Re-brand us

Posted on by livinggodsmission

PRAYERS FOR THE BAPTISMAL JOURNEY . . . .

 

 

 

Re-brand us

You mark us with your water,

You scar us with your name,

You brand us with your vision,

and we ponder our baptism,     your water,

your name,

your vision.

 

While we ponder, we are otherwise branded.

Our imagination is consumed by other brands,

— winning with Nike,

— pausing with Coca-Cola,

— knowing and controlling with Microsoft.

 

Re-brand us,

transform our minds,

renew our imagination,

that we may be more fully who we are marked

and hoped to be,

we pray with candor and courage.  Amen.

 

 

Yes

You are the God who is simple, direct, clear with us and for us.

You have committed yourself to us.

You have said yes to us in creation,

yes to us in our birth,

yes to us in our baptism,

yes to us in our awakening this day.

 

But we are of another kind,

more accustomed to “perhaps, maybe, we’ll see,”

left in wonderment and ambiguity.

 

We live our lives not back to your yes,

but out of our endless “perhaps.”

 

So we pray for your mercy this day that we may live yes back to you,

yes with our time,

yes with our money,

yes with our sexuality,

yes with our strength and with our weakness,

yes to our neighbor,

yes and no longer “perhaps.”

 

In the name of your enfleshed yes to us,

even Jesus who is our yes into your future.  Amen.

 

…. from  Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth — Prayers of Walter Brueggemann, Fortress Press/Minneapolis, 2003

(submitted by Edward L. Lee, Jr.)

It’s never too early for God’s love

Posted on by livinggodsmission

By Pam Tinsley

Medical staff members attend a newborn in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. Photo by Phillip A. Jones

A reflection on Sacredspace.ie recently reminded me that God is present in all that I do, in the people I meet, and in the midst of each situation I’m in. Over the past several weeks, this has been particularly driven home for me.

Our family received the gift of God’s ongoing love during an extended hospitalization – though at the other end of the age spectrum from what fellow Living God’s Mission blogger Fletcher Lowe described several weeks ago. Serious pregnancy complications resulted in our daughter-in-law’s month-long hospitalization. In the midst of a record-breaking snowstorm and freeze, our granddaughter, Sienna, made her appearance – nine weeks early!

Parenting a newborn isn’t easy, and parenting a preemie calls for the support of community, not the least of which are the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) healthcare providers. I marveled at their love and commitment as they braved severe weather conditions to care for Sienna and the other preemies. I also marvel at their choice of vocation to tenderly care for these tiny, delicate infants with equally tiny PICC lines, feeding tubes, and blood pressure cuffs. The devotion of Sienna’s nurses has transformed her room into a physically and spiritually nurturing sacred space. And several have shared that they pray for their little charges, as well as how their faith shapes their vocation, in other words, their baptismal ministry.

Strengthened by prayer in the midst of so many joys and fears, hopes and tears, we watch our son and daughter-in-law being transformed by God’s love and grace into loving parents. And they bear witness to Christ’s love in all that they do and say. Sienna and her parents are part of yet another family – the NICU family – and when she eventually graduates from the NICU, she and her parents will not only continue to have the support of those who’ve journeyed with them, but they will also support other preemie families – and share how Jesus was present in all that they experienced as they walked through this storm of uncertainty and danger to mother and daughter.

Missional spirituality – finding God in the busy-ness of life

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By Wayne Schwab

Photo by Shadowmeld Photography

God is on mission. God is at work in the world everywhere, every moment, to overcome evil – whatever blocks love and justice – and to bring and to increase love and justice. Love is valuing the other person and helping that person to live life as fully as possible. Justice is the public face of love. Justice is how we love in a “crowd” when we cannot see those we affect face-to-face.  When you cannot have face-to-face relationships, you work for everyone to have equal access to the good things in life. Our world today is in desperate need of Christians seeking to be loving and just wherever they are, all the time – in both public and private life.

Wherever you find love and justice, or the need for them, you find God at work.

Jesus Christ is the center of God’s mission for Christians. God’s power over evil, sin, and death has come among us in Jesus Christ. The story of Jesus is one of power over sickness, evil, sin, and death. Jesus is the victor – the victor over sickness, evil, sin, and death!

Jesus comes proclaiming the kingdom of God: the rule of God in human life, the power of God at work among us now.  His words and actions demonstrate this proclamation:

  • “If it is by the Spirit of God I cast out demons, then the kingdom – the power – of God has come upon you.” [Matt 12:28]
  • “Who is this that the winds and the waves obey him?” (Mark 4:41)
  • “He gave them authority over the unclean spirits” (Mark 6:7) so that his disciples might preach and heal.

Each of us can choose to walk a spiritual path. That journey inward / journey outward must, each day, unite prayer and action. Life is indeed hectic and overly busy. The Christian needs to learn to discern what God is doing in the midst of a busy moment and join what God is doing there now. That is the journey outward. The journey inward, then, is learning to discern God at work within us in the busy moments of daily life. So that is our focus for a missionary spirituality – learning to discern what God is doing and joining God in that work.

Where do you see God at work?

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Catholic Health Initiatives by Jordan Gruener

by Demi Prentiss

Where do you see God at work? In the magnificence of Sunday worship, or the embrace of group prayer, or the quiet of devotional times?  In the sky, or the mountainscapes, or the crashing ocean?  In the play of children or the intimacy of family life or the hospital room?

For many of us who practice the weekly discipline of naming our “moment closest to Christ,” those are places that we often expect God to show up. But seriously, how often do you see God at work – meaning, in your workplace? Whether that’s the place you receive a paycheck or the place where you volunteer or the place you labor to serve those you love – that’s not usually the place we perceive God at work.

What’s up with that? We know God is all, and in all. God is high above the heavens and nearer than hands and feet. God is at work in all things, including us and the people we interact with. So why can’t we see God at work in our workplaces?

In a recent blog, the Theology of Work Project posed the question and offered an answer, via a blog from The High Calling: Why Is It So Hard to Connect Spiritual Value to Our Work?

Fundamentally, the problem is this: our culture has no framework for approaching work from a spiritual point of view. There is no context, no point of reference. It simply does not exist….

 

And since there is no cultural context, then guess what? You must create your own context. You must face that blank slate and make it up as you go, even if it doesn’t fit what you’ve been told all your life. You might have to use your spiritual imagination to see God’s hand at work in that next presentation, to pray for your boss under pressure, to grasp the infinite potential for goodness and mercy and righteousness that is literally at your fingertips.

Training our eyes to see God in the workplace can be a challenge. Are we willing to stop leaving Jesus in the car once we’ve parked in our assigned parking place? Are we humble enough to see the Holy Spirit at work in that troublesome co-worker? Are we perceptive enough to locate God at work even in our failures? Are we ready to recognize Jesus next to us in the board room or the production line?

God is ready to help us do that. So are, possibly, some of our co-workers. Or someone outside of our work context.  Many congregations have faith in the workplace groups that meet regularly. They provide a place to discuss how to sharpen our ability to notice God at work and how to be pro-active in partnering with what God is up to. Imagine what might happen if every Christian became intentional about bringing God to work.

With respect to words . . .

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by Pam Tinsley

#Tagxedo Wordcloud: Pope Francis’s address to a joint meeting of Congress, September 24, 2015

“Will you respect the dignity of every human being?” was one of the questions we were asked as we renewed our baptismal promises on the First Sunday after the Epiphany (Book of Common Prayer, p. 305). This question was especially poignant in the face of the vitriol spewed by the administration’s leaders which resulted in an impasse that requires hundreds of thousands of government employees to work without pay. The longest government shutdown in our nation’s history is having a rippling effect on some people and a tsunami effect on others, such as those who rely on the government for essential services like food inspection, airport security, food for children and their families, and loans for already financially strapped farmers, not to mention paychecks for contract workers required to work and who will not receive back pay.

Will you respect the dignity of every human being?

As we wait for our elected officials to lead, I’m reminded that each one of us is a leader within our own sphere of influence. The words we proclaim on Sunday mornings when we renew our baptismal promises are not meant to be for Sunday only, or for only within the walls of the church. They are words meant for every day. They are words meant for each situation we encounter when we relate to others, regardless of whether they look like us, where they are from, or whether they hold the same opinions or beliefs as we do. Merely words? No! Words that shape how we live.

Living by the words of our baptismal covenant, including “will you respect the dignity of every human being,” requires us to hold our leaders accountable. This includes speaking up when the dignity of others is violated, because silence, after all, is consent. Our baptismal promises also call us to respect the dignity of those with whom we disagree. And therein lies the challenge.

Good News wins!

Posted on by livinggodsmission

by Wayne Schwab

The Gospel is Jesus’ victory in all of our life.

To talk only of God’s forgiveness and unconditional love as the Gospel can tempt us to a childish pattern of seeking only to be cared for, rather than seeking to be God’s coworkers. There is so much more power in the Gospel as the Good News of God’s victory in Jesus Christ. Forgiveness of sin and God’s unconditional love are still there as part of the Good News. But, the even greater Good News is that the risen Jesus shares his power over evil with us! “As the Father has sent me, so I send you … receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:21-22). Through his gift of the Holy Spirit, we receive the power to cope with sin not only in ourselves but in the whole world out there.

Through baptism, we join God’s ongoing work in Jesus Christ to overcome evil, sin, and death – to overcome all that is against love and justice. Christian living becomes working with Jesus Christ in each of our daily arenas from Monday to Monday – in our homes, at work, in our local communities, in the wider world, when we’re at our leisure, in our spiritual health, and in our church life. In each of our daily arenas, we join Jesus in his ongoing work to make life more loving and more just.

Making life more loving and more just is a call to action! Christians can be invisible and silent no longer. We are on mission with Jesus Christ wherever we are. His Spirit – the Holy Spirit – is at work in us all the time as well. Not only are we forgiven, we have the power to cope with our own sin and to take on transforming life in our work – yea, in all of our own daily arenas.

‘God with us’ changes everything

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by Demi Prentiss

from AwakeningChurch.com

The 12 Days of Christmas, the celebration of “God with us,” are almost done, and Epiphany is coming, the season that reveals Christ at work among us. The feast of the Epiphany, Jan. 6, marks the start of one of the two “green” seasons of the Christian year.  Epiphany, like the longer post-Pentecost season of “ordinary time,” is the growing season, when we take action on the fruits of our Advent preparation / contemplation and our Christmas celebration.

All of this coincides nicely with New Year’s celebrations, when new year’s resolutions are supposed to lead to “amendment of life” and improved habits.

Episcopalians on Baptismal Mission (EBM) – the folks who bring you this blog – are hoping that you’ll take advantage of this creative opportunity to practice something new. We hope you’ll re-frame your response to God’s Christmas gift of “God with us,” by carrying your conviction of God at work within you into every aspect of your 24/7 life.

With the assurance of God beside you at every moment, challenging and supporting you, how might your transformed eyes see your co-worker’s behavior?  Your children’s short-comings? Your employer’s budget cuts in the product safety department?  Your pastor’s appeal to volunteer at the food bank?  Your having to take your turn on the clean-up crew or visiting the nursing home?

We hope you’ll discover an opportunity to be the change you long to see.

And to help inspire some of that transformational thinking, here are some links to some of 2018’s best resources:

From the Church of England’s “Setting God’s People Free” initiative

From the Theology of Work Project

Articles

Video

YouVersion Bible App Reading Plans

Theology of Work Bible Commentary

Mind your business

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by Pam Tinsley

I recently saw a stage production of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. He wrote his novella in 1843, in outraged response to the dire working conditions of the poor, especially of women and children, as England became more industrialized. I’m sure you’re familiar with the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a slave of greed – heartless and mean-spirited – who is visited first by the ghost of his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley, who voices his life regrets. He is then visited by the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, before he awakens humbled and transformed on Christmas morning.

As I listened to Jacob Marley’s words of deep remorse for his life failings, I was struck by how they reflect our promises at baptism. After Scrooge extols Marley’s virtues as a businessman, Marley retorts,

Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, forbearance, and benevolence were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!…. Why did I walk through the crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them to that blessed Star, which led the Wise Men to a poor abode! Were there no poor homes to which its light would have conducted me!

Marley had realized belatedly that the most important aspect of his daily work as a business owner was to seek and serve Christ in his neighbor; to strive for justice; and to treat everyone he encountered with dignity and respect – using our baptismal language. Helping to create a more caring and just world was his true purpose in life.

Visits by the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Future reveal to Scrooge the joy he experienced in his youth before greed corrupted him; the dismal plight of the world around him; and the bleak future that lies ahead. After the Spirits’ ominous visits, Scrooge awakens on Christmas morning a new man with his softened heart filled with love and generosity for others. Humbled, he heeds the Spirits’ warnings and is transformed – and learns always to keep Christmas well.

Although A Christmas Carol is a work of fiction, it reminds us all that humankind is our business. We, too, can keep Christmas in our hearts every day and show the world God’s love through our caring words, but especially through our actions where we live and work, each and every day.

Being a missional church

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by Edward Lee

Peyton G. Craighill, a priest and missiologist, is a founding member of Episcopalians on Baptismal Mission. In fact, he’s been an advocate and interpreter of ministry in daily life for most of his professional and personal life which includes years of service in China as well as the USA. Recently Parkinson’s disease has silenced his speaking voice and made writing difficult. But there is a backlog of his written materials that are as relevant now as when they were first crafted. Here is one of them:

Peyton Craighill

THE MISSIONAL CHURCH MOVEMENT AND THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

 

by Peyton G. Craighill

 

In America, congregations generally assume that their success is measured in terms of how many mem­bers they are able to attract. They also assume that their power to attract and hold members depends on their ability to produce programs that meet the spiritual and social needs of their members. The most successful congregations are those with the most attractive power.

 

The problem with these assumptions is that they ignore why God created – and continues to create – congregations. The Church came into being when God sent his Son into the world to live, die, and rise again for that world and to commission his followers to spread the Good News of God’s love and justice through word and action into all that world.

The Church exists not primarily to attract people into congregations but to send people out to share with God in his mission in all areas of daily life. When we were baptized into Christ, he commissioned us all to participate with him in his mission, Monday through Sunday.

 

The paradigm shift from an attractional to a sending model of congregational ministry calls for a major reconsideration of every aspect of church life – worship, formation, community, and service. Mission is no longer on the periphery of church life. Mission is why congregations exist. Parish programs need to be re­ thought in terms not only of the corporate life of congregations, but also in terms of how they inspire, guide, and support each member in his or her missions in all areas of daily life – home, work, leisure, community, church, and the wider world.

 

In regard to the missional church movement in the Episcopal Church, what sets our approach apart from other Churches is our emphasis on baptism and the baptismal covenant. As Christ’s mission began with his baptism, so too our mission, shared with Christ, begins with our baptism. In particular, the five commitments we make in the Baptismal Covenant provide us with invaluable inspiration and guidance for our missions in Christ.

 

We recognize of course, that in mission-oriented congregations, attraction remains an important part of ministry. Unless congregations attract members in, there will be no missionaries to send out. But attraction is subordinated to sending. Indeed, the best way to attract people into congregations is when those congregations inspire and support all their members to live out their faith in their everyday lives.

Are you leading or managing?

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by Wayne Schwab

  • Managers make what is work better.
  • Leaders take what is and make it into something new.

It is very easy for church leaders to become stuck in managing.  The “new” of God’s New Day in Jesus Christ can become lost in keeping everyone happy.  Easiest to lose is the daily living of the members.

For church leaders, especially clergy, the “delivery point” – the measure of effectiveness or the end product – is not Sunday morning or the prayer life of the members. The “delivery point” is how the members live every day.

The final truth about leadership is that it is shared by everyone, all – leaders and members alike.  So all are responsible for how all live every day.  As the primary leaders and those with the most power to effect change, clergy have a central role in building and supporting member mission – the practice of members being “on mission” each and every day.

Abraham Zaleznik

A breakthrough in leadership theory came in 1977 when Abraham Zaleznik published an article in the Harvard Business Review – “Managers and Leaders:  Are They Different?”  Harvard Business Review,  reprinted in January, 2004.

From HBR’s introduction to the reprint:

The difference between managers and leaders, he wrote, lies in the conceptions they hold, deep in their psyches, of chaos and order. Managers embrace process, seek stability and control, and instinctively try to resolve problems quickly—sometimes before they fully understand a problem’s significance. Leaders, in contrast, tolerate chaos and lack of structure and are willing to delay closure in order to understand the issues more fully.

Zaleznik is a founder of a school thought that integrated leadership and organization studies with psychoanalysis. He was a professor emeritus of leadership at Harvard Business School, one of the few certified psychoanalysts in the United States without a medical degree, and the author of sixteen books and numerous articles.