We had a discussion yesterday at Ministerium (surprise!) about the length of our preaching. I told the group my sermons are typically 8-10 minutes. They seemed shocked by this and even teased me about it a little. This surprise came primarily from the Assembly of God pastors and the Methodist pastor. Their thought seemed to be that if it isn't around 25-30 minutes, the sermon can't be any good. I countered by saying that if I can't do it in 8-10 minutes and make my point, then I should just sit down because I'm apparently not good at cutting to the chase as it were. Then they expressed some fear that parishoners might complain because "what do we pay you for if you only preach 10 minutes?" I wanted to say something like, "then maybe you need to get out and do more stuff that they're aware of if you're so worried about that" - but I didn't say anything.
I'm venting a bit because I'm not sure I enjoy going to ministerium anymore. There isn't much respect for what we do as Lutherans - i.e., liturgy, short sermons, emphasis on communion, etc. It's not that they're mean about it - they do sometimes ask questions in an attempt to learn about some of these things, but when I tell them how we do it, I sometimes get smirks and/or smart-alec responses. Not often, but just enough to drive a person semi-bonkers. It seems like when we get on these topics, my only ally is the RCA pastor. Maybe ally is a bad word, but he is good about helping me to explain things to them and to try to temper their negative responses.
But the whole thing is getting a bit frustrating, and I'm wondering if I should minimize my attendance. What do you think?
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Cleanliness is next to godliness
This blog idea arose from a conversation last Wednesday at our ministerium (I have a feeling those meetings will be the breeding ground for many of these topics in the weeks and months to come). One of the pastors had visited a parishioner and was complaining to us about their level of cleanliness (or lack thereof) and that we needed to pray for them to clean up their house. I know I'm not innocent of having had similar thoughts about "dirty" people before, but as I think more about it, I'm not sure I necessarily agree with this thought - at least not entirely. I do think it is important for us to take care of ourselves and the possessions that we've been blessed with to the best of our abilities. However, the more I think about who God is and how God relates to us, the more convinced that the notion of cleanliness being next to godliness is wrong. I even question whether or not it is possible.
Our God is a dirty God. That is, he is a God who gets his hands dirty and associates with the people we like to call dirty or "unclean." We see this in Genesis 2 with the creation of people from dust. We see this in John 9 when Jesus makes mud to heal the blind man. We see this in God's passion for the poor, the widow and the orphan throughout the Bible - people who are dirty. We see this in Jesus' birth in the (presumably) dirty stable and placed in a dirty manger. We see in when Jesus washes the disciples' feet (John 13). We see this in Jesus' interaction with (and sometimes even touching) lepers & the sick (Matt. 8, Matt. 12, Matt. 14, Mark 1, Mark 6, Luke 5, Luke 13, Luke 14), menstruating women (Matt. 9, Mark 5, Luke 8), & the dead (Matt. 9, Mark 5, Luke 7, Luke 8) - all people presumed by his contemporaries to be dirty.
We see continually how the Pharisees are scolded by Jesus for their obsession with cleanliness - be it literal or symbolic. I think this can help us as we evaluate what is truly important as God's people: is it to be clean and free from dirt and the poor, or should we too get dirty once in awhile and live/work/play/help the "dirty" among us? Afterall, we're all dirty in some way: we carry disease, we're made of earthly elements which when considered alone are dirty, and we're sinners - the ickiest dirt. I think when we judge others based on their level of cleanliness, we're actually bringing judgment upon ourselves. I think we need to get our hands dirty like God and leave worries about cleanliness to the Pharisees. What do you think?
Our God is a dirty God. That is, he is a God who gets his hands dirty and associates with the people we like to call dirty or "unclean." We see this in Genesis 2 with the creation of people from dust. We see this in John 9 when Jesus makes mud to heal the blind man. We see this in God's passion for the poor, the widow and the orphan throughout the Bible - people who are dirty. We see this in Jesus' birth in the (presumably) dirty stable and placed in a dirty manger. We see in when Jesus washes the disciples' feet (John 13). We see this in Jesus' interaction with (and sometimes even touching) lepers & the sick (Matt. 8, Matt. 12, Matt. 14, Mark 1, Mark 6, Luke 5, Luke 13, Luke 14), menstruating women (Matt. 9, Mark 5, Luke 8), & the dead (Matt. 9, Mark 5, Luke 7, Luke 8) - all people presumed by his contemporaries to be dirty.
We see continually how the Pharisees are scolded by Jesus for their obsession with cleanliness - be it literal or symbolic. I think this can help us as we evaluate what is truly important as God's people: is it to be clean and free from dirt and the poor, or should we too get dirty once in awhile and live/work/play/help the "dirty" among us? Afterall, we're all dirty in some way: we carry disease, we're made of earthly elements which when considered alone are dirty, and we're sinners - the ickiest dirt. I think when we judge others based on their level of cleanliness, we're actually bringing judgment upon ourselves. I think we need to get our hands dirty like God and leave worries about cleanliness to the Pharisees. What do you think?
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