Reflections for Urban Disciples
On this page we post brief, weekly reflections that are intended to encourage us as disciples of Jesus in the city.
March 5, 2010
The Test for Living Missionally
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...” John 1.14
Our parish took a day retreat together last Saturday. While looking at the book of Acts, we talked about being a Spirit-led, Spirit-empowered mission on the frontier. Naturally, this raised questions about what this actually looks like in Boston. Certainly, the specifics will look different in each of our lives, according to our gifts, callings, vocations, etc., but in Jesus’ mission to the world we find an answer that pertains to all. Though he is certainly more than this, Jesus is our model and Jesus’ mission was incarnational. This is the primary test of the missional life. To be incarnational is to embrace (to dwell among) the particular and local - which is often the unspectacular and mundane - and to resist generalities and abstractions. The frontier where risks are required and where sacrifice is necessary is not somewhere else, perhaps somewhere exotic, but rather in the midst of the people, neighborhoods, workplaces, and cities in which God has planted us. Your neighbors, your spouse, your kids, your co-workers, your classmates, your city, your campus: these are the frontiers that require bold and daring faith. Jesus came and dwelt among. Are we coming among and lovingly dwelling in each other’s lives and the lives of those in the world around us? The incarnational way is relational and people and life-oriented, and therefore quite messy. It is always a movement toward and not away. This way is marked by faith and great love. The opposite of incarnation is isolation, keeping to myself, staying neat and tidy and task-driven, and remaining detached, detached enough so that I can hold on to my advantage instead of advantaging others. This way is marked by fear. Any mission in Jesus’ name will entail messy involvement with real people and real places on Monday mornings and Saturday afternoons. Do we resist and remain detached or lovingly, sacrificially embrace and dwell among?
Posted by Mark Booker
February 22, 2010
Counterfeit Gods
Saint Paul wrote that one of the worst things God can do is to “give them over to the desires of their hearts” (Romans 1.24). But why would the worst punishment be giving someone what they always dreamed of?
We all have longings. Many of us long for that special someone who will love us for who we are. Others of us long for success and to be recognized as an accomplished person in his or her field. These longings in and off themselves are not bad. However, when we put all our hopes, energy and being toward that single longing, we quickly realize that we are loving, trusting and obeying these longings as if they were God. In essence we are doing whatever we need to, to realize those longings. It is in these moments that these longings become counterfeit gods and we have forgotten the one, true God.
The Greek story of Narcissus tells us of a beautiful man who one day wanders into a forest and finds a crystal clear pool of water. He is so mesmerized by the sea nymph in the pool (his own reflection), that he stares for hours at the water, trying to grasp at it. At first he only stares into the pool for a few hours, then its a whole day and finally Narcissus starves himself to death because he is so taken by the image in the pool. Many of us are like Narcissus. We slowly become mesmerized by our counterfeit gods and soon enough we are overtaken by them. However, this is not the end of the story. God has set a plan in motion to redeem humanity and through Jesus’ death on the cross and his glorious resurrection, God is inviting us to return to him. During this season of Lent, let us examine our own lives and recognize our own weakness. Let us throw ourselves back to Jesus and ask God to “restore to us the joy of his salvation and uphold us with a willing spirit” (Psalm 51.12).
Posted by Ben Rey
February 10, 2010
Teachability
Proverbs 9.7-9
7Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury. 8Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you. 9Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning. 10The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom...
Few of us delight in being corrected. We may claim to be teachable, but we really glory in not needing to be taught or instructed by others. A helpful diagnostic question for knowing our own hearts on this is to ask how we feel when someone corrects us or when we receive some kind of criticism: embarrassed? ashamed? indignant? insulted? defensive? In contrast, look at the response of the wise man to the one who reproves him in verse 8, “He will love you.” That’s a far cry from self-defense and going on the attack against those who would dare to criticize us. But this is the response of the wise. The key is found in verse 10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” The wise have been humbled before the grandeur and awesomeness of God. Their state before God leads to their state before others. There is no longer a need to defend oneself or to resist correction. Instead, the wise, poor in spirit and driven by a thirst for truth and wisdom, heed instruction - from God and others. In pride, the foolish resist reproof and fight to defend their own image. As we come into Lent, we must confess our pride, our resistance not just to the reproof and instruction of others but to the reproof and instruction of God. Jesus invites us to come and learn from him (Matthew 11.29) as he speaks to us through his word, his Spirit, and each other. May God enable us to again take up that invitation, to confess our pride, and to become teachable once again in the fear of the Lord.
Posted by Mark Booker
February 3, 2010
“It’s just like that Michelangelo painting...”
My friend explained to me as we sat together in a cafe on a busy Boston street. “Our relationship with God is just like that Michelangelo painting. We stretch out our hand to God and he stretches his finger out to meet us, but there is a gap. There is always a gap between us.”
Mark and I were on a day retreat in mid-December praying and casting vision for CotC in 2010. We had taken a break at this coffee shop and in popped my friend. He is in his mid-30’s and has an eclectic work history and even entertained the possibility of divinity school. He exudes joy and lights up whatever room he is in.
As we began talking our conversation quickly turned to God. We talk mostly about love and God’s love for us. He tells us that he has rarely witnessed the love of God. My friend has been ostracized time and time again by the church and retells us the story of an uncomfortable visit to a local bible study.
He shares with us about his desire to be close to God, but that there is always this gap, just like in that Michelangelo painting. I gently explain to my friend that the wonderful thing about Jesus is that he was fully God, the creator of all things, but he came down into our mess. He came into our pain and suffering in order to close the gap. It is through Jesus that we can truly know God. “You know...I never thought of it like that before,” he says and tells me he needs to think about it. I tell him that a group of us meet on Wednesday nights at my house to talk about our lives and Jesus and he is welcome anytime. He says he would like to stop by…
There are countless stories just like my friend’s in the city of Boston. Christianity is a failed message here and we routinely run into people who have been hurt and burned by the Church. We offer a place to seek God freely and to be a part of a community who will advocate for them. I see many similarities between the Book of Acts and our lives here in Boston. The men and women whose stories are told in the Book of Acts led their lives before Jesus and they encountered those far from God in random and unplanned ways: Philip happened to overhear the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8), Paul and friends randomly met Lydia (Acts 16), and the unplanned conversion of the Philippian Jailer (Acts 16). In the same way, our hope is to be a people who spontaneously share aspects of the Story of God in a genuine, authentic way around the kitchen table, in coffee shops and at the playground.
Posted by Ben Rey
January 30, 2010
What’s on Your Mind?
“On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.” Ps 145.5
The pace of modern, urban life can be overwhelming. For most of us, our schedules - filled as they are with work, studies, family, meetings, grocery shopping, cleaning, relationships, etc. - are enough to consume us and our thoughts. In this kind of environment, the call to meditate - to mull over, consider, dwell upon, recite - is a bit foreign. Meditation is for the people who have retired to the countryside or retreated to the monastery. Or maybe it’s for those hyper-disciplined people who do yoga every day. But it’s not for me, a city-dweller whose daily life feels more like a 400 meter sprint than a leisurely stroll through the park.
However foreign to us, the resolution of the psalmist is an invitation to life right here in the city: to poverty of spirit, to gratitude, and to joyful worship. In the face of “the glorious splendor” of God’s majesty, my messiah complex is undone. God, not me, is mighty to save. God, not me, is all-powerful, all-knowing, and faithful. One of the primary engines behind our frenetic, de-humanizing pace is dismantled as we bow the knee. That dismantling continues as we dwell upon God’s “wondrous works” of creation and redemption - works of beauty and love and power. Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again. These works are for us and their consideration fuels thankfulness and joy which inform and give birth to true worship. This meditation means that what we have to get done today is not the only thing on our mind. Rather the life-giving love and grace of God are continually granted their proper and primary place within us. So ask yourself: what’s on your mind?
If your answer to that question is, “All that I have to do,” then take heart that while this life-giving meditation is certainly an individual thing, it’s also and especially a community thing. We gather together Sunday after Sunday, we meet in each other’s homes, we get lunch or coffee together to encourage this meditation, to acknowledge God at the center. And we do this in the heart of the city, trusting that our fear-driven sprint will be continually transformed into a faith-driven stroll overflowing with abundant life.
Posted by Mark Booker
January 21, 2010
The Power of Story
In our Neighborhood Group we have been gathering to share our life stories. All throughout the Bible, the People of God retell their story. In the Psalms we find poem after poem retelling the story of the Israelites; the story of their enslavement to the Egyptians and the working of God to set them free and give them a land of their own. The Israelites often retold this story when they were in great distress, when they were exiled from their land and under foreign rule. They didn’t tell their story when they were finally “on the other side”, but in the midst of it.
They retold this story time and again because it displayed the human story: people who were in bondage and a God who set them free. Foolishly they ended up treating others as they were treated, enslaving the poor (see especially book of Amos) and walking away from God (see most of the Bible). However, in their retelling of the story, they would remind themselves not only of God’s grace and goodness, but of who they were. They were called to be a chosen people, a people who are set apart to bring the love of God to those around them.
As we gather to share our stories we remember Psalm 30.4-5, “Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning.” Our stories remind us not only of God’s grace and goodness to us, but of our call to go forth and share the faithfulness of God with those around us.
Posted by Ben Rey
January 14, 2010
Who is strong?
“Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power” -Psalm 21.13
While there is nothing wrong with properly placed confidence, the temptation to overestimate our “power” is ever present, particularly after something we do goes well. It’s for this reason that Andrew Bonar, a well known Scottish preacher who lived in the 19th century said: “Let us be as watchful after the victory as before the battle.” Psalm 21 speaks of the overwhelming success that the king will have in dealing with his enemies. They’ll be no match for his power and wisdom. What’s interesting is that the psalmist does not - as we would expect - praise the king at the end of the psalm. He celebrates the strength and power of God. It is God who enables and empowers his people. When they do or accomplish anything, those who walk by faith will join the psalmist in praising God for his power. This is the way of those who follow Jesus. They sing and praise the power of God and not their own strength, even - or especially - in the successes. We are weak but he is strong. And it’s this truth that we are called to embrace every day as we seek to follow Jesus. As Psalm 68.35 says, “The God of Israel - he is the one who gives power and strength to his people.” While this truth clashes with a world that praises the strong and preaches the message, “Believe in yourself,” it also liberates us from the self-exaltation and self-reliance that so paradoxically squelches true life.
Posted by Mark Booker
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