What I Did on My Summer Vacation

For those of you keeping track, I haven't posted in a while. I have been away on sabbatical. Sabbatical is dedicated time to embrace that seventh day of creation – resting in God's presence – to return recharged and ready for whatever the Holy Spirit has in store next.

Over-functioner that I was, I decided I would have the a superlative sabbatical. I booked leadership conferences at Bexley-Seabury, academic coursework at two universities, a thesis-writing-boot-camp, three full vacations, and several speaking engagements. Those who saw my sabbatical schedule would joke, “Great, but when are you going to rest?” Maybe I thought I didn't need it.

Sabbatical went well enough at the beginning. I got to see my parents and help my mom downsize. Then I got word of some family tragedies and had to return for a funeral. During the one week that I had nothing else booked, I decided to remodel our guest bathroom as a surprise for my wife who was visiting her family. She was “surprised” to return to a half-destroyed bathroom and a very sick husband.

I felt pretty bad pretty quick. I thought this was the standard summer sinus infection and would pass with the usual course of antibiotics. Nope.

To make a very long story short, I was admitted to the Cardiac Care Unit of our local hospital with pneumonia and an infection of the heart lining, where I stayed for four days on heavy-duty intravenous antibiotics. I went down hard. A cardiologist came in and started to talk about options. If the antibiotics didn't work, we would have to talk transplant. Wait. What!?! Heart transplant!?! I'm thirty-five and still in decent shape! This was not part of my sabbatical agenda. Then the cardiologist gave me fodder for preaching, pastoral care and blog posts I will use the rest of my career: “The heart has no defenses of its own.” Don't take this as medical advice, but the heart is covered in a sack that can fend of all kinds of nasty stuff. Once those defenses are beaten, there is nothing else to protect the heart.

God worked through the prayers of many and through my earnest bargaining and the antibiotics did their job. There was no need to talk any further about a transplant. Apparently I do still have work to do on the planet. But, I did have to stay in bed for essentially the next two months; slowly, slowly regaining my strength. I had all these plans for sabbatical and God said, “rest with me.” Guess who won?

I share all of this, because I learned a whole lot by going through a situation I would not wish on anyone. Even before this happened the sabbatical taught me that I was doing too much. Now I am doing less; doing what I can. Proceeding slowly. But this is not one of those “What could you give up?” kind of blog posts. Because here's what I really learned...

Something happened in that hospital. Yes, I was on some heavy drugs but that wasn't it. College wasn't so long ago: I remember what that feeling and that wasn't it at all. Sometime after my wife was asked to leave so I could rest, and my bishop and former rector had come to say prayer with me, I had another visitor. In the middle of the night, I began to feel the overwhelming presence of love in the room. I became aware that I was being bathed in the love of Christ. What else could it be? I experienced healing, like a miracle. I turned a corner that night physically, but the real transformation was spiritual. The whole thing made my very Episcopal self quite uncomfortable. Maybe that love of Jesus that we talk so much about had finally penetrated all the defenses that I had put up. In that moment, when my heart was most vulnerable, I knew the love of Jesus. My heart was defenseless to God's love.

This post was originally published on the Episcopal Church Foundation's Vital Practices Vital Posts blog on September 30, 2014. It has been reprinted here with permission.

Table Talk - The Way, the Truth, & the Life

The Good News of Jesus Christ according to the Evangelist, John (14:1-14):


Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him."

Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it."

+                    +                    +

The Questions for Discussion over Dinner Were:

In your personal life, in this community, or in another community - 

where have you experienced Jesus as the Way?

Where have you experienced Jesus as the Truth?

Where have you experienced Jesus as Life?

One person answered that they experience Jesus as Life in the gathering of family. 

Another said that they hear Jesus as Truth in music. 

A few of our youngest members said that they experience Jesus as the Way in Church – which got an “amen” from some of the adults.

Concluding Reflection:

People these days often come across this verse in which Jesus says that he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and they tend to interpret it in one of two ways.  People who tend to hold more “conservative” views, on the one hand, will say that this verse means that Christianity is the only true religion – this verse means that Christianity is the only Way; Christianity is the only Truth; Christianity alone offers real Life.  And “liberals” on the other hand react to that saying, “No, no, you’ve got it wrong; that can’t be right.”  They say that this verse means that Christianity is a Way – a way to the Truth, a way to abundant Life.

A plague on both your houses! 

Both interpretations overlook one simple point.  In this verse, Jesus doesn’t say that Christianity is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Rather, Jesus says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”  This verse isn’t talking about your “religion.”  It’s not talking about your personal beliefs.  It’s not talking about your opinions on spirituality. 

In this verse, Jesus is saying that when you encounter the Truth, you encounter him.  When you really encounter Truth – the kind of truth that draws you to it, that transforms the way you see, that convicts you of the life you’ve been living, and sets you free – you encounter Jesus.  And where Jesus is, there the Father is also.

Jesus is saying that when you participate in Life in all its abundance, you participate in him.  When you realize that your own life is not your property but a gracious gift from God freely given in Christ, then you realize that Jesus is as close to you as the air your breathe and the thoughts you think.  And when you live more fully into the gift of abundant Life, then you find that you’re participating in the very life of Jesus.  And where Jesus is, there the Father is also.

Jesus is not saying that Christianity is the Way.  Jesus is telling us that he is the Way.  He is the Way because he and the Father are one.  He is the Way because he is the love of God made manifest in a person.  He is the Way because we participate in his life when we live into the gift of abundant life God has graciously given to us.  He is the Way because we encounter him whenever we encounter the Truth.  He is the Way because he is the Father’s way of showing us how much he loves and cares for us.  

 

In Christ the Bottom Holds

This is the week that Christ dies for us, which can obscure the reality that Jesus lives for us. This life is made holy by Jesus' presence. Through Christ, God has sung songs, danced at weddings, wept at a friend's grave, been put on trial, and prayed for deliverance. Through Christ, God knows the cool wetness of rivers like the Jordan and the warmth of his mother's loving embrace.

This Holy Week, through Christ, God knows what it is to be betrayed, abandoned, arrested, imprisoned, beaten, and what it is to suffer and be murdered. Christ is there with us, sharing our joys and sorrows along with us and nothing is too great for Christ's shoulders to bear, because these shoulders have already borne the Sin of the world. Christ is with us in our highs, lows, and every place in between.

I don't know where the bottom is for you. Maybe early in your life, when your father died unexpectedly. Maybe yet to come, losing a battle to cancer. Maybe a terrible divorce, a failure of nerve, or betrayal of a friend. Maybe a life of extended hardships and brokenness, never being able to make things better. I don't know where the bottom is for you, but I know this: Christ is there. In pain, in sorrow, in loss, in betrayal, and even in death: Christ is there. Even at the bottom, Christ is there redeeming the seemingly irredeemable and reconciling the seemingly irreconcilable.

In these posts, I usually tell stories about Southside Abbey. Today I share someone else's story. Time, geography, and Dean Trotter's great-niece have given me permission to share it.

Jess Trotter was Dean of the Virginia Seminary in the 1950s & 1960s, beloved by students and faculty. He, his wife and their teenage son lived in a house on the Seminary grounds, near the chapel, where Dean Trotter was always present at “Good Ol' Morning Prayer.”

Battling depression, the Trotters' son succumbed to the terminal symptom of that disease and took his own life in the house so near the seminary chapel. For days following, Dean Trotter came to chapel services and said nothing. Days turned into weeks. He was present for chapel services, and still he said nothing – participating in the service as much as his heart would allow – hearing the healing words, even if unable to utter them. Dean Trotter lost weight and his health declined.

Weeks turned into months and still no words from Dean Trotter. One day at the end of Good Ol' Morning Prayer, Dean Trotter stood up, climbed the steps into the pulpit and addressed his congregation. The chapel knew sheer silence as he spoke . . .

“I have seen the bottom and Christ is there and in Christ the bottom holds.”

I don't know where you bottom is – maybe early in your life; maybe yet to come; or maybe right now – know that Christ has been there, is there now, and will be there, making even the depths of our lives holy with his very presence. This Holy Week we see the bottom and we are not surprised to find that Christ is there and in Christ the bottom holds.

This post was originally published on the Episcopal Church Foundation'sVital Practices Vital Posts blog on April 16, 2014. It has been reprinted here with permission.

Servant Ministry II

My previous post on servant ministry generated some discussion on Facebook. Thanks for that! Maybe we can go a little deeper on the topic of servant ministry.

First, I would concede that “servant ministry” and “ministry” are probably just synonyms. I like to use the phrase “servant ministry” because it keeps me honest. By intentionally using the word “servant,” I can keep that aspect of ministry always in my mind.

Second, I was asked to give examples of servant ministers. First and foremost, Jesus is an example of a servant minister who people followed. Often Jesus' ministry leads Jesus to give something of himself away. Sometimes Jesus gives himself away figuratively, as he does when he honors those society deems least. Sometimes Jesus gives himself away more literally, as he does when he heals. Sometimes Jesus gives himself away quite literally, as he does on the cross or when he says to his disciples, “Take, eat. This is my body.” Even in this eucharistic action, Jesus is serving.

Beyond Jesus, any servant-ministers I could tell you about would be tied to our context at Southside Abbey. The activities to which the Spirit calls us give able opportunity for servant ministry. Following the last church year, we have had:

• Advent: parade-float-decorators, candy-makers, baggie-stuffers, carol-singers, cider-makers, treat-suppliers, Advent-spiral-arrangers, compline-prayers, community-collaborators, partnership-makers

• Christmas: Lutheran-liasons, present-wrappers, omelette-makers, Christmas-storytellers, basketball-pumpers, cookie-bakers, food-sharers

• Epiphany: Pickle-picklers, pickle-sharers, neighborhood-walkers, theology-on-tube[television]-discussers, sunday-supperer

• Lent: Spanish-speakers, soup-crafters, soup-sharers, bible-studiers, yard-salers, shoe-drivers, relationship-builders

• Holy Week: palm-weavers, vow-renewers, confirmands, shoe-deliverers, sock-wranglers, online-vigil-keepers

• Easter: lamb-roasters, jubilee-bag-stuffers

• Pentecost: tongues-of-fire-chili-cookers, chili-tasters, chili-judgers, neighborhood-sharers, motel-bridge-builders

• Ordinary Time: extraOrdinary-jam-makers, parish-bridge-builders, neighborhood-cleaners, apartment-painters, road-show-music-makers, breakfast-coordinators, book-studiers, language-instituters, Spanish-speakers, Arabic-speakers, motel-birthday-partiers, Oktoberfesters, pub-theologizers, Education-for-Ministriers

And the list could go on and on – as it could in many places – not just ours. If the Church can provide space for people to serve well, there is room for everyone: whatever their gifts, passions, or abilities. I would never have dreamed up that we would have or need pickle-picklers (or that I would ask people to pickle pickles with me), but because that is where we were called, that is where we engaged in servant ministry . . .

But that is our context. Yours is probably going to look different. Whatever the context, servant ministers are people who do what they do not for accolades, but because Jesus asks them to. And Jesus doesn't just ask us to serve, he shows us how. Servant ministers lead by example, by serving. Jesus bids us follow him in the same way. We, as that Body of Christ that is so freely given away, are called to give ourselves away too.

This post was originally published on the Episcopal Church Foundation's Vital Practices Vital Posts blog on February 19, 2014. It has been reprinted here with permission.

Valentine's Day Dinner

From this week's Newsletter:

Beloved Community,

Our worship this Friday happens to fall on Valentine’s Day – also known as the Feast of St Valentine. 

So, who was St Valentine? 

Well, the short answer is, we don’t really know.  Sure – there are a few facts that have made their way down to us through the centuries.  Valentine was a priest . . . or a bishop (or there was a priest named Valentine and a bishop named Valentine whose stories got combined).  And he probably lived in the in 3^rd or 4^th Century.  And he was martyred.  But that’s all that history preserves about the mysterious saint.

Still, the story of a human life yearns to be told, and so St Valentine’s life grew in the telling, becoming legend.  Especially told and retold is the story of that part of a martyr’s life leading up to their death, which is called their passion – (from the Latin word for suffering).  St Valentine’s passion includes the legend of his friendship with his jailor’s daughter, a friendship that led to her conversion to the way of Jesus.  And according to the legend, the condemned priest signed his final note to his friend as “Your Valentine.”

Now, I’m not sure what all of that has to do with flowers, chocolates, and secret admirers, but as Bob likes to say, “What better way to memorialize the life of a celibate priest than to celebrate romantic love?” 

So, definitely make Valentine’s Day plans, definitely take your special-someone out this Friday evening . . . but start the night off with Southside Abbey dinner, prayer, and fellowship first.  It’s what St Valentine would have done.  And what can be more romantic than that?

The wrong kind of Shoes.....

Jim told me that’s Neil’s shoes were tattered and full of holes. To be honest, I was embarrassed that I didn’t notice myself. It’s winter and raining a lot. How could I not notice? A few days later we went to see Neil with a pair of new shoes.

read the rest here!

Servant Ministry

In a world where freedom is often touted as the ultimate ideal, as Christians, we come before that same world to serve in the name of Jesus. That's right, we are servants; not terribly glamorous, is it?

To be brutally honest, servant ministry is a tough sell to our consumerist culture. Nevertheless, it’s been something I’ve been spending a lot of time with in light of recent lectionary readings: Peter, Andrew, James, and John leave everything to follow Jesus. They freely leave their family, their stuff, and even their freedom, to serve. What a friend and model for servant ministry we have in Jesus! Notice how often Jesus tries to keep the attention on those he is serving and off of himself.

When I reflect on servant ministry, shadows of my past can creep in. I used to make my living (such as it was) playing the string and electric bass. Why in the world might I mention this fact? Well, here is the secret you don't know about most of the music you love: it is led by the bass (or whatever instrument functioning in the bass role). The bass is the harmonic time-keeper, responsible for outlining the chord-changes and holding a tempo. And exactly how many bass-players can you name? Probably not too many. Bass-players are servant leaders. The do the heavy lifting and get little of the credit.

If there is a match to freedom as an ideal in our world, it is celebrity. Too often the call of celebrity can overshadow our call to serve. But . . . we are called to serve, and moreover, we often serve in anonymity. The community following Jesus is just that, a community. Our true leaders act like servants and they only do so through the support of the community.

As one who has a platform such as this blog to reach servant leaders who may be toiling in obscurity, I want to take this opportunity to say thanks. So, thanks. Thank you for all that you do. Thank you for freely choosing a life of servitude. You may not hear it enough, but the Church would not be the Church without you. Your work does not go unnoticed and your work is important.

Now might be an excellent time for you to grab one of your favorite records (in my case, Herbie Hancock's Flood, featuring Paul Jackson on the bass), listen for the bass, and know that in that pulsating undercurrent of rhythm and harmony you are right there, represented. You go, servant leader! Know that you are the one making everyone dance.

This post was originally published on the Episcopal Church Foundation's Vital Practices Vital Posts blog, on February 5, 2014. It has been reprinted here with permission.