The (Lieben)GOOD LIFE

  John M.G. Barclay. Paul and the Gift. Eerdmans, 2015. Pgs. 656; $70 hardback. Most within the Christian tradition, especially those who are the byproduct of the Reformation, have celebrated Paul as the theologian of grace who came on the scene to save us all, both Jew and Gentile, from the destructive and impossibly demanding “works-righteousness” of Judaism. In 1977 that basic framework for understanding Judaism and Paul was challenged by E.P. Sanders’ book Paul and Palestinian Judaism . Sanders’ provocative insights generated a fresh wave of research on Paul’s theology in its Jewish context, which in turn fostered a new (but not monolithic) scholarly approach to reading the apostle (and Second Temple Judaism) known as the “new perspective”. Sanders and those who followed similar lines of research, have argued that the Judaism of Paul’s day has been unfairly mischaracterized within the Christian tradition, especially in the aftermath of the Reformation. They argue that Judais...

  Scripture Readings: 1 Peter 1.3-7; 5.6-8;  Micah 3.5-12;  Psa 43;  Matt 23..1-12   Prayer of Invocation   Father, it is only by your gift that your faithful people offer you acceptable worship: Grant that we may run without stumbling to obtain your promises; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.   Proclamation   I’m going to go out on a limb and say that 2020 has been a disappointing year for all of us. We’ve not only had to deal with a disruptive pandemic that has altered church, work, home life, school, sports,  and entertainment, and a resurgence of racial tensions across the country and in our own community, but we also have been in the midst of a polemical and polarized presidential election that looks to only widen the divide we are experiencing in our country.    And in the midst of all this, we have our frustrations and disappointments th...

  Prayer of Invocation Father,  increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and love; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Proclamation   Who’s the most famous person that you’ve ever met or seen in person? Can you remember what you felt like when you saw him or her? The heart racing, the hands clamming up; on the one hand you felt woefully and supremely inadequate, and on the other you felt uniquely privileged to be in the presence of such greatness. I know Campbell will probably say meeting Steph Curry (who by the way, I’ve been informed, I rank above in coolness according to a recent Confirmand poll), or getting a Dude Perfect video sent to him for his birthday.   When I was about 11, I met John Madden. At that time he was the head football coach of the Oakland Raiders. He was a huge man, with huge hands, and ...

Why Healthy Churches Engage in Conflict Resolution In his essay “The Pattern of Life in Thriving Communities,”   biblical scholar Kavin Rowe makes the observation that one particular (and perhaps unexpected) characteristic of a healthy church is its willingness to engage in a process of disagreement and reconciliation when conflict arises. He draws this conclusion from a careful reading of the Book of Acts, where time and again we see Spirit-led communities patiently and courageously resolving conflict with one another as a practice that is integral to their calling as faithful disciples of Jesus (for example Acts 6, Acts 10-12, Acts 15, Acts 20).  This may seem counterintuitive at first. One might expect, for example, that Spirit-led communities would avoid conflict altogether. But this is not the case. Instead, what we see in the Book of Acts is also evident in the letters of Paul and Peter, and in the writings of James and John.  Conflict is inevitable, even within...

  On The “Great Exchange” and Cutting Our Gains   Prayer of Invocation   Father, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.   Prayer of Illumination   Father, you know who we are; we are content and we are dissatisfied; we are confident and uncertain; clear-minded and confused;  we love and we hate, but not always in the proper order; we are filled with hope; we are filled with anxiety; we are Christians by conviction and Christians by convention; we believe, we half-believe, we disbelieve, we doubt; we are surrounded by friends and family; we are lonely, and despairing; we...

 Our system of education has one major: Upward Mobility.  This is the bold claim that Wendell Berry makes in a commencement address he gave in 2009 (in the midst of the Great Recession) to Northern Kentucky University graduates. His address, entitled "Major in  Homecoming", underscores the devastating effects that this form of education has had on people and the land they live on: for upward mobility also implies downward mobility; and it has proven to generate social instability, ecological oblivion, and economic insecurity.  Education, Berry laments,  has been reduced to job training and preparation for serving corporations whose only concerns are efficiency and the maximizing of profit. Pointing to the crushing reality that most of the graduates attending the commencement were coming to terms with in the midst of the Great Recession, Berry charges that the failure of the economy and its subservient institutions has become so obvious that it cannot now be deni...

For Paul, faithful pastoral leadership in the church is essential for the life of a community and its faithful witness to all that gospel allegiance entails. For this reason, he left Titus in Crete (presumably after they had engaged in proclaiming the gospel there) to appoint elders, who would be able to guide, teach,  and correct disciples in the way of Jesus (Titus 1.5-9; 2.1).  But both Paul and Titus are faced with a daunting challenge. How will they find leaders among the Cretans who will be up for the task? A quick survey of the letter reveals that there is a culture in Crete that seems antithetical to the kind of culture Titus seeks to shape in the church. 'There are many," Paul says, "who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers (Titus 1.10)." He even quotes from a Cretan prophet and poet who remarked that "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons" to characterize the context in which Titus is called to minister (Titus 1.12).  Appa...