sustain:if:able kiwi

burning bush (Exodus 3 and 4), mission, call, creativity and Advent

I’ve been sitting for the last few months with the call of Moses in Exodus 3 and 4. A few months ago I heard it told well as a children’s story and really hit me. First, mission and the importance of beginning with our ears on. Second, call and what it means for me to respond to God’s call by simply giving my “staff” – my gifts, talents, experiences.

Over the weekend, as a way of trying to dwell further on the text, I googled burning bush icons. (I’m just about to finish an icon (another pioneer Jesus), so I’m beginning to feel my way toward my next icon project.) I could only find about four and one, was most intriguing. It is titled the Theotokos of the Unburnt Bush. (More here)

Mary is surrounded by the flames. She literally sits in the middle of the burning bush, while Jesus sits in the middle of Mary! I like how small Moses is, off and to the side, and the little angels up top, doing their spiritual play!

Textually, much of Jesus in the Gospels, especially in Matthew, is framed as the new Moses, leading a new Exodus. Thus visually, a burning bush icon that references Jesus is very Biblically astute.

What struck me was how visually it connects for me with that superb Advent icon, the Theotokos Orans icon.

Toward the end of last year, leading into Advent, I spent much time reflecting on the Orans icon and the implications for mission, church and pioneer leadership (here and here).

So there is something intuitive here for me, about the need to take of shoes for we stand on holy ground, about the mission of Moses as a forerunner of the mission of Jesus, about refinement, about possibilities.

Yes, I think I know what my next icon might be!

family faith: at Halloween/All Saints part 2

One of the members of team Taylor went “peace-treating” this Halloween. They were keen to join the fun. And be with friends. Others in the family were uneasy with the very concept of trick-or-treating – that sense of expecting a handout.

So a healthy discussion ended in “peace-treating.” They would knock on doors and speak peace to every home. (Yep echoes of Luke 10:1-10!) To practically embody peace, they took along a collection of peace quotes on paper, which they handed out. They are into peace in a big way, so this was a perfect fit with their personality. It meant that rather than get, they would give – verbal peace, the presence of peace, a peace quote.

So off they went and had a great time. It seemed a creative way of practising faith in our world today. It brought to mind some quotes by Miroslav Volf, which I used in the chapter on gospel/culture in my The Out of Bounds Church?: Learning to Create a Community of Faith in a Culture of Change.

“’Gospel’ always involves a way of living in a social environment….”

“[T]here is no single proper way for Christians to relate to a given culture as a whole. Instead, there are numerous ways of accepting, rejecting, subverting or transforming various aspects of a culture….” Miroslav Volf, “Soft Difference. Theological Reflections on the Relation between Church and Culture in 1 Peter.” Ex Auditu 10 (1994), 15-30.

(This is another entry (P=peace-treating) in dictionary of everyday spirituality. For the complete index of all entries, go here).

family faith: at Halloween/All Saints Day part 1

Tuesday was All Saints Day and Team Taylor were gathering for family dinner. The youngest had set up a lovely environment, with a central Christ candle and unlit tea lights.

After eating, we considered Halloween, followed by All Saints Day, a time to remember those who had shaped us. Five categories were suggested (written on the paper in the front of the pic) – life teachers, risk-takers, brave one, joke and joy tellers, nurturers.

Names were mentioned and candles were lit.

There was a growing sense that we were not alone, but surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. Many at distance both in time and geography. But still a warm and glowing presence among us.

There was also a time to be thankful for those around the table, to remind ourselves that Team Taylor has been, and can be, saints to each other, a practical expression of Christ’s love.

Very simple, but quite quietly memorable.

(This is another entry (S=saints) in dictionary of everyday spirituality. For the complete index of all entries, go here).

airports and contemporary pilgrimage

At 7 am yesterday I needed to navigate from the Domestic terminal, to the International terminal at Auckland Airport. There are two options.

A bus.

Or a walk, of about 15 minutes.

Being a fine morning, and having been up since 4 am, I needed a stretch. On the spur of the moment, I decided not only to walk, but to walk holding a small carved wooden pilgrims cross I had brought near Durham Cathedral in September.

It transformed the walk. What was a stroll became a spiritual exercise.

As I walked, I found myself reminded of other times I had walked holding the cross, especially at Holy Island. (See my photo essay here). During that walk, I was overwhelmed with the realisation of how many others in history have walked the walk and what it means to consider the life journey as one surrounded by pilgrims.

This turned my walk between airport terminals into prayer – for those walking with me, for those I passed, for those who have walked before and will walk into the future.

A walk + small hand held wooden cross + memory = a moment of spiritual engagement.

pilgrimage. a lindisfarne photo essay

Holy Island, Lindisfarne, where I spent a few days as part of my recent 2 weeks Study Leave, is tidal. Twice a day, it is cut off from the mainland by tides. During low tide, one can cross by road. Or walk via the Pilgrims Crossing, a set of poles struck across the mudflats, rumoured to be the route by which pilgrims for hundreds of years crossed.

Which I walked in one evening, reflecting on my life’s journey. The light was helpful, so I shot some pictures as I walked, prayed, danced and thought ….

Pilgrims begin,
off the beaten track

Skin bared, for immersion

poles to guide, front and afar

till tide turns
then shelter box
for times of troubled

im-prints, for life

Pilgrims come. Must go
past journey ends
so real life,
resume.

A creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary (in this case, visual images on themes of pilgrimage). For more resources go here.

worship when a changing world means a changing mission

Last night was the second week of the Adelaide mission shaped ministry course. With 2 new faces, there are now 47 registered. With the nerves of the first week gone, there is momentum in the air. My task is to lead worship and the hope is that all the worship is done in ways that are different, ways that offer possibilities.

The theme of week 2 is the mission of God. So I begin (the call to worship) with the teaser from the movie Up.

It seems to capture mission as risk, surprise, adventure. And so we say together, a missional paraphrase of Romans 8: This resurrection [mission] life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?”

The next task is the task of prayer. This is offered as an invitation to either ask/intercede or thank/praise. On every chair is a balloon. Half have words from our “changing world” homework, a word texted in by us, which I have written on the balloon. This becomes the task of intercession. As Jesus breathed on the disciples in the sending of the Spirit (John 20), so the invitation is to pray by breathing on our world, to blow up the balloon, praying for the mission of God in our changing world.

The rest of the balloons have words from the week 2 course notes – Scriptures that speak of mission, names of mission moments in history, words from the Anglican 5 marks of mission. This becomes an invitation to praise, to give thanks. As Jesus breathed on the disciples in the sending of the Spirit (John 20:21-23), so we are to breathe thanks, to blow up the balloon, thankful for the mission of God in which we participate.

And so the room begins to breathe. As we finish our prayers, we tie our balloons, our breathe prayers. And we repeat together, the missional paraphrase: This resurrection [mission] life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?”.

And we bat the balloons around the room, our joyful, playful, participation, our worship, when a changing world means a changing mission.

(Note, this might also work as a Creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary if the Bible texts were John 20 or Romans 8). For more resources go here.

the outsider: creationary storytelling Matthew 13 parable of treasure

A creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary. For more resources go here.

The man arrived by shiny 4 wheel drive. An outsider, branded by his clean lines and secretive ways. Disappearing at dawn. Returning at dusk. Avoiding campfire conversation.

A month later he gives in. Finds the local country pub and sadly shares his story.

“I’m from NASA. Your land, these outback ranges, is reputed to be the site of a unique mineral deposit, with rocks essential to our space programme. Which means I’ve had a top secret mission.”

Slowly he pulls a rock out of his pocket. “I’m looking for these. From dawn to dusk. Searching your outback.”

Wearily his head leans onto the bar counter. “Have you ever seen anything like this?”

The bar owner peers hard. Bends down. Pulls a bucket out from under the counter and empties the contents over the bar. Identical stones run everywhere.

“Sometimes you simply need to ask, rather than look,” he grins.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.” (Matthew 13:44). (Based on a true story heard over coffee today.)

creationary: Mattthew 13 parable of mustard seed

A creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary. For more resources go here.

For those working on the parable of the mustard seed for Sunday, there are some great pictures – “smallness of the tree” here; birds in a mustard tree here. Regarding permissions, the website does say (generously) that the “photos and text are in the public domain. No other author may copyright them”

For me, I’ll be using Matthew 13:52 – new and old – as the integrative theme.

I will be giving
– some of the people, as they come in, a google map of their local community
– the rest of the people, as they come in, a picture of the church

I’ll also as people come in, give them an envelope in which there is a mustard seed, some yeast, a pearl, and some treasure. I’ll also have a net hanging up the front of the church.

So I will offer some “Jewish context info” for each parable and then pause and ask folk, using verse 52 – what smells old, what smells new. So interaction together about the way the parable is actually working.

And then I’ll finish by asking those with a map of the community what the parables mean to the community, and those with a church picture, what the parables mean to folk in the church. This will allow some communal discussion of the application, plus is also consistent with the Matthew 13 text, in that two of the parables (mustard seed and yeast) are delivered to the wide crowd, while two (treasure and pearl) are given to the disciples.

I will probably conclude with the Paul Kelly song, from Big things little things grow.

resourcing Trinity Sunday worship: creationary ideas

A creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary. For more resources go here.

Thinking about Trinity Sunday this week and began hunting the blog archive

• From 2004, some thoughts on Trinity and mission
• Making friendship bracelets in worship as an act of participation in Triune God
• A piece of Trinitarian doodling here
• A Trinity takeaway, 3 art pics folded into a one piece make this at home accessory
• Rublevs icon as a childrens talk
• Sand drawing as worship in a public (beach) space

at one with water: a theology for church as fully human

Colin Gunton, On Being the Church: Essays on the Christian Community has a wonderful chapter on the church. It includes an exploration of church as fully human. His argument is that if Christ is fully human, fully divine, then to be the body of Christ includes the invitation to explore being fully human.

Walking through Perth streets earlier this week, I noticed a billboard, a sign on a car advertising a business.

And some things clicked for me. A danger of mission is the fear of syncretism, of becoming the same as the culture. The sign “At one with water” got me thinking about swimming – in water, yet still truely, uniquely, human.

At one with water.
Immersed yet distinct.
Playful yet expecting wisdom.
A way of being church. Not to gather but scatter to be playfully,
humanly,
earth on heaven

Earlier this year I wrote a number of posts about church as scattered (here and here). The goal was missional life. The “At one with water” slogan expands my thinking. The goal of church scattered is fully human life. If so, the church gathered needs to includes the resourcing of life as fully human.

Which becomes a challenging question. In what ways does our worship fully humanise, acknowledge all of being human, in order that church scattered might be fully human?

A post made all the more appropriate because the day I walked happened to be Ascension Day, in which the church celebrates the return of Jesus, human body and all, to the Triune God. (for more of an Ascension Day theology see here; while for some creative ascension day worship, see here).

laughing Jesus: essential in the post-resurrection creationary

A creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary. For more resources go here.

Just came across an Australian art exhibition with the theme laughing Jesus. This is a piece by Lindena Robb, titled Behold the Joy of Jesus.

The representations of a tortured Jesus were crowded in my mind, so the thought of painting a joyous Jesus delighted me. I was reflecting on the words: “being held” and “behold”. I noticed how we support each other by witnessing our experiences. Through witnessing, we are affirming, and also sharing the human expression of life. We are being held by those who witness our lives. We are also being held by God witnessing our lives. We behold others, as the women in this painting behold Jesus, each with her own personality and expression of delight, humour, compassion, admiration, and possibly desire.

There is a range of pieces, from a range of cultures (16). They note that images of Jesus often make suffering central and so miss a laughing, loving Jesus who is a living presence. Well worth reflection, whether in corporate gathered worship, or private reflection. I will be using them over the Grow and go weekend.

leader as gardener: a minister of pastor commissioning sermon

On Saturday I was honoured to be invited to speak at a commissioning, of a friend as a family pastor (Uniting church ministry of pastor). They were expecting quite a lot of community folk, particularly younger families. So I needed to all-age friendly and to explain what was happening in understandable categories. Plus I was keen to keep it connected to the church year, and thus the Easter story.

So here’s the sermon, drawing on my faithful friend, Bodge Plants a Seed: A Retelling of the Parable of the Sower (See all Children's Christian Fiction Books), working with the Easter story (John 20:11-18) and some seeds. (more…)

a royal wedding sermon for the Sunday after: creationary of Luke 24

A few years ago, I was thinking about weddings while preparing for communion and working on a sermon on Luke 24 and the resurrected Jesus. And I was thinking how at a wedding, we all stand for the “first meal” with the bride and groom. And I began to hear echoes of this in the Easter resurrection story and the Christian practice of communion.

Since we were celebrating communion that Sunday, I got four big tables and we dressed them with fancy table cloths, and placed seats and we had big loaves of bread and caraffe’s of grape juice and wine tasting glasses and we invited people to take communion imagining they were sitting at a first meal with Jesus.

So, for those interested, in light of it being once again post-Easter and it also having been a royal wedding and the fact that we are all apparently now kings and queens (!), here is the last bit of the sermon and seque into communion. (more…)

creationary: In search of a round table

A creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary. For more resources go here.

A few weeks ago I posted a communion reflection, on how the roundness of a communion table remakes us – a reflection of the physicality of the table, the importance of space and the power of the gospel to change relationships, powers and hierarchies.

Maggi Dawn has just posted a poem in a very similar vein.

In search of a round table
a poem by Charles Lathrop

Concerning the why and how and what and who of ministry,
One image keeps surfacing: A table that is round.

It will take some sawing
To be roundtabled.
Some redefining
And redesigning,
Some redoing and rebirthing
Of narrow long Churching
Can painful be
For people and tables.
It would mean no daising
And throning,
For but one king is there
And he is a foot washer,
At table no less.

And what of narrow long ministers
When they confront
A round table people,
After years of working up the table
To finally sit at its head,
Only to discover
That the table has been turned round?

They must be loved into roundness,
For God has called a People
Not “them and us”.
“them and us” are unable
to gather round; for at a round table
there are no sides
and ALL are invited
to wholeness and to food.

At one time
Our narrowing churches
Were built to resemble the Cross
But it does no good
For building to do so,
If lives do not.

Round tabling means
No preferred seating,
No first and last,
No better, and no corners
For the “least of these”.
Roundtableing means
Being with,
A part of,
Together and one.
It means room for the Spirit
And gifts
And disturbing profound peace for all.

We can no longer prepare for the past.
We will and must and are called
To be Church,
And if He calls for other than a round table
We are bound to follow.

Leaving the sawdust
And chips, designs and redesigns
Behind, in search of and in presence of
The Kingdom
That is His and not ours.