Take up your cross - Pastor's Meditation

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; 

and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips (Ps 63:5).

 

Take Up Your Cross

Meditations on Matt. 20:17-34

Jason Farley

4/16/11

  

    It is a rare thing to meet people that know what it is live. There are plenty of people that have blood pumping through thier veins.  Plenty of people that are miraculously transforming oxygen into carbon dioxide for plants to harvest. But to live. Untold millions bump through life like billiard balls in other peoples game of pool.

    Jesus lived. He lived a life that was shaped by living. He lived from life to life. He came to live so that life would be known again in a world trapped by death, and defined by dying. As Jesus approached the end of his life, we learn that the shape of his death was going to be the same that his whole life had been. His death would be cruciform, cross shaped. He would be dying for other, just as he had always lived for other.

    Once, when Jesus had just finished a number of parables whose point was to teach the disciples that 'But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first" (Matt. 19:30 and Matt. 20:16). After Jesus relates the parables, a rich and powerful young man learns that he has to give up if to follow Jesus. His wealth will mean nothing in the days to come, it all depends upon whether or not he follows Jesus.

This sparks a thought in Peter's mind. Peter realizes that he and the rest of the disciples had already given up everything. So Peter asks what he and the disciples will receive. 

    So Jesus is in the midst of talking greatness in the kingdom, and how the first shall be last and the last shall be first. This is the way of the kingdom. And Jesus tell his disciples that he isn't telling them to live and act this way so that he won't have to. Jesus has been telling them to be like that because he is like that. In fact he is about to be the ultimate example of the way of the kingdom. He is going to become the last on behalf of God's people.

 

    "And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them,  (18)  Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,  (19)  And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again" (Matt. 20:17-19). 

 

       To be last in order to be first is to follow Jesus. He is going to Jerusalem to be made last of all on the cross and in the grave in order to be made first as King of kings and Lord of lords.

 

(20)  Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.  (21)  And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. 

 

    Zebedee's wife Salome wants the best for her sons. She has been with Jesus, she has worshiped Jesus, and she knows that there is nothing better than being close to Jesus, and so that is what she wants for her sons. She believes Jesus when he talks about the coming kingdom, and so she wants her sons to be close to him when he comes into his kingdom, and so she humbly asks for Jesus to place her sons on his right and left.

    Jesus' response indicates that, though she was misguided and didn't understand, she did have faith and he honors her request. He turns to James and John and asks if they are prepared to do what it takes?

 

(22)  But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. 

 

    Often this passage is read as Jesus being sarcastic, and though there are passages where I do think that Jesus is being sarcastic, I don't think that this is one of them. I believe that Jesus asks them a straight forward question. If you want to go where I am going then you have to get there the way that I am getting there. He has been talking about being great in the kingdom, and now here are two brothers who want to be great in the kingdom.

     Jesus doesn't scoff and tell them that they will never see greatness, he asks if they will follow him to the cross. He asks if they will drink of the cup of crucifixion that he is going to drink and they way say “we are.” Jesus says again what he has been saying for a number of chapters now. The way to greatness in the kingdom is to be the least. The way up in the kingdom of God is down. The way to be first is to be last. The way to exaltation is humility. The way to resurrection is death.

    Jesus says, “I am going to Jerusalem to be mocked scourged and and crucified.” because the way to be great in the kingdom is by being the least. Jesus is going to live what he has been teaching. He has been telling them what to be like because he is like that. He is telling them to follow him.

 

Cruciform Discipleship

 

    So when James and John are desiring greatness, Jesus doesn't tell them that they don't have a chance, he asks them if they willing to arrive at the destination of his throne room by traveling the same road that he is going to travel.

 

(23)  And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father. 

 

    Who sits at the right hand and the left is given by God the Father and not by Jesus, but Jesus does grant their request to drink of the cup and be baptized with the baptism that he is baptized. They both get to be persecuted and lined up for martyrdom. They both are going to be made great in the kingdom, so they will both be made the least.

 

(24)  And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren. 

 

    The ten are indignant with James and John. They are indignant that James and John asked for a promotion, especially since Jesus cryptically grants their request. But Jesus calls the ten disciples over and says that they don't get it. Their ambition is inside out.

 

(25)  But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.  (26)  But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;  (27)  And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:  (28)  Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.   

 

    Jesus says that they have the whole understanding of authority and power upside down like some kind of pagan. Jesus did not come to be served but to serve, and he doesn't give authority and greatness to someone because he wants them to be served, but because he wants them to serve. God says that our lives are like seeds, they are meant to be planted in the life of our neighbors.

    Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies it produces fruit. God made the world in such a way that without humility, without the giving of oneself, without death, without servanthood there is no glory. Jesus says, look around, you don't want to be like some greedy pagan demanding that everyone  below you serve you. You want to be more like me, and God impressed this truth into the world all around you. 

This is the way that God made plants. Without death there can be no glory. The peanut plant is the perfect example of this. As a peanut plant grows and gets ready to reproduce it begins to bud and grow a little yellow flower. If at this point it decides to stretch its hands towards the sky and show off its flowers, they all die and that is the end of the peanuts. Peanut flowers will only go to seed underground. The peanut plant will actually bend down and shove all of its flowers underground and then the flowers grow into seeds. Unless a peanut plant will bend over and bury all of its flowers it will never grow seeds, it will never produce peanuts.

    A peanut plant that will not bury its flowers and let them die will die and that is the end of the peanuts, but the plant that buries its flowers will bring life into the world. As Jesus says "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life" (John 12:25).

 

    The more that we grasp after our life and our rights, the less life we will have to live. The more we lay down our life, the more life we will get. Jesus is getting ready to go to the cross, and he is explaining the purpose here. He will be last on the cross in order to be first. He is the servant of all, and the cross is the fundamental billboarding of the truth of Jesus statement that the true leader is the servant of his people. By giving His life away, by refusing to grasp after life, Jesus gains both life and glory.

 

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  (6)  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:  (7)  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:  (8)  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.  (9)  Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:  (10)  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;  (11)  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:5-11).

 

And according to Paul we are to do the same

"If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,  (2)  Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.  (3)  Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.  (4)  Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.  (5)  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Php 2:1-5).

 

    We are called to metaphorically apply Jesus’ life giving death to our interactions with each other. As Jesus says:

If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor" (John 12:26).

 

    If you are going to follow Jesus, if you want the resurrection life of Jesus, then you must follow Jesus into death. You must give your life away. As Paul said,

 

"Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others (Phil. 2:3).

 

    Paul and Jesus set up this pattern of death before life, death before resurrection, for our entire life. “Where I am, there my servant will be also.” Jesus' life was aimed at the cross because his whole life was shaped like the cross. When Jesus went to the cross and served us by dying on the cross and taking our curse upon himself, his death was not taking on a different shape than his life had. He had lived a life of servanthood. He had lived a life of submission and humility and now he was going to the cross to seal the shape of his life. He was going to the baptism of the cross to finally and fully break the curse that had been holding the world since Adam sinned.

    And our lives are to take on the same shape of death and resurrection. Jesus says, follow me, and he is calling you to come to him and die. To die to yourself, to die to the old man, to mortify the flesh and live for Christ, and love your neighbor.

    If God calls you to die as a martyr, giving your life away in persecution for the worship of Jesus, you will die as you lived. Unless your life is already shaped like Jesus' life, you will not have a death shaped like his. If you are not taking the opportunities to pick up your cross now, as you have them every day, then you won't be prepared when a big opportunity comes. Every time you have an opportunity to consider others as better than yourself, your spouse, your kids, your neighbors, other drivers, take it. Don't let bitterness, selfishness, or arrogance keep you from being a servant.

    Don't be conformed to the world that grasps and complains, and is self-centered and self-seeking. Instead, be conformed to your Lord, who set his course on the cross for us, who gave himself away for us, who suffered for us, and bled for us, and died for us. Be like Jesus because God vindicated Jesus' death and suffering by raising him from the dead by the power of the Spirit.

Strait Marriage

Currently California is in the middle of a civil battle over the whether or not the civil authorities of the state of California should pretend to marry homosexuals and Lesbians. Now it is delusion of the highest and most perverse order to think that they can just change the nature of reality and creation by judicial decree. They can't, but you can't fight a culture war with no culture, and you can't fight false marriage without good marriage, you can't fight bad sex without good sex. You can't insist that they put off their perversion without having something for them to put on. And Paul explains that what we are to put on is a giving-yourself-awayness with your spouse, within the protections and blessings of a covenant union.

    "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savor. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;"
(Eph 5:1-3). We are supposed to follow after the way that God lives (v. 1). If we want to follow after God, if we want to know what God's life is like, so that we can follow after it, then we need to look at Jesus. And how did Jesus live? by giving himself away (v. 2). But how did he give himself away? He gave himself away, not in the way that you give yourself away in fornication and lust, but as a husband, within a covenant relationship (v.3).

    After a discussion of the shamefulness of the perversion of the first century, he explains what it will look like to give yourself away:

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband (Eph 5:22-33).

    Paul explains that if we are to live like Jesus, giving ourselves away, but we aren't supposed to give our soul to just any random person on the street corner. We aren't supposed to give ourselves away in fornication, we are supposed to give ourselves away in covenant. You can refuse to do this two ways. You can act like a polytheist and sow your wild oats, give yourself to somebody that you are not married to, that is called fornication, or you can hold back from the person that you are married to and refuse to give yourself to them. You can hold back a portion of yourself and not give yourself wholly to your spouse, but husbands, if you aren't giving yourself wholly to your wife, remember, that you are giving yourself to her so that you can present her to yourself. If you are refusing to love her and feed her on your self, then it is you who will be dissatisfied. And wives, you aren't called to just submit your action to your husband, you are called to submit your self. You are called to live like Jesus and die to yourself so that your husband might live. It may sound dangerous, but if anyone ever told you that following Jesus was safe, they lied. Loving your spouse doesn't mean that you are called to make sacrifices for them. You aren't called to make sacrifices, you are called to be sacrifices. You are called to die to yourself for one another.

Investing The Word

It seems to me that a significant portion of the long-term effectiveness of the church has to do with how well the Word is invested in the beginning. Like any investment scheme, well invested money that is invested early brings a much greater return than well invested money that is invested late.

testing the technology

This is to test the email blogposting technology

The Delayed Revelation of Triunity

I have often been confused at the seeming newness of the doctrine of the Trinity in the New Testament. In my opinion, the doctrine is obviously taught in the New Testament, but it is veiled in the Old Testament so much that, though there are hints and shadows, you could not discover the Doctrine of the Trinity without the New Testament. But the reason that the doctrine is veiled in the Old Testament is that we are kept at a distance from God by Sin. We are never let into the inner life of God because one of his works in the Old Testament was to keep us at a distance from his inner life. It was not until after Jesus has died and rose from the dead that we were brought into the inner life of God, at which point the reality of the Trinity was revealed to us. The High Priest entered the direct presence of God once a year, but we live in the presence of God because we are washed by the blood and the Holy Spirit lives inside of us. The veil was torn that had kept us out of God’s presence and now we experience the Trinitarian life. The Triunity of God was not revealed to us because we were not close enough to experience the reality of it, but when sin was done away with on the cross, we were reconciled to God and brought close enough to experience and enjoy the Triune life of God.

After knocking Abigail out of the race with a trip from behind, I thought that I had the race in the bag, but I ended up having to throw my scolding hot americano at Zipporah to come out on top. They told me in the parenting class to never start a competition of wills that you don't win, and besides, Cedric needs to learn that cheaters never prosper, but they win games.

Modernity's big red nose

The Interpretation of Parables is central to any thorough-going understanding of the mission and purpose of Jesus, yet it is at the very point of the interpretation of parables that moderns trip over the clown shoes of modernity. Understanding parables requires a familiarity with symbolic, typological, and figurative communication, but part of the clown act of modernity is a symbolic mime-act in which we are stuck in an invisible box. Moderns insist that they have moved beyond the Ancient and Medieval use of ‘symbolic communication’ to a precise scientific clarity.

Postmoderns, though they have realized that the box of modernity’s mime act was invisible only because it wasn’t there, continue to insist that their clown suit and mime act be taken seriously, and that they are different because, unlike the smiling clowns, their face paint has a frown and a tear and because they have an earring in their right ear (though not because they are a pirate).

Why Do We Sing?

People are made in the image of the Triune God and, as such, express themselves in three ways: Word, image, and music. When expressing themselves with words, they are acting primarily in the image of the Father, who is the revealed to us as a speaking God from the beginning. “And God Said . . .” The Son is the Word of God, but he is also the image of God who reveals God to us by image and impress (2 Cor. 4:4; Col. 1:15, 3:10; Heb. 1:3). Human expression with images can be further divided into two categories. We express ourselves by decorating and creating images outside of ourselves and we express ourselves with our bodies in movements, touch, and symbols (kneeling, handshakes, kisses, etc.). By creating music, we express ourselves in the image of the Spirit, who is the person of the Trinity involved in the glorification what the Father and the Son have created (though the creation was also done by and in the Spirit). The Spirit is the person of the Trinity that is identified with the passage of history through time and the glorification of God's people in time. Music is the expression that glorifies of words in time. These three categories of expression (word, image, music), in four modes (speaking, decorating, dance/bodily movement/liturgy, music) encompass all that we do.

Where covenant-renewal liturgy is concerned, we are seeking to enact a command-performance before our Lord and King. We are attempting to worship God on earth in the way that God is worshiped 1n heaven. The Reformed Church is currently very strong in expressing its worship of God with words, weak on decorating and bodily expression and generally thoughtless about music. This leads to a very unbalanced and at times even idolatrous worship service. As we have emphasized speaking to the dissipation of the other aspects of the image of God we have slipped into functional Unitarianism and deism. The sacraments and traditional liturgies that emphasized our union with Jesus and his constant feeding and care and the reality of his audible voice have been replaced with a lecture hall in which we hear about a god who is far off or worse, only near when he is angry. We have a god who is constantly looking over our shoulder hoping that we will make a mistake so that he can smash us. This is a far cry from our Father, who calls his children before him so that he can bless them.

We in the Reformed church are musically weak. Just as the Spirit of God was poured out on the world to glorify Jesus (John 16:12-15), the Word of God, so have we been given music to glorify the Scriptures as we sing them back to God. Because of this, singing has traditionally held an important place in the church. King David (a superb Christian) forever established singing at the center of all the church’s dealings with God. Even before that, certain songs were central to what it meant to be a member of the body of Moses, the daughter of Yahweh (Ex. 15; Deut. 32). Like many American denominations, that are defined as much by their hymnal (or lack there of), Israel was defined by the songs that they held dear. The musical heritage of the church is rich, diverse and full of blessedness. The Reformation itself was as much a reformation of liturgy as theology, which has bequeathed to Protestants a rich musical heritage, though of late we have spurned our inheritance.

So why do we sing? In the Bible we are told that the whole world is to make a joyful noise unto the Lord, serve God with gladness, and approach God with singing (Ps. 100:2). We are to imitate God in all that we do (Eph. 5:1) and our God is a singing God (Zeph. 3:17). We are told to sing the psalms, to sing new songs, and to do it skillfully (Ps. 33:2-3). We are told that the wicked use their tongue to lay traps through flattery, but the righteous sing and rejoice (Prov. 29:5-6). Our singing is to include our understanding (1 Cor. 14:15), so no singing in tongues (like Latin or German) during the worship service, (this would include babbling, vain repetitions in song, and singing songs that are not true). Our singing is often to be loud (Neh 12:42-43), we are to sing if we are joyful (James 5:13), sing to one another for mutual edification (Eph. 5:17-20), teach through songs (Is 5:1), sing our thanksgiving (2 Sam. 22:50, Ezra 3:10-11) and sing our history (Ps 106:11-12). In short, the Church of Jesus is to be a singing people.

Singing is one of the most important and powerful things we do as Christians. Our songs are the breath of God, knocking down the wicked and their idols (Is. 30:29-31:1). The choir in the pews is at war with the idols of their community. Like the armies of Joshua circling Jericho, our shouts to God are effective where nothing else is. Because the church is the body of Christ, present in the world, our songs are powerful; more powerful that we ever imagine. They are prayers that God hears and answers. We are singing from within the Triune communion. Our songs are sanctified and empowered by the Holy Spirit. And like a true arrow, true songs shoot straight. This is why singing the psalms, the songs given to us by inspiration, should fill us with joy, because we are ramming the gates of hell with a enormous battering ram that was forged from Moses’ day until the exile into Babylon. And heathens get nervous when they hear the wood creak and begin to split with one gigantic boom each Sunday morning.

Movie Reviews

For those of you who were wondering where my movie reviews are you can find them here:

The Lion King

Stranger than Fiction

2007 Summer Movies


I know that you have all been wanting them all in one place and I am here to oblige

my daughters obediently not smiling (almost).

Cutest kangaroo outside of texas

St. Brendan the Navigator

St. Brendan the Navigator

“Fear not, brothers, for our God will be unto us a helper, a mariner, and a pilot; take in the oars and helm, keep the sails set, and may God do unto us, His servants and His little vessel, as He willeth.” St. Brendan The Navigatio

The Roman World (which was the whole world in AD 500) had fallen apart. Christians throughout Europe, who were just trying to survive the collapse of the governing system all around them, began turning in on themselves instead of continuing the aggressive evangelistic missions of an earlier age. Many people were afraid that they must be living at the end of all things. If Rome could fall, what could possibly be safe?

During this socio-political upheaval, there was a man whose life inspired Prince Madok, Columbus[1], Captain John Smith and many other explorers, the Sons of Liberty, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison (Grant). There was a man that looked into the face of the unknown horizon and saw a place to which the paradise of the gospel needed to go. That man was Brendan, son of Finnlug Ua Alta, of the race of Eoghan. He was born in Tralee Ireland around the year 489 (O’Meara ix) and lived a long life dedicated to the service of God. He was the child of Christian parents who gave him over to the local monastery, for the service of the kingdom at age one. He grew to love learning, community, and Christ. Brendan spent his early years studying and planting monastic communities in Kerry, Galaway, and on the islands of the river Shannon (O’Meara ix), but when, already past 70 years old (Morison 15), he learned that there were lands with people beyond the horizon, he and fourteen companions built a boat and set sail for a trip across the Atlantic Ocean. On his voyage he met sea monsters, isolated island monks, giant icebergs, whales the size of small islands, and fog too thick to navigate through. After the many adventures he returned home to die among his people.

Brendan was not alone in his voyage. The Christian Celts of Brendan’s day were travellers. Brendan lived in the age of Peregrinatio Pro Christo, the pilgrimage for Christ. Christians would leave their world behind and journey as far as they could to serve Christ in the remotest areas of the world. And with them they brought the gospel of the resurrection and kingship of Christ. We know that Christian Celts made it as far as the Ohio Valley, but it is hard to imagine that missionaries who evangelized so broadly and so manfully did not make it further. As the spirit of the age waned throughout Europe, the spirited Christianity of these missionaries etched these words in the mountains of West Virginia in the Celtic language

At the Time of Sunrise, a ray grazes the notch on the left side, tis Christmas Day, a feast day of the Church, the first season of the Christian year, the season of the blessed advent of the Savior, Lord Christ. Salvatoris Domini Christi, behold he is born of Mary, a woman. Hallelujah. (Quoted in Grant)

Though the oldest know version of the story of Brendan’s voyage is from the seventh century (O’Meara x), perhaps less than 100 years after the voyage, many moderns doubted the historicity of Brendan and the Celts claims. No one believed that any band sailing in a curragh, the ancient Celtic boat of leather stretched across a wooden frame, described in accurate detail (Morison 16) in The Navigatio, could make the Atlantic trek. No one believed until Tim Severin and his crew built a curragh by the specifications laid out by The Navigatio, and sailed Brendan’s route. He even recounts tales of sea creatures that make The Navigatio’s tales look probable (Severin 140-148). There is a fair amount of circumstantial evidence that the Celts had accomplished what they claimed to accomplish. There is enough evidence of a presence of Celts in America for some to postulate substantial Celtic civilizations existing in America. “Gloria Farley, an ardent archeologist and explorer, has found countless examples of what seem to be Keltic ogamic inscriptions along the Cimarron River in Arkansas and more in Kentucky, leading her to believe Kelts were exploring the Mississippi River valley and leaving their inscriptions along the way 1,000 years and more ago” (Angel). Though giant celtic civilizations might be pressing the imagination, the archeological evidence of an early Celtic presence in America, Iceland, and Greenland cries out for explanation. The archeology alone is inconclusive but there are also many accounts of Irish monks spread throughout the Northern Island of the new world. “Three centuries after Brendan’s death, the raiding Vikings found Irish Monks in Iceland, the Faroes, the Shetlands, and the Orkneys” (Morison 25).

Whether St. Brendan and the Celts were the first Europeans to come to America or not, they looked at the world around them and saw a world owned by Christ, a world that needed to know its Lord. As the story of Brendan’s voyage, The Navigatio, puts it, as Brendan and his crew of monks entered their boat, “all the birds sung in concert: Hear us, O God Our Saviour, the hope of all the ends of the earth, and in the sea afar off” (Navigatio). These Christians would travel the globe and when they found a tribe or kingdom, they would go straight to the king to inform him of the King of kings. They feared no sea, no monster, and no man because “our God is the Lord Jesus Christ, who can bring to nought all living things” (Navigatio). We need men like Brendan to come along side us in our modern malaise and misanthropy the way he came along side the crew of his. “Soldiers of Christ, be strong in faith unfeigned and in the armor of the Spirit, for we are now on the confines of hell; watch, therefore, and act manfully” (Navigatio). We sit, much like Brendan did, on the edge of a fallen world which is being consumed by the death, destruction and the despair that always follows idolatrous statism. Oh, that the Lord would grant us the courage and faith of Brendan that sees the horizon as an opportunity to carry the Kingdom of Christ into the unknown.

While the rest of the church retreats into defeatists ghettos and evangelical and fundamentalist bunkers, we need to advance with the faith that says ‘if God be for us, then who can be against us.’ In one of the greatest scenes in The Navigatio, Brendan is celebrating the festival of St. Peter on the ship and large fish and sea monsters begin to circle the boat. “The brethren entreated the man of God to say Mass in a low voice, lest those monsters of the deep, hearing the strange voice, may be stirred up to attack them.” But Brendan responded, “I wonder much at your folly. Why do you dread those monsters? . . . For our God is the Lord Jesus Christ . . .’ Having thus spoken, he proceeded to sing the Mass in a louder voice.” As long as the church fears the wrath of man, we sit paralyzed like the men in Brendan’s Boat asking him to please sing the Mass a little quieter. But God calls us to fulfill Brendan’s desire for his men, to be soldiers of Christ who, though they be on the confines of hell, act manfully.

Bibliography

Angel, Paul Tudor. "Who Built New England’s Megalithic Monuments?" The Barnes Review November 1997. 15 March 2006

Grant, Dr. George. "St. Brendan." Saints and Scoundrels: Canon Press Annual History Conference, Moscow, 2001.

Morison, Samuel Eliot. The European Discovery of America: The Northern Voyages AD 500-1600. New York: Oxford University Press, 1971.

Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis. Trans. Denis O’Donoghue 1893. Celtic Christianity e-library. 29 March. 2006 <>.

Severin, Tim. The Brendan Voyage. New York: Mcgraw-Hill Book Company, 1978.

The Voyage of St. Brendan: Journey to the Promised Land. Trans. And Intro. John J. O’Meara. New York: Ittegaps, 1999.

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[1] Columbus references Brendan the Navigator in the Journal of his first voyage.

Saint Brendan’s Prayer

Saint Brendan’s Prayer

Shall I abandon, O King of mysteries, the soft comforts of home?
Shall I turn my back on my native land, and turn my face towards the sea?

Shall I put myself wholly at your mercy,
without silver, without a horse,
without fame, without honor?
Shall I throw myself wholly upon You,
without sword and shield, without food and drink,
without a bed to lie on?
Shall I say farewell to my beautiful land, placing myself under Your yoke?

Shall I pour out my heart to You, confessing my manifold sins and begging forgiveness,
tears streaming down my cheeks?
Shall I leave the prints of my knees on the sandy beach,
a record of my final prayer in my native land?

Shall I then suffer every kind of wound that the sea can inflict?
Shall I take my tiny boat across the wide sparkling ocean?
O King of the Glorious Heaven, shall I go of my own choice upon the sea?

O Christ, will You help me on the wild waves?

Saint Boniface

St. Boniface and Thor’s Oak

Boniface was a Bishop and a missionary in Saxony, in the early eighth century. In the area of Hessia there had once been a thriving Christian community, but when Boniface arrived all of the converts were gone and only the worshipers of Thor remained. Boniface was having little success in the area and could not convince any of the people to stop visiting Thor’s oak tree, an ancient Oak tree that was deep in the forest in which the people believed Thor lived. He decided to take care of it once and for all. He took an ax and had his monks and the people of Thor’s tribe follow him through the under brush and into the forest until the stood before Thor’s oak at which point he took off his shirt and, without a word, chopped down the six-foot wide wooden god. The people were thoroughly frightened because they believed that Boniface would be punished for even wielding an ax in the direction of the tree, but after the tree had fallen he stood on the stump and cried, “How stands your mighty god? My God is stronger than he.” He took the wood of the oak and made a chapel. Some people converted on the spot, other were upset with him, but over time the tribe became Christians and worshiped the True God in the chapel built of the wood of the giant felled Oak of Thor.

Quotes from St. Boniface

In her voyage across the ocean of this world, the Church is like a great ship being pounded by the waves of life's different stresses. Our duty is not to abandons ship but to keep her on her course.

Let us stand fast in what is right, and prepare our souls for trial. Let us wait upon God's strengthening aid and say to him: "O Lord, you have been our refuge in all generations."

Let us trust in him who has placed this burden upon us. What we ourselves cannot bear let us bear with the help of Christ. For he is all-powerful, and he tells us: "My yoke is easy, and my burden light."

Let us continue the fight on the day of the Lord. The days of anguish and of tribulation have overtaken us; if God so wills, "let us die for the holy laws of our fathers," so that we may deserve to obtain an eternal inheritance with them.

from a letter by Saint Boniface

What fundamentalists and liberal have in common

R.R. Reno, in “The Ruins of the Church” points out that modern fundamentalists and liberal have this in common, they are both modern in the sense that they both believe that history has taken “turned the corner in some decisive sense” and that we must “separate ourselves from a dying past in order to receive the redemptive future.” He goes on to say that “the very essence of modernity is this embrace of liberating distance, this will to separation for the sake of the ‘not yet.’ For the modern, the past is a burden, the task of spiritual life is to throw of its debilitating weight.” Pretty cool. I never thought of that. That modernity is at root a revolt against history. No wonder moderns hate the middle ages and reformation. That is when Christianity tried to be the religion of history.

a collection of proverbs

surfing the internet is a huge waste of time,
unless you've got
nothing better to do

A soul full of meaning sees meaning in the world.
An empty soul will empty the world
and not be satisfied.

You don't realize how right-handed you are
until you lose your hand is a one
of those tragic "bull-riding
on houseboat" accidents.

Tetotaling is a diet.

cheaters never prosper,
but they most assuredly win games

a one eyed midget standing on his head
might have a different view of the
grass, but he can't see over the hedge.

Helping people is like washing the dishes. 
Sometimes you have to use the
sprayer, sometimes you have to let them
soak in soapy hot water, and
sometimes you have to grab the sos pad
and get in up to your elbows.

beating a dead horse won't make him run any faster,
but it sure makes you
feel better.

There isn't much difference between an open mind
and a whole in the head.

live your life for you dreams,
unless you are a member of Hamas.

Don’t stick
your head under the car until
after you put the emergency brake on,
you don’t want to be the guy that ran over your own head.

God digs the well of Joy with pain and tribulation

surfing the internet is a huge waste of time,
unless you've got nothing better to do

Ethics

All too often, when we think of Ethics, we think in terms of a list of rules, and then we try to determine what goes on the list and what does not. Then, when we go to differentiate between Christian and non-Christian ethical systems, we think that the Christian has a lot of rules, while the rank heathen only has a couple. This lump of coal is only fit for Aristotle’s stocking. Like everything for the Christian, the gospel defines our ethical system and for us, the gospel is not an abstract formula, but the person of Jesus the Messiah and King of the world. We follow Jesus, which makes us dangerous the way that Jesus was dangerous. It is easy to keep the ‘holier than thou’ in line, because they are satisfied with certain concessions. People attempting to live a Christ-life are dangerous because they will not compromise. They insist on loving effectually, which entails a savage hatred of idolatry, the enemy of all mankind and all his institutions.

Bold like a lion with the dead lamb

A common sin in our day, that is often mistaken for righteousness, is the “Bold like a lion when the lamb is already dead” syndrome. This is where a preacher spends his time attacking the idols of past generations that have already been ground to pieces by our faithful forefathers, but refuses to step forward five hundred years and confront the temptations of the congregation in front of them. This kind of preacher has a Costco size Tiger Balm® in the locker room but won’t shut up about how great it is in order to take the lid off.

Towards a Theology of Song

Singing has traditionally held an important place in the church. King David (a superb Christian) forever established singing at the center of all the church’s dealings since his reign. Even before that, certain songs were central to what it meant to be a member of the body of Moses, the daughter of Yahweh (Ex. 15, Deut. 32). The musical heritage of the church is rich, diverse and full of blessedness. The Reformation itself was as much a reformation of liturgy as theology like choir being in the pews and the movement of the table for the Lord’s Supper and the placement of the pulpit. In the Bible we are told that the whole world is to make a joyful noise unto the Lord, serve God with gladness, and approach God with singing (Ps. 100:2). We are told to sing the psalms, to sing new songs, and to do it skillfully (Ps. 33:2-3). We are told that the wicked use their tongue to lay traps through flattery, but the righteous doth sing and rejoice (Prov. 29:5-6). Our singing is to include our understanding (1 Cor. 14:15), So no singing in tounges (like Latin or German) during the worship service, (this would include babbling, vain repetitions in song, and singing songs that are not true). And our singing is to be loud (Neh 12:42-43) (Early church amens used to shake the walls and scare the neighbors). We are to sing if we are joyful (James 5:13) sing to one another for mutual edification (Eph. 5:17-20), teach through songs (Is 5:1) (This is what makes Bob Dylan so affective, bad music so dangerous and good music so wonderful). Sing our thanksgiving (2 Sam. 22:50, Ezra 3:10-11) and sing our history (Ps 106:11-12).
One last aspect of our singing is something that the Bible teaches that isn’t often taken into account. Our songs are the breath of God, knocking down the wicked and their idols (Is. 30:29-31:1); The Choir in the pews is at war with the idols of their community. Because the church is the body of Christ, present in the world, our songs are powerful, more powerful that we ever imagine. They are prayers that God hears and answers. We are singing from within the triune communion, so our songs are sanctified and empowered by the Holy Spirit. And like a true arrow, true songs shoot straight. This is why singing the songs given to us by inspiration is so fun because we are ramming the gates of hell with a enormous battering ram, that was forged from Moses’ day until the exile into Babylon. And heathens get nervous when they hear the wood creak and begin to split with one gigantic boom each Sunday morning.

revolutionary christianity

I have been thinking a lot lately about how revolutionary we tend to be as modern American Christians. It everywhere when we begin looking, but two things in particular have stuck out to me lately. The first is our general distain for imperfect authorities besides ourselves (which, in spite of our chest puffing, can hardly be called authorities). It is obvious in the church, "by choosing green rather than red for the sanctuary carpet you are deny in the gospel," but it comes out in every area in our lives. The move toward self inflicted medicine rather than trusting the medical authority (which is imperfect. yet still a real intellectual authority) is one example of the way we tend to refuse to live in the world God has given us. We are responsible to be alert patients, wise patients, understanding patients and helpful patients, and, I would argue, submissive patients. We haven't gone to medical school and a doctor making a mistake or a misdiagnosis does not make him not an authority, but we revolt and insist on taking to Google for our medicine. The second area that I noticed (ok, I'll admit it, in myself) was our (meaning, of course, my) view of sanctification. God has ordained that the preaching of the gospel, once a week, and the sacraments only once a week, be the means of kneading the dough to get the yeast spread through the whole loaf over the course of a life time. people get sanctified slowly. Yet we want a decisive moment of sudden clarity, because then the book will sell (perhaps that is a little cynical). Christianity is ordinary and boring and I am going to try and get that pounded into my skull (not revolutionarily downloaded like the matrix, but slowly rubbed in like a good pepper rub on a sirloin tip roast). There are my thoughts, and now that you have them you have no excuses.