Redemption, the defeat and healing of Sin, is not something that only involves individual persons. Christians believe that the God who created the universe is working to redeem the entire world from the brokenness of sin. In the context of Christianity, redemption is about restoring, repairing, renewing what was broken by Sin and returning it into its original, perfected condition. Redemption is a bit like the way people restore antique cars, tractors, houses, and all kinds of things, to make them like they were brand new.
The Christian understanding of Redemption is grounded upon several core beliefs: one is that God created everything, and everything God created is good: meaning perfect, wonderful. This is why the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2 is considered “Paradise;” it is simply a glorious place where everything is as God meant it to be. How and why Sin is so destructive is a big topic for another day; for now, let’s just say that Sin disrupted what God made perfect.
Another core Christian belief is that God wants to fix, repair, restore, redeem Creation from its broken condition. Redemption is what the Covenant with Abraham and Israel was about; it’s what the prophets spoke about; it’s what Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection brought about.
Finally, Christians believe that God’s redemptive work will come to an eventual completion, that there is a particular end-result we anticipate. Today’s reading from Revelation 21 speaks of this eventual day. We don’t know when, but we fully expect that one day God will return Creation to its original, perfect condition; and in fact, it will be even better because the problem of Sin will have been dealt with once and for all. We don’t know everything about what the complete redemption of the world will look like, but it appears that heaven and earth will be as one, new creation; that God will dwell among us again as in Eden. We will all live in such perfect understanding and trust of God and each other that there will be no more strife and conflict and disruption of what God made good. This is our expectation not only for life eternal in heaven but also for life on earth.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Time to Grow
There is something special about the changing of the seasons. Each season seems to have its own “feel;” sights, smells, sounds, attitudes. Spring is a time of newness, freshness; blooming flowers and tender, green leaves. Summer means vacations, picnics and a more relaxed pace. Autumn brings colorful leaves and cooler air. In Winter, perhaps we look forward to Christmas and falling snow.
For Christians, part of our yearly worship routine is to observe a cycle of changing seasons. These seasons are not linked to temperatures and weather, but rather we dedicate time to dwell upon the special things God has done in our world and how our lives are transformed by them. It serves as a something of a “devotional guide” that leads us to reflect on various facets of leading faithful Christian lives.
At this time of the year we find ourselves in a season when our primary emphasis is growth. It is not unlike the way that Summer brings maturity and strengthening to the new life of Spring. We’ve celebrated Jesus’ resurrection at Easter, and we’ve acknowledged his commissioning us to “make disciples” in the power of God’s Holy Spirit. Now is our time to grow and mature into that role our God and our faith have given us. Because Jesus has lived, has died, and lives again; because Jesus has said, ‘Now it is your turn to live as I have shown and taught you,’ this is our “season” to grow in lives transformed by God. Because Jesus has forgiven us, we seek ways to enact forgiveness in our work, family, community, church. Because Jesus worked for healing the sick, including the disenfranchised, and feeding the hungry, we strive to do ministries that do the same. Because Jesus proclaimed the coming Kingdom of God and called his followers to do likewise, we work to make our lives testify to that good news.
Christians ought never stop growing in their faith. We are always capable of new understanding. We are always presented with new opportunities for ministry. And God is constantly speaking to us new words of hope, challenge and encouragement. Our lives as followers of Jesus are not static, stationary or stagnant. We grow and move; we are changed and changing because of what God has done in our world.
For Christians, part of our yearly worship routine is to observe a cycle of changing seasons. These seasons are not linked to temperatures and weather, but rather we dedicate time to dwell upon the special things God has done in our world and how our lives are transformed by them. It serves as a something of a “devotional guide” that leads us to reflect on various facets of leading faithful Christian lives.
At this time of the year we find ourselves in a season when our primary emphasis is growth. It is not unlike the way that Summer brings maturity and strengthening to the new life of Spring. We’ve celebrated Jesus’ resurrection at Easter, and we’ve acknowledged his commissioning us to “make disciples” in the power of God’s Holy Spirit. Now is our time to grow and mature into that role our God and our faith have given us. Because Jesus has lived, has died, and lives again; because Jesus has said, ‘Now it is your turn to live as I have shown and taught you,’ this is our “season” to grow in lives transformed by God. Because Jesus has forgiven us, we seek ways to enact forgiveness in our work, family, community, church. Because Jesus worked for healing the sick, including the disenfranchised, and feeding the hungry, we strive to do ministries that do the same. Because Jesus proclaimed the coming Kingdom of God and called his followers to do likewise, we work to make our lives testify to that good news.
Christians ought never stop growing in their faith. We are always capable of new understanding. We are always presented with new opportunities for ministry. And God is constantly speaking to us new words of hope, challenge and encouragement. Our lives as followers of Jesus are not static, stationary or stagnant. We grow and move; we are changed and changing because of what God has done in our world.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
A Gathered People
If you come to worship at Oak Grove UMC in Charlotte, you may notice the way each act of worship is named in the Sunday bulletin. The first item is one of the most important: “GATHERING.” You might wonder why GATHERING is worth listing at all – it does not seem as “sacred” as singing hymns or reading scripture or reciting the Lord’s Prayer. Yet GATHERING really is a holy activity, especially considering the God we worship.
One sure thing the Bible reveals is that God has an interest in communities of people. God is not only interested in saving individual persons but also tries to get people to live with one another, cooperatively, together. Jesus redeems both human relationships with Godself and human relationships with one another. God is not content just that we might love him more properly – God also wants us to love one another. “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” (John 13.34).
It is practically a definition of being Christian: if you love Jesus, you must be part of his Church, where we learn to love and be reconciled to one another and to spread that love and reconciliation out into the world. Thus, the act of GATHERING is sacred, a sign of our commitment to live in community, to be reconciled with one another, to love as Jesus calls us.
One of the first things we can do to increase worship attendance in our churches is to gather in those members of our church who have stopped being active participants. After all, they promised to be here when they joined the church, to participate in its ministries with their presence. But also remember, we promised to care about them, to help them abide in our reconciling community, to reach out to them when they are absent, to make sure we ask how they are and offer our help if it is needed. It is in this way that we work to reconcile whatever differences or discomforts or exclusions or life changes that have caused our GATHERING at church to be less than whole. It is in this way that we learn what it looks like to be reconciling in all our dealings with others locally and globally.
If you are an active member of a church, anywhere, please open your church directory, find the page where your own name appears, and call someone on that page you haven’t seen in a while. Let them know they are loved by their church community and that you miss GATHERING with them.
One sure thing the Bible reveals is that God has an interest in communities of people. God is not only interested in saving individual persons but also tries to get people to live with one another, cooperatively, together. Jesus redeems both human relationships with Godself and human relationships with one another. God is not content just that we might love him more properly – God also wants us to love one another. “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” (John 13.34).
It is practically a definition of being Christian: if you love Jesus, you must be part of his Church, where we learn to love and be reconciled to one another and to spread that love and reconciliation out into the world. Thus, the act of GATHERING is sacred, a sign of our commitment to live in community, to be reconciled with one another, to love as Jesus calls us.
One of the first things we can do to increase worship attendance in our churches is to gather in those members of our church who have stopped being active participants. After all, they promised to be here when they joined the church, to participate in its ministries with their presence. But also remember, we promised to care about them, to help them abide in our reconciling community, to reach out to them when they are absent, to make sure we ask how they are and offer our help if it is needed. It is in this way that we work to reconcile whatever differences or discomforts or exclusions or life changes that have caused our GATHERING at church to be less than whole. It is in this way that we learn what it looks like to be reconciling in all our dealings with others locally and globally.
If you are an active member of a church, anywhere, please open your church directory, find the page where your own name appears, and call someone on that page you haven’t seen in a while. Let them know they are loved by their church community and that you miss GATHERING with them.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Form Follows Function
Good design, whether it is in decorating or architecture, is functional as well as beautiful. I might even say that functionality enhances beauty. The Altar area of a church should not only “please the eye” but also function well. And when you think about the “practical functions” of worship, they are not solely for reading, speaking and singing, serving communion and baptizing new members. The focal center, the place where all our eyes are drawn, ought to call our attention to the most significant areas of our faith. Naturally, in churches you will see a lot of crosses and images of Jesus, as it should be. But pay attention to the other items that occupy a prominent place in Christian worship. It is no accident that these items are displayed front-and-center to remind us of what God has done and how our worship is an attempt to model our faithful response to God’s saving work. In this way, our worship-space décor is immanently “functional.”
Baptismal Font & Altar Table – Besides functioning as the tools of baptism and communion, the Font and Table serve as constant signs of our covenantal relationship with God. We enter into personal covenant with God and the body of Christ through baptism, and communion reminds us of Jesus’ new covenant, opening to anyone the way to reconciled relationship with God. The Table also reminds us of the ways that Jesus broke barriers through his radically open table fellowship – in Christian worship we gather at the Lord’s Table, making room for any and all who come and binding us together into one community.
Pulpit and/or Lectern – the place where the Bible is read and proclaimed. Again, the prominent place occupied by the Pulpit signifies the centrality within the Christian faith of God’s word revealed in the scriptures.
Another focus of our worship space is less obvious but is intentionally symbolized, the marking of Time. Throughout its history, the Church has marked time through color. Our twice-yearly cycles of preparation (purple), celebration (white), and growth (green) remind us to attend to all aspects of our faith. In addition to our high celebrations at Christmas and Easter, faithful lives also lead us to acknowledge our need for change and redemption and to claim the growth made possible through God’s redeeming work.
Baptismal Font & Altar Table – Besides functioning as the tools of baptism and communion, the Font and Table serve as constant signs of our covenantal relationship with God. We enter into personal covenant with God and the body of Christ through baptism, and communion reminds us of Jesus’ new covenant, opening to anyone the way to reconciled relationship with God. The Table also reminds us of the ways that Jesus broke barriers through his radically open table fellowship – in Christian worship we gather at the Lord’s Table, making room for any and all who come and binding us together into one community.
Pulpit and/or Lectern – the place where the Bible is read and proclaimed. Again, the prominent place occupied by the Pulpit signifies the centrality within the Christian faith of God’s word revealed in the scriptures.
Another focus of our worship space is less obvious but is intentionally symbolized, the marking of Time. Throughout its history, the Church has marked time through color. Our twice-yearly cycles of preparation (purple), celebration (white), and growth (green) remind us to attend to all aspects of our faith. In addition to our high celebrations at Christmas and Easter, faithful lives also lead us to acknowledge our need for change and redemption and to claim the growth made possible through God’s redeeming work.
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