Dear Friends:  Please join us for the first webstream broadcast of "Free of Encumbrance" to be held Sunday, January 22nd, at 3pm Pacific.  Details to be announced soon. 

What's in a Name?

Lectionary Scripture Focus – Luke 2:15-21 (NRSV)

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us."  So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.  When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.  But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.  The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.  After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Lectionary Reflection:

The scripture above reflects blessings that follow on the heels of life-changing experiences.  As those blessings continue and accumulate over time, we name and identify them by some means or another.  As with Mary, we ponder them.  We remember them.  We retell them.  We treasure them.   In the end, the blessings mold and shape us.  They lead us to do right by others in a world struggling to find its way.

For instance, many of us ponder and treasure names like Gandhi, Buddha, Mother Teresa, the Prophet Mohammad, Moses, Jesus, Martin Luther King.  We equate these names with accomplishing much good in the world.  Their names and memories exist as statements of faith and promise for what is possible in our troubled world, especially because of the great sacrifices each one made or endured trying to help the world be a better place for us all.

For me, I also think of lesser known prophets and teachers.  Having returned to publicly funded mental health work this past August, I am in awe of my mental health colleagues where I work now.  A staff of six hundred accomplishes a phenomenal amount of good every year for 16,500 people at or below the poverty level who need mental health and addiction services.  Miraculously, the staff accomplishes that mission each year with very limited resource.  For instance, most of their workspaces need repair, updating or outright replacement.  An insufficient amount of equipment and up to date equipment challenge and frustrate work efforts almost daily.  Office space lacks adequate climate control.  In fact, my team calls our space “Siberia!”  The word “cramped” describes everyone’s workspace.  Storage space barely exists and the space that does qualifies for a TV episode of “Hoarders”.  Many staff could command higher salaries elsewhere, but they stay with the organization out of commitment to a mission to help the poor who suffer addictions or mental illness.  Overall, the sacrifices of these lesser known prophets and teachers are herculean.  And when one asks the name for such an organization, one simply answers by saying, “LifeWorks NW”.  What a name for a phenomenal community of staff and clients.

If we pause to consider what’s in a name as I did above with LifeWorks NW the answer is, “Everything!”  In the shepherds’ case after leaving the presence of Mary and Joseph and Jesus, it was the very same thing.  They went to make known to others what had happened to them regarding Jesus.  If we stop to ponder everything in terms of you and me, the same results occur if we have been responsive to the blessings God has placed in our lives.

For instance, after applying last summer to LifeWorks NW and the agency subsequently decided it wanted to hire me, my references needed to be checked.  In other words, LifeWorks NW needed to talk to people that had a history with me, i.e. people who had known and worked with me.  One of my references later told me that when he was called by LifeWorks NW, he jokingly said, “What would you like to know?  I can tell you about the time Brad walked on water or when he parted the Red Sea.  Which one would you like to hear first?”  My friend and I had a good laugh over the comments, but as you might imagine his remarks and affirmations touched me deeply.   Most certainly his words helped me get the job.

So what’s in a name?  Everything!  Names obviously have influence.  Names have power.  Recently I met with a senior vice president of a corporation headquartered here in Portland, Oregon.  The visit involved me seeking a charitable donation of several thousand dollars.  When calling to request the appointment, I casually asked what most of us tend to do, “How are you today?”  The executive replied, “Well, I’ll answer that question honestly if you will do the same in return.”  Jokingly I replied, “Well before you start, let me warn you that you not only have a fundraiser on the phone but also a pastor and mental health professional, the last two of which I have been doing the past thirty years.”  Laughing and delighted, the executive and I spent the twenty minutes visiting on the phone.  At the end of our conversation, we made an appointment for a week later to further discuss the charitable gift.  “Dennis” is the man’s name and his name will always have the power to evoke this initial first memory of him as well as the memory of the gift he later made.  Both memories constitute blessings and I shall not forget them.

All the names noted above have power and influence because of the blessings associated with them.  And lest we be confused over what constitutes a blessing, one religious scholar defined it best this past week when he said that “a blessing is when one commits oneself wholeheartedly to the well-being of another in tangible action.”

So here’s my request of you:  Leave a comment here or on our FaceBook page describing a time when you committed yourself wholeheartedly to the well-being of another through tangible action.  And if you can’t think of such a time, please feel free to share a story about someone else.  I realize you may feel a bit self-conscious about such a request, but I’m asking that you trust yourself and get beyond that and share your story openly with the part of our world that visits here at Free of Encumbrance Ministries.  In doing so, your tangible action will be a blessing to others.  If you have difficulty posting your story, please email it to me and I’ll be sure it gets posted.

Blessings and Peace,

Pastor Brad Shumate, M.S.,M.A.,LMHC

Free of Encumbrance Ministries

Vancouver, WA

Email: brshumate@freeofencumbrance.net

Please remember to mark your calendar for the first webstream broadcast of "Free of Encumbrance" to be held Sunday, January 22nd, at 3pm Pacific.  Details to be announced soon.


Reader Comments:

In response to your request, I can’t help but relive the two years that I cared for my mom until her death a few years ago.  Having not had the best of relationships with her for many, many years – I moved into my parents’ home.  Doing so meant that I lost all freedom that I had.  I now had no furniture of my own, no home, limited books, etc.  My stuff had to go because of course it was their home.  But more than the physical items that I lost, I also lost my freedom to worship in my own home.  I no longer had a place for a worship center, I could no longer play the Christian music throughout the house every day.  My life became a very routine, get up, fix mom and dad coffee and maybe breakfast, go to work, come home, fix dinner, attend to mom’s needs, spend time just talking with her and then going to bed.  All to start again the next day.  I felt alone and lost in this new lifestyle but there were those who cared enough to make sure I was fed some spiritual food on occasion.  As I sat by her bed, as I watched her take her last breath, I said, “Mom, Jesus and Timmy are waiting.  Can you see them?” She opened her eyes, looked up and smiled, then passed quickly.  (Tim was my brother who was killed almost 30 years ago in a plane crash.  Mom always called him Timmy and never really got over his death)  Blessings did come from that experience, none the least of which is a firm belief that God does hear us and provide for our need.  And, I now am more qualified as I care for my father in the same way.  Blessings come in many ways.  I found many in those few years – a new relationship with my mother, not as a child but as her friend and caregiver, a deeper understanding of the pain God felt as I watched her past to another place and a feeling of love as never before.  Blessing still abound.

Cheryl 

A Promise Kept 

(graphic used with permission from churchpowerpoint.com)

Scripture Focus – Luke 2, verses 1-20 (NRSV)

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled.  This was the first enrollment, when Quirin'i-us was governor of Syria.  And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city.  And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered.

And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.  And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.  And the angel said to them, "Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!"

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us."  And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.  And when they saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this child; and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.  But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.  And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Lectionary Reflection:

There’s a scripture from Isaiah 9:6 which uses the words “wonderful”, “counselor”, “prince of peace” to describe and promise that a special child will be born to us.  The scripture further promises that the presence of God will reside in this child.  For many Christians, Jesus was the fulfillment of such a promise.  And when Jesus comes again, he will usher in an era of endless peace and justice for our world.  Many Christians today wait in fervent hope for such a time to come.

I wonder though if my non-churched friends take seriously such hope and promise of endless peace.  Many of them ask quite skeptically, “When will this eternal peace happen?  It couldn’t come any too soon, you know.”

No doubt many churched persons reply with words like, “Have faith, accept Jesus as your personal savior.  Everything will work itself out.”  I can also imagine the un-churched being told to…..

• simply wait out the times,
• endure the injustices committed by the greedy and powerful,
• not be distracted by the ever widening gulf between “the haves” and “the have-nots”,
• regard everyone as the author of their own troubles and responsible for their own solutions,
• always avoid taking a stand on anything, or be so nuanced that no one will be made uncomfortable,
• make sure government and political leaders are always empowered to commit acts of war, acts of impoverishment, acts of domination, and crimes against humanity whenever they wish,
• lastly, make sure that the 10% of the world’s population controlling 85% of the world’s wealth gets all the advantages possible so they’re enriched even further and their wealth trickles down a bit to ease the sufferings of the poor.

In light of these realities, both today and millennia ago, there isn’t much reason for anyone to believe that a small child born into poverty and obscurity could be anything promising in terms of worldwide justice and endless world peace.

But what if the promise from so long ago meant something very different today, something other than waiting around for the sky to fall or the heavens to part?  What if all those events about Jesus from ages ago were actually signs of a promise to the world about you?

What if Jesus was merely the forerunner of you and what you, at your best, can be and do for the pursuit of peace, justice, reconciliation, and healing of the human spirit?  What if all that stood between you and the promise you represent for the world was simply your willingness to be the miracle you are?  Wouldn’t heavenly host sing of you, like they did about Jesus, that God is well pleased?  “No way,” you say?  Well, I beg to differ because that’s precisely what’s going on.

Over twenty years ago when I began to preach routinely as a minister and pastor, I would use a particular sermon illustration from time to time from Knight’s Master Book of Illustrations (1956).  For a long time, I never grasped completely why the story meant so much to me, but in recent years, I came to know why.  The story dates back to a medieval time in a small European village.  The village baker and his wife had a young daughter whom they adored and loved very much.  Next door to them lived the blacksmith who owned a large dog.  Both men had thriving businesses from their trades.

One day, villagers heard terrified agonizing screams from the baker’s daughter.  Everyone ran to her aid.  When they arrived they saw the blacksmith’s dog mauling the young child.  Quickly they pulled the dog off the child but unfortunately they were too late.  Severely injured, the girl died soon after the attack.  Devastated, the baker and his wife mourned the loss of their beloved daughter as did the rest of the village.

Racked with guilt and remorse, the blacksmith tried to makes amends with the grieving parents and village but his efforts availed him nothing.  Soon after, no one patronized his blacksmith business and the village shunned him completely.  With no resources and no where to go and no one caring if he lived or died, the blacksmith grew depressed.  Before long, he sickened into a shell of the man he’d been.  Even the field of crops he hoped to raise for food languished because he was too weak to plow the ground.

Seeing the blacksmith’s plight, the baker lay awake in bed night after night unable to sleep.  Something about the situation and everyone’s treatment of the man and the baker’s beliefs in a forgiving God conflicted with each other.

Finally the night arrived when the baker could stand things no more.  So he got out of bed and went to the blacksmith’s field.  There, by moonlight, he plowed the field completely and returned home.

When the baker crawled back into bed by his wife, she asked where he had been.  He told her what he had done.  Upset and wondering why he would do such a thing for the man responsible for their daughter’s death, the baker replied, “I did it so God might be.”

Whenever any of us does such things for such reasons, we are -- in that very moment -- a manifestation of God.  In that singular moment we have eradicated poverty.  In that singular moment, the distinction between “haves” and “have-nots” no longer exist.  In that moment, the powerful have no greater standing than the least and poorest person on earth.  In that moment, endless peace and healing occur.  In that moment a promise has been kept because an incredibly gifted child, whom God gifted to the world, came into the world with a calling to show us what it means to honor the God Presence who resides in each one of us.  And if we did so over time and as fully and completely as possible, this child of God affirmed to us a critically important teaching, “Greater things shall you do than I have done.”

So just as a village struggled so very long ago through a horrible tragedy and ultimately found its way to healing and peace because of a small prophetic kindness by one of its members, so also are you needed “so God might be” for others.  With enough of us getting beyond the ways in which we wall ourselves off from the world -- and yes that even means the walls of our churches – a promise is therefore kept and a time of endless peace approaches. 

When people have asked me about the changes in my life over the past several months ( My Recent Journey, My God Encounter) and why I have done the seemingly senseless things I have done and been so public about it, I can’t think of a better answer than to say with the baker, “I did it so God might be.”  Nothing carries more hope of a promise to be kept than what each of us does every moment of every day “so God might be” for someone else.

May the Blessings of God's Peace and Hope for God’s coming attend you always,

Pastor Brad Shumate, M.S., M.A., LMHC

Free of Encumbrance Ministries

Vancouver, WA

brshumate@comcast.net 

P.S. Mark your calendar for the first online gathering of "Free of Encumbrance" to be held Sunday, January 22nd, at 3pm (Pacific).  Details to be announced soon. 

He Shall Be Called Son of God

(Graphic used with permission from ChurchPowerPoint.com)

Lectionary Scripture - Luke 1:26-38 NRSV

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.  And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."  But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.  The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.  He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.  He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."

Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"  The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.  And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren.  For nothing will be impossible with God."  Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

Lectionary Reflection

In summarizing a worship resource for Sunday, December 18^th, it comments that God’s greatest gifts to us may not be convenient or increase our personal security, but they change the world.  It goes on to state that God’s means for bringing us such gifts often involves surprising people receiving surprising blessings.  In this regard, our trust and courage and respect toward such persons -- and the blessings God has given them -- are things far more important for us to pay attention to.  They are far more important to pay attention to than the status a human institution might grant to a particular person.  They are far more important than the expertise we regard someone to have because of their education or training.  Lastly, such things are far more important and impactful than what the wealth of money or wealth of power or wealth of influence a person, or persons, might have or wield.  For when we see surprising blessings happen to surprising people and subsequently witness the things those persons set in motion, it draws believers together in extraordinary ways -- no matter what their faith tradition or faith journey has been.

Relevant questions from the resource then ask us to think of a time when has God gifted us with a calling that conflicted with one’s personal security?  Another good question is how God brought more wholeness to your life from a surprising calling?  And if you have experienced such things happening to you, what character or promise from scriptures do you most identify with?

As I reflected on Mary’s experience this week, it certainly seemed the case that a very surprising blessing came to a very surprising person.  Little more than a child herself, yet at a state of physical development that made her capable of bearing a child, an angel of God confronts Mary with a calling that changes the world.  The calling involves her birthing a child so gifted and attuned to God that others will call  him “Immanuel” or “God with Us”.  And what’s amazing about it all, is that everything that Mary needs for completing her call of birthing, raising, and nurturing Jesus into the man he becomes, is completely and totally within her grasp and abilities.  And what’s not within her grasp, God sees that it is provided, even in matters regarding the personal safety of Jesus; that is until Jesus fulfills his own calling upon the tortuous cross of the Roman Empire.

I appreciate and understand the fear Mary experienced when a divine presence broke through human dimensions of space and time to enter her mortal reality with a profound calling for her life.  For me, it happened this past May.  And in response, I ended up in largely the same emotional and spiritual space reflected in Mary’s words, “Here I am, let it be with me according to your word.”  If you’re confused and wondering what I’m speaking of, you can go to my blog post “My Recent Journey – My God Encounter.” 

Ultimately, like Mary, I knew that broadcasting my “God Encounter” with the world meant considerable risk to my personal security.  And so, like her, it remained a treasure in my heart, shared with only a few close and trusted friends, until the time was right to announce it to the world.  Mostly that involved the need to move on from my former denomination which was also my previous employer, only because it lacks the freedom and ability at this point in time to embrace a calling like the one I have received. 

What also speaks to me in the scripture above is God’s recognition and understanding of our need for independent corroboration.  Many of us know such needs all too well when decisions regarding a calling have to be made.  For when surprising blessings come to surprising people life then life can never return to what it was, especially if we are the kind of person who says, “Here I am, servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your words.”

So in the case of an invisible naïve poverty stricken teenage girl from millennia ago, or an aging obscure insignificant minister like me, what are persons like Mary and me to do when God enters our lives so profoundly and brings with that encounter a new calling ?  What sense are we to make of such phenomenal happenings in our lives?

Being someone who is also a mental health professional, the first place my head goes is to the question of my own sanity or the question of having some severe form of ego dysfunction.  So I ask myself how could it be that in all my years of ministry and mental health training and related work did I miss confronting and attending to such serious personal issues.  Thankfully God knows our self-doubting, self-questioning, and self-defeating ways before we even go there ourselves.  For Mary and her bewilderment, God provided the sign of her cousin, Elizabeth, as being with child though everyone long ago considered her barren.  When Mary subsequently visits her cousin, Elizabeth reveals her pregnancy to Mary.  Thus, the word and calling of God are confirmed.

For me, God provided independent corroboration through friends and loved ones.  The most recent of these corroborations took place this past weekend after remarking to a long-time friend that I continue to struggle trying to figure out what to do next in response to God’s call “to establish a church free of the encumbrances of the world.”

My friend who’s a very quiet and reserved fellow, and never goes to church, said these words to me, “I have no problem understanding what has happened to you, Brad.  I want you to know that you have my support.”  It was a stunning “pregnant” moment that renewed my energy.  I would have never anticipated or thought my friend would say such a thing to me.  Later the next day, I received an email from another friend telling me she had been reading and re-reading my experience as shared in blog post “My Recent Journey – My God Encounter.”  Her email then expressed the following:

I am continuing to pray that enlightenment will come.  You are a very strong person to have left what you’ve always known and embark on the unknown.  Not many would do that.  I wish you God’s peace through this joyous season and look forward to our continued friendship.

My friend’s email could not have been timelier and as I look to next month’s first online gathering of “Free of Encumbrance” for Sunday, January 22^nd at 3pm (more details to follow); I realize that God had been answering my friend’s prayers.  In turn, her prayers had sustained me.

With each passing year, it can often become harder and harder to sustain what you have known.  If that’s the case for you, just remember that God gives surprising blessings to surprising people.  May you accept the blessing God has for you, may you have the strength to move on from what you’ve always known.  May you have the courage to embark into the unknown.  May you, like Mary, proclaim to the Being of Light who touches your life, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

Pastor Brad Shumate, M.S., M.A., LMHC
Free of Encumbrance Ministries
Vancouver, WA
brshumate@comcast.net

"The Lord has Done Great Things"

Lectionary Scripture - Psalm 126 (NRSV)

When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.  Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them."  The LORD has done great things for us, and we rejoiced.

Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like the watercourses in the Negeb.  May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy.  Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.

Reflection on the Scripture:

A worship resource for the above scripture states that God can be trusted to bring us from despair to hope, from sadness to joy.  It affirms that God has done wonderful things for us and we’re blessed as a result.  It also goes on to affirm that even in difficult times, God is with us and will restore us.  The reader is then asked to consider when he or she has felt the need to be restored and how was God present to the individual during that time.

A number of years ago as a young pastor, I was living my dream.  I and my family had been called to serve a well-established small church.  After visiting the church and its lay leaders and scouting the area for a home, we eagerly accepted the call.  We did so with much hope and anticipation for a successful ministry and many years of association with our new church family.

After a couple of years, a small circle of antagonistic members made it their mission to get rid of me.  The reason is familiar to a lot pastors, i.e. the antagonists did not want things to change.  Two individuals in particular nursed grudges almost a decade old against others in the congregation.  The individuals and their followers determined that until injured feelings had been repaired to their liking, the congregation had no right to any other focus or mission.

For me, the situation constituted my first dealings in a faith based setting with persons struggling with personality disorder.  As a mental health professional, I had dealt in the clinical setting with such matters, but never in a church.  In the clinical setting, these health concerns were much easier to treat and manage.  In a church setting, I found my efforts at interventions to be nearly impossible.  This occurred mostly because my denominational overseers failed to grasp the concept of such disorders, let alone how to intervene appropriately and effectively so the congregation could be healthier for mission.  Eventually, I came to see that this lack of understanding and willingness to intervene existed throughout the denomination I had been part of all my life.

After two years of trying to bring enlightenment and understanding, especially to the persons suffering such disorders, I finally realized I could achieve nothing that God hoped for the congregation.  My options basically amounted to little more than being a care-taking maintenance-oriented pastor who spent his days and weeks and months trying to get people through the relational messes caused repeatedly by the congregational antagonists. 

Eventually -- because of who and what God is in my life -- there was no other self-respecting option than to resign and relocate.  The blow of that decision devastated my family and me.  I felt a failure as a minister and pastor.  I felt that I had let my family down.  For a year, I remembered that our very young daughters kept saying they wanted to go back the town we left.  I think for all of us, the move to a different metro area felt like its own kind of exile.  Great sadness occupied our thoughts and hearts.  For me, I despaired in thinking that I had failed God and failed my call from God to further the cause of God’s just and peaceable reign.  My wife eloquently described the time as “the death of a dream.”

But God did wonderful things for us in that we found a home in our new community that we absolutely loved.  I also secured a job with a mental health center under the supervision of a man that to this day I would describe as a saint sent by God during that trying and difficult time.  Nearly twenty years later, some of our first friendships in our new community remain our best and closest friends today.  In time, I rose through the ranks of local public mental health to have oversight for the entire adult system of care in our county.  There couldn’t be a more apt description than the Psalm's proclamation that God “restored our fortunes.”

In time, I tried working again for the church and did so for over twelve years.  Once again however, when serving as a pastor, the same kind of problem with a small circle of antagonistic persons occurred.  As one bright and perceptive supporter in the congregation told me, “You must feel like you’re going through the same thing all over again.”  The person couldn’t have been more accurate.  This time, when resignation became necessary, the devastation was much easier to manage.  I was older, understood people better, and was far more aware of my limitations (and my former denomination’s limitations) in trying to intervene with a group of toxic individuals. 

And once again, God did wonderful things, particularly as reflected in my recent post of “My Recent Journey – My God Encounter”.  Today, I’m back working full time in publicly funded mental health services.  I feel that I am a part of something truly making a difference in people’s lives in the community.  Lastly, I have the hope and call from God “to establish a church free of the encumbrances of the world.”  Indeed, God is doing wonderful things.  And the future, in my humble opinion, couldn’t be brighter or more hopeful for what such a church will be and do and accomplish for God.

Brad Shumate

Vancouver, Washington
peace-n-justice@comcast.net

 

MY GOD ENCOUNTER - May 26, 2011

Dear Friends, Readers, and Loved-ones:

Something wonderful happened to me in May 2011.  God reached into my life with a new calling so profound that I must share it with you.  The story began Thursday afternoon, May 26^th, 2011 in my hotel room in Austin, Texas.  As a bishop for the church denomination I worked for at the time, I had been in Texas to deliver an estate plan to friends in Harlingen, Texas, a community near the Mexico border about six hours south of Austin.  Having returned to Austin, my flight home to Portland, Oregon would not leave until the next day, Friday, May 27^th.  Thinking about how to spend the rest of my time in Austin, I considered sightseeing or going to a movie.  Eventually, I decided to stay in my hotel room and watch TV.

Making that decision as I finished lunch in my room, I sensed God’s presence filling the space around me.  Soon thereafter, the presence flooded throughout my being.  From its intensity, I knew there would be no escape from what followed.  All I know is that the experience began around 1pm.  It lasted until I fell asleep from exhaustion around nine or ten o’clock that evening.

The experience was unlike anything I had been through before in my life.  All I can say of the presence which flooded through me is that I became tearful, unsettled and deeply anxious.  I kept saying, “Please don’t do this to me.  You can’t do this.  Please don’t do this.”  Despite my tears and distress and when I could no longer resist, God’s message streamed uncontrollably from my mouth.  Repeatedly the same words forced themselves out of me, “You are called to establish a church free of the encumbrances of the world.  You are called to establish a church free of the encumbrances of the world.  You are called to …….”  Over and over the words flowed out irrepressibly.  I have no idea how long this went on, but eventually the words stopped when it seemed the phrase had etched itself unforgettably in my mind.

Things didn’t stop there however.  God’s energy surged into me again and this time I pleaded through even more tears saying, “You can’t ask this of me.  Why is this necessary?  There are others much better suited for this.”  And then, like before, another phrase forced itself repeatedly out of my mouth, “You’re to do this so my apostles can return and prepare the world for my coming.  You are to do this so my apostles can return and prepare the world for my coming.  You are to do this…..”

In response, I desperately complained that I did not have the strength, intellect, skills, or stamina for such things.  Seemingly dismissive, God responded in a manner like the previous utterances, “When this has happened, then you can rest.  When this has happened, then you can rest.”  Over and over the words repeated and forced themselves out of me.

Finally when it seemed that I had no strength left and with sleep coming over me, I pleaded through what tears I had left, “Why me?  Why does this have to be me?”  As I drifted into sleep, God’s love swept gently through me and I heard, “Because your heart is pure; because your heart is pure.”

After returning home, one person with whom I shared the experience said, "This changes everything."  For me, the words were prophetic for much has changed.  The extraordinary experience led to weeks, months, and now years of soul-searching.  There has been extensive consultation with others.  Private crises followed as have several life altering changes.  In many respects, the time and journey since the God Encounter have been wilderness wanderings all their own.

In time however, the wandering has brought clarity.  And with that clarity there followed several personal decisions necessary for embracing a new call.  As some of you are aware, those decisions included me ending formal ties with the church denomination in which I had been raised, and ordained when I was a young adult, and professionally employed with for 18 years.  These decisions became necessary only because the denomination itself is not free to embrace a church like the one God is calling me to establish.   

In the years since my God Encounter, the feedback that I have received the most consistently from others is the importance of the words “free of encumbrance” and keeping myself open to what all might mean.  What has also been expressed is the great care and patience that must be taken in going forward.  On that note, one pastor shared the following:  “Keep your spirit open, God may have broader and bigger plans than you think.  You don’t know what this will lead to or what it will look like.”

Please know that if it was possible to specifically determine whom God is trying to reach through my sharing of the God Encounter, then I would only approach those persons.  Since that is not possible, I feel led to share about the experience as openly and broadly as possible.  If it speaks to you, then please consider it God’s invitation to you and feel free to reach out to me at brshumate@gmail.com as you journey toward discovering and living out unencumbered faith for an unencumbered life.

Increasingly with the passage of time, I have realized that "The God Encounter" was also about carefully reconsidering what words like “church” and “apostles” and “free of encumbrances” and “my coming” mean if humanity is to overcome the greed and need for power and control that plague our world today.  Now, I realize that such words/phrases have far broader/deeper much more satisfying meanings.  In my heart, I therefore believe that overcoming what prevents betterment of the Common Good will be our acceptance and affirmation of all the spiritual diversity God has planted in our world.  Only then can we begin our recovery from the trauma we have perpetrated on one another and make our way toward the well-being God so deeply desires for you, for me, and for all Creation.

If you feel that trauma has touched your life and seek to spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically recover toward well-being,  then I hope you will contact me.  Should you welcome such a journey to your life, I assure you that your journey will occur in the healthiest and most deliberate intentional and responsible manner possible, particularly given my decades of experience as a licensed mental health professional and licensed professional minister.

Ultimately, what this journey entails is overcoming the world’s old order and bringing forth God’s “New Earth” – a day free of encumbrances of all kinds:

Then I saw new heavens and a new earth.  The former heavens and the former earth had passed away, and the sea existed no longer.  I also saw a new Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down out of heaven from God, beautiful as a bride and groom on their wedding day.  And I heard a loud voice calling from the throne, “Look!  God’s Tabernacle is among humanity!  God will live with them; they will be God’s people, and God will be fully present among them.  The Most High will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  And death, mourning, crying, and pain will be no more, for the old order has fallen.”

The One who sat on the throne said, “Look!  I’m making everything new!” and added, “Write this, for what I am saying is trustworthy and true.”  And the One continued, “It is finished.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.  To those who are thirsty I will give drink freely from the spring of the water of life.  This is the rightful inheritance of the overcomers.  I will be their God and they will be my daughters and sons.”                                                                     

                       ---- Revelations 21:1-7, The Inclusive New Testament

May the Peace of all God’s prophets, mystics, apostles, and teachers be with you -- for all are called according to the gifts of God unto them -- and that means you!

Rev. Brad Shumate, M.S.,M.A., LPC, LMHC

Free of Encumbrance

brshumate@gmail.com

 

"Called by Your Name"

(Graphic is "Jesus the Good Shepherd", a stained glass composition by J. Le Breton, glass studio of Gaudin, Paris, 1933) 

Lectionary Scripture - John 10:1-10 NRSV
“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers." Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So again Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Reflection on the Lectionary

“I am.” In 1908, G.K. Chesterton inked these cryptic words in response to the London Times’ question, “What’s wrong with the world?” For me, I think Chesterton got it right, i.e. we human beings make up a whole lot of what’s wrong with the world. Thankfully, some people strive to help us recognize and understand the related mental and spiritual illnesses. One such person is Tom Shadyac who directed the movies “Bruce Almighty” and “The Nutty Professor” and “Ace Ventura”. One of Shadyac’s latest works is “I AM”, a documentary film that asks the question, “What’s wrong with the world?” But also asks the question, “What can we do about it?”

Struggling through debilitating depression from post-concussion syndrome after a deadly bicycling accident, Shadyac nearly gave up on life. Despite all his life success, its accompanying wealth and prestige, the multiple lavish homes he owned, he felt hollow emotionally and spiritually while recovering from his injuries. What previously gave him pleasure and contentment no longer provided that for him. “What’s wrong?” ultimately led to “What’s wrong with me?” and then to “What’s wrong with the world?” From there a quest began in order to discern what could be done about it.

For me, I think this dark night of the soul was God calling Shadyac out into the light of day to show this creative genius what having life is truly about and how to have it more abundantly. In turn, the experience blessed not only Shadyac, but it also blesses everyone else with an ear to hear and a mind open to seeking and understanding. As New York Times best-selling author Marianne Williamson put it, “Entertaining and enlightening. The I AM Documentary is a spark of light and a work of love.”

The documentary’s ministry (at least to me) is its affirmation that at a very deep, intricate, inherent level, particularly in terms of what physics has to teach us, we are all interconnected. And not only us, but that interconnectedness includes all of nature. As stated in the movie, what we do at the individual level truly affects outcomes elsewhere in the world. Here we discover the documentary’s most crucial and engaging message which is that a new narrative is forming. The narrative says that we are far grander than we have been told and capable of experiencing what each other feel at a much deeper level than we previously thought. Furthermore, technology is carrying all of this forward with phenomenal speed and enhancing its ability more so than we ever thought possible. Long and short of it, from what the most influential minds of our times have to say, there truly is no other option for our survival but authentic cooperation and full democracy.

Alternately, this means that the mental illnesses of rampant consumerism, unbridled capitalism, greed for power and control and domination over others must end. As “I AM” puts it, “The shift is about to hit the fan.” For Shadyac, one of his own healing steps involved selling his lavish residences and buying a manufactured home in a trailer park. Good for you Tom! And who knows, Jeri and I might even do the same when our local market improves. Lord knows we tried to sell our home and downsize for six months last year. We simply couldn’t find a buyer despite dropping the price three times for a total reduction of thirty-six thousand dollars. Maybe God has something else in mind.

While watching “I AM” something else struck me, i.e. Shadyac’s long hair and beard. I thought to myself, “There’s even a Christ-like quality to the guy’s appearance.”  Being a follower of Jesus, the effect may have allowed me openness to the documentary than I might not have had otherwise. What really snagged me however was Shadyac blending together two of my passions, i.e. science and scientific minds along with notable thinkers and persons of faith such as Desmond Tutu, Thom Hartman, Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, and Lynne McTaggart.

I loved the film’s even more succinct statement, “The shift is about to hit the fan.” It describes for me a sense of something deeply felt for a long time now; something that seemingly eludes churches, ministers, even denominations and other world religions. It’s something theologians, especially Christian ones, dismiss or denigrate for they fear their version of God and/or Christ will no longer dominate the airwaves or their adherents’ way of thinking. And sorting through it or making sense of the mess (that will surely follow) is not an undertaking they want at a time when organized religion is becoming increasingly fragile, declining, fragmenting, and needing money -- and lots of it.

To what am I referring? Simply this, there is interconnectedness between all faiths and religion traditions. God wants us to discover it. Jesus wants us to discover it. Mohammad wants us to discover it. Buddha wants us to discover it. Mahatma Gandhi wants it discovered as does Mother Teresa. Any other great teacher or prophet walking on the earth now or in the past wants it discovered – unless of course you don’t believe these great souls exist any longer. And from this discovery, what’s also wanted is that we realize our spiritual interdependency no matter what our faith of origin may be. Finally, if there is to be any chance of a lasting and just peace upon the earth, I and you must become as completely at ease worshipping in an Islamic mosque or Jewish or Buddhist temple as we would be in our home congregation or home faith community. As the Catholic theologian Hans Kung once put it, there can be no genuine world peace until there is peace among the world’s religions.

I think it’s here that some of us we need a lesson from the historical Jesus, a man who like Shadyac heard his name called and responded. In answering that call, Jesus took on the organized religious establishment of his time and dared to claim “I came that they may have life and have it more abundantly.” Jesus made that claim and lifted that banner high while teaching a message of compassion and unconditional love. He did so over and against a religious system that had lost its way and mired itself in rigidity and harsh judgment. In the centuries and millennia that followed, Jesus’ claim reached around the world.

Regrettably, distortion of that message occurred. Much evil has been done in the name of compassion and “loving the sinner” but hating the sin. What reaches the ears of many contemporary persons about Christianity is that it is a religion of harsh rules and intolerance. For example, “Get Jesus, get saved, or spend eternity burning in Hell.” Entire non-Christian religion traditions have been left to see themselves as God’s rejects -- or at best to be benignly avoided while we tolerant Christians focus of matters in our house yet secretly believe that God still choses us over and above persons of other faiths.

If like with Jesus, there’s a proverbial “shift about to hit the fan” then it’s time to end our silo mentalities of faith and embrace the Divine’s prophetic activity. Activity I believe that is calling each of us by name to the mission of fully embracing our interconnectedness, our interdependence upon one another -- even fully embracing and affirming the spiritual and religious diversity that God wisely placed into this world and blessed it with. For me, I am convinced that there is no other means by which we will come to a full and complete appreciation of our common humanity unless we do so. It is the key to a full and just peace for every living soul upon the earth and requires nothing less than abolishing poverty and end suffering for everyone.

I apologize for such words to the world’s ultra-wealthy and corporatocracies, but you have had your chance to be altruistic. You have chosen instead to live within the sheepfold as a thief and bandit, even then you had a chance to selflessly make the world a better place, not only for yourselves but for all those who suffer and die each day. You opted instead for greed, power, and dominion over others – particularly for dominion that allows you to throw away people the instant they no longer create profit or serve your bottom line -- whether that involves one person or thousands. The shift is coming for you too. Maybe not today or tomorrow or next year or next decade, but it’s coming and it will bring an end to the dysfunctions, disenfranchisements, mental illnesses and suffering you perpetuate. In its wake you will hear these words eternally echoed in your ears, “I came so they may have life and have it more abundantly!” Rest assured, I AM is here and here for you.

A Suggestion for Your Easter Celebration

See Tom Shadyac's movie "I AM". A very timely and appropriate take on the dominant mental illness of our times. Who knows, your own resurrection might be just around the corner. "The shift is about to hit the fan."

"Receive Your Sight!"

(Artwork is "Jesus Cures the Man Born Blind" from JESUS MAFA which is a response to the New Testament readings from the Lectionary by a Christian community in Cameroon, Africa. Each of the readings were selected and adapted to dramatic interpretation by the community members. Photographs of their interpretations were made, and these were then transcribed to paintings. See: http://www.jesusmafa.com/)

Lectionary Scripture - John 9:1-11 (NRSV)

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?" Some were saying, "It is he." Others were saying, "No, but it is someone like him." He kept saying, "I am the man." But they kept asking him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, "Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and washed and received my sight."

Receive Your Sight!

(Dear readers, my post this week draws heavily from Homiletics Online resource, “The Placebo Effect” dated March 14, 1999. Homiletics Online is a resource available for preachers that frees them from plagiarism concerns and generously allows ministers to massage a particular resource into the message they need to preach. As said on the Homiletics website, they’ve done the grocery shopping, the preacher does the cooking. Such is the case for me for this particular post. That said, Homiletics comments that if someone feels the need to cite a particular person in terms of the resource, the person to cite is Homiletics Online Senior Writer, Bob Kaylor. Bob also serves as Senior Minister for the Park City United Methodist Church in Park City, Utah. Thank you Bob for your generosity – and the material)

I don’t know about you, but I’ve certainly wondered whether Jesus actually needed the mud to heal the blind man.  Whether he did or not, one thing is for certain, the poultice of dirt and saliva focused the man's faith and gave him a distinct memory from which to begin a new faith journey. For us today, we might stop and consider what faith-building mud-balls need to happen for us and our individual faith journeys.

One thing we might consider about the poultice Jesus made is something called the placebo effect. It’s quite real and not magical at all, but simply the mysterious ability of our bodies to sometimes heal what ails us, if only we believe. In medical research, it refers to a pharmacologically inactive substance - like a sugar pill - or a phony medical procedure that is administered as a control in testing the effectiveness of a drug or course of action.

Scientists and researchers at the forefront of study into the placebo effect are trying to learn why 30 to 40 percent of the people who suffer from conditions ranging from asthma to high blood pressure to depression actually benefit from taking a placebo. Researchers say, “Make no mistake, the healing affects of placebos are real and not merely delusions or wishful thinking." They tell us that it is easy to document and prove the effectiveness of placebos. So hear it again, 30 to 40 percent of people suffering from a range of illnesses benefit from taking a placebo.

So here in the ninth chapter of John, a man born blind receives sight. Jesus puts mud on his eyes and tells him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. When the man comes back he is able to see. At first the man says that he does not know who Jesus is but later he says that Jesus is a prophet. Finally, he stands before Jesus and says, "Lord, I believe." Although he never figures out just how Jesus has healed him, he knows that if Jesus were not from God, he could not have done anything to heal him. Call it the God Effect – or the mysterious ability of people to be healed when they allow God into their lives. But, at the same time, it is a placebo effect, because mud and spit play an important part in the healing that took place.

What a strange and wonderful story this is. Jesus refuses to put the label of "sinner" on either the blind man or his parents, but says that "he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him". With such an introduction, one might think that Jesus would go on to treat the man with courtesy and respect, but he does exactly the opposite: He treats him like dirt. Jesus spits on the ground and makes mud with his saliva; then he spreads the mud on the man's eyes.

He uses wet, sticky, soft, dirty earth. He uses mud - a symbol of all that is degrading, such as when a person's name is dragged "through the mud." Jesus puts this man in an awkward position. In effect, Jesus may have been the first person to utter the humorous drinking toast, "Here's mud in your eye"; hardly the sentiments you expect to hear from a teacher who is healing by the power of God.

And yet, the man born blind keeps himself open to this experience. He believes enough to follow the command of Jesus to "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam," and to stumble through the streets of Jerusalem wearing a ridiculous mask of mud. We don't know exactly how far the man had to walk after receiving his mudpack in the eyes. Hopefully it wasn’t far and hopefully friends or family assisted him, but the distance could have also been quite a hike. John tells us that Jesus encounters the man after leaving the temple, but does not reveal the precise location of their meeting. From what we do know about the location of the Temple and the pool of Siloam, if Jesus put mud in the man's eyes right outside the temple compound, then the man walked at least 500 yards to the pool of Siloam - the length of five football fields! Quite a distance for a blind man to cover, groping and stumbling and trying to ignore the reactions of the crowd which could have been anything from:

“What happened to you?”

“Are you all right?”

"Hey, filth-face!"

"Nice look! Be glad you're blind, boy."

So, it's not a pleasant walk. At the least, the blind man is feeling self-conscious. At worst, he feels embarrassed and humiliated. In any case, the blind man is willing to suspend disbelief as he has been touched by God’s agent who in this case is Jesus. From this encounter, he’s hopeful that an end to his lifelong darkness is about to happen. He probably asks himself what has he got to lose for he will be mocked by townspeople whether he had mud on his face or not.  Remember that such a disability at that time was considered a mark of God’s punishment.

When news of this event reaches the Pharisees, they and their religious authority are immediately threatened. So they summon the blind man to question him and attack his story. But the blind man sticks his story and proceeds to testify that it was Jesus who gave him his vision. Standing before the Pharisees, he says, "He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see. He is a prophet."

The Pharisees counter that these things could not be for Jesus is a sinner. The man says, "I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." And mockingly the man then asks the Pharisees, "Do you also want to become his disciples?" He might as well say to these religious leaders: "You need some mud for your own eyes!"

After this inquisition ends, the blind man is later face to face with Jesus. Jesus sought him out after the disgraceful experience to which the Pharisees subjected him. Not having seen the man who healed him, Jesus reveals that he is the one who did performed the healing. Out of gratitude, the former blind man becomes a follower of Jesus.

All of this probably sounds crazy to the skeptical world we are a part of today. Whatever our reaction may be, we shouldn’t scoff at the power of the placebo. Don't assume that dirt and spit had nothing to do with the healing of the blind man. At the very least, it helped to focus his faith.

What helps to focus our faith? Sometimes it's the unpleasant experiences that life throws at us. A number of years ago at a party, a church friend developed hiccups he couldn’t get rid of no matter how hard he tried. Eventually he asked me to lay my hands on his head and pray for him. From the moment I did so the hiccups disappeared. Several months later a similar episode occurred when with our spouses we were lodging at the Oregon Coast. As before, when I laid hands on his head, the spasms stopped immediately. I was unaware of this while praying, what I did note during that time was that my friend broke down in tears. When I finished praying and asked what was wrong, he told me he couldn’t believe that like before the spasms immediately ended.

What do such things mean? Why is it that in some circumstances people have these kinds of experiences and in others they don’t? I won’t even pretend to have answer to that question. What I choose to affirm however is that when we take even a small step of acknowledgement and belief in God, despite however uncertain the path ahead may be, we will discover that God is alive, active, and working.

I think it something like the experience a close friend shared with me nearly two years ago during a particularly dark night of the soul while trying to recover in the hospital from a hip replacement surgery that went bad. I heard that Jim’s spirits were very low due to complications caused by his rheumatoid arthritis. As we live thousands of miles apart, all I could do was to call Jim at the medical center where he was hospitalized. On the phone, he shared how deeply despondent, alone, and spiritually abandoned he felt. The complications from the surgeries and infections left him in a thick darkness suffocating life from his spirit and soul. As a nurse practitioner, he knew that chances of returning to his previous quality of life were slipping away from him -- to be extinguished forever. But in that dark night of the soul, the Spirit breathed into Jim a light and warmth he described as like a beautiful summer day sitting on his front porch. He then said to me, “Brad, I’m going to be a little emotional as I tell you this but God walked by me every single doctor, nurse, medical assistant, janitor, and visitor who had been caring for me directly and indirectly and he said, “All these have I sent to care for you.” Two years later, Jim is largely recovered. His mobility is considerably more limited than it was but he thanks God for the understanding and affirmation placed into his being that night in the hospital.

There's nothing magical about all this my friends, but one thing is for certain, it is certainly mysterious and miraculous. In simple terms, what happened was Jim’s own “mud-ball” experience.  The application of a "mud ball" can lead to the healing of our bodies, minds and spirits - it only requires that we but open ourselves to the possibility of what can happen when God touches our lives, particularly through someone else.

The question facing you and me is what do we need packed onto our eyes in order to really open them up in these challenging times so we too can be God’s agents for a healed, just, and reconciled world. What are the dirt-and-spit placebos that Christ wants to use to motivate us out of our complacencies, mediocrities, comfort zones, and spiritual disabilities so God’s Peaceable Kingdom can be a reality here and now upon the earth? What kind of pain and humiliation must we suffer in order to see again and be vibrant and alive for the cause of the Kingdom?

Oddly enough, one of the placebos that can help us to be healed is pain itself. Yes, pain. Pain as unwanted as a mud-ball in the eye, pain that may be physical, emotional, or spiritual. We may want to deny or avoid such pain for it threatens to disrupt our happiness and destroy our well-being, but we should not, because pain is what God uses to arouse a blind and deaf world.

In his book, The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis wrote, "I am progressing along the path of life, enjoying friends and work and holidays, when suddenly a stab of abdominal pain threatens serious disease, or a headline in the newspapers threatens us all with destruction and sends this whole pack of cards tumbling down. At first I am overwhelmed, and all my little happinesses look like broken toys. Then, slowly and reluctantly, bit by bit, I try to bring myself into the frame of mind that I should be in at all times. I remind myself that all these toys were never intended to possess my heart, that my true good is in another world, and my only real treasure is Christ. And perhaps, by God's grace, I succeed, and for a day or two become a creature consciously dependent on God and drawing strength from the right sources."

So pain can be a placebo: a surprising bit of mud in the eye that reminds us that our true good lies in another condition, a condition called the Peaceable Kingdom which in my faith tradition we affirm as no closer nor further away than our spiritual condition justifies. The blessings of struggles in this life can help to take our eyes off worldly pleasures and give us a vision of the kingdom for which we should always be striving as long as there is breath in us. Financial problems can focus us on the priceless treasure of investing in faithful personal stewardship. Even illness can help us to see that health is far more than freedom from disease but rather a pathway into deeper relationship with God. And pain can be a placebo reconciling us to the work and challenges of the Zionic condition.

To these things -- and engagements -- let our lives be committed.

"Born of the Spirit"

(Graphic is photo of Nicodemus, part of a sculpture at The Great Saint Martin Church, a Romanesque church in Cologne, Germany.  See the full sculpture at the end of this post.)



Lectionary Scripture Reading – John 3:16 (NRSV)


“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

"Born of the Spirit"

The context for this scripture takes us to a secret after dark conversation between the notable Pharisee Nicodemus and a controversial young rabbi named Jesus. Captured by Jesus’ words and teachings, Nicodemus admits privately what he cannot attest to publicly. “Rabbi,” he says, “we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God."


Conflicted over what his conscience tells him and that most religious authorities of the time detest Jesus, Nicodemus knows that his life and reputation could disintegrate before his eyes if he openly affirms Jesus as sent from God. Even now he risks all in coming to see Jesus privately. Yet, he needs greater understanding of what Jesus advocates for on God’s behalf. Frankly, it’s quite simple and goes something like this: “Understand that God loves unconditionally. Do not condemn others. See in my life the kind of love God wants everyone to have.” Then, like now, the radicality of such words threatens the foundations of society and culture.


In the time of Jesus and Nicodemus, the livelihood and stature of organized religion and its priestly authority relied heavily on atonement. The system wrung offerings from people given their spiritual bondage to what the religious establishment identified as sin which must be atoned for.  By contrast, the way of being and living that Jesus advocated left all of that behind. It was necessary in order to follow a God who loves without condition, who refuses to condemn, and who desires that our lives express the same.

Such teachings represented a cataclysmic shift in the order of things. For the priestly authorities, it amounted to a complete nullification of Torah, the Jewish law. Long and short of it, the religious authority refused to let it happen. Conspiracy followed against Jesus. Thereafter, his life abruptly ended when nailed upon on object of scorn, derision, and torturous humiliation.  Ultimately for his part, Nicodemus embraces Jesus. With Joseph of Arimathea, the two men ensure a respectful burial for a man who only wanted for people to understand how much God loved them.


For those today who understand this Jesus, the challenge of the young rabbi’s message continues. It continues because we human beings fail to grasp the full dimensions of the love that God is and that God wants us to be. For me, one contemporary manifestation of this challenge has been the U.S. healthcare system. Surely when the time of God’s Peaceable Kingdom finally arrives upon the Earth, God’s love intends that each child, each man and woman have full and unfettered access to all the medicines, treatments, and healthcare professionals they need. How could it be otherwise in the Peaceable Kingdom? Yet, while every other country in the developed world has seen to it that their citizens receive a basic level of healthcare, we contently let fifty million fellow citizens go without it.  And while every other country in the developed world can provide basic healthcare for every citizen at significantly less than what our system costs per person, we insist that substantial and ever increasing monetary profits must be gleaned from people’s medical needs.  My guess is that Jesus frowns deeply on the U.S. healthcare system since he advocated receiving no coin or purse from healing the sick.  As the physician, Apostle Luke, quoted Jesus, “Cure the sick and say to them the kingdom of God has come near to you.”


Today, in this country, we’re not coming near you to cure anything unless you produce a health insurance card or have the cash to pay upfront. There may be some hope that over time this will change, yet even now there are those who angrily seek to undo new healthcare laws intent on providing more of our brothers and sisters the healthcare they need.  The incredulous thing is that many of these angry persons consider themselves in greater favor with Jesus than anyone else.  Some are even professed appendages of various organized religions today.  And a number of them gladly proclaim that anyone not seeing things their way is on a speed train to everlasting torment. Guess they better punch my ticket.


In my mind, I truly wonder if such persons have ever been born of the Spirit. I wonder if they will ever become followers of the Jesus who advocates for a world that's just and peaceful and full of God’s unconditional love for all.

Many years ago, I experienced one small moment of this love as a young adult. If you have heard of this from me before, I apologize and ask your indulgence for those who haven't.  My need to share this experience is because that brief and fleeting moment was so powerful and overwhelming that it changed me forever.  The memory of it will never die and happened one summer day while working as a bank teller. Completely focused on counting a large amount of cash from a night deposit bag, I felt a surge of energy and emotion rush through me. Tingling from head to toe, I sensed someone loving me so powerfully and overwhelmingly that I had to lean against the counter where I was working.  Frankly, I feared I would collapse to the floor from the intensity of what raced through me.  A voice in my mind then spoke these simple words, “You’re okay Brad. You’re really okay.” It was then I realized God had spoken and touched me in a way that I could never deny or ever turn away from.

Traditionally, one might think of one’s baptism or confirmation bringing on such ecstatic experience. Mine however had been years earlier. Put simply, I accept the experience now as my moment of being born of the Spirit, a moment that would leave me desiring for all to know such love.  In time, I came to realize that this love and the hope for God’s Peaceable Kingdom were realities inseparable and mutually inclusive. One cannot exist without the other.


We must therefore ask ourselves what we should turn from and what we should turn toward.  Perhaps my sharing indicates one possibility, i.e. turning from the soullessness of greed and selfishness and condescension toward life and generosity filled and overwhelmed by God’s love – a love that when it happens to you, and for you, may well occur in a most unremarkable place and unsuspecting moment.  Rest assured however that it will be a moment and place of God’s own choosing – one that will mark you for life.



Photo of sculpture at the Great Saint Martin Church in Cologne, Germany.  Depicts the tomb burial of Jesus by (from the left) by Nicodemus, an unidentified helper, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus, John the Apostle, and Joseph of Arimathea, circa 1509