Thinking hard

I read a fascinating passage from Daniel Dennett's new book. Dennett is famous for being a 'new Atheist' one of the more vocal critics of my profession, but he has some very good things to say, and his criticisms are usually well thought out. Here he outlines 7 rules of thinking, which I found really useful.
Thinking hard

In particular,
I'd highlight his advice to be able to state your opponent's argument so persuasively that they say "yes, that's what I believe" and his advice to pay attention to "surely" and rhetorical questions, which often function as glosses over weak spots in our arguments.

I try not to preach in arguments, but I do try and think using these kinds of tools. 

Heirs of God Pentecost (Acts 2:1-21, Romans 8:14-17)

Good morning friends! It is good to gather in worship with all of you. We gather this morning on Pentecost, to remember the moment when the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples, and the third member of the trinity made herself known to them, empowering them to preach and teach and spread the gospel.

http://tvline.com/2012/03/02/downton-abbey-season-4-and-5-cast-contract/

The Holy Spirit is usually the least understood and least talked about part of the Trinity. When we talk about God as father, son, and Holy Ghost, we generally have a better sense about God and Jesus than the Spirit. After all, we have a sense of who God is- the creator, the one who made the universe, the one who we pray to, Abba, father, the main character of the Old Testament. And we know Jesus, the son, the one who came to earth, the man who taught and preached and lived and died and lived again, the main character of the New Testament. We may not always know quite what it means to call Jesus God, but we know who he is.

The Holy Spirit, though, she is more of a mystery, without an easy hat to wear or easy description to keep in our pocket. God present with us is not as satisfying as the other two more obvious aspects of the divine. Even our prayers leave her out-God almighty...in the name of your son Jesus we pray, amen.

Now, this is not an issue for all Christians-in Pentecostal traditions, the Holy Spirit is ever present, shaking the service each Sunday, as people are filled by the Spirit and respond in visible literal ways. But in our more staid worship, it is harder to say that we are swept up by tongues of fire.

So what do we do with this Pentecost image? If my sermon is not going to be translated miraculously into the various languages of our neighborhood, who is the Holy Spirit, and what does she mean for us?

Well, instead of this image of the Holy Spirit as primarily a physical or emotional experience, what I'd like to play with this morning is the Holy Spirit is God in the church. It is in the claim that the Holy Spirit is with us that we claim our authority to work in the name of God in the world.

John 17:20-26 Are We One?

Sermon 5/12/13

John17:20-26

That they may all be one

Good morning friends! It is good to gather in worship with all of you this morning.

I hope that today finds you well. Our theme this morning is one that is near and dear to my heart-the question of oneness in the church.

In our text this morning, we are offered the last words that Jesus offered to his disciples before the crucifixion- after his long discourse that we talked about last week, with it's promise “my peace I leave with you” and claim “no one can come to the father except through me”, Jesus closes his message not with a final set of commandments, but with a prayer-a prayer for his disciples, a blessing for their flourishing, and their future as the church.

At the heart of this final prayer, Jesus prayed that the church might be one, just as Christ and God are one, that the disciples might demonstrate unity so that the whole world might know that they are followers of the one God, brothers and sisters who love one another.

It is a powerful vision of a community tied together in relationship, a church that is one, just like Jesus and God are one, so committed in mission as to be one spirit. It speaks to a church spanning the globe, proclaiming one gospel, working for the good of all people, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, united in ministry, in prayer, and in practice. This is, I believe, who we are supposed to be.

But as we all know, it's not what the church actually looks like. Rather than being of one heart and one mind, I might go so far as to say that we Christians are experts at division. We have countless denominations, different congregations teaching different things, Christians on opposite sides of every core issue in our society, from abortion and torture to Israel Palestine and climate change. How can we be one when we disagree so vehemently with one another?

And I worry that I might be part of the problem- after all, I'm a member of a tiny denomination, some one tenth of one percent of global Christians, a denomination known for schisms and division, to the point that there are far more Anabaptist denominations than I can keep track of, and none of them are very large. You might even say that from the very beginning, Mennonites were the ones who took what was one, and made it many. Watching Anabaptists at work Desidarius Erasmus wept that “Christ's seamless Coat is rent asunder on all Sides.” What is more, and I'm a minority within that denomination, off on the progressive fringe of the church, and I don't always do a good job of falling in line with the established order, more likely to remain as the loyal opposition rather than submitting to the will of the whole.

My Peace I leave with you

I began this sermon with a reflection on my 3 year pastoral review. I decided not to include it in this space. 

Lets pick up after that reflection: 

Our theme this morning is my peace I leave with you. This promise from Jesus-my peace I leave with you-is one those touchstones I return to again and again in my life.

We live in a world full of anxiety-the modern world is filled with new dynamics, we fill ourselves up with things, projects and plans and activities, our stress levels are higher, and we are running ourselves ragged. To take time to be quiet and restful can almost seem impossible, between juggling work and school and family and all of the other tasks that we are expected to master in our 21^st century lives.

And I know that I can fall victim to the temptation of anxiety, worrying about all the things that are going on in my life, in the congregation, and in the world, paralyzed with fear about making mistakes and failing in my task. Since I was a young child, fear of failure has been one of my primary sins.

So it is good for me to year the voice of Jesus say again, my peace I leave with you.

This is why, I think that passing of the peace of Christ is one of my favorite Christian rituals-its such a simple device-greeting our neighbors with a few words of blessing, which makes it easy for children to learn and practice, yet it has profound potential-it is an opportunity for a moment of prayer, lifting up to God those things in a neighbor's life that might lead to chaos. It is a moment of reconciliation, to confess the wrongs you have done to a sister or a brother, at least to God. It can be a moment of rememberance, that on the night that he was betrayed, Jesus offered his peace to his disciples, that they would not be afraid. I love ritual that includes touch, the feel of the waters of baptism, the texture of the bread at communion, the visceral sensation of washing another's feet, and the small ritual of greeting in passing the peace is one of those ways to physically connect with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Now, I know that some people dislike passing the peace- physical contact is not for everyone!