Again from the West's way of looking at the world and hope.
In the 60s, we saw Christians engaging in anti-racist struggle, as with Martin Luther,Jr., and later with various black liberation theologians, like the great James Cone. In each instance, Christians were called forth to plunge to the depth of their understanding of the Christian gospel, which affirmed the dignity and sanctity of each and every individual. But these kinds of Christians were always a minority.
To press and affirm the dignity and sanctity of each and every individual is a path that is narrow. Too often, we are knocked off course because we are so fixed on our own self-interests that we fool ourselves into believing that others are not like us. Truth is, others are not like us. This doesn't mean that we are not to affirm their dignity and sanctity. Instead, as followers of Jesus, we are a people who never stop pressing on and seeking the welfare of all. The arms of the Reign of God are always wider than our own. We need to remember that grace will trump our arguments for a narrow inclusion or a limited embrace. If we look around at the church today, there really are few instances where the followers of Jesus never cease to "plunge in to the depth of their understanding of the Christian gospel." It is too easy to stop short and settle with something less or become content with the battles once fought.
Connection: Plunge in to the depths and see what takes place around us.
Faithful God, your inexhaustible grace is the power that brings us together as your people. Within that power comes the ability to enter into the works of love that make up the face of your people. Continue to nurture us in the pathway of this work. Amen.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Monday 8 December 2008
From "Hope on a Tightrope" by Cornel West.
American Christianity, in many ways, is a market form of Christianity. It's all about identifying with a winner. That's why Easter Sunday the churches are full, but Good Friday they're empty. Constantinian Christians like to show up when the victory is won.
Don't tell them about the main protagonist - Jesus - being treated like a political prisoner by the Roman Empire. Don't tell them about a senseless death based on injustice with greed, hatred, and fear trying to crush the truth and love!
Another picture of this market Christianity is the "finger pointing" to the heavens after a touchdown...or...giving praise to God or Jesus for a victory over the other team. I want to (and I often do) shout out or stand up and say God and Jesus has nothing to do with your athletic successes. What if you were the one who could not play as well as you play or what if you were not a part of the best team? What would be your attraction to Jesus? Jesus was a loser when it comes right down to how he fit into the societal and religious manifestations of success. That's why the dude was executed. I love the fact that Easter worship is full - as long as we who gather remember what God raised up on that day. It was life that was not in sync with the prevailing powers or values or definitions of success. Good Friday is not a day that is comfortable for many people because of the death and the violence of the act of crucifixion. It is also not comfortable because "picking up one's cross" does not mean that we make the best of the "hardships" in our lives. Rather it has to do with voluntarily entering into the life of pursuing justice and standing for peace and being compassionately involved with the outcasts.
Connection: I like to win. I also know that it is vital for us to make sure that life is fair and just and honorable for all. This is not so easy to balance. Winning and being successful has a seductive edge to it. We must simply be aware and help one another through the day.
Lord of Compassion and Hope, in all things you promise to lead us forward into the ways of your Reign. When we move away from you, we move into only the things we are able to control and that is so often so far from the character of your Reign. Guide us. Amen.
American Christianity, in many ways, is a market form of Christianity. It's all about identifying with a winner. That's why Easter Sunday the churches are full, but Good Friday they're empty. Constantinian Christians like to show up when the victory is won.
Don't tell them about the main protagonist - Jesus - being treated like a political prisoner by the Roman Empire. Don't tell them about a senseless death based on injustice with greed, hatred, and fear trying to crush the truth and love!
Another picture of this market Christianity is the "finger pointing" to the heavens after a touchdown...or...giving praise to God or Jesus for a victory over the other team. I want to (and I often do) shout out or stand up and say God and Jesus has nothing to do with your athletic successes. What if you were the one who could not play as well as you play or what if you were not a part of the best team? What would be your attraction to Jesus? Jesus was a loser when it comes right down to how he fit into the societal and religious manifestations of success. That's why the dude was executed. I love the fact that Easter worship is full - as long as we who gather remember what God raised up on that day. It was life that was not in sync with the prevailing powers or values or definitions of success. Good Friday is not a day that is comfortable for many people because of the death and the violence of the act of crucifixion. It is also not comfortable because "picking up one's cross" does not mean that we make the best of the "hardships" in our lives. Rather it has to do with voluntarily entering into the life of pursuing justice and standing for peace and being compassionately involved with the outcasts.
Connection: I like to win. I also know that it is vital for us to make sure that life is fair and just and honorable for all. This is not so easy to balance. Winning and being successful has a seductive edge to it. We must simply be aware and help one another through the day.
Lord of Compassion and Hope, in all things you promise to lead us forward into the ways of your Reign. When we move away from you, we move into only the things we are able to control and that is so often so far from the character of your Reign. Guide us. Amen.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Friday 5 December 2008
Today's selection from "Hope on a Tightrope" contains language that was difficult to read and even more difficult to share - but it comes from Cornel West a prophetic voice in the the U.S. and among African-Americans.
The priestly black church tended to be a highly niggerized black church where the black pastor, although often eloquent, was so scared and intimidated by the white supremacist power structure that he was subordinate to it. this is why when King started his movement he knew that he would only get roughly 10 to 12 churches out of 85, because the other 75 were just scared. They'd been niggerized to the core.
They said, "Look, you don't mess with the white power structure. These folk will crush you. We're not going to win. We can't work together." They said all the different things that come out of the colonized, niggerized mentality. It's understandable, but it's not justifiable.
The prophetic tradition that Martin was trying to galvanize in Montgomery said, "No, we're going to fight this thing. We want to de-niggerize Negros. We're going to shake the nigger out of them. Quit being scared. Walk. Quit being intimidated. Stand up. Quit walking around laughing when it ain't funny and scratchin' when it don't itch. Be a human being."
It was the final sentence that convinced me to use this piece. Be a human being. That is - be who you were created to be. Biblically I would argue that this means be one who is the beloved of the Creator. Be that one that no one can treat as something other than God's own - because we are each God's own and we are made in the image of God. Being a human being can be a ruthless creature if we do not remember that we are shaped to be God's image that is made recognizable in the shape of humanity. When we are these "truly human ones" -ones Walter Wink connects to the image of the son of Man - humanity becomes what it is intended to be. Within that reality created by God, there is no separation - we are one people reflecting the image of God's Reign. But remember, human beings can be ruthless. The white supremacists were human beings not animals. Only humans can attempt to elevate themselves to gods who think they have the right and privilege and obligation to judge others and take away life as they choose. Only humans can be so full of themselves that they would eliminate millions in order to come up with a world they thought would be good for their own kind. When we are the truly human beings in the middle of a world that would like to make new gods, that new humanity West speaks of will be a witness to something greater than the powers of bigotry, bias, and oppression. Today we must listen again to such a call to be human beings created as the beloved of God and in God's image. I was just reading about a woman used "God language" to make sure that LGBT people were people who could be treated as less than the humans beings they are. She categorized them by what she said they do and what they choose to do. She missed the point. She missed their humanity. Her fear-filled humanity has not allowed her to see and touch the fullness of humanity of members of this community of people within the fabric of our humanity. We will always be looking for the truly human one to come...and as promised that one does come again and again and in being a human being there is great cost.
Connection: Sometimes the greatest idol is that which we say carries the truth. Unfortunately, the truth will set everyone free - not just some - everyone - no exceptions - ever.
Come down, O God, and encourage us to be the beloved you see in us for as we live within the realm of your vision, we will begin to see how beloved our neighbors and enemies really are. Forgive us for attempting to rule over our brothers and sisters who also are gifted to be creatures call human beings. Amen.
The priestly black church tended to be a highly niggerized black church where the black pastor, although often eloquent, was so scared and intimidated by the white supremacist power structure that he was subordinate to it. this is why when King started his movement he knew that he would only get roughly 10 to 12 churches out of 85, because the other 75 were just scared. They'd been niggerized to the core.
They said, "Look, you don't mess with the white power structure. These folk will crush you. We're not going to win. We can't work together." They said all the different things that come out of the colonized, niggerized mentality. It's understandable, but it's not justifiable.
The prophetic tradition that Martin was trying to galvanize in Montgomery said, "No, we're going to fight this thing. We want to de-niggerize Negros. We're going to shake the nigger out of them. Quit being scared. Walk. Quit being intimidated. Stand up. Quit walking around laughing when it ain't funny and scratchin' when it don't itch. Be a human being."
It was the final sentence that convinced me to use this piece. Be a human being. That is - be who you were created to be. Biblically I would argue that this means be one who is the beloved of the Creator. Be that one that no one can treat as something other than God's own - because we are each God's own and we are made in the image of God. Being a human being can be a ruthless creature if we do not remember that we are shaped to be God's image that is made recognizable in the shape of humanity. When we are these "truly human ones" -ones Walter Wink connects to the image of the son of Man - humanity becomes what it is intended to be. Within that reality created by God, there is no separation - we are one people reflecting the image of God's Reign. But remember, human beings can be ruthless. The white supremacists were human beings not animals. Only humans can attempt to elevate themselves to gods who think they have the right and privilege and obligation to judge others and take away life as they choose. Only humans can be so full of themselves that they would eliminate millions in order to come up with a world they thought would be good for their own kind. When we are the truly human beings in the middle of a world that would like to make new gods, that new humanity West speaks of will be a witness to something greater than the powers of bigotry, bias, and oppression. Today we must listen again to such a call to be human beings created as the beloved of God and in God's image. I was just reading about a woman used "God language" to make sure that LGBT people were people who could be treated as less than the humans beings they are. She categorized them by what she said they do and what they choose to do. She missed the point. She missed their humanity. Her fear-filled humanity has not allowed her to see and touch the fullness of humanity of members of this community of people within the fabric of our humanity. We will always be looking for the truly human one to come...and as promised that one does come again and again and in being a human being there is great cost.
Connection: Sometimes the greatest idol is that which we say carries the truth. Unfortunately, the truth will set everyone free - not just some - everyone - no exceptions - ever.
Come down, O God, and encourage us to be the beloved you see in us for as we live within the realm of your vision, we will begin to see how beloved our neighbors and enemies really are. Forgive us for attempting to rule over our brothers and sisters who also are gifted to be creatures call human beings. Amen.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Thursday 4 December 2008
More on faith and the spirit from Cornel West.
The spirit of the Lord still empowers those who have been cast aside to struggle and not lose hope. It is this spirit that supports those who care for the socially invisible and politically marginalized.
Being cast aside is like being thrown into the refuse pile. Once it is thrown - it is forgotten - it is gone - it is out of sight. This is not a hope-filled place to be when you are the one who is going through the experience of being cast aside. Too many people have this happen to them on a regular basis. Some live tossed-aside lives and it seems unbelievable that than can go on and live. And yet...they do. Hope is a gift for those who find themselves put out and put away. Hope works from within...it is that blessed assurance that binds up wounds and lifts us up when there seems to be nothing more. Hope also works through external sources - like the people who do not turn their backs on those who are cast aside. Here, hope is a hand that is there to assist - hope is a word of support and encouragement from the lips of another person who cares - hope is an advocate who faces the reality of being cast out for being in solidarity with those already cast aside.
Connection: Hope...a gift for this day...a gift that may be - you.
By your Spirit, O God, you uplift those who have been knocked down and you bring home those who have been cast aside. We give you thanks for your mercy, justice and the hope of your Reign. Amen.
The spirit of the Lord still empowers those who have been cast aside to struggle and not lose hope. It is this spirit that supports those who care for the socially invisible and politically marginalized.
Being cast aside is like being thrown into the refuse pile. Once it is thrown - it is forgotten - it is gone - it is out of sight. This is not a hope-filled place to be when you are the one who is going through the experience of being cast aside. Too many people have this happen to them on a regular basis. Some live tossed-aside lives and it seems unbelievable that than can go on and live. And yet...they do. Hope is a gift for those who find themselves put out and put away. Hope works from within...it is that blessed assurance that binds up wounds and lifts us up when there seems to be nothing more. Hope also works through external sources - like the people who do not turn their backs on those who are cast aside. Here, hope is a hand that is there to assist - hope is a word of support and encouragement from the lips of another person who cares - hope is an advocate who faces the reality of being cast out for being in solidarity with those already cast aside.
Connection: Hope...a gift for this day...a gift that may be - you.
By your Spirit, O God, you uplift those who have been knocked down and you bring home those who have been cast aside. We give you thanks for your mercy, justice and the hope of your Reign. Amen.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Wednesday 3 December 2008
From Cornel West in "Hope on a Tightrope."
Black people were moved by the image of the God of history who sides with the oppressed and the exploited - a God who affirms one's own humanity in a society that attacks and assaults black intelligence, and black beauty, and black moral character through white supremacist ideology. This message spoke to black folk very deeply.
There was also a political reason that black folk held fast to Christianity. Through its message, black people could engage in a critique of slavery, of Jim Crowism, of second-class citizenship, while holding on to the humanity of those whom they opposed. This is the great lesson that Martin Luther King, Jr., who is a product of this tradition, taught us.
This is not my storyline. And yet, it is important to hear how the Good News was and is "good" in and through lives that were not seen as "good" by the dominant culture. Behind the strength to love is the God who promises liberation. Within the act of liberation is the gift of seeing the other not as someone to destroy but someone who must be seen as another part of the humanity that is within all of us. It is not an easy way - this way of seeing the humanity in the other when the other is an oppressor. And yet, it is a part of following the way of Jesus. It is a way that may end at the cross...end at one's stand with and for and alongside others...end and become a part of the promise of resurrection. New life is always waiting to break loose. New life breaks loose each time we do not act like the old age...in us or in them.
Connection: We are always being invited into a life in which we re-view all things. In that action we are never sure of what we will see...and yet it may be a part of the promise that is always available to us.
Come, Lord God, and stir up our hearts. Just as you have promised to lead us to the promised land of your Reign, remind us in this day that your Reign is at hand and you have promised to to abide with us in and through all things. Amen.
Black people were moved by the image of the God of history who sides with the oppressed and the exploited - a God who affirms one's own humanity in a society that attacks and assaults black intelligence, and black beauty, and black moral character through white supremacist ideology. This message spoke to black folk very deeply.
There was also a political reason that black folk held fast to Christianity. Through its message, black people could engage in a critique of slavery, of Jim Crowism, of second-class citizenship, while holding on to the humanity of those whom they opposed. This is the great lesson that Martin Luther King, Jr., who is a product of this tradition, taught us.
This is not my storyline. And yet, it is important to hear how the Good News was and is "good" in and through lives that were not seen as "good" by the dominant culture. Behind the strength to love is the God who promises liberation. Within the act of liberation is the gift of seeing the other not as someone to destroy but someone who must be seen as another part of the humanity that is within all of us. It is not an easy way - this way of seeing the humanity in the other when the other is an oppressor. And yet, it is a part of following the way of Jesus. It is a way that may end at the cross...end at one's stand with and for and alongside others...end and become a part of the promise of resurrection. New life is always waiting to break loose. New life breaks loose each time we do not act like the old age...in us or in them.
Connection: We are always being invited into a life in which we re-view all things. In that action we are never sure of what we will see...and yet it may be a part of the promise that is always available to us.
Come, Lord God, and stir up our hearts. Just as you have promised to lead us to the promised land of your Reign, remind us in this day that your Reign is at hand and you have promised to to abide with us in and through all things. Amen.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Tuesday 2 December 2008
From "Faith" in "Hope on a Tightrope" by Cornel West.
Constantine was the Emperor of Rome during the early years of Christianity. He took the underground religion that was persecuted and made it a state religion. Then he persecuted all other religions, and thereby forced Christianity on the population to make religion a weapon of the Roman Empire.
In these days of modern Constantinian Christianity, the blood of the cross has been transformed into Kool-Aid, and many are dipping in for upward mobility. It is a very different way of talking about spirituality. That's the truth not just for Christianity, but for religions across the board.
In a recent publicity piece for a conference in January one of the speakers seems to becoming well known and successful at what he calls getting rid of the "churchy" feeling of church. I wondered what that all meant. Was he talking about the ancient liturgical rites? Was he trying to make the music and mood of the worship or community more in step with the movement of what interests many people today? Then, what I really wondered is if this was simply a way to make church and the vision of the followers of Jesus something that will sell. I will want to ask what is being taught. I will want to ask if this un-churchy church was teaching the typical and simple morality that passes well for religion but is not the way of the cross. What does the spirituality of the church have to do with what sells in the marketplace? Better yet, what is the spirituality behind not being "churchy" and why must one spirituality be call outdated or old? I would want to see what is being put in the "Kool-Aid."
Connection: We must always look beneath the way things are packaged and attempt to anticipate the life that comes from the very core of a religious body.
When we are too much like the world, O God, we are too much like fools who run away from the simplicity and power of the Good News of your Reign. No matter where we walk in our life journey as we follow the Christ, keep us walking in the way that is defined by the cross and not the feel of the day. Amen.
Constantine was the Emperor of Rome during the early years of Christianity. He took the underground religion that was persecuted and made it a state religion. Then he persecuted all other religions, and thereby forced Christianity on the population to make religion a weapon of the Roman Empire.
In these days of modern Constantinian Christianity, the blood of the cross has been transformed into Kool-Aid, and many are dipping in for upward mobility. It is a very different way of talking about spirituality. That's the truth not just for Christianity, but for religions across the board.
In a recent publicity piece for a conference in January one of the speakers seems to becoming well known and successful at what he calls getting rid of the "churchy" feeling of church. I wondered what that all meant. Was he talking about the ancient liturgical rites? Was he trying to make the music and mood of the worship or community more in step with the movement of what interests many people today? Then, what I really wondered is if this was simply a way to make church and the vision of the followers of Jesus something that will sell. I will want to ask what is being taught. I will want to ask if this un-churchy church was teaching the typical and simple morality that passes well for religion but is not the way of the cross. What does the spirituality of the church have to do with what sells in the marketplace? Better yet, what is the spirituality behind not being "churchy" and why must one spirituality be call outdated or old? I would want to see what is being put in the "Kool-Aid."
Connection: We must always look beneath the way things are packaged and attempt to anticipate the life that comes from the very core of a religious body.
When we are too much like the world, O God, we are too much like fools who run away from the simplicity and power of the Good News of your Reign. No matter where we walk in our life journey as we follow the Christ, keep us walking in the way that is defined by the cross and not the feel of the day. Amen.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Monday 1 December 2008
Since we last posted on Wednesday of last week, here is the piece from that devotion with what will follow as today's - from Cornel West in "Hope on a Tightrope."
Christianity itself comes out of prophetic Judaism. Persecuted early on, Jesus ended up on the cross. This unarmed truth and unconditional love in the face of catastrophic circumstances was seemingly crushed, but the love bounced back. That story is what has attracted black folk - and others.
When we feel like we are being crucified every day like that first century Palestinian Jew crucified at Calvary, we hold on to that unarmed truth and unconditional love. It looked as though Jesus couldn't bounce back. Black folk have been locked into that long Saturday after Good Friday. We ain't had Easter yet. All we have is each other, and the promise of Easter, the promise of freedom.
Alan Lewis, in "Between Cross and Resurrection" writes about Holy Saturday - the day in the tomb...dead and gone...cold-stone death...buried and without any hope of revival. It is a place that our God must enter and does. Otherwise, our God does not know the place of humanity and the plight of those who are oppressed, forgotten, moved aside, and simply left to rot. In a place like that...from the story we tell of Easter, even those "locked into that long Saturday after Good Friday" see the promise of freedom. It may not be a reality...but it is a promise from the God who keeps promises and never forgets us. Lately I have been troubled by how easy it is to be a part of a people who simply let some people go. We forget about them or ignore them or cast them as characters who are not to be given space within our story. In my life, I am a person who is given quite a bit of space to move around and live as well as I am able. Therefore, I must be aware of Holy Saturday. I must be aware of those who are abandoned by a world that thrives on discrimination and bias and utter hatred of others who are not like them. I must be aware so that I can enter into that place even when I am not sucked their by death itself. We all ar
e invited to be in that place for we are a people who trust that our God leaves no place abandoned and forgotten and therefore no people abandoned and forgotten. It can be too easy to "make gains" in life and then forget those who do not have life as I might have it. Oppressed people become oppressors when this circle of folly is forgotten. Holy Saturday reminds us of the story common to all of us.
Connection: Look around. It is a face of life that there are those around us who are in that place that is buried and forgotten. You and I might be the life that comes to abide with them so that we all march into a promise together.
Come, O God Who Stirs up Our Hearts. Come and lead us into and alongside the lives of our neighbors. Come and empower us to see how you see in each of us your beloved coming to life again and again in all and every time. Amen.
Christianity itself comes out of prophetic Judaism. Persecuted early on, Jesus ended up on the cross. This unarmed truth and unconditional love in the face of catastrophic circumstances was seemingly crushed, but the love bounced back. That story is what has attracted black folk - and others.
When we feel like we are being crucified every day like that first century Palestinian Jew crucified at Calvary, we hold on to that unarmed truth and unconditional love. It looked as though Jesus couldn't bounce back. Black folk have been locked into that long Saturday after Good Friday. We ain't had Easter yet. All we have is each other, and the promise of Easter, the promise of freedom.
Alan Lewis, in "Between Cross and Resurrection" writes about Holy Saturday - the day in the tomb...dead and gone...cold-stone death...buried and without any hope of revival. It is a place that our God must enter and does. Otherwise, our God does not know the place of humanity and the plight of those who are oppressed, forgotten, moved aside, and simply left to rot. In a place like that...from the story we tell of Easter, even those "locked into that long Saturday after Good Friday" see the promise of freedom. It may not be a reality...but it is a promise from the God who keeps promises and never forgets us. Lately I have been troubled by how easy it is to be a part of a people who simply let some people go. We forget about them or ignore them or cast them as characters who are not to be given space within our story. In my life, I am a person who is given quite a bit of space to move around and live as well as I am able. Therefore, I must be aware of Holy Saturday. I must be aware of those who are abandoned by a world that thrives on discrimination and bias and utter hatred of others who are not like them. I must be aware so that I can enter into that place even when I am not sucked their by death itself. We all ar
e invited to be in that place for we are a people who trust that our God leaves no place abandoned and forgotten and therefore no people abandoned and forgotten. It can be too easy to "make gains" in life and then forget those who do not have life as I might have it. Oppressed people become oppressors when this circle of folly is forgotten. Holy Saturday reminds us of the story common to all of us.Connection: Look around. It is a face of life that there are those around us who are in that place that is buried and forgotten. You and I might be the life that comes to abide with them so that we all march into a promise together.
Come, O God Who Stirs up Our Hearts. Come and lead us into and alongside the lives of our neighbors. Come and empower us to see how you see in each of us your beloved coming to life again and again in all and every time. Amen.
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