———

I stumbled onto an incredible little factoid while doing some research. Apparently there are two human-made structures that can be seen from space. One of which you may have guessed: the Great Wall of China. The other, you likely will not have guessed. It’s the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island, New York. So when the angels look down upon us, they see one of our great ancient achievements and one of our greatest contemporary failures.

Unfortunately, our record doesn’t look to be improving on this count. As our garbage output increases, the amount of landfill space has decreased to about 80% of its capacity 30 years ago. Many states – including Oklahoma – only have about 20 years of landfill space left, and that’s only if our waste production rates continue to increase at a constant level – leaving no room for population growth or other factors. Furthermore, the landfill practice of dumping and burying waste actually creates an environmental problem for organic materials. When plant waste is buried, it will break down, but only very slowly and will ultimately create large amounts of methane – a greenhouse gas more potent that carbon dioxide.

However, the art of gardening offers a potential solution: composting. Large amounts of plant waste that we throw away – vegetable peelings, coffee grounds, and the like, can be safely and quickly composted to create nutrient rich soil for growing next year’s vegetables. This not only reduces the amount of waste going into landfills, but also decomposes the waste in a faster manner that doesn’t produce methane gas. A little effort to separate plant waste from the rest of the trash could save land, help save the atmosphere, and grow healthy food all at the same time.

In a way, it’s resurrection x 3 (that’s multiplication if it didn’t make sense at first). Plant waste is composted back into new plant life, landfill space needs are reduced, and greenhouse gases are diminished. We are already considering a compost project for our community garden at First Christian, which includes the possibilities of getting everyone involved in composting efforts to make it more successful in the long run. And I’d love to hear your thoughts about it! So pull me aside on Sunday morning or send me an email and let me know what you think. Christians are in the business of resurrection, and multiplying it by three sounds like gospel to me! What say you?

Walking the Lenten journey of justice,
Clint

———

I just recently discovered a small blurb of an article posted on the Disciples New Service at our denominational website, and thought that it really deserved a little bit stronger coverage. It announced that Rev. Dr. Sharon Watkins had signed onto a statement entitled “Religious Leaders Stand Shoulder-to-Shoulder Against Extremism of All Kinds in Support of American Values.” Although it is clear that we are called not to participate in religious intolerance of any kind, this document specifically addressed the hearings on “the extent of radicalization of American Muslims” in the Homeland Security committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. The following is an excerpt from the full statement:

As American religious leaders, we share a deep sense of obligation to call upon our fellow citizens to treat each other with compassion and honesty, and to foster an ethical commitment to bedrock American values such as pluralism and religious freedom, mutuality and respect—values also at the core of our religious traditions.

As the House Committee on Homeland Security convenes hearings on the putative ―radicalization‖ of American Muslims, our obligation takes on renewd urgency. We gather together to affirm that we stand united with all Americans in urging our elected representatives to act—not against a single, unfairly maligned group, but against all forms of violence and extremism that endanger our security. As spiritual leaders and people of faith, we call on the United States Congress, elected officials at every level of government, and all American citizens not to perpetuate damaging false witness against our neighbors. Instead, we encourage all communities of faith and people of good will throughout this country, to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in communities of growing awareness, trust and hope.

All of our faith communities share a powerful prohibition against bearing false witness, with the understanding that destroying a person‘s reputation is tantamount to destroying his or her life. To assert that Muslims as a broad group are not deeply devoted to America‘s safety and the peaceful interaction of its entire citizenry – that is false witness. By subjecting American Muslims to such scrutiny, we weaken our more perfect union, and we harm the national vision of our common good that is a witness to the nations. We encourage all citizens of this country to honor freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution that enable the free exercise of religion across our great land.

I just want to take this opportunity to publicly join our General Minister and President, and sign on to this statement as the Pastor of FCC Tahlequah. Religious intolerance, especially that which is rooted in ignorance and intentional blindness, is not a national value, and we as Christians, as Disciples, and as human beings are better than this shortsighted attempt to continue to politicize terrorism at the expense of an entire religious community’s dignity.

Walking the Lenten journey of justice,
Clint

———

Ok, I’ve been flirting with this idea and trying to ignore it for a couple of weeks now, but after I followed a “this day in history” link, I realized that it must be a sign that I could no longer avoid the topic. This day in history (Tuesday, March 29), 38 years ago, the final U.S. troops withdrew from South Vietnam, effectively ending the Vietnam War for us as a nation. This long, bloody, and incredibly unpopular war not only left the bitterness of what was termed a “defeat” in our mouths, but also forced us to re-examine as a nation how we go to war.

Which leads me as a pastor to ask: how do we as Christians respond to war?

Just War Theory is a tradition that traces all the way back to the writings of St. Augustine in the late 4th and early 5th centuries. He was looking for a way to solidify the marriage between Christianity and the Roman Empire, and was struggling to figure out how war could be justified and how Christians could serve in the military. So he wrote what began hundreds of years of discussion of what constituted a “just” war.

The results have proven to be a pretty mixed bag. A firm “Just War” tradition has developed around a set of rules such as no wars of aggression, no bombarding of civilian targets, and so forth. Yet, even in spite of these rules, a strong pacifist tradition has continued to live within the Christian movement. Even amongst Disciples, many prominent leaders have taken an outspoken stance against war, with Alexander Campbell being just one of the many voices to declare war one of the greatest sins against God and one another.

While I don’t have the space to provide any solid answers in this column (and as a Disciple, I can’t provide them for you anyway – I can only help you to make your own decisions), I can encourage you to prayerfully contemplate the question of war. With our country engaged in three foreign wars, there is no better time than now. We may not be able to change the events that have already happened, but we can be better prepared to make wise decisions on the events that are still to come. I hope you’ll join me in extensive and serious prayer over how our faith plays into our decisions to fight.

Walking the Lenten journey of justice,
Clint

I am an atheist.  Sure lots of people have heard me talk about God, write favorable things about God, pray and worship.  And it was all sincere.  Still I am an atheist.  I’m an atheist the way the members of the early church were atheistic.  Atheism was one of the central charges officials of the Roman Empire made against Christians.  They were vilified for “irreligiosities” and “sacrilegium.”  Christians were regarded atheists because they rejected the gods of the state.  They refused to honor the religion of the empire.  The charge of atheism was at least as much – if not more – about politics as it was religious.

I am an atheist in the same way.  I reject the religion of the state, the civil religion.  This religion is expressed in the national motto “In God We Trust” which is printed on currency.  It is found in the words of the Pledge of Allegiance, “under God.”  It is expressed in the incessantly evoked phrase, “God Bless America.”  It is reflected in the claims of those who say that the constitution was inspired by God. It finds its way into speeches of politicians and proclamations of Presidents.  This god is more form than substance, more decoration than an expression of spiritual depth.

Consequently, I can’t fret alongside those who fear that the word “God” will be dropped from the Pledge of Allegiance.  I don’t share the concern of those who worry that “In God We Trust” won’t appear prominently enough on coins.  I have no investment in such things and wonder why any Christian would see them as important.  I don’t believe in the god of flag pledges and national mottos.  Such a god is not the God revealed in Jesus Christ.

Read the rest of this article here.

Craig M. Watts in the minister of Royal Palm Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Coral Springs, Florida, a member of the DPF Executive Committee and the author of the book Disciple of Peace: Alexander Campbell on Pacifism, Violence and the State (Indianapolis: Doulos Christou Press, 2005).

———

This last Sunday I used the privilege of the pulpit to share with you what I would call a “confessional” sermon. In it, I bared a piece of my soul on the question of atonement (salvation is another word for the same idea), and I shared with you my questions about the way it’s been traditionally understood. I’m troubled by the commonly held idea that “Jesus died for our sins,” and don’t really think our God of love and compassion would work to bring about salvation (life) through the act of execution (death). That, and the fact that an atoning death completely ignores the wonder of the resurrection that we celebrate every Easter!

But the purpose of this opening isn’t to introduce a discussion on atonement theory – a discussion that would take far more words than I can squeeze into this weekly column – but to make what I hope will be a simple proposition: I’d like to hear from you. Is there something that you do not believe? Is there something that you do believe, but don’t hear us talking about it as part of our Christian faith? These are all valid and legitimate questions a person encounters when on the faith journey, and I’d like to start a conversation about some of these questions and ideas.

So in our Sunday bulletins for the next couple of weeks, we will include a simple form that you may fill out if you desire, that will let me know the questions and thoughts that we have as a congregation. It will be straightforward – a line stating “This I believe” with space for you to fill in your thoughts and another entitled “This I do not believe” with space for you to write in your thoughts on that as well. Finally, I will ask you if I have permission to use any of these thoughts in a newsletter or sermon, and an optional space to leave your name. You do not have to sign your name if you’d like to give me permission to engage in your questions, and you may sign your name but not give me permission to use them in a public manner. It’s all up to you! Your participation is, of course, optional, but I hope you will consider filling one out and placing it in the offering when it is collected. I look forward to hearing from all you about your questions, ideas, and beliefs when it comes to our faith!

Seeking God’s justice in a new year,
Clint

———

Is it just me, or was this a lackluster Super Bowl year for you, too? No, no, not the game – the commercials! I didn’t really find myself just terribly amused by any of them. The E*Trade baby is getting old, the monkeys are beyond passe, and beer sales must be flat since Budweiser commercials keep getting fewer and less funny. Of course, at a reported $3 million per 30 second slot, what’s to laugh about? These commercials have become big business for all the companies involved, and have evolved into a form of “high” entertainment for the rest of us. But I have to ask myself, what’s the messages lying just underneath all the laughter?

E*Trade wants us to laugh away the economic crisis of the last three years and forget that it was financial institutions just like E*Trade that played a part in the pushing of subprime loans, the commoditizing of bad debt, and the uncontrollable orgy of imaginary wealth creation that led to this flat-lining economy. Hollywood wants you to continue to ignore reality by flocking to theaters to pay for previews and a grand collection of unoriginal movie remakes that will fill the marquee this season. Oh, and don’t forget that GM/OnStar want you to think that it’s not only safe, but necessary that you be able to update your Facebook status while driving in your car. Has our culture really come to this?

When our focus on a Sunday has turned to a football game, what we’re planning on eating during it, and whether or not its multi-million dollar commercials will entertain us, I’m left to wonder about a perhaps even more important set of priorities: has our faith really come to this? I remember being entertained a few years back by the commercial for some financial services group with 30 seconds of monkeys jumping around saying something like, “We just wasted $2 million – what are you doing with your money?” Now I’m wondering, why we couldn’t build enough interest to convince these companies to boycott these outlandish outlays and spend the estimated $3 million on something that will make a difference? Like financial institutions using that money to restructure bad loans so their mortgage clients can stay in their homes, or car companies putting that money into energy efficiency research so we might save fuel and make our commute a little more green? I’d like to ask a lot of companies what they could do with $3 million.

And I’d like to ask all of us as Christians: if we put our money where our mouth is, what is it saying?

Seeking God’s justice in a new year,
Clint

———

It seems that the idea of “belief” has become the battleground for the question of faith. If you are not a “bible- believing” Christian who “believes” in God, or more specifically, the God that fundamentalist Christians uphold, then you are not a real Christian. Or, if you “believe” in any form of mystery outside the bounds of scientific inquiry, as the equally loud and belligerent fundamentalist atheists suggest, then you are a delusional, intellectual lightweight who has fallen victim to a fairy tale. Being someone who claims neither of these positions, I find myself in the sometimes problematic place of making my own meaning – and I suspect that for many of us, we face the same dilemma.

The problem for many of us, is that we are Christians, followers of Jesus, but we don’t understand it in the same way as the Christian fundamentalist camp. And equally problematic, we sometimes agree with some of the scientific principles of atheist fundamentalists, but can’t follow them to their rather narrow conclusions regarding that which we cannot know. So here we are, somewhere in the middle between these two (very close-minded) extremes, and the problem of making meaning (sometimes translated as faith) becomes very real.

As smart as I’d like to believe I am, there is no way that I can resolve this problem in the course of one pastor’s column – it’s doubtful that I can even resolve this for myself in the course of a lifetime – but I think we can begin learning how to live in this middle. I think it begins by starting to stake out the frontiers of what “faith” means to us, and this was a project I alluded to during last week’s sermon on the nature of “Epiphany,” or the revelation of God. This week, I’d like to continue working on those frontiers, by taking an approach similar to the “This I Believe” project that you might have heard on NPR. I plan to engage in a set of sermons that will present some ideas about what I believe, and what I do not believe, and most importantly – how it applies to that whole “faith” question.

And I’d like to get all of you involved in the process as well, so come join us on Sunday and be prepared with your own thoughts on “this I believe,” and equally as valuable, “this I don’t believe.” I’ll see you at church.

Seeking God’s justice in a new year,
Clint

———

I must honestly reiterate that I have been disappointed with the church. I do not say this as one of those negative critics who can always find something wrong with the church. I say this as a minister of the gospel, who loves the church; who was nurtured in its bosom; who has been sustained by its spiritual blessings and who will remain true to it as long as the cord of life shall lengthen.
- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

These words, written by King as an open letter to respond to a statement made by eight members of the local clergy previously in the week, issue a stinging indictment of the church. In this letter, King condemns not only those Christians who actively opposed civil rights, but also those who took the position of silence – expressing even greater disappointment in those who did not speak at all.

As I reflect on his words, the climate in which he wrote, and what history has taught us since then, I can’t help but wonder: which Christians are we today? Are we those who distort the gospel and actively deny people their full humanity? Are we those who want to spread a gospel of love, tolerance, and understanding, but remain silent because it might be deemed “controversial”? Worse yet – are we the ones who remain silent because we seem not to care? I think these are worthwhile questions to ask in taking stock of the Christian movement as a whole.

However, I think it gives us some food for thought here in our own congregation as well. You all well know that I’m not afraid to speak my mind at times, and sometimes I push that “controversial” envelope from the pulpit and in my writings. Yet this is still a relatively safe, and in some ways silent, witness in a world in need of some gospel grace. I’m left to wonder, if we were pushed as a congregation to speak on any of the great public, and potentially “controversial” issues, would we be willing to speak?

While observing the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday this week, it is important to remember his crucial role in the extension of civil rights to emancipated but still oppressed African Americans. Yet his greatest and truest legacy is not the history that we created behind us, but his continuing challenge to be faithful as we face what is in front of us. I suspect that our day is coming, both as First Christian Church and as Christians as a whole. Will we speak when the time comes for the world to hear a prophetic word from the church? The world is listening.

Seeking God’s justice in a new year,
Clint

———

To be honest, I don’t often give up my column for someone else, but this week I felt that the words of our General Minister and President, the Rev. Dr. Sharon Watkins, are worth hearing. The following comes from her blog at www.disciples.org and is entitled “God’s Heart Was the First to Break.”

God’s heart was the first to break – when one young man decided to pull the trigger and when his victims began to fall. Now a nation is in shock and grief. We are reminded again how fleeting is life and how enduring the patterns of human nature, both for good and for harm. A US Representative known for her openness, kindness, and care; a child at the very budding of her incredible promise; a deacon and pillar of his local congregation putting his own body between his wife and the shooter . . . In all 20 persons dead or wounded by one very broken young man. In times like these people of faith turn to God who made us, who loves us still, and we ask, ‘Why?’

It’s still too early to have a clear picture of why. Perhaps it has to do with the general tenor of political discourse where, as Jim Wallis said to me, ‘We find it too easy to say “I’m right and you’re evil.’” Perhaps there was a particular bent reason in the mind of this young man that pushed him to this specific timing and target. Some will certainly argue that the fault lies with him alone. Others will look more to the societal context that may have given rise to this awful event. There is surely some truth to both perspectives.

In the meantime, as we wait for more information, as we struggle to understand, we pray:

• prayers of praise to God who intends that life would be good and who walks closely with us when it is not;
• prayers of confession of our own tendency to vilify our enemies and to fear those we do not understand;
• prayers of petition for healing for those wounded in the attack, for the families and friends of those who have died, for the family of the man who shot them – and for him;
• prayers for our leaders – spiritual and political – that they will have clear minds and pure hearts, leading the way in cleansing our national political dialogue of hatred, disrespect, and personal attack.

And we act – as Body of Christ and individually members of it – remembering that each time we rise from the Lord’s Table we have been reconstituted and recommissioned as Body of Christ for the world. As Body of Christ we attempt to hear one another in respect, and to work with one another to solve the problems that vex us – to be a movement for wholeness. As Body of Christ we seek to reveal the Reign of God at hand, working for justice, peace and care for all our neighbors. As Body of Christ we look upon each one of those neighbors, those with whom we agree and those with whom we disagree, and see on each face the image of God. In this heartbreaking time, let us act in keeping with that image also revealed in us. In God’s image, let us be a movement for wholeness and healing and hope.

Seeking God’s justice in a new year,
Clint

———

The internet is filled with the most interesting things – and a whole lot of garbage as well. So it’s not a surprise that anyone cruising the web over the last week might have seen a lot of talk about new year’s resolutions. Undoubtedly, this is a discussion that ranges from the interesting to the garbage, so the internet would seem a fitting place for it. For example, according to one website, “getting organized” is the number ten resolution for a new year. I know that most of you have seen my office and know just how much of a laugh a resolution like that can truly be!

Of course, there are all the standards on lists like these. Work on personal health and fitness, spend more time with family and friends, manage personal stress levels, take a vacation (and it usually means a real vacation to somewhere out of the ordinary) – all of the things we always talk about with the arrival of a new year. Yet what I find interesting as a person of faith is how little we talk about making positive changes in our lives. Every new year, we take advantage of this secular holiday to at least joke about changing ourselves for the better, but when do we as people of faith talk about living differently as a spiritual matter?

Fellow Advent Conspirators, I want to invite you to think about these coming days not as the start of a new calendar year, but as a continuation of “doing Christmas” differently, just as we were throughout Advent. What if we re-imagined this time of resolutions as a time of discipleship and strove to live our lives a little differently because God has touched us with a sense of the divine in our own day to day walk? What if we decided to start approaching our everyday schedules as if the call to be gospel conspirators was an ongoing revolt against a world of uncaring and disinterest? I think the new year is as good a time as any to continue to rethink the idea of “discipleship” as a way of living – and I hope you will, too.

To be honest, I think this is just the beginning of a very important conversation, and we’ve got a lot to talk about!

Seeking God’s justice in a new year,
Clint