral decision is not always the most expedient financial solution. Does the just decision regarding Foxconn involve human rights at its core or American profits?  Does the just decision regarding immigration center first on human rights or American jobs and economic impact?  Understand that you and I, and our political representatives, are making moral decisions not simply adding up numbers.

The one example where this theme has not held up in American politics is Santorum’s favorite one: abortion. Unlike other issues, the question of abortion revolves around the question of human rights, who has them, and when they begin.  Certainly, there are other (probably more insidious) issues at play, but at least when we talk about abortion, we’re talking about people.  Why can’t that be the starting point for all politics in the United States?

If you really want to be pro-life, make life the starting point for all your political decisions. 

Oh, snap. So, our Catholic friend “Fr. Pontifex” has addressed just about every point I brought up about Bethke’s video. Enjoy.

Thanks to my fellow Baptist Nathan House for sharing this with me.

Today, I am going to be the party pooper.  Sorry, but I cannot just let this one lie.  This video has been circulating around Facebook and Twitter (at least among my friends across the country).  While I find it convicting, I do not think it is whole.  Jeffrey Bethke makes some very good points, but there is something missing. 

I’ll start with those good points, as it is always good to be positive before launching into any sort of criticism. 

(1) What if I told you getting you to vote Republican really wasn’t his mission?

Amen, my friend.  I think this point is becoming clearer and clearer to Christians around the United States.  Such a reality makes me glad.  Why?  I am tired of seeing a religious tradition co-opted by political agenda totally contrary to the aims of the faith.  Jesus is not a Democrat or a Republican; he isn’t even an American.  It is nice to see more people waking up to that.

(2) Why does it build huge churches, but fails to feed the poor?

Again, good question.  I think this point should ring all too true with the Protestant mega-church phenomenon of the late twentieth century.  Let’s stop that pattern and get back to the work that needs doing in our communities.  Let’s abandon the enterprise of attempting to create our own shelters and start making them for others.

(3) If grace is water, then the Church should be an ocean.

Enough said.  Thank you.

(4) If Jesus were here today, would your Church let him in?

Again, good question.  I agree that too many Christian communities aim to exclude rather than include, and it might just be bad enough that they risk kicking Jesus out with everyone else they won’t love.

Now, there’s more Mr. Bethke says that is perfectly acceptable and beneficial for the Church to hear.  There is most certainly a place for speaking harsh words to the Church.  If it never happened, the situation would be worse than described in this video.  However, not everything Bethke says is good.  I’d like to point out a few points of contention before we go crazy posting his video all over the place.

(1) I … I … I … I … I …***

One of the things that stands out the most about this piece to me is the individual focus of it.  I’m not saying that Bethke is self-centered or narcissistic.  If we take him at his word, he certainly is not.

What I am talking about is the focus on the individual or even individuals.

He says little about community.  Granted, “community” is a buzz word of the last decade (and even now), but hear me out.  Nothing that Bethke wants to address can be solved as a single individual or as individuals working apart from each other.  People need to come together to address problems, and that doesn’t just mean coming together in non-profits or Facebook groups, but in actual living, breathing communities.

We need to be living together and impacting the people we live with and around, not just subscribing to a social justice newsletter or attending a conference once a year.

(2) [Religion]’s just behavior modification, like a long list of chores.

Bethke shows the typical evangelical response to anything that smacks of ritual or tradition.  In some senses, he is correct.  If we let prayers, candle lighting, confession, and even communion become simply acts, they are just a “long list of chores.”

Rituals find their value in their participation in the divine, the meaning that gives them life, and the sort actions they ought to provoke.

Everything that the Church has passed down through the ages that may seem like “behavior modification” or “chores” has a deep meaning.  If your Church has not conveyed that meaning to you (and its consequences!), I apologize.   Next Sunday, make them explain it to everyone.

The tenants of Christianity and its sacraments don’t just aim to keep you in line.  They aim to change the world.

(3) Jesus and religion are on opposite spectrums or This is what makes religion and Jesus two different clans

If Jesus was for a community persisting through time attempting to make the world a better place, Jesus is not against religion.  He is against the worst of religion, as we all ought to be.  However, Bethke’s language is too strong in this video.

Jesus is not against religion but its perversions.

Christianity cannot be done alone or even simply in isolated communities.  The Gospel is meant to be experience in the community of the Church.  While I make no claims that the Gospel can only be experienced in the community of the Church, I see no reason to believe that we ought to get rid of the Church.

The Gospel is enriched and made alive in the community of faith more than it ever can be in the heart of a single individual operating alone.  The Gospel also comes alive in the activities and not merely the existence of the Christian community.  Religion and Jesus are not opposing forces.  Sometimes the message gets construed, and that’s going to happen in whatever system you set up (or in any one person!).

Let’s tone it down a bit.

(4) One is the work of God; One is man-made invention

I’m sorry, friend, but you wouldn’t believe in Jesus if it weren’t for some “man-made invention.”

The Gospel you wish to spread does not exist except for the preservation by the institution.

The specific theology you espouse wouldn’t exist except for the careful thinking of institutional men and women.

“On this rock I will build my Church,” if you will.  And that comes from the Bible you hold dearly, which I think is a fantastic thing.  However, you don’t have that critical collection of books if it weren’t for the Church.

If it weren’t for religion, you’ve got nothing to lean on.

Again, I think Bethke’s work is good and he says some things we need to hear, but we need not throw away a whole concept of “religion” just because some things have gone bad.  I can guarantee you, those who have made similar points in the past and their systems haven’t been any better.  The Gnostic (read: knowledge gets you salvation) tendencies of this revivalist notion don’t do anything more for the poor than big cathedrals sitting empty on the street corners.  So, let’s listen to these voices, but let’s not get wrapped up in them too much. 

Remember, even rebellious St. Francis remained indebted to religion despite his earth-shaking displays of the Gospel.

*** The other point I’d make on this issue is the way he treats the Atonement.  The line, “When he was dangling on that Cross, he was thinking of you,” is a kind sentiment, but it tends to make the Cross exclusive in my experience.  It is better to speak of Jesus thinking of “us” rather than any “you.”  We tend to make the Cross about less than the salvation of the whole earth when we make it about each one of us instead of about us.

It’s a minor point, and I’m sure it’s not what he intended, so I didn’t include it in the main argument.  Same thing with the gender exclusivity.  How hard is it to add one more syllable (human)?

One more thing — and this deserves more attention than this footnote or even a single blog post — why does the poem end in the crucifixion?  What about the Resurrection?  Isn’t that the news we really need to hear?

I don’t write a lot about music. Why? I don’t know a whole lot about music. The only thing I can  ever really comment on in music is the lyrics. I don’t know anything about keys or chords or notes and all that. However, music moves me just like it moves the rest of you, and I couldn’t keep the music to myself today.

(No, I’m not going to sing for you. You don’t want to hear that, trust me.)

For weeks, I have eagerly awaited the arrival of one particular album. Now, it worries me when I anticipate something that long. Inevitably, it cannot be as good as I expect. I was pleased to discover yesterday that I was actually not disappointed.

I pre-ordered a copy of the David Crowder Band’s last work, a set of thirty-four tracks entitled, Give Us Rest or (a requiem mass in c [the happiest of all keys]). When I heard that Crowder and company would be doing a Mass several months ago, my interest was piqued. A Protestant, one group popular among evangelicals in fact, doing a Mass? The concept seemed odd and foreign.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis//Te decet hymnus Deus, in Sion, et tibi reddetur votum in Ierusalem//Exmudi orationem; ad te omnis caro veniet//Reqieum aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Introit

Not only is Give Us Rest a Mass, it is a Requiem, or the Mass for the Dead from the Roman Catholic tradition. Naturally, I found such a combination of influences fascinating given my interests.  Regardless of how complex and interesting I find the idea itself, however, I think this work deserves the attention of the Church and all Christians because it does several things.

(1) It’s good. From where I’m sitting, it just sounds like quality music. It’s sweeping, diverse, and engaging. It’s just interesting to listen to. It is no secret that a lot of contemporary Christian music, including a lot of contemporary Christian worship music, is not very good. You can slap together the same seven words and a couple of the same basic cords and produce the next big worship song. Almost everything sounds the same and everyone almost writes the same. You have to get outside of the mainstream worship music, usually, to find something of unique substance. However, David Crowder and friends have always raised the bar for our music, in worship and otherwise.

I lift a knife to the thing I loved most//Praying You’ll come so I can have both//What I need is You to touch me//What I need is for You to be the thing I need.

From Let Me Feel You Shine

The writing is superb, intricate, and possesses extraordinary depth. I can’t really comment on the goodness of the quality of the music from where I sit, but, hey, sounds good to me. Someone else can chime in on that point.

(2) It’s ecumenical. David and his traveling minstrels are Protestants. That much is obvious from the venues at which they play and the other musical acts they accompany.  However, Give Us Rest is not an exclusively Protestant project. First of all, it’s based on the Requiem. There is a heavy dose of Catholic liturgy present at different points. One track is almost entirely in ecclesial Latin taken from the Sequence, or Dies Irae.

Tuba mirum spargens sonum//Per sepulchra regionum//Coget omnes ante thronum//Mors stupebit, et natura//Cum resuget creatura//judicanti responsura//Liber scriptes proferetur//In quo totum continetur//Unde mundus judichetur

From Sequence 5.

Wondrous sound the trumpet flingeth//through the earth’s sepulchers it ringeth//all before the throne it bringeth//Death is struck, and nature quaking//all creation is awaking//to its Judge an answer making//Lo! the book, exactly worded//wherein all hath been recorded//thence shall judgment be awarded.

Translated into English (W. J. Irons, 1849).

Yet, you don’t just hear the words of the Catholic Mass. There are plenty of new songs, all based on the themes and movements of the Requiem. Too, there are some classical Protestant songs like ‘Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus which makes it in near the Paridisum.

Moreover, the project was not just done by Crowder and his Protestant friends. Matt Maher (e.g. “Christ is Risen”) contributed to the work on a number of tracks. Maher is a practicing Catholic who was once asked to lead worship when Pope Benedict XVI visited the United States.

If the Church is to be one, music  is a good place to start. Any interactions that get Protestants and Catholics (and Orthodox) working together is worth it. In this case, the project is worth whatever countless hours men and women of both traditions put into it. I’d love to see more of this happen in the future. (Maher is a good example of it happening on the Catholic side of things, having performed with a number of evangelical musicians.)

(3) It treats grace and judgment well. Rarely in North American Christianity is this balance maintained at all. Either, the message is all grace and everything is permissible and you can do whatever you want or all judgment, which means you are a worm who should always be hated and despised every day of your life.  For the record, I’d rather go all grace than all judgment, and my sermons tend to lean heavier toward grace (which I think is the safest way to go). Crowder walks the line perfectly. Grace is readily apparent all over the place.

Your river of grace flows endlessly//You won’t turn your back on me//Oh, I am a seed//Oh, I am a seed//I’ve been pushed down into the ground//But I will rise up a tree.

From I Am a Seed

But judgment is not neglected. It is cast in the light of being a reality, yet not a reality cast on others. Judgment is in the hands of God and it is the duty of the Christian to pray for grace. Blessedness of Everlasting Light puts it all so well:

Oh, Lord forgive//Oh, Lord forgive//The faithful we’ve outlived//Oh, Lord forgive//God, hold back Your hand//Oh, God hold back Your hand//Stay Your wrath again//Oh, God hold back Your hand//Blessedness of everlasting light//No more pain//No more night//Oh, Lord forgive//Oh, Lord forgive//Free from chains of sin//Oh, Lord forgive//God, reach out Your hand//Oh, God reach out Your hand//Full of grace again//God reach out Your hand//Blessedness of everlasting light//No more pain//No more night//Blessedness of everlasting light//Oh, what light//Oh, what light

The work acknowledges judgment and spends a great deal of time with it (on both discs), but in the end, God’s character is one of love and grace and the final plea is for Jesus to lead us to his healing waters, to “take me up and set me free.”

Of course, the theology is good most likely because it’s based on a historic piece of liturgy. That always helps, but Crowder & Co. have always been very knowledgeable of this balance and great effort to speak to the importance of grace shines through all their music, in Church Music and elsewhere.

On a whole, this album is a great last one for DC*B. I think all of us would love for them to stick around (and I don’t exactly count any of them out when it comes to continuing to influence contemporary sacred music), but this was a great final effort. I would absolutely love to hear the whole thing played live. It’d be probably around a two-hour affair, but it would definitely be worth it. That said, I hope bits and pieces of it begin to find their way into our communities, Catholic and Protestant. It would do a lot of Protestants a lot of good to hear some ritual mixed into their music and oftentimes it would do nicely to liven up a Catholic atmosphere that may have become stale (obviously, it can’t really be done at Mass, necessarily , but other gatherings might find the work useful).

So, I technically don’t know a whole lot about music, but I know Give Us Rest is phenomenal and needs to find its way into the Church in whatever way possible.

POLITICO reported on the day after the Iowa Caucus that a group of conservative elites plans to meet in Texas.  What is their objective?  They aim to discuss the fate of the Republican nomination for president in 2012.  The idea that a closed-door meeting should decide the nominee in the first place is a disturbing thought.  The concept is contrary to the aims and ends of democracy itself.  However, the details of this event become even more insidious upon closer investigation.  The invitation to the event obtained by POLITICO reads as follows:

“You and your spouse are cordially invited to a private meeting with national conservative leaders of faith at the ranch of Paul and Nancy Pressler near Brenham, Texas, with the purpose of attempting to unite and to come to a consensus on which Republican Presidential candidate or candidates to support, or which not to support.”

Students of Baptist history or survivors of the fundamentalist takeover in the Southern Baptist Convention will notice something peculiar here.  Paul Pressler, the host of the event, was instrumental in the revolution in the Convention in the 1970s and 80s.  He met with Paige Patterson in New Orleans to plan the grand scheme of the conservative resurgence many years ago.  They began to take advantage of the election system within the SBC to place members of their inerrantist party in positions of power one by one.  The process systematically eliminated any perceived “liberals” from the Convention and ousted faculty from its seminaries and numerous employees from its institutions.  Now, it seems, Pressler and company are at it again — only this time the target is the Presidency of the United States.  Such a plot bodes poorly for Americans and, significantly, a central Baptist principle.

These “conservative leaders of faith” threaten the separation of Church and State.  Understand, when I speak of the separation of Church and State, I do not chiefly mean the famous “wall of separation” coined by Thomas Jefferson in his letter to the Danbury Baptists.  Baptists do not believe and adhere to the separation of Church and State because an American political theorist or politician came up with it.  Baptists believe and adhere to the separation of Church and State because it is a historical theological proposition dear to the Baptist soul.  Regardless of the theological and historical locale one points to as the origin of modern Baptists, separation of Church and State has been significant.  The actions of Pressler and others now act in clear violation of this principle.

Often when one discusses it in the public forum, the separation of Church and State concerns an encroachment of the State upon the Church (i.e., the establishment clause).  However, the Baptist theological principle is different and broader.  Should not the Church also refrain from encroaching upon the State?  If the Church expects the State to stay out of its affairs, should not the Church also refrain from manipulation of the State?  The Church should not be attempting to influence the State as Pressler and his allies attempt to do.  Such actions mix loyalties between one’s allegiance to God and one’s allegiance to the State.  It is for the sake of both entities that the separation exists.

Undoubtedly, the role of faith in public life in light of the separation of Church and State is a complicated one, but direct manipulation on behalf of Christian — and even Baptist! — leaders on the political system at the expense of American citizens (who are both Christian and not Christian) is preposterous and untenable theologically.  Such a statement is particularly true in a Baptist context.   The mixing of influence within the Church and within the State fails to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and God what is God’s.  It is a dangerous mixing of affiliations that should worry not only Baptists but all Americans.

The simple fact is that Pressler and his compatriots have shown that they are capable of this kind of manipulation in the past.  The takeover of the SBC was an intricate and well-executed plan and there is no reason to assume a similar group of people could not do it again.  That any group (evangelical, Baptist, or what have you) aims to exploit democracy in this fashion is unsettling.  However, that members of this group claim to be Christians — and, more audaciously Baptists — is truly cause for alarm.  Anyone who knows of such an event should be vocal about it, ensuring that both the media and public know that such conversations are happening.

What do you think? 

POLITICO

Dallas Morning News

Houston Chronicle

Brenham Banner-Press

This past week was one of the most thought provoking, inspiring, and fulfilling weeks I have ever had.  It was quite a way to start out this New Year.  From 2 – 5 January, I had the distinct pleasure and honor of attending the 2012 National Festival of Young Preachers in Louisville, Kentucky.  Hosted by the Academy of Preachers, the Festival brought together over a hundred preachers from over thirty different states and thirty different Christian traditions.  I genuinely had little idea of what to expect.  My friend Aaron Carr had gone to one of the Academy’s preaching camps over the summer, but I was still in the dark.  What I came to discover was an environment of worship, fellowship, and preaching like none I had ever experienced.  If you can take some time out of your day to listen, I would love to tell you about it.

Of the several remarkable facets of the National Festival (as well as the Academy in general) was the ecumenical nature of the gathering.  I mentioned that the young preachers like myself were from over thirty different traditions.  I did not yet mention that these traditions were not just a myriad of Protestant or evangelical denominations.  Present were young people from every tradition ranging from the Roman Catholic to the Orthodox to the Lutheran, Methodist, and Baptist traditions — and everything in between!  On Wednesday morning, I found myself (a Baptist) worshipping next to a newfound Lutheran friend standing behind an Orthodox priest and a Dominican while later listening to an evangelical preacher.  One night we (mostly Protestants!) gathered in the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Assumption led by the Archbishop of the local Diocese, all of us alike, singing and worshipping together with vigor and authenticity.  We heard Protestants and Catholics and Orthodox, liberals and conservatives and moderates, expositors and storytellers and pastors.  Nowhere else in North American Christianity have I come across such a cooperative and positive gathering of Christians from all across the spectrum!  The Academy of Preachers and their National Festival represent what ecumenical efforts truly need to be, sincere and cooperative pursuit of the Gospel frame in the context of conversation and appreciation, undergirded with worship and the preaching event.

The preaching was truly a wonderful experience, as well.  Over the course of this past week, I believe I heard from about twenty-five different preachers.  They were black and white, female and male, teenager, college student, and seminarian.  Was every sermon fantastic?  No, of course not, but we all came together in a place of general affirmation and growth despite our differences of opinion, skill, and method.  I got to hear every kind of sermon, and I was particularly excited to hear those styles I had never heard preached before this event.  I used my now-normal narrative approach (owed to the work of Dr. Eugene Lowry), of which I thought I might hear more, but I was surprised with the diversity.  I heard at least one expository sermon, a few incorporating song, some molding and adapting narrative, and a character sermon that was especially moving and convicting.

What made the week so great, however, might be best summed up in the last day of the event.  I preached that morning to an engaged crowd that now consisted of friends, both new and old, and received the encouragement of they and more experienced homileticians.  But after that, we all left to worship in the Cathedral one last time.  The final service (called the Grand Amen) was a commissioning service for all of the young preachers at the Festival. Dr. Safiyah Fosua, Director of Transformational Preaching Ministries in the United Methodist Church, stood by the altar and brought a message of encouragement and challenge like one I have never heard.  She told us that the mantle of preaching was now passed on to us, that her generation was nearing its end, and that it was our duty now to assume the mantle as Elisha, remembering always the words of Jesus’ first sermon:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
[…] Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

(Luke 4:18-19, 21, NRSV)

The Gospel came alive in our midst in Louisville this week, and I feel more profoundly than ever the joyful obligation that is the preaching life.

I will try, in the days to come, to post sermons and transcripts that become available from this week on the Facebook page or Twitter account.  I encourage you — nay, I beg you! — that if you know a young preacher, connect them with the Academy and make sure they come to the 2013 National Festival of Young Preachers in Atlanta Georgia.  They are most certainly welcome!

2012 Class of Young Preachers being inducted into the Academy of Preachers (Photo: Wyndee Holbrook)

 Happy Epiphany, everyone!

Photo Credit: Stan Shebs

[[The following was delivered today at the 2012 National Festival for Young Preachers hosted by the Academy of Preachers, an organization of which I cannot speak higher. New friends, an old friend, and I were inducted into the Academy this morning, and I hope to tell you more about it in the coming weeks. It was a fantastic week of great preaching and inspiration. This sermon was delivered on the last day of the Festival. Hopefully in the coming days, there will also be a video.]]

God in the Year 2012

A Sermon on the Occasion of the 2012 National Festival for Young Preachers

5 January 2012; Louisville, Kentucky

“Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?  And why do you worry about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you — you of little faith?  Therefore, do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’  For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

The Gospel according to St. Matthew, 6:25-33

New Revised Standard Version

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Everybody relax your shoulders and take a deep breath.  2011 is over.

If your experience has been like that of most of the world, 2011 was not exactly the best year ever.  For the vast majority of people, 2011 was pretty bad.  Last January, a little less than a year ago, the Arab Spring began in Tunisia and it hasn’t turned out exactly as hoped.  In March, a 9.1 magnitude earthquake caused a tsunami that devastated Japan.  In May, American soldiers found and killed Osama bin-Laden, but the violence continues and relations with Pakistan get worse by the day.  In June, the inhumane treatment of protesting Syrian citizens by their government and military began.  Also in June, the state of Alabama passed an immigration law of despicable and diabolical proportions.  In July, horrendous violence broke out in Norway by one who claimed the name of Christ.  In September, thousands joined the Occupy Movement, a cause emblematic of the growing income disparity and abuse of privilege by the rich and powerful in the United States and around the world.  In October, the European Union convened emergency meetings to deal with crippling debt in Greece.  Millions are out of work.  Husbands and wives cannot keep the lights on for much longer.  Children are going to school hungry.  Pensions are drying up.  The economy is in the worst place it has been in a long time.

2012 is not looking any better.  The economy shows little sign of becoming as strong as it used to be.  The presidential race and the legislative system have become parodies of the democratic process.  Gridlock in Washington shows nothing but signs of sticking around for the foreseeable future.  So, yes, 2012 is not looking much better, is it?

Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink.  Do not worry about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Is not life more than what keeps you alive, that precious foodstuff that you don’t have right now?  Is the body not more than the clothing that your children don’t have even though it’s just after Christmas?  I’m sorry, Jesus, but the birds of the air are choking on fumes, the lilies of the field have been covered with concrete, and the grass got thrown into the oven and it never grew back.  I’m sorry, Jesus, but those people who are worrying about their lives got to put dinner on their tables.  The 1% worry about their lives, and they’re doing quite well for themselves.  I’m sorry Jesus, but maybe you made a mistake.

Bad times produce a theological problem.  Good times make theology easy.  This passage is not hard to read when you have food and clothing readily available.  When we are under economic stress and the world is in a state of existential crisis, not just this passage, but the entire Sermon becomes immensely more difficult to read.  That the poor in spirit and the meek are blessed is easiest to say when you are rich in spirit and quite strong.  That you should turn the other cheek and not resist and evildoer make so much more sense in a sterilized environment safe from the problems of violence and physical oppression.

The simple fact is that I want to worry.  I want to worry because I don’t know how much my next pay check is going to be or when it’s going to get here.  I want to worry because I don’t know if tuition is going to go up and by how much.  I want to worry because I still need to go to seminary and I don’t have a clue how to pay for it.  I want to worry because the future seems uncertain.  I want to worry because I need to worry.  I need to worry because these things need to work out.  I need to worry so I can get things done, and I think that means I have a right to worry.

Don’t you?

In saying these things, whether I realize it or not, I presume to know certain things about God.  First, my perspective is fundamentally atheistic.  I do not assume that God succeeds or fails in his involvement in our lives.  I do not assume God apart from my desire to attend seminary.  If my perspective does assume that God does exist, I assume that a certain kind of God exists.  I assume a God who is distant and uninvolved, a God who does not care.  This God is at best an abstraction used to solve certain theological problems or stand in for unknowns.  This God does not do anything, he merely is for the sake of convenience for whatever argument we might want to make about social norms or scientific reality.  This God has no measurable effect on my life, so I better get worried and get worried quick.

Now, I am sure that picture of God is fine for some people with non-dependent personalities who just need to get him in edge-wise as problem-solver in certain arguments, but that is not a picture of God that we find in the Scriptures.

We are finishing today a season of the year that celebrates a God quite unlike this picture.  Did you know that Christmas isn’t over yet?  Today is actually the last day of Christmastide, in case you were wondering.  Tomorrow begins Epiphany, when we remember the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ, primarily through commemoration of the visit of the Magi.  That Church calendar lesson aside, what do we remember on Christmas?  We remember,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.  What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

“And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.”

At Christmas, we remember that God came down and set up shop on earth.  At Christmas, we remember that God is coming again to earth, coming to set things right.  At Christmas, we remember that Christianity is not fundamentally about how we get to God but how God has come to us.  And let me induce in you a little Epiphany this morning: it’s still Christmastime.

We cannot forget the Incarnation.  We cannot forget that God comes to us.  This passage does not describe a God like the one I described earlier.  The Sermon on the Mount describes a God, first, that exists.  He exists and is real — he is not an abstraction useful (or not) for philosophical thought.  The passage about worry stipulates that God not only exists, but he is close and involved.  This God made the birds of the air, the lilies of the field, and the grass of the earth.  He not only made them but he feeds and cultivates them.  This God has a green thumb, if you will.  And if God is this involved in this part of creation, God is certainly involved in all creation.  He is not just in the mire and the muck of nature, but in the mire and the muck in which we find ourselves every single day.  God is down there with us in the dirtiness of life on earth.  This God does things, he does not merely be.  This God has a measurable effect on my life, and I have a relationship and participation with and in him that is just as real, if not more real, than that with another human being.

Jesus shows us that God finds a way in the middle of our history.  He did it then, and he does it now.  God has not abandoned us to our own devices, instead he finds himself in the middle of us working each and every day.  God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God is with us.  Emmanuel.

We don’t always believe it.  I can tell you that I don’t.  The first God I described is all too often the God I find myself believing in.   That paragraph was perhaps a bit too easy to write.  But, in moments where I’m utterly defenseless, utterly without, I meet this God who is there.  ‘Cause you know what?  If I walk out these doors, even into the city, I’m still going to see some birds.  I’m still going to see some flowers.  And you know what?  Occasionally, if you bend down just so, and run your hands over the concrete, you can find that little, tiny, blade of grass that’s coming through the cracks.

And that little piece of grass is hope, hope growing between the cracks of our hearts and setting up shop.  This hope comes and lives in the middle of all our stress and all our pain.  This hope comes and decides that he’s never going to leave, he’s in it for the long haul.  This hope lives in the buildings trying hard just to be homes, in the men and women trying hard just to be parents, in the children trying hard to find their way in the world.  And this hope is Jesus.  God with us.

Musician John Mark MacMillan put it like this, “Who would have thought it, but life is finding a way through this wasteland of cynics, concrete, and pain.  There’s a man down here somewhere between those Saturday cartoons and the dirty magazines.  He’s raising the dead in graveyards where we’ve laid down our dreams, and in his name is hope.”

Therefore, don’t worry about your life.  Don’t worry about your groceries or your clothes.  Life is more than that.  Look at the birds, they don’t work all day but God feeds them anyway.  Aren’t you worth more than a bird?  Can you make your life longer by worrying?  Stop worrying about clothes.  Look at the flowers.  They don’t work all day, but they are more beautiful than anyone in the world.  And if God makes the grass look this good, won’t he take care of you, too?  So stop worrying about your groceries and your clothes.  Other people try to grab up all these things and God knows you need them.  Look out first for God’s movement and everything else will fall into place.

Now that means something for you and me, you know.  God doesn’t want to do all of this on his own.  Now, he could, but that’s not the way things are meant to be.  When God is getting his hands dirty, he wants us to be down there with him.  We don’t watch as God cleans up our own lives, we actively participate.  In the same way, when God wants to make someone’s life better, when he wants to get them the groceries they need, when he wants to get them the clothes they need, we need to be there, too.  This passage becomes true when God upholds his word to us, and he does, oh yes he does, but it also becomes true — and maybe more profoundly so — when God works through us to make these words true.

So when your friend is struggling to make rent, when new parents need more diapers, when someone is looking for a job, when a mother can’t put food on the table, when a young adult hasn’t got family in the world, when someone in your community needs something, you be there.  When someone in the Church or its community needs something, Christians don’t just get together and pray about it.  They do that, and it’s important, but they also do something about it.  They are there.  And you know why?  Because God already is.

If you want to meet God, I know where he is.  He’s “here somewhere between those Saturday cartoons and the dirty magazines.  He’s raising the dead in graveyards where we’ve laid down our dreams.”  He’s healing, reconciling, and resurrecting people all over the place, you just have to open your eyes.

“Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?  And why do you worry about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you — you of little faith?  [me of little faith?]  Therefore, do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’  For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Let’s believe it.

And all God’s people said, “Amen.”