The Wisdom of Kathleen Norris

This morning, I also made use of some thoughts by Kathleen Norris, specifically a chapter on faith in her book, Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith. It was from this chapter entitled "Belief, Doubt and Sacred Ambiguity" that I took my sermon title (I'm not sure if I mentioned that, so I cite my source here.)

In this book and A Cloister Walk, she details her conversion from skeptic to believer in terms that I feed deeply appealing. In the chapter I made use of today, she speaks about belief being misunderstood as referring only to what we think, when istead it should be what we think, do, feel, etc. She writes that belief is not merely intellectual rather it is incarnational--it involves all of our selves. She offers some very stirring examples of how being a part of community enabled her to overcome some of her doubts and live with others.

For me, Norris offers us the wisdom that God can transform us when we choose to be a part of a community of faith that nurtures, accepts and welcomes all. We have two copies of Norris' Amazing Grace in the church library and it's available cheap online, so pick up a copy and have a read.

Grace and Peace,

Chase

Seeds of Faith and Seeds of Doubt

This morning I preached on Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23, the parable of the sower. I have to admit that when I saw that this passage was the Gospel text for this week in the lectionary, I almost skipped it. I have heard this parable preached on so often that I thought I understood all there was to know about it and there was nothing new to say. Then I stumbled onto an article about this passage by one of my professors in graduate school--Luke Timothy Johnson. Luke is a very good man and a top-notch scholar, so I am always eager to hear his thoughts, because there are always fresh and provocative in all the right ways. In his commentary on this passage, he expressed his own doubts about God transforming the world in the face of war, greed, famine, genocide, etc. In his view, this text challenges our cynical understanding of the world and ourselves, because it asks us to believe that God really is in the process of bringing forth a bumper crop of justice, grace and compassion.

In his article, Johnson also wrote about Romans 8:18-25 where Paul speaks about the whole of creation groaning in anticipation of God's transformative power--the power to set right all that has gone wrong in the world. I decided to have that read this morning, but I did not get to it in my sermon. Johnson's article is worth a read, because he articulates the difficulty of believing in God's work of grace, while at the same time presents well the hope these texts present.

Grace and Peace,

Chase

Help Promote Spinal Cord Research

One of our members, Barb Edwards, shared in worship this morning that her daughter, Kate, is running in the Chicago marathon. She's running to raise support for the Reeve Foundation--as in Christopher Reeve--which raises money for spinal cord research. Kate's brother (and Barb and Mike's son), Alex, was paralyzed in a car accident a number of years ago, but he has gone on to an amazing career and life in spite of his injuries. If you'd like to support Kate, Alex and the many people who would benefit from this kind of research, click here.

Grace and Peace,

Chase

Quotations for Worship and Reflection

Here are some of the quotations that have made the front of the Sunday bulletin over the last few weeks:

"Two things are constantly happening in this struggle between our allegiance to God and to Caesar: first, our temptation is frequently to render to Caesar a great many things that should be rendered only to God; and second, Caesar’s temptation is always to want to be God and thereby claim our total allegiance."

--Robert McAfee Brown,
Saying Yes and Saying No:
On Rendering to God and Caesar

"Inner Strength is what is required when in the midst of turmoil we do not know what to do with our outward power and our outward might."

--Peter Gomes,
Strength for the Journey

“The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.”

--Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Books I referenced in Sunday's sermon

I mentioned two books in my sermon yesterday that helped me think about Sunday's message:

1. The American Creed: A Biography of the Declaration of Independence by Forrest Church--it increased my already considerable appreciation for this document

2. Jesus and the Victory of God by N. T. Wright--one of the better Historical Jesus books written by a first-rate scholar and a person of faith--his perspective on "render unto Caesar. . . render unto God" is what I worked from in terms of everything is God's, especially our allegiance--see Psalm 96

How Should Christians Celebrate July 4th?

I'm not sure how my sermon--"How Should Christians Celebrate the Fourth of July?"--came across yesterday. It's a difficult thing to try to communicate the tension that exists when the claims upon us made by country and the Kingdom of God do not line up. Being thankful for the freedoms--especially the freedoms to assemble, protest and worship as we wish--is different, I believe, from endorsing and agreeing with everything our country has or will do. I'd welcome any feedback by those who heard it (as I do with any sermon).

In my sermon, I talked about an article by Ted Smith, a professor at Vanderbilt Divinity School, by the same title--yes, I blatantly ripped of my sermon title from his article--where he described the different ways he has thought about the holiday at different times in his life. His article is well worth the read and I feel sure I did not do it justice. Ted and I were in grad school together, and although I haven't communicated with him since I left the program, I feel sure he is the same prodoundly decent person I knew then.

Also, I ended my sermon talking about the Alabama tax reform efforts in 2003 that were kicked off by a lawyer and seminary student who wrote an article about the state tax laws based on a biblical perspective. She found the laws to be regressive and punitive towards the poorest in the state and rewarding of the richest property interests in the state. The conservative Republican governor was persuaded by the argument and launched a campaign targeting faith groups to help get the reform passed. Unfortunately, the reform effort failed due in large part to the fierce opposition of wealthy property owners and--wait for it, wait for it--the Christian Coalition of Alabama. If you'd like to read more about this startling example of Christians selling out the poor, click here and here.

Grace and Peace,

Chase

Reflections on Royal Family Kids Camp 2008 (Dialogue Column 7.1.08)

The Dialogue is the newsletter of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in St. Joseph, MO. Often, I'll post here on the blog my columns for the weekly newsletter. I mention it just so that folks who read the snail-mail version can skip this post if they've already read it.

This marks only my second year being a part of our church’s Royal Family Kids Camp. I say “only” because for a number of FCC folks this marks their fifth, tenth or sixteenth year of being involved in this important ministry. RFKC was one of the things that attracted me to First Christian, and I continue to be deeply impacted by this ministry to abused and neglected children.

My experiences with the children of the camp are what seem to be sticking with me. These kids who have been through trauma that no one should have to experience had the opportunity at RFKC to simply be kids again. It was amazing to see the facades they presented on the first day of camp quickly fade as the week went on. Soon after arriving at camp the smiles and laughter appeared. The genius of RFKC is that a “special friend” (a caring adult) is assigned two children. That special friend remains with those children all week long giving them immediate attention and encouragement—something all of them desperately need. With this kind of care, there were many moments when the beauty inside of these children shined for all to see, just as there were moments that would break even the most jaded cynic’s heart.

Here are a few of my memories from RFKC this year:
the 12 year-old girl encouraging younger girls during game time who has bounced from one foster home to another and who should be shut off from everyone,
the 11 year-old girl who just found out that she was up for adoption, because her neglectful parents finally decided they did not want her,
the 19 year-old boy who appeared to want nothing to do with camp singing beautifully in the talent show on the last night,
the 8 year-old boy who was greeted in the church parking lot at the end of the week by a foster parent’s harsh criticism rather than a warm hug,
the two 11 year-old boys who refused to participate most of the week shedding tears as they said goodbye to the camp staff at the end of the week,
the 7 year-old boy who told me that he knew God loved him and that “we are all a part of one big family.”

I have many other memories as well, such as Bernard McMillen and Marion Kearnes as “Grandpa” and “Grandma” handing out hugs, Marilyn McMillen tending to scraped knees and stomach aches, Nancy Nichols, Dave and Lynn Tushaus, Bill Byous and Dale Slifer serving meals, Mike Edwards and Keith Evans leading crafts, as well as Ken and Sandy Hamlin keeping the whole show running. The young adults who served as special friends were amazing. In addition to all of the other credit Sandy deserves, her recrutiment of these folks every year is a substantial feat. These young adults, many of them college students, give up a week of work or leisure to spend an exhausting time with children who desperately need them. I am proud to report that our own Wil Tushaus was one of them, and he served in an admirable fashion.

We may never know what will bloom from the seeds planted at this year’s RFKC. We will have to trust God to nurture and care for whatever we were able to give these children. No matter what happens to each of them, at the very least they experienced a week where they were the center of attention in all the right ways. First Christian Church of St. Joseph, MO can be very proud of this vital ministry.

Grace and Peace,
Chase