Wake Up!

Friends,

What follows is a rough manuscript of the sermon I preached this Sunday at Messiah Lutheran Church in Rotterdam, NY where I'm incredibly blessed to serve as pastor. It's primarily on the appointed gospel passage for this Sunday, Matthew 22: 15-22. I'd love to hear what you think!

God's peace,

Dustin

So I got this buddy Pete… the only person I’ve ever became best friends with twice… You see, Pete and I became friends in pre-school when I was four years old, but given that you don’t have much control over your social life at that age we lost touch with each other. Fast forward a decade to when I was an awkward, goofy freshman in high school, and Pete and I became best friends all over again, despite only making the connection well into high school that we had originally been friends as preschoolers. While we had a bunch of friends in common, shared similar senses of humor, and all the rest, the reason I especially liked Pete though was that he’d drag me kicking and screaming into all sorts of adventures. And by adventures, I really mean adventures… one time shortly after we had gotten back to school from summer break, Pete suggested that we head out to this spot he heard about along the Connecticut river and go cliff jumping… jumping off the remains of some old foundation, a big rusty metal and concrete sort of thing and plunging through the air about thirty or forty feet down into the water. At first I did not think this was a good idea, especially as I really wanted to take a nap after school that day. Pete kept on me though, telling me it would be an awesome time, and eventually I caved. Now after trekking through about half a mile of tick infested tall grass (I always call this adventure the tick safari), we got to the cliffs, and Pete almost immediately jumped off that big ol’ rusty pile of metal and concrete. I timidly followed him, plunging down thirty or forty feet, and after painfully smacking the water, I realized I was having the time of my life! Pete and I must have jumped off that cliff at least ten more times each that day.

Circa 2006.

And ever since that point, I sort of knew to always trust Pete, that despite all my reservations, that whatever he suggested would be awesome adventure, one from which we’d get out from relatively unscathed. There was another time, probably the following spring when he suggested in early April that we should go off this rope swing and swim halfway across a reservoir to explore this island. Now granted, this reservoir probably still had ice in it only a few weeks earlier, and once again I argued that I wanted to go home and take a nap after school, but he persisted and after I eventually followed him off that rope swing, we somehow made it out to the island and hung out there for hours, having great conversation about girls, about growing up and whatever else teenage bros talk about. After swimming back later in the evening, I’m positive we got mild hypothermia, but no matter, it was an awesome adventure and I didn’t regret it a bit. Fast forward a few years, and despite going to colleges many hours apart from each other, Pete and I remained good friends. There was one year when I was suffering from a fairly major bout of anxiety and depression, it was spring break, and I wanted to do nothing but go home and waste the week away sleeping and watching TV. Pete had other plans though… he eventually convinced me to join his college outing club in a rock climbing and white water rafting trip. After experiencing yet another new adventure, meeting new people and just having some great conversation by the campfire with my best buddy Pete, things started turning around for me, and I always mark that weekend as the turning point of my recovery.

The last time I saw Pete was actually on his wedding day. He’d been dating an amazing girl for a number of years (who he met on the rafting trip actually), and after not hearing from him for quite a while, he called me up two summers ago to ask if I could preside at his wedding, which true to form, he and his fiancee had decided would take place in about a week’s time. I, like usual, was apprehensive at first… I was by no means allowed to preside at weddings before being ordained, I was supposed to do all that marriage counseling stuff beforehand, and not to mention Pete’s a sort of atheist or at least not a big fan of organized religion and that I’d have no idea what to say… you get the picture. But of course, like always, I found myself a week later, standing under a tent in Pete’s backyard, wearing flip-flops, rolled up jeans and a ripped flannel shirt, saying “by the power not vested in me by the State of Connecticut, I now declare you husband and wife.” And of course, that day will be a memory I cherish for the rest of my life… sharing a part of one of my best friend’s greatest adventures.

So, on top of being mortified about some of the situations your new pastor has found himself in over the years, you’re probably all wondering at this point about what Pete and I’s friendship has to do with today’s gospel message… what our adventures featuring a tick safari, hypothermia, a rafting trip and a last minute wedding unsanctioned by the proper ecclesiastical authorities have to do with one of Jesus’s most famous, most debated and yet most misunderstood teachings: Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s… Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s. You’ve probably heard all sorts of interpretations… that this passage is about contributing more money at to your church, or giving more of your time to God, or maybe even that it’s about how your faith should or shouldn’t relate to what you think about public policy. Well, I’ll be honest on this one, I don’t know for sure, but I have a pretty strong inkling that while yes, Jesus’ message about giving to God the things that are God’s has some ramifications about how we should think about stewardship and public policy as Christians, that in the end, Jesus’ message is about something much bigger, and much more important than all of that… Jesus’ message to the Herodians and the disciples of the Pharisees and to us, in this time and place in twenty-first century Rotterdam, New York is about trust. And perhaps on even a deeper level yet, Jesus’ message to us today is also about hope.

Ya see, when I was younger I was a shy, awkward kid, who definitely had big dreams but struggled in figuring out how to work toward them. And there were other factors too of course as I grew up, but I think a big part of my go get ‘em attitude today stems from my friendship with Pete. Sometimes he’d just shake me up and say Dustin, dude, trust me, you don’t want to sleep the day away! There’s a big beautiful world out there! Dustin, trust me, things might be tough for you right now, but joy is still possible! New things are still possible! Dustin, trust me, sure you might be breaking the rules, but help me celebrate my wedding day. And in Pete’s unique ability to instill trust in me while shaking me awake at the same time, I discovered there were so many possibilities, I was reminded what was truly important, and in turn, I was drawn into the sort of free and merry spirit brought only by a deep, down to the core sense of hope for the future. Now Pete’s a great guy, trust me, but I mean, he’s also just a guy… Jesus has similar, even more profoundly good news for us in today’s gospel message.

When you read the whole narrative of this part of the gospel, beginning with Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem (ya know the story we celebrate every Palm Sunday), when he casts out the money changers from the Temple, and then all his difficult parables that we’ve all been struggling with over the last month or so… when you read all that, today’s message sort of pops out at you as unique. Jesus often condemns the Pharisees, the scribes, the Sadducees, and all those sort of religious officials for leading their people astray, but that’s not really who Jesus is talking to in this passage if you look at it closely… the Pharisees plot to entrap Jesus, but then they sort of send in their B Squad to do their dirty work… they send in their disciples, young Pharisee padwans you might characterize them as if you’ve ever seen Star Wars. The story reads like the disciples of the Pharisees go collect some low level supporters of Herod, or in other words some pro-Roman folks, and then simply do what their teachers have told them… they try to publicly entrap Jesus with a difficult question about taxes.

Jesus, in famously answering, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s,” doesn’t really seem to be speaking a word of condemnation to the young Pharisees in training, or to us for that matter… he’s speaks a message of trust, and on even a deeper level, of hope. Much like how my buddy Pete had that unique ability to instill trust in me while really shaking me awake at the same time, Jesus is saying to these Pharisees in training, “Sure pay the tax, whatever, but that’s not what’s important you silly people! Give to God the things that are God’s, which by the way is everything! Quit it with all this trying to publicly entrapping me nonsense! Your teachers are leading you astray! Wake up! Wake up to what’s truly important, to the truly amazing ways God is breaking into your world!” Any Pharisee in training having gone through Torah 101 would have known the first chapters of Genesis… God created the whole world, and it was good! Give to God the things that are God’s, because hey, everything is God’s? Yes, while this statement necessarily leads one to ask how to give everything to God, and that’s an important question, it’s not the central point. In the end, Jesus is simply saying to these impressionable Pharisees in training and the Herodians alongside them… wake up! Trust me! Stop being silly and wake up to what’s truly possible in God! Wake up to all the absolutely amazing things God is doing in your life!

And so, my sisters and brothers, Jesus confronts us with the same powerful message today, right here in twenty-first century Rotterdam, New York in our spirit-filled church seeking to follow Him. Jesus confronts us in that unique sort of way, just like my buddy Pete did for me, that begs our trust while at the same time shakes up awake. Sure, there’s are truly difficult things going on in most if not all of your lives… those Pharisees in training would have hated being reminded about the Roman occupation themselves… there’s truly difficult things going on in many of our lives… the loss of loved ones, illnesses, a rapidly changing and at times dangerous society, the ebola epidemic, economic inequality, yet another war in the Middle East and even concerns and worries too hard to put into words. So many of us are in profound need of comfort, of healing, of strength and it seems like we have nothing left. Yet the living Christ, my sisters and brothers, confronts us with just the sort of message we need. He shakes us up… saying wake up! This whole world is my Father’s, all is God’s and truly amazing things are still possible in a world were God is indeed in charge! Wake up, sure, there will be difficult things, you might have to “deal with the emperor,” but wake up! You are loved. Wake up! You are saved. Wake up! You are not alone. Wake up! Your life still has deep, profound meaning in me! Wake up! Wake up into the love of a God who has promised to walk with you no matter who are or what you’ve done or what you’ve faced in life. And yes, my sisters and brothers, wake up to the love of a God who keeps promises. Amen.

Dustin serves as pastor at Messiah Lutheran Church, a Spirit-filled church following Jesus Christ in Rotterdam, New York. An evangelist, urban gardener, mountain climber, community organizer, saint and sinner, Dustin spends most of his profession time wrestling with God and proclaiming liberation in Christ. Otherwise, Dustin likes hiking, playing frisbee, hanging out with his fiancée Jessie and pretending to know how to sing.

Consumerism, Christian Discipleship and the Digital Age

What follows is a post I recently wrote for my Christian Discipleship in a Consumer Society journal, a semester-long assignment regularly making entries for a course at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, where I'm currently in my last year of a Masters of Divinity program. It's definitely just a bit of free-form, unedited thinking, but I'd love to hear what you think.

So I've been thinking a great deal about the many concepts we've talking about in the course so far, and given that we're almost halfway through the semester, I figured I'd try to articulate my thinking thus far. This won't be pretty, it's just a lot of raw, stream of conscious writing, but here we go...

Throughout the semester something's been hanging on me a bit... I sort of had a general notion that things were changing, that the advent of a variety of web 2.0 platforms and especially social media was revolutionizing how we identify ourselves, what we desire, and how we define ourselves. In other words, I thought social media was changing many of the factors involved in what we create and how we can consume... yet, I could never really articulate what I was trying to get at.

Last week, when discussing Pastor's Zandstra's article "30-cent Deal of a Lifetime," what I was trying to get at became a bit clearer. A major argument of Pastor Zandstra's piece was that we don't primarily purchase/ consume commodities because we desire the physical object, but rather that we desire a certain identity that various commodities signal to others (and ourselves). Essentially, for many millennials, and increasingly folks of older generations as well, Pastor Zandstra's apt observation no longer holds true. With social media revolutionizing the way we identify ourselves and the way we make meaning, a decreasing percentage of the commodities many younger folks buy has very much to do with identity at all. Sure, if I ever buy brand new clothes (I usually just thrift shop), its at LL Bean, primarily so I can return the commodities I purchase once they wear out, but also because the whole woodsy Maine thing is a part of the identity I've constructed for myself. A Facebook profile is such a stronger, more interactive way of signaling identity though, so if my online persona greatly contradicted the whole woodsy thing, folks would probably think of me more based more upon what they see online. In this way (and its only one of two ways I've so far identified), purchasing commodities of a specific brand is increasingly less important in constructing an identity for one's self.

I just analyzed my own spending over the past month in order to provide some factual evidence to back up this idea. Here's the categories I spent on:

- Rent: 26%
- Food: 22%
- Entertainment (mostly beer & concert tickets): 16%
- Health: 10%
- Transportation: 8%
- Books: 8%
- Investment: 7%
- Miscellaneous: 2%
- Charity: 1%

Outside of the charity number being so low (that definitely something I need to work on over the next month), the only category that really has much to do with identity at all is the books (I like identify as a proud member of the liberal intelligentsia haha). The local microbrews and folk-rock concerts can probably be added in as well as having to do with identity (I'm a bit of a hippie), as can the charity (I'm an overly cheap Christian) but that really only makes up one quarter of my spending for the month.

On another level, social media is also beginning to subvert the original purpose of brands to begin with. As we discussed in class, brands only became important when folks began buying commodities from a third-party, rather than directly from a local producer whose reputation the purchaser would have known about. With the advent of modern capitalism, brands were necessary to signal reputation of the producer, since the original producer may have been half a world away from the purchaser. Now however, with social media, anyone can talk about the quality of any sort of product with folks all over the world. Thus, while brands are still important (I'm typing on my MacBook Air right now), the consuming public increasingly has the power to discuss and define a brand, subverting the producer's ability to define their brand to a certain extent.

Two more quick points I'm only starting to think about. I'm in the midst of reading Karl Marx's Capital, and I've started to further nail down the whole identity creation through social media thing. In Marx's read on a capitalist society, the problem with the capitalist class is that they privately own the means of production, and thus can extract surplus value from the laborer, which turn leads to an increasing concentration of capital... did I get it right? If we take as a given that creation identity is a central factor in capitalist consumption, then capitalism is at very least on the verge of changing its form. This is because an increasing percentage of individuals (one third of people globally currently have internet access and another third have mobile phone access), now control their own means of identity production in the form of blogs, Facebook accounts, YouTube accounts and the like. This idea needs to be fleshed out a great deal still, but I'd like to think I'm on to something.

So, what does Christian discipleship look like in this digital age, where the masses increasingly control their own means of identity production? I haven't fleshed this out yet, but I've been repeatedly drawn to a Gustavo Gutierrez quote from A Theology of Liberation when thinking about this:

Men are called together, as a community and not as separate individuals, to participate in the life of the Trinitarian community, to enter into the circuit of love that unites the persons of the Trinity. This is a love which "builds up human society in history." The fulfillment and the manifestation of the will of the Father occur in a privileged fashion in Christ, who is called therefore the "mystery of God." For the same reason Sacred Scripture, the Church and the liturgical rites were designated by the first Christian generations by the term mystery, and by its Latin translation, sacrament. In the sacrament the salvific plan is fulfilled and revealed; that is, it is made present among men and for men... The sacrament is thus the efficacious revelation of the call to communion with God and to the unity of all mankind (Gutierrez 259).

As Christians in community, as the Church, Christ's body on earth, increasingly both has individual and collective access to our own means of identity production, it becomes increasingly easier for God to work through Christian community as a sacrament to the world.

God's peace,
Dustin

Dustin is currently in his final year of a Masters of Divinity program at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, having recently completed a year as Vicar at the Lutheran Office for World Community and Saint Peter's Church in New York City. While seeking ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, his focus is on the intersection between worship, service and justice in de-centralized faith communities unencumbered by a traditional church building. In his free time, Dustin likes playing frisbee, hiking and pretending to know how to sing.

David Beckmann, President of Bread for the World @ LTSP

On February 7th the LTSP community was privileged to hear David Beckmann, a Lutheran pastor and President of Bread for the World, speak at our first convocation of the spring 2012 semester.  The talk was an encouraging yet sobering update on what has occurred in the struggle to end global food insecurity since the publication of Mr. Beckmann’s book Exodus from Hunger in 2010.  Through Exodus’s inclusion in the “One Seminary; One Book” campaign, the LTSP community has learned a great deal both about hunger and what role public theologians have in leading our world out of what is very solvable crisis.  Much like in his book, Beckmann discussed how solving hunger can be a bi-partisan issue, evidenced by the fact that Bread for the World has both former Republican Senator Bob Dole and former Democratic Senator Tom Harkin on it’s board.”  He also stressed that public theologians have a responsibility to help faith communities see citizenship as stewardship and considering offerings of not only money and food but advocacy actions that work towards changing the system that causes hunger in our world.

While a great deal of work has already been done towards ending food insecurity, Mr. Beckmann discussed how given the current political environment, we need to help defend the “circle of protection” around the poor and vulnerable of our society.  Although maintaining church food banks is a great start, they only contribute 6% of what federal assistance programs currently do towards feeding hungry people.  As state and federal politicians continue attacking the federal safety net of food stamps, school breakfast and lunches, tax credits and other programs, the faith community must stand, the faith community needs to lend its voice to those who do not have one.  Here are only a few ideas of what folks at LTSP and elsewhere could do to help in this effort:

1. Pick up a copy of Exodus from Hunger and read it to educate yourself on the issue if you have not already done so (it’s a really easy book).
2. Check the websites of Lutheran Advocacy Ministries of PA and Bread for the World to learn more about current legislation and issues.
3. Write, call or visit your local, state or federal representatives as indicated on those websites… even if you’re against their position, the people who work in legislative offices are generally pretty nice. Help folks at your congregations and field sites realize how important advocacy is as part of their faith.
4. Let’s get creative on the LTSP campus! Figuring out how to do a well-publicized hunger fast during part of Lent might be a great start.

By engaging in these actions, we can both ensure that hungry people are fed and that we are doing our best to be the Church, Christ’s body on earth.

God's peace,

Dustin

A History of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia Campus

I'm deep in the midst of writing my J-term paper on the what "narrative" has been written about the LTSP campus over the years, and I figured folks would appreciate a preview of the first couple paragraphs.  If you have any questions (or construct criticism), please let me know!

          A few months ago while planning for an upcoming green certification program at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, one member of the committee suggested it would be helpful to study how our campus identity has changed over the years and how it is currently perceived.  In following up on that request with professors and in the seminary library, I was astounded at the amount of information available.  Beside a nearly countless array of original sources, a number of histories had been published since the seminary’s founding, the most significant being Theodore Tappert’s History of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, 1864 – 1964.  While many of these sources provided valuable information about the names of professors and staff, the acquisition and destruction of various buildings and the character of the student body, they all stopped short of answering my committee member’s question.  I had to dig past such information to tell the story of how our campus community viewed its land, understood its urban setting and its relation to the surrounding neighborhood.  In doing so I hoped to discover how LTSP constructed a campus narrative over its nearly one hundred and fifty year history, the current state of that narrative and how that narrative has impacted the faith of our community.

It quickly became apparent that exploring the evolution of LTSP’s campus narrative would not simply be a historical enterprise, but would necessarily incorporate elements of psychology, sociology and theology as well.  With that fact in mind, my research took a variety of forms.  In order to develop a background for my study of original sources, I first read a number of books on Christian theologies of land, place and the city.  I carefully tilled the Tappert book and other similar works for background historical information.  Using Tappert’s bibliography as a starting point, I next examined minutes from Ministerium of Pennsylvania meetings, LTSP Board of Trustee meetings, transcripts of historical addresses and the like.  I am greatly indebted to the seminary archives staff members who helped me locate a number of early seminary publications and photographic slides (and often the near-ancient equipment to view those slides).  The staff of the Germantown Historical Society also proved helpful in providing old property maps and an outside perspective of the seminary through clippings of newspaper articles.  Finally, I sought to allow the diverse voices of the LTSP community to carry into my work through interviewing a number of staff, faculty, students, alumni and other key individuals.

After engaging in such research I propose that through many changes a “narrative of place” has indeed been constructed by the women and men who have lived, studied, worked and worshiped at here.  I have come to understand that this story has a complex plot which is centered around a single question: how can LTSP best serve the church, Christ’s body on earth, out of this place?  The seminary has generally answered this question somewhere between viewing campus predominately through a monastic tradition of separation and a more missional model of engagement with the outside world.[1]  With notable exceptions, our campus has been on a pilgrimage across that spectrum, slowly shifting away from some of the weaknesses of the monastic model while striving to retain the sacred character of its space and community.

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[1] As the current Seminary President Rev. Dr. Philip Krey aptly reminded me, at it’s the best the monastic model can indeed be missional, as such institutions engage in a wide variety of ministries on behalf of their surrounding neighborhood and the church.  “Missional” in this paper however designates a disposition toward interacting with and recognizing the sacred in the wider world whenever possible.

LTSP Green Team Update

This year at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, the campus Green Team has centered its efforts around a theology of caring for creation “from a free a merry spirit.” The quote comes from second-generation Andreas Musculus writing in the Formula of Concord on how we do good works not from a place of guilt but rather while joyfully celebrating the many gifts that God has given us. Growing out of this theological focus has been an effort to help folks at LTSP feel more connected to God’s creation and each other so that they may be freed to better care for both the natural world and the community around them. During student orientation week, we led a group of volunteers in getting their hands dirty cleaning up at the Morris Arboretum after Hurricane Irene. We also organized a hike in Philadelphia’s nearby Fairmount Park led by the seminary’s liturgy professor emeritus, Rev. Dr. Gordon Lathrop. In order to cultivate community, we even gathered a bunch of students to take a trip to a local green-friendly brewery. Care for creation has been emphasized in worship through occasionally conducting an outdoor compline service.

Amidst these community events, we have also worked to build on LTSP’s already strong environmental stewardship program. A large compost tumbler was set up on campus to extend composting into the winter months and we set-up a new Terra-cycling program in the seminary café. Most importantly though, the students, family members, staff and faculty of the Green Team have recognized that we need a strong plan and new partnerships to move beyond basic recycling and composting toward a more robust vision of caring for God’s creation. We have therefore begun a process of developing a “green seminary certification program” in collaboration with Greenfaith and other theological leaders. While developing the program over the coming months, we will engage in a comprehensive audit of green practices and support for environmental justice on campus in order to discern how to move forward. We are also planning a large green fair and worship service to be held during Earth Week. Building on the efforts of those who have come before us, the LTSP Green Team is striving to help members of our campus community become a good stewards of God’s wondrous gift of creation from a free and merry spirit.

God's peace,
Dustin

Sell the Church!

I've been blessed to stay with a friend up in New Hampshire over the past few days, and it's been both a fun but also very meditative experience.  One thing I spent time doing was reading some of the first posts I wrote for It's Only A Northern blog back in 2009.  The post that particularly struck me was something I came up with for the by the way community entitled "...with each gift that you share may you heal and repair..."  The title of the post itself is part of a beautiful environmental stewardship called "Changes" by Xavier Rudd, but the substance of the post is about all forms of Christian stewardship.



Stewardship is a much wider concept of course than simply properly using your financial resources.  It also means caring for the environment, for our own bodies, our families and our own borrowed time.  One thing that I've been thinking a whole lot about lately is how stewardship of all these amazing gifts from God functions in our congregations as well as in our own individual lives.

I've had a number of conversations with friends over the last few weeks about how in our increasingly pluralistic and disconnected society, church buildings often get in the way of proper congregational stewardship.  For one, they obviously get in the way of financial stewardship... old, large and perhaps unnecessary buildings cost a lot of money that could otherwise be used towards mission efforts.  Church buildings also frequently represent poor environmental stewardship... those same old buildings waste a lot of energy to cool and heat.  Most importantly though, church buildings often represent poor stewardship of the opportunity we have as believers to be the body of Christ in this world and serve our neighbor.

One can't make blanket statements for sure, as there are more than enough examples of church buildings being essential resources for the towns and cities that surround them.  Frequently though, maintaining and worshiping in beautiful buildings take congregations out of the communities they're meant to minister to... the Church ends up becoming identified with a building rather than the sisters and brothers that make up the body of Christ in this world.

There's a number of ways the "building-free" congregation can work.  This post at Till He Comes makes some helpful suggestions: "Sell Your Church Building."  One might worship in smaller house-church "cells" most weeks and then occasionally get together in a larger location.  Other faith communities could rent out meeting places, helping support a local business or even another congregation.  A group could even regularly meet in local bars and coffee houses, getting out and being visible in the community and learning from them in turn.  Indeed, selling church buildings can end up helping congregations sell the Church itself to a disconnected, pluralistic culture hungry for faith and community.

God's peace,
Dustin

Hiking the Wissahickon with Dr. Gordon Lathrop

Thanks to Tommy Richter for all the amazing pictures.

The Baptisteron

A couple Sundays ago, six members of the LTSP community spent an absolutely beautiful autumn afternoon hiking around the Wissahickon Creek with Dr. Gordon Lathrop.  The event was organized by LTSP's Green Team, and boy, we had a great time and learned a lot as well!  The Wissahickon Creek runs twenty-three miles from Montgomery County, flows through Philadelphia's Fairmount Park system and eventually empties into the Schuylkill River.  Despite the creek's short length, it has a very storied past.  From the late 17th century onward, many mills and damns were built along the creek, including some which can still be seen today.  The area attracted a variety of religious groups, including the monastic-like followers of Johannes Kelpius.  Authors such as Edgar Allen Poe and John Greenleaf Whittier wrote of the area's beauty.

The Devil's Pool

During our four mile hike Dr. Lathrop (being the Liturgy Professor Emeritus that he is) put particular emphasis on the liturgical history of Wissahickon Creek.  In fact, the creek has long served as Philadelphia's baptismal font.  One of our stops was at the Baptisteron, an area of the stream where the first Church of the Brethern baptism took place on Christmas Day in 1723.  An absolutely gorgeous spot called the Devil's Pool may have served as a sacred space for the Lenape American Indian tribe.  Despite it's unfortunate naming, a sort of peace does permeate the area, and local children still often use it as a swimming hole.  Dr. Lathrop has seen more recent congregations baptizing new believers in the creek as well.  Wissahickon Creek was even used once by Dr. Lathrop's own liturgy class for practice baptisms.

The sacred character of the Wissahickon's waters is indisputable, but Dr. Lathrop took this even further by reminding us that all the waters of the world are sacred.  In fact, Martin Luther wrote that when Jesus was baptized, all the waters of the world became a holy flood.  As people of faith, it is important to realize our connection to the waters all around us... the LTSP campus in fact sits in the Wissahickon's watershed.  Moreover, as people drowned and reborn in the waters of baptism everyday, as people of the water, we should profoundly care for our lakes, rivers and streams.

The Greening of LTSP Continues

For a number of years now the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia's Green Team and Environmental Stewardship Committee have worked to ensure that future church leaders know about and have experience in caring for creation.  This year, we've been focusing on supporting our learning community in caring for creation "from a free and merry spirit," and boy, we've had a lot of success!


To get new students interested right from the start, we organized a service project at Philly's Morris Arboretum during orientation week.  Despite the hot weather, six folks from our community showed up, and we had a pretty epic time.  Since the arboretum was still cleaning up after Hurricane Irene, we spent most of the day clearing out plants that had been damaging by flood waters.  We finished up by taking a few minutes to haul out a couple tree stumps, we got a "behind the scenes" tour of the arboretum's maintenance and office buildings.  The buildings all had a number of innovative green friendly features, of which the green roof was most notable (check out the picture).  After the tour was over, we were able to head back to LTSP with a stack of free arboretum tickets for our efforts.

We've been organizing a number of other fun events as well to gain interest, like touring the fully wind powered Yards Brewery and hiking around Fairmount Park with LTSP's Professor Emeritus of Liturgy, Dr. Gordon Lathrop (that event deserves it's own forthcoming blog post).  Outside of the events we've been doing a lot more behind the scenes work to green the LTSP campus.  Most notably, we've expanded our compost program to serve not only the refectory but also the Holy Grounds Cafe.  We're also in conversation with GreenFaith about how their "green congregation" certification process could be adopted to fit a seminary.  If it's work out, the certification process will provide us with a solid framework to continue green LTSP for years to come!  If you're interested in hearing more about what the the LTSP Green Team and Environmental Stewardship Committee are up to in the coming months, please 'Like' our Facebook Page or check out our website.  Thanks so much!

God's peace,
Dustin

You Always Have the Poor With You... But They Need Not Be Hungry!

So here's part two of my ongoing series "catching up on what I've been doing the last couple months" posts.  Thanks to Mikka McCracken for all the pictures.  Enjoy!

It's always a hard quote talk about... Jesus says something similar to "the poor will always be with you" in every gospel except for Luke, and it's a passage that some folks have used to argue against social justice initiatives.  On one level, I'd like to point those folks to how Jesus' quote parallels Deuteronomy 15:11: "There will always be poor people in the land.  Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land."  Yet on another level, while the poor may always be with us, they need not be hungry.

Tour of the Rodale Institute.

The poor may always be with us, but they need to be hungry... this became abundantly clear for me  couple weeks ago while participating in an ELCA World Hunger "Ethics of Eating" retreat.  From September 29th to October 2nd folks from synods all over the ELCA's Region 7 gathered at Camp Men-O-Lan in Quakertown, PA to find out more about world hunger and what people of faith can do about it.  And boy... it was a powerful event!  First of all, it was great to part of such a diverse group.  While there were a number of seminarians and pastors, there were farmers and business folks too.  There were younger folks in attendance, but there were others who had been working on hunger issues long before I was born.  Most encouragingly, there seemed to be a diversity of political opinion in the group... feeding the hungry need not be a liberal or conservative issue, and it was great to see Lutherans from diverse backgrounds and experiences working together towards that goal.

The only nice cow at Living Hope Farm.

Over the course of four days, we had a number of amazing education opportunities.  We heard more about ELCA World Hunger, learned how the ELCA does advocacy on both the federal and statewide levels and visited Living Hope Farm, a Mennonite community-supported agriculture project.  We also heard about both sides of the GMO/ organic farming debate from the perspective of two dairy farmers and even got to tour the Rodale Institute, a research farm that's been pioneering organic farming for well over fifty years.  While I came away from the event with many learnings and new ideas, there's five specific points that need sharing.

A greenhouse at Living Hope Farm.

First, (and most importantly) we can solve hunger as a systemic problem in this world.  We are blessed to live in a time where we have the means to feed the hungry, and it's just a matter of will and proper coordination to do so.  There will be difficulties posed by a continually rising population for at least a few more decades and many negatives effects from climate change, but still, feeding the hungry is possible.  In many areas, it's actually happened... hunger in America was nearly eliminated under the Nixon administration, although since then we've backtracked to now one in six of our citizens being hungry.  There are similar stories on the global front... David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World has written that if we continue on a similar trajectory, from 1990 to 2015 we would have cut the number of people in extreme poverty in half.  It's true friends, feeding the hungry can happen... and imagine if it did.  What would happen for instance if your church no longer had to operate a food-bank because it simply wasn't needed?  Imagine what other important ministries all those resources could go to!

Discussing future projects.

My second learning was that while hunger is solvable, people of faith can't do it alone.  We're called in the waters of baptism to not only directly feed the hungry, but to accompany them in advocacy as well.  That of course might look different for different folks.  It might mean signing up for the ELCA's e-Advocacy Network or writing a letter to your local newspaper.  Bread for the World also provides great advocacy resources, particularly in this critical time of budget cuts and the upcoming debate over the Farm Bill.  It's a empowering experience to visit either your state rep's office or even your congressman's office in Washington to advocate on full support of hunger programs... and thank them while you're there!  Once again, hunger is solvable problem, but it's going to take collective action that only government entities can bring to bear to do so.

The group at Living Hope Farm.

Third, I learned that advocacy and organizing go hand in hand.  Advocacy does not need to be done alone, and of course is particularly enjoyable while working with others.  From my experience, advocacy is pretty contagious, especially when you know your efforts have paid off in a big way.  People of faith bear a lot of political weight with their opinions... politicians listen to us, particularly when we're in large numbers.  Ethics of Eating was particularly effective because it gave all of us participants the tools to be leaders back home in our local congregations and communities.  Hopefully, with the Spirit's help, all that education and energy will spread and foster even more leaders and open ears.  That's sort of related to my fourth point in a way... feeding the hungry is going to take a lot of listening.  Oftentimes it's so easy to think we're doing good while in fact we're only making the matter worse.  For instance, oftentimes sending food to foreign countries depresses local food prices so farmers can't make a living.  In advocating and building community around solving world hunger, we need to listen to all interested parties.  The genetically-modified organism/ organic farming debate particularly can vilify one side or the other.  I came out of the retreat a little unsure about where to stand on this one.  Organic practices and CSA's were certainly great when possible, but it seemed unclear to me as to whether or not such farming continue indeed feed all our hungry planet.

Finally, as we discussed in the first night of the retreat, feeding the hungry is all about good discipleship.  Check out this well known passage from Matthew 25:

³⁴Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” ³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? ³⁸And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” ⁴⁰And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Matt. 25: 34 - 40).

That's what discipleship is all about folks!  Seeing Christ in others and doing our best serve them as Christ.  From a Lutheran perspective, this is done not out of a need to justify ourselves, but rather in response to God's love and saving grace.  As second generation Lutheran theologian Andreas Musculus puts it, we serve others "out of a free and merry spirit."  Whether we are directly feeding the hungry, making sure folks have clean drinking water, clothing the naked, caring for the sick or visiting those in prison, all those things at least indirectly contribute to making sure all of God's children have access to good quality food.  Feeding the hungry is at center of Christian hospitality, central to good discipleship, and a central part of who we are as people of faith.  Thanks for reading!

God's peace,
Dustin

Care of Creation

As posted on my blog at the Christ the King, Wilbraham website:

Throughout the season of Lent at Christ the King, we’ve been exploring the many different faces of Christian stewardship… we’ve talked about being good stewards of our talents, our time, the Sabbath and our communities.  This past Sunday we concluded our Lenten adult forum series by talking about stewardship of God’s creation, a topic many of us were particularly passionate about.  There’s a lot involved with that sort of conversation, much more than we could ever cover in one hour, so our first issue was figuring out where to begin.

We could have talked about how to “green” the church or perhaps about how to get folks to stop using Styrofoam coffee cups and start drinking fair trade coffee, and while those are important conversations, it seemed like that would be getting a little bit ahead of ourselves.  Instead, we really wanted to start at the heart of the matter, discussing why (and even if) God calls us to care for the environment as Christians.  We all quickly agreed on the importance of environmental stewardship, and the conversation next turned to addressing why we don’t always seem to focus on that call.  It’s a topic that many folks are talking about nowadays, often by asking, “how can Christianity begin to address preserving the environment?”

After thinking quite a bit about it over the past week, I wonder if part of the problem is that we’re asking the wrong question. While I’m not a historian or a theologian, it seems like for much of its history, Christianity was very concerned with the environment.  Check out this quote from an actual theologian:

Some people, in order to discover God, read books.  But there is a great book: the very appearance of created things.  Look above you!  Look below you!  Note it.  Read it… God, whom you want to discover, never wrote that book with ink.  Instead he set before your eyes the things that he had made.  Can you ask for a louder voice than that?                       - St. Augustine (354 - 430)

And this one:

All creation is a symphony of praise to God. - Hildegard of Bingen (1098 - 1179)

And also this one (my favorite):

God writes the Gospel, not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars. - traditionally attributed to Martin Luther (1483 - 1546)

If the trees and the flowers are important expressions of God’s love (perhaps almost as important as the Gospel), it seems to logically follow that we should preserve those things.  To be fair, Martin Luther and St. Augustine never talked about reducing your carbon footprint or using light bulbs that look like curly fries, but care of creation was still a part of their message.  Perhaps then, the question should really be, “Why have many Christians turned away from caring for the environment in recent decades and how can we get back to where we were?” Asking the question phrased in that particular way for me really results in some interesting answers.

To start, I think saying “the environment” isn’t a good thing.  Much like referring to “climate change” as “global warming,” referring to God’s creation as “the environment” doesn’t fully express the concept… the environment seems like something apart from us, something “out there” (and increasingly distant).  Most Christians however, would consider themselves part of God’s creation.  I myself can’t wait for it to get warmer so I can get out in the woods or play Frisbee in the fields… the environment doesn’t seem like something I can enjoy sitting in this coffee shop.  God’s creation though is something that seems much more all around me… he even created the chocolate chip scone I’m eating right now (and very much enjoying).  If we can begin to see caring for God’s creation as caring for something we’re a part of, maybe it’ll seem a little more important. St. Augustine didn’t lock creation up in a park or wilderness preserve… he wouldn’t have seen himself as separate from the creation that he so applauded at all… why should we?

God’s peace,
Dustin

...with each gift that you share, you may heal and repair...

Life's been pretty crazy lately for me lately (as you'll read below), and thus I haven't been blogging that much.   Look for some new original posts here soon, but until then what's follows is something I recently wrote for the by the way blog.   Enjoy friends!

Wow, I've heard it said countless times throughout the by the way community, but I just have to say it here again: it's amazing how often our weekly Bible passage feels so pertinent to what's going on in our individual lives. When I offered to write this week's blogpost and lead Bread for Your Journey (as long as my car allows me to get there), I had no idea I was signing up to write about exactly what I've been feeling over the last few weeks. Maybe I'm just bending scripture too much to my own individual experience, but maybe not... you can be the judge :)

At any rate, we're picking up right where we left off last Thursday in chapter ten of the Gospel of Mark, this time in verses seventeen through thirty-one:

17As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18“Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. 19But to answer your question, you know the commandments: You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.”
20“Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”
21Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
23Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” 24This amazed them. But Jesus said again, “Dear children, it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God. 25In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”
26The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked.
27Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.”
28Then Peter began to speak up. “We’ve given up everything to follow you,” he said.
29“Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, 30will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life. 31But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.” (New Living Translation)

Jesus has a great way of turning the world upside down, and he definitely does just that in this passage. It's easy to think of those who are "the greatest" or "most successful" (whatever that means) in this world to be the most blessed by God... I'm sure it was easy for many in Jesus' day to think the same.

I personally made a decision two months ago to give up what was a fairly financially lucrative job (working 80 hours a week) to find another job that would allow me more time to pursue a couple voluntary ministry opportunities while also preparing to start seminary in a year or two. After seven surprise car breakdowns and a tough economy slowed my new job search to halt though, I'm still unemployed and now moving back home... For the first time in my life I think, I wouldn't be what most people would call a "success." I began almost thinking like Job or something, sort of angry at God for my situation, but only over the last couple of days have I really come to see that in many ways, I've never been so blessed.

When you have a lot of money, you also have many more options and it's a whole lot easier to entertain yourself (at least in a shallower sort of way). Also, when you have a lot of money, you can seemingly be completely independent... having financial means and independence certainly isn't bad thing in and of itself, but Jesus was right... it does make it a bit harder to find God. Having more free time lately has given me a lot more time to read, write, pray and contemplate my relationship with my Creator. Not being financially independent has done a couple of great things: 1) it's made my relationship with my father much closer, and 2) it's made me realize that even when I can become "independent" from my father again, I should never try to be independent from my Father (if you dig what I'm saying).

Not having much in the way of resources also really makes you think more about how you use those resources, which is the other thing I think Jesus was getting at in our passage this week. Due to my new-found lack of resources, stewardship, in every sense of the word, has really started to become a central tenet to my faith. As we'll talk about more this Thursday at Bread for Journey, as Christians we can't just concern ourselves with saving souls... we need to concern ourselves with being good stewards of God's creation here on Earth as well. Messages, a song by Xavier Rudd, one of my favorite singer/songwriters really touches on that fact:



LYRICS HERE

At first listen it seems like Xavier Rudd is just talking about being a good steward of the environment, but I think he's digging quite a bit deeper here too... we need to start seeing ourselves as part of God's creation again... a really important part of it. Taking care of our bodies, making the most of our time, and realizing that whatever resources we do come upon during that time (financial or otherwise) are just being borrowed from God, are essential aspects of stewardship as well. And finally, with the caveat in mind that we need some of our borrowed resources to take care of ourselves and our families, we should use whatever we can to help other folks, the environment, and the rest of God's beautiful creation. I look forward to talking more about all of this @ Bread for Your Journey this Thursday.

God's peace,

Dustin