Grace upon Grace

I celebrated communion this morning with an interdenominational group of ladies--women who have long been meeting together for Bible study and prayer--women who know and love each other--women who just finished a study of Henri Nouwen's With Burning Hearts (a book about communion/eucharist and how it should shapes the Christian life).

...and it was beautiful.
holy.
Deep.

It took my breath away to see women calling each other by name and sharing Christ with each other--women who previously shared the words "in the name of Christ, you are forgiven" with smiles that spoke more deeply of peace than any handshake.

It was touching to see the prayer of confession settle into silently closed eyes--and the "holy holy" words of Isaiah echo in joyful voices.

And it was powerful to remember that I AM deeply thankful for the Holy mystery of communion.
...and I'm craving the day when deep, loving, joyful community will sweep over the entire earth and the Kingdom of God will reign.

I crave it because I got a taste of it this morning.
...and it was GOOD.

Praise be to God, indeed!

Idioms and Allen

One of the things I appreciate about my senior pastor is that he reads the Bible. I mean really reads it.
Not in a showy "three hours a day" thing he brags about, but in a way that allows scripture intrinsically seeps into his language. I know this because he pops out with these incredibly appropriate but off-hand metaphors:

• once, he described early ministry as "runnin' around cuttin' off ears"  (Mark 14:47; John 18:20) meaning he thought he was doing the right thing, but it was all in his intentions--not Christ's--and it ended up causing more busyness than good.
• This morning we were talking about my preaching style and he gave some great critique (in general,my sermons tend to cover a lot of beautiful ground rather than drive a single point home. My sermons are mosaics or tram-tours rather than specific invitations)--but he also warned me to keep preaching in a way that is authentic to me. "now don't run around in Saul's armor if it doesn't fit..." (1 Samuel 17:39)

...mmm and there was another one that I can't remember now, but the whole thing makes me think of Kavin Rowe's (and Duke's) theological push for the "scriptural imagination." And James K.A. Smith's insistence that worship, scripture, liturgy, prayer--these things shape what we think about (i.e. the actual content of our thoughts) but they're far more effective when they shape how we think. In other words, true worship is a fundamental re-working of the very system that hold thoughts and ideas together. Our behavior and our lives are only surrendered when the Word of God (when Christ) takes root in the deep cortex of our imagination.

And I know that it's there for Allen. Christ is there.

(here's more from James K.A. Smith about the difference between Christian formation and education)