Sacred Story Time
- Our “tent of meeting.”
Our oldest son (2yo) loves making a “tent” in the living room. We keep a number of blankets in the room, and not a day goes by without him asking us to make a tent with one of them so we can sit under it. Well, usually a Pooh stuffed animal or a toy firetruck also comes with us on these impromptu camping trips. It’s amazing to watch his imagination develop in the process of this simple little activity.
One of the goals my wife and I have for our family is to incorporate regular spiritual disciplines into our family life. We hope to be intentional with this goal, to help us develop a rhythm and be spiritually formed together. Because our children are very young simplicity is key at this point. We do prayer at meals and at bedtime, but wanted to add a way to begin learning the Bible story together at home. As we thought about the fun “tent” game that we play with our son, an idea emerged to use this game to create a new ritual for our spiritual rhythm.
The “tent” is one of my favorite images from the scriptures. It invites us to remember the Israelite journey in the wilderness and especially how God was present with them through this experience, in the “tent of meeting” (Exodus 33:7-11). It was an intentional place to meet with God. With this in mind we created our own little tent of meeting where we could gather and read part of God’s Story (using the Children of God Storybook Bible). We listen to the Bible story and then share the short prayer at the end of each story.
It’s our sacred Story time: a place where we can camp out with God and discover that our stories fit into a much larger Story. We’re going to try to be consistent in practicing this new ritual believing that God will form us through it. We hope that this activity will be a good way for our boys to begin learning God’s Story, and (as they get older) maybe also a way to begin understanding the idea of “God with us.” I’d like to end with a quote from pastor and educator Ivy Beckwith, who has been instrumental in helping me understand spiritual formation with children and in particular the importance of “family ritual”:
Creating sacred space in the home helps children to understand that God is with us everywhere and all the time. It also gives children a space in the home where they know they can go to be quiet and where no one else has permission to disturb them … Gathering at the same worship space each day helps the family to settle quickly into a meditative mood as they each turn their spirit toward God.
[From: Ivy Beckwith, Formational Children's Ministry: Shaping Children Using Story, Ritual, and Relationship. p.88-89.]
Drop the Blanket
1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed . 2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3 And all went to be taxed , every one into his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6 And so it was , that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered . 7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes , and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field , keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo , the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid . 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold , I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes , lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying , 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2:1-14 KJV)
Fear is a natural reaction. No getting around that. And there’s much to be afraid of in the world: terrorism, hunger, oppression, broken relationships, war, abuse, economic chaos, cancer, unemployment, monotony… We could make a long list, even in just a couple of minutes. We long for security and safety, or at least meaning. I’ve heard neighbors wish for some good news for a change, since media outlets consistently make sure we are aware of the bad kind. While I believe that light has already broken into the world (John 1:5) there remains a hell of a lot of darkness around. Perhaps then we have something in common with the dark context the characters in our Advent texts inhabited?
Out of the darkness comes something unexpected: a message of “good news”. And the message begins the same way, whether it was to the teenaged mother-to-be or to the shepherds out on the margins.
“Fear not.” “Do not be afraid.”
Easier said than done to be sure. In those days “good news” was political. Luke is not shy with the political language, setting up the story while subverting the empire with its own language. And it starts to sound like this is a story about allegiance. A choice. And this young woman and these shepherds made the choice that fear would not keep them from joining their stories with this one, and moving it forward.
Every year I will watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” It has been a favorite since I was very little. But it wasn’t until adulthood that I noticed within this simple story a poignant visual message about dealing with fear. Watch the clip and see if you notice it…
What did Linus do when he quoted “Fear not”? He drops his security blanket. I can’t remember him voluntarily relinquishing this favorite possession any other time. But I find it interesting that here, as he is sharing good news of God’s work in the world, that he drops the blanket and his focus is completely on this Story.
Not giving in to fear is a posture. It’s one that Jesus’ mother Mary demonstrated (Luke 1:26-55), even though soon her life (and the life of her son) would become at risk, totally turned upside-down by this “good news.” Still, she discovered a strength and a posture to help counter the fear. If our natural reaction when challenging circumstances arise is to pick up whatever “security blanket” we’re comfortable with, then I wonder: What might God be inviting us to with the words “Do not be afraid”?
In this season may we discover: the security of comfort in weakness, a Story reminding us that fear doesn’t have to overwhelm us, and a fresh glimpse of the One who said “remember, I am with you always.”
Good news…even if it’s just for a while, we can drop the blanket.
Advent Thought: Practicing Incarnation
In the course of completing my seminary work this fall I supplemented my required reading with a portion of Barbara Brown Taylor’s excellent book on spiritual practices, An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith. I have found myself picking this book up and re-reading portions of it at least a couple times a year. Her stories so often reward me with some new level of meaning or with an idea that begs further reflection. This time it was a chapter on incarnation (“The Practice of Wearing Skin”) which struck me. I thought I’d include a piece of it here for reflection, as we are in the middle of the Advent season.
The daily practice of incarnation-of being in the body with full confidence that God speaks the language of flesh-is to discover a pedagogy that is as old as the gospels. Why else did Jesus spend his last night on earth teaching his disciples to wash feet and share supper? With all the conceptual truths in the universe at his disposal, he did not give them something to think about together when he was gone. Instead, he gave them concrete things to do-specific ways of being together in their bodies-that would go on teaching them what they needed to know when he was no longer around to teach them himself. After he was gone, they would still have God’s Word, but that Word was going to need some new flesh.
God’s Story, Our story: Remembered & Embodied
I am reading through Sean Gladding’s excellent book, The Story of God, the Story of Us: Getting Lost and Found in the Bible, and a particular scene was meaningful to me today. In this part of the narrative one of the main characters tells why God’s people continue to listen to these old stories (the Exodus) and what that practice means for their lives and their identity:
But God not only wanted to get God’s people out of Egypt, God also wanted to get Egypt out of them-its stories, rooted in fear and greed, power and prestige, idolatry and ideology. We also have been deeply shaped by the stories of Egypt, the stories of Babylon, the stories of empire. That is why we must keep telling the Story of God to each other, to remind ourselves who we are and to help us resist the power and attraction of those other stories, and break the hold they have over us. (p.79)
In this I am reminded of why we learn this Story, let it form us, and seek to embody it. And we are called to do this together with others (Hebrews 10:23-25). Our identity, both individually and corporately, depends on engagement with this Story and its Author. And through a Story, Christ forms, shapes, and sends us into his world.
Prayer for the Neighborhood
Today I learned of some bad news about a terrible event that took place in a nearby community. A child’s life was lost, and now a family and community must mourn and deal with incredible loss. In times like these it’s hard to know what to do or even think. So we pray…for this grieving family, for this community, even for the perpetrator. May God’s peace envelop this entire broken situation and set forth a path to comfort, healing and hope.
The following is a prayer found in Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, titled “The Death of Someone Killed in The Neighborhood” (p.555). Lord, hear our prayer…
Lamb of God
You take away the sins of the world
Have mercy on us.
Grant us peace.For the unbearable toil of our sinful world,
We plead for remission.
For the terror of absence from our beloved,
We plead for your comfort.
For the scandalous presence of death in your Creation,
We plead for the resurrection.Lamb of God
You take away the sins of the world
Have mercy on us.
Grant us peace.Come, Holy Spirit, and heal all that is broken in our lives, in our streets, and in our world. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Revelation Resources
Since January I have participated in an Eastern Mennonite Seminary class on the book of Revelation. As a result I have been doing quite a bit of writing for the class, which is why I haven’t done much here (Well, baseball season started too…go Phillies!). Anyway, this class has been a great learning experience and I am growing in my theological, ecclesiological, and missiological understandings of this most interesting book of the Bible. I am thankful for the privilege of sharing this journey with a wonderful group of classmates and a wise instructor. I find that studying the scriptures in this kind of context is such an energizing and formational discipline, and I’m feel fortunate to have had this opportunity. Revelation is one of the strangest, most disputed (historically), and misunderstood texts in the canon of scripture. And viewpoints on its message are all over the place. Studying the book in its context (historical; literary; alongside the whole “Story” of scripture) is vital, and can keep us from getting carried away by the faulty schemes of the modern “end times prophecy” folks. This book is a journey, and I look forward to continued learning about its message.
With this post I would like to present some resources that I found to be especially helpful in this current study I’ve been engaged in. Many of these links are to books, but some of these resources are available online (for free!):
- Ted Grimsrud, at his blog Peace Theology, has a whole section on Revelation that includes the entire text of his book Triumph of the Lamb: A Self-Study Guide to the Book of Revelation. Grimsrud’s work is excellent and I highly recommend visiting his site and engaging with it.
- John Miller’s Revelation: Making Sense of Its Message in the 21st Century. Dr. Miller was my teacher for this course. With his formal discipline being Missiology, his perspectives and experience add a helpful depth to the study of Revelation (in particular discussing implications for living out its message as the church). I also appreciate his desire for a consistent hermeneutic approach to the apocalypse.
- J. Nelson Kraybill’s Apocalypse and Allegiance: Worship, Politics, and Devotion in the Book of Revelation. If I was going to lead a bible study on Revelation, this book (and Grimsrud’s) would be at the top of the list. Excellent study and highly readable.
- Michael Gorman’s Reading Revelation Responsibly: Uncivil Worship and Witness: Following the Lamb Into the New Creation. A very helpful look at the big-picture themes of Revelation, to guide interpretation and encourage the kind of radical living the letter calls for. Thanks to J. R. Daniel Kirk for the recommendation!
- M. Eugene Boring’s Revelation: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching is a helpful commentary discussing contextual themes associated with Revelation.
- Brian K. Blount’s Revelation: A Commentary (NTL) (New Testament Library), is an in-depth study with a great deal of grammatical detail.
- N.T. Wright’s article, “Farewell to the Rapture“.
- Loren L. Johns: Resources for the Study and Appreciation of Revelation
I invite you to check these out and hope that they also provide insight for you as well. Drop me a line in the comments if you have used any of these resources-I’d love to know how they have impacted your study of the book of Revelation.
What happens on Sunday? Scripture
One aspect of the worship gathering in my congregation that we have recently been trying to re-emphasize is the practice of the Scripture reading. As Anabaptists, hearing/studying the scriptures in community is a core value that we’re always looking to embody and connect with in creative ways. Like other churches our worship includes a time for scripture reading(s). But for years I’ve noticed (in congregations I have served and in others visited) that this time is often not afforded the same importance as the sermon or the singing-either in the expectations of the hearers or in the “place” it is given in the worship order. The Bible is vitally important and even revered by the folks in all of these contexts. Yet how we interact with it on Sunday morning could give a different impression. By the way, the purpose of this post is not to advocate some kind of “Bibliolatry” by any means…just so we’re clear 
Today I discovered this post by Linda Parriott through a tweet from Tripp Fuller. I found these sources to be very relevant to my current thinking on the practice of scripture reading/hearing in corporate worship, and I offer a big thanks to Fuller and Parriott for sharing this. Her post links to and discusses material from a podcast Fuller did with Walter Brueggemann in 2008. In the discussion Brueggemann comments on how scripture is often used by the gathered congregation in worship (from Linda Parriott’s post):
What we have to start with is that the biblical text is more interesting and important than anything else we have to say. But that requires a great deal of reeducation of the pastor and the congregation because so many pastors and so many congregations are looking for simplistic answers that are clever and cute. And there aren’t any clever, cute answers that will now help us in the situation we’re in. It just requires harder work than that.
[W]e’ve done this incredible dumbing-down. We need to work at helping congregations engage in hard intellectual work. But that’s very difficult.
In my pastoral role in recent years I have been feeling the need to be reeducated in how I approach the Scripture text and equip the congregation to do so. One goal I desire to see for our worship gatherings is that they might be a formation time where we purposely interact with the scriptures through hearing/reading/teaching/conversation. This would include a greater emphasis on the public act of reading scripture, rather than it being just one of the things we have to do between singing and hearing a sermon (which gets the most attention/significance). In my context sometimes a worship leader will pray for the preacher right before they deliver the sermon. Honestly, more and more this makes me a little uncomfortable. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely appreciate the prayer support-and absolutely need it! But I wonder if we should instead be having a special emphasis or time of focus before the scripture reading? What if everything else we did in worship was commentary on the Story?
Thanks to a very generous gift from a member of our congregation, I have begun using as a resource in our worship gatherings (and encouraging our worship leaders to use) one of the supplements to our Mennonite Hymnal titled Sing the Story. Both the hymnal and the supplements (there are two) have, in addition to the songs, a wonderful collection of worship resources like prayers, responsive readings, benedictions, etc. I recently discovered one that I had missed before, that is perfect for introducing the scripture readings in worship. It is #141 in the SJS hymnal:
Leader: Gracious God, we have come in search of Christ, the Author of life.
All: Open the Scriptures to us that we might see Christ truly and meet Christ face to face. AMEN.
I love how the words of this prayer remind us of what is going on in the practice of hearing the scriptures, and believe this a start in helping us develop a new imagination for what is happening in the worship gathering as we interact with God’s Story. Instead of trying to be “clever and cute” with a message, or seeing the scripture reading as something to “get through” before the sermon, what if we assume an open, learning posture where God can open up the Story to us? I also like the reminder that we look for Christ as we come to the scriptures, and we interpret these words through Christ, the Incarnate Word.
What level of interaction with the Scriptures do you see in worship? What might help congregations grow and address the needs that Brueggemann spoke of?
Signs
This coming Sunday I’ll be preaching the texts of Psalm 72 and Matthew 2:1-12. We will be talking about “signs” that reveal who Jesus is (Messiah, King, Redeemer, fulfillment of God’s promises). Matthew’s gospel (like the other three) seems to have a lot of these “signs” that help reveal who Jesus is and also reveal God’s Mission to us.
This morning as I was going through Common Prayer I read the words from yesterday’s entry concerning Stephen, a famous early follower of Jesus…
Stephen was the first in a long line of Christian martyrs. He looked on those who were about to kill him and asked the Lord to forgive them (Acts 7:60). His courageous nonviolence in the face of death resembled that of Christ. It is said that Jesus sat at the Father’s side after his ascension into heaven, but rose to greet Stephen when he arrived. -Common Prayer, Dec. 26
Stephen understood the “signs” of who Jesus was, even such difficult ones as forgiveness of enemies and self-sacrifice. And his life became a “sign” pointing to Jesus. What “signs” do we see of Christ’s work in the world? How is my life pointing to Jesus?
Advent & Christmas…the same thing?
In our worship planning in my congregation we try to follow the Church Year fairly close. Following the Church Year is still kind of a new thing for some Mennonite congregations, though internally we do have some good resources for guiding worship and good leaders helping us expand our worship imaginations. A main reason for our use of the Church Year is spiritual formation: our worship planning team believes that we can benefit from applying the rhythms and message of God’s Story to our lives. I’m so glad to see their interest in how liturgy can help form us as God’s people. And it has been particularly wonderful to see members of the congregation use their gifts to help create worship stations which allow for greater congregational participation in worship (one of our members, an artist, drew a huge hourglass during our first Advent service that we are using as a prayer station).
But not everyone in the congregation is always on-board with this practice. There is a question we hear every year during Advent: “Why don’t we sing more Christmas songs?” It’s not mentioned as a complaint. But it is sometimes presented as if Advent liturgy is too restrictive and takes away one’s Christmas buzz. Now I’m not against singing Christmas songs-far from it! I love singing Christmas songs and carols and have many favorites. But there are also excellent Advent songs which help tell the story of this season of expectant waiting for Christ. For the Advent season to truly be a formational tool and make sense to those newer to the faith, I tend to encourage use of these Advent songs as part of our worship planning. But as this question about the songs is an annual one, I’ve done some thinking about it and an illustration emerged concerning Advent and Christmas worship.
What if on December 12, children looked at the gifts under the Christmas tree and decided to approach their parents and say, “We want our presents now.” Most parents would say “No. We wait until Christmas Day to open our gifts” (let’s assume they are finished shopping and gifts are under the tree). As a kid I pestered my parents about this almost every year, until their advice that “It’s more special if you wait” finally sunk in. Could our waiting to sing Christmas songs be similar to our waiting to open Christmas gifts? Could these songs/worship times be even more meaningful-and help us understand the Story of the Incarnation in a deeper way-simply because we waited for them? While this certainly isn’t a perfect argument, I do think there’s something to be said for waiting.
I believe one reason for the requests to sing Christmas songs is a response to our culture: radio stations have been playing Christmas music 24/7 since Black Friday, and TV stations have been showing Christmas movies constantly for the last month. And many folks are unfamiliar with our religious practices and their purpose anyway. So I can see why some would ask “Why can’t we sing Christmas songs in Advent?” I get it. I’m just hesitant to give up on the rhythm of the Church Year, and what Advent and Christmas seasons can teach us about Christ and God’s Mission. Without being legalistic about it, I would like to discover creative ways to let God’s Story set our pace rather than our culture, and I think an ancient practice like the Church Year could help.
Does it matter how we celebrate Advent and Christmas? Does merging the two together change the impact/meaning of either?
Advent Thought: Guide Our Feet
photo © 2009 Harald Henkel | more info (via: Wylio)
78 By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:78-79 NRSV)
