:: in.a.mirror.dimly :: A theology and culture blog with the Bible in one tab and a news feed in the other.

<%image(20051215-arlington winter.jpg|142|98|arlintonvtcoveredbridge)%> ka-chunk, ka-chunk, wirr wirr wirr wirr wirrr, varoooom. That was the sound my car made yesterday morning when I started it up. I have never heard such noises emanate from a motor vehicle. My Pennsylvania car was not pleased with our day that dipped below zero. The tape deck didn’t work, so I couldn’t enjoy my book on tape. Vermont Public Radio plays classical music in the morning and afternoon, so my morning routine was disrupted. I shiverred most of the way to work in my speeding ice box. “What are you doing to me???” screamed my car as I revved up the hills and cranked up my feeble heat. It was new and shocking. I was really, really cold.

And nevertheless, I survived my first day below zero. I know that readers from Canada and other countries with cold temperatures will think I’m a wimp. That’s OK. I’m not used to this cold weather. I assure you that I avoided being outside if at all possible and rejoiced when I heard that even in the middle of January it will not get much colder than this. Oh, thank goodness!

So far I have learned that Southwest Vermont is the mildest part of Vermont. Some even call it the Banana Belt. Many locals have affirmed that this is true. I don’t need temperatures lower than -10 and snow accumulations higher than 2 feet to enjoy my winter. Oddly enough, Southeast Vermont, just accross the Green Mountain range that runs north to south, has more snow and colder temperatures. Phew, I thank God for his mercy. He really does know how much we can handle.

A Reading

<%image(20051215-judeanwilderness.jpg|128|76|judeanwilderness)%>The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is written in the prophet of Isaiah: Look, I am going to send my messenger in front of you to prepare your way before you. A voice of one that cries in the desert: Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight. John the Baptist was in the desert, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Mark 1:1–4

The Refrain
Truly, his salvation is very near to those who fear him,* that his glory may dwell in our land.
Psalm 85:9

With the passing of the third Sunday of Advent, the approach of Christmas is a wonderful time to talk about mission and incarnational ministry. Jesus is our great model in being sent by God, putting on our skin, scenting himself with our earthy stink, and walking among his hopelessly lost creation. It’s a beautiful, other-worldly, unbelievable, and illogical event.

And as we gather with family and friends, sit in our warm churches, and stuff ourselves with cookies, it is helpful to remember that Jesus was probably one of the most uncomfortable and destitute of children when he was born. That should not guilt us. It should do something like overwhelm us, cover us with the depths of God’s love, and plant a seed that will gently nudge us to do the same.

And doing the same thing is what many call mission.

And yeah, I’ve got a few things to say about that, but first of all, I wanted to share a few mundane facts that relate. Well, sort of. Whenever I go to ETREK and return home, there are some things that are just about guaranteed to happen. In no particular order, here they are:

- I smell like smoke. It’s not like we go bar hopping. The crowd just seems to choose restaurants WITH bars. And so the smoke descends upon us. I admit it, we are not as trendy as the Brits who hang out in their cool pubs. No, we go to legit little restaurants. And if I had my way, I’d add my own Pennsylvanian spin and go to diners and homestyle family restaurants. But that’s just me. And so I walked in the door last night and Julie says, “I can always tell you’ve been to ETREK because you smell like smoke every time.”

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<%image(20051213-changing_china.gif|203|40|china)%> The BBC shares the following report regarding the latest act of aggression against protestors in China:

A number of Chinese intellectuals have written an open letter condemning the shooting of protesters in the south.

Paramilitary police last week opened fire on villagers protesting over the seizure of land for a power plant in Dongzhou, Guangdong province.

The government has said three people were killed while villagers say that up to 20 were shot dead.

Full article.

It’s stuff like this that makes me worry and wonder, “What the heck are these people thinking???” Is South Carolina the new promised land?

And for a few laughs, check out this number.

<%image(20051212-matrix.jpg|60|90|matrixmeanings)%> It has been a really good morning and afternoon with Barry Taylor. The image here is the book he co-authored: A Matrix of Meanings. As promised I have a few nuggets of pop-cultural wisdom from our discussions today.

Question of media is complicated. Some people resist it. The technologies that we use shape the society as much as the content that we put in them (Marshal McLuhan [spelling??]). Eg. Books take you into a private world, but electronic media is more interact and communal in its environment. When a church moves from text alone to text and visual there is a shift. People need help to understand how to use them.

THE IMAGE OF JESUS IS ALWAYS CONTEXTUAL AND ITS ALWAYS CHANGING. Every culture deals with Jesus on its own terms, symbols, interpretations, adds stories, etc. Part of the challenge is that many people don’t think Christianity of the past 50 years is not contextualization, they think it’s the culmination and that we have it all down. The story of the church has always been about contextualizing Jesus into a specific moment of time.

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Besides having the best initials for a New Testament (NT) scholar, NT Wright is one of my favorite theologians. His thoughts are always fresh and insightful. I stumbled upon an incredible collection of NT Wright’s talks at ntwrightpage.com. His article on culture is amazing. I can only compare his clear, Christ-centered (or centred) teachings with C. S. Lewis, who happens to have more problematic initials for an NT scholar . . .

The NT Wright page is worth a long look. My friend Derek said that Wright’s book, What Saint Paul Really Said is the most important book he has ever read.

<%image(20051212-etrek_05.gif|195|63|etrek)%> Down in Pennsylvania for an ETREK class with Barry Taylor. Of course I could not resist having breakfast at Zoto’s diner this morning. I met with Todd Heistand of toddheistand.com and thewellpa.com fame.

It’s always great to talk with Todd. He’s a big fan of experimenting, making a few mistakes, and then pushing on. God is doing some great things at the Well. It’s been hard lately, so I think they must be doing something right! They are forming tons of relationships and letting the ministry happen through them. It sounds a lot like something Jesus would do. He’s also doing freelance web page work to help make ends meet, so if anyone wants a kickin’ web page like the Well’s, look him up.

I’ll be posting some samples of what we’re learning today with Barry at the ETREK class for all of you who are dying for the ETREK experience.

With about 5 inches of snow on the ground we set out on our first cross-country skiing expedition around Emerald Lake in Southwest Vermont. The place is beautiful, but the mid-day sun made the snow really sticky and our skis did not glide very well. In fact, we were leaving bear patches of grass in our wake since huge clumps of snow were stuck to the bottom of our skis! After an hour of this we just took our skis off and walked a little. Even with the sticky snow it was a perfect day to be out in the snow.

In anticipation of my roadtrip down to an ETREK class, we decided to cut ourselves a Christmas tree and decorate it yesterday. It was all kind of last minute. Who in the world nonchalantly decides to get a Christmas tree at 3 in the afternoon??? And while driving to a place selling trees for $25, we came across a guy selling trees for $22. He didn’t have an ad in the phone book, but his location was 3 miles closer to the main road than the other tree farm. Smart fellah. We saved $3 and spared ourselves 3.5 miles each way on a hilly road covered in ice. My apologies to the other tree farm. They need to start spreading stories about that guy or something.

And lastly, while at my ETREK class I hope to catch up with some friends. I asked my friend Derek if they wanted to go out for Chinese and I remembered that we probably have never eaten Chinese with him and his wife. I asked him if they don’t like Chinese, and here is the story that he shared:

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<%image(20051211-advent wreath.jpg|127|95|adventwreath)%> Today is the Third Sunday of Advent. Though I would never advocate actively praying to Mary or viewing her as a special messenger to Jesus in heaven, the Gospel writers did include several stories in their narratives as an encouragement and example to the church. Mary is part of the great cloud of witnesses who went before us, sacrificing her reputation, believing the unbelievable, and bearing the heavy burden of watching her son die as a convicted criminal.

The Gospel narratives make it fairly clear that she probably did not believe Jesus was the Messiah right off the bat or at least was concerned about the commotion he was stirring up, but quickly became a follower after his resurrection. In any case, here is a reading from today’s Divine Hours:

Traditionally the Church has used the third week of Advent as a time for giving particular attention to Mary and her role as bearer and mother of our Lord.

As the child’s father and mother were wondering at the things that were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘Look, he is destined for the fall and for the rise of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is opposed—and a sword will pierce your soul too—so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.’
Luke 2:33–35

It doesn’t take a lot for me to be negative about leadership principles, theories, practices, or techniques. It is far too easy to implement a business strategy in a church and miss out on Jesus, his call, his lead, his plan, his methods, his church. But without selling our souls to leadership theory, I think that it is helpful to learn a little bit from good leadership. There’s enough bad leadership out there to give it a bad rap for sure.

Drawing from various classes and the wisdom of some mentors, here are some things that have been passed along to me:

- Leaders remove obstacles.
- Leaders enable people to move together toward a vision/goal/dream/choose your jargon.
- Leaders serve by leading.

That’s a short, incomplete list. Are there any “team players” out there who want to share any gems of their own? Well, in any case, this is enough to begin.

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Blessed be the name of the LORD
from this time forth and forevermore!
From the rising of the sun to its setting,
the name of the LORD is to be praised!
The LORD is high above all nations,
and his glory above the heavens!
Psalm 113:2-4 (ESV)

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
Lamentations 3:22-24 (ESV)

Similar scripture passages . . .

I’ve already spent several hours online shopping for gifts for family and friends. That’s right Joel, your gift already arrived! But I had a thought. So Christmas happens because of Jesus. Right? Right. And, pardon me if this sounds corny, cheesy, preachy, trite, and downright blah, but God’s gift of Jesus is kind of why we give gifts to one another . . . Well, sure, but I think keeping the American economy afloat is a much stronger reason. OK, but granted that, it still remains that God’s Son became a human in order to reunite his creation with the Creator.

So here is my thought. What if each Christian committed to pray every day for someone to personally know Jesus. I would say that knowing Jesus is a much better gift than anything found online. Of course I hate forced attempts to drum up evangelism and whatever. So modify it if need be. If you’re having a hard time finding a gift for someone, pray for them. Ask God what his heart is for that person, and then pray into what he reveals.

I think it would be very freeing for us to redefine gift giving.

What if Christmas became synonymous with spiritual awakening and not economic revival???

<%image(20051206-temple.jpg|127|83|temple)%> If my current series of blog titles has helped anyone so far, it has at least helped me. It’s not enough to anticipate Christmas. That word has WAY too much baggage associated with it (as well as presents, cookies, songs that have already been played too much, and egg nogg). To deliberately wait for the day on which we remember the birth of Jesus creates a sharper image that is far more relevant. Last year’s presents came and some were used well, some broke, and some are MIA. But Jesus is worth finding because no one can lose him and he cannot lose his own. For all who trust in him there is the assurance that he will stick with them. Isn’t that a wonderful, refreshing gift???

While we anticipate the birth of Jesus, I wanted to look at Zechariah (Luke 1 NET Bible). He may have had one of the most interesting waits for Jesus, even if he was far more focused on the birth of his son, John. Zechariah was in the temple performing his priestly function on behalf of the people, and then Gabriel appears and says that his prayers have been answered: he and Elizabeth will have a son. And to top it off, his son will be a prophet. That is not a bad deal. First of all, he was there on behalf of God’s people, not seeking his own benefit, and God blesses him personally. Secondly, every respectable Jew of his time looked up to Elijah, so I would bet that any comparison of your son to Elijah would have been regarded as a compliment.

Of course a member of the heavenly host making a personal appearance and causing his knees to wobble wasn’t quite enough. Zechariah does what many of us would do, will do, and have done: he doubts, and asks for assurance. And that’s where the story gets really interesting. . .

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The prayer of the week from the Divine Hours is a great reminder of the prophet’s role in the story of salvation.

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Grant us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.†

Repentance is messy business that is all too easy to avoid. I thank God that we have the prophets to remind us that people have been messing up God’s intentions for intinmacy with his people for ages. The prophets keep us humble, point us toward the heart of God for his people, and point us toward the future where God will one day reign among his people.