A Litany and Theology for Work

The following litany was written by Pastor Diana Trautwein and myself for a church service where we prayed for a variety of service/ministry organizations in our city and led the congregation in a commitment to God's work. The service was then followed by a ministry fair where people could be educated about different opportunities for service and volunteer their time and talents to aid an organization in their work. In my opinion, a strong theology of work is a necessary component for a healthy church in order to recognize God's activity, practice true worship as well as advocate and partner for kingdom justice. I offer the following litany for prayer and meditation to connect with the God who cries "Mine!" over all the world and those who live in it.

A Litany for Work
Referencing Psalm 24 & 145, Haggai 2, Ephesians 6 & 1 Peter 3

Leader: “The earth is the LORD’s, and all that is in it, the world and those who live in it.”

People: Christ, our Sovereign Lord, cries, “Mine!” over every square inch of our human existence.

Leader: “The Lord is generous and his grace is abundant for all who are his. He upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down. He opens his hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing.”

People: The Lord of all life invites us to join this work of giving grace, raising up the bowed down, upholding the fallen.

Leader: Forgive us, Lord, when we ignore your invitation, when we forget that true worship means loving you and loving our neighbor; that we worship you by loving our neighbor.

People: Empower us now, O Lord, to be your true partners, joining in the work you are already doing in our community.

Leader: “Search for peace, and work to maintain it,” you tell us; “Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord,” your word declares.

People: Give us eyes to see and the will to do your gospel work. Help us to take small steps toward the healing of our broken world, for Jesus’ sake.

ALL: May we hear and heed your call:
“And now get to work, for I am with you, says the LORD.”

Don't Go to Church!

My son is a junior higher at Santa Barbara Junior High and recently told me that he likes hanging with his History teacher after school before I pick him up. Aren't historians the best? Anyway, the two seem to have hit it off allowing their conversations to turn toward more personal matters - namely, religion and religious belief. One of these conversations revolved around the teacher's challenge that he didn't need to go to church because he could worship just fine on his own. In his mind, and I'm paraphrasing based on the remarks of my son, organized religion is a sham filled with tactics to exclude others on the one hand while attempting to pilfer people's pockets on the other. This is a standard critique and one that any pastor who chooses to dismiss it does so at his or her peril. Why go to Church? Indeed. I imagine that even the most faithful believer has asked himself or herself just that question at least once. Well, what follows is my answer. For the most part it is an answer for my son first and his teacher second. In part because I think that we as Christians need to answer such a question for our own theological maturity and stability. Moreover, my son cares about the answer. His teacher, on the other hand, while well-meaninged and a nice guy doesn't seem terribly invested. In other words, I'm not sure that his question is a real one (would he change if I answered his critique?) nor do I believe that he actually cares about the answer (does he actually "worship" by himself?). My answer will be brief because this is a blog site and not a theological tome, so extend grace where appropriate. First, the problem with the question is that it suffers from a faulty understanding of what "church" means? More than just a facile critique of definition, however, I was recently reminded that how we talk about things affects how we experience them. Eskimos, for example, have a number of different words for “snow”. Young Eskimos learn to experience snow differently from English speakers because of their verbal climate. Language, in other words, guides our experience and shapes our reality. Similarly,the teacher's understanding of church (one also shared by many Christians)is that church is a place or event. We often speak of “going to church” or ask, “What time does church begin?” Such phrases turn the church into a building in which services are held. God’s church, however, Charles E. Moore reminds us, “the ekklesia (Grk. for “church”, from ek-out, and kaleo – called), is a called-out, called-together, and called-forth community: a visible, organic reality distinct from its surrounding environ.” Simply put, the church is all y’all. I have witnessed some amazing things that have reminded me of this great theological truth – that God does not want us simply to “go to church” but actively to “be the church”. Second, I can't be who I am called to be by myself - otherwise I fall into the trap of self-delusion or selfishness. I need others to keep me accountable, to pull me out of myself, to recognize that my vision of God belongs to others outside of my own limited grasp and that God is simply not a God of my own making. In other words, the setting matters - it is conducive to thinking about God and occurs in a relationship of healing and community. If you are really sick should you go to the doctor? I think so, because it is a place and a setting created for that purpose. Can you do the same thing at home? Maybe, but you do so at your own peril. In the same way that you would go to a hospital for surgery to experience thoughtful care, by gathering with others (the ekklesia) you are committing yourself to the wisest chosen venue for spiritual wholeness. Third, the work that God calls us to involves others. We need each other, warts in all, to fulfill God's mandate of bringing justice to the world. I'm sure that my son's teacher would laugh at a football player, even a good one, who believes that he can do the work of the whole team. In the same way, the Apostle Paul tells us that the church community is a body in which all the parts are necessary. Can you imagine a finger telling the arm it doesn't need it? Or a stomach claiming it doesn't need a mouth? In the same way, we need each other to do the work that God calls us to. My answers are brief and therefore flawed but I hope that they create the necessary heat and light for my son as he continues on this journey with the God of "all y'all."

Loving Our Enemies [an excerpt]

The following brief points come from a recent sermon I offered on Jesus's command to love our enemies (Matt. 5:43-48). This is a hard text to preach because Jesus' words are so clear and yet necessitate a particular empathy for those who have, or are currently experiencing, an abusive relationship. These three points seek to address the question, "Who are we to love?"

1. Who are we to love?
• It’s quite a list. The text mentions: enemies, those who persecute you, the evil, unrighteous, tax collectors. One commentator says, “He speaks of those at the bottom of the moral scale.”

A number of issues strike me about this list:
• First, all “enemies” are accounted for. The list is essentially inclusive filled with those who would do us harm, cheat us, even destroy us. There can be no group outside, none whom we may deny God’s love or our own. Jesus speaks of the enemy in all of his harshness and brutality – the addict, the abuser, the gossiper, whoever.

• Second, in this love there is a place for acknowledging “evil” (even referring to people as being evil) This is not an ooey-gooey vision of romantic or feel good love. This is not about sentimentality. Christian love is not the same thing as being nice but begins with the often harsh recognition that things are not right with the world, that we are not all united, “that I have been" or "am being abused.” The command to love your enemies only makes sense if you recognize that you have them. Jesus reminds us that without honest recognition true love cannot exist.

• Third, Jesus is saying that while we may have enemies, they fundamentally don’t determine our response. To acknowledge that we must love our enemies is not the same thing as saying that we surrender or give up what is right or true. To love our enemies is to rob them of the power of making us behave the way they want us to – with fear, violence, or apathy. Who they are does not determine what we do. The love that Jesus advocates is not a weakness or helplessness in the face of forces that seek to steal, kill and destroy us. You are not cross-embroidered doormat. In other words, Don’t say “no” to love - even love of enemeis - but remember that love can say “no.” Sometimes, love says no extravagantly! The love of God is powerful and is best classified as a weapon. To love as a follower of Christ is to acknowledge that whoever they are, whatever they have done they don’t determine our response or our end – God does! A great expression of this truth comes from the farmer/Bible translator/grumpy advocate, Clarence Jordan who started an inter-racial farming community in Americus, Georgia in the 1940s. He tells the following story (taken from a sermon) about a burly farmer who calls his work for peace and justice, particularly loving one's enemies, cowardly.

The farmer said, "You know what I don't like about you folks?" I could have named quite a few things, but I asked him what. And he said, "I don't like it 'cause you won't fight." I said, "Buddy, you've got that wrong." He said, "You fight?" "Yes, sir," I said, "we'll fight." He said, "Well, I heard you wouldn't." "Well," I said, "we don't fight that way ." "Oh, then you won't fight." I said, "Wait a minute now." And I looked out across there and saw an old mule with his head stuck out the old barn that was about to fall down, and I said to this fellow, "Suppose you walked by the barn out there right now, and that old mule reached out and bit you in the seat of the britches, would you bite him back?" "No, I ain't no mule!" I said, "Of course you wouldn't, and you've given the reason also why you wouldn't bite him back, because you're not a mule. "What would you do?" He said, "I'd get me a two by four, and I'd beat his brains out."

"Sure you would," I said, "you wouldn't let the mule choose the weapons, would you? You'd fight him, but you'd do it on your terms, not his. Suppose you'd say, 'Well, old mule, I ain't scared to fight. You bare your teeth, I'll bare mine; you bite me, I'll bite you; you kick me, I'll kick you. You'll lose! Now," I said, "you've got to choose some weapons that a mule can't compete with. You go to the jungle and fight a lion and say, 'Old lion, let's fight. I feel good today.' Old lion say, 'Okay, let's fight with fang and claw, that's all, let's go.' The man will not exert his superiority over the lion. He's got to choose the weapons." I said, "Now, we will fight, sir, but we will choose the weapons."

Don't let your enemy pick the weapon. Choose love - it's the only weapon that truly works.

If you would like a CD of the sermon or further notes answering the questions, "why are we to love our enemies?" and "how are we to love our enemies?" - email me at jonucsb@yahoo.com.