Sunday, July 11, 2010

Striving for Un-American Christianity?

I believe firmly that God’s kingdom knows no division. For the kingdom of God to be in our midst, then, we have to see our allegiance as being to God, not country. This is why I love experiencing the church outside of the US. It is amazing to feel part of the body of Christ in a place you’ve never been before and to realize that connection comes because Christ has made us one. And I think the unity Christ has made for us goes even beyond the church, to all humankind, regardless of their beliefs, and to all of creation. Through Christ, all things are reconciled to God. (Side note: I just finished reading Jesus Before Christianity by South African theologian Albert Nolan, which touches on some of this. Now I am starting his newer book Jesus Today: A Spirituality of Radical Freedom. I am incredibly humbled to think that Nolan will be speaking on 31 July at Koinonia’s Courageous Conversations, which I spoke at last month, and I hope I get to go!)

I’ve been thinking a lot about unity the last couple weeks. First, because everyone is talking about how the World Cup has brought everyone together. And it is true, there has been a beautiful sense of community surrounding the beautiful game and I am sad that the tournament will be over tonight. But, in light of this, I’ve been wrestling lately with what it means to be American. As a Christian, can I be proud to be an American? Certainly, I am thankful for the many gifts and freedoms our country offers. But when I travel abroad, I always get a little sensitive about American-ness, perhaps because “our culture” gets forced on the rest of the world. Hollywood, materialism, pop music, McDonalds—this is not the America I love, but this is the American culture that people see and know. And, unfortunately, so much of the message that people hear coming from the US is saying that everyone should be like us. I certainly do not think that is true—we may have some good things to offer, but other people and cultures and places have so much to offer us. It was for these reasons that I struggled to preach this past Sunday. My assignment for the 4th of July was to preach about soccer and religion in America for our World Cup soccer sermon series. I started with a disclaimer about why I think it problematic to have a “4th of July service” at churches in the US and how church and state at times mix badly in our country. I then used the testimony of US goalkeeper Tim Howard to fit the theme and share a message I felt was faithful to the Gospel.

I am still figuring out where to draw the line with national pride. When I went to see the US play, I struggled to walk through the streets cheering loudly and waving the flag like the rest of the fans. My friend laughed that I was being so sensitive. And, yes, I was taking pictures with "the enemy" just before the game. I certainly felt proud when the US won, but was not too sad when they later lost to Ghana. I guess right now, I just feel like, as a minister of the Gospel, I should emphasize our higher allegiance to God and downplay my own country, whose influence so often is inappropriately large and whose societal values often seem to contradict the way of Christ.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Dislocated Exegesis

Kathy Randall: Lela, Maseno, Kenya
In Chuck Campbell's preaching class, one of our assignments was
dislocated exegesis. Basically it required reading a specific
scripture passage for an hour in a place that you normally wouldn't
read scripture. Given examples were in a bank or hotel lobby, at a
hospital, on a bus, or somewhere that you felt out of place. I read my
passage on the C-1, the main undergrad bus at Duke. I ended up having
to ride three buses, because they kept shutting down the route, and I
thought that it was interesting to read about an outcast, and have to
give up my seat so often.
I had no idea how forceful an actual experience of true dislocation could be.
On Friday, I was sitting in the hospital again, this time supposedly
healthy, waiting for my lab results. Since I was waiting, I got out
something to read. My Bible, of course, it is the easiest to carry,
and I was preaching on Sunday. I began to read 2 Kings 5:1-17, the
healing of Naaman. As I was reading about Naaman, who had to leave his
home to be healed, I realized that I was also away from my own home,
waiting to be seen, as Naaman waited to be healed.
As I preached the passage on Sunday, the girls at the primary school
showed how spirit filled worship can be, and showed me how powerful a
community that lives and worships and praises together can be. I
praise God for those girls, I praise God for the words I received in
preaching, and I praise God for allowing me to see that the lessons I
have been learning are truly essential to all of my work, in every
place I go.
Let me not forget that.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

How Do Your Gardens Grow?



"He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water. And there he lets the hungry live, and they establish a town to live in; they sow fields, and plant vineyards, and get a fruitful yield.” (Ps. 107:35-37)

Coming to South Africa, I was eager to learn how gardens were helping feed the hungry and bring people together to provide for themselves. But, I had no idea there would be so many gardens! On TV last night, I saw that one of South Africa’s Idols winners has a gardening program where he and his family help start gardens at schools and in communities across the country. But what I find even more exciting is that almost every time I go to visit a non-profit organization, gardening is a major part of the work they are doing. Phakamisa, a ministry of Pinetown Methodist, has gardening classes and helps establish community gardens. Hillcrest Aids Centre has a small vegetable garden for their respite centre and has a nursery where they sell plants and they start seedlings for the community gardens started through their granny support groups. Valley Trust has a demonstration garden and teaches permaculture classes. A children’s home in the Valley of 1000 Hills has gardens and they allow community members to grow their own crops on the property that they can then sell. Seth Mokitimi Methodist Seminary is starting a garden to train their pastors so that they will graduate prepared to help keep these beautiful gardens growing and feeding families. It makes me so happy to see the wonderful ways that God can bring people together to tend the earth and experience for themselves the joy of growing food.

It also seems very appropriate that so many faith-based organizations are realizing that the care of people involves caring for the land that will produce the food required to care for the people. It goes back to the covenant seen again and again in the Old Testament—the interconnectedness of relationships between God, land, and people. That said, I am always a little leery of the blessing and cursing language surrounding this covenant in the Old Testament because I think it often gets misused. Reading Psalm 107, one might assume that God punishes us for our sins and blesses us for our good behavior. I do not believe that a God whose mercy is over all things acts in such a way. But I also do not believe that we can say it is all rubbish, for there is truth to be found in these Scriptures.

When I read Ps. 107:17, (“Some were sick through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities endured affliction”) I do not think it means that God makes people sick because they sinned. But, I do think that our sinful ways have caused much sickness. When we pour harmful chemicals on the earth to make food grow bigger or faster or increase yield, we are not honoring God’s good creation. We are acting in greed, thinking we can manipulate the land and improve on what God has given us. The chemicals we’ve used have made us sick with cancer and killed our soil. The unhealthy processed foods we have engineered have given us diabetes and obesity-related health problems. This is a direct result of the sinful ways we have treated the land and our bodies, not honoring them as sacred creations to be cared for with respect. Sadly, many of those with the least resources have suffered the most from these decisions of greedy corporations. They have had no choice but to eat that which was made available, even though it leads to bad health.

But to say that God curses us with these problems makes it seem as if it was God’s desire. I believe that God desires that we carefully tend to the land so that we can receive its abundance. Thus, when we plant gardens and seek to honor God through honoring the natural cycles of creation, we are able to receive this blessing that God intends. This is how we find the blessings described in Psalm 107:35-37. Thanks be to God for the many ways that God’s kingdom is coming to earth in this way!