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Good morning, there are many ways to introduce tom are, and you have already heard two of them over these past two days. You now know about his theological degrees, you know about his leadership in

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the presbyterian Church USA and in the broader church, you have heard his wisdom, his passion for the gospel, his wit, in his contagious sense of humor. How does one introduce tom are for the

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third time? I think simply by saying this, Tom are, is a pastor who urges us to pay attention to pay attention to what is going on in the world, not because the world is a

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foil to the gospel, that would make pastoral work too simple. No pastors pay attention to the world , because the world is where the gospel takes root , because the world is already being redeemed in jesus

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christ, even if it has a long way to go and because God is already at work in the world, Thank God, Before we begin to pay attention and when we pay attention, we are surprised

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by the good news again and again, tom welcome to Austin Seminary, teach us to pay attention again . Yeah, well it's an it's been an incredible week With you these past 24 hours. His grandma

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said you have a heap of church in midwinter's, don't you? Um it's been unbelievable for me to share this experience with these other speakers and leaders with Lillian and with craig who have been teachers for me

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through their writings and with rick Spalding, who has been a living example of grace in my own life . I appreciate those who made this invitation and those who have worked to cover all the logistics so that

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everything goes smoothly. I appreciate that as a pastor . I recognize there's always a team of folks moving various places to make things work smoothly. I don't know if there's still people in the overflow room,

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but if you are, we recognize you and if you ever bump into my father, please tell him so. He's always wanted one of his Children to be on television. I also need to express the

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word of gratitude to my bride carol, who is here, Who has um heard me talk for a long time now. You thought you listen to me talk for a long time. She has heard me

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talk for a long time and has so far remained awake throughout these lectures and I'm grateful for her presence and continued support Now to our final matters, one of my favorite paragraphs in the constitution of the Presbyterian

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Church is that section we call the great ends of the church. The last one is both my favorite and the one we have the hardest time taking seriously . The church, it says is the exhibition of

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the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. When people ask you about your church, that's what you tell them. Right At 1st Church. How is it ? Well, well at first church were the exhibition

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of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. It's , it's our strategic plan anyway. Um, no , of course we don't say that we moved to Jacksonville florida when our Children were young and when you

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go to a new community, there are new things that you learn. And we moved into a neighborhood that had an ice cream truck. You know the kind of rolled panel trucks that, That have stickers

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all over the side and a little funnel speaker on the top that plays this monotonous tune through the neighborhood . Like it's a small world or something and it sort of goes through the neighborhood like a siren summon

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all in all of the Children with their dollar 50 to get a ice cream cone. Well my Children didn't know about this and they heard the truck and my son Nathan said dad, what is that?

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I don't really know why. I said what? I said, I didn't plan to say it just this way. But I looked at him and I said Nathan son, that's a music truck. Mhm

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. I don't think it was the daily buck 50 . I don't think it was the premonition of of supper ruin for the summer. And it's true the truck never comes through on mute. It's always playing

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the music. He looked at me sort of in quizzically and I said, you know, I think people here just know how much Children love music. He said, this is a great town dad.

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I said yes it is that lasted two or three days before the music truck stopped right in front of our home and all the kids gathered around and they're making their trades for double double dipper delight. And

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Nathan noticed investigated and return to report dad. You won't believe it. But the music truck has ice cream. Really? I said yes, dad. And I think it's been there all along. Mm

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. Mhm. And we missed it. Well, here's my confession. I think there is something at the core of the christian faith that has been there all along and I missed it. And I'm trying

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to find my way now my friend dan Mcknight is pastor of a new church development. He had a young man in his congregation come to him and say , Pastor dan, could, could you tell me

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what this church believes? And dan said, sure , I'd love to talk to you about that. But you've been hanging around about a year now. What's prompting the question now? He said, I

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told my dad I wanted to join this church and he wanted to know what we believe. He said , nobody's asked me that before. All my friends just want to know what we do. There's a

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man who came to jesus and said Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? As a preacher nursed in the reform tradition, I want to challenge this man's assumptions. I want to inform

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him that you don't do anything to inherit. Eternal life. And inheritance is just that it's a gift . Eternal life is the work of the Grace of God. It is the result of a love that

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lives deep in the heart of God. It is not the result of a love that lives within us . It's Calvin it says however much we may be sinners by our own fault, we nevertheless remain his

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creatures. Thus, he is moved by pure and freely given love of us to receive us in grace . That is the truth. However, if you wish to preach that sermon, you would do well

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to either choose a different text or ignore this one , because Jesus says nothing to this man of Grace , and instead spends all his time telling him what to do. First follow the commandments, then go

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sell, give and follow. As a matter of fact, you've noticed, have you not that jesus consistently tells us what to do? A matter of fact tells us to do those things which we know

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we cannot possibly do. Go the second mile, turn it off to your left, forgive 70 times seven. Come and follow me by the sea. Come and follow me on the sea. Take up

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your own cross. Welcome the Children cast out demons raised the dead, love, your neighbor, love your enemy. Go sell all that you have and give it to the poor. Be the exhibition of

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the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. It has shocked me to realize I cannot with great confidence tell you jesus is theology, but I know some of his ethic because he spent so much of his time

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telling his followers what they should do, what we do may not save us, indeed will not save us, but it matters and I missed it. Sometimes we have been so confident in the power of

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sin to infect our deeds that we've allowed it to remove any expectation of the effort. Even Calvin says , we are not our own. We are gods . Let us therefore live for him and die for

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him. We are God's, let his wisdom and will therefore rule all our actions. The Lord commands all without exception, Calvin says, to do good . My dad wants to know what we believe.

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My friends want to know what we do. I want to talk about that a bit. But first this moment of bible study to my mind, one of the most amazing moments in the whole of the

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Hebrew scriptures is when naming the Syrian visits the prophet Elisha. Nayman is the general. You will remember who gets a sermon shout out from jesus when Naaman is healed from leprosy. But before he returns to

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Syria, he finds the prophet Elijah seeks him out in order to give thanks for his healing and then he makes too unusual request. The first he asked for two mule loads of dirt to take home.

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And then he asked this when my master, the king of Syria, goes into the house of roman to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow down in the house of roman, May

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the Lord pardon your servant On this one cow. The healing waters of the Jordan have yet to drive from his cleanse skin. And already Nayman is speaking of praying in the house of roman name and evidently

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failed to read the barman declaration. The stunning moment in this text is not however, name ins request of syncretism. It is Alicia's response, May the Lord pardon your servant on this one Count, When

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I bow down in the house of women and the Prophet Alicia looks at him and says, go in peace, really go in peace. This is surprising , stunning grace for which I am grateful because I

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am convinced we are all Nayman, our hope is less that we live daily in the house of the Lord and more that the incarnation of Lord chooses to live in our various houses of women. This is

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why Nayman needs some holy ground. He has been touched by Grace and Grace means he can he can return to Syria, but he will never be at home. They're never completely at home there again.

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That's why he needs the dirt and I don't know if he took the dirt set up an altar space , if he scattered it around to create a holy zone, or if each morning he sprinkled a little

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in his shoes in order to remind him that he's walking on holy ground. We all live in the shadow of the house of women, but with an incarnation of God, we are called not to rise

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above these houses, but indeed to find the holy ground within them. Grace will neither pull us from roman nor ever allow us to completely be at home there again, Grace creates in us a sense of

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homelessness, leaving us to journey to struggle to strive to find a home that we have never yet fully known, but on which we base our lives those touched by Grace find Holy Ground has been sprinkled in

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our shoes and it causes us to walk differently. Senator john danforth Episcopal Priest and three times Senator of Missouri tells of a time that he attended ash Wednesday services. It was a noon service and after the

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service he returned to work, he said, when he returned to his car he took out his handkerchief and he cleaned his forehead. He said he was embarrassed to show the people back at work, many

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of whom are christian, I'm sure some of whom may have been ash Wednesday services, embarrassed to show them that he had been to church. But he said as soon as he removed the sign of his

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faith, he was even more troubled. Grace creates a sense of homeless ness. He had a chance to carry some dirt with him and he left it behind. People who seek to be the exhibition of

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the kingdom of Heaven to the world need to pray with Damon partner servant when I bow down in my own community, when I live in the shadow of her gods, we will need pardon for a compromise

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. We know is imperfect, imperfect as we are . However, the prophet still sends us on our way to find our way home. Perhaps we will find peace along the way. You will remember us

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Air Flight 1549. It was the flight that Captain Chesley Sullenberger landed safely in the Hudson River. You remember rob cal o J was a passenger on this plane. He was headed to Myrtle beach for a

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golf outing with his son and somebody's he said as the quiet plane descended, he said to himself in 90 seconds, I'll be dead. I hope I did what I was supposed to with my life.

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He wasn't saying, I hope I did everything I wanted to. That's a different prayer. That's the bucket list. No, he said, I hope I did what I was supposed to with my life

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. We need to think about what are we supposed to do? It is an unpopular question in our culture, as Lillian has just eloquently expressed, but it is a gospel question and I want to suggest

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that the first work of the church is to be the church or as jesus said To Love one Another . That sounds simple, but the fact is being , community has never been simple, it's never been

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simple. And in our day it is particularly complicated . James Davison Hunter, teacher of religion at the University of Virginia. He says community is no longer natural under the conditions of late modernity. And so

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it will require an intentionality that is unfamiliar and perhaps uncomfortable for most christians and most churches community unnatural in our day. There's several factors I think which contribute to the unnatural nous of community. The first is

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what you have heard each of the presenters this these days refer to as the spiritual but not religious, the aforementioned and rice, she said today I quit being christian, I'm out, I remain committed to

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christ as ever. She says, just not the church at its essence. If I could be simplistic about it a bit spiritual but not religious is a highly individualized understanding of faith. It is faith without

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faith. Community, It is love of God, but not so sure about neighbor. It is often those who find God in the sunset and in the birds of the air or as they used to say

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, on the golf course, I do not doubt that you can find God on the golf course, but you are not likely to find jesus. There , individual faith is the grandchild of our preaching that

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jesus comes into our hearts. Jesus does not come into our hearts. He comes into our relationships, that's where your heart lives. If jesus shows up , he comes into our relationships. Yes, Jesus

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loves the lilies of the field, but he does not elevate nature over neighbor. Yesterday we spoke of the transition of the citizen to the consumer. We spoke of the wiki theologian. We speak of the

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spiritual but not religious. The common factor in all of these realities, in our culture is an unchecked individualism and in such a culture. The new commandment to love one another is countercultural Love of one Another

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serves a larger purpose than simple communal fellowship. To love one another in this world. Actually demonstrates what love of neighbor is supposed to look like in this sense, the love of one another is a way

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we are the exhibition of the kingdom of heaven to the world. But this work is complicated, not only because of what's at play in the larger culture . It's also complicated because the church, we have

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lost confidence in the power of the new commandment to be an exhibition of anything, so in efforts to repair the world to influence the world. We have looked for other strategies. Again, James Davison Hunter

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, he says that christians are choosing to influence the culture primarily these days through politics. Interesting. He says this, we find it difficult to think of a way to address the public that is not political

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. Politics assumes the public so much so that they've become conflated. And so instead of the political realm being seen as one part of public life, all the public life tends to be reduced to the political

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. Conservative christians have understood the culture to be threatened by secularism, evidence, an abortion, evidence in threats to marriage, as they will say, evidence , intolerance of islam. So conservative christians have focused

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on the ballot box, the White House, most importantly, the Supreme Court, as a way to advance the gospel against secularism. Liberty University, founded by jerry Falwell, has a law school. Their

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stated purpose is to return christian faith to the law . The theological assumption there is that America and Christianity are indeed the same thing. Another group, christian exodus christian exodus is relocating fundamentalist christians to south Carolina

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. They plan by 2018 to fill the statehouse with fundamentalist christians who can establish a christian state if the nation doesn't follow suit, they propose to secede from the union. Again, progressive christians, progressive christians

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see the culture threatened not so much by secularism dewey , but by lack of equality With echoes of we shall overcome, still faint in the air, convincing ourselves. We are still in the 60s, progressives

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have continued to support laws that address inequality among races , gender and economics. This relationship of the church and politics as a public voice has unintended consequences when the church chooses political power as a primary tool to

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shape culture, the church runs the risk of making no distinction between church and nation, christian and citizen . While this alignment is warmly embraced by those on the right, it is a temptation across the political

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spectrum. Secondly, when christians look to the state to implement the demands of the Gospel, what then becomes the role of discipleship? Do we not run the risk of outsourcing the demands of the faith?

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Do we not run the risk of delegating responsibility of loving the neighbor? Now, I know the scale of need among widows and orphans means that there's more than the church can heal, but my point is

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this does not the ultimate work of discipleship rest with the christian first, and not the senator. In the end, it is not the state, but the church that is called to be the exhibition of

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the Kingdom of Heaven to the world, that calling simply cannot be delegated. So what I'm suggesting is that a prior and essential step for the Church to regain moral credibility in the culture is to seek to

00:23:00.280 - 00:23:19.450

be the community that we call the state to be . So far? I've suggested the wilderness is characterized by a culture in which community is unnatural because of unchecked individualism, demonstrated in consumerism, a technology that

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allows us to be in network but not in fleshed individual piety and perhaps additional strategy that requires a little more of the church than a shared political vision and such a culture to be a community. A new

00:23:37.440 - 00:23:53.200

commandment community, a community that loves one another will require a little dirt from another kingdom. The unique walk of this community has witnessed in distinctive practices in this. I am helped mightily by the work of

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Dorothy Bass and others who have written about christian practices . She offers this definition. Christian practices are things christian people do together over time to address fundamental human needs, in response to and in light of God's

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active presence for the life of the world. Christian practice are things that christian people do together. The call of the Gospel is to love one another, to bear one another's burdens to be of the same

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mind. This bond to one another, however, does not result from shared doctrine, shared thought. That's actually the way the culture works. Like mindedness . We are joined to one another because we have

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been chosen christian unity. Christian unity is a central concern for the apostle paul. This belonging to one another, A central concern for the apostle paul. I submit, it's part of every letter, not

00:25:02.960 - 00:25:14.930

just Philippians and first Corinthians, but Philemon, all of paul's writings. There is a love and a concern for the unity of the church. The fact that it is so frequent in the apostles teaching is

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instructive. It tells us at least two things. Firstly, that division in the church is not a new thing. Secondly, it says that it is singularly important and essentially scriptural, the primary witness of

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a people called to love the neighbor is to actually live that love in particular relationships. Wanted illustration, the phillipe in church is struggling to live together. Paul charges them be of the same mind, We've

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referenced this yesterday, be of the same mind. This sounds like like mindedness, shared thought, but a more careful reading of the text and read the full text actually reveals something very different to have the

00:26:04.970 - 00:26:23.360

mind of christ. For paul is not about doctrine or creed, it is more ethic, commentators translate sane mind as mindset or orientation, and this exhortation to have the same mind is listed in this description

00:26:23.370 - 00:26:37.550

, be of the same mind having the same love , do nothing from conceit, but in humility look not to your own interests but to the interests of others. Where do you get an attitude like this

00:26:38.640 - 00:26:48.670

? Let the same mind being you. That was in christ jesus? Actually the greek, there's no verb, you have to make a choice. I think it actually should read. Let the same mind

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be in you that you already have in christ jesus , who though he was in the form of God , did not regard equality, emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, humbled himself in this

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sense. To have the same mind is not a call to think alike. Certainly not to think the same things. Rather, it is an orientation of humility toward one another, particularly when we do not

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think alike. The world does not need a community that thinks the same things. The world needs a community That loves one another. Yeah, wasn't there ? The story is when Mark Davis received his high

00:27:41.260 - 00:27:51.710

school diploma, he shook hands with the principal, got his diploma. He walked over to the top of the stage and just as he was about to step down the stairway, he stopped for a moment

00:27:51.710 - 00:28:03.790

, reached under his gown and pulled out a catcher's mitt. Stewart was not the best picture on the baseball team. But after this, he was the most well known. He fired a fastball right over

00:28:03.790 - 00:28:15.550

the heads of the graduating class and it popped into the catcher's into Mark's catcher's mitt. It made a sound pop, which sort of gave a silence, which Mark used to say, I'm out of here

00:28:15.540 - 00:28:29.490

. Now if you choose to graduate that way, it's helpful to have a friend who can throw a fastball and most of all you need a crowd. Doesn't work without a crown. I was there when

00:28:29.490 - 00:28:44.240

lisa martin graduated. It was a high in which had been a tragic year for her Lisa's mother died of cancer. three weeks before graduation, lisa got her diploma. When she crossed the stage, she

00:28:44.240 - 00:28:59.750

stopped at the top of the steps for a moment . The gym was quiet as she surveyed the crowd and they're standing in their chairs where her father and her brother, they were holding up a picture of

00:28:59.750 - 00:29:17.220

photo of her mother, she had to be there one graduation. If she wasn't there, love is like that. Love never sees the crowd. Love sees the face. Love can leave no one out

00:29:17.220 - 00:29:32.950

. Love always sees the face. It's Douglas john hall who said only God can love the whole world in his hands. We can only love that part closest to us. Love sees the face. You

00:29:32.950 - 00:29:48.160

know, if you go to general assembly, best part of general assemblies, the friendships, it's the best part. But our friendships over the past decade or so have coalesced around our teams regarding the ordination

00:29:48.160 - 00:30:03.550

question. We all arrive at the General Assembly wearing our team jerseys. Everybody knows who's on whose side . But in the 2010 General Assembly during the Middle East Report, the Holy Spirit slipped into the presbyterian

00:30:03.550 - 00:30:22.360

locker room and mixed up all the jerseys. We came to the floor ready to do battle and discovered you discovered that those whom you previously thought were inspired and faithful were on the wrong team and more troubling

00:30:22.240 - 00:30:36.730

those who you thought were bonkers and missed the Gospel . All together, they were standing next to you . I think it was holy. It is far better when our friendships with one another shapes how we

00:30:36.730 - 00:30:53.900

deal with issues than the issues determining who our friends are. The problem for the Church is often we have voiced unity of the Church as a value. It's not a value. The unity of the Church

00:30:53.900 - 00:31:10.080

is not a value. It's a relationship. Love of neighbor is not a principle or even a commitment . It's a moment. It's a shared experience with someone with a name and a need, a personality

00:31:10.080 - 00:31:25.560

and a voice. Love is always incarnation. All the unity of the Church is a relationship. It is a love that sees the face and in this culture, it's our mission. It's not just fellowship

00:31:26.740 - 00:31:40.400

, it's our mission. Of course we are calvinist . So we know that even our best efforts will be flawed and weak. Even our purest motives will be selfish and fearful. We all live in the

00:31:40.400 - 00:31:55.040

shadow of the house of women, but the calling remains. We are not our own. So we are called for God's sake to be good to live as the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the

00:31:55.040 - 00:32:10.690

world. So what we do together, our particular and peculiar walk reveals our holy belonging. There are many practices which demonstrate our holy belonging. I want to talk some about one practice. I wanted to

00:32:10.690 - 00:32:27.450

talk about sabbath because we've lost we've lost control of time and we need sabbath. And I wanted to talk about generosity because we no longer have possessions. We are a culture possessed. But the cause of

00:32:27.450 - 00:32:44.460

this focus on community. I think if you'll allow me, I want to talk some about forgiveness. I believe in the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins can have the first without the second,

00:32:45.240 - 00:33:00.460

there is no communion without forgiveness. So every week the preacher says in jesus christ, we are forgiven , spoken in comforting tones and hope that we might not recall that forgiveness is always a crucifixion experience.

00:33:02.140 - 00:33:19.050

The church needs to practice forgiveness, not because we are particularly righteous, but because we are not. The universality of sin means that we will continue as we have generation by generation to injure others and one

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another. It was October 2006 and Charles Roberts walked into the Amish Schoolhouse with three weapons. By the end of the day, five little girls were dead . The nation was shot. Pastors, politicians,

00:33:36.370 - 00:33:52.300

the media were all at a loss. It seemed no one know what to do but the Amish. Within a few days, representatives of the Amish community went to Charles roberts, family to offer forgiveness and

00:33:52.300 - 00:34:12.930

curry of NBC NBC News said I didn't know what , I did not know what forgiveness was until now . For myself, I couldn't help but wonder would we have sent a delegation to offer forgiveness. And

00:34:12.930 - 00:34:30.060

if we had, would that action create in us a sense of faithfulness to the gospel or what it made us feel betrayed? With forgiveness offered in such a circumstance, bear witness to our enemy loving God

00:34:30.740 - 00:34:49.160

. Or would it seem like a further injustice? Failing to appreciate the depth of grief the violence had caused. What I'd like to explore for a few moments. Is this relationship between forgiveness and justice to

00:34:49.160 - 00:35:02.220

do so? Because I think it's a complicated relationship and ones that are always partners. But also my questions arise because unlike the Amish, mainline christians spend most of our time talking about justice and less about

00:35:02.220 - 00:35:22.640

forgiveness. Reinhold, neighbors said that love is an impossible ethic. Sometimes individuals love, he admits, but in groups love is impossible. Therefore, neighbor counseled because no one can love as jesus loves.

00:35:22.710 - 00:35:39.900

Justice is the best we can achieve in history. In his masterwork, nature and destiny of man. He defines justice largely as a balance of power. The domination of one life by another is avoided most

00:35:39.900 - 00:35:57.250

successfully by an equilibrium of power and vitality ease, so that weakness does not invite enslavement by the strong balance of power, the fruit of which will be justice. But the church's understanding of justice has evolved

00:35:58.240 - 00:36:15.440

more than balancing power. Justice in our current conversation has more to do with identifying that which has gone wrong and making it right. This is an obvious contribution of Liberation theology. The conversation about justice is

00:36:15.440 - 00:36:31.360

not complete in a description of a did on of a detente power structure. Justice is understood in the Gospel is a call to make right. That which has gone wrong with my favorite novels is an Tyler's

00:36:31.370 - 00:36:47.660

Saint. Maybe it's a story of Ian bed low college freshman who carries a heavy burden. He believes he caused his own brother to commit suicide. The guilt of this is too much to bear. One

00:36:47.660 - 00:37:00.070

evening, young Ian stumbles into a worship service at the church of the second chance in that church. They take prayer request and to his own surprise, he asked that they pray that he would be good

00:37:00.080 - 00:37:13.660

again. So they do. It moves him after the service. He hangs around to talk with a pastor, reverend Emmett and he says, you know , during that prayer I felt something. Don't you

00:37:13.660 - 00:37:25.300

think I'm forgiven? He shared his story. He said, don't you think I'm forgiven, Reverend Emmett said no. He said, I'm not forgiven in that. The point, he said, you can't

00:37:25.310 - 00:37:45.480

just say, I'm sorry God, you have to make reparation. You have to do what you can do to make the wrong right When that which is evil takes place, christian faith calls of those that

00:37:45.480 - 00:38:08.130

have done wrong to do everything possible to make it right. In this sense, justice is the first work of love. But it seems to me there is a limit to justice. Justice is limited in

00:38:08.130 - 00:38:28.620

this fashion. There is far too much in our encounter with one another that can never be made right . If the first Work of Love is Justice, the second work of Love is forgiveness. Now forgiveness

00:38:28.620 - 00:38:45.530

does not say everything is all right. You know this. If she says to you, I want you to know I forgive you. Those are glorious words. Yes. You think you have wronged her

00:38:46.920 - 00:39:00.150

. But if you do not think you have wronged her, and she says, I want you to know, I forgive you, makes you mad because forgiveness does not say it is all right. Forgiveness

00:39:00.150 - 00:39:14.590

says actually it's wrong and can't be repaired. It can only be redeemed. It was Tuesday morning I was in staff meeting and jenny, the church receptionist opened the door and said, you should pray a

00:39:14.590 - 00:39:29.450

plane. Just ran into a, flew into a building in new york city. We went to the T. V. And saw what you saw all of us. We are defined by injuries like these

00:39:30.420 - 00:39:49.560

. We carry the scars, craig said earlier. So the question for followers of jesus christ is this , are we ultimately defined by the wrongs that we have done to and by others? Or is there

00:39:49.560 - 00:40:07.350

another reality in history that is more definitive, more central for our understanding of life and history than the consequences of injustice, an injury? It is important because there is so much that justice can never never

00:40:07.350 - 00:40:28.450

make right, slavery, the holocaust, the nut bar, We should do all that we can to make these wrongs right, but we must be humble , admit the limits of justice. She sat in

00:40:28.450 - 00:40:42.830

my office and we were talking about her wedding. I asked a simple question. I said, Will your father be walking you down the aisle? She apologized for her emotions. They caught her by surprise

00:40:42.830 - 00:40:52.330

. Her father had not been part of her life for so long. She had not expected them as the tears traced her cheek for a moment she was unable to speak, and then she said, no

00:40:53.310 - 00:41:07.630

. My father will not be walking me down the aisle. He was not there for my 16th birthday , invited into my college graduation, but he was evidently too busy. When I had back surgery,

00:41:07.310 - 00:41:22.070

the waiting room was empty. He hasn't been my father for 12 years. He will not be there ! I blundered, I said. If you asked him, she said no, I know what he

00:41:22.070 - 00:41:37.860

will say. I could not bear the pain of it. You know. Some things in life can't fix cannot be made right. There is a limit to justice. So if the first work of love

00:41:37.860 - 00:41:54.280

is to do everything possible to make a wrong right , The second work of love is to let go when it can't be made right to allow something other than injury or injustice to be definitive of our treatment

00:41:54.290 - 00:42:07.320

for one another, jesus encounters the samaritan woman at the well. It wasn't long before she got around to asking the question that any samaritan would ask a jew if you encountered one another in conversation. Where

00:42:07.320 - 00:42:21.400

do we go to church? She asked. The question is theological, but it's not systematic theology, it's historical theology. It's a question rooted in the bloody history of these two peoples. See, john

00:42:21.400 - 00:42:37.370

says, jews don't share things with Samaritans. That's both exactly right and absolutely wrong. They didn't share meals, they didn't share conversation, They didn't share prayers, but they shared history during the Babylonian captivity

00:42:37.370 - 00:42:52.830

. One was taken the other left upon return from exile. Their relations soured even further turned bloody. The sanctuary to which she refers was actually burned, destroyed by the jewish high priest, john her kindness

00:42:52.830 - 00:43:07.630

in 1 28 B. C. E. By the time of Herod, the Samaritans were stronger and they had engaged in revenge slaughter, slaughtering jewish pilgrims in galilee. The hatred ran both ways and everybody

00:43:07.630 - 00:43:27.470

bled when she asked about worship. She's really asking , what do we do with these injuries that define us? Santayana says, remember the past or you're doomed to repeat it. But sometimes forgiveness requires letting

00:43:27.470 - 00:43:45.840

go. even forgetting Billy Collins has a wonderful poem entitled Forgetfulness. Just a few lines of that poem , the name of the author is the first to go, followed immediately by the plot. The title

00:43:45.850 - 00:43:59.650

, the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel, which suddenly becomes one you have never read, never even heard of As if one x one, the memories you used to harbor, decided to retire to the

00:43:59.650 - 00:44:12.490

southern hemisphere of the brain to a little fishing village where there are no phones. Even now, as you memorize the order of the planets, something else is slipping away. Perhaps a state flower and address

00:44:12.490 - 00:44:24.210

of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay. What you are struggling to remember is not poised on the tip of your tongue, not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen. It has floated away

00:44:24.210 - 00:44:37.050

down a dark mythological river whose name begins with an L. As far as you can recall. Well on your own way to oblivion, where you will join those who have even forgotten how to swim or

00:44:37.050 - 00:44:53.410

ride a bicycle Collins is right. Forgetfulness is the unwavering march The mind makes I find myself struggling remember the names of people I've known for years. I can't remember where I parked the car in the hospital

00:44:53.410 - 00:45:02.160

lot when the nominating committee asked me, do you want us to report the same way we did last year? I just say sure and try not to let on. I have no memory of how they

00:45:02.170 - 00:45:21.140

reported last year. Given this reality It is odd how much trouble I have forgetting the conversation. My wife, Carol and I had about curtains in 1986 . You don't need the details, although I could

00:45:21.140 - 00:45:34.110

supply them easily. But suffice it to say. It is a conversation that left us a both a bit injured and because of the injury, the conversation is not only remembered, but it experiences a resurrection

00:45:34.120 - 00:45:53.960

of its own working its way into other conversations that have nothing to do with curtains, Santayana aside, when the past involves injury, the injured will remember , and the very act of remembering may ensure that

00:45:53.970 - 00:46:10.880

history is repeated. The theological convictions of Miroslav Wolf were shaped by his experience in the former Yugoslavia as a christian married to an american. He was viewed as a national security threat. When people are afraid

00:46:10.900 - 00:46:25.170

it's very easy to be a national security threat, he was interrogated by an officer, he calls Captain G about those. He writes, My interrogation might be categorized as a mid level form of abuse greater

00:46:25.170 - 00:46:39.240

than an insult or a blow, but mild compared to the torture suffering many others had undergone at the hands of the tormentors. Yet even afterward, my mind was enslaved by the abuse I had suffered.

00:46:39.980 - 00:46:57.990

It was as though Captain G had moved into the household of my mind ensconced himself right in the middle of its living room, and I had to live with him. Captain G will not find his way

00:46:58.000 - 00:47:15.580

along the mythological river whose name begins with an L . Captain G will remain present. Wolf says that jesus calls us not simply to remember, but to remember rightly. That is not to remember accurately.

00:47:15.580 - 00:47:32.210

Getting every detail it is to remember through the lens of a gracious savior. Simply remembering accurately can be devastating. Jesus response to the samaritan woman, invites her to do more than unhinge her prayer from geography

00:47:34.180 - 00:47:51.780

, but equally to unhinge it from memory. It is not a call to forget but to remember rightly , and such a calling in the end must be grounded in the end. It is a scatological and

00:47:51.780 - 00:48:07.550

therefore lives in the our that is coming. And by the grace of God now is here's the hard part to continue the pursuit of justice when wrongs cannot be made right in history enslaves the prophet to his

00:48:07.550 - 00:48:28.520

anger, conversely, remembering rightly is the ultimate expression of trust in a God who promised I will remember your sin no more, she said. I'm sorry , I'm crying again. It seems like that's all

00:48:28.520 - 00:48:43.890

I do with you. It was her wedding day . Standing in the sanctuary, was the man who would promise to be loving and faithful to her and standing next to her was another man. The truth

00:48:43.900 - 00:48:59.020

be told gave her every reason to believe she mattered to him. Not at all. But he was there for the first time in a long time. He was there, he is there because she was

00:48:59.020 - 00:49:12.300

courageous. She chose love even when it was crucifixion , she chose to risk it again. The disappointment , the heartbreak, the disrespect that she had none to know has come to know as commonplace. She

00:49:12.300 - 00:49:24.200

chose to risk love even when it terrified her. The question for the christian in the face of injury as this, is there anything else in history that is more definitive for us than the hurt we have

00:49:24.200 - 00:49:45.720

known, neighbor says love is impossible in history. Therefore justice is essential. I would suggest that neighbors words be inverted because justice can never be ultimately achieved in history because justice when understood is making right that

00:49:45.720 - 00:50:00.930

which has gone wrong, it leaves too often leaves both the injury er and the injured captive of a day that will never be known because justice is impossible in history. Love is necessary. Indeed, love

00:50:00.940 - 00:50:19.620

is the best we can achieve in history. If you have a couple of moments in you, let me share with you some implications for ministry. Of what I've offered connection all ministry in our churches under

00:50:19.630 - 00:50:32.050

irreparable stress and needs new models. We cannot be the exhibition of the kingdom of Heaven to the world without working with one another for a couple of years now, I've been part of a group of pastors

00:50:32.060 - 00:50:45.520

that has grown into what is now being called Next Church. There is a gathering first President Dallas at the end of february. I would hope all of you could be in attendance. Next Church is not

00:50:45.520 - 00:50:59.170

a structure, it's not a program, it's a conversation. We are convinced that the church is changing will change. That's not our choice. It is going to happen. God is working a new thing

00:50:59.260 - 00:51:13.550

. We simply cannot go on business as usual, or we will continue the march of decline that we have already illustrated. We are equally convinced that God will not create what's new X Nilo. And that

00:51:13.550 - 00:51:27.190

is the old him says new occasions, teach new duties. We have new responsibilities these days. We are called to seek the church that is becoming and in some ways to give ourselves away for that new

00:51:27.190 - 00:51:40.600

life that is emerging in the wilderness. Our conversation is based on a few convictions. We share this with you. The first is that in ministry there are things that we learn here in seminary, but

00:51:40.600 - 00:51:53.070

our education here does not end. And there are practices. We must learn from one another in ministry . I got my hair cut a few months ago and the guy said when he finished, he said

00:51:53.070 - 00:52:05.010

, you parted on the right, correct I smile I said yeah have since I was a kid I parted on the right because it's a six year old , I watched my own father with the aid of

00:52:05.010 - 00:52:17.850

some vittles part his hair on the right on sunday mornings my mother even let me use the vitality because see then I thought then like I think now he is a great man and I wanted to be just

00:52:17.850 - 00:52:37.980

like him, we need people like that these days . His name is bob Dunham, his name is bob Dunham and I call him Holy, he's the kind of pastor who never calls attention to himself,

00:52:38.050 - 00:52:52.190

who listens deeply and speaks with wisdom. He took me in when I was green as a spring lawn , I didn't know what I didn't know and that didn't bother him, he was generous with patience and

00:52:52.190 - 00:53:05.880

with time and put me on a road in ministry that I never would have found without his mentoring. We are as different as silk and burlap and you , my friend are silk and I wanted to be

00:53:05.880 - 00:53:19.350

just like him in these days in the church, we are all, we are all green of spring lawns, even those of us with decades of experience , we don't know what we don't know. So

00:53:19.350 - 00:53:34.810

we must do something very simple but very profound. We must befriend each other after is jesus, christ your Lord and savior. Perhaps the most important ordination vow today is, will you be a friend among

00:53:34.810 - 00:53:49.660

your colleagues in ministry? The church in the season simply cannot understand ourselves as a structure or an institution . We have to be a network of relationships. Next church is an effort to be a friend among

00:53:49.660 - 00:54:04.560

our colleagues in ministry. A second conviction of the next church is that mission needs to be collaborative? We cannot do it solo. Given the current spiritual , current cultural suspicion of institutions, we are no

00:54:04.560 - 00:54:17.590

longer in a day when governing bodies can continue to be the primary means of orchestrating mission. What is at risk in that transition is a loss of connection all ministry, a risk that we will become our

00:54:17.590 - 00:54:31.510

own entities on our own sort of a congregational form of spiritual but not religious. What is at risk ? Its connection realism. Next churches committed to fostering a new culture of connection is um rooted in relationship

00:54:31.520 - 00:54:51.060

rather than institution in networks rather than policies, pastures becoming windows with congregations can network, collaborate and expand our mission together. In the 3rd conviction is that no matter how confusing life in the church, maybe

00:54:52.740 - 00:55:10.760

we are not alone, God has not left us . I have heard those who an arrogant tone have said the pC USa could die and it would not matter to God. I do not believe that God

00:55:10.760 - 00:55:27.840

has put too much love in this church to be apathetic about her future. I know, I know just a season ago we were basking in the warmth of baptism of waters and now we feel disoriented in

00:55:27.840 - 00:55:37.790

the wilderness. But this is how it has always been for the church, has it not? Well , it can be no other way because we are always serving a God who has greater dreams for God's

00:55:37.790 - 00:55:50.870

creation than we have been able to realize. The church has always desperately been trying to keep up with God. Just ask Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, just ask Peter and Cornelius, just ask the women

00:55:50.870 - 00:56:08.560

at the empty tomb, just asked by Lehman and decimus. The church is always trying to keep up with God, James art reportedly puts it this way . Didn't need no seminary always preach the bible and

00:56:08.560 - 00:56:23.790

the Lord jesus, christ, crucified, dead and raised, crucified, buried and raised from the dead . Brother Hammer came and brother Ebert and the three Walker Boys, preachers all they came through the rain

00:56:23.790 - 00:56:38.690

, wrestling the wheels of their out of county cars , sliding and ruts so deep the tailpipes drag the car's parked under the trees and along the road, then walk shine shoes and all through the mud,

00:56:38.700 - 00:56:55.150

picking their way along the high spots like Children jumping puddles into the church of their fathers place. They had all felt the call the old home Church where thousands of hands had pressed on bowed heads of new

00:56:55.150 - 00:57:10.620

preacher boys of sun red and young men called by the Lord called from the cotton fields to preach the word. It felt the hands. These old preachers felt those blunt fingered, work hardened hands, felt

00:57:10.620 - 00:57:24.050

them like a blessing, like an offering like a burden, felt them at weddings and baptizing, felt them in the heat of the summer revival, felt them in the agony of a baby's funeral, in

00:57:24.050 - 00:57:43.160

the desperate prayer against some killer disease. In the frustrating visit with a mind gone senile. And now the old preachers come to lay their hands on the head of a new kind of preacher preacher who studied

00:57:43.160 - 00:57:59.000

the bible in greek and hebrew, who knew about religions they've never heard of, Who knew about computers and memory banks, full of sermons and many other modern things. A new preacher and yet a preacher

00:57:59.000 - 00:58:24.100

who still would feel on her head the hands like a commandment from all the preachers and deacons who ever were. The most surprising thing about ministry sometimes can be how lonely it can be. But I believe

00:58:24.100 - 00:58:37.770

this when you promised to serve with energy, intelligence , imagination, and love when you promised to be a friend among your colleagues and ministry and work for the reconciliation of the world. When the church gathers

00:58:37.770 - 00:58:47.650

to rest hands on your head, the prophets and apostles, are there the saints who have gone before ? Are there the sunday school teachers who taught you , Jesus loves me in the bible. Who tells

00:58:47.650 - 00:59:01.620

you? So they're they're the preachers of your childhood who spoke your name into the heart of god of their preachers, parents and grandparents and others you claim as family who showed you pissed is what it is

00:59:01.620 - 00:59:17.220

to trust jesus christ. They are there. But not only these paul and peter Martha and Lydia. Dorcas, john Calvin and Jonathan. Edwards, martin Luther and the other martin Luther grandma named moses and

00:59:17.230 - 00:59:30.100

childless mother named Theresa and an organ playing moustache, Missionary doctor, a collection of saints known and unknown to us. The hands of all the preachers and all the deacons and all the elders who ever were

00:59:30.110 - 00:59:46.730

. They are all their saints and prophets and angels there enjoy because you have said yes and you are the only one who can say yes with your life . But you will feel their hands upon you like

00:59:46.730 - 00:00:00.000

a blessing like a burden. And most of all , as a reminder that you are not alone is with confidence in God's commitment to bring new life in the wilderness that we claim with Joy the responsibility for

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

ministry in the Wilderness. I say joy because the first work of ministry is to love. When presbyterians talk about vocation, Frederick Bittner off and walks in the room. The place God calls you to is

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meat. I'm glad that worked for Bittner. But it would not have been the testimony would it , of Jonah or Jeremiah? It would not have

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

been the way that moses would have described vocation, would it? It would not have been the language of the blood sweating prayer jesus offered in Gethsemane E for these vocation is rooted not so much in a

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

personal fulfillment as in a responsibility. Love means we are, there are no extra people. This is a season. This is the reason love must be understood not simply as passion, but is calling love

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

like this doesn't always say the right thing, It doesn't always do the right thing, but it shows up. The pastor is not simply the theologian, but the theologian in residence in residents may be the

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

most important part model after christ who became the word in residence. When I was in high school, I worked at a shoe store in the mall and after work was driving home around 80-85 in Atlanta and

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

it was a November. They've been spitting rain all day, just spitting rain all day. It was slick and I don't remember how it happened, but I ended up being number three and a four car

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

pile up. Lost my 1967 Mercury station wagon with wood grain paneling. I had mixed feelings about that . The police officer looked at it and said it was total truth of it is, it was close

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

to being total if it were out of gas. But yes, I was still shaking up. I asked him if I could call my mother. I walked down the bank of the interstate and win one

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

of those clark Kent phones. I put my dime in the phone booth and I call my mom. And I said mom, I don't know how moms do this. That's all I said Mom. She

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

said, tell me where you are. I'll be right there. She did not say, what did you do this time? She did not say, haven't we told you to be more careful. She

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

did not say you thought about what this will do to your insurance. I'm not saying we didn't have that conversation later. I'm just, I'm just saying in the moment she said, tell me where you

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

are. I will be right there. The first reality of incarnation all ministries to dwell with the people to live where they live. It's not a matter of address. It's a matter of the heart.

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

Tell me where you are. I will be right there. His last thought to be an exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world is a calling that can only be accompanied Lord. We believe help

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

our unbelief. Our practice of community can only be sustained by the conviction that God will ultimately be faithful to what God has promised. We cannot live this kingdom. But with Grace and hope we have a

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

chance to live in its direction. For Grace has placed dirt from another kingdom in our shoes and we are called to walk together, shaped by that holy love. My brother Jean was born with a generous

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

heart, but a limited mind. He will never forget my birthday. We'll never read a book. Not even a Children's book. He calls me brother or buddha. More than anything in the world,

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

jean wants to drive a car. He's 50 years old. I talked to him last night, he said he wanted to drive a car. Usually it's a red car, Sometimes a van he wants to

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

get his license stopped by the gas station, fill her up by a coke with his own money and drive his car. Years ago we were eating at Shoney's because he thinks that's fine dining. We both

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

had ordered the cholesterol plate. We were talking about trips he would take and in a moment that seems so unreal to me. He looked at me and said, what a do you think I will ever

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

drive that car? What do you say? He's never driving a car, Not my car. So I looked up and then I said, jean, here's the truth. Yes. You see. He's

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

not asking, Not even Gene, he's not asking about a car. He's asking, will the day ever come? When everything that has gone wrong will be made right? Well, the day ever come

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

when Justice will actually roll down like waters will find its way into our communion. Will the day ever come when swords will be beaten into ploughshares? And we will be eager to welcome all God's Children at

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

the feasting table. Will the day ever come? When the growling noises of Children's hungry bellies will be replaced with songs of table blessings. Will the day ever come? When the Prodigal will find his way

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

home? And the elder brother will learn to dance . Will the day ever come when the rich man will set the place for all the extra people? It is about a day when our Children will grow

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

up to be neither the destroyers nor the destroy. It is about a day when our sin is remembered no more is about a day when the wild beast of God's eternal kingdom break out even in the wilderness

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

. It's about a day when they will look at us and say they must belong to jesus. Look How They Love one Another. That is God's promise day. You know jean his his legion, his

00:00:00.000 - 00:00:00.000

legion border. Do you think will ever drive that car when he asked you, What are you going