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Wednesday, 25 November 2009

Thanksgiving; What Are We Celebrating?

Last year my friend asked me what I thought about celebrating Thanksgiving (because I tend to not celebrate American holidays). He asked me if Christians can justify celebrating the oppression and killings of the Native Americans and if that is what Thanksgiving is still centered around (that is, the establishing of the U.S.)

We all know how the United States were established. We all know it is false to say that a group of righteous Christians happily sailed victoriously away from England to the U.S., made friends with the natives and prospered while sharing harmonious relationships with the Native Americans. No, we know that the U.S. was largely prosperous due to oppression and injustice (and tobacco I suppose). We know the lessons we learned as children are not wholly true but skewed.

In light of this, I think most people look upon Thanksgiving as a day to focus on various blessings and not as much on the founding of the U.S. It has become a nice day of reflection as opposed to a second Fourth of July. I think the holiday has evolved as the nation has grown older and thus further away from it’s past to a point where we can collectively look back and say “that wasn’t entirely moral.”

Do you celebrate the founding of the U.S., various blessings, or both on Thanksgiving?
What do you think the majority of U.S. citizens use the holiday to celebrate?
Do you think Christians should/can celebrate the way in which the U.S. was established (and continues to grow in power)?

Tuesday, 24 November 2009

The Words of Presidents

“There’s power, wonder-working power, in the goodness and idealism and faith of the American people.”
–Geroge W. Bush, 2003 Senate of the Union Address

President Bush replaces the words “blood of the Lamb” with “goodness and idealism and faith of the American people” in this quote. The original hymn is titled There is Power in the Blood.

“The ideal of America is the hope of all mankind. … That hope still lights our way. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
–George W. Bush, Ellis Island, 2002.

“This country is still the last best hope on earth.”
–Barack Obama, April 9, 2007, The Late Show with David Letterman.

Here we see the last two U.S. presidents replace Jesus with the ideal of America or America itself. The passage referenced by W. is John 1:4-5. Neither of these men communicates Christ being the answer for humanity but rather the United States.

- What is your reaction to these statements?
- Do you agree or disagree with the Presidents?
- What affect do the words of these men have on the Church in America?

Sunday, 22 November 2009

Repeat: Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee

I often think that I'd enjoy doing worship oriented posts on Sunday's. They are easy and Sunday is not usually a busy day for Xanga. It'd be a nice exercise and force me to spend more time focusing on my The God Who Brought Us Out Of Egypt. So, this will be the first installment of this project. I'm recycling this post from Nov 23, 2008. Enjoy!
(I have exchanged sun with son in the first and final verse of this great hymn)
Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, G-d of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the son above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!

All Thy works with joy surround Thee, earth and heaven reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee, center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow, flashing sea,
Singing bird and flowing fountain call us to rejoice in Thee.

Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blessed,
Wellspring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, all who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.

Mortals, join the happy chorus, which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o’er us, brother love binds man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward, victors in the midst of strife,
Joyful music leads us Sonward in the triumph song of life.

Friday, 20 November 2009

Discussing Life and Death

My Friend's Question:
I have always struggled with this: Death. Assuming one were to go to heaven upon their death and in so few words, this is our goal, why aren't more of us happy and ready to die? Life on earth is filled with so much ... not good things, especially compared to how we might imagine heaven, one should be ready to get this life over with as soon as possible. Does that make sense? It seems that there is too much emphasis put on the earthly life by all, "Christians" and non Christians alike. Say you were in a hospital in a life threatening situation, and the doctors managed to save your life, most people would say thank you to them, but really shouldn't we be almost upset that we didn't die? I know there are different views on "plans" such as we're here for how long we're supposed to be and what have you, but I was just wondering about your take on this.

My Response:
You know, I'm a minority in this but I don't see heaven as the goal. I think we are slightly out of focus when we look towards eternal destination as the end goal. Sure, we desire it and look forward to it, but Jesus taught that his kingdom has all ready come (Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:25) and that we should seek that kingdom (Matthew 6:33, Luke 12:31). We ought to be consumed by that kingdom by being one with our Father (John 17) and living in love (Ephesians 5:1-2, 1John 2:10, 4:7-21) by obeying His commands (John 14:15, 21, 15:10, 1John 2:3, 3:24, 5:3).

Paul touched on this in one of his letters (kind of). He wrote: "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me." (Philippians 1:21-26).

So first of all, feel good to struggle with the same things as the Biblical authors. Second of all, the answer is this: You will die. But right now you live, and you live in a broken world that needs the kingdom of heaven. If you are a part of that kingdom, it is better to live and bless the world by uniting it, person by person, with the kingdom so that this world will be brighter, so those people will live in love, and so that the kingdom will be more full when it is all that exists. To simply die for the sake of living in glory would be selfish but to live in a broken world, struggling to be light in darkness, that is love. Dying for others is love, and sometimes that process looks like playing out the rest of our mortal lives.

Jesus' teachings all apply to right now. Jesus wanted us concerned with today (Matthew 6:34) and with the things of this world that are, as you said, "not good" (such as poverty, the lives of our enemies, the widows and orphans, and making peace). We are also to be concerned with the kingdom and eternity of course but we can not lose our focus on today. For sure, life is struggle and heaven is glory but what is glory without struggle and how can we enter the kingdom when we seek our own wants?

There is a song titled Gravity I like by a guy named Shawn McDonald. In it he sings "This place is not my home. It's got nothing for me. It only fills me with emptiness and tears in my eyes." This world hurts me and I long to be in paradise like the thief on the cross beside Jesus but I realize there is work and love to be done here. Even God came down in human form to endure earthly life and death; How can I think I should not do the same? Not out of guilt, but out of a joy to share the kingdom. The struggle is there (for all of us). I think it is good that it is there because it gives reason for hope and to look towards heaven. When we focus on heaven we chase it and we bring it to earth.

What would you say to my friends question?
Thoughts on Tension

I just moved into a new place. Every time I move in to a new building, city, or ministry there is a tension present. I always feel as though I can't properly rest or be fully comfortable because I'm not settled. The movement from one house to another, from one job (or unemployment) to a new job, or from one form of marital status to another is difficult All transition seems to have this tension. Being in between two places makes you feel like a stretch Armstrong doll being or a tug-of-war rope. When I think about my moving around in the last several years and the ministry of Jesus I see a shared tension.

"Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
-Jesus of Nazareth, The Gospel of Matthew

Jesus was on the move. He lived in the tension. Jesus was between his heavenly kingdom and the world. Both were of Him and he was in both. The Church lives in a similar tension as she aims to be the kingdom of heaven on Earth. She is to embody the all ready (in Christ) and not yet (new earth) kingdom.

"This world is only a bridge. Cross over it, but do not build your house on it!"
-On an archway in northern India. "The Secret of the Presence.”
Accredited to Jesus by oral tradition.

“This place is not my home. It has nothing for me.”
-Shawn McDonald, Gravity

As foreigners and aliens (1Peter 1:1, 17, 2:11 Hebrews 11:13) who are in the world but never of it we are to embrace this tension. Like Jesus, his children - his bride - are never at rest in this world because they do not belong to the world but to the kingdom.

“If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”
-Jesus of Nazareth, The Gospel of John

“I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.”
- Jesus of Nazareth, The Gospel of John

“My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
- Jesus of Nazareth, The Gospel of John

They live in their own countries, but only as guests and aliens. They take part in everything as citizens and endure everything as aliens. Every foreign country is their homeland, and every homeland is a foreign country to them.
– Letter to Diognetus in the 2nd century.

So there is this tension. What do we do with it? Better yet, what are we to do in it?

Reveal it. We reveal this tension to the world because this tension also unveils the contrast between the world and the kingdom and those who rule both. In doing this we reveal the true struggle we face as explained by Paul in Ephesians 6:12. By living as kingdom people (following the teachings and example of Jesus Christ) we present the truth of reality to all people and show them the struggle that is present in creation. Not only that but we reveal where the victory of this struggle is found (Jesus and his kingdom).

How have you seen this tension?
How have you embraced this tension?