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Our Father, above us and all around us …
May your unspeakable Name be revered.
Here on earth may your commonwealth come.
On earth, as in heaven, may your will be done.
Give us today our bread for today.
Forgive us our wrongs as we forgive.
Lead us away from the perilous trial;
liberate us from the evil.
For the kingdom is yours and yours alone,
the power is yours and yours alone, and the glory is yours and yours alone,
Now and forever. Amen.
Do we envision Christian faith working from the individual to the
global, or from the global to the individual?
Or both?
Societal MachineEquity Security
Prosperity
Framing Story
4 Crises:
Planetary crisis (Prosperity)
Poverty crisis (Equity)
Peace-making crisis (Security)
! Religious Crisis (Spirituality)
Conventional View Emerging View
The HumanSituation: Whatis the story thatwe findourselves in?
God created the world as perfect,but because our primalancestors, Adam and Eve, didnot maintain the absoluteperfection demanded by God,God has irrevocably determinedthat the entire universe and all itcontains will be destroyed, andthe souls of all human beings –except for those specificallyexempted – will be foreverpunished for their imperfectionin hell.1
God created the world as good, buthuman beings – as individuals, and asgroups – have rebelled against God andfilled the world with evil and injusticelike a terrible disease. God wants to savehumanity and heal it from its sickness,but humanity is hopelessly lost andconfused, like sheep without a shepherd,wandering farther and farther intolostness and danger. Left to themselves,human beings will spiral downward insickness and evil.
BasicQuestions: Whatquestions didJesus come toanswer?
Since everyone is doomed tohell, Jesus seeks to answer thesequestions: how can individualsbe saved from eternalpunishment in hell and insteadgo to heaven after they die? Howcan God help individuals behappy and successful until then?
Since the human race is in such desperatetrouble, Jesus seeks to answer thisquestion: what must be done about themess we’re in? The mess refers both tothe general human condition and itsspecific outworking among hiscontemporaries: living under dominationby the Roman empire, and divided intovarious competing sects.
Jesus’ message:How did Jesusrespond to thecrisis?
Jesus says, in essence, “If youwant to be among thosespecifically qualified to escapebeing forever punished for yoursins in hell, you must repent ofyour individual sins and believethat my Father punished me onthe cross so He won’t have topunish you in hell. Only if youbelieve this will you go toheaven when everyone else isbanished to hell.”2 This is thegood news.
Jesus says, in essence, “Other people andgroups – including your own religiousleaders - are leading you farther andfarther astray. I have been sent by Godwith this good news – that God loveshumanity, even in its lostness and sin.God graciously invites everyone andanyone to question and reject what theyhave been told and instead follow a newpath. Trust me and become my disciple,and you will be transformed, and you willparticipate in the transformation of theworld, which is possible, beginning rightnow.”3 This is the good news.
1 Of course, there are many modern western non-religious ontologies and framing stories too,plus Eastern ontologies and framing stories – both religious and irreligious.2 This reflects a Calvinistic Evangelical protestant version of the message. The popular RomanCatholic version might say, “You must believe in the teachings of the church and follow itsinstructions, especially those regarding sacraments.” The popular mainline or liberal Protestant
4 Crises:
Planetary crisis (Prosperity)
Poverty crisis (Equity)
Peace-making crisis (Security)
! Religious Crisis (Spirituality)
This approach has powerful implications for what it means to identify as followers of Jesus in
today’s world.
Clearly, for the early disciples, the church was an expanding circle of disciples. It was “the embodiment of Christ.”
They saw themselves as learners in his way.
come, follow me
Learn of me, take my yoke upon
you
I have given you an example
Make disciples, teaching them to
practice everything I have
taught you
Be conformed to the image of Christ. Romans 8
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 12
… that Christ may be formed in you. Galatians 4
Learn Christ… Be made new in the attitude of your minds
Ephesians 4 Christ in you, the hope of glory
… everyone fully formed in Christ Colossians 1
Let this attitude be in you which was also in Christ… Philippians 2
This kind of personal spiritual
formation involves intentional
spiritual practices (or
disciplines):
Actions within our power which we do
to train ourselves to do things
currently beyond our power, and to
become people we are currently
incapable of being.
- Running a marathon
- Making or playing a violin
- Learning a language
For example, fasting:
- Feeling and acknowledging our weakness in the face of impulses from our bodies.
- Practicing impulse control.
- Asserting to ourselves the importance of things other than impulse gratification.
- Accepting weakness and “poverty” in faith that greater strength and satisfaction can come to
us.
- What benefits could come from this practice?
The sermon on the mountExplains how disciples of the kingdom are characterized by a “right/just way of living” which “surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees.”
Different attitudes: blessed are …
Different role - salt and light
Beyond “no murder” to no hatred, anger, insult, or grudges
Beyond “no adultery” to no lust or divorce
Beyond no lying to no exaggeration
Beyond no excessive revenge to no retaliation
Beyond loving friends to loving enemies
Beyond harsh religious “perfection” to God’s compassionate perfection.
How are disciples formed?
Through practice(s).
___public worship ___solitude ___sabbath ___meditation ___eucharist ___silence
___study ___spiritual direction
___practicing God’s presence ___prayer journaling ___fixed-hour prayer ___contemplative prayer
___service ___submission ___simplicity ___feasting/fasting ___pilgrimage ___self-denial
___identifying with Jesus ___reconciliation
___giving ___confessing sin ___reciting creeds
How are disciples formed?
Through practice.
___public worship ___solitude ___sabbath ___eucharist
___silence
___study ___spiritual direction
___practicing God’s presence ___prayer journaling
___fixed-hour prayer ___contemplative prayer
___service ___submission ___simplicity ___feasting/
fasting ___pilgrimage ___self-denial
___identifying with Jesus ___reconciliation
___giving ___confessing sin ___reciting creeds
But this is only half the story …
Jesus calls disciples - men and women who
will learn to live a new way of life and
experience transformation.
Then he sends them out as apostles … people
who would bring transformation to the
world.
the well-formed disciple/apostle
Love God! ! ! ! Love neighbor, enemy
Via Contemplativa! ! Via Activa
Good heart! ! ! ! Good works
Trust!! ! ! ! Obey
Transforming (1)! ! Transforming (2)
Disciple! ! ! ! Apostle
“interior castle”! ! ! kingdom of God
godliness! ! ! ! otherliness
the well-formed disciple
patient kind not envious doesn’t boast not proud not rude
not self-seeking not easily angered no record of wrongs doesn’t
delight in evil rejoices with truth always protects always trusts
always hopes always perseveres never fails
There must be ongoing transformation at every
level:
Economic, political,
social, familial,
community, artistic,
ecological, legal,
business, military,
scientific,
educational, etc.
How are disciples formed?
Through personal practices.
___public worship ___solitude ___sabbath ___eucharist ___silence
___study ___spiritual direction
___practicing God’s presence ___prayer journaling ___fixed-hour prayer ___contemplative prayer
___service ___submission ___simplicity ___feasting/fasting ___pilgrimage ___self-denial
___identifying with Jesus ___reconciliation
___giving ___confessing sin ___reciting creeds
How are apostles formed?
Through missional practices.
___forgiving ___hospitality ___praying for healing ___not judging ___confronting evil ___serving
___listening ___associating with the lowly
___holy kiss ___speaking truth in love
___neighborliness ___loving enemies
___preferring poor ___speaking for justice ___proclaiming good news in word and deed
___giving to poor ___throwing parties for poor ___walking to other side of street to serve
___giving ___encouragement ___empathy
… the church is the community that joins God for global
transformation on every level …
It is a community of transforming individuals who participate with God in the transformation of the
world: the coming of the Kingdom of God.
Spiritual formation is the development of people who are
agents of God’s healing …
Agents of peace, reconciliation, creativity, courage, patience,
urgency, generosity, solidarity with the poor and oppressed, truth-
telling …
Working out the dynamic tension …
Social movements:
Confront social institutions, call for change
Social institutions:
Conserve gains made by previous social
movements
Oppose current social movements
1. Adopt Jesus and the gospel of kingdom as your primary message
2. Read and preach Scripture from a Christ/gospel focused- perspective.
(Tent, not flat or tilted)
3. Learn your environmental address.
4. Learn your social context ... study, but especially get out and
ask.
5. Speak to government and civil society leaders
6. Develop a theology of movements, institutions, and
communities.
7. Develop a range of simple, doable, durable practices and
projects for people to get involved with.
8. Make space for people to issue
calls to form new mission groups.
9. celebrate small wins
10. Keep it spiritual ...
watch language, monitor love for enemies, pray, reconcile, surprise with acts of kindness, interpret in
light of Scripture.