Belated thoughts on Palm/Passion Sunday

Palm/Passion Sunday: I remember the first couple of times I heard that term.  It refers, of course, to the Sunday prior to Easter Day. It is a kind of expedient.  It recognizes that there are a lot of people who will attend church that day and observe The Triumphal Entry.  Then they will stay at home and not come to church again until next Sunday, when they will join in the proclamation of Easter.  They will skip Holy Week, and Good Friday in particular, and therefore move from celebration to celebration, from joy to joy, without experiencing any of the anguish of the Upper room; Gethsemane; The Betrayal; The Arrest; the various trials before the Sanhedrin, before Herod, or before Pilate; The Flogging; the Via Dolorosa; The Crucifixion; or The Entombment.  So many people will refuse to recognize these terrible moments.  They move from Palms to Lilies.  They ease from Sunday to Sunday without a lot of discomfort at all.  I had a dear friend and active church member who said of Holy Week, “I just can’t stand to think of Jesus in a situation like that.”

As I said, I remember the first couple of times I heard of “Palm/Passion Sunday.”  I was horrified.  Now you must realize that this was early in my ministry.  My idealism was still running at a fairly high level.  I have come to understand that there are reasons beyond spiritual laziness why folks might not be in church on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday or for other Holy Week observances.  So, while I don’t see it as the best of all possible worlds, I have made my peace with Palm/Passion Sunday. 

It starts off with The Liturgy of the Palms in all three years of the Revised Common Lectionary Cycles.  It then moves to the Liturgy of The Passion, where in one form or another it rehearses the death of Jesus.  Folks use these two elements in varying ways, but at the core is a lifting up of both Triumphal Entry and the Death of Jesus.  And, it may be that such a day encompasses the gospel in a way that we don’t see on a garden-variety Sunday.  So, ambivalence and all, Happy Palm/Passion Sunday.

Upon the collect for the Fifth Sunday of Lent

A collect is a short form of prayer  constructed (with variations of detail) from (1) an invocation, (2) a petition, and (3) an ascription of glory.  In form a collect is one (sometimes quite complex) sentence or two at most.  The collects in The Book of Common Prayer ae mostly medieval in origin, though some were composed by Thomas Cranmer.

  Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly
wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to
love what you command and desire what you promise; that,
among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts
may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The line is, "How many Christians does it take to change a light bulb?"

CHANGE?!

That may be funny.  It is also demonstrably true.  As a group, Christians are not big fans of change.  Oh, we have made our peace with air conditioning, padded pews and electric organs.  But we can be set in our ways in regard to process and what we sometimes call "Tradition."  It has been remarked that the Seven Last Words of the Church will be, "we've never done it that way before."

Our collect invokes the action of God to "fix our hearts in the face of the swift and varied changes of the world."  I believe that one of the attractions the church offers is that we tend to do the same things in the same ways week after week.  That kind of constancy can be a blessing.  But mindless routine is a curse.  We trust in the steadfastness of God to anchor us in what is righteous while preventing us from falling victim to the blasphemy of the mundane.

I believe that the pivotal word in this prayer is not "unruly" or "changes " or "fixed."  I believe the key term in this entreaty is "joy."  We pray that God will set our hearts on our true source of joy, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Lent is so often portrayed as a dark and dour time.  But it is the very purpose of the season to bring us into deeper communion with the source of  our hope.  And of our joy.

Fred B. Craddock

 

Fred Craddock 1928 - 2015

It was on this date in 2015 that the world lost one of its great gospel preachers and teachers of gospel preachers.  Fred B(renning) Craddock was born April 30, 1928 in Humboldt, Tennessee.  He was a minister in the Disciples of Christ Church and a professor at the college and seminary level.  He received the Bachelor of Arts degree from Johnson Bible College, Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1950.  He graduated from Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1953 and earned a doctorate from Vanderbilt University in 1964.  At that time, he returned to Phillips to teach.  He moved on to Candler in 1974 and taught there until his retirement in 1994.  Following his retirement from his position as Bandy Distinguished Professor of Preaching and New Testament in the Candler School of Theology at Emory University he moved to Georgia and became founding pastor of Cherry Log Disciples of Christ Church.  He also founded and directed the Craddock Center, a non-profit service organization located in Cherry Log, Georgia.

Craddock also wrote many influential books, including The Pre-Existence of Christ, As One Without Authority, Overhearing the Gospel, The Gospels, commentaries on John (1982) and Philippians (1984), Preaching, a commentary on Luke (1990) and a collection of sermon-related anecdotes titled Craddock Stories.   He regularly contributed to journals and larger volumes concerned with Bible study and preaching.

He was in demand as a lecturer and delivered his addresses in some prestigious lectureships.  He delivered the Lyman Beecher Lectures at Yale, the Scott Lectures at Claremont School of Theology, the Adams Lectures at Southeastern Baptist Seminary, the Schaff Lectures at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, the Cole Lectures at Vanderbilt, the Westervelt Lectures at Austin Presbyterian Seminary, the Mullins Lectures at Southern Seminary, the Earl Lectures at Pacific School of Religion, and the Mullins Lectures at Southern Baptist Seminary.

His great contribution, however, was as a teacher.  His classes filled up early at registration time.  Some – but sadly, only some – of his teaching is available on CD.

He would address conventions and continuing education events for preachers, and that is how I first became familiar with him.  In the eighties and nineties, I would drive half a day in any direction to hear him speak or preach.  I never came away empty.  If I know anything about the craft of preaching, it is due to the influence of Fred Craddock.

So, I lament his passing.  We could certainly use a voice like his today.

Upon the collect for the Fourth Sunday in Lent

A collect is a short form of prayer  constructed (with variations of detail) from (1) an invocation, (2) a petition, and (3) an ascription of glory.  In form a collect is one (sometimes quite complex) sentence or two at most.  The collects in The Book of Common Prayer ae mostly medieval in origin, though some were composed by Thomas Cranmer.

 Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down
from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world:
Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in
him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one
God, now and for ever. Amen.

We have all heard of harsh prison sentences where the incarcerated individual is limited to  "bread and water."  The intent of the punishment is to put a convicted law-breaker on a subsistence diet.  It is enough to maintain, but it is meant not to be a means by which the prisoner may thrive.  It is a starvation diet.  It is intended to cause discomfort and even misery.

For the Community of Faith, it is different.  Christ is the true bread of heaven.  In John 6, Jesus says, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."  Within our faith, we uphold the belief that Christ is sufficient for our nurture, our flourishing, and our salvation.  

It is not the intent of a gracious God that we "get by."  Christian folks think not just of subsistence life, but abundant life.  God provides for our bodies and our spirits in a way that no other source can deliver.  

We remember the gift of Holy Communion that provides for our spirits and serves as a foreshadowing of the full range of gifts that Christ the Bread of Life provides.

The death of William McKendree

 

It was on this date in 1835 that William McKendree, the first American-born bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church (forerunner of today's United Methodist Church), died in Sumner County, Tennessee.

He was born in King William County, Virginia, the son of John and Mary McKendree.    He served in the Virginia militia during the American Revolutionary War.   He preached in circuits in Virginia and South Carolina and the Baltimore Conference.  In 1796 he was appointed Presiding Elder (now District Superintendent).    The General Conference of the church elected him bishop in 1808.  He travelled over 1,500 miles on horseback in the company of Francis Asbury or alone.  McKendree was initially buried in a family burial ground in Sumner County, but in October 1876 his remains were reinterred to the grounds of the recently founded Vanderbilt University.

Upon the collect for the third Sunday in Lent

A collect is a short form of prayer  constructed (with variations of detail) from (1) an invocation, (2) a petition, and (3) an ascription of glory.  In form a collect is one (sometimes quite complex) sentence or two at most.  The collects in The Book of Common Prayer ae mostly medieval in origin, though some were composed by Thomas Cranmer.

 Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves
to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and
inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all
adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil
thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus
Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 

This is the Collect for the Third Sunday in Lent.  It contains the affirmation, "We have no power in ourselves to heal ourselves."  Among the many themes of this stretch of time is our total dependence on God's Grace.  The church has combated the concept of "works righteousness" from its beginnings.  

One can understand the reasoning behind embracing a theology of works.  In a culture of the "self-made individual" and "pulling oneself up by the bootstraps" it is attractive to think that our salvation can be accomplished by our own actions.  If we work hard enough, strive faithfully enough, and check all the boxes that should be enough to earn a spot in heaven.

But the church has never taught that.  Salvation is not a human activity.  Deliverance is an act of God, and God grants that gift not to the active but to the faithful.

The collect goes on to petition the Lord to keep and defend us.  This is a further assertion that we are utterly dependent on God.

The season of Lent is a time of seeking to be drawn closer to God.  It is not about us.  It is about God.

The death of John Wesley

 

It was on  this date in 1791 that John Wesley died.  He was born on the 28th of June 1703. He was the son of Rev. Samuel and Susannah Annesley Wesley,  The elder Wesley was rector of Epworth church, northwest of Lincoln.  Together the Wesleys had nineteen children, nine of which survived  beyond infancy.  John -- along with his siblings -- were initially educated by his parents.

John Wesley was a scholar, author, priest, publisher and principal organizer of what became The Methodist Church.  Details of his life can be found here.

Wesley died surrounded by friends and Methodist leaders.  His last words were, "Best of all, God is with us."

Giving up something for Lent

 

Lent is a season that -- for some -- includes fasting as a way of observing this time.   Jesus fasted for forty days following his baptism.  During this time, he was in the wilderness being tempted by the Devil.  This fast and the Lenten season are connected by this number of days and by this fasting practice.

I don’t know that many people literally fast for this entire period.  Even with the fact that Sundays don’t make up a part of this self-denying season, I don’t hear people reflecting on their season-long denial of food.

Some folks participate in a partial fast.  They will refrain from eating until three in the afternoon, or until sunset (they hate to see Daylight Saving Time come).  Others follow a long-standing church tradition of abstaining from “pleasant food.”  I suppose that is a bit of a subjective evaluation.  One person’s “pleasant” is another one’s “rejection.”

So, observing this time with an exercise of self-denial takes on many forms.  “Giving up something for Lent” leaves the realm of food behind for a lot of people.  They instead abandon practices or diversions for these days.

It is not up to me to judge another person’s spiritual discipline.  But I would ask anyone to evaluate their choices with this question: Is that which you are setting aside good enough to give up for Lent?   What I mean by that is does a person set aside something that is bad for them and then claim it as a spiritual discipline?  I have heard people talk of giving up excessive consumption of alcohol, smoking, driving over the speed limit, cursing, overeating and a host of other behaviors in the name of observing the season.

As difficult as it may be for some individuals to set aside addictive behavior, I question the labeling of these things as a sacrificial gift that one places before the Throne of Grace.  If I “give up” overindulging of food, do I set my practice down at the feet of Christ and say, “Lord, I have given up gluttony in my devotion to you?”  I mean, isn’t gluttony one of the Seven Deadly Sins?  Isn’t it a practice that I should have avoided from the get-go?  Do I give myself permission to be a glutton again once Lent is over and Easter commences?  That just doesn’t seem right.

So, what is appropriate if we observe this practice?  I have known people who have given up seemingly small things, but they required real effort on the part of the practitioner.  One of the positives that grows out of a decision to deny something is that some believers leave behind a practice and in its place, they substitute times of prayer, meditation or reflection.  When Lent passes, they may re-order their lives for the long haul.  Or, they may resume their former ways with a new appreciation of the part that the thing they have done without plays in their lives.

So, if we have set something aside (or start today, as there is no need to be legalistic – it’s not too late), we might want to make sure that it’s good enough.

An interesting date in United Methodist history

 

On this date in 1784 John Wesley chartered the first Methodist Church in America.

 After the American Revolutionary war ended in 1783 Wesley struggled with the question of how to bring order to the Methodists in America.  The Anglican Church refused to send priests to the U.S., believing that church separation would eventually force the new country to re-join Britain.

Wesley believed that the laying on of hands by an Anglican bishop placed priests of the Church of England in apostolic succession.  When the Anglican Church refused to provide spiritual care for these Christians Wesley began to search the scriptures for a solution.  He concluded that the bishops (episcopos) and elders (presbyteros) of the Primitive Church were functionally the same.  He decided that he himself had the authority to ordain priests.  So, he (along with other Church of England priests) ordained Thomas Coke and in turn directed that Coke ordain Francis Asbury when Coke arrived in America.

Wesley also provided a charter for the establishing of Methodist preaching-houses in America.  The Methodists opened the first of these after Coke arrived in this country.

This was not the first Methodist house of worship.  The Methodist movement had been gaining strength for almost two decades under the leadership of Francis Asbury, Philip William Otterbein, Philip & Margaret Embury and Paul & Barbara Heck.  The first Methodist congregation in “the colonies” was Wesley Chapel in New York City, which opened in 1766. It is still an active congregation – John Street United Methodist Church.

Take the banner down

 

I heard a great sermon many years ago that examined 1 Corinthians 1 & 2.  Sadly, both the preacher and much of the content are lost to time and faulty memory.  What I DO remember is that the preacher labeled the claim of various Corinthian factions that stated, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Apollos” base sloganism.  The preacher explored the notion that it becomes easy to hide behind a motto or catch phrase and elude completely the truth behind what the phrase says.

The United Methodist Church claims a slogan of “Open Minds, Open Hearts, Open Doors.”  It has, since its adoption by the UMC in 2001, been a bit hopeful.  Perhaps hope is what the church needs.  But it has also been misleading and even untrue.  I know of one local congregation that loudly proclaimed 2/3 of the promise, saying in their advertisements that they were a church of “Open Minds, Open Hearts.”  The fact that this church did not include “Open Doors” as part of its proclamation spoke volumes.  Whether intentionally or not, its refusal to proclaim “Open Doors” indicated its true mind-set.  The slogan is gone, but the church has a rather unpleasant reputation locally of lacking “open doors.”

Recent events in The United Methodist Church have changed that motto from a misleading statement into an outright lie.  The church’s mind is collectively not open.  The denomination’s heart is anything but open.  Its community doors are not open (although thankfully a great number of local congregations have loudly proclaimed that their fellowship is welcoming to all of God’s children).

The conservative wing of the UMC, which has prevailed for the time being, cannot put any kind of smiley face on their position.  The conservatives – in this country and abroad – have drawn a line in the sand that they prohibit some people from crossing.  Their punitive and even vindictive stance against those who disagree with them causes them to forfeit any claim to openness at all. 

I recognize that a lot of church promotion claims are optimistic and even idealistic.  That probably should be the case.  But not here.  Not now.  At least, church, be honest.

Take the banner down.

Upon the collect for the day

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns,one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

This is the collect for the week (The Second Sunday in Lent) from The Book of Common Prayer. As with most of the prayers in this volume this collect has a simple elegance that I find in few other places.  If you compare the BCP to most of the liturgical and prayer resources of The United Methodist Church the UMC material hides its face in shame.  One of my mentors in commenting on Methodism’s rituals told me, “Some day our church will employ a poet as part of the liturgy production process, and we’ll be far better off than we are now.”

Truer words.

But, as I consider the work at hand, one term strikes me.  It is the word “unchangeable.”   It comes in the phrase “to hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son.”  I hear this with the ears of someone who has endured the blather of the United Methodist Church’s special called General Conference of three years ago.  I heard this word and similar ones bandied about by people who seemed to have no idea what their language meant.

Because there is a difference between “unchangeable” and “unchanging.”  Unchangeable is a word that we reserve for God and Christ and the Holy Spirit.  It speaks of Truth with a capital “T.”  Unchanging is a more stubborn word and folks seem to use it to defy the reality that things of the faith and understanding and revelation are fluid in their natures.  The list of things about which the church (or much of the church) has altered the literal language of the Bible is endless.  The role of women, slavery, treatment of children, polygamy, capital punishment and a host of dietary laws do not begin to complete the list of practices that modern-day Christians have modified beyond the letter of the law in Scripture. 

Anyone who says that faith and commandment and law are static terms in the practice of the Christian religion is either naïve or spends their entire life with their head in the sand.  God is unchangeable.  Revelation is ever-changing.  That we are not bound by a rigid set of laws under penalty of damnation is affirmed in the first line of today’s collect: O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy…  If it is God’s nature to put mercy first, it seems only fitting that those who would identify themselves as children of God should do the same.

The last sermon of John Wesley

On February 23, 1791, John Wesley preached his last sermon.  It would not be many more days until he would die.  He began preaching in 1725.  Over the span of his sixty-six-year preaching career he preached over 40,000 times according to his Journal and Sermon Register.  This meant that for a long span of time he preached three and four times per day.  There would be no way to overestimate his contribution to the Great Awakening in Britain or to the Methodist movement not only in England but worldwide.

I need to make something clear about Wesley’s sermons and his preaching.  When one refers to Wesley’s sermons, they are talking about published works.  In Wesley’s world a writer composed a sermon with the idea that an audience would read it.  Wesley published 141 original sermons in his lifetime.  Methodists consider the first 44 of these – The Standard Sermons of John Wesley – to be part of their doctrinal standards.  For Wesley, preaching was an oral activity.  He preached to congregations and crowds of people that would gather almost everywhere he went.  In these public events he would use the same or similar content in multiple locations.  They might be pieces that Wesley had memorized.  He also frequently spoke extemporaneously.

So, I pause to give thanks for a remarkable oratory career.  If he had accomplished nothing else we would remember Wesley as a prolific and effective preacher.