Circuit Writer

The final edition of The Tahlequah Christian for 2009.  Cheers, and Happy Holidays!

Now you all know I’m not one for political grandstanding, so I’m reluctant to compare this to a “state of the union” style speech, but… Ok, so if you’ve read this far, you know me well enough to realize that I’ll give a speech for anyone who’ll listen. But that’s not the point! The point is that we are wrapping up another year in our life shared together, and I want to take this last opportunity of 2009 to reminisce and remember before we bound off on our journey into 2010.

As some of you may recall, we began our year with a budgetary problem that initially surprised us (Wow, maybe I do sound like a politician). However, in spite of tough economic times and everyone tightening their belts at home, we came together as a community and not only made our budget, but have exceeded it. All of this occurred while maintaining our increased giving of 13% of income to local, global, and denominational outreach! In addition, we’ve supported special offerings and other opportunities, joined the Disciple Farm Worker Ministry (in response to a call from our General Assembly), and answered the call from our local outreach agencies when therewas a need.

It’s also been a joy to see so many taking advantage of the opportunities to study, pray, and grow in the faith. I’m excited to be a part of a community that takes this seriously, and look forward to praying and studying together in the upcoming year. During the previous year I’ve found excuses (some good, some not so much) to put off providing other alternatives for our spiritual growth together, so I want to make this my public resolution that I will be providing more opportunities in the upcoming year.

And before I let this column get away from me, I think it’s important for me to put the wrap on my most fantastic gift: the joy of walking with you in faith and ministry. Seminary teaches a lot of things, but it can never put words to the experience of working alongside a congregation that has a strong sense of community and continues to kindle the flame of gospel hope. As this Advent comes to a close and we celebrate the presence of the Christ, I take heart in the gracious gift of God that I have found in all of you.

With heartfelt joy, admiration, and thanks,

Clint

This is the column for The Tahlequah Christian for the week of December 13-19.

After the various responses I received following the sermon this last Sunday, I thought it might be helpful to follow up a little on the doctrine of God that I was discussing. To jog your memory, our scripture reading came from the first chapter of John. After discussing how this story really reads as a new understanding of the creation of the world, I took a closer look at how some theologians have specifically interpreted verse three. When this verse discusses how “all things came into being through him,” meaning the eternal Word, or Logos, it opens the door to an understanding of God known as panentheism.

Now before this word becomes too scary, here’s how you say it: “pan – in – thee – ism.” It’s very similar to another word you may have heard before: pantheism. Pantheism literally means that everything is god. This belief has been widely rejected throughout Christian history. Panentheism; however, means that God contains everything that exists, but is not the same as everything that exists. To put it another way, panentheism means that everything exists within God and God is within every existing thing, but God and every existing thing are not the same. This view has been received much more sympathetically in the Christian faith.

However, it has always stood against the traditions that rigidly separate God from the created universe. This idea might sound familiar because it’s a lot like the simple children’s message answer we sometimes give when asked about God: God lives “up there” in heaven, and we all live “down here” on the earth. However, if this doesn’t sound like the understanding of God you hear in my prayers and my sermons, then you’ve been listening carefully. I believe that God is to be found everywhere, which is what panentheism means.

In my sermon I made reference to a type of thinking known as Process Theology, but I thought it might help to know that many Christian thinkers throughout history have believed in panentheism. Process Theology became its own school of Christian thought in the 1970’s. However, they were preceded by 20th century theological giant Paul Tillich, who described a panentheistic God in the 50’s and 60’s. These were preceded by many within the classical tradition. The mystical Angelus Silesius wrote poetry about God being present within everything in the 17th century, and theologian Nicholas of Cusa argued for this understanding of God in the 14th century. Even some of the early theological fathers, such as Augustine of Hippo in the 5th century and Athanasius of Alexandria in the 4th century, made the argument for understanding God-in-All and All-in- God.

As I look back on this article, I know that it’s a lot to chew on, but I wanted to share with you a little history behind the message I shared in worship. And I wanted to open the door for conversation – as you should know, I love to talk about our faith, and would be happy to talk with you about this further.

Celebrating in the joy of our faith,

Clint

Another late post, this is my column for The Tahlequah Christian dated 12/08/09.

Last Sunday afternoon, I attended the NSU Singers’ performance of “A Concert of Lessons and Carols.” If you were unable to make it to this concert, you really missed out on a treat. In my opinion, this was the best selection of choral music for the program since I began my ministry here in Tahlequah five concerts ago in 2005. It was a truly impressive performance!

However, I was equally struck by the “lessons” portion of the program. This collection of nine scripture selections provides the framework in which the carols are performed. With readings from Genesis to Isaiah to the Gospels, these lessons reflect the classical doctrine of the developing Christian faith: the fall of Adam, Original Sin, and redemption through Christ, the New Adam. Keep in mind, both this theology and the lessons framework likely come from medieval times and don’t really reflect the 200-year old theological tradition of the Disciples. However, I often find it quite amazing how much power these older doctrines hold in determining how we think today.

Stating that, it’s a real source of frustration for me. Part of the problem with the “original sin” tradition is the violence within that theology. Human free will leads to disobedience, which invites Divine violence – the curse, expulsion from the garden, the end of a supposedly “carefree” life. Then, the solution to the problem of the fall into sin is the violent execution of the one whom we worship every Sunday morning. (Did you see “Passion of the Christ”? A very violent rendition of the cross.)

So I’m left to ask – what of the Jesus who spoke of peace? What of the Jesus who never acted in violence during his lifetime? (Ok, so there’s the temple story in John 2:13-22 where he does have a whip of many cords.) What of the Jesus who opposed a system that perpetuated violence? Our theologies (mine included) often have many instances of “violent love” bound into them in order to make meaning in our lives. I wonder what it would take to replace all of those instances with a more “peaceful love.”

I admit that I don’t necessarily have an answer to this question, but I’m joyful and grateful to be a part of a church community where people take their faith journeys seriously through careful and prayerful study and fellowship. Even though I may not have the answers, I look forward to working them out in community with you as we journey together.

Seeking to live out the peace of Jesus,

Clint

This is a rather late posting of my article for The Tahlequah Christian dating 12/01/09.  I’ve made it my stated goal to get my church columns online, and I’ll do it even if it means getting it done late! cwc

If this title sent a shiver down your spine, then you’re exactly the person I’m trying to reach. This will be the underlying theme of my Advent sermons this year, and it’s long past time we took a moment to debunk this idea that our faith isn’t political.

Last Sunday’s sermon focused on Mark’s introduction of Jesus – his baptism in the Jordan by John the baptizer. In just these three short verses (1:9-11), Mark introduced two very different political ideas: those of Jesus and those of John. One of the scholarly theories on John the baptizer goes like this: if he could get enough people to come and be baptized and repent of their sins, then God would send the messiah. Of course, this messiah would be the expected military conqueror and king who would liberate Israel from its Roman overlords and reestablish the Davidic monarchy.

If that image of the messiah sounds familiar, it might be because that’s exactly what some of Jesus’ followers expected him to be – a conquering hero. However, you might also recall that Jesus explicitly rejected this understanding of his ministry every time. Time and again we see Jesus crossing the lines that were drawn between winners and losers, between the wealthy and the poor, between the healthy and the leper, between the righteous and the tax collector. He made a point of rejecting the zero-sum game mentality that plagued both his opponents and his supporters alike.

According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, politics may be defined as “competition between… groups or individuals for power.” However, it also offers an alternative definition: the “relations between people living in a society.” As I read these two definitions, I heard the difference between Jesus’ messiah and John’s messiah. John’s messianic hope was simply to shift the power from one group to another, from one king to the next. But Jesus’ vision was about sharing power through equalizing relationships between people. This isn’t just politics by definition – this is politics that matter.

The gospel of Jesus the Christ is political. The gospel accounts of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John are political. Last Sunday we talked about Mark’s politics of hope. This Sunday we’ll hear about Matthew’s politics of peace. I hope you will join us as we continue our observance of Advent.

Seeking to live out the politics of Jesus,

Clint