Changing blogs yet again (sorry, Susan)

I have moved everything over to www.thepeaceablekingdom.wordpress.com. I was never really satisfied with the previous name, and thought the Peaceable Kingdom might be more descriptive of the overall project. See you there.

The Prodigal Church

I gave my very first homily tonight during the evening service at St. Peter’s Anglican Church here in Revelstoke to a packed crowd of 5 people (including my seven month old son). This one is the familiar story of the return of the prodigal son.

Fourth Sunday in Lent, March 14th, 2010
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

We open our gospel reading in the middle of Luke, the story of the prodigal son. Luke tells us that Jesus’s preaching is drawing plenty of sinners and outcasts. The Pharisees, who were the respectable mainline church people of the time, look down on his practices. He’s been preaching good news to everyone he sees, insisting that his way is the original way, and that the Pharisees have lost sight of it. They need to return to the bare essentials, Jesus tells them, of the loving kindness and generosity of God. And this includes mingling with ideas and people in ways that challenge the very notion of what it means to be religiously committed.

But what does this Jesus know about God? they wonder. Jesus, after all, has been seen with prostitutes, tax collectors and all sorts of other unsavoury people. He even eats with them. What does this man know about Torah if he breaks one of the rules which is to them a given—you don’t stay pure hanging around unpure people. You don’t stay respectable unless you stay away from unrespectable people and teachings. The Pharisees have kept these laws for so long that they can’t ponder why anyone would do anything differently. So Jesus tells them this story:

Evangelizing to soldiers

My wife and I were talking tonight, and we got on to the topic of care packages for soldiers. A blogger she reads sends care packages to soldiers she doesn’t know in Iraq. My first reaction was “oh right, support the troops.” However, it dawned on me that sending thoughtful items to persons in the midst of dangerous violence probably wasn’t a wholesale embrace of military jingoism. Then we got to thinking and talking further about creative evangelistic activities that could be undertaken in sending soldiers care packages as well. It wouldn’t be so hard to send a pamphlet or a book on Christian pacifism or something on just war theory along with some more person items. Why not express kindness to a human being in the middle of dehumanizing unkindness?

We should consider, first, that soldiers are some pretty brave people who put their lives on the line. They are some of the few people within our society who, at least consciously, govern their lives by a moral code–even if that code is misguided in our eyes. In a society where “sacrifice” is usually defined by working longer hours so one can purchase their children more things, soldiers are certainly people who are willing to sacrifice everything they have for what they believe to be the good of others; even people they’ve never actually met. Why not recognize this somehow, while at the same time giving them an opportunity to consider the moral and theological decisions that their countries are making for them?

So, let’s start brainstorming ideas on what we could send to a Canadian soldier in Afghanistan. The military doesn’t allow non-family care packages to be sent during the regular year, so I was thinking these could be sent during “Operation Santa Claus” around Christmas instead. Can anyone recommend any easy-to-read, accessible essays or articles we could collect in a single volume? What would be appropriate to send along with the item to let the person know they are a valued and loved member of God’s family as well?

“Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:43-44)

On “Christian” nations

Many of us wonder how best to make a political difference in this world. We are usually torn between personal acts of kindness and public political acts–usually involving electoral politics (“regime change”). Christians have thought of themselves in the same way, especially in a country with a strong tie to the Social Gospel movement. The state is viewed as a tool of the common good, and the democratic system is seen as sound. Yet, the assumption is that only the wrong people are in power or those in power are not acting justly out of their own accord. The only solution is to either get “our man” in office, or pressure those holding power to be less unjust.

Unfortunately, one is hard pressed to see a systemic takeover as something deriving from Christian principles.

Welcome!

I’ve normally posted at isjusttosay.blogspot.com. I’ve decided to be a more specific with my blogging. Since most of it ended up being about Jesus, I thought it appropriate to create a new blog from the perspective of a post-modern Christian. I also hate the look of Blogger (though love its simplicity in theory). Hopefully this will bring a much more specific, rather than general, focus to my postings as well.

Read my about page for more about me and the “mission statement” of this project.