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All Hail Broke Loose!
By Mark D. Roberts | Saturday, May 30, 2009
On Wednesday evening, all hail broke loose in Boerne, Texas. For a brief time, we had a stunning hail storm, complete with deafening thunder and blinding lightning. The photo below shows the result. No, this is not snow in winter. It’s a collection of one-inch sized hail in 80 degree weather.
Now I realize that some of my readers will not be impressed with this. I know that parts of the country get softball-sized hail. But, in all of days in Southern California, I probably experienced no more than ten hail storms, and the hailstones never got bigger than peas.
But even my unimpressed readers might be interested in another piece of this story. As I was driving home from work, where it was not hailing, I talked with my son at home. He told me of the large hailstones at were falling. So I asked him to run out and get me a couple, putting them in the freezer so I could see them. In the photo below you see some of the hail with a nickel.
Nathan, always the obedient son :), did as I had said. He grabbed an umbrella and ran outside to grab some hail. As he did, all of a sudden saw a flash of light and heard a stunning crack of thunder. Then he felt a huge electric shock pass through his body. He dropped the umbrella and ran inside. Nathan felt okay, except for his pinky on his right hand. He had been holding the umbrella in this hand and his little finger was touching the metal of the umbrella. Nathan had been struck by lightning (or perhaps “splashed” by a bolt that hit nearby). The good news is that Nathan is fine . . . well, at least he’s still the same as he was before :). In the future, we won’t be carrying around umbrellas in the middle of a hailstorm!
Topics: Texas | 5 Comments »
Thin Places: Theological Reflections and Hesitations
By Mark D. Roberts | Friday, May 29, 2009
Part 10 of series: Thin Places
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Today I want to wrap up this series on thin places by offering some theological reflections and hesitations. If you’re joining this series late in the game, let me say that the language of “thin place” is a Celtic metaphor that describes physical locations in which God is especially present. A retreat center or a quiet sanctuary would be obvious examples of potential thin places. This description has become increasingly popular in the last couple of decades because of the influence of Celtic spirituality in America.
In this series, I have sought to examine the notion of thin places from a biblical perspective, beginning with the original thin place, the Garden of Eden, and then moving through the Old Testament (Mt. Sinai, pillars of cloud and fire, the tabernacle, the Temple in Jerusalem). From a New Testament vantage point, Jesus serves as the ultimate thin place, the “place” in which God’s presence is revealed most directly. Those who follow Jesus carry on his thin-place mission. Thus the church should be a thin place, not only for its members, but also for the people to whom it has been sent.
Of course most of the biblical thin places aren’t exactly places in the literal sense. The pillars of cloud and fire, the tabernacle, Jesus, and the church occupy places but are not limited to any particular place. They are movable place-fillers rather than places, per se. The notion of thin places, though not necessarily contradicted by Scripture, cannot be easily derived from it. In fact, as I mentioned earlier in this series, part of what made Christianity so confusing in the first-century Roman world was its lack of sacred places. Unlike very other religion, it didn’t have temples.
This was not just an accident. The early Christians believed that Jesus was God in human flesh. Through his death, he offered the once and for all sacrifice for sin, so that there was no longer a need for a temple and its sacrifices. Moreover, the early Christians believed that the Spirit of God had been given to them. The bodies of individual Christians were the temples of the Holy Spirit, as was the gathered church (so 1 Corinthians 6 and 3). So when a bunch of Christians got together in a house, as they often did in the first century, this was a sacred place, or a thin place, if you prefer.
In light of the New Testament, it’s hard to find much support for the notion of thin places in the strict sense. If we use the phrase “thin place” as a metaphor, and don’t invest it with too much reality, then I don’t have a problem with this language. But if we start reifying thin places, if we believe that God has actually chosen certain geographical locations as special portals into heaven, then we risk misunderstanding God and his way of making himself known. After all, the Word became flesh, not a place. And the Spirit of God dwells in human beings, not in sacred buildings.
Moreover, most so-called thin places tend to be secluded, either by physical distance or by thick walls or both. Thin places are generally quiet and isolated, unlike most of the places we live. It is certainly true that in places like this we can be more attentive to God. Remember that Jesus himself withdrew from the crowds in order to spend time with his Father in deserted places. But we make an unfortunate error is we start thinking that God is more present in such isolated places than in all other places.
To be sure, God makes his presence known in a particular way when we are quiet and alone. But God also makes his presence known through the loud praises of his people. And God makes his presence known when his people build houses for the homeless in his name. And God makes his presence known when a Sunday School teacher loves a bunch of rowdy three-year old boys. And God makes his presence known when somebody extends a word of sympathy to a colleague who is going through hard times. And God makes his presence known when a boss chooses to offer grace to somebody who messed up on the job. And so on and so on.
Perhaps the greatest problem in the thin place metaphor, apart from its lack of biblical support, is the worldview it assumes and the implications that flow from this worldview. A thin place is, by definition, an exception to the rule. And the rule states that this world and the heavenly world are separated by a thick barrier. God is on the other side of the barrier, mostly separate from the world, except for unusually thin places in which he makes himself known. This worldview is not uncommon, but it is not biblical. Scripture teaches us to see God as much more involved in this world than the thin place metaphor assumes. Thus I am hesitant to use the this metaphor, because I fear it reinforces incorrect and unhelpful ways of seeing God and the world.
Now, as you might guess, I think we need places of quiet retreat, places where we can pray without interruption, places where we are more apt to hear God. I wouldn’t be the Senior Director of Laity Lodge if I didn’t believe that such places can help us to experience God more intimately and truly. But one of the main reasons we go on retreat is so that we might learn to be more attentive to God’s presence in our ordinary lives. We take time away from work, for example, so we can learn to experience God more consistently in our workplace.
I also acknowledge, quite gladly, that God does make himself known in certain places with extraordinary intimacy and regularity. People do in fact encounter God at Laity Lodge more often than they do at Garven Store, an establishment near Laity Lodge where you can buy jerky, biker gear, and beer. I even think I know some of the reasons people meet God at Laity Lodge. It’s exceptionally quiet and stunningly beautiful. God’s truth is taught there week in, week out. Those who founded Laity Lodge and those who work there are committed to treating each guest with striking hospitality. (Notice, it isn’t just the place, but the people in the place who make a difference.) Moreover, Laity Lodge has been dedicated to God ever since its founding. He uses this space, in part, because those to whom he entrusted it gave it back to him for his purposes. But one of the things I love about Laity Lodge is the fact that our founder, Howard E. Butt, Jr., believes that our experience of God at the Lodge is meant to help us experience and serve him more effectively in the world.
If you want to use the thin place metaphor, then you might want to say that the purpose of thin places is to help us realize that all places can be thin. Or, better yet, perhaps the purpose of a thin place is to train us to make the other places in our lives thinner. Moreover, when we realize that the Spirit of God dwells within us, we will come to believe that we are called to be thin places, as God makes his presence known through us.
Topics: Thin Places | 3 Comments »
The Church as a Thin Place: Dreams and Visions
By Mark D. Roberts | Thursday, May 28, 2009
Part 9 of series: Thin Places
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In yesterday’s post I began reflecting in a more practical way on the church as a thin place. Today I want to continue these reflections, sharing a few of my dreams and visions for the church.
The Church as a Place of Prayer for All Peoples
In the Old Testament, the Temple was the supreme place of prayer for the Israelites. But in some prophetic passages, a more expansive vision appeared. Consider, for example, Isaiah 56:7, which speaks of the Temple as a “house of prayer for all peoples.”
The church, it seems to me, should be such a place, not just accidentally, but intentionally. Yes, I know most churches are theoretically open to all kinds of people. But, in fact, most churches do not make an effort to invite people to pray with them.
I struggled with this fact as Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church. Along the way, my fellow leaders and I made some changes that were meant to welcome all people to join us in prayer. For example, at some point we realized that we prayed The Lord’s Prayer every week, but nowhere provided the text for those who didn’t know. So we began printing and projecting The Lord’s Prayer for the sake of our guests. We also closed every service with an invitation for people to come forward for prayer with an elder or deacon. During my sixteen years at Irvine, we prayed for thousands of people in this way.
Daily Prayer
But I had other dreams, dreams that I was not able to realize because God called me away to Texas, of all things. One of these dreams was to do as many more liturgical churches do, and offer morning and evening prayer every day. Our form of prayer wouldn’t necessarily be quite a structured as one would find in a Catholic or Episcopal church. In fact, I thought it would be fun to vary the menu quite a bit. Yet, with utter consistency, we would offer a short prayer service very day, perhaps at 7:00 in the morning and 7:00 in the evening. This would be intended, not just for church members, but for people in the community. We would say to our neighbors: “If ever you feel like you want to pray, or if every you need somebody to pray for you, or if you just want to sit in quiet while others are praying, come join us. You are always welcome.”
Adding twelve prayer services a week (Monday – Saturday) would have taken some organizational work, but it would have been well worth it. I figured that the pastors (we had three and a half) would lead some of these prayer times, but not all. Others would be led by lay leaders, including non-ordained staff, elders, deacons, and others. We’d always have at least two people present, preferably a man and a woman. The prayer time would last around fifteen minutes, though people would be invited to remain for quiet prayer if they wished.
I tried to get my fellow leaders to be excited about this idea, but, frankly, we had too much going on to give this vision the attention it needed. I sometimes thought that offering prayer of this sort should be at the heart of any church’s mission, but I didn’t press the point, right or wrong. It’s certainly easy to see how such a practice of daily prayer would help a church be a thin place, a place where people encountered God.
A Prayer Chapel
I had also hoped that, someday, Irvine Presbyterian Church would build a prayer chapel that could be open all day. This would be different from the chapel that was part of our master plan, a building that would be suitable for small weddings, memorial services, and so on. The prayer chapel would be quite small, designed so that it could remain unlocked without continual supervision. Given the weather in Southern California, this could have been a prayer garden, though we didn’t have much space for something like this.
I realized that a prayer chapel such as I envisioned would create lots of challenges, since it would be open and usually unsupervised. But I had hope that, in time, we could build such a space and offer it to our community as a place of quite prayer. Many on our church building committee were favorable to this idea. It may, in fact, still be on the drawing board somewhere.
Programmatic realities took precedence, and we built an administration building with a youth center instead. I think this was the right choice, and I supported it completely. But I never gave up the hope that, someday, we might build a place of prayer for our community, either a chapel or a garden.
The “Holey” Church
Today, my dreams and visions for the church have more to do with what the church does while dispersed in the world than with what it does while gathered together for prayer, worship, discipleship, and service. I don’t in any way wish to disparage the importance of the church gathered. But, in my role with Laity Lodge, I’m more invested in the church scattered.
Thus I want to revisit something I wrote about in my last post, the vision of the church as a collection of thin places out in the world. If you think along the lines of the thin place model, with the earth and heaven being separated by some sort of thick barrier, then the people of God are millions of thin places in the barrier. Or, to mix metaphors, we are like holes in the Swiss cheese barrier between the earthly and the divine. The church would be, pardon the bad pun, a “holey” church, a church of holes through which God’s presence would be experienced.
So, though I’m all in favor of churches providing spaces for people to experience God, I’m even more excited about the idea of Christians living in the world in such a way that people don’t even have to go to a church facility or a retreat center to sense the presence of God.
In my next post I want to offer some theological reflections on the notion of thin places, and share some hesitations I have about this metaphor.
Topics: Thin Places | 2 Comments »
The Church as a Thin Place: Some Implications
By Mark D. Roberts | Wednesday, May 27, 2009
In my last post in this series, I suggested that, from the point of view of the New Testament, the church is to be the world’s most significant thin place. To put it more differently, in the time after the ascension of Jesus and the descent of the Holy Spirit, God has chosen to make himself known most of all through the church. Of course God is not limited in this way, and can reveal himself in a plethora of ways and places. But, in a very real sense, the church is to be the world’s thin place.
Of course the “thin place” metaphor fits awkwardly here because the church isn’t really a place. It’s not even a vast collection of places so much as a vast community of people. When I speak of the church as a thin place, I meant that God makes himself known through his people, both as they are gathered and as they are scattered into the world. Thus when my church in Boerne, Texas gathers for worship on Sunday, we are (our should be, at any rate) a thin place. When we go out into the world, we become several hundred thin places, at least in potential. We, and the other Christians in our town, are portable thin places.
I wonder what would happen if we began to think of ourselves in this way. What do you think would happen if I thought of myself as a thin place in the following circumstances?
• Interacting with my colleagues at work;
• Doing chores with my children;
• Having a leisurely dinner with my wife;
• Talking with the clerk in the local convenience store;|
• etc. etc. etc.
And what difference might it make if churches thought of their corporate life as a thin place, a place where people might interact in a profound way with the living God?
Let me answer this question with one quick thought. First, if churches saw their corporate life as a thin place, perhaps they’d have more times of quiet and even silence. When I was the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church, our worship services almost always included times of silence. Some were complete quiet; others were “covered” by instrumental music. I appreciated these quiet times and used them to commune with the Lord. There were “thin times” for me, if you will.
Then, in 2000, I took a three-month sabbatical. During that time I visited many churches in the Orange County area. These were all impressive. Most were larger than Irvine Presbyterian. A few were megachurches. All included top-notch music and excellent preaching. But none of these churches left time for quiet in their worship gatherings. They were joyous, exuberant, God-honoring, and consistently loud. (Photo: The “thin” sanctuary of Irvine Presbyterian Church)
Now I am not suggesting that thin places have to be quiet. God can surely make himself known in the midst of and even through noise. (Remember the epiphany on Mt. Sinai, for example: thunder, lightening, trumpet blasts, etc.) But, surely, there is a time for God’s people to be quiet together so that they might hear the “still, small voice” of the Lord both individually and corporately.
A church that thought of itself as a thin place would, I believe, become more intentional about creating times of quiet for people. It might include such times in corporate worship on a regular basis. Or it might host an evening prayer service with lots of quiet. Or it might sponsor a silent retreat. Or it might construct a prayer garden where people could wait on the Lord. Or . . . . You name it (literally, if you wish, by leaving a comment).
Tomorrow I’ll have more to say about some practical implications of a church as a thin place.
Topics: Thin Places | No Comments »
“Hot in Recession: Chocolate, Running Shoes, and Spam”
By Mark D. Roberts | Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Now there’s a combination you don’t see very often: Chocolate, Running Shoes, and Spam. No, no, not the Spam that fills you inbox with donations from Africa and illicit invitations. This recent AP story referred to Spam, the stuff you eat. And, apparently, you and I are eating more and more of it these days.
Why is this happening? According to the AP, “Consumers have trimmed household budgets and postponed cars, major appliances and other big-ticket items. Yet they still are willing to shell out for small indulgences and goods that make life more comfortable at home, where they are spending more time.” Spam must be one of those “small indulgences.”
I expect some of you are plenty familiar with Spam. Others may not have tasted its delights. When I was growing up, every now and then my mother would fix Spam for dinner. Maybe she knew that if she served Spam sometimes then we’d be more grateful for our usal fare of natural meat products. Or maybe it was her secret plot to turn me and my siblings into vegetarians. (Actually, I didn’t dislike Spam as much as this suggests. When sliced, fried, and served with eggs, it was rather like bacon, ham, and sausage rolled into one.)
A few years ago I did a short piece on Spam for my blog. It was actually a rant about email Spam. But I thought I’d run it again, just for fun.
A Little More About Spam
Why, I wonder, do we call unwanted, junk e-mails and the like “spam”? The consensus of opinion is that the name is based, not on the luncheon meat, but on the song that was a part of a skit on Monty Python’s Flying Circus. This song included a bunch of Vikings singing: “Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, lovely spam! Wonderful spam!” To hear a bit of this marvelous number, click here (.mov, 96 K). The point would seem to be that spam is a bothersome invasion into one’s consciousness that keeps on going without end. That would describe Internet spam pretty accurately, I think.
Of course Spam is also and originally a luncheon meat. My mother would serve it to us once in a while. Sometimes we’d have Spam as the main course for dinner. She liked Spam, I think, because it reminded her of her childhood. It was a common food during World War II. (Photo: An actual ad for Spam from the 1940s. Makes you want to run right out and buy a case. Mmmmmm.)
What is Spam, really, you wonder? Well, there is a nifty Spam website, hosted by Hormel Foods, the creators of Spam, that will answer this question, and almost anything else you might wonder about Spam (if you wonder about Spam at all). Spam is a combination of pork shoulder and ham, along with “secret spices.” The name “Spam” was thought up by Kenneth Daigneau, who won $100 in a Hormel “name this wonderful luncheon meat” contest.
Spam, by the way, debuted in 1937. Since that time Hormel has sold over 7 billion cans of Spam. Just think about it. That’s just a little less than one can of Spam for every human being on earth.
If you’d like to learn more about Spam, you can always visit the Spam Museum. It’s in Austin, Minnesota, near the Iowa state line. That’s over 16,000 square feet of Spam stuff. Wow!
More fun, perhaps, would be an experience with the Spammobile. I wonder if you can rent one of these for a summer RV trek? (Photo: The Spammobile. No joke! But, according to the official Spam website, the Spammobiles were retired from service in 2008. How sad!)
Last time I visited Las Vegas, I was wandering through the casino of my hotel. Lo and behold, I spotted a slot machine that surprised me. It had a Spam theme. Wow! Now there’s a delectable combination: Las Vegas and Spam.
I didn’t play that slot, since I’m not inclined to gamble, even when Spam is involved. But I must say I did wonder: If you hit the jackpot on this machine, what would you win? Money? Or Spam? Cans of Spam! “Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, lovely spam! Wonderful spam!”
Well, that’s about enough for today on Spam. If any of my readers eat Spam, and especially if you like it, why don’t you put up a comment about your experiences of Spam. When did you start eating it? What is your favorite Spam recipe?
Topics: Fun | 6 Comments »
Some Thoughts for Memorial Day
By Mark D. Roberts | Monday, May 25, 2009
For most of my life, Memorial Day signified the beginning of summer with a day off from school or work. When I was in college, Memorial Day usually fell during my final exams, so it was an extra study day. For the next couple of decades, my major goal on Memorial Day was to avoid the crowds at campgrounds, parks, and beaches.
But as I get older, I find myself thinking differently about Memorial Day. My new perspective began during the First Gulf War, when my brother-in-law was stationed in Bahrain. As Iraq hurled Scud missiles in his direction (and, remember, back then we feared these missiles might well contain chemical or biological weapons), I realized that my brother-in-law might die defending my freedom. For the first time in my life, the personal cost of war touched me. As it turned out, the Scuds were mostly duds, and my brother-in-law returned from the Persian Gulf safe and sound. But my heart had begun to change.
Then, as Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church, I got to know several men who had served in the military, many in the Vietnam War. Listening to their experiences once more touched my heart. One of these men encouraged our church to adopt a tradition of singing The Navy Hymn (”Eternal Father, Strong to Save”) in the worship service prior to Memorial Day. We formed a men’s chorus, which I had the privilege to join. It was deeply moving to me to ask, in song, the Lord to protect those who put their lives in peril for the sake of our nation, and to do so with many brothers who had done this very thing. (To hear a portion of this hymn from a Navy choir, click here.)
In the last several years, my appreciation of Memorial Day has grown as I have had friends who have put their lives in harm’s way in Iraq. Though I haven’t known anybody who has been killed in this war, I have watched many news reports of families who have received the catastrophic news that their loved ones have died in battle. I find myself more and more moved by the sacrifice that people make for our country in general, and for me in particular. My gratitude is growing each year, and therefore my commitmen to make Memorial Day something more than the beginning of summer.
What we call Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day. It was a day to decorate the graves of the Union Soliders who had died in the Civil War. Over time, Decoration Day included all who had died serving our country in our armed forces. It was also known as Memorial Day from the 1880s, though this did not become the offficial title until 1967. Congress fixed the day of Memorial Day to the last Monday in May by passing a law in 1968 that was enacted in 1971. Previously, Memorial Day always fell on May 30. In 1970, Memorial Day was celebrated on a Saturday, the last “non-Monday” holiday.)
The core idea of Decoration Day – decorating the graves of fallen soldiers – has been forgotten by many Americans, but not at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. Every year, about 3,000 soldiers from the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment place American flags by the graves of all who are buried in Arlington, more than 250,000 flags in total. I’ll close with a couple of photos of this tradition and one from last year’s Memorial Day ceremony at the cemetery.
Soldiers preparing to put the flags by the graves:
Arlington National Cemetery with “flags in”:
Two children who lost their parents participate in Memorial Day ceremonies at Arlington:
(Photos of soliders and children from http://www.dvidshub.net/)
Topics: Holidays | 3 Comments »
Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling
By Mark D. Roberts | Sunday, May 24, 2009
Joy in Doing God’s Will
I take joy in doing your will, my God,
for your instructions are written on my heart.
Undeniably, there are times when obeying God is hard, times when we’d much rather follow our own will than his. Even Jesus knew that experience as he wrestled with his Father’s will in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Yet there are also other times, times when doing God’s will is easy, even delightful. In Psalm 40:8 we read, “I take joy in doing your will, my God.” The sense of the Hebrew verb translated here as “I take joy” is experiencing pleasure. We receive pleasure from knowing that we are doing that which honors and glorifies God. Moreover, when we do what’s right, we feel a sense of well-being that comes from achieving our life’s purpose. We have been put on this earth to live for God’s glory. When we do it, we feel joy.
In Psalm 40:8, David explains his delight in obeying God by adding, “for your instructions are written on my heart.” The Hebrew word translated as “heart” literally means “belly” or “bowels.” It was used much as we speak of the heart, as the physical location of emotions. In this verse, David is not saying only that his thinking has been shaped by God’s law, but also that his emotions have been honed by God’s instructions. Thus he feels happy when he acts according to God’s will.
I would love to get to the place in life where I truly delight in doing what pleases the Lord, even those things that are not easy for me right now.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: Have you ever experienced joy in obeying God’s will? When? What helped you to feel joyful? How might God’s truth be inscribed on your heart?
PRAYER: O Lord, as you know, sometimes I struggle to do your will. My flesh fights against you, desiring short-term pleasures rather than the long-term joy of obedience. But there have been other times when obeying your will has given me delight. I think especially of actions that have been hard for me. By your grace, I have been able to do what honors you, and this makes me very glad.
May your truth so shape my heart that I desire what’s right and despise what’s wrong. May I find even greater joy in obeying you. Amen.
_________________________________________________
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This devotional comes from The High Calling of Our Daily Work (www.thehighcalling.org). You can read my Daily Reflections there, or sign up to have them sent to your email inbox each day. This website contains lots of encouragement for people who are trying to live out their faith in the workplace.
Topics: Sunday Inspiration | No Comments »
AP: Hanalei Bay the World’s Best Beach
By Mark D. Roberts | Saturday, May 23, 2009
The AP reports that Hanalei Bay on the Hawaiian island of Kauai was ranked as the best beach in the world by “Dr. Beach,” Stephen P. Leatherman. (HT: Nathan Roberts.) Leatherman, director of Florida International University’s Laboratory for Coastal Research, said, “The sheer beauty of Hanalei Bay is breathtaking. It’s really an idyllic setting.”
No kidding. The north shore of Kauai, including Hanalei, is one of my favorite places in the world. So, in honor of its recent recognition, here are some photos of the Hanalei area.
First, Hanalei Bay (from the condos where I was staying, near the St. Regis Hotel).
Next, a quaint church in Hanalei. Linda and I attended worship there. The service was God-glorifying and the theology quite biblical.
Then, the view from a coffee bar in Hanalei. Yes, they had Internet, and cats. There are thousands of feral (wild) cats on Kauai, some of which are friendly.
Finally, a view from a few miles west of Hanalei. This is Makana Peak, though it’s best known as “Bali Hai” from its role in the movie South Pacific.
Topics: Places | 2 Comments »
Commitment!
By Mark D. Roberts | Friday, May 22, 2009
If you’re a squirrel, it takes commitment to steal my bird seed.
Topics: Fun | 3 Comments »
The Church as a Thin Place
By Mark D. Roberts | Thursday, May 21, 2009
Part 7 of series: Thin Places
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In my last post in this series, I examined how Jesus impacts our understanding of thin places. If a thin place is a location where God’s presence can be experienced with unusual intensity, then Jesus himself was the ultimate thin place. Yet, as I noted in my last post, Jesus did withdraw from people to pray, suggesting that one’s location may have something to do with one’s relationship with God. Deserted places, free from noise and earthly demands, often can serve as thin places in our lives, even as they did in the life of Jesus.
Yet Jesus did not establish one or more sacred places to serve as portals to the divine from his followers. It is quite curious, actually, that key places in Jesus’ life did not take on sacred status among the first disciples. We have no reason to believe that they frequently returned to Jesus’ birthplace, or his tomb, or his own desert “retreats” in order to pray.
The fact that the early Christians didn’t have designated sacred places was perplexing to people in the Greco-Roman world. Virtually every recognized religion in this culture was identified by its holy places, people, and things. The holy places were the temples were people communed with the gods. The holy people were the priests, who handled the holy things, the sacrifices offered to the gods. But the early followers of Jesus met in houses or public gathering spaces and didn’t construct special buildings until at least two centuries after Jesus’ death and resurrection. When they did, these structures were not considered to be temples, at any rate. (Photo: The remains of one of the oldest church buildings, in Dura Europos in modern Syria. What you see is the foundation of the building. The best parts of the building exist in the Yale University museum. This church building was constructed around 200 AD.)
There are solid theological reasons for the absence of temples among the early Christians. The very first Christians continued to worship in the Temple in Jerusalem, but did not feel compelled to build a replacement when the Temple was destroyed in AD 70. They knew that, in many ways, Jesus had replaced the Temple. They could receive divine forgiveness through faith in Jesus, not through offering the appropriate sacrifices in the Temple.
Moreover, the early Christians thought of themselves as the new Temple. In 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, the Apostle Paul responds in this way to those who would threaten the unity of the Corinthian church: “Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” Three chapters later Paul will use a similar metaphor in describing the body of the individual Christian as a temple of the Holy Spirit (6:19). But in 3:16-17, the temple is the church. In the church God makes his presence known through the Holy Spirit, who dwells in and among the gathered believers in Jesus.
So the first Christians did not build temples because Jesus had done, once and for all, part of what temples were supposed to do. Jesus opened up the way to intimate fellowship with God through his . When Jesus was no longer present on earth, he sent his Spirit upon his people. From Pentecost onward, the church was to become the thin place of the world. In the gathering of God’s people, God’s presence would be available to all. And as the church scattered into the world, it permeated the world with human “thin places,” so all people might experience the grace, love, and presence of God through his people.
At least this was the theory. It’s well know that the church hasn’t always played its thin place role very well. In my next post I want to suggest some ways the church can be a more consistently effective thin place in the world.
Topics: Thin Places | 2 Comments »
For a Little Fun . . .
By Mark D. Roberts | Wednesday, May 20, 2009
I wasn’t able to put up the next post in my series on Thin Places because I was out late last night at my son’s choir concert at school. I’ll get back to the series tomorrow. For now, I thought you’d enjoy seeing my son, Nathan, and his friend Alex singing “Me and My Shadow.” (Nathan has red hair.) Enjoy!
Topics: Fun | 5 Comments »
Thin Places and Jesus
By Mark D. Roberts | Tuesday, May 19, 2009
In my last post in this series I suggested that the Temple in Jerusalem was the paradigmatic thin place in the Old Testament. The Temple was considered God’s house, metaphorically speaking, the chief place in which his presence dwelled. Unlike the Tabernacle, the Temple existed in one place, a place to which thousands of Jews made pilgrimage each year so they might experience God together.
It’s important to note, however, that the Temple was not a thin place in the sense of a retreat center or idyllic garden of natural beauty. The Temple courts were places of busy crowds, especially during times of pilgrimage. The sanctuary of the Temple was off limits to non-priests, and the holiest place of all was entered only by the high priest only one day a year.
Jesus and the Temple
When we turn to the New Testament, we find continued respect for the Temple. Jesus’ parents, for example, presented him in the Temple in faithfulness to the law (Luke 2:22-35). They made pilgrimage to the Temple every year at Passover (Luke 2:41). Jesus echoed Isaiah in regarding the Temple as a house of prayer (Luke 19:46; Isa 56:7), and he frequently made pilgrimages there.
However, Jesus also did and said things that seemed to undermine the sanctity of the Temple. His so-called “cleansing of the Temple” was not just a condemnation of its commercialization, but also a stab at the heart of its sacrificial functioning. Moreover, by forgiving sins under his own authority, Jesus’ implied that the Temple and its sacrifices were not necessary any longer. Further, my speaking of himself with Temple imagery, Jesus also suggested that he was in some way replacing the Temple (John 2:19-22).
Jesus and Thin Places
In fact, Jesus, as the Incarnate Word of God, was the “God’s house,” if you will, in an altogether new sense. In Jesus, God came to earth to reveal himself more immediately and powerfully than in the Temple. Though the metaphor begins to break down at this point, Jesus was the ultimate thin place. Like the Tabernacle, he was not anchored to any one location, however. Yet as he moved around, God was exceptionally present wherever Jesus was present. Thus Jesus could say to those who were with him, “For the Kingdom of God is already among you” (Luke 17:21).
Given that Jesus was God in human flesh, we might think that places no longer matter at all when it comes to our relationship with God. But, surprisingly enough, Jesus himself seemed to seek God in special places. In Mark 1:35, for example, we read: “In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.” As his popularity increased, Jesus “would withdraw to deserted places and pray” (Luke 5:16). 
The example of Jesus suggests that certain places can help us pray more faithfully, and perhaps even experience God more intimately. These places are “deserted” – free from the bustle of ordinary life. Notice, however, that Jesus appears to have many such thin places. We have no evidence that he frequented one or two particular spots. (Photo: Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane by Hoffmann)
Thus Jesus’ pattern of prayer supports the idea that certain places might help us connect more effectively with God. But we do not find in Jesus the idea that certain particular places are necessarily and essentially thin. Rather, any place of quiet and distance from civilization can become a thin place if one goes there to spend an extended time with the Lord.
Topics: Thin Places | 1 Comment »
Love in the Workplace: A Tribute
By Mark D. Roberts | Monday, May 18, 2009
No, this is not a salacious story about sex on the job. I want to reflect about love in the workplace, the caring, giving, selfless kind of love, what Christians call agape (pronounced uh-GAH-pay).
In some jobs, love is virtually or actually part of the position description. For twenty years I was a parish pastor. Though neither of my job descriptions specifically mentioned that I was to love people, it was rightly implied. In fact, when I was ordained as a pastor in the PC(USA), and when I was installed as pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church, I promised to: “love my neighbors, . . . serve the people with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love, and “in [my] ministry, try to show the love and justice of Jesus Christ” (Book of Order, G-14.0405).
Given my work history, you might expect me to associate love and work. Even now, in my position at Laity Lodge, I’m expected to love my colleagues and especially our guests at the Lodge. It’s part of my job. (Actually, it’s at the center of my job.) But I think all Christians are called to love in all contexts of life, including the workplace. This is true whether you’re a pastor, a teacher, a lawyer, or a security guard.
Yes, a security guard can be a loving person at work. That’s not only a biblically-based truth, but also an historical fact. I have known a security guard who used his position to love people, even those with whom he had to be tough, and many others besides. Today’s post is a tribute to this man, who died last week.
Ron Cherry was a security guard at the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, where I was an associate pastor until I was called to Irvine in 1991. Ron began work there in 1988, so we overlapped for about three years. During that time I appreciated Ron because, with him around, I felt safe. That’s really saying something, because Hollywood Pres is located in a diverse urban setting, with all that that entails. There were many strange and dangerous people in the vicinity of the church, but Ron kept them from doing damage to people and property.
Yet even when he was dealing with some unsavory character, Ron did so with love. I watched him on a number of occasions confront somebody who was clearly up to no good. Ron was firm and tough, but never demeaning or insulting. He treated all people with respect, even when making sure they treated the church and its people with respect.
Ron exercised love in the context of his official work assignment. But that only begins to tell the story of his care for people. Ron was not just the security guard, but also the unofficial church greeter. I’ll be that, over the years, Ron welcomed hundreds of thousands of people to the church, literally. In the years after I left Hollywood Pres, Ron was usually the first person to greet me when I returned. His warm smile and handshake meant so much, and I will miss them.
Though Ron treated adults with friendly love, he was best with children. They loved Ron, especially the students at the Children’s Center (the weekday preschool). He visited them daily as a special friend, even as he made sure they were secure. My mother, who is a leader at Hollywood Pres, tells me that Ron’s death has been especially hard on the children of the church, and I can see why.
Ron Cherry did his job with exemplary love. He also used the opportunity afforded by his position as a security guard to love people by the thousands. He didn’t have to do this. It wasn’t in his job description, I’m quite sure. But the love of Christ radiated in Ron, and he just couldn’t keep it to himself.
Heaven is much better off today because Ron is there. I don’t think they need security guards in heaven, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Ron is hanging around the pearly gates today, welcoming people home.
Thank you, Lord, for Ron Cherry. We will miss him! Thank you for his example of love at work. Help me to be as loving as he was, not only when I’m doing what my job description requires, but also in all of my interactions with colleagues, guests, and others. Amen.
Topics: Faith and Work | 9 Comments »
Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling
By Mark D. Roberts | Sunday, May 17, 2009
Sickness and Sin
Because of your anger, my whole body is sick;
my health is broken because of my sins.
In Psalm 38, David makes a strong connection between his devastating physical illness and his sin. Apparently, he had sinned in some particularly egregious way. As a result, he became terribly sick, a sickness that David attributed to God’s anger.
Psalm 38 reminds us that God is sovereign. He can use any means to help us become the people he has envisioned us to be. God can use physical disease, for example, as a way of disciplining us when we sin. When this happens, we must remember that God’s ultimate purpose is redemptive, not vindictive. Psalm 38 provides an apt illustration of this truth. David’s sickness led him away from sin and back to God. It impelled him to repent so that he might be restored.
Yet we must avoid generalizing from David’s experience in Psalm 38. Some Christians have claimed, on the basis of texts like this one, that all human disease comes as a result of sin. While it’s true that disease finds its ultimate cause in the sin-induced brokenness of the world, it is not true that every instance of human sickness is the result of the sick person’s sin. The Old Testament book of Job shows that the “sin = sickness” equation falls short of God’s sovereignty. Jesus reiterates this point in John 9 when he explains that a man’s blindness is not the result of his sin or his parents’ sin (v. 3). When we are caring for those who are sick, including ourselves, we must never assume that sickness is God’s punishment for their sin.
No matter the ultimate cause of our sickness, God will use our suffering to bring us into closer fellowship with him. As we turn our hearts to the Lord in our neediness, we sense God’s presence. The God who is Emmanuel, God-with-us, does not abandon us. In fact, he often makes himself known to us more profoundly through our pain. Even as we hurt, we are reassured that his love will never let us go (Rom 8:18-39).
PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, you want the very best for us. You do not let us go in our rebellion but draw us back to yourself. Sometimes you can use physical illness for this purpose. I’ve seen it in the lives of many, and I’ve experienced this in my own life. Thank you, Lord, for your ability to work all things together for good in my life.
Today, Lord, I’m thinking of friends who are experiencing physical illness. As you know, sometimes what they’re going through can feel like punishment from you. Please help them to sort out the truth of this spiritual diagnosis. But, beyond this, help them to sense your presence in their suffering. Moreover, I ask you, Lord, to heal them. Restore what is wrong in their bodies and give them strength.
I pray in the name of Jesus, the Healer. Amen.
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This devotional comes from The High Calling of Our Daily Work (www.thehighcalling.org). You can read my Daily Reflections there, or sign up to have them sent to your email inbox each day. This website contains lots of encouragement for people who are trying to live out their faith in the workplace.
P.S. – An Invitation from Mark
If you would like to seek God’s truth in the company of other believers, I would invite you to join us at Laity Lodge this summer. We have a fine array of retreats, all of which include the examination of biblical truth.
I would especially invite you to join Scotty Smith and me for the Laity Lodge Bible Study Retreat (July 30 – Aug 2). Scotty, one of America’s leading pastors and biblical teachers, will be focusing on the closing chapters of Revelation. I’ll look at biblical texts that help us see our whole lives as part of our “high calling” to serve God. Scotty and I will be joined by top musicians Brian Moss and Lisa Pierre. This will be a fantastic retreat.
For more information or to register, please check the Laity Lodge website.
Topics: Sunday Inspiration | No Comments »
A Good Reason Not to Use Your Cell Phone While Driving
By Mark D. Roberts | Saturday, May 16, 2009
One of my son’s friends (whom I’ll call DW) recently got into a serious accident while driving in Boerne. Apparently he was talking on his cell phone and dropped it. When he reached to pick it up, he lost control of his car and hit a stone mailbox. The good news is that DW will be fine. He was injured, but nothing that won’t heal soon. His car was totaled, and so was the mailbox, as you can see.
DW put up several pictures on Facebook, including some of his injuries. I will not post the more personal photos here, but I am putting up two pictures that show the damage to the car. As you can see, DW is lucky to be alive today, and to have such relatively modest injuries.
These photos are a good warning to all of us. Thanks, DW, for helping us to learn from your mistake. Glad you’re alive, my friend. Heal up soon!
Topics: Lessons from Life | 2 Comments »