So Wednesday Rebecca and I will head to South Africa to watch the U.S. of A. beat the tar out of England, Slovenia, and Algeria at the World Cup. We're traveling with our good friends Abby Wismer and Michael Shaw, and will meet the indominatable Jonathan Wilson down there for games 2 and 3.
Among other things, this blog has been an attempt at community learning across continents, an invitation to join in on the conversation that we're having about God's kingdom, and its intersection with economies, race relations, etc. So while we're AWOL down South, check out some of these podcasts from folks who are applying kingdom theology to life lived in urban America. Maybe you'll find these helpful, as we have, as we try to learn just what Micah meant when he said that what is required of us is to do justice and love mercy and walk with God.
First and foremost, check out two sermons from two pastors from my hometown church. I love tuning in and finding out that Second Pres is preaching the gospel for the poor back home in ways that challenge and encourage us here!
Richard Rieves: Richard is planting a church in the neighborhood near Advance where Rebecca and I used to work. This is an incredible sermon on how God calls us to diversity . . . for our own sake! http://www.2pc.org/media/amen.xml
Sandy Wilson: Warning! This will knock your socks off. Here's an excerpt-“Most in this city are simply trying to figure out where they can get their half-acre, 500,000 dollar home, with their wall, and their gate, locked, so that nobody can get in and steal their stuff. They’re not thinking about, “How do I get down there where people don’t even have a half of a half of an acre, and don’t have anything to put in their house and give something to them?!” I’m telling you, that is WICKED! IT’S MORE WICKED THAN THE STRIP JOINTS IN OUR CITY! “And most of the rest of the people are just complicit partners, who want to claim that by being passive, they haven’t done anything evil. If you are passive, you WILL do evil! Because we’re seeing here [in this passage], with this light shed on the world order, IT IS EVIL! IT’S ALWAYS BEEN EVIL! http://www.2pc.org/resources/audio/?customshow=1&find=series&series=revelation&series_name=Revelation
Now for one not so close to home: Tim Keller on Jonah. This is probably one of the best sermons I've ever heard about our responsibility to the city . . . any city! http://sermons2.redeemer.com/sites/sermons2.redeemer.com/files/RSS_Feeds/Timothy_Keller_Podcasts.xml
Finally, here's extra credit. One of the most damaging theological errors of our recent history is the fundamentalist Zionist belief that the nation state of Israel is the literal fulfillment of the Bible's prophesies about God fulfilling His covenant. This misguided belief has led Christians to support violence, violation of human rights, and an increased racial divide between Israelis and Palestinians. Moreover, it has damaged the gospel work in Palestine amongst Palestinians, as proved by the large Christian population present at the time of the initial Israeli war, a popluation that has been decreasing dangerously and dramatically ever since. If you don't believe me, or want to learn more, why not listen to the opening talk from a conference put on by evangelicals from Palestine (by Rev. Alex Awad)? And if that whets your appetite, why not listen to the rest? I'm working my way through right now! http://www.christatthecheckpoint.com/lectures.html
Peace,
Michael
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
One Lord, One Faith, One Birth: Reflections on Work Part 2(a)
My previous post on work brought up questions about our efforts to create small anticipatory pictures of the kingdom through helping the poor to get more money for themselves and their families. When Rebecca and I accepted this opportunity through Planting Faith it was this that we primarily considered, and it is this work that dominates much of our thoughts. But lately I’ve been thinking about a different and much less discussed part of the missionary call.
Rebecca and I have been studying the Pauline Epistles together, and we have been amazed by what these very first “missionary updates” have to say about the call to “go.” And while much of the theological meat comes in the middle of these brilliant letters, what has struck me recently mainly shows up in the greetings and the good-byes. I’m talking about the names. Paul’s letters ooze with personal references: Priscilla and Aquilla who risked their lives for him, Stachys, the dear friend, Apliatus and Apelles whose names indicate they were probably slaves, Rufus and his mother who had become a mother to the apostle, Fortunatus who refreshed his spirit, Epaphras the dear fellow servant, to name just a few.
Two points I’ve missed in the past: first, almost all of these names are Gentile names. These are non-Jewish converts to Christ. In the very earliest days of the church, the gospel called formerly racially defined Jews out into a world of mutual relationships with the “unclean Gentiles.” In fact although we can try to ignore it, a huge amount of the New Testament and particularly Paul specifically addresses a racial question: how do we, who once were enemies, now live as the new people of God defined primarily by our union with King Jesus the Christ?
Second, and infinitely more challenging for the western missionary, Paul, the most prolific author of the New Testament, the authoritative and almost borderline arrogant apostle to the Gentiles, clearly loves and depends on these Gentiles. These are not paternalistic one-sided relationships in which the “man of God” comes and helps the spiritually bereft Gentiles. No, these are his mothers and brothers in the faith, people whose death would cause sorrow upon sorrow, who supply his needs!
And so we get this crazy picture of members of this new, persecuted and poor movement traveling great distances through dangerous waters (remember Paul’s shipwrecks) and spending great sums of money all in order to be together, to share in what God has taught them in the faith, to support their brothers and sisters in their need, or to receive help in their own times of need. And suddenly it occurs to me that part of the missionary call is to make sure that we who are the body of Christ stay connected, that we remember our common Lord and King, that we learn about each other’s strengths and struggles. Maybe the phrase “missionary” can almost hide one of our most important callings: to really live as the unique people and family and body of God Himself simply by getting out and getting to know each other.
Whenever either Rebecca or I are about to come back to the States, our farmers say a very funny thing: “Tell those Christians there that we love them.” In the context of Paul, I think that I have begun to see how this, this sharing of needs and abilities, this brief intersection of Christians on the road with Christ from different tribes and tongues, this fellowship with “all the saints” that mirrors the saint filled party going on above, is part of the whole point. Maybe we are a little like Epaphras, and this blog is a way for us to tell you how the Paul and Barnabas’s of Kenya are doing, and of how they love us and are praying for us. And I think Jesus delights in all of it, as He looks down and sees His church learning just a little more about their brothers and sisters on different sides of His beautiful world.
Maybe also God knows that when the hands and eyes meet they learn a bit more about the head. But that will have to wait for Part 2(b) . . .
Peace,
Michael
Check out the brief call for thanksgiving over the farmer's recent sale just below!
Rebecca and I have been studying the Pauline Epistles together, and we have been amazed by what these very first “missionary updates” have to say about the call to “go.” And while much of the theological meat comes in the middle of these brilliant letters, what has struck me recently mainly shows up in the greetings and the good-byes. I’m talking about the names. Paul’s letters ooze with personal references: Priscilla and Aquilla who risked their lives for him, Stachys, the dear friend, Apliatus and Apelles whose names indicate they were probably slaves, Rufus and his mother who had become a mother to the apostle, Fortunatus who refreshed his spirit, Epaphras the dear fellow servant, to name just a few.
Two points I’ve missed in the past: first, almost all of these names are Gentile names. These are non-Jewish converts to Christ. In the very earliest days of the church, the gospel called formerly racially defined Jews out into a world of mutual relationships with the “unclean Gentiles.” In fact although we can try to ignore it, a huge amount of the New Testament and particularly Paul specifically addresses a racial question: how do we, who once were enemies, now live as the new people of God defined primarily by our union with King Jesus the Christ?
Second, and infinitely more challenging for the western missionary, Paul, the most prolific author of the New Testament, the authoritative and almost borderline arrogant apostle to the Gentiles, clearly loves and depends on these Gentiles. These are not paternalistic one-sided relationships in which the “man of God” comes and helps the spiritually bereft Gentiles. No, these are his mothers and brothers in the faith, people whose death would cause sorrow upon sorrow, who supply his needs!
And so we get this crazy picture of members of this new, persecuted and poor movement traveling great distances through dangerous waters (remember Paul’s shipwrecks) and spending great sums of money all in order to be together, to share in what God has taught them in the faith, to support their brothers and sisters in their need, or to receive help in their own times of need. And suddenly it occurs to me that part of the missionary call is to make sure that we who are the body of Christ stay connected, that we remember our common Lord and King, that we learn about each other’s strengths and struggles. Maybe the phrase “missionary” can almost hide one of our most important callings: to really live as the unique people and family and body of God Himself simply by getting out and getting to know each other.
Whenever either Rebecca or I are about to come back to the States, our farmers say a very funny thing: “Tell those Christians there that we love them.” In the context of Paul, I think that I have begun to see how this, this sharing of needs and abilities, this brief intersection of Christians on the road with Christ from different tribes and tongues, this fellowship with “all the saints” that mirrors the saint filled party going on above, is part of the whole point. Maybe we are a little like Epaphras, and this blog is a way for us to tell you how the Paul and Barnabas’s of Kenya are doing, and of how they love us and are praying for us. And I think Jesus delights in all of it, as He looks down and sees His church learning just a little more about their brothers and sisters on different sides of His beautiful world.
Maybe also God knows that when the hands and eyes meet they learn a bit more about the head. But that will have to wait for Part 2(b) . . .
Peace,
Michael
Check out the brief call for thanksgiving over the farmer's recent sale just below!
Hallelujah!
The Lord answers prayer: our farmers sold around 440 dollars worth of aloe vera seedlings this week! I know that many of you have been praying for this, and yesterday a buyer came! This is great for our farmers on multiple levels: of course it means some cash in their pocket and that they will be able to begin to pay off their loans, but it also will be a great encouragement to them. Thanks for your prayers, and please, please, please keep praying for these and all our groups!
Peace,
Michael
We’ve been blogging a lot lately! Scroll down and make sure you don’t miss anything!
Peace,
Michael
We’ve been blogging a lot lately! Scroll down and make sure you don’t miss anything!
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