Father Steve Rice

2009-05-17T13:20:00.001-07:00

Fr Steve is now at St Timothy's

2008-05-20T05:20:00.001-07:00

http://sttims.blogspot.com/

Seismic Shift; Smart Guy

2008-04-03T05:09:00.000-07:00

I recently picked up N.T. Wright's latest, Surprised by Hope. Tom Wright, the Bishop of Durham (U.K.), is an erudite New Testament scholar who has the ability to publish incredible amounts of work in short periods of time. His latest, frankly, has had the greatest impact on me than any other theological work in recent memory. Not because what he said was necessarily new - but that he synthesized resurrection, death, and hope in such a profound way that it causes one to really rethink everything.

There is little doubt that the overwhelming majority (say 98%?) of bible reading, church attending, faithful Christians believe that when we die - our souls leave our broken/diseased bodies and find themselves eternally in heaven with God. That same majority may even say that the whole point of being Christian is to enjoy that eternal life in heaven. But is that view biblical? Is is consonant with the early church? Is is orthodox?

N.T. Wright says absolutely not. He challenges the statements we sometimes make in passing; 'this body is temporary,' 'we are just passing through,' 'the body is but a shell,' etc., that not only promote a theology of escapism or evacuation but also promote a Platonic view of an evil material world and a holy spiritual world. If, at our death, our disembodied souls ascend to heaven and live forever with God, as wonderful as that is, is that really victory of death, Wright asks. If our resurrection is mainly concerned with the soul (as popular theology suggests), why did the gospel writers so strongly state that Christ's tomb was empty?

Wright's main point is that Christian hope is not life after death - rather it is 'life after life after death.' Christ's resurrection is victory over death. His resurrection is the prototype of our resurrection. His spirit did not escape the confines of the material world - the resurrection redeemed it - recreated it, and by doing so - defeated the power of death.

When we die, our souls go to paradise, heaven. We rest, we are at peace, we are with God. But that is not the end. It is not our final destination. We wait for the resurrection when the redeemed body and soul and made new and the heavens and the earth are recreated and joined together.

I can't summarize 300 pages of Wright's theology here, but let me add a couple of quick things. Not only does the resurrection give hope in the recreation of our own bodies - with body and soul - but the whole earth is to be redeemed, recreated. It makes sense doesn't it? If God created the heavens and the earth and it was good - it was perfect - wouldn't God's victory involve redeeming that creation and not just destroying it? Wright asks us to read Romans 8 and Revelation 21 in this light.

But furthermore, if in our baptism we die and are raised with Christ and we are already experiencing a foretaste of the resurrection as we are new creations (as St Paul said), then we are charged with changing the world - by being people of resurrection - new creations - we are called and charged to invite all of creation to participate in resurrection. Instead of escapism and evacuation, we are responsible (see the previous post) for the world and all that is in it. This deals with the environment and with social problems and everything in between.

I highly encourage the reading of Surprised by Hope. I highly encourage a seismic shift in theology.

St Joe

2008-04-01T17:51:00.001-07:00

Today at the convent, we celebrated the Feast of St Joseph. Many calendars had this transferred feast yesterday and the Annunciation today, but when in the convent - do what the sisters tell you! I always find preaching to the sisters a challenge. It's not as if the usual congregational needs are reflected in the convent. I don't think I can get away preaching about the need to 'give our lives more to our faith.' For crying out loud - they have taken vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity and perhaps even more difficult - they live in community and work on a consensus-based government style. But it is nice to preach to a different community and they seem (nuns wouldn't lie would they?) to enjoy/appreciate my preaching.

Today for St Joseph, I found myself thinking about our parish hall. There's a nasty little habit we (and I mean all of us) have that is demonstrated in schools, homes, and churches. In the parish hall - not every one pushes back the chairs when they leave a table. Not everyone puts their coffee cup in the dishwasher. In the church, not everyone takes their bulletin home, and just leaves it in the seat. In the bathrooms, not everyone can make the difficult shot of putting paper towels in the trash can (I have a similar problem of putting clothes in the clothes hamper). We believe - or in many cases we know - that someone else will take care of it. Don't we pay someone to do this for us? Isn't there someone who's job this is? It'll get done.

Ours is a society of passing responsibility or assuming that others will pick up where we leave off. "If I don't help - someone else will." Name the societal ill - name your issue - and we can find large masses just knowing that someone is taking care of the problem. And if anyone had the chance to say - this is not my job...this is not my responsibility - was it not Joseph?

The child inside Mary's womb was not his. I think he was pretty sure of that. He had every societal right to dismiss her quietly as he planned and he had every societal right to dismiss her loudly! It wasn't his responsibility. But if Mary is the patron of the church in saying "yes" to God - then Joseph is the patron of the church for assuming responsibility - for stepping up.

I am responsible for you. You are responsible for me. Every child (or adult) we baptize - we take vows in that effect - I am responsible for YOU. The homeless person is our responsibility. The addict is our responsibility. The lost executive is our responsibility. The trouble makers are our responsibility. The earth and that is in it - is our responsibility. Even if it's not our job. Even if it's not our business - wait a minute - God's business is our business, right? Our business should be God's business, right?

It is. It is.

Meditation for Thomas Sunday

2008-03-29T17:19:00.000-07:00

I never proof what I write (so disregard spelling errors!)

There is a most amazing thing in today’s Gospel reading. In fact, the more I think about it and the more I read the text, the more amazing I think it is.

Let me see if I can set the stage. On Easter morning, according to John, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb. I’m not really sure what she was going to do there. I don’t think she would be able to see Jesus in the tomb – there was, after all, a very large stone rolled in front to seal it. Maybe she thought she could squeeze in a crack or maybe she thought she could wedge it open – I don’t know.

Maybe she was going to do like so many of us when a loved one dies – she was going to sit by the tomb. Not really sure why we do that – but there is a compulsion to go and sit; to be with the body of the one whose died.

So Mary went and when she arrived she saw the stone had been rolled back. We don’t know if she even looked inside or if she just assumed that since the stone was rolled by that someone had removed his body – a lot like coming home and seeing your front door missing – you don’t have to go inside to have an idea as to what has happened.

She went to tell Peter and John and they went to see the tomb and they saw the same thing – the stone was rolled back. John got to the tomb first but did not go in – instead he just peaked. But Peter inside the tomb.

Don’t you think it’s interesting that Mary didn’t get close to the tomb, John got close to the tomb but didn’t go in and finally Peter went inside?

Anyway, Peter and John go back to their homes. Not only has their teacher and leader been brutally executed – but to add insult to injury, someone has robbed his grave.

Mary stays at the tomb. She arrived to mourn and she was going to stay and mourn. This time, she actually looks inside the tomb. And when she does – she sees two angels. I don’t know if she knew they were angels and they asked her what was wrong.
“They’ve taken my Lord.”
She turns around and sees Jesus – but does not recognize him. She thinks he’s the gardener. I wonder why she thought he was the gardener and not someone else? At any rate – she asks the supposed gardener where he has put Jesus – and Jesus responds to her in a way that she recognizes him for who he is. And she sees her Lord risen.

Jesus tells her to go and tell the disciples that he is risen – that the tomb is empty not because robbers stole the body but because Jesus has conquered death. And she does. She runs and tells the disciples with every bit of gusto and enthusiasm that a human being can muster.

And we instantly assume that the disciples believed her. I don’t think so. I bet they thought she was crazy. I bet they thought she was just an emotional woman that was so sad Jesus had died that she was willing to believe anything to assuage her grief.
I bet they were nice to her, after all, they were grieving too. But I bet they rolled their eyes and avoided contact with her.

You know she kept after them, telling them time and time again what she had seen – desperately trying to plead her case that she was not crazy – she was not seeing things – that Jesus was alive. He was really alive.

And it wasn’t until that night that the disciples – the men –saw Jesus as Mary had. That night Jesus appeared – he came right through locked doors. St John has a little gift for understatement and doesn’t really record the reaction of the disciples.

If I had been in that room, the first thing I would have done would have been to do everything in my power to get out of that room. I would be looking for windows or doors or staircases – because I man I knew to be dead – was now standing before me.

St John does tell us that Jesus was patient. He knew they were terrified – in fact the first thing he says to them is Peace be with you. In other words – it’s okay guys.
And then he lets them look at him. He stands patiently while they try to process what their eyes are seeing. A man – who died – they saw him die. They knew this body was in the tomb – was now standing before them – right there. He wasn’t a ghost because they could touch him – and I’ve often wondered if they did. But he wasn’t exactly flesh and bone because he appeared in a room with locked doors.

It was this moment – I’m convinced – that stayed with the disciples for the rest of their lives. It was this moment that gave them the courage to give up their lives for their faith. They could die because they experienced Christ alive.

So you know they could not contain their enthusiasm. You know words could not describe the euphoria – the joy – the hope that now breathed within them.
And you know they shared all of this with Thomas.

Thomas wasn’t there when the disciples saw the Risen Christ. He wasn’t there. And when they told him what they had experienced – he, naturally, understandably, thought they had lost their mind.

You want him to be alive, he might have said. You will see anything to pull you out of your depression. He is not alive. He is dead. If his tomb is empty, it’s because someone took his body. And to completely hammer home his point he said – unless I touch the wounds made by the nails and spear – I will not believe.

And I understand this. I bet you understand this. I bet we all have talked with people that were in a very fragile state who were convinced they saw something, heard something felt something. And in the backs of our minds we might have left open the possibility – maybe they did. Maybe they did see something, hear something, or feel something. But more than likely, more than likely they didn’t. They wanted to. They so desperately wanted to that they would interpret anything to be contact from the beyond.

Thomas thought the same thing. But they wouldn’t stop. And they were all in agreement. Every one of the 11 remaining disciples except for Thomas – saw Jesus alive. There was no disagreement. Mass delusion – Thomas thought.

But here is the amazing part of this story. At least I think it’s amazing. Thomas stayed with the group. He didn’t leave. Even though the point of their cohesion was gone – at least Thomas thought so. What brought them together was the call of Jesus and he had died – so there was no reason to stay together.

But they did. He did. He stayed with them for an entire week. St John doesn’t address this – because he doesn’t have time. In fact St John even writes that there were so many things that happened that were not written down. But I think the fact that Thomas stayed with the disciples is significant.

It means he was able to live in tension. He was able to live in disagreement. The 10 disciples were completely, totally, and absolutely convinced that they had seen the Risen Christ. Thomas thought they were all mad. But they were able to stay together.

I think that is an incredible witness for us – that 11 men were able to remain together. Even though they completely and totally disagreed on major issues – in fact the issue that defined their relationship – they were able to remain together.

If there is a major sin in the life of the church today – I don’t think it has anything to do with doctrinal impurity of sexual orientation or anything of the like. I think the major sin is that fact that Christians from bishops down to lay folk have a very difficult time staying together.

I read a letter from the Bishop of Ft Worth telling why he no longer attends the House of Bishops meetings. Over the past nine years of parish ministry, I’ve heard story after story and reason after reason as to why people in the church do not get along and can’t even sit in the same church together.

I think one the most amazing parts of the story of Thomas is not only that Jesus appeared to the disciples and they believed – but that they stayed together long enough for Christ to appear to all of them. They had enough love for each other to live together in tension and conflict until Christ was present for all of them.

Heaven knows there are people and groups of people with whom we disagree. We might even disagree on the most fundamental issues of faith and life. But Jesus promised his presence when two or three are gathered in his name. If we can’t come together – we may not have a quorum for Christ’s presence!

The challenge for the people of God is staying together. I don’t think the issue matters. I don’t think whose right or wrong necessarily matters. I think what matters is our ability to love one another. Our ability to stay together. Our ability to wait patiently until Christ is made manifest in our midst.

And when that happens – when we all see Christ in the midst of our conflict – all will be well. All will be well.

Amen.

Be Fruitful and Multiply

2008-02-26T12:18:00.001-08:00

Doing our part to expand the Episcopal Church. This is about 6 weeks.

Mass in the Pope's Private Chapel

2008-02-25T05:00:00.000-08:00

Wouldn't think the chapel would be that modern, would you?

La messe privée du pape Benoît XV
Uploaded by paristocrate

Anger

2008-02-21T07:00:00.000-08:00

Last night the topic of discussion was anger. Frankly I'm still too puny to write about it with any lucidity - so here's a download with a test to see what your anger style is. Go to pages 81-86. How did you do?

Sick

2008-02-18T17:44:00.001-08:00

The Plague

2008-02-18T04:35:00.000-08:00

The plague has hit Waynesboro. Anyone else sick?

Transfiguration?

2008-02-13T04:49:00.000-08:00

Lightning hitting the world's tallest Christ in Rio de Janeiro.

Facebook for Episcopalians

2008-02-12T14:06:00.001-08:00

While the site's server is currently down for maintenance, Episcopalians now have their own social networking site a la Facebook - www.episcopalchurch.ning.com.

Take a look. Join if you like. Spread the word. It would be interesting to see what could come from a diverse Anglican community online - the via media.

The Race of the King in the Cake

2008-02-06T06:03:00.000-08:00

This picture is of the infant Jesus commonly placed in king cakes (a Mardi Gras tradition). Every year I order two king cakes from Publix and every year I'm asked the same question - white Jesus or black Jesus? (My 3 year old daughter calls them a yellow Jesus and a brown Jesus). I can find no justification ordering two white babies. Even though the overwhelming majority of St Michael's is white, I am not comfortable picking the white baby over the black baby. So I order both. Yes, there are usually some odd looks when one cake produces a white baby and the other, an unexpected black baby - but I think the looks are worth the point made that Jesus wasn't Scandinavian. And for that matter, Jesus wasn't African. As a man, Jesus was a Jew - a man living in Palestine. As a Savior - Jesus isn't white or black - he's plaid. He's every color. He's all colors. He's no color.
As a son of the south, I've seen racism and reverse racism since day 1. I think every year brings more healing, but I still wonder if things will not change until a couple of generations (perhaps mine) are long gone. I wish we could be at a point in which we did not have to choose between a white Jesus and a black Jesus. Why not just - Jesus?

Getting Ready for Lent

2008-02-05T08:24:00.000-08:00

A Heart Strangely Warmed

2008-02-04T05:10:00.000-08:00

An article in the Augusta Chronicle highlights conversions from one faith to another or one tradition to another. Yours truly was included in those who have had their heart 'strangely warmed' to move to another expression of Christ's Body.

Have you been warmed? Have you moved?

Why?

The Mountaintop

2008-02-01T05:52:00.000-08:00

The mountaintop seems to be the place to be. If you are looking for God. We can find God anywhere, even deep down in the pits of the earth, the furthest away from a mountain summit. But if you desire to see God, if you want to see God face to face, it seems the mountain is where you have to go. Abraham encountered God on Mt Moriah. Moses heard God through the bush on Mt Horeb. Moses saw God on Mt Sinai. Peter, James, and John saw Christ transfigured - they saw God - on a mountain (traditionally Mt. Hermon). Why must a person ascend a mountain to see God?

On January 11, Sir Edmund Hillary died. Most remember Sir Edmund as being the first person to summit Mt. Everest - the highest point on earth. If you ever see pictures of Base Camp, the last habitable place climbers rest before climbing the mountain, you will see dozens and dozens of flags, like bunting on the 4th of July. These flags are offered as prayers to Miyo Lungsangma, the mother goddess of earth. The locals believed Miyo Lungsangma lives on the top of Everest. Even though the Sherpas, the local people whose bodies have amazingly adapted to the high altitude, have long had the ability to summit Everest, they were afraid to upset the goddess. When Hillary reached the top, his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay offered chocolates to the goddess and left them in the snow. Hillary left a cross. Even though Hillary did not believe Miyo Lungsangma lived on the mountain, he did respect the summit as a place to encounter the divine - like Abraham, Moses, Peter, James, and John.

What is it about climbing mountains? What is it about being above and higher than everything else? Is it possible that the reason the Bible records people having theophanies on mountains is because when a person stands in a place where they can have a perspective to see the world as God sees it - they see God?

What is our vantage point? What is our perspective?

It's not that God only resides on mountains - it is when we go to mountains and look around - we see that the world is bigger than our own experience. It's bigger than our assumptions and ideas. It's when we move to a place to see things in their entirety and comprehensively - we are humbled to a point that we can recognize God.

Climbing takes effort. It takes practice and patience and knowledge. It also takes the guidance. To see God we don't always need to elevate our altitude - just our perspective.

These Are Someone's Sons

2008-01-31T07:35:00.000-08:00

Tuesday night at St Michael's Men's Club, Mr. John Brady, director of the Augusta Youth Development Campus, gave a riveting presentation. The YDC is the state prison for mentally troubled youth. Mr. Brady has 103 residents ranging in ages from 11-20 with offenses ranging from grand theft auto to child molestation to rape. Mr. Brady's presentation was blunt - and the men assembled responded.

What we need to remember, Mr. Brady said, is that these boys are someone's sons. Somebody loves them. But in those cases when they have no one to love them - they NEED someone to love them. Can we love them? Can we love those who have hurt others, especially the very innocent and defenseless? Mr. Brady said it's hard for him, but as someone who is a Christian - we have to work through it.

These boys are in the position they are in because of neglect, abuse, and so many other things that are repulsive and immoral. We must break this cycle. We can start by showing the unloved and unlovable - our love.

You Are Forgiven

2008-01-28T17:45:00.000-08:00

On my way to the hospital at Fort Gordon (a large Army base in Augusta), I passed by the Church of the Atonement, an Episcopal mission near the base. The sign that is usually reserved for worship times had the following message that I snapped with my cell phone:

If you are having trouble reading the sign it says:
We forgive you. Please return the grill.

So many times I would prefer forgiveness and restitution that is not "messy." That is - I would rather be forgiven without having to do anything about it. But that's not how forgiveness works, at least not exactly. In the Old Testament, especially in the Book of Leviticus, whenever a person sins, they are required to make restitution. Eugene Peterson's The Message records this from the sixth chapter of Leviticus:
God spoke to Moses: "When anyone sins by betraying trust with God by deceiving his neighbor regarding something entrusted to him, or by robbing or cheating or threatening him; or if he has found something lost and lies about it and swears falsely regarding any of these sins that people commonly commit—when he sins and is found guilty, he must return what he stole or extorted, restore what was entrusted to him, return the lost thing he found, or anything else about which he swore falsely. He must make full compensation, add twenty percent to it, and hand it over to the owner on the same day he brings his Compensation-Offering. He must present to God as his Compensation-Offering a ram without any defect from the flock, assessed at the value of a Compensation-Offering.

In other words, if you sin against someone, make amends with them and God. Forgiveness is freely given to us, but it is not cheap. Jesus, in his prayer that we repeat each week, asks the Father to forgive us our trespasses and we forgive those who trespass against us. Is our forgiveness conditional on our forgiveness of others?

When we sin, God will forgive us. But God wants us to clean up the mess we've made. God has forgiven us - but we need to return the grill.

Benediction and Cake

2008-01-28T05:05:00.000-08:00

Last night I had the opportunity to do something I've wanted to do for a long time - assist at a Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Benediction is a service in which a large host is placed in a monstrance and the priest blesses the congregation with the host housed in the monstrance. Typically you only see this in Roman Catholic Churches or Anglo-Catholic Churches. There is a lot of incense and other things you don't see every day (humeral veil, monstrance, etc.). This Benediction was on the Silver Jubilee of The Very Reverend William Willougby's ordination to the priesthood.

If it is proper to say that solemn liturgies are fun - this was fun. The vestments felt old and kneeling over a thurible of incense induced an ethereal mood. I was quite nervous putting the host in the monstrance and was constantly worried I would fall down the steps of the altar while holding Fr. William's cope (he doesn't move slowly). But, alas, all was well - no one fell, the monstrance was in its place, we prayed, sang, celebrated, and afterward - we ate cake.

Bishop Shipps, the VIII Bishop of Georgia participated as did the Monsignor of the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Savannah. I met a Greek Orthodox Priest and the mayor of Savannah was present. Quite ecumenical. Cake will do that.

There's more

2008-01-23T14:23:00.000-08:00

It completely takes us off guard when we hear of the death of young people. Our reaction is compounded when the young are talented, liked, and/or wealthy. What's even more bewildering is when these young, talented, liked, and wealthy people engage in behavior that results in their death. Heath Ledger, 28, was young, talented, liked and wealthy. He had all the things I wish I had, but will never have. Yet he, by many accounts, was looking to fill a void deep within. He looked for peace.

Britney Spears makes headlines every night. She is out late with this guy. She is in Mexico with that guy. On one hand, who cares? But on the other hand, it is sad when the whole world watches in slow motion the decline of a young, talented, liked, and wealthy person. The Associated Press has even written her obituary in preparation for her young death. Would you be surprised? She, too, is looking for something. There is a void.

How many names can we come up with - celebrity or not - that had everything...they had it all by so many standards and yet they lived life searching for anything that would fill the void so gaping in their soul. Money doesn't do it. Things are insufficient. People, while nice, ultimately fail. Fame, prestige, influence...they all fade. It's not enough.

Yet there are simple, poor, unknown, uneducated, and unattractive people that wake up each morning and close their eyes each night with peace. For they know, as the chorus of our faith sings, that there is only one thing that will truly fill us with what we desire. God.

As our world spends so much time and effort trying to acquire more - we discover time and time again that all the things are irrelevant. It's the giving of everything - ourselves, our time, our resources, our hearts - to God - that we find ourselves rejoicing in abundance.

There is so much more out there. But it's not what most people think.

It's true.

New Year's Resolution

2008-01-03T06:10:00.000-08:00

The Baptismal Covenant

Celebrant Do you believe in God the Father?
People I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

Celebrant Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?
People I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

Celebrant Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?
People I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.

Celebrant Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and
fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the
prayers?
People I will, with God’s help.

Celebrant Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever
you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
People I will, with God’s help.

Celebrant Will you proclaim by word and example the Good
News of God in Christ?
People I will, with God’s help.

Celebrant Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving
your neighbor as yourself?
People I will, with God’s help.

Celebrant Will you strive for justice and peace among all
people, and respect the dignity of every human
being?
People I will, with God’s help.

Betty Butterfield

2007-11-29T05:13:00.000-08:00

A friend in the United Methodist Church had a video from Betty Butterfield and her visit to the Methodist Church. Hilarious (I'll include it below). Nervously, I searched for Betty's visit to the Episcopal Church. Obviously it's a joke and this style of humor is not for everyone, but behind the humor and satire, it's in interesting look at the Episcopal Church.

Did you catch the line about Methodist preachers secretly want to be Episcopalian...but they couldn't pass the test!!!! HAHA

Billions and Billions

2007-11-26T05:30:00.000-08:00

I’ve been a little frustrated lately.
I never liked science much in school. I survived freshman biology and senior physics in high school and I took the obligatory freshman biology class in college. I hated chemistry and I am not a fan of math – thus eliminating any fun with physics. Lately I have been making up for lost time. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading Brian Greene’s books The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos. I feel smart again after actually grasping the basics of general and special relativity, string theory and the whole bit. These brilliant men and women, from Newton to Sagan to Greene seem to speak (or at least write) as people of faith. By that I mean they speak of theories and ideas, things which they may not yet be able to test, but something they believe could be true. In all truth, reading these books is not much different from reading some of the great spiritual classics.
But…many of the great scientists are not people of faith, in the religious sense. There is, in my opinion, an atheistic revival. At the local Borders (which, as an aside, has the best religion section of all bookstores), there is now an atheist section; one that I do not believe was there a year ago. Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins have published popular books on the subject of the non-existence of God. I have read Hitchens, God is not Great and frankly, I was disappointed. In reading Carl Sagan’s The Varieties of Scientific Experience, again I was disappointed by their arguments. Hitchens is a brilliant man and he uses his rhetorical skill by building up straw man after straw man in “exposing” Christianity. Of course if you take the absolute most broken expressions of Christianity, you can present a case for the failings and destruction of faith. But that would be like taking my 7th grade English class as representing the entirety of world literature (Hitchens is a literature scholar). Sure, The Red Badge of Courage was a good book, but it is not all there is! Likewise, Sagan (whom I love to read) pleads with his readers to use their imagination and broaden their minds and then contrasts this with a limited view of faith and biblical interpretation. That would be like me writing a book on physics using nothing but my 8th grade Earth Science textbook (no offense, Mrs. Strom). Our universe is so vast and so complex and so amazing, we injure ourselves by limiting our imagination and curiosity. Our God is so vast and so complex and amazing that we injure ourselves by limiting our exposure, imagination, and search. I think we should always investigate and examine our faith and why we believe. But I firmly believe that general and special relativity and the expanding universe are not in conflict with the belief in God. In fact, I think they are perfectly compatible! Let's have the conversation! Let's engage each other - but let's do it by first trying to understand each other. I'll read Mach if you'll read Origen.

For Priests (bumper sticker)

2007-11-21T05:47:00.000-08:00

Go to St Michael's Webstore to order one ($4.99). Available in Priests' Black.

Favorite Things

2007-11-21T04:46:00.000-08:00

So, Oprah was recently in Macon doing her annual "favorite things" show. I'm not Oprah, although I wouldn't mind spending a day in her shoes (and I mean "spending"), but I have some favorite things, too. Here's my top ten (and they are all on a priests' budget):

1. Radio stations that play Christmas music 24/7 after Thanksgiving (even though it is in Advent)
2. Route 44 Diet Dr. Peppers from Sonic - especially during Happy Hour
3. Short Work Weeks (so few and far between)
4. Old books
5. Chocolate Milk
6. Heated Car seats on cold mornings
7. Skype
8. Coffee with Splenda
9. Discovery Channel
10.The Book of Common Prayer (read the litany on page 837 tomorrow!)

What are your favorite things?

For your insomnia

2007-11-20T07:17:00.000-08:00

Sunday's sermon - note: I don't preach from a manuscript, but this is 90% of what I said (minus the typos - who likes to proofread?).

Okay, I know we are presenting our pledges today, so it says somewhere in the Bible that the priest must make a silly joke about giving to church. Because we want to be faithful to the bible, I have a couple, but if they are not funny, it’s not my fault. I’m just doing what I’m supposed to do. Here goes:

One day there was a family walking out of church. The man says to his wife, “That wasn’t much of a sermon that father gave.” The wife then adds, “Yea, and the choir sang off key.” Meanwhile, their small son has been listening to his parents’ conversation. Finally, he speaks up, “It seemed all right to me,” he says, “especially considering that it only cost us a dollar!”

One more. A 100 dollar bill, a 20 dollar bill, and a one dollar bill meet up at the shredder at the end of their lives. The 100 says, "I've seen the whole world during my lifetime. Why, I've been on cruises in the Caribbean, safaris in Africa, and vacations in Europe." The 20 says, "Well, I've not done quite as well, but I have been to Atlantic City, Disneyland, and Starbucks." They both turn to the one dollar bill and ask, "How about you?" The one, not wanting to be outdone, says, "I've seen the whole country as well. I've been from church to church to church..." Then the 100 asked, "What's a church?"

I know those aren’t very funny, but when you Google church jokes you will find more and more jokes about stewardship, tithing, and money more than any other, probably because a really good joke will have an element of truth to it and these jokes do reflect the reality of stewardship.

And it’s customary for priests and preachers to tell these kinds of jokes because frankly, it’s a little uncomfortable for the preacher to say and for the listeners to hear, “Folks, you need to give more.”

At least it is for me. I talked to my friend Mike this week and he relayed the story of our friend Nathan and his visit to a new church. Apparently he attended church on the wrong day because the pastor was fired up. The Sunday before was stewardship Sunday and the pledges were not meeting expectations.

Now I would prefer to tell you a joke and hope you get the hint, but this pastor left nothing for the creative imagination. It was so hard, that people actually got up during the sermon and walked out!
I don’t know if the pastor’s tactic worked, but something tells me probably not. At St Michael’s there will not be any screaming or threats or even guilt trips. I try to do unto others as I would have them do to me, and screaming, threats and guilt trips have never worked on me, just ask my mama.

We do pretty well here. When I say we do pretty well, I mean that we always seem to meet our needs. We need to be challenged on a consistent basis, because we always need to be challenged. But I have faith that we will receive our pledges and we will make our budgets and rely, as we always do, on God to see us through each year.

So my stewardship sermon will not be so much about money and percentages and all that, even though I think they are very important, and I hope you do, too.

Instead I want to know why we believe in God.

I know that might sound silly, ‘why do we believe in God,’ but think about it for a minute. For a long time I believed in God for the same reason that Abby will believe in God. I’ll tell her to. She’ll be in church. She will say the memory verses. She’ll be in Christmas Pageants. She will reflect what I say, because her father is reflecting what he was told.

And unless she or anyone else actually thinks and searches why they believe in God, then chances are their Christianity will be a watered down, inch thick, shallow attempt at faith.

Faith that is a dogmatic imperative given by authoritative adults will result in faith that cultural and sentimental but not life changing.

A recent survey found that only 42% of Brits pray. The irony is the news article thought that was a pretty good number, but given that England has an official religion, I think those numbers are pretty weak.

Why do we believe in God?

Christianity is really kind of strange, if you step back and take a look at it. We have a Bible that is sometimes hard to read and many times confusing and dull and when it’s not dull it’s morally ambiguous with episodes of God smiting people for not doing the simplest things.

Christianity is easy fodder for critics and our belief in God-in-flesh and the Eucharist, Baptism, and the mysterious Holy Spirit, not to mention the fact that our salvation is through the inhumane execution of a carpenter, makes all sorts of people wonder – why do we believe in God?

We have our problems as Christians. We fight and sometimes when we fight we kill each other, and we do it in the name of the God of Love. We are judgmental and hypocritical and if you ever get close to the inner workings of the church, you may ask yourself, why do we believe in God?

A few weeks ago, I told you that I was going back to the very first church I served 8 years ago to preach. The current pastor is a really nice guy; he is basically in the same spot now that I was in 8 years ago. He has a lovely wife whose sister actually went to college with Cherilyn and me and 8 weeks ago they had child.

Monday I received a phone call from one of the parishioners that their child suddenly died. As of today, the cause of death is still unknown; at least the news hasn’t traveled this far south.

And I don’t know about you, but whenever I hear of things like this I first make sure I know where all of my loved ones are and then I wonder what I would do, what I would feel if I were in that situation.

A young pastor with a young wife with the greatest loss the world can take. In my anger, in my confusion, in my helpless, would my voice rise like Job’s and would I shake my fist at the sky and ask, “why do I believe in you?”

But God already knows this about you and me. God already knows that we have, are, and will ask the question and God has already given us our answer.

Listen to the words of Isaiah, a prophet that watched his entire nation, his kingdom, be pillaged with all the people sent to the far corners of the empire. Hear his message to the people of Israel, hear God’s answer to their question.

"Pay close attention now:
I'm creating new heavens and a new earth.
All the earlier troubles, chaos, and pain
are things of the past, to be forgotten.
Look ahead with joy.
Anticipate what I'm creating:
I'll create Jerusalem as sheer joy,
create my people as pure delight.
I'll take joy in Jerusalem,
take delight in my people:
No more sounds of weeping in the city,
no cries of anguish;
No more babies dying in the cradle,
or old people who don't enjoy a full lifetime;
One-hundredth birthdays will be considered normal—
anything less will seem like a cheat.
They'll build houses
and move in.
They'll plant fields
and eat what they grow.
No more building a house
that some outsider takes over,
No more planting fields
that some enemy confiscates,
For my people will be as long-lived as trees,
my chosen ones will have satisfaction in their work.
They won't work and have nothing come of it,
they won't have children snatched out from under them.
For they themselves are plantings blessed by God,
with their children and grandchildren likewise God-blessed.
Before they call out, I'll answer.
Before they've finished speaking, I'll have heard.
Wolf and lamb will graze the same meadow,
lion and ox eat straw from the same trough,
but snakes—they'll get a diet of dirt!
Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill
anywhere on my Holy Mountain," says God.

Deep down in our souls, deep down in our bellies we know there is something behind this life of ours. And we know that the world as is know is not the world as it is supposed to be.

God knows this too! God is not aloof or distant; God knows too well what we feel:

‘No more babies dying in the cradle, or old people who don’t enjoy a full lifetime.’
‘No more sounds of weeping in the city, no cries of anguish.’
‘Before they call out, I’ll answer. Before they’ve finished speaking, I’ll have heard.’

We believe because when we hear this promise of God, we feel its truth. We know babies aren’t supposed to die in the cradles and we know old people are supposed to have full lives. We know there is supposed to be peace and harmony and love and kindness.

We know this because we are created in the image of God and our spiritual DNA is linked back to a time and place when everything was perfect and there was peace and harmony and long life and no agony or sadness.

And because it is in our genes we seek that original perfection and harmony but because we’ve had thousands of years of time and space and rebellion, we seek these things in the wrong places and in the wrong people and in the wrong things.

But when we hear the voice of God, given to us through the prophets, patriarchs, apostles, martyrs, and most of all through Jesus the Christ, we know – we feel – its truth.

We recognize it because we see a part of ourselves in the promises. We see ourselves because we are created in the image of God.

But if we are going to believe in God, let’s believe in God. Let’s believe in Christ and his saving work on the cross and his resurrection. Let’s believe in the Holy Spirit and his guidance and comfort in our daily lives. Let’s believe in the power of the sacraments and how we encounter the living God. Let’s believe in the Church, the reservoir of truth and stability.

Let’s believe it and not allow it to become shallow and hollow and superficial.

For I believe if we truly believe, we won’t need stewardship sermons or even stewardship Sunday’s because giving, and serving, and praying, and worshipping, and loving will be as natural as the beating of a heart.

And while we are always challenged to increase our giving, we are challenged even more to increase our faith, or rather, to increase our commitment to our faith.

Not because I’m telling you to or because we live in a quasi-Christian culture or for any other reason, except that you believe.

You really believe.

Jesus said, ‘Pay close attention now, I’m creating new heavens a new earth.’ No more pain. No more trouble. No more heartache. No more loneliness. No more death. No more war. No more fighting. Just peace. Just love. Just perfection.

It looks so familiar; like we’ve been there before.

Do you believe it? Do you?

Amen.

Sacrifice

2007-11-07T05:50:00.000-08:00

From our church newsletter:

There is an oft-used phrase, “use it or lose it.” I certainly think this truism applies to reading the Bible. We need to constantly read and study the Bible, all parts, to continue to grow and understand our faith (theology = faith seeking understanding). Even if we’ve read the Bible a while ago, there are points and stories that we have forgotten and there are points and stories that mean more today than they did yesterday. For instance, I have made it my recent mission to re-discover the Book of Leviticus, perhaps one of the most dry books in the Bible due to all of its sacrificial rules and purity requirements and so on. I purchased a book Essential Torah wanting to know more about the types of sacrifices mandated in Leviticus. There are five: burnt offering (voluntary sacrifice – standard offering), meal offering (partly given for the priests to eat), well-being/peace (voluntary sacrifice – to fulfill a vow), sin offering (obligatory-unintentional sin), and guilt offering (obligatory-misappropriated property). Why all these sacrifices? Why all the rules concerning the way the sacrifice is made? Reading the Jewish perspective, it makes sense; the Jews offered sacrifices in order to remain in right relationship with God. Does God need burnt animals or flour? Of course, not, but God does delight in a person’s heart that is seeks to be in relationship with him – at all times and in all places. When things are going normally – a burnt offering; thankfulness for first fruits – meal offering; for fellowship and for an unexpected blessing, to fulfill a vow and general thankfulness – peace offering; and when we sin – sin and guilt offerings. What is left? Nothing! Everything is covered. At every time, good, bad, and ugly, the people offered sacrifices. The fires on the altars were always burning because the people were compelled to remember God and engage God always. You may have noticed this year we have not made a big deal of stewardship. We held cottage meetings to talk about our church and what we’d like to do and recently a letter was sent out concerning stewardship and November 18 when we will present our sacrifices to God. We don’t want stewardship to be a ‘campaign,’ rather we want it to be a desire to seek a right relationship with God. Read the book of Leviticus. See how the people worshipped. How is your day going? Normal? Very well? Not so great? Horrible? Offer a sacrifice. What kind? John 10:27.

photo above from Brand X Pictures

God does choose!

2007-11-05T13:11:00.000-08:00

Sunday, the adult Sunday School class began the month of November with the book of Ephesians, one of St Paul’s letters (some question Paul’s authorship, but for the sake of this post, let’s just say Paul wrote it). Ephesians begins with a doxology, or words of praise for God. Eugene Peterson’s Message (which I must say, I’m really warming up to) has St Paul saying “How blessed is God!” – words of praise. Doxology. Words of praise concerning God are all well and good. The issue quickly arose, however, when we came to verse 4:

“…just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.”

The word that really bothered a segment of our class population was the word “chose.” I can understand the shifting the seat with this word. God chose. God chose before the creation of the universe. On one hand it seems to brush up with fatalism; if God chose and I really have no say so in the matter, then I am a mindless robot with no will or decision-making power on my own. On the other hand it seems to suggest an exclusivity that makes many uncomfortable. “If God chose me, does that mean he did not choose others?” The question was: what does it mean that God chose?

My first flippant comment is, this is why we have Presbyterians and Episcopalians. That is not a fair statement, but the point is – this has been and continues to be a divisive issue. Google “Calvin tulip” and read the 5 points of Calvinism and you’ll find the U.L. and I. are ‘unconditional election,’ ‘limited atonement,’ and ‘irresistible grace,’ all of which speak to God choosing certain people (and on the flip side, not choosing others). But what about John 3:16, with God so loving the world that everyone who believes will enjoy the eternal presence of God?

There is a wonderful parable in Matthew’s gospel (chapter 22) of a great wedding banquet that a king prepared for his son. Invitations were sent out to everyone. But lo and behold nobody decided to come. The feast was ready, the table was set, but there were no guests to enjoy the feast. So the king told his servants to go out and find anybody and everybody they could to fill the banquet hall. The servants went high and low and looked behind the trashcans and under rocks and brought everyone they could to the feast. When the place was filled, the king walked around and viewed his guests. There was a man in attendance that was not wearing the proper wedding attire. The king was outraged and had the man thrown out to where weeping and gnashing of teeth were found in the darkness.

Why would the king throw the man out just because he was wearing the wrong outfit? One would think that if he were so hard up for guests, he would take them in no matter what they were wearing. John Wesley had an interesting thought on this. The wedding garment was a sign of righteousness. It’s not just that person believes there is a God, but lives as if there is a God. At the end of the day, God invites everyone, but not everyone accepts the invitation. I would imagine that when the king looked out over the wedding banquet, he could rightly and properly say, “These are my chosen guests.” Those that arrived were chosen by virtue of their invitation and their acceptance of that invitation. Everyone was chosen because everyone was invited. But not everyone accepted the invitation. And not everyone lived in light of the invitation (the wedding garment). As the parable ends, “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

The fact that God chooses is not saying that God is saying “you’re in and you’re out.” If anything, the fact that God has chosen us, (me…even me!) is cause for doxology. God chose the people Israel to be a vehicle for his grace and revelation. That vehicle prepared the world for the greatest revelation of his love and grace – Christ. God has chosen Jew and Gentile, sinner and wretch to be his children. He has chosen us! He doesn’t have to take us, he doesn’t have to love us – but he chooses to!

Will we accept? Will we say 'yes!'? Will we live as if God has elected to save us? With his help, let us say, Amen.

from Jaroslav Pelikan

2007-10-31T08:39:00.001-07:00

"If Christ is risen, nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen -- nothing else matters."

Thriller! New YouTube

2007-10-29T12:15:00.001-07:00

New YouTube

2007-10-08T11:46:00.001-07:00

Coming to a Community Near You

2007-09-14T05:09:00.000-07:00

The Fence

2007-09-02T15:43:00.000-07:00

Neat

2007-08-30T06:10:00.000-07:00

I am always finding new and better things in terms of computers and the internet. If you know me, you are aware that I am quite the Mac fan. Yesterday I purchased iWork mainly for the program Keynote, a slicker and more graphics friendly program similar to PowerPoint. One of the great features of Keynote is the ability to export the presentation as a flash file. So you can view last night's presentation, "Jesus on the Silver Screen" on our webpage. Sadly, not all of the fantastic transitions were exported. This program is incredible. So, go and watch last nights program....just click on the box to advance to the next slide.

Habitat for Christianity

2007-08-27T16:39:00.001-07:00

Coming soon.......a big unveiling. Buy the t-shirt now.

Homecoming

2007-08-20T06:42:00.001-07:00

Last night I had the pleasure of going back to the first church I ever served as pastor, Calhoun Falls United Methodist Church. The current pastor, recognizing the church and town is quickly dying, is trying to move forward by remembering the past. Using the 12 stones Joshua had stacked as the Hebrews crossed the Jordon to remember what had happened, we gathered last night with stones to remember what God has done so the church could move forward. I'm not going to post my sermon because it had a lot of specifics to the people and events in that church and community but I am posting an article I wrote for the True Citizen:

This Sunday night I am returning to my roots. In a former life I was United Methodist. I like to tell Marshall that I was United Methodist before I became a Christian. I’m kidding, of course, and Marshall puts up with me or at least he pretends. 8 years ago next month I was sent by the United Methodist Bishop of South Carolina to a tiny church in northwest South Carolina to serve as their pastor. This was the town of my father’s family. It was actually the church of my father’s family; in fact, my grandmother and aunt were still active members (I didn’t tell the higher-ups about this connection). The town of Calhoun Falls is about one sixth the size of Waynesboro; perhaps just over a thousand souls live there. The rumor was Calhoun Falls received her name after John C. Calhoun fell off his horse nearby, ergo, Calhoun Falls. The United Methodist Church in Calhoun Falls looks like thousands of other churches built near mill villages in the South around the same time; tall steeple in the front and red brick all around. I’ve been asked by her current pastor to return this Sunday night and reminisce, of sorts. Sadly, like so many Southern towns, the anchor of the community, the mill, has closed. Now a town that was struggling to survive is waiting for the inevitable. Because we need to know where we’ve been to know where we are headed, my job is share the impact a small United Methodist Church in a small mill village town can actually have. I have learned that every church has a Betty. Betty told me each week how to run the Church. She told me she was there before me and she would be there after me. She was right. She would rub me and I would rub her, mostly the wrong way. But churches cannot survive without their Betty. She was the most active and most supportive member I had. I learned what prayer looked like with Mr. and Mrs. Mahon. They didn’t teach me how to pray, but this couple, well into their nineties would rise each morning ever so slowly and put on their best clothes and would sit together in the sun room holding hands all day. They could hardly hear and could see even less, but the intimacy and union they shared spoke volumes to the intimacy and union prayer brings with God. I learned that even if you only have 3 children, they matter. All I had were Kaitlyn, Kirby, and Heath, and on many days I only had Kaitlyn. But we still had children’s church and we still had Bible School. It’s not her fault she is the only one. She still matters. I learned that the best salary a pastor can receive is a bag full of fresh corn and a case of Diet Pepsi. Because that is what Billy Frank and JoAnn loved more than anything, and they shared their wealth with me. I learned that small churches matter. I learned that people, of all sorts and conditions, matter. And even though they may never have a budget over thirty thousand dollars or attendance over forty and funerals may outnumber weddings 10 to 1, they still make a difference. They made a difference with me. They made a difference to a lot of people. As long as we carry those lessons and those memories wherever we go, that tiny United Methodist Church in a small mill village town in northwest South Carolina will never die. No, she and the faith of her people will never die.

We're Famous

2007-08-10T18:31:00.001-07:00

Well, not quite. Here's a link to the Augusta Chronicle story. You have to sign up, but it's free.

The photographer did a good job hiding my chins.

Another Blog for You

2007-08-02T14:00:00.000-07:00

I went to a Christian college, Erskine College. I went not because it was a Christian college but because it was a good school and my brother was an alumnus. At any rate, the guys in my dorm became great friends and so many of them are serving churches in their own traditions, Associate Reformed Presbyterian, Baptist, United Methodist, and me, an Episcopalian. At college we would stay up late at night sitting in the hall or at Lou’s, our favorite 24 hour diner, talking about life, love, and faith. Mostly we talked about the pursuit of the opposite sex. We are resurrecting those conversations 10 years later with the blog, Dormitory Dogma. Take a look and see how our conversation goes. If our conversations in the past are any indication, you will not want to miss this.

Why Go to Church

2007-08-02T13:56:00.000-07:00