Greetings!
There are a couple of things still rattling around in my mind from yesterday's Gospel in Matthew chapter 4. First, did you notice that in Matthew's gospel, Simon is **already** called "Peter" when Jesus calls him? That's what it says in 4:18.....whereas in John's gospel Jesus is the one who gives him this title (Jn 1:42).
Another thing .....commentators often point out that this call of Jesus that is **immediately** responded to is not an _accurate_ portrayal of how things went historically. That, in order to understand a likelier flow of events, one must refer to John's gospel. Using the 2 gospels together, one gets a sense that Jesus has a relatively "low key" first year of ministry in which an inner circle of followers (Peter, Andrew, James, & John) know him & follow him as much as their work will allow, but that in Matthew chapter 4, his ministry jumps to a higher level and he calls these acquaintances to full-time committed service.
This is as likely of an explanation as any, regarding the way it went. HOWEVER, it is just as equally important to realize that Matthew doesn't say a word about any "prior knowledge" these disciples may have had. In at least one sense, it is important to let EACH GOSPEL STAND ALONE as a discreet document, with its own agenda. When looked at in this sense, Matthew wishes to highlight the **power** of the divine call, & its efficacy. Look how it causes lives to change immediately; look how it leads to new life immediately; look how it leads to following Jesus & building the new community of grace immediately.......etc. etc.
Finally, it's worth mentioning that even tho Jesus is referred to as "Rabbi" all the time (tho again, this is found much more in John's gospel, than Matthew's).......Jesus does something very non-rabbinic in Matthew chapter 4. In the world of the rabbis, prospective students would approach the rabbi for permission to become disciples. Jesus, however, turns the process upside down when he approaches individuals & bids them to a life of discipleship. This too resonates with us theologically, as we did not seek him, he sought us, etc.
Cheers,
TM
Monday, January 28, 2008
2nd after Epiphany Morning After thoughts...
Unfortunately this is a week late in getting posted, but I wanted to get it up here anyway.
Every time I read that passage from John’s gospel about Jesus being the “Lamb of God,” I can’t help but think of the “Agnus Dei” (Latin, for “Lamb of God”) in our liturgy. This formula, whether spoken or chanted, has a long and varied use in the liturgies of both East and West. In our Lutheran usage, it is important to note its location in the liturgy—it comes after the Words of Institution. In that sense, when we sing the Agnus Dei, we’re not simply singing a short hymn to Christ our Savior, more importantly, we’re singing a short hymn to Christ our Savior as we now understand him to be really, and truly present in the consecrated bread and wine.
What makes this detail interesting is that the Lutheran faith tradition is a Reformation faith tradition—and one detail of the ancient faith that is lost in so many Reformation faith traditions is any sacramental understanding that Jesus comes to his people in ordinary elements like water, bread and wine. In addition, it became very important to churches of the various Reformation traditions that their church orders and liturgies reflect the beliefs that marked them as different from Rome.
Take the Church of England for instance. In the first Book of Common Prayer of 1549, the liturgy was Reformed in the early (Lutheran-ish) sense of the word. One can easily detect a sacramental, real presence, understanding within the liturgy. In the case of the Agnus Dei, it is appointed to be sung as a distribution hymn during the communion.
This was not to be the case in the second Book of Common Prayer, 1552. The Reformation in England was developing along more ‘symbolic’ lines when it came to the question of sacraments—a point clearly seen in the difference of the new distribution formula. Where the old 1549 formula—with Agnus Dei being sung in the background had said:
"The body of our Lorde Jesus Christe whiche was geven for thee, preserve thy bodye and soule unto everlasting lyfe….The bloud of our Lorde Jesus Christe which was shed for thee, preserve thy bodye and soule unto everlastyng lyfe."
The new formula (don’t you love the ‘olde English’) now said:
"Take and eate this, in remembraunce that Christ dyed for thee, and feede on him in thy hearte by faythe, with thankesgeving…..Drinke this in remembraunce that Christ's bloude was shed for thee, and be thankefull."
…and the Agnus Dei is GONE! It seemed very intentional that whereas the first prayer book emphasized a real sacramental presence, the second prayer book emphasized a symbolic remembrance.
The Agnus Dei remains absent from the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England to this day. Having said that, there is one or two interesting details with which to close out this story. In the mid 1800s that church experienced a strong movement, at least in some quarters, to restore a more ancient understanding of the religion. Ceremony and ritual were very important, as was a strong sacramental understanding of the Holy Communion. On occasion Priests or Bishops would land in hot water for doing things that were not allowed—or were expressly forbidden in the Prayer Book—which, after all, was the law of the land. One example of this concerned the case of the Bishop of Lincoln, Edward King. It seems that in his cathedral during a communion service in 1887, the Bishop, among other things, used the Agnus Dei in his liturgy. An ecclesiastical suit was brought against him and he stood trial. In 1980 the Agnus Dei appeared in an authorized service book known as the ASB, and it is also found in the Church of England’s current service book “Common Worship.”
So, the next time you sing the Agnus Dei in our communion liturgy, bring to mind that this is more than just “bumper music” to sing while people are communing. This is an intentional confession of our belief that Jesus is really, and truly present in the bread and wine……FOR US!
Every time I read that passage from John’s gospel about Jesus being the “Lamb of God,” I can’t help but think of the “Agnus Dei” (Latin, for “Lamb of God”) in our liturgy. This formula, whether spoken or chanted, has a long and varied use in the liturgies of both East and West. In our Lutheran usage, it is important to note its location in the liturgy—it comes after the Words of Institution. In that sense, when we sing the Agnus Dei, we’re not simply singing a short hymn to Christ our Savior, more importantly, we’re singing a short hymn to Christ our Savior as we now understand him to be really, and truly present in the consecrated bread and wine.
What makes this detail interesting is that the Lutheran faith tradition is a Reformation faith tradition—and one detail of the ancient faith that is lost in so many Reformation faith traditions is any sacramental understanding that Jesus comes to his people in ordinary elements like water, bread and wine. In addition, it became very important to churches of the various Reformation traditions that their church orders and liturgies reflect the beliefs that marked them as different from Rome.
Take the Church of England for instance. In the first Book of Common Prayer of 1549, the liturgy was Reformed in the early (Lutheran-ish) sense of the word. One can easily detect a sacramental, real presence, understanding within the liturgy. In the case of the Agnus Dei, it is appointed to be sung as a distribution hymn during the communion.
This was not to be the case in the second Book of Common Prayer, 1552. The Reformation in England was developing along more ‘symbolic’ lines when it came to the question of sacraments—a point clearly seen in the difference of the new distribution formula. Where the old 1549 formula—with Agnus Dei being sung in the background had said:
"The body of our Lorde Jesus Christe whiche was geven for thee, preserve thy bodye and soule unto everlasting lyfe….The bloud of our Lorde Jesus Christe which was shed for thee, preserve thy bodye and soule unto everlastyng lyfe."
The new formula (don’t you love the ‘olde English’) now said:
"Take and eate this, in remembraunce that Christ dyed for thee, and feede on him in thy hearte by faythe, with thankesgeving…..Drinke this in remembraunce that Christ's bloude was shed for thee, and be thankefull."
…and the Agnus Dei is GONE! It seemed very intentional that whereas the first prayer book emphasized a real sacramental presence, the second prayer book emphasized a symbolic remembrance.
The Agnus Dei remains absent from the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England to this day. Having said that, there is one or two interesting details with which to close out this story. In the mid 1800s that church experienced a strong movement, at least in some quarters, to restore a more ancient understanding of the religion. Ceremony and ritual were very important, as was a strong sacramental understanding of the Holy Communion. On occasion Priests or Bishops would land in hot water for doing things that were not allowed—or were expressly forbidden in the Prayer Book—which, after all, was the law of the land. One example of this concerned the case of the Bishop of Lincoln, Edward King. It seems that in his cathedral during a communion service in 1887, the Bishop, among other things, used the Agnus Dei in his liturgy. An ecclesiastical suit was brought against him and he stood trial. In 1980 the Agnus Dei appeared in an authorized service book known as the ASB, and it is also found in the Church of England’s current service book “Common Worship.”
So, the next time you sing the Agnus Dei in our communion liturgy, bring to mind that this is more than just “bumper music” to sing while people are communing. This is an intentional confession of our belief that Jesus is really, and truly present in the bread and wine……FOR US!
"morning after" thoughts...
For some time now it has been my intention to do some regular "Monday morning" coffee blogging. Usually this is cuz there are still some sermon type thoughts rattling around in my brain that I never got a chance to mention in either the Thursday or Sunday services. I was going to start this last week (second Sun after Epiphany), but that 'thought' ran a little long & turned out to be more of an article. Oh well. A blog, if nothing else, is casual!
So, this morning I'll be posting both this week & last week's "morning after" thoughts......& we'll see how long I can keep this up!
Cheers!
TM
So, this morning I'll be posting both this week & last week's "morning after" thoughts......& we'll see how long I can keep this up!
Cheers!
TM
Monday, October 1, 2007
"CAZ" comes to LCHS
ANNOUNCING…..CASUAL WORSHIP AT Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit
What is it?
An opportunity to meet together for worship in a casual setting during the week. Do you work Sundays? Are you out of town on the weekend? Would it be more convenient to pop in on an evening after work? Then this is the service for you! Join us for an interactive discussion of the Word of God & simple Holy Communion. Most importantly, feel free to come as you are.
Where is it?
We meet in the fellowship hall.
When is it?
Thursdays at 7:30, beginning Oct 4th. Join us!
What is it?
An opportunity to meet together for worship in a casual setting during the week. Do you work Sundays? Are you out of town on the weekend? Would it be more convenient to pop in on an evening after work? Then this is the service for you! Join us for an interactive discussion of the Word of God & simple Holy Communion. Most importantly, feel free to come as you are.
Where is it?
We meet in the fellowship hall.
When is it?
Thursdays at 7:30, beginning Oct 4th. Join us!
Friday, August 24, 2007
Who are we?
I run into a lot of interesting things while surfing the net. I saw this article from an issue of "Spirituality & Health"....
Comments will follow at the end.
TM
--------------
Is This the Real Secret to Church Growth?
January/February 2004
It’s nearly an article of faith among those who study religion in the U.S.: Mainline, moderate-to-liberal Protestant churches are losing members while evangelical denominations are growing due to the strictness of the evangelicals’ conservative theology. "If it costs nothing to belong to a community, it can’t be worth much," wrote Dean Kelley in 1972 in Why Conservative Churches Are Growing, in which he decried mainline churches as too lenient. But is strictness the attraction of evangelicals? Are liberal churches destined to lose members?
Maybe not. Sociologist John H. Evans of the University of California, San Diego, tested an alternate explanation, with intriguing results. What if churches attract members by offering a sense of identity, conservative or liberal? Evans focused on the mainline Presbyterian Church (USA). He studied three surveys on the theology espoused by churches across the U.S., and matched his findings with census and membership data from all 50 states.
He discovered that membership in Presbyterian churches that offer a clear identity, generally theologically liberal, is holding steady. Evans calls this "maintaining the tensions." First, the churches embrace the ways they differ from the general culture: "Although an evangelical might feel that there is no difference between a mainline Protestant and a secular person, in fact, mainline Protestants are anything but secular," writes Evans in The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (Vol. 42, No. 3). At the same time, these churches "draw boundaries against theological conservatives by having an identity as a theological liberal."
It seems that the secret to attracting members may be the one parents often tell children as they head off into the world: Be who you really are.
------------------------
This attraction to membership based on a sense of "identity" fits well with my appreciation of/for "narrative theology" Narrative theology invites us to look at our faith experience as a story in progress, but more than that it invites us to see our story as SHARED with the group. It's important that I know Jesus as my "personal savior," but what's even more important is that we as a group have a sense of what it means .....as well as what it means that Jesus knows this group.....this congregation......as being personally HIS.
TM
Comments will follow at the end.
TM
--------------
Is This the Real Secret to Church Growth?
January/February 2004
It’s nearly an article of faith among those who study religion in the U.S.: Mainline, moderate-to-liberal Protestant churches are losing members while evangelical denominations are growing due to the strictness of the evangelicals’ conservative theology. "If it costs nothing to belong to a community, it can’t be worth much," wrote Dean Kelley in 1972 in Why Conservative Churches Are Growing, in which he decried mainline churches as too lenient. But is strictness the attraction of evangelicals? Are liberal churches destined to lose members?
Maybe not. Sociologist John H. Evans of the University of California, San Diego, tested an alternate explanation, with intriguing results. What if churches attract members by offering a sense of identity, conservative or liberal? Evans focused on the mainline Presbyterian Church (USA). He studied three surveys on the theology espoused by churches across the U.S., and matched his findings with census and membership data from all 50 states.
He discovered that membership in Presbyterian churches that offer a clear identity, generally theologically liberal, is holding steady. Evans calls this "maintaining the tensions." First, the churches embrace the ways they differ from the general culture: "Although an evangelical might feel that there is no difference between a mainline Protestant and a secular person, in fact, mainline Protestants are anything but secular," writes Evans in The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (Vol. 42, No. 3). At the same time, these churches "draw boundaries against theological conservatives by having an identity as a theological liberal."
It seems that the secret to attracting members may be the one parents often tell children as they head off into the world: Be who you really are.
------------------------
This attraction to membership based on a sense of "identity" fits well with my appreciation of/for "narrative theology" Narrative theology invites us to look at our faith experience as a story in progress, but more than that it invites us to see our story as SHARED with the group. It's important that I know Jesus as my "personal savior," but what's even more important is that we as a group have a sense of what it means .....as well as what it means that Jesus knows this group.....this congregation......as being personally HIS.
TM
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Baals of today
These verses from the 1sts reading of the 12th Sun. after Pentecost stood out to me:
Jeremiah 23:26-27 How long? Will the hearts of the prophets ever turn back--those who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart? They plan to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, just as their ancestors forgot my name for Baal.
This summer I've been reading 'historical fiction' about the birth of the modern state of Israel. My interest in this topic was kindled by the BBC story of the 40th anniversary of the 6-Day War. I read "The Haj" by Leon Uris, then "The Hope" by Herman Wouk. I then began "The Source" by James Michener. This last novel is the longest of the 3 and my progress through it has been impeded by our move from PA to IL, but I continue to chip away at it. Unlike the first 2, "The Source" spans the entire breadth of history, telling the story of a plot of land in northern Palestine, and beginning prior to the birth of Abraham.
One of the contributions Michener has made to my personal education on the topic, has been an increased awareness and understanding of the ongoing temptation to fall into Baal worship, and more frequently, the syncretistic practice of combining Baal worship with Yahweh worship.
Michener's explanation boils down to a matter of 'felt need.' As the Hebrews were nomadic shepherds in the wilderness, a "big god" Yahweh made sense to them. They were never in one place, so the God who's everywhere seemed like a logical God to worship. But once they settled and became farmers, the big everywhere God seemed too distant to care about whether or not their little plots of land grew crops, or got the right amount of rainfall, etc. For these ordinary mundane tasks, they turned to the Baals of the land (as informed by local Canaanite custom).
These temptations often seem quaintly removed from our experience and faith-life, until we put our own practices under the microscope. True, few if any of us have a little deity cove in our homes where we keep our Baal & Ashtoreth idols......but how often do we--like the ancient Hebrews--begin to think that Yahweh is the "big god" who's too far away to see or care about our problems? During these times, what are the "Baals of today?" In other words, what's our first line of defense that we appeal to for the mundane/ordinary troubles of life? For some it's perhaps our horoscope, or the advice/counsel of our network of friends', but at the core of our being, I'd bet it's the intrinsic individualistic faith we have in OURSELVES--our luck; our ability to problem-solve; our resiliance; our resourcefulness; our yankee ingenuity; our work-ethic; our ability to grab our bootstraps & PULL. In short, I would contend that we, at times, become OUR OWN BAAL.
The challenge of faith, of course, is to see that Yahweh is the God who's near. The correct answer to Jer 23:23 "Am I a God near by, says the LORD, and not a God far off?" is YES. That's the whole point of the Incarnation. He's SO NEAR, that he became one of us. And even though we live in the post-ascension days, he continues nearby through his Word, the blessed sacraments, and the ministry of His Church. And a relationship with this nearby God not only *can* be our first line of defense through the course of life, in *reality* He's our only sure defense.
Jeremiah 23:26-27 How long? Will the hearts of the prophets ever turn back--those who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart? They plan to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, just as their ancestors forgot my name for Baal.
This summer I've been reading 'historical fiction' about the birth of the modern state of Israel. My interest in this topic was kindled by the BBC story of the 40th anniversary of the 6-Day War. I read "The Haj" by Leon Uris, then "The Hope" by Herman Wouk. I then began "The Source" by James Michener. This last novel is the longest of the 3 and my progress through it has been impeded by our move from PA to IL, but I continue to chip away at it. Unlike the first 2, "The Source" spans the entire breadth of history, telling the story of a plot of land in northern Palestine, and beginning prior to the birth of Abraham.
One of the contributions Michener has made to my personal education on the topic, has been an increased awareness and understanding of the ongoing temptation to fall into Baal worship, and more frequently, the syncretistic practice of combining Baal worship with Yahweh worship.
Michener's explanation boils down to a matter of 'felt need.' As the Hebrews were nomadic shepherds in the wilderness, a "big god" Yahweh made sense to them. They were never in one place, so the God who's everywhere seemed like a logical God to worship. But once they settled and became farmers, the big everywhere God seemed too distant to care about whether or not their little plots of land grew crops, or got the right amount of rainfall, etc. For these ordinary mundane tasks, they turned to the Baals of the land (as informed by local Canaanite custom).
These temptations often seem quaintly removed from our experience and faith-life, until we put our own practices under the microscope. True, few if any of us have a little deity cove in our homes where we keep our Baal & Ashtoreth idols......but how often do we--like the ancient Hebrews--begin to think that Yahweh is the "big god" who's too far away to see or care about our problems? During these times, what are the "Baals of today?" In other words, what's our first line of defense that we appeal to for the mundane/ordinary troubles of life? For some it's perhaps our horoscope, or the advice/counsel of our network of friends', but at the core of our being, I'd bet it's the intrinsic individualistic faith we have in OURSELVES--our luck; our ability to problem-solve; our resiliance; our resourcefulness; our yankee ingenuity; our work-ethic; our ability to grab our bootstraps & PULL. In short, I would contend that we, at times, become OUR OWN BAAL.
The challenge of faith, of course, is to see that Yahweh is the God who's near. The correct answer to Jer 23:23 "Am I a God near by, says the LORD, and not a God far off?" is YES. That's the whole point of the Incarnation. He's SO NEAR, that he became one of us. And even though we live in the post-ascension days, he continues nearby through his Word, the blessed sacraments, and the ministry of His Church. And a relationship with this nearby God not only *can* be our first line of defense through the course of life, in *reality* He's our only sure defense.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
This photo was taken immeditely following my installation service. From left to right are: Pastor Bob Fitzpatrick, Pastor Paul Bacon (Circuit Counselor), Pastor Tom Sanders, myself, Pastor Martin Bangert (4th Vice President of the English District), and my good friend Pastsor John-Paul Salay. It was a wonderful service, officiated by Pr. Bacon, with an excellent sermon given by Pastor Salay. Of course the people of Holy Spirit are to be commended for the fantastic turn-out for this event, as well as the wonderful luncheon that followed. Thank you all!
TM
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