textweek

Disney and Values

At The Guardian Face to Faith, "The Gospel According to Disney" by Mark Pinsky:

"Many of us who have drifted from faith often return to organised religion as parents, if only in search of moral instruction for our children. But there is a more pervasive communicator of values closer to home: the animated features produced by Walt Disney."

"Good is invariably rewarded and evil punished. Faith in yourself and, more, faith in some higher power is essential. That is, faith in faith. Optimism and the Calvinist paradigm that hard work is rewarded with upward mobility complete the Disney canon. All of this is presented in a context vaguely implying western Christianity. But curiously, this is a largely secular gospel almost without God or Jesus. Salvation is attained through faith and works, not by grace. There is little explicit Judeo-Christian symbolism or substance in 70 years of Disney's animation. This despite the almost pervasive use of a theological vocabulary: words such as miracle, sacrifice, and divine. It seems a contradiction, portraying Judeo-Christian values without sectarian, or even a godly context - the fruits without the roots."

Wisdom from Vincent VanGogh

At Bruderhof Communities, Wisdom from an Artist: excerpts from letters, sermons, and diary notes. "A one-time art dealer with no interest in the trade, a fledgling theologian who failed his exams, and an impassioned preacher who was dismissed for taking Christian teaching too literally (he gave away all his worldly goods), van Gogh was also a prolific writer who poured out his desire to reconcile the facts of his life with his inner vision in one letter after another.

Van Gogh’s torments ended in suicide, but his words betray the deep insights so often born of suffering. Moreover, they distill them in such a way that they leave you feeling chastened and renewed, rather than depressed."

Cornel West: Chekhov's Legacy

At NPR's Tavis Smiley Show, August 11, 2004: Commentator Cornel West discusses the work and legacy of Russian author and playwright Anton Chekhov, 100 years after his death. Also at the same link, Richie Havens: "Richie Havens will be forever remembered for his powerful performance of the song "Freedom" that kicked off the three days of peace, love and music at Woodstock, New York, in 1969. He talks about that moment and plays songs from his latest CD, Grace of the Sun."

Transcendence in Architecture

At BBC Religion & Ethics Sunday, Divine Design:

"In the United States a group of neuroscientists, architects and clerics are trying to discover what it is about a building - temple, church, synagogue or mosque - that induces a sense of the transcendent and can influence the mood even of those who don't believe there is anything to worship."

A Seaside Parish

A Seaside Parish, at BBC Religion and Ethics:

"Following the success of A Country Parish, BBC Two goes to the seaside to explore parish life in a Cornish fishing village. Rev Christine Musser has to care for 7 churches in various states of repair and reconcile the traditional views of some of her congregation with the need to attract younger people."

Christianity & Islam and Translation

At BBC Religion & Ethics: Voices from the Dark:

"In three programmes, Martin Wainwright looks at three moments in history when the Islamic and Christian worlds have taken an eager interest in one another's affairs. Their instrument was translation, which at different times in Baghdad, Toledo and Istanbul, was given the highest priority."

Luke 12:49-56

I am very glad that I'm not preaching this week! What a difficult gospel text, especially taken out of its context in the gospel of Luke. Here are some of the thoughts I've seen on this passage this week: William Loader's "First Thoughts on Year C Gospel Passages in the Lectionary" are helpful for many folks. This week, he writes:

"‘Harmony’ is one of those soft words which people sometimes use to plea for peace. The peace is often a shallow calm of suppressed fears and conflicts which are bound to emerge from under their marshmallow captivity. Orderliness and harmony were great Stoic themes. At worst it meant everyone in their place, an unchanged and unchanging status quo. For many people Christian peace is still seen as that kind of harmony, if not achievable outwardly, then, at least achievable inwardly. The gospel then takes up its stall beside all the others offering serenity of life and ‘feel good’ spiritualities.">"‘Peace at all costs’ has no place here. That kind of harmony gilds oppression with respectability and rewards wrong. Instead we face a full scale conflict, taken right into the heart of human formation: the family. The family is being dethroned from its absolute claims. It is not an invitation to the kind of fanaticism which dislocates sectarians from family and friends and all else for obsession with an unrelated cause. Rather this passion springs from the heart of the human condition. It is the passion for love, for change, for justice, for renewal. These are not the fanatical tenets of a cult, but the foundations of hope. So Jesus is confronting the gods of family and warning that this is very dangerous territory."

Brian Stoffregen, in his Exegetical Notes, suggests:

"A UCC colleague pointed out that Garth Brooks' song, "Standing Outside the Fire" is a appropriate commentary on this text. (The song is really an encouragement to "stand in the fire" -- a possible sermon title.)"

Sarah Dylan Breuer, at Dylan's Lectionary Blog, suggests context from "Who Should Be Called Father? Paul of Tarsus between the Jesus Tradition and Patria Potestas," S. Scott Bartchy, Biblical Theology Bulletin, 2003. She writes:

"I think the Good News for us in this is that, dislocated from the constraints of forming and ordering families according to convention and duty, we are freed in our families to relate to one another for who we really are -- sisters and brothers in Christ, called as disciples."

At advanceWord, Dr. Gregory Jenks reminds us of the parallels of these verses, with verses from the gospel of Thomas. Jenks writes:

"How are the values and assumptions of our society at odds with the Kingdom values proclaimed by Jesus? Is the lack of division between the generations and across the genders a sign that we no longer hold to any alternative values with sufficient tenacity to alarm or alienate those who disagree with us?"

Wesley White, at the Kairos CoMotion Lectionary Dialogue, writes:

"In times that are settled or constrained by one heirarchy or another, Jesus comes with wild language about setting fire to the world and being a sword that divides, that causes choice to be unavoidable. In times that are in turmoil Jesus comes with a calming word of peace, preemptive peace that binds all wounds and brings us to be one. It is difficult to say both of these at the same time. In this political season in the US of A, and probably everywhere (for when and where is it not political season?) we are in need of the both in their appropriate settings."

As I said, I'm kind of glad I'm not preaching! I think that these texts are particularly difficult to read without interpreting them merely as more evidence and authority for whatever our own issues might be. (Which is not necessarily unhelpful, but can be!) How do we read these verses? How do we hear God's word for us within them? What is Luke's Jesus saying to Luke's community and to those they considered "enemies"?

When I read these passages, I'm reminded of how "simple" I sometimes see my life and my faith - not "simple" in an innocent, freeing way, but "simple" as in not complex enough to be really integrated into my real life. Instead, when Jesus is either "good" or "bad" according to my issues, values, etc - either judging or peaceful, either like me or like them, etc, I really don't take any of it seriously outside my own abstractions. It's an interesting rhetorical social game to play with others, and I can even feel really good about my own faith, social action, or whatever.

But, in real life, where I "live" most deeply, reality is not like that. The REAL people I know are a whole lot more complex than I like to imagine Jesus. They are not always "right". (In fact, it's usually helpful not to even think in those terms about them!) Relationships with them depend not so much on judging them and/or what they say and do according to abstract notions of "right" and "wrong", according to their values systems, my own, or others I may see as common to both of us. This seems to be the case with texts as well. Once I stop worrying so much about "good" and "bad" and try to integrate the complexity of thought instead of needing to work it into a logical system, or even one that "works", I can form a relationship with the text and with those with whom I read, that is a whole lot more meaningful to me than "acceptance" or "rejection".

I'm certain that none of that will preach, and maybe it's more of a look at how I'm looking at the text, than at the text itself. When I read this week's gospel text, I'm reminded that life isn't simple. My life isn't simple. My relationships aren't simple. There aren't easy answers that sew it all up so it's "done". Real life is not static, not linear, and certainly not without deep paradox within layers and layers of dialectic. I wonder how I would live differently within a "faith" that was more like the way I live, than the abstractions I hold in order to be "correct" about a text, about my faith, about my actions, etc. I hear Jesus talking to me this week, telling me that, "The roof - the roof - the roof is on fire." Am I too quick to put it out in order to save myself from having to have faith, and to integrate the real complexities of my life and relationships? How is Jesus talking to ME here, or are these words meant for some rhetorical "them"?

Bart Ehrman's "Lost Christianities"

There's an interview at BeliefNet with Bart Ehrman, about Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew. "The Christianity Battles: What if Ebionite Christians, Marcion Christians, or Gnostic Christians had been more convincing?" Interview with Bart Ehrman, by Deborah Caldwell.

"The early Christian Church was a chaos of contending beliefs, according to Bart Ehrman, author of Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew. Ehrman says some groups of early Christians claimed there was more than one God. Some believed Jesus was human but not divine, while others said he was divine but not human. In his book, Ehrman looks at how these early forms of Christianity came to be suppressed, reformed, or forgotten. He spoke recently with Beliefnet about what Christianity might have become if a different strain had emerged victorious from first-century intellectual battles."

Hebrews 11:1-16

A few interesting thoughts from various sources:

In "Spiritual Formation: Or, the Development of Faith," Glenn A. Jent (Torch Trinity Graduate School of Theology Journal, 1998) explores faith and faith/spiritual formation:

"This article is about faith--how it forms, what commitments are appropriate for specific age levels, the types of problems that may disrupt desired development, and what parents and teachers can do to have positive influence in the formation of the faith of a learner, particularly a child or adolescent."

A number of speakers at the Chicago Sunday Evening Club's 30 Good Minutes have explored this text from Hebrews:

"Trusting in God in the Days that Lie Ahead," the Rev. Dr. Tony Campolo, 2002.
"The Hope that Comes from Faith," the Rev. Dr. Tony Campolo, 1999.
"Where Is Home?" the Rev. Martin Copenhaver, 1995.
"Believing Is Seeing," Dr. R. Maurice Boyd, 1991.
"Fear Not...But Watch It!" Fr. Patrick Brennan, 1995.
Other Reflections on Faith at the Chicago Sunday Evening Club's 30 Good Minutes website.

Thoughts from Wesley White at the Kairos Co-Motion Lectionary Dialogue for Progressive Christians:

"We talk so much about faith as though it were a solid object that could be handed around for inspection and wonderment. Faith has gotten tied with results - "If only we have faith enough, everything will turn out aright." And, then, when it doesn't we redefine things so even this bad thing is part of some larger plan that we will now have faith in because we must have faith in something or fade away. Here faith is not something accomplished or justified. Here faith stands and falls in the presence of a distant vision, a far-off welcoming. It is so easy to turn faith into fact and then get trapped by the facts into needing to tell lies to reconnect these dissonances to faith. Faith is part of seeking, not its end."

From "The Heart of Faith," a 1992 sermon by Paul Nuechterlein at Girardian Reflections on the Lectionary:

"As people of faith, our text from Hebrews says that we also live by those things we cannot see. But what do [the] pictures of destruction, desolation, and suffering say about that invisible reality that lies behind this visible creation? What kind of world was created by the word of God?"

At Sarah Dylan Breuer's Dylan's Lectionary Blog:

"Having faith is not about trying to convince yourself that you are convinced of something. You don't know you have enough faith when the needle doesn't leap on a lie-detector test as you say, "My journey will birth a people, and we will have a home." You know you've got faith when, however your heart pounds as you do it and whatever fears you have, you take the next step forward into the desert. Your heart will follow your feet, and you will become more fully the person God sees as your true identity."

From Robin Griffith-Jones, Commentary for the 9th Sunday after Trinity, Church Times:

"The author describes faith. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for” (11.1): both the guarantee of God’s reward, and the steadfast endurance with which the faithful look forward to it. Faith “is the proof of things unseen”: it does not have such a proof; it provides in itself the proof of the divine realities that inspire it. How is such faith to be distinguished from credulity? Our author appeals first to believers’ confidence in the creative work of God’s word (11.3). Where in the past, then, can such legitimate faith be found? In the example of “the elders”. Our author does not assume the faith of these elders; he argues for it."

Sometimes, I wonder if "faith" isn't more recognizable in retrospect, within situations where I can convince myself that things have turned out "well", and within people/situations with which I agree. I sometimes wonder where "faith" might be and might not be, were I to look in other places in other ways...

Politics and the Pulpit

New at Sojourners: "How to Talk Politics in Church," Brian McLaren.

"You don't need to be partisan to be prophetic."

What would non-partisan politically/socially prophetic preaching even sound like? I'm not certain I've ever heard any, and I'm quite honestly confused about whether it's helpful or not helpful to preach politics. Or, if there is really any alternative. Even when one stays away from the subject, it seems difficult not to explore the themes of scripture through particular language and alliance with specific social-political groups. I'm not sure if that's positive or negative, or if/how it is both... Anyway, interesting article, which may prove both its own point and the opposite of it...