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Talking about Eucharist - That time I was one of the guests on Rick Lee James' podcast Voices in My Head

2/23/2017

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People ask me what professors do between classes every day. Well . . .

Yesterday I had the privilege of spending an hour with Lisa Michaels, a fellow guest, and Rick Lee James, host of the podcast called Voices in My Head.
Voices In My Head Podcast Episode #198:
The Invitation - The Wesleyan View of the Eucharist with guests
​Lisa Michaels and Matthew Price
February 22, 2017
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(click image to listen)
We talked about the Eucharist from a Wesleyan perspective, Lisa's experience of defining grace, raising children theologically (her daughter sounds brilliant!), and hosting church in the intimate setting of home (getting a little organic church into the conversation!).
I talked a bit (probably too long) about how Eucharistic thinking took root in my life, got filtered through the complexity of life in other places with different voices of authority, and what Eucharist looks like in the church I get to pastor.

​Enjoy. 
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What Is an Organic Church?

2/22/2017

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Two weeks ago in San Antonio, I chaired the Nazarene Organic Church Task Force, an extension of the Evangelism Office for the US/Canada Region. The task force seeks to welcome and connect people being the church in new and unique ways, organically.

One of our task force members, a district superintendent, asked, "So, what exactly is an organic church? If someone asks, what can I tell them?" 

Ideally, the church is simply the church:

a group of believers that meets regularly with a designated leader for worship, discipleship and mission

(denominationally, we add, "and identifies with the Church of the Nazarene").
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There is some fluidity between what someone thinks a church is and what expresses God's presence in our world as His gathered people which sometimes meets in homes, coffee shops, in the break room of a business, under a tree, or in a soup kitchen. The emphasis is always threefold--worship, discipleship, and mission--the presence of these functions with a designated leader to guide the work make this gathering a recognizable church.

​Here is our definition of organic church includes the previous definition as well as:
An organic church is the natural, relational expression of God’s mission of multiplying His people in the local culture.
What do you think?

We are re-tooling our website to welcome and connect organic leaders and churches across the United States and Canada: www.organicnazarene.org 

Soon we will have information about organic church workshops and a luncheon at this summer's Nazarene General Assembly in Indianapolis.
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Commentary on Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18 Epiphany 7A for A Plain Account website

2/22/2017

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A Plain Account is an a deeply rich and accessible resource for preaching through the weekly passages of the Revised Common Lectionary. Here is the link for my contribution in Epiphany 7A (text below):

In the center of the Jewish Torah is a book of worship called Leviticus. Instruction for the worship of Yahweh is found alongside guidance for a new way of living. The ritual of seeking God’s face becomes fully apparent in the ethos of how one lives together as God’s people.


In this esoteric book of worship practices, which seem so foreign to modern sensitivities, there is found what has been called the Holiness Code (chaps. 17-26), as strange as it is difficult. Nevertheless, it depicts a way for God’s people to be sure they are as ready as their priests for worship.

Leviticus 19 picks up the theme of neighborly love as the responsible posture of faithful worship and living. By the way, this is the only place Leviticus is found in the three year cycle of the Revised Common Lectionary.

In the holiness tradition, Leviticus 19:2 is a favorite proof-text: “Be holy because, I the LORD your God, am holy.” It is astounding to think this ancient code gives weight to the teaching of a relatively new historical movement that teaches human lives might also be sanctified, set apart, made holy. It is mostly a supporting text, however, extracted from its canonical context. Usually it is tied to Matthew 5:48, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (NIV).

According to early Nazarene dogmatic theologian H. Orton Wiley, this text is cited as a precursor to the New Testament command found in 1 Peter 1:16 as an example of biblical holiness that is “real and positive, not merely typical and ceremonial.” [Christian Theology, II, 444].

Wiley is making a point at the very beginning of the section on entire sanctification in his summa theologica.
There is some internal re-negotiation of reality, a re-ordering of what is not yet into what very well could be, not limited to external evidentiary proof for what happens in someone’s life when God makes a human being holy, a re-imaging of the divine intention at creation. It sounds as if Wiley questions the efficacy of ritual purity in the radiant light of a renewed ethic. What if there was a complete change in one’s ethic through participating in the ritual action? (Milgrom, 222). What if the ethos can only offer entry by the means of the ritual process?


This is the kind of inward spiritual change that turns one’s hands upward (in a gesture of sacrificial, and ritualistic, offering?) toward God, anastrophe (= upturning), a favorite term in First and Second Peter, translated as both conduct and conversation represented in a renewed way of living (cf 1:15, 18, 2:12, 3:1, 2, 16; 2 Peter 2:7, 3:11).

The act of worship begins such a turnaround in perspective that the next move of obedience must be a step in the direction of faithfulness. It is rather clear why the ceremony of declaring Yahweh as God, that Law and Gospel are not as far apart as one might have been led to believe, and that ritual action should not be separated from faithful living.

Leviticus 19 is not just a nebulous insertion of “various laws,” but rather pointed descriptions of divinely-motivated and others-oriented love of a kind that flows from faithful worship.

The first part of the chapter (vv. 3-8) contains an almost identical recitation of the Decalogue (Exodus 20:1-7) in honoring one’s ethical heritage (“mother and father”) as much as ritualistic importance of sacred time (“observe my Sabbaths”) in verse 3. One’s ritual participation in the temple reaches forth into living action in daily relationships at home and elsewhere.

There is also elaboration in the early part of this chapter on how to bring about community through temple worship (“fellowship offering” NIV, “offering of well-being” NRSV, “peace sacrifices” zebach shelamim [v 5]) and in leaving part of one’s harvest for the marginalized (verse 9-10: ani poor, afflicted / ger, foreign immigrant) (cf. The Book of Ruth). The actions of God’s people are tied directly to the identity (“name”) of their object of worship: “I am the LORD your God.” (vv 3, 12).

The structure of the chapter shows intentional liturgical connections throughout in the refrain: “I am the LORD” (19:3, 4, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 25, 28, 30, 31, 32, 34, 36, 37). The emphasis for each section is:

Taking care [=shamar] of the Law in worship and ethical living [vv.1-10]
Loving one’s neighbor [vv.11-18]
Laws of mixture [vv.19-22]
Laws of planting (=orlah) [vv. 23-25]
Laws of against idolatrous worship [vv. 26-31]
Respect for the marginalized and easily forgotten [vv. 32-37]

Neighborly love is the theme for the bulk of this week’s passage in verses 11-18. The passage includes four sections stamped by the Author of the commands: “I am the LORD” (vv. 12, 14, 16b, 18). Each section creates a composite image of a good neighbor.

Verses 11-12. Honesty is the first signal of neighborliness. To steal from a “fellow citizen” [=amith] is tied together with distorting the worship of Yahweh made up of hollow words with little internal coherence and integrity [=chalal has an Aramaic origin “to hollow out” here in Hebrew as “making profane”].

Verses 13-14. Safeguarding the well-being of the other is positive framing for not exploiting those near to us [=rea neighbor]. Simply honoring the personhood of those having less material wealth than oneself is enough. The defense of the “neighbor,” “hired hand,” “blind,” and “deaf” might also be required of those seeking to live faithfully. It is as if God requires His people to be a “blessing to the nations.” (Genesis 12:1-4). Here also are echoes of Jesus’ teachings in parables and sign-acts in the Gospels.

Verses 15-16. Seeking justice in an equitable society is the responsibility of everyone in the community. It might be easy to show preference for immediate family members or those from one’s nation of birth or for those of my political stripe. There is no room for partiality and favoritism in God’s Reign. Any imbalance in the systems of human government and artificial distinctions within cultures are no excuse for the faithful followers of Yahweh then, as it is with the people of God gathered as the Church now. “There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). God is judge, and reminds His people to live justly as a witness of divine character at work in creation.

Verses 17-18. Openness in how one relates to others puts into place the final piece of neighborliness. Proverbs 27:5 restates these verses well: “Better is open rebuke than hidden love.” The very first mention of “church” in the Gospels emphasizes the importance of dealing openly with wrongs that need to be made right again (Matthew 18:15-22). For Jesus, the entire moral code of the faith that bears His name can be summed up by these five words: “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:34-40, esp. 39-40).

These words from Leviticus encouraging neighborliness are situated in the context of the true, unadulterated worship of Yahweh. It is evidence not only that humanity is called to live toward God but also that God comes toward us in perfect love (cf. Matthew 5:48).

Here are some closing insights on the divine source of holiness through liturgy lived out and exemplified by today’s passage in Leviticus 19 from Ephraim Radner (2008, pp203, 204):


“The unbounded God provides his creatures time and space in which to distinguish his gifts through obedience to his commands, thereby granting them the intimacy of his otherwise inaccessible being

. . . Holiness is a calling to be with God where God is and where God goes -- and his own going, to us in our creation and redemption, is all that is holy.”

Helpful Resources Cited or Otherwise:


Freeman, Tzvi. “What Is a Mitzvah? The State of Being Connected.” Chabad.org.    http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1438516/jewish/Mitzvah.htm. Accessed February 13, 2017.

Fretheim, Terence. 1996.The Penteteuch. Nashville: Abingdon Press.
 
Gane, Roy. 2004. Leviticus, Numbers. The NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Milgrom, Jacob. 2000. Leviticus 17-22. The Anchor Bible Commentary. Yale University Press.

Radner, Ephraim. 2008. Leviticus. Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible. Brazos Press.

Wenham, Gordon J. 1979. The book of Leviticus. New International Commentary on the Old Testament. W. B. Eerdmans.

Wiley, H. Orton. 1952. Christian Theology. Volume 2. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press.
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The "Sweet Spot" for What It Means to Be a Missionary

2/4/2017

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Here's a question from a friend who is a missionary. I received the email a few weeks ago. I just got around to responding today. I have taken out or altered information that would identify this person or where they serve even though I don't think there is anything critical or off-putting in the question or its asking.
​"I have some questions for you, just for my own information. I think it was you who said that the United States was now considered a mission field by the Church of the Nazarene. I have also heard of missionaries from [our part of the world] that are going to the U.S. to be missionaries. Why do we send missionaries from the US to other countries and vice a versa? Why don't we just keep those that are called in their own countries to do the work that a missionary from another country might do? I do not consider the [country I live in] a mission field as they have very large churches here in [the capital city] that are completely staffed and run by nationals. I understand [our] education and credentials have brought [us] here to fulfill a requirement by the [national] Government's [--] policies. [We are] filling a void as there are not many [local or regional workers] with the credentials needed. But other countries where we have nationals that could run the districts, regional offices, etc., why do we continue to send American Missionaries? Just some things I have been thinking about."
Great question, sorry it’s taken so long to get back to you.
 
The goal of missions for most of the 20th century has been focused on the “three-self” formula from early missiologist Henry Venn, the son and grandson of prominent evangelical leaders and philanthropists in 19th century England. (Henry's son, John, a logician created the Venn diagram.)
 
The "three self formula" considers the establishment of a local church or group of churches to be complete when it is self-governing, self-financing, and self-reproducing. Later on, missiologists added self-theologizing as an additional criterion. This way of evaluating church development in global missions was popularized by the Lausanne Conference of 1974.

In Nazarene terms, the three-self formula looks like this:

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Portrait of Henry Venn (1796 - 1873). From Memoir of Henry Venn, B.D. by William Knight (1882). Public Domain.
​Self-governing: District Organization (advisory boards, assemblies, and auxiliaries (discipleship, youth, mission education)

​
Self-financing: Raising funds for rolling out a vision for multiplying churches and makingdisciples, also assisting the poor through compassionate ministries,buying properties, constructing buildings, paying full-time ministers, and contributing to the World Evangelism Fund to help other parts of the world

Self-reproducing: catching a vision for making disciples and multiplying churches through seeing their context through God’s eyes and shining the light into spiritual darkness

Self-theologizing: educating pastors and lay people to understand Scripture and think through the difficult questions about God, the church, and the world. So, there is a strong system of discipleship at all levels as well as a well-regarded and well-funded system of theological education in place through centralized schools or decentralized training on the districts
​All this means is that outside missionaries are necessary until a church can do all three or four of these through local leadership and initiative. So, missionaries are the first to bring the message, and then fill gaps until local work is viable on its own. Missionaries should plan to always work themselves out of a job.
 
The problem is local churches, at home or abroad, do not become proficient at all four "selves" at the same time. There might be enough local leadership to be self-governing in church development but they are not yet able to finance all the necessary work to be self-financing. They might not have enough local initiative to be self-reproducing so they need a push or impetus from the outside even though they are doing well in connecting with a local system of education that self-theologizes by developing teachers of pastors.
 
So, in a nutshell, mission is the church moving outward. This means missionaries from the US going to the Philippines, Koreans going to Africa, Brazilians going to the US, etc. All this work (the missio Dei: God sending into the world) will last until the work is done and God’s Reign has finally come.

What is a missionary?

David Wesley, a Nazarene missiologist, asked local church leadership around the world to define mission from the field. Wesley shared this research to a gathering of north American church leaders on September 16, 2016 at Shepherd Community in Indianapolis. This is what he discovered from those sending and receiving missionaries: 

"What mission should be:
1) To establish church where it doesn’t exist
2)To change society (agents of transformation)
​3) To increase the number of believers"

​What it should NOT be: "To a
dministrate the ongoing efforts of the church"
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Missionary is found in the sweet spot of being sent by the church for a local purpose in unfamiliar territory.
And, so a missionary should be: "sent by the church . . . with a purpose . . . by walking into unfamiliar territory." Missionaries are the ones in the center--"the sweet spot"--of the Venn diagram above. 

Outside of the center, it gets fuzzy

Now, here is where it gets fuzzy, and sometimes difficult. Among Nazarenes, we have people on missionary contract or paid through WEF that are not by strictly “missionaries”: the first ones to a place unreached by the Good News or strategizing about how to expand into new places. They may very well be "sent" with "local intentionality" but very much at home, working in familiar cultures, language, and customs. They did not have to cross a border into "unfamiliar" territory. They are office workers, finance people, teachers, administrators. I think the leaders in the Global Mission Office and the regional offices would agree with me. I agree with them on this point: these positions might not be missionaries per se, but they are the “engine” behind the mission. 
​The apostolic missionaries entering "unfamiliar territory" cannot do their work without these other folks helping it along as support staff. They will be missionaries until the local church structure can "self-finance" this role for itself. In every case, the goal should be, and usually is, to transfer responsibility to local initiative (as quickly as possible) within the structure of the three/four-self formula. The missionary support structure should stay in place as long as it is needed, and no longer. An exception might be cross-cultural workers that are invited to a localized assignment as co-laborers and colleagues in the mission of God.
I know there are denominational discussions right now about how to define the work of a missionary. I don't really want to step into this discussion directly or interfere with its development. Things seem to be going well. I do, however, want to look at the various nuances of the Venn diagram above, though that are pertinent to this discussion
Figure A. Support Staff
The church worker lives and works in a place that is familiar, maybe even their home country. They are support staff for the missionaries, and part of the engine that propels the mission. The work they do is still valuable and necessary to the missio Dei. Local oversight is necessary, especially in hiring and managing local workers within the administrative structure of the church.
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Figure A
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Figure B
Figure B. Remote Commuter
Church workers without a local purpose may still be sent to live in unfamiliar territory. They have a home-base or office in a particular country that is accessible and affordable but work in several countries. Local oversight is not necessary as long as the worker does not have direct local responsibility and does not rely on local resources for their work. Cultural adaptation is still required,  so local resources and counsel cannot be ignored.
Figure C. Bivocational Ex-pat 
Christians live in a cross-cultural environment with a local purpose but not necessarily sent by the church. The church has little to no direct oversight. The primary role for this worker is locally defined and funded outside the church. Any work for the church is above and beyond expectations for this worker. Their contribution might be valuable but needs to be considered non-essential since the employer may move them even though the church work is not completed.
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Figure C
I will let this go for now. I am still working on these definitions and their ramifications for the global church as well as the church locally. 
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