Padre Complex

Andrew Thompson of GenXRising writes about the need for reform in the United Methodist ordination process. I agree whole heartedly with 99% of what he says. Read his column here and his post here.

Andrew mentions the position that the ordination process should include an engagement of the seminaries. But he articulates it in this way - “The church should re-exert its control over them (the seminaries).”

My question: How is this different from the events of the 80s and the 90s that were the results of the the Southern Baptist Convention wanting to ‘exert control’ over its seminaries? (those in need of a refresher can see this informal chronology.)

Collaboration may have been the word Andrew was shooting for — and control is what must have come out. Certainly Andrew (a doctoral student at Duke) would agree with me that Greg Jones (Dean at Duke Divinity) is a great example of the collaborative environment that is needed in the connection between seminaries and the annual conferences.

Thoughts?

Part of my process regarding ‘making sense of pay’ as a young clergy person has been to track my ‘class’ of clergy. I define my ‘class’ as people who were ordained elder the year before, the year after, and the same year I was. I then look at the conference journal each year and track their appointment, salary, attendance and membership. I then rank them and share this with my PPRC group.

Then as a group we discuss the realities regarding the list - that some of those clergy are older, second career clergy, or that some clergy at larger churches and therefore are paid more than others. We discuss the annual conference’s average compensation, the denominational average compensation and the average compensation of my ‘class.’ This has helped to lower both the PPRC’s anxiety about how much is to much pay, and my anxiety about how much is to little pay.

It is widely assumed among clergy in our annual conference that under past bishops and past cabinets that appointments were made based upon salary level. This can result in clergy tunnel vision with regard to pay. We all know colleagues that put their churches on the equivalent of ‘finanical steroids’ when it came to clergy pay because they knew that it would impact their move. Certainly young clergy need to be paid a good wage– but how do you begin making sense out of what is a good wage? In my annual conference (Texas) we have one of the better conference average compensations but it hides one of the largest pay disparities. So we may on a whole be paid more than other conferences but we have a larger distance between the haves and have nots. Since young clergy are often in the lower half of clergy pay — this disparity has a greater impact on us than the conference leadership.

Mix into this the element of being young clergy and everything can go on its ear quickly. Developmentally (though I can’t cite a source) it can be accepted that young clergy (between five and 12 years of ministry as an elder) begin to look for a specialty. In some ways this explains the popularity of the D.Min as a degree - it shows a level of credentialing for a specialty and can become a source for specialization. I took that bait and am hoping to graduate in 2009.

In my experience the desire for specialization is not picked up by cabinets. Young clergy could specialize in numerous ways — through appointments, committee/board/agency assignments, non-profit leadership, etc. But in the past few of those opportunities were offered by the conference leadership to young clergy. They were considered seniority positions and priveleges afforded only to those who had put their time in. Young clergy therefore pursue specialization on their own regardless of whether the institution supports it or not. And of course this might be one of the causes for drastic growth in attrition rates among young elders. Or is the high attrition rate an issue of low pay?

What if the Cabinet/Bishop were more strategic with appointments and allowed for clergy to seek out growth opportunities through strategic appointments where the clergy got the developmental growth they needed and the conference got capable leaders that have the skills to do effective ministry at larger churches? We continue to be reminded by conference leadership that a retirement bubble is about to pop — and that the appointment and salary concerns that we have will evaporate at that time. Strategic appointments may be the answer to both making sense out of clergy pay and growing rates of attrition among young clergy.

So what are your thoughts on why you are paid what you are paid? How do you make sense of that, and how do you lead your congregation to think differently? And how do we as young clergy influence the conference leadership in thinking differently about pay and appointments?

A DVR machine, a night of no meetings …

and a lost remote control!

Well.. apologies for ducking out on you all in the spring. Real Life has been good and exciting. This Sunday I will have my church’s charge conference — following that I look forward to blogging more often.. peace-Peter

Confession is good for the soul, right?

Well – my wife and daughter are out of town and I decided to go to the movies. The criteria for trips to the movies when my wife is out of town are that they have to be movies that she wouldn’t want to see. I normally pick something that has a few redeeming qualities – but is it a genre that she wouldn’t prefer (say sc-fi or fantasy). This time I am afraid I out did myself.

The movie “300” is the story of the battle between Sparta and Persia in ancient Greece. It is directed by Zack Snyder and stars Gerard Butler (who looks strangely like George Clooney).

This movie is not an Academy Award winner and not a date movie. There is an uncomfortable rhythm to the movie that haunted me. The movie seemed to have characters that only shouted, soldiers that only say an ancient form of “Hoo-rah” and long drawn out battle scenes where blood splatters everywhere and from everything. If the blood splatter wasn’t so obviously “computer generated” you would wonder how many buckets of the stuff they made up for each scene. The eerie part of the blood splatter is that unlike every CSI episode on the face of the earth – there was no blood splatter on the Spartan soldiers. Sure they looked disheveled after a battle – dirty, exhausted but never bloody. They had just spent the last ten minutes of footage (and narrative-ly a whole day) killing everything from soldiers and magicians, to elephants and freaky mutant giants that were eight feet tall! But all of this – without a drop of blood getting on them!

It becomes apparent early on that the movie is low on plot. The first fight scene comes early in the movie and I turned to a friend who came with me and remarked that I was hoping for a little more plot.

The plot arc that does come is bare-ly an arc. The story is of a boy that grows into a King. A tyrant who is trying to enslave the world. A small Greek city state of soldier citizens who thumbs there nose at the tyrant and goes to war. A group of mystics and politicians who are part of the Spartan culture limit the military response (Sparta sounds and looks a lot like a Greek version of the American dream – freedom, equal voices for men and women, and violence). Then the plot becomes a series of the tyrant army throwing everything at the Spartan warriors (almost everything but the kitchen sink!). Eventually Sparta is undone by the tyrant through the betrayal of a hunchback who had followed them into battle. The hunchback dreams of being a Spartan warrior – but the King of Sparta has no need for the physical liabilities presented by the Hunchback. Eventually the politicians are defeated at home by the wit and tongue of the king’s wife – but not before the soldiers fall in battle (sacrifice) defending the shores of Sparta against the tyrant.

The rhythm method: sex, violence, dialogue.
Movies should never be predictable – except at a few specific moments. When the shark Jaws blows up in the movie – you almost expect it – and you are so wrapped up in the moment that audiences stood and applauded for the victory and the release of tension in the theater.

Sadly 300, though its plot line is no more complex than a Jaws movie, it pulls off no surprises and is horribly predictable. Within a few scenes the movie establishes its rhythm – violence, sex, dialogue. The story opens with how the Spartans raise their sons to be soldiers (violence), and the coming of the Persian messenger (violence and dialogue), and then moves into a consulting of the oracle and the night before the king leaves for war – making love to his wife (sex). The men encounter the work of the tyrant’s army and go into battle (violence), the men remember back to their sons and their wives (sex), and the queen uses political maneuvering to send reinforcements to the battlefront (dialogue). More battle scenes (violence), the hunchback is rejected by Sparta and visits Xerxes who bribes him with gold, possessions and (you guessed it) a harem of women who will satisfy his every need (sex), while the Spartans have a half-time locker room-esque speech before the next battle (dialogue). And then (you guessed it) more battle scenes (violence), the queen gets raped by the politician who has bribed the counsel (sex and violence), and the council scene where the politician is revealed as a traitor (dialogue).

You get the idea. There is a rhythm to the method of the movie and it is neither creative nor is it enjoyable.

Everything is by force: War, Rape, and Money
The movie must have been written, directed and produced by men. It is one big, phallic allegory. Men use spears, swords, armies, money and their ‘ahems’ to force enemies, tyrants, countries, and women to do their bidding.

Everything is by force. Everything is about invasion.

The tyrant will force them into submission and slavery. The politicians are forcing the king not to go to war. The traitor rapes the queen as a statement of power. The tyrant has bribed the politician and the mystics of the oracle to work behind the scenes to force the honorable king to submit.

The rape scene really got under my skin. Movie scenes should advance the plot line of the story. This concept is true especially if it is a scene using sex or violence (or in this scene both). When the queen goes to the politician with the intention of using honor and dignity to persuade him to support her request to the city council for reinforcements for her husband who is defending the city – you have been led to believe that it is just a formality. But in actuality the politician berates her, degrades her by telling her that contrary to the spoken narrative of Sparta that all men are not created equal (was that Spartan I thought it was American?) and women are certainly even less… he then asks her what she is willing to negotiate with for him to give her his vote. She asks – what do you want. And at that moment you know that there will be know creativity in this scene – the scene and the plot will be dominated by the force of men. And instead of leaving the rape scene to your imagination the director wastes footage showing you it – for a throwaway laugh later at the climax of the movie.

So on the battlefield, in the council chambers, and even in the queen’s bedroom – everything is taken by force.

Cultural Overtones
I recently listened to an excellent lecture about race, media and the church by a theology professor at Duke Divinity School – so I am a little sensitized about the issue of how the media portrays race and how it clashes with the biblical vision.

The movie plays into all the standard stereotypes. White is good, dark is bad. Beautiful and thin is valued, ugly and deformed is devalued. Males are strong – women are smart but weak.

A variation on the gender theme is played out in the character of Xerxes the invading tyrant who is not the picture of maleness. His figure and his face are very stylized and is gender ambiguous. His eyebrows are ‘penciled’ and sculpted to resemble something less than the uni-brow of the Spartan soldiers. He wears jewelry and is bedecked in gold. But his voice has this deep reverberating quality to it. And his language and vocabulary is that of pomp, power, and prestige. But his general character is certainly written with a mysterious foreign quality.

One more comment about the gender thing. I want to know how much money they spent on computerized special effects – it had to cost big bucks to add in all those wash board stomachs in every shot. Surely not every man in Sparta had a six pack!

The cultural overtones are powerful. Though Sparta is a small city state of free persons (free being the operative word). They are able to stem the tide of millions of Persian soldiers. And I have already noted the variety of components that Xerxes uses in his army (magicians, rhinoceros, elephants, mutants, giants, etc.) The overtone is that known is good (spear, shield, and sword) and the unknown is bad (archers, darkness, foreign weapons, tactics, etc.)

Cheese Factor
Ok… there is this one scene that is heartbreaking. The captain of the Spartan army, (best friend of the King, etc.) who has brought his adult son as a soldier on the journey – watches as his son dies in battle. His son is facing away from an attacker who is on horseback and before the son can be warned he is suddenly decapitated and killed. (I could spend another paragraph or two on the poor special effects – I think they used the same prop for three decapitations).

The father later, clearly in grief, approaches the king and tells his friend that the worst part of the experience wasn’t that his son died in battle – but that he died before he could tell his son that he ‘loved him.’

Ugh.

In text it may seem touching – but in the movement of the movie it is a lame attempt at emotionality. It comes off as a pathetic attempt to humanize people who were never believably human in the first place.

An ad for the War on Terror
The old friend I went to see the movie with made mention that there has been an uproar from Muslim voices in the world that the movie is a propaganda add for the West in general and for Bush’s War on Terror in particular.

I am not so sure I would agree with the claim that it is propaganda for the War. But what it is a convincing display of advertising for the military. Again as I mentioned before – every time the Spartan Army celebrates they shout loudly something that is reminiscent of “Hoo-rah” – the Marines guttural call of the corp.

A number of times the music, dialogue, or scene made reference to the soldier spirit and the powerfully attractive idea to fight for honor, respect and of course – freedom. I looked for the US Military logo and didn’t see it – but I am sure it must have been there…

I wouldn’t agree with critics that say it portrays Muslims as unintelligent or evil – but I would agree that the Spartans are polished up way to much to look like an Ancient world version of the American vision seen through conservative talk radio ideals. The script language just seems to be borrowed from either Rush Limbaugh – or my old Jr. High football coach at half time in the locker room.

Conclusion:
As one commentator said – if you are not captured by reality, and not interested in historical accuracy, if you don’t mind the less than 20 minutes of dialogue in two hours of blood, gore, and sexual tension – then go see it. If you go then prepare for what has been referred to as a tightly choreographed dance of death and dismemberment.

Instead, I think I might go see Amazing Grace tonight. A little redemption may be helpful after ‘300.’

I am a Duke Grad. I did my Masters work at Duke Divinity School and enjoyed the whole experience.

This past week presented highs and lows for Duke alumni. First the Sunday afternoon Duke-UNC game where we both lossed the game and gave a Tarheel player an elbow to the nose. (Read about it here).

But — then the news came to me through a church member that all might be redeemed. What could possibly erase the smudge of a flagrant foul off the mind of a proud alum? I give you…

Duke grad builds beer tossing fridge

RALEIGH, N.C. - When John Cornwell graduated from Duke University last year, he landed a job as software engineer in Atlanta but soon found himself longing for his college lifestyle. So the engineering graduate built himself a reminder of life on campus: a refrigerator that can toss a can of beer to his couch with the click of a remote control.

“I conceived it right after I got out,” said Cornwell, a May 2006 graduate from Huntington, N.Y. “I missed the college scene. It embodies the college spirit that I didn’t want to let go of.”

For those of you who are more visual than verbal — see the video here. The creator’s website can be found here.

The power of a quality education.

Just makes you tear up at the thought of a Blue Devil changing the world…

How do you get at the idea of providence in a post-911 world?

1 I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains? 2 No, my strength comes from God, who made heaven, and earth, and mountains. 3 He won’t let you stumble, your Guardian God won’t fall asleep. 4 Not on your life! Israel’s Guardian will never doze or sleep. 5 God’s your Guardian, right at your side to protect you - 6 Shielding you from sunstroke, sheltering you from moonstroke. 7 God guards you from every evil, he guards your very life. 8 He guards you when you leave and when you return, he guards you now, he guards you always. (The Message)

Eugene Peterson writes in “A long obedience in the same direction” about the Christian life and discipleship. He begins his chapter on providence this way.

The moment we say no to the world and yes to God, all our problems are solved, all our questions answered, all our troubles over. Nothing can disturb the tranquility of the soul at peace with God. Nothing can interfere with the blessed assurance that all is well between me and my savior. Nothing and no one can upset the enjoyable relationship that has been established by faith in Jesus Christ. We Christians are among that privileged company of persons who don’t have accidents, who don’t have arguments with our spouses, who aren’t misunderstood by our peers, whose children do not disobey us.

If any `of these things should happen – a crushing doubt, a squall of anger, a desperate loneliness, an accident that puts us in the hospital, an argument that puts us in the dog house, a rebellion that puts us on the defensive, a misunderstanding that us in the wrong – it is a sign that something is wrong with our relationship with God. We have, consciously or unconsciously, retracted our yes to God; and God, impatient with our fickle faith, has gone off to take care of someone more deserving of his attention.

Is that what you believe? If it is – I have some incredibly good news. You are wrong.

If we believe once we become a believer our life goes on to easy street – then any mistake is proof against us — it is proof that God must not think we are Christians — surely someone with difficult issues can’t be a Christian.

Light Exegesis
Our scripture today is a Psalm. Psalms you do remember are the hymns of the Israelites. They were sung as songs and prayers in worship and in festivals, and in preparation for worship.

Psalm 121 – our psalm for this morning – is taken from a section entitled ‘Songs of Ascent.’ Scholars believe that the songs of ascent were those songs that were sung as the Israelites journeyed up to Jerusalem. These Psalms recreated for the Israelites the experience of coming up to the holy city and meeting God there.

For the Israelites – faith was viewed as a journey – a trip – a pilgrimage. In the Jewish religion there were a couple of festivals that required believers to journey to the Temple in Jerusalem for the event – sometimes lasting a couple of days. So unlike our day and time – when anyone who wants to celebrate Christmas can go to any number of churches in their hometown to celebrate the same holiday – in that day – you had to travel to the Temple in Jerusalem. Sort of like – if you want to see real country music – you have to go to Nashville to hear it.

In this psalm we get a picture of what it must have been like to travel in the days of the Israelites. The psalmist writes about the towering hills, the dangers of falling, the heat of the sun, and the threat of night. Throughout the whole song the name of God is praised and lifted up – as a creator, a protector and a companion.

This psalm is regularly quoted as a way of understanding providence. Providence is that fancy theological word that describes the ways in which God acts in our lives.

The psalm alludes to the fact that to get to Jerusalem the Israelites would have had to walk up the mountains. Mountains were a fearful place for travelers – the opportunity to fall was greater, the mountains sometimes hid wild animals, or robbers. And for the Israelites the mountains were where pagans would worship their Gods.

Notice that the kind of care that God gives is one that is always there. The psalmist even writes that God does not slumber or sleep. Other faiths that were active in the days of the Israelites were not as confident about their Gods. Scholars tell us that pagans thought that their Gods would rest during winter time and wake in the spring. Followers of Baal – which were the people that the Israelites chased out of what would become the Promised land were often said to have to make a lot of noise to wake up their God who was known to party, get drunk, and pass out. If you remember the story of Elijah and Elisha and the prophets of Baal - where Elijah was going to have a contest with the prophets of Baal. When the prophets of Baal were unable to invoke the power of their God to light the bonfire Elijah asks first if their God is sleeping – and then asks if there God is stuck someplace else using a euphemism for an outhouse.

But not only is our God not stuck in the toilet – he is a God that does more than just think nice thoughts about us – he shades us in the sun, lights our way at night – and walks with us as a companion on our way.

Sources for exegetical work:
Peterson, Eugene. (2000) A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. Inter Varsity Press.
Creach, Jerome F D. (1996) “Psalm 121.” Interpretation. Vol. 50:1 Jan 1996, p 47-51.
Barker, David , (1995) “The Lord Watches over You” : A Pilgrimage Reading of Psalm 121. Bibliotheca sacra, 152 Ap-Je 1995, p 163-181.

Life Application
So – if the scriptures say that God protects us so well – then why do bad things happen to good people? If God is so ever present to shield us from the sun and guide our way at night – why do we have hurricanes, fires, tornados and death?

If God is so good why do we ever have to attend the funeral of a child or a grandchild?

Our experience is different from what this scripture says.

In the days of the psalmist – it was common practice to consult the Gods and the temples before traveling anywhere. You would visit the priest of the sun god for protection from heat – and you would visit the moon temple for protection from the evil of the dark. You would go to another soothsayer for an amulet against the evil demons that might make you slip or fall. Then having consulted all of the powers that be – you would embark on your way – hoping that you had said everything right, done everything right and paid the right amounts to each temple.

But you and I both know there is something empty in that. Whether you are buying trip insurance for your vacation, the ‘club’™ to protect your car from neighbors or one of those fancy combination tools that will cut your seat belt and smash the window of your car if you were to drive your car off a bridge and into a lake – those things are just things – and they might or might not save us.

Our scripture refers to God by his personal name three times. And it calls God Guardian eight times in as many verses. The God that we serve is not an impersonal executive giving an order from on high – and he is not a con artist selling snake oil to unsuspecting tourists. Our God is a companion, a friend. We don’t need to go see the sun god, the moon god, or get an amulet of protection – because we serve a God who created the sun, the moon, and the rocks that we walk on.

If becoming a Christian meant that we wouldn’t suffer – then the Bible would be a boring, boring book. But the truth of the matter is that the Bible tells some of the harshest stories about the lives of believers. Paul alone was shipwrecked, chased out of town, put in jail, and starved. And of course Jesus – the author and perfecter of our faith was hung on a cross to die.

But the way we tell the story of our faith is not to tell the trials and tribulations that we have endured for God. But rather we tell the story of our faith by naming the God who preserves us, accompanies and rules us.

Eugene Peterson writes this about providence:

All the water in all the oceans cannot sink a ship unless it gets inside. Nor can all the trouble in the world harm us unless it gets within us. That is the promise of Psalm 121. “God guards you from every evil.” Not the demons in the rocks, not the attack of the sun God, nor the fear of the dark from the moon goddess can separate us from the call and purpose of God. None of the things that happen to us, none of the troubles we encounter have any power to get between us and God, it cannot dilute his grace in us, it cannot divert his will from our lives.

The only serious mistake we can make when illness comes, when anxiety threatens, when conflict disturbs our relationships with others is to conclude that God has gotten bored looking after us and has shifted his attention to a more exciting Christian, or that God has become disgusted with our meander obedience and decided to let us fend for ourselves for a while, or that God has gotten too busy fulfilling prophesy in the Middle East to take time now to sort out the complicated mess we have gotten ourselves into. That is the only serious mistake we can make. And it is a mistake that Psalm 121 warns us of – the mistake of supposing that God’s interest waxes and wanes in us in response to our spiritual temperature.

Faith is not a magic shield – faith is a journey. It is a journey to God. And on that journey we travel the same ground that everyone else walks on, breathe the same air drink the same water, shop in the same stores, read the same newspapers, are citizens under the same governments, pay the same process for groceries and gasoline, fear the same dangers, are subject to the same pressures, get the same distresses and are buried in the same ground.

The difference is that we walk with God, are preserved by God, ruled by God, and therefore no matter what might happen – we are guarded by God. Guarded from not the shipwrecks and the persecution – but guarded from the evil in the shipwrecks and persecutions.

And providence… it isn’t a magical decoder ring — but the evidence of God protecting us from the evil in the world (Romans 8:38-9).

This scripture story could be about what to do when you get lost.

14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. 21 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Repentance is the first word in a sort of ’spiritual GPS system.’ It is the first step of faith. It is the first step of how to go home.

The story of Laodicea illustrates how we might understand the word repentance.

For many the letters in Revelation are scary stuff. They point out our inability to be faithful and they cast doubt on our relationship with God. And of course in the last ten years Tim LaHaye has made a fortune scaring people to Jesus with the Left Behind books.

But closer reading of the Bible reveals that the book of Revelation is less about using a scary story to frighten people to Jesus – and rather more like a book of comfort for the remnant of the church trying to be faithful in a growing secular world.

But what do you make of Jesus’ discussion of hot and cold water, and spitting out lukewarm water? We’ve always associated a hot faith with someone spiritually alive – and a cold faith with someone in danger of losing their salvation. And so it appears to some that Jesus is telling the Laodiceans – and us – to get off the fence – be hot or be cold – but quit wasting my time with being in the middle. Some scholars even talk about area hot springs and cold springs that were refreshing – and the fact that the Laodiceans got their water from an aqueduct that allowed the water to become lukewarm.

A better interpretation that fits with the whole passage is one of refreshment. The Romans of Jesus’ day believed that civilized people enjoyed refreshing drinks. And the drinks that were refreshing usually were hot or cold. If it is the winter you want hot chocolate and if it is the summer you want an ice cold – er – lemonade.

Or to put it differently a cold beverage or a hot beverage – regardless – is a contrast to its environment. It is distinctive and recognizable. And it performs a job. It refreshes. But a lukewarm beverage does not do any of that. It is not distinctive it is not a contrast to its environment and conversely it does not refresh.

Maybe what Jesus is talking about isn’t a strange conception of being on fire for God – or not on fire for God. But rather maybe the issue is that Jesus wants their faith to be refreshing. And while we’re here lets talk about this translation of ‘spit out’. The Greek word here really is translated vomit- not spit out. The image here is not a dainty spitting of bad wine into a cistern – but the rejection of something foul, bad or distasteful. Think more of ‘hugging the porcelain throne with a stomach bug’ than a ‘high society wine tasting.’

In Jesus’ time it was a sign of friendship if you dined with someone. In fact Jesus got in trouble for who he dined with – he dined with those who no one interested in working the room and climbing the ladder would dine with … He dined with prostitutes, and tax collectors, men and women who were not cool, who were not considered dignified or moral. I imagine we might say that Jesus dines with the least, the last and the lost. Seems like after the last week – Jesus might sit down to the table with Kevin Federline, Britney Spears, and Anna Nicole Smith..

But to have someone into your home in Jesus’ day was both an honor and a responsibility – you were required to cater to their needs to show them the greatest hospitality. You had someone wash their feet, bring out refreshing drink and you cooked a meal that made them comfortable and cherished.

How does the scripture end? It ends with Jesus saying I stand at the door and knock – and if you will open the door I will come in and sit with you (some translations say and eat with you).

This passage is a call to repentance. It is a reminder to the Laodiceans that faith is about being refreshing – refreshing to each other, to the stranger and to God. When our faith sours – when we stop taking care of our spiritual lives – when we stop reading the Bible, stop praying, stop loving our neighbors as we love ourselves – we are no longer refreshing. We then become so distasteful and repulsive that the creator of the universe – the king of Glory – the God whose love is so deep and so wide as to rescue and welcome any repentant sinner – can’t stand the taste of us – and finds himself hovering over the toilet sick to his stomach.

Repentance is the act of stopping, turning around and heading home. It is the act of stopping and taking a whiff of our own faith – and deciding that we have gone long enough without bathing, or taking care of ourselves. Repentance is the recognition that we can’t do it on our own – and it is time to go home to God – to be refreshed so that we might be refreshing to others.

Repentance is a fancy word for ‘do over.’ Repentance is taking responsibility for how lost we’ve become. Repentance is the first step in the right direction, the first step home, the first step towards the God who loves us, cares for us and wants to be in relationship with us.

It isn’t the result of fire and brimstone preaching, it isn’t the result of high pressure evangelism – it isn’t the result of emotional or spiritual black mail.

Instead it is the result of someone who has reached the end of their rope – a person who doesn’t want to go it alone any more – a person who looks around and realizes they’ve been refusing God’s help for so long – having reached the bottom of the rope – they tie a knot – and ask for a lift.

(Source for exegetical material - Koester, Craig R. (2003). “The message to Laodicea and the problem of its local context: A study of the imagery in Rev 3.14-22″ New Testament Studies Vol 49 pp 407-424.)

Ok..

In the past I’ve developed elaborate plans for Lenten disciplines. I have given up chocolate, eaten rice for lunch one day a week, given up TV (except Duke Basketball games), and other attempts at Lenten centering. I even had a plan to give up using my car when I lived in Houston. I figured using the bus would be a great way to conserve fuel - but also create time for prayer. But in the end the fasts never created the synergy that I was hoping for in my lenten disciplines. Being borderline ADD it takes a lot to hold my attention and one dimensional fasts weren’t working.

I also have come to resent some of the ‘fasting’ ideas. Jesus dies on the cross for our sins - and we give up chocolate. Jesus is whipped, stripped and hung between two themes and we give up Grey’s Anatomy for 6-7 weeks. It just seems kind of gilded and paltry.

It rings of cheap grace, or easy discipleship.

So this year — in an attempt to continue to grow in discipline, and accountability — I am trying Ship of Fools - 40 days of Lent. Included in the 40 different activities are a media diet, scripture readings about Lent, recycling, and poem reading - and that is only the first week!

I think the variety, and the depth will help me remember what Lenten Disciplines are really about.

So — what are you doing for Lent — ?

The Associated Press had the following list of those who are practicing how to say ‘I’m Sorry.”

Actor Isaiah Washington apologizes and says he will seek counseling after using a gay slur last October in reference to fellow Grey’s Anatomy actor T.R. Knight.

Former Seinfeld actor Michael Richards is caught on video angrily shouting the N-word at black patrons during a November appearance at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood. Richards seeks counseling, apologizes publicly and meets with civil rights leaders.

Actor-director Mel Gibson is stopped on the Pacific Coast Highway for suspicion of drunken driving on July 28, 2006, and unleashes an anti-Semitic tirade against a Jewish sheriff’s deputy. He apologizes, pleads no contest to drunken driving and says he will seek alcohol counseling and meet with Jewish leaders.

Lindsay Lohan checks into a private rehab program in January, six months after a studio executive publicly upbraids the 20-year-old actress, saying her “all-night heavy partying” is disrupting filming.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announces he is entering an alcohol rehabilitation program days after acknowledging he had an affair with his campaign manager’s wife.

The Rev. Ted Haggard resigns as president of the National Association of Evangelicals after allegations of sexual misconduct with a man are made public. A minister who helped oversee three weeks of counseling said Haggard emerged convinced he is “completely heterosexual.”

Former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., resigns from Congress last fall and enters alcohol rehab after his sexually explicit computer messages to congressional pages are made public.

I find it fascinating that all of these individuals - after their mistakes/crimes/bad choices were made public they made one quick decision - to go to rehabilitation.

It appears that going to rehab is the way in our day and age to express remorse, to tell others that you were out of control — maybe even a way to seek forgiveness. Rehab has become the latest form of confessional for our celebrity black sheep.

A traditional text for Ash Wednesday is Joel 2:12-17 - which includes…

“Come back to me and really mean it! Come fasting and weeping, sorry for your sins!” 13 Change your life, not just your clothes. Come back to God, your God. And here’s why: God is kind and merciful. He takes a deep breath, puts up with a lot, This most patient God, extravagant in love, always ready to cancel catastrophe. 14 Who knows? Maybe he’ll do it now, maybe he’ll turn around and show pity. (The Message)

Seems like we could all learn from Joel about how to go about saying ‘I’m sorry.’

(stay tuned for more on ‘Saying I’m Sorry’)