matthewmthomas.com

Happy New Year!

(And, remembering last week’s update, Happy 8th Day of Christmas!)

Many people make New Year’s Resolutions at this time of year - deciding how they want to be better people and change something about themselves.  Oftentimes, these resolutions fall by the wayside because we do not have the kind of structures built into our lives to actually make the changes stick.  For many people, this can lead to a cycle of self-defeat. 

There is another way of looking at life transformation, though: when we look to see what God is doing and join him in that activity, we can resolve different kinds of things that help us develop into those who reflect Christ’s character.  God has provided us with activities that can help us work on yet another area of our lives. 

So what do I see God doing this year at First Baptist?  I see a number of things God is working on. 

First, I see God desiring to deepen his relationship with us.  In our prayers, we call God “Father.”  God desires to know us better and us to know him better.  We can do this most effectively by developing conversations with God - yes, that go both ways - through prayer, and by studying the Bible, which is the uniquely accurate story of who God is and his interactions with his people. 

Second, I see God desiring for us to grow in love for one another.  One of the most common references to the church in the New Testament is the analogy of the Family of God.  We all come from families that are, to a greater or lesser extent, broken.  God desires that we grow in love for one another so that we can model a new kind of family life, and truly exhibit God’s kind of life to each other.  We can do this most effectively by realizing we are a family no matter what, and, having discerned our role in the family through the discovery of our spiritual gifts, to carry out our family life together by serving one another through the use of our spiritual gifts, our talents, our abilities and our material resources. 

Third, I see God desiring for us to bring his Good News to those around us who do not have his Good News.  This is the career and vocation of the Church of Jesus Christ.  Once again, this is not for the purpose of aggrandizing one particular congregation or even convincing people of a particular worldview, but because we truly believe that God has come in Jesus Christ to set everything right and that only through receiving his forgiveness and re-aligning ourselves with him will we receive the fullness of life.  We can do this most effectively by maintaining and developing relationships with those outside the church wherein we have the opportunity to demonstrate God’s Good News.  This can be friends, family, neighbors, co-workers and even strangers.  But this works best when we have done well with the first two things God is doing: it is only then that we have something to demonstrate. 

Fourth, I see God helping us to develop a sense of what Christian maturity looks like, and the differences in roles in the Church that develop as people begin to mature.  This happens most effectively when we discern what maturity actually looks like and then having the appropriate structures in place to work step-by-step in that direction.  This happens best as we develop in the first three things God is working on, and begin to apply that to the congregational setting - no matter how we used to do things before. 

I pray that in this new year these four things can be the model for how we grow together as God’s people!  We know God loves us, desires us to love one another, and others, and grow toward maturity in Christ.  So let us resolve to do those things, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I look forward to returning to worship with you this Sunday!

This evening, I will be preaching on Isaiah 62:6 - 12 as a Christmas Eve passage.  This is a little different sitz im leben for this passage than I have used before.  It is in the lectionary list for the Christmas services, and this seems to be the right passage for this evening. 

While most Christmas sermons try to travel from the what (the story of Christmas, or the prophecies about Jesus) to the lives of the parishioners, this passage will have to travel from the why (the promises of God for the restoration of his people and, indeed, the entire creation) to a place of prophetic action and response. 

In vv. 6 - 7, the prophet speaks of his own actions and desires.  He has posted watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem.  They are to keep watch for the coming of the Lord.  They call back and forth to see whether the others have seen the Lord coming.  Therefore, all day and all night they shall not be silent.  This prophetic action could indeed have taken place: Isaiah could have done this in reality, not just in writing. 

Then he speaks to the intercessors - who could also be the watchmen, it is not clear - those who call upon the Lord (YHWH) - who remind the Lord (YHWH) of his promises.  They are to take no rest (like the watchmen, if they are not actually the watchmen in mixed metaphor or extended analogy) until the Lord establishes Jerusalem.  They are supposed to keep up their call and cry and reminder to the Lord (YHWH) and not give him any rest until he follows through.  In this way, they engage in a holy nagging of the Holy One of Israel. 

Vv. 8 - 9 are the recounting of the promise YHWH has made to his people, a promise secured with an oath sworn upon his own strength.  God promises that the grain the people have sown, and the vineyard work they have engaged in will not go to waste or be stolen.  Those who have labored for it and gathered the fruit will praise YHWH and partake of it in his temple. 

We do this prophetic action in communion through the offerings and the participation in the bread and cup at the table.  They are all connected.  We praise God in his temple and praise God for his salvation in that bread and cup by offering up to him that which he has given to us, that which he has restored to us.

Our worship is the reminder to God - especially our prayers - that God has promised to us to do certain things, and that we desire him to do those things he has promised. 

Our labor is not to continue in vain - both our physical labor and our spiritual labor.  Over and over again, our finances have gone to waste.  Our jobs have disappeared, going to others who hate us.  Some of this has been our own fault, other of this has been the responsibility of others.  The scriptures affirm that no person has clean hands in this world.  We live in a world full of broken promises - which are a form of theft, in this case.  “Til Death Do Us Part” is only one of the many.  Some have been promised retirement incomes.  Some have been promised jobs.  Others have been promised other things, and they have not received them. 

God’s promise is that he will restore all things and we will no longer have to experience that kind of privation.  But we can also take this spiritually.  Our spiritual seeds we sow will not be taken by our enemies, or by the Enemy.  Our spiritual fruit of our labors will not be taken by others.  Instead, our seed will become our grain; our grapes will become our wine, and it will be something for which we praise God at all times and in all places because we are the Temple of the Lord.  When we talk to others about Jesus, that’s a seed.  When we do something in the name of Christ for someone else, that’s a seed.  And as we see the fruit, God will continue to bless us - as long as we continue to praise him for providing it. 

We, therefore, are the ones keeping watch and the ones reminding the Lord to fulfill his promises.  We keep watch through worship and prayer primarily.  We should not skimp on either of them.  Our prophetic actions tonight are through the light in darkness, providing food for the poor, celebrating in tithes offerings and communion at the table, and taking our light out into the world. 

V. 10 invites the people to action, to do what must be done for the coming of the Lord (YHWH).  But it is not just YHWH they are expecting.  They are expecting those who have been scattered to return, and for all peoples to come worship the Lord with them.  Therefore, the people are supposed to go prepare the way, with the assumption that they will be having a lot of traffic soon.

Building up the highway keeps it from getting muddy and slowing down the traffic.  In fact, it keeps the road from being basically impassible.  Clearing it of stones means that there will be no impediment to people who are coming into the city. 

Banners are more than just festivity - they are a sign of the king’s rule over the city.  They welcome people, but they also declare that the King is on his way. 

Vv. 11 - 12 are a continuation of God’s promise: salvation is coming, his reward and his payback (or repayment) are with him.  The people once called so unholy that they had to go into exile are now called “holy and redeemed of the Lord” and the city shall be a city that others seek to be in, not forsaken and left behind. 

This is a huge promise for our area, if this does apply: our city has been known for economic depression and government corruption.  It has been known as an area depleted of population because people are leaving.  Instead of forsaking the city, God’s promise is restoration, that others seek to be a part of.  This is the Word of the Lord. 

How is this Christmas?  This baby whose coming we celebrate is the Lord who has done this and is doing this and will do this.  His cross and resurrection have saved us and it is he who will do the rest of his promises to us, his people.  Let us confess our unholiness and our forsakenness and receive his forgiveness, holiness and restoration.

Today, I finished the re-formatting of a discipleship unit I did back in January-February 2007 on evangelism called Acts 29.  Now, it is chapter 3 of the Vital Faith curriculum.  Chapter 3 (Acts 29) takes the approach that we have all been written into the Great Story of God - the one described by creation, fall, incarnation and participation - and as we tell the Good News, we tell others about how we participate in the Story and how they may as well.  It helps us boil down the contents of the faith to “news” that can be proclaimed, and helps us over the hurdles about talking to others about our faith. 

Of course, this is totally dependent on two factors: being in close proximity to non-Christians, and living a genuinely Christian lifestyle.  The Vital Faith curriculum here, as elsewhere, assumes a level of community spirituality in order to fill in the gaps. 

I began work on Chapter 4 today, and I am about 3/8 of the way through.  Grace and Peace.

Food for thought from TheHeresy.com.  (via tallgrassworship, via dyingchuch)

If the church were a business we would measure our profit and if we weren’t making enough we would change. If we were a hospital we would measure how many of the sick and injured become healthier. If we were a vocational training institute we would measure how many people get jobs and keep them in their area of training.

Now imagine a school that measured how much people enjoyed the classes, how great the day care was, how inspiring the teacher was, the levels of enrolment and the amount of funding they had but only passively cared about the success of their graduates in the workplace. That my friends describes most of the church in North America today.

We need to change what we measure and how we measure our success.

· Do people have a proper understanding of the gospel?
· Do they love the people that can offer them nothing in return?
· Are people willing to sacrifice for others?
· Are people becoming more like Christ in their values and behaviour?
· Do they have life and freedom?

If we considered these things, we would realize the state we are in and we would change. As long as we measure things based on our own personal satisfaction or by the markers of organizational success we will miss the point.

Full post here.

In our days of congregational conflict, we experienced the conflict in terms of the “customer satisfaction” paradigm.  The irony is that the dissatisfaction came from the fact that we had begun to measure the “success of graduates” sorts of things and found ourselves not only lacking, but almost utter failures.  From this distorted sense of purpose flowed our lack of success in the proclamation of the Gospel. 

Now, with the conflict largely resolved, we find ourselves having success in bringing the life of the Good News to bear in our lives and in the community around us.  Having focused on “success of graduates” has allowed us to find that “customer satisfaction” comes along for the ride - but only to a point.  Disciples, eventually, have to come to value discipline - which, of course, from time to time, involves correction.  As long as correction is considered part of a satisfying experience, it’s all good.  If not, well… then we’re back to where we were. 

Whatever comes, though, it is essential that we measure the right things.  And I have hope that as a culture of discipleship develops in our congregation, even discipline and correction will be welcome.

As you have probably already seen, I’ve been working on a new discipleship curriculum for our church - a curriculum which I am hoping to publish eventually.

The second chapter of the curriculum is an introduction to Christian lifestyle and commitments.  Thus, I am working on a basic summary of the Ten Commandments, taken from the perspective of Jesus.  Therefore, two of the Ten have become rather complicated.

The fourth commandment, that to keep the Sabbath, is difficult to work out, but here’s my general drift so far: in light of Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath and pretty much his out-and-out provocation of the Pharasaic approach to the Sabbath, it seems that God is commanding Sabbath so that his people will have time for healing, restoration and rest.  It’s not so much a commandment against work - it’s more a commandment to genuinely rest and experience God’s restoration and sustenance.  Jesus’ healings, occurring as often as they did on Sabbaths, are somehow very significant for his interpretation of the Sabbath, and I know I’m missing something here.

The fifth commandment is also difficult for us.  First of all, this commandment was written as much to adults as it was to children - if not more so.  The adults are the ones to be honoring their parents, not just the children.  Only secondarily is this taught to minors.  That’s the first thing we have to get straight in our interpretation of the commandment to honor parents. 

But the big question for our day and time comes from the context in which I minister.  Many teens and young adults - as well as many other older adults - come from families that are just plain dysfunctional.  How do you honor a father whose presence in your life was over before the cells that became you were even fertilized?  How do you honor parents who are verbally (or otherwise) abusive?  How do you honor parents who are acting like total fools? 

Understanding an “honor and shame culture” such as the Old Testament might shed some light - but it’s hard to describe this commandment negatively.  We could write it “Do not shame your parents” instead of “honor your parents,” and that could lead us to understanding, but does it still miss the point?  For in the OT culture, honor and shame were opposites - and there was no middle ground.  If you do not shame your parents, that makes some sense, even for this culture. 

I’d appreciate some dialogue and feedback on these two commandments, since I think they have deep significance for being truly Christian in our culture.  I don’t want to see us go back to even the Pharasaic laws of the 19th century Christianity that kept the world shut down on Sundays.  That doesn’t make any sense to me at all.  Then your doctors and other emergency personnel have to break the Sabbath to heal - and that seems to go against Jesus’ own practice.  And we all need to find ways to honor parents - even when they’re totally disrespectible.  I don’t know how to deal with that: I grew up in a (relatively) sane family and my parents are pillars of the community, honorable on all fronts.  Yet somehow this “honor one’s parents” must speak both to me and to the fatherless kids I deal with regularly. 

Help?

Today, I spent some extensive time writing on the Vital Faith Discipleship Curriculum.  The first chapter is almost completed.  Chapter 1 of Vital Faith is an introduction to Christian faith and belief.  Using the Nicene Creed as an outline or summary of Christian teaching, this chapter of Vital Faith is sub-divided into 12 parts, each 2-4 pages in length (on standard letter paper with default margins).  Each part is sub-divided into 3-5 sections for even easier digestibility.  The curriculum is framed so that parts and sections can be mixed and matched, extended or shortened, depending on the particular situation. 

My natural writing style is at the collegiate level, so I will need to find persons willing to test and edit my writing for other audiences.  The Nicene Creed is used in an attempt to create continuity with the Church throughout time and place, rather than creating an outline so contemporary that it must be changed frequently to keep it fresh.  In other words, it takes Webber’s Ancient-Future approach to discipleship.  In the use of the Creed, I have deliberately avoided entering into the conflicts and discussions of the fourth century and after.  This should be particularly obvious in the notorious filioque clause: “We believe in the Holy Spirit… who proceeds from the Father and the son (i.e., filioque).”  Because I am using it as an outline to teach basic Christianity, sometimes I downplay the main sense of the phrase of the Creed in favor of a greater didactic purpose.  Moreover, this means that I use the analogies handed to us by the Creed - those of begetting and proceeding, in particular.  For instance, I use the post-Nicene analogy of the Father speaking the Word by means of the breath of the Spirit as a means of describing the one ousia in three hypostases without using the Greek.  It is by no means an appeal to modalism. 

This chapter is intended to be used in the context of reading the Bible together - disciple(s) and mentor.  Whether this reading is working through one of the Gospels, as I recommend in my introduction, or focusing on some other reading rubric, it is intended to run inside a greater ecclesial setting.  The sections may be read by the disciples/students and then discussed, may be read together with the mentor/discipler, or may be used as notes from which the mentor can place the faith in the context of the disciple’s life.

In reflecting upon the the use of this chapter, it seems best to be a part of the process of discipleship in which people decide to be baptized.  Then, as that decision is made, it is possible to begin to teach the Christian Discipleship lifestyle in depth.  That is the content of chapter 2, which is now in outline form.

I intend to complete the draft of chapter 1 tomorrow and release it to those willing to edit and test it.  Stay tuned.

Today I spent some time developing my Vital Faith Discipleship Curriculum.  It’s a huge project, really.  I’ve split it into smaller parts so I can work on it bit by bit.

The two parts I’m trying to focus on right now are the “Basic Belief” and “Basic Lifestyle” sections.  I see these two sections as interlocking for giving people a basic understanding of the faith as we express it. 

In the discipleship process, I emphasize that we learn basic Christian theology to get to know this God we are coming to love, serve and live with.  In the Vital Faith Discipleship setup, we use the Nicene Creed as an outline of the Faith for basic Christian Theology.  As we work through the issues of Christian Lifestyle, I emphasize that we are learning both God’s “likes and dislikes” and “commandments to live according to how God has created us.” 

I’ve started trying this on with a few people, and I think it still has more work needed before I really spread it around much.  But it’s getting there.  Stay tuned.

Beginning with the Pastor and a core group of disciples, personal discipleship to Christ spawns Vision.

Vision spawns groups of disciples and conflict within congregational systems in areas that are not discipleship-oriented.

Conflict leads to maturity or destruction.

Discipleship flows from discipler to disciples, from leader to leaders to led, who then become leaders.

Transformation begins in small groups, flows to worship, flows to leadership, flows to congregation, flows to finances, flows to growth.

At least in my experience.

Other thoughts?