Category Archives: death

April 11, 2011

Can These Bones Live?

By Keith Anderson



“Mortal, can these bones live?”

This is the question God puts to Ezekiel in our first reading for today as he stands in the middle of a vast valley of dry bones.

To better understand this question and this scene, its helpful to know the some of the history behind it.  Ezekiel was a prophet, who lived around 2600 years ago – at a time when Israel was failing and its religious institutions were faltering from corruption.  Ezekiel was among those calling the people and priests to repentance and renewed obedience to God.  It didn’t happen.

Then, amidst the disarray and foundering, the Babylonian empire attacked Israel and Jerusalem in particular.  They laid siege to the city of Jerusalem and surrounding area for two years.  During that time, there was famine, disease, and deep despair.  They tortured the residents of Jerusalem and eventually destroyed the city, the Temple, and sent many its people, including Ezekiel and his wife, into exile in Babylon to work in service to the empire.  And it was while in exile in Babylon that Ezekiel’s own wife died.

It was a traumatic, horrifying, devastating time – for Israel and for Ezekiel himself.  This young man – perhaps around 30 years old, destined for priesthood – was thrown into the role of prophet, thrown into exile – losing his wife, his home, his Temple.

And so, these bones at his feet are all the people of Israel who died in this time. These bones were his people.  These bones were his life laid bare before him. Continue reading

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in death, despair, ezekiel, lent, resurrection

November 15, 2010

Planting Our Tree

By Keith Anderson

Every November, as we near the end of the church year, which will conclude next week with the celebration of Christ the King, our lectionary turns to thoughts, images, and stories about the end of the world.

And so, today we hear Malachi warning about the Day of the Lord approaching like a burning oven.  In Luke, Jesus speaks of how in the final days, the great stones of the Temple will be torn down – and how those days will be filled with persecution, false prophets, imprisonment, strange signs, and natural disaster.

In reading these and other texts this week, it occurred to me just how much of the Bible is about what to do when the world is or seems to be falling apart.  Take our second reading.

Thessalonians

As Paul writes, some members of the Thessalonian community, because of their belief that the end of the world and Christ’s return were immanent, had stopped working and were living off the generosity of other members of the community.  Jesus was coming back, so, they thought, there was no need to work – or, if we read between the lines – they were probably using it as an excuse.  Paul warns them bluntly that if they want to eat, they need to work.

Paul tells to them not to be idle, to contribute to the life of the community, to imitate Paul, who, when he was with them worked day and night.  He says, “do not grow weary in doing what is right.”  Continue to follow Jesus, taking my example and instructions.

It’s interesting here that Paul does not deny that Christ is coming back.  Paul doesn’t say the end of the world is not near.  Perhaps its a little delayed, but its still coming.  And yet, for the sake of the Christian community, for the sake of the Christian witness, and for the sake of the Gospel, he urges people to get to work.

Planting a Tree

This exchange with the Thessalonians reminds me of a famous quote from Martin Luther, who said, “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” In fact, Luther himself believed that his world was falling apart and the end was near.  He believed the Pope was the anti-Christ written about in the Book of Revelation.  The ground was shifting under everyone’s feet: intellectually, theologically, politically.  His own life was in danger.  And his response?  To plant an apple tree, choosing life, to give life, nurture life, to invest in life, in the face of death.

And it seems to me this is what God did in Jesus.  Continue reading

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in apocalypse, cross, culture, death, despair, hope, suffering, theology of the cross

September 5, 2010

Almost Christian

By Keith Anderson

A new book about youth ministry and the church is getting a lot of attention these days. It’s by Kendra Creasy Dean, a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and a leading expert on youth ministry, and the book is entitled Almost Christian: What the Faith of our Teenagers is Telling the American Church. (See additional links at the end of the post.)

The book is a summary of Dean’s research on the faith lives of teenagers, based on interviews with over 3,000 youth about their views on religion, faith, and God.

She found that, overwhelmingly, teenagers today practice what she calls a “moralistic therapeutic deism.” Dean explains that the teenagers she interviewed feel that “religion helps you [to] feel good and do good, but God pretty much stays out of the way. …you can call on God if you need God to solve a problem, but God’s track record on solving problems is pretty bad.” She says the primary images of God for these teens are as “cosmic therapist” that helps you feel good about yourself, and “divine butler”, someone who comes when called upon but otherwise stays away. She boils his belief system down into these five things:

  1. God exists, God created and watches over the world
  2. God wants us to be good, nice and fair to each other
  3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself
  4. God is not involved except when I need God to solve a problem
  5. Good people go to heaven when they die

Moralistic (do good) therapeutic (feel good) deism (a weak, distant, generalized idea of god).

However, Dean says that before we bemoan or somehow scapegoat our youth, we must first take a hard look at ourselves, because this is the faith that our youth are seeing and hearing from us – from churches and the adults in their lives. She writes, “If this is the God they’re seeing in church, they are right to leave us in the dust. Churches don’t give them enough to be passionate about.” “If teenagers lack an articulate faith, it may be because the faith we show them is too spineless to merit much in the way of conversation.” Ouch.

This probably comes, in part, from our (sometimes desperate) attempt to keep teenagers (and adults) in church. We try to make faith nice and easy, we set the bar low, but youth actually want more. They want a more radical faith, something they can be passionate about, that will challenge them, something that they can grab hold of, something that will grab hold of them…something that could actually, profoundly, change their lives. They are longing for a faith worth living and dying for.

I think we adults want the same thing, don’t we? And yet, and, if we our honest, I think Dean is right, that most of us easily veer into this “moralistic therapeutic diesm,” this “gospel of niceness.” We want a God that makes us feel better, feel safe. And yes, our God does do this and it is a good thing…but not the only thing.

It is “almost Christian,” perhaps “partially Christian.” It is part of the picture, but not the whole thing, and not by far. Continue reading

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in cross, death, discipleship, resurrection, youth

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.