ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
June 20, 2023 Yesterday was Juneteenth. Today is World Refugee Day. Both of these days encourage people to educate themselves on the past and the present, and then to recognize how history rarely offers anything new. In Sociology, there are a couple of opposing theories (I am very much a novice on these matters): 1. Social Evolutionism, a belief that society is evolving and making progress; or 2. Social Cycle Theory, a belief that we continue to repeat the same general behaviors and duplicate the same basic mistakes. Neither of the theories excludes the possibility of the other occurring, just not in any significant way. I believe there are positive characteristics to both, yet to see life-giving patterns emerge and reoccur requires knowledge of the past and a keen awareness of the present. To bring about progress toward something new also requires us to know what has worked in the past, and even more so, what has failed in the past. One of the shameful practices of a politician is to repackage a failed idea of the past, but doing so with an exciting new name and a lot of dynamic marketing. Too few people have the capacity to say, "Haven’t we tried this before under another name, and wasn’t the outcome detrimental to society?" Religions have done the same thing, including Christianity. In a time when people discourage the reading of anything discomforting while also banning books and films that portray even a hint of an unorthodox idea, we need to encourage people to go deeper. If your faith can only remain strong when there is no challenge to it, then it might be time to find yourself a different faith. As they say often, "Knowledge is power," and that knowledge includes history and an understanding of the social movements that brought about these important events in history. It is the historians who are often shaking their heads when someone says, "How did we not see that coming? Eternal God, stretching the span of time—past, present, and future—we confess our cringeworthy capacity to recklessly repeat the monumental failures of previous generations. We act surprised at how we did not have any idea such a thing could happen, while the lessons of history and the sacred wisdom of scripture suggest otherwise. Forgive us; teach us; prod us to ask the tough and uncomfortable questions of the very history seeking to repeat itself. We need your help, O God. Amen.
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ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
June 19, 2023 Prayer for the Week: Wherever the thought of perfection brings a paralysis of the spirit, we turn to your liberating power of grace, O God. Too often, we find ourselves in pursuit of the improbable and allow the prospect of failure to leave us consumed with melancholy. Speak to us once again of your perfect and limitless love. May it shape us as vessels of this gift so desperately sought after in this world. Let us step beyond unhealthy definitions of perfection as we make space for your magnificent and unparalleled love to fill us. It is a boundless gift, yet as it dwells within us, we discover a fullness in our purpose. Set us free to see those perfect opportunities for faithful living that rest immediately before us each day. Amen. ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
June 18, 2023 Yesterday, after making a couple of visits, I went to the church to get some work done. It was a little before 2pm, and I checked the temperature on my phone, and it said 101, with a "real feel" temperature of 115. Ugh!! I went into the Forum Building, and it immediately felt so good. Since there was nothing happening at the church, I was surprised the AC was set so low. I don’t want to waste money. So I went to the thermostat and was a bit surprised to see that it was 86 degrees in the Activity Room. Isn’t it interesting how our bodies can change, becoming used to something that only a few months earlier would have been considered uncomfortably hot inside any building? But yesterday, 86 felt pretty good. How is it that we can find ourselves becoming more and more comfortable with things we would have found oppressive a short time before? Now, I’m not talking about good progress in regard to race, gender, sexuality, etc. I’m talking about a strange comfort when it comes to suffering, violence, hatred, bullying, and discrimination. We act as if we are powerless to bring real change to situations that are decimating individual lives and communities. It’s as if the reverse has occurred with regard to the temperature. It has slowly been intensifying without us even noticing, yet as long as it doesn’t impact me directly, I’m ok sweating. Jesus offered us a glimpse into the perfect existence we often call the Kin(g)dom of God or Kin(g)dom of Heaven. It is the vision that is revealed in the life and teachings of Jesus, and according to him, it already exists around us and in us. I believe we are called to be the change agents, the people who shift a mindset of helplessness in the current world, by simply being the people we are called to be… to be Kin(g)dom agents in the world — cooling down the hate and heating the merciful kindness. We are not called to be consumed with hopelessness, O God, yet we must confess how easily it occurs. Put before us the Jesus-vision of a world where grace, mercy, peace, and justice abound, and then empower us to reflect such a world in our daily living. Amen. ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
June 17, 2023 Yesterday, the Cypress Creek Christian Community Center hosted a graduation for the Commonwealth Mortuary School. We’ve been doing this for a number of years, and it's so gratifying to see folks receive their diploma after doing the hard work. The Centrum is used for a number of graduations in our community, and in conversations I’ve had with faculty and staff from different programs, I have heard similar stories. They used to hold the graduation in a cafeteria or a big classroom. The graduates could only invite one or two people to attend. The space did not represent the significance of the moment. The Centrum, on the other hand, helps to reinforce the importance of what has been accomplished and the significance of the moment. I’m so proud of Cypress Creek Christian Church’s long-held commitment to the larger community, offering our space for events in N.W. Harris County that are consequential and in need of honoring. As followers of a guy who did not own a building and only occasionally visited the Temple in Jerusalem, the church’s relationship with structures has been, at least in my opinion, a source of contention and even some hypocrisy. Like any form of art, a building can be a source of inspiration, while also being a sanctuary of respite. But trillions and trillions of dollars (Bruce’s estimate) have been spent on buildings to honor Jesus, the itinerant teacher. Yet the buildings owned by Cypress Creek Christian Church are used five times more often by the community than the church (another Bruce estimate). It’s as if we are saying that these community buildings also happen to be used by the church. In my opinion, that’s good stewardship. Holy God, we offer our words of gratitude for all the ways you show up. So often, it is through some expression of art, even architecture. But let us remember how you have never been and never will be contained within anything created with human hands. Let us view things, like a building, as only a tool to be used to glorify your grace, generosity, and welcome. Amen. ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
June 16, 2023 This Sunday, we will be talking about perfection. Throughout Christian history (and many other religions), there have been those who have believed that perfection is achievable in one’s lifetime. Of course, how they defined perfection was very different depending on the group suggesting such a thing was possible. Yet I look at some of the humble and selfless saints throughout history and see how they were unafraid of being 100% honest and authentic. They spoke more often about their failures than their successes. These are the people most of us would point to as being near perfect, yet they would have been the quickest to dismiss such a suggestion. In Matthew 5:48, at the end of the first section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Jesus has just given a lengthy and demanding list of how a follower of Jesus is to live, and then he concludes with an expectation of perfection, at least in the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. Yet in the Common English Bible, we find the verse translated as, "Therefore, just as your heavenly Father is complete in showing love to everyone, so also you must be complete." From my perspective, those are two dramatically different interpretations. The Greek word, τέλειοι (teleioi) which we translate as perfect or complete, is a complicated word. Some suggest we are to understand it as the Jewish people would have understood it: to "serve God wholeheartedly…" Perfection is intimidating, even overwhelming. Wholeheartedly, on the other hand, is something I can strive for with a good conscience without feeling like a failure when I have my less-than-perfect days. Grant me, O God, a glimpse of your perfect love, a vision of your unmerited kindness that I will wholeheartedly strive for each hour of each day. Amen. ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
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AuthorRev. Bruce Frogge Archives
May 2024
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