Nobody reads the Bible literally. We are all interpreting – and this is a good thing!
This admission allows us to say:
Since we are all interpreting, let’s talk about how we are interpreting.
I first realized this about the book of Revelation (apocalyptic literature). Then it became clear about other genres of scripture like wisdom literature (like Job) and the gospels (like Luke).
Here is a recent sermon that I gave on the subject. You can also listen to the full version of it (including a lot of joking at the beginning) on the VHUMC podcast.
I would love to hear your thoughts, questions, and concerns.
I will be saying more about the idea of ‘moving your application up to your interpretation’ in the months to come.
More than masculine imagery is needed for health and wholeness.
The divine – transcendent – eternal is so much more than the metaphors and analogies that we utilize is worship and prayer.
“The rule of prayer is the rule of faith” has migrated historically from prayer to sacrament to preaching and, now in our musical age, to worship. See also Worship Words Determine Faith [link]
Our language about God functions – Elizabeth Johnson
This is why we must both account for and attend to a more well-rounded and balanced approach to our imagery about God.
I just wrapped up a 3 week series on change with a sermon called “I would prefer not to”.
The first week we asked “Can the past save us?” The answer is ‘no’.
The next week talk about “the Life of the Ages” which is so much more than eternal life. We looked at how Jesus updated present religious practices in his time.
This past week was a 4-layered experiment with responding to change.
The videos are here – you can also listen to the podcast audio if you prefer (below)
I had the pleasure of being on the Theopoetics Podcast to talk about my transition away from evangelicalism.
I retired from evangelism early this year but have not really had the chance to debrief that with anyone. My friend Tim reached out to offered me the space to do that publicly.
It was a wonderful experience and we covered a LOT of ground. The 1/4 was about the past but then we moved into the present and the future.
We have set sail and are coasting in to uncharted waters.
Look at our institutions:
government is broken with congressional gridlock, banking crisis and scandal (too big to fail bail out of 2008), military spending is exponential but stuck in 2 endless wars because how do you win a war on terror, even religion … just look at our denomination [even the Quakers split last year] the UMC is about to, this is why some people are attracted to converting back to Orthodoxy, or Catholicism, or Anglicanism. It has a fetish appeal. Our seminaries are buckling.
Democracy, Capitalism, Nationalism, Religion.
We live in unprecedented times.
It is incredible and exhilarating and overwhelming to many. You can begin to see why some folks are attracted to going back to the way things were. It would make sense – it would be simpler and easier if we all just settled down and went back to the way things were.
Here is the problem – you can never go back. Because the past isn’t where you remember it was and even if you got there – it simply isn’t there anymore. It is gone. Time moved on
And the past won’t save us. Our future is not to be found in the past. Backward looking and past-oriented systems and mentalities will not prepare us for what is coming.
Things have changed. The landscape is changing. We live in fluid times and a liquid culture. It is time to sell the farm and becomes sailors. We won’t need bigger barns when the tide comes in – it is time to tear down the barns and use the wood to build some boats. We are floating in the new age.
The past will only sink us.
The Danger of ‘Re’ words.
But have no fear! God knows what (S)he is doing! God will get us through! Faith will get us through by God’s grace.
OK – so even if you are not as enthusiastic as I am about the future, which is fine (not many are) you need to be aware of dangers in romanticizing the imagined past.
SO what do we do?
Easy – Christianity is built for this! We have an incarnational gospel that is infinitely translatable to any language, culture, and time. God didn’t just work in the past. God is working in the present here and now.
We can bring about a preferable future by partnering with God’s spirit in the present moment. The infinite and timeless God is calling from the future into each moment providing us opportunities to say ‘yes’ and open up potentialities that were not always available in the past. This present moment is pregnant with possibilities for goodness and justice that don’t come embedded with the need to re-create, reinforce, and re-instantiate the layers of racism, sexism, and hierarchy inherent in past systems.
This is one of the unique aspects of Christianity that is different than other religions. We have a built in contextuality and translatability that gives us flexibility. All we have to do is repent and divorce ourselves from the marriage of religion and power – or to release the safety of empire and control.
That is what we are going to talk about next week: why things seem out of control.
For now let just say this: the past won’t save us. The future of faith is better than Europe’s past. We have nothing to fear but fear itself. God is at work in the world by Christ’s spirit. God is wanting and willing to work in and through us here and now. All we have to do is join God is the work that we were built for – and uniquely gifted and graced to do!
I am trying something new. Since everyone is reading the same chapter of the book each week, there is no sense in my just repeating that information or providing a slightly different take to supplement it. That is what I have historically done.
I am attempting ‘inverse preaching’ which is to take the idea and turn it inside out to see if it looks any different … or maybe it falls apart.
So for instance, at the start of the series I took the common thought (often attributed to Augustine) that ‘darkness doesn’t exist, it is simply the absence of light’ and inverted it to ask:
What if there is no such thing as light, but it is only the absence of darkness?
I take common wisdom like ” Jesus loves you” and says Jesus doesn’t love you as an individual – Jesus loves whole groups.
The United Methodist Church had a big meeting for the last 4 days (Special Session of the General Conference) and on the final day, the Traditional Plan (TP) prevailed over 3 others.
The other plans were all preferable to me. The Connectional Plan (CP) was a region-by-region approach. The One Church Plan (OCP) was my favorite and it allowed us to ‘agree to disagree’ but remain in unity. The Simple Plan (SP) was simply to remove language about homosexuality and simply free us to do as God leads.
If this topic seems raw – please forgive us – it was a difficult 4 days.
Here is my take as someone who transferred into the UMC 8 years ago from an evangelical denomination (C&MA) after being raised Free Methodist.
Here are my 4 thoughts – with explanations below:
11 years ago I believed in the Traditional Plan (TP) that passed today. So there is lots of room for conversation and lots of room for growth with us ALL.
For all intents and purposes, the traditional plan that passed today is basically the Book of Discipline (BoD) that we have been under for the past decades.
We have really good people thinking about this. So I am sure that they are going to find a way forward.
The One Church Plan (OCP) was announced at the end of today’s session as the plan for the Western Jurisdiction. Aka: nothing changes for us
1) 11 years ago I believed in the Traditional Plan (TP) that passed today. So there is lots of room for conversation and lots of room for growth with us ALL.
2) For all intents and purposes, the traditional plan that passed today is basically the Book of Discipline (BoD) that we have been under for the past decades.
3) We have really good people thinking about this. So I am sure that they are going to find a way forward.
This might be the most important this I ever say: I left my former denomination over the Ordination of Women. I was working on an internal and Biblical conviction, but it turns out that I was right! The Ordination of Women opens up life and faith for both women and men. My experience and ministry were both incomplete without my sisters in ministry.
I don’t know the way forward. But I know who I will follow forward:
My Bishop Rev. Elaine Stanovsky
My Dist. Superintendent Rev. Erin Martin
My Commission Leader Rev. Donna Pritchard
My teammates:
Rev. Beth Estock
Rev. Julia Nielsen
Rev. Karen Shimer
Rev. Eilidh Lowery
Rev. Becca Farrester
Rev. Karen Ward
Rev. Christy Dirren
Rev. Linda Tucker
Rev. Courtney McHill
Rev. Taylor Gould
Rev. Heather Riggs
Rev. Michelle McKinnon-Young
This is my tribe. These are my people. They will show the way that we should go.
4) The One Church Plan (OCP) was announced at the end of today’s session as the plan for the Western Jurisdiction. Aka: nothing changes for us
At the 2019 Special Called Session of the General Conference, Rev. Donna Pritchard, chair of the Western Jurisdiction Leadership Team made this statement on behalf of Western Jurisdiction Leadership:
“We have long appreciated the richness of the global diversity of our United Methodist Church and have embraced opportunities to join with you all in the work of making disciples for the transformation of the world.
“We also understand the purpose of the Church to be in mission and ministry. Consequently, we in the West have been functioning for years as One Church committed to full inclusion, seeking to be a home for all God’s people.
“Today we acknowledge the fracture of this body, yet we worship a God who tells us that the body of Christ has many parts, all equally valued. Rooted in Wesleyan tradition, grounded in Scripture and committed to mission and ministry, the Western Jurisdiction intends to continue to be one church, fully inclusive and open to all God’s children, across the theological and social spectrum.
We know from experience we are stronger when we live together as progressives, traditionalists and centrists in our Church. Many times during this Conference we have sung or prayed or blessed each other with the reminder that we need each other.”
May the spirit of the living God guide us as we walk forward in faith.
2019 is off to an frantic start so I wanted to give you an update about some fun I have been having.
At Vermont Hills I am enjoying a new sermon series. Two weeks ago was “God Loves Groups” about how the gospel has to be more than getting one small part of you (as an individual) to a good place after you die. That is too small a gospel.
This past week was about how the concept of ‘Hell’ functions in our psyche and how we need to take the sting out of this hellish idea. (Video below)
Progressive Bible Study (now called imBible Study) just finished the book of Ruth so Katie and recorded a Ruth Recap podcast that was a LOT of fun.
Sunday School (no called Brain Storming w/ Bo) is going through the alphabet. D is for Demythologize was a good podcast. E is for Emergence (and ecclesiology) comes out tomorrow. This Sunday is G is for Gay Christians where we are going to unClobber the Bible.
Let me know you thoughts. I would love to hear your comments, concerns, and questions.
Bo Sanders: Public Theology 