- that is welcoming and loving
- Where everyone has a seat at the table.
- Where people are just people.
- where you can laugh
- of INCLUSION
- where togetherness and uncertainty is welcomed.
- where all are EQUAL
- where anyone can explore their faith
- where everyone can be themselves
- that is open, accepting, kind.
- Where those who desire to be heard are acknowledged & affirmed
- Where everyone learns to grow
- with open arms to ALL
- Where we are all family
- Fear does not guide us.
- Where all felt comfortable and loved.
- that expects to hear from God & see Him work
- That takes me in and out of my comfort zone.
- only God judges you
- w/ people like Alan
- Where everyone is encouraged to ask questions and find their own faith, not the one of those around them
- Hearts
- filled with a rainbow of faces
- where doubt is embraced
- Doubt is not only welcomed, but also taught
- where people are not defined by society's false standards
- Where everyone is loved.
- Where people affirm the life, & practice the way, of Jesus
- Where the #1 focus is God, not people.
I Dream of a Church...
At our last worship of the year at Vanderbilt this year, we took some time to have our feet washed and to engage in some spirituality stations. One of the stations invited participants to write answer to "I Dream of a Church..." on post-it notes. So, UKIRK Nashville dreams of a church...:
Wrestling With God
This week we’ll be looking at the Old Testament story of Jacob, brother of Esau, who wrestles with a divine being in the night. Although many think this divine being is Yahweh, the God who delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, I invite us to think about how this story might also speak to other things we wrestle with. Whether we wrestle with our faith, our families and friends, or the pressures that society puts onto us, God offers us an alternative, just as God offered Jacob an alternative.
As we begin this week, I invite us to think and reflect on what it is that we wrestle with, and where it is that God is present (or not present) in that struggle. Just as we say in our baptismal liturgy each week, we have been named and claimed… But by whom have we been named and claimed, other than God? And how do those “names” affect us?
Come ready to dive into this story and hopefully we can listen together to the names by which God calls us.
Grace and peace to you, this week and always.
Erin
Genesis 32:22-32
The same night [Jacob] got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.
He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had.
Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on
the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled
with him.
Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the day is breaking.’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go, unless you bless me.’
So he said to him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said, ‘Jacob.’
Then the man said, ‘You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.’
Then Jacob asked him, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’ And there he blessed him.
So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, ‘For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.’
The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.
Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the thigh muscle that is
on the hip socket, because he struck Jacob on the hip socket at the
thigh muscle.
As we begin this week, I invite us to think and reflect on what it is that we wrestle with, and where it is that God is present (or not present) in that struggle. Just as we say in our baptismal liturgy each week, we have been named and claimed… But by whom have we been named and claimed, other than God? And how do those “names” affect us?
Come ready to dive into this story and hopefully we can listen together to the names by which God calls us.
Grace and peace to you, this week and always.
Erin
Genesis 32:22-32
Jesus Sneakin' at Sukkot
Some stories just don't make their way into the Revised Common Lectionary, and John 7:1-19 is one of those stories. Basically, Jesus' brothers are giving him a hard time about all of that Messianic Secret nonsense. They are heading to Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Booths/Tabernacles/Tents, otherwise known at Sukkot, and they want him to reveal how awesome he is to everybody at the festival. (Here's a great video about Sukkot). Jesus says something about it not being time for that and sends them on his. Then, Jesus does end up going to Jerusalem and hanging out in secret for a few days, all the while listening in on conversations about him.
I love the picture in my head of Jesus sneaking around Jerusalem in a costume of some sort, a la Jasmine from Aladdin (thanks for that imagery, Kelly Fields). I'm sure at some point people were talking directly to Jesus about "that Jesus guy" without knowing it was him. I also wonder if it might have been pretty nice, for a change, to just be one of the crowd.
Eventually, Jesus heads to the temple to teach, where people are amazed at his teaching (as usual) and folks wonder out loud how somebody without any education can be so learned. After all, he was from Galilee...those guys are backwater idiots. For me, this raises a question about the difference between wisdom and learning. Aren't there people in the world without the proper degree or pedigree who speak wisdom and truth in inspirational ways? Aren't there people from the backwaters (wherever that might be in our own prejudiced minds) who amaze us with their words?
We'll explore these questions and more at worship on Tuesday. In the meantime, be on the lookout for Jesus sneakin' around.
I love the picture in my head of Jesus sneaking around Jerusalem in a costume of some sort, a la Jasmine from Aladdin (thanks for that imagery, Kelly Fields). I'm sure at some point people were talking directly to Jesus about "that Jesus guy" without knowing it was him. I also wonder if it might have been pretty nice, for a change, to just be one of the crowd.
Eventually, Jesus heads to the temple to teach, where people are amazed at his teaching (as usual) and folks wonder out loud how somebody without any education can be so learned. After all, he was from Galilee...those guys are backwater idiots. For me, this raises a question about the difference between wisdom and learning. Aren't there people in the world without the proper degree or pedigree who speak wisdom and truth in inspirational ways? Aren't there people from the backwaters (wherever that might be in our own prejudiced minds) who amaze us with their words?
We'll explore these questions and more at worship on Tuesday. In the meantime, be on the lookout for Jesus sneakin' around.
Changing God's Mind
So, does God ever change God's mind? So much of our theological tradition would say that, no, God doesn't ever change God's mind...we simply understand God's plans/mind/intentions differently, because we're human, and original sin, and created vs. creator, blah, blah blah. God has been the same forever and will always be the same, and God never changes God's mind, thank you very much.
But then we come across Numbers 14:1-24. The Israelites are grumbling in the wilderness again, wondering if they shouldn't have just stayed in Egypt. They aren't exactly showing much gratitude to Moses for standing before Pharoah, or to Yahweh for, you know. LIBERATING THEM FROM SLAVERY!! God decides maybe they need to be wiped out, and God will find a people who can be more polite and get their thank you card in the mail in a more timely fashion.
And then, Moses speaks. Moses appeals to the promises God has made to be steadfast in mercy, and asks if maybe God will reconsider destroying the people of Israel. Moses even appeals to God's "vanity," if you will. "Oh, you don't wanna do that," Moses says. "What would people say?"
This is not the only instance in scripture of someone entering into a conversation with God and asking for God to change God's mind about a particular course of action. Abraham gets into it with God about destroying Sodom and Gomorrah.
To be sure, God's thoughts are not our thoughts, and God's ways are not our ways, but I wonder if maybe the invitation to dialogue with God is more open than our reformed theological tradition has revealed. Maybe we've emphasized the sovereignty of God so much that we've forgotten about God the mother hen, or God the redeemer, or God the transformer, or God the Christ child, or God the Holy Spirit who is all about creativity and new life. I wonder what our prayer life might look like if we really and truly believed God was listening and might be willing to be convinced of a course of action that we offer up in humble suggestion.
Do we pray expecting to change God's mind?
Do we pray about things as big as Moses did?
Do we even listen long enough to hear what God's original plans are, anyway?
See you in worship!
But then we come across Numbers 14:1-24. The Israelites are grumbling in the wilderness again, wondering if they shouldn't have just stayed in Egypt. They aren't exactly showing much gratitude to Moses for standing before Pharoah, or to Yahweh for, you know. LIBERATING THEM FROM SLAVERY!! God decides maybe they need to be wiped out, and God will find a people who can be more polite and get their thank you card in the mail in a more timely fashion.
And then, Moses speaks. Moses appeals to the promises God has made to be steadfast in mercy, and asks if maybe God will reconsider destroying the people of Israel. Moses even appeals to God's "vanity," if you will. "Oh, you don't wanna do that," Moses says. "What would people say?"
This is not the only instance in scripture of someone entering into a conversation with God and asking for God to change God's mind about a particular course of action. Abraham gets into it with God about destroying Sodom and Gomorrah.
To be sure, God's thoughts are not our thoughts, and God's ways are not our ways, but I wonder if maybe the invitation to dialogue with God is more open than our reformed theological tradition has revealed. Maybe we've emphasized the sovereignty of God so much that we've forgotten about God the mother hen, or God the redeemer, or God the transformer, or God the Christ child, or God the Holy Spirit who is all about creativity and new life. I wonder what our prayer life might look like if we really and truly believed God was listening and might be willing to be convinced of a course of action that we offer up in humble suggestion.
Do we pray expecting to change God's mind?
Do we pray about things as big as Moses did?
Do we even listen long enough to hear what God's original plans are, anyway?
See you in worship!
Bringing Darkness to Light
What a joy it was to sit in community at Belmont on Wednesday evening and engage scripture.
This week's scripture passage is Isaiah 42:1-9 (found below), and it speaks of God's servant as one in whom God delights and whose call is to bring forth justice as a result of God's spirit being placed upon him.
As I initially read this passage and as we discussed it on Wednesday, a couple of questions arose, "Can we apply this passage to Jesus?" Or, "Is Jesus the servant that Isaiah foresaw?" To be sure, we see Jesus as one who brings forth justice, and Jesus does seem to tell a lot of people not to talk about him, however, we also know that Jesus was crushed by the principalities and powers and injustice still seems to have plenty of sway in the world.
So, what if we, as people of faith, are the servant that Isaiah describes? What if it is our job to bring forth justice? What if it is our job to preach the gospel always and use words when necessary? What if it is our job to keep pursuing faithful following of the Triune God, even as people try to crush us? This is one of those times when we gain insight by holding onto a both/and theology, rather than an either/or dichotomy.
Finally, I'm grateful to Allison Connelly, a relatively new UKIRKian, for pointing out the movement in this passage from darkness to light. God offers Israel, and all God's faithful people, as a light to the nations and calls us to reach out to those who sit in darkness. Allison wondered aloud what it must be like for those who have sat in darkness for so long to finally be "in the light." It might be painful at first. We might need to be patient with those who have sat in dungeons of despair. Encountering the new things that God is accomplishing might just be overwhelming for some of us, and so we might need some time to adjust our eyes/hearts and minds.
As always, I welcome your thoughts, questions, concerns, insights, etc.
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow faint or be crushed
until he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
I am the Lord, that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to idols.
See, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth,
I tell you of them.
This week's scripture passage is Isaiah 42:1-9 (found below), and it speaks of God's servant as one in whom God delights and whose call is to bring forth justice as a result of God's spirit being placed upon him.
As I initially read this passage and as we discussed it on Wednesday, a couple of questions arose, "Can we apply this passage to Jesus?" Or, "Is Jesus the servant that Isaiah foresaw?" To be sure, we see Jesus as one who brings forth justice, and Jesus does seem to tell a lot of people not to talk about him, however, we also know that Jesus was crushed by the principalities and powers and injustice still seems to have plenty of sway in the world.
So, what if we, as people of faith, are the servant that Isaiah describes? What if it is our job to bring forth justice? What if it is our job to preach the gospel always and use words when necessary? What if it is our job to keep pursuing faithful following of the Triune God, even as people try to crush us? This is one of those times when we gain insight by holding onto a both/and theology, rather than an either/or dichotomy.
Finally, I'm grateful to Allison Connelly, a relatively new UKIRKian, for pointing out the movement in this passage from darkness to light. God offers Israel, and all God's faithful people, as a light to the nations and calls us to reach out to those who sit in darkness. Allison wondered aloud what it must be like for those who have sat in darkness for so long to finally be "in the light." It might be painful at first. We might need to be patient with those who have sat in dungeons of despair. Encountering the new things that God is accomplishing might just be overwhelming for some of us, and so we might need some time to adjust our eyes/hearts and minds.
As always, I welcome your thoughts, questions, concerns, insights, etc.
Isaiah 42:1-9
Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow faint or be crushed
until he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
I am the Lord, that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to idols.
See, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth,
I tell you of them.
Prayer Stations at Belmont
This week at Belmont, UKIRK tried something a little bit different. It was a spiritual emphasis week for the entire campus, and all campus ministries were encouraged to host events that connected with the week's theme of Emerge. We chose to explore that theme through the story of The Prodigal Son, especially the celebration of table fellowship at the end of the story. We were registered as an official Convocation Credit event, so we had a number of visitor in our midst, and that was wonderful.
At one the stations, the instructions read as such:
...Hear our prayers
At one the stations, the instructions read as such:
- Take a stickie note and write down names or groups of people you see missing at the Table; people who may be yet to feel welcomed at the Table of Love.
- Add your stickie note to the cross, and whisper a prayer for all whom you might invite.
- Those struggling to see God in their lives
- People with big questions
- For all afraid to put their trust in God
- Those lost in the struggles of addiction
- For people who don't feel like they are "perfect" or "fit in"
- outcasts
- those who haven't been brought up in Christian homes
- those who have doubts
- Those struggling with belief
- LGBTQ
- The forgotten
- People who are lost, alone, or confused
- The broken-hearted
- Nancy
- Atheists and Terrorists
- Those battling addiction
- People who suffered loss on 9/11
- Kyle, Daniel, Atthar
- Roommate
- Refugees in America
- Friends who don't know the Lord
- Those who feel hopeless and lost
...Hear our prayers
People who love UKIRK Nashville
Over the past few days, I've spent a good amount of time with people who love UKIRK Nashville. On Saturday, our non-profit board members gathered to explore how they can better equip our ministry through fundraising and friendraising. We were all encouraged to come up with a 30 second "elevator speech" about how great UKIRK is that we can share with anybody and everybody. I'm still tweaking mine, but here's a first crack:
Then, on Monday, our student council met at my house to dream big about the coming year at Vanderbilt and Belmont. It really is amazing to watch students get excited about this ministry. The energy that filled the room as we talked about worship, Bible study, service, fellowship, and hospitality was exhilarating. These students are energized to ENGAGE (our theme for the year) their faith with body, mind, soul, and strength.
As the year kicks into gear, we ask for your prayers and your ongoing presence with us a ministry. Come join us for worship on a Tuesday at 6:00 pm at St. A's on the Vanderbilt campus or on a Wednesday at 6:30 pm at University Ministries on the Belmont campus.
I'm looking forward to sharing these at our next board meeting.
UKIRK Nashville is a safe space for students to explore their faith and discern how to incorporate faith into their daily lives. As a ministry, we invite students into a lifelong journey of following Jesus Christ. Through worship, Bible study, fellowship and service, we encourage students to live according to the values of the kingdom of God as we see it lived out and proclaimed by God incarnate in Jesus Christ. I’m convinced that UKIRK Nashville makes a deep and lasting impact on the faith journeys of students.
Then, on Monday, our student council met at my house to dream big about the coming year at Vanderbilt and Belmont. It really is amazing to watch students get excited about this ministry. The energy that filled the room as we talked about worship, Bible study, service, fellowship, and hospitality was exhilarating. These students are energized to ENGAGE (our theme for the year) their faith with body, mind, soul, and strength.
As the year kicks into gear, we ask for your prayers and your ongoing presence with us a ministry. Come join us for worship on a Tuesday at 6:00 pm at St. A's on the Vanderbilt campus or on a Wednesday at 6:30 pm at University Ministries on the Belmont campus.
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