The Journey of Lent

It has become commonplace to speak of the “faith journey.” The phrase reflects the truth that faith is a dimension of life: not merely a set of rules and teachings, but a dynamic process of immersions, encounters, quests, and surprises.

Faith, like life itself, is not for tourists who are looking for the quickest and cheapest way to get to their dream destination; faith is for adventure travelers who appreciate being reshaped by the twists and turns, the ups and downs of getting there. Disciples of Christ – a.k.a. the people of “the Way” (Acts 9:20) – are pilgrims with a vision of the holy city in their hearts, traveling light and trusting that God will provide all that is needed.

Lent is an opportunity to travel together without leaving town. The journey takes us to Jerusalem, to the cross, and to the gates of Easter. For forty days, we travel in the company of Hebrew slaves on their way from Egypt to the promised land; in the company of Noah and his family and all the animals who were saved from the flood; in the company of Moses who received God’s holy law for God’s holy people; in the company of Elijah who was zealous for the Lord – and in the company of Jesus who walked our road all the way to the end so that we too might step through the gates of Easter.

Every time we gather for worship, we repeat and rehearse the great journey: we leave the house in response to God’s call and we make our way to the Table where God’s people eat and drink with Christ – and we leave God’s house strengthened for the road ahead, the great journey to the holy city. At Vine Street this year, our worship services during Lent will reveal this journey motif more clearly: every Sunday, we will come to the Table in festive procession to present our gifts and celebrate the Lord’s Supper; we will walk together before we feast together at the heavenly banquet (and we will fast: several hundred disposable communion cups will not end up in a landfill because we share one chalice. You might say we take a few steps from convenience to responsible stewardship).

During Lent, we encourage one another to abstain from the things and habits that keep us from traveling light and fully trusting God: we live more simply so that others can simply live; we discover Lenten disciplines we decide to make year-round practices; we spend less time letting ourselves be distracted, and more time being attentive - all of these things are about fasting, yet none are just about giving up something. They are practices that open us up to living together with justice, compassion, and faithfulness. Every Sunday during Lent, we will include some very specific items in our offering (and these are items we ask all who come to worship to bring).

• On February 10, we bring canned and boxed food items for Second Harvest and our daily “Something to Eat” ministry (we give out bags with peanut butter, crackers, canned fruit, and canned meats to anyone who comes to the door hungry) - because we long to live in a world without hunger.
• On February 17, we bring all kinds of things for babies, like formula, diapers, or clothes; we will give those to families in need - because we long to live in a world where all families are honored and all children are our children.
• On February 24, we bring candles for worship and CFL’s (compact fluorescent lamps) for the light fixtures around the church - because we long to live in a world where both our prayers and our actions for the world are enlightened.
• On March 9, we bring art supplies for Sunday school, camp, and Nashville schools - because we long to live in a world where human creativity is nurtured and celebrated.
• On March 16, we bring white polo shirts for children (school uniforms), as well as white t-shirts and children’s underwear - because we long to live in a world where all of God's children got shoes for the road and a robe for the banquet.

You don’t have to write all these down right away (unless you want to get your shopping list done); there will be a weekly reminder in the newsletter and the Sunday bulletin.

May God bless our Lenten journey!

A Book for Lent

I invite you to read a book with me during Lent. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and a gifted theologian and writer, has published a series of talks he gave during Holy Week in 2005. The book, Tokens of Trust: An Introduction to Christian Belief, is a lovely little Lenten companion. Following the outline and some of the statements of the ancient Nicene and Apostles’ Creed, Williams guides the reader through some of the central elements of our faith.

• What does it mean to believe in God?
• Can God possibly be almighty in the midst of so much evil and disaster?
• How am I to understand the meaning of Jesus Christ’s ministry and resurrection?
• To what purpose is the church called?
• And what does it really mean to follow Christ in today’s broken world?

Williams addresses these questions in a conversational tone, and his reflections invite further discussion. His goal is to show that each of the basic tenets of Christian faith flows from one fundamental belief: that God is completely worthy of our trust.

The book is conveniently organized in six chapters, and each is approximately thirty pages long – just right for some slow ruminating during Lent!

You can read the entire first chapter here, in case you want to get a taste. Or perhaps a couple of quotes will be enough to make you want to journey through Lent with this book (and a small group of fellow readers):

Only three human individuals are mentioned in the Creed, Jesus, Mary and Pontius Pilate: that is Jesus; the one who says ‘yes’ to him; and the one who says ‘no’ to him. You could say that those three names map out the territory in which we all live. Through our lives, we wing towards one pole or the other, towards a deeper ‘yes’ or towards a deeper ‘no’. And in the middle of it all stands the one who makes sense of it all. Jesus – the one into whose life we must all try to grow, who can work with our ‘yes’ and can even overcome our ‘no’. [p. 76]

A well-functioning Christian community is going to be one in which everyone is working steadily to release the gifts of others. And this is not for the sake of some abstract self-fulfilment: the Christian community is not a place where everyone is crying out, 'Get out of my way so that I can exercise my gift' (though the phenomenon is not unknown...). In the context of the 'Body', the gift of each is inseparable from the need of each. The giver has to understand both how the gift is to be given into the common life, and has to be aware of what the common life and the obstinate reality of others must give for one's own life to be real and solid. [p.108-109]

If you are interested in reading and discussing this book with me during Lent (we'd meet six times between February 6 and March 22), just leave a comment or send me an email. There is no registration deadline, since every participant will be responsible for purchasing (or borrowing) their own copy of the book. From the perspective of the church calendar and my own schedule, it looks like Wednesdays at 7pm might be a good time for this small group to meet.

Vine Street in NOLA

It was good to be back in New Orleans again after Christmas. This year, thirty-nine of us made the trip by van, train, or plane. And like before, our youngest workers were elementary school students, and our oldest were retirees; the biggest numbers (and most of the energy) came from our teenagers and young adults – it was, again, a wonderful experience!
We noticed that overall traffic in and around New Orleans had picked up significantly since last year, more businesses were open, more homes looked inhabited, and almost all the debris piles by the side of the roads had been removed.
Driving through the colorful Musicians' Village (built with the support of Wynton Marsalis and Harry Konnick, Jr.) was a delightful and uplifting moment, and looking at Brad Pitt's house kits covered with bright pink tarp - a little camp right beside the rebuilt levee on the edge of the Lower 9th Ward - was equally inspiring and encouraging.
Things have changed in New Orleans in remarkable ways, but some things haven’t. There are still thousands of unused FEMA trailers parked on fields near Purvis, Mississippi, many slowly sinking into muddy oblivion, others housing termites. Areas of New Orleans where people have struggled before the levees broke continue to make painfully slow progress. Overall, the contrast between neighborhoods like Lakeshore and Gerttown remains sharp, but even in the most depressed areas, the signs of recovery and new life are strong: there’s a house with new windows and a new door, and it is painted bright yellow like a beacon of hope and defiance; there’s a little restaurant on the corner, freshly painted in boldest fuchsia, and the yellow signs advertise soul food for the neighborhood.
We will remember Mr. Willie, whose house we helped to rebuild. We will think about those who will move into the low-income apartments where we installed doors. The youth of the church will reflect on their experiences during worship on February 24, when we lift up the ministry of Week of Compassion.
If you want to experience first-hand how helping to rebuild homes in New Orleans is changing the lives of workers and their ideas about church and discipleship, start making plans for joining us on our next trip – because we’ll go back to the Mission Center at West Side Christian Church, we’ll go back to Mr. Willie’s house to see how he likes his new home, we’ll go back to the places where the love of God is doing remarkable things through the generous work of ordinary people.