When you ask what the Brethren believe, what they’re really about, what defines us as a group of people, generally you won’t receive long doctrinal statements written through-out pages upon pages by powerful theologians sitting in ivory towers. When you ask what Brethren believe, or who they are, you tend to get a small set of fairly simple answers. More specifically there are a few phrases that say more about who we are than any long winded doctrinal statement ever could. To my knowledge there are three phrases that both describe and shape who we are .
The first, and historically most recent, of these phrases is one that most people are probably familiar with. “Continuing the work of Jesus: Peacefully, Simply, Togeth-er.” This phrase beautifully and succinctly points to belief in the centrality of Jesus, particularly in how we read scripture, our belief that following Jesus requires us to reject the use of violence and work for peace, a high regard for a simple life unconstrained by material wealth, and the importance of creating Christian community. The second, and much older, phrase is one that explains why we don’t find many doctrinal statements in our tradition. “We have no creed, except for the New Testament.” This phrase points to our nature as a non-creedal church. This sentiment expresses a high view of scripture, particularly the Gospels and the New Testament, and a desire to follow what the Bible commands. The third shaping phrase is the one that I’ve been pondering recently. “Another way of living.” While the other phrases ultimately point to our belief in the centrality of Jesus and to our attempt to faithfully follow even the hardest of his teachings in our daily lives, this phrase is a recognition that if we actually follow Jesus in this kind of radical way that we will wind up as very counter-cultural. It is the recognition that the kingdoms and cultures of this world form us in particular ways and require certain actions from us that are simply incompatible with the Kingdom of God and the culture that it creates. If we truly commit ourselves to the Kingdom of God and the culture it forms, then we will find ourselves on the margins of society and even on the margins of the Christian faith. For more than 300 years the Brethren have been a church that has not sought to locate itself in the center of society but rather on the margins. We have seen relatively clearly that if you follow the way of Jesus that you will find your-self living in a different way than the culture around us. Even more boldly, we have said that the dominant Christian culture around us does not line up very well with the Jesus that we find in the Gospel, which has meant that our at-tempts to follow the way of Jesus have even put us at odds with the dominant Christian culture around us. Simply put, we are part of a tradition who has tried to follow the Jesus we find in the Gospels to the best of our ability, and, more often than not, our pursuit of that Jesus has led us to the margins of society. Historically speaking, it is this view from the margins that has shaped how we view ourselves and how we view the current events of the world around us. This week I was reminded of how counter cultural this Brethren worldview can really be and of the need to em-brace “another way of living.” I was listening to a radio conversation about the state of race relations in the U.S. At one point they had a guest who is a gun rights activist and the president of an African American gun owners group. The host of the show was talking with him about the mas-sive jump in people of color buying guns since the election and the host asked why people are joining his organization. The guest said there were three basic reasons that people tell him that they are becoming interested in guns. First was simple worries about crime. Second was worries about terrorism. And third he said, “It’s just becoming clear that the basic responsible thing to do is to have a gun and constantly train yourself to protect your family.” When he said that last reason I instantly realized just how differently I saw the world. He’s right that that reason for having guns and continually training yourself to use them is becoming the norm. It was also instantly clear that as a follower of Jesus who said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” that I simply see the world in a drastically different way. It was a moment of clarity where I realized that I put my trust in God, but that the world around me puts its trust in guns. There are many different issues that we could look at that show this reality: living simply in a materialistic world, building community in a world of rugged individuals, etc… The point is that this move to the margins might be unsettling for many of us, but it’s not something we need to fear, it’s something to be embraced. Following Jesus from the margins is something we’ve done before, it’s part of why we exist as a people and it’s part of our spiritual DNA. It may not be recognized or even respected by others, but the work of being a people who show that “another way of living” is possible, ultimately puts us on solid ground.
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As you read this take a moment to notice your breathing. Take a breath in and hold it for a moment. Let it out and rest a moment again. Now repeat the cycle. Notice that there is this basic rhythm that sustains life. In and then out. At times we’re very conscious of this rhythm, particularly when it gets disrupted. At other times we hardly notice that it is happening. There is a rhythm of breathing in and out that makes our daily lives a possibility. In a very similar way there is a rhythm of in and out that make our Christian lives a possibility.
Living a Christian life requires a continual rhythm of moving in an out. It’s a rhythm that we must attend to or else, just as with breathing, we will no longer truly be living a Christian life and may even find ourselves on life support. In a Christian life there must always be times where we move inward. By this I mean that we must have places and times where we attend to our own personal spirituality. Times where we attend to our relationships with other Christians. Places where we do the work of self-examination and personal growth. These times and places take a variety of forms: personal prayer and Bible study, worship, fellowship meals, small groups, pastoral care by the pastor or other lay leaders, sharing our struggle with a fellow Christian, praying for each other and many other things are all movements inward. They are ways of gaining strength, finding support in difficult times, building hope for the future, and listening carefully for the call of God in our lives. But just as only breathing in cannot support life, so too only attending to the inward motions of faith will not lead us to experiencing true Christian life. The Christian life also requires that we move outward as well. Just as Jesus gathered disciples to himself, but then sent them out into the world, so too must we venture out from the walls of comfort and safety within the church. We must venture out into the world to be living witnesses of God’s kingdom. Again, this work takes many different forms: service projects and trips, building relationships with other churches, helping the homeless, sharing our faith with a friend at a coffeeshop, speaking truth to power, welcoming strangers, caring for the sick, using our work lives as an example of ethics and justice, and many other things are all ways of reaching out into the world. But just as only breathing out leaves us without the necessary oxygen for life, so too only pushing out into the world leaves us without the necessary fuel to sustain this witness to the world. Just as life requires a rhythm of breathing in and breath-ing out, so too the Christian life requires this rhythm of moving in and moving out. Our lives as individual Chris-tians and our lives together as a Christian Community require this rhythm of in and out for us to fully experience the life that God intends for us. If we reflect on our lives we might find that we often engage in this rhythm without being conscious of it. However, when we reflect on our lives we might also find that we may be only experiencing one side of this rhythm and we need to attend to what is lacking. This newsletter article is coming out at the beginning of a new year, a time which is often ripe for looking to the future. As I think about the coming year for our life together as a congregation I think that it is worth being attentive to and intentional about the rhythm of our Christian lives. When we examine the ways that we are reaching out we might easily look to some of the things that we are engaged in as a whole congregation, things like Family Promise, our partnership with Progressive Missionary Baptist Church, the Art and Music Fair, involvement with Brethren Disaster Minis-tries, or other means of service. It is also important, however, for each of us to ask ourselves how we are reaching out into the world. In what ways am I serving others? Who am I building a relationship with in the community? What impact am I making through my job? One critical question is to ask, specifically, how are we reaching out into this world both as individual Christians and as a community of believers? At the same time, we need to be intentional about moving inward and attending to those needs. Again, it might be easy to look at things like our corporate wor-ship, our small group program, or Sunday school times. But again, it is also important to ask how each of us as individuals are caring for ourselves and for those around us. How am I deepening my prayer life and Biblical understanding? What relationships am I nur-turing within the congregation? How do I/we welcome new people into this community of believers? Where do I go for comfort and support and who is it that I am comforting and supporting? The other critical question is, how are we caring for each other, building our relationship with Jesus, and forming meaningful relationships both as individual Christians and as a community of believers? As we look to 2017, let us attend well to the rhythm of our Christian lives. Lets breathe in the Spirit of God deeply so that we might go out into the world boldly. May this rhythm bring us into the life that is truly life. Alan’s Angle ~ Pastor Alan is taking a break to get some sleep
(because he has a newborn & 3year old in their house). Check out his January article next month. HELP KEEP BABY BEN SAFE You can protect your health and the health of those around you by getting the Flu and Td/Tdap vaccines. Each year thousands of children and adults in the United States get sick from diseases that could be prevented by vaccines. Vaccines help your body’s natural defense to lower the chances of getting certain diseases and lower your chance of spreading those diseases. Vaccines are one of the safest ways to protect your health. Vaccine side effects are usually mild and go away on their own. Center of Disease Control recommends all adults get: Flu vaccine protects against seasonal flu: Influenza is a serious disease that can lead to hospitalization and sometimes even death. Even healthy people can get very sick from the flu. An annual seasonal flu vaccine is the best way to reduce the chances that you will get seasonal flu and spread it to others. Recommended yearly Td/Tdap to protect against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (whooping cough) TETANUS (Lockjaw) is a bacterial infection that, thankfully, is rare in the United States today due to vaccinations. Tetanus kills about 1 out of 10 people who are infected. It is not contagious and enters the body through an open wound. DIPHTHERIA is also a bacterial infection that is rare in the United States today due to vaccinations. Diphtheria is conta-gious and is spread from coughing or sneezing. PERTUSSIS (Whooping Cough) is a bacterial infection. Vaccinations have reduced the rate of infection by 80%. Contrary to popular opinion, Pertussis is not limited to children but is also a dangerous disease for adults: 2 in 100 adolescents and 5 in 100 adults with pertussis are hospitalized or have complications, which could include pneumonia or death. NOTE: For more information about adult vaccines, visit: cdc.gov/vaccines/adults and be sure to talk with your healthcare professional to make sure you are up-to-date with the vaccines recommended for you. Tdap is especially important for anyone having contact with a baby younger than 12 months. HELP KEEP BABY BEN SAFE |
Alan's Angle
Each month for our newsletter Pastor Alan writes a short article on a variety of topics. At times he will also create a video version of the article. Archives
November 2017
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