Significant sacrifice

2013 Advent good_news_hi_res  Matthew 2:13 -15

Prayer for the day:
God of us all, open my eyes and heart to those near neighbors and the wider global community to those who are building new lives for themselves among strangers –as immigrants, refugees, travelers, and searchers. May I welcome them as you have you have welcomed me.


Question for reflection:

Once upon a time, it was not uncommon for generation after generation of a family to live in the same town, surrounded by the same neighbors, extended family, and attend the same church or temple. However, our modern society is much more transient as we travel for education, jobs, and other opportunities. I cannot help but imagine Mary and Joseph, parents of a newborn, in a new neighborhood, and missing home. They were probably in desperate need for a casserole. It is easy to remember to give to soup kitchens, family shelters, and gifts for children programs during the holidays but the need is year round. Who is new in your neighborhood, sacrificing the familiarity and safety of home for their children? How can we support them through our congregations and charitable donations?

~ Gimbiya Kettering,  Intercultural Ministries Coordinator

Congregational Life Ministries of the Church of the Brethren is offering these simple prayers and questions in connection to this year’s Advent Devotional written by Tim Harvey, pastor of Central Church of the Brethren (Available from Brethren Press in print and E-Book formats). Join us as we look and listen for the coming of the Word through the reading of scripture, Tim’s reflections, times of prayer, and conversations on this blog.

Mutualizing

Lent 2013 Cover    Hebrews 10:19-25

Question for reflection:
Who do you worship with? Who do you gather with to play? To eat? To work? Who is in your community? Who would you want to welcome into your community?

Prayer for the day:
O God, your faithfulness and forgiveness extends to me, to my family, to my community – and beyond. Enable me to see those I meet as You would see them and to welcome them as You would welcome them. Amen.

~ Gimbiya Kettering, Intercultural Ministries Coordinator

Congregational Life Ministries of the Church of the Brethren is offering these simple prayers and questions in connection to this year’s Lenten devotional, The Practice of Paying Attention, written by Dana Cassell, Minister of Youth Formation at the Manassas Church of the Brethren. (Available from Brethren Press in print and E-Book formats) Join us as we look and listen for the coming of the Word through the reading of scripture, Dana’s reflections, times of prayer, and conversations on this blog.

Lift up your hearts

Lent 2013 Cover   Romans 2:12-16

Question for reflection:
Who do you know that lives outside of a faith community but seems to follow the ways of Jesus better than many Christians? How might you develop a relationship with them?

Prayer for the day:
God of mystery, you often choose interesting people to do your work. Help me to see you in everyone, to hear your voice in places I don’t expect it.

~ Donna Kline, Director of Denominational Deacon Ministry

Congregational Life Ministries of the Church of the Brethren is offering these simple prayers and questions in connection to this year’s Lenten devotional, The Practice of Paying Attention, written by Dana Cassell, Minister of Youth Formation at the Manassas Church of the Brethren. (Available from Brethren Press in print and E-Book formats) Join us as we look and listen for the coming of the Word through the reading of scripture, Walt’s reflections, times of prayer, and conversations on this blog.

The heavenly host: Waiting in the wings

Luke 2:10-14

Question for Reflection:
How/do you expand your community during Advent and Christmas?

Prayer for the day:
O God, you who created us to be in relationship, help us to feel the joy found only in community. Encourage us to join in with the multitudes singing praise to you, and to invite others to sing along.
Amen

~ Donna Kline, Director of Denominational Deacon Ministry

Congregational Life Ministries of the Church of the Brethren is offering these simple prayers and questions in connection to this year’s Advent Devotional written by Walt Wiltschek, campus pastor of Manchester University. (Available from Brethren Press in print and E-Book formats) Join us as we look and listen for the coming of the Word through the reading of scripture, Walt’s reflections, times of prayer, and conversations on this blog.

Praying the Psalms in Lent

Basin, Towel, and Bible for LentDietrich Bonhoeffer titled one of his books The Psalms: Prayerbook of the Bible. As part of his seminary experiment the students and teachers would pray the psalms together. Though it might seem innovative to some, the book of Psalms has been a hymn and prayer book for the people of God for centuries.

This approach to the book of Psalms stands in pretty stark contrast to our current ways of reading scripture. Rather than reading the Bible for themes, or ideas, or theological concepts, praying scripture teaches us to present the range of our experiences to God. Invariably, while praying these prayers, the reader will encounter emotions or images that say nothing to their current experience. This is not such a bad thing. The language and images of these old hymns refuse to leave us at the heights of praise or the depths of despair. As Don Sailers has said, the psalms speak of humanity at full stretch before God. That is to say, humanity stretched out between the postures of lament and of praise. Praying these ancient words lets us call out to God without reservation. At the same time, they offer words of comfort and challenge from the same God we invoke. In all, the psalms work on our inner life through spoken and read words, shaping us into more Christ like persons with each refrain.

For this season of Lent, I am not going to give something up. Instead, I am going to add something to my daily routine. For the forty days of Lent I will pray through the entire book of Psalms. So that means, six days a week from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday I will be praying at least four Psalms.

If you are new to this way of reading scripture, here is a short article from Christianity Today to get you started. To guide us through the season, a calendar has been posted on our website.

I invite you to join me in this practice. It really does not matter which translation you use, simply find a rendering of the psalms that leads you into prayer. There are many fine translations, some good paraphrases, and multitudes of musical settings.

Let’s take this time as a church to pray together, and not just in our own familiar words, but with the very words of scripture. Let’s let the prayer book of the Bible be our teacher this lent.

 

The Days Are Surely Coming

Prayer for the Day

Creator God, to whom all time is present, we stand in the constant flow of minutes passing into history. Just as we remember the days gone by, we long for the days yet to come. This waiting hope, however, unsettles us. Grant us peace in this day to wait, both remembering the coming of your Word and longing for the day of Christ’s return. Amen

Question

Are you person comfortable with waiting, or are you a go out and get it done kind of person? What does this season of waiting reveal to your personal style?

-Joshua Brockway; Director, Spiritual Life and Discipleship

Congregational Life Ministries of the Church of the Brethren is offering these simple prayers and questions in connection to this year’s Advent devotional written by David W. Miller. (Available from Brethren Press) Join us as we look and listen for the coming of the Word through the reading of scripture, David’s reflections, times of prayer, and conversations on this blog.

War No More

Prayer for the Day

Lord of heaven and earth, forgive us for limiting the age of your peace to heaven alone. Stir in us the vision of your present and emerging reign so that we may find the courage to take part in your work on earth as it is in heaven. Amen

Question

Where have you witnessed the transforming presence of Christ? How have you limited your understanding of Christ’s peace to heaven alone?

-Joshua Brockway; Director, Spiritual Life and Discipleship

Congregational Life Ministries of the Church of the Brethren is offering these simple prayers and questions in connection to this year’s Advent devotional written by David W. Miller. (Available from Brethren Press) Join us as we look and listen for the coming of the Word through the reading of scripture, David’s reflections, times of prayer, and conversations on this blog.

Theological Basis of Personal Ethics

In the report from the Congregational Ethics Study Committee it was suggested that consideration be given to updating and revising the 1966 Theological Basis of Personal Ethics.

That document can be downloaded here.

What do you think of its content?

Do you think it still speaks to our current understanding and living of Christianity in a Brethren Accent?

What do we do now?

I want to start this by thanking so many of you – for your words of support, whether it be through comments on here, twitter, or facebook. This was an action I only took knowing the church was with me – from leadership in Elgin to local pastors in the Washington, DC area. And to hear from so many of you … it is when we speak with each other, through one another, and together that we have a voice that makes a difference.

It was a powerful experience – to kneel in prayer in the Rotunda of the Capitol building, and pray that the decisions made in that building would reflect the values of the faith that so many hold dear. That the Holy Spirit would fill that place, and move our decision makers to seek to make this world more in accordance with the will of God – and to stand where God stands, caring for the poor and feeding the hungry. And then to be arrested for doing that very thing – with 10 other persons of faith.

Many have asked me whether or not I think the arrests yesterday of 11 people of faith made a difference. There has certainly been a lot of press attention to the actions taken. From the Huffington Post, to the New York Times, to ABC News, and many, many more – the word certainly got out about the actions. Combine that with the attention building around the daily prayer vigils, which continued today, and will continue next week, and it would seem that our country is certainly paying attention to what the church is saying.

But this still leaves the question of whether or not this will shift the debate in Washington – one that seems to only want to ask communities that have no more to give to sacrifice to get our fiscal house in order (which does need to happen). Whether it be the hungry through cuts to SNAP, God’s Creation by stripping funding for the Clean Water Act, or those in poverty around the world by slashing food aid – these seem to be the only communities actually being asked to give.

The reality is the action I took yesterday will only have an impact if it has your backing. Your words of support to me have meant so much – but your Senators and Representatives need to hear them, too. There are so many ways you can weigh in. Send them an email, call their offices in DC, or, and this one would have the most impact, visit their local offices (they are listed on their websites). No matter where you go, the message is that we cannot bring our fiscal house in order as a nation on the backs of the poor and vulnerable around the world. We need to consider increasing revenue and cutting security and military spending, too. The poor and vulnerable have no more to give. Or, just let them know that you are holding them in prayer as they consider what God would have them do.  Check out the NCC Poverty Initiative for more resources. BUT THEY NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU. It is time for all people of faith to speak up, and to take action, and seek to live in a nation that reflects our values. What we spend our money on goes a long way toward determining what those values are.

What are we to say?- Reflections on Annual Conference 2011

During the Special Response process, as I participated in Bible study, hearing, readings, and discussions, what I noticed was that our hearts were cracking open.  Some were cracking in pain, some in anger, and some were simply opening to new light.  At least one person said it this way:  ‘I dared to ask God to show me if I was wrong.’

“If nothing else, this year has caused members of the Church of the Brethren to pray.  When we pray God comes into all the cracks in our hearts and begins working.  So when I go back home, what I’m going to tell people is:  ‘God is working, but God’s Spirit is not finished with us yet.'”

-Linda Alley, spiritual director and ordained minister


These words from Linda Alley, shared at the close of Annual Conference by her husband and moderator Robert Alley, gave beautiful words to the painful work of this year’s Annual Conference. In the days and weeks after Grand Rapids, we may find that the Spirit of God is indeed at work – yet, for now, there are many who are asking whether God was even present in our decisions.

In recent days I have found that the way author and speaker Peter Rollins works with the last words of Christ gives us a way to discern God’s activity.  He simply says that in a single breath Jesus holds together both God’s absence and presence. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Mark 15:34; Matthew 27:46).” By addressing God, Jesus affirms that God is active and present yet his words describe a sense of divine withdraw. God is both there and not there, the rich paradox of our human life of faith in one single sentence.

The Church of the Brethren now holds within it that same paradox– a confession of God’s presence and absence. Some mourn the actions of the gathering, still others proclaim victory, and all decry the violence done to another through a threat of death.

In between lamenting absence and celebrating presence, is the question of the ages: What is God working within us in these days? That is the question of a sage to seeker, or a spiritual director to companion. That is the question for us as we consider being the church in the wake of Grand Rapids.

What if the absence and presence paradox is asking us a whole other question? What if the real issue in our life together is actually about trust?

Rowan Williams, in his book Tokens of Trust, helpfully describes our societal lack of trust saying that we “assume that things aren’t arranged for our benefit.” This powerless feeling, he goes on to say, “isn’t healthy” and leads to mistrust. “I feel mistrustful when I suspect that someone else’s agenda and purpose has nothing to do either with my agenda or with what that someone else is claiming. They have a hidden advantage; I am being undermined” (4).

All this may sound like a political phenomenon, but the wisdom of Williams’ work points to it as a spiritual issue. When we all entered the waters of our baptism a series of questions was asked, beginning with “Do you believe in God?” Williams is right to frame this statement of belief as a matter of trust. We are not asked if we believe in God like we believe it will rain tomorrow, or if we believe UFO’s exist. Rather, we are proclaiming our trust in God.

Unfortunately, we can betray that trust in God with our very actions. It is possible to say we have faith and then act as though all the power in the world is in our hands– power for ill or for good. So we maneuver, politic, and caucus to ensure our advantage. As Williams highlighted earlier, this is more a sign of our mistrust than it is of our faith. In our actions we plainly say to one another, even as sisters and brothers in Christ, “I do not trust you.” Even more to the point, we say to one another that we do not even trust God to speak to them. What does this say of our faith and ways of being the church?

Our work together and our natural desire for an orderly process provide us a release valve so that we need not encounter our feelings of mistrust.  In constructing a process and coming together with plans for voting, caucusing with one another, and wrangling over procedure, we avoid the deep spiritual work of trusting God to work among us. We let off the natural energy by taking matters into our own hands, and in so doing avoid living out the very things we claim to believe. As Peter Rollins has said, our actions are a “lie that allows us to cope with the unbearable truth of our situation” (Church in the Present Tense, 94).

When we continue to practice church as this release valve we will avoid the opportunities to work at the spiritual nature of our mistrust.  We will speak of peace and abuse one another. We will talk of community and betray one another through procedures and politics. We will value simplicity and construct barriers that keep us from simply seeing Christ in one another. In other words, we will release our tension by doing Church without letting the transforming Spirit of God work among us.

As we reflect back on our gathering and work in Grand Rapids, how will we tell the story of God’s work within us as the body of Christ? In this year to come, how will we imagine our gathering and leave space to proclaim “God is working, but God’s Spirit is not finished with us yet”?