Pastor Dan Wilburn's Blog

Eat This Book

danw.lakeland@gmail.com — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:03:00 GMT

The question was asked, "If you only could eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?"

"Turkey sandwich."

His answer was as quick and deliberate as a gavel rap. "No question about it, turkey sandwich."

I was thinking about the Bible, the Lord's Table and the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer's petition to g-d after the Eucharist...

Eternal God, heavenly Father, you have graciously accepted us as living members of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, and you have fed us with spiritual food in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood. Send us now into the world in peace, and grant us strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The entire Breaking of the Bread is washed over with edible language...

Alleluia. Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. The gifts of God for the People of God. Take them in remembrance that Christ died for you, and feed on him in your hearts by faith, with thanksgiving.

The Body of Christ, the bread of heaven.

The Blood of Christ, the cup of salvation.

I love the sacrament of the Lord's Table. I believe the metaphor of food and drink are wonderfully confusing - eat Jesus' body? drink Jesus' blood?

It is like this: It is like when you drop your new ice cream cone on the ground. You want to pick it up and eat it but - yuck! Now this heavenly Jesus is defiled by a crash to earth. Pick it up, eat it. Fortunately our symbols are quite edible: good bread and wine (or lame grape juice in Lakeland's case). Earthly EDIBLE food of heaven is very intentional. We are supposed to think, "Hey, it's only bread and wine. Don't try and tell me it's Jesus' actual body and blood." Of course it isn't real body and blood. But what if we are eating "grace" or "the presence of Jesus"? The right perspective is not 'Jesus' body and blood is here in the bread and wine,' but rather 'food is spiritual' -- if a shared meal with good friends is more than mere food - it is social, then food is spiritual, yes? The raw symbol becomes bigger than its self. Therefore, it is NOT just bread and wine.

How tangible, how earthy, how human and yet transcendent - how mystical. Body and Blood: take, eat.

Now for the other Communion Food: The Bible. The Bible is not a sacrament of the church, but it is a sacred food -- our only food, no question about it. Eat this book. If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life what would it be? The Bible.

Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long... How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Psalm 119:97,103)

Beyond inspiration and "infallibility" (and certainly beyond 'inerrancy') the Bible is like food for the soul. When I used to hear "Thy word is sweeter than honey" I thought, "I dunno - it's just a bunch of morals, character qualities - boring." Now I think of the Bible as story and a conversation with g-d. I read it like I read The Hobbit. I want to figure out how it ends up where it ends up.

It's food to me. Daily we eat it, digest it, build the body with it. Real Food, Real Drink - like bread and wine, the Bible is food for the soul.

Take the little book and eat it - Revelation of John, 10:9

Sometimes delicious, sometimes bitter, the Bible speaks into our complex//basic lives. Consume it, feast on it, drink it down, like the Lord's Table, the one Meal.

Back from China and John the Baptizer

danw.lakeland@gmail.com — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:42:00 GMT

Okay - confession: this is one of my most favorite dates - it is John the Baptist Day, the day the church remembers John the Baptist. Why this date? Think about it: what is the date? June 24th. Now remember this quote from John the Baptizer: "He must become greater; I must become less." (Gospel of John 3:30)

Jesus has become more popular than The Baptizer. John's disciples quiz John about Jesus' popularity... "everyone is going to him." John replies, "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. ...Jesus must increase, I must decrease." The Prophet John is only a pointer to Jesus, a prophetic voice announcing the coming King and his kingdom. Elijah has come and spoke. Now it is time for him to decrease, to be taken... beheaded. Jesus speaks highly of John - "what did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind - nothing? A man dressed in finery? A man in a palace? No I tell you! There is no one greater than John in the kingdom of heaven. But -- but -- even the least of those in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." (Matthew 11)

Oh that I could be like John! Jesus the king is born on December 25th. So the church places John's day as far from Jesus' birthday as possible. One hundred and eighty days opposite of Jesus, June 25th - this is John's Day. Truth be told, I think I look forward to John's Day more than Christmas. Why? I must become less, He must become greater in my life. I feel more attraction to John than Jesus. I know I am suppose to imitate Jesus, but I want to imitate John. I must decrease, become less. Then and only then will I be great in heaven's eyes. This is my Via Negativa - the great Kenosis, the great emptying of my SELF, silently caught up in the flame of god's grace, consumed, every thought captive, every moment sitting at the feet of Jesus. Moving out under the hand of the Holy Spirit with joy and power - DOING out of my BEING, my belongedness, not out of my head and hands or skills and talents. May we be so compelled to announce the King and his kingdom - like John, like Elijah, hand to the plow, no turning back, Surrendered.

China always drives me to this Day. In China I am surrounded by Baptizers. May I be like those in the persecuted house church in China.

"Let us go also, that we might die with him."

The End of Easter Season and The Great Permission

danw.lakeland@gmail.com — Mon, 25 May 2009 14:28:00 GMT

"In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, for I live and you will live" -- Alleluia!

I listened to the monks of Conception Abbey chant these words of Jesus. I felt a peace settle within me: it's the end of Easter - seven weeks after the Resurrection, then the next day is Pentecost (this year, May 31st).

"Go and make disciples..." says Jesus at the end of Matthew's gospel. We call this The Great Commission, but I think it should be called The Great Permission. Jump to Acts chapter 1 (verse six) and we find the disciples asking Jesus, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"

The disciples wanted the kingdom to come, on earth as in heaven. They wanted Permission to GO - to make it so. The disciples were still, even at this last moment before Jesus' ascension, still thinking of "empire and conquest" - "Now Jesus, will you kick out the Romans and restore King David's reign when we were top nation?"

"Yes, the kingdom is come," Jesus replies. "But not how you think." The telling TURN comes next. Jesus ascends. Two men dressed in white stand there beside them. "Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky...?" The two men say Jesus is coming back. But you've got work to do: GO! The disciples don't need to be told - like a shot, they are off to Jerusalem, the political, social and religious capital.

Fifty days after the Passover comes Pentecost and the Holy Spirit comes with tongues of fire. The church explodes.

Much of the time I feel like we are standing staring at the sky. We seem to be confused about "what time it is." Like the disciples, we ask "Is this the time...?" Then we fill in some lame self-conscious answers like... "fix my life, grow our church, straighten out my kid, end my addiction..." I suppose these are legitimate prayers. But they do not answer the question "What time is it?"

What time is it? It is time to collect the building materials for the kingdom of heaven on earth. What are these materials? Beyond redeemed souls, the kingdom of g-d according to Jesus is made up of energetic "greedy" children, the rich who share lavishly and live like everyone else, those who pray for peace, work for justice, take massive risks to life and comforts. Like King David, we are to be stockpiling materials so the next King (Solomon) can actually build the temple. David made plans and drawings, gathered the money and materials, but he never actually saw the temple built in his lifetime.

I believe Jesus comes back (we don't go away - we go to meet him and bring him here). When Jesus arrives what he should find are faithful obedience vineyard workers; investors who can say 'see Master, your one asset (talent) has increased tenfold!' I believe we should be fluent in the language of the kingdom of heaven BEFORE the kingdom comes in full.

Get on with the work. Beyond just a "commission," we have Permission. It is time to fight the right fight for justice and love, and walk away from materialism and consumer comforts.

You kingdom come, your will be done on earth during our lifetime with our lives as though heaven is realized for what it really is: heaven is all around us NOW.

The Killing Gap

danw.lakeland@gmail.com — Fri, 22 May 2009 02:18:00 GMT

"My God, it is that gap and that distance which kill me."

-- Thomas Merton, Seven Storey Mountain, p421

I just came back from retreat. Three days at Conception Abbey. It wasn't that great. I was befuddled, anxious, distracted. I hadn't been on retreat since the end of March. See, this is what happens. I lost my rhythm. And to boot, preaching, two funerals, and going to China in a couple of weeks. Merton felt a gap between g-d and him. He craved constant connection with g-d - constant Presence.

Truthfully, all I live in is gap. It is the all-too-infrequent spark of the divine that snaps me to attention. But the sparks are few and far between... too far between.

The answer: flee, flee, flee. Flee to silence. Flee productivity. Flee. My hands got ahead of my heart and my mind. I stopped taking every thought captive to g-d. I settled in for Control of my universe. And I do so naturally - control is my default setting.

Flee inward to solitude. Stare down the false self. Cut deep. Go to the dark night and wrestle all night and walk away limping. But - also - get a new name: one who wrestles with g-d. Yes. Flee and wrestle. There is no other way. All else is just self-made sin management, meant to put me in control.

Close the gap. Flee. What other choice do we have?

Parent as Poet, Priest and Prophet

danw.lakeland@gmail.com — Tue, 12 May 2009 13:55:00 GMT

Parents spend much of their time raising children from the Expert perspective. While this is reasonable, it doesn't convey Wisdom. I suggest we think of ourselves more as Poets, Priests/Priestesses and Prophets/Prophetesses.

Poet Emily Dickinson said, "Tell the truth, but tell it slant." The parent doesn't have know poetry to act as poet. Poets interpret culture and the world around them for others. A parent must make a turn toward god - gain the eyesight to view all as god's. The sounds in the woods are god's; the sky and stars, lightning and thunder are god's artwork. The Expert explains such natural theology as Science. But the Poet interprets them as belonging to god.

The Priest ushers the child into the Divine Presence. Priestess intermediates the reality of god in our world. So to teach children how to pray is primary. By prayer I certainly do not mean just asking god for stuff and goodness. By prayer I mean listening for god's voice. As Eugene Peterson puts it, "prayer must be a response to something god has said." Centering Prayer is a practice of taking every thought captive to god... of echoing Jesus' prayer, "not my will but your will Father." Frank X. Jelenek wrote "Journey to the Heart: Centering Prayer for Children." His children's book describes and walks a child through this deeper relationship with god. The parent as priest takes the child through the gospel, makes it real, reads the scriptures to their child. An easy way to do this is follow the liturgical calendar year, celebrating the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost and so on. Lakeland provides family guides for these seasons, guides to be used around the kitchen table with candles and stories and prayers.

Parent as Prophet means we declare the truth of god to our children. We sift through the advertisement during a sports game on television. Wisdom is not just guarding children from the world, but teaching them how to be in the world without being seduced by the world - not escapism, determinism and protectionism.

More than just teaching children The Golden Rule, we help them (and ourselves) understand the context around Jesus' words in Luke 6:27-36... that we do not live in a fair and just world but a merciful grace-filled world, a mercy from the Father. We should not seek justice before we seek mercy so says Jesus.

Parenting is more art than information-download. In short, parents MUST sit at the feet of Jesus first. Every parent is pouring something into the empty cup of a child. May it be the heart of god, the life of Jesus, the real presence of the Spirit. May our children walk their days under the sun of god, the light of uniqueness and never lose their wonderment at the beauty of god. And may we parents prepare them for Wisdom and not just Expert.

China's Take, and Take Some More

danw.lakeland@gmail.com — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:31:00 GMT

I respond to Mint.com's recent visual comparison between the US and China.

I read the Economist, so I tend to see/read this economic/political/spiritual stuff - at least from their paper's view. And I read a few other items about China here and there, because I have my antenna up for anything on China. The Newsweek special reports never satisfy me. Just too entertainment driven. So the Mint.com stats revealed more.

What gets interesting to me with the Mint.com and China "vs." USA (vs?? really? they are our enemy?) scenario is this: you have a cash-rich China, and no customers now (our money dried up). If they can sell to themselves, good. But they'll have to spread that cash (our cash btw) around. Which they are attempting lavishly.

But will it be enough? Furthermore, China seems a little "angry" with the west b/c we aren't buying as much (amids other things like our incessant nosiness into their internal affairs.) Go figure - like our buying Chinese goods could just go on forever! I contend our "cash" wasn't cash at all, but consumer debt. Not savings, not hard assets or materials - just trillions in trashy expensive short term debt. The trade imbalance was/is staggering between China and the US.

Also, part of China's anger comes from their inherent swagger. Chinese superiority has always been there. I see and feel it each time I go. But now they are shrewdly calculating how and when to show their might. China's muscle is in their highly controlled cheap labor force (and army!!). However, if the rising 600,000 middle classer's who have now a taste of affluence, don't get their way - they all want a car - then China will have to deal with dissatisfaction at home. Moreover, I think they will redirect the fault/blame onto the West. They sure ain't gonna blame Africa or the Middle East - they don't need to. Oh yes, and don't forget about peasant uprisings in China - their history is nothing but that. This is why they are totalitarian - they have no choice; 800 million are too poor.

Spiritually, Christians will need to figure out how to "join" the powers - not subvert them or even sneak around them. Christians will have to figure out how to be "nation-builders" and not be seen as some cult. This will be a very interesting dynamic to watch. Theologian Simon Chan tells us in the West that we just don't get it: we don't understand what it is like to be a minority religion with a minority voice in a very unWestern, unChristian East.

But of course the great danger is that if Christians join the nation-building, they may become tools of the powerful, and fail to actually a) bring about the good news - justice, love, service, redemption, forgiveness; b) even worse, sanctify Chinese imperialism. The house church senses this collusion all too well. And here we all know too well how that turns out - look a us! look at the religious right! Look at the last 500 years of church/state collusion and its ambiguous results. As theologian Miguel de la Torre (at Iliff Institute in Colorado) says, 'justice must always come from below - never does it come from above.' Rev Dr MLK Jr was from below. Bishop Tutu was from below. Now William Wilberforce was from above - but he's the exception. I guess I might change my tune and argue for the house church to stay hidden if they want to change China's soul into a Jesus soul. Hmm. Sure sounds like a lot of persecution coming their way. It's weird and smug to say but, perhaps NOT being a superpower isn't so bad.

Power. Always power. Even the best people do the worst in the name of good - because of power.

All Faiths Call For Death To Self

danw.lakeland@gmail.com — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:56:00 GMT

"Whoever would save his life will lost it and whoever loses his life will find it" - Jesus, Matthew 16:25

The Apostle Paul repeats an anthem of the early church...

Though his state was that of God, yet he did not claim equality with God something he should cling to. Rather, he emptied himself, and assuming the state of a slave, he was born in human likeness. (Philippians 2:5ff)

I am reading Cynthia Bourgeault's book, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening. She states that all great religions/faiths have as their goal "death to self." True I suppose. But let us not confuse "interior death" with a more holistic view. I deeply embrace meditation and contemplation. I lead retreats, guide people into silence, listening prayer, and centering prayer. All of this rich spirituality is meant to "plug in" our heart and world to god. It is not meant to simply a self---ish (self focused, self centered) spirituality, where god is just there to help us idolize our Self. No. Taking Jesus' prime example of death to self, it is truly "Not my will, O Lord, but thine!" - and then he goes to the cross - not a symbolic cross, a real cross. The soldiers gamble away what little possessions he has. He falls into the hands of god The Father Almighty. Ladies and Gentlemen: that is death to self. This death, this high price, this cost is full death. Death to self involves our parenting, our money, our language, our interior emptying, our "every thought captive to god," our driving, our church, our worship, our generosity, our silence, our retreats, our busyness, our competition.

Let us never cheapen how expansive (wide) this death should be. Nor should we ever cheapen or limit just how deep (interior) this death must be.

Flee! Flee! Flee! Flee your life! Flee your busyness, your anger. Go into quiet and silence and aloneness. Yes, find your sacred word and intentionally revoke every thought. But also revoke every dollar and every minute. Then take up your cross and make your way down your path, your "via dolorosa," your way to glory through tears.

He Has Risen!

danw.lakeland@gmail.com — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 12:27:00 GMT

Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!

Why do we continue to look for Jesus amongst the graves of our dead ideas? ... the dead idea of war, where military violence is suppose to bring peace; the dead idea where Christian moralism replaces sitting at the feet of Jesus; where terrorists replace prophets; where busyness replaces significance; where consumption replaces contentment?

Jesus shows us what it takes to have peace: go and be with your enemy; how to pray - come together for daily worship and scripture contemplation; be the bold voice of truth! rest, re-create and wrestle in solitude with the Author of Life; and store up treasures in heaven.

When British missionary Bishop Lesslie Newbigin was once asked when reflecting on the future, 'are you an optimist or a pessimist?' he answered: "Neither. Christ has risen from the dead!"

If Jesus is risen then all things are possible. If he has not risen then all we have is religion.

Make Retreat

danw.lakeland@gmail.com — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:59:00 GMT

Going to Conception Abbey soon

On a crisp Spring day like this fine morning I'd love to be walking across the Abbey's hill toward prayer (Lauds) as the bells toll. After prayers, go eat some simple breakfast with that particular taste of institutional coffee.

Then later find a warm baking place in the sun, and like some content dog just BE, no worries. And then listen for the Voice. Windmills, flowering trees, orchard, the smell of dirt, the smells of the Abbey - frankincense and polish... my journal, a book maybe, a gritty Bible story about some despot ruler who failed to honor god - and as a result the price everyone must pay... imagine myself the prophet who 'told them so'... then wander out in a quiet field... find a tiny obscure rivulet to watch the water drip and gurgle, singing its happy tune of praise. Feel small. Hear the Voice.

And we are redeemed, like turning in a lost muddy Coke bottle, you found in a ditch as a kid. You walk into the grocery store, and... Three cents! Yes, that's about right, three cents. How I wish that is all I desired: to find hidden three-cent treasures. Buy my candy and walk home content.

Go to Conception Abbey. Find your Coke bottle; be redeemed. Have no where to be.

Shalom

Justice: More Than We Can Chew

danw.lakeland@gmail.com — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:52:00 GMT

"Set the captives free, defend the poor, share bread and one cup with everyone"

We want to bite off more than we can chew in the inner city.

We want to purchase an apartment complex and rehab it, have spiritual retreats there, and work in the neighborhood. This will be more than we can handle - and that is exactly the idea.

Those of us in the outer city (suburbia) never drift into rebuilding the inner city in the name of Jesus unless we own the problems, unless we get in over our heads. This is a theological point, and a good point to make near Easter: In Jesus, god comes to be with us, he lowers himself, empties himself (Philippians 2:5-11) and enters into "solidarity" with us - he becomes one of us. BUT - though we kill him on the cross, unlike us, he rises and is victorious over death and humanity's evil; Jesus begins a new era, a new way of being human. He is the first fruits, the first of the harvest of new Adams, new Eves.

We now have power, god's Presence in the his Spirit. Let's be clear: we are not building the kingdom of heaven on earth by our own will and strength - the Spirit intercedes, guides, and empowers us. The resurrection shows us we need not worry or fear "those who can kill the body" (mug you in the inner city). The resurrection is not just a theological supernatural sideshow to prove how powerful god really is; no, the resurrection in the vindication of all that Jesus taught and demonstrated: death is the big enemy, but thanks be to god who gives us the victory in Jesus: Love wins! Now we chase evil away; we bring down the powers and rulers of the this world. Fear not!

Purchasing an apartment complex is not unreachable. The one linked here could sell for as little as $30,000. We have more than that amount committed to the inner city through EPIC, our three year financial challenge. We just don't have the cash in hand at the moment. But we will, I am sure. Then after we buy the work really begins: interior demolition, remodeling, getting and keeping good tenants, repairs, etc. It's a long-term venture -- one step forward, two steps backwards... more than we can chew. Just like Jesus.

This is our cross to bear. This is our "emptying." And this is our small corner of the world to resurrect and make into the kingdom of heaven.

Do not think Jesus spoke empty words: "I am making all things new" (Revelations 21:5), or that he meant to make things new in the far future - or burn up the earth and start over, or that his words are a failed promise. The new day had begun. We live in that new day. I for one will not succumb to the numbing of religion, the cheapness of "Jesus is just saying metaphorical rhetoric." The early church didn't seem to think Jesus was just blowing smoke. They saw the new kingdom and did not lie to themselves. Martyrdom clarifies.

Let us take up our cross and change our world. Amen?