Last Sunday I preached on a passage in Collosians, chapter three.
One of the songs in the opening set of the service contained these words:
There is strength in the name of the Lord.
There is power in the name of the Lord.
There is hope in the name of the Lord.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
The closing verse of the passage I preached on was verse 17: "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
And with the phrase "name of the Lord" being emphasized, I extemporaneously changed the planned conclusion of my sermon to something that has been on my mind since I attended our pastoral conference in Orlando few weeks ago.
In Orlando, I couldn't help to think that much of the area lives in the name of Walt Disney. The name "Walt Disney" means a lot to me. As a boomer I grew up with The Mickey Mouse club and Sunday nights with "uncle Walt" on TV. We boomers can still hear the words of "Davey Crocket" ringing in our ears. And that Sunday night TV show convinced us that Disneyland must be where Heaven is.
In addition, a couple of years ago I read Neal Gabler's six-hundred page Disney biography, so I got a pretty good insight on what was the man was like publically and personally, and what made him that way.
So in Orlando I could not help but feel that life was in the name of Walt Disney. Our conference and our accomodations were in the Hilton located in the Disney World Resort. Hotels less than a mile away were nice, too. But it was easy to tell that the Hilton and other hotels around us were in the name of Walt Disney, and the other hotels were not. It wasn't that Walt died with a rule book that systematically outlined how life in his name should look like. But his public pesona was is so powerful that we can recognize something that is "Disneyish" when we see it.
That's what the word "name" means in first century language. A person's name is who he is and what he has done for us. Jesus' name is who he is and what he has done for us.
There are simply not enough written rules to define "doing all in the name of Jesus", just like there are not enough rules to define "doing all in the name of Walt Disney". That implies that we have to know Jesus - and know God - since Jesus is the most complete picture we have of God. That also implies that we read the storybook of God, the Bible, as a revelation of who God is, not as a rulebook. And it also implies that our communal worship and fellowship helps us see who God is. Last, but by no means least, Jesus is alive - present with us through the Holy Spirit - to guide us into living in his name.
I'll rewrite some of the opening words in this essay in "Orlando language", and leave it for you to meditate on the parallels:
There is strength in the name of Walt Disney.
There is power in the name of Walt Disney.
There is hope in the name of Walt Disney.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of Walt Disney.
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of Walt Disney.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Getting Real in Relationships
National Public Radio offers opportunities to write 350 to 500 word essays expressing personal beliefs. It's challenging to express a core belief in so few words, and also tell the story behind it.
This is my effort.
Getting Real in Relationships
I believe Jesus died for you. I believe that you do not need to believe it, or even have heard it, for it to be so.
For as long as I can remember, I have been able to say the words, "Jesus died for me". I was told that it was a precious gift that I should be thankful for. But to me, it only portended a reality that would be achieved after this real life ended.
By the time I had graduated from High School, I was much more interested in my real life rather than some ethereal afterlife. Also by this time I was deeply interested in the real world as described by physics. It was fun to play in this world, and already I had begun to delight in showing its wonders to others. And so I began my undergraduate education that prepared me for a thirty-five year career teaching high school physics and related sciences.
I could never accept that all reality is described by physics, yet God was not real to me. I explored different media ministries and finally joined a denomination that seemed to know what God was really up to in this world. In retrospect, I see this as an experience in knowing what to do and not do now so as to participate in some future life; it was not an experience in knowing God now.
One milestone in my physics teaching career was reading a simple statement of philosophy by Dr. Clifford Schwartz, physics textbook co-author and long time editor of The Physics Teacher magazine. He said that physics seeks not to explain the universe but describe it. From then on, the terms "describing reality" and "living in reality" became part of my physics vocabulary. But my theological vocabulary would be dominated by "do" and "don't do" for many more years.
During the year of my fiftieth birthday, our denomination began to understand that describing God's reality and living in that reality now is the quintessential definition of knowing God. I could finally admit openly that I really did not know God.
In my local congregation, I was a part of the much-contested theological reformation that ensued. Even so, I did not really comprehend that Jesus died for you until after I had retired from teaching, gotten a seminary degree, and been ordained a pastor.
The basis for seeing God's reality and describing it and living in it now is believing that Jesus died for you. If we were to connect in some way - whether face-to-face or through a medium such as this essay - God's reality demands that I see you as an equal - as a fellow human being who God loves equally, and who God has died for. And regardless of the purpose of our connection, my underlying motive for what I do or don't do in our time together will be have a shared experience in the reality of God.
This is my effort.
Getting Real in Relationships
I believe Jesus died for you. I believe that you do not need to believe it, or even have heard it, for it to be so.
For as long as I can remember, I have been able to say the words, "Jesus died for me". I was told that it was a precious gift that I should be thankful for. But to me, it only portended a reality that would be achieved after this real life ended.
By the time I had graduated from High School, I was much more interested in my real life rather than some ethereal afterlife. Also by this time I was deeply interested in the real world as described by physics. It was fun to play in this world, and already I had begun to delight in showing its wonders to others. And so I began my undergraduate education that prepared me for a thirty-five year career teaching high school physics and related sciences.
I could never accept that all reality is described by physics, yet God was not real to me. I explored different media ministries and finally joined a denomination that seemed to know what God was really up to in this world. In retrospect, I see this as an experience in knowing what to do and not do now so as to participate in some future life; it was not an experience in knowing God now.
One milestone in my physics teaching career was reading a simple statement of philosophy by Dr. Clifford Schwartz, physics textbook co-author and long time editor of The Physics Teacher magazine. He said that physics seeks not to explain the universe but describe it. From then on, the terms "describing reality" and "living in reality" became part of my physics vocabulary. But my theological vocabulary would be dominated by "do" and "don't do" for many more years.
During the year of my fiftieth birthday, our denomination began to understand that describing God's reality and living in that reality now is the quintessential definition of knowing God. I could finally admit openly that I really did not know God.
In my local congregation, I was a part of the much-contested theological reformation that ensued. Even so, I did not really comprehend that Jesus died for you until after I had retired from teaching, gotten a seminary degree, and been ordained a pastor.
The basis for seeing God's reality and describing it and living in it now is believing that Jesus died for you. If we were to connect in some way - whether face-to-face or through a medium such as this essay - God's reality demands that I see you as an equal - as a fellow human being who God loves equally, and who God has died for. And regardless of the purpose of our connection, my underlying motive for what I do or don't do in our time together will be have a shared experience in the reality of God.
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