Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Collect, Book of Common Prayer Contrary to popular... Read more
The final frontier of the consumer-driven approach to church. No more letting life in community shape you or make demands of you. No more bouncing from church to church to look for the pew that’s “just right.” No more grappling with that niggling fear that Jesus might actually expect something or grappling with the silly notion that the church is Christ’s body, active in the world. No more lingering thoughts that it all might be about an encounter with... Read more
7 But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also. 8 I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 10 And in this... Read more
In an oft-quoted, but little understood passage, Paul tells the Corinthians: As we work together with Christ, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, “At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.” See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 His appeal raises three questions, each of which requires an answer, if... Read more
If there is any passage in Paul’s letters that illustrates how hard he can be to follow, 2 Corinthians 5:6ff. may be one of the best illustrations. So, while I try to avoid using a paraphrase, in this case I think it is extremely helpful to use one. This one relies in large part on Eugene Peterson’s Message, but takes some liberties with it, as well: Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for... Read more
[Note: In this third in a series of articles “On Being the Church” it will be clear that I make reference to my own community in Brentwood, TN, but the examples for our own life obviously has application to any other church.] In what we call our Friday Friars men’s Bible study at Church of the Good Shepherd in Brentwood, Tennessee, we were working our way through the Gospel of Mark when my wife and I arrived in mid-October... Read more
Ministry, like life, takes us to the limits of our strength and our ability. If those of us who are ordained don’t learn what it means to confess our dependence upon the grace of God in seminary, walking with people through the challenges of their lives should complete the task. But no challenge for our parishioners takes us to that thin, fragile place like the neurological illnesses that rob our brothers and sisters of speech, thought and motion, including dementia,... Read more
This article continues a series “On Being the Church.” But allow me to begin by reminding us why we are talking about the church at all. One: Because the church is God’s instrument of salvation. Two: Because the church is the place where our relationship with God and with one another is healed. Three: Because the church is the body of Christ. And four: Because we can’t walk away from the church without walking away from Jesus. It’s just that... Read more
This article is the first in a series “On being the church.” My focus here is from Acts, chapter 2, verses 1 to 21, and the title of this article is “Blessed by our differences.” But before we can turn to that subject, we need to talk a bit about the importance of the church itself, because – if there was ever any doubt that American Christians don’t understand the significance of the church – it is clear now... Read more
With the Covid-19 lockdown of a year ago, we (the staff at the church where I serve) began having some fruitful conversations about the importance of online communities. It was clear to us that the pandemic had made virtual community-building indispensable. And, as we exit the strictures we placed upon one another, clearly, our efforts will continue. Ironically, however, the same strictures had a way of underlining the fragility of in-person community. Our church, like every other church in... Read more
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