Taking the First Step

I have for some time now been intentionally studying the practice of Reconciliation, as it relates to people God's dream for all humanity to be at one with one another in Christ.

Living into God's dream for all humanity to live in supreme unity often seems mighty far fetched when the folks in the choir huff out in a storm over whether or not to stay up or come down from the choir loft on Easter morning (yes, I'm speaking from experience). Things look even bleaker when reconciliation is thwarted by hate, scorn, vilification, and demonization.

But coming across something from my great teacher Desmond Tutu hit the spot. I am reading Reconciliation, Michael Battle's theological biography on Tutu. Battle says Tutu's first step in dismantling apartheid in South Africa was not getting the oppressor to view the oppressed as humans, but rather the inverse. Here's the money quote from Tutu:

We will grow in the knowledge that they [white people] too are God's children, even though they may be our oppressors, thought they may be our enemies. Paradoxically, and more truly, they are really our sisters and out brothers, because we have dared, and have the privilege to call God, "Abba," Our Father. Therefore, they belong together with us in the family of God, and their humanity is caught up in our humanity, as ours is caught up in theirs."

The South African word for this idea of "their humanity" being bound up together with "ours" is "Ubuntu". Loosely translated, it means, "I am in you, and you are in me."

I like Tutu's idea that the first step in ending Apartheid was Ubuntu. The recognition of our common humanity - that we are all children of the same heavenly Father - is not contingent on you recognizing me as such. You do not have to apologize, or repent, or have a change of heart, before I recognize you as my brother. You are already my brother. This is most certainly God's dream; and it is the end of history - whether you know it or not.

Are you hurt? Have you been wronged? Maligned or scorned? Take the first step. Pray for your enemies like Jesus said. Because it just so happens that your enemy is your very own brother.

Looking Up to Our Kids

It's been quite a week and a half for our children and youth programs at Second B.

Our youth just returned from a week at camp with a 100-plus other youth and a whole campus full of tarantulas - that's right tarantulas! - at Austin College in Sherman, TX. Now this week another 100 kids have joined us here on our own campus for Vacation Bible School. All morning long, all week long the halls of our church are ringing out with the sound of kids running, laughing, singing, and squealing. I've even heard some hog calling during the morning drama. All this, plus if you look below you will see we are in the thick of planning for our upcoming mission trip to Mission, TX.

As you can see we are all busy, busy. Today is June 21 and summer at Second B has indeed officially begun!

With all this ministry to kids, I've been thinking on how important a part of Jesus' ministry young people were. It seems like every time we turn a Gospel page we see Jesus healing someone's daughter, raising someone's son, or using somebody else's kid as an example to try to live up to - or in one case, live down to.

In Matthew 18 Jesus overhears the disciples arguing with one another about which one of them is the greatest. Jesus responds by taking "a little child" and placing the child among the disciples. "Truly I tell you," Jesus says to them, "unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven," (Matthew 18:3).

Get it? All the disciples are looking up, high onto the ladder of success/standing, but Jesus is telling them to look down at the child who stands head and shoulders below them.

It makes me think, in the midst of all these summer activities where I, the "senior" pastor, am called upon to impart my knowledge to the kids, maybe Jesus has it in mind for the juniors of our church to do some teaching as well.

And it's already happened. Last week at camp I was privileged to be a part of a special night of very real and authentic sharing amongst our youth. The care with which our young people listened to and supported one another prompted one of the newer kids to the grew to say, "Ya'll have an awesome youth group." "No," said one of the other kids who has been around awhile, "we have an awesome youth group."

There it was. I went to camp to teach the youth about Jesus and His way and here was one of our youth showing me Jesus' way of inclusion. " Boy," I thought, "do I want to change and become like this kid."

Early Adult Retreat Trailer

Just came across this video of Phyllis Tickle speaking about "Emergent Christianity" Phyllis will be our speaker at our 2012 Adult Retreat in Santa Fe, NM next February.

These words were most striking to me. Phyllis says we are now already "in a post-Protestant mode. We’re in a post-denominational mode; we’re in a post-Christendom mode." Her thesis is the church of the 20th century that most of us grew up with will have to change radically in order to engage the world of the 21st century. For Phyllis this is not a loss to be lamented, but rather a tremendous opportunity for both spiritual and numerical growth.

A question: My friend Curtis Freeman talks of the "marks" of the (baptist) church. These are the distinguishing characteristics which give it identity. If a new kind of church is being born what will those marks be? Check out this interview with Phyllis to get an idea of what she thinks they will be.

Guest Preacher: Matt Russell

Next Sunday June 6 (Ascension Sunday for you liturgical peeps) I will be away on vacation and my friend Matt Russell will preach. Matt just finished a PhD at Tech where he did his doctoral work in the spirituality of drug and alcohol recovery.

A lot of his research was based upon his experience at Mercy Street, a church he helped found whose mission "is to create a safe harbor for the hurt, the lost, the seeking so that we might experience the radical grace of God!" A lot of folks in recovery have found Mercy Street to be the kind of church they needed - a community of Jesus-like inclusion and grace.

Here's a link to Matt talking about Mercy Street. Matt is the blonde guy, but I would love to hear the big, burly, biker-dude below preach also.

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All Things Working

The Scriptures say “all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28) and in recent weeks I’ve seen it is so.

My friend James Ray passed away in the fall, but before he passed he made it a point to help me out with some mission projects. I was looking for bicycles for some of our homeless friends to get around town on and James rounded one up for me. It was really inspiring to see someone in his last days thinking of how he could still make a difference.

The bike James found for me was a children’s bike and a little small for the adults I was trying to help. But I knew it was just a matter of time before I would find some kid who could use it. Then back in March, Second B’s Children’s Ministry hosted a children’s car seat and bike safety check sponsored by Covenant Hospital and they were giving away free bicycle safety helmets to children. Reginald, one of our Kids Hope kids came and I asked him if he had a bike helmet. He told me that he didn’t. “Well, now you’ve got one so you can be safe on your bike,” I said. “I don’t have a bike,” he said. You can now hear the bells going off in my head. “I think I can do something about that,” I said.

So I call up Jerry Bailey, Second B’s resident bike expert, and I asked him to fix up the bike. The next thing I know, I walk in the door and the bike is sitting bright and shiny in the middle of the church office. It’s as good as new.

Two days later I took Joey Marcades, one of our graduating high school seniors, went with me to deliver the bike. He helps me get it out of my car and then Reginald comes out of his house with his never-before-used bike helmet on his head. Joey and I watch from the yard as Reginald takes off down the sidewalk. “What do you say?” I yell after him. “Thank you,” he yells back.

When I get back to the church I tell Susie White our secretary about all that had happened. First James, then the Children’s Ministry, then Kid’s Hope, then Jerry Bailey, and then Joey Marcades. “Sounds like a God thing to me,” she said. “It sure does,” I said.

And then the postscript. We were sitting in staff meeting when Basil and Carroll Melnyk show up at church. They had heard about Ray’s bike. They had come to bring me another one. They wheeled it in. It is adult size – and one of my homeless friends already has first dibs on it.

The Scriptures are right, “All things work together for good.” And that’s a God thing.

Extraordinary Forgivness

More on Forgiveness:

Irie has an interesting post on her A-J blog. Though I am sure the husband to which she refers is strictly hypothetical.

My question:

Can we forgive only because it is in our nature to forgive, or can we learn to forgive? If we can forgive only if it is in our nature, can we change our nature? Can Christ?

9/11 healing: The mothers who found forgiveness, friendship | Video on TED.com

When Mother's Day was first conceived it was a day set aside to call on the nations of the world to work for peace and to end all war. It was a recognition that our common humanity binds all women in their love for their children.

The following video of two mothers' love for their sons is at once both encouraging and challenging. Reconciliation is such hard work. I admire these women for their strength and witness.

9/11 healing: The mothers who found forgiveness, friendship | Video on TED.com