The Practice of Prayer...Discussion

A few weeks ago, I asked people in the congregation to begin the dual practice of praying for someone in particular (by name) and asking someone to pray for them. If you have been doing this, I would like for you to comment below on your experience. I offer these questions as primers, feel free to answer these or make comments generally about your experience:

What was it like to ask someone specifically to pray for you? Was it difficult or easy?

Did you feel a genuine need for prayer?

Did you share with the person particular things about which to pray?

As you are praying for a particular person, have you gone out of your way to learn more about them, their needs, what hurts or helps them?

Has your prayer for another shaped you in any way? How?

Has your prayer for another affected your relationship with God in any discernible way? How?

Shalom Y'all!

The Practice of Meditation...Discussion

For the past several weeks now, I have invited my congregation to practice meditating on psalms of praise, specifically Psalms 145-150. The particular practice has been to eat a piece of chocolate and then say over and over again (a biblical understanding of 'meditate') one of those five Psalms - see the previous post entitled "May God's Praise Be Ever Sweet on Your Lips". If you have been doing this practice, I would like for you to comment below about your experience here so that we might have some dialog about the practice. I offer these questions as 'primers', feel free to answer them or others as you talk about your experience:

Have you enjoyed the experience?

Have you experienced any change in the way you understand the Psalm? In what ways?

Has the practice helped you praise God differently than you have before?

Does God's praise remain sweet on your lips at other times during the day or week?

What does it mean to you for God's praise to be sweet on your lips?

Shalom Y'all!

Relationship and Garden Crisis

Genesis 2:18 – And the Lord God said, “It is not good that the human being should be alone. I will make for him a helper as his partner.”

Sunday evening as the day was winding down Lori (my wife) and I were talking about the sermon I preached on Sunday (October 4, 2009 - the text of the sermon can be found @ http://www.fcc-stw.org/Owen/Owenhome.htm). In her wisdom she asked me, “Okay, so what about single people?” How single people might hear and respond to what I said was something that had not occurred to me as I was writing or preaching my sermon. Though, honestly, even if it had occurred to me I am not sure I would have said anything different; one cannot say everything in a single sermon.

For those of you who were not in worship on Sunday let me catch you up a little. When Jesus is questioned about the permissibility of divorce he turns the question on its head to engage a conversation about what marriage is (Mark 10:2-9). In his response he turns back to the end of Genesis 2 identifying marriage as the gift that responds to the crisis in the garden identified in Genesis 2:18 (the first time in the Bible God refers to something as “not good”). Human beings are designed to be in relationship – to God, to creation, and to other human beings; it is a part of our wiring deep within our DNA.

While marriage was given as a gift in response to the garden crisis, please do not hear that marriage is the only form of human companionship that responds to human loneliness. Indeed, human life is full of different kinds of relationships and a life of varying relationship is important. Friendships, companionships, partnerships are all relationships that help us resist that which God calls “not good”. They along with the special relationship of marriage help us become the people God has created us to be, namely not alone.

Despite claims made popular by The DaVinci Code, there is no direct evidence that Jesus might have been married. However, he fed and was fed by many different relationships with people around him. He did not fall short of resisting the garden crisis. Instead, he challenged relationships that kept people from being the persons God created them to be. Where the world offered death-dealing relationship, Jesus offered life-giving relationship.

I did not give you all homework this week in the sermon, though I would like you to continue the work you have been doing weekly. Instead, I offer you a challenge today: If you are married, do something this week to share with your spouse a moment of companionship. If you are single, find a friend (maybe one you haven’t spoken to in a while) and share a moment of companionship. It is not good for the human being to be alone.

Shalom Y'all!

Response to One "Lost"

I recently received an email from a college student who was self-described as "lost". This person grew up in two different Christian traditions but doesn't now understand either one of them. The inquiry was for a Pastor to explain what Christianity and faith are, with the overt stipulation that I do this without saying others are wrong. Here was my response:

Thanks for your email and your questions. Indeed, they are deeply important questions, ones that I hope my congregation is struggling with right now. I would be happy to meet with you at some point to explore answers with you.

I would say a couple things via email to you:

First, the questions you are raising about what Christianity is and by implication what faith is, are questions that most Christians struggle with. Faith, in general, is best described in terms of a journey. It requires exploration, study, partners, expansion of ideas. It is not something that is ever known perfectly. For example, I was baptized when I was 12 years old. I do not have the same set of beliefs now as I did then. My baptism set me on a journey of faith that has changed over time. I have had varying experiences in the church and outside of it that have all shaped my faith and my understanding of who God is. These experiences have included anger with God, doubts, serious questioning, and arguments, even as they have included faithfulness, love for God, longing for answers, hoping for justice, being certain and so on. I have had and continue to have many companions on my journey, both inside and outside of the church. People who help me explore my questions and doubts, call to me when I am lost – though the best ones never impose a direction “home” – rather they call to me and help me discover my own way home.

The other thing I would say about faith is that it is more than a set of beliefs into which one is indoctrinated. Faith is also a set of practices. Practices help us shape our lives. Christianity is, then, more than just a set of beliefs but also a set of practices that shape who we are as our lives unfold before God. Practices can be shared among religions – prayer, meditation, helping the poor, worship, and so on, but usually take a particular shape in the context of that religion. Simply put, I am Christian because I believe certain things about God, namely that God has revealed the divine self most fully in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth a first century Palestinian Jew, but also because I engage in practices that shape my life as a follower of Jesus.

When it comes to people of other faiths and my faith being ‘right’ and theirs being ‘wrong’, I tend to practice what is described as “holy envy”. That is I can find things that are good and attractive about another faith – their practices and beliefs – and still remain unabashedly Christian. I don’t have to take on another faith because I like something about it, nor do I have to say another is wrong to validate my faith (as both belief and practice). I can also proclaim and live what I believe without expecting someone else to share that belief or practice. That is not to say that we don’t say different things about God, but then again, different Christians say different things about God as well.

I hope this is helpful to you in your quest. It was as thorough as I could be briefly. I am available to be in conversation with you if that is what you would like to do. I can also talk to you further about the specific practices of our congregation. You are also welcome to come to worship or any of the activities we have at the church. Worship is at 9:00 and 11:30 on Sunday morning. Sunday School is at 10. We also have Wednesday Night Fellowship beginning at 6 p.m. with a meal. College students always eat free. You will find people at our church all over the spectrum – from people who question their faith on a daily basis, to people who seem to have certainty about what they believe.

Blessings to you as you search for answers.

What do you think of my response? What would you say to a person with the same kind of inquiry?

Shalom, Y'all!