Author: J. Barrett Lee

The Truth That Turns The World Upside Down

On By J. Barrett LeeIn Sermon1 Comment

This morning’s sermon for Hilltop United Methodist Church in Ava, NY.  The text is Luke 10:1-11, 16-20.

In 2003, I moved to Vancouver, British Columbia to start my seminary studies at Regent College.  I thought I knew exactly what God wanted me to do.  I was going to get my Master’s degree, then a PhD, and then I would teach religion in a secular university while I used my summers to take college students on short-term mission trips.

It wasn’t a bad plan.  In fact, my deepest aspirations were quite holy.  I thought I was following the will of God as best as I understood it.  However, I quickly discovered that knowing God’s path and walking God’s path were two different things.

The academic world is quite cutthroat.  Not only do you have to be the best, you also have to impress the right professors, who will write letters of recommendation, which will get you into the best PhD program, which will land you a good job with tenure, which will make or break your academic career.  I tried with all my might to play this game: I made sure my professors knew who I was, I wrote impressive and insightful articles, and I was brutal in classroom debates.  I would do just about anything to make myself appear smarter than the person next to me, even if it meant putting that person down in front of other people.

When I looked in the mirror in those days, I had to admit that I didn’t like the person I was becoming.  My name, “Barrett”, means “bear” and that’s exactly what I felt like: a big, hungry animal that would tear you to shreds if you got in his way.  I never wanted to be that kind of guy, but I kept telling myself, “This is what I have to do in order to follow God’s plan for my life.”

In my pursuit of academic success, I forgot the first (and most important) truth about following God’s plan: In God’s eyes, “who you are” is way more important than “what you do”. I think this truth is what Jesus was getting at in today’s passage from Luke’s gospel.

We enter into Luke’s story at moment when things are really starting to heat up.  Jesus has recently begun his journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, where he will face suffering, death, and eventually resurrection.  As he travels, he commissions seventy disciples to go ahead of him into the villages.  The number seventy would have been important to Jesus’ Jewish listeners because, according to chapter ten of Genesis, Jewish people believed that the people of the world were divided into seventy nations.  So, by Jesus sending out a group of seventy disciples, Jesus was symbolically commissioning the whole world to participate in the work of the kingdom of God.

As the seventy disciples are sent out, Jesus gives them three tasks:

  1. To Proclaim peace
  2. To Promote hospitality
  3. To Pray for healing

First, the disciples are told proclaim peace.  To be clear, the word peace, as it appears in the Scriptures, does not refer to feelings of happiness that you get from standing around a campfire and singing Kum Ba Yah.  The disciples were not a bunch of flower-children dancing around drum circles in tie-dyed t-shirts.  The Jewish word for peace is shalom. Translated literally, it means “wholeness”.  It was used as a greeting and a farewell.  It was also used to describe the kind of relationship that God wants to have with people (and the kind of relationship that God wants people to have with one another).

I think it’s significant that Jesus told the seventy disciples to begin with this message of peace.  He makes his intentions clear from the get-go.  Jesus has come to restore wholeness and harmony between creation and Creator.  It’s also significant that Jesus gives the seventy strict instructions about what to do when their proclamation is rejected.  Rather than resorting to violence, Jesus tells his followers to “let your peace return to you” and then wipe the dust of that town off their feet and leave.  This nonviolent response would have been bizarre behavior in a culture that demanded revenge for every insult rendered against another’s honor.

Second, Jesus commissions the seventy to promote hospitality.  As itinerant preachers and healers, they were at the mercy of anyone who was kind enough to take them in.  It was not uncommon in those days for popular healers to shop around for the best meal and bed in town.  They would take advantage of the hospitality of the locals.  Jesus told his disciples not to do that.  He told them to “eat what is set before you” and “Do not move about from house to house.”  Jesus wanted his followers to encourage the practice of hospitality among all people by honoring the welcome of poorer and simpler folk.  Jesus wanted these people to know that there was a place for the kingdom of God in their houses too.

Finally, Jesus commissioned the seventy to pray for healing.  Healing was central to the ministry of Jesus.  He didn’t just have a lot of good ideas; he put those ideas into action.  The kingdom of God, for Jesus, is not just a nice place to go when you die; it is a present reality that is coming “on earth as it is in heaven”.  That shalom-wholeness that we talked about earlier was made real by the healing ministry of Jesus and the disciples.  Jesus wanted people to know that his message has the power to change their lives here and now.

So, these are the marching orders that Jesus gave the seventy disciples as they went ahead of him through the towns on their way to Jerusalem: they were to proclaim peace, promote hospitality, and pray for healing.  When they returned from these mission trips, they were shocked and delighted to see what an effect their efforts were having.  By all accounts, they had a highly successful ministry.  They said, “Lord, in your name, even the demons submit to us!”  In other words, they perceived that some kind of massive shift was happening in the cosmic scheme of things.  You might say that they were turning the world upside down.  Who wouldn’t be excited to be part of that?

At this point, Jesus steps in and throws a curve-ball.  He reframes their discussion, so that they might understand their experiences from another perspective.  Jesus says, “Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”  In other words, the fact that you have a successful ministry and are turning the world upside down is not what’s really important.  What’s most important is the truth that your name is known in the throne-room of the Master of the universe; you are known and loved beyond your wildest imaginations.  You are a child of God; that’s who you are!  All the rest (proclaiming peace, promoting hospitality, praying for healing) is stuff that you do because you are already known and loved by God.  The world is not turning upside down because you are so successful and important; the world is turning upside down because God is busy, drawing us closer to the place where we belong.  God is allowing you to play a part in that process, and that’s why you can do the things you do.

This world is a harsh place.  Our society measures us by all kinds of standards: money, property, power, etc.  Most Christians agree that these are not the be-all, end-all of life.  But many of us still fall into the trap of identifying ourselves with our activities.  What’s the first question people usually ask one another at parties?  “What do you do?”  As if that could ever define who we are as human beings!  I once heard of a person who came up with a good response to that question.  He said, “I am a child of God, cleverly disguised as a AAA insurance salesman.”

In seminary (of all places), I fell into that trap of mistaking “what I do” for “who I am”.  I thought I was following the will of God, but it turns out that God was more interested in me than in my job.  Sure, I had big plans for my life, but as they say, “If you want to give God a good laugh, talk about your plans.”

I almost lost sight of God’s will for my life because I was so focused on what I was doing that I forgot all about who I was becoming.  You and I are God’s precious and beloved children.  More than all our successes in life, that is the truth that will turn our world upside down.  Amen.

The Kingdom of God Has Come Near to You

On By J. Barrett LeeIn Bible study reflection2 Comments

Tonight’s Lectio Divina at St. James Mission came from Luke 10:1-11, 16-20.

As one member of our community pointed out tonight, it’s more than a little unsettling that Jesus tells the seventy to “rejoice that [their] names are written in heaven” rather than celebrate the tangible good that was accomplished during their ministry.  Isn’t that just one more example of Christian indulgence in irrelevant escapism?  It certainly seems so.

It doesn’t help that most popular images of heaven involve pearly gates and golden streets on clouds with angels and harps.  Could anything be more divorced from real life?

Someone suggested another image of the afterlife: you and me in the ground, becoming part of the vibrant ecosystem that exists underground.  What if we could somehow sense the presence of the worms and flowers that transform our broken bodies into sources of nourishment?  We might even be able to reconnect with the creative harmony that was lost when we left Eden.

This image of the afterlife is certainly more engaged and engaging than antiseptic visions of “pie in the sky when you die”.  Not only that, but I think it is more consistent with biblical visions of the prophet Isaiah and John the Elder, where the New Jerusalem is portrayed as an international garden-city.  With gates wide open 24-7 (just like the Waffle House), the nations of the world coexist in a multi-cultural rainbow of celebration.  Instead of an eight-lane highway running through an industrial wasteland, there is a tree-lined river.  This biblical vision of harmonious heaven-on-earth bears more resemblance to the teeming underground ecosystem than it does to clouds and fat babies with wings.

I think we get a foretaste of this biblical vision in today’s gospel text as Jesus commissions the seventy disciples to go and tell people, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.”  Look at what the disciples are doing as they proclaim their message: they are inviting others to participate in an ever-widening community of healing and hospitality.  The Kingdom of God starts here and now as followers of Christ venture out to get dust on our feet and dirt under our nails.

Maybe we can rejoice after all that we are included in this dynamic, organic, and vibrant community?

The Deranged Stranger

On By J. Barrett LeeIn SermonLeave a comment

Preached this morning at Boonville Presbyterian Church.  The text for this sermon is Luke 8:26-39.  Readers will notice some overlap with this week’s Bible study discussion.

I’d like to start this morning with a brief exercise in imagination that will help us set the tone for our gospel reading:

Imagine, if you will, a graveyard on a dark night.  Thick fog winds its way through the tombstones and obscures anything more than twenty feet away.  Off in the distance, you can hear a wolf howling at the moon.  Bats are flying over your head.  Thinking at first that you are alone, your stomach jumps when, suddenly, a human figure appears out of the fog, walking toward you.  There’s something strange about this person: something about the way he moves or the look in his eyes: something sinister, something inhuman, something evil… and he is getting closer!

Now, you might be curious why I’m describing a scene that belongs in a film by Alfred Hitchcock or M. Night Shyamalan.  I begin with this little vignette because I want to try and establish the mood for this passage.  When we hear the same Bible stories year after year, it can be easy to overlook the emotions that run so deeply beneath the surface of the text.  In case you couldn’t tell from the spooky scene I just described, the primary emotion being communicated in the beginning of this particular text is fear.

The author of Luke’s gospel sets the spooky tone by laying cultural clues that readers in our place and time might not be able to detect.  We heard first about tombs and evil spirits.  Most of us can probably understand how those things could be spooky.  But what about the pigs?  There’s nothing inherently frightening about pigs!  Well, in Jewish culture, pigs were considered to be ‘unclean’ animals.  In the Torah, observant Jews are forbidden to eat pork products.  With that commandment came a cultural stigma around swine.  Good Jews never raised pigs on their farms and they avoided contact with pigs whenever possible.  While our contemporary society (as a whole) does not have an official system of ritual uncleanness, we do tend to associate certain animals with certain rituals.  For example, Reindeer are associated with Christmas, Turtledoves with Valentine’s Day, and creepy-crawlies like bats and spiders with Halloween.  The presence of these animals triggers certain associations with specific emotions.  If you put bats and spider webs into a night scene of a movie, people know they’re supposed to be scared.  It’s the same scenario with today’s gospel reading.

So the scene is set.  I can almost hear the theme music from the movie Psycho playing.  The narration could be read by Vincent Price.

The action begins as Jesus takes his disciples to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, into a region called the Decapolis, which was populated by non-Jews.  This was a frightening prospect for any Palestinian Jew at that time.  They were traveling beyond the pale of their known territory and venturing into a land populated by people that Jews associated with invasion, oppression, and evil.  They were leaving a society defined by their own culture and religion and entering foreign territory.  They were crossing some very clearly defined boundaries between “us” and “them” in ancient Jewish society.  Jesus’ disciples had no idea what to expect from this experience.  They were consumed by an intense fear of the unknown.

These strangers in a strange land have their fears confirmed initially as they encounter exactly what they expected to find in foreign territory: evil and insanity!  But Jesus remains unphased by this dramatic display.  In an equally dramatic display of miraculous power, Jesus casts the demons out of this tortured soul and into the nearby pigs.

There is much that could be said about exorcism itself at this point, but I would rather us focus on what is taking place relationally between Jesus and this person.  What Jesus does is separate the problem from the person in this situation.  The evil that the disciples so feared has been condemned and destroyed, but the person has been healed.  This person, who was “demonized” at the beginning of the story becomes “humanized” by the end.

After the Legion of demons has left the man, we are told in verse 35 that he is “sitting at the feet of Jesus”.  While this might not seem like a big deal, let me assure you that it is a very big deal.  In ancient Jewish culture, to “sit at the feet of a rabbi” was to become a disciple or student of that rabbi.  By placing the man in this position, the author of Luke’s gospel is trying to tell us that, not only was this man delivered from the power of evil spirits, but he (a non-Jew!) was welcomed as a disciple of Jesus, a Jewish rabbi.  This would have been unheard of at that time.  More than this, we read at the end of the story that Jesus “sends” this man back to his own people with instructions to tell others what has happened to him.  In a way you could say that Jesus ordained this man as the first apostle to the non-Jews!  Isn’t that amazing?  The very person, who was once a deranged foreigner, has now been accepted into the community of disciples and then sent out to carry the good news of Jesus to the ends of the earth.  From the disciples’ perspective, he went from being one of “them” to being one of “us”.

When I look at the world around us, I cannot help but notice that there are still a lot of “us and them” divisions taking place.  We still like to draw lines in the sand and divide ourselves into categories based on race, gender, politics, religion, etc.  We tend to think that this world would be better off without “those people” (whoever “they” are for “us”) messing things up for the rest of “us”.  What we fail to realize in those moments is that we diminish ourselves when we let our fear of the unknown lead us to “demonize” those who are different from us.  If we keep drawing line after line in the sand, we will eventually find ourselves very much alone in this world.  What we so desperately need is for the Spirit of Jesus to work another miracle and separate the people from the problems in our hearts and minds.  Only then can we embrace the truth that our differences enrich us.

The apostle Paul put it like this in his letter to the Ephesians:

“Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. 15He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, so that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, 16and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. 17So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God.”  (Ephesians 2:13-19)

The struggle for inclusion and equality is ongoing in society and the Church.  A few years ago, a friend told me about a woman he knew who desperately wanted to gather with us for worship at St. James Mission.  However, she was unable to do so because of a paralyzing fear.  You see, this woman is Roman Catholic.  Years ago, she attended a wedding at a Protestant church and was summarily excommunicated by her priest.  She is now afraid to attend any Protestant services for fear of being excommunicated again.  Likewise, I am sad to say that I still encounter Protestants (even pastors) who refuse to recognize their Catholic sisters and brothers as “real Christians”.  When will we stop allowing our fear of the unknown to lead us into drawing lines in the sand between “us” and “them”?  Didn’t Paul say that Christ had “broken down the dividing wall” and made us “one new humanity” and “members of the household of God”?

Still, in spite of the long journey ahead of us, I can see signs of hope even now.  During the last century, prophets like Martin Luther King opened our eyes to the point that the vast majority of Christians now embrace the truth of racial integration.  In most mainline denominations, women have begun to join their brothers in the ordained leadership of the church.  The Ecumenical movement has paved the way for Christians of various denominations to come together in celebration of the truth that we are all sisters and brothers in the household of God.

I can see one such sign of hope in this room right now:  An Episcopal priest leading worship for a congregation of Presbyterians!  Not long ago, this would have been impossible.  Our ancestors in seventeenth century England (called Anglicans and Puritans) fought a bloody Civil War over the differences between our respective traditions.  Yet, just over 300 years later (which is not that long in the grand scheme of things), here we are this morning!

Friends, this is a cause for hope and celebration.  What this says to me is that Jesus is still working in our lives to separate people from problems in the Church and society.  Little by little, our lines in the sand are being washed away by the incoming tide of God’s all-inclusive love.  To be certain, there will be difficult days ahead for all of us as we wrestle with questions of biblical and constitutional interpretation.  Our fear of the unknown will almost certainly tempt us to draw lines in the sand between “us” and “them”.  There will be times when each of us will be tempted to demonize one another and say, “We would be so much better off without them!”

Friends, let us resist that temptation (and the fear that goes with it).  Let Jesus lead us into this spooky and unknown territory.  Our eyes have only to behold as the people we once thought of as deranged strangers turn out to be fellow disciples of Jesus.  Once we learn how to work out our differences in that Spirit, we will truly be ready to do as Jesus said: return to our homes and declare how much God has done for us.  Amen.

Tortured Soul

On By J. Barrett LeeIn Bible study reflection3 Comments

The Scream by Edvard Munch

This week’s Bible study discussion was on Luke 8:26-39.

Exorcism is a controversial topic for discussion.  Many people are rightly disturbed by the fact that accusations of demonic possession have been levied against people who suffer from medically discernible disorders such as epilepsy, Tourette’s syndrome, schizophrenia, and dissociative identity disorder.  Our LGBT sisters and brothers can testify to the fact that accusations of demonic influence are often hurled at those who deviate from accepted patterns of behavior prescribed by dominant religious officials.  Jesus himself endured such accusations during his ministry.

With all this in mind, I approached this week’s discussion on the story of the Gerasene demoniac with not a little fear and trembling.

However the demoniac’s condition is understood, it cannot be denied that this story begins with an encounter between Jesus and a tortured soul.  This person is estranged among strangers.  The story begins as Jesus leads his disciples into Gentile territory on the far side of the Sea of Galilee.  The region of Gerasa was inhabited by people of different race, religion, and politics from the twelve disciples.

As soon as they arrive, they are met by the village idiot, but not the silly contrivance of Monty Python sketches.  This is a truly disturbed and disturbing person.  Those who know may be reminded of Cowboy in Utica or Ross in Vancouver.  Demon spirits, tombs, wilderness, and ritually unclean animals (pigs) give the story a rather menacing tone.  The disciples are probably feeling literally and figuratively “dis-placed” by such an opening to their venture beyond the pale of Jewish society.

I remember the first time I visited the Downtown East Side of Vancouver.  While I was waiting for the church doors to open, a hooker propositioned me on the sidewalk saying, “Ooh!  You look horny for ME!”  Not knowing what else to do, I just said, “No thanks” and nervously pretended to look at something else.  It was a little overwhelming for a southern boy from the burbs who was living in the big city for the first time.  I imagine Jesus’ disciples experiencing similar emotions during their encounter in Gerasa.

Jesus, however, is unphased by Legion’s display of insanity.  The most remarkable thing to me is Jesus’ ability to separate the problem from the person.  The problem is eliminated but the person is healed.  The Gerasene man was previously “demonized”, but has now been “humanized” by the ministry of Christ.

This is quite similar to the approach taken by those in recovery from various addictions.  For the last half-century, addiction has been increasingly recognized as a disease for which a person must receive treatment.  One hundred years ago, someone would have been called a drunk, now we know that such a person suffers from the disease of alcoholism.  In this area, we too have begun to separate the problem from the person.

One member of our community at St. James, who has been in recovery from alcoholism for several decades, was able to identify the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) in this story.  Like the demoniac, she too was restored to sanity by her Higher Power.

In the denouement, we read that the Gerasene man is now “sitting at the feet of Jesus”, a remarkable phrase used to describe the relationship between rabbis and their disciples.  The same phrase was used to describe the relationship between Jesus and Mary of Bethany.  What this indicates is that Jesus is interested in recruiting women and non-Jews into his cadre of disciples.  This would be unheard of in that time.

The transformation in the Gerasene man is obvious to those who know him.  In fact, it causes quite a bit of consternation among the locals.  This is not surprising considering that communal systems tend to resist change.

Recovering addicts and alcoholics are able to relate to this as well.  Re-defining family relationships is one of the most stressful parts of recovery.  The family had maintained a delicate balance and rhythm for survival while their loved one was drinking and/or using.  When that person gets clean & sober, the balance and rhythm get disturbed.  There are two easy ways out of this situation: the person in recovery can “pick up” their substance of choice again or the person can leave the family system altogether.

The Gerasene man occupied a certain place in the communal rhythm of Gerasene society.  He was the person upon whom everyone else could look down.  His healing upset that rhythm, causing anxiety in the broader community.  He might face even more marginalization after his healing than he did before.  It would be easy for him to get out of town.  In fact, he tries to do just that when he asks Jesus if he can go with him.  But Jesus doesn’t allow the man the easy way out.  Already a disciple, Jesus sends the man back to his own town.  In essence, Jesus ordains him the first apostle to the Gentile people.  He is instructed to tell them the story of what has happened to him.  Our friend in recovery pointed out that this is not at all unlike the twelfth step in the AA program, where the recovering alcoholic is instructed to “carry this message” to those who still suffer.

This is not just a story about exorcism.  It is the story of a tortured soul who finds healing and purpose through his connection to Jesus.  It is a story about crossing boundaries and encountering real humanity in the most unexpected places.

Do we have enough courage to venture beyond the pale of our “normal” lives and see human beings where there only demons?  Do we have enough insight to discern the difference between people and problems?  Do we have enough faith to let our comfortable systems be upset so we can share in the healing work that God is doing in our midst?

“You’ve got to look outside your eyes / You’ve got to think outside your brain / You’ve got to walk outside your life / to where the neighborhood changes.”  ~Ani DiFranco, “Willing to Fight”

You Are Witnesses

On By J. Barrett LeeIn SermonLeave a comment

Preached this morning at Boonville Presbyterian Church.  The texts are Luke 24:44-53 and Acts 1:1-11.

Growing up as an evangelical Christian in the southern United States, I got to experience a unique style of performance art that originated in churches.  It’s called the Testimony.

Here’s how it works:

Every so often, the pastor would invite certain members of the community to come before the church and share their stories of how they became Christians (or “got saved” as they used to say).  These were always exciting services.  We heard stories of sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll that ended in disaster but rebounded with glorious tales of redemption at the last possible moment.

While there was never any official competition going on, you could always tell when two or more “Witnesses” were trying to outdo one another in their ability to testify.  Testimonies were typically evaluated according to three criteria: 1) the popularity/fame of the person who spoke, 2) the intense passion with which the story was told, and 3) the depths of depravity to which one stooped before embracing the light of salvation.

The most memorable testimony I ever heard came from a veteran named Clebe McClary.  He had been an officer in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War.  During combat, he lost an eye and his left arm.  After returning to the States and enduring years of recovery, he became a motivational speaker, encouraging people to press on in life, despite their difficulties and setbacks.

Even though these testimonies can quickly become outlandish in their content and presentation, I still think they serve a useful purpose: they get ordinary people involved in telling their own stories of God’s presence in their lives.

Human beings love stories.  We tell stories around campfires, we sing songs about them, we write them down in books, we make movies about them, etc.  Story is how we communicate truth to one another.  Aesop told fables.  Jesus told parables.  Ask any religious person to tell you about his or her faith, and that person will probably tell you a story.

Our Scripture readings this morning from the book of Acts and the gospel of Luke come at a very critical turning point in the Christian story.  Now, the first thing you should know is that Luke and Acts, while they are separate books in our Bibles, actually form one complete story.  Most scholars agree that Luke and Acts were written by the same person, although the author’s name is never signed on the paper.  Likewise, we know that they were written to the same person, Theophilus.  Acts follows Luke in much the same way that Return of the Jedi follows The Empire Strikes Back in the original Star Wars trilogy.  We read this morning from the very end of Luke’s gospel and the very beginning of Acts.  At this moment in our story, traditionally referred to as The Ascension, two major shifts are happening.

The first shift is geographical:

Most of the action in Luke’s gospel follows Jesus from the beginning of his public ministry in far-away Galilee to the center of Jewish life in Jerusalem.  In the book of Acts, the action begins in Jerusalem and continues “to the ends of the earth”.  Acts ends with the Apostle Paul awaiting trial before Caesar in Rome.

The second shift is personal:

Luke’s gospel focuses primarily on the life of Jesus himself.  The story begins with Jesus’ birth and ends with his death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven.  The book of Acts focuses on the lives of Jesus’ followers in the years following his earthly ministry.  To be sure, Jesus is still central to the story (in a divine sense), but has taken a step back from the immediate action (in a human sense).  To put it another way, Jesus has become the director of the play, while the Apostles are the actors on the stage.  The story of Acts begins with Jesus’ ascension into heaven but doesn’t have a climactic end in the way you and I are used to thinking.  I like to think this is because the story hasn’t ended yet.  It goes on and on through the generations, right up until today.  As followers of Christ, you and I have become the actors on the stage at this point in history!

Twice in today’s readings, Jesus calls his followers “witnesses”.  What does that mean?  Who qualifies as a witness?  First, a witness is someone who experiences something important.  Second, a witness is someone who tells others what she or he has seen and heard.  In a courtroom, this is called a “testimony”.  Sound familiar?  It should.

As followers of Christ, you and I are witnesses to the things he has done.  In the Scriptures, we already have the testimony of Jesus’ earliest followers, who knew him in the flesh.  Two thousand years later, you and I haven’t had that opportunity.  We know Jesus by faith, not by sight.  Does that disqualify us from being witnesses?  I don’t think so.

I believe that you and I can find our testimony as witnesses by paying attention to what Jesus has done (and is doing) in our lives.  We can tell others what Jesus means to us.  For some of us, our testimony might look like a dramatic conversion story.  Maybe you have been “saved” from a life of self-destruction in a sudden way.  If so, I encourage you to tell that story sometime.  You never know when someone else might need to hear exactly what you have to say in order to make it through a crisis in their own life!

Those of us who haven’t had a dramatic conversion experience (including myself) still have a testimony to give.  Many of us have experienced spiritual growth slowly over a long period of time.  We may have had moments of sensing God’s presence with us in subtle ways.  Gradually, we have learned (and are still learning) to trust that loving presence in our lives.  If that’s you, I encourage you to tell your story as well.  It might not be as dull as you think.  Keep track of those little moments with God.  Write them down.  Like spare change in your couch cushions, they add up quickly!

Finally, some of you might be sitting there this morning and thinking, “I haven’t had any conscious experience of God in my life!  What’s my testimony?  How can I be a witness?”  Well, there’s no time like the present to start looking for an answer to that question.  If you want to have a deeper sense of God’s presence and activity in your life, you should ask for it in prayer.  God has a tendency to answer that kind of honest prayer, provided that we keep an open mind for the unexpected ways in which God’s answer might come.  If you would like to try an exercise in awareness, I suggest writing your life story in as much detail as you like.  Then read back over it at a later date, asking God to show you where and how God was present in the events of your life.  You might be surprised at what pops into your head as you begin to see old events in new ways!

You might not feel that your story is all that important, but I assure you: it is.  As witnesses, our testimonies are the means through which God intends to spread Good News and transform the face of this earth.  Jesus left this planet because he wanted to involve each one of us in the work of redeeming it.  By telling your story about what Jesus means to you, you are allowing God to keep the Gospel alive in you.

So, go forth from this place today in the power of the Holy Spirit, as witnesses of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Go to the very ends of the earth and testify to what you have seen and heard.  Tell the world what Jesus means to you and watch the story continue for another generation.  Amen.

Stackhouse Interview

On By J. Barrett LeeIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Here is a link to an interview with Dr. John Stackhouse, one of my former professors at Regent College.

A unique voice among evangelicals, Stackhouse’s commitment to the ideological via media in religious public discourse is simultaneously challenging and encouraging.

The video is broken into several small clips on YouTube.

You can also follow Stackhouse’s blog by clicking on the link in my blogroll.

Serenity & Courage

On By J. Barrett LeeIn Bible study reflectionLeave a comment

Last week’s Bible Study at St. James Mission was on John 14:23-29, which can be read by clicking here.  Our discussion on the passage ended up following the contours of the Serenity Prayer, which we use in our weekly liturgy at the end of the Prayers of the People.

Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you… Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”  This reminds one of the first line of the prayer where one asks for “the serenity to accept the things I cannot change”.  Many things conspire to rob us of our serenity.  Various stressors and crises impact our lives on a daily basis.  In time, our souls begin to feel like the surface of the moon: pock-marked with craters, holes, and scars from the relentless beating of the cosmos.

Living in peace is a hard thing to do.  The state of anarchy we witness on an international scale is a constant reminder of that fact.  However, one need not look as far as the headlines to see the difficulty of living in peace, but only to the constant drama one finds in families, neighborhoods, workplaces, and schools.  As Rodney King once said, “Why can’t we all just get along?”

Just as destructive is the internal violence people do to themselves every time they look in a mirror:

  • “I’m not smart enough.”
  • “I’m not good enough.”
  • “I’m not pretty enough.”

Each one of us is our own worst critic.  Multi-billion dollar industries are built on the backs of people who are unable to accept themselves.  I believe that Christ, with his gift of peace, intends to liberate us from all forms of violence: international, interpersonal, and internal.

Embracing Christ’s blessing of peace does not constitute a quietistic escape from the harshness of reality.  It empowers us to face reality with renewed conviction and vigor.  The second line of the Serenity Prayer asks for the “courage to change the things I can.”

We can hold onto our serenity while acting courageously.  Our faith can give us the strength to stand up against evil and injustice in this world because we are certain of victory.  Christ has conquered sin and death, therefore any expression thereof is limited and temporary.  The darkness can oppose the light, but cannot overcome it.

Living as people of peace changes how we act, not whether we act.  We see the same facts as activists and analysts, but we see them differently.  Faith is the yeast that leavens the bread of action.  To borrow a phrase from a famous prayer, “Where there is hatred,” we are able to “sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.”

I am reminded of the mug-shots of the Freedom Riders from the 1960s.  Many are scared but smiling.  Their faces radiate with serenity and courage.  They are among the most beautiful images I have ever seen.

I invite you to examine your self, community, and country for the changes that need to be made.  I invite you to face those challenges with courage and serenity, believing in the certain victory of Christ’s peace over all forms of injustice and violence.  Your action is only one small part of God’s greater action, and that action cannot fail.

Russell & Mary Jorgensen

Helen Singleton

Reformed and Feminist

On By J. Barrett LeeIn Book ReviewLeave a comment

Johanna W. H. van Wijk-Bos.  Reformed and Feminist: A Challenge to the Church (W/JKP: 1991).

Johanna W. H. van Wijk-Bos’ Reformed and Feminist: A Challenge to the Church is a semi-autobiographical introduction to feminist thought viewed through the lens of Protestant biblical scholarship.  Wijk-Bos argues that the study of the Judeo-Christian scriptures has something valuable to add to the process of women’s liberation and that the time has come for Christian churches to assist in the radical reform of patriarchal institutions.

In the first chapter, Wijk-Bos shares a considerable amount of detail from her own life-story in order to establish herself within her own context as a Dutch, reformed, and feminist woman working as a pastor and biblical scholar in the U.S.  The second chapter explores the concept of biblical authority as it emerged during the Protestant Reformation.  Wijk-Bos pays special attention to the particular developments of Calvinism in continental Europe during the 16th century.  In the next chapter, the author examines some of the particular hermeneutical issues that arise when one explores the biblical text from a feminist perspective.  Chapter four applies feminist hermeneutics to three particular texts from the Hebrew scriptures: the story of Jael (Judges 4:17-22), the story of the prophet’s widow (II Kings 4:1-7), and the story of Esther.  In the final chapter, Wijk-Bos issues a missional call for the Christian churches to address the heretofore ignored presence of women in the biblical texts, in our worshiping communities, and in society at large.  Wijk-Bos uses the story of Ruth as a biblical example of women working together for their mutual liberation (and that of society at large) from the bonds of patriarchy.

In this short book, Wijk-Bos offers an engaging and concise introduction to Christian feminist thought that is perfect for neophytes such as myself.  Her narrative tone helps the arguments impact the reader in a fresh way.  The autobiographical and biblical texts provide a mutual context for one another that helps the reader see old passages in a new way.  This book had my attention from beginning to end.  Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, I felt my heart burning within me as I read.  Wijk-Bos has simultaneously accomplished two very difficult tasks.  First, she has sparked my interest in feminist thought and has re-presented obscure biblical texts in a fresh and relevant way.  I highly recommend this book to feminists who wonder whether the Bible has any good news to offer women.  I also recommend it to Christians who are frustrated with their Bible and want to view it with a fresh pair of eyes.

The book can be purchased on Amazon.com by clicking here.

Love is our Resistance

On By J. Barrett LeeIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

There are moments in a pastor’s life… well, there are moments.

I must admit that I have trouble lending eloquent and poetic words to the experience of sitting with parents who have just lost a child.  Can any other event make you feel like the universe has gone so completely ass-backwards?

After receiving that phone call, I got into my car and drove to work at Utica College, where I lectured today on Albert Camus and the absurdity of existence.  Camus had the idea that life is meaningless, and that human beings regain their dignity by defiantly shaking their fist at the empty sky and continuing to live honorable and courageous lives in spite of life’s meaninglessness.

As a Christian, I share Camus’ defiant spirit, but not his faith in absurdity.  I choose to see this universe as meaningful because I believe it is founded and centered upon love.  Camus and others would have me believe that love, in reality, consists of an electro-chemical reaction in my brain that has been conditioned into a herd-instinct by eons of evolution.

I believe that love originates in the heart of the Trinity, which exists at the center of reality.  The universe and all who dwell in it are but ripples and refractions of that love, hovering over the waters of chaos and piercing the darkness saying, “Let there be light.”

Love  is defiant in the face of death and chaos.  It mourns with friends and marches on picket lines.  Love moves over to make room for the stranger on the bus and in society.  The act of love is a rebellion.

Whenever we tap into love through seemingly insignificant acts of human compassion, we unleash that power which forms the fundamental building blocks of all creation, dwarfing even the power of the atom.

Like Camus, I shake my fist at the universe, not because it is meaningless, but because it is meaningful.  I will continue to love as best I can, because I choose to trust its power beyond that of the bullet, the ballot, or the dollar.  I choose to believe that our small acts of love in the face of death have the power to transcend death because they are rooted in the Source of all life.

“Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave.  Its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame.  Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it.  If one offered for love all the wealth of one’s house, it would be utterly scorned.” -Song of Solomon 8:6-7

The Rest of the Passion: A Midrash

On By J. Barrett LeeIn fictionLeave a comment

This is a Midrash on the Passion narrative by my good friend Billy Magee, a casino dealer and gambling addiction counselor.

Recent discoveries unearthed during renovations at Vatican City shed new light on the Passion of the Christ and the events leading up to Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, and Good Friday.

According to ancient Aramaic scripts, the events of the Gospels must be re-interpreted in a new light.  When Christ arrived at Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the real purpose of the visit was to gamble with the Pharisees in the Temple of Herod.  Unknown before the discovery of the aforementioned ancient text, a casino called Solomon’s Mine Casino was located in a secret part of the temple.  Games of chance, played by the Pharisees, other Buffalo Hunters, and their Goombadies, took place 24/7.  These games of chance were overseen by the Solomon’s Mine Gaming Commission (SMGC).

An unknown character, never mentioned in earlier gospels, played an integral part in setting up the game played between Christ and the Pharisees.  This individual, Brunosius Bombatsi, was well-known to the twelve disciples, most of whom were fishermen.  Prior to his move to Jerusalem, Brunosius got his start as the head of the Fish Mongers Local out of Galilee, the predecessor of the future Longshoremen’s Union.  He did so well, that eventually he had all the Fish Mongers locked up from the Sea of Galilee, down the entire River Jordan, to the Dead Sea.

Brunosius had made earlier arrangements with Christ.  The signal they agreed on was this: if a non-ridden ass was in place outside of town, then the game was on!  History tells us the ass was there, and Christ knew all along (after all, he was Jesus Christ and he could foresee things like that.

After the pomp and ceremony of his entrance into the city had concluded, Christ and Brunosius covertly entered the temple and were escorted by SMGC to Solomon’s Mine Casino.  This was centuries before cards were invented, so the game of choice was the dreidel.

Brunosius, who had connections with the SMGC, made special arrangements so that this four-sided gaming device had a lamb as one of its choices, rather than the traditional four-letter configuration which was standard at the time (and remains prevalent to this day).  The Buffalo Hunters and Pharisees had a meeting to agree upon this alteration of the Dreidel at Brunosius’ request and the game was set.

Christ arrived at the gaming table with Brunosius and the table limit was discussed.  The Buffalo Hunters wanted a 2,000 shekel table max, big stakes in those days, but Christ wanted a no-limit game (after all, the sky is the limit in his eyes).  After much winging, whining, and gnashing of teeth by the Pharisees and Buffalo Hunters, it was finally agreed upon that the game was no-limit (unheard of in those days).

The Buffalo Hunters’ only concern was that this Christ character had only a pair of sandals and a robe.  Besides, he showed up on a borrowed ass.  Who was going to front the money? Brunosius, who was good friends with Marius Strobolini (the Pharisees’ credit host), used his open credit line to back Christ with 100,000 shekels.  The game started.

Christ kept spinning lambs and the Buffalo Hunters were perplexed.  At one point, they had the gaming commission use a micrometer on the dreidel to make sure it was on the square.

“Come on,” said one Buffalo Hunter, “Does this guy walk on water?  It’s a 4 to 1 shot.  He’s got to lose sooner or later.”

Christ never lost, and after the smoke cleared, he had beaten them out of 900,000 shekels (a tidy sum in those days).  To add insult to injury, Brunosius had Marius comp Christ full room, food, and beverage for twelve at a private dinner house called The Upper Room on Thursday night.

The Buffalo Hunters called for a rematch.

“I ain’t gonna be around for it,” Christ replied, “I have to see a man about a cross in a few days.  I have souls to save and places to go, but thanks for the action.”

The Pharisees were incensed, livid, and wanted revenge.  One of them named Mordecei said, “I got the answer.”  He knew a guy named Judas who got carved up pretty good casting lots with the Sardinian Centurions (“They stuck him like a pig!”).  To make a long story short, Judas had to get a loan from a shylock called Akim from the West Bank in order to square with the Sardinians before they broke his legs.  “He needs the cash,” said Mordecei, “Besides, his name is Judas, for Christ’s sake!  He would sell out the Messiah himself for 30 pieces of silver, given half a chance.” So Mordecei and the two other Pharisees, Yehuda and Yoshi, all duked in a sawbuck and the deal was set.  Judas flipped Christ and the rest is history.

After wining and dining at The Upper Room, which later became known as The Last Supper, a few of the disciples went to the Mount of Olives for some fresh air.  While they were dozing and sleeping off their lavish meal, Christ quietly woke Simon Peter and gave him the winnings from the game.  He told Peter in strict confidence that was to proceed to Rome, preach the Good News, and build a church upon a rock.  The winnings were to be used as seed money for the future church.

Copyright 2010, William Magee.  Reprinted with the author’s permission.