Life is hard for most people. Not just for a moment, or in moments—an illness, a lost job, a death of someone we love. Rather, life is hard in a continuous way, as a kind of passage over time. To get from birth to death is difficult.
In an online course I taught some years ago, I posted a message in the class discussion forum containing the text of a parishioner’s interpretation of something that had been spoken in tongues in his church the previous Sunday. The message elicited a number of student responses, one of which was written by a student who said they had been “cut to the heart” as a result of reading the interpretation. Apart from the substance of the message, the case illustrated the immediacy with which the online forum facilitated spiritual conviction and growth.
My wife and I were in the United States over the holidays, to see my mother who is aging, wider family, and just enjoy some warmer weather.
During this time we worshipped in a local parish we know. They have a new assistant and he and the rector take turns preaching and presiding. It is a church where preaching is central. The two ministers have different styles but both work hard at preparing. Often one of them is doing a series of some kind, and the other follows the lectionary.
Perhaps I shouldn’t admit this publicly, but I don’t understand why Christ died. I am confident that I know the reason for it: sin’s hold on humanity. But, how Christ’s death changed that—about that, I am not so sure. This admission may be especially awkward given that I have spent my adult life studying the New Testament writer whose words have been the foundation for some of the most influential theories of what is often referred to as the atonement.
I enjoy visiting old graveyards. I like to wander around, reading the tombstones, taking note of the dates and places of birth, the biblical verses and sentimental poetry.
Last summer my wife and I were walking through an Episcopal churchyard in Cooperstown, New York, where we stumbled on a particular grave from the 1830s. The tombstone gave the woman’s name and her dates, and then the inscription: “She had her faults, but was good to the poor.” I would love to know the story there.
There is always a story
Chris Wright, a biblical scholar and the International Ministries Director of Langham Partnership, has suggested that the great commission in Matthew 28:19, 20 is not so much a mandate to go to the far corners of the earth as it is about making disciples and baptizing wherever we are. Chris is not downplaying an emphasis on missions. In fact, his argument is that we should be involved in mission wherever we find ourselves: in whatever we do and wherever we are we should be engaged in God’s work of drawing all people to himself.
With World Writers Day having been celebrated earlier this month, and World Book Day (as declared by the United Nations) coming up on April 3, it seems a fitting time to revisit the story of 20th-century journalist, author, and social activist Dorothy Day.
“How monotonously alike all the great tyrants and conquerors have been;
how gloriously different are the saints.” - C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Dorothy Day fits C.S. Lewis’ “gloriously different,” and the Vatican has decided she’s on her way to sainthood.
With World Writers Day having been celebrated earlier this month, and World Book Day (as declared by the United Nations) coming up on April 3, it seems a fitting time to revisit the story of 20th century journalist, author, and social activist Dorothy Day.
“How monotonously alike all the great tyrants and conquerors have been;
how gloriously different are the saints.”
I was asked to write a blog on the topic, “Why it’s never too late to study theology.” It seemed like a nice, safe topic that wouldn’t require too much of me in what is a busy part of the academic term. But the more I thought about it the more I realized this nice, safe topic would be best understood sideways, through a pastoral situation that demonstrates why the study of theology matters, no matter what age you are. This is what led me to write about ministry at a deathbed.
* * * * * * *
Paul’s words to the Corinthians—that women should keep silent in the churches—have traditionally been understood as prohibiting women from preaching, speaking, and teaching in church. But this interpretation of 1 Corinthians 14:34 has been challenged throughout history by women who struggled to understand how Paul could command women’s silence in Corinth, when both the Old and New Testaments—and even 1 Corinthians itself—provided many examples of women proclaiming God’s word, preaching, teaching, leading, and prophesying.
