ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
May 31, 2024
This Sunday, we continue with our series on the Totality of the Jesus Story, specifically looking at how we might talk about and struggle with some of the passages of scripture that appear to undermine (eclipse) the central ideas associated with Jesus. As I said in the sermon last Sunday, I am not encouraging people to ignore certain passages or take scissors to the Bible, but we cannot uncritically accept one passage when it appears to nullify other prominent passages. One of the reasons (among many) people are walking away from church these days is that they can no longer accept the common response to these inconsistencies and discrepancies, which is, “You just can’t question these things.” Not only can we question these things, but we must. It is not about seeking agreement, but recognizing how we cannot say one thing about faith on Monday and something entirely different on Tuesday. What do you do with a passage of scripture that seems to exclude a person for a rather random reason, and then you see Jesus inviting the same people to a meal? Do I exclude on Monday and invite on Tuesday? And to say, “You just can’t question these things,” leaves a person not knowing what to do. As people of faith who are making some pretty extraordinary pronouncements, we need to do more than provide what is a dismissive response to some very serious questions.

You are love, O God, and with that declaration, I am compelled to grapple with scriptures that suggest you are not love. Provide me with guidance as I explore, ask questions, and seek to know you as you want me to know you. Amen.

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
May 30, 2024
So yesterday, after a funeral, I noticed a screw in one of my tires. I needed to get back to the church, but later in the afternoon, I was able to take it to the tire store for repair. When they brought my car around, I thanked the guy, opened the door, and sat down. The guy was really tall, but that did not hit me until my butt hit the seat. It was as far back as it could go. This short guy felt like he was sitting in the backseat. What made me laugh was that after pressing the button to move the seat forward, it felt like it took five minutes. It reminded me of a Tim Conway skit.

Anyway, it got me to thinking about perspective and how we do not walk in the proverbial shoes of others, or in my case, I have not looked at things from someone else’s seated perspective. I try to read authors whose life experiences are very different from my own, and whenever I can attend a lecture or engage across a table over a meal with someone who offers me a different perspective, I try to be there. But I believe that is only a first step. I don’t have a specific fix to suggest, but I pray for a growing desire to listen, respect, learn, ask genuine questions, and continue to try to see things from someone else’s perspective, even though we will always have much to learn.

God, give me a heart capable of compassion and a mind willing to hold other people’s experiences as worthy of the time it takes to listen and learn. Amen.

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
May 29, 2024
Another storm! I hope this Etching finds you doing well, hopefully with power. Yesterday, as the storm came through, we lost power at the church. It was off for about an hour, so as I checked to see if we had any leaks and kept an eye on one of the trees on the church property, what I had planned for that hour was pushed to the back burner. But now, reflecting on the remainder of the day, it feels as if I never fully recovered. We did have a productive meeting about the New Playground, but my to-do list was never revisited during the remainder of the workday. It’s interesting how an interruption, even one that isn’t all that long, can throw me off. It makes me wonder how often I do not notice God using an interruption. Instead, the frustration throws my day off, keeping me from recognizing the interruption as an opportunity to throw me back on—back on the path God needs me to be; back into certain values that better represent what I claim to believe; back to a place where I am actually following Jesus and not just talking about what that looks like. I’m not suggesting that God caused the storm to interrupt my day, but I wonder how often I allow frustration over an interruption to eclipse a holy opportunity that was put before me only because of the interruption.

Help me to keep my frustration at bay, O Gentle Spirit of Grace, especially when frustration keeps me from recognizing something that might give meaning to the interruption. Amen.

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
May 28, 2024
A friend and colleague, Rev. Rebecca Littlejohn, recently posted a quote from Walter Wink: “The dominant Religion on the planet is not Christianity, Islam, Hinduism or Judaism but the pervasive faith in violence.” Dr. Wink was a Biblical scholar and theologian, often challenging commonly held beliefs about Jesus, faith, and the social order in which we live. He died more than a decade ago, though his writings remain challenging today and probably will be for decades to come. Jesus said, Turn the other cheek, and the Apostle Paul said, Do not repay evil for evil, but live peacefully with all. Our core teachings are pretty clear about violence, yet it appears that we worship at the altar of war more than we’d like to admit. I don’t necessarily have an answer to the question I will ask, but I do wonder how we break the cycle. Who will be willing to take the first step, even if it means their own demise?

We follow your gift, O God, the one who lived into the title: Prince of Peace. Continue to encourage us as we strive to be students of the ways of peace, even when it demands something of us. Amen.

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
May 27, 2024
Prayer for the Week: (thinking about the five young people baptized yesterday at CCCC)
Young people cocooned in the waters of baptism.
There is joy—unspeakable joy.
The beginning of a journey by which they embrace their unique goodness.
There is joy—unspeakable joy.
A church that welcomes those who have risen from the waters.
A church that seeks to celebrate the unique gifts of every child.
There is joy—unspeakable joy.
O God of water and resurrection, ritual and threshold moments, we give you thanks for John and Jesus and all who invited generations to experience baptism and the unspeakable joy that comes in claiming one’s beloved place in the family of God.
Amen.

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
May 26, 2024
Forgiveness is something that most all of us, on some level, struggle with. It is complicated with passages like the one we find in the Sermon on the Mount—Matthew 6, where we find Jesus saying to the crowd:

If you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you don’t forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your sins.

I have never liked the god of the carrot who says, “I’ll only forgive you if you forgive others.” The word we often use with love is unconditional, which I’m pretty sure means without condition. Since love and forgiveness are so closely tied together, I feel as if the God I meet in Jesus is one who forgives without condition. Yet if I choose not to forgive, don’t want to forgive, or can’t find the capacity to forgive, then I wonder whether or not I understand forgiveness. I sort of feel as if Jesus was not connecting God’s choice to forgive to our willingness to forgive. God is more independent than that. But if I am unable to understand forgiveness and its importance, then I wonder whether or not I can truly accept it and utilize it when it comes my way. Instead of the god of the carrot, I have come to believe it is the God who knows we understand something when we do it, and the more we are able to stretch ourselves into the more difficult acts of forgiveness, the more we come to appreciate the fullness of the gift given to us.

In the faith I have in you, Merciful God, I claim the conviction that I am loved and forgiven. I pray this day for the capacity to know and own those gifts, not only for my own transformation but so that I might offer those same gifts to others. Amen.

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
May 25, 2024
On this day in 1925, John Scopes was indicted for teaching evolution in a public school. Most of us remember from history some of what occurred during the Scopes Trial and the names of the major players. A fault line between Christian fundamentalism and a more progressive approach to scripture had been intensifying for nearly fifty years. The breaking point was the Butler Act, a bill that made it illegal “to teach any theory that denies the Story of Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.” The American Civil Liberties Union was ready to challenge the law, but it needed a case, and Scopes was the man. From what I’ve read, the atmosphere in Dayton, Tennessee, was circus-like, and though the trial had brilliant orators, it was sort of anticlimactic. Scopes was found guilty and fined $100, though that was overturned later on a technicality.

I raise this, for though we have not had a Scopes-like trial in recent years, the fault line between religion and science, between a fundamentalist approach to scripture and a non-literal reading of scripture, remains. My concern is that the fault line, though decorated a little differently these days, is still very real and dangerous. I believe religion should always have a voice (recognizing how there is a rather significant diversity of religious voices) when discussing matters of science, specifically when conversing about the implications and ethics. At the same time, I want science to determine what science determines, and just because some segment of a religion is made to feel uncomfortable does not mean religion has the final vote. Yet today, we are seeing situations where religion has more than a voice but has the veto power, and in some situations, has the only vote.

For a religion based on ancient stories, symbols, poetry, metaphors, parables, humor, and even hyperbole, how it dances with science will always require some work. It is not about religion staying in its lane, but having a true appreciation for what religion and science offer—two different searches for truth, one of the mind and one of the heart. When at their best, the two can be complementary. At their worst, they can undermine the very fabric of the social order.

Gracious God, I give thanks for scientists, researchers, and those who work in the field of technology. My life has been made easier and more healthy because of their discoveries. When something new is found that sits outside what has traditionally been considered right and normal, give me the capacity to listen and learn, to ask good questions, and not judge what might be a gift from you. Amen.

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
May 24, 2024
I am hoping that most of you, if not all of you, received the news about Rev. Mariah Newell accepting a call to serve as Minister to Children and Families at University Christian Church in Fort Worth. It is the church on the campus of TCU and one of the great churches in our denomination. We all know that they will be immensely blessed to have Mariah on their staff. In the weeks ahead, we will be working hard in our discernment of what comes next for Cypress Creek Christian Church, especially since we are a church that is growing with youth and children. This is essential to our work of Putting Love First In All Things. Throughout my ministry, when a beloved staff member is called to a new church or retired, I have witnessed great gnashing of teeth and doomsday talk. Now I will confess that Mariah has been an amazing gift to the mission of CCCC, but my faith tells me that God is already at work making us ready for the next step. Any transition is hard, and in youth and children’s ministry, it is especially hard on the kids. So I invite you to be mindful and prayerful for them at this time. When Jesus told his disciples that they should allow the children to come to him, we often forget that they were already close by. Parents wanted to bring their children to Jesus, yet the disciples were hindering that connection. In our case, we need to make sure that we are continuing to offer an expression of the Gospel that draws families, and then the specific programming for youth and children needs to remove any barriers that might hinder their welcome and affirmation. I believe we have done that, and we will continue to do that.

For all the emotion that comes at a time of change, we pray for your Spirit of Grace to provide us with peace, encouragement, and hope. Bless all the ministries of Cypress Creek Christian Church, but this day, Lord God, we pray specifically for our youth and children and for all the ways they are affirmed in your love. Amen.

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
May 23, 2024
Since graduate school, I have found myself having an ongoing debate with Reinhold Niebuhr (1892 - 1971). He was a theologian and ethicist at Union Seminary in New York who challenged a lot of the naive theologies that allowed Nazi Germany and fascism to go unchallenged. Niebuhr was a realist, and though he believed in the ideal of love (agape), he concluded that human beings always reach for something less than love, sometimes purposefully and other times by perceived necessity. Niebuhr wrote, "Ultimately, evil is done not so much by evil people but by good people who do not know themselves and who do not probe deeply.” For Niebuhr, the ideal might be love, but we work in the realm of justice, attempting to create systems that hold in check sin and evil. He wrote, “The sad duty of politics is to establish justice in a sinful world.” At times, I have found Niebuhr’s realism (some would say that is not the most accurate way of describing his theology/ethics) overly pessimistic, lacking much hope beyond just keeping evil at bay. Though there are days when I look at the happenings around the globe and in my own backyard, and I wonder if my idealism and hope contribute to injustice continuing without interruption, as love often appears overrun by greed and the pursuit of merciless power. Yet, and I acknowledge that this might be a weak ‘yet,’ I still believe that the ways of love and hope, kindness and mercy, are the ultimate means by which the world will be transformed. With that said, I continue to converse with people like Reinhold Niebuhr and others who keep me, what some might describe as my naivety, having the hard conversation with the realities that gave rise to the Nazis and every other inhumane and brutal system in human history.

Holy God, I cannot let go of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and his unflinching commitment to the ideals of nonviolence, mercy in the face of hatred, and even praying for those who have done me harm. I can’t say I own them as faithfully as I should, but I believe they reflect your dream for this world, and as a follower of Jesus, I seek to make that dream a reality wherever I am living and breathing in the moment. Amen.

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
May 22, 2024
I have debated whether or not to engage the conversation around the commencement speech by the Kansas City Chief’s kicker, Harrison Butker. I have watched the speech and have read the transcript twice. Let me begin by saying that, agree or disagree, I hold pretty strongly to the First Amendment, making space for people to express their opinion. There are always limits, though that line is one I find difficult to draw sometimes. At the same time, my desire to protect your right to speak does not mean I will remain silent if what you said is something I perceive to be unhealthy or even dangerous.

At no point in Mr. Butker’s speech did he ever say, “I believe…” He made many strong declarations, which he is allowed to make, but much of what he said should probably have fallen under the category of personal belief. His theology, which he clearly implied was good conservative Catholic Theology, was in fact a mix of one wing of the Catholic Church, with some Christian Nationalism, and a sprinkle of Prosperity Gospel. Many Catholics would have found his theology to be anywhere from slightly misguided to pretty far off base. Again, he has the right to state those convictions, but it might have been a bit more honest to have said, “As I consider my faith…” And though he implied over and over again how his speech was an expression of Christian teaching, he only once made an indirect reference to a teaching of Jesus, and even that was a rather nebulous Biblical side note. We can have some serious conversations around what it means to follow Jesus, and even disagree in a respectful way, but making dramatic proclamations with serious social implications that are rooted loosely in a pseudo-Catholic theology leaves those who want a serious theological conversation centered on the teachings of Jesus without an actual conversation partner.

​Again, Mr. Butker has the right to say what he said, but there are those of us who will suggest, and I think we offer a pretty strong Biblical foundation in our arguments, that Jesus invited people of all genders to live into their unique gifts that may or may not have anything to do with their capacity to reproduce. Marriage and raising children are both sacred acts, but so is volunteering at the dog shelter, finishing up an apprenticeship toward the dream of becoming a master plumber, running for political office because you believe you can do something important, using your medical degree to serve Doctors Without Borders or at the most prestigious cancer hospital in the world, taking a vow to become a nun as you believe God is calling you to serve the most vulnerable, continuing to teach third grade in spite of a political system that seems hellbent on squeezing any creativity from the educational system, and even being gifted enough to kick a ball between two posts and to be paid millions of dollars to do so. Sadly, there are a lot of people who, before Butker’s speech, did not really consider themselves to be Christian, but after the speech, they walked away thinking that their misogynistic and homophobic beliefs aligned them with Christianity. I am always cautious when it comes to making anything that might sound like a pronouncement, but I believe the god Mr. Butker created in the image of his own insecurities does not represent Jesus, the teacher and revealer of love who made real the God of the Universe, a God whose understanding of power began with the cross, an act of self-giving love that did not whine about feeling emasculated. 

Maybe in my internal debate over whether to say something on this issue or not, I should have chosen to remain quiet. But to do so would have silenced my own free speech, and even more so, would have allowed a very unhealthy and dangerous form of Christianity to go unchallenged… or at least that’s what I think.

Encourage me daily, Merciful and Gentle God, to keep my focus upon Jesus, for there I find my hope, my model for living, my liberation, and a love that embraces all. Amen.