Thinking About Theology

Here's what I'm thinking about, and from many different angles:

In Brad H. Young's book Jesus the Jewish Theologian, Marvin Wilson writes in the forward (p xviii),

"What emerges, however, is not "Jesus the Jewish Theologian" in any Western, systematic sense. Rather, in Jesus, Dr. Young presents an Eastern, or Semitic, theologian, one who employs a living, vibrant theology distinguished by such features as action, metaphor, mystery, quest for holiness in life, and the experience of the presence and power of God (not mere thinking about God) in the life of the individual."

I read those words and thought of my own struggles and insights along my journey as a theologian, specifically what it means to do theology, and more specifically what it means to be a theologian. In ministry, particularly through Thirst -- a discipling community in the postmodern vibe -- I find myself wrapped in a world of action, reasoned in metaphor, cloaked in mystery, and experiencing God's presence in the midst of the quest for passionate and authentic life devoted to following Jesus through my many stumblings and falls. And that is when my theologizing is most vibrant.

I've been frustrated in trying to translate that mode of theologizing into my world of academic theology, and it just doesn't seem to fit. The academy has trained me to think systemically, which equips me for the kind of theology I do through Thirst. But once a particular theological system is all thought through, the limits of any system, when attempting to articulate one's faith in the living God, are the pink elephant in the classroom. A theological system, despite appearances, can never be whole. There remains a necessity within each system for metaphor and mystery. And while theological systems are judged rationally by how well they maintain internal consistency and articulate the faith reasonably to an external audience, still these measures prove untrustworthy apart from a theological system's role in making people aware of God's presence and moving them to action in pursuing a life of holiness.

I think that, for which ever theologian a person admires -- Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Barth, Bathasar, Moltmann, et. al. -- the appeal to that particular theology is precisely its ability to make that person more aware of God's presence and move that person to act accordingly. This is where I see the two modes of theology intersecting. The irony is that, for most people of Western culture, such a measure is subjective, and therefore unreliable, making it taboo in academic critique. And yet, if we can see a difference in one's behavior for pursuing a life of compassion and mercy upon ingesting a particular theology, then can we not also give credit where credit is due by valuing the fruits of the Spirit born through theological discourse?

Otherwise the intersection of the two theological modes ceases to be an intersection at all, and becomes instead a concrete median separating two lanes of theological traffic along the journey of faith, such that they move ever toward each other without ever meeting. This is what I've experienced in my efforts to reconcile the two modes of doing theology. That is, on the one hand the academy has equipped me with a way of thinking that proves invaluable in my own life of discipleship and ministry, but too often my fellow disciples devalue or even distrust it. And on the other, my journey of living the faith and discipling people to follow Jesus has equipped me with a unique way of thinking that, more than any other influece, shapes my theological discourse within the academy, but too often my theoretical conversation partners seem to devalue or even distrust it, as well.

I'm trying, at least for myself, to break apart that concrete center median that runs between the two modes of doing theology. The risk is that by doing so, chaos will incur, resulting in both massive pile ups from head-on collisions and also never ending games of theological chicken. But, I find the reward in trying to remove the divide is that not only do the two modes merge effortlessly, but they also venture off the highway of densely trafficked subject matter and onto the less traveled scenic routes of challenging theological terrain through vistas seen only from the perspective of experiencing God in action.

Gabriel's Revelation

In case you haven't heard of "Gabriel's Revelation", a text written on stone from just before Jesus' birth -- that speaks of Israel's messiah dying and three days later rising to life as redemptive for Israel -- then check out the New York Times story about it by clicking here.

What do you think: does the concept that messianic death and resurrection pre-dates Jesus . . .

(a) challenge the claims of Christianity by suggesting that rather than discovering a new and unique revelation about resurrection and redemption, Jesus' followers interpretted his death in light of a commonly held expectation of a Jewish tradition in their time;

-- or --

(b) support the claims of Christianity by providing a context of tradition in which Jesus grew up and studied, thereby playing key roles in Jesus' discernment of his own identity and in his articulation of his mission and message?

Breakthroughs!

Today I am wrapped up in kairos time -- for me, a surreal experience of things I've been wresting with all of a sudden coming together all at once and becoming clear. I now understand existentially what it means to yell out "eureka!". It's like an orgasm of insight.

Breakthrough #1

How is it that I consider myself to be a postmodern theologian and yet can't name a single postmodern theologian I like? For many years now I've been wondering why I'm so interested in postmodern theology and yet every time I read a theologian's so called postmodern theology I think it stinks. I discovered why this is.

Typically, theologians lay out the priniciples of postmodernity then use these principles as a methodology to guide their theology. Yet using prescribed principles is the modern method. They're simply doing modern theology in an attempt to be postmodern. What typically results from this trajectory is a revisionist theology, often throwing the baby out with the bathwater, being more faithful to societal trends than to the gospel.

Posers. (I won't name names.)

Instead of being a theologian who tries to speak to a postmodern person, be a postmodern person who does theology. There is no such thing as principles of postmodernity, because we each experience and understand it differently. The phrase "postmodern principles" is an oxymoron. Does this mean then, that if we can't describe our guiding principles that we have no method for doing theology? No. The method is simply to be a postmodern person who does theology, not a person who tries to do postmodern theology. In other words, simply be postmodern, and read scripture and the church's tradition, then share how your reading helps you follow Jesus.

Breakthrough # 2

In my academic work, I've been frustrated for years . . . feeling like I was all alone in my theology. Specifically regarding salvation as cosmic communion in God. I have struggled to find a way to communicate my thoughts to my professors and peers. Then, I picked up Jean-Marie Tillard's theology. Here's a man who said everything I've been trying to argue for, but did so 40 years ago, and did it in a way that my Roman Catholic colleagues understand and often affirm. How did he steal my theology before I was born?

It's amazing that I came to the same positions as Tillard by very different paths. It's like I've found in Tillard my theological Rosetta Stone for translating my theology so others can understand me. I now have a whole Tillard diamond mine to explore. Perhaps this discovery will steer my future theological work.

Breakthrough # 3

In my ministry, I have been exploring the possibility with pastors in our synod that God may be calling us into a new kind of collaboration for a mission effort directed toward those with a postmodern worldview. Today, I had conversation with a great church leader who is excited to get started on this. It's time to take the next step.

EUREKA! What a day.

(Image "Sixteen Mirrors 03 Divine Light" by Halfdan Larsen: http://www.lycaeum.org/graphics/art/halfass/index.shtml )

Identity in Death & Resurrection

I had surgery today to repair a hernia. This surgery was my first ever. I gotta tell you, it was a walk in the park. The anesthesiologist said, "I'm going to put such and such drug in your I.V., and you'll fall a . . ." Then immediately the nurse gently called my name, "Kevan." That's when I woke up and she told me it was over.

I don't know this for sure, but I think that's what death will be like. As the only Lutheran in my eschatology course (doctrine of the coming of God's Kingdom), I argued almost alone (with the help sometimes of a Presbyterian/Episcopal classmate) that if there is an intermediate state that is niether this life nor the next (as Roman Catholics would describe purgatory), then we don't experience it.

How could we? If we accept the classic anthropology that humans are an embodied rational soul, then without the body, the soul could not perform its rational function to experience personally such a state of being. And if we reject the classic anthropology in favor of a more scientific or relational one, then the question is mute. Luther speaks of the "soul's sleep", that death is like falling into a deep sleep and the next thing we experience is Jesus lovingly calling us by name. I may not use Luther's language, but I think he's on to something here.

When I die, I can't be in the fullness of God's Kingdom unless or until everyone else God wants to live in the Kingdom is also there. Otherwise, if there are still people yet to come into the kingdom, then it can't be the fullness of the kingdom. So I think we can speak of some kind of intermediate state in which we exist but which we do not experience.

How can this be? The answer, I think, lies not in any anthropology, that is not in anything naturally constitutive of what it means to be human. Rather, I think the answer is Holy Spirit. God gives us life by breathing into us the Spirit. And for Christians who follow Jesus the messiah, the indwelling of Holy Spirit is the power of the fullfilled covenant to live in the kingdom of God and to participate in the triune divine life. God's Spirit in us experiences in God everything we experience personally. When we die, Holy Spirit "returns" to God thus keeping present to God everything we ever experienced.

And so the continuity of our human identity from this life into the resurrection does not rely on anything we do, or on anything we are. For example, some would say that when our bodies die our souls survive and are purified while they await the fulness of God's kingdom. Rather, I'd say, God's covenantal faithfulness in the gift of the Spirit maintains our identity as an act of divine grace. If we allow death to be death -- and not merely some different mode of life -- then we don't have to fuss with theological patchwork like the doctrine of a purifying purgatory to defend our anthropological presuppositions. More importantly, if we allow death to be death, then we can appreciate more fully the power of resurrection that is Holy Spirit.

Well that's what I think, at least. I haven't yet received back my paper from my professor, so I can not tell you at this time whether my ideas are heretical. But if they are, would that surprise you?

Trinity Sunday (Pt. 2)

With an understanding of God's identity as the kingdom of God, there are at least three important distinctions to note why the doctrine of the trinity matters compared to other monotheisms.

1. GOD IS LOVE

The Johannine witness in scripture reveals to us that God is love. But even if one doesn't accept the authority of scripture, most spiritual people who believe God is present in the world have a general notion of a loving God, or even that God is love. This seems to be one of the less controversial and more commonly accepted notions of God among spiritual people, regardless of their affiliation to Christianity.

But God can only be love if God is trinity. The simplest way to explain what it means for God to be three in one is that God is one community. If God were a single entity, then God could not be love. For love has an object of its affection, the beloved. So if God were not triune, then God would be incomplete without creating a creature to be the object of love in order for God then to become love. God would have to create in order to be the God who is love. God would need something else in order to be God. Creating would be a matter of necissity to God.

But because God is the community of God's kingdom, God does not need to create. Rather God freely desires, chooses, and wills to create us. Because God is triune, our lives are neither an accidental emulation from God nor a self-gratifying means to an end. [Insert here your own personal story of how God loves us and calls us into a loving relationship.]

2. GOD RECONCILES

The divine community of God bridges seemingly impossible divides in order to put things into right relationship. How can God be both one and three? How can the death of Jesus bring life to us? How can Rosie O'Donnel and Elizabeth Hasselback work together on 'The View'?

Oh wait, scratch that last one. But this last example demonstrates the opposite of what the divine community does. We often stick to our opinions and judgments so ardently that we get into conflict with those who are different than use.

Yet the God who is three in one, the God who is love, the God who is the kingdom of God exercises judgment in a much different way. Rather than pointing the finger at others, God takes a nail in Jesus' hands. Rather than giving a thumbs up or thumbs down on the worthiness of others, God's thumb taps the divine heart, saying "I alone am worthy. I alone can take responsibility upon myself to fix the problem." God's judgment is not for including some and excluding others. God's judgment puts things to rights, alligning everything with the righteous order of God's kingdom. (Insert here your own personal story of how God's judgment reconciles.)

3. WE PARTICIPATE IN GOD

Because our one God is triune, it's not as if God is a being among other beings. It's not as if you can line up all the beings from least to greatest, and the greatest of them all at the end of the line would be God. No, God is being. God is the power of life. There is no life without community, for everything that lives intimately relates to and mutually depends on others. Only the God who is inherently other to God's self in divine community can be the power of life.

The God who is love, who reconciles, and who gives life -- this God is a welcoming community. God chooses to create humans to be partners for God's purpose of mutually indwelling the world. When Jesus is revealed in glory and Holy Spirit brings the age of shalom to its culmination and the Father rules in person, at that time God will fully dwell in in the world and the world will fully dwell in God.

But God doesn't just snap the divine fingers and poof the kingdom of God on earth into its fulness. Instead, God calls, gathers, and enlightens us to participate in Jesus' mission of inaugurating the kingdom of God. God has a purpose for all people and a vocation for each person within that purpose to be the divine partners for God's reign. Now in this life we get a glimpse of participating in the divine community, and our destiny in the next life is to participate fully in the triune life. (Insert here your own personal story of people participating in the divine life.)

Trinity Sunday (Pt. 1)

My late mentor, Dr. Walter Bouman, told me that he used to dread preaching on Holy Trinity Sunday until he realized that the Trinity is simply the story of God. When we say "Father, Son, Holy Spirit" we are calling out the personal name of the God revealed in Israel's messiah, Jesus.

Theologians familiar with the work of Robert W. Jenson will resonate with that notion. Fans of biblical scholar N.T. Wright will recognize this understanding of the Trinity as the narrative of Israel's God. Based on their work, I wrote a constructive doctrine of the Trinity, which I've wrote about on this blog previously. Here's the run down for a quick reminder as you prep for Holy Trinity Sunday.

Forget about words like 'persons', 'substance', and 'nature'. Try talking about God like that and watch people's eyes glaze over. I've had several theological, philosophical, and historical courses at the graduate level on the subject and I still don't get it. Instead, tell people the story of God working through God's people to become all in all. Simply put, "God" is "the kingdom of God."

Living in the world can feel like exile. I don't mean that we don't belong here, like we're destined for life on another planet called heaven. I simply mean that this life is not yet as God ultimately intends it to be -- as evident through wars, disease, cubicles, abortions, the Patriot Act, Barry Bonds on the verge of breaking Hank Aaron's record, etc.

But God has news for us: the exile is over!

Wright says that Israel would know its exile is over when three events happen. One is that God's glorious presence called 'shekinah' returns to the properly built Temple. Jesus' disciples came to see shekinah in Jesus. [Insert here your own personal story of how Jesus is the properly built Temple of God's glorious presene and how he draws us into himself to be the Temple for God's glorious presence in the world.]

Another event is the beginning of the age of shalom, the time of never-ending righteousness, peace, and harmony. Death, distruction, and discord are overcome in Jesus' resurrection. The power of life and resurrection is Holy Spirit. Jesus gives Holy Spirit to his followers in his messianic mission so that the age of shalom, while not completely here now, already breaks into the world from the true Temple. [Insert here your own personal story of how Holy Spirit is transforming the world into God's righteous order of shalom.]

Finally, when shekinah returns to the proper Temple and shalom begins, we can be confident that Israel's God reigns in person, to be enthroned in Zion. For people in exile, praying the shema ("Hear, O Israel, your God is one . . .") indicates that Israel's God rules the world even when everything would seem to indicate otherwise. Jesus calls Israel's one God who reigns through him "Father." After Jesus comes in glory and brings to fulfillment the age of shalom, he will hand the kingdom over to his Father, to be king on the throne in Zion. [Insert here your own personal story of anticipating in hope the coming enthronement of our king.]

Jesus reveals that the three kingdom-inaugurating events are all unique characters in the story, and these three character-events together are the one kingdom of God. The exile is over, but we have not yet come to Zion for the enthronement of the Father in person. In the mean time, we follow Jesus as the leader of the exodus into God's promise.

The God whom Christians serve and worship is the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Together, they are the kingdom of God in which we are called to live and be. Nothing can be more important than knowing the identity of the God you worship. Come back tomorrow for part 2, when I will talk about why the Trinity makes a world of difference compared to other notions of monotheism.

Theology of Vocation (Pt.4 Messiah)

+ Messiah: The Human with God's Vocation

As Lent passes into Holy Week, we follow Jesus to his cross. But who is this Jesus, and why should we follow him? The claim is that he's the messiah, but what does it mean for this Jesus to be the messiah?

To answer these questions, let's break it down to it's simplest form according to the path we've been following in this 7 part series.

Obviously, the most general thing we can say about Jesus is that he's a creature. There are some critics out there who will claim Jesus never even existed, but these people are ignorant, i.e. uneducated even according to their own principles. History provides us non-biblical evidence that Jesus actually lived and led a movement within Israel in the first century. Like all creatures (see part 1), he is called into being with the vocation to praise God.

Secondly, Jesus is obviously a creature of the human kind. To be human is to be created in the image of God, dispersed throughout the world to be the ones through whom God reigns the universe (see part 2). Within this general vocation of humanity, each person is also called into a personal vocation, a way unique to his or her spiritual gifts and situation in life through which God reigns. Personally, I'm discerning God calling me to equip the church with congregational leaders who are astute theologians and with theologians who are transformational congregational leaders. What is God calling you to be and gifting you to do so that God reigns the universe through you?

We can see Jesus' personal answer to this question by what he says and does. Jesus announces the reign of God is here and now, and specifically, that God's reign is present in him. Or to say it another way, Jesus' unique personal vocation is to be the kingdom of God. New Testament scholar N.T. Wright puts it like this: Jesus is the messiah because he is and does for Israel and the world that which only God can be and do. He is the fulfillment of covenant (see part 3).

This is a significant move for theology, because it breaks us out of foreign philosophical categories to understand how Jesus is both human and divine. Traditional theology speaks of "two natures" in Jesus, his human nature and his divine nature. The problem is that no one know God's "nature". So traditionally, we've pre-judged what it means to be God (attributes such as omnipotence, omniscience, etc.), then we tried to figure out how these characteristics are communicated to Jesus' human nature. Instead of this nonsense, we can understand Jesus vocationally. We've already described how we can understand his humanity vocationally. Likewise, we can understand God vocationally. God is the kingdom of God, also called in the Bible the kingdom of heaven. Jews have so much honor for the name/word "God" that they often won't say it. So instead they speak of "heaven", meaning by that "God". So who God is is heaven. And what heaven is is God. For us to be in the kingdom of God means that we are in God. Therefore, Jesus is both human and divine, because he is the one in whom the human vocation and the divine vocation are the same. In Hebrew, we can speak of Jesus as the "shekinah", God's glorious presence (aka God in person).

This is a significant move for the mission of the church, because it breaks us out of thinking our faith is all about us -- regarding both quietism and evangelism. First, my tribe of Christians called Lutherans have a history of quietism, of lacking activism. I don't mean secular social activism, just simply living our worship to God through our actions. We often have an alergy to good works because of our resistance to works righteousness. But if we follow this Jesus to the cross and see how it is he defines being the messiah, then we come to understand that our good works are not simply in response to the gospel but participate in the gospel. What makes Jesus radically different from other people who claimed to be the messiah is that he doesn't just lead others into the kingdom of God; rather he announces the kingdom of God is present in him -- that he embodies God's reign. He is the properly built Temple for the shekinah. When he is crucified, the Temple curtain separating the Holy of Holies from the sanctuary is torn in two. There is no longer a physical barrier between God's glorious presence (shekinah) and God's people and the universe. God's kingdom is no longer confined to one physical location -- neither the Temple in Jerusalem or Jesus' body. When he is risen from the dead, Jesus breathes Holy Spirit into his followers.

So again, what is unique of Jesus way of being messiah through his crucifixion and resurrection is that he incorporates us into his embodied reign of God. We share in his messiahship. We are called into his mission. God reigns through us. Quietism is not an option. It's not o.k. just to believe in Jesus and not participate in the Body of Christ gathered on Sunday mornings. Nor is it o.k. just to worship on Sundays then not be the Body of Christ dispersed throughout the world the rest of the week. We have a mission to do, and it's Jesus' mission.

Likewise, we need not evangelize people by getting the "lost" to believe in Jesus so they can go to heaven after they die. Jesus mission is to bring heaven to us. We are to keep our eyes peeled to see the kingdom of God in our midst, even in the most unlikeliest of places like a crucified messiah, so we can get involved in the kingdom there. Rather than fretting over whether good people who don't know Jesus will have their "soul" sent to hell after they die, we can see Holy Spirit active in their life incorporating them into the kingdom of God, the very body of Jesus. Then we can invite them to recognize Jesus already transforming their lives, bringing heaven to them even now before they die.

One of the key aspects of covenant I forgot to include in the last post, is that God makes covenants with someone for the benefit of a third party. For example, God makes a covenant with Abraham for the blessing of the nations. God's covenant with Israel is for the salvation of the world. So eternal salvation is not only a matter between me and God, once I believe in Jesus. Rather, when I believe in Jesus such that I follow him in his mission, the people I encounter and the world I steward come to experience the kingdom of God here and now.

Look for the rest of this 7 part series on the theology of vocation:

+ Creation: God Calls Creation into Being
+ Humanity: The Creature with the Priestly Vocation
+ Covenant: God Calls Creation into Right Relationship
(Still to come:)
+ Trinity: God is the Fulfillment of Covenant, the Purpose of Creation
+ Salvation: All Creation Participates in the Fulfillment of Covenant
+ Church: The People Called into God's Vocation

Theology of Vocation (Pt.3 Covenant)

+ Covenant: God Calls Creation into Right Relationship

To have a vocation is to be in covenant, an exchange of promises of two parties to be in relationship with one another such that each is fully defined and identified only in the covenant with the other. [Ed. Note: It is important to add that covenants are made between two parties to benefit a third party.] For example, if you know me as Kevan Penvose yet do not know of my marriage to my wife, then you do not know Kevan Penvose. Similarly, if you do not know my vocation in the baptismal covenant with God in Jesus' death and resurrection through Holy Spirit, then you do not know Kevan Penvose.

The unique thing about being in covenant with God compared to a covenant between two people, is that we don't get a say in entering into our covenant with God. God calls us into it. Creation does not get a choice to praise God by being and doing what it is created for. God calls it into being that way. Humanity does not get a choice to be God's image in the world. God calls us into being that way. God chooses, or "elects", the other party to be in covenant, and that's just the way it is. There are no "if" clauses when God cuts a covenant. There are no proposals for our consideration or negotiation.

God tells Abraham, "I will make of you a people more numerous than the stars. You will be a blessing to all peoples." God tells Moses, "Stop whining and lead my people out of Egypt." God tells Israel, "I will be your God and you will be my people." God tells David, "I will make of you a house." None of these people get a choice in entering into covenant with God, but they all have a vocation to participate in the covenant faithfully.

The thing about receiving a vocation from God (and thus to be in covenant with God), is that a calling always draws us further toward it. We never fully accomplish it exhaustively. (Abraham didn't live to see God's promise fulfilled; Moses didn't get to enter the promised land, etc.) There is always an incompleteness to vocation, an insurmountable obstacle to fulfilling our vocation, and thus our side of the covenant. This estrangement from who we are called to be is known as 'sin'. (There, Paul, I defined it for you. Happy now?)

This is a significant move for theology, because it breaks us out of traditional limitations -- both with theological method and with the question of evil (theodicy). In terms of method, classical theology has used many philosophical structures to support its claims. Yet seldom has Christian theology structured its claims on the key theme of the scriptural narrative, namely that of covenant. For example, St. Anselm can develop the satisfaction theory of atonement based on Greek metaphysics, rules of logic, and modeled on the feudal system -- all without taking into account that Jesus makes atonement precisely through God's covenant with Israel and the world. And this theory has dominated most of the past 1,000 years of Christianity! Many theologians since Anselm have described Jesus and salvation in ways that are supposedly true without being dependent upon Israel. Instead, all theological theories are to be defined in terms of covenant. (As, I'm attempting to demonstrate in this 7 part series.)

In this manner, we can best theorize about the question of evil in terms of covenant. The astute reader will have noticed that I have described creation and humanity in terms of a vocation that can never be fulfilled, and therefore 'sin' is part of how God creates us. This claim might be heretical. Eh, what the hell. A little heresy is good for the church. The point in making this claim, is that salvation is not God's plan 'B', as in God created everything fine and dandy then Adam and Eve screwed it up with the Fall, so then God has to fix it. So either there is an evil force comparable to God, or at least God allows evil to exist to maintain human freedom. This is the problem of evil for theology. Neither of these options are satisfactory in light of a good God. Rather, salvation is the continuation and fulfillment of creation -- God's one and only plan 'A'. Ultimately God is responsible for the existence of evil. There's no way around it. But creation isn't done yet. God takes responsibility for completing creation without evil by fulfilling the covenant whereby God reigns. This is God's answer to Job: "Where were you when I created the foundations of the world by bringing order out of the waters of chaos? You don't see the whole picture like I do, so chillax."

This is a significant move for the mission of the church, because it breaks us out of vocational misconceptions -- both humanly and personally. In being who God calls us to be, we always fail. Yet we see in God's covenantal faithfulness in Jesus that God fulfills the covenant on our behalf. We have a messiah who is willing to be a failed messiah (crucifixion) in order for God to incorporate us into messiahship. If we are to follow this messiah, then we will follow him into vocational failure. Rather than trying to live without sin as holier-than-thou snobs afraid to get dirty, the church freely embraces those mired in sin. We risk going to places we don't want to go and befriending people we don't want to befriend, because there we find God fulfilling our covenantal vocation on our behalf. Sin boldly, trusting even more boldly in God's covenantal faithfulness.

Likewise, when discerning our unique personal vocation, we must remember that our vocation is never fulfilled; completeness is unattainable. Too often I see people give up on their ministry, either because they think it's finished or they've failed at it. On the other hand, I often see people stick with their ministry long past the time they should move on, because they think they're not finished yet and must finish before making a transition. But faithful discernment of our covenantal vocation prevents us from making such decisions based on whether we think we've completed our calling.

Frequently, this decision is made to end a struggling marriage, or to prolong an abusive one. If we want a divorce because our marriage is tough, frustrating, and unromantic, and we think we've done all we can to make it work, then we should re-examine what our vocation within marriage is. If we stay in an abusive marriage, because we think we can do more, that we aren't finished giving all we got to change the abuser, then we should re-examine what our vocation within marriage is.

For clergy, this decision is often made when discerning whether God is calling them to stay in their current call or transition into a new congregation. If pastors want to file mobility papers because they think they've done everything God has called them to that congregation to do, or because they think they've failed to do it, then they should re-examine what their vocation in ordained ministry is. If pastors want to stay at their congregations simply because they think they have yet to do all God has called them there to accomplish in the congregation and must complete it before moving on, then they should re-examine what their vocation within ordained ministry is. When leading a community in Jesus' mission, the pastor's vocation is never accomplished, finished, or fulfilled. There is always more to be done in leading mission, but that doesn't necessarily mean the same pastor is the one God wants to do it in that congregation. In other words, if you're waiting to answer God's call to move on until your work there is done, then you'll miss out in answering God's call. (Drop your nets and follow.) And if you're moving on simply because you think there's nothing left there to do, either because you think you've done it all or because you fail at doing it, then you'll miss out in answering God's call to stay. (Jeremiah, the bleak situation is not God's reality, so buy yourself a field here.)

God doesn't call us to leave a so-called completed vocation or a so-called failed vocation; God calls us to enter into an incomplete-able vocation in which God's faithfulness transforms failure into covenantal fulfillment. We do not get to choose when our work is done or not worth trying anymore. God calls us into covenant: God will reign in our congregation and we will lead the congregation in discerning God's reign. Ultimately, we'll never finish this vocation and we're going to fail at it more times than we can count, but on our behalf God will transform our incomplete vocation and our vocational failures into the covenantal fulfillment of God's kingdom among us.

By this point, I hope you have lots of comments, questions, and complaints. I purposely used dramatic language and left some of my arguments logically incomplete and loosely supported, hoping to spark conversation and debate. Drop me a note, and I'll be happy to dialogue with you to fill in the gaps left here. In the meantime, check back for the rest of this series on the theology of vocation:

+ Messiah: The Human With God's Vocation
+ Trinity: God Is the Fulfillment of Covenant, the Purpose of Vocation
+ Salvation: All Creation Participates in the Fulfillment of Covenant
+ Church: The People Called into God's Vocation

Theology of Vocation (Pt.2 Humanity)

+ Creation: God Calls Creation into Being

We exist, everything that is exists, because God gives a vocation. Creation is called to praise God. All of creation is holy, sharing in the presence of God.

+ Humanity: The Creature With the Priestly Vocation

Just like all creatures, humans are created to praise God. Yet within this larger vocation, the human animal has the unique vocation of being the priestly creature. God chooses humanity to be the mediator of God's intended fullness for all of creation. By living in harmonious community, we are the image of God (in Latin, imago dei). Images in the ancient world were very important. Kings put their images on coins so that when the coins were dispersed in commerce throughout the kingdom, people would see the image and know that this king reigns. Even if the king lives far away, his presence is realized through his image and his reign is feared. So it is with humanity. We are the marks of God's presence, by which God reigns all of creation, dispersed throughout God's realm.

This is a significant move for theology, because it breaks us out of foreign anthropologies -- both philosophical and scientific. I don't mean to say that philosophy and science don't have important roles in teaching us about ourselves. They most certainly do. But if we base our theology on their definitions, then our ideas of incarnation and salvation take a drastic turn. For example, classical theology adopted Greek anthropology according to which a person is an immortal rational soul (the essence of our being) in a material body (the form the soul takes on). So when we ask ourselves how God can be incarnate in Jesus, we are then forced to rationalize how the second person of the Trinity and Jesus' human, immortal and rational soul work together without getting all mixed up. Huh?! Salvation too then resorts to either saving our souls from damnation without regard to the material world or uniting our bodies to our souls in heaven as an extra bonus, but not essential to eternal blessedness.

Likewise, when theologians rely on science to set the stage (e.g. process thought or depth psychology) the drama of salvation unfolds accordingly. So instead of messing with these foreign categories, we can understand humanity in terms of God's salvation narrative. We are the creature called to be priests for creation as God's image. That's how we are distinctly identified. We'll see in future articles in this series how this vocational anthropology guides our understanding of incarnation and salvation.

This is a significant move for the mission of the church, because it breaks us out of false barriers -- both religious and societal. We can remove ourselves from religious warfare. All humanity, every person, has existence in so far as we are called into our human vocation as priests within creation. Whether people are atheist, agnostic, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, pagan, or any other category, we don't have to warn (threaten!) them with eternal damnation. Instead we can see how Jesus is bringing God's kingdom to the world through them in Holy Spirit. We still need to be in dialog to learn from one another and to appreciate various beliefs on their own merits. But at least we can already affirm their humanity and God's presence in them. Not only is this true of our relationship with people of other religions, but it is also (especially!) true of our relationship with people of other Christian traditions.

Likewise, by seeing humanity in terms of vocation we can look past society's labels. We are not middle class, terrorists, male, old, fat, homeless, or anything else. We are the image of God through whom God reigns all of creation. The church's mission is to discern Holy Spirit's presence in all people so we can then participate in Jesus' work of breaking God's kingdom into the world. So the way we speak of 'vocation' can no longer be church-speak for "What are you going to do within the church?" Nor can our use of the word 'vocation' simply be extended to what people do for a living. For most people, their job really is just that -- a job, not their vocation. Instead, we can help people live vocationally 24/7/365. How can you be truly human at work? in your family? at a party? in the market? Where do you see Jesus actualizing God's reign, and how is Holy Spirit empowering you to be involved in it? Where ever you are at the moment, how are you being the living image of God through which God is ruling all of creation in peace, harmony, and justice? Wrestling with these questions in every situation is what it is to live vocationally. That's what it means to be human.

There's more to come, so check back in a couple days to follow the rest of this series on the theology of vocation:

+ Covenant: God Calls Creation Into Right Relationship
+ Messiah: The Human With God's Vocation
+ Trinity: God Is the Fulfillment of Covenant, the Purpose of Vocation
+ Salvation: All Creation Participates in the Fulfillment of Covenant
+ Church: The People Called into God's Vocation

Theology of Vocation (Pt.1 Creation)

As I continue to do theology in congregational ministry and to bring congregational ministry into theology, my mind is focusing on the word 'vocation'. In this one simple word, the mission of the church and the theses of the academy meet. As I discern my own vocation, I've realized that vocation itself is the proper epistemological category for doing theology. In plain English, practicing our vocation gives us the way to think about and to understand stuff. Our definitions, our framework, our points of reference -- all are determined by our vocation.

Only in terms of vocation does what we do shape how we think and what we think shape how we do. (Remember, the point of my last two posts on "Salvation and Evangelism" was to say that the gospel is inherently vocational; the gospel of Jesus is our participation in what God is doing to be all in all.) So below are seven key theological concepts defined in terms of vocation.

+ Creation: God Calls Creation Into Being

God calls forth, and it is so. Holy Spirit broods over the waters of chaos and gives the breath of life. All creation is given the vocation to praise God by sharing in the divine life through Holy Spirit. Therefore, we are to understand creation in terms of vocation, God calling everthing that exists into being.

This is a significant move in theology, because it breaks us out of the confines of Greek ontology -- both of Plato and of Aristotle. Classical theology is trapped in defining things dualistically in terms of essences and forms, natures and accidents. Why must we split everything in two rather than understanding each thing as a simple whole? It is what it is. We don't have to get hung up arguing over nature versus grace -- whether the two are ontologically opposed or whether nature ascends to grace. Instead, when thinking in terms of the vocational creation, the lines between nature and grace are blurred such that this dialect is no longer helpful for us. Rather, nature and grace are perichoretic, i.e. they are mutually indwelling; they are interpenetrating. Simply put, once God calls creation into being, everything that is exists because of God's presence, and God chooses to be present in all that is.

This is a significant move for the mission of the church, because it breaks us out of our institutional walls -- both of our structural buildings and of our comfortable communities. When creation is understood vocationally, we see clearly that all of creation is holy. We become more and more aware of God's presence in the most mundane things. In my instant oatmeal, I encounter God each morning. In my baby's poopy diaper, I give reverence to the Holy One. In the face of my enemy, I see Jesus. In yawning and catching my breath, I am filled with Holy Spirit. Every moment in life is an opportunity to worship the living God. All ground is holy ground. For this reason, church leaders have to spend as little time as possible keeping matters within the church's building in order, and as little energy as possible drawing people into the gathered community. Instead, church leaders are to invest in the lives of the baptized lived beyond the walls and the gathered communities, so they can be the church in the world living its worship 24/7/365 by stewarding creation and losing themselves in love for people who may happen to look and think differently.

This point brings us to the second key theological concept. Check back every couple of days to read more in this series of the theology of vocation:

+ Humanity: The Creature With the Priestly Vocation
+ Covenant: God Calls Creation Into Right Relationship
+ Messiah: The Human With God's Vocation
+ Trinity: God Is the Fulfillment of Covenant, the Purpose of Vocation
+ Salvation: All Creation Participates in the Fulfillment of Covenant
+ Church: The People Called into God's Vocation

Salvation and Evangelism (Pt.2)

In part one of this series, I discussed the topic of salvation. The good news the church shares with the world is that the kingdom of God is here and now, and Jesus offers you the gift of Holy Spirit so that you can participate in it. This articulation of the good news is earth shattering to many of my fellow Lutherans. Rather than limiting our view of salvation through the Law-Gospel lens, we see that our vocation is inherent to the gospel itself. What we do is not merely in response to the gospel. Rather, the good news is a calling to participate in the kingdom of God.

This brings us to the topic for part deux: what the church's mission looks like when proclaiming this good news.

Let me first be clear about what the church's mission is not.

(1) We're not trying to save souls. First of all, you'd have to explain to me what a soul is, because I've never seen one. By 'soul', we certainly can't mean some sort of immortal essence distinct from our bodies. God's interested in you, in your whole person. Is there any other version of you? Secondly, if we accept the definition of "soul" in the Bible, we discover two things: (a) the Hebrew word translated as 'soul' is nephesh, meaning the life force of the whole person, or simply the whole person. (b) The Bible makes great effort to show that the force that gives and sustains the lives of our whole person is Holy Spirit.

(2) We're not offering a good deal. This deal often takes the form of a commercial for a used car dealership: "Come on down and get your ticket to salvation. All you have to do is believe and it's yours FREE." The good news is about what God is doing now to be all in all, and that doesn't rely on what we believe. God's going to keep doing it whether we believe it or not.

So this is what the church's mission looks like in sharing the good news of God's kingdom:

Rather than providing the consumer service of soul-saving and offering salvation-deals, we help people recognize God's kingdom breaking in all around them. We help people see Jesus already present in their lives, transforming them into the people God has in mind. Holy Spirit is already in them sustaining their lives; with every breath they inhale, Holy Spirit comes into them to give life again and again. Now the resurrected Jesus gives Holy Spirit in a new and ultimate way to transform their lives for God's kingdom.

We are not the good news. Yet the way most institutional churches do evangelism, you would think we are. Typically we stay in our gathered communities and designate a committee to do our advertising and outreaching to invite people to come check us out. Maybe then, they'll happen to hear the good news from the pastor. That's why congregations emphasize hospitality much like businesses emphasize customer service.

But what if congregations emphasized evangelism instead of simply hospitality? This is what evangelism looks like as the mark of discipleship called "Invite" in our "living W.O.R.S.H.I.P." covenants. We invite people to recognize what Jesus is already doing through them to reconcile all things to his Father. If a congregation should even have an evangelism committee, it would be for the sole purpose of training every disciple to be evangelists 24/7/365. Holy Spirit is unleashed; the Temple curtain is torn; the heavens are ripped open. God's kingdom is all around us.

Although the kingdom of God is not yet come completely, it is already here so that we can experience it now. In Hebraic thought, we live in the olam hazeh, which means "this world." The messiah, God's anointed king-judge, ushers in olam haba, meaning "the world to come." The gift of salvation offered by Jesus the messiah is Holy Spirit, who empowers us to participate in the tikkun olam, "the restoring of the world" from the olam hazeh to the olam haba. In other words, Jesus welcomes us into his messiahship. By being united to him in baptism, we are king-judges of the world so that we too may participate in the tikkun olam.

The olam haba is identified as the gan Eden, the garden of Eden. Our messianic vocation in Jesus' mission is to restore the garden of Eden to the world. Without the garden, the world is trashed; we're left only with the cosmic junk. God help us! Thankfully, God hears our cries for help and restores the garden to the world. Remember, that in the creation story the garden of Eden is not the entire world; it is the place in the world where God dwells. So it is in the world to come. Eden is not the whole world, but the location of God's dwelling.

Jesus is said to be the messiah, because his followers see in him shekinah , the glorious presence of God. The shekinah was thought to be in the Temple, but Jesus claims to be the true Temple. With the gift of Holy Spirit in baptism, we are joined to the true Temple; we become the Temple in which God dwells. Our vocation is to be the garden of Eden in the world so that God dwelling in us reigns the entire cosmos. God's glorious presence, shekinah, is no longer constrained to one geographic location, but now dwells in the garden of Eden that is dispersed throughout the world. When we are the garden of Eden, the world is restored; all of creation lives in peace, wholeness, and harmony known as shalom.

I have a fancy theological phrase to describe the vocational nature of the gospel by which we participate in God's reigning. I call it "collaborative eschatology." This term means that God restores the olam haba -- the world to come --through our whole lives dedicated to Jesus' mission.

Evangelism, then, means sharing the message with people: "Don't you realize Holy Spirit is your life force, so who you are is the person in whom God reigns the entire cosmos?! Come, then, and be transformed into who you really are." In other words, evangelism is helping people recognize the gift Jesus gives them so they can be who they are: dwelling in God's glorious presence and God dwelling in them for the sake of the world.

Evangelism is sharing the news that a new age -- a new world, the olam haba -- is here, and it's coming through you in the tikkun olam, the world's restoration. To use a simple illustration, evangelism is telling the good news to coworkers, neighbors, friends, party goers, and all people: "The long night is over. The sun is dawning to shatter the darkness. It is not yet at its brightest and warmest, but already we can see the sun's light and warm up in its glow. OPEN YOUR EYES! The fields are ready for us to harvest. Get with the program and join the feast."

Salvation and Evangelism (Pt. 1)

Do you know what the good news is, that which the church is called to proclaim? You're probably quite confident that you do. But allow yourself to reconsider long held beliefs. Why, you may ask, is this exercise worth my time and brain power? I say to you, simply because how you think of the church's message of salvation will determine how you live every moment of your life.

With this in mind, I'd like to begin the first of a two-part series on how our understanding of the church's news shapes what we do. In this first part, let us look at the message itself. Then next time, we'll apply our understanding of the gospel to our mission and vocation.

I'm tired of hearing the church telling me a gospel about Jesus -- what he did, what he said, what we are to believe about him. For the longest time, I thought the gospel was that Jesus died and rose to new life so that we may be justified by grace through faith for Christ's sake apart from works of the law. But justification is a theoretical doctrine (and a rather limited one at that). It's not news. Sure, it's a theory that if I believe it, then it grants me some peace of mind. But it's not news that rocks my worldview and forces me to appropriate every thing I do according to it.

Intead of a gospel about Jesus, the church is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus. Through his words and actions, Jesus proclaims world-altering news: "The kingdom of God is here and now and I'm it, so follow me in all that you do to live in the kingdom." God lives among us to reign. There's a new ruler in town whose name is Creator of all that is, in whom we live and move and have our being. You have two options in all that you do: the way of blessing and life by abiding in God's presence, or the way of curse and death by following a different person claiming to rule (usually yourself).

First, Jesus says the time is now. This gospel of Jesus isn't merely an announcement, a head's up of what's going to happen after death. Rather, Jesus' gospel is breaking news, precisely because his message is primarily about what God is doing now. The glory of divine presence has come to dwell in the properly built temple (Jesus is the shekinah) to rule God's people in person (fulfillment of Jeremiah 31 regarding the shema) so that all of creation may enjoy peace, justice, and harmony (the age of shalom).

Second, Jesus says the place is here. In other words, for whom is Jesus' gospel? The good news of Jesus is for all who are here. The key word is 'all'. We read in Colossians 1:20 that through Jesus all things on earth and in heaven are reconciled to God. The news is 'good' not just for those who believe it. For that wouldn't even be 'good news' but rather a 'good deal'. The news is 'good' because God is bringing all of creation deemed 'good' by God into the covenantal fulfillment of God's kingdom. The good news of Jesus benefits all who are creatures.

Some people might right me off at this point as being a 'universalist'. Indeed the topic of 'universal salvation' has caused a big stir in the conversation among theologians in recent decades. (For two great books on the topic see Jurgen Moltmann's rather complex argument in The Coming of God and Hans Urs von Balthasar's easy to read account in Dare We Hope "That All Men Be Saved"?.) Univeralism is usually concerned with whether bad people get into heaven too after they die on account of God's mercy trumping God's justice.

But I'm talking about something different, something I call "cosmic salvation". Jesus wasn't trying to get us into heaven. Jesus is bringing heaven to the world. In other words, Jesus is transforming all of creation by restoring to it the Garden of Eden once again. 'All' means 'all', even (especially!) the bad guys.

For Jews in Jesus' day, the Garden of Eden was thought to still be present in the form of the Temple, and the Tree of Life was always accessible in the form of Torah. The good news of Jesus is that he is the Temple in whom we find the garden of God's kingdom, and he gives to his followers Holy Spirit so that we too are made into the Temple garden by having the Torah -- LIFE! -- on our lips and in our hearts. Communion with God isn't limited to a building or our inability to uphold Torah. Do you not know that your bodies are the living Temple?

We are the Temple, not for the sake of our own salvation but for the sake of the world's salvation, for the sake of all of creation. The Temple is the meeting place of God and creation, where God dwells within creation. We are incorporated by Holy Spirit into the Temple that is the body of Jesus (church) to be the Garden of Eden throughout creation.

Hence, God calls all of humanity to go forth into the world, multiply ourselves, and subdue it. We are to subdue creation in a kingly manner, the kingly manner of Jesus as a servant. Through us, all of creation is subject to God's kingdom accessible in the Temple. We're invited to be the meeting place of God and all of creation for the age of shalom. Now that's good news! That's the good news of Jesus.

Forgiving Myself

I think I may have forgiven myself for my responsibility in the car accident involving youth from our church. It's hard to tell for sure, because there wasn't one magical moment when all of a sudden I felt the burden of my guilt float off of my shoulders. But there have been many moments when I've noticed the weight of the load decrease. And I can say now that I'm in a place in the forgiving process in which my burden feels light.

I got to this place of feeling forgiven by being witness to God's reconciliation. Here's how, through Holy Spirit's inspiration, I've seen Jesus reconciling the world to his Father:

First, at the scene of the accident I saw God protecting and caring for us. In the moans coming from the boys in the back seat, Holy Spirit dwelling within them cried out in sighs too deep for words, "Abba! Help us!". A few firefighters and paramedics said that having seen the two cars in the nature of the t-bone collision they were surprised the consequences of life were not much worse. God sustained the structure of my little 1990 Corolla against a 45 MPH impact of a Suburban. God acted through the woman who hit us, manifested in her compassion and concern for our well being. She took off her white glove in -25 degree windchill to help stop one of the boys' bleeding. God acted through the stranger, our good Samaritan, who stopped and offered for us to sit and stay warm in his vehicle. God acted through the police and paramedics who arrived on scene at the blink of an eye. I was so overwhelmed by their care that I thanked the officer when he gave me a citation. God acted through the boys and their parents who remained calm and helped the professionals do their work. Already God was busy reconciling a broken scene of humanity.

The next morning -- before I went to bed -- God spoke to me saying, "seek first my reigning and repent before my congregation." So I did just that, and I saw God's kingdom emerge from the hearts of people I see on a daily basis. Their words of forgiveness, love, and grace began to lift my burden. I knew then that my ministry could continue in partnership with all of them, free from an unspoken elephant of suspicion lurking every time youth are entrusted into my care. God reconciled me in my relationship to the boys and their parents. The depth of their faith was evident in their quickness to forgive. Once I was finally able to speak to the boy who sat behind me and suffered the worst injuries, I asked for his forgiveness and received it from him. Then I felt Jesus opening my own heart to forgive myself.

Last week I wondered how I could forgive myself, and the answer I found is that I can't. What I can do is seek first God's kingdom and it's righteousness, and all the care of my concerns will be granted to me by God. I saw God reigning in the world all around me. I was invited to see Holy Spirit gifting people to follow Jesus in his mission to reconcile the world to his Father.

Forgiveness came to me through God's reconciliation. When I spoke to the boy with the severe injuries, what lifted my burden even more so than his words of forgiveness, was his genuine enthusiasm when I offered to visit him at his house each week to tutor him in the confirmation classes he will miss. In his excitement to spend time together I knew we were in the right relationship of God's righteousness. Shortly after that, word came to me that one of the disciples in our church was organizing a letter writing campaign to the city aldermen and county officials to change the traffic light at the intersection of the accident so that it will be a standard, solid light at all times. It is a dangerous intersection when the light is blinking -- even with fatal accidents in the past. St. Stephen the Martyr is the church in the world participating in Jesus' mission by the power of Holy Spirit to reconcile all things (from relationships to traffic patterns) to our Father.

And finally, I thank you for showering me with emails, cards, phone calls, and even unexpected gifts. You wouldn't leave me alone long enough for me to wallow and beat myself up emotionally. You kept my eyes open to seeking first God's reign. So, I think that I have forgiven myself thanks to all of you, because I am looking forward with excitement to partnering in ministry again; I am looking forward to the future God has in store for us.

Seeking Forgiveness

Last Saturday night, I was in a car accident. Everyone involved will heal from their injuries. We all can see God's hand protecting us in this tragic experience. But I'm still keeping my eyes open for what God continues to do in our midst after the accident. Indeed, we all feel Holy Spirit's gifts of healing and comfort. Yet as these gifts unfold, I'm thirsting for forgiveness.

You see, I made a judgment error on the road that night. With four boys from our church in my car, I proceeded through an intersection after stopping at a blinking red light, not seeing any cross traffic coming for a while. I didn't realize until after we all climbed out of the car that the cross street only had a blinking yellow. For my mistake, the boys under my care paid the price in the form of bruises, soreness, and broken bones.

I woke up early the next morning to attend both worship services. I wanted to tell the congregation myself about the accident. This isn't something I wanted people to hear through the grape vine. I thought my presence -- though slow and awkward -- would reassure the church that we will be o.k. And more importantly, I wanted to ask for forgiveness. These boys are sons of the congregation; we are all bound together in love as a church family who raises up disciples. My mistake affected everyone who partners with me in ministry, who entrusts the safety of their children to me, who respects me as a responsible leader. So I confessed my sin to the congregation and apologized.

Before I could step away from the microphone, I was already hearing people say, "We forgive you." Following worship, more people than I can count came up to me one by one to express forgiveness, love, grace, and encouragement. Then over the course of the next two days I visited the boys and their parents. They too, were quick to forgive and shared their concern for my well being -- physically and spiritually.

Some people have said to me that I didn't need to apologize to the congregation. But I did. While it's nice to hear people's understanding that accidents happen and as long as everyone will be o.k. then everything else isn't as important, still that's not the same as forgiveness. Only by owning my responsibility and asking for forgiveness could the church be the church. By living in the community of reconciliation, we witness the presence of our risen messiah reconciling all things to his Father. That's the community called and gifted by Holy Spirit, not the spirit of "all's well that ends well."

So as I lay on my couch resting my sore back for the next few days, I see God's reign breaking in all around me through the ministry of the baptized at St. Stephen the Martyr. They have been given the office of the keys, and they're happy to unlock heaven here on earth. My prayer is that I can learn from them, that I can come to forgive myself.

I don't know how to forgive myself. Everytime I receive absolution for my sin from one of the boys and their parents, my heart turns ever more toward forgiving myself. But there is one boy I haven't been able to speak with directly. He's the one who was sitting behind me and suffered the worst injuries. Maybe after I am able to ask him for forgiveness I'll be able to forgive myself. Maybe it will just take me time. Or maybe being surrounded by Jesus' body, broken and given for the sake of the world, will lead me to forgive myself.

If you have any helpful suggestions for self-forgiveness, I'm all ears.

Messianic Trinity

My apologies for not posting this prior to Holy Trinity Sunday. Perhaps it could have been helpful in preparing a sermon, in my dreams at least. What follows below is an abstract of the 30 page paper I wrote for my doctrine of trinity course. I constructed a doctrine of God based on N.T. Wright's assessment of Jesus' own messianic discernment within the symbolic categories of Second Temple Judaism. I figure if Jesus could know who God is and who God was calling him to be without the aid of Aristotle, why can't we do the same?

Wright says that Jesus discerned God calling him to end Israel's exile by inaugurating the kingdom of God, yet this task could only be done by God in person. In other words, Jesus understood himself and his ministry as doing and being for Israel and the world that which scripture says only God can do and be. Not only did Jesus say he was doing God's work of inaugurating the kingdom, he specifically claimed that he embodied God's kingdom.

For the exile to end, i.e. for Jesus to be the messiah, three events had to happen. First, God must be enthroned in Zion as Israel's king. (I change what Wright calls 'enthronement' to the term 'shema', because this prayer indicates Israel's creational-covenantal God rules the world.) Second, God's glorious presence, known as shekinah, must return to the properly built Temple. And third, the historical age of shalom must begin. Jesus' messiahship took on this triadic form.

Each of these events corresponds to a distinct actor. For example, Jesus claims to be God's son -- a messianic title indicating representation for all of Israel. He challenges the Temple cult by forgiving sins, particularly the sin of covenantal infidelity that causes Israel's exile, and fulfills this role by submitting to crucifixion. The resurrection validates his claim, thus affirming his attempt to replace the symbol of Temple with himself. He is the shekinah in the properly built Temple. Secondly, Holy Spirit is associated with the new life of resurrection (cf. Ezek. 37 and Rom. 8). St. Paul calls God's spirit "the Spirit of Sonship", i.e. the messianic spirit. Because Jesus' resurrection defeats death -- the ultimate weapon of Isreal's true enemy causing their exile, i.e. evil itself -- the historical age of shalom has begun. Together, the shekinah and shalom reveal God rules on earth as in heaven, a.k.a the shema. Jesus names Israel's God, whom he is sent to reveal in person, "Father". Unified in Jesus' messianic mission the Son of God, the Spirit of Sonship, and their Father end Israel's exile and inaugurate the kingdom of God.

At this point however, it seems that we would have to conclude that either Israel's one God acted in three masks or that there are three gods acting. These are the two basic heresies which the church eventually ruled against by defining the doctrine of God in terms of hellenistic philosophy. Yet the earliest Christians like Paul (not to mention Jesus himself) held firmly, without the aid of Aristotle or Plato, to both core beliefs of God's oneness and of God's eschatalogical rule through Jesus.

We must remember that God's oneness is God's rule (the shema). In other words, God is the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is the fulfillment of covenant. Therefore, who God is is the fulfilment of covenant: shema, shekinah, and shalom in person. What unifies these three distinct character-events is covenantal faithfulness, tsedaqah.

Jesus fulfills covenantal faithfulness through death and resurrection. Likewise, self-emptying kenosis and exaltation by another are the means of tsedaqah within the messianic trinity. The Son can only be God's glorious presence within the Temple by finding his own identity beyond himself in the Father; giving up his claim to divinity he receives what is already rightfully his from the divine Spirit. Similarly, the Spirit of Sonship cannot be of the messianic tri-unified God w/o being "of Sonship", i.e. of Jesus, and the Spirit cannot be shalom in the world unless the Father grants his own divine and eternal peace. Finally, the Father cannot be present to rule unless he remains hidden while the Son and Spirit actualize his reign. His identity is in his Son and his eternal peace is in their Spirit. Each of the three character-events of the messianic trinity empty themselves and receive exaltation from the others. Thus they fulfill the covenant of God's kingdom even prior to incorporating the world into it.

We can summarize this idea of messianic trinity by answering the following questions basic to any construction of the Christian doctrine of God:

1. How can we speak of threeness in God? The character-events of triadic messiahship differentiate the three necessary entities of God's kingdom: shekinah, shalom, and shema. In their bond of tsedaqah each gains its unique identity in relation to the other two.
2. How are these three divine? We first know Jesus is divine through his vocation that challenged the Temple and led to his death, through his resurrection that confirmed he is the properly built Temple, and through his ascension that reserves his right to judge who constitutes the returned-from-exile-Israel until the culmination of shalom beyond death. Witnessing these three exile-ending activities reveals that Jesus is God in person. Once we know the human Jesus is divine, we also know that the three messianic character-events embodied in him are divine.
3. How can we speak of oneness in God? God is the kingdom of God, the fulfillment of God's covenant. The three divine character-events are unified by the bond of God's covenantal faithfulness, tsedaqah.
4. Could God ever reveal less than or more than these three character-events? Not if Jesus is the messiah.

That's a lot to take in for one blog entry. If this has peaked your interest, feel free to request a copy of my paper for a more detailed accounting. I was pleasantly surprised to have received an 'A' on it from my professor, so I know it successfully defended this concept of messianic trinity to at least one contemporary Aristotilian Thomist.

Theology Defined

What is theology?

St. Anselm's dictum serves as one popular definition of theology's task: "faith seeking understanding". Many theologians who write or teach extensively define theology as such. Others offer their own definition in various adaptations. But I am left unsatisfied with every definition of theology that I've ever known. They all have missed the mark. So here is my own stab at defining theology's task. Theology is:

The church, gathered and enlightened by Holy Spirit, discerning our Abba's vision for Jesus' messianic mission to engage the world through his disciples.

I admit that it is not as plain and succinct as Anselm's definition, but if we do anything less than this task then we are not doing Christian theology. This definition describes several distinctive elements of Christian theology:

• Theology is done by the community of the entire church rooted in scripture and tradition, not by individuals;
• Theology that faithfully tells the story of God is only possible through Holy Spirit, which means prayer, worship, and ministry are essential resources;
• Theology is idolatrous when it tries to understand the story of God, for the story continues to unfold in revealed yet surprising ways;
• Theology, then, is better defined as faith seeking discernment of God's in-breaking transformative story in light of the vision of shalom revealed in Jesus' life, death, resurrection, sending of Holy Spirit, and ascension;
• Theology in this way leads to knowledge only in so far as it leads toward communion with Our Abba through the Son in their Spirit;
• Theology, therefore, tells the story of the triune God's reconciling activity in our midst for the purpose of leading the church's mission for the sake of the world.

Emerging Ecclesiology

At a Crossways retreat last weekend I heard Dr. Nathan Frambach's presentation on the emerging church phenomenon. The question with which he wrestles is: is this phenomenon simply a new form of worship in the postmodern era or is it an emerging ecclesiology? In the end Dr. Frambach sides with the latter. For him, emerging church is a way of understanding the church distinct from its immediate contemporaries but in tune with the ancient church.

I find Robert Jenson to be a helpful conversation partner when addressing this question (big surprise to few readers, I know). Jenson describes postmodernity as a world that lost its story, its grand narrative for describing reality. The modern age maintained a plotted story, but replaced God as the storyteller with pure reason and scientific knowledge. The modern project failed as evident through events such as the Holocaust, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Cold War, Vietnam and Watergate, Columbine, 911, the push to war in Iraq, and so on. These events tell us that the more "progress" humans attain by our own abilities the greater our potential for self-annihilation. So now after the modern era, postmoderns inherit the lack of a storyteller but add to that the loss of a story. In this sense, postmoderns are more geniune in their wordview than moderns, because one cannot have a story without a storyteller. However, after the failure of modernity's story -- one in which hope in the future is determined through progress -- the only viable option seen by many people is nihilism and despair.

This presents a major challenge to the church. How can the church witness to the in-breaking of God's reigning throughout history if history does not have a story? How can the church confess Jesus is Lord if there is no storyteller? How can the church proclaim his resurrection if nothingness and death are the ultimate destinity for all that is?

Jenson proposes that the church does mission in the postmodern situation by being God's story and inviting people into God's story. The story of God is "what happens between Jesus and his Father in their Spirit."(1) It is the presence of the triune God in our world. Or more accurately, God's story is the participation of humanity and the whole cosmos in the Trinitarian life of God. By being God's story through its liturgy and ministry, the church invites people to experience the triune God first hand. Once they know the storyteller, they know there is a story.

Only if the world is moved by -- the grand narrative told by -- someone self-consciously known as Jesus who is resurrected to life beyond the nihilism of death, can then the future be moved forward by a freedom and thereby be a source of hope. Therefore, the story called ‘Father, Son, and Holy Spirit’ is the only option that freely moves us into the future. Knowing that we neither determine or negate the future makes all the difference for public proclamation of God's reigning -- a source of hope even in a postmodern world.(2)

From what little I know from casual obervation of the emerging church phenomenon, it seems to me that the emerging church gets it -- at least more so than most churches I know. Their innovative worship, their attention to various "texts" both sacred and cultural, their awareness of suffering as a critical part of reality, their intentionality in building a community, and their "theology pub" approach to being actively present in their neighborhoods -- all of these are ways the emerging church is inviting postmoderns into God's story by speaking a language they understand: "Yes nihilism is a real option, but let me tell you about another possibility for a hopeful future. O.K, maybe the world doesn't have a story -- only ambiguity and a plurality of truth claims -- but let me introduce you to a storyteller." Once they come to meet the storyteller, they realize they've been characters in the story all along.

So if the emerging church is an emerging ecclesiology, then it is not emerging ex nihilo (from nothing). This understanding of the church's mission is robbed from Robert Jenson's ecclesiology. And not only his of course but it is taken from Tillich, borrowed from Barth, linked to Luther, aquired through Aquinas, augmented by Augustine, captured in the Cappadocians, and promoted by Paul. The "new" way of being church is emerging from the telling of God's story in the world -- the proclamation of gospel -- that first emerged from Jesus' empty tomb.

(1) Robert W. Jenson. Systematic Theology: The Triune God. vol 1 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997) 221, cf. 46.

(2) Robert W. Jenson. “What If It Were True?” as published by the Center for Theological Inquiry on their website Copyright 2002-2004.

Communion and Eucharist

I recently read Union With Christ: The New Finnish Interpretation of Luther (edited by Carl Braaten and Robert Jenson; Eerdmans Publishing, 1998.) If I understand correctly what Tuomo Mannermaa and his colleagues are saying, then Lutherans have been misunderstanding Luther for nearly 500 years. In a nutshell, these Finnish scholars are saying that Luther defines the term "faith" as the indwelling of Christ.

This is significant for a fuller understanding of the Lutheran doctrine of justification: we are justified by grace through faith for Christ's sake apart from works of the law. If "through faith" is understood as "through Christ dwelling within us", then the Lutheran doctrine of forensic (imputed) justification takes on a new dynamic. We are justified extra nos, by God's grace from beyond ourselves as Lutherans have said all along; and we are simultaneously justified intra nos, by God's grace within us driving us beyond ourselves to God and one another.

In this sense, justification is more in line with Eastern Orthodoxy's doctrine of theosis. Being God's heirs with Christ means that we participate in the Trinitarian life through him. The indwelling of Christ's presence thrusts us into communion with God and all creation -- shalom.

That eschatalogical shalom, that very communion with God and all creation, is already made manifest in our world through Christ's presence in the Eucharist. When we partake in the foretaste of the feast to come with the bread and wine, it's not a cheap imitation. It's the real deal training our palates to discern the finer delicacies of shalom's vintage communion.

So when we speak of the Lord's table, we must mean precisely that the Lord is the host of the meal inviting us to the divine communion of shalom; that the Lord is the meal that is the divine communion of shalom; and -- if we take Mannermaa's discovery seriously -- we may now confess that the Lord is also the chauffeur driving us to the festive gala of shalom's divine communion. Christ's indwelling within us is our participation in the triune life. God knows us in communion, because God knows God-within-us. So, we don't come to the table of our own volition to get our piece of Jesus to take back with us; Jesus comes to the table within us to unite us with the fulfilled reality of the triune God.

This is why we may practice a truly open and welcoming Eucharist. If it is Jesus who comes to the table in people, how can the table-waiters (presider/priest) possibly exclude anyone from the meal? Even if people are not cognitively aware of Christ-within-them to confess him, if they show up at the table they do so only because Christ walked them up there. They have "faith". Or rather, "faith" has them. Read again Luther's explanation to the third article of the apostle's creed in his Small Catechism:

I believe that by my own understanding or strength I cannot believe in Christ Jesus my Lord or come to him, but instead the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, made me holy, and kept me in the true faith, just as he calls, gathers, enlightens, and makes holy the whole Christian church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one common, true faith.

Yes, we may still affirm with our tradition that the Eucharist is the meal for the church. But let us realize who the church is. The church is not the group of people who get it, who pass the theology test, who "believe" correctly. The church is everyone who comes to the table by Christ's invitation and through Christ's presence within each of us driving us beyond ourselves into shalom made manifest in Christ's meal. If Jesus-within-an-unbaptized-person shows up at his own table, I as his table-waiter am not about to tell him "Sorry Jesus but you cannot participate in the Trinitarian life of God with just anyone you like. Please go sit down."

Would you like to tell him?

The Transforming Feast

Team member Pastor Nathan Swenson-Reinhold recently wrote the following didactic letter to his congregation as part of his leadership in their transition to celebrating the eucharist weekly. It represents an example of leading the church by training people with a sanctified vision, which is the subject of the previous post. "Pastor Big Nate-Nate" (as those of us in the Ministry Driven in Vision Network affectionately call him) provides us with an exposition on that post's first bullet point on worship in a manner more theologically astute and practically lucid than I could ever produce myself. Therefore, I humbly share this letter with you:

A mentor friend of mine ends every table prayer with these words: "...and thank you Lord for this food. It would be a banquet anywhere." It doesn't matter how small or large the meal is...here in the states we don't see much hunger even if there is a great deal of it around us. When it is around us, it tends to be hidden from our eyes. But Rick's eyes were forever changed by a trip to Haiti where he encountered a kind of poverty and destitution he'd never encountered before. As it happens, Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere. As Rick says, "There's poor...and then there's Haiti poor."

When we are surrounded by such an abundance of food, it is difficult for us to see the importance of the meal and feast imagery so prevalent in Scripture. In times and places of incredible lack and scarcity, feasts were associated with salvation; with well-being, wholeness, and divine abundance. In our scriptures, where there's a meal and God's involved, you can be sure that God is bringing about his salvation.

We see this in God's deliverance of the Hebrew people from slavery at the hands of the Egyptians to freedom in God's Promised Land; in the Passover Meal where the first born children of the Hebrew people are spared in God's spirit plague (Exodus 12), to the Manna that God showered upon the Israelites during their long wilderness journey (Exodus 16).

We see this work of a saving feast all through the ministry of Jesus...and most of the time his feasting is scandalous. Why? Because his "table fellowship" involves tax collectors and sinners, those who have committed treason against their own people, and the spiritual losers of Jesus' day. When Jesus eats with them, what he's in essence saying is that it is to such as these that the Kingdom of God belongs. This is one of the reasons that the spiritual leaders of Jesus' day are so furious with his choice of company. They think that he's got it all wrong. His eating with them is a statement of their well being and acceptance in the eyes of God'and God's intention to reconcile the lost and the least (Mark 2).

Then there are the powerful stories of the feeding of the five thousand, and the feeding of the four thousand...images of God's abundance poured out on the hungry and weary.

And then there's the last Passover Meal that Jesus will ever celebrate. the Last Supper. It is celebrated with the twelve central disciples, not as an exclusive meal, but as a symbolic act of God's promise to Abraham to bless all nations through his offspring. In Jesus' death and resurrection, and this Passover Meal that precedes it, this blessing and this promise is fulfilled.

All of these meal stories and feasts have at their core one thing; it is God who does the feeding, God who does the reconciling, God who does the forgiving and God who does the work of salvation. Period. What do we do? We show up and participate and trust and thank God that he's sufficient. That's it. God's in the business of bringing some beauty and harmony to this mess that so often characterizes our lives. Given all of this, the words from the prophet Isaiah about God's promises are profound and deeply meaningful:

"On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever." (Isaiah 25)

I know that the word has gotten out that the new pastor is passionate about Communion. This is true; I am. But not because it's my hobby horse. I'm passionate about it because it is how we experience God's good news; how we participate in God's promised reconciliation and forgiveness right now. What did we do to deserve it? Nothing. What do we need to do to participate in it? Simply come. We don't learn faith by taking tests and reading books. We learn faith, faith in God's good news, by participating in it. Jesus says, "Come, follow me!" Jesus says, "Take and eat...take and drink." We learn faith by participating in God's work.

In Christian community, this participation is most profoundly experienced at the Communion table where we participate in the future feast that will be prepared for ALL people, right now. We participate in it, and it transforms us. We participate in it, and it reconciles us: us to God and to one another. It makes of us a people who gather at God's mountain, eating his abundance and grace.

In my ordination, I have been called to be an unleasher of the Good News in the midst of God's people. We are experts as human beings at constructing barriers between ourselves and God and his incredible work. But in Christian community, we are required to remove them...to be a transformed people and in our transformation, witnesses to a world that desperately needs to see and experience God's promise of reconciliation and healing.

So I thank you, ahead of time, for enduring the changes in our midst. In the end, I guarantee you that you will see that you weren't humoring your new pastor, you were living the Kingdom of God unaware.