Do not be conformed to this world

8/21

And George  is still there as I open the doors this morning. I’m in too much pain to deal with this as I walk (Limp? Shuffle?) down  the street to pick up the bulletins. When I get back, people are arriving, Luis and Alma, Hope, Samantha, James, Marsha, Arcadia, Stephen, Lilly...I reached out, they all               showed up and came through. That’s how it’s supposed to be. And Andre is sitting at the piano.

Today I’m thinking about Romans 12: 1-8 and what it means to not be conformed to the world. These are tough questions. It depends from whose point of view you are looking at this. For example, those in ther church who have opposed opening up ordination for lgbtq people say that those of us who fought for that were conforming ourselves to the world, not scripture...

What dos it mean? For many of us here, conforming is an impossibiity. Because of who we are, our color, our cuture, our language, orientation, economic situation,  it’s not possible to join the elite. BUT, the way of the world is not simple...it’s complex...

It begins with confession. Not admitting our faults and shortcomings to God, but saying out loud what we truly believe like Peter's confession that Jesus was the Christ. (Matthew 16: 13-20)

Sometimes the church has been a critic of the world, a witness like in the 1930‘s, the German Confessing Church over against the German Christian Movement when the government equated following the Nazi  regime with Christianity and the majority of the church went along. Bohoeffer, Niemoller, others made their confession that their only true authority was Jesus. In that day and time a politically radical statement to make which would cost those who made it.

Following in that tradition, confessions like the Accra Confession from the World Alliance of Reformed Churches in Ghana and the Belhar Confesson in South Africa carried that theme forward into new days. But putting these words into action is not simple.

Argentine pastor Roberto Jordan, one of the drafters of the Accra Confession and a consultant for WARC’s Covenanting for Justice in the Economy and the Earth Project, was speaking at the 2007 Witherspoon Conference of the Presbyterian Church (USA). He said:

“The people of the South need you to stand up to the powers of the time and say ‘no’ when the world is presented as an enemy simply to support privileges gained at the expense of the rest of the world.

“Be suspicious of the power structure today but don’t withdraw – participate, learn, get involved, commit to change even if it means less comfort for some. And vote when you have elections. Be informed of the issues that are left out of the political debates and do your best to include them.

“The part of the world which insisted on the need for a statement such as the Accra Confession expects from the churches and the Christian women and men of the North to choose to be part of a new way of being church and being Christian,” Jordan said. 

Participate...that’s the hard part when withdrawal seems so much simpler and pure. But such is not our, the Reformed tradition.

I remember taking part in a discussion of Accra held in Berlin. In Martin Niemoller’s very house. With surviving members of the Confessing Church and their children. Trying to discern the meaning of their confession, the Barmen Declararation, for our own day and time. My friends were shocked to learn that in the PCUSA, a reactionary group of pastors and churches had declared itself to be the Confessing Church Movement, implying that those of us on the progressive side were the equivalent of German Christians. That they were the true descendants, the authentic expression of the Confessing Church.

Sometimes church has taken a leading postion. In the US Civil Rights movement, the anti-Vietnam and anti-nuclear proliferation peace movements, in the 1980‘s movement to resist the US poicy in Central America. But just as many times the church has dragged behind, with regards to women and the vote, lgbtq inclusion and orientation, etc...Even the US military was ahead of us on the lgbtq inclusion issue. And state governments are ahead of us on the marriage equality issue.   And we refuse to take responsibility for what our theology has sanctioned in the secular world against lgbtq people. Including violence. 

So who do you work with? And how? 

Paul says: but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. That’s what we’re after...transformation. How?

I love the story of the Hebrew midwives in today’s lesson from Exodus. (1:8-2:10) The examples of Shiprah and Puah how they refused to cooperate with the powers of domination. Refused to take the lives of male children. How they resisted with cleverness and even humor.

The reaity is here we need different people playing different roles....honoring the gifts,the unique gifts that each has ...believing that we can call forth those indivual gifts, insights, wisdom, action into a collective expression of faithfulness.

As Paul says, For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, ⁵so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. ⁶We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ⁷ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; ⁸the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness. 

Yes, even cheerfulness.

It’s not easy, it’s not clear. And as Reformed Christians, even when we have come together and made a decision, set a strategy, moved forward with passion, we live with the reality that we could be wrong. But that is our call. Now and always.

We pass the plate. Andre sings On Christ the solid rock I stand. And we all sing I’m going to live so God can use me. Say our alleluia! and amen!

Taking a break I see that George has left. James spoke with him two hours yesterday. And Luis today. For me its a tough question. The rule is no sleeping on the steps during the day. But he’s not sleeping. But he’s virtually camping out. Not easy. But gone for now. 

The Session discusses Christian and his Melting Pot Orchestra. The boiler crisis. Letter to Councilmember Brewer. Possible necessity of having to sell things. Of course, some want to sell nothing. Time grows short....

The Dark Lady Players arrive for rehearsal. 

Dark Lady Players in Rehearsal

Fourth Sunday in Lent: Seeing in a new light

John's cup (inside)

4/3

John's cup (outside)

Walking up the street, I’m thinking about Jed. Katherine and I planning the memorial service for his wife Celia. Died after a six year struggle with ovarian cancer. It’s good planning this service with Katherine, her art with liturgy. Jed gave  us two amazing  years as an artist in residence. Helped create the perfect palms to passion Sunday service. Among many others. These events, with Katherine  and Jed, made going to church something to look forward to for me. 

Holly is waiting at the church when I arrive. And we both wait for Hope, who has the keys today.  A young man comes in, heads to the back. So many wind up missing today. We remove our temporary tables. Return the communion  table to the front.  Dress the table and pulpit in Lenten purple, at last.  I look up and see that Jane Galloway has joined us. Glad she’s there but wishing more of us were here. 

Today we’re looking at light. More like an Epiphany theme. But maybe there’s a difference.Maybe it’s not like getting in a flash of light.  Maybe it’s more about  seeing things in a new light... a process.

We begin with Samuel’s call of David. Deals with  leadership. Quality . Value. 

“⁷But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 7)

How we look at things. There’s been alot of discussion this year about a Presbyterian Church “white paper”.An analysis, critique, plan by conservatives. See our church as dying. In need of reform. But for them, back to  a past that can be no more. 

More recently, a group of liberals held what they called the Next Church conference, offering their analysis. Critique. Plan. They too see the church as dying. Know what needs to be done. 

Here in New York City Presbytery, a group of self-selected clergy and elders have brought the same analysis. Critique. Plan. To our presbytery. They want us to vote on it in May. And if they lose, they essentially want permission  to secede. 

It’s a mistake to perceive the basic fault lines in our church as right versus left. In New York City,it is not conservative vs. liberal.It’s more complicated. But what is consistent in every case is the assumption  that  money and size and power add up to quality. Add up to wisdom. The sense of we know  better. Let us tell you what you should do. And if you don’t do it, we’re taking our money and leaving. Our whole presbyterian system was based on the principle of equality of insight, vision, inspiration...That big and small, rich and poor, red and yellow black and white, by listening together for  the leading of the Holy Spirirt, can discern what God’s will is for us. 

Maybe it’s the little guy. The red headed little shepherd. Maybe it’s David who God wants. The little churches. The ones at the margins. 

In all of this I have heard not a word, about peace, justice, reconciliation. We’re back to Belhar again. How can we continue to maintain a hierarchical corporate form of ecclesiology and at the same time honor Belhar with its call to reconciliation,peace and justice? And even more specifically, 

*  that the church must therefore stand by people in any form of suffering and need, which implies, among other things, that the church must witness against and strive against any form of injustice, so that justice may roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream;

* that the church as the possession of God must stand where the Lord stands, namely against injustice and with the wronged; that in following Christ the church must witness against all the powerful and privileged who selfishly seek their own interests and thus control and harm others. (Belhar Confession, 1988, South Africa)

I want to know: How can we pass Belhar, unanimously!, and think its ok to have a self-selected group who will decide?

Can we see things in a different light?

But there is a personal aspect of this as well. We are called to be children of light...

I’m drawn to Eugene Peterson’s translation of the Bible, the Message. In his Ephesians we read:

 8-10You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer. You're out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. So no more stumbling around. Get on with it! The good, the right, the true—these are the actions appropriate for daylight hours. Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it.

 11-16Don't waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It's a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ.

   Wake up from your sleep,
   Climb out of your coffins;
   Christ will show you the light!
So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!

Have confidence in, trust the Lord...

What he’s talking about is no hiding. If we do what we do in the light, it robs the power of that which frightens us, controls us, weakens us. If you feel you need to hide, maybe you need to think about it....Not only see it in the light do it in the light. 

Finally, the gospel lesson. Dangerous ground here again.  If you’ve learned anything over the the years here it is that Biblical connections between  disability and spiritual infirmity are just plain wrong. Jesus makes this clear by rejecting the presumed connection between blindness and sin. You have to see things in a new light. 

But still. There remains this ...was blind but now I see... business. As one of my friends in the disabilities concerns network used to say, I once was blind, but still am. And you can’t say well we’re all handicapped in one way or another....that robs a community of its own particularity, God given uniqueness. 

Nor can you duck behind metaphor. Discussin gthsi issue once with an African-America music director, he said, but its just a metaphor. And I said, yes, like wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. And he said, oh....

Beware metaphor. the power to control the meaning if a metaphor is the power  to control the meaning, the quality of another’s life. We know what’s best....it’s a form of psychic violence... you have to see things in a new light....

So much better in the Spanish translation, La Gracia Sublime, 

...tu luz me rescato....

Your love has rescued me.

When I read the passage from John 9:3, 

“³Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.”

Hope responded that she preferred the translation ...so that God might be glorified in him...(just as he is) Later she woud tell me she looked for that translation and it doesn’t exist. It’s the way she hears the passage. God can be glorified in me as I am. I do not need to be cured. 

That’s what this time, this season is about...learning to see in a new light...We have quality, value, just as we are..may we continue to grow towards what we will be...


Just before the offering, we discuss the growing movement to fast in solidarity with the hungry. It's grown like a wildfire, crossing denomination, faith tradition and secular political boundaries. We decide to join. To reflect on our experiences fasting in worship. And to challenge our presbytery through its Social Witness Council to join in.  (see http://hungerfast.org/)

It’s time for communion. And now our unique communion cups are back. The cup John created with our church on the outside, Katherine, I and the people  on the inside. Though the cold and health keep her away, she is still there, in the cup. With me. With us. And the other, a cup made by Andrea’s mother Pat, her pottery. She, a daughter of a Spanish Catholic woman and a communist Jewish musician, she made us a cup.

We finish the service. Sing our Amen. And as always, share Anna’s cafe con leche. The young man introduces himself. He’s from Wall Street. Looking for a way back. Here in our own home, doors open, there are visitors again. Outside, there’s Andre.When he got here  at 10 and no one was here, he left and went to SPSA. We missed him. Better communications next week.  

We leave bread and juice on the steps.A man comes forward, takes the bread. Asks for more. Arcadia goes to the table, brings him the rest of the loaf. Communion.

The Table

Twenty-first day of Lent: Follow the light, not the lantern

4/1

Cold rain falling. Walking down Amsterdam to the church, my head is still swimming from my travel from  Louisville to Cincinnatti to Philadelphia to La Guardia today. But more so the the General Assembly Mission Council meeting I just left. It’s clear that the sense of crisis has truly been absorbed by this national body of decision makers. Words like radical change, risk taking,boundary crossing have become the working vocabulary. Programs like New Directions have been launched to help congregations assess where they are and envision a a new future. Or death and rebirth. Of course we all agree that strong and healthy congregations are the base for all else must grow. But what is, who defines, a healthy congregation?

Yet our goals and priorities remain general, non-specific and mushy. (Except for a pledge to add 1001 new faith communities. But how?) Although a New Form of Government, ending the exclusion of lgbtq leadership and approving the Belhar Confession all will add up to a new church, what does that new church actually look like, feel like? How do we bring it about?  It’s one thing to talk about coffee shops and tatoo parlors. But what will we do there when we go there? Does anyone know what radical change really is? How we actually  connect with those who have  been hurt, wounded by the church? Our own children? 

How can we continue to maintain a hierarchical corporate form of ecclesiology and at the same time honor Belhar with its call to reconciliation,peace and justice? And even more specifically, as Belhar states:

*  that the church must therefore stand by people in any form of suffering and need, which implies, among other things, that the church must witness against and strive against any form of injustice, so that justice may roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream;

• that the church as the possession of God must stand where the Lord stands, namely against injustice and with the wronged; that in following Christ the church must witness against all the powerful and privileged who selfishly seek their own interests and thus control and harm others.

In a world where both conservatives and liberals continue  act as if those with money and numbers know best for everyone, where specifics of budget and program are always to be left to the executive branch, we are living cognitive dissonance as the church that was collapses around us. My guess is that what God wants to be done is already happening . It’s our job to discern  and foster, nourish, support. 

That’s all in my head as I meet Jane Galloway at Popover’s. My own age, she has the shine of a professional actress, which she is. First production of Vanities off Broadway.  She smiles when I say Go MEAT, and she knows I know the play well. Yes, that shining quality, but also a toughness that comes from walking a long journey. With  years engaged in all the struggles that  have defined our years. Which ultimately are the same struggle. 

We share Pittsburgh roots. That reoccurring connection with Portland. And more. She has lived her life as a Presbyterian child and as an adult minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church  (that’s right) and the United Church of Christ. Her mom still a Presbyterian in Portland, a brother who has been barred from called PCUSA ministry by virtue of Amenment B. Tried to create and live out a vision like mine in Long Beach, California and now has been called as Spiritual Director of the Sacred Center, a new thought congregation that worships at SPSA, where  we lived for three years. 

She shares their story birthed by a charismatic leader. Quickly attracting lgbtq folks wounded by traditional church.  You are amazing, you are beautiful, just as you are, was the much longed for message.  And their children. And African-American women blocked out of leadership in traditional churches.  And a vibrant gospel choir. Now in their second stage of life post founder, they called an actual seminary educated ordained pastor see if they can become a real congregation.

Our visions are very much the same. Especially as to what our centre could be, the kind of place it could be.  From my left wing reformed position, I agree when  she quotes the Bahai idea that we should worship the light and not the lantern. How often do we make that mistake? 

I am excited about the idea of collaboration. But have questions. How does a new thought congregation and a community committed to following in the path of Jesus collaborate?  She speaks of Howard Thurman, Martin Luther King, Jr.‘s mentor, who combined mysticism and social activism. Who said that following  the path of Jesus  was ultimately more important than believing any  doctrinal theological propostion. What do we have to offer that they don’t? To those wounded by the church? Would we be overwhelmed by their size? Are such communities a witness to what we have ignored around us?  How can we be partners in a common  vision, if that vision is a common one? More questions than answers. But worth pursuing. 

Thirteenth Day of Lent: Tomorrow night we will join them

3/23

Something between rain and snow today. Spring? March. A brand new pair of men’s checked pants, tag still attached. Completely soaked. And an empty paper bag. And some big new chunks of red sandstone from the building. And more red mud.

I welcome Emiko Iinuma into the church. She is the founder of the Harmonia opera company, the only Japanese opera company in the US. She is a dignified older woman with a look of deep pain. She has come to talk about organizing a benefit concert to raise money for Japan. 

Earlier today in my lectionary group, my friend Takako had spoken of the water crisis in Japan duel to the radiation. Babies and children under four not to drink the water. (But what if my child is four?) Ms. Iinuma takes it further.  Lettuce, spinach, broccoli, the rice fields, the whole vegetable  food supply compromised.  Tap water dangerous. She and her friends are gathering non-perishable food items to send to family. 

I think of the whole nuclear history with Japan beginning with the  horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A pacifist country under the nuclear shield of the US military. And now vulnerable nuclear power plants at risk of melt down. It’s a flashing warning light. Once again, the tsunami was nature, the disaster the result of human policy choices. 

We talk of her plans. She loves the acoustics. We agree to the benefit on June 3rd. It’s the kind of event we want to welcome. As we are talking, a young family enters the church and approaches. There’s a father and mother, a tow headed boy and a girl in a stroller. And of course, a story.

Come from Mt. Aerie, North Carolina (the real Mayberry)  for a new job. Presbyterian. (Of course.) Waiting for a money order at Western Union. Just need some help to feed the children. (He shows me hotel receipts.) Promises to pay me back. I’ve been doing this for 35 years and I still want to believe the stories I hear. I’ve been paid back, oh, maybe twice? I give him what I have. 

Bruce, Becca, Bryce and... Cammie. (OK, what happened there? I’m really an R, says Becca.)  I wish them well. See them out. This visit means we’re officially back.

At 1, I meet John and Ann Friedman from the Landmarks Conservancy. It’s time to start the plumbing and roof work. I have to run to be with  a member in housing court, again. Later, John will tell me that there’s multiple flooding in the building. A new leak. Emergency work needed. And John has neither hip boots or Wellingtons. 

Court is long. A judge who sincerely wants to help. Says my presence, in a collar, helps. (Always wear a collar to  court.) He’ll grant a delay. Can we do a concert? Raise some money? Keep him in his apartment? We have a chance. He’s a former Broadway star. Anxious to do  concert. 

Uli and I walk to the church in cold rain. He’s come from Germany. For over 10 years, he brought young people from Germany with the Fellowship of Reconciliation to stay at West-Park. To experience life in a truly multicultural, global city. To work in soup kitchens, homeless shelters. To worship with us and share our life. 

That relationship led to my visits to Berlin and later Duisberg. To the creation of a working partnership between church immigrant asylum workers in Germany and Arizona. No mas muertes in the desert, on the Mediterranean. An international day of commemoration for those who have died. (June 26). And ultimately to my son Micah moving from Edinburgh to Berlin. It’s part of my life. And the church’s life. 

Hope is there. We study the Belhar Confession, forged in the crucible of South African apartheidt in 1986. Now being voted on by Presbyteries for inclusion in our official Book of Confessions. It’s a powerful witness that cultures, languages, differences, are both opportunity and obligation for reconciliation and unity. That any practice that stands in the way of boundary crossing unity is sin. And that we have the mandate to pursue this unity, not just be passively tolerant of it. 

In its classic confession format of affirmation and rejection, Uli sees echoes of Barmen. That radical statement of the Confessing Church in the face of the Third Reich. And he’s right. Belhar is built on the foundation of Barmen. These reformed statements go to the heart of witness, of a social ethic, of lived faith.

As we leave, the combination of snow and freezing rain has made the streets treacherous. In the face of this weather, The Saigon Grill pickets are down to two Mexican and two Chinese workers. Hope has been walking the picket line with them. A movement is growing to get neighborhood stores and businesses to agree to an antisweatshop standard. To be a sweatshop free zone. There’s a meeting coming to plan a major rally for Saturday. Tomorrow night we will join them.

From the corner of my eye, I see someone approaching our steps. It’s our independent recycling entrepreneur. The one with the SUV shopping cart. When I go back to reclaim my cell phone, he’s all rolled up in a red down sleeping bag. Plastic bags of cans and bottles are piled to the top of the doorway. 

Esta bien? I ask. 

Si, he says.

Pero hace mucho frio esta noche.

Si pero estoy seguro en mi saco.

Bueno. Tenga cuidado, mi hermano.

I’ll look in on him tomorrow.