Journey of Holy Week

Brennan Manning is an author, friar, priest, contemplative and speaker.  Here is a quote from him that came up in one of my devotional emails this morning:

We have gotten so used to the ultimate Christian fact--Jesus naked, stripped,                                     crucified and risen--that we no longer see it for what it is: a summons to strip                                ourselves of earthly cares and worldly wisdom, all desire for human praise,                                         greediness for any kind of comfort; a readiness to stand up and be counted as                                    peacemakers in a violent world; a willingness to let go of those pretenses that                                would have us believe that we really aren't worldly. Even the last rag we cling to--                             the self-flattery that suggests we are being humble when we disclaim any                                           resemblance to Jesus Christ--even that rag has to go when we stand face to face                               with the crucified Lord.  (from The Signature of Jesus)

He also said this:

The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who                                          acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their                            lifestyle.  That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.   (from Wikipedia website)

These hard words make all of us stop, I pray, and look at ourselves and the faith we claim to live or not to live.  We are about to enter the most demanding week of Jesus’ life and, perhaps, the most demanding week for us.  It is so demanding that many do not attend the services of Holy Week because they are too hard or too depressing.  (Even if you choose not to worship next week, I pray you will find some resource - daily lectionary readings for Holy Week are one possibility - to contemplate and study each day.) 

Our arrogance of faith surfaces when we think we already know the end of the story so; therefore, do not have to go through Holy Week.  The funny thing is that we go through the movements of the week throughout our lives, for there is no resurrection without Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.  What I mean by that is that we experience it in our families and cities, and see the Good Fridays going on in our world every day.  It is difficult to keep walking through the raw, painful and grief-stricken experience of death.  Death can come in a variety of forms: real death, but also the death of a relationship or of control we thought we had or of seeing such violence that we wonder where God is.  We do not mature as Christian people without the death of things that keep us from completely relying upon God.

I invite you to fully participate next week in the journey of our Lord and to experience the love that only God can give.

In Christ’s Service,

Anne Clifton Hebert

Drawing People to Your Church and Ministry

In his book, Sticky Church, Pastor Larry Osborne (Zondervan, 2008) says that the best way to “Velcro” people to your church is to “Velcro” them to the two things they need most to grow as disciples:  the Bible and other Christians.  We have found VCI’s Pray Daily devotional booklet to be a simple yet significant way to Velcro people to the Word of God and to each other.  Which has the added bonus of Velcro-ing them to our church’s mission and ministry.

It’s simple:  groups of three people commit to the 90-day adventure in prayer, reading a short passage of Scripture each day, reflecting on some aspect of their life in the light of that passage, and then lifting to God whatever is on their heart that day.  Each day’s reading, reflection, and prayer can be completed in about 15 minutes, but can fill as much time as one wishes to devote.  Sounds like any other devotional book we might recommend, right?  But here’s the difference:  once a week, the triads commit to meeting face-to-face for one hour.  In that hour they:

·       share which was the most meaningful Scripture from that week’s readings and why

·       share one blessing they experienced that week and one prayer request; and

·       have the opportunity to pray aloud for each other, though no one is required to pray out loud.

It is these face-to-face meetings that have been so significant.  Here are just a few comments I’ve received from our folks: 

“I have found the weekly meetings to be so special as I get to know my partners a little bit better and we get to pray for one another.  When one tells you that they almost didn’t come the week before because they were feeling down and then come back and tell you that after that get-together their whole week fell into place and they feel so much better it makes it so worthwhile.  It’s amazing how many of the Scriptures are just what you need on a particular day!”

“Pray Daily has been good for me, as I am doing a much better job at being disciplined.  It probably would not have happened otherwise.  Plus, it is wonderful getting to know your partners better and having them specifically pray with and for you.  All in all, it is terrific!”

“This 90 day adventure has been most meaningful because of the sharing and praying with each other and discussing the scripture passages as they relate to our relationship with God and one another. We also act as accountability partners in our faith journey as a result of being together each week.”

We used Pray Daily coming out of our annual Leadership Retreat with our elders, deacons, and staff.  We just had people count off by threes and put them together in groups. The only rule was that they must not be related to each other or already in another face-to-face group, like a LIFE Group or ministry team.  Some of the groups include people who might never interact with each other on this level in any other way in our church.  What a simple way to get people reading and reflecting on Scripture, discussing it with one another, and praying with and for each other.  This 90-day adventure in prayer engages our folks in the principles of Witness-Prayer-Care-Word and With-Me.  Then each week, they Send one another into their families, workplaces, and neighborhoods with prayer and blessing.  Simple, but oh so catalytic for spiritual growth.

In Christ, 

Kathi Busch

Translating Our Language of Faith to the Unchurched

Scott D. Anderson writes about a flight he took during which a woman sitting next to him, a Methodist, and he, a Presbyterian, began a conversation about why our Lord’s Prayer versions differed.  They talked about several matters in the church.  After twenty minutes, the high school student sitting on their row, asked, “What exactly is the Lord’s Prayer?”  Anderson writes:

I sat in stunned silence.  How could anyone not know about the Lord’s Prayer? And then I felt flush with embarrassment.  It was as if the Methodist and the Presbyterian had enjoyed an insider twenty-minute discussion about baseball, insensitive to our seatmate who didn’t really know anything about the game itself.  (From Presbyterians Being Reformed, Robert H. Bullock Jr., editor, p. 101)

That’s the kind of world we live in today.  Many of us in the church do not realize the extent to which the sea change has occurred.  We assume language, faith, knowledge, understanding, action and theology that may not be mutual at all.  The need for us to be patient and kind in conversations like the one above is critical.  We can make a judgment that shows up in our expression or in our words – “How could anyone not know about the Lord’s Prayer?” – before we even think about it.

That kind of judgment keeps people from returning to the church, if they make it through the doors in the first place.  They pick up quickly that they are not part of the “club” and we, even if it is unconscious on our part, are, somewhere deep within us, glad to be part of it and not sure we want to have to accommodate someone with very little knowledge of the Bible, the church, or God, for that matter.  We can make the good news and/or the church into a worthiness contest, which is not the way Jesus led his people.

Richard Rohr puts it this way:

So why do we make the Gospel into a cheap worthiness contest?  After all, we have all fallen short of the glory (Romans 3:23, 5:12) and all are saved by mercy (Romans 11:32-36).  Even Mary proclaims it of herself (four times!) in her “Magnificat” (Luke 1:47-55).  Popes and priests, presidents and politicians are all saved “en Cristo” and by mercy and in our undeserved state.  No exceptions.  God does not love us if we change.  God loves us so that we can change.  These are two very different scenarios, but most of Christian history has sadly chosen the first.  (From Rohr’s email meditation on January 26, 2011, “Opening Our Eyes to St. Paul”)

I invite you to think carefully about how you talk to others about your experience in the church and with your faith in Christ.  There will be opportunities where you, while being surprised, might need to have patience and understanding with someone who doesn’t know the language of faith.  We are reminded in Galatians 5:22-23, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”  Let us use these fruits when we engage in these types of conversations.

Let me be clear that I am not laying a guilt trip on those of us who’ve been in the church a long time.  We come by our language of faith naturally, having been steeped in it.  Many in the communities surrounding our churches have not.  What better way is there to love someone into the faith than to gently and kindly talk with them about things that truly matter?  Keep your “people-eyes” open for the wonderful human beings God will most certainly put in your path. 

And, then, don’t forget to wear your nametag on Sunday morning so newcomers won’t feel awkward.  You may not like wearing them, but it is not about us, is it?

In Christ’s Service - Anne Clifton Hébert