sustain:if:able kiwi

creationary: Good samaritan prayer for those loving neighbour in a CNN world

I wrote this prayer out of a day spent sitting with the banquet parables in Luke 14, made tense by the call to love our neighbour in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, being woken by morning news updates of the flooding in Pakistan.

God who is closer than our neighbour
we thankyou for the places you plant us,
the comforts of home, the familiarities of place

God who call us to love our neighbour
we thankyou for variety,
diversity,
our globality that gifts us spice and rice

God who points us to our neighbour in need
only till we turn on CNN,
to see,
the bigness of our world with 6 billion neighbours

And so we pray for aidworkers living love
Your hands, our feet amid flood and famine

God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills
we are grateful for the gifts of science
for researchers multiplying food to grow
We ask for honesty in the climate change industry
Our courage to make Your creation our moral issue

God who healed the ones among many
You gave every gift with it’s corresponding service

Grant us discerment,
the signs of our time – ourselves and your world
and so be your hands
of love of neighbour
today.

A creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary. (For more on what is a creationary go here; for other Creationary resources, go here).

Creationary: the saints in Hebrews 11

A creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary. (For more on what is a creationary go here; for other Creationary resources, go here).

I am struck by Hebrews 11:29-12:2. It’s all about the saints.

So I’d be wanting to plaster the walls of the church with saints. I’d be googling for images and I’d be choosing carefully and I’d be out and about with my digital camera. I’d be after pictures of the folk now in old peoples homes who used to come to church. And the kids. And I’d be going back through mission history, using say a book like Constants in Context: A Theology of Mission for Today and putting up pictures of Brendan the Navigator and Alexandre de Rhodes.

And I’d get people wandering around during worship and looking at these saints and wondering why these folk are saints. Then the sermon could be a bit of a storytelling.

Or I’d make them up like playing cards (here is an example of some “economic” saints I used for one sermon). And I’d lead a meditation, inviting people to consider their biggest faith struggle, the question/doubt that most bugs them. And then I’d invite them to look at their saint card and wonder what, if anything, that saint might want to remind them of.

And for the benediction, I’d invite people to be taking a “saint home” – pull a picture off the wall, or take the card home.

And I might even, next week, ask if there were any stories, any moments when the persons saint came back to mind. (If my community were technology literate – cell phone and email – I might even think about sending them a random picture during the week and then use that as basis for a storytelling in the week following.)

creationary: elijah in his man cave

A creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary. (For more on what is a creationary go here; for other Creationary resources, go here).

The OT lectionary text is 1 Kings 19. The last few weeks have made Elijah out to be a hero, so we need this reading to bring Elijah down to earth. The great prophet is oh, so human after all.

I’d invite people to list their caves, the places where they go when tired and depressed. I’d probably do this quietly ie no public response, simply describing the text, giving space for people to name their places quietly, and then to affirming that God of grace will find us in those places, just as God found Elijah. This could easily become a lectio divina meditation and could be really powerful in terms of people finding God in their caves.

I might frame this around the fabulous art piece, Elijah Visited by an Angel from the Altarpiece of the Last Supper, 1464-68 by Dirck Bouts, which has 2 Elijah’s, one being awoken by the angel, another walking into the wilderness. Which again invites people to explore whether they have two Elijah’s and how they might find themselves wrapped in God’s care for themselves, both in sleep and in flight.

I’d make a “shuffle pack” of religious practices. To generate the practices, I’d look up a book like Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us, which has 62 practices, each with an introduction, Scriptural framing, discussion questions and practical examples. I’d spread selected practices, say 7, out on tables and invite people to choose one at random. And keep choosing a card until they come across a practice that is alien and strange. Better, if I had time, I’d have a few “spiritual guides” actually do the shuffling, helping guide people to find a new practice.

Why a new practice? Because in 1 Kings 18, Elijah finds God in fire and wind that brings rain, yet in 1 Kings 19, God is not in fire and wind, but in the still voice. Elijah has to learn to hear God in new ways. Such is the journey of discipleship.

And I’d invite them to practice that for the month coming. I’d also provide instructions and invite them to weblog it. (For an example of how I’ve done this previously, inviting people to discern the Kingdom, here). Why this sort of community formation? Well, it would make concrete one of the commentaries, “Prophecy cannot be carried out in a desolate desert. Rather, it must be manifest within a community, and manifest specifically among God’s people.” Abingdon Commentaries – 1 and 2 Kings So we need ways to explore spiritual practices in community, and using of blog-rings allows people to do that, yet still at a time that suits them.

creationary: Naboth’s vineyard in 1 Kings 21

A creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary. (For more on what is a creationary go here; for other Creationary resources, go here).

The Gospel lectionary text looks too familiar: Luke 7:36-50 – so use perfume in various ways ….

So what about another Old Testament text. I’ve been really stimulated by the missional church and social justice themes around last weeks Biblical text.  This story continues the pattern in 1 Kings, of grounding social and cultural change in the stories of ordinary people – widows last week. Ordinary landowners this week. So let’s have another play with that.

When I read this text, the story of Naboth’s vineyard, I think of old maps.

• I’d get people to bring them
• or I’d use them as background images
• or I’d visit the local council and ask for copies of maps going back
• or I’d interview older folk who’ve known the community for a long time about what it used to be like
• or I’d take photos of the older houses in the neighbourhood
• if I had lots of time, I’d be thinking about a neighbourhood history walk, perhaps as an optional exercise after church (hunt around John Davies excellent blog, archives here, new blog here)

Why old maps? Well this text is about ownership. You see, exegetically, in the culture of this day, land belonged to the family.  It gives them identity and security. They see it as a gift from God, to be kept and cherished. So this is not just a story about a vineyard, it’s a spotlight on how we view land and identity.  Can it be sold?

So I’d be inviting people to think about the gifts they have been given; starting with land, but then wider to include family tree, personality, resources, denominational history, “traces of grace” in their family story. Some sort of thanksgiving, individual and communal for that. Perhaps inviting people into groups and giving them a map  – a map of their community, a map of the “church history”, a “map” of the denominational story – and getting them to brainstorm the gifts.

And I’d be inviting the groups to hold the maps and be praying some sort of prayer – about the wisdom to handle these gifts wisely as we go into our future.

These potential acts of worship would set up some sort of engagement with the sermon, and how we as churches can partner with a God of justice and against politics of power and greed and acquisition. The danger would be that this becomes a bit abstract, so I’d be looking hard for local examples. Like if I was at Opawa, I’d be praying for Paul McMahon, church pastor, yet standing for local body elections.

climate change, justice and social welfare. In 1 Kings?

I preached at the Corner Uniting Church this morning. The lectionary text was 1 Kings 17:8-16 and the more I studied the story, of Elijah and the widow of Zaraphath, the more impressed I began. It’s an ancient story, yet suddenly seemed to start speaking to climate change, social justice and missional theology today. Let me try to explain.

First, the story starts in drought and thus addresses climate change. In 1 Kings 17:1 :Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”

Here in Australia, the Prime Minister is famous for suggesting that “Climate change is the great moral challenge of our generation.” I’m not wanting to debate the politics of the statement, simply to note how climate change is linked to human values and the decisions we make about how we live our lives.

Same for Elijah: that in his country “split into two factions.” (16:21); one wanting to follow Baal – fertility god, who sends rain to mark the end of drought. Another faction wanting to follow YHWH, the Lord of creation. So drought is framed as a moral issue – live in the way of YHWH? Or the way of Baal? Climate change becomes tied to cultural values and the decisions we make about how we live our lives.

Second, it’s a story about being missional. As a consequence of the drought, Elijah heads to Sidon: 1 Kings 17:7-9: “Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the LORD came to [Elijah]: “Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there.”

Sidon is a town mentioned in the previous chapter: 1 Kings 16:30: “Ahab …. married Jezebel daughter of [the] king of [Sidonians] and began to serve Baal and worship him.” So to spotlight the moral issue, Elijah heads to Sidon. To the place where Jezebel, the Kings wife was born, to the place where Baal worship is strong and thriving.

Often I see Christians tempted to flee from belief systems that are different from ours. Yet here Elijah heads for Sidon.

Third, the moral issue of sticks. Elijah finds a woman gathering sticks. Which introduces a second moral issue. Climate change impacts people.

To quote from a Bible commentary: “There were many widows in [Elijah’s] Isreal and the surrounding areas because of war and famine. Traditional family and village systems of support for widows had broken down since the king … had started buying up the land and corrupting village leaders. Prices for oil were high because they were chief export crops. This widow could not afford them anymore.”

They always talk in the news media about needing to find the human interest story. Well here in 1 Kings is the human interest story. YHWH, the God of the Old Testament, has a human interest in widows. This is surely theology at it’s best, locating God and the activity of the people of God in and among the poor and dispossessed. (And it doesn’t just happen once in Kings, but repeatedly).

Fourth community empowerment. I am fascinated by the way that Elijah doesn’t give her a handout. Instead he empowers her. Invites her to simply give what she’s got.

One book (Elijah and Elisha in Socioliterary Perspective) noted: “The key [to 1 Kings 17] is that [Elijah] does not do the miracle for [the widow] [Instead he] enables her to do it for herself.”

Here’s a way to work with the poor, in ways that do not leave them victims, but invited to use what they have got – the twigs they can collect, their flour and oil.

1 Kings 17: A text in which we see a God who cares about climate change, who invites us to do mission and theology in ways that bring to the fore the human interest stories of the poor, and to work with them in ways that empower.

Or am I pushing an ancient text too hard?

creationary: Elijah and widow of Zarephath in 1 Kings 17

A creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary. (For more on what is a creationary go here).

When I read the narrative of Elijah and widow of Zarephath in 1 Kings 17:8-16 I think of sticks and big jars.

Bring sticks. The widow is out collecting sticks when she meets the prophet Elijah, who invites her to practice generosity – to a stranger. And it’s in a time of drought, which is certainly the experience of many churches in the West in general! So the story has a lot to offer in terms of giving – a people in drought are called to be generous with the little they have. So invite people to bring a stick – any type, any sort – simply to create curiousity. And then as a response invite them to bring their sticks as a way of saying yes, I am willing, no matter what the season to practice generosity.

Big jars. In the story, the widow only has a little flour and oil. Which makes me wonder what we all already have, even it it seems a little, that we can offer to God. Using a variant of appreciative inquiry, there could be space, in groups, as part of worship, to reflect on what people think their community has already – our gifts – to talk about, write them down, share together. Perhaps even actually have a few big jars. The feedback from the groups could be attached on this. The offerings could be collected in these (allowing reflection on both individual and communal) gifts being given.

It could all make for a great communion: the twigs around the communion table, the pots on the table, affirming God’s generosity and provision, despite our sense of lack.

There’s also a gospel/culture moment in this story that intrigues me. It’s to do with geographic location. The widow comes from Sidon. So does Jezebel, the champion of Baal, the local god of fertility. So there is a pairing of Jezebel and the widow, both woman, both from the same home town. I like it a lot that Elijah finds life – food and sustenance and gracious hospitality – in the midst of another’s belief system. I’m not sure what to do with that, but given that we live in a pluralistic context of many faiths, that’s worth pondering. Perhaps some phrases in the collect or the benediction: may we find generosity, in the cultures of another.

So that’s my first creationary: a creative mind wandering around a lectionary text (1 Kings 17:8-16), the narrative of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath, seeking to make connections in regard to communal worship.

What is a creationary?

A creationary is a space to be creative with the lectionary. It is not a sermon. Rather it is what happens when a restless mind reads the Biblical text. It is the linkages that could be made between the text and various bits of the worship service, questions that could be explored, tactile ways to engage people around the text, songs and videos, poetry, spirituality2go ideas that begin to form.  The creationary is a space to be creative with the lectionary.

The creationary is a regular feature I want to keep to the foreground both in my life and in the life of this blog-site.

There are some personal reasons for this. As a pastor for the last 14 years, I enjoyed (most of the time), the Sunday rhythm of regular engagement with the Biblical text in preparation for worship. The week started with reading the text and there was a creativity about that process. Alas, in the strange ways of God, I’m still in ministry, but no longer (currently) in congregational ministry. So the disciplines have begun to change. Yet in preparing for a recent Ascension service at College chapel, I realised how much I am nourished and find creativity when I engage with the text. I wonder if I can keep in that creative space, even if there is no Sunday outline.

In addition, this blog still gets lots of visits from people looking for creative worship ideas. A 2004 Pentecost worship experience got a lot of hits last week.

And there are lots of creative worship treats buried in the archives of this blog, years of ministry, which readers might appreciate.

For example, in regard to Trinity Sunday:

• a worship idea here
• a kids talk on Rublevs icon here
• some Trinitarian art reflections here
• a Trinity tryptch takeaway idea here.

All on this blog, all potentially useful.

Hence the creationary is a space to be creative with the lectionary.  I’m adding a new category, and as a category that runs across the top of the blog. And every Monday I am going to seek to craft some time to read the lectionary texts for the Sunday coming, and to blog some of my thoughts. It might be a list of links as above. It might be some fresh ideas and sparks. If I’ve worked on a certain lectionary text before, I will try and engage with another of the suggested readings for the Sunday coming. I won’t promise to do this every week, but I think it will be pattern that will be good for my ongoing spiritual nourishment. And perhaps in the mercy of God, it might spark more creativity in you my readers.

re:reading the prodigal

I don’t often put my sermons up on the site, as they are very place (ie Opawa) specific. But I found preaching the prodigal son today very moving.

We are the elder son. Our Western culture is the young son who has runaway from home. The biggest challenge in the parable is not to the young son, but to the elder son, to accept the outrageous grace of God. The shock is that the parable has no ending, the guests wait, the musicians pause and God asks each of us what we will do in response to grace.

My bibliography included Kenneth Bailey’s Finding the Lost. I invited people into a journey of imagination. I ended with power point images of reconciliation and a song by Lucid 3 (thanx Jan and Tony); which way is west … runaway … help me, I do not know which way to go …

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