Save me Podcast Episode 3 "We are all stuck in the empty tomb"

Originally posted elsewhere on April 15.

Episode 3 of my podcast, “Save Me”. is up now. In this one I talk about
—how during the Coronavirus it’s like we are all still stuck in the tomb; —what’s up with “The People Stayed Home” poem?;
—why humanity may be better than we think;
—and why resurrection is a verb.

Plus I have my usual sarcastic/cynical sponsors that are hopefully good for a laugh
—Croaksbury Books, the on-line bookstore for mainline churches that don’t want to sacrifice or change anything
—The Mediocre Courses for white liberals who like to talk about social problems but not do anything to change them

Save me Podcast Episode 2: The Only Sermon I Want to Hear This Holy Week

Here is episode 2 of my home made, poorly produced podcast: Save Me.  It came out on April 5.

This week's episode is titled: The Sermon I Want to Hear This Holy Week. It could have some fodder here for clergy needing material for their Holy Week services. Also, It might be worth listening to by non-clergy types as well. It has some readings on it from Moltmann, Boenhoffer, David Whyte and Bill Wilson.

Sponsored by: Croaksbury Books: the online bookstore for dying mainline churches that don't want to sacrifice or change and Little Old Lady Church Secretary Dot Com.

My New Podcast "Save Me: A Failed Minister Considers the End of American Christianity" Episode 1

Originally shared elsewhere on May 26.

Since I am not serving a church right now and I am social distancing, I decided to do what I've dreamed of doing for a long time--make a podcast. It's called "Save Me Podcast," because I need saving from a whole lot of things.

The first episode is meant as an encouragement for clergy trying to minister to people during this time of social distancing. There may even be some sermon fodder here for sharing with your congregations. I hope it helps, or at least gives a chuckle to all the clergy working hard right now, when nothing is normal.

My thanks to podcast sponsors: Joseph Nightingale Inflatable Pulpits and Croaksbury Books, which provides books to dying mainline churches that don't want to sacrifice or change anything.

Sorry for the bad audio quality. As will be obvious if you listen to it, I have no idea what I am doing.

Give it a listen and let me know what you think.

A Progressive Christian Reconsiders What the Word "Witness" Means

“Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
--Luke 24:45-46 NRSV


In this resurrection story often called "Jesus appears on the road to Emmaus or something like that, after these followers realize the stranger who approached them on the road was Christ, they rush
back to Jerusalem to tell the other disciples what happened. Then Christ shows up again. Man that resurrected Christ really gets around! Christ explains things to them and says, “You are
witnesses of these things.” What things?

Growing up as a Southern Baptist, I was repeatedly taught I was to “witness” to my “un-saved” friends and to “be a good witness” to believers and non-believers alike. “Witness” as a verb
meant largely convincing others to “accept Christ as their Lord and Savior” and to pray the “Sinner’s Prayer.” I took it very seriously and learned all kinds of techniques of how to bring up
accepting Christ into each and every kind of conversation—sort of like I was a salesman for Christianity. 

“Witness” as a noun meant being a moral person, not causing others to “stumble” in their faith, and avoiding all the capital “S” sins like anything having to do with sex, drugs, alcohol, rock-n-roll, etc. My father’s generation was taught “Don’t drink. Don’t smoke. Don’t chew. And don’t go with girls who do.” My generation got updated a bit with the “drugs” and “rock-n-roll” part, I guess.
I can remember being terrified of my “un-saved” friends going to Hell and it being my fault, because I was a bad witness or I just wasn’t convincing enough in my witnessing. The problem with that kind of Christianity is it places too much responsibility on what “I” do and not enough on what God does. I didn’t understand that God was at work all kinds of ways out in the world and the eternal destination of all people wasn’t my job.

As my journey has taken me away from the conservative Christianity of my upbringing and I have served in progressive and more open-minded churches, however, I have found myself
wishing for some of that emphasis upon being “witnesses” of Christ. I have found more open-minded Christians to be so afraid of coming across as anything like the fundamentalist televangelists, who sadly present the most public face of American Christianity these days, that they offer no real “witness” at all. Too little time is spent in progressive Christianity upon one’s own experience of God and the presence of Christ in one’s life, and the result is that so many progressive churches are dying. Their churches become clubs or sites for historical preservation rather than a living community where God’s Spirit is alive and changing lives.

Karoline Lewis is a Lutheran biblical scholar (once upon a time she and I were in Ph.D. work together) and I love her writing. She says the following about Jesus’ words at the end of Luke’s gospel:

“Jesus’ address to the disciples is not, ‘you will be witnesses.’ Not, ‘please be witnesses.’ Not, ‘consider being witnesses if you have time.’ No, ‘you are witnesses of these things.’ We are
witnesses. As it turns out, witnessing is not voluntary, but a state of being.

“Of course, exactly to what things we witness requires some interpretive imagination. Perhaps ‘these things’ is the real bodily resurrection of our Lord. Perhaps ’these things’ is the content of Jesus’ own confession – the suffering of the Messiah, rising on the third day, the proclamation of repentance and forgiveness of sins. Or, perhaps ‘these things’ is the entirety of Jesus’ ministry.  After all, Jesus’ whole life was witnessing to the ‘holistic character of God’s salvation.’”

I wish the conservative younger version of myself could have come to see that being a “good witness” and “witnessing” was not about what I did, but rather about what God has done and is doing. I could have saved myself some anxiety. In the same way, I hope for my more progressive self to remember that it’s still not about what I do, but rather about what God has done and is doing. “Witness” is a state of being. My job as a Christian isn’t to “get it right” or
discover the “magic words” to teach others as a secret password into heaven. My energy should be spent slowing down, making time for prayer, ensuring there is time for awe and laughter, and
reflection upon what God is not only saying in scripture but in all creation.

During this strange time when we continue to “shelter at home,” I encourage you to do the same in whatever form that takes for you. When you and I pay attention to the presence of the Resurrected One in our lives, we can’t help but be “good witnesses,” because God will be transforming us and that will be evident to everyone around us, whether we are even aware of it.

God doesn’t need us to win arguments or convert others to our way of thinking, rather God wishes to use us as vessels of Divine Love that can’t help but create more love all around us.

Grace and Peace,
Chase

Really, Jesus? Don't worry? Really?

I don't know how you are feeling these days, but I feel a lot of anxiety right now and find myself worrying about all kinds of things.  When there is a killer virus on the loose, people are losing their jobs, the stock market is going nuts, kids are out of school and nothing is normal, I think anxiety and worry is pretty understandable.  Yet, it sure doesn't accomplish very much and it can do a lot of harm to our relationships and our souls.  Don't get me wrong, I think fear is appropriate during these times, and healthy fear can lead us to take appropriate responses, such as social distancing and wearing masks, moving our investments to less risky ones, saving money instead of spending it on the usual everyday luxuries like Starbucks and drive through fast food, educating ourselves about different types of employment and ways to keep kids learning at home.  Yet, once you've taken what steps you can, then what?  Stewing in my own juices usually seems like my go to response, but I recognize ruminating about things I have no control over results in nothing good.

I found myself thinking about Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6 regarding worry.  His words always trike me as unrealistic at first blush, but the more I realize how little control I have over the things I worry about, the more I feel like Jesus may have known what he was talking about.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today."

Really, Jesus?  I shouldn't worry about a loved one catching a deadly virus?  I shouldn't worry about how I'm going to pay the bills while I'm out of work?  I shouldn't worry about my investments when I'm retired and on a fixed income?  Really?

I suspect Jesus might ask us to consider his words: "can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?"  I don't think Jesus is saying we shouldn't do our best to prepare for life's troubles, but rather when we have done what is in our power to do and then start to worry about what is not in our control we cross a line into an unhealthy place.  When we worry about what is not in our control (which is a lot more than most of us want to admit), not only are we unable to "add a single hour" to our lives, but we may make our lives shorter due to the toll stress and anxiety takes on our bodies.  More importantly, we are distracted by focusing on what might happen, and we are not fully present for what is happening right now.  We rob ourselves and others we love of actually experiencing life together in the here and now.

After the quarantine began, I began to wake up to a strange sound in the morning--bird song!  I'm used to waking up to traffic noise humming in the background, but in these weeks I hear the birds loud and clear.  I'm more of a fan of nature than an avid naturalist.  Hiking, cycling, camping and so on seem like great things for other people to do.  (This explains my pasty skin tone.  The only tan I get is given off by the light from my phone.)  Yet, even I have been forced to notice the natural world around me in a new way as I function at a different pace of life.  I find Jesus' words, "Look at the birds of the air," have special meaning, and it makes me realize I benefit when I stop and notice the beauty of the world around me without a screen mediating it to me.

Laurie Santos, a psychology professor at Yale, began teaching a class on happiness which quickly became the most popular course at the university.  She now has a podcast called "The Happiness Lab" and an on-line course called "The Science of Well-Being" that has attracted millions.  (It's almost as if people are struggling to be happy these days!)  In a recent Washington Post interview, Santos spoke about the so-called "Three Blessings" exercise:

"This idea is so critical right now when we can easily get in the mode of, 'woe is me, everything is terrible.' Research shows that we really can benefit from counting our blessings even when it feels like there aren’t that many blessings to be counted. The simple act of scribbling down three things you’re grateful for can significantly bump your mood, in some studies as quickly as within a couple of weeks. It’s completely free. It takes five to 10 minutes a day. At the end of your day, just scribble down a few things that you’re grateful for right now."

Scientific research studies have literally shown the simple act of writing down a few blessings each day not only benefits our mood but can even change our brain activity.  As we develop habits of being conscious of the blessings in our lives, our brains begin to exponentially do more and more of the same--we become more positive in our outlook and more able to help others.  (The opposite is also true.)  It's almost like we were created with the capacity to focus on our blessings as a means of becoming more healthy people.  

Modern science is telling us what people of faith have claimed to know for millennia.  Counting our blessings is one of the best things we can do for ourselves and others, not to mention giving praise to God for our blessings is an appropriate response to our Creator.  I grew up singing the old Gospel hymn:

When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings name them one by one
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

I'm sure I long ago dismissed the words of this hymn as trite and unrealistic compared to the world's problems, but the older I get the more I hear that folksy refrain pointing me back to Jesus' words in Matthew 6.  Neither Jesus nor the hymn writer nor Laura Santos at Yale overlook the troubles of this world and the pain we face in our lives.  They simply point out that worrying about what we cannot control and focusing upon what we do not have rather than on what we do have causes our suffering to be worse.  

So, whatever your struggle during these days of "stay at home" orders and quarantine, I invite you to consider the birds of the air and the lilies of the fields.  Take time to count your blessings--even counting only three a day can literally change your brain!

Grace and Peace,

Chase

Reviving the blog during the COVID-19 Pandemic

I've used this blog on and off for over a decade now, I think.  In the era of social media, blogging makes less sense and garners less reaction.  But I'm serinv in a new church as an interim minister, and during the COVID-19 outbreak we are sending out a lot of daily e-mails with stuff from me.  I've figured I might as well post it here too, just in case somebody out there in the "series of tubes" that is the internet might find them worthwhile.

Also, About six weeks ago, I started a podcast: Save Me: A Failed Minister Considers the Decline of American Christianity.  At some point, I'll have enough money and enough listeners for that podcast to have its own web site, but I'll post stuff here too, because--why not?

Thoughts about My Church Becoming a German Beer Hall

As I write these words, Kristkindl Markt is nearly here.  By the time you read this, my church's building will be filled with hundreds, maybe thousands of visitors coming to visit our German Christmas festival.  Every year our church building is transformed into a German Christmas village with craft vendors and gingerbread houses for the kids.  Our social hall is turned into a beer hall with German food, beer (shout out to KC Bier Company) and oompah bands.  Our church has been at this for 25 years, and KKM has become a Christmastime tradition for hundreds, if not thousands, of people.  Sure, it's our church's largest fundraiser, and its a way for our folks to get to know one another working side by side to keep the beer, brats and gingerbread houses flowing, but I want to offer another reason why KKM matters this year more than ever.

I was a child when Watergate happened and Richard Nixon resigned.  By the time I even understood what had happened, it all seemed like ancient history to me.  My generation never knew life without deep cynicism in our political system, and a fractured and hyper-partisan America is all we've ever known.  The deep wounds and ramifications of that time continue to fester.  Many commentators and historians trace a line from our current impeachment drama back through Watergate and all the way back to the founding of our nation.  Whatever the outcome now, the pain of this time will reach far into the future in ways we cannot predict, just like folks in 1974 could never have envisioned where we are today.

Supposedly one should never talk about politics or religion in polite company, but in my lifetime I can't really think of a worse time to talk about either.  Up until the 2016 election, financial disagreements were the biggest cause of marriage breakups in America.  Since the election, the leading cause of relationships ending was disagreement over politics.  One polling report I found showed "one in 10 couples, married and not, have ended their relationships in a battle over political differences. For younger millennials, it's 22 percent.  And nearly one in three Americans said that political clashes over Trump have "had a negative impact on their relationship," said the report . . ."Passionately opposing points of views are not only driving wedges between strangers and even friends, but we are now seeing evidence that this dissent is having a detrimental impact on Americans' marriages and relationships."  That report was produced in 2017.  Imagine how much worse those statistics are now.

Certainly our present days offer plenty of opportunities for people of faith to take stands against racism, xenophobia, attacks on immigrants and threats to honesty itself.  Yet, I've come to believe that people of faith also can play a role in bringing disparate people together to find common ground.  I'm talking about the most basic kind of common ground--just being together int he same space while being civil to one another.

I'm not a believer in "peace and harmony" necessarily being a good thing in and of itself.  In American history, "peace" has almost always meant security for some at the cost of oppression for others.  As MLK said, "True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice."  That being said, there have to be opportunities for people to come together, share something in common and experience the common humanity in one another.   At some point, people must come out from behind their cell phones and the nastiness they spew at total strangers in order to simply remember things like empathy, connection and that simple fact that someone may look and believe things very different from you but that doesn't erase your shared humanity.   From a Christian perspective, one could say it's a chance for us to recognize the image of God in others different from ourselves and to see how Jesus' difficult teachings about loving our "enemies" can actually be made real.

Recently, I sat down for coffee with one of the sports writers for the KC Star.  He shared with me about how social media has changed his business,.  At a different time, he would maybe receive some hate mail in the literal mail or rude phone messages on his voicemail.  Now, even the most non-controversial column or story about sports results in dozens of the most grotesque, obscene and even violent tweets and comments directed at him.  (Female sports writers have it even worse!)  As we commiserated on the state of our nation's soul, he remarked that I was the one as a minister doing something about it, while he was only a sports writer.  I laughed and shared how powerless I often feel as a minister to make any perceptible difference.  It takes faith to believe what I can rarely see, namely that God's spirit is at work improving the world despite evidence to the contrary.  

I also told him that I felt he was selling himself short as a sports writer.  Although some would dismiss sports as trivial, at its best sports can bring people together to have fun and share an experience together.  Just think about the Royals World Series parade in 2015!  I told him that despite the attacks he experiences from trolls, that his public service was helping people find enjoyment in something instead of fueling the omnipresent outrage machine.  There is a reason talking sports becomes a bridge between people who have trouble communicating about anything else.  Many are the times when I couldn't talk with someone about religion or politics but we could share a smile reliving a great pass by Patrick Mahomes.

Similarly, the folks coming to KKM may come from all sides of our current partisan divide and the bad religion mixed into it all.  Yet, when they are here they get to be together, enjoy some great food and music, remember what it was like to be a child delighted by a gingerbread house and maybe even be reminded of what it means to be human.  We don't get many new members from KKM, but we get thousands of people who know our church as the place they experience a vibrant, positive, life-giving experience.  That seems pretty worthwhile to me.