Searching for Sunday

As someone who has grown up in the evangelical tradition, had an awesome upbringing, and since I have been in college has found a love for liturgy and the mainline traditions I have found that Rachel Held Evan's new book Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church was an incredible and refreshing read. This was an incredible read that was beautifully written and probably Rachel Held Evan's best book so far! I was not able to put the book down and found myself reading it every where I went. I loved how she so authentically shared her journey of leaving and then finding a church where she can belong and feel loved simply for showing up. Sometimes it can be so easy to get caught up in how the worship is or what kind of music they play, but at the end of the day it is completely about the people there. It is about the community and how loving they are. This past Sunday I visited a church in town and I was overwhelmed (in a good way) about how friendly and welcoming they seemed to be. I could tell that the church knew that my fiance and I were visitors and they wanted us to feel welcomed and as if this was a place we could return to and belong at. From the very beginning people told us that we should come, get involved, become members, and find our niche in ministry. We could tell that this was not a place of just coming to church on Sunday, but that it was a place we could belong to. We could tell all of this just from the people we met that day. It felt like such a blessing I almost cried--which granted is not a big deal for me, but still.

 The book did an excellent job at showing that she still loves evangelicalism and would never completely give it up. I felt this book emphasized the importance of denominations, the sacraments, and unity without uniformity. Searching for Sunday helps one gain a better appreciation for the sacraments of: baptism, confession, holy orders, communion, confirmation, anointing of the sick, and marriage. There were chapters I cried in, laughed at, and underlined in at least 10 times in. Most of the margins have notes and scribbles affirming what was read in the book. This may be the best book I have read in awhile and it is a great one for anyone questioning how they view the Church or even how the church should be. There are examples of so many types of churches. This is a call to not leave the church--or even to leave a particular denomination, but to find the beauty in the Church universal. To realize that the Church is messy, confusing, and ongoing, but it is the Bride of Christ. As Rachel so eloquently writes, "All we have is this church--this lousy, screwed-up, glorious church--which, by God's grace, is enough."

Interested yet? Searching for Sunday comes out on April 14th, tomorrow, so order it now at www.searchingforsunday.com 

Be fruitful and Multiply: The Great Commission

“God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth” (Genesis 1:28, New Revised Standard Version).

Genesis 1:28. The Biblical mandate humanity was given in this creation narrative. The Biblical mandate that is so often used to tell Christians why they must have kids. Why it is the duty of good married couples to procreate. This verse has plagued many couples who do not feel a calling to have children or may not be able to have children. This verse has been both a blessing and a curse to people, but I wonder if we have missed the point. Have we viewed this passage in a simplistic way by limiting it to procreation?

I am not in any way saying procreation is not a good and godly thing, but what is truly its purpose? Are we just meant to populate the earth and then would that not make it irrelevant now in our overpopulated world? Or is the purpose to represent the church as people of the Kingdom. When we make a family we are making little Kingdoms. Alexander Schmemman in his book For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy says, “Family is a big part of the sacrament of matrimony because each family is a kingdom, a little church, and therefore a sacrament of a way to the Kingdom (Kindle loc. 1293).The purpose of having a family is to be little churches, but those little churches are not meant to be alone. Those churches are called to minister in their context and also gather together with other churches or families.

In these gatherings we can share what our church has done and equip new people to go out and start their own churches. That does not mean that everyone must go out and have kids to start a family. What it means is that people should go out and be the church. When people start and multiply churches it is the same as starting a family. If we are truly being the church we should be like a family. When we equip and send people out we have reproduced people to go out and be a family in a context we could never reach.

Viewing procreation as a means of creating little churches allows us to see this passage of Scripture in a larger more meaningful way. I wonder if when God created humankind in His image and gave us this command if it was more of a command to be the church. God is calling his people to go out and build the kingdom. We see this mandate all throughout Scripture and we are reminded of it through the words of Jesus in the New Testament when he says, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19-20, NRSV). Jesus is not calling us to something new. This is not a radical new lifestyle. This is showing us what He intended from the beginning. So we are all--married, single, celibate--called to make disciples, to multiply and fill the earth with the love of God which ushers in the Kingdom.

The point of the Church is not to make one little group and leave it in that community. The point of the Church is to equip and empower others in your group to start other groups. If we are to be the Body of Christ, we must be allow the Spirit to work in us and fill us with fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. When these fruits are present in our lives it will naturally lead us to go and multiply the Church. To lead others into the life giving freedom of the Kingdom of God.

Sources:

Schmemann, Alexander. For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy. Crewstwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary, 2000. Print.

Be the Change in Your Community.

Since the very first "Bible Lesson" that I wrote myself I have found that I am passionate about the verse Matthew 25:40 and in a larger spectrum I am most drawn to passages of Scripture that proclaim good news to the poor, oppressed, marginalized, etc. It is this very reason that I am drawn to books such as When Helping Hurts by Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett, The Hole in the Gospel by Richard Stearns, and A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans to name a few. This is also why I am so often drawn to liberation theology and firmly believe that as those who claim to follow the Resurrected Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we have a duty to love and serve the marginalized, poor, least of these, etc. It is not merely something good we might do, nor a legalistic set of rules, but it is how we live out this lifestyle of the Kingdom. There is so much disunity, dysfunction, and brokenness on this side of the Kingdom and so that alone shows the need for the Body of Christ to bring change in the world.

I bring up all of this because I have found that there are certain causes that people say everyone needs to contribute and be main advocates for. I have often been told that if I truly believed in Matthew 25:40--which I hope I do since I have it tattooed on my wrist--then I needed to put most of my focus on advocating and speaking up for this one certain group. You fill in the blank. Sometimes I wonder if helping the least of these has been used to guilt people into supporting certain causes or advocate for certain groups.

I am not saying that those people are wrong or that those certain groups do not need help and advocacy, but what I want to argue is that not everyone is called to every single group. Some people may feel led to work with promoting a pro-life from birth to death mentality, some may feel led to work with the homeless, some may feel led to work with those marginalized in the LGBTQ community, some may feel led to adopt, some may feel led to foster, and some may feel led to work with providing education to third world countries. All of these are groups and settings that we should support and be in favor of, however, I would say that people should choose where they are being led to put their focus.

In our overbooked, over-scheduled life we cannot take part in every cause and we cannot fully devote ourselves to every marginalized group. I believe that we should always be standing with the marginalized in whatever context we are living/working and that we should focus on ministering to those specifically in our context. It is also important to know where, with the help of the Spirit, we can be most effective with the skills and gifts that God has equipped us with. Instead of trying to tackle every social issue out there, we need to pick the ones we have been equipped to work with and encourage those who are called to other issues to pursue those.

As the Body of Christ we need to follow the pattern of Jesus when He said,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

    because he has anointed me

        to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

    and recovery of sight to the blind,

        to let the oppressed go free,

 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” 

(Luke 4:18-19 NRSV) 

We should be striving to share the good news of liberation from oppression that Jesus provides. We should be striving for a holistic understanding of transformation that cares about each person's physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. We need to proclaim this good news to those who are marginalized in our context. We need to use the gifts that we have been given to impact our communities. 

So who are you called to minister and serve? Who needs liberation in your community? What has God given you a passion for? Homelessness? Human Trafficking? Gender Inequality? LGBTQ issues? Abortion? AIDS/HIV? Orphans? Lack of education? World Hunger? Thirst? Whatever it may be, what it is that breaks your heart...go after it. 

Let's stop getting overwhelmed by all the issues in the world and thinking there is not a change we can make. Let's instead act on what we can, live out our passions, focus on the change we can make in our own communities, and advocate for the issues we have been given a passion for, while empowering others to advocate for the issues they feel led to stop.

If we work together, as the Body of Christ, with all of our different passions and gifts, we can truly make a difference and help usher in the Kingdom. 

Sometimes we just need to do something Vulnerable.

Resurrection Sunday. Easter. The day celebrating that Christ rose from the dead! The day where a few women went down to the tomb, burial spices in hands, and ended the day as the first evangelists: telling others that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead. The end of our waiting has begun. The Kingdom has begun and yet is still coming.

It was an excellent day for me today because not only was I excited to celebrate the risen Savior, but I was celebrating by breaking my 40 day fast of meat. It was a great 40 days of contemplation, solidarity with vegetarians, and reflection. I felt I had grown to rely on God more and even to appreciate what I ate more. It was also during these 40 days that I have applied and searched for many jobs. It was during these days that I have felt stress and worry about finding a place of employment for after graduation. It was during this time that I focused on relying more on God than on my own skills and abilities. Or so I told myself I was doing. There were times when it was difficult. There were times when I felt if I just did the right thing I would get myself the perfect job. Even though in theory I was trusting wholly in God, these 40 days have been a process of learning how to seek first His Kingdom.

As I participated in the festivities of Holy Week I also prayed and brainstormed with my lovely fiance on job options. There have been places that have contacted me and places that I have felt led more too, but had not yet heard much from them. Then tonight Brianna surprised me with a suggestion that was out of the ordinary for us.

She brought out our Easter "Advent" Wreath she had made and suggested we turn off the lights and light the candles, but as we lit each candle we would pray for something different. Our prayers were all on different topics, but all focused on the uncertainty of the future and allowing God to lead. When we got to the middle candle, we took turns praying back and forth as if we were having a three way conversation with God. Then we danced. We celebrated and rejoiced in the unknown. We were vulnerable, we opened ourselves up, and we said, "Hey God...here were are, trying something completely new, ready to see where you will lead." We tried something that seemed weird to us and completely trusted in God. Now neither of us are mystics or people who think following some ritual to the tea will get you answers or solve all of your problems; but we are both advocates for being vulnerable and relational. We both realized that if we truly wanted God to lead and guide our relationship we needed to be fully open with God. After this action of vulnerability and trust I received an email about a potential job I had been leaning towards and feeling very strongly about.

This act may or may not lead us to God's will. It's not magic or a formula. It was a reminder that we need to be open, vulnerable, and willing to do crazy things for God. We're ready to serve and work where God desires for us to be.