Medical Care Industry

A person that I know was diagnosed with a general category of illness by her primary care physician and recommended to a specialist for a more targeted diagnosis and course of treatment. In order to prepare for meeting with the specialist, the primary care physician removed from her medications that might have impacted the specialist's findings. Unfortunately, the specialist was not able to see her for two months from the initial doctor's visit. In the meantime, her symptoms worsened, as did her pain and the detrimental effects of having to wait for treatment. She wound up in the emergency room of the local hospital where she lives, barely able to walk, in severe pain, unable to eat more than a few bites of any food, seriously dehydrated and in immediate need of medical care.

This is all too typical a story, and it points to a system that is increasingly inefficient, economically driven, detrimental to patients and dangerous for those who are suffering, sometimes unnecessarily so. Ask around. The tales of medical woe are all around us.

An employee in a local company found, under the Affordable Care Act, medical insurance for herself and her children that was both great quality and much more affordable for she and her company than any that they had found previously. When the policy was to be renewed, a year later, the insurance carrier had been sold to another company. Her premiums increased four-fold, the deductible, both personal and family, was increased significantly and her co-pays went through the roof. The company saw an increase, even over what they had previously paid. They were forced to end her employment and to manage without that position.

Who is to blame, here? Is it doctors? Is it medical conglomerates? Is it insurance companies? Is it an entire industry? What, exactly, is broken and how do we fix it?

In the case of the woman mentioned earlier, the one who wound up in the e.r. instead of receiving the kind of prompt and attentive care that would have treated her illness, she needed one test to determine a more detailed diagnosis. The primary care physician failed to order that test, though it is a common one that is ordered by this physician every day, especially for persons who are over 50. He referred instead of ordering that test. The emergency room doctor was shocked that the test had not been performed. In his defense, the primary care physician was pressured to move people along and through the system, refer to specialists if at all possible, and increase the daily log of patients seen in and through the office.

In the case of the woman who lost her job, primarily as a result of her increasing medical insurance costs, it is clear that the company that underwrote her initial policy was a short-term speculative institution that was designed to make its money, sell its policies, and barter itself on the open insurance market. Tremendous amounts of money were made...millions. The business practice harmed people, however. Perhaps the larger carriers, those who swallowed up the smaller underwriters, consider the damage done to persons as collateral to their profit margins. In their defense, their stock holders have been experiencing greater returns on their investments.

It is this, I think, that is broken. Medical care has become an industry instead of a service. The economic bottom line determines the extent and the efficiency of care. Money, profit and return on investment have replaced excellence in care and timely treatment. The patient has become a commodity, a source of revenue, a product.

Do not misunderstand. I know and respect a great many medical physicians. They do their best. They care about their patients. But they are increasingly limited by a system that is primarily concerned with dollars instead of people.

How do we fix the problem? A number of years ago, I was involved in community dialogues around the issue of health care. The medical community wanted those dialogues to focus on medical issues, like fitness and preventative care. The few participants from the community wanted to know what we could do about the mounting commodification of patients and the economic injustice that is inherent in a capitalistic industry. There was no mediation, no cooperation, no compromise. The medical community wanted to talk about advancements in medicine while the public wanted to discuss the increasing depersonalization of the system. No dialogue took place. Each community talked past the other.

In its current state, I am increasingly convinced that there is no easy fix. Money is the pathology of the medical care industry. It is ill. It is not working at anything approaching an optimal level. But what are its alternatives? What are we to do?

I have none of the answers. Do you? If you do, or if you want to pursue this conversation, please post to the Shiloh UCC Facebook page. I want to hear from you.

Happy Birthday to Me!

For the first time that I can remember, Maundy Thursday falls this year on my birthday, March 24. I turn 55. Holy crap! I turn 55 this year!

Every time a person who attends our Sunday evening "Discovery Time," alternative worship, celebrates a birthday, the gathered community sings and the person is asked to say what she or he wants for her or his birthday. While I used the occasion last evening to secure leadership for two upcoming positions in the life of the congregation, I admit that what I actually want is directly related to the date of my birthday this year, March 24, Maundy Thursday.

I wish that we could take seriously the sacrifice made for us. I wish that Christ's sacrifice meant more for us in the course of our everyday lives, especially in these ways:

1. Self-Worth: Jesus died for humanity, to defeat the twin powers of sin and death. Each of is is rendered good enough, acceptable, loved and treasured by this sacrifice. We can stop trying to earn the acceptance of self and others, stop proving ourselves good enough, lovable, valuable and important. We are invited to embody the sacrifice made on our behalf, by living full, abundant, giving, generous, virtuous lives. Our self-worth is not determined by some standard of behavior, level of affluence, position, power or fame. It comes with the assurance that we are worthy of the sacrifice that is made on our behalf, in the very fact that it has been made on our behalf.

2. Universal Impact: The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ is made, not just for those who will believe or behave rightly but for everyone. It is therefore universally applied. It happens to every person, in every place, throughout time. Who is more powerful than God? Despite what we hear, no one is able to undo what God has accomplished. No one can reject the basic human worth that is established in Christ. No persons, no matter how flawed, weak, sinful, ugly, angry, hateful, excluded, rejected, victimized or despised is outside of the worth that is established in Christ. Every person is included. Every person is saved. If not, then Christ's sacrifice is conditionally applied. Conditional application of Christ's sacrifice makes no sense.

3. Unity: If every person's basic human worth is established in Christ's sacrifice, then all of humankind is united, innately, under the umbrella of Christ. We are one. There are no intrinsic distinctions or divisions that set one apart from another. All those divisive forces around us have been created by those in positions of power in order to protect them and secure their hegemony. The Church of Jesus Christ has too often been caught up in protecting itself against some imagined threat to its power and position instead of loving persons for whom Christ sacrificed. All who embrace Christ are called, equipped, empowered and sent to embody the unity that Crucifixion represents. It is necessary for us to work for the sake of all of our brothers and sisters, and to ensure that none is victimized, oppressed, excluded or rejected.

4. Human Potential: If humans were to live in the unity created in Christ's sacrifice, then the ideal is possible. Human community comes from mutual respect, honor and love. If every person is innately worthy of Christ's sacrifice, and if every person is undeniably equal to every other, then how could we refuse to demand justice and fairness for every one of us? Humans can create together an ideal community of mutual respect, honor and love. The only reason that we have failed to do so at this point in human history is that we reject #1, #2, and #3 above.

So, for my birthday, that falls this year on Maundy Thursday, March 24, I wish that we could take seriously the sacrifice that is made on our behalf, on the behalf of every person, and that unity would result. From that unity, I wish that we could live out the potential of shaping ideal human community. I am told that the belief is naive and silly. I am told that it is impossible. I am told that people can never function from a position of such unity. Whether or not you believe in Christ Jesus, or practice a spirituality that is in any way related to him, is this not a healthier life-style for each of us? Is this not a more productive legacy for us to establish? I can think of no cogent reason to delay or to declare the attempt ill-fated before we even begin.

That is what I want for my birthday!

From the Planting to Harvest

Sooooo, Shiloh's annual Black History celebration is in the books. Here are some outcomes:

Shiloh has distinguished itself as a place where hospitality and flexibility trump (forgive the use of the term) orthodoxy and traditional practises. If for no other reason than this, our Sunday celebration was a tremendous undertaking. It genuinely was a tremendous worship experience, featuring as many community participants as it did our own friends and members. We sang and heard great gospel music, participated in liturgical dance, heard a powerful message, stood in a circle and held hands as a community as we sang "Let there Be Peace on Earth." The meal that followed the service was fabulous. Thanks to all who provided food, staffed the kitchen and dining room, and just helped out in so many ways.

Shiloh distinguished itself as a place that is unafraid of broaching difficult issues.The Sunday presentation, made by Rachel Collopy, of the University of Dayton, was a keen insight into white privilege. The presentation asked, "Were our ancestors hard working and deserving of our respect?" The answer is "Absolutely!" Then, "Did they benefit from a system of advantage and privilege?" The answer is, "Absolutley!" I learned much from Doctor Collopy's presentation and deeply appreciate her style and class.

In Monday night's Dialogue on Race Relations, Shiloh continued to face some difficult issues. What can we do, as persons in community and as persons of a church, to improve race relations? The small group began with four areas of interest, each of which had surfaced at our August Dialogue on Race Relations. In each area, the group brainstormed concrete approaches that may function as faithful response to the challenge. These are difficult social, personal and inter-personal issues that Shiloh is willing to address.

Shiloh distinguished itself as a place of action. Shiloh does more than talk about issues. We attempt to deal with them, to address them and to resolve them. As an outcome of our Monday Dialogue, Shiloh will be forming an implementation Task Group, whose task is practical and meaningful ministries, missions and programs that apply directly to issues of inclusion, hospitality, justice and peace. The outcome of the work of this group will be direct action, whether in the congregation, through it, or participation with existing groups, like LEAD, that engage in direct community action.

Shiloh distinguished itself as a place of building relationships. The Friday night event featured Terrence Grimes, an educator and musician, who taught the gathered crowd about Negro Spirituals and Gospel music. The participants varied in race, age and background. New relationships were formed and new interests pursued. The same tone continued throughout the weekend. Sunday's worship and program brought various communities together. The Monday Dialogue included a mix of races, ages and backgrounds. As with the Sunday events, the mix of Shiloh to community was about 50%.

Shiloh built relationships. We faced tough issues. We planned to see from our discussions direct action which may affect our communities, improving the race relations of the Dayton area. Shiloh's impact may be important for the Dayton community. It may not. The potential of Shiloh's celebration of Black American contributions to the family of God may die on the vine, never coming to fruition. It depends on you and your support, your prayers, your involvement and your actions. You can impact the outcome by planning now to join Shiloh's Task Group on Race Relations at its meeting on Monday, April 18, at 7:00 p.m. Let's do something important and meaningful for our community! Come and contribute!

Black History Celebration

This extended weekend, March 11-14, is Shiloh's annual celebration of Black American history. The events are many and varied, and we hope that members, friends, strangers and guests join us for the celebration.

The events begin on Friday, from 6:30-8:00 p.m. with a spirituals/hymn sing, where Terrence Grimes will lead the gathered crowd in stories and songs. More than just a group gathered for the singing of old hymns, Mr. Grimes will provide education about the stories that accompany the old spirituals. He will also highlight musical trends that have helped shape the musical history of America,

On Saturday, March 12, from 12:30-2:30 p.m., fourteen displays that highlight events and people from black history will be available to the public. These displays include soldiers, political figures, athletes, toys, memorabilia, dolls, fashion and heroes, past and present, who have helped to shape on ongoing dialogue on equality and civil rights.

Sunday, March 13, is a highlight of our celebration. At Shiloh's 10:25 a.m. service of worship, Rev. Robert Jones will provide a message entitled, "Thinking and Acting Beyond the Box." The service will include spirituals, liturgical dance, a special choir piece, and a very special ending, with people in a circle around the perimeter of the sanctuary, singing "Let there be Peace on Earth." The service will be followed by a special meal, held in Shiloh's Omega Hall. Bring a dish to share with ten people. Meat, table service and drinks are provided. After the meal, participants will remain in Omega Hall to join in a slide presentation and conversation around privilege, led by Rachel Callopy, from the University of Dayton. This is a high level presentation and discussion, and you will not want to miss it.

On Monday, March 14, Shiloh will host a number of local school systems, whose students will view the displays, share a meal, and make musical or artistic presentations on black history. The program itself will take place at roughly 12:15 p.m. in the sanctuary. The public is invited to attend.

I am proud of Shiloh for hosting this grand series of events. It is recognition that black history is American history. It is everyone's story. It is our story. In some congregations, caucasians might plan to stay away from a black history celebration that takes place in March, or one that is so extensive, or one that extends worship by about an hour. But Shiloh registers its embrace of diversity by involving itself fully in each of these events. Our celebration of black history is certainly an indication that Christ is at the core of this congregation's practice.

Unless there is truth to the rumors of members and friends who are boycotting the events. In that case, everything I just typed is untrue. I am sorry.    

Vacation and Politics

There are lessons to be learned from staying at an all-inclusive resort in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. We have stayed in enough of them now to have learned a few of these important lessons, ones from which we might all benefit.

Firstly, money is relative. Resort employees make less than $10.00 per day. They work 10 hour shifts, six days per week, with one 20-minute meal break. Because the average wage of their communities is less than they make, their hard work makes earns them significant financial status in their communities.

Secondly, contentment flows across levels of service. The management of  resorts realize that contented employees better serve guests. They know that guests are made happier when they have happy service. Therefore, the management at the resorts goes out of its way to make employees happy. There is a strong investment in employees and a great deal of trust placed in them.

Thirdly, a high bar results in greater feats. Expectations get met when they are lofty but achievable. We saw on our recent trip to Cancun the head of hospitality services chewing on one of the cooks, who was being forced to remove from the buffet dinner a food item that did not reach the standards expected by the management. The standards are high, but practical. As long as they are clearly articulated and openly communicated, those standards result in a sense of pride and achievement. The young cook was obviously upset over having to remove the food item, but I bet he does that dish better the next time he is asked to serve it.

Fourth, teamwork is everything. No single person is responsible for successes or failures. Everything is about the team. In Cancun, the management works with the staff in order to continually raise the bar of expectation and service, asking as much of their management skills as they do of the staff performance. Difficulty in any level is a team issue and must be addressed on a team basis. The young cook just mentioned reflected on the management, and it was up to all members of the team to ensure improvement.

Finally, care and concern are key. There is a personal investment in team members that crosses levels of responsibility. They know about one another. They know spouses, families, histories and challenges. They work with each other to offer the best possible outcome, no matter what is going on in any one's personal life. One person compensates for another, even if it means that someone has to go out of her or his way.

The bottom line of these lessons is pretty clear. In order to provide the best of goods and services, there must be an investment in persons that crosses levels of authority. Happy employees render happy service. Content persons share contentment with others. Good pay helps, especially in an environment where every tip is shared and every compliment or complaint is a team matter. No person is out there on his or her own.

I have been thinking about these lessons in the current political arena in this country. It just makes me sad. And afraid. I wish we could hear a candidate somewhere promise the kind of teamwork and unity that I saw in the Mexican Yucatan. Given the current polemical political climate of United States politics, perhaps it is too much to ask, too naive, too simplistic, too practical. It breeds discontent, anger, frustration and unhappiness. What is it that Einstein said about insanity?      

Vacation

Carl is away from the Shiloh Insider for a few weeks, as he and his lovely spouse, Lisa, celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary in Mexico. Carl does not have his cell phone. If there is something important, call the Church office, 937-277-8953, and talk to Jay or Ashley. If you absolutely need to communicate with Carl, he will be checking emails twice a week. You can email Carl at crobinson@shiloh.org .

If Carl wins the Publishers Clearing House $10,000/month for life and the prize crew comes to the house in his absence, let them know that he will be back the following day! Have a great early Lent!

Lent

Lent commeth.

Originally a period of education, in preparation for new membership in the Church at Easter, Lent has transitioned in recent decades to represent a time of penance and plea for forgiveness. It has moved from preparation for a positive inclusion, albeit an orthodox one, to a season of focus on faults, weaknesses and sinfulness.

It is time that we tied these two things together in some creative and imaginative ways.

Each of us acknowledges, I think and hope, that Church membership does not make one right, perfect or sinless. Look around. No one is ideal. Look in the mirror and take honest stock of weaknesses, faults and idiosyncrasies. We are not right, perfect or sinless. The shear fact of the matter is that, despite our membership, we are often wrong, imperfect and sinful.

We could move through Lent as an occasion for making ourselves feel terribly. It has been done far too often. We could recite sins, faults and foibles until we grow blue in the face. We could demand resolutions or sacrifices to be made in order to make us feel better about our wrongdoings, or that liturgies be recited, like incantations, that magically repair what is, at core, pathological in us. We could spend periods of silence and meditation, where we concentrate on our innate humanness and our flawed nature.

To do so would simply make us feel badly about ourselves. To claim that the ritual incantations and sacrifices render us healed, better, more right, more sinless, more perfect is silly. The issue is not that the incantations and rituals don't work. It is that they are wrongly focused. Do you see it? Do you perceive the seasonal misdirection here?

Lent 's focus has far too often been on ourselves. Lent has become a season of fixing ourselves, healing innate sinfulness and natural, human flaws. It, like so much else in the Church, has been about us, we, me and I. In fact, that is why many, particularly in the past, had joined churches. They had been led to think that there was something wrong with them that only the Church could fix. That flaw is overcome in humanity only by God, and the institutions that represent the sacred.

What if we were to see Lent differently? What if we were to see it as the season of walking with Jesus to the Cross of his own sacrifice. The subject of that spiritual sentence would be Jesus Christ. Its object would be every other, those served by the sacrifice that Jesus Christ makes. Lent is not about him. It is not about us. It is about every person. It is about the sacrifices that we make for others, not for ourselves.

If we return to the notion that Lent is time of preparation for entering (again) into the Church, what if that entry meant serving others instead of overcoming our own faults, weaknesses and sins? What if Lent were about being a Church of sacrifice for others, building others up and empowering them in whatever context they find themselves.

Sinfulness, and our Lenten concentration on our own sinfulness, is deadly. It kills the mission of the Church. Instead, if Lent could be about a walk with an imperfect, sinful, uncertain savior to the service of every living being, past, present and future, then we could begin to move the emphasis from ourselves to serving those around us who suffer and struggle. Lent could be about them, just like the ministry and mission of Jesus Christ was and is about them.    

Black History Month?

It has been said that the celebration of Black History Month, and the recognition of Martin Luther King’s birthday, does not belong to Caucasians. It is a celebration and recognition that belongs exclusively to those who identify as part of the African-American/Black community.

I wholeheartedly disagree. Here is why.

Reading from Isaiah in his home Synagogue, Jesus said, “The Spirit of God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. The Lord has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to those imprisoned, recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed and to proclaim a year of jubilee.”

Jesus here proclaims the will of God. Jesus here lies out his agenda, defining his mission and ministry. The Christian ethic is honored as often and as far as we, his incarnation, express this same passion in the fulfillment of his ministry and mission. That’s right: In the fulfillment of his ministry and mission. God’s presence in, with and to Christ Jesus is therefore hope for all who are poor, oppressed, imprisoned, blind or indebted.

It must be the same with those who seek to follow Christ Jesus. Our mission and ministry must be defined by, informed by, guided by, conducted through and approached from the fulfillment of his ministry and mission. We are to stand as hope for the poor, oppressed, imprisoned, blind and indebted. We are to work liberation for the captives.

Black History Month is a celebration of: 1. The decades-long work that leads to the liberation of a segment of culture and society that had been oppressed, victimized, excluded and rejected. In some ways, this segment of society remains outside the benefit of the systems under which we live and the cultural acceptance through which we exist. There is still work to do. This work belongs to all who seek to define their purpose in life according to the mission and ministry of Christ Jesus. 2. The many contributions of Black Americans to the shaping of contemporary culture and society. In so many cases, these are stories that many of us have missed in our traditional tales. The stories of Black Americans have been read only as “their story.” It is time to begin learning and celebration the stories of Black Americans as “our stories.” The celebration of Black History Month invites us all to embrace the stories of Black Americans as “our stories.”

Black History Month is not a celebration that belongs to “them.” It belongs to everyone. It is our story, ugly and abusive as it may be. The advantage of learning and reciting the stories of Black Americans is two-fold. First, we learn anew our full story as Americans. Secondly, through learning and reciting these stories, we may avoid ever repeating the social and cultural practices of exclusion, oppression, bias and prejudice.   Only when we allow the stories to become our own, ugly and unpleasant as they may be, do we stand the chance of living in peace and unity, in cooperation and liberty.

It is imperative, therefore, that we celebrate Black History Month. Allow each of those stories to become our stories, as we work together for the poor, the oppressed, the imprisoned, the blind and the indebted.

Practical Lag-Time

If the email traffic that I experienced after last week's post about sports was a fair indication, I was correct in assuming that the contribution was unpopular. Assessing the world of sport, and finding it destructive, assaulted one of our culture's sacred cows. I am not sorry, however, because I am continually more convinced that we need to take a closer look at our love of sport.

But, if last week's post was unpopular, this week's will be an outright powder keg of potential disagreement. For, this week, we examine one of the sacred cows of the traditional church and its long-embraced theological and practical life.

Progressive Church theology places the accent of congregational life on reflecting the light of Christ in ministry and mission. The church is best when it works to meet the needs of the community, with emphasis on the poor, the rejected, the ignored, the victimized and the suffering. The basic notion says that we, as culture, society and people are better when we each share in the care of those who are least benefited by the systems under which we live.

The church is called to serve as Christ to those who struggle and suffer. This was once a tremendously controversial statement. It rocked the traditional boat of our sanctuaries, where the good people gathered to unify, to share, to care for one another, and to secure the right ways of life, protecting them from the bad influences around us. We sang the right hymns, in the right congregations, reciting the right liturgies, praying the right prayers, caring for the right people, protecting ourselves and our ways from the outside and outsiders. It made little sense that the church was here for others.

That change in theology has been widely achieved. Persons now more widely acknowledge that we are the church when we serve others in Christ's stead. We are the church when we break the self-serving attitudes and approaches through which most of us earlier experienced the church. The church is not a closed, cloistered, safe community of same believers and practitioners. It is an open, welcoming community of diverse persons, beliefs and practices who join together in order to do for and with those who had been left outside.

There are practical remnants of the church of the past that keep us from more vibrantly shining in our communities, however. There are still many who demand right ways, right liturgies, right hymns, right sacraments, right people in right places, doing right things. There are many who demand that the church be there to attend to them and their needs, even more so than the church attends to the needs of those who struggle and suffer in the wider community.

Ecclesiology has changed in advance of practical ministries. Servant theology is more widely embraced than its practical implications. The mission and ministry of our churches are now incarnational. That is, we are the body of Christ, the hope of those who have been victimized by our culture, society and systems. But practical matters of emphasis have not yet made that same transition. Church members still tend to see themselves as those who are to be served instead of those who render the service. They continue to demand that their needs, desires and beliefs be honored over and above the needs of the disenfranchised, poor and hungry.

It is likely that practical ministry and mission will catch up to progressive theology. It is certainly likely that church participants will begin to see themselves as empowered, equipped, called and sent persons, upon whom the struggling and suffering rely for change. In the meantime, pastoral leaders will simply have to serve with a foot in both theological camps.

One additional thought occurs to me. Many in the church are called to care for the needs of the community, to feed the sheep and protect them from the wolves around and about. If that is all the church does, however, then, in progressive terms, it is minimizing its potential. It could do so much more for its neighbors, its community and the global village. It could do much more to shine with the light of Christ in the lives of those who desperately search for assistance. The evolution of the church gleams brightly, then, promising a time when the church shall genuinely shine with Christ's light.    

Wide World of Sports

For many, this will not be a popular post to The Shiloh Insider. It covers our culture's unhealthy addiction to the world of sports, and how those unhealthy addictions have led to destructive behaviors.

Do not get me wrong, I have been a sports fan. I enjoy supporting the St. Louis Cardinals, the Indianapolis Colts and the Indiana Hoosiers. It is not that I do not enjoy other sports, but these are the teams with whom I have had a more direct sports relationship. I attended and graduated from Indiana University, so I cheer for the Hoosiers, especially their basketball team. I lived in St. Louis for better than three years, met a woman from the area, and have been married to her for thirty years (as of January 18). It is somewhere in the wedding contract that I had to become a Cardinal's fan. I am originally from Indiana. The Colts were an easy choice, particularly in the early years of the franchise.

I have noticed a disappointing trend, however. What used to be healthy competition between teams of respectful, honorable and, at least occasionally, mutually supportive groups of persons has now become a battle. That which once built character and nurtured development has now stunted growth and lead to devastating and destructive behavior.

Consider the doping scandals that have taken place in several sports. Think for a moment about the abuse allegations that have been so widely publicized of late. What of the concussion statistics in football? Every year, college sports programs throughout the country are suspended, fined, even terminated, for engaging in illegal and/or unethical practices. Increasingly, the damage of unrestricted competition has eroded the foundation of youth sports, extra-curricular school activities, community recreational leagues and Little League. Parents and fans fight in the stands. In Dayton, last week's high school basketball games were played without fans in the stands because of violence.

The wide world of sports is out of control in our culture. I wonder how much time and money we spend on attending sporting events, buying the gear of our favorite teams, watching games or matches or rounds on television? We live in an age when teachers make only a scant fraction of what we pay professional sports figures, when even the most productive scientists are barely known in comparison to the starting offensive line of the Bengals, and when we skip important functions, scheduling our lives around sports schedules.

Then came this past week's wild-card game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh's Steelers. It was ugly from before its start. During warm-ups the game officials stood in a designated "no-man's zone'" in the middle of the field, between the two teams. They feared pre-game violence between the two teams, as such was the case the last time the two had met. The game was a pitiful portrayal of rule-bending, excessive roughness, trash talking, childishness and immaturity that I had witnesses. Most of it took place on the field, but the fans in the stands followed suit. It was embarrassing. It was a game devoid of any redeeming value, lacking even the most basic potentially positive components of sport.

But we are addicted. We swallow the world of professional sport, filling our veins with its partisanship and having to degrade those who are our enemies' fans. We call names. We fling cans and bottles. We deface opponents' wear and defile their banners. We adhere little pissing characters on our automobile windows, urinating on the name of a competing city's team. We swear and yell and throw fits. We scream at our high school kids and charge the field of our little leaguers. We abuse referees and umpires and officials. Coaches are only so good as their records of wins and losses, despite other, more important, components of sport.

It has become ridiculous. It is completely out of control. Like our politics and our economics, sport is eroding the fabric of who we are as a people. It is time that we get a handle on our addiction, that we wean ourselves from its allure, that we break our unhealthy reliance on what the wide world of sports has become. It is time to focus on much more important facets of corporate life and community benefit. We tried the sporting world and it did not work to build us. If anything it continues to tear us down.

Let me see. Maybe spirituality will better serve us? I don't know. It may become the same competitive, divisive, destructive influence that we see in the wide world of sports.        

Does Jesus Make Sense?

Jesus' ethic must have seemed ridiculous to both the Roman-occupied territories of Galilee and the Temple-bound traditions of Jerusalem. While both imperial systems of Jesus' day relied on position, authority, power and militant might, Jesus' message and ministry focused on meeting the needs of the most rejected, excluded, victimized, estranged, hopeless and helpless. Kingdom certainly does not rest in inclusivity and attention to the dregs of society! Certainly, empire is not constructed on the backs of the poor and disenfranchised!

On the contrary, empire is constructed through power. Rome knew the stories well. Julius Caesar was a powerful and cunning general, a great military mind, and a force-to-be-reckoned-with. Augustus, Julius' adopted son, put an end to a costly and destructive civil war and revived reliance on the Roman system. He did so through the use of power and military authority. Centurions were stationed throughout the Roman-occupied territories in order to protect the empire from would-be revolutionaries and seditionists. Enemies were crucified as a deterrent to such disloyalty. Foreigners were controlled, coerced and manipulated into, sometimes, reluctant patriotism. No one within the Roman territories were given a choice. It was loyalty or death.

The Temple system understood as well the need for social control. The entire Levitical system was founded on the notion that personal failure to abide by the laws of the Temple led, politically, economically and militarily, to the end of Jewish hegemony. Personal sinfulness resulted in national exile. In order to maintain its traditions throughout the Roman occupation, the Temple heightened the concentration on personal loyalty to the laws and strictures of the faith, while it diminished the social aspects of the faith. The Temple knew that the articulation of liberation theology would challenge the power of Rome. So the Temple placed its religious accent on the syllables that spoke individual purity and righteousness under the law instead of social justice and liberation.

Into the climate of Roman power and Temple control, Jesus performed, taught and promoted an ethic of servanthood, where one sacrificed one's self for the sake of others, where one went out of one's way to meet the needs of those who suffer and struggle the most. Ridiculous! Silly! Asinine! How in the world can concentration on the needs of the worthless and the damned be expected to ever lead to establishment of kingdom or meet the needs of the empire? It is impossible!

Jesus makes as little sense today. In an increasingly divisive atmosphere of name-calling, hyperbole and vitriol, Jesus speaks softly of inclusion, acceptance, universal compassion and love. While politicians promise violence, exclusion, protectionism and defense of, often undeserved, privilege, Jesus embodies humility, kindness, forgiveness, openness and equality.

Jesus makes as little sense today as he made then. While we read the Gospels, shaking our collective heads at the ignorance of the Pharisees and Scribes, at the inability of the Disciples to understand and embrace Christ's actions and teachings, and at the Roman reliance on Crucifixion as a means of social coercion, we continue to rely on approaches of power, position, authority, fear, money and privilege. We place a similar emphasis today on the characteristics of corporate and personal life that Jesus rejected in promoting a system of peace. We blame those ancient examples of forces that are contrary to Christ but pardon our own collusion with human tendencies. We are as guilty now as they were then.

So, how does Jesus make sense today? As it most always is the case with history, Jesus makes the same sense now as he made then. When we are ready to give up on the human sources of pain and suffering, when we are ready to sacrifice our privilege for the sake of those who begin the race of life from considerable disadvantage, and when we are willing to be servants instead of beneficiaries, we will understand Jesus. Until then, we are destined to continually repeat the mistakes of the past. Listen to the voices that resound. See if it isn't time to embrace an entirely different code of behavior and an alternative system of belief. See if it isn't time for us to allow Jesus to make sense.    

2016 Top Ten

The New Year us dawning. As I write this week's blog, I am looking forward just a few days to 2016. Frankly, it scares me. This post was to have been about my top ten wishes for 2016, but I find myself unable to write it. Instead, these are my top ten fears about the coming year.

In 2016, I am afraid that:

10. Politics and economics will continue to divide us. The level of name-calling, intolerance, personal attacks and outright lies that pass as truth will increase instead of diminish. We will become more divided.

9. Violence and hatred will increase, especially against Muslims, who are the coming year's enemy of choice. While it may be true that much of the violence being done around the world belongs to Muslim extremists, the key term here is "extremist" not "Muslim." It's just easier to lump all Muslims together, you know, kinda like all Christians are the same.

8. More mass killings are on the horizon. It seems so easy now for persons to take out resentment, anger, exclusion or affliction on others that killing all of "them" seems reasonable. The more divisive we become, the more I can imagine these kinds of attacks.

7. War in the Middle East is inevitable. I see no end to the extremism that we see in the Middle East, much of which we, as a nation, have caused. As the tension of the political season mounts, I can imagine greater vitriol and even sterner warnings of annihilation. I see that such threat can be used, by groups like ISIL, as a recruitment tool for extremists. The more hateful and exclusionary the rhetoric, the more the U.S. sets itself us as "the enemy."

6. People will continue to struggle and suffer here in the United States. Homelessness will continue to increase, as will food endangerment. While we increase giving to ASPCA and other animal rights campaigns, we experience a continual increase in the numbers of men, women and children who lack proper shelter, enough to eat and a living wage.

5. Body image will lead to rejection. People will increasingly be judged according to their body shape and their "fitness" capabilities. Good fitness may allow us to live longer, but we may well live by hating our own bodies and criticizing the bodies of others. Here is yet another tool for social divisiveness.

4. We will continue the trend toward individuality, away from personhood. What matters most now seems to be what an individual has to gain from something. Others are in competition with my self for goods, positions, power, affluence, success, fame and esteem. People are commodities, things to be used to attain my own ambitions. Personhood, that which ties us together as a single entity, will continue to wane.

3. Protectionism will continue to scale upward. Protectionism is personal, cultural, political, economic, and social. If I spend all my time, energy and talent on getting and protecting my things, my ways, my assumptions, I close myself off from the open experience of encountering others. I am too afraid. The experience may require a diminishing of my "stuff, " my position, my power, my time, my energy, my safety. The mind set seems to be, increasingly, "I have gotten my stuff. Let everybody else get theirs. Oh, but they can't have any of mine."

2. Gun sales will increase. Do not get me wrong. I believe that guns can be used for protection of others, as safety against destruction. Increasingly, however, we are seeing mass murder that is committed by persons who use guns to perform acts of destruction instead of defending against them. While guns are not the causal factor, their prevalence is an ever-present danger. I fear some who carry guns, precisely because they seem so eager to use them in destructive ways.

1. Churches, that could be the locus of social discourse about all these issues, will continue to shrink and disappear, mainly because they refuse to be sites of such discourse. Churches will be seen as increasingly irrelevant, institutions of archaic practice of meaningless rite, ritual and liturgy to which only the ignorant melancholy few cling.

You see, I also think that we can turn all of this around. I think that 2016 holds great promise. In order to fulfill that promise, however, the Church must alter its purpose and behavior into a means of societal and cultural change. It must stand, with Christ, for issues of social justice, world peace, the equality of every person, the inclusion of diverse ways of believing, living, thinking and being. The Church can engage community in conversation, clinging to the hope that was in Christ Jesus (and other religious, social, political, economic, civil rights and legal figures). 2016 can be watershed year, where the Church makes a grand resurgence. Or we can shrug our collective shoulders and watch our worst fears be realized.

Here's to an important, meaningful 2016!  

Christmas!

It is Christmas week. Hopefully, the shopping is done, some presents are under the tree (while others await special delivery), celebrations are planned and gatherings are scheduled. Everything is ready. We are ready for you to come into our hearts and our minds again this Christmas, O Lord.

Wait. What? You write in mixed metaphor, there, Mr. Pastor, sir. What in the world do presents, celebrations, gatherings, decorations and ugly sweaters possibly have to do with the coming of Christ Jesus into our hearts and minds? What does any of it have to do with Christ coming?

Well, let me see if I can do this without making too great a mess of it.

Why do we decorate? Why do we gather? Why do we give and receive gifts? Why all those ugly sweater parties? Is it not because we are recognizing that something of extreme importance is taking place? As with bunnies and eggs at Easter, the means of our recognitions do not necessarily directly reflect the precise meaning of the celebration. We use them to express joy. We use them to articulate our happiness. But, lacking the words and the ability to speak to the depth and scope of the celebration, we perform more secularized, mundane means of articulation. That does not mean that we take for granted or ignore the true meaning of the season. It simply means that we have found common ways to practically express that meaning.

So what about all this talk about the secularization of Christmas being an attack on its true meaning? Doesn't all the commercialization get in the way of the genuine meaning of the season?

It can, certainly. We can reduce the celebration of Christmas to gifts and families and friends and decorations and carols and "bells on bobtails ring," whatever in the world that means. We sometimes supplant the genuine reason for celebration with the means by which we celebrate. Even then, it is no attack on Christmas or on Christians. It is, in the vast majority of examples, the ignorance of  honoring traditional practice without serious reflection. There are those who would never ask why we celebrate. They simply do so because it is done.

What I am getting at here is that the birth of Jesus is due cause for extreme celebration. It's okay that we have occasionally gone way overboard in our decorations, gift giving, celebrations, parties and gatherings. It is appropriate that we express the joy that we feel. Remember, however, that not everyone feels joy at Christmas. Some mourn losses. Some experience only suffering. Some feel only exclusion and rejection. If our celebrations leave them out, then the means of our enjoyment have eclipsed the meaning of the season. That is precisely why we do so much mission around the Christmas season, focused both here and abroad.

So celebrate. Have fun. Sing. Dance. Tear open those presents! Enjoy! But remember why! Remember that God's Son comes into the world, in and through us, again this Christmas season. Set aside guilt and shame for the celebration of the great good news of Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas!    

Christ in Christmas

The post on Facebook read, "If your religion causes you to hate anyone, then you are practicing the wrong religion." I might think of that same sentiment differently. I might suggest, "If your form of Christianity causes you to hate anyone, then you are not walking with Christ."

I realize well how passionately some will reject this sentiment. I hear the contrary refrain sung every week, in politics, in the media, on the pages of editorial op/ed pieces, on Facebook and at church. I hear precisely how desperate we have become in protecting Christianity from the secular, ecumenical, unifying voice of a shared faith-in-practice. There is an attack on Christmas, I hear. Christianity is under siege, I see. We have to do something to protect ourselves from Muslims, from terrorists, from enemies of the country who would attack our way of life. I hear the call to hate and reject and exclude, to blame and to demonize.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is not a Christianity that walks with Christ. This may be a religion that is founded in Christ's name, but it is far afield from the peacemaking, loving, compassionate Jesus Christ of history and reality. This Jesus pours himself out for all people, both those like and unlike himself, Jews and Greeks, slave and free, male and female. We can extend that thought to include the poor, the homeless, the desperate, the hopeless and the rejected, expelled, excluded masses. It includes Muslims, gays, homophobes, conservatives and liberals, Republicans and Democrats ( even Independents and Libertarians). It includes the rich and the poor, the powerful and the powerless, those who live in mansions and those who sleep under newspapers on our city streets. It envelopes every race, every kind, every clan, every nation, every philosophy, every ignorance, every privileged and advantaged one, every gender, every life-style, every hair color and make-up choice. It does not exclude anyone on the basis of skin color, body shape, height, weight, ability or disability. Everyone is included in Christ's love. Every one!

History is filled with the destructive stories of sectarian religious groups engaging in violence and hatred. Wars have been waged, Crusades enacted, interments ordered, cultural divisions created, exclusions made, heretics named and names called...all in the name of religion.

While human beings tend to fall into patterns of protectionism, especially when it comes to our religious heritage and traditional practice, to protect our institutions when doing so leads us astray from the foundations of the faith is wrong. Christ is the foundation of our faith. We base ourselves in his grace, his mercy, his forgiveness and generosity, universally and cosmically, individually and personally. We are called to be his reflections, to embody him, to practice what he showed us.

If hate is what we choose, then we are not in and of Christ, even if we are the most faithful of church attenders and the most active of church participants and the staunchest defender of church values, traditions and practices. If rejection, division, fear and loathing are at the core of the ways that we live, then we do not live in Christ.

We have got to stop listening to the very loud voices of fear and loathing. We have to begin listening to Christ, instead, and to the direction of God's Spirit, which speaks powerfully and tenderly from within. We have to work at connecting the ways we actually, concretely, practically live with the example that we have seen in God's Son. If our form of Christianity causes us to hate anyone, then we are not walking with Christ. If our religion causes us to hate anyone, then we are practicing the wrong religion.

I know that we can live faithfully in relationship with the real Christ Jesus. When we bring him to life within us, we overcome the hate and divisions of the world in which we live and testify to God's will. What if that were our Christmas gift this year? What if that were our New Year resolution? What if we were to walk with Christ, even when the world would have us live differently? The earthly realm and reign of God would be within our grasp.

Reject the hate and walk with Christ!

Advent Preparation

Advent is a season of spiritual and emotional preparation and promise. It is not a season of fulfillment.

Pastoral types have been challenged by the distinction, probably as long as there has been a complete liturgical calendar. People in the church want to ruch headlong into the fulfillment of Jesus' birth at Christmas. Even the general public, likely motivated by commerce and profit margins, wants to rush to Christmas. If we are to receive Christ Jesus, however, we must prepare for his arrival.

Preparing for Jesus' arrival is not so easy, however.

In Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary, we derive the worship and study themes for most weeks of the liturgical calendar from the Gospel According to Luke. In faithful preparation, we must therefore consider the portrait of Christ Jesus that is painted by that Gospel's author. Two things are certain. Firstly, Luke's portrait of Christ is distinct from the one that is painted by the other Gospels. Secondly, that portrai determines what Jesus says and does, in comparison to the other Gospels. In all honesty, we lose the impact of each story if we attempt to impose the overall, conflated picture of Jesus Christ on any of the Gospels. The same is true of Luke's story.

In Luke's Advent, we are preparing for the coming of one who is savior to all people, not just for the Judaic world, as in Matthew. The salvation of Luke's Christ comes in the form of a superhuman, almost pagan, description. Jesus is born miraculously, like the demi-gods of Hellenistic lore. He can accomplish what other humans only dream of doing. His presence is curiously cosmic, where the divine is at work against the evils of the world.

Among those evils of the world against which the divine fights in Luke's Christ Jesus are inequality, divisiveness, separation, prejudice and disparity. The promise is of one who comes to bring justice, where valleys are lifted up and hills brought low. He exercises radical equality, where Mary receives the annunciation, where the blind and the lame and the lepers represent all who have been excluded. Jesus comes as their savior, every bit as much as he comes as the savior of those who meet in the synagogues of Galilee and Asia Minor. He is the savior especially of the downtrodden, the rejected, the excluded, the red-tented masses of faith.

In the context of Luke's portrait of Jesus, we can imagine one "preparing the way of the Lord, making his paths straight," or singing, "My soul magnifies the Lord, for God has considered the lowly estate of God's own handmaid." The cries come from the economically, politically, culturally deprived, from those who had been victimized by the systems under which they were forced to live. Those same cries had previously fallen on the deaf ears of the powerful, positioned, privileged few, who determined, from their gilded towers, what was good for everyone.

If the Church is to faithfully prepare itself for the coming of this Christ, then it had better become mindful of its own privilege, power, position vis-a-vis the poor and destitute who have been victimized by the ways that we have chosen to live together. It had better take seriously the possibility that it, like the Temple and synagogue, like the Mosque and meeting places of religions the world over, can and do become instruments of discrimination, rejection, exclusion, violence and hatred.

In preparation for Luke's Christ, we have to take seriously the idea that the Church that bears Christ's name, in fact every religious institution and practice, is responsible for the salvation of the lowly, oppressed, secular masses. We are called to swallow the pride that would focus Christ's attention only on us, the good and right ones, widening the scope of our work to include those whom society and culture have ignored.

This is difficult work for those who have believed that their participation and faithfulness sets them apart or makes them better than others. It is difficult as well for those who demand that the Church serve them, instead of serving those who struggle and suffer. To be faithful to Luke's Christ, and in order to practice his form of salvific work, the Church must attend particularly to the needs of the secular world, to societal wrongs and cultural biases.

The preparation is difficult indeed. The benefits of this incarnation of God's will pays dividends which, we are promised, benefit all people and every person. Get ready! Here he comes!  

Thanksgiving

I have been taking stock and inventory recently of those things that I seem to take for granted. These are little things for which I could demonstrate thankfulness, but often do not. Maybe I am too busy. Maybe I just don't see them for as important a factor in my life as I could. Maybe I have just grown lazy in my capacity for appreciation.

No matter. This week, since it is Thanksgiving, I take a moment to pause and give thanks for those unstated blessings in my life:

I am thankful for my family. My wife and daughter form a constant support network that allows me to do the ministry to which I am called. Lisa, my wife, has shared thirty years of my life, longer now than I experienced life without her before we were married in 1986. Casey, our daughter, has been a continual source of joy and amusement, even sometimes when she has not intended to be. We were also fortunate to add to our family a new son-in-law, Justin. She and Justin were married in July. It has been a pleasure to include him. I am also thankful that my mother is still living and that I have brothers and their families. I give thanks for my family.

I am thankful for the congregation that I serve. Shiloh is a unique place to "live the word by serving the world." Where else can a pastor see four huge mission activities at the same time? Shiloh just completed a food collection, that consisted of more than 100 bags of food, to be distributed between two local food banks. The congregation is also involved in its 14th annual provision of an ark for Heifer Project International. The cost of each ark is $5,000. Shiloh will also be distributing the $10,000 that was made from its annual golf outing to needy families for the holidays. We will assist nearly 100 families in celebrating a brighter Christmas. Shiloh is also collecting hats, mittens, scarves and other winter gear for Valerie School through its "Mitten Tree." This is being accomplished in the midst of Christmas Musical, Christmas parties, decorations, worship, Bible study and everything else that Shiloh does. I give thanks for Shiloh Church.

I am thankful for my calling. Even though clergy types like to gather and complain about the difficulty of the calling to which we have been called, there is significant meaning and purpose to the career that others may not see. One cannot express adequately the joy of seeing the spark of epiphany in persons at worship or in Bible study. It is impossible to communicate the meaning behind a person who had grown up in a congregation that one has served who claims that those years were foundational to life and faith. One cannot celebrate enough the opportunity to express God's love and grace amongst a community that respects and supports it. I give thanks for my calling.

I am thankful that I live in Dayton. Sure, the community has its challenges. That simply means that the opportunities here for meaningful ministry and important service are plentiful. Shiloh has been an arena in which the community can address issues of proper health care, economic opportunities, racial divisions, life-choice discrimination, ageism, sexism and a host of other important social and religious issues. I appreciate the fact that those conversations are taking place. Many communities shy away from discussion of important issues. Dayton has been bold in approaching the problems that lie in contemporary culture. Could we do more? Certainly. But I am thankful for the bright, energetic, creative people of Dayton, Ohio. At least we try.

Most of all, though, I am thankful that I live in a nation at a time when cultural evolution is compelling us toward unity, despite diversity, and acceptance of every person, despite differences among us. I am thankful that we are free to express, examine, accept or reject the open vistas that lie before us. Some around the world are not so fortunate. We are blessed to dream, to imagine, to strive for something better, other, alternative. We are not satisfied with the way things are because we can imagine a better way. We can see a brighter day. We can dare to dream about another configuration and more functional systems. And we can work for fulfillment of a vision that promises a day when humanity shares, cares, loves and works for the benefit of every person. I give thanks that the day about which we dream is just around the corner. Maybe it comes tomorrow.

Have a great Thanksgiving! Be thankful!    

Back on Track

Somewhere along the lines, probably in order to grow the institutional model of the organizational church, we abandoned the ethic of Jesus Christ. The good news is that the cultural evolution in which we currently find ourselves is forcing the Church of Jesus Christ to find its way back to the ethic of Christ, that upon which it was originally based.

Those are pretty bold statements. Let me do a little more explanation.

The historical Jesus stood for grace from within an institution of law. The tradition in which Jesus was raised taught that persons who failed to live up to a standard of law were defiled. Worse, they defiled those with whom they came into contact. Those persons were to be avoided. They were to be ostracized, rejected and expelled from everything in which the "good and righteous" ones were involved. There were no jobs for them, no Temple or synagogue, no interaction, no inclusion, no hope and no solace. If persons differed from the proscribed normative standards of those who were in power, then they were left outside to look, forever, at the fortunes of others.

Jesus rejected the normative standards that were set by the exclusionary and judgmental power elite, who interpreted and applied the law according to their own desires. Jesus learned, contrary to their applications of law, to exercise mercy and love for every person, whether or not they belonged to the "good and righteous" population. In fact, Jesus found response in those communities of rejection and shame. He found there an openness to a practical grace that is reflected in the archetype of Crucifixion and Resurrection, where persons are called, enabled and equipped to go out of their way in an effort to improve the lives of others. Jesus brought grace and tore down the citadels of exclusion and judgmentalism.

Paul continued, and likely expanded, the theology of grace by concentrating exclusively on the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ as the ethic from which faithful men and women are directed to act. In Paul, the ethic of Christ is fully articulated.

But Paul's grace is rejected in the early Church. The ethic of Christ is supplanted in the formula for leadership in the developing institutional Church, post-90. The formula is called "Apostolic Succession." In Apostolic Succession, only those who can trace their theological lineage back to one of the original disciples may claim authority in the developing institutional church. This was, of course, a rejection of the theology of grace in Paul and, by extension, removal of the ethic of Christ as the guiding foundation for following Christ.

Soon after 90, the early developing Christian tradition rejected the theology of grace in Paul and, in the void, embraced again the theology of law, orthodoxy, rule and regulation. Within a century of the historical Jesus, the developing institution that used his name rejected the his grace.

Through the ages, especially through the promise of the Great Reformation of the 16th century, it looked like the Protestant Church of Jesus Christ may have acted to recover the theology of grace that we learned in Jesus and Paul. Instead, we fell back into denominationalism and additional division. The ethic of Christ remained in subjection to the orthodoxies of institutions and organizations. The needs of those institutions and organizations supplanted the ethic of Christ in the practical work of the Church.

Since 1968, however, there has been a cultural shift afoot. That shift has ushered in an age of acceptance and diversity that is unprecedented in the annuls of history. The culture began moving toward something that looked a great deal like the ethic of Christ. It distrusted the motivations of institutions, organizations and governments. It rejected authority for authority's sake. It looked suspiciously on those who claimed natural rights of privilege and began to question statements of superiority.

The institutional, organizational, orthodox-driven denominations began to diminish. The cultural standards for faith-based organizations shifted from power to servanthood. Those institutions that remained faithful only to their own rule of law have fought hard against the cultural evolution and have, at least somewhat, delayed it. But the cultural evolution toward acceptance and natural rights is inevitable. It will continue to develop, no matter the objection of those who have been mired in their own orthodoxies of control and manipulation.

This is great good news for the Church of Jesus Christ. Thanks to the cultural evolution that is unfolding around us, we can embrace again the theology of grace in Christ Jesus. We can embody again the archetype of Crucifixion and Resurrection from Paul. We can begin again to put in place a practical theology through which all persons are served, where we work for universal human rights, and where we spend our time, energy, talents and money on making the world a better place for everyone. For everyone. Every one.

God is at work in the cultural evolution in which we find ourselves. And that cultural evolution is advent of an ecclesial one. Thanks be to God for getting us back on track.        

Vacationing

Due to a minor surgical procedure and the need for some additional rest, Carl will not be in the office for the next two weeks. He will return to the Shiloh office, and to the Shiloh Insider, on November 9. See you then!

Two Paths Have Diverged in the Wood

Jesus turned his face toward the salvation of all people in the seventh chapter of the Gospel According to Mark. The Syro-Phoenician woman called him to accountability beyond his own race, type, kind and clan. It is astounding that Jesus, immediately thereafter, altered the course of his earthly ministry. He resolutely sets his face toward the self-sacrifice of Jerusalem.

Since the seventh chapter, Jesus has walked and talked with his disciples, teaching them about the nature of this self-sacrifice. They do not understand the concept. It is possible that they are too caught up in the traditional organizational and institutional thinking in which they had been raised to comprehend a sacrificial formula. Instead of understanding and supporting Jesus, they argue about which of them is the greatest, lobby for position, tell the children who crowd around Jesus to go away, and, this week, tell poor old blind Bartimaeus to be silent. "Shut up, old man. He isn't going to pay any attention to you, a poor beggar...Get a job and lay off the booze!"

The Syro-Phoenician woman would not settle for Jesus' racial epithet. The children continued to jump and hop and crowd around Jesus, being children. Blind Bartimeaus sees the truth and follows Jesus on the path of sacrifice. While the disciples imagine the gilded hallways of power and authority, Jesus directs them along dirt paths of giving up what one is given for the sake of others...every other and all others.

The Church has, for a long time, walked with the disciples down those gilded hallways of power and authority, legislating morality and demanding that the culture honor the standards of its religious orthodoxies. The Church has coerced and manipulated. It has claimed its place as the one true faith through which we determine both domestic and foreign policy. It has claimed the throne of American empirical rule.

This all began to change in the mid- to late-sixties. Through the Vietnam war and its demonstrations, through the civil rights movement, and its assassinations, through the equal rights amendment struggle, through Watergate and coverups and hearings and impeachment, the culture gradually abandoned the gilded hallways of power and authority. The culture began to demand that we embrace a more egalitarian, fair and gracious model of societal organization. It called the Church back to the dirt tracks of sacrificial ministry.

The Church resisted. It preferred the golden halls of sanctimony and the empty liturgies and impractical rites of totem and taboo. It despised the children around Jesus, the Syro-Phoenician mudblood, the bum Bartimeaus and those who had been estranged from the right ways of Sunday morning morality. And it began to shrink. Its influence diminished. Much of it died. Many went away.

Now, however, we, the Church of Jesus Christ, hear Christ's sacrificial teachings.. We hear him as he calls us to stand with him, drinking from the cup from which he drank, suffering the baptism with which he is baptized. We return to the dirt tracks upon which the faith was originated. We return to service and ministry that is carried out for the sake of all people. We embrace again the Syro-Phoenician woman, the children who crowd around Jesus, poor, rejected Bartimeaus, the untouchables, the outcast, the disenheartened and the hopeless.

These are the days of hope and promise. These are the days of the faithful Church of Jesus Christ. These are the days of working together for the individual and systemic justice and equality that Christ had sacrificed himself to bring. Thanks be to God for bringing us back, not giving up on us and directing us down the paths of faithfulness,service and ministry.

Welcome back to the grimy, dirt paths of sacrificial ministry!      

Sacrificial Ministry

So, Pastor, just tell me. How much money can I have and still be faithful?

This past Sunday, Jesus is heard in the Gospel lesson saying, "How hard it will be for those who are rich to enter the kingdom of God." (Mark 10:23) Interestingly, that is all that some hear from Jesus in this text. They fail to take into account the sadness that Jesus feels as he sees some struggle with their spiritual selves, knowing that the world of the flesh has, in them, won out. They will forever be defined by the ways of the flesh, and will define others by some vague profit/cost equation. They will do what benefits them instead of sacrificing their own needs for the sake of those around them who are in need.

Remember, please, that the New Testament is a Hellenistic witness. The Gospel of Mark is created in, to and for Hellenistic culture, with Hellenistic cultural assumptions and a dualistic understanding of all life. One is to practice the "heavenly virtues," those practices which we know a priori to be reflective of divine will. These heavenly virtues are perfect and eternal. They are spiritual and heavenly. They are qualitatively superior to the virtues that come from the realm of the flesh, where practicality and utility rule. The heavenly virtues go deeper, to the very core of essential human nature, where the spirit dwells.

O, c'mon. For Christ's sake, Pastor. Just tell me how much I can keep for myself!

No, you don't get it. You are asking a question similar to that asked by Nicodemus when, being told that he must be born again, wonders about the process of an old man entering a second time into his mother's womb. Or, it's like the disciples fighting with one another over which of them is the greatest, especially in light of Jesus' walk with them toward Jerusalem. They do not understand his sacrificial ministry. They do not get his service to all humankind. They do not understand the motivation of doing freely for others.

Look, to stand with Christ Jesus means sacrificing ourselves in service to others. It means subjecting our own needs to those of the needs of the rejected and despised ones among us. It means that we go out of our way to protect the rights of those who see no justice in our courts and feel no acceptance in our streets. It means that we allow what we have been given to be used in ways that elevate those of lowest degree.

Why would we do that, Pastor? There is nothing to be gained.

Exactly! To live according to our spiritual essential nature is to give of ourselves even when there is nothing to be gained. That is practice of the heavenly virtues. That is living life according to the archetype of Jesus' Crucifixion/Resurrection. Church is the place where we learn again to devote our lives to the process of bringing kingdom to the lives of others by sacrificing ourselves. It is about devoting everything we have to the cause of Christ.

No wonder churches are shrinking! The Pastor won't even tell me how much I can keep for myself!

*Sigh.