Thank God for Satan

 

THANK GOD FOR SATAN

Yes, thank God for Satan. Now, now don't panic—I trust that you think saying that is a bit weird. But again I say thank God for Satan, for the tempter. Those of you have read John Milton's Paradise Lost need to get Milton's theology out of your head—and not just because he didn't like women, but because it distorts the Scripture. The Book of Revelation is helpful here for us to understand the really vital contrast between the demonic or radical evil on the one hand and Satan on the other.

Revelation 13.1-5 describes the beast from the sea, rising up to make war on the saints. This is the demonic. This image of the beast from the sea, this war making, blaspheming, haughty monster is radically different from Satan as the tempter. Remember one of the other places where we met Satan was at the beginning of the book of Job. `Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan (or the adversary) also came among them.' Satan, the adversary, the tempter is God's right hand spirit—at least that's what the book of Job says.

Surely, this is the Satan that we meet in the temptation story. Remember Jesus has been baptized—what an incredibly joy to baptize Josh and Kipp and Jason this morning. Through his baptism the Holy Spirit flows into him and he hears the voice of God—you are my beloved son. Maybe everybody heard it and then felt—Wow, isn't this wonderful. Tender event. A moment of intimacy, of adoption, of birth.

Bam! Mark's telling of the story says the Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness to face the tempter and to face the tempter alone. He was with the wild beasts—I guess that is supposed to be comforting. And the angels ministered to him.

So, when we feel the Spirit upon us, when the wind of God blows upon us, when are hearts are strangely warmed, then we probably will get sent out into the wilderness—to meet the tempter, the adversary, the devil's advocate.

Augustine said `Thank God for my temptations for they tell me who I really am.'

Imagine a conversation among some high school senior guys late in the spring. `Heah man, come on man, I know I a little wasted, but I can drive. Don't wimp out on us and call your Dad for a ride. Come on man, have some guts.'

Middle aged couple. `Honey, you talk about that new guy in your office, you know the divorced guy from Atlanta in a funny way. There is a little quiver in your voice. Your neck reddens a bit. It's great to welcome him to the company, but be careful.'

Or how about something like this. `How are things going? I know you are doing the audit for my travel expenses and some of the documentation is missing and the amounts seem high, but if you could overlook that I would appreciate it.'

 

Thank God for our temptations—for that is how we find out who we are—where are deepest loyalties lie—how our love shapes our life—how our justice commitments bring us to the battles and barricades of justice.

Jesus is led, Jesus is driven into the wilderness. There to be tempted. First temptation. Do a miracle Jesus, make a little bread, aren't you hungry.

Like God said to the Israelites in the wilderness, I am more than my body—I am the blessed, body-soul incarnation of the God of love and justice.

Heah Jesus, how about this deal. I will give you authority and power over everything. The book of Moses says to worship God and God alone. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. That is true even of me, the beloved son and yet still the servant of God. That's what the Scripture says.

Heah, Jesus watch this. Here are some scriptures for you. Come down from the pinnacle of the temple. Come swooping down like some cosmic eagle. Then the people will worship you.

That's what they want. They want miracle, mystery and authority. They want you to razzle dazzle 'em.

And the soul of Jesus shouts out—you shall not tempt the Lord your God.

Hidden in these temptations is that one powerful, powerful little word. The temptation of Jesus is in the word `if'. Heah Jesus, you didn't really hear voice, the voice of God. You aren't so special.

And the soul of Jesus explodes onto the soul of the world. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me—he has anointed me in baptism to preach good news to the poor and release to the captives.

Jesus is not coming to fulfill his mission thru razzele dazzle. No, first off, the beloved Son will create clean and contrite hearts in his disciples, in us. Thru his disciples, thru then us,the beloved son will build the beloved community. He will build it with his life and his teachings and his healings and he will build it with his death and so his body broken for us, his blood shed for us and he will build it with his eternal presence by the Holy Spirit in us and thru us and for us.

And that is why we thank God for Satan, the adversary in the wilderness.

Dreaming of a community of faith and justice

SEEKING AFTER GOD

 

Eph.3:14-21

John 6:1-21

 

 

Psalm 14 includes this marvelous phrase. `The Lord looks down upon us to see if there are any that act wisely, that seek after God.' We are here because we want to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly. We want to love and be loved. We want to act wisely. The Psalm says that to do all that requires of us that we seek after God.

 

But how do we go about doing that? Simon Dettleback was taking a piano lesson from Tom, he finished and came down stairs and we were winding up our Older Adult Ministries meeting. He wanted to play the sanctuary piano, but Tom thought maybe the meeting was still on so he told Simon to ask me if it was ok. But I see the piano as Tom's province, so when Simon asked me, I said he would have to ask Mr. Tom. With a sweet, puzzled look he said—Mr. Tom says to ask you and you say to ask him. I didn't have the heart to tell him that `Well, yes, that is just how we do things in the church.'

 

Isn't that sometimes just how it feels as we do indeed seek after God. Or in these great phrases from Ephesians that we enter into the mystery of Christ that we might be strengthened in our inner life. The particular mystery Paul is talking about is how the love of God, given in his theology first to the Jews, has now flowed out into all the peoples of the earth—so that there is finally no distinction. All are one in Christ Jesus our Lord—slave and free, Jew and Gentile, male and female. What are revolution—not only are the dividing walls of hostility broken down but the coming culture of radical equality in the Kingdom is proclaimed and embodied.

 

So this is part of the mystery of Christ. When Paul writes about the mystery of Christ he is not using the word mystery the way we commonly do.

 

Summertime—Jersey shore or our backyards or porches and people are reading murder mysteries by the millions. Something happens—through a variety of steamy and clever adventures the hero or heroine will assuredly figure it all out. In the end, problem solved. Case closed.

 

But this mystery of Christ is far different. Indeed, we are seeking after God—Christ, by the power of the spirit is rooting us in love and giving us power to understand that we may be filled. This mystery is to be embraced—it is not a problem to be solved.

 

Years ago there was a book about transactional analysis called Born to Win. The cover photo showed a little girl at the ocean with the waves washing over her feet and her arms outstretched like she was welcoming the ocean and all of life into her soul. Somehow that photo speaks to the power of embracing, welcoming and accepting the mystery of God in Christ flowing over us and around us and through us.

 

So again how do we embrace this mystery? How do we seek after God—knowing that this God is not a problem to be solved—but a transforming reality to be embraced?

 

One of the ways is traveling. Jesus feeds the 5000—withdraws to the mountain and then comes down to the Galilean Sea. The story says that in the night the disciples are crossing the sea when the wind comes up. Jesus miraculously comes to them. The Scripture often tells of journeys and encounters with the Holy.

 

We travel partly to see ourselves and to see others and to see the world with new eyes.

 

`Every journey has a purpose that the traveler is not aware of'. Put another way, God is working around the fringes of our journeys. I was born in the Latham Sanitarium in California Missouri in 1945. My father and 36 year old brother are buried there. We stopped there on the way to see my mother 3 weeks ago. While traveling I had a dream. (The Scripture says that one way we can seek God is to listen to our dreams and that at least some of them speak to us about the deep things of our spiritual journey.)

 

In this dream I am visiting a beloved professor. It is like he is retiring and this is the end of the school year. He is packing up books. I noticed one book which is about the theologian Paul Tillich and the noble prize winning author Albert Camus. I say how much they have stirred my soul, especially when I was young. He concurs. I am a Jungian Christian—I believe in the God of the soul, in the self not in the God who supposedly controls history, directing how nations shall rise and fall.

 

Another female faculty member asks me what I will do after graduation. At first I say I don't know then I realize that I want to go back to Mississippi and to live in a community where we were inspired by Fannie Lou Hamer and worked together sacrificially for justice and sang and lived together. Immediately, I feel overwhelmed by emotion, leave and walk down the stairs near tears.

 

How do we seek God? Tillich and Camus and Borg and Lamott and Mary Oliver and Wordsworth and Nouwen.

 

How do we seek God? Do justice—at least give it a shot. Equal Exchange. FISH. Casa Ezperanza, ASP. Erin, JPKang, Mike and Deanna Womack.

 

How do we seek God? We remember the saints, the old professors who taught us and touched us, who helped us embrace the mystery.

 

How do we seek God? We come into the sanctuary wanting to make music and we don't take no for an answer.

 

We do justice, love mercy and walk humbly—turn our face to the rising sun and sing joyously.

 

 

Saints, Heroes, Role Models

I remember Charles Barkley saying emphatically star athletes are not role models. They are athletes and that only. He insisted that kids should look to their parents for role models.

With young people in confirmation class, I would ask for names of movies they had seen about the lives of real people. Usually, it was a very short list. Some had seen Gandhi. Several had seen movies in school about Martin Luther King. Most had seen a Jesus movie in church. But that was usually about it.

Last weekend,my wife and I attended the ordination to the priesthood of the son of long time friends. One of the aspects of the service of ordination and the mass the following day that struck me were the prayers for the saints. Those prayers began with the apostles and ranged through 10 or 12 names of the martyrs of the 1st and second century. We did hear the name of St.Francis and Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. Sisters of her order were in attendance. But no other names from the present except the Pope and the Archbishop.

We all ponder this question of who are the saints, the heroes, the people who offer us spiritual inspiration.

Who are those people for us?

Clearly, that list cannot end with Christians martyred for their faith 1900 years ago. How do we as parents, as people, as church folk share with others those real life people who have been an inspiration to us? How do we remember and honor those whose lives inspire and challenge and bless us and who are clearly part of that mighty cloud of witnesses who surround and support us.

Giving Money Away

On a recent trip to Nicaragua, I met a professor who is active in a progressive Catholic parish in Philadelphia. He said that the priests of the church urged people to tithe by giving 5% of their income to the church and 5% to other causes. That is great and probably alot of us church types try to do that or something like that. If we belong to a Church, we know how to give to the church.

But how do we learn to give away that other 5% with efficiency and effectiveness and joy?

I guess I am feeling the need for a workshop or class or discussion on Giving Money Away. How do we find the right partners--especially as we look internationally? What kinds of accountability can we expect? If we are major donors, how do we use our influence in ways that are helpful and not paternalistic?

In the Chronicle of Philanthropy years ago, I read an article that argued persuasively that the reason more money wasn't donated was that there was a shortage of people who were fundraisers, who were actively seeking to create that flow of money from those who have(and often know that they have too much) and those who are in need.

Now, we don't just want to give to beggars, whether in the form of little kids on the street or organizations, that just appeal to our sympathies. I am amazed at today's Star Ledger which includes at least five ads pleading for people to donate their old car or boat and always to help children. These organizations almost always have obscure names and addresses, but a tax ID number. Smiling children draw the reader in. But they feel like quasi scams or at the very least organizations that spend an enormous amount of money on advertising.

So we know some of the kinds of organizations that we don't want to support. But we need to find those that are very powerful, cost effective and that call forth our soul's joy as well as our checkbook's power. How do we do that? Do you all know any helpful resources?

Gracias

Coming back from Nicaragua for perhaps the 15th time, I feel that painful and poignant mixture of hope and despair. Some of the kids that we visited at Inhijambia will die--of drugs or AIDS or despair or violence. Doesn't it make you angry that we human beings are both so cruel and so selfish. and yet there are these incredible, really mind blowing beacons of hope shining out into the storms of despair and death. and sometimes, even we aer those beacons. My wife, Gail, was a guidance counselor and guidance director for many years. She had innumerable families and students tell her `we couldn't have made it without you.' We each really need to celebrate those places where our work helps change people's lives for the better.
at the same time, certainly we have deep admiration for those who work in environments that are so difficult, we cannot imagine how they do it.

So every time I visit Inhijambia in Managua, I am deeply humbled by the courage, tolerance for pain,energy, hope that flows from the staff but also flows from the children, one to another. they sang a song called Casa Abierta. I will seek out the words.

What will it take for us to prepare our souls and minds to really address the global crisis of poverty and death? That crisis is personal and political--it is about the greed of many of us westerners, but also of wealthy Nicaraguans. It is about political structures that enrich a few rather than serve everyone. The global economy impacts Nica with great power. And culture--how can people work together across different cultural divides in order to build the earth rather than destroy it.One of the more depressing sights in Nica was to see the long lines all the time at Western Union. How are we going to live better in Nica--send one of the kids to America or Costa Rica and have him/her send money home. Ok--partly hopeful, but also sad. Cant we build a world where there are decent jobs in Nicaragua.

I am back to being committed to blogging five times a week, basically Monday to Friday. I appreciate your feedback.

No Gracias

Years ago, my wife and I visited Acapulco. We wandered the town. Saw the cliff divers. I tried para sailing, but when your eyes are really bad and you have to give up your glasses you can't see much. Mostly though, we relaxed on the beach. The beach was beautiful but the children selling trinkets, jewelry and shells just came at us in waves.

No, gracias. No, gracias. Over and over again we would say no, gracias, trying hard not to look them in the eyes.

I once asked a Dominican Republic pastor how he dealt with beggars as we walked through a congested market in Santo Domingo. He said he never gave to children as that encouraged them to be beggars. But since there was really no adequate provision for handicapped people or old people he would give to them. That seems to be a good guideline.

I have never had my shoes polished at a shoe stand in the US. But when kids offer to polish them on the streets of Santo Domingo,or Guatemala City, I occassionally have said yes. How do you deal with those situations?

so the challenge of being able to comfortably say No gracias, but also not having a greedy and hardened heart is upon us. when Christians travel on mission trips, they probably should contribute at least as much money to the cause of the organization that is hosting them as they spend on themselves.

we need to find our voice that enables us to say No gracias comfortably so that we can also say--Gracias, gracias for everything.

Nosotros Venceremos

I organized a group of 15 people that visited Nicaragua recently. We included friends from the church I currently serve as the interim pastor and 7 people from Drexel University. Only 3 of us had ever visited Nicaragua before. In part, we were tourists and so off to the Masaya Volcano and the Laguna de Apoyo and the markets and restaurants we went. But more importantly we were working with partners and searching for new reliable organizations where we could share goals and resources. So we visited cooperatives, schools, a cancer treatment center and a factory that builds concrete, prefabbed houses. We helped build one such small house one morning.

For ten years I have worked with a friend in Nica, who created and operates a center called Inhijambia, that works to save the children who are the throwaways of the society. About 4000 children live on the streets of Managua including 400 who live in the sprawling Oriental Market. Inhijambia works to get these children food, health care, hope and healing. Virtually all are addicted to glue. They have been physically and sexually abused. They are continuing testimony to the sin that abides in us and the evil spirits that throb through our cultures.

From a half dozen previous visits, I knew the children would sing for us. The boys song was particularly moving as they stood with their arms draped around each other shoulders. Two young homeless boys probably about 6 or 7 years old had entertained with dancing.

I had decided that we should offer a song for them. We will sing We shall overcome in English and then in Spanish. I asked our group--have you ever sung it in Spanish. Almost no one had. Three college students hadn't sung it in English.

But we remember vaguely Tiannemen Square on the 20th anniversary of the student democracy uprising. The Chinese sang We shall Overcome. We rejoice in the freedom won by the countries of the former Soviet block. The Poles and Hungarians sang We shall Overcome. What is it with us that we have stopped singing it and other songs of hope and struggle and solidarity. And that we haven't learned to sing it in Spanish along with De Colores and Gritare and other songs. Hearing Pete Seeger sing We shall Overcome before the inauguration should have been enough to stir up our singing souls--so that we can be strong and joyous in the battles for the lives of the precious children of God who live in the streets of Managua