“Do you use non-sacred Christmas music in December worship?“

Here was my reply & conversation with @Clayfire about it on Twitter:

Below is my longer response that I posted on their Facebook page:

I didn’t mean to sound contentious with my statement. But the topic of secular/sacred in general is often poorly understood & spoken about. What makes something sacred or Christian?
So I would say in regards to what makes non-sacred ‘holiday music’ have the potential to be transformed into the ‘sacred Christmas’ is this: These songs are the soundtrack to our lives during December, the time of year when we are most mindful of thanksgiving and love towards another. We are thinking of our loved ones, trying to find the perfect gift, celebrating over plates of tasty treats made with love.
Those songs then become associated with all those good things, while ‘the reason for the season’ is Jesus, it is also an expressed love towards those around us…fulfilling both parts of the law loving God & neighbor.
These songs bring this together, and just because the words don’t explicitly speak of Jesus they are doing something very Jesus-like in what they do.

Agree?

I would add to this that we mustn’t simply use lyrics as the only criteria for claiming sacred/Christian or not. Many objects and events are filled with the divine sacredness while not explicitly speaking of or being named as religious. I feel these songs are capable of doing something because of the context they are experienced in. I’m also thinking of the writing of Gianni Vattimo in regards to the secularization of Christmas being a praised thing because it meant that the underlying currents of Christmas have permeated all of society. I would also admit that this is a very idealized image of the holidays and the reality would speak very different, but I don’t think that completely dismisses my thought on this this.

Furthermore I would like imagine how we as the church could do this transformation of secular & sacred throughout the whole of the calendar.

It seems our basic informational requests are now mediated through computer applications. Instead of asking someone who you would consider to be knowledgeable on a subject for help, you first search the web for the answer. This has become so pervasive that we don’t even see the shift that has happened, until someone like a family member calls you requesting your help. Yesterday my mother texted me about a problem she was having with her phone. My instinct was to simply go to a web browser and do a keyword search for the problem. The first result I clicked gave me an answer, totaling less than 30 seconds of labor.

The question I was asking myself after I had resolved the issue was, why didn’t she just do this herself. It seems the answer lies in the fact that there has been a cultural shift that has rapidly shifted the way we seek answers to our problems. And while I would not enjoy entertaining consider losing the gains allowed by the internet, what I would ask is what have we lost as a result. The internet result I received was impersonal; I couldn’t even tell you where I found it or who wrote the information without looking at my browser history. Maybe I should of left a comment, thanking them for answer but is that really much better.

But my mother on the other hand did receive a personal interaction, she did further and deepen the relationship I have with her by asking for help. I wonder what a generation that relies on google more than a friend for help is losing.

My informal analysis would say that google is helpful for basic information, but when it comes to interpreting those elements, creating more complex elements out of those basic informational blocks then real personal relations are required. When you are stuck, when you aren’t sure how to go forward, it seems that people not mediated through web searches is required.

Further questions arise to this rise of web based education & learning. We are a long way from the world where one learned the family business from early in one’s childhood. Instead today, when we want to learn to cook, rarely is it next to one’s mother learning the passed on recipes of the family. Instead we google it, finding a recipe & watching youtube clips of strangers walking you through the steps. Instead of learning to tie a tie from one’s father we search for graphics & video clips to learn. Instead our experience of learning & personal growth being tied to relationships, building the history which is so vital for any relationship, we miss out on because it is through disconnected web searches.

Of late I’ve been taking this question and moving into the realm of church life. What do we do when no one needs to come to a physical building to learn about Jesus? What place does that building then have? What’s the point of our Sunday gatherings? What does discipleship look like when it isn’t information/knowledge centered & focused? I feel there is something of value in the gathering, but it seems our understanding of why it is valuable needs to be reevaluated. It seems we need to do some serious reflection upon the central role for the church because while we are trying to do the same thing (announcing the kingdom come, displaying the crucified God, making disciples to follow him…) for people to get there it will need to look very different. We don’t live in a world where information is limited and community is centralized & predictable. Instead we live in a world where everything is changing no one is staying anywhere very long, community is only portrayed {unrealistically} on TV but rarely lived out well but where information is flowing out of every device we interact with.

So what does the church look like in a world where information flows freely but people rarely truly engage with other people beyond the commodified economic exchanges of the day.

Anyone who has grown up within such a tradition—where salvation as a specific proclamation especially in fearful response to eternal torment is highly regarded—will smile and possibly laugh at the many times they and their friends walked down to the altar call on a Sunday morning. We smile and laugh and wonder why we were so silly to do that same act over and over.

But I can’t help but think it makes perfect sense.

When you place such a high value on that one act. When all too often the only participatory-responsive act anyone is called to is an altar call. When the central message of any sermon always comes back to the proclamation. Then what do you expect?

Moving forward we need offer people opportunities to respond which fit both the new and old believer alike. We need to find varied ways for people to respond to the Call in just as many varied ways as their are people. One of the great heritages of American Christianity is the revival. We have mastered the service of gathering multitudes into a swooning atmosphere. We have learned well have to draw an announcement of dramatic change. What we haven’t learned yet though is what to do the next day, week, year later. We don’t know how to make our liturgical structures form to anything beyond a confession, a this I believe. And we shouldn’t be surprised to have a people who are never getting any further in their faith unless we are showing them what that looks like and how to respond through our gatherings together.

God wanted me to ask you what you are learning. Not what you are learning from books or from other people,and not what you are learning to share with others. But what are you learning from God? No reply needed..just being obedient to ask the question.

There is much I could say, but I will focus on the nature of how we learn from God. While I can understand what this person is trying to say—implicitly making a distinction between the knowledge & wisdom of man compared to that of God, implying that there is some fundamental difference between them—I think they are missing a deep point about the nature of both of the physical & spiritual. They are not so far split from each other that we face an either/or choice.

One of the main focuses of Jesus’ teachings was on the Kingdom of God. But what was (and still is) so important about that message is that it is here now, it isn’t something we have to wait for but that we can grasp it today. A substantial shift occurs in theology with Jesus; we now have an incarnational faith. While a select few were granted access to the presence of God in the times of the Temple, Jesus promises us all that access.

So where do we find that access, where is the kingdom among us today?

As James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” Or as the author of Colossians writes in chapter one verses 16 & 17, “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

What I hear in these verses is that I don’t have to look beyond this earth. I don’t have to escape this physicality to find God, to hear his voice, because the imprint of Jesus is upon everything. It is about simply about seeing and listening (let those who have ears hear let & those who have eyes see), learning from God is simply about awakening to the world around you. There are divine messages in all of life, because it is the very fabric of the divine.

I think this would closely follow the thoughts of two 20th century Jewish thinkers Martin Buber & Emmanuel Levinas, who both argued for us finding the divine within the Other. Which reflecting on how we are made in the image of God, seeing that image in another person is a restorative act in-itself, a little work of the “thy kingdom come thy will be done…”

So what am I learning?

I’m learning grace from the stranger who helped me.
I’m learning love from the simple look of my wife.
I’m learning patience from raising two daughters.
I’m learning wisdom through how I handle relationships.
I’m learning about the nature of God through the wisdom of others.
I’m learning hope from the prophets of old & of today.
I’m learning faith from a body of believers who believe that their church is meaningful.

And I’m learning that my time of prayer & meditation on the scriptures is (possibly most importantly) about preparing my heart & mind to be able see and hear when all these other things are happening.

Being the {nontraditional} worship leader, I have tried to imagine what it is that is missing for the worship for us. Why is it not engaging for me, while it’s extremely engaging for many others. Which has led to the question of what is the purpose of worship, what kind of effect should it be having upon us. What exactly is it that we are doing, gathering each week; singing songs, drinking coffee, listening to someone talk. As a church we’ve talked about our gatherings intentionally being both emotionally engaging and intellectually stimulating. This mostly plays out as the sermon being the intellectual stimulation and the music being the emotional engagement. This seems to be a poor division for many reasons. It limits the possibility for all the aspects of the gathering. It also doesn’t reflect well how differently people learn, grow, and interact with other people and god.

This then leads to the question of how to actually do it. How to transform our worship to be holistic, where it isn’t separated between elements of experience but rather leads to an immersive experience involving the complete person. I think part of the solution is creating a more balanced service, i.e., music & sermon taking a lesser focus or rather more integrative of the whole. Another aspect is drawing the spectators away from inactivity into an engaged participant role.

One of the questions or rebuttals I have got is that people are getting something out of the worship gatherings as they are now, so who are we to change something that is working for someone else. Who are we to question or change one’s experience of the divine. Essentially this is the ‘if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.’

I’ve struggled with how best to answer this before, but I think Jesus might have an answer for this. We find in the gospels (Matt. 18 & Luke 15) the parable of the lost sheep. This is the story of the good shepherd leaving the 99 to go after the 1. In this parable Jesus is highlighting the fact that Jesus’ message isn’t focused on those who think they are already in, but rather it is for those who are on the outside, excluded, left out, discarded.

I think what I’m in search of is a worship gathering that connects with the 1 rather than the 99. There are 99 places {or maybe more} around town where you can experience a worship service similar to what we’re doing, the same songs, sermons, coffee & donuts, meeting in stores fronts, but Vintage started because the expression that we needed couldn’t be housed anywhere else. So Vintage started to open the possibility for something that couldn’t be done somewhere else. So while our theology and the mission of our church might be different than many churches, I don’t think our worship gatherings reflect that difference {at least as well as it could}.

This is something Robb and I have worked on for the last year. We have made many changes, adding or taking away many different elements of the gatherings. But it seems the next step on that journey is on the horizon. When Robb started Vintage, he knew it wouldn’t be the biggest but he knew he could make it the most authentic. I think it is time to take that message and apply to our worship gatherings; to make a gathering that is authentic to the fabric of who we are. And while we might feel like we partly there, we haven’t fully arrived.

The quest is to transform our gatherings into a  form that is engaging, holistic, and especially authentic to the vision and voice of Vintage.

In the coming weeks we will be experimenting with our form of worship, we will trying different ways of engaging with the message that Paul described in the book of Romans. During this time, please be open to the different forms. This is us experimenting, searching for deeper richer ways to express the gospel and open new ways for us to respond. The purpose is never to be cool or simply exciting. It isn’t about a flash in the pan, but always about creating space for us all to have a transformative experience because of an encounter with the living God. I would love to get honest feedback about what works or especially what doesn’t work for you. 

If you aren’t familiar with Mark’s work. He has worked out of San Francisco for some years now, trying to create a way of living out the Christian faith that’s rooted heavily on living out the example and commands of Jesus. He has started a network of folks who are actively looking & listening to scriptures and then most importantly putting the idea into their life. He calls these spiritual experiments.

The book is a divided into two parts. The first part lays the theological groundwork. It is a reset button of sorts, helping us get out of our default positions where knowledge and actions are divided, where spiritual formation is divided from one’s service or ministry. Scandrette’s main thesis is showing how spiritual formation happens best through practice.

Most anyone who talks about discipleship, has 1 on 1 or a small group studying the Bible as their first image. Scandrette sees this model as broken because it fails to focus on getting us living by the commands instead of just studying them. So the centralizing element of Scandrette’s experiments, as he calls them, is to get people trying to live out what Jesus is saying. This isn’t a Pharisee legalism but rather is the belief that the lived experience of trying to practice the way of Jesus is transformative and spiritually maturing in a way that simple study with vague application points seems to miss.

But what is so compelling is that you find yourself on every page thinking, why am I not doing this{!}. And what is so great about the book are the resources he has included. He has included exercises and experiments to try at the end of each chapter, practical graspable ways of taking the idea and doing something with it. There are also beautifully written prayers that Mark and others from his community have written that he shares with us. The book is written to get leaders to lead in this practice focused way and so there is time spent describing how leading and organizing these groups centered on action are different than other groups.

I’ve found this book to be a great resource to the question of how to get people more involved in substantive change in their life. I look forward to taking Mark’s ideas forward within my faith community this Spring. Hopefully out of that time we will have stories just as compelling as the ones Mark has witnessed to.

To Creator, obedience
To Creation, service
To each other, community
In all things, love, in all things love

With possessions, simplicity
For life, prayer
In our world, creativity
In all things, love, in all things love

Make us agents of your healing & justice
To weep with those who suffer
To speak for our sisters & brothers
Whose voices can not be heard
Of love’s triumph over greed
Spending ourselves for the captive
Praying that more liberators will be sent
Until every slave is free.

Because…Vintage…we are…
Created to be creative
We enact our destiny
Embracing the energy of the Spirit
to risk making beauty with our whole lives.

Amen

*adapted from prayers found in Mark Scandrette’s book Practicing the Way of Jesus.

There will be {optional} time afterwards where you can stay and talk about your commitment and/or struggle with keeping time in your life to stop and listen in the stillness.

This is an open invitation to all who interested. We will start September 13th.

A Vision of the Blessed Cisneros

In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the river Chebar, the heavens were opened, and I, Cisneros, saw visions of God.

As I looked, a stormy wind came out of the north: a great cloud with brightness around it and fire flashing forth continually, and in the middle of the fire, something like gleaming amber. In the middle of it was something like four living creatures. Each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot; and they sparkled like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands and on each hand there were four eyes. The four had the face of a human being, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle; such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each creature had two wings, while two covered their bodies. Each moved straight ahead; wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went. In the middle of the living creatures there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like torches moving to and fro among the living creatures; the fire was bright, and lightning issued from the fire. The living creatures darted to and fro, like a flash of lightning.

Over the heads of the living creatures there was something like a dome, shining like crystal, spread out above their heads. When they moved, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of mighty waters, like the thunder of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army; when they stopped, they let down their wings. And there came a voice from above the dome over their heads; when they stopped, they let down their wings.

And above the dome over their heads there was something like a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was something that seemed like a human form. Upwards from what appeared like the loins I saw something like gleaming amber, something that looked like fire enclosed all round; and downwards from what looked like the loins I saw something that looked like fire, and there was a splendor all round. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Sun and Stone.

When I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of someone speaking.

Thus spoke the Voice.

This woman whom you see coming towards you, this man who is passing by in the street, this beggar whom you hear calling, all are for you objects—of that there is no doubt.

Always attend that in the reality of everyday life the Other appears to you. In order to understand it you must question more exactly this ordinary appearance of the Other in the field of your perception; this ordinary appearance holds hidden within it the fundamental relation that is the mystical union, if we only look.

You are in a public park, Not far away there is a lawn and along the edge of that lawn there are benches. A man passes by those benches. You see this man; You apprehend him as an object and at the same time as a man. What does this signify? What do it mean to assert that this man is a object?

It means you have missed the fundamental relation.

If we go further, you will realize at each instant the Other is looking at you. He will be found looking when there is a rustling of branches, or the sound of a footstep followed by silence, or the slight opening of a shutter, or a light movement of a curtain. During an attack men who are crawling through the brush apprehend as a look to be avoided, not two eyes, but a white farm-house which is outlined against the sky at the top of the hill.

Now the bush, the farmhouse are not the look; they only represent the eye, for the eye is not at first apprehended as a sensible organ of vision but as a support for the look.

Know that we all are already eyes.

It is never when eyes are looking at you that you can find them beautiful or ugly, that you can remark of their color. The Other’s look hides his eyes; he seems to go in front of them.

The look which the eyes manifest, no matter what kind of eyes they are, is a pure reference to yourself. What you apprehend immediately when you hear the branches crackling behind you is not that there is someone there; it is that you are vulnerable, that you have a body which can be hurt, that You occupy a place and that you can not in any case escape from the space in which you are without defense—in short, that you are seen.

At that instant, darkness became light, light became darkness, form became shapeless, and that which is shapeless took form. At that moment of chaos and order, Wisdom’s vision departed and Cisneros was left alone and naked in the wilderness.

The Sacred Word for our Guidance.