tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29955420912978955712024-03-13T04:28:17.880-07:004th United Presbyterian Bible BlogSome words from one of the pastors at Fourth United Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.,a new church established on February 7, 2009 by the Presbytery of East Tennessee. Our church is the result of the union of 1st United Presbyterian Church (est. 1877) and 4th Presbyterian Church (est. 1886). Our building is located at the corner of Glenwood and Broadway in Knoxville, TN.Rev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.comBlogger191125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-40315798223711795952012-05-05T05:43:00.000-07:002012-05-05T05:44:29.510-07:00Words of Hope for All People from Christoph Blumhardt"Do not allow any teaching to arise other than that of salvation; otherwise the Devil will at last obtain power over us. When we give up mankind, we also give up a part of ourselves. For instance, if I think of someone else as being damned, I always feel that part of me is at the same time damned. Who can separate himself from his fellowmen? If you would once damn one another seriously, just think -- if your neighbor is to have no salvation because of his present nature, how much of your nature has also to go down into Hell? Or do you think that an exception will be made for certain people? God would not dream of that -- He is just."
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<br />Christoph Blumhardt, From Sermons and Talks from the years 1880-1888.Rev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-7522288608074950642012-05-05T05:42:00.002-07:002012-05-05T05:42:38.825-07:00Misunderstandings and UnderstandingsOften it seems like it doesn't take much to cause a misunderstanding between two people or between groups of people. Even where understanding has been the mainstay, it seems like even there, a misunderstanding can sprout up like Jack's beanstalk!
We human beings are prone to misunderstandings, but we also need understanding so badly. And, we do have the ability to understand each other, but sometimes that ability gets paralyzed by weariness in life and other burdens in our lives.
In the early church, there were very many misunderstandings, and Paul's letters reflect these situations of conflict: between members of the church at Corinth; between members of the church at Rome; between the Apostle Paul and the Apostle Peter; between the Jerusalem Apostles and Paul and Barnabas; between two church members at Phillipi.
Paul tried very hard in writing his letters to help people come to an understanding of each other by God's grace. Paul knew there are just so many factors in life that tend to make understanding fragile and difficult to sustain. But, he knew something much greater than our tendency to misunderstand each other. He had experienced the reconciling power of God's Spirit in Christ. Paul, a Jew, had not only experienced himself reconciled with God but also reconciled with people he had formerly condemned as unworthy of salvation and respect - the Gentiles.
The Spirit of Reconciliation from God stirs within us a desire to mend that which is torn, bring understanding where there is misunderstanding, and escape the confines of our own little worlds to live together in God's big world.
But, we all have our failures, and have to step back and take stock of where we are before God and with our brothers and sisters. I am doing that today. I have stepped back, hopefully out of my own limited views of things, opening myself to a larger view of others and life itself. And, I hear that advice of Paul to that church at Corinth that had so much trouble with misunderstandings and conflicts. He writes to them in the 1st Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 13:
"I will show you a still more excellent way . . . " And, he describes that way revealed in Jesus Christ, poured out upon earth through the Holy Spirit, and as Paul says: "poured out in our very hearts." Romans 5. And, Paul bears witness to something much greater than himself, much greater than his ideas, much greater than any words of inspiration. He bears witness to the love of God which is eternal, which endures, which heals, and which is shared with human creatures like you and me if we can open ourselves to its coming. Read 1 Corinthians 13 today with these thoughts in mind.
I close with a prayer of Howard Thurman:
Lord, open unto me
Open unto me — light for my darkness.
Open unto me — courage for my fear.
Open unto me — hope for my despair.
Open unto me — peace for my turmoil.
Open unto me — joy for my sorrow.
Open unto me — strength for my weakness.
Open unto me — wisdom for my confession.
Open unto me — forgiveness for my sins.
Open unto me — love for my hates.
Open unto me — thy Self for my self.
Lord, Lord, open unto me!
Amen.Rev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-76473024430079679742012-04-29T18:53:00.000-07:002012-04-30T04:48:35.997-07:00On the Outside Looking InThat 10th commandment, "You shall not covet . . . " gets to something very deep and very tragic and twisted in human beings. It really means "don't set your heart on having what is not yours to have."
Soren Kierkegaard says: "envy is admiration grown sick." It is twisted or perverted admiration. And, envy is in a sense the same thing as coveting what is not yours to have. But, coveting is a little different than envy too. Envy tends to make you angry or even hate another person who has what you want. Coveting what you yearn for and don't have can bring about envy, but it doesn't always bring about envy. Often, coveting what you yearn for and don't have brings about a negative relation internally, within the self. Instead of hating the one who has what you don't have, you turn the hatred inward despising yourself for not being able to be this, or not being able to have that. Maybe that is just hidden envy; I'm not sure.
Envy and unfulfilled yearning which are part of the same experience comes when we feel ourselves "on the outside looking in." The Indigo Girls have a song called: "Love Will Come to You" that expresses the longing of human beings for love, and the experience of being "on the outside looking in."
At one point in the song, the words are vivid: "my face pressed up against love's glass . . . to see that shiny toy I've been hoping for, the one I never can afford . . . " to express the painful experience of having the desire for intimate love awakened in the heart but never getting there in real life.
It is that haunting feeling that comes around for us that what we really long for is just out of reach. And, this feeling comes in different areas of life. In our experience with our work and careers, our experience as parents or spouses as well.
Now, I know that sometimes a deep longing is very good and ought to be nurtured even if it is not fulfilled. But, I can't help think that so many of our "deep longings" are created out of some real brokenness and twistedness inside of us. What I am talking about is the tendency of human beings to manufacture a series of dreams that are just out of reach to keep ourselves miserable and in a state of always feeling like we are on the outside looking in. Watching a movie and feeling how wonderful it must be to share a love with another like it is portrayed in the movie, while you've got somebody back in the living room who loves you and would enjoy talking with you and sharing a hug with you right now. Not enjoying the nice place to live that we have because it's not as big and expensive a place as the family next door. Not appreciating the healthy body we have because we don't quite meet the standards for Miss or Mr. Universe. Not appreciating the good job we have because we weren't able to get that promotion we had hoped for.
Maybe when we feel like we are on the outside looking in, we ought to take some time to look inside of ourselves. The true longing of human beings is not to live up to some standard in the world outside of us, but to conform ourselves to a mystery deep within us. Now, with regard to that mystery, we may be "on the outside looking in."Rev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-54570998147205812452012-04-20T04:39:00.002-07:002012-04-20T04:50:12.548-07:00Struggling Towards Understanding at Bible StudyWe have been having evening Bible Study in our congregation for about the last 13 or 14 years. At first we had it on Tuesdays, and then we moved it to Mondays, and then we finally settled on Thursdays. The change was always because of my work schedule it seems. But, over the years, we have looked at all kinds of passages of scripture, and raised all sorts of issues in our discussions. But, one thing has happened consistently in our Bible Study - at some point, someone asks a question that really matters to them about how to life a faithful life in the middle of all the real challenges of life. And, the group joins in, starting to ask the same question or ask it out loud in a little bit of a different way. And, we share experiences: often funny, some sad, some with a touch of anger still, and some full of insight and hope. But, in contrast to almost every group discussion I have been a part of in my life, there is no competition involved. There is no one trying to "one-up" the last speaker. I have never seen or been a part of anything like it. And, time after time, when I have been about ready "to throw in the towel" in life, I come away from these Bible studies refreshed and ready to try again.<br /><br />There is a level of honesty about the struggle to live in faith that just cuts right to my heart each time. <br /><br />It is like we become one in this thinking out loud that we do, in this sharing of life through words and laughter and stories and questions and attempts at answers. And, we never know where the real helpful word will come from. But, it comes. Whereever two or three are gathered in this Spirit, the Word comes, the Word made flesh.Rev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-71895812334828217832012-04-19T12:40:00.002-07:002012-04-19T12:44:06.190-07:00First Samuel, Chapter 8 - A SermonThe prophet Samuel was the greatest prophet in Israel since Moses. Between Moses and Samuel, there were prophets but none of them had that sense of being the one through whom God guided his people of Israel.<br /> <br />We hear that Samuel was born after the prayer of his mother, Hannah, was answered. Hannah, who was one of two wives of Samuel’s father, had never been able to have children. But, she prayed and prayed, even weeping as she was praying at the temple one day. And, the head priest Eli saw her and thought she was drunk. He said: “Woman,put away your wine.” Then, she said: “I am not drunk. I am praying with all my heart because my heart is deeply wounded.” Then, Eli felt pretty awful I think about what he had said to her because he was deep down a good priest. And, he said, “Woman, whatever your prayer is, may it be granted by God.” And, the answer to that prayer was a little boy born to Hannah. Hannah promised God that she would dedicate him to serve as a priest of the Lord with Eli. And, after the boy was weaned – probably not til 4 or 5 years old, she may have delayed the weaning a bit too. But, eventually she took the little fellow to Eli, with a little priest’s robe she had made and left him there. And, so Eli trained him up to be a priest.<br /><br />Eli had two grown sons, but they were rotten, taking bribes, sleeping with prostitutes at the temple, etc. I always feel like Eli saw in Samuel a chance to amend his mistakes in raising his own sons. And, apparently, Eli did a great job with Samuel, because he grew up to be a great judge and priest over Israel.<br /><br />But, now we pick up in our history towards the end of Samuel’s life. It says:<br />The elders called a meeting, because Samuel was old, he had appointed his sons to serve as prients, and his sons did not walk in his ways. They said: “appoint us a king, so we can be like the other nations.” This struck a nerve deep in Samuel, who had been raised on the prophecies of Moses. Moses had warned against having a king, because a king would oppress his own people.<br /><br />And, according to our scripture, this desire to have a king among the people of Israel, struck a nerve deep in the heart of God. But, God says to Samuel: “They have not rejected you, but have rejected me from being their king.” But, go, do what they want you to do, but first warn them about what having a king will be like.”<br />The first time I really read this passage, I did a double-take. What? God doesn’t want them to have a king, but God is going to give them a king? And, Samuel seems to have felt that way too.<br /> <br />I think we see here some of the mystery of God’s relationship to human beings. God’s will was that Israel be led by a prophet, one who listened for and spoke the Word of God. Before Samuel the Word of the Lord was said to be rare in Israel, but with Samuel, the Word of God came to Israel again. The real crisis involved in Samuel being near death was that the Word of the Lord would have no one to receive it and pass it on. Israel would be without a prophet, without one to receive the Word for them and speak it to them. They would be without the Word of the Lord.<br />If Samuel’s sons were all they had as priests over Israel, the Word of the Lord would depart from the worship and governance of Israel, at least in so far as it was presided over by Joel and Abijah. But, if a king was appointed, it would reveal Israel’s rebellion against the Word of the Lord, because the Word of the Lord comes to prophets, not kings.<br /><br />I imagine this conversation between God and Samuel:<br />“Look, Samuel, you have been just as bad a father as Eli was to his sons. But, he was a good father to you. Could you not have learned something from all this?” Now, you put me in a hard place as you have left Israel in a hard place, because your sons are rotten – really rotten to the core. Do you have any replacements to suggest? Is there a true prophet hiding out somewhere that you haven’t told me about?”<br /><br />Samuel just says: “O Lord, I was going to ask you the same thing.”<br />God replies: “The answer is ‘no.’ You are the true prophet of Israel, but your days are numbered. Go and appoint them a king!"<br /> <br />Samuel: “This is not exactly how I envisioned my life coming to an end. Having to appoint a king that will oppress the people, and leaving Israel without a man of God to hear and speak the Word of the Lord.”<br /><br />God: “Well, Samuel, this is not exactly how I envisioned the history of my people, but I do thank you for your service. You have been a good prophet. So, finish your task. Your task is not to dictate to me, but to obey me, even when it is unpleasant. I have shared with you that this is unpleasant to me as well. That should be enough for you. And, who knows what will happen in Israel before you die. I always think of something good.”<br /><br />Samuel: “Yes, you do, Lord. You never give up. I don’t know why, but you never give up. Thank you, Lord. I will go and do as you have asked me.”<br /> <br />And, Samuel in obedience to God appointed Saul as king over Israel, and Saul led them in their battles and for most of his reign Israel got the upper hand over their enemies, but Saul had trouble knowing how to obey the Word of the Lord that came through Samuel, the prophet. Saul would seem to do pretty well, but then he just couldn’t get things right with God or with the prophet, Samuel. In time, God rejected Saul as king over Israel. Samuel had a hard time accepting this as well, but he spoke the Word of the Lord. And, after Samuel grieved Saul’s rejection, God called Samuel to get up and anoint a king of God’s own choosing – a king who would follow God with his heart. And, Samuel went and anointed David, a young shepherd, the seventh son of Jesse.<br /> <br />The prophet Samuel was near to the doings of God. He was involved in the working out of God’s plans and responses to human beings in those days of Israel. It was a great and sacred task to partake in holy things like this. But, it was very difficult on Samuel, who had to take actions he didn’t really want to take: anoint Saul as king when the prophet knew God had never wanted a king but was simply allowing this rebellion in Israel. And, it was hard on Samuel to then pronounce and carry out the rejection of Saul as king when it was time for that. God had led him to anoint Saul, but that action was now put into question by God telling Samuel that Saul was rejected as king.<br /> <br />None of us have been where Samuel was. None of us has shared a conversation quite like that with God, or at least not at that level.<br /><br />But, then again, maybe we have been where Samuel was in some ways. If you been in thought or prayer before God, you may have wondered as Samuel wondered: “Why does this go on that is against your ways, O God? Why does this horrible situation or condition or injustice or suffering continue when it is not really what you want for human beings? O,God why do you allow a person to just throw their life away when you have created them to live fully and to rejoice in you?”<br /><br />Samuel wondered why God would let Israel become like other nations and have a king to rule over them. Samuel may have also wondered how God could let Samuel’s sons become so corrupt, even as Samuel begged in many prayers that they would turn around and walk in his ways.<br /> <br />God may have wondered why Samuel didn’t take more time to prepare his sons, and why Samuel was so ineffective in training them to be priests. Of course, God didn’t have to wonder. He knew. Because God knows that we human beings fall short of the glory of God, which is to say most all of us are really underachievers in a profoundly tragic sense.<br /><br />And, then we turn around and blame our sorry state of affairs on God, not realizing we have put God in an almost impossible position as we are generally proud of what we should be ashamed of and ashamed of what we should be proud of. Yes, God has had a difficult time dealing with a mixed up human race: so much good about us all, and then so much that is twisted and destructive. But, God has never given up. God has continued to come up with a new plan of saving again and again.<br /> <br />But, it is hard to save someone who is bent on their own self-destruction. That was God’s struggle with Israel. The Israelites so often bought into the success strategies of the Canaanite culture. They tried to get along and worship the gods of the Canaanites. They tried to fit in and not stand out, so they could go along and get along with other peoples. But, the Israelites were always putting themselves in the hands of other rulers, other religions, and being abused and oppressed. Only God would protect them – in a sense and most importantly, only God could protect them from themselves.<br /><br />But, God’s ways are not our ways. He comes over our way a long way to understand and help us understand. If it had been a human ruler in charge, when Israel asked for a king, the human ruler would have just said no and punished those who asked. But, God was in charge who understands things that are very deeply a part of human life and understands things too deep for us to grasp about how the Divine works out his will in history. God basically said: “I don’t want you to have a king, but I’ll let you have a king. I am warning you of the problems of having a king.” And, God did not give up on redeeming his people. God goes farther than we are willing to go with people; God gets dirty in the mess of history and rules from within it. And, God, sometimes sooner, and sometimes later, comes out with the victory – a victory God can share to bless others.<br /> <br />God could have a victory immediately back then, I suppose, if he were a different kind of God. If God was really like a king, he could have just made the rules and punished those who disobeyed. But, history shows that though God has brought punishments, that is not God’s chosen way of governing humans in this world. If God was not really after a victory he could share with us, then his course would be an easy one in life. But, God will not be victorious and let the world fall into destruction. God has always wanted a victory for humanity,not one against humanity. And,this takes wisdom, and perserverence, and a love that cannot be defeated by all the forces of resistance and evil among us and among creation itself.<br /> <br />Scripture presents God as a Warrior often in the Old Testament, and at a few points in the New Testament as well. This is a powerful and important image of God. For, God is a warrior for the body and soul of every human being on this earth. And, God goes to battle again and again against the powers of evil that twist and destroy human life; he goes to battle to save the bodies and souls of human beings. And, God gets bloodied in the process. Isn’t that the meaning of the cross? God will go so far to save that he will not spare his own Son, his own Being from being beaten and mocked and executed on a cross of wood?<br /> <br />Remember our God whom we love: he is the God who leaves behind the safety of heaven and comes down to do battle for the lives of human beings right here on earth. And, our Dear and Holy and Good God suffers in the process. We know this from that cross of wood that once stood on Golgatha, with the Son of God hanging on it. We know this from the thanksgiving that wells up in our hearts. And, we know that the suffering of God is a redemptive suffering. When God suffers, redemption and salvation come into the world, into our lives, into those places in which God suffers.<br /> <br />O, God, how can you have allowed yourself to get so drawn into and mixed up in the affairs of humanity? How can you who are holy have taken on the burdens of human beings like us, who are unholy? We have put you in so many difficult situations again and again. You could have given us up. It seems to us you should have given us up. How can we be worth all the struggle it takes to redeem?<br /> <br />Your Love remains the only answer we can find, and Your Love is a mystery far beyond our imagining and greatest hopes. Whatever we seem to ourselves and others, O Lord, we are above all loved by you. Whatever our neighbor seems to us or herself, she is above all loved by you.<br /> <br />Why have you become so involved and burdened with human affairs? Because of your love. Because of your love. Because of your love, we live and move and have our being. Because of your love, we stand up as we hear your pardon. Because of your love, we live on when we feel no reason for living. Because of your love, we love even when hated by others. Because of your love, you chose a king after your own heart, even if having a king wasn’t your idea in the first place. Because of your love, the world exists. Because of your love, Samuel kept on speaking your Word of Truth. Because of your love, we got up this morning. Because of your love. Because of your love. As loveless as we are at times, we love, yes, we love, because of your love. Amen.Rev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-15198584793657433992012-04-19T12:07:00.001-07:002012-04-19T12:08:56.146-07:00Bible Study Thursday, April 19 at 6 p.m.BIBLE STUDY IN DOWNSTAIRS FELLOWSHIP HALL TONIGHT (THURSDAY, APRIL 19) AT 6 P.M.<br /><br />REVELATION CHAPTERS 5-10Rev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-75693691694505795012012-03-29T05:41:00.004-07:002012-04-15T18:57:36.890-07:00The Great DivideThere is one great divide in reality between the One who alone is holy and in harmony with all of non-human creation, and then there is the human race which has in the main lost its holiness and wanders through the creation trying to find its way. But, instead of separating from us, the Holy Creator has chosen to wander with us in our flesh, struggling with us, to help us find the way back to a good and holy identity.<br /><br />We humans are in solidarity with each other in this lostness. Even when we come to some sense of who God is and how good God is, we still participate in lostness even as we get some glimpses of how things really are, who we really are, who our fellow creatures really are.<br /><br />Faith means to live on the basis of these glimpses, to live by faith and not by sight. Whenever some one comes to the point of acting as if they are not just living on the basis of these glimpses of the Divine, but somehow living as if they have God in focus continually, I begin to wonder if we are talking about the same faith. Paul said: "now we see in a mirror dimly . . . " He is also the one who said: "we walk by faith and not by sight."Rev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-29721566368058341272012-03-22T10:44:00.003-07:002012-03-22T10:53:28.624-07:00WORDS FROM CHRISTOPH BLUMHARDTWhen we come to faith and trust in God, then God becomes able to work with us, to do something with us. But, that is only the beginning.<br /><br />Blumhardt writes: "We must not be so stupid as to think, as so many evangelical Christians do, that God will never concern himself with our sins. We are not righteous in the sense that God will no longer reprove what is sinful, but only that God is now satisfied regarding our attitude. Now it is possible to do something with the person. Such a good-for-nothing cannot be left in his present state."<br /><br />Faith has often been presented as the end of God's work of salvation in a human being when in fact it is the beginning. Faith is not something we arrive at once and for all that makes us "saved." It is a gift of a living relationship to God and it is in the context of that living relationship that we experience the saving presence of God with us, through us, around us, through others to us again and again.Rev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-67419249259778179162012-03-22T10:36:00.001-07:002012-03-22T10:38:27.071-07:00Maundy Thursday Service at 4th United Presbyterian on April 5, 6:30 p.m.<strong>FOURTH UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AND CENTRAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH WILL JOIN TOGETHER IN OUR SANCTUARY ON APRIL 5 AT 6:30 P.M. FOR WORSHIP ON MAUNDY THURSDAY.</strong>Rev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-71534258278156060132012-03-21T11:17:00.002-07:002012-03-21T11:21:26.838-07:00Bible Study this Thursday at 6 p.m. on Revelation, Chapters 1-3Bible Study meets this Thursday, March 22, at 6 p.m. in the downstairs fellowship hall. We will be studying the first three chapters of the Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible.Rev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-47918617542602847592012-03-16T03:33:00.002-07:002012-03-16T03:44:07.018-07:00Happiness and Faith: part oneIf any of you have been is ear shot of my recent sermons, you will know that I have been preaching on what might be called the "darker side" of faith. Of course, the Bible itself is partly to blame for this, especially the New Testament emphasis on the crucified Jesus and the cross as a focus of Christian experience. Nonetheless, I do feel like we need to hear the whole message of the Gospel, which includes deliverances and celebrations. Our bibles also point us to the beauty and goodness of life in this world as well as the struggle of it. <br /><br />And, thankfully, we have had the preaching of Rev. Peterson which has put some emphasis on the goodness of creation and focused our attention on being part of this ongoing and wonderful creation of God's.<br /><br />What I am thinking about now as I write is "happiness" and where our desire for happiness is in this life of faith. Isn't it important to be happy in life? Surely faith cares about that.<br /><br />As I think on this, I think about how the New Testament describes Jesus' life. And, I conclude that Jesus seemed to have been both happier and sadder than about anyone else. Now, I know that we don't have many biographical details of Jesus' life; we certainly don't have an autobiography from Jesus. But, there is strong evidence from scripture that he was deeply moved in both directions - both joy and sorrow - in this life. I will continue this on the next post.Rev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-31537742247599471152012-03-01T08:21:00.004-08:002012-03-02T10:39:36.875-08:00My First Lenten Vow: What I Am Giving UpMY FIRST LENTEN VOW<br /><br /> As we begin this season of Lent, I wanted to share with you a few thoughts about what it means to observe Lent in the Christian tradition. First, I was raised in a Southern Presbyterian Church (PCUS), and we did not observe the Church Calendar, and so did not celebrate Lent. I thought that was something only Catholics or Episcopalians did.<br /><br /> Even though I have given some attention to the Church Calendar as an ordained minister in the PCUSA over the past 22 plus years, I had never been part of an Ash Wednesday Service until we celebrated with Central United Methodist in 2010. I had always heard about people giving up chocolate or soft drinks or beer or tv or something like that for Lent. I had started thinking about Lent seriously a few years ago at First United when we discussed Lent and talked about what it might mean for each of us personally to observe Lent.<br /><br /> I have always been repelled by the idea of “giving up” this or that. Maybe that’s because I just don’t have much will power to not do something I enjoy doing. But, something about giving up things never caught on with me. For me, it is almost as if deciding to give something up causes me to want it even more. So, no I have never given anything up for Lent. Well, until this year, and you are not going to be too impressed about what I am giving up.<br /><br /> It was the day before Ash Wednesday this year, and I had gone back and forth with the Blount County Sheriff’s Department about why my client was still being held in jail even though the Judge had ordered her release. Turns out someone in the clerk's office hadn't sent the release order down to the jail. And, about 4 p.m. that afternoon, it came to me out of the blue: “I am going to give up ‘being nice’ for Lent.” I said it out loud, one of our legal secretaries laughed, and then I said it again with some real conviction and smiled.<br /> <br />Now, I know it might sound bad for a minister like me to say that, but the more I thought about it, the more firm I was in taking my first Lenten vow of my life. Maybe what I really liked about this vow was that if I failed in it, it wouldn’t be so bad. Being nice, after all, isn’t a sin, is it? But, there was something deeper in this thought and in this resolution. It was about committing myself to truth and doing what was right more than worrying over whether others liked me or were happy with me.<br /> <br />As a lawyer who represents poor people charged with crimes, I am forever “being nice” with D.A.s and Judges to get the best deal I can for my clients. Every once in a while, the process becomes openly adversarial, but most of the time, it is a matter of using your wits to get a deal. So, I have had it “up to here” by the time I get home each day with ‘being nice’ to people who I am really not very happy with. I am ‘being nice’ because it is part of thinking about my client’s interests, not my own.<br /><br />But, there is a time and place for all that being nice stuff. But, there is also a way to be decent without worrying too much about keeping everyone happy. There is even a place for that in law practice. If you don’t pay enough attention to your need to tell the truth or at least your need to stop covering up the truth, then a couple of bad things can happen to you personally: you can explode on someone, often the person least deserving of it; you can become a dishonest person and lose a real taste for what is honest and true.<br /><br />So, yes, with all that said, I have given up being nice in the sense that I have chosen to value honesty and truth above keeping others happy with me. I’ll see how it goes. So far, it is going pretty well both in court and out. If I speak the truth too plainly in court one day and get thrown in jail, could you ask session to approve a fundraiser for my bond?<br /><br /> Rev. George H. WatersRev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-12769874382923771592012-03-01T06:14:00.001-08:002012-03-02T05:34:49.713-08:00Some Thoughts About Nietzsche, Church and Honesty of Mind“It is not a matter of going ahead (-for then one is at best a herdsman, i.e., the herd’s chief requirement) but of being able to go it alone, of being able to be different.”<br /> <br />- Friedrich Nietzsche, 1887<br /><br />Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher who wrote most of his major works in the 1870’s and 1880’s. He died in 1900.<br /> <br />Nietzsche was the son of a Lutheran pastor, the only son with several sisters. As Nietzsche grew into his own as a thinker and writer, he struck out in an independent direction as a philosopher. He revolted against both the prevailing philosophy and theology of his day.<br /><br />At the very center of Nietzsche’s philosophy of life was the rejection of Christian morality. He regarded Christian morality as slave morality, not a morality fit for free, self-determining human beings.<br /><br />Nietzsche once said: “There was only one true Christian and he died on a cross.”<br />He called Christianity an unnatural morality born of the resentment of those who were weak in mind and body . . . those who despised life and despised the strong who were able to embrace and celebrate life. Nietzsche thought that at the very bottom Christianity taught a person to think: “I am not worth much,” and then translate that value judgment into a religious/moral judgment: “I am guilty; I am a sinner.” Nietzsche says that human beings then decide they would rather consider themselves guilty than feel bad for no reason at all.<br /><br />So, for Nietzsche, Christianity creates the miserable condition of the individual and then purports to offer salvation from the darkness through the offer of forgiveness and faith. Christianity is a religion that promotes, even creates guilt in the individual conscience, and then promises relief with the “Gospel.” Nietzsche apparently found that the cure was just as bad as the disease.<br />A Christian might wonder: “How does this atheistic philosopher know anything about faith?”<br /><br />But, it is worth remembering that Nietzsche grew up in a Lutheran household (Lutherans are a lot like us Presbyterians except they have Octoberfest). Nietzsche grew up as a preacher’s kid, and had come to the conclusion from his experience that all Christianity offered him was guilt and the feeling that any effort to embrace and celebrate his strengths was a sin. He felt that to live fully and to be who he felt destined to be he had to renounce the Christian faith.<br /><br />There is something that I have always liked about Nietzsche since I first read him in college . . . unlike other philosophers who dismiss God and faith or criticize Christianity and then move on to other topics, Nietzsche couldn’t move on. He was, in a sense, obsessed with arguing against Christianity. He has been described by one scholar as an “anti-Christian.” Nietzsche’s work cannot be understood without understanding its relation to Christianity.<br /><br />Surely, Nietzsche had experienced the teaching and authority of the church. He was a preacher’s son, and at one time, he had probably taken this religious faith very seriously. And, in time, he had found that faith as he experienced it made him feel like he was nothing. And, Nietzsche knew deep down that he was really something, and he was.<br /><br />So, he looked for something else to base his life on . . and that something else for him was his will to live, his will to think, to claim space for himself in the world. Nietzsche said once: “The real thing is not so much that you move forward, but that you learn to go it alone, that you have the strength to be different.” <br />I think that Nietzsche could never forget Christianity, because it raised his hopes so much and then disappointed those hopes so badly. Nietzsche is the one who said: “There was only one Christian and he died on the cross.” He seemed to have a deep respect for Jesus, and no respect for his followers. You might say, ‘the man Jesus, his teachings, the reports about him in Scripture raised Nietzsche’s hope, and the faith of the Church disappointed and crushed his hope.’ At least that’s what I think.<br /><br />As we look back through history, if we are honest, we see that the Church has broken the faith and hearts of some very special individuals. Galileo was considered a heretic because he spoke the truth that the earth orbited around the sun, not otherwise. Origen, the great theologian of the 2nd century was branded a heretic, because his hope was too great, his mind too high. Charles Darwin was a son of the Church whose desire for truth and his desire to reconcile his scientific studies with his faith was disregarded by the Church of his day. And, Friedrich Nietzsche, who I believed yearned for something much more pure and life-affirming than the gospel being preached in his day, was given nothing but falsehood from a religious culture that was as afraid of Jesus truth as they were of Nietzsche’s criticism.<br />There are many people in our time who yearn for truth, the truth of God, but have found falsehood in the Church. They have found a church unwilling to deal with scientific truth, a church that can’t deal with evidence from neuroscientific studies about sexual orientation. They have found a church that dismisses those who have a real desire for intellectual honesty.<br /><br />The doctrine of Biblical Innerancy stands as a cloud over our efforts to deal honestly with each other in faith. The teaching of a type of Creationism in churches that dismisses the great service offered the world by Charles Darwin is also a sad sign for the wider church.<br /><br />We do not need to continue a tradition of intellectual dishonesty, but let me change that language a little bit. Intellectual dishonesty sounds a little too removed and fancy. What I am talking about is having lazy minds, dishonoring the God who gave us our minds, and lying about the way things are. That’s what I mean about the tradition of intellectual dishonesty in the Church. And, it is continued by people like Rick Santorum who doesn’t like the fact that a good number of us in the Church don’t think we have to check our minds at the door before we come to worship or Bible Study.<br /> <br />Martin Luther King, Jr. was a liberal Christian. He studied religion as a man of faith, and he studied it from within the academic tradition as well. He appreciated what he learned about how the Bible was formed. He wasn’t afraid of the truth of science, but found it liberating.<br /><br />Of course, human science is limited as is inquiry in other areas, and when we think science is going to resolve all our problems, we show that we don’t understand the limits of science. And, human science itself can get arrogant and think that truth is limited to what science can demonstrate empirically. But, in our day, science is much more humble than it was when I was growing up. And, a real dialogue is possible in our time between scientists and theologians.<br /> <br />When we are ready to be honest and ready to really think and discuss openly in our churches – then, maybe people who value real questions, real discussions . . . then maybe people who value real learning and honesty of both the heart and the mind will find their way back into our fellowship in the Church.<br /><br />We ought to repent during Lent as Christians because of all the good, even brilliant people we have destroyed over time with our dogma, with our lack of imagination and our lack of appreciation of the gifts God has bestowed on many human beings and with our refusal to really investigate and seek the truth no matter what it costs.Rev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-62873441307279425932012-02-28T13:17:00.002-08:002012-02-28T13:20:58.866-08:00Prayer from Marthin Luther King, Jr. Day Luncheon in Knoxville, 2012O God of all people, Master of the Universe, Creator and Sustainer of all life:<br /><br />We give you thanks this day for our lives, and for the lives of those who have gone before us. We give you thanks for the courageous and faithful struggle of those who have gone before us. We give you thanks that they have borne the burden in the heat of the day. We acknowledge gratefully that we stand on their shoulders or we do not stand at all.<br /><br />And, we pray, O God, for a renewed spirit among us to root out injustice in our own hearts and in the heart of our society. Let there be peace on earth, O Lord, and let it begin with me. Amen.Rev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-77861773456624778982012-02-23T08:23:00.001-08:002012-02-23T08:24:49.103-08:00God and the Bible<strong>Someone asked me once why I say: “Listen now for the Word of the Lord,” right before I read from the Bible in worship instead of saying: “Listen now to the Word of the Lord.”</strong> First of all, the Holy Scriptures, written by human beings, are inspired by God, preserved in the providence of God, and understood by those who are filled with the Holy Spirit of God. The Bible is holy ground, and when we walk on this ground we should do so with fear and trembling waiting for God to speak, praying for the Spirit to bless us. So, I believe that whenever the Bible is read and interpreted, then God’s Word may be spoken and heard. But, it may not be. There is no other book that is this holy ground, and there is no other book which is the authoritative witness to God’s truth and work in this world. As I understand the Bible, it refers to Jesus as the Word of God. I cannot affirm that the Holy Scriptures are somehow equal in authority to the living Word, the Son of God. The Holy Scriptures are the witness to God’s revelation of himself in history, which is only made plain in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Bible shows that God gives of himself to redeem the world, going so far as to give his only Son on the cross to save the world. The scriptures bear witness to this glorious history, and reveal to us the living God, who guides us, judges us, heals us and saves us. The scriptures are that holy ground where we lose our footing and God questions us and we are called upon to answer. I fear that those who fail to distinguish the holy ground from the Holy One do so in order to escape the rule of God. I fear that those who call the Bible “God’s Word,” think that they have got God in a book, and can then utilize “God,” for their purposes. This book, which is meant to humble us before God and our neighbors then becomes a weapon to wield against the movement of God’s Spirit and our neighbors who disagree with us. Hence, God inspired the scriptures as a means of grace and freedom and humans often twist this by turning the scriptures into a means of condemnation, bitterness and division.Rev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-60477235287392552322012-02-12T16:04:00.000-08:002012-02-12T16:07:18.607-08:00Concert at 4th United Presbyterian on Feb. 19, 2012 at 2 p.m. to Benefit Casa De Sarah School in BoliviaCONCERT FEATURING LOCAL MUSICIANS AT 4TH UNITED PRESBYTERIAN ON THE CORNER OF GLENWOOD AND BROADWAY, 1323 N. BROADWAY, KNOXVILLE. TICKETS ARE $10 NOW (CALL 522-1437).Rev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-72240382085350238652012-02-12T15:58:00.000-08:002012-02-12T16:03:08.314-08:00Book I Referred to Today, Feb. 12, in SermonThe book is <strong>Willow Weep For Me</strong>: A Black Woman's Journey Through Depression,by Meri Nana-Ama Danquah, published in 1999/<br /><br />As she begins to tell her story, Ms. Danquah writes: "What I can recall is that my life disintegrated; first, into a strange and terrifying space of sadness and then, into a cobweb of fatigue. I gradually lost my ability to function. It would take me hours to get out of bed, get bathed, put clothes on. By the time I was fully dressed, it was well into the afternoon . . . "Rev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-73682345366386444182011-11-25T08:27:00.000-08:002011-11-25T08:28:14.836-08:00As We Begin Celebrating Advent . . .As we begin celebrating Advent this year, I want to wish everyone the peace and purpose of God’s Coming in Jesus, the Christ. The people of Israel labored long and hard in the hope for the coming of the Christ of God, who would save his people from their sins and from their worldly oppressors. On the eighth day of his life, the Christ child was brought to the old Jewish prophet, Simeon, and the old prophet who held the child in his arms rejoiced: “Lord, lettest now thy servant depart in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light of salvation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people, Israel!” Luke 2:29-32. It is in this spirit of celebration of the gift of God for all people that I enter into this Advent season.<br /><br />As we celebrate Advent, I ask that we understand ourselves in a holy relationship to both the universal Church and to all humanity, those who affirm Christian faith and those who do not. Our identity as Christians and as humans arises from the same source: Jesus, the revealer of God’s self: the source of our faith and the source of our true humanity. It is good to remind ourselves at this time of year that Jesus came in the will of God to restore all of us to our true humanity, our God-intended humanity. The Church is a means to that end, just as Israel was meant to be a means to the end of blessing all the earth with God’s glory and redemption. Being a Christian is not the goal, it is the means towards the greater goal of being a true human and thus honoring the One who created us to this high purpose and for unity with God and each other.<br /><br />Jesus’ way is truly God’s way. Jesus’ truth is God’s truth. Jesus came in the will and the love of God to save, not to condemn the earth and all its creatures. The Church was given birth by the outpouring of God’s Spirit in this way that Jesus had pioneered on earth: a way of obedience to God, a way of love of God and neighbor that was stronger than all powers of evil that twist and destroy human beings and the created order. But, the path of life, the holy way of God is always Jesus’ way, under Jesus’ lordship, and so long as the Church follows in this way of Jesus, the way of the Church is holy, and good and life-giving. But, when the Church, or wings of the Church begin to honor creeds and traditions and human-centered salvation formulas and secular authority and ecclesiastical hierarchies above God’s way in Jesus, then the Church does not become the means to salvation, but can even become a hindrance to receiving the truth of the Gospel.<br /><br />As a church, we must resist the temptation to substitute our ways for God’s ways. We must resist the temptation to become another self-serving religious institution. We want to break through sin to become witnesses to the Living God of Jesus, the Christ of all the world. We want to break through sin to become brothers and sisters with all human beings, not just friendly with those we are comfortable with. Yes, we are in a deep and holy relationship with all the churches of the world who raise the name of Father, Son and Holy Ghost in praise, but we are also in a deep and holy relationship with all human beings whom God has claimed as his own through the death of Jesus, the Christ. We join ourselves with the churches of this world seeking to be a means for the salvation of all people. The goal is that the true humanity revealed in Jesus become the inheritance of all people. As we see human beings reflecting that true humanity that we have come to know in Jesus, we rejoice and thank God. Sometimes, we see that true humanity reflected in the lives of people who have never become part of the Church, but seem to us to be walking in the way of the Lord of the Church, Jesus. And, we remember that our primary allegiance is to God and his way in Jesus, not to the Church. We remember that the Church stands under God’s judgment, seeking to resist those sins of arrogance and selfishness and cowardice that have so crippled the ministries of the Church through the centuries. We remember that the repentant Church has always received forgiveness and healing and courage and joy to love the world as God loves the world, to help the world with a courage and an integrity and a persistence that is beyond our imagination.<br /><br />It is in this hope that I celebrate the Coming of our Lord, and anticipate the fulfillment of the great hope of all the ages: the Coming of God’s Kingdom, that day when God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.Rev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-63037618079130150412011-11-19T08:30:00.000-08:002011-11-19T08:32:55.334-08:00The Movement of the Spirit and the Expansion of the HeartIn the Acts of the Apostles, Luke describes for us some remarkable events in the early days of the Church. Although the Book is called the Acts of the Apostles, the acts of the Apostles are in response the Acts of God’s Spirit.<br /> <br />In chapter 1 we hear that Jesus told the disciples to wait expectantly for the coming of the Holy Spirit. In chapter 2 of Acts, we hear of the rushing wind and tongues of fire that came upon the believers that were gathered. Then, we hear that Peter is inspired by this Spirit to preach the gospel, and that those who hear are cut to the heart and turned to praise and believe in God’s way in Jesus. And, as the Acts of the Apostles continues, we hear of Stephen and then of Phillip who was in the Spirit preaching and baptizing stretching the definition of who belongs in the community of faith.<br /> <br />And, then we find that the zealous persecutor of the Church, Saul is called by Jesus to become an apostle of the Church.<br /> <br />It is the initiative of God that we hear about in the early Church. That is what is really distinctive about this new movement that they called THE WAY. It is not driven by human traditions and authorities, but by God’s Spirit that shows THE WAY. <br />Peter was learning something about this WAY a day at a time too. And, Peter is explaining to the Gentiles and Jews what this WAY is all about.<br /><br />In Acts 10:34 we hear: “And Peter opened his mouth and said: ‘Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but finds acceptable those people in every nation who fear God and do what is right.”<br /><br />These are amazing words coming from the mouth of a son of Israel, who had been raised on the Holy Scriptures and on the holy traditions of Israel which have taught him over and over that Israel was chosen by God to be a separate people favored by God. In Deuteronomy, we hear that Moses calls the Israelites to come out from the gentiles and be a separate people, to remain a peculiar people with distinctive customs and a distinctive identity.<br /> <br />But, Peter is dealing with what God is doing in the present through the Holy Spirit, and God is showing Peter something new that has never been seen before.<br />And, Peter is having to figure out what it means to be a Jew who follows this way of Jesus. Peter is starting to figure out what it means to be a Jew who is part of a holy community that includes gentiles just as well as Jews.<br /><br />Being a part of this Spirit led community really does cause a person to struggle with the roots of his or her own identity.<br /> <br />Gentiles were blessed when they heard the inspired words of a Jew, so these gentiles who formerly despised Jews came to give thanks to God for giving to the Jewish apostles a living word to preach. And, Jews who formerly thought gentiles were inferior, morally and spiritually, were amazed as they saw that God was blessing the gentiles with the gift of the Holy Spirit.<br /> <br />Our scripture says: “And, the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the gentiles.” The Jews had been celebrating the pouring out of God’s Spirit on the Jewish believers gathered at Pentacost, surely they rejoiced as the read the passage from Joel, but now something was happening that went even farther than their expectations. On one hand that passage from Joel just seemed to promise the gift of the Spirit on Jews, but on the other hand, that passage did say the Spirit of God would be poured out on all flesh. So, now they were rereading it with new eyes.<br />In the early Church, apostles and believers alike must have just shaken their heads and said: “How far do you think this will go?”<br /><br />Peter and others had begun to answer: “As far as God wants it to.”<br />Because Peter had become an apostle of THE WAY OF GOD IN JESUS, the way of God in the Spirit. Peter had quit thinking of a religious movement, which is a movement led by religious people and religious ideas and religious traditions. No, Peter was done with being a religious leader. Because this was a way of life led by God’s Spirit. As God had once led Israel in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, he was once again creating and leading a people through God’s presence. Being on This Way was all about attending to the movement of God’s Spirit. It was all about waiting expectantly for God’s Spirit, and all about having ears to hear the Word of God’s Spirit, both deep within one’s soul and through the words spoken by others.<br /> <br />This new way of life was centered on being awake, aware and expectantly listening for God’s voice, and having the capacity to feel the movement of God’s Spirit in life.<br /><br />This Way was about giving up the authority, surrendering it to God. As a song goes: “My momma used to say: ‘when things fall apart; you’ve got to look higher; higher than the skies; take all your troubles and throw them out over the great blue sea; and turn yourselves over to the Great Authority.”<br /> <br />For Peter, God leads, we follow. God is moving in the Spirit actively present among human beings who are able to sense God’s presence. Being a follower of Jesus is all about being able to perceive the movement of the Spirit of God. Because God is the initiator, God is the creator, God is the one who sets out in a direction, and we must follow. We are no longer talking about religion; we are now attending to the movements of the living God.<br /><br />But, where do we find those movements in our lives, in our church, in our community? How can we tell when a person is inspired by God or simply self-inspired? Our experience shows us that some of the most enthusiastic religious leaders are deceivers.<br /> <br />I think the important thing is to quit looking for religious leaders to initiate spiritual movements, and start expecting God to initiate spiritual movements. The key message in this book of Acts is that God is the initiator and when God initiates some truly wonderful and new and surprising things happen in communities of faith. <br />But, as we sit here this morning and prepare to continue on with our lives, how will we be able to perceive the presence of God in our lives and our world? Because that is the real key to following and obeying and glorifying. Feeling, sensing, knowing the movement of God in our hearts, our lives, our world. When we feel that presence deeply, we can respond with commitment, clarity and hope.<br /> <br />I felt God’s presence at a family gathering last weekend. I saw close family members that had not seen each other for 7 or 8 years embrace and enjoy each other like family again. In that I saw God’s Spirit, I rejoiced in God’s presence. God is a redeeming God. God is at work bringing about reconciliation between human beings who have been estranged from each other. Peter and Paul experienced this when they joined with Gentiles for pig roasts. They also found out that smoked pork is a great thing to eat. And, I’m sure Peter and Paul invited their gentile friends to enjoy some good roasted lamb as well. What Peter was experiencing in the coming of God’s Spirit on the gentiles was the breaking down of walls; walls between different national groups and racial groups and ethnic groups that had caused tension for so long that people just thought that tension was a part of normal life. <br />But, when those ancient tensions have been part of normal life, such prejudice between peoples just goes unnoticed. But, when these tensions start to relax and lose their hold, it feels abnormal for many people. That’s what was going on in the early Church and when Peter was preaching that day. God anointed the gentiles that were listening to Peter preach. God sent his Spirit upon the Gentiles, but perhaps the greatest blessing that day was not the gift of tongues and ecstatic praise, but the simple and profound gift of true human community and fellowship. Because as the Jewish believers saw that God also loved and valued these gentile believers, something happened in their hearts, the tension relaxed.<br /> <br />We all suffer from the Grinch syndrome; our hearts are three sizes too small. That is, our hearts are compressed with tension,when our hearts are meant to be much bigger. All it takes is relaxing that tension that comes from bitterness and prejudice and criticism and judgment of others. Peter had begun to realize that his heart was a few sizes too small, but when he opened his mouth and said: “Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality;” when he said those words that day, his heart relaxed, and swelled out to its natural size and he began to live in the Way of Jesus. And, his blood pressure probably went down 20 or 30 points too. Amen.Rev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-76928606092063118292011-11-19T07:50:00.000-08:002011-11-19T07:59:21.067-08:00Something I Wrote about 20 Years AgoHere is the Preface for a proposed book entitled the Unproclaimed Gospel. I wrote this preface when I was in law school around 1992 or 1993. There are some rough notes after this preface setting forth the topics I intended to cover in this book.<br /><br />Preface: <br /><br /> “In my teenage years I began to experience a contradiction between my attraction to both the life of the church and the life outside the church’s faith. I experienced God as somehow free to move in both realms, equally at home on this earth within or without the church. I felt the goodness and mystery of God with believers and with unbelievers, but found that there was no place to express such a feeling.<br /><br /> “In highschool, I attended Younglife meetings, but the character of the fellowship simply mirrored the social structure of high school. Besides, I was particularly offended at the way they packaged and sold God to suit young people. I attended revivals where preachers tempted me to distrust God and “be saved.” But, I trusted God and I loved God. I was looking for a way to please God and to know God more fully.<br /><br /> “In college years, I was told by those who considered themselves ‘spiritual’ Christians, that I needed to attend their Bible studies and forsake friendships with atheists and worldly people. They told me that I needed to live a disciplined life for God. But, their discipline demanded that I close myself off from much of God’s creation that is good, and to close myself off from much of the mystery of God. I knew God to be an incredible, surprising and wonderful God. And, I found that the more I experienced God’s presence and calling, the more I was drawn to all sorts of people, including believers, unbelievers, moral and immoral persons.<br /> <br /> “Those who knew nothing of the church’s teaching and renounced the faith often seemed to me closer to God than many believers. Of course, I began to develop my own clear set of beliefs about God, and I am sure at times that I began to think that my beliefs about God were quite infallible. This confidence in my own beliefs was eroded again and again by experiences of God’s judgment and grace. Deep down, what I would not let go of was my experience of God as lover of humanity and as mysterious and wonderful ruler of all life.<br /><br /> “Through Biblical study, relationships, and struggles, I have taken hold of a powerful and deep experience of faith especially through contact with the Reformed tradition of Christianity. In this historical expression of faith, I have found expression for the wonderful longing, love and hope that God has touched me with. “To glorify God . . . – that is the purpose of human life within which human beings realize who they are and what type of community they can be. As I see so many persons running far away from the church, I am struck once again with a seeming contradition: many of these non-church people seem to be exactly those who are ready to celebrate the God I know – the God who wills the salvation of all people, and the God who brings the princes down from their thrones and raises the needy up to places of honor. Of course, there are many non-church people who do not want God’s kingdom of mercy and justice to come. But, there are a great number of “unbelievers” who do hunger and thirst for righteousness, and I believe that it is God’s will to satisfy this hunger and this thirst – and, so I write The Unproclaimed Gospel. Perhaps, it will be of some help to believers in clarifying the nature of Christian faith. I have given thanks to God for the kindness and integrity and love of so-called “unbelievers” for years. And, now I am determined to express as clearly as I can – the living faith in God which I believe is already at work in the hearts and minds of all those who hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God, whether they confess Christ in word or not. For all who yearn for goodness and justice and mercy in human life, Christian and non-Christian, I write this to celebrate the hope we share. For all whose hearts have lost such desires, I write to reawaken such hope. I write to emphasize Jesus’ teaching over against the confused “evangelism” of our day. Jesus said: “Not all those who say, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of my father who is in heaven.” Sadly, we in the church have often twisted the truth of God so much that the gospel we have proclaimed is not the gospel revealed in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. The beginning of evangelical faith is the sure and certain belief that all human beings are one in Jesus Christ. There are no outsiders and insiders, only those who celebrate this unity in Christ through showing mercy and love and those who deny it by showing condemnation and hatred. Through Jesus Christ, each and every person is claimed by God to live in his kingdom. In this faith I write. In repentance and hope, I offer this.”<br /><br />Below are Notes for an Outline of a Book to be Called “The Unproclaimed Gospel: How the Church has Changed the Good News into Bad News” (notes written around 1992, 93, and never developed further). The preface explained why I was interested in writing this book. Problem is I can’t write too well once what I am writing gets any longer than six or seven pages. But, I may see if I can write something longer someday.<br /><br />Notes:<br /><br />1. “Making the good bad?” (challenging the theory that everyone has to be brought to the point of a groveling, nasty sinner before he or she can experience the grace and claim of God). Dietrich Bonhoeffer challenges this and refers to this type of evangelistic practice as “Methodism.” See Letters and Papers from Prison. Also, if I only know God’s grace when I’m in the pit, perhaps my religion leads me to the pit over and over again.<br /><br />2. “Selfishness raised to an eternal plane” (challenging the idea that my own personal salvation is the primary issue of faith, and setting forth the Biblical emphasis on the glory of God). Westminster Shorter Catechism 1st Q and A: “What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy him forever.” The emphasis on the kingdom of God is a thoroughly communal vision of salvation, the salvation of this creation of which I am a part. Rudolf Bultmann (German Theol.) summarized the freedom of the Gospel as “freedom from self-concern.” It is very important on this matter to realize that the Biblical hope is for the kingdom of God to come as this creation is redeemed. As the Blumhardts never tired of saying: the gospel is not about us leaving this world for heaven but about God and heaven coming to this world.<br /><br />3. “God, the enemy” (challenging the evangelistic practice of portraying God as our enemy, Christ as friend, as if God and Christ were/are at cross-purposes). The evangelism of Billy Sunday epitomizes this, but I think it is still very popular on the evangelistic circuit and in conservative churches. The “God is out to get you and is ready to send you to hell,” but Jesus stands between you and God and satisfies God with his blood sacrifice. Now, I know the judicial imagery is present in the Bible, with Jesus’ death set forth as propitiation for our sins. But, the Bible is quite clear that Jesus is sent directly from God, is actually the presence of God, reconciling the world to God, etc. And, as John Calvin so clearly proclaims: “God so loved the world that he sent his only son . . . .”<br /><br />4. “God, as a means to our ends” (challenging the role of religion as a help in achieving human goals, as the icing on the cake of human culture, with a lack of reverence for God and God’s name). The practice of thinking God is always in our camp, on our side, for our team, and tacking God’s name onto everything we do. The misuse of God’s name for nationalistic purposes, etc. is involved. The violation of the third commandment is at the heart of this. The Barmen Declaration of Faith (written to oppose Nazi take-over of churches).<br /><br />5. “Morality that produces hatred” (challenging the teaching of Christian morality in such a way as to make oneself feel superior to others, and as a way to judge, condemn and control others). This ethical stance creates a strong ‘insider-outsider’ outlook. Also involved is the feeling that “one bad apple spoils the whole bunch” and a little uncleaness contaminates a lot of cleanness which is the opposite of the teaching of Jesus in which holiness has the power to mix with unholiness and sanctify.<br /><br />6. The Unproclaimed Gospel/The Liberty of the First Commandment (The freedom of the gospel begins and ends with praise and reverence for the One Living and Holy God of all creation) The first three commandments contain the power of freedom from all oppression within human life. It is the particular force of the first commandment – politically, socially, theologically, psychologically – that sets free human beings, internally and externally. I have expressed this faith in protest and anger often, in defiance of those who arrogate authority to themselves. “The Lord alone is God,” is always part battle cry against unjust authority. It is this one allegiance and the destruction of all false allegiances, and the demotion of all other allegiances that paves the way for human freedom and dignity. This is a positive expression of the theology underlying the critique in other sections set forth above. I have not really developed this theme, except that I have written a preface which gives a summary of the positive themes I wish to express.<br /> <br />* I suppose the whole theological point could be summarized as “Christology begins and ends with the Doxology,” i.e., The first three commandments find their supreme expression in Jesus Christ life, death and resurrection which leads to praise and honor and glory to the One Holy God of all creation.<br /><br />Present Note: Now that I read this over in 2011, I see that my mind and heart haven't changed too much, but I would say that my theological views have been much influenced over the past couple of decades by the Quakers. There was always a latent Quakerism in much of my thinking anyway - it is becoming more pronounced as I get older.Rev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-31585537251497819902011-11-09T13:30:00.000-08:002011-11-13T15:48:56.043-08:00The Meaning of Jesus' Death from a Theocentric FaithIn Romans 3:21-27, Paul makes use of an early interpretation of Jesus death through use of sacrificial imagery. 3:24: "they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation for sin by his blood." Paul very, very rarely uses this sacrificial imagery to interpet/declare the meaning of Jesus' death. In fact, I can only think of anything close to this sacrifical imagery in two other places in Paul's letters: 1 Corinthians 15:3; Galatians 1:4. Pauline scholars think that in these places Paul is using early creedal statements from the Jewish Christian tradition and drawing them into his way of understanding Jesus' death, which is not in legal/sacrificial categories of thought. <br /><br />Scholar Paul Meyer, who taught at Princeton for a long time, and was a wonderful man too, says of Paul's use of this sacrificial imagery (expiation for sin) in speaking of Jesus' death:<br /><br />"What God has undertaken, in the formula Paul quotes, is "expiation," a means for dealing with human sin, and not "propitiation," a means for meeting God's wrath by offering something to appease it. In all Paul's references to atonement, Christ was crucified "for us," never for God; always as a gift, never as punishment.<br /><br />"That leads to a second point. Paul does not play God's graciousness off against his righteousness. Instead, God's gift in the death of Jesus is itself a manifestation of God's righteousness apart from the Mosaic law. . . the righteousness of God is in the first place his saving action in coming to the aid of his people." <br /><br />Paul Meyer, "Commentary on Romans," in The Word in this World, pp. 169.<br /><br />Though Paul did not utilize legal/juristic imagery as his central way of understanding and proclaiming the meaning of Jesus' death; the Western Christian tradition completely subsumed all other ways of understanding Jesus' death under the legal/juristic (Jesus dies because God can't forgive our sins because he is righteous and demands perfection, whereas we are sinful and can't give it, except by virtue of clinging to Jesus by faith). This Western interpretation didn't come to full form until sometime after Anselm's classic statement of western atonement theology in the 11th century. Eastern Christianity has always had a more Biblical/Pauline approach to Jesus' death, seeing in it the work of God, who, as Paul says: "was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them." 2 Corinthians 5:19. The Gospel of John also sees the death of Jesus as flowing from the love of God for humanity ("for God so loved the world that he gave his only son" and "the son was sent into the world not to condemn, but to save the world"). <br /><br />The real point which was important to John Calvin, and perhaps was missed somewhat by Luther, was of a "God-centered" understanding of atonement, not a "Christ-centered" understanding. It all starts with God whose will is done by Jesus, who through his complete obedience to God accomplishes God's faithfulness and complete love for humanity. Any understanding of Christ's death that leads people to trust Jesus in any way apart from trusting God is really a type of idolatry and Jews are right to object to that. When one looks at Jesus with the eyes of faith, that one sees through Jesus to God. If you don't see through Jesus to God, you are seeing something besides the Jesus who said "not my will, but thy will be done," whose goal in all of life was not his glory but the glory of God on earth.<br /><br />This post may not make sense for some of you as I have written it. But, the point I am searching to make is one that feels very critical to me as a follower of Jesus. A God-centered understanding of Jesus opens the heart to all humanity. A Jesus-centered understanding of Jesus closes the heart to those outside of this perspective.Rev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-41783027009929091202011-11-09T13:23:00.000-08:002011-11-09T13:26:34.890-08:00From Christoph Blumhardt's Letters to His Son-In-Law, Missionary in ChinaThe following is taken from "The Hidden Christ," a collection of letters sent in the early 20th century from Christoph Blumhardt, a German pastor, to his son-in-law, who was a missionary in China. These letters are a remarkable witness to the true gospel of God, which is free from the dictates of Church and State.<br /><br />"God's love tears down old divisions. No longer religion against religion, Christians against non-Christians, but justice against sin, life against death. His love embraces everyone. Therefore, every person you encounter should be your concern. Do not settle for less. The whole world must see the glory of God. I long to see you free to share in the gifts God gives the Chinese. This is our hope, but its fulfillment will have to be fought for.<br /><br />"God protects the oppressed. He will see to it that they receive his blessing. Today his spirit moves the upright hearts everywhere, without asking what kind of religion they cling to. Our task is to spread the gospel of Christ, not the gospel of Christians. Christ does not want separation. This is difficult for us to keep in mind. It is not easy to interact with sinners without yielding to the pressure of either compromising or distancing oneself. I hope, however, that we - you in China and I in Europe - will experience the all-embracing, creative power of Christ.<br /><br />"This is why I choose to stand on the side of the humble, the working class. Tragically, the church has abandoned them to darkness. Yet this same church lives with this darkness, and in so doing absorbs the very same sinful principles that rule the world. Christians should serve, not rule. Their acts of violence make them worse than the so-called heathen.<br /><br />"The chief thing is to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, not an apostle of the European Christian world. Have patience, and whatever you do, stay clear of forming a party. Your work must embrace the whole, then your integrity will win you everyone's trust.<br /><br /><br />-reprinted from www.bruderhof.com. Copyright 2002 by the Bruderhof Foundation, Inc. Used with permissionRev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-41904022073633070352011-11-09T13:22:00.000-08:002011-11-09T13:23:33.591-08:00By Faith: Sermon on Clifford Ross Scholarship SundayHebrews 11:23-28 <br /><br />“By Faith”<br /><br />The Egyptians became threatened by the growing minority population of Hebrew people. It was a cruel time long ago in Egypt when Pharoah, king of Egypt, ordered that all Hebrew baby boys were to be killed. They didn’t have sonograms back then; they didn’t know whether it was a boy or a girl until the little one came out of the mother’s womb. So,every birth among the Hebrews of that time was surrounded with more than the usual worries and fears of child birth. There was a death sentence if you were a Hebrew baby boy or if you were someone hiding a Hebrew baby boy – that would get you the death sentence as well.<br /><br />It was a cruel time. And, one day in that time over 3,000 years ago in Egypt, a Hebrew woman gave birth to a son, and she and the father of the child vowed that they would do everything in their power to save the life of this beautiful baby boy. The scriptures say: “By faith the parents of Moses hid the child for three months; seeing the child was beautiful, they were not afraid of the edict of the king.”<br /><br />They hid him out as long as they could, but the authorities were always coming around trying to find baby boys among the Hebrews – to kill them. And, one day, they knew they were about to be found out, and so the parents waterproofed a basket the best they could, placed the little baby boy in the basket and hid the basket along the shallows of the Nile River among the plants. They hid him in the bulrushes.<br /><br />But, they didn’t just leave him there alone. His grown sister sat a distance away to keep watch. And, when she saw Pharoah’s daughter coming to bathe, she saw that Pharoah’s daughter had compassion on her baby brother. And, then she walked forward and Pharoah’s daughter said: “Please find me a nurse among the Hebrew women; I am going to save this boy and raise this boy in my house when he is weaned.”<br /><br />And, she named the baby boy, Moses, meaning “drawn out of the water.” Moses’ family defied the king’s edict to save the child’s life. By faith, they acted. And, they used their minds to form a plan that would work. They hid him out precisely in the place where Pharoah’s daughter bathed. They must have known she was as kind as her father was cruel.<br /><br />It was a cruel bondage in those days. It was such a struggle just to preserve your life and the life of your children if you were a Hebrew slave. And, God heard the cries of his people, and God came down to deliver them from their bondage in Egypt bringing them out across the Red Sea to freedom. Our scripture says: “By faith, Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called a son of Pharoah’s daughter, choosing rather to share the illtreatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.” Through Moses’ faithfulness, God delivered the Hebrew people.<br /><br />And, the first thing God did for his people when they were free is that he began to educate them by giving them instructions about how to honor God and show respect for each other. Liberation and education. They go hand in hand. You have to educate to liberate; you have to liberate to educate. God knew that if his people didn’t learn how to live together, their freedom would once again turn into a type of bondage.<br /><br />For a people to be free they have to be free on the outside and on the inside. <br />Bob Marley used to sing: “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery; none but ourselves can free our minds.”<br /><br />God spoke through Moses teaching his people, opening their minds to a clear way of thinking about life. He began to teach them how to understand the culture they lived in, how to understand themselves and each other; God taught the people a holy way to live in the world. You shall have no other gods before me. Don’t bow down to idols. Don’t take the holy name of God in vain. Keep the Sabbath rest. Honor your parents. Don’t kill. Don’t commit adultery. Don’t steal. Don’t tell lies about each other. Don’t envy your neighbor.<br /><br />The Hebrew people had been in bondage. Now they were to learn what free people must learn – how to use their own minds to comprehend and shape their own destiny on earth.<br /><br />At the heart of the faith of Israel were the written and spoken words of the prophets and the words of the law. The people of Israel were to learn these words by heart so that their minds would be awakened and able to understand the challenges of life. God liberated them from their external bondage, and God was educating them to liberate themselves from their internal bondage (from a mind that was asleep and could be fooled, to a mind that was awake and coming to wisdom).<br /><br />At the heart of every social revolution that brings justice and freedom is education, and the awakening of the mind. Because education brings self-respect and with knowledge also comes power. In the Reformation in Europe, the words of scripture were translated into the language the people could understand so that they could comprehend the Biblical message in their own minds. So that the people would not be kept in the dark but come into the light. Jesus had once said: “they will know the truth and the truth will set them free.”<br /><br />In the Civil Rights Movement, leaders emerged, and among those leaders none was greater than M.L. King, Jr. He was an intellectual, received his Ph.D in philosophy from Boston University. He studied modern theories of Biblical Interpretation and understood philosophies of social change from Marx to Ghandi’s non-violent revolution in India. And, though many people don’t know as much about Malcolm X’s intellectual training, he also was one who loved to learn and awakened to the power of knowledge. Malcolm X educated himself while serving a prison term as a young man. You don’t have to be in college to learn. Books are everywhere and accessible. Malcolm X said his alma mater was “Books.” But, he didn’t become deeply interested in learning until some religious men in prison taught him that he was a child of God, cared for and valued by God. M.L. King Jr. was raised in a household that reminded him daily that he was a child of Almighty God and that no one could ever take that from him.<br /><br />It is this first great lesson that is the foundation of life, and the foundation of learning. Once a child experiences in his or her heart that he or she is truly a child of God, cared for and valued by God – once that living faith takes root, then a child can truly discover his abilities, gifts, dreams in life. Then a child can awaken to the desire to learn and engage in life in a positive and creative way. <br />So long as young people don’t know that they have ultimate worth because God values them, then young people can come to feel worthless in this world. And, when a young person feels worthless then they can be manipulated and fooled, and when you feel worthless, you just don’t appreciate your abilities or respect the importance of learning and education.<br /><br />When you feel worthless you do worthless things, are interested in worthless pursuits, and hang out with people who share that sense of worthlessness.<br />So, as a young person comes to have a true belief that they are loved and valued by God, he becomes able or she becomes able to see that they can do many things. But first of all, a person needs to understand that they are able to learn, and we all are. And, to be able to learn as human beings are able is a truly amazing thing. Until this respect and love of learning is awakened a person doesn’t truly come alive.<br /><br />Moses knew he was a child of God. And, God taught Moses that his fellow Hebrews were children of God. Moses was called to awaken his fellow Hebrews to this knowledge. And, God called Moses to take action in the world on the basis of this knowledge. And, Moses did. He knew who he was, and he learned what he was to do in life. That is what every human being needs. To know who he or she is, and to discover what he or she can do well in life. This is the goal of real learning and using the mind. The human ability to learn is an amazing thing.<br /><br />It is this appreciation of God’s gift of learning and education that brings us to emphasize the work of the Clifford Ross Scholarship which is given each year to support and encourage learning among college bound male senior basketball players at Austin-East. Mr. Ross had a concern that young people truly become strong and good citizens, and he knew that a commitment to education was one of the most important things in developing into a good and capable person. And, Mr. Ross knew that these young men he taught and coached needed some encouragement and support to get over the internal and external barriers to achievement in our society. He had grown up and faced these barriers that were very heavy at times for black youth, and perhaps continue to be heavy for different reasons in our time especially for young black men.<br /><br />Howard Thurman said that there are two basic questions that a human being needs to be able to answer deep down in his or her soul:<br />1) Who am I?<br />2) What am I?<br /><br />The first question is about a sense of belonging in the world. And, Thurman says Jesus great answer for all human beings is: “You are a child of God, cared for and valued by God.”<br /><br />The second question is about a sense of achievement and accomplishment in life. What am I? What am I able to do? And, Thurman says that unless a person finds a way to achieve and accomplish something in life, he or she is likely to begin to doubt whether he or she really belongs in this world, whether she or he really has worth as a person. We have spoken a good word to our youth, saying , “You are loved by God and us; you belong.” But, it seems we are not doing enough to help our youth realize their value as we don’t seem to be helping them get over those barriers to achievement and purpose in society. And, those barriers are a less visible than in former days, but still strong.<br /><br />Erik Erikson was a famous psychologist that had a theory of human development. He teaches that the first two stages of human development are Trust v. Mistrust (that is when a child learns to either trust his environment or distrust it by virtue of how he is treated by those who care for him); and Autonomy v. Shame and Doubt (that is when a child learns whether his will is valued by others or not). And then the third stage is Industry v. Inferiority (that is when a child begins to learn tasks and skills and achieves a certain sense of competency or comes to a feeling of incompetency/inferiority). There is really some wisdom in this analysis of Erikson. A child learns a sense of belonging and value through those who care for him and how they care for him. A child learns a sense of industry or inferiority based on how he or she is able to perform certain meaningful tasks, how he or she is able to learn or not learn.<br /><br />These are some basic points about human development. We would do well to get back to basics in the way we care for and teach and support our young people. <br />What human beings need is a sense of belonging and a sense of accomplishment. A family and friends can certainly give a sense of belonging. But, a sense of accomplishment can’t be given to you by someone else. It can be encouraged and supported by someone else. But, it has to be achieved by you. And, the foundation of a strong sense of accomplishment in life is to develop the mind, to learn and come to understand how to learn and how to live. If you cultivate your ability to learn, your ability to learn will grow and bless your life and the life of others. Because you can learn what others have done; you can learn what others have thought, and then you begin to do and think on your own and teach others as well.<br /><br />If you go through life without awakening to the powers of learning that you have been given, you are like a plane without a pilot. The pilot of a human life is the mind. If your mind is the captain, the one to direct your movements in life – if that pilot is asleep or not wise, well, you are in trouble. To fail to learn what you are able to learn is to devalue your own life, and to in a sense doom yourself to underachievement. Now, we are all called to learn what we are able to learn, and if we do, that will be enough knowledge to be what we are to be in God’s good will for our lives.<br /><br />We can do better in our society and in our churches and even in our homes with our children. Our children have these minds that are so capable. But, are they developing these minds? That is a question I send you away with. If our children aren’t reading books or aren’t interested in reading books, then how will they develop their minds? (a short educational video or a short blip on the internet about something are not a substitute for reading books – whole books, but any reading is better than none). It takes a confidence that you can understand, and it takes a desire to understand to read books. And, it takes an imagination. If our children aren’t learning what we feel they should be learning in school, why aren’t they? If our youth don’t think it is a good thing to be a good student, why don’t they? These are questions not just about young people but about us, those who are responsible for encouraging and educating young people.<br /><br />Malcolm X writes in his autobiography:<br /><br />“I have often reflected upon the new vistas that reading opened up to me. I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life. As I see it today, the ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive. I certainly wasn’t seeking any degree, the way a college confers a status upon its students. My homemade education gave me, with every additional book I read, a little bit more sensitivity to the deafness, dumbness, and blindness that was afflicting the black race in America. Not long ago, an English writer telephoned me from London, asking questions. One was, “What’s your alma mater?” I told him, “Books.” You will never catch me with a free fifteen minutes in which I’m not studying something I feel might be able to help the black man.”<br /><br />pp. 206-207, The Autobiography of Malcolm X.<br /><br />Malcolm X’s own liberation came on the inside – in his own mind - before he was released from prison. And, he never went back to prison. When he got out, he was a new man. He had a new life. He had a mind awakened. From a man who could barely read and write, he came to be a man who debated with Harvard professors and more than held his own. Education is one of the greatest ways to freedom. For all of us, those words of Bob Marley bear repeating: “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery; none but ourselves can free our minds.” A mind asleep is a mind enslaved. True education, the awakening of the mind, is a glorious freedom.<br /><br />By faith, we learn who we are. We are children of God. By faith, we learn what we can do in life. One thing we can surely do as human beings is keep learning until the day we die.<br /><br />Glory be to God who has created humanity in God’s own image and has blessed us with the ability to learn and to think and plan and discuss and create. May we honor this gift of God in the way that we live and learn and teach others, and especially as we encourage our young people.<br /><br />By faith, Moses’ parents risked everything that he might survive. By their wisdom which came of faith, they figured out a way that he might not just survive but thrive. By faith, let us give of our time and energy to protect the young. And, let us learn so that in our wisdom we can teach them, not only how to survive, but how to thrive.<br /><br />In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.Rev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-80603675353359935812011-11-09T13:21:00.000-08:002011-11-09T13:22:40.904-08:00The End of This Week and Thoughts about the Morally Ambiguous Job of Criminal DefenseIt is Friday evening, and I am very glad to be at home. The weather is very good outside, the view of the mountains is really great, and I don't have any responsibilities to tend to right now. <br /><br />I am tired. I am not sure why I felt so tired this afternoon as court ended for the week. But, something about the back and forth of cases, the back and forth with judges, and even the back and forth with clients had me worn out. By the "back and forth" I guess I am trying to talk about the emotional tension involved in trying to do my job as a criminal defense lawyer in the criminal justice system.<br /><br />Working as a lawyer with the Public Defender's Office is not the easiest job - not just because we have a lot of clients to represent, but also because it is a job which is morally ambiguous. We do our work as those who represent the poor who are charged with crimes because we believe that the poor are entitled to a real defense when charged with a crime. We take pride in our public defender's office knowing that we provide better representation for poor people than most private attorneys in our county provide to clients who can afford to pay for legal services. But, we don't get to choose our clients. <br /><br />And, clearly when you are representing a lot of people charged with crimes, it happens at times that you are working hard and offering your legal skill and knowledge to help someone who is hurting others. Of course, there are many cases in which the question of guilt is not clear or in other cases, an innocent person has been charged, arrested and put on trial when they did nothing criminal at all. But, there are a good number of cases where the charge is valid, where a person has stolen or broken into a house, or harmed another person in some way. Of course, there are many crimes where the person might be guilty, but there is no real victim (possession of illegal drugs or possession of legal drugs without prescription). <br /><br />As a criminal defense attorney, it is your job to zealously represent your client's interest, which means "try to beat the case if you can within the bounds of the ethical rules, whether it is a good case or not." Of course, if your client says: "I just want to plead guilty, and don't want to fight the case even if it might result in an acquittal," that is their choice. But, most defendants, when threatened with jail time, etc., want to try to beat it if their chances are pretty good, and the risk of trial is not too great.<br /><br />And, having practiced criminal law now for almost 17 years, I can tell you that the breaks often come to the least deserving, and the hardest results often come to those who really deserve a break. If you want to try and convince me that everything that happens in criminal cases is "God's will" you are going to have a very hard time, unless you can first drug me so that I lose my mind. I have been there; I have been in the middle of it; I have seen horrible injustices, but, then again, some good and just results as well. <br /><br />But, one thing that makes my morally ambiguous job easier is that often the crimes charged are crimes that people shouldn't be punished for - or, at least shouldn't be punished so harshly as the law requires. So, that makes it very easy to do everything possible to "beat the case." I can't believe any society in the world would decide to lock up people who are 20 years old for drinking beer, or for smoking marijuana. Personally, I really detest marijuana because of experiences I have had living with people that smoked it all the time in college. But, objectively, I have seen people do a lot more harm while drinking too much and I have never seen anyone taken to the hospital for marijuana overdose whereas I have for alcohol poisoning. Still, why are we locking people up for getting a buzz? That is crazy to me.<br /><br />Why don't we save our jails for people who are going around robbing people or raping people or breaking into houses, etc.? Why do we want to put people in jail for decades for selling some substance to another person who wants it? I understand that drug abuse is a big problem, but so long as millions of people are out there who want to use a drug, some poor people are going to be willing to sell it to them while working for some rich people who make money off of this selling and don't have to face the risk of apprehension and jail. <br /><br />But, then there are cases in which I really sympathize with the victim or victim's family: murders, sex offenses, robberies, burglaries, felony thefts, identity theft.<br /><br />There are cases in which I would like to be the prosecutor, because I feel like I would know how to prosecute the case and get the defendant who is dangerous in jail for a long time. But, I am not a prosecutor, but a defense attorney. I have a personal preference for defending other people, not prosecuting and punishing them. But, over the years, I have had a few days when I have really wished the attorney on the other side would do a better job prosecuting. There are cases that the defense should win, and cases that the prosecution should win (of course, the overwhelming majority of cases are worked out by negotiation and agreement in which prosecution and defense compromise). And, the very large majority of those agreements involve a plea of guilty and some type of sentence for the defendant. There is a sense in which most people charged with crimes get a chance or two before "the hammer really comes down on them." But, this is not always the case. <br /><br />It would leave my soul at peace if the State would win when it is truly just, and the defense would win when it is really just and that negotiated agreements would be truly just. And, when it is really just, for me, does not always mean when the State has charged a defendant who is guilty is found guilty, nor does it mean simply that a defendant who is innocent is found not guilty (though it surely includes that). No, justice means when the result in the end is the will of God. And, God is not bound by human laws and systems of justice. <br /><br />I do remember that God is merciful, and the God "who raises the dead." Sometimes human beings get another chance in life, a second chance. I like to see people get second and even third chances in life, just as I like to get second chances in areas of life where I have failed. I know there are cases where it seems too risky for the rest of society to let some individuals have a second or third chance at freedom. But, I have to trust that the rest of society will look after that. I am one who advocates for people having second and third chances in life, whether they seem to deserve it or not. There are surely enough straight-laced moral people in society who will be against that to keep the few of us who continue to advocate for those who are considered unworthy of being part of society in check. <br /><br />Before I start a big trial, I pray: "O God, let your justice be done. Not the justice of human beings, but let your justice be done." I never know for sure what that might be. I try to do my job the best I can, abiding by the ethical rules, to "beat the case," and hope that something truly good and right is accomplished as the prosecutor tries to do her job the best she knows how and the judge and jury try to do theirs. And, as a system, we fail often, but not always. <br /><br />It is easy to criticize the criminal justice system. We could do better. But, there is always going to be a lot of arbitrariness in it beginning with selecting whom to charge with crimes, to how seriously to prosecute those charged with crimes, to the zealousness and ability of attorneys who defend those charged, to the particular way a situation appears to a judge or jury who decides the fate of the one charged at trial and sentencing.<br /><br />A good number of us who work in the criminal justice system (judges, lawyers, police officers) still really appreciate our Constitution that provides that no one can be deprived of life or liberty without due process of law, that anyone charged with a crime has the right to a jury trial, that a man or woman has the right to remain silent in the face of the demands of government to answer questions, and that anyone charged with a crime is entitled to have an attorney represent them - whether they can afford it or not. Our country's Constitution has built into it a strong suspicion of governmental authority. When government wants to charge someone with a crime and lock them away, we say: "you've got to prove he or she is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt - otherwise, they walk." <br /><br />A real respect is shown to individuals through these constitutional rights and their implementation in our criminal justice system. It is a system where many mistakes are made, where there are certainly some corrupting influences, but perhaps more than any other system in our society, it reminds us of the importance of each individual person in our society. Because when we treat the most despised person in society with respect and fairness, it secures our commitment to treat all people with respect and fairness. Maybe the core values of our criminal justice system are really not that morally ambiguous at all.Rev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2995542091297895571.post-79704718782109753022011-11-09T13:20:00.000-08:002011-11-10T06:14:09.649-08:00A God Who is Really Involved in CreationIf God has a real relationship in time with this creation, including human beings, then not only does God act to affect events in the world, but God is acted upon and affected by events in the world. <br /><br />The Old Testament's so-called "anthropocentric" way of presenting God in a simple dramatic relationship with human beings and the created order at times may be the only "realistic" way to express how God is related to the created order. <br /><br />God is not presented in the Old Testament as if everytime God says: "jump," the created order comes into complete line with God's will. God is presented as ruler over creation, but not a ruler whose actions have a one-to-one correspondence with events in the world. God acts upon the forces of the world and gives shape to them, but there are other agents in the animal world, particular human agents, who act from their side as well giving shape to the created order and perhaps influencing God, working to effectuate God's purposes or working in some real sense to hinder or frustrate God's purposes. <br /><br />Whether one understands God to be in a real, dramatic relationship with this creation and its creatures, or whether one understands God to simply sit at the switchboard and order all that takes place is very important in theology and faith and life. <br /><br />If a person thinks deep down that God has simply designed everything beforehand and willed each thing to take place that does take place, then the death of Jesus is not part of God's dramatic and passionate efforts to save a rebellious humanity and a broken creation. Because if God has simply set it all out beforehand, and the death of Jesus is simply the unfolding of the irresistible, set-in-stone will of God, and not part of the dramatic back and forth between God and the created order, then it is as if God willed to have humans rebel and Jesus' death was God's affirmative will as well. <br /><br />If it is all understood this way with God planning it all out like the script of a play before hand, then God is not really in relationship with humanity and creation; we are just actors inevitably acting out a drama we have not part in shaping; and then Jesus is simply the same kind of actor in the inevitable history dictated by God. <br /><br />There used to be two concepts that were used in theology to try to hold onto the truth that God is in complete control over creation, while acknowledging that there is much rebellion against God's ways in creation. These concepts were the affirmative will of God and the permissive will of God. <br /><br />The affirmative will of God is that all human beings obey God's law by loving God and neighbor. The permissive will of God allows (while still not losing control or the ability to mold) humans to both obey and rebel and cause good and evil on earth. In fact, as God remains involved in creation, God works at bringing the "out of control" under control at every moment. This is a way of saying God is in relationship with that which is anti-God, and does not lose control of it ultimately. Jesus seems to have represented this type of view as he prays: "Thy kingdom come; thy will be done - on earth as it is in heaven." <br /><br />This way of speaking is at least much better than the common way of simply saying that "nothing happens that God doesn't want to happen." As if God affirmatively wills all that happens or else it would not happen. This, to me, seems very wrong unless you believe in God as some operative concept and not as a real Being who can be in relationship to other personal beings and other forces in the world. <br /><br />All of these thoughts become very, very important as we turn to understand what happened when Jesus of Nazareth was crucified. How was God involved in that? It is accepted as "God's will" by almost all Christians, but was Jesus' death God's affirmative will or God's permissive will? I believe that it was part of God's permissive will as the deepest desire of God was not humanity's rejection of God in human flesh, but the deepest desire of God was to save all human flesh. God's affirmative will was to save humanity from the self-destruction that comes of rejecting God's authority and truth and grace. In order to accomplish his affirmative will, God must in a sense get in the mix with other forces in creation - act and be acted upon by them - in order to shape that creation in a real way. I believe that God did exactly that in Jesus in the most dramatic way possible. He actually allowed his very Being to be affected by human response and rejection, and took that rejection into himself and in an act of creation out of nothing just as grand as the original creative act took the hatred and rebellion of humanity and transformed it into a life-giving,saving presence for humanity. <br /><br />It is in this area of the permissive will of God that the real action of history takes place. The concept of "the affirmative will of God" is how we perceive that God had wanted to be in relation with the world. But, in this thinking about "the permissive will of God" we really come into touch with the real world of God and humanity and all creation, and begin to have some chance to touch on the real, dramatic relationship within which God works out the salvation of the world. But, God is in the midst creating out nothing, actually creating good out of less than nothing. <br /><br />Jesus is often presented in conservative Protestant theology as simply an answer to the problem of how sinful humans can be forgiven by a God who cannot accept sin. That is, Jesus' death is presented as the solving of a problem that was God's problem,not our problem. I understand Jesus' death as God's response to the ultimate rejection of God by humanity, as a response to the deepest problem of humanity: a will that was opposed to the great Will of God to save and bless humanity - a human will that was bent on self-destruction. The problem was on the side of humanity,not on God's side. Jesus' death didn't convince God to give humanity another chance; Jesus died because God just couldn't help but reach out to save even if it cost him the one human who was closest and dearest to his heart. <br /><br />So, in simple terms that a child can understand, I ask: "Did God want Jesus to die?" No, that is the last thing God wanted. But, how can something happen that God does not want to happen? <br /><br />"Did God allow Jesus to die?" Yes, because God is in a real relationship with this world. Did Jesus death affect God? So deeply that it shook all things, even the heart of God. And, what poured forth from the heart of God was not vengeance against humanity for killing Jesus, but love for humanity and the resurrection of Jesus. God could have raised up Jesus to conquer and destroy humanity,but he raised up Jesus as the first-born of a new creation from within humanity to save humanity and all creation. <br /><br />I guess it begins to become abstract at this point. But, then the dramatic relationship of God with this world and especially with humanity is a story about real events, and about real choices and responses that have shaped reality at its depths. <br /><br />But, the history of Christianity carries within it two distinct and very different strands of belief: on one side there is the belief in an abstract concept of God from which one can deduce all sorts of theories about life and salvation; and on the other side there is a devotion and commitment to a Real Creator who is dramatically involved with the created order and with human beings and who, though God of all, can be felt to be struggling, working, fashioning a new world, not from some throne up on high, but through a real presence in a real world and real events that sometimes almost break the very heart of God. <br /><br />The first strand of belief in the abstract concept of God carries with it a rigid view of Jesus' death that actually doesn't have God involved in the death itself. This is the strict substitutionary atonement theory of Jesus' death. It goes like this: God has all humanity under judgment for sin. Jesus serves as a sacrificial lamb to cleanse humans of sin and make them acceptable to God. Those who believe this receive the benefits of Jesus' sacrifice and are acceptable before God. Those who don't believe this remain under God's judgment and rejection for being sinners. In this view of things, God was unable to reach out to humanity because he couldn't accept that which is unholy. But, the sacrifice of Jesus in dying, makes humans acceptable (so long as they come under this acceptance through faith). <br /><br />The second strand of commitment and devotion to the dramatically involved Being, God, believes that it is the very nature of God to accept the unacceptable and that God's love is precisely that which "justifies the ungodly." The first strand of belief contends that only that which is holy may approach God. The second strand believes that the holiest of all shows his holiness by approaching that which is unholy and transforming it through his will to save and heal and reconcile. What is so shaking about the death of Jesus is what Luther caught on to: God is in the very center of it - not as the one who sacrifices Jesus, but as the one who is in a real sense subjected to and harmed by the sacrifice.Rev. G.H. Watershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558278848613476485noreply@blogger.com0