September 2007 Archives

Here's an interview I did with my colleague, Brad Nassif, on Eastern Orthodoxy and the gospel.

O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Chicago's skyline:

Last week was the most demanding week I've ever had for speaking events, and so we're ready for a few weeks of down time. But, we're looking forward to the emerging event in Austin TX. This will be one emerging event that addresses theological beliefs.

Site worth following: Women in the Vineyard.

Pray for Erika -- she's about to deliver. And how has: Welcome Elijah William Haub.

David Fitch on megachurches.

Perhaps one of the most significant study I've yet seen from Barna.

Episcopal defections and decisions.

Ken Schenck asks if "inductive" in Bible study is as "objective" as it thinks.

Wow.

CT piece by Ted Olsen on the death of blogs.

1. We can all be this green.
2. Messianic Jewish pastor's sermon for Yom Kippur.
3. Nothing quite like real world politics.
4. What pastors get paid.
5. Dan Kimball's series (and announcement they are merging with the Presbies).
6. John Frye on how Jesus re-images God and God's ways.
7. Bob Robinson is at the forefront of postmodern apologetics.
8. Critique can be withering, and iMonk took it hard -- Michael, lots of us are with you in that middle land called the third way. [I don't know what happened to this link, but I'm hoping it is just down temporarily.]
9. Are you a workaholic? 20 Questions.
10. Kris found this blog by a young woman who is a medical doctor in Haiti. Interesting reads.

Sports:

Man, the Cubs are shaky ... and found their legs ... and won ... and the Brewers lost ... AND THE CUBS WIN THE DIVISION!

I'm not sure Grossman is the problem but I'm hoping things will turn around with Griese.

This is poetry; this is poetry about the "image". And Walsh and Keesmaat, in their Colossians Remixed, argue this is subversive poetry, poetry about an image that undermines empire and Rome and Caesar.

Col. 1:15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

If you look for empire, you find empire; if you explain everything in light of empire, you convince yourself empire is everywhere. These deconstructive remarks emerge in my case from my reading of this commentary because I'd like to see some reading of Colossians and less talk about empire so that our minds are conditioned by empire to see empire. I see in Colossians very little attention on Rome and lots on Jerusalem. When I see the word "Christ" before Jesus I don't think of Caesar, I think of the "Messiah" of the Hebrew Bible. And, no matter how chic it might be today, when I see "Lord" I think of "Kyrios" of the Septuagint, which translates "Adonai." I don't think of Caesar. Sorry. Furthermore, I appeal to numbers: how many Christians were there in Colosse and Laodicea? A few small group? Probably. Maybe Colossians were thinking of Rome since they had endured Rome; but how about Paul? His sights were on Jersalem. He was drenched with Israel's story and he wanted Israel's story to be "remixed" for his day -- and that meant converting both Jews and Gentiles to his Messianic story of Israel.

I have big doubts about empire being the ideology assaulted by Colossians. Instead, I read of a Paul who is trying to build churches who will respond to and live under the Lord Jesus Christ in the Church. The Church is the new story of Israel. I keep looking for Rome and I don't see it. But, I'll keep looking.

This section in their commentary concerns 1:15-20 printed above. "In a world populated by images of Caesar..." (83). That's their point. Problem for me is that I see Eikon of God when applied to Christ not so much as a counter-image to Caesar as the "anthropology" of Israel: humans made in God's Eikon who are designed by God to be restored into that Eikon (2 Cor 3:18; 4:4).

In our passage the Eikon, who is Christ, is Creator over all (this could be Empire ideology) and the head of the Church (which I doubt is Empire ideology). His supremacy is Israel's story, not Rome's story -- why? Because his headship, his rule, is by way of resurrection in order to incorporate others into that headship. It was through him that reconciliation was to be accomplished.

Show me one direct word about Rome and about assaulting Roman ideology with an anti-empire ideology in this book. Not words that can be "explained" that way but words that "directly" state that. We can do all the word connotations and associations we want, but such are often driven by what we are looking for. First, I must be convinced of empire and Rome are directly in Paul's sights.

I've taken a hard stand for those who are writing to me and talking to me abot their struggles with this commentary.

I will try an experiment today because this blog community has been so versatile and spirited. Today in our chp from Tracy Balzer, Thin Places, I want to post two items and get your reflections.

Chp 6 is about "Saints and Symbols," but mostly about "Symbols (and a little about Saints)." Tracy's opening section about symbols evoked Alexander Schmemann's For the Life of the World. "Since they [the Celts] seemed to have been determined to see the glory of God in all times and places, it follows that their own worship would be filled with image and symbolism" (135). In other words, the Celts found reason to see the presence of God or the evocation of God in the graphic, the visible, and the concrete. In short, ordinary things became sacramental.

Nothing like the Celtic cross, with its circle, and the Celtic knot. I've not done this but I'm wondering today if we could have a "meditative conversation." I'm posting two pictures of a Celtic cross and a Celtic knot and ask you to reflect on what you see and what it leads you to think about.

Here is a pattern of the Celtic cross at the Durham Cathedral decorating a page of the Gospel of Matthew:

Here are my thoughts:

I see in every Celtic cross I observe -- especially if I slow down to ponder it -- an image of the Trinity -- the Trinity who in perichoretic and unceasing love surrounds everything the Cross stands for.

I see in the Celtic knot the connection of heart, soul, mind and strength, the connection of all of earth with God, and the reminder to keep all of life focused on the one needful thing.