"There's just something about the water...."

A dear friend of mine once preached a sermon about Jesus' washing of feet in John 13. She painted a beautiful vision of care, and refreshment--highlighting the close intimacy of footwashing rather than the astounding 'self-lowering' act of servanthood--but she kept coming back to the image of bare feet standing in a stream.

"There's just something about the water..."

Now I'm not a foot person and I don't like foot images, but I DO resonate with the aching feeling of tired feet. There is something about stepping--barefoot--into a cool, rushing forest stream after a long day of hiking. Something about the water restores your breath and seeps into your soul.

The upper room is a cleansing image; a serving image; and a look-at-my-insecurities-touch-my-scars kind of moment (not to mention the obvious connection to baptism which happens with cleansing water too).

"Wash me with hyssop and I will be clean."

These were all images that crashed through my head in Yosemite campground. We had been hiking for several days and I was standing alone at the edge of a freezing river. Shoes off. Feet tired. Heart achingly open. I poured out all kinds of exhaustion, insecurity, lack of discipline, unworthiness. I told God that I felt empty of insight. How can I lead people to discipleship when my own walk is so faltering? ...but there was something about the water. There was grace and freshness there. There, by the riverside, I swear Jesus knelt with a towel around his waste and responded to my own doubt ("Me? You'll never wash MY feet....").

"Unless I wash you. you'll have no share with me."

So I walked right into that river. Literally. Not just my feet, but my hands and my face, my calves and my knees--and I stood in that water until my body was numb from the cold.

"One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean."

Things I Learned; Summer 2011

Top ten things I learned during my summer internship:

1.      The intern will never go hungry at FVUMC. (A special thanks to everyone who fed and fed and fed me this summer. My grandmother was pleased.)

2.      Congregations can show grace to those who lead them (no one mentioned it when I forgot the Lord’s Prayer at 10:50 or when I got times mixed up and walked into the 8:15 service at 8:30)

3.      Offering plates are heavy!! When lifting, stack them and use two hands instead of one.

4.      Audits are good things. (I usually associate audits with fear and the IRS, so it was fascinating to witness this church’s faithful and professional approach to finances)

5.      Church meetings can be less than an hour. (Major kudos to Lisa, our fabulous Trustees chair, who adjourned her last meeting at record 39 minutes!)

6.       With the right heart and help, church property itself can become a haven for homelessness and a garden for fighting hunger in the community (…and grape Koolaid keeps birds away from blueberries. Thanks Joy)

7.      Church life does not have to slow down in the summer. It’s amazing to see a congregation plan its own trips and mow its own lawn…. Truly, God does great things through you and your passionate initiative.

8.      Staff meetings should begin with worship—and it’s ok to laugh through them! Joan and Jane, Al and Elaine, Debbie, Bob, Terri, Jennifer, Felicia, Kevin, Lynne, Diana, Stephanie…You have all brought such joy to this place.

9.      Prayers can be authentic—even when others are listening.

10.  You can fall in love with people in just 10 weeks.

Honestly, I have treasured the time spent with you this summer. From the kids at Vacation Bible School to the seniors who can walk circles around me, I have met so many incredible people this summer and I’m thankful for your witness and your presence in this community! You have shown me how to live Church, love Christ, and share fellowship. Thank you for sharing this vision with me. The summer has been wonderful and I promise I’ll be back to visit!

Learning, Serving, and Loving the time Shared,
~Summer Intern

Senior Review

1. Forgive yourself
           (you're not supposed to be everything to everybody)

2. Take care of yourself
             (or you won't be anything to anyone)

Thoughts on preaching from the new Dean Powery

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Preach as if it's your last sermon.

You can't preach as if nothing is at stake.

When the gospel is preached, EVERYTHING IS AT STAKE.

Every time we preach, we're telling death to go to hell!!

How do we, as preachers, proclaim a word of hope and life?

At a funeral, the other preacher is death. But it's this way every day.
Every day, we encounter Christian  zombies--walking dead.

Sermons begin in prayer. Before having anything to say, we must listen.

There's a jazz singer in Raleigh; she sings her sermon and preaches her songs. Singing is preaching and preaching is song!

In the face of death, there is a song. God will have the final word.

Much in the same way, when we preach, we are singing over dead places--dead people--and we are breathing breath.

We are preaching death's funeral.

Dean Powery's goal for Duke Chapel: To bridge together that which has never been together.

Fishin and Mission

I think most churches tend to be islands. Church is treated as an entity which is separate from the world--images of hope or salvation. Church is where the sacraments are....and then mission becomes this "build it and the people will come" idea. (ie, build the right program, get the right worship, invite a friend to worship...) The idea is that if we can only get people into the church, salvation will happen.

But you can't fish on an island. You can't cast a net on dry land.

Fishing for men can't happen in the church.

And half the point of fishing is to get out of the house anyways, right? 

Moreover, these models tend to put the agency of 'catching' on our side--when it's not. I find words like 'catch' or 'bait' or 'reeling in'--these are problematic where mission is concerned. But the point is the same. We just have to remember that disciples don't hold the pole. If anything, we're an extension of the line--and we need to go where God casts us.

Or maybe Jesus' point wasn't about 'catching' at all. Maybe he said that 'cause he was talking to a bunch of fisherman. Maybe he was saying that mission is now what you do. Mission is your livelihood.

Tangible--or digital--grace?

Farhad Manjoo's article about i-books for children got me thinking about physical vs. digital reading in general. Is digital media shifting the way we think about reading--and the Bible? Certainly the syntax is changing. Participating in a young adult Bible study a year ago, I was amused when someone urged the group to open their Bibles and "pull up" a particular verse. I have even heard a persons speak of "downloading" truth from Scripture.

My worship precept recently had a lengthy discussion about the necessity (or lack therein) of reading from a physical Bible in the pulpit. On one hand, holding the whole book nods towards the entire biblical narrative. It is "this" --the whole Bible and not just the individually googled verse which "is the word of God for the people of God." Especially if a Bible is delightfully worn and threatens to turn into dust at the slightest touch, physical Bibles remind us that our faith is ancient and must be handled with reverence.  On the other hand, reading from an iphone shows that Scripture is still relevent and present in modern culture. (Moses had a tablet, right?)

Bible aps are handy in worship too. Maneuvering through chapters and verses can make seekers feel like outsiders, but a handy app is easily accessible and quickly gets the whole congregation on the same wavelength if not page. People are also more likely to carry a phone with them than a Bible and teaching people how to locate scripture gives them constant access to the Word.

...but what gets lost? For one, isolating a single verse to "look up" doesn't give access to the larger context. Certainly, the biblical order was not canonized randomly, but is this noticeable on biblegateway.com? If Revelation is not a physical telos at the end of a book, does that change its interpretation? More importantly--and here I might just be old fashioned--does the internet make Scripture just another search? Is the Bible as obviously special and unique when it's one of many, many, easily downloaded bits of information? Am I old fashioned for not wanting Scripture to be just part of the internet?

I have no doubt that the Holy Spirit can and does work online, (this reflection was my first post) but surely the digital era is missing a touch of incarnate theology. There is something troubling about a congregation who urges television viewers to put a glass of water next to the TV so that it can be "blessed by remote control." (Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom. pg 82)

A student's Prayer by Thomas Aquinas

Creator of all things,
true source of light and wisdom,
origin of all being,
graciously let a ray of your light penetrate
the darkness of my understanding.

Take from me the double darkness
in which I have been born,
an obscurity of sin and ignorance.

Give me a keen understanding,
a retentive memory, and
the ability to grasp things
correctly and fundamentally.

Grant me the talent
of being exact in my explanations
and the ability to express myself
with thoroughness and charm.

Point out the beginning,
direct the progress,
and help in the completion.

I ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.