Tod Bolsinger

Surprised By Hope...the Video

Bishop Tom Wright was interviewed on ABC News a couple of nights back.  The video interview gives a good overview of the book's main argument one that is so important that I am rearranging my post-Easter sermons and teaching at the church to take it up.

Hurry up and read this before somebody dies…

A funeral is not the time to try to change someone’s mind…especially if they are grieving.  So, very often the family requests for a funeral service walk the line of liturgical correctness.   

Want to sing “Happy Trails to You” as the closing song?  Well ok.
Want a long video tribute to be the center of the service?  Sure.  More and more this is what people are doing.
Want an “open microphone” sharing time that will be dominated by the most extroverted old fraternity pal who wishes that he was headlining at a comedy club in Las Vegas?  (Well, I will try to warn you about this one…but sure, if that’s what you want.

All these and many more requests have come in from bereaving families who are trying their best to honor a loved one and find some comfort in the midst of loss.  But what is even more touchy is when the sentiments expressed are good-hearted, but theologically wrong-headed.

Someone will say:  “God needed another angel so he took our little girl.”
Someone will say: “I know Dad’s in heaven looking down on us now, watching over us.”
Someone will read a poem that says: “Don’t grieve for me for I am not gone, I am in the flowers, the rain and a song” (or something of the sorts).

Or even more subtly, recently I have had a number of people change the name of the service because they really don’t understand what we are doing when we Christians gather to memorialize a loved one.  In the Presbyterian Church, the funeral service is actually called “The Service of Witness to the Resurrection.”  But most folks have lost an connection between the Resurrection of Jesus and the ultimate hope for all believers (1 Corinthians 15 notwithstanding).  And because of this, we have turned memorial services into little more than an old fashioned Irish wake (without the whiskey, unfortunately).  We tell stories, we cry, we sing songs and then we eat. 

But since I am between funerals at the moment, let me point out here in way that I never would with a grieving family, that what gets missed is the main point that was the center of the earliest Christians’ belief:  “God was going to do for the whole cosmos what he had done for Jesus at Easter.”  (N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope, p. 93). 

And that connection between Jesus’ resurrection and the ultimate hope for all of creation is our Christian hope, the fulfillment of that which is usually proclaimed in the reading of the New Testament in every funeral: “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14. 

In his book, Surprised by Hope, Bishop Wright demonstrates that very often, even though the biblical text is clear, our grid for interpreting it has been so distorted by popular and platonic sentiments about the escape of our souls from our bodies.  (For an interview with Wright that gives a quick overview of these ideas, see this.)

This is understandable to me.  It’s easier to think of a loved one being freed from a body filled with cancer than to actually think of that body renewed to a new incorruptible life.  In the same way, it is easier for more of us to imagine (in a John-Lennon-like way) an existence of being unified with the universe, or being angelic and “spiritual” than to consider what a “new heaven and new earth” (Revelation 21) would be.

But that is exactly the hope that we have both in a Christian funeral and in living every day.

It’s obvious to me that funeral sentiments have become the practical working theology of most people today.  And in a desire to find comfort that we believe is only possible “somewhere in the great by and by” we are losing the hope—and the calling--that is ours in the here and now—in our bodies.

“God’s people are promised a new type of bodily existence, the fulfillment and redemption of our present bodily life.”  Wright, Hope, p. 147.

Next up:  “God wants your body.”

Suprised By Hope...quote of the day

"Our task in the present... is to live as resurrection people in between Easter and the final day, with our Christian life, corporate and individual, in both worship and mission, as a sign of the first and foretaste of the second.

N.T. Wright, Surprised By Hope

Surprised by... The Bible

Eleven years ago, when I was interviewing for the position I currently hold, there came a moment in the discussion when the committee wanted to know my view of scripture.  I understood that I was wading into pretty deep theological waters with a group of people who truly wanted their pastor to affirm the terra firma of a solid, biblical and unwaveringly, conservative faith.  While Presbyterian, this was an "Evangelical" church with a capital "E", and they were on the look out especially for closet "liberals".

I look upon interviews, less as auditions, then as rehearsals.  I wanted them to experience me as their pastor and how I want to uphold the Scriptures as the authoritative ground of our beliefs as well as the challenging prophetic, often earth-shaking voice of God that can transform everything we think we know with the sheer power of a Divine Word.

So, when asked about my view of scripture, I asked them a question in return: "If I could prove to you from the Scriptures, that the Bible teaches that homosexuality is a valid lifestyle and gift of God for Christians, would you as leaders publicly declare it so?"

They gulped. They gasped and I think a couple of them  rolled their  eyes.  As  I said, this is a conservative evangelical bunch.  They believe that homosexuality is a sin.  And now, I was a Presbyterian pastor who was suggesting their worst nightmare.

Nobody breathed.

I answered the question for them:  "Of course you would. Because that's what it means to say that the Bible is the inspired word of God and our authority for, belief, life and practice.  And that is also the reason, and the only reason, why I cannot affirm homosexuality as a valid life-style practice for Christians.  Because the Bible unequivocally condemns it." I went on to say that because the Scriptures are my authority for life and faith, I also hold a host of other positions that may or may not be popular or understood in our world and even in our churches (including, by the way, the oft-practiced homophobia that insists that homosexuality is worse than many other sins that the Bible condemns far more often.)

Now, why do I use this illustration to introduce  N.T. Wright's newest and perhaps finest book (You heard it here first, this will be CT's Book of the Year) when he never once mentions homosexuality?  Because the key issue of faith in most of our theological discussions is not an ethical issue (no matter how controversial) but the authority and interpretation of the Scriptures in a post-Christian world.  And very often even the most devout Christians hold views that need to be revisited in light of the Scriptures and reconsidered again.

In this book, Bishop Tom takes on the popular and "popular Christian" views of heaven and hell, the resurrection, and the Kingdom of God and baldly declares that most of what we say, sing and especially affirm in our funerals is biblically left wanting.  And this may indeed make many of us gulp, gasp and shake our heads. 

But hopefully, if we affirm that we are "people of the Book", it will also take us back into the Scriptures with humility and a teachable spirit.

Last year, after reading Wright's larger tomes on the subject I offered three lectures on the subject of "Life after Death and What Comes After That".  After the first lecture (where I offered the same classical Christian views that Wright teaches far more ably),  I had a retired Presbyterian pastor who had performed over 1000 funerals tell me that he now realized that he had never learned what the Scriptures teach (and what up until very recently the church universally affirmed) to be true of the "dead in Christ" and that all of these years he had been...well...wrong.

Of course, this was hard for him to admit (as it has been when I look back at things I have said or written that have needed correction).  But the pastor was a humble, teachable man, who held and taught his church one clear conviction:  The Scriptures are our authority and if we are proved wrong by the Scriptures then we will always seek to be corrected and live rightly.

What Wright does superbly is recovers classic Christianity and wipes the dust of culture, biases and syncretistic worldviews that often passes for theological thought away so that we can allow the faith of the earliest Christians to lead, teach and change us.  What he also does, is demonstrates the huge, practical impact of thinking biblically. 

Over the next few weeks, I'll share some excerpts and reflections from the book.  But in the meantime, I encourage you to give yourself an early Easter present and reconsider what resurrection...and the ultimate hope we have in Christ...really is.

From Divine Communion to Our Church Communities

“The community is therefore, not only the receiver of the Word of revelation; it is itself revelation...The community is the body of Christ. Body here is not just a metaphor. The community is the body of Christ; it does not represent the Body of Christ.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Christ the Center, 60

 
The Church is God's incarnation today.  The Church is Jesus' body on earth.  The Church is the temple of the Spirit. The Church is not a helpful thing for my individual spiritual journey. The Church is the journey.  The Church is not a collection of “soul-winners” all seeking to tell unbelievers “the Way” to God. The Church is the Way. To be part of the Church is to be part of God—to be part of God’s Communion and to be part of God’s ministry. To belong to the people of God is to enjoy relationship with God and live out the purposes of God. The Church is God’s present day word and witness to an unbelieving world. And, most importantly, the Church is the only true means to be transformed into the likeness of God.

Tod Bolsinger, It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian

Living the Trinity

The fellowship of Christians is just as much an end in itself as is their fellowship with Christ. This quite unique meeting of the horizontal and the vertical is the consequence and the type of that communion which the father has with the Son “before the world was;” (John 17:5, 24) in the supernatural life of the Christian communion is completed the revelation of the Triune God...the very being of God is agape--that love which the Son brings to mankind from the Father, and it is just this love which is the essence of the fellowship of those who belong to the Ecclesia.

Emil Brunner, The Misunderstanding of the Church (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1953), 12-13

The God Whose Essence is Sharing

This famous Russian icon of the “Holy Trinity” was created by Andre Rublev around 1410.  Those of you who have read my book, It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian, know that icon has been very important in my life.  Over a ten year period, a small version of it sat on my desk as I wrote my dissertation and then rewrote it into the book where it is the  central image. And it is, I believe, one of the best depictions of the Triune nature, character and activity of God. 

First a brief word about “icons”.  We western Protestants don’t have much familiarity with icons.  We tend to look at them as Christian “art” at best and heretical “idols” at worst.  But for centuries, even continuing today, icons were used by Christians in the east as a tool for prayer. 

Let’s be clear about this. You don’t pray TO an icon, you pray THROUGH it.  An icon is not an idol.  It is not something that we worship, but a tool for helping us worship the one true and living God. 

In our tradition, the beauty of creation is used the same way.  In the same way, that we might go and sit on the beach at sunset and pray to God while watching the light dim and the darkness of night slowly come upon us, an eastern Christian of another day, would set themselves before an icon and use it as a window to God. 

This is also, by the way, that a lot of us use Scripture as a tool for prayer.  In passages like the psalms that don’t teach ethics or theology, as much as they reveal the character of God in his actions with his people, we linger before them, letting them shape our prayers. 

It’s best to think of it as a kind of window or frame that assists the believer in praying to God.  And this one is really unique. 

Most icons of the Trinity from that day look differently Usually a kingly “Father” figure, a baby “Son” figure and a dove as the “Spirit” figure, they depict the different modes in which most people encounter the Triune God.

But this one depicts the Divine Communion of the Trinity.  Three figures, who all look almost identical.  They are ageless and their gender is almost indistinguishable.  They are all seated at a table and all are on the same level.  All wearing a similar blue or purple colored robe, all with the same shepherd’s staff, all equally divine, equally regal. 

The Father figure on the left has a mansion over his head, the Son figure in the center of the table has a tree, symbolizing the cross, and the Spirit figure on the right has a mountain overhead depicting the Spirit’s meeting us in nature and earthly moments.  (Like Elijah’s encounter with the “still small voice”).

Notice that the Son and the Spirit’s heads are both inclined toward the Father.

Notice also how the blue/purple robe symbolizing the divine life is revealed differently by each person in the Triune Community.  The Divine Life of God is obscured to us, barely visible.  The Divinity of Christ is laid over his earthly garb, because it is through Christ’s humanity that we come to know God and the Divine Life of the Spirit is underneath a green robe that represents the beauty of nature or creation, that invites us to look deeper.

And now, notice how the fourth side of the table seems to open up in an invitation.  There is a small square that is meant to be a visual device that draws the viewer into the scene.  It is as if the Divine Communion, the Trinitarian life of God has made a space at the table for anyone who will come and join them. 

And ultimately, this is the message of this icon:  Will you join the table?  Will you become part of this Divine Community?  Will you join your life to the life of God?  Will you become part of the life of God that we see here is a life lived together. 

The first thing we discover as we seek to live out the life of God is what Justo L. Gonzalez describes as “The God whose essence is sharing…”

Of course, “essence” is Trinitarian language.  Essence is the substance of God, the shared nature of God.  No matter how we encounter God, whether through a spiritual experience, the Word of God spoken to us, in the life of Christ or in the beauty of creation, the one true God’s essence is the same, and that essence is a shared love (1 John 4:8-9).

As Christians we are to live out that shared love in order to reveal God’s saving presence in the world.  Just like Jesus who was the incarnation of this Triune Communion, we, the body of Christ are called together to continue that incarnation of God in the world.  Or to put it more succinctly, “Our job is to embody God.”

The model we have in God is not one of autonomy, but sharing.  Of lives that are open to God, to each other and to the world.  This sharing is not just out of need or neediness, (for God needs nothing, right?) but a sharing that expresses love through a shared life of authenticity, vulnerability and especially hospitality.

Let me encourage you to consider some questions this Lenten season as you seek to see God through this icon:

• What would it mean to live my life as an expression of this Divine Communion?
• What would it require for me to make my life less autonomous and more “shared”?
• What would it take for me to whole-heartedly sit at this table?
• What would I have to do to make my life a more authentic, vulnerable, hospitable extension of this Divine Life? 

My Lenten Focus

Dirty Foreheads, Right Minds

I am reposting my traditional Ash Wednesday post today as we begin Lent together. May the Peace of Christ be with all of us. If you near San Clemente and want to join us, the Service tonight starts   at 7 PM.

“Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”

With these words, a small bit of ash is rubbed in the sign of the cross on the forehead of each person.  A mark of humility, a sign of mortality, an acknowledgement of repentance.

While for many protestants the idea of imposing ashes or even attending an “Ash Wednesday” service is too, well, Catholic, for them, the truth is that what we acknowledge on this first day of Lent is nothing more or nothing less than being human.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a forty day period of “fasting” and spiritual attention that is intended to commemorate Jesus’ own forty day wilderness period of preparation at the beginning of his earthly ministry.  During Lent, Christians prepare for the sublime feast of Easter by spending a protracted time in the fast of Lent.

At San Clemente Presbyterian Church, we will begin Lent with a dinner together in our fellowship hall.  Then after dinner, an Ash Wednesday Service where two invitations will occur: 1) Everyone, young and old, whatever age and stage of life will be invited to come and receive the imposition of ashes, and 2) Every Christian, young and old, whatever age and stage of life, will be invited to come forth a second time and receive the Lord’s Supper.

By coupling these two moments—one a tradition, the other a sacrament—we wish to convey a clear message: the starting point for all spiritual progress, all spiritual attention, all spiritual discipline, is in the acknowledgement of our own genuine humanity and receiving God’s generous mercy.  Like two blades of a pair of scissors both are needed: humility and grace, the truth of our mortality and the gift of eternal life, remembering that our bodies were fashioned of the dust and that the God of the universe took on the same creaturely form in order to bring us to life eternal.  And in receiving both the ash and the sacraments, we complete our first act of repentance.

The focus of Ash Wednesday and Lent is repentance.  Again, many of us are confused about repentance.  Some of us think of it as “penance,” that is, atoning for our sins with acts of contrition.  But that is not repentance.  We can’t atone for what we have done and need not try.  Jesus’ work on the cross is our atonement.  Some of us think of repentance as sorrow and shame for what we have done, but that is also inaccurate.  Indeed, as I will explain in another post, the bible has a different Greek word for sorrow.

Repentance is literally to “change your mind.”  In the famous words of Dallas Willard, “To reconsider your strategy for living based on the news of God’s Kingdom that is available in Jesus.” And that is what Lent is for, to reconsider your strategy for living.  To begin a new process of deep consideration and reflection about your life.  To reconsider what it means to follow Jesus, to plumb the mystery of Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  To reconsider what your strategy for living should be, based on this good news.

And it all begins with this:  Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.  You are not an angel.  You are not a mere soul or disembodied spirit. You are human, you are mortal, you are deeply dependent on the God who formed your body from the humus of the earth and breathed life into you with his kiss.  God has come to you, in Jesus, O Creature, and called you to have life eternal with him. 

And so, with ash on our foreheads and the taste of bread and grape on our tongues, we begin a holy lent.

Amazing, Puzzling Grace....

Anthony Yuro, one of my friends at SCPC, wrote this response to my last blog post (he heard it in sermon form last Sunday).  I loved the imagery and asked and received permission to post it here.  If you'd like to read more of his musings on faith, art and sobriety (fair warning, Anthony is refreshingly, but brutally honest and is definitely not for the faint of heart) check him out here:

Grace came to me in the form of a 1500 piece puzzle. I did not assemble it but I had to recognize it, one piece at a time. Working from the outside in. The easier bits, the edges I could ID first. The mixed up center portion is still far from complete. It would help if the picture was stable. It is not. The image changes daily, faster actually. Every option, choice, situation is a new color, angle, brush stroke, texture. I try to locate its proper place while many times not even sure I have grasped the change.