Losing Friends

I lost some friends this past week. Don Pickett was a mentor and leader that influenced my life in substantial ways. He taught me how to treat people and delegate responsibility to those around me. I learned to value the input of others and to give them their space in order for them to do ministry. I learned the value of investing in the ministry of others. As I make the move to an academic setting filled with young ministers (either in age or experience) I am reminded of how much Don invested in me and my ministry when I was the age of many seminarians and he was my age. I hope to do the same and keep his memory alive in those in whom I invest.

Rich Meyer has been the senior pastor at Noblesville Church of God where my son, Jonathan, is the Associate. Rich died from cancer while Jonathan was out here visiting Fuller. It was a tragic situation where Rich faced a very aggressive form of cancer. They tried to arrest it by amputating his arm but were unsuccessful. The church in Noblesville is in shock and are without their pastor. Jonathan will have additional responsibilities and tasks facing him as he returns to home. He is there now ministering to Rich's family and the church family. Jonathan, the church, and the Meyer family are front and center in my prayers. I know that Don Pickett would understand that.

Losing friends is never easy. When the church loses leaders it always begs the question, "Who will replace them?" Well, I intend to do my part. My guess is that Jonathan will do his. The only question left is, "What will you do?" Peter was crucified upside down - and the church continued on; John died of old age on Patmos - and the church continued on; Elijah was translated, John the Baptist beheaded, Stephen stoned to death, and Jesus was crucified - and the church moved forward. Joshua replaced Moses, David replaced Saul, Timothy replaced Paul, and Elisha replaced Elijah - and the cause and mission of God moved ahead. Don Pickett and Rich Meyer did their part and now they have moved on to an eternal reward. While the Lord tarries, let us do what the Lord requires of us.

"What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)

Preaching Summit

Today (Monday April 20) Fuller is hosting a Preaching Summit. It is part kickoff for the new Lloyd Ogilvie Chair in Preaching and part conversation between some of the most recognizable scholars in preaching. Some of the participants are James Earl Massey (Dean Emeritus of both Anderson School of Theology and the Tuskegee Chapel), Wil Willimon (Former Dean of the Chapel at Duke and now Methodist Bishop for Alabama), Lloyd Ogilvie (Former pastor at Hollywood Presbyterian Church and the retired Chaplain of the U.S. Senate), Jana Childers (Professor of Speech and Preaching at San Franciso Theological Seminary), Ken Fong (Pastor of a large Asian-American Church in L.A.), Peter Story (Methodist Bishop in South Africa and Professor of Preaching at Duke) and Renita Weems (Former O.T. Professor at Vanderbilt and now an AME pastor and one of the top women preacher's in America). It is quite a lineup.
I spent the morning listening in on their conversation about the future of preaching. Two hours of hearing from some of the great teachers of preaching about where they think (in some cases fear) preaching is headed. Then at lunch and in the afternoon I had opportunity to spend some time one on one with some of them. I thought you might be interested in a few snapshots of the things they shared.

1. Peter Story made the comment that he is more convinced than ever that preaching is all about location. If you do not know that location in which you are preaching (this includes the social construction of the audience, the theological tradition of the hearers, the major issues revolving around them) then you can do great harm to the gospel.
   
2. James Earl Massey was deeply concerned about the importance of preaching out of a tradition. Not some dry, historical past but a living, breathing, alive tradition that informs and helps to shape our preaching.
3. Many of those there were convinced that much of today's preaching is therapeutic in nature but not missional. It makes the person feel better but does little to affect the culture with the gospel. Preaching has become too individualistic, concentrating on the needs of the individual rather than the mission of the church to the world around us.
4. Ken Fong feared we were producing "Pharisee Factories" where we are more concerned about how things are done and less concerned with whether the gospel mission is being accomplished.
   
5. Jana Childers, Will Willimon, and Peter Story all lamented the inability of seminaries to get all their staff together in conversation about how to produce better preaching in the church. They also expressed some insightful ideas about building the entirety of the seminary curiculum around the development of preaching so that the church history department and the systematic theology department would be forming the preacher and the preaching rather than creating academicians. Willimon made the comment that he had found few laypeople who were impressed that their pastor could produced a 20 page resource paper. He had suggested at Duke that every class culminate with students preaching a sermon. That way they could come to understand how other disciplines inform preaching.
   

Tonight these folks will all gather together for a Q&A session being led by Andy Crouch. It will give them all a chance to share about the ministry of preaching in the 21st Century. It should be rich. I'll tell you all about it later.

Family Time

Jonathan is here for the week. He is going to be attending a couple of conferences that are taking place in and around Fuller. He will be preaching in two of my preaching practicae and then filling the pulpit at Church of the Foothills on Sunday. All of that is minor. The best news is that he is here. It has been nearly a year since we have been with any of our kids. It feels good. I love my kids.

Grades

I got my grades for the Winter Quarter. I took two directed readings last quarter - one in creativity and imagination and the other in the area of Erasmus and his translation of John 1:1. To meet the requirements of the course I read about 6,000 pages, traveled to both Yale and Princeton to study with professors, and wrote nearly 100 pages of my dissertation. For that work I received an A for each of the courses. My GPA for my work here at Fuller is 3.91 and I have completed 80 hours of classes. I am only two classes short of completing my course work. I will finish one class this quarter (Spring) and the other one during the Summer. By the time Fall comes around I will (God willing) be writing the final chapter of my dissertation. My plan is to complete the writing by December and graduate in June of 2010. If I can keep on that pace I will have completed the PhD in 3 1/2 yrs. The average is 6 years.
I am proud of my grades. I have received nothing under an A- for any class and only received one B+ on any assignment (my first one in my first class). I have worked hard to maintain my grades while being an Interim Pastor at Church of the Foothills, working as a TA in numerous classes, and being an Adjunct Professor at Fuller in preaching. I have also taught an on-line class at Warner University in Florida, been a Research Assistant for my mentor, and taken on a few extra preaching assignments like a Campmeeting in NE Ohio and one coming up in Eastern Washington.
It has been one of the most fulfilling times of my life. I have read more, written more, learned more, and thought more than I have in the last decade of my life. I love to interact with students, share my love of preaching, and pastor some wonderful people. God has been faithful. We don't have much money in the bank and we have some school loans to pay off when this is done, but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. I appreciate the A in the classes because it is something that I can point to and say to my wife and to my Lord, "I have been faithful to the calling."

Sins By Category

Have you ever noticed that certain sins are more important than others? I'm not talking about the difference between murder and a little white lie, I'm talking about how sins are viewed depending on where you are. For instance, in journalism it's a sin to claim you have sources for your story that you either make-up or get from others without citing the source. However, in preaching, we use sources all the time and rarely cite where they come from. We use made up stories or illustrations and don't bother to find out if the story is true or not. I watched a cooking show on TV, one of those competitive shows ("Top Chef") and one of the chefs used a prepackaged ingredient rather than make it from scratch. Big "no-no." He got criticized for it. I don't know about you, but I use prepackaged ingredients all the time! Apparently, no self respecting chef would do that. Funny, I respect myself just fine. I think I'll still use the prepackaged stuff if I need to.
Lawyers lie to defend their clients (or, at least, present half-truths); actors sleep with their co-stars while married without impunity ("Brangelina"); AIG executives get huge bonus' for performance while their company tanks; Athletes do drugs and get caught using illegal substances and then get millions of dollars in bonus' and new contracts - I wonder which sins are "OK" and which ones are not acceptable? Over the course of teaching some classes this year I have had to flunk some students because they cheated on their work. Most of the time it is technical (like not citing your sources in footnotes) but sometimes it is outright cheating where you submit someone else's work as your own - even whole sermons. These are students either in ministry or preparing for ministry and they are found cheating - cutting corners instead of doing the work.
When are sins, sins? When is it wrong to do something and there are no excuses? When is it wrong to do something as a Methodist and it is still wrong to do it as a Nazarene? Why do Catholics and Lutherans believe that alcohol is OK but the Church of God and Brethren Church don't? Why is OK for a minister to be a homosexual in the Episcopal Church but unacceptable in the newly formed Anglican Church of North America? One of the reasons people are confused about the church and don't see it as speaking with the voice of moral authority is that those in the church cannot figure out what is sin and what is not. If the Cross of Christ is for the forgiveness of sins (I think we all agree on that) can anyone tell me what the church believes is sin and what is not? What do we have to be forgiven of before we can become a full-fledged Christian?
As Good Friday approaches, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the Church to speak with one voice about the Cross of Christ. We have developed a mentality that allows for sins to be placed in one category or another. Then, depending on who we are, we choose the categories that are really sinful and those that really aren't that bad. It is killing the church and negating its message. I have a suggestion. I think there is only one sin. I go back to the Garden and the problems of Adam and Eve. They only sinned once. They broke one sin and that caused all the problems. What was that one sin? They wanted to be God. They wanted to make the rules. They wanted to do what was wrong in order to be the one who could determine what was right and wrong. For me, that's the only sin. Every time we I do something that puts my wants and desires above God's call and command, that is sin. Every time I do something on my own without His help, that's sin. Every time I act without his Word, Spirit, and guidance that is sin. I think there is only one sin. It's the sin of humankind. It's the sin of the Garden. It's the sin that gets us all in trouble. We want to be God and make up our own rules. Well, it doesn't work like that. There is only one God and one Savior. He died on Calvary. I didn't - and neither did you. He gets to make up the rules. We get to follow. He does a better job of making up the rules and providing grace for us when we blow it. My job is to be the best follower I can be. In the end, being a good follower may be better than trying to define all the things we think are sin or not sin.

On the Topic of Prayer

Another senseless tragedy occurred today. A gunman shot and killed a large number of folks in a N.Y. town. Many of them were immigrants. As the tragedy unfurled, the news networks covered the reaction of those involved and those responding to the tragedy. I was struck by how often the topic of prayer came up. It came up at the news conference of political officials from Binghamton and N.Y. state; it was referred to by the Vice President in his remarks; it was noted constantly by Glenn Beck as he reported the situation. When tragedy strikes, prayer is one of the key responses public officials request.
Interestingly, there was no outcry from the ACLU or calls for the "separation of church and state." No one said it was a Democratic ploy or mentioned the Republican fascination with the "religious right." No one quoted President Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, fallen evangelical pastor Ted Haggard, or the new cultural/political religious figure Rev. Rick Warren. No one suggested the politicians were simply trying to make points in a poll. It was accepted as a genuine expression of concern. We should pray for those most closely affected by the shootings. It was the right thing to do.
It seems ironic that prayer is viewed in our society as a way to respond to crisis but not a way to prevent it or prepare for it. It does not appear to be a source for changing the future, as Jonah feared it would be with Nineveh (and prayer did change the future of that city). Like preventative medicine, prayer is not always practiced in advance of problems. If Vice President Biden suggested that we should pray for changed hearts so that Al Qaeda terrorists would see the foolishness of their ways and stop their warring ways, he would be roundly criticized for meddling religion with politics. But by asking us to pray for those affected by the violence in N.Y. and that these kinds of senseless shootings should cease, he was quoted as saying something comforting to the nation.
For those who know the true meaning of prayer and are prayer warriors the idea that they can pray before something happens is essential to their concept of the meaning of prayer. Prayer is intended to be the first line of defense not the final act of desperation. Remember the model prayer Jesus gave (often called "The Lord's Prayer")? Note how forward looking it is when it uses phrases like "thy will be done" or "give us this day" or "lead us not" or "deliver us from evil." This is the nature of prayer. It looks to change what is coming not merely cry over what has occurred. If we understood that, we would be praying about upcoming things more than praying for what is already set in stone.

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory,

for ever and ever.

Amen