Blogging Towards Sunday

November 9th
Jesus for President
Matthew 7:13-24

This week's portion of the Sermon on the Mount is all about practicing what Jesus preaches. It's about doors and roads, city gates and wolves in sheep clothing, good fruit and rotting messes. Traditionally I've heard that this passage is articulating the need and challenge of salvation, that few will know God's heart and choose Jesus as Savior. I think it's much deeper, tricker and stickier than that boundary-enducing evangelical language would lead us to believe. I think Jesus is talking about the city gates through which you have to enter in order to move from not being in the city, to being in the city. Jesus lived in Roman times. The Empire was know for its power, profits and pax (peace). The Romans built roads everywhere, and new cities surrounded with protective walls. It's what made the empire work and be so profitable. When you traveled into or from a city, you couldn't help but remember what Empire you lived in. Everywhere you turned you saw signs and symbols of the Romans' militry might and economic power (or oppression, depending upon your place in society). Jesus is challenging that, saying that we're called to live in and from the Kingdom of God. A hard choice. An existential choice that has to be made personally and lived out communally. A choice that implies an alternative identity, a counter-cultural daily life, a radical inter-dependence, a new passport. That's what's hard about it, not that few are saved. Rather it's that few want to make that difficult yet life-transforming and sustaining choice to follow Jesus, which necessarily implies producing good fruit through living as Jesus lived.

In our age today I wonder how often we actually hear about this? A friend sent me a blog [link] that talks a bit about this in terms of Proposition 8 that passed in yesterday's election. It doesn't matter so much what you thought about the proposition, I include the link because it's a challenge to all those who claim to follow Jesus. Who are we following - the empire o? How are we following - as radicals or as ordinaries? Are we being genuinely honest about it?

Here's 3 relevant pages from Jesus for President (pp 242-244). Click on the images to read them in a larger format.

JESUS FOR PRESIDENT
Election day isn’t just November 4th

For the past 6 weeks I've been blogging and teaching my way through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7): the essential teachings of Jesus – his vision of life, his understanding of community, his relational experience of God and neighbors, his invitation to live in and into the Kingdom of God. We’ve playfully interpreted this teaching through the creative lens of the recent book Jesus for President: which lifts up the Jesus Doctrine of radical non-violence and neighborly love in view of empowering the redistribution of the wealth of God’s compassion and justice among all peoples. A friend recently told me that it didn’t look like my candidate (Jesus) was going to win the election on the 4th. I laughed. Thinking about it in hindsight, I’m struck by the poignancy of that comment. Jesus doesn’t call us to partisan in the way we live our faith. Jesus isn’t running for election on the 4th of this month, rather he’s inviting us to a daily election as those courageous enough to choose the third way of Jesus’ radical doctrines and vision of daily life. Voting is our duty as citizens. It’s the primary way we participate in our democracy. And we’re also invited, as we’ve seen in this election, to participate even more through the gift of our money, our organizing skills, our presence, our relationships, and our active engagement in discussions. Jesus invites us to an even more radical participation. To vote everyday with the way we live. The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) is his call to action, his inauguration speech pointing towards the kingdom that he wants not only to build for us, but also calls us to build alongside him through our actions, words and relationships. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.” How are you using your gifts (time, money, relationships, and talents) to further the candidacy of our maverick candidate for change, who wants us to vote for hope everyday by our participation in his kingdom work of loving and living as Jesus first loved and lived for us?

Peace to you and yours, and to all of us - no matter if we feel like our hopes win or lose in the election unfolding today. We're called to more than just victory....

How Voting Today Skewed Me

millenial meaning-making, technology & community organizing

We went as a family this morning to vote shortly after the polls opened at 7:00am.Once there we encountered a line of maybe 50 people, snaking it's way through the school hallway. Of the 50 people, probably 6-9 children were also there: playing in the Obama Baby T-shirts, coming to watch their parents vote, participating in order to learn about democracy in action. While there I was struck by several things that point to some of the deep (and already made) transformations of our society, culture and means of communication/organization:

1. Our kids played video games on our phones while they waited.

2. Half a dozen people were doing what I was doing while waiting in line: updating their facebook pages, and twittering.

3. Three people were taking pictures (along with me) of the line - to blog with, or something else.

4. The woman behind me kept calling friends of hers on her cell phone. Each person she called seemed to have a background in a particular area of expertise (Water District, Schools, etc.) She would ask them how to vote. Talk about swaying last minutes deciders in an election.

5. Folks were all excited, talkative, happy to be waiting in a long line so early in the morning.

6. No one checked ids of those that are voting (I think it's because our precinct workers know everyone personally).

7. I had to park far away (ok 2 blocks - super far for our precinct!) in order to vote because so many people were there.

8. We celebrated our post-voting with a family breakfast at Peet's in the Dimond and La Farine. About 30 other people had the same idea with about 10 kids there, wearing "I Voted" stickers, and obviously going to school late.

I'm stuck by something I heard on Talk of the Nation yesterday [listen to the podcast here of A Grown Up Digital Generation] featuring Don Tapscott writer of Grown Up Digital. He pointed to the revolutionary ways that technology, online social networking, blogging, etc. have already transformed the way we talk, communicate, think and organize/relate to one another. Our entire society (economy, educational insitutions, political system and faith communities) have to adjust, adapt, and transform to this new way of thinking, speaking, organizing and relating that is potentially predominant in the Millennial Generation (those under 30) and also beyond.

I felt like I experienced a lot of what was lifted up in that radio discussion while voting this morning. The church I serve and work with is not functioning in this way. Most communities of faith I know aren't either. Yet our children, colleagues and neighbors are functioning and thriving as grown up digital-folks. Is this a world-view shift? Is this the end of an era in our culture and maybe in the world? Is this an apocalyptic foretaste of the end of days? Is this the dawn of a new chance to live, work and thrive together? Obviously the Obama efforts taped into this more than McCain in the amazing ways that his website empowered not just voting, but organizing via the website. Bruce Reyes-Chow is a pastor of the Presbyterian Church to which I belong as pastor. He too has plugged into this monumental cultural shift [Bruce's Blog]. It's not something that may happen. It already has. How are the communities you're a part of responding to it? Are they even responding?

Bumper Sticker of the Week

10 Things to Do

While You Wait to Vote on Tuesday

So I've heard non-stop the past few days about the long lines to expect on Tuesday, and the possibility to wisely go and vote early today to avoid the waiting. [yahoo news link] I've refused. I want to vote on Tuesday. I love the rush of going on election day, of participating in something bigger than me, of seeing all my neighbors serving as precinct workers - trying to not just get along but even work together - and I love getting that sticker and wearing it all day!

So I was thinking about 10 things that I (or you) could do to pass the waiting time on Tuesday.

10. Bring a snack to munch on while you wait: either chili (if you're for Obama) or ribs (if you're for McCain) [more online info]

9. Watch past SNL episodes to kill time on your iphone. [link]

8. Watch past Jon Stewart episodes on your hand-held in order to know how to vote. [link]

7. See how many Obama (or McCain) buttons you can covertly wear into the voting booth without being asked to take them off, or leave them outside. [Sacramento Bee Fashion Tips for Voting]

6. Look up the donation lists regarding proposition 8 in order to see if there are any neighbors in line that you can "out" for their political perspectives. [site] [spreadsheet].

5. Get a ticket, then go hunting using your personal helicopter while you wait for you number to be called.

4. Carry a chicken in a cage to see what response you get from others.

3. Read Twilight so that you're ready for the movie (coming out November 21st). [site]

2. Either try to post as many mobile upload photos of other peoples pre-filled out voting card help/cheat-sheets as you can to facebook - or - twitter with other people in the room.

1. Fill our your immigration application for permanent residency in Canada or France - just to be safe. [Canada] [France]

Anyone have any other tips?

Jesus Freaks Out or 

Who Freaks Out for Jesus

I attended a Vote NO on Prop 8 peaceful vigil in the neighborhood in which I serve as pastor.  I decided to make my own sign, so I created one that read "Jesus Freaks Against Prop 8."  It took 3 people to hold it up.  Several asked me what it meant.  Some smiled in immediate recognition.  About 20 minutes into the vigil a middle-aged woman pulled up alongside me and started lecturing me that I should be "more tolerant.  Gay people should be more tolerant of religious people.  You should be more tolerant when YOU vote!" - then she screeched off in her tired out Toyota, trying to make it up the hill across from 7-11.  WHAT?  I didn't get what she was all about?  Did she think I was saying that "Jesus followers" are freaks?  Did she think that only freaks would vote against prop 8?  Or did she just think that I'm a freak?  She was so angry.  During her diatribe she looked at me so intensely that I almost wondered if she was medusa come to life in East Oakland.

What has pushed us to become so violent in the past days in terms of the election, in particular proposition 8?  To become so intolerant? - a reflection which troubles me, for I have no desire to be tolerant, to simply tolerate other people.  I want to enjoy them, to participate with them in community building, to learn to appreciate whatever gift they bring in our often-overwhelming diversity.  Maybe I am a freak?  Or maybe she just needed to get a Coke slurpee at 7-11 to recaffenate herself?

Political Satire Home Shopping

SNL Skit with John McCain from 110108

Evangelical Sex:
Juno? Jamie Lynn? or Ann (from Arrested Development)?

This week's New Yorker has a great article on teenage pregnancy in the evangelical context. What are we telling and not-telling our children? How is it effecting us - and them - and what does it have to do with faith.

religion is a good incidator of attitudes toward sex, but a poor one of sexual behavior, and this gap is especially wide among teenagers who identify themselves as evangelical.

"Red Sex, Blue Sex: Why do so many evangelical teen-agers become pregnant?"

Blogging Towards Sunday,

November 2
Jesus for President
Matthew 7:6-12

We have a hard time practicing what we preach. It's a real challenge - even if meaning-making and life-transforming - to follow Jesus. We want to be peacemakers, yet we become war initiators. We say we're for nonviolence, yet we are for the death penalty. We say we're for neighborly love (also called solidarity) yet freak at the hint of the s----ism word. We say we're for free grace and unconditional love yet are consistently sucked into the existential meaning-making propaganda of modern capitalism and the money pull of the weekly Target ad.

We learn more from watching, imitating and experiencing that from listening and taking notes. Who then can teach us? We need new heros to show us what Jesus meant in verse 12 - that can model for us what it means, looks like and costs to be Christian. (Mother Theresa, Matthew Fox, Soeur Emmanuelle, Desmond Tutu, Ben and Carol Weir) Isn't that what Dia de los Muertos is about in a senses? Or All Saints Day? Who are your heroes in the faith?

Here are some great pages on this from Jesus for President, pp. 228-231 & 318-322. Click on the image to enlarge it for reading. If it speaks to you buy the book!

Let's Just *&$#in Vote Already!

This bit from last night's Jon Stewart is brilliant, 

a zeitgeist of what the nation is feeling, 

experiencing and the change that we ALL need!

High School Musical Election Distraction

If you're tired of hearing about the 3 senators and a governor...

here's a little humor break straight from East High!  

Vote W-I-L-D-CATS November 4th!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Bumper Sticker of the Week

I love living in the East Bay.

New Blog on the Near East School of Theology

in Beirut, Lebanon

Friend Carol, who works for NEST, has begun a blog about the Near East School of Theology. She's currently spending several weeks on site in Beirut blogging about happenings, relationships and personal stories.

neareastschooloftheology.blogspot.com

Faith & Politics

OK - am I harping on a living/dead horse?  I've been talking, preaching & blogging on this for the past 8 weeks.  And today the SF Chronicle Insight (editorial/opinion) section published a whole edition on faith and politics.

I think they're inseparable for me in terms of living as a person of faith.  Yet I also refuse to limit my faith perspective to focusing simply upon one issue: marriage, abortion, school vouchers, war, or stem-cell research.  I follow Jesus who was all about mercy, compassion, justice, inclusion and personal transformation and systemic salvation.  He didn't focus on only one issue, rather he opened all his action to a experiential reflection upon the breadth and depth of his perspective, faith and worldview.  I can only hope to do the same.  AND I don't want anyone else to force their religion upon me, whether Muslim, Buddhist, Atheistic, Catholic, Evangelical, or god forbid - Presbyterian! :)   What do you think?

Here's some great articles in today's Insight

Public Debate and The Quietly Religious (A different perspective on faith and politics other than the dominant evangelical/fundamentalist one).

Catholics shifting to Democrats this time

Same-sex marriage foe challenged from within

Why I'm Voting NO on 8

This past week I've witnessed, experienced and talked through half a dozen encounters, some verbally abusive and borderline violent in our neighborhood regarding Proposition 8. (See my last blog, Blogging Towards Sunday October 26th for more theologically reflective thoughts on that).

I'm voting NO on the proposition, which has come as a shock to a few people as I am both an unashamed follower of Jesus and a protestant pastor.

Here's why I'm voting NO:

1. I believe, theologically, philisophically, and politically that we each and all are created "good" in the image of God, are created equal, and should be neighborly loved as God loves us and as we oftentimes love ourselves.

2. I believe in the separation of church and state. There is a reason our founders and framers began the amendments to our Constitution with this precision [link]. I follow Jesus as teacher, prophet and Lord. Yet I don't want our government to try to legislate a particular interpretation of what that may or may not mean, in particular in a way that could become something like a legalistic Christian version of the worst of Sharia law. "Government should not endorse, promote or subsidize religious views - and particular religious views should not be the determining factor in public-policy decision making." I don't want the government telling me how to transmit my faith-philisophical & worldview values and perspectives to my children. The flip of ensuring that I'm protected that way, means that I have to ensure that no one is treated that way.

3. Some would say that I'm a laxist in my faith, a heretic in my interpretation of the Christian Scriptures and doomed to hell for my non-fundamentalist faith practice. This is a big discussion. I would assert that I do believe and assert the authority of Christian Scripture, which I read and interpret essentially through the lens of who Jesus was, what he taught, did and how he lived. For me the fundamentals in faith, of following Jesus come down to the Sermon on the Mount, living out the Beatitudes, Loving God with all of who I am, and loving my neighbors in the same way, a radical affirmation of the inherent beauty of dignity of all creation, the universal brokeness of the human condition and tendency to life-denying judgment, and the call to love the least and little in a christ-ic way.

4. There are a lot of things said, repeated and proliferated that are diabolical twistings of the truth in order to scare people and motivate radical de-humanizing polarization through fear: Equality under the law and the right to marriage will not result in:

a. the restriction of the rights of religious communities. I already decline to marry people, and have the right to do so at my own discertion (which isn't racially, or orientiationally biased). The government won't force any religious community or clergy-type-person to perform weddings that they don't want to. Besides who would want to have someone officiate over your wedding that doesn't approve?

b. the state will not mandate and force public schools to advocate, legislate or dictate same-sex marriage to our children. This is ludicrous. My children attend a school where possibly half of the teachers are gay or lesbian. It is the more openly loving and deeply respecting learning community I have ever encountered and experienced, for the kids and the families.

c. there are some ridiculously silly fundamentalist, quasi-facist, propoganda being distributed these days that evoke the Judeo-Christian and claim to represent it with unquestionable authority and unassailable deniability. I received in the mail yesterday a letter addressed to protest clergy asserting that there is a direct link and connection between Same-Sex Unions and Child Sacrifice. (Bad Bible study by the folks at the Judeo-ChristianView: the Canaanites didn't do child sacrifices to Moloch because they were gay. They did so because that was the twisted god that they worshipped). [Here's their letter which also ties this into support of Barack Obama]. This is just one example of fundamentalist perspectives that claim to take the high moral ground, possess authoritative moral practices and definitive interpretations of the Jewish/Christian Scriptures - which have always been know to profess a unique faith with different perspectives and approaches to faith praxis. It's just not true. And it's not good Bible reading.

d. that legalizing same-sex unions will destroy traditional marriage (in particular in a Christian sense). This is ironic, the tradition of marriage in the Bible begins with polygamy, and historically inaccurate. Marraige was highy legislated and encouraged in medeival Europe by the royalty because it created a new way to tax subjects (maybe this would solve our current budget problems!?). I have yet to encounter troubles in my marriage because of gay and lesbian couples that are in our family, in our relational communities or in my neighborhood. Ther 50% failure rate of "traditional hetero-sexual" marriages in the USA has nothing to do with the presence of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters. It's called human nature, selfishness and our brokeness. I think for myself, that I'd rather focus on the log in my own eye rather than upon the splinter in another's eye.

5. I read yesterday on a neighborhood discussion board that we are being fooled when we equate equality of marriage today with the legal/religious/sociological battles for equality in terms of inter-racial dating/marriage in the past. I would disagree. How is it different. Rights are rights.

Of course I'm subjective and biased (we all are). Here's some links (trying to be fair and balanced) if you want to think some more about the issue.

"A Line in the Sand for Same-Sex Marriage Foes" [NYTimes]
Conservative Christians lead Prop. 8 Push (with good Bible Explanation Table) [SFGate]
No on Prop 8 Site
Yes on Prop 8 Site
Covenant Network [Presbyterian Christian Association Against Prop 8]
James Dobson's Focus on the Family and various broadcasts / print documents Supporting Prop 8

How are you going to vote? Why? What are your motivations for doing so? What do you hope your vote will help our nation/state move towards?

Blogging Towards Sunday

October 26
Jesus for President
Matthew 7:1-5

We're in a time of intense polarization, fighting, in-fighting, name-calling and judging. The neighborhood I live in has witnessed protests and counter-protests regarding Proposition 8 every night this week. On Wednesday the protests were broken up by the police after the YES crowd parked a car in the middle of the intersection and ramped up the level of the fight. The cover of this week's New Yorker points to the atmosphere of intense polarization, blame laying and us-vs-them mentality resulting in radical judgment of others: whether over wardrobes, war records, orientations, economic policies or who is an real American and who is a false one. Suddenly it's not just Democrats vs. Republicans, but plumbers versus nurses, neighbors versus neighbors. We have something in us that pushes us to judge one another. It's a wonder we haven't had more assaults in Oakland this past week.

This week's scripture has Jesus condemning judgment. Funny. An ironic paradox. According to scholars Jesus isn't talking about judgment like "nice hair," "hypocrite," or "bad politics." Rather Jesus is saying that we can't play God. We can't condemn one another to hell. We can't say to others that they're going to burn, or be excluded while we won't - because we don't know. Jesus tells a funny story about logs and splinters. He turns things upside down, basically saying who are you to judge. For when you judge you overlook yourself. And if you thoughtfully, prayerfully and spirit-filled-ily look at and examine your own life, you won't be quick to judge others. We can't condemn or pretend to be able to exclude anyone else from God's love: whether they're gay, straight, plumbers, from Alaska, community organizers, own more than 10 houses, or come from Scranton. God doesn't want moral watchdogs, for such dogs always lead to violence, and a downward spiral of more violence. Rather God wants participants, pre-emptive actors.....blessed are the peacemakers....for theirs is the kingdom of God. Maybe the Amish are on to something...

Here's some great pages (270-277) from Jesus for President that talk about non-violence....the Jesus Doctrine. Click on the picture to make it bigger and easier to read.

Election Scare 2.0

You Could Be Responsible for Destroying the Planet.
I know I am. [Here's the proof]
A great video. You can tweak it and pass it on to get out the vote.
Thanks to Adam for the link.

Too Much Material

So many images....so little time to blog


...

thanks to matt, nani & patrick for the images...

Bathtism

Make a Decision 2008

I've been talking a lot about politics and faith the past weeks, how all faith is necessarily political, faith is meant to be visible, not just a question of private morality, or intellectual doctrines, but a life orientation, a foundational world-view that shapes our discernment, decisions and commitments. So I thought between now and the election I'd blog a bit on some of the decisions that are coming up.

I was struck by this thought this past weekend during and after a baptism in the church community I serve. The person who was baptized is highly involved and greatly visible within the context of our faith community. Gentle, kind, compassionate, helpful, thoughtful and engaged, it's a person who is recognized across the diversity of our community members as a leader. After worship 3 things happened to remind me of the power of baptism and the active integrative connection between faith and politics.

1) I was cleaning up the church and happened to be bent over picking up some papers when I turned and looked up through the baptism font water towards the light streaming through a stained glass window (Here's my best photo attempt to recreate the moment). The waters of baptism oriented what I saw, (re)shaped my experience of my context, and invited me to a different point-of-view, with a perspective on the margins of the majority view of the font (and life itself). That's what baptism is, more than an invitation to a new experience of life, it's a re-orientation of how we live, make our priorities, see ourselves, relate with one another, and understand the ultimate power of the universe: that death is transformed into new life by the power of God - all the little (and big) deaths that we experience in life.

2) I was reading Jesus for President, prepping for our ongoing series and read this great section on baptism. (Jesus for President, pp. 144-147. Click on the images to make them bigger and easier to read. If you enjoy it buy the book!)

3) In talking with kiddo #2 about the day, she told me that the bath-tism was really cool. Traditionally, at least in some parts of the church community, we understand baptism as a bath, a cleansing of evil, a renouncing of the power of the devil or forces of systemic evil in our world and life. Many folks I've known struggled with that, in particular regarding infants, wondering what evil they have to renounce. I think #2 is onto something, in particular in light of the JFP interpretation, it is a bath-tism: an invitation to a new life-orientation based upon the kingdom of God and its priorities as opposed to those of the nations of the earth, multinational corporations and other empires that seek at all expense to preserve their own power. I'd down for that sort of bath-tism which is more about action than information, more about participation than observation, more about activism than spiritualism. Faith is policital, that's what we've been bath-tized into.