Now in "Hopeful Imagination" Walter Brueggemann links the poetry of 2 Isaiah and that of Jesus.
Jesus' way of teaching through parables was such a pastoral act of prophetic imagination in which he invited his community of listeners out beyond the visible realities of Roman law and the ways in which Jewish law had grown restrictive in his time. Like 2 Isaiah Jesus does this precisely out of the tradition itself... (The parables) are specific, but they are open-ended... The stories intend to characterize an alternative society which he calls the "kingdom of God," but the stories do not offer blueprints, budgets, or programs. They only tease the listeners to begin to turn loose of the givens of the day and to live toward a new social possibility... Jesus invites his listeners to a homecoming,for he insists that this kingdom is in fact one's true home. Every other place no matter where, is a place of exile and alienation.
So is this vision or this community or this kingdom always just beyond us? Is it meant to keep pulling us from the places in which we find contentment and comfort into a greater vision of comfort in which we will find life that will always - without a doubt - surpass the life we presently live? In some ways I want to say "Yes." And yet, that can sound a bit hopeless. Can we not be there...yet? Well, yes...and no. Yes there will be comfort and new life and the forces and powers of oppression will not have the last word....but there is always that "meantime." It is like the green seasons of the church year. There are no festivals, as such, and yet it is the time when we move along and keep to the story and are forever telling the parables and other stories that point us beyond where we are even if it is a place we would like to reside forever. Truth is, our sight is limited and we need to change lenses now and again in order to more clearly see what God promises to us in each and every age. Yes, we are always welcome home and yet home has many faces to it as we expand our understanding of community and neighbor and resurrection.
Connection: Brueggemann notes that every other place outside of this promise of home is a place we know. It is that place and time of "restless hearts" and "social unrest." We would do well to be in touch with those times in our lives and to speak of them to others. For in the midst of others, we may begin to find rest and see new ways to peace.
Again and again, O God, you do not let us stay in the places of our liking for it is so easy for us to never see the worth of any other place. We give you thanks for setting our eyes on the domain of your love and peace that is not yet in place but always awaiting our arrival. Amen.
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
29 December 2005
We continue with poetry and imagination in "Hopeful Imagination."
The poetry does not describe what is happening. Rather it evokes images and invites perceptions in Israel that were not available apart from the poetry. The poetry is not aimed first of all at external conduct, as though the poet expected people immediately to start packing for travel. Rather, the poetry cuts underneath behavior to begin to transform the self-image, communal image, and image of historical possibility. The rhetoric works to deabsolutize imperial modes of reality... The outcome of such poetry is hope. It is hope which makes community possible on the way out of the empire.
The poet from 2nd Isaiah through to poets today are quite like gardeners. They plant, they tend to the soil, they talk to the plants that cannot be seen, they add compost and mulch...they do whatever is necessary to provide a place for the future to blossom. This is so important when the present is oppressive and/or the people cannot see beyond the predicament in which they live. Hope is such a powerful force in life. Hope that comes from visions of what is not yet a reality can help us to make our way through the mire in which we may find ourselves. Hope can ease our anxiety and help us to begin imagining something more to life. Maybe that is why the prophet offers to the people those wonderful words: Comfort, Comfort, ye my people!
Connection: Do you have people in your life that serve as the poet for you when you are stuck? I could be that you do...but you have just not considered them as such. They may simply be friends, co-workers, neighbors...who knows! Listen.
You bring into our lives, O God, this comfort that penetrates the turmoil of the day to touch us and assure us of the life you still have in store for us. When we are anxious, help us to breath and wait and begin to listen to your word of hope that plays all around us. Amen.
The poetry does not describe what is happening. Rather it evokes images and invites perceptions in Israel that were not available apart from the poetry. The poetry is not aimed first of all at external conduct, as though the poet expected people immediately to start packing for travel. Rather, the poetry cuts underneath behavior to begin to transform the self-image, communal image, and image of historical possibility. The rhetoric works to deabsolutize imperial modes of reality... The outcome of such poetry is hope. It is hope which makes community possible on the way out of the empire.
The poet from 2nd Isaiah through to poets today are quite like gardeners. They plant, they tend to the soil, they talk to the plants that cannot be seen, they add compost and mulch...they do whatever is necessary to provide a place for the future to blossom. This is so important when the present is oppressive and/or the people cannot see beyond the predicament in which they live. Hope is such a powerful force in life. Hope that comes from visions of what is not yet a reality can help us to make our way through the mire in which we may find ourselves. Hope can ease our anxiety and help us to begin imagining something more to life. Maybe that is why the prophet offers to the people those wonderful words: Comfort, Comfort, ye my people!
Connection: Do you have people in your life that serve as the poet for you when you are stuck? I could be that you do...but you have just not considered them as such. They may simply be friends, co-workers, neighbors...who knows! Listen.
You bring into our lives, O God, this comfort that penetrates the turmoil of the day to touch us and assure us of the life you still have in store for us. When we are anxious, help us to breath and wait and begin to listen to your word of hope that plays all around us. Amen.
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
28 December 2005
The poetic imagination of 2nd Isaiah is again before us with insights from Walter Brueggemann.
The poetry (of 2nd Isaiah) is not derived from external historical experience... Poetry here is not simply code language for political events. Rather, the poet appeals to the old memories and affirmations in an astonishing way to jar the perceptual field of Israel and to cause a wholly new discernment of reality. The poetry opens with a heavenly scenario in which the voices of members of the divine council fashion a new proclamation (40:1-8). This is immediately followed by a rhetorical act of enthronement (40:9) in which Yahweh, who had seemed weak, is now placed triumphantly at the head of a grand procession (40:10-11).
In some ways, it is like saying "This is the God we were told about...the God who is just as the poet announces." The poet is already making manifest what is not visible. It is like calling forth words like "all (men) are created equal..." and then, pressing forward as though that is what will indeed be the case among us. We pull it from words and images we know and yet the experience of those words has been lost or forgotten or overturned. Therefore, the words and images must be announced again as though it is a reality about to break in and a reality that cannot be stopped by any power. There is that imagination that does not let the world go on as it is. This is the kind of imagination we are missing within our own nation. We are afraid to imagine what we could be. Instead we settle for the easy road of empire building. This is a road that takes no imagination. It simply demands adherence to the ways of the biggest in the neighborhood. These have always been roads to destruction and ruin. Why can we not follow the ways of peace....is it too frightening...or are we simply ready to settle for immediate images and pictures that the poetry of a new world?
Connection: Even within our families and communities, we can benefit from stepping out beyond the rhetoric of what is and what we think we can handle. Living organisms, like groups of people, need something of substance to help us grow beyond ourselves.
Just as the prophet Isaiah announced the coming of the Lord to an oppressed people, O God, so do we need to hear how you will come to encourage us and lead us along pathways we have yet to walk...but we can be so slow to move and so unsure of the way ahead. Take us by the hand, O God, and deliver us. Amen.
The poetry (of 2nd Isaiah) is not derived from external historical experience... Poetry here is not simply code language for political events. Rather, the poet appeals to the old memories and affirmations in an astonishing way to jar the perceptual field of Israel and to cause a wholly new discernment of reality. The poetry opens with a heavenly scenario in which the voices of members of the divine council fashion a new proclamation (40:1-8). This is immediately followed by a rhetorical act of enthronement (40:9) in which Yahweh, who had seemed weak, is now placed triumphantly at the head of a grand procession (40:10-11).
In some ways, it is like saying "This is the God we were told about...the God who is just as the poet announces." The poet is already making manifest what is not visible. It is like calling forth words like "all (men) are created equal..." and then, pressing forward as though that is what will indeed be the case among us. We pull it from words and images we know and yet the experience of those words has been lost or forgotten or overturned. Therefore, the words and images must be announced again as though it is a reality about to break in and a reality that cannot be stopped by any power. There is that imagination that does not let the world go on as it is. This is the kind of imagination we are missing within our own nation. We are afraid to imagine what we could be. Instead we settle for the easy road of empire building. This is a road that takes no imagination. It simply demands adherence to the ways of the biggest in the neighborhood. These have always been roads to destruction and ruin. Why can we not follow the ways of peace....is it too frightening...or are we simply ready to settle for immediate images and pictures that the poetry of a new world?
Connection: Even within our families and communities, we can benefit from stepping out beyond the rhetoric of what is and what we think we can handle. Living organisms, like groups of people, need something of substance to help us grow beyond ourselves.
Just as the prophet Isaiah announced the coming of the Lord to an oppressed people, O God, so do we need to hear how you will come to encourage us and lead us along pathways we have yet to walk...but we can be so slow to move and so unsure of the way ahead. Take us by the hand, O God, and deliver us. Amen.
27 December 2005
Walter Brueggemann continues writing about imagination toward what will be in "Hopeful Imagination."
The practice of such poetic imagination is the most subversive redemptive act that a leader of a faith community can undertake in the midst of exiles. This work of poetic alternative in the long run is more crucial than one-to-one pastoral care or the careful implementation of institutional goals. That is because the work of poetic imagination holds the potential of unleashing a community of power and action that finally will not be contained by any imperial restrictions and definitions of reality.
I have a large piece of artwork in our living room on which I have written a number of quotes from a variety of people. It just so happens that when I stepped back from the piece years ago, I realized that all of the quotes dealt with hope. As I read this comment by Brueggemann, I thought that part of it would fit well on that piece of "hopeful" art. In some ways, I think it would be grand if within the one-to-one pastoral care or in the implementation of institutional goals there was always the presence of this kind of poetic imagination. For people in crisis, there can be nothing better than the ability to envision something beyond what it causing the tumble into crisis. This means that people must begin to re-define what is possible and attempt to see things as they cannot see them within the condition they now find themselves. There are so many ways that we are ruled by and run by "imperial restrictions and definitions of reality" that we do not let ourselves open our eyes to focus on that which is not a part of the world we have been handed or the world in which we have been nurtured to see. As is so often the case, I think some people have the gift of poetic imagination but most of all, I think that many people need this imagination to be created through the voice of a community - with a little help from my friends...and enemies.
Connection: If you have a tough time seeing beyond your world in which you are walking everyday, try to find others whose view is outside your daily patterns of life. There may be some conflict and there may also be some wonderful discovery.
Too often, O God, it takes more courage that we have to step into the images of life that are often spun from the pen and mouths of poets. But we trust that you give us that courage as you bring within our lives the people who help us to see new places to walk with you. Praise and thanks to your, O God. Amen.
The practice of such poetic imagination is the most subversive redemptive act that a leader of a faith community can undertake in the midst of exiles. This work of poetic alternative in the long run is more crucial than one-to-one pastoral care or the careful implementation of institutional goals. That is because the work of poetic imagination holds the potential of unleashing a community of power and action that finally will not be contained by any imperial restrictions and definitions of reality.
I have a large piece of artwork in our living room on which I have written a number of quotes from a variety of people. It just so happens that when I stepped back from the piece years ago, I realized that all of the quotes dealt with hope. As I read this comment by Brueggemann, I thought that part of it would fit well on that piece of "hopeful" art. In some ways, I think it would be grand if within the one-to-one pastoral care or in the implementation of institutional goals there was always the presence of this kind of poetic imagination. For people in crisis, there can be nothing better than the ability to envision something beyond what it causing the tumble into crisis. This means that people must begin to re-define what is possible and attempt to see things as they cannot see them within the condition they now find themselves. There are so many ways that we are ruled by and run by "imperial restrictions and definitions of reality" that we do not let ourselves open our eyes to focus on that which is not a part of the world we have been handed or the world in which we have been nurtured to see. As is so often the case, I think some people have the gift of poetic imagination but most of all, I think that many people need this imagination to be created through the voice of a community - with a little help from my friends...and enemies.
Connection: If you have a tough time seeing beyond your world in which you are walking everyday, try to find others whose view is outside your daily patterns of life. There may be some conflict and there may also be some wonderful discovery.
Too often, O God, it takes more courage that we have to step into the images of life that are often spun from the pen and mouths of poets. But we trust that you give us that courage as you bring within our lives the people who help us to see new places to walk with you. Praise and thanks to your, O God. Amen.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
23 December 2005
Another adventure in 2nd Isaiah with Walter Brueggemann in "Hopeful Imagination."
It was the peculiar vocation of 2 Isaiah to construct poetic scenarios of alternative reality outside the prosaic control of the empire. These fresh alternatives liberated Jewish exiles to think differently, act differently, speak differently, and sing differently. In the end Babylonian definitions of reality lost their absoluteness and their authority because this poetry served to subvert the absoluteness.
I read this piece again after I watched a brief segment on the national news about churches that are encouraging their people not to come to worship on Christmas Day. The focus was specifically on the "mega-churches." People could pick up videos or come to one of the shows (sorry) times of worship before Christmas so that they could stay at home with family. You remember, Christmas is all about family...no wait. That's not true. That's a part of the schmaltze that is too often cast as Christmas. Worship is at the center of the incarnation of our God - the nativity of our Lord. Worship is not a "family event," it is a community event. It is a counter-cultural event that is at the very heart of shaping the everyday lives of a counter-cultural people! It appears that - like business everywhere else in our consumer culture - numbers make up the bottom line. So, if it appears as though there may not be many folk taking the time to come to worship this Sunday (it happens to be Christmas Day) then let's cancel it. Let me get this right. If I (or let's say we as in family) have other things to do...that we think are family important...then, any Sunday...hell, every Sunday, is an opportunity to be with family. Isn't that what God would want - me and the family home making sure we are comfortable and having a special time with ourselves?!? The answer: No. Sunday we gather together with strangers, enemies, friends, neighbors, the good, the bad, and the ugly...and we praise our God...from whom all blessings flow. We have to sing differently than the culture even if the culture has come and bought up the soul of some of the places called "church" and turned them into feel-good places of individual piety. It is hard enough to build a community of love and mercy and kindness with a small bunch of people let alone have to deal with "church" being driven by the culture of numbers and money and empire...again.
Connection: Come and worship,come and worship, Worship Christ, the the new born king...this Sunday, December 25, 2005.
Now that you have called us to be set apart from the world, O God, give us the courage to live as though we have a different view of how we live and what bring life to the world in which we live as your saints. Amen.
It was the peculiar vocation of 2 Isaiah to construct poetic scenarios of alternative reality outside the prosaic control of the empire. These fresh alternatives liberated Jewish exiles to think differently, act differently, speak differently, and sing differently. In the end Babylonian definitions of reality lost their absoluteness and their authority because this poetry served to subvert the absoluteness.
I read this piece again after I watched a brief segment on the national news about churches that are encouraging their people not to come to worship on Christmas Day. The focus was specifically on the "mega-churches." People could pick up videos or come to one of the shows (sorry) times of worship before Christmas so that they could stay at home with family. You remember, Christmas is all about family...no wait. That's not true. That's a part of the schmaltze that is too often cast as Christmas. Worship is at the center of the incarnation of our God - the nativity of our Lord. Worship is not a "family event," it is a community event. It is a counter-cultural event that is at the very heart of shaping the everyday lives of a counter-cultural people! It appears that - like business everywhere else in our consumer culture - numbers make up the bottom line. So, if it appears as though there may not be many folk taking the time to come to worship this Sunday (it happens to be Christmas Day) then let's cancel it. Let me get this right. If I (or let's say we as in family) have other things to do...that we think are family important...then, any Sunday...hell, every Sunday, is an opportunity to be with family. Isn't that what God would want - me and the family home making sure we are comfortable and having a special time with ourselves?!? The answer: No. Sunday we gather together with strangers, enemies, friends, neighbors, the good, the bad, and the ugly...and we praise our God...from whom all blessings flow. We have to sing differently than the culture even if the culture has come and bought up the soul of some of the places called "church" and turned them into feel-good places of individual piety. It is hard enough to build a community of love and mercy and kindness with a small bunch of people let alone have to deal with "church" being driven by the culture of numbers and money and empire...again.
Connection: Come and worship,come and worship, Worship Christ, the the new born king...this Sunday, December 25, 2005.
Now that you have called us to be set apart from the world, O God, give us the courage to live as though we have a different view of how we live and what bring life to the world in which we live as your saints. Amen.
22 December 2005
More on being exiles from "Hopeful Imagination" by Walter Brueggeman.
The exiles were securely and perhaps despondently exiles. They could not imagine any other status. They accepted Babylonian definitions of reality, not because they were convinced, but because no alternatives were available... The exiled community was in despair because it accepted Babylonian definitions of reality and did not know any others were available. That is, they were hopeless. They did not believe Yahweh could counter Babylon.
Hopeless is not a good place to be. A person can be in a situation that appears to be hopeless, and indeed it is...and yet still not be hopeless. When we are faced with a living situation that is run by powers greater than us, it can become quite overwhelming. Rather than have a sense of worth and substance it is so easy to let the powers around us define us. When that is the case, if we do not follow the rule of the day or the patterns of the day, then we can be judge (by others and ourselves) as worthless and insignificant. What the prophet brings to the people of God who are in Babylon is a word that seems to have no visible reality. It is as Brueggemann has said, a poetic imagination that carries good news without having to be stamped with the approval of the reigning powers. This word is the beginning of the creation of an alternative reality. It is not merely imaginary. It begins with our imagination but it moves into concrete living that is not in step with what has appeared to be the power that dictates how life is to be lived. Alternative visions make for alternative communities with alternative values and practices and life patterns. It is not the goal of such a community of imagination to conquer the world. Rather this kind of imagination that counts on our God to rule among us begins to bring worth to all who come within its reach and hear its word...even the whole creation.
Connection: Do not be afraid of the sounds of a new world. Instead, listen for what it is saying about how God's gracious action will lift up the lowly and bring to the world the healing of all things. This may sound strange but it is never too strange to enter.
Come, O God, and lift us up so that our imaginations may be stirred up by your living presence among us. Amen.
The exiles were securely and perhaps despondently exiles. They could not imagine any other status. They accepted Babylonian definitions of reality, not because they were convinced, but because no alternatives were available... The exiled community was in despair because it accepted Babylonian definitions of reality and did not know any others were available. That is, they were hopeless. They did not believe Yahweh could counter Babylon.
Hopeless is not a good place to be. A person can be in a situation that appears to be hopeless, and indeed it is...and yet still not be hopeless. When we are faced with a living situation that is run by powers greater than us, it can become quite overwhelming. Rather than have a sense of worth and substance it is so easy to let the powers around us define us. When that is the case, if we do not follow the rule of the day or the patterns of the day, then we can be judge (by others and ourselves) as worthless and insignificant. What the prophet brings to the people of God who are in Babylon is a word that seems to have no visible reality. It is as Brueggemann has said, a poetic imagination that carries good news without having to be stamped with the approval of the reigning powers. This word is the beginning of the creation of an alternative reality. It is not merely imaginary. It begins with our imagination but it moves into concrete living that is not in step with what has appeared to be the power that dictates how life is to be lived. Alternative visions make for alternative communities with alternative values and practices and life patterns. It is not the goal of such a community of imagination to conquer the world. Rather this kind of imagination that counts on our God to rule among us begins to bring worth to all who come within its reach and hear its word...even the whole creation.
Connection: Do not be afraid of the sounds of a new world. Instead, listen for what it is saying about how God's gracious action will lift up the lowly and bring to the world the healing of all things. This may sound strange but it is never too strange to enter.
Come, O God, and lift us up so that our imaginations may be stirred up by your living presence among us. Amen.
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
21 December 2005
Walter Brueggemann continues to discuss the poetry of 2nd Isaiah as he looks at exile and homecoming in "Hopeful Imagination."
(The poetry), as such, is not explained either by theological conviction or by political analysis, but by an inventive, creative act of poetry that means to speak this community out beyond present circumstance by the force of the poetic word, which is offered as the fresh decree of God's own mouth (46:11; 55:10-11). I am assuming that the power of language to shape reality and not just describe reality is true for us as well as for this poet. The poet does not only describe a new social reality but wills it. The very art of poetic speech establishes new reality. Public speech, the articulation of alternative scenarios of reality, is one of the key acts of ministry among exiles.
Wow. These words of the prophet and words of prophetic poets in every age can have that power "to speak this community out beyond present circumstance by the force of the poetic word." This is so vital for the community of faith to remember. It is also critical for the community of faith to return to the words of poets whenever we are in places of exile and need to return to home to a ground on which we will find new life and meaning to the work and life and play of this day. When the poet "wills" a new social reality, it is placed before us as a possibility. It may not be present in full form, but it is present in word. When it is present in word, it is present with a power that can see itself through defeat and exile and loss...because the word keeps painting that reality that is yet to be among us. Therefore, we can act now as though this new social reality is present. There may be reactions from others when we live in this new reality...people may not honor the truth and power of this new reality...but it is there for us to enter...and once it has been announced, there is no shutting it down.
Connection: We are invited to always begin the day by returning to this word of promise for new life. It may be easy to return to this word to hear it...but we are also invited to trust it as though it is the eternal truth. From there, the day can start from a whole new point of view.
By your Word, O God, you bring new seasons of life to us when we are facing times of utter brokenness. By your Word, you lift up our heads so that we are able to see what we so often forget is within the realm of this day. Abide with us, O God, and be our Word of life. Amen.
(The poetry), as such, is not explained either by theological conviction or by political analysis, but by an inventive, creative act of poetry that means to speak this community out beyond present circumstance by the force of the poetic word, which is offered as the fresh decree of God's own mouth (46:11; 55:10-11). I am assuming that the power of language to shape reality and not just describe reality is true for us as well as for this poet. The poet does not only describe a new social reality but wills it. The very art of poetic speech establishes new reality. Public speech, the articulation of alternative scenarios of reality, is one of the key acts of ministry among exiles.
Wow. These words of the prophet and words of prophetic poets in every age can have that power "to speak this community out beyond present circumstance by the force of the poetic word." This is so vital for the community of faith to remember. It is also critical for the community of faith to return to the words of poets whenever we are in places of exile and need to return to home to a ground on which we will find new life and meaning to the work and life and play of this day. When the poet "wills" a new social reality, it is placed before us as a possibility. It may not be present in full form, but it is present in word. When it is present in word, it is present with a power that can see itself through defeat and exile and loss...because the word keeps painting that reality that is yet to be among us. Therefore, we can act now as though this new social reality is present. There may be reactions from others when we live in this new reality...people may not honor the truth and power of this new reality...but it is there for us to enter...and once it has been announced, there is no shutting it down.
Connection: We are invited to always begin the day by returning to this word of promise for new life. It may be easy to return to this word to hear it...but we are also invited to trust it as though it is the eternal truth. From there, the day can start from a whole new point of view.
By your Word, O God, you bring new seasons of life to us when we are facing times of utter brokenness. By your Word, you lift up our heads so that we are able to see what we so often forget is within the realm of this day. Abide with us, O God, and be our Word of life. Amen.
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
20 December 2005
Today we will blend Walter Brueggemann's metaphors of "exile" and "homecoming."
The use of these two metaphors, exile and homecoming, is an act of remarkable evangelical imagination. The homecoming metaphor makes sense only where the metaphor of exile has been accepted as true. Second Isaiah's poetry of homecoming id precisely imaginative poetry which liberates. It is not based in political analysis, though the poet obviously knew what was going on in his world. It is an imaginative act of speech that intends to evoke reality and lead this community out beyond their present situation. The poetry is grounded in a theological conviction of God's sovereignty (40:9-11; 52:7). It is also informed by political analysis (45:1-6).
So the poet sees the world through at least two lenses - theological and political. There would be, I would think, a bit of flexibility to say what needed to be said to bring attention to both the day at hand and the possibility of what was not yet the case. I find this description of the poet to be quite like that of the song writer. Both are poets and both keep their eyes and ears fixed on what is and what is not yet. In that way, songs and poems can serve to lift up the audience to see and hear what is so regular in a very new way. Painting possibilities within a situation that is limited and confined is the beginning of liberation...for the heart begins to live in what is not and therefore, what is - oppression, exile, discrimination - slowly loses its power to control life. The "imaginative act of speech" that was the voice of Isaiah is a voice that is not only heard in the day in which it is spoken. It carries a vision that can and will serve to awaken those who live in exile in any place and time.
Connection: Before the season of Advent is gone, listen to some of the hymns of this season. They carry a note of resistance and also a call to new vision. We can all use a bit of that tune.
Stir up our hearts, O God, so that we will be able to hear your voice calling us to come and share in your life no matter what may be the shape of the life we now hold. Grant us courage and grant us wisdom to be lifted up to view your gracious Reign. Amen.
The use of these two metaphors, exile and homecoming, is an act of remarkable evangelical imagination. The homecoming metaphor makes sense only where the metaphor of exile has been accepted as true. Second Isaiah's poetry of homecoming id precisely imaginative poetry which liberates. It is not based in political analysis, though the poet obviously knew what was going on in his world. It is an imaginative act of speech that intends to evoke reality and lead this community out beyond their present situation. The poetry is grounded in a theological conviction of God's sovereignty (40:9-11; 52:7). It is also informed by political analysis (45:1-6).
So the poet sees the world through at least two lenses - theological and political. There would be, I would think, a bit of flexibility to say what needed to be said to bring attention to both the day at hand and the possibility of what was not yet the case. I find this description of the poet to be quite like that of the song writer. Both are poets and both keep their eyes and ears fixed on what is and what is not yet. In that way, songs and poems can serve to lift up the audience to see and hear what is so regular in a very new way. Painting possibilities within a situation that is limited and confined is the beginning of liberation...for the heart begins to live in what is not and therefore, what is - oppression, exile, discrimination - slowly loses its power to control life. The "imaginative act of speech" that was the voice of Isaiah is a voice that is not only heard in the day in which it is spoken. It carries a vision that can and will serve to awaken those who live in exile in any place and time.
Connection: Before the season of Advent is gone, listen to some of the hymns of this season. They carry a note of resistance and also a call to new vision. We can all use a bit of that tune.
Stir up our hearts, O God, so that we will be able to hear your voice calling us to come and share in your life no matter what may be the shape of the life we now hold. Grant us courage and grant us wisdom to be lifted up to view your gracious Reign. Amen.
Monday, December 19, 2005
19 December 2005
This week we continue with work on second Isaiah by Walter Brueggemann in "Hopeful Imagination."
After writing about being in "exile" Brueggemann turns to a second theme - "homecoming."
Thus Isaiah 40:1-11 envisions a great procession led by Yahweh as exiled Jews come home. Yahweh will gather into the land of Zion all those who had been scattered in exile. The watchmen on the walls of desolate Jerusalem watch with eager longing for some news of a fresh possibility. When they receive word of Yahweh's triumphant return from exile, they rejoice. As a result, the fallen city will be rebuilt. There will be a rebuilding and a gathering . Judah has been hopeless but now will be safely at home. It is for this reason that new songs of joy, celebration, and buoyancy can now be sung.
The mention of a "new possibility" is powerful. Too often, when life is just going along as it is going...when life is a rut in which we have simply learned to live because we have been able to see no other option, a new possibility is the beginning of a new life. Even though the possibility is not realized yet, just the fact that it has come to mind and is now a part of how we look at what is to come in our lives, produces hope and energy for living. Some of these beautiful texts in Isaiah are still able to stir up in our hearts, a sense of new life. That image of homecoming is also an image of liberation and freedom. Those are quite basic needs that are able to kindle a flame of hopefulness in those who have not been able to see beyond the patterns of life already known.
Connection: New possibilities do not need to be grand in order to bring hope and renewed interest in the life we are handed. I would think that homecoming is important for people in exile in so many ways. At the same time, we often don't know that we are exiled at all. Maybe it would be good to think a bit about what home means for each of us.
Lord of Liberation, because you are with us always, we know that you long for us to be free from the oppression of life that attempts to steal away our hearts. When we are far from you, we long to be brought home and once again welcome into your promised life. O Lord, be our liberator. Amen.
After writing about being in "exile" Brueggemann turns to a second theme - "homecoming."
Thus Isaiah 40:1-11 envisions a great procession led by Yahweh as exiled Jews come home. Yahweh will gather into the land of Zion all those who had been scattered in exile. The watchmen on the walls of desolate Jerusalem watch with eager longing for some news of a fresh possibility. When they receive word of Yahweh's triumphant return from exile, they rejoice. As a result, the fallen city will be rebuilt. There will be a rebuilding and a gathering . Judah has been hopeless but now will be safely at home. It is for this reason that new songs of joy, celebration, and buoyancy can now be sung.
The mention of a "new possibility" is powerful. Too often, when life is just going along as it is going...when life is a rut in which we have simply learned to live because we have been able to see no other option, a new possibility is the beginning of a new life. Even though the possibility is not realized yet, just the fact that it has come to mind and is now a part of how we look at what is to come in our lives, produces hope and energy for living. Some of these beautiful texts in Isaiah are still able to stir up in our hearts, a sense of new life. That image of homecoming is also an image of liberation and freedom. Those are quite basic needs that are able to kindle a flame of hopefulness in those who have not been able to see beyond the patterns of life already known.
Connection: New possibilities do not need to be grand in order to bring hope and renewed interest in the life we are handed. I would think that homecoming is important for people in exile in so many ways. At the same time, we often don't know that we are exiled at all. Maybe it would be good to think a bit about what home means for each of us.
Lord of Liberation, because you are with us always, we know that you long for us to be free from the oppression of life that attempts to steal away our hearts. When we are far from you, we long to be brought home and once again welcome into your promised life. O Lord, be our liberator. Amen.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
16 December 2005
Walter Brueggemann continues to use the metaphor of "exile" in regard to how the church needs to look at itself in his book "Hopeful Imagination."
If the church is in fact in exile...then to try to do ministry as if we are practicing imperial religion robs us of energy. ...honestly facing exile as our real situation generates energy for imaginative and faithful living. Exile in the ancient world or in our own situation is not an obvious, flat, social fact. It is a decision one must make. It is a very specific, self-conscious reading of social reality. There must have been many Jews in Babylon in the sixth century who settled in, made it home, assimilated, and did not perceive themselves as exiles. Such an accommodation is a possible stance for faith, in ancient Babylon or in contemporary America. I should only say that such a pragmatic decision against exile excludes one from the imagination field of this literature of exile. "Exile" is not simply a geographical face, but also a theological decision.
The voice from exile - the one that understands it is in exile - is not a loud voice. It doesn't get much play over the radio and television airways. But for those who can see and have experienced the events of exile, this is a voice that forms a foundation of hope that places a check on all things presently taking shape around us. Brueggemann writes of the imperial religion that can rob us of our energy. Of course it does...it is so contrary to the way of the shalom of our God that as we try to be a part of it, we become the agents of its discontent and superficial goals. Remember that the voice in the wilderness that brings good news of homecoming is speaking to a people who are at ease in the middle of the empires in which we live. When we are content with the structures of power around us and when we begin to define ourselves according to those structures, they become the places in which we pitch our tent...and yet, they are not home. Home is a promise. Home is where we are safe to imagine something beyond what is presently available to us. Home is a vision and we make a decision to be at home no matter where we might be - even if our actions and our life are contrary to the culture and people around us.
Connection: Many times within this day we will make decisions about who we are and those decisions will shape how we interact with the people around us. I would suggest that we prayerfully consider whose we are and how that will immediately put us at odd with so much of the culture around us. Look for signs of being in "exile."
Lord of All That Is, heal us and save us. Take us by the hand and lead us beyond where we are so that we can see more clearly the way your gift of life is so different from the life the world attempts to hand us. In the meantime, open our hearts to your Word of promise and hopefulness. Amen.
If the church is in fact in exile...then to try to do ministry as if we are practicing imperial religion robs us of energy. ...honestly facing exile as our real situation generates energy for imaginative and faithful living. Exile in the ancient world or in our own situation is not an obvious, flat, social fact. It is a decision one must make. It is a very specific, self-conscious reading of social reality. There must have been many Jews in Babylon in the sixth century who settled in, made it home, assimilated, and did not perceive themselves as exiles. Such an accommodation is a possible stance for faith, in ancient Babylon or in contemporary America. I should only say that such a pragmatic decision against exile excludes one from the imagination field of this literature of exile. "Exile" is not simply a geographical face, but also a theological decision.
The voice from exile - the one that understands it is in exile - is not a loud voice. It doesn't get much play over the radio and television airways. But for those who can see and have experienced the events of exile, this is a voice that forms a foundation of hope that places a check on all things presently taking shape around us. Brueggemann writes of the imperial religion that can rob us of our energy. Of course it does...it is so contrary to the way of the shalom of our God that as we try to be a part of it, we become the agents of its discontent and superficial goals. Remember that the voice in the wilderness that brings good news of homecoming is speaking to a people who are at ease in the middle of the empires in which we live. When we are content with the structures of power around us and when we begin to define ourselves according to those structures, they become the places in which we pitch our tent...and yet, they are not home. Home is a promise. Home is where we are safe to imagine something beyond what is presently available to us. Home is a vision and we make a decision to be at home no matter where we might be - even if our actions and our life are contrary to the culture and people around us.
Connection: Many times within this day we will make decisions about who we are and those decisions will shape how we interact with the people around us. I would suggest that we prayerfully consider whose we are and how that will immediately put us at odd with so much of the culture around us. Look for signs of being in "exile."
Lord of All That Is, heal us and save us. Take us by the hand and lead us beyond where we are so that we can see more clearly the way your gift of life is so different from the life the world attempts to hand us. In the meantime, open our hearts to your Word of promise and hopefulness. Amen.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
15 December 2005
We continue to look at being in "exile" through the eyes of Walter Brueggemann.
The metaphor of exile may be useful to American Christians as a way of understanding the social context of the church in American culture. The exile of the contemporary American church is that we are bombarded by definitions of reality that are fundamentally alien to the gospel, definitions of reality that come from the military-industrial-scientific empire, which may be characterized as "consumer capitalism." In a variety of ways the voice of this empire wants to reshape our values, fears, and dreams in ways that are fundamentally opposed to the voice of the gospel.
When the "word" of the culture is so powerful and so pervasive, how do we keep the Word of God alive among us? This year there are so many people arguing about the language of Christmas as though we are arguing about the faith. In some ways we are. Those who are bent out of shape by the cultural use of "holiday greetings" don't seem at all bothered by how the nativity of our Lord has been turned into anything but a religious feast day for years. It has been owned by the culture of consumerism for as long as I can remember. Therefore, as followers of Jesus we don't even need to enter into the fuss. We simply go to worship. We praise our God. We listen to the story of the incarnation of our God...and we go off into the world following our Lord, Jesus. Let the powers who love to make this a consumer feast day have their way. We are called to be a witness to something other that what the gods of the culture and the civil religion want and demand of us. Our story does not have to be accepted and adopted by the culture. We listen to this voice crying out in the wilderness...and we continue on our faithful adventure.
Connection: Don't let anyone define your reality. Rather, as followers of Jesus, stay in touch with those who will help define the way of God's Reign as it is breaking in every day.
Stir up our hearts, O God, and lead us into your land of new life and hope. Encourage us to be faithful to the way of your Beloved and be critical of all the voices that try to catch our ear. Amen.
The metaphor of exile may be useful to American Christians as a way of understanding the social context of the church in American culture. The exile of the contemporary American church is that we are bombarded by definitions of reality that are fundamentally alien to the gospel, definitions of reality that come from the military-industrial-scientific empire, which may be characterized as "consumer capitalism." In a variety of ways the voice of this empire wants to reshape our values, fears, and dreams in ways that are fundamentally opposed to the voice of the gospel.
When the "word" of the culture is so powerful and so pervasive, how do we keep the Word of God alive among us? This year there are so many people arguing about the language of Christmas as though we are arguing about the faith. In some ways we are. Those who are bent out of shape by the cultural use of "holiday greetings" don't seem at all bothered by how the nativity of our Lord has been turned into anything but a religious feast day for years. It has been owned by the culture of consumerism for as long as I can remember. Therefore, as followers of Jesus we don't even need to enter into the fuss. We simply go to worship. We praise our God. We listen to the story of the incarnation of our God...and we go off into the world following our Lord, Jesus. Let the powers who love to make this a consumer feast day have their way. We are called to be a witness to something other that what the gods of the culture and the civil religion want and demand of us. Our story does not have to be accepted and adopted by the culture. We listen to this voice crying out in the wilderness...and we continue on our faithful adventure.
Connection: Don't let anyone define your reality. Rather, as followers of Jesus, stay in touch with those who will help define the way of God's Reign as it is breaking in every day.
Stir up our hearts, O God, and lead us into your land of new life and hope. Encourage us to be faithful to the way of your Beloved and be critical of all the voices that try to catch our ear. Amen.
14 December 2005
Exile is a valuable term even now according to Walter Brueggemann in "Hopeful Imagination."
The metaphor of Babylonian exile was used by Martin Luther who argued that the gospel had been exiled in his time by the Babylonian captivity of the Roman Catholic Church. Thus he intended exile to be a very harsh metaphor to suggest that the shaping influence of the Roman Catholic Church of his time was alien and hostile to the gospel. We do not need to pursue Luther's particular handling of the metaphor to see it potential for our own interpretive situation.
We will be shaped by what is around us. We need only look at our own families. As much as we might love or hate or be indifferent to the people who are a part of our families, we become them in many ways. If the Jews in Babylon found only the Babylonian culture and religion pressing them every day, it soon becomes the expected way of living. We fall into patterns quite easily if we do not know how to resist them. So it was for Luther and his criticism of the Roman church. The practices and the institution set up to enforce those practices were oppressive and the oppression was coming from the people who were called to be liberators - messengers of Good News. When our lives are being lived out separate from the the liberating, forgiving and complete redeeming power of the gospel, we will live according to that separation. We will reflect that which is not a part of us anymore.
Connection: Stay connected to this Word of grace that is the core of who we are. There will be many other words that will quickly fall into our vocabulary and begin to rule us...we must be a people of resistance.
Brilliant Light of Love, we long to have you lead us this day through all the many turns in the road that would often send us away from your invitation to come home to you. Be for us that light of new life that pulls us into your living presence as we prepare again to hear the story of the nativity of our Lord. Amen.
The metaphor of Babylonian exile was used by Martin Luther who argued that the gospel had been exiled in his time by the Babylonian captivity of the Roman Catholic Church. Thus he intended exile to be a very harsh metaphor to suggest that the shaping influence of the Roman Catholic Church of his time was alien and hostile to the gospel. We do not need to pursue Luther's particular handling of the metaphor to see it potential for our own interpretive situation.
We will be shaped by what is around us. We need only look at our own families. As much as we might love or hate or be indifferent to the people who are a part of our families, we become them in many ways. If the Jews in Babylon found only the Babylonian culture and religion pressing them every day, it soon becomes the expected way of living. We fall into patterns quite easily if we do not know how to resist them. So it was for Luther and his criticism of the Roman church. The practices and the institution set up to enforce those practices were oppressive and the oppression was coming from the people who were called to be liberators - messengers of Good News. When our lives are being lived out separate from the the liberating, forgiving and complete redeeming power of the gospel, we will live according to that separation. We will reflect that which is not a part of us anymore.
Connection: Stay connected to this Word of grace that is the core of who we are. There will be many other words that will quickly fall into our vocabulary and begin to rule us...we must be a people of resistance.
Brilliant Light of Love, we long to have you lead us this day through all the many turns in the road that would often send us away from your invitation to come home to you. Be for us that light of new life that pulls us into your living presence as we prepare again to hear the story of the nativity of our Lord. Amen.
Monday, December 12, 2005
13 December 2005
From Walter Brueggemann in "Hopeful Imagination."
The poetry of 2 Isaiah is shaped by powerful poetic metaphors. The social, historical setting for this poetry is exile... The words grow out of and are aimed at an alienated community (cf. Psalm 137). The central fact of the community of 2 Isaiah was the power and authority of Babylonian definitions of reality (cf. Isaiah 39:1-8). Babylonian cultural voices in many ways shaped Jews just as they succeeded in shaping everything and everyone else in the empire. In as many ways as possible, it was the ideological intent of the empire to talk Jews out of Jewish perceptions of reality and into Babylonian definitions of reality, to define life in terms of Babylonian values, Babylonian hopes, and Babylonian fears.
The poetry of 2 Isaiah is shaped by powerful poetic metaphors. The social, historical setting for this poetry is exile... The words grow out of and are aimed at an alienated community (cf. Psalm 137). The central fact of the community of 2 Isaiah was the power and authority of Babylonian definitions of reality (cf. Isaiah 39:1-8). Babylonian cultural voices in many ways shaped Jews just as they succeeded in shaping everything and everyone else in the empire. In as many ways as possible, it was the ideological intent of the empire to talk Jews out of Jewish perceptions of reality and into Babylonian definitions of reality, to define life in terms of Babylonian values, Babylonian hopes, and Babylonian fears.
The shaping of people's lives by the empire - this sounds like an ancient activity. It is ancient and therefore, empire has had quite a long time to perfect its work. The voice of the empire is set to a level that will permeate the lives of as many people as is possible so that the message of the empire become a part of the very pattern or fabric of the people. In the days of the Jews in exile in Babylon the empire was able to control so much of the way people are shaped because the Jews were literally taken away from their roots and planted in the center of the empire's voice. Today, empire rules and molds and dictates from many and various voices and methods. Just yesterday I thought it was frightening to listen to U.S. President Bush say that if he knew back before the invasion of Iraq what he knows now, he would have still invaded Iraq. That is the voice of empire. You can tell because we all just sat back and that was it. What he said is just like saying he lied about why we went into Iraq. Previously it was all about weapons of mass destruction. Now, it is about what it is about - whatever empire wants to call it. And what is worse, we continue to back it or simply ignore the fact that we are a warring nation who initiates war at a whim...the whim of Empire.
Connection: The prophet keeps trying to open our ears when we have been taken into exile and find ourselves living there. What are the signs of exile around us that show us today how we have been taken from the Reign of God to participate in the practices and mind of empire?
Lord of All Creation, we need you Spirit of hopefulness to set our eyes in a new direction and bring focus into our viewing of the world around us. Help us to break the bonds of the powers in our lives that attempt to win us over into their ways. Amen.
12 December 2005
In these weeks prior to the Nativity of our Lord, we will turn to comments about the message from 2nd Isaiah (chapters 40-55) by Walter Brueggemann in "Hopeful Imagination."
Second Isaiah...is marvelously filled with promises. But those promises are addressed only to people in exile who have seen the city fall (40:2) and have suffered the loss of their entire world of faith... The promises are not available to us or effective for us while we are people who cling to the old city and to the old organizations of reality. To use the poetry of homecoming without the prior literature of exile is an offer of cheap grace. It is important that the "new thing" of 2 Isaiah comes after a long season of exilic discontent.
It is so important to remember that one hears promises of new life after one has gone through life situations that have caused us loss or injury or disappointment. These are experiences that we have all had...but some people are not able to connect with their own losses and therefore they run from perceived victory to perceived victory. The words of second Isaiah will often not make sense. They make for great music - as in Handel's "Messiah" - but not as a word of comfort since no word of comfort is needed. Few people ever go through the cultural, societal, and faith trauma as did those folks who were uprooted from Jerusalem and sent into exile in Babylon. But if you are able to connect to moments and times and places within your own life where part of your life was taken from you or simply lost, these words of a "new thing" may help to bring vision for what will be. I would suggest that even those who are not able to recall or face loss within their own lives, what Brueggemann brings into view through the words of the prophet will give us the opportunity to review the present situations of our live and everything we call reality as it presently is.
Connection: The words of a prophet may be specifically addressed to a people in one place and time. And yet, we who listen in from another place and time may be surprised to see what they have to say to us. We need only listen again - with our hearts and through a lens that will allow us to see ourselves truthfully.
Liberating Lord, it is by your grace that we who are damaged and at loss for how to move into this day, find in the words of your prophets comfort and vision. Be with us again as we enter into the promises that you make to all your people. Amen.
Second Isaiah...is marvelously filled with promises. But those promises are addressed only to people in exile who have seen the city fall (40:2) and have suffered the loss of their entire world of faith... The promises are not available to us or effective for us while we are people who cling to the old city and to the old organizations of reality. To use the poetry of homecoming without the prior literature of exile is an offer of cheap grace. It is important that the "new thing" of 2 Isaiah comes after a long season of exilic discontent.
It is so important to remember that one hears promises of new life after one has gone through life situations that have caused us loss or injury or disappointment. These are experiences that we have all had...but some people are not able to connect with their own losses and therefore they run from perceived victory to perceived victory. The words of second Isaiah will often not make sense. They make for great music - as in Handel's "Messiah" - but not as a word of comfort since no word of comfort is needed. Few people ever go through the cultural, societal, and faith trauma as did those folks who were uprooted from Jerusalem and sent into exile in Babylon. But if you are able to connect to moments and times and places within your own life where part of your life was taken from you or simply lost, these words of a "new thing" may help to bring vision for what will be. I would suggest that even those who are not able to recall or face loss within their own lives, what Brueggemann brings into view through the words of the prophet will give us the opportunity to review the present situations of our live and everything we call reality as it presently is.
Connection: The words of a prophet may be specifically addressed to a people in one place and time. And yet, we who listen in from another place and time may be surprised to see what they have to say to us. We need only listen again - with our hearts and through a lens that will allow us to see ourselves truthfully.
Liberating Lord, it is by your grace that we who are damaged and at loss for how to move into this day, find in the words of your prophets comfort and vision. Be with us again as we enter into the promises that you make to all your people. Amen.
Thursday, December 8, 2005
9 December 2005
Stephen G. Ray, Jr. continues to discuss the tie between the sin-talk surrounding homosexuality and the devastating spread of AIDS worldwide in "Do No Harm."
By condoning the oppression of gay persons, both before and during the nascent stages of the epidemic, many churches became complicit in the plague that is sweeping throughout much of the underdeveloped world. Ironically, even now, when many churches - even very conservative ones - are engaged in various sorts of AIDS ministries, they continue to carry partial responsibility for the ravaging that is taking place in communities around the world.
By condoning the oppression of gay persons, both before and during the nascent stages of the epidemic, many churches became complicit in the plague that is sweeping throughout much of the underdeveloped world. Ironically, even now, when many churches - even very conservative ones - are engaged in various sorts of AIDS ministries, they continue to carry partial responsibility for the ravaging that is taking place in communities around the world.
When we use the language of the faith to designate something or someone as "dirty" or defiled or being less than human, it does not take much time for our designations and our "sin-talk" to become a factor in the destruction of those people or things. While reading this piece I thought of the way the U.S. threatens to withhold money to countries on the African continent if there is use of condoms rather than abstinence as a way of preventing pregnancy. Preventing pregnancy by way of condoms becomes demonized because it allow for "sinful" behavior - sex outside the bounds of marriage. And yet, what happens is that this kind of "sin-talk" allows for even greater wrongs within those communities...the spread of HIV/AIDS...more young pregnancies...more cases of women being abused and mistreated by men. How long will we continue to swing the bats of our fears around without thinking of the ways we destroy lives even though we think we are simply playing our own little games.
Connection: When we throw stones, something gets broken and too often, we do not think about how our language becomes like stones in a glass house. Glass can be replaces...but lives ruined by the sin-talk cannot be so easily healed and can never be replaced.
When we speak, O God, guide our choice of words...guide our hearts...guide our minds...be our guide and our companion so that we will walk gently and humbly along the way of your Beloved. Amen.
Wednesday, December 7, 2005
8 December 2005
Stephen G. Ray, Jr. presses the point of defilement by continuing to say it becomes a part of the persons existence. He says it like this:
The problem is not what the homosexual does, but that the homosexual exists at all.
The damaging effects of this view of same-sex relationships have been and continue to be profound... One example of the social harms produced by the exclusionary logic of this form of sin-talk is the modern day reality of HIV/AIDS. Throughout much of the gestation period of this plague, the entire issue was treated by society and by much of the church as a purely moral issue - because of its association with an "immoral lifestyle" - and not as a medical issue... During the early stages of the epidemic when proactive research and educational intervention could have made the most significant impact, resources were made scarce. Because it was a disease associated with sinful people, it ws not as aggressively treated as it should have been.
In some ways we could say that society and the church were so enveloped in their own dis-ease that the world was left without the power of the one of the greatest gifts we have as humans - the ability to create community and the willingness to be sacrificial as we care for others without judgment or discrimination. That could be the greatest sin in all of this talk about homosexuality in the church. We too often would rather live separated from "them" and throw our stones of damnation at "them" and in doing that, we become the ones who live in sin - that is - living in separation from others and in that in separation from God. That is not the best description of the Church that is called to be a light to all people...and a community whose love is seen through sacrificial living for the welfare of the other...any of the others. We must keep pinching ourselves so that we will wake up and resist this dis-ease of humanity that we let rule us so easily. This "rule" is always less that the community into which we have been grasp by our God.
Connection: Maybe a good bit of homework would be to read the Magnificat in Luke's gospel (1:46-55). It is a good word for all of us when we are slipping into the dis-ease that comes with any form of power that forgets the least among us and those in need.
Come, O God, and stir up our hearts. It is not easy to keep focused on the vision of your Reign. Instead, we too easily fall for much less and when that takes place, everyone stumbles and none of us have the time to care for one another. Stir us up so that in this day we will be awake for your coming even now. Amen.
The problem is not what the homosexual does, but that the homosexual exists at all.
The damaging effects of this view of same-sex relationships have been and continue to be profound... One example of the social harms produced by the exclusionary logic of this form of sin-talk is the modern day reality of HIV/AIDS. Throughout much of the gestation period of this plague, the entire issue was treated by society and by much of the church as a purely moral issue - because of its association with an "immoral lifestyle" - and not as a medical issue... During the early stages of the epidemic when proactive research and educational intervention could have made the most significant impact, resources were made scarce. Because it was a disease associated with sinful people, it ws not as aggressively treated as it should have been.
In some ways we could say that society and the church were so enveloped in their own dis-ease that the world was left without the power of the one of the greatest gifts we have as humans - the ability to create community and the willingness to be sacrificial as we care for others without judgment or discrimination. That could be the greatest sin in all of this talk about homosexuality in the church. We too often would rather live separated from "them" and throw our stones of damnation at "them" and in doing that, we become the ones who live in sin - that is - living in separation from others and in that in separation from God. That is not the best description of the Church that is called to be a light to all people...and a community whose love is seen through sacrificial living for the welfare of the other...any of the others. We must keep pinching ourselves so that we will wake up and resist this dis-ease of humanity that we let rule us so easily. This "rule" is always less that the community into which we have been grasp by our God.
Connection: Maybe a good bit of homework would be to read the Magnificat in Luke's gospel (1:46-55). It is a good word for all of us when we are slipping into the dis-ease that comes with any form of power that forgets the least among us and those in need.
Come, O God, and stir up our hearts. It is not easy to keep focused on the vision of your Reign. Instead, we too easily fall for much less and when that takes place, everyone stumbles and none of us have the time to care for one another. Stir us up so that in this day we will be awake for your coming even now. Amen.
Tuesday, December 6, 2005
7 December 2005
Again from Stephen G. Ray, Jr. on sin-talk in "Do No Harm."
Yesterday we were led through a traditional way of viewing same-gender sexual relations that fits in with what Ray calls a category of sin-talk, that is, defilement/essentialization. He continues:
...homosexuals are depicted not only as doing bad things, but also as inherently corrupt in their being, in their "old nature." Far from being simply good people acting irresponsibly, they are "polluting the natural order." Not just their acts but their existence is considered repulsive. In many cases, this depictions suggests that because they offend the natural order of human relations, they are somehow less than humans.
Actions can be excused...and most people can excuse actions. That is why this sin-talk is so brutal and so destructive. It works to destroy the very being of people. It is so much like the way blacks were depicted in the U.S years ago and...for some...even now. In this way, the people can be ignored and the personality of the people can be ignored and the substance and character of the people can be ignored because there is ...this sin...that is the only aspect of these people...and it trumps all other views and images. I would suggest that such a view of homosexuals is a movement that I would call anti-Christ for it denies the essence of the Christ whose love breaks down and put to an end all the dividing walls. I would also say that the only people that have any choice in regard to homosexuality are those who "chose" to turn them into objects and non-persons and chose to do whatever is possible to eliminate them.
Connection: Objects are things we can choose to play with during the days of our lives. People are gifts from God and a part of us as we are a part of the whole human family. Beware of how quickly we can make objects of people and how quickly we can then discard them...in many and various ways.
Lord of All Creation, how is it that you can love all of your creation and make no distinction between any of your beloved children and yet, we your children love to play the games of life that cause us to run from one another rather than greet one another in peace and love? Remind us again in this day of your love that is also ours. Amen.
Yesterday we were led through a traditional way of viewing same-gender sexual relations that fits in with what Ray calls a category of sin-talk, that is, defilement/essentialization. He continues:
...homosexuals are depicted not only as doing bad things, but also as inherently corrupt in their being, in their "old nature." Far from being simply good people acting irresponsibly, they are "polluting the natural order." Not just their acts but their existence is considered repulsive. In many cases, this depictions suggests that because they offend the natural order of human relations, they are somehow less than humans.
Actions can be excused...and most people can excuse actions. That is why this sin-talk is so brutal and so destructive. It works to destroy the very being of people. It is so much like the way blacks were depicted in the U.S years ago and...for some...even now. In this way, the people can be ignored and the personality of the people can be ignored and the substance and character of the people can be ignored because there is ...this sin...that is the only aspect of these people...and it trumps all other views and images. I would suggest that such a view of homosexuals is a movement that I would call anti-Christ for it denies the essence of the Christ whose love breaks down and put to an end all the dividing walls. I would also say that the only people that have any choice in regard to homosexuality are those who "chose" to turn them into objects and non-persons and chose to do whatever is possible to eliminate them.
Connection: Objects are things we can choose to play with during the days of our lives. People are gifts from God and a part of us as we are a part of the whole human family. Beware of how quickly we can make objects of people and how quickly we can then discard them...in many and various ways.
Lord of All Creation, how is it that you can love all of your creation and make no distinction between any of your beloved children and yet, we your children love to play the games of life that cause us to run from one another rather than greet one another in peace and love? Remind us again in this day of your love that is also ours. Amen.
6 December 2005
Stephen G. Ray, Jr. continues to talk about the impact of sin-talk when we attempt to discuss sexual orientation in "Do No Harm."
Ray notes that until recently mainstream Christian tradition has been nearly univocal: Same-gender sexual relations are an abomination; they are unequivocally wrong. This positions is concisely summarized in the following statement... "Jesus asked, 'Wilt thou be made whole?' to such a question, which the Savior still asks today, the homosexual sincerely desiring help must admit the sin of his past life, repent, accept forgiveness, and begin the struggle against his old nature." In statements such as this, one find ample evidence of what I have described as a defilement/essentialization model of sin-talk. In this context, homosexuals are depicted not only as doing bad things, but also as inherently corrupt in their being, in their "old nature."
I heard this attitude most clearly on the floor of a Synod assembly one year. At one of the microphones, a pastor tried to argue that we must "love homosexuals by being tough with them. We must help them stop what they are doing...we must call them into a new life." This meant, don't have them be full members within the church until they stop "being" who they are. In fact, it also was saying that homosexuality is a sin before we even begin talking about any action...and that reality, in and of itself, was enough to "dirty" the community. If that is all people can see in a person who is gay or lesbian bisexual or transgendered (GLBT), then there will be no conversation...there will be no coming to the table and sharing a dinner and each of us being able to share the love of Christ with one another. For when a person views GLBT people in such a way, how do they deal with seeing the love of Jesus exhibited in word and act by those who are supposed to be a defiled people. Do they simply disregard it as acting? Does that then mean that they disregard the power of the Holy Spirit to act through the waters of baptism to make all people children of God without any qualification? Is that not then, a stance contrary to the Holy Spirit. Well, for now I will stop.
Connection: Again, simply learn to listen to how we qualify sin within our religious life and within our society. I would submit that it is frightening to actually hear it...and it happens quite a bit.
My Lord, what a gift you have given us that we are called into community to experience the fullness of the way you present humanity to the world. Within the form of our own being, we must face the diversity of your creation that we often want to avoid. Lead us past our limited vision. Amen.
Ray notes that until recently mainstream Christian tradition has been nearly univocal: Same-gender sexual relations are an abomination; they are unequivocally wrong. This positions is concisely summarized in the following statement... "Jesus asked, 'Wilt thou be made whole?' to such a question, which the Savior still asks today, the homosexual sincerely desiring help must admit the sin of his past life, repent, accept forgiveness, and begin the struggle against his old nature." In statements such as this, one find ample evidence of what I have described as a defilement/essentialization model of sin-talk. In this context, homosexuals are depicted not only as doing bad things, but also as inherently corrupt in their being, in their "old nature."
I heard this attitude most clearly on the floor of a Synod assembly one year. At one of the microphones, a pastor tried to argue that we must "love homosexuals by being tough with them. We must help them stop what they are doing...we must call them into a new life." This meant, don't have them be full members within the church until they stop "being" who they are. In fact, it also was saying that homosexuality is a sin before we even begin talking about any action...and that reality, in and of itself, was enough to "dirty" the community. If that is all people can see in a person who is gay or lesbian bisexual or transgendered (GLBT), then there will be no conversation...there will be no coming to the table and sharing a dinner and each of us being able to share the love of Christ with one another. For when a person views GLBT people in such a way, how do they deal with seeing the love of Jesus exhibited in word and act by those who are supposed to be a defiled people. Do they simply disregard it as acting? Does that then mean that they disregard the power of the Holy Spirit to act through the waters of baptism to make all people children of God without any qualification? Is that not then, a stance contrary to the Holy Spirit. Well, for now I will stop.
Connection: Again, simply learn to listen to how we qualify sin within our religious life and within our society. I would submit that it is frightening to actually hear it...and it happens quite a bit.
My Lord, what a gift you have given us that we are called into community to experience the fullness of the way you present humanity to the world. Within the form of our own being, we must face the diversity of your creation that we often want to avoid. Lead us past our limited vision. Amen.
Sunday, December 4, 2005
5 December 2005
Using Stephen Ray's idea of sin-talk we will now make a transition explore the model of sin as defilement/essentialization through looking at homophobic accounts of homosexuality.
While there are are many similarities between the ways in which the welfare queen and the homosexual are constructed in our contemporary culture, the topic of sexual orientation differs from welfare in that many homophobic accounts of homosexuals depict them not only as abandoning social responsibility, but as defiling and corrupting the natural order of things. ...the rhetoric of defiling nature comes to the fore with exacting force. The example of sexual orientation also differs from welfare in the degree to which explicitly theological reasoning is used to support depictions of defilement and pollution.
As Ray leads us, once you enter the topic of "the homosexual" there is an intensity that cannot be matched by the conversations and judgments made against the "welfare queen." If you want an example, simply look at what is the burning issue of the day. I think it is William Sloan Coffin who notes that prejudice against homosexual is the last acceptable prejudice. It is made all the more powerful by the fact that people take hold of the scriptures and try to use it as a suitable battering ram that will attack the fortress of homosexuality in order to "clean it up" so that "they" will not continue to defile society. What I find unfortunate in all this is the many people who do not take the time to meet, greet, and converse with people who are homosexuals. That doesn't happen because gays and lesbian people are see as having such a bad influence on society and families and churches and organizations that some people will not move close to them for fear that in doing that, they too might become defiled in some sort of way that I have yet to understand. Finally I find that with the "welfare queen" people simply move away from them or do not go to place where they will see her. In the case of the homosexual...they may be the neighbor, the family member, the other person in my club, and they even....get into church. Therefore the opportunity for "defilement" is a greater issue.
Connection: What makes someone "dirty" in your eyes? More important, where did you get that image within your own upbringing...where do you get it today? With any group of people or even individuals, there is a way of saying "yes" and "no" to how someone behaves...and that is without any sense of condemnation.
How quickly we let our anxiety and fear rule over our hearts. Precious Lord, be the one who Reigns over our hearts so that our lives may be open to the fullness of you love that has already promised to bring all your children home. Amen.
While there are are many similarities between the ways in which the welfare queen and the homosexual are constructed in our contemporary culture, the topic of sexual orientation differs from welfare in that many homophobic accounts of homosexuals depict them not only as abandoning social responsibility, but as defiling and corrupting the natural order of things. ...the rhetoric of defiling nature comes to the fore with exacting force. The example of sexual orientation also differs from welfare in the degree to which explicitly theological reasoning is used to support depictions of defilement and pollution.
As Ray leads us, once you enter the topic of "the homosexual" there is an intensity that cannot be matched by the conversations and judgments made against the "welfare queen." If you want an example, simply look at what is the burning issue of the day. I think it is William Sloan Coffin who notes that prejudice against homosexual is the last acceptable prejudice. It is made all the more powerful by the fact that people take hold of the scriptures and try to use it as a suitable battering ram that will attack the fortress of homosexuality in order to "clean it up" so that "they" will not continue to defile society. What I find unfortunate in all this is the many people who do not take the time to meet, greet, and converse with people who are homosexuals. That doesn't happen because gays and lesbian people are see as having such a bad influence on society and families and churches and organizations that some people will not move close to them for fear that in doing that, they too might become defiled in some sort of way that I have yet to understand. Finally I find that with the "welfare queen" people simply move away from them or do not go to place where they will see her. In the case of the homosexual...they may be the neighbor, the family member, the other person in my club, and they even....get into church. Therefore the opportunity for "defilement" is a greater issue.
Connection: What makes someone "dirty" in your eyes? More important, where did you get that image within your own upbringing...where do you get it today? With any group of people or even individuals, there is a way of saying "yes" and "no" to how someone behaves...and that is without any sense of condemnation.
How quickly we let our anxiety and fear rule over our hearts. Precious Lord, be the one who Reigns over our hearts so that our lives may be open to the fullness of you love that has already promised to bring all your children home. Amen.
Friday, December 2, 2005
2 November 2005
The week ends with more sin-talk from "Do No Harm" by Stephen G. Ray, Jr.
It is important to note the implicit-and less than obvious-discourse of sin. That is to say, the conceptual form and currency of the welfare reform discussion are directly related to a Christian discourse of sin and morality. So, while words like responsibility and values are used, sin is nevertheless implied in a subterranean manner.
The image that surrounds what Ray has been calling the "welfare queen" is one of sin. Of course, as he writes, people will use words like "responsibility" or "irresponsibility" in discussions about welfare reform, but what never gets to the surface is the implied sin. This is especially the case when we are dealing with government welfare concerns. We never use sin-talk in legislation or from the floor of the halls of congress or state houses, but if you peel back our clean-up language, there we will find the finger-pointing words of sin-talk that can turn people into objects and then even into objects that can be discarded - some may even say must be discarded. Therefore, there can be wonderful talk about what we "value" in the lives of our citizens (like good hard work, respect for self) but we really do not value all the citizens. We give ourselves reason, thanks to what can be the subtle nature of sin-talk, to come up with ways to disregard the worth of the poor for the sake of coming up with a programs that are made more to suit the views and perceptions of the general public.
Connection: Poverty is a huge reality among us. It is not a situation caused by someone else's sin. It it because of "our" sin. Until we all look in the mirror and see the face of the poor, we will continue to add nothing to the conversation and work that is needed to bring forth a new vision that will take into consideration the welfare of the entire community.
In this day, Lord, bring us your peace - your peace - your wholeness, for we long to see more than we let ourselves see and we long to be a part of your Reign that continues to come but so often seems so far away. Amen.
It is important to note the implicit-and less than obvious-discourse of sin. That is to say, the conceptual form and currency of the welfare reform discussion are directly related to a Christian discourse of sin and morality. So, while words like responsibility and values are used, sin is nevertheless implied in a subterranean manner.
The image that surrounds what Ray has been calling the "welfare queen" is one of sin. Of course, as he writes, people will use words like "responsibility" or "irresponsibility" in discussions about welfare reform, but what never gets to the surface is the implied sin. This is especially the case when we are dealing with government welfare concerns. We never use sin-talk in legislation or from the floor of the halls of congress or state houses, but if you peel back our clean-up language, there we will find the finger-pointing words of sin-talk that can turn people into objects and then even into objects that can be discarded - some may even say must be discarded. Therefore, there can be wonderful talk about what we "value" in the lives of our citizens (like good hard work, respect for self) but we really do not value all the citizens. We give ourselves reason, thanks to what can be the subtle nature of sin-talk, to come up with ways to disregard the worth of the poor for the sake of coming up with a programs that are made more to suit the views and perceptions of the general public.
Connection: Poverty is a huge reality among us. It is not a situation caused by someone else's sin. It it because of "our" sin. Until we all look in the mirror and see the face of the poor, we will continue to add nothing to the conversation and work that is needed to bring forth a new vision that will take into consideration the welfare of the entire community.
In this day, Lord, bring us your peace - your peace - your wholeness, for we long to see more than we let ourselves see and we long to be a part of your Reign that continues to come but so often seems so far away. Amen.
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