Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) - Blogs - Faithhttps://www.presbyterianmission.org/faith2014-10-13T16:16:16-04:00Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)info@pcusa.orghttp://www.pcusa.org/Latest Faith posts.Our Challenging Way: Faithfulness, Sex, Ordination, and Marriage2014-10-13T16:16:16-04:00Barry Ensign-George/blogs/faith/2014/10/13/our-challenging-way-faithfulness-sex-ordination-an/https://www.pcusa.org/blogs/faith/2014/10/13/our-challenging-way-faithfulness-sex-ordination-an/
<p class="date">October 13, 2014</p>
<div class="intro"><p>As a denomination, we are charting a distinctive way forward in addressing matters of faithfulness and sex, matters about which we disagree intensely. "Our Challenging Way," written by Barry Ensign-George and Charles Wiley of the Office of Theology & Worship, explores this distinctive way - what it is, and why we should embrace it. "Our Challenging Way" is available <a href="https://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/theologyandworship/our-challenging-way/" target="_blank">here</a>.</p></div>
Unity, Confessions, and the Book of Order2014-05-08T10:07:25-04:00Barry Ensign-George/blogs/faith/2014/5/8/unity-confessions-and-book-order/https://www.pcusa.org/blogs/faith/2014/5/8/unity-confessions-and-book-order/
<p class="date">May 8, 2014</p>
<div class="intro"><p>What is the relationship between our confession of faith and our polity? Why do we have a collection of confessions in our denomination's Constitution? What role do they (could they) play in shaping our life together? How can we be faithful to the commitments we've made in the two parts of our Constitution: first <em>The Book of Confessions</em>, and second the <em>Book of Order</em><em>?</em></p>
<p>My colleague, Charles Wiley, and I reflected on these questions in a brief statement that was published last fall: <em><a href="https://www.presbyterianmission.org/media/uploads/theologyandworship/docs/constituting_us_confessions_and_polity.pdf">Constituting Us: Confessions and Polity in the PC(USA)</a>. </em>In December I was invited to reflect further on the relationship between our confession of faith and our polity as part of Moderator Neal Presa's Second Colloquium on Unity and Diversity. I built my reflections around <em>Constituting Us.</em> I added reflections on our Constitution as a lead-in to that document. Following that document, I also added some brief reflections on how the relationship of the two parts of our Constitution might bear on actions at our upcoming General Assembly, especially as regards our discussion of marriage. The result is <em>Unity, Confessions, and the </em>Book of Order: <em>the Constitution of the PC(USA) and How It Constitutes Us</em>.<em><br /></em></p>
<p>Here's how it starts: "The relationship between the two parts of our Constitution - <em>The Book of Confessions</em> and the <em>Book of Order</em> - is an abiding, persistent problem . . " <a href="/site_media/media/uploads/blogs/ensign-george,_b_-_unity,_confessions,_and_the_boo_-_complete_text_-_upload_2014_5.pdf">Read more</a>.</p>
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Come and See2014-04-16T17:04:31-04:00Teresa Stricklen/blogs/faith/2014/4/16/come-and-see/https://www.pcusa.org/blogs/faith/2014/4/16/come-and-see/
<p class="date">April 16, 2014</p>
<div class="intro"><p> A major theme running throughout the gospel of John is the invitation to “come and see.” Echoing Isaiah 66:18b where God promises, “I am coming to gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and shall see my glory,” John invites us to come and see the glory of the Lord in Jesus Christ. </p>
<p> When Jesus is baptized, John the Baptizer’s disciples wonder if Jesus is the one they’ve been waiting for—i.e. one greater than John. They want to know where Jesus is staying/abiding, and he invites them to “come and see” (John 1:36-39). </p>
<p> When Philip tells Nathanael that in Jesus of Nazareth they’ve found the one Moses and the prophets talked about, Nathanael asks, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip tells him to “come and see” for himself (John 1:43-46). </p>
<p> Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman at the well who grows in her understanding of who Jesus is as the conversation progresses. After her conversation with him, she goes into the village to proclaim, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” (John 4:29). </p>
<p> After Jesus is associated with being the Messiah, the next “come and see” invitation significantly shifts: humanity asks Jesus to “come and see” where Lazarus lies dead (John 11:34). And he does. The Lord goes to Lazarus’ tomb and calls him forth from death into life. Our Lord has come and seen what lies at the center of human fear, staring full-on at death and weeping with divine compassion at our plight. He is with us in the midst of death’s trauma. But he doesn’t just sit with us there in empathy. As important as that is, it is not enough for the One who brings forth the new creation. His word goes forth, and life emerges from death. This is the work of God-with-us, Messiah.</p>
<p> When the women report that Jesus’ tomb is empty after the crucifixion, the disciples <strong>go</strong> to see if the report is true (John 20:1-8). It is as though they are following the bidding of the angel in Matthew who proclaims, “He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay” (Matt. 28:6). </p>
<p> Post-resurrection, the invitation to come and see becomes a summons to go and tell, as the risen Lord commands Mary (John 19). When Christ later appears to Thomas who refuses to believe the resurrection is true, we hear a variation of the “come and see” motif when Jesus says, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (John 20:19-29). Thomas’ declaration of faith here, his testimony, is what the church goes on to proclaim to those who cannot see for themselves: Jesus is “my Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). This is immediately followed by the declaration:</p>
<blockquote>
<p> Now Jesus did many others signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that you may <strong>come</strong> [emphasis mine] to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30-31)</p>
</blockquote>
<p> The church now goes to tell the good news of the gospel, which is later written down in scripture, continuing to issue the invitation to others to come and see for themselves where the living Lord Jesus Christ dwells among us in divine glory. A large part of that testimony is what makes Holy Week so special in a death-dealing culture: God dwells with us in the most abject of human circumstances, namely, death by torture on a cross, to call forth life out of death. What makes our proclamation so powerful is our unabashed acknowledgment of world-shattering trauma. The trauma of the cross stands at the center of the gospel to remind us that in Christ Jesus, death does not have the last word on how things really are, as heinous and as real as that is. In Jesus the Christ, God-with-us to the bitter dregs of existence, what abides, despite the worst that death can do, is the resurrection power of God’s steadfast love that endures forever. </p>
<div><img src="/site_media/media/uploads/blogs/800px-church_of_the_resurrection-cross_place.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="600" />
<p class="caption">Altar art, cross grotto, Church of the Resurrection, Jerusalem</p>
</div></div>
Please and Thank You2014-04-08T15:24:22-04:00David Gambrell/blogs/faith/2014/4/8/please-and-thank-you/https://www.pcusa.org/blogs/faith/2014/4/8/please-and-thank-you/
<p class="date">April 8, 2014</p>
<div class="intro"><p>The primary purpose of Christian worship is, of course, simply giving glory to God. But worship also provides us with regular opportunities to practice the theological habits of grace and gratitude. Like learning to say “please” and “thank you” at home, worship seeks to shape us in a way of life that befits God’s holy realm, our eternal home.</p>
<p>The baptismal font and communion table are especially connected with the practice of grace and gratitude in worship: </p>
<ul>
<li>around the font we gather for worship, confessing our sin and asking (please) for God’s mercy;</li>
<li>remembering our baptism with gratitude (thank you), we rejoice in the promise of God’s grace;</li>
<li>at the table we pray for the church and world, asking (please) that God’s “will be done on earth as in heaven”;</li>
<li>celebrating the Eucharist (thank you), we rejoice in our deliverance from sin and death through Jesus Christ.</li>
</ul>
<p>These theological patterns, practiced in worship, are meant to spill over into daily life, to nourish habits of grace and gratitude all week long:</p>
<ul>
<li>seeking (please) peace and reconciliation with family, friends, and neighbors, forgiving others as God has forgiven us;</li>
<li>welcoming the gift of each day (thank you) as a child of God, chosen, claimed, and called through baptism;</li>
<li>seeking (please) the will of God in every aspect of our lives, joining the liberating work of the Spirit in the world;</li>
<li>living with gratitude (thank you) for the gift of daily bread, giving our lives in love and service to God, the giver of life.</li>
</ul>
<p>As Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus” (1 Cor. 1:4). May your life be shaped by grace and gratitude, this day and always, both in the service of worship and in the service of daily living.</p></div>
Back to Basics on Ash Wednesday2014-03-06T09:47:56-05:00David Gambrell/blogs/faith/2014/3/6/back-basics-ash-wednesday/https://www.pcusa.org/blogs/faith/2014/3/6/back-basics-ash-wednesday/
<p class="date">March 6, 2014</p>
<div class="intro"><p>In the congregation where I worship, I have the solemn joy of visiting each class of children’s choirs and talking to them about Ash Wednesday. Last night was the third year running … which means we’ve now entered the realm of sacred and inviolable tradition.</p>
<p>I tell the kids about the biblical origins of ashes as a sign of repentance and sorrow. I ask them to think about times when they’ve felt sorry or sad. I tell them how Jesus came and lived and died and rose to show how much God loves them, even and especially when they feel sad or sorry. We talk about the shape of the cross, how it is a symbol of Jesus and his love. Last year, in one class, there was some confusion about cremation, so this year I brought a dried-up palm branch to show what (not whom!) we burn to get the ashes.</p>
<p>Last night I visited the four classes in reverse order of age, starting with the fourth and fifth graders and working down to the four and five year olds. It was an interesting way to develop my Ash Wednesday “elevator speech.” By the time you get to preschool you’ve got to whittle it down to the bare bones basics. You. Jesus. Love.</p>
<p>After we talk for a few minutes, I give them the opportunity to receive the ashes. I make it very clear that this is up to them. They have the freedom to say yes or no, and every year a few decline. This year I asked the choir directors to impose the ashes while I sang a song from our new hymnal. I think this was a good choice. The choir directors know them all by name, like God knows us.</p>
<p>Last night, when I finished talking to the last class (the four and five year olds), one kid looked a little frightened. I think he got it. The kid sitting next to him was beaming, and asked if we could do this every day. I think he got it too.</p></div>