Prepositions. We use them all the time. Small words.
Powerful words. Necessary
words. Connectors. They are the critical part of our vocabulary
honing the details of what we say, how we say it – directing our thoughts and
manner by which we communicate. You
know. Word of God; faith in Christ; with the Holy Spirit. See?
Even the opening sentence of the Bible begins with a preposition…
“IN the beginning..." and as we talk our faith
and walk our faith we find a great lesson in the power of prepositions. Men in I'm always being asked, "what can I do... what can we do... what can our church do for the men in our church and in our community?" Is there a 'roadmap' to help them build and sustain faithful and purposeful living is another way to ask. It's an honest question and I have found the work of Ps. Walt Kallestad and Fr. Michael Breen very helpful here. Some of what you read next is from their books, "Passionate Life" and its sequel, "Passionate Church." We all get passion. We need it. Christ showed it. Mel Gibson made a movie about it. The passion of God... the passion of the Christ...the one who has come to us in the person of Jesus... God in the flesh... with a passion that is in our hearts before we even know it. This passion is a gift from God that when we seek it we find ourselves discovering the joy... a complete joy according to Jesus... that only God can give.
Breen and
Kallestad offer up some 'geometric' shapes to help us tend to our faith. The
semi-circle is used to demonstrate the pendulum swing and rhythm of work and
rest; of work and prayer; of work and fun. It's a good rhythm. They use the
image of the circle to show how confession, grace and absolution direct our path
from week to week... from one Sunday to the next. We think, plan and
act. Sometimes we get things done. Sometimes we've left them undone.
And when our thoughts and plans and actions do not line up with God's will for
our life (see Deuteronomy 6:5 ff as a model for God's will) then we
gather as God's people to observe, reflect and discuss this
same will and in acknowledging our missing the mark we have opportunity to
think, plan and act again. The God of second chances shows up again and again
and this passion of God for each of us gives us courage and hope to continue
on... and that is the rhythm of our lives.
The third
shape the authors present is the triangle. It's that equilateral kind with 3
equal sides and connected to each side are three instructions.
- UP with God
- IN with the Church
- OUT with the world
Like the 10 Commandments,
with the first three defining our relationship with God, the initial work of "up
with God" is critical to all the rest. We don't serve from and empty chalice.
We don't give what we don't have. We can't. We offer what overflows from us
and our life within the church and our living together in the world as church is
fueled when we are connected and 'up with God." It is as ancient as breathing
and as the ancients practiced a prayer posture that included not bowed heads and
closed eyes, but arms spread open, heads raised and eyes wide open so that God
could see deep in our hearts as the heart has always been the first access point
for God with us! Our 'up with God' efforts include quiet time for prayer; a
regular pattern of introspective meditation; taking advantage of moments of
confession to welcome God's forgiveness and as St. Paul reminded the Colossians
that our connectedness to God includes singing hymns and spiritual songs as
these are all part of our 'worship.' The 'up-with-God-ness' within us is
essential and remember that Martin Luther took time for 'worship' as Jesus did,
each Sabbath, and did so daily via a time for prayer each morning... for an hour
... at least and on more difficult days... he prayed for 2 hours. Wow, what a
world we would have if the world did that! UP with God!
As we read
the Bible, we can see quickly that God is very into 'community.' God is always
speaking out to and gathering groups of people... prophets, priests and kings,
disciples, elders, deacons, etc. Jesus called 12 disciples, sent out 70 in
pairs to teach, preach and heal, 120 another time and on the day of Pentecost,
St. Luke notes that 3000 were baptized as a result of Peter's preaching. God is
always about community and we really can't actualize our Christian-ness by
trying to be Christian alone or in our way or image. Check it out... the Bible
speaks of the children of God, the people of God, the family of faith, the body
of Christ, those called from darkness into a marvelous light, the followers of
the Way and on and on we see that being a follower of Jesus the Christ is about
being in community! So, up with God leads to being "in with the
Church."
How did
Martin Luther describe the Church? He said in the catechism that the church is
where a) the Word of God was preached; b) the sacraments were
administered rightly; and sometimes c) where the mutual conversation
and consolation of the people is experienced, Luther's way of talking about
sharing one another's joys and struggles. Do you recognize that Church? There
is nothing solitary about it! Preachers need people who can listen. The people
need a preacher who can share the good news and teach. And while taking a bath or
shower is a private act of cleanliness, no one likes to play in the pool or swim
in the ocean alone. In fact, the latter is frowned upon and frankly dangerous!
We can call Holy Communion by a couple of names... The Lord's Supper or the
Eucharist, the New Testament word for "giving thanks." Who would want to have
Thanksgiving dinner alone? That would be a very quiet and lonely meal.
Or think of it this
way... when people join our churches they stand at the baptismal font and in
front of the altar and say words like this... "it is my intention
to:
-
live among God's faithful people (vs hanging out with the un-faithful!)
-
hear God's Word (vs devoting oneself to Stephen King novels, etc)
-
share in the Lord's Supper (a meal that only Christ can offer)
-
follow the example of Jesus (now that's a loaded request all by itself!)
-
strive for peace and justice in all the world (who can do this alone?)
And at the same time, as a mostly
hard-working nose to the grindstone parish pastor, I would like to add a couple of
extra lines like, support the work of this ministry via generous gifts of
money and time and for people to read their monthly newsletters and
emails.... the response heard is ... "I do and I ask God
to help and guide me!" And when we are all about this effort day
after day, week after week, season after season and year after year, the Church
remains strong and faithful. So, being "in with the Church" doesn't
just bring benefit to my own life, others nearby are blessed, too.
But to what end? Is the church just for us?
Luther was amazed with delight to wrap his head around the words of Jesus... "pro
me"... the Latin words about the Lord's Supper... that the bread
and wine and the body and blood of Christ was "for
me!" --- that Jesus' body and blood comes to us in that wonderful
prepositional way--- in, with and
under the bread and the wine! But, he also read Jesus' clear
command to "do this" as the way to remember him, and that, also, in
this feeding, in this collective and mysterious remembering meal, there was the
task to share this grace and message with the world. Thus, to be up with God
and in with the Church has no other destination but to be 'out with the world.'
Jesus was also 'sending' and telling his followers to "go!" And so we do... we
are sent and we go with confidence and with a message that leads others to a
life that is overflowing with the kind of joy and peace and purpose that only
God's Holy Spirit can provide.
In the end, we are the 'real presence' of God's sacramental mystery in the world. This is what church is. This is what men's ministry is
part of and designed for. It is the trinitarian model that just about any man you know
or I know can internalize and live out. And finally, here's why this is such an
important thing... it's our story...
Three men walk into a bar. They are strangers.
They all sit down and make their order... Scotch on the rocks, Tequila
straight up and a Kentucky bourbon with ice on the side. The bar tender notices
that he's never seen them in his bar before. "You know each other?" he asks.
"No," they all chime in together. "Oh," the barkeep says. "What brings you
here?"
The first man says, "well I just got pink-slipped.
The company I've had 27 years of loyalty and the place I thought I'd retire from
just cut me loose," as he pulled the rosy colored paper out of his pocket. "It
was embarrassing having a security officer walk me to my car."
The second man says, "hey, me too! My gringo boss
was a real jerk. He said we have to cut back to save money. So, me, Juan and
Pito got the boot."
And before Paulo finishes, the third story
unfolds..."Yeah, I knew this was going to happen. The man always says my job is
secure. He's said that to me and my friends for the last two years and every so
often, the team gets smaller and smaller. Today, it's my turn."
So, the good listener behind the bar stood
stunned. "Man, all three of you are out of work, huh?" But, that wasn't all
there was to tell... in a matter of minutes all three men tell their version of
how they called home to tell their spouses the news and all three men heard
similar versions of "oh, well that's just great... I can't take this any
more....that's the last straw... I'm done... when you get home I will be gone...
and oh by the way... that 24 year old unemployed college drop-out son of yours
is passed out on the living room couch and his 17 year old sister just told me
she's pregnant and does not know who the father is."
Up with God, in with the Church, out with the
world. You and I walk in that bar next... minutes later. What do we say? Do
we care about these three men? Their spouses and children? The grandchild who
may bear his name? What do they want to hear? What do they need to hear? Most
likely, they will not care that we believe we are simul justus et
peccator... at the same time saint and sinner... they won't care whether we
use bread or wafers for Holy Communion or whether our sanctuary has a big screen
or not. They won't care if our worship music features a pipe organ, a mariachi
band or we have drums or not. They won't care that Luther was smarter than
Calvin or that we're praying God lifts up a visionary man to be the next pope or
whether our nursery has a volunteer staff of parents or a paid attendant during
worship and Sunday School. The won't care if we pray the Lord's prayer with
'sins' or 'trespasses' or in King James or modern English or Swedish, German or
Aramaic. They just won't. They will want to know the answers to questions like
... "How did this happen?" "How long is this going to last?" and "What can be
done to bring some calm to this storm?" And without saying or asking out loud
they will be asking the two questions Dr. Rollie Martinson says are the 2 most
intimate questions any man has... "Will there be anyone here for me?" and "Will God be here for me?"
"For me?" ... that powerful prepositional phrase that
can make all the difference in the quality of any man's life...
Prepositions.
We use them all the time. Small
words. Powerful words. Necessary words. Connectors.
How will you help the men in your congregation and your world remain "UP" with God, "IN" with the
Church and "OUT" with the world? And are you ready to walk into that bar for
Jesus' sake? He won't want you to go alone, but Jesus does want you to
go!
One man at a time; no man left behind! You will want to share this with a friend...
Brian
P.S. Comments and reactions to these thoughts are always welcome!
