Toto Takes A Sacrament

Until fairly recently, the more educated a person living in the Western World became, they more he or she would tend to define reality as “things that can be perceived through the five senses."
We have been debating for centuries whether there is anything beyond the world we perceive through the five senses. Every culture (and every generation) tends to answer this fundamental question differently. We are just emerging from an era when most people have doubted whether there was anything beyond.

In their heart of hearts, even many Western Christians have doubted.

Lately, we have entered a new era. Now, many people seem ready to believe in anything, or to believe and disbelieve at the same time, or to believe one thing for one component of their lives – perhaps their social life, for example -- and to disbelieve it for another component –perhaps their workplace.

It’s pretty confusing right now.

Well, how could we not be confused?

We are born into a world of matter. We experience the reality that tells us material effects have material causes. We have learned about germs and molecules. The world seems solidly material at every level. And yet, we also feel things, experience things, and imagine things that seem not to make sense in a world of mere matter.

Somehow, love just doesn’t feel to us like the irresistible push of biology or like an evolutionary instinct to insure the survival of our species.

Justice doesn’t really feel like mere group loyalty.

Aesthetic appreciation certainly doesn’t feel to us like a right brain appreciation for mathematical proportion and balance.

In the last few centuries, most educated people have tried to adjust their feelings, even dismiss them. They wanted, after all, to be sensible people.

It’s just at our most treasured moments we just can’t seem to be sensible!

Music makes us weep. Love makes us write poetry. Justice moves us to risk our lives. Such experiences don’t make sense if sanity is defined by our acceptance of “reality” as simply another way of saying, “the material world.”

The people of Western Civilization were trying to be sensible but then were hit by revolutionary scientific and mathematical theories; such as relativity and quantum mechanics. These theories told us that things like “time” and “distance” do not really exist. They taught us that the mere act of observing something changes its nature. Therefore, we can’t be certain what things are like when they are not observed … blah, blah, blah, blah ….

What were we normal people supposed to think when our experts suddenly could not agree on a definition for “reality”?

Eastern religions tend to deny the reality of the material world any world. They say that the material world is an illusion.

YIKES! Dorothy, where did Kansas go?

We post-moderns are doing our best to make sense of the world. Sometimes, like when we are in love, the Eastern mystics seem right. At other times, like when we need medical treatment, Western materialists seem to be right. (Unless we decide to go for acupuncture, voodoo or herbs!)
We get confused: is the universe material or spiritual?

Is matter or spirit the illusion?

The new uncertainties of the Western World call for answers that Christians have always had but have lately forgotten.

Christianity does not force us to choose between matter and spirit. Christianity teaches that reality is, (and indeed that we ourselves are) both material and spiritual.

Christianity also claims that God, who rules the spiritual world, is Creator and Lord of the material world too.

That what we mean when we say that “we believe in One God, the Father Almighty, creator of all things, visible and invisible.”

Once a week, we explore both parts of the universe, seen and unseen, by peering through thin places in the wall of our material word.

The thin places are called sacraments.

What pours through them is called grace.

Dorothy discovered how this works with a simple pair of red slippers. When her feet clicked the shoes together, she left the crazy world of Oz and landed back home.

Christians do this every Sunday with water, wine and bread.

Windows In The Wall

Imagine a group of people who live their entire lives within a single room. Suppose this imaginary room has no windows and that the people inside this room draw conclusions about the larger world from the noises they hear coming from outside. When they hear a dog barking, imagine what stories they must tell about the noise, having never seen a dog. What about a siren? What sorts of explanations would they make to explain such strange and mysterious sounds!

People inside the room might say that the sounds are produced by molecular vibrations within the walls. Such people might study walls intently, perhaps becoming exerts of wallology.

Others might say that the sounds are not from the walls, but are the result of sound waves converging at or near the walls that emanate from moving objects within the room. Such people might be called experts in sociophonic theory.

Yet others might sincerely believe the sounds are something like an “audio mirage,” the fabrication of bored brains. These would be the psychologists of this imaginary room.

And finally, I would think, there would be another group of people; people who believe in a world “beyond the room.” They would repeat old stories about beasts and thunder and about mystical water that runs down from a ceiling so high that no one can see its end. Those people would doubtless argue endlessly about the color of dogs (which, you will note, none of them have ever seen) and about the subtle differences between nonsense words, such as “snow,” meaning soft frozen water, always to be distinguished from “ice,” meaning hard frozen water, or from “rain,” meaning water falling from high up, or from “flood,” meaning water accumulating from underneath, and other such examples of hopelessly muddled obscurantism.

The people who live in this closed-in room might call those who believe in a world beyond the room something like, “the foolish ones.” The people who believe in the world beyond might simply call themselves “believers.”

Despite all the differences between the groups within the closed-in room, there is one belief they all share. Every one of them will know that he or she must someday walk out of the room. None of them will know why. They only know that each person somehow receives a mysterious summons. After this summons -- sometimes immediately and sometimes a while later -- the one summoned must walk out the door. This door (called, naturally enough, the GREAT DOOR) opens with a terrifying groan.

Once a person exits through the GREAT DOOR, he never returns.

People in the room would be divided over what happens when a person leaves the room. Some say that there is a feast on the other side of the GREAT DOOR. Others warn that those who leave the room are tortured. Yet others insist that those who walk through the GREAT DOOR disappear and cease to be.

It’s all very mysterious.

No matter how wise people get, they are always a bit frightened of leaving the room. It is therefore rare for a person to willingly walk through the GREAT DOOR.

Now imagine that among the foolish ones who tell the old stories, there is a smaller group. Those in this smaller group make an amazing claim. They say that a long time ago one man discovered what was on the other side of the GREAT DOOR.

The foolish ones claim that this man walked through the GREAT DOOR just like everyone else. Then, they say, he came right back through it. He then walked around the room, speaking to his friends. He then left the room once again, promising everyone that he would soon return and lead them all into the great OUTDOORS.

According to those who believe this story - and not everyone does - this same man now invites his friends to gather once a week at a certain place at the wall. They claim that at this appointed place and time, they converse with him. Not only that - they claim that in the wall are places through which one can look out and see (very dimly, they admit) the other side, to the GREAT OUTDOORS!

Those thin places in the wall, claim these foolish people, are made up of one part “this room stuff” and one part “outside stuff.”

Not many people these days go to those thin places in the wall.

Some say the so called “thin places” are a hoax. The places are made of “this room stuff” and nothing else. Others say that the thin places are boring, or that they require too much work. Some say that at best one can only see dim shadows of things that are probably nothing more than figments of one’s imagination at these “thin places.

Some however, return from their weekly visit to the thin places with certain feeling called “joy unspeakable,” because there is no “inside word” to describe what they feel.

So, I imagine, the people of our imaginary, closed-in room are deeply divided. They are all trying to make sense of the only world they have ever known; trying to deal with desires that seem beyond any possibility of fulfillment. Most of all they deal with fears about the Great Door, and spend a lot of time sorting out all the contradictory stories about what it means.

Perhaps we can forgive them for being confused.

Were it not for the outside noises, the old stories (that even the most skeptical among them enjoy,) and their desire to experience such things as “light,” “rain” and “dogs;” the people in the room might adjust to the fact that this closed-in room is “all there is.”

Unfortunately, the noises, stories and desires don’t seem to go away. So the people of our closed-in room can’t seem to adjust, no matter how smart they get.

Why Are Pastors So Irritating?!

The work of pastors and other church leaders has drastically changed in my lifetime. A generation ago, had you asked most people to define the work and responsibilities of a pastor, you would have heard some variation of “teaching the scripture; shepherding a flock; coaching people’s spiritual life and so forth.” Now, many people – including pastors – are a bit unsure about what pastors are supposed to do.

If you notice the models for church leadership through the centuries, you will see a pattern that looks something like this:

33AD -300AD a pastor was a shepherd/worship leader;

300AD – 1500AD, the lower clergy pastors were meant to be models of spiritual life, teachers/spiritual fathers while upper clergy were community leader and political authorities;

1500 – 1900, the model for Protestant pastors was scholar/teachers

1900 -1970, the model for Protestant pastors was businessman/community developer

1970, the model for Protestant pastors has been entertainer/entrepreneur

Well, why not?

If Holy Matrimony is no longer a sacred covenant one is making between people and God but rather a photo op that acknowledges a secular marriage contract in a church building – what is the pastor except a nice man that stands in the center of the wedding for some reason saying a few lines the bride and groom agree for him to say?

If church is a business involving making unbelievers as comfortable as possible, the crowds as large as possible, and the finances as dependable as possible – then the last thing one needs is a pastor getting too preoccupied with teaching the scriptures, or overly concerned about the spiritual health of the flock.

In the spiritual shifts we have made, the biblical role of shepherd can become an obstruction to the development of a “great church.” Some leadership development conferences say as much.
In today’s reading (2 Samuel 12) Nathan the prophet confronts the king with an uncomfortable message: there is sin in your life and you must repent. In this case, the king humbly accepts the message and repents. That is the exception rather than the rule! Most of the time, people are unhappy about being confronted and quickly move to: “and who made you a judge over anyone?” Most of us pastors respond to that reaction with an admission of our own sinfulness and an apology for having brought the matter up in the first place.

In this matter as in so many, the church has been going the wrong way and is cooperating with the world, the flesh and the devil to dismantle everything holy, sacred, and “other” about the work of the Kingdom of God in the midst of a lost world. Pastors and church leaders have lost their belief in their own calling. They have been frantically trying to remold ministry in ways that remove the threat of the pastoral office to contemporary culture and secular power.

Moving the other direction is difficult and full of spiritual peril, not the least of which is pride and the seduction of ecclesiastical power. Nonetheless, we must move in the other direction if our churches are to be places of holiness and grace instead of spiritual amusement parks.

The generic word for church leader in the New Testament is “elder.” Eldership was an office in Israel before the coming of Christ. In fact, the English word “priest” is merely a shortened form of the word “presbyter,” or elder. Elders have different gifts – he or she may shepherd people and thus are called pastors. Others are prophets or evangelists. Still others teach, have gifts of administration or functions of church government. Some elders are called into full ordination, and may serve in some full-time capacity, whenever possible. Other elders are, in essence, lay pastors.

Together, elders are called to lead local churches and the Church universal in ways that are consistent with the faith “once and for all delivered to the saints.” Since the earliest times, three major orders of ministry have been recognized within the Church, and thus most groups, of whatever denomination will have some sort of three-tiered leadership structure as follows:

The Bishop - The bishop emerged early in the government of the Church as something like a chairman of the local elders. Evangelicals in independent churches normally call the person who functions as a bishop, the “senior pastor.” In older denominations, the bishop will “oversee,” – that is what the word means – the leaders of many local bodies. A bishop ordains new ministers, represents the pastoral authority of his fellow ministers in any given local church or geographical area of the church, and connects his flock to the church of Jesus everywhere and in all times.

Pastor - The pastor, priest, or presiding elder – whatever we call him -- nurtures the flock, teaches the ways of God, and administers the sacraments. He or she is called to parent the spiritual lives of those who follow Christ in word, deed and example.

Deacon - from the earliest days of the Church deacons have served the people in whatever tasks required in its daily life. The earliest deacons were selected to oversee the benevolence department of the Church in Jerusalem. (See Acts 6.) Most Christian churches see the deaconate as a step toward full ordination for some, but a fulfilling role of service in and of itself for others. Trustees, administrative board members, lay pastors, and various types of local church leaders fall into this category. I like to think of deacons as serving churches in the way that nurses serve hospitals. They are the backbone and most precious of all the pastoral offices and one should not attempt any level of ministry unless he or she can function as a deacon.

So why can pastors be so irritating? Sometimes because they are tired. Sometimes because they are sinful. Sometime because they are dumb. These days, pastors can also be irritating because they have lost their way and are trying to please a world that is spiritually dead and has no category for the work we are called to do.