#011 Kyrie eleison...'Lord, have mercy'.

 
                                                                         Good Friday, 2013

 

                                                                   

#010 I know who did it....

                    The counter disturbance which made for a Good Friday.

  
'He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces  he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
 
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
 
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
 
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all'. (Is.53:3-6 ESV)

T.F Torrance wrote that ‘sinful existence is a will to isolation from God and a refusal of His grace’ (‘Incarnation’ 2008, pg 52).Within this statement we can see an idea that is stimulated by Paul in Romans 5:12-21. This is that humanity is plagued by an uncertain primal aversion to God brought on by a distortion in humanities relationship with God. This theme of primal-atheism has in impact on how the world deals with the depth and relevance of Easter. Easter disturbs us because it reminds us that our ‘elevation into union and communion with God exists because of the humiliation of Christ the Son’ (‘Incarnation’ 2008, pg 57). It does not exist because of any human effort to prove ourselves right before God.

 

This can be connected to something Paul writes about in Romans 5:12-21. Here he points to a counter disturbance whereby ‘grace does not leave humans unaffected in their consciousness and behaviour’ (Schreiner ‘Romans’ 1998, p.292; Moltmann ‘The Spirit of Life’ 1992, p.113). This provides the framework for understanding how the ‘grace of Christ conquers and subdues’ (Schreiner 1998, p.285) sin and death. The Christ-event is an act of interceding grace (Rm.5:20) from which God fulfils His promise (Rm.8:26) and brings life out of death (Rm.4:17); light out of darkness. This counter disturbance summons every human to a response of gratitude (Barth) for what has been done on our behalf. This dynamic invitation ruffles our feathers as the tradition of the Church, along with the Spirit of God calls us to remember that in Christ humanity is found, rescued and offered new Life.

 

Barth asserts this when he states that ‘the theme of the Gospel is the death of death’ (R2 1933, p.166). His emphasis here fits the literary context of Rm.5:12-21 because it points to Paul’s main theological point in Romans. This is that in Christ, God calls humanity into a newness of life. This means that in Jesus the Christ, God wills human existence (Barth C.D IV/III.1 p.362). In order to actualise this God addresses our unrighteous, ‘bleak, lifeless and unrelated existence’ (Barth 1933, p.170).Consequently righteousness becomes connected to life because ‘the victory over sin...rests in the entire accomplishment of the course of Christ’s existence’ (Pannenberg ‘Jesus-God and Man 1968, p.362). In other words Christ’s existence becomes our existence. For the biannual pilgrims of Christmas and Easter these words are a reminder that God not only gives permission for them to breathe, but that God also empowers them to do so.

 

Paul’s letter to the Church in Rome is about a ‘restoration that is outside our competence’ (Barth ‘R2’ 1933, p.168). The good news of Romans 5:12-21 is that through Christ, God recalls us to a life transformed. He takes the initiative and through his act of reconciliation ‘invades the being of man and woman, making them his saints’ (Barth C.D IV/II 1958, p.523).This is a remedy established by the free gift of grace, which is given through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Despite primal-atheism, a product of a distorted relationship God does not desire to be without humanity (Barth). Consequently humanity is delivered from the abyss (Barth 1933, p.240) bringing us to a point where we can joyfully say ‘’I know who did it’’.

                              (all the photos depicted are original designs)

#009 Deliberate ambiguity?

 

Lament.

 

What Jesus the Christ gave and what He received in return...

 

A visual reflection on a Lenten Lament: 

 

 

 

 

  

 

This bread was made from a RiverCottage recipe.
 It looked so good we decided to make a display that we could photograph  for our Lenten reflection.



#008 Requiem for Thomas

 A narrative sermon: Jn.20:24-29

I remain clear about the reality.

Some people say He deserved it, others eager for gain, simply aligned themselves with the lies. As the old saying goes, ‘’misery loves company’’ I guess.

Perhaps it was fear of disloyalty, the mob or fear of the unfettered power claimed by corrupt and cynical people. The same people who made judgements without allowing them to be questioned.

Perhaps it was fear

                                    Of

Being shamed as a supporter?

Yet.

Some of us remained. Alone, together enduring the subtle put downs, the lies whispered in the dark behind our backs. You know the types, lies that circulate like chains of smoke around the necks of accusers and prosecutors alike. Enduring the fallout, retracing our steps, persevering,  it is like being knee deep in the mud. Has it really been 8 days already?How can one group of people have so much influence, so much control and, how come so many are uncritically willing to point a finger?

Who can stand against the deviancy control techniques they employed to engineer a biased response.

*sigh*....I’m exhausted.

                                                         How infuriating this all is!

Still I remain clear about the reality.

What I saw is what I saw – there is no bias in telling the truth even when it is discounted as subjective babble.

Me, recondite?

*sigh*...perhaps, I am.

Still I remain clear about the reality.

What I felt is what I felt – there is no contradiction in the embedded data here, even though my thoughts and experiences are ridiculed as ambiguous, damned to be without meaning, tasked to be  silenced forever.

Still I remain clear about the reality.

What I heard is what I heard – there is no delusion, even when it is covered in a milieu of emotive fog. For me this is more than a memory, although it is conveniently forgotten by the elite and too easily abandoned by those who blindly followed.

Still...I remain clear about the reality.

The days darkened, hope vanished because the words were deconstructed, meaning lost meaning, the truth was reversed and those words twisted by the process of cross-examination  - our faith all but abandoned.



Feb, 2013 Easter reflection. Home made bread with a crown of thornes
 contrasts what we gave Jesus with what He gave us.
 

Belittled, embattled, bitter and cold we sat. The others knew my opinions. Understanding the past was not going to be easy. Sin appears to have been rewarded. Isn’t this the opposite of what we were told to expect?

I need to confess..*sigh*... I no longer remain clear about the reality. I need air...this is all too much.

 

Disorientated by the distortions that surround me it seems I am burdened with the task of speaking reason to my unreasonable friends. Love speaks truth, and I must speak even if it costs me. Ah, the depth of grief that engulfs them! It’s not that their optimism is foreign to me; after all we walked among the dead, we saw them return alive to their loved ones! I still rejoice about the time I witnessed a grateful father ask for help in his unbelief following his daughters impossible healing. But now that experience taunts me, I thought I was one of the strong ones, convinced beyond all question by what I had seen, felt and heard. I rose and turned towards the door, angry, disappointed and determined for this to be a final stand for reason. How could I convince them? They seem so certain...

I am especially aware of this moment of hesitation – because as I turned to unlock the door a hand reached for my shoulder. I remain clear about the reality! My heart beat faster as the anxiety overwhelmed me and I heard an unmistakable voice. With distinctive clarity I sensed a deep joy which always beamed from a transcendent understanding and compassion. This too easily forgotten energizing joy was almost always implicated by a smile engrained in the loving words I had heard spoken. Then came the words... ‘’Thomas! see?...these scars...touch them, for a Spirit does not have  flesh and bones as you see that I have...blessed are those who have not seen me yet have believed’

With a gust of contrition I looked up, and then spoke with broken and breathless words...’My Lord and my God!’

Entitled: 'Graphic Adjustment: Requiem for Thomas',
Rod Lampard 2013.
The picture of Jesus was borrowed from a sticker called ''follower.'' by World Christian Posters Inc. Canada
I morphed that with a 'Keep calm and carry on' ornamental display we picked up from Spotlight a while back.

 

#007 Grateful.bursting joy.

A Lenten Litany.

Psalm 42:1/Romans 8:15/Hebrews 12:1

 We shudder.

In loving gratitude, we are brought to our knees

Because we are reminded of whose we are,

and the who we are becoming.

Crying out, kyrie eleison we join the great cloud of witnesses, contemporary ancients participating with the Spiritual agent.

When we allow God as Father to work through His son in our lives,

The

    Spirit

        Shatters our defence mechanisms and our primal survival tactics 

He turns us away from the proverbial kill or be killed...

Allowing us to breathe,

    Allowing us to smile,

       Allowing us rest,

Allowing us to heal. 

The Spirit.

He who intervenes, 

He the chosen incarnated one removes us from perceived indelible stains,

the kind that chain us, bind us and define our identity,

and

He frees us to be free for Him.

#006 Preaching is 'funding imagination'

When the task of defining preaching is put before me I favor Walter Brueggemann’s concept of ‘funding imagination’ (1993, p.20).This task, he writes:

‘is to provide the pieces, materials, and resources out of which a new world can be imagined. Our responsibility, then, is not a grand scheme or a coherent system, but the voicing of a lot of little pieces out of which people can put life together in fresh configurations’ (The Bible and postmodern imagination 1993, p.20)...It is sparking ‘the human capacity to picture, portray, receive, and practice the world in ways other than it appears to be at first glance when seen through a dominant, habitual, unexamined lens’ (The Bible and postmodern imagination 1993, p.13).

Preaching is about lifestyle, it is about creating (homiletics) a platform for the Gospel to transform, criticise and impact us instead of us transforming the gospel. As John Webster writes 'if the Gospel does not do this it cannot be regarded as the Gospel, but as human isegesis'. The power of this statement should impact our ideas of preaching because whatever form preaching may take, the content must be the Good News, the Euangelion-proclamation where we 'encounter God's action' (David McGregor, 2012). In this way 'Church becomes a spiritual event and a not only a structure of human society' (McGregor, 2012).

Preaching as 'funding imagination' leads to a practical ‘theology of confrontation whereby the Gospel has a platform to sharply call into question the presuppositions of secular culture…the Gospel is not added to what humanity already knows but, instead, overturns human knowledge and calls men and women  to break with their past orientation (lifestyle)’ (Bloesch, Essentials of Evangelical theology 2006, p.287 emphasis mine). In addition Charles Spurgeon pointed out that  preaching is intrinsic to lifestyle. This is found  in his caveat that 'our characters must be more persuasive than our speech' (Lectures to my Students 1954, p.17).

Spurgeon's caveat here is reinforced by the notion that 'only the Holy Spirit can make the message, act or art credible and knowable' (Bloesch 2006, p.72). Whilst my reflection here is not entirely definitive, it does serve to prove that a central element in preaching is that it 'funds imagination'. Preaching, whether that is through art, music, dance, memes, chatting over coffee or simply sharing a testimony proclaims Good News. This Good News 'disorientates us in order to reorientate us towards God's commanded orientation' (Barth, Brueggemann, Webster, McGregor). This Good News is that Jesus the Christ is for us and His acts in life, death and resurrection summon us to respond. In sum perhaps preaching could be viewed as something we do when we 'wonder at something, then invite others to wonder with us' (Austin Kleon Blog: Notes on writing and drawing, 2011)

Source: Austin Kleon Blog: How to steal like an artist:
 notes on writing and drawing, 2011.

 

 

 

#005

Apophatic quote of the day...

#004

Theological musing #2

 

 

#003

 

Filed under political theology...

 

 

 

#002 I like the idea of your existence, just not the reality of it.

Cheryl Kirk-Duggan, a professor of theology wrote in Modern Christianity, that Gospel-spirituals were  'chants of collective exorcism' (2010 p.317).Duggan was inadvertently pointing out that being passionate involves an audience/community - it invites participation.I think that when we consider the difference between passion and being passionate we can identify more precisely what the word  passion truly implies.

I consider having passion (noun - passive/static) and being passionate (adjective - active/dynamic) separate - the former is based on appearances the latter is based on tangible evidence/substance. To be sure this is a sublte distinction falling closely inside the realm of semantics.However it is fair to suggest that being passionate is different from simply just having passion. For instance: a working thesis of mine is that a lot of people like the idea of something or someones existence, yet they do not like the reality that that something or someone exists. This shows we can have passion which is expressed in our attraction to an idea or, we can be passionate which is expressed not just in our attraction to an idea, but also to its reality.

This observation is helpful in understanding the distinction between the words passion and passionate. For example: having passion is passive, it is always recieving and it essentially goes nowhere. Alternatively being passionate takes joy in existance. It is the description of a dynamic-active acceptance of something or someone. In theological terms this is evidenced by the idea of worship which involves a willingness to be 'vulnerable' and contribute (Brene Brown's Gifts of imperfection, 2010). Worship in this sense is the grateful acceptance of an invitation, one handed mysteriously to us from the Holy Spirit. This is an invitation to join the living, breathing life of the Divine (Phil.2:1, 2 Pet.1:4).

Possibly the best way to explain my point is visually. Take for example Mahalia Jackson (linked). It is difficult to just sit by and witness her ''passion'' like an indifferent spectator would. This is because we are moved and drawn in by her authentic passionate response. The Holy Spirit inspires change and her gratitude is deep and authentic. I think we could probably say that what we are witnessing is her passionate, active and dynamic participation with Father, Son and Spirit. Hers is a Holy participation and we are invited to hear (Rom.10:17) and then be enabled to move beyond ourselves. In this way our worship becomes a 'chant of collective exorcism'. Instead of consuming the message we are consumed by it! Similarly when we witness the cry of a martyr, through that experience we become martyrs (Tertullian). 

This fits with my premise that having passion is to be considered separate from being passionate. Subsequently we either accept the invitation to participate or we sit back and eventually switch off.The Holy Spirit's role in igniting human passion is a primary element in the creative formation and delivery of any passionate message and response. Whatever form that message may be the Holy Spirit is the one who inspires movement. The Spirit does this by inspiring change towards an inclusion into the content of that often disturbing message. There His life giving breath (Job 33:4 ESV) is whispered into our hearts summoning us to the 'freedom of response and fellowship' (Barth C.D II/2) with God. Consequently we will almost ALWAYS walk away 'disturbed' (Barth C.D. IV/II 1958, p.524) by a decisive and deliberate encounter with the transcendant God. Who has chosen to make himself known in that time and place.

#001

Theological musing #1.....




Jn.3:16-18