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By Carl Gregg, February 21, 2012 9:06 pm

For Advent, I preached through the four parts of Matthew Fox’s landmark book Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality Presented in Four Paths, Twenty-Six Themes, and Two Questions. The following are the sermon titles and a brief summary:

Embracing Christianity and Evolution: Matthew Fox, Original Blessing, and Creation Spirituality (Advent 1)

What would Christianity look like if the focus were Original Blessing, not Original Sin; Creation Spirituality, not the Fall/Redemption story; and social justice, not individual perfectionism?

#OccupyAdvent: Befriending Darkness, Letting Go, and Letting Be (Advent 2)

Last week our focus was the Via Positiva, the ‘Positive Way’ of befriending Creation. And we considered this invitation from one of the largest possible perspectives given the limitations of our finite human point of view. We asked, “What does it look like to do theology in the context of a 13.7 billion old Universe that includes more than 100 billion galaxies?” This week’s sermon inverses our trajectory. Having expanded our consciousness in an attempt to include the fullness of the universe, we are now invited to walk the path of the Via Negativa: the ‘Negative Way’ of befriending darkness, letting go, and letting be.

Continue reading 'Sermon Series Retrospective: Matthew Fox’s “Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality”'»

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By Carl Gregg, February 20, 2012 10:00 pm

During the season of Epiphany, I preached a six-part sermon series on the Didache (usually pronounced DID-ah-KAY”).

As part of my preparation, I reread Tony Jones’ book The Teaching of the Twelve: Believing & Practicing the Primitive Christianity of the Ancient Didache Community and watched the supplemental DVD from Paraclete Press. Jones has written that:

If you don’t know what the Didache is, it is an early Christian document, only rediscovered in 1873 in a dusty library in Nicomedia. At first, many considered it a forgery, but it was quickly determined to be authentic and attested in other ancient documents. Some scholars date it early 2nd century, but there’s a growing consensus that it’s earlier than that. I date it between 50 and 70 CE, contemporaneous with Paul’s letters and before the Gospels.

The Didache is not a particularly theological book. It’s actually a manual for Christian communal life, and if I had to sum up its message, I’d say it’s, Do your best. The Didache lays out a very pragmatic approach to Christian living.  The line that sums that up is Didache 6:2: “For if you are able to bear the entire yoke of the Lord, you will be perfect; but if you are not able, then at least do what you can.”

The raw, simple, primitive Christianity described in the Didache is a great model for those of us attempting to free the church from its Western cultural captivity….

Continue reading 'Preaching the Didache (50-70 C.E.): A Sermon Series Retrospective'»

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By Carl Gregg, February 20, 2012 9:12 pm

Note: This post is the final installment in our six-part study of the ancient Christian document the Didache (50-70 C.E., pronounced “DID-ah-KAY). For previous installments in this series, see the links at the end.

Appoint bishops for yourselves, as well as deacons, worthy of the Lord, of meek disposition, unattached to money, truthful and proven; for they also render to you the service of prophets and teachers.

Didache 15:1

Whom should we ordain? And why?

To begin to respond to these questions, I invite you to remember any clergy ordinations you have witnessed. How many times have you seen someone ordained as a pastor or priest?

I suspect that such an event is rare in your experience. Some of you, who have been regular church attenders your whole lives, may still have never witnessed an ordination. I invite you to think with me about why this state of affairs may be problematic for many reasons, perhaps most glaringly as a contradiction of many Protestant churches’ stated or traditional belief in the “priesthood of all believers.”

Continue reading '“Your Daughters Shall Prophecy”: Abolishing the Laity and Ordaining Women'»

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By Carl Gregg, February 18, 2012 9:45 am

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” 12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. 14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

I

The Gospel reading begins nine verse in to Mark’s Gospels. The previous eight verses describe the ministry of John the Baptizer: his penchant for wandering in the wilderness, his odd wardrobe of camel’s hair, and his unusual diet of locusts and honey.  Most of his conversations took place outside of the mainstream as well. He was known to go around proclaiming, “I have baptized you with water, but [the one who is coming after me] will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

This passage finds us face-to-face with the fulfillment of John’s proclamation: “Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan [River].” According to the Gospel of Mark, this episode is the first recorded event of Jesus’ life. And by most standards, Jesus’ first entrée into the public square succeeds spectacularly, at least at first.

Continue reading 'What Happens to Those God Loves? (A Progressive Christian Lectionary Commentary for Feb 26)'»

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By Carl Gregg, February 18, 2012 6:50 am

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 14 Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many members, yet one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” . . . 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

1 Corinthians 11

Psychologists sometimes use a technique called word association. The patient is given a word as a stimulus, and asked to say the first word that comes to mind in response. For example, if I say school, you might say, teacher, college, or homework. If I say police, you might say, car or station. If I say money, you might say, bags or cash. If I say freedom, you might say, liberty or speech.

What if I said, Paul?  If you have a close relative or friend named Paul, you might think of him. If I said “Paul” in the context of a church, the apostle Paul of the Bible might come to mind. In this spirit, I invite you now to reflect on the biblical Paul. Give free rein to your thoughts. What is the first word, thought, or emotion that comes to mind? Some of you may be thinking “misogynist” and “homophobe,” as well as more tempered replies such as “missionary journeys” and “Barnabas.”

When you take a step back from these reflexive, gut-level responses, what else do we know about Paul?  Next to Jesus, Paul has been one of the most influential figures in the history of Christianity. Paul inspired many people, but also laid the groundwork — whether intentionally or not — for a reputation as a misogynist, someone who hates women. Much uproar has been made of the two passages that tell women to be silent, but those two verses are not the whole story (1 Cor 14:34; 1 Tim 2:11-12.).

Continue reading 'Paul: Misogynist or Mystic?'»

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By Carl Gregg, February 17, 2012 8:45 am

Many commentators have noted the ironic, misogynistic, and audacious scene of yesterday’s Congressional Committee hearing in which only men were called to testify about the controversy surrounding funding for women’s contraception.

Equally troubling were the three huge posters displayed behind the committee of John F. Kennedy, Jr.; Martin Luther King, Jr., and Mohandas Gandhi. The intended point was that these three figures symbolize the courage to stand up for the dictates of your conscience against the tide of majority opinion. But the use of these images falsely suggests that these great progressive thinkers would support the opponents of birth control.

Continue reading 'What Did JFK, MLK, & Gandhi Really Think about Birth Control?'»

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By Carl Gregg, February 15, 2012 9:37 am

The latest book from my fellow Patheos blogger Diana Butler Bass arrived on my doorstep last night. I’ve enjoyed her previous books, and am looking forward to this most recent offering in particular after hearing her lecture a few months ago on some of the book’s main themes.

In celebration of yesterday’s publication date, I’m posting the three links to the blog posts I wrote about those lectures. You may find these posts helpful in discerning if you want to read the whole book:

“Reclaiming Christian Experience”

“Faith: From Convention to Experience“

“Great Awakening: Opening Our Eyes:Who We Are, What We Can Do, and How Everything Can Change“

My guess is that many of you will find that these lecture notes pique your curiosity to read the whole book: Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening.

If you read some or all of the lecture highlights or the book itself, I welcome your feedback in the comments section.

The Rev. Carl Gregg is a trained spiritual director, a D.Min. candidate at San Francisco Theological Seminary, and the pastor of Broadview Church in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland. Follow him on Facebook (facebook.com/carlgregg) and Twitter (@carlgregg).

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By Carl Gregg, February 13, 2012 2:56 pm

Note: This post is the fifth in a six-part series on the ancient Christian document called the Didache (50-70 C.E., pronounced “DID-ah-KAY). Links to previous entries in this series are at the bottom of this post.

11:1 Welcome the teacher when he comes to instruct you in all that has been said…. 11:2 If he teaches so as to increase righteousness and the knowledge of the Lord, receive him as the Lord. 11:5 But he must not remain more than one day, or two, if there’s a need. If he stays three days, he is a false prophet. 11:6 And when the apostle goes away, let him take nothing but bread to last him until his next night of lodging. If he asks for money, he is a false prophet. 11:8 But not everyone who speaks in the Spirit is a prophet; only he is a prophet who has the ways of the Lord about him. By their ways will the false prophet and the prophet be known. 11:9 Any prophet who orders a meal in the Spirit does not eat it; if he does, he is indeed a false prophet.11:10 And any prophet who teaches the truth, but does not do what he teaches, is a false prophet. 11:11 When a prophet, proved true, works for the mystery of the church in the world but does not teach others to do what he himself does, he will not be judged among you, for his judgment is already before God. The ancient prophets acted in this way, also. 11:12 But whoever says in the Spirit, “Give me money,”or something else like this, you must not listen to him. But if he tells you to give for the sake of others who are in need, let no one judge him. 12:3 If he wants to stay with you, and is a craftsman, let him work for his living.12:4 But if he has no trade, use your judgment in providing for him; for a Christian should not live idle in your midst. 12:5 If he is dissatisfied with this sort of an arrangement, he is a Christ peddler. Watch that you keep away from such people.

Didache 11-13

What do you think of when you hear the word “prophet?”

Continue reading 'Christ-peddlers: If God is still speaking, how do you know if someone is authentically speaking for God?'»

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By Carl Gregg, February 13, 2012 11:48 am

I’ve been experimenting with various ways of ordering my schedule and prioritizing my workload. In response to the question, “How do I find time to pray?” my best current answer is, “Either you do or you don’t.”

My college Health and Exercise Science professor had a similar philosophy about exercise: “If you don’t start today, what makes you think you’re going to start tomorrow?” But I’m not sure sure exercise (or really much else in my schedule) is precisely analogous to making time for prayer.

Continue reading 'How Do I Find Time to Pray?'»

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By Carl Gregg, February 7, 2012 9:31 pm

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the annual Emergent Village Theological Conversation. Emergent Village seeks to embody and practice what they call “generative friendship,” which includes a commitment to maintaining relationships over time despite a diversity of theological beliefs and practices. The name “emergent” itself alludes at least in part to an openness to new ways of talking about God, new ways of doing church, and new ways of being Christian that are emerging today in exciting and challenging ways. The goal of the annual Emergent Village Theological Conversations is to bring world-class Christian theologians into dialogue with practitioners who are on the ground leading and participating in local congregations.

This year the theme of the Emergent Village Theological Conversation was Process Theology. Many of you will recall that last year for Lent, we studied Bruce Epperly’s book Holy Adventure, which is an attempt to make Process Thought accessible. And Bruce was one of the presenters at the conference. I would like to briefly remind you of one of the most crucial passages in Bruce’s book. He is attempting to offer a progressive, life-giving alternative vision to evangelical mega-church pastor Rick Warren’s bestselling book The Purpose Driven Life:

Continue reading 'The Gospel According to Process-Relational Theology'»