Just a few thoughts...

Okay, I'm going to make a confession here.  I believe that God still communicates with his people in all sorts of ways.  I personally believe that he speaks to our hearts through the natural world, through other believers, and at times through people who are not Christian.  I also believe that he speaks through visions and dreams.  (If you think I'm out of my mind, you have my blessing to leave now).  This will lead somewhere, I promise.

Over the last 150 years Western Christianity has seemed to reduce what it means to be a Christian to acknowledging a series of beliefs with the brain.  I was like that for a long time.  However, I have come to understand that God is not as nearly interested in what your brain thinks as he is with how your heart beats.  Here's the thing, it is pretty easy to be a Christian if all you have to do is say that you believe that Jesus is God's Son and that he came to earth and died on a cross.  It's pretty easy to be a Christian if you go to church on a fairly regular basis, love those who love you, and recite the Apostle's Creed every so often.  That's all head knowledge.  

However, I was reminded in a dream the other day that that's not what God really wants.  With the end of the semester hitting at the same time as planning for Christmas, I have to admit that I quit spending as much time in the Bible or in prayer.  In fact, my Scripture reading was down to only a couple of verses a day and my prayer life amounted to a couple of sentences before meals and at bedtime.  Truthfully, it was really paying lip service to the Creator of the universe instead of spending quality time with my Father.  The day after Christmas, I was awoken by a dream that I was having.  In the dream, I was teaching Sunday school and the importance of focusing on the means of grace (prayer, Scripture reading, fasting, Holy Communion, etc.).  I had several of these items listed on the white board.  As I was talking, I looked to my left and standing next to me was Jesus.  He held out his arms to me and I was suddenly convicted that what I was teaching in the classroom I was not currently practicing.

I used to feel guilty when I would miss several days in my devotional life.  However, when I woke up from that dream, I didn't feel guilt...I felt sadness.  I felt like I had missed something.  I realized that there was something missing from my life and that something was the relationship that I have with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  I guess the best word for it is emptiness.  

Over the past year and a half I have been chatting with a cousin that I have not seen in about 20 years.  She and I got reconnected on Facebook and have begun to get to know one another again.  Even though I "knew" her before we began to chat, I had no relationship with her.  We are still getting to know each other again and I find that I really like her and hope to see her this coming year.  

I'm afraid the kind of "relationship" that most people have with Jesus Christ is the kind I had with my cousin before I reconnected with her.  They know he's out there, but there is not much else to it.  My prayer for you this coming year is that your relationship with the Holy Father, Holy Son, and Holy Spirit will improve.  I believe that we can never get too close to the Trinity and that the better the relationship we have with God now will continue to form us into the image of Christ for the benefit of others in the Body of Christ.

+May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you.  Amen

"Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man..."

In my Sunday school class, we have been using a study that follows the lectionary.  I have really enjoyed looking at the lessons and reading what the commentators have to say about it.  Last week's lesson was about Mary and this week's lesson is about Joseph.  I have thought a lot about these two individuals the past few Advent seasons.  What were they like?  Did Joseph ever fully understand who Jesus was?  What made these two stand out to God to be chosen as the earthly parents of the savior?  While St. Luke's gospel focuses on Mary, St. Matthew chooses instead to focus on Joseph.  Unfortunately, in Scripture we rarely get the full episode or the feelings and thoughts of the people in the narrative.  However, we are given clues here and there to help us come to grips with these people.  Mary is told that she has found favor with God.  Joseph is reported as being a righteous man.  It's interesting to me that if we follow the thread through Scripture, we find others who are lifted up as an example of finding favor or being righteous.  Noah found favor and was saved, along with his entire family, from the flood.  Abraham's faith was counted to him as righteousness.  God looked at King David's heart and chose him to be the true earthly king of the Israelites.  Esther, Moses, Deborah, and Jacob all caught God's eye.  The first disciples stood out to Jesus for some reason to be called into ministry with him.  St. Paul himself was hand picked by God for important ministry.  What was it about these people that inspired God to bring them into his salvation story?  

As I said before, we don't always get all of the answers to the questions in the Bible.  But let's look at Joseph again.  I love the line that comes after St. Matthew calls him righteous.  Let's look at the paragraph.  "Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way.  When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.  Her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.  But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins'" (Matt 1:18-21).  

I find this passage fascinating.  If we compare Joseph's response to Mary's unplanned pregnancy to the woman caught in Adultery in St. John's gospel, we find something incredible.  The Pharisees brought the woman to Jesus demanding him to tell them what to do with her.  They cited the Law as stating that they were to stone such a woman.  You probably remember how Jesus responded, "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." (See John 8:1-11 for the entire story).  According to the mindset of the "holy" people of the day, at the very least Joseph had a case to humiliate Mary with a public divorce.  I wonder if he could have even pressed for her to be stoned...I really don't know.  But that's not what is said about him.  He chose to quietly leave her so that she wouldn't be publicly disgraced.  Maybe he was going to allow her to marry the other man and save face.  I don't know.  Regardless of what he was thinking, it does look as though he was willing to extend a grace similar to the grace that Jesus himself extends to all people.  Joseph looked a lot like Jesus here.  He took a woman pregnant with a child that was not his as his wife.  He gave the child his name which meant that he adopted him as his own.  He raised that child as his son.  That, to me, speaks volumes about this man.  No wonder Joseph caught God's eye as the earthly father of the savior of the world.  

This week as Advent comes to a close and we begin the feasting of Christmas, let's not forget about Joseph and his righteousness.  Let's remember to meditate on the people God has chosen to use for his good and for his glory.  I personally know several people like that and I hope that someday others will see me like that as well; a signpost pointing to the grace, peace, love, justice, mercy, and righteousness of God the Father, through Jesus Christ his Son and our savior, by the power of his Holy Spirit.  Amen.

God bless+,
Dustin

"This is my body...This is my blood..."

This semester I had the honor of enrolling in a class that I had waited for two years to take.  This class is taught by one of most humble men I have ever had the privilege of knowing and someone who I have enjoyed getting to know while I have been here.  The class focuses on the history of the sacraments of the church and how they have been viewed and are currently viewed by various branches of Christianity.  We researched and presented various ideas and arguments that prominent theologians have made about the various sacraments over the past 2,000 years.  Many times a student was required to present a position that he/she did not agree with personally, but yet still was able to articulate the ideas that formed that particular branch's theology.  I personally found the discussions interesting and my own beliefs began to solidify over the course of the semester.  However, to leave this class with just theories and explanations seemed not to do the class and research justice.

Regardless of whether you believe there are 2 sacraments, 7 sacraments, or more, most Christians agree that Holy Communion and Holy Baptism are at the top.  There is just something different and special about these two.  While the class had some good discussions about baptism, our focus really rested on Holy Communion.  When Jesus said "Take, eat; this is my body" and "Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" he was giving a command that is both powerful and ordinary (Matthew 26:26-27).  When we take of this sacrament we use everyday items and yet there is so much more to it than that.  Throughout the ages the church has tried to explain what happens at Holy Communion, yet I'm not sure it can be explained.  I have learned to let it be what it is and be content with it. While I too have my own opinions on Communion, what it is, and how it should be celebrated, I have learned and have come to appreciate that it really does not matter what I think about it.  It does not matter what any particular denomination teaches or what the official doctrines express.  What I have come to understand the most about it is that it only matters what God says it is.  The entire meaning of a sacrament is that it really is a mystery.  Our feeble human minds do not have the capacity fully to engage what happens when we partake of this sacred rite.

A few weeks ago I asked Dr. O'Malley if it would be possible for us to take Communion together as a class on our last meeting of the semester.  He agreed and organized it for us.  We were blessed to have an Anglican priest and an Anglican monk in the class this semester.  Dr. O'Malley asked them to preside over the table for us.  It was special time of celebration for me as we went through the liturgy and then took the consecrated elements together.  I believe I saw a more complete view of the Kingdom of Heaven that evening.  The priest who presided over the table is from Kenya and he used a newer version of the Communion Liturgy that expresses the truth of the gospel message from a Kenyan point of view.  His assistant is from the United States.  They worked together and served each one of us in the class.  Various denominations came together around the Lord's table and took of his body and blood together.  This was probably the most ecumenical gathering I have ever been a part of in my life.  Each of my brothers and sisters that evening, with their own story and their own calling, mean a lot more to me now than they did at the beginning of the semester.  While I still don't know all of them very well, I feel a bond with them that I had not felt before.

 I suppose if I had to rank this class it would have to be one of the top 5 I have had while in seminary.  To explore the theories and ideas of the sacraments was interesting, but to celebrate one of the holiest institutions of the church with these fellow travelers was beyond description.

"Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord."--James 5:7a

This coming Sunday I was offered a chance to give the sermon at our early service in Nicholasville.  I like to follow the common lectionary as much as possible.  This year the lectionary is heavily based on the twin realities of the season of Advent.  The gist of the sermon is that while Christians can indeed reflect on the first coming of our Lord and Savior two thousand years ago, to stop there is a major problem.  Advent is about more than that.  It is also about the reality of the second coming of Christ and the closing out of the period of history that we currently find ourselves in.  For the past two thousand years we have simply been in the beginning of the in-breaking kingdom.  While that sounds like a long time to our finite minds, the truth of the matter is that in God's mind, it is simply a split second.  We serve a mighty, faithful, patient God and for that I am truly thankful.  

In order to see the difference between us and God, I have been contemplating when Christmas begins and how it should be celebrated.  In reality, Christmas has turned into a culturally specific thing instead of the theological truth that we find in Scripture.  For example, in the earthly kingdom Christmas starts on the day after Thanksgiving and quickly sprints up to Christmas Day.  It is a time of hurriedly preparing Christmas parties and feasts, buying other folks things they really don’t need or want, and about going out and seeing who has the prettiest Christmas lights in town.  It is about kids worried that they were not good enough for Santa’s visit this year and about adults worried that those credit card bills will begin to pour in before the next pay check.  It is about silver bells ringing, children singing and sleigh rides jingling.  It’s about a reindeer with a red nose, a snowman with frosty toes, and a Grinch who stole.  It is a month long season of revelry, excitement, headaches, and running out of time to do nothing.  We hear of the "must have" toy of the season and parents who pay way too much for a piece of plastic made in China that is not on store shelves now but will be made in excess come January.  We are focused on the end of the year and we reflect on the fact that another year is almost over and hope the next one will be even better.  We like to think of the local food pantry, toys for tots, and the Salvation Army as good places to give during this season because we are feeling extra generous right now.

But I'm afraid that with this kind of cultural thinking, we have missed what it means to be Kingdom people.  The church calendar that follows Tradition and Scripture says "Wait just a minute.  Don't rush ahead too quickly."  We need to stop and catch our breath.  It tells us that before we can celebrate Christmas, we must first endure the season of Advent.  And yes, I do mean endure.  According to the Tradition of the church, Advent is much more like Lent and much less like Christmas.  It is a time of fasting, not feasting.  It is a time of anticipation, waiting, crying out to God and saying "Come quickly, Lord Jesus."  In reality, Advent comes at the beginning of the calendar, not at the end.  It is about recognizing that we have not helped those in need the other eleven months of the year and that we need to do better about helping them over the next eleven.  It is about knowing that the food pantry needs items every month to feed the hungry, the clothing closet needs help to clothe the naked all year long, and the sick need someone every day, not just a few weeks in December.  Advent should be a time of more reflection and less activity while at the same time it should be a reminder that we need to look ahead with expectation and anticipation as we reach out to a world that has not yet received Christ.  It should be a time of giving of ourselves instead of simply giving out of our bank accounts.  It is about hearing the words of John the baptizer as he cries out "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."  

You see, we will have plenty of time later in the year to celebrate Christmas and the nativity of our Lord.  Let's not move too quickly to that place without first enduring Advent.  In the church calendar these words certainly ring out, "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven..."  Christmas and Epiphany are coming, but not yet.  It is not time.  I pray that you will remember that over the next couple of weeks as we continue during this season of Advent and that you will not move too quickly ahead.  Be patient.  Be watchful.  Be prepared.  Be expectant.  "The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.  You also must be patient.  Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near."--James 5:7b-8  Until next time...

+ May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you--Amen+

God bless+,
Dustin