Faith Is A Two-Way Thing

"When I was in middle school, I went through confirmation. I had been baptized as a kid in a mainline denominational church. And then around 12 or 13, I was told it was time for confirmation. Along with all the other sixth graders, I took a class. Now I always liked studying, but this was boring. I don’t remember really learning anything about what I’d now call the Christian faith. There was nothing about the Bible. Nothing about the trinity; no Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Nothing about connection to Jesus. Nothing about how to connect with God, but a lot about the history of my particular denomination.

At the end of the class,  we'd all get up in front of the church, wear a nice dress and let the pastor put a bit of oil on each of our heads. It was nothing special for me. I was probably thinking about if we might go out for pizza afterwards, like most of my friends. But there was one girl who wasn’t like the rest of us; Kelly. Something different was happening for her. When she kneeled and the pastor blessed her with oil, she was weeping. She was shaking a bit. She was visibly moved. Something was clearly happening for her and it seemed to be real.  I knew Kelly. I trusted her. I didn’t know what she was feeling but I knew it was something genuine. Further more, I wanted it, but I didn’t understand where it came from."

Have you ever seen others have powerful spiritual experiences, but not felt them yourself? Have you wondered if experiences of the Holy Spirit are for just some people, or might be available to all of us? In this first teaching, Leah explores this question and how we'll be addressing it through the season of Lent, which we're calling "40 Days of Interactive Faith".

Listen to the teaching below or read the notes here. And check out our Daily Guide for ways to participate in this series throughout the week.

Sabbath as Resistance

As we continue our series "Soul Care for Seasons of Stress", Leah takes a look at the Biblical framework of Sabbath, particularly informed by scholar Walter Brueggemann's book Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No to the Culture of Now. In Brueggemann's words, "Sabbath is a bodily act of testimony to alternative and resistance to pervading values and the assumptions behind those values.” Listen below or read Leah's notes to learn more here.

After Leah's teaching on a Biblical framework for Soul Care, Celia Emmelhainz shares her Soul Care practice of Poetry. She shares how reading and writing poetry have helped manage highs and lows in her life. She points us to other poetry lovers as well, like Abraham Lincoln, and reflects on how their practices shaped them, too. Her portion begins in the audio below at minute 35. Celia's notes are also available here.

Even Jesus Needed a Break

Many of us are feeling the stress of this season not only in our own life, but in our country. Through sustained seasons of stress, how do we take care of ourselves so we can stay engaged in life for the long term? Is self-care even a valid concern, or simply an expression of privilege. 

Audre Lord was a leading activist in the 20th Century. She was a poet, a writer, a feminist, a womanist, a lesbian, and a civil-rights leader. She said the following on self-care, "Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare."

In this new series, which we will come back to periodically, we will explore "Soul Care for Seasons of Stress". With a unique format, Leah will lead us through some Biblical frameworks for caring for our selves and our souls, and then other Haven-ites will take the time to share some of their own unique soul care practices, and help us discern if they might be something that could work for others of us, or inspire us along the way to finding our own rhythms and practices. 

In this Sunday's teaching, David Lai shares about his practice of meditation and Connie Barker shares about her practice of Bible Reading.

See Leah's notes for this week here. Listen to the entire teaching below. David's portion begins just before 23 minutes, Connie's at minute 36.

Communities That Don't Hurt

If Rene Girard was right in identifying that we are all mimetic, how can we channel our mimetic tendencies toward good? Is it possible to create communities that aren't ruled by rivalry and violence, but encourage collective flourishing? These are the kinds of questions Leah addresses in the last teaching in the series on Rene Girard, "Why We Hurt One Another".

Listen below and/or see her notes here.

Who Tells Your Story?

Jesus tells the story of a widow who kept going to an unjust judge, asking him to hear her case. And he kept ignoring her just case, again and again. 

What's a person to do in a time like that? This week, guest speaker Bianca Louie reflects on the widow's story in the context of her own story: 

"During those really rough two years... I didn't feel heard by the people around me. And as an Asian-American woman that feeling of being unheard is really familiar and fatiguing. I really wasn't sure if God heard me either.

And as I continued to face rejection and exclusion, yet continued to do what I sense the Holy Spirit was calling me to do, it all felt in vain a lot of the time. But what kept me going when I didn't feel heard..." 

Listen in below (or read the notes) to hear more of Bianca's thoughts on what kept the persistent widow going in Jesus' story... and what kept her going in the face of the setbacks in her own story:

Let's Talk About Jesus

Photo by Jonathan Weitz. Creative Commons License, 2010.

The stories we tell matter. Stories communicate how we see the world, what we value, what we look to, where our hope is. But sometimes, as people of faith, we have a hard time telling our story, particularly when it comes to the crucifixion of Jesus. What does Jesus' death say about the character God? Why would God require the death of his own son to save communicate His love?

A number of us in the Blue Ocean network have found the work of Rene Girard particularly helpful for the lens it gives us in understanding the story of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. In this teaching, Leah explores how Girard helps Jesus followers better understand and tell the Jesus story.

Listen to the teaching below and/or check out Leah's notes here.

This Is All Your Fault

How does mimetic desire lead to rivalry and then to violence against a single victim? This is a pattern literary critic and anthropologist Rene Girard noticed throughout literature and ancient mythology, but interestingly in the Hebrew Bible, he saw something different beginning to unfold. Listen in this week as Leah describes Girard's theory of violence, how it manifests in ancient myths like the Oedipus story, and what clues God might be giving in the Hebrew Bible to address and undo the power of violence at work.

Listen to the teaching below and/or check out Leah's notes here.

Desire: It's Contagious

What motivates us to hurt each other? Actually... what motivates us at all?

This week, we look at Rene Girard's ideas on the origins of human violence, which he suggests come not juts from wanting what other people have--but also from seeing what they want and then wanting that thing ourselves. So we catch our friends posting about their vacation plans, desired purchase, or that new iPhone that they want, and pretty soon we're thinking... I want that too! 

So what do we do with all this wanting? And how do we channel it in positive directions, so that it doesn't lead to resentment or envy of others? For some ideas, listen to Leah's message below, or read her notes here. 

Longing for Intimacy

When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
The more I called them,
the more they went from me... (Hosea 11:1-2) 

Just as a parent longs for closeness with their child, the ancient writer Hosea says, God longs to connect with us as people. But how do we restore relationships in the midst of hurt, or betrayal, or misunderstanding? As we reflect on winter as a season of longing, listen to Leah's message below, or read the notes here. 

Longing for Justice

At a time when the prosperous in ancient Israel were flourishing, God sent a message to his people: Just because you are doing well, does not mean all is well. As the prophet Amos noted, 

"....because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops, and exact a grain tax from them, you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone, nor will you drink the wine from the fine vineyards you planted.

Certainly I am aware of your many rebellious acts and your numerous sins. You torment the innocent, you take bribes, and you deny justice to the needy at the city gate" (Amos, 5:11-12) 

By calling out the successful in society for their clever dealing, their shrewd success, and their complacency towards the poor, God re-directs their attention away from their own profit and towards the poor and those in need. So at a time where the rich ascend in our own churches and society, how do we stand with the poor? Listen in for more of Amos' message, or read the notes here. 

Longing for Wholeness

You've heard the story of the Velveteen Rabbit--a beautiful stuffed animal run ragged by the loving attentions of a child. Yet through trying to find his purpose as a toy, the rabbit moves towards wholeness--towards being and feeling real.

But what does it mean to be real, and whole again? This week, we're thinking with the ancient writer Micah about what it means for the world to be made whole again--for broken people to heal and flourish, for communities to come together and countries to be at peace. Yet to get there, we need to pay attention to what we've been ignoring or pushing away--both in our own selves and in the world around us. Listen in below for more on moving towards wholeness, or read Leah's speaking notes here. 

Longing for Encouragement

By Liesel (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Don't feel much like Decking the Halls right now?  Too in touch with the pain, injustice, and fear this year has triggered? You're in good company. This Advent at Haven we will not paper over pain and lament with Holiday wrapping, but rather we will sit in the discomfort and longing, and call out to God to break into our world again. As we do so, we'll look to the Minor Prophets for inspiration, as they too lived in dark times but yearned and lamented for the Light of God to break through the darkness. 

This first week, we look at Habakkuk, and how he speaks into our longing for encouragement. Listen along or read the notes.

Living With the End in Mind

"Money, power and influence: three resources hold sway in our world today, much as they did in the first century Roman Empire. Is there anyone in the news these days who you think is motivated by these three resources in any way?

"Is there anyone in this room who is anxious about who in this country wields the resources of money, power and influence? Any of you scared about how those resources are going to be used for better or worse over the next few years?

"And are you yourself motivated by money, power and influence? Are you anxious about your finances? Do you enjoy positions of influence at work, in the community, in the church….?"

This week, Liz Milner considers the purpose of money, success, and power. When we have resources--or when we desperately want them--what do we use them for? Listen below for more on living with the end in mind, or read Liz' notes here. 

Get the Weed Whacker

"Historically, the church, like most other social groups, has a hard time with tension and a hard time with mess. We tend to do one of two things: 

We either withdraw from places of tension and mess and try to establish our own neatly-tended and weedless gardens...

Or we get sucked into the power game, the empire game. We start thinking, if we can just get enough control, we can tamp down on all these weeds for everyone. 

But God isn't like that. He wants to bring in as much good wheat as possible. And he is patient. He's willing to endure the mess now, for as long as it takes to get the most wheat..."

So what do we do with a messy, difficult, and at times painful election season? Listen in or read the notes for more on living and voting well, both during Election Day and afterwards."

I'll Have What He's Having

Day laborers in the ancient world had a hard lot in life. They were powerless to secure stable work, and sometimes struggled more than slaves, because was no guarantee they would have work to meet their family’s needs on a given day.

So they hung out in the marketplace waiting for someone to come hire them. When they found work, they worked from sunup to sundown, twelve hot hours in the Palestinian sun.

So this is the setting for Jesus’ story, in which a landowner goes to the market place at dawn, and gets some workers who agree to work for a denarius, a day’s wages. Then he hires more workers, hour after hour. At sundown they line up for their pay, newest workers first. The latecomers get a denarius—a day’s wages—so the others assume they will get more. But even those who started at dawn get the same wage.

And that doesn’t seem fair, right? Why would a manager do this? Listen in to Leah’s message, below, or read her notes for more. 

New Wineskins: by Liz Gill

"Have you ever had a leather bag or shoes, and they smell so good when you first get them? And maybe it’s nice and clean and tight, but over time it starts to stretch and wear out, and those awesome shoes you had now look quite worn.

"Well that’s what Jesus seems to be talking about when he says not to put old wine in new wineskins... Here’s how I see it. Wineskins are our spiritual practices -- and wine is the abundant life and connection to Jesus he is offering. But if we try to put new connection into old practices... it doesn't work so well." 

So how do we know what to do when it's time to change our wineskins? We're in a new series of talks on the stories that Jesus told so listen below or read Liz's notes to learn more! 

Everything is Us

Peter kept having this vision: eat the unclean food. This goes back to the law of Moses, when the Israelites were told that they needed to be clean to live in camp. Unclean people were removed from society, living outside the camp until their sickness or impurity has expired.

This came from the belief that being ceremonially unclean was highly contagious… whether it came from sinful behavior, contact with animals or eating certain foods, or even a skin disorder or a woman’s monthly period.

This understanding of clean vs. unclean people shaped how they saw the world, their role in it, and the role of others.

So what is God saying to Jesus’ follower Peter, when he tells him to eat unclean food? And what is he saying to us about who is part of our community? View this video we watched together:

And then listen to Leah’s message below, or check her sermon notes for more. 

Connecting: No Bad News

My friend Charles is a pastor in Manhattan, and he was born in Korea. He came over to America as a young man... and started becoming a student of American culture. And Charles noted two messages from American pop culture that he kept hearing over and over, saying:

“Everywhere I look in American culture, I see two messages. And the first is to be a good person and make the right choices. The second is to be a successful person, to succeed in whatever you do. Be a superhero! Fight for justice and be powerful.”

That means you go to the best school, be the top of your class, get a promotion. Find the perfect life partner, have a successful life that allows you to buy a house and a nice car—and then send your kids to another successful college…

We believe that great things will happen if you are successful and good. So it’s very tempting us to live in pursuit of these things, thinking that then, I’ll be happy, I’ll be satisfied, life will go well.

But there are downsides to these paths. Like when you try to be good and follow all the rules— and yet you get bested by the folks who don’t play by the rules.

Or you pursue success—and then it comes up short when you actually get it. You get the new job... and it gets old so fast. The big wedding day is awesome, but is marriage just happily ever after? Or the baby we were supposed to want won’t sleep through the night. The money will buy us stuff we like—but it doesn’t take away the feelings of dissatisfaction we have in the world. So perhaps morality and success aren’t the path to joy…

So what’s the solution? How can we restore connection to God and others? Listen below, or read Leah’s notes for more.

Connecting Beyond Categories

"When Jesus brings up the marriage of the [Samaritan woman], he’s bringing up her story. And her story is a very sensitive one.

Yet it may not be for the reason the church has often suggested—that this woman has loose morals, that she’s a sexual sinner...

Instead, there may be cultural and circumstantial factors at play. In recent years, we’ve started to have conversations between cultures, where we come together and read the Bible, and say “oh my gosh, we’re reading this differently.”

And this has happened recently with this story, where westerners are reading this alongside women from Africa. And these African women are saying, “oh... ...this woman’s infertile.”

And that may be a wise interpretation. We know the culture of the day. Women in this time had no capacity to initiate divorce... She didn’t have the power to choose her husband. She’s essentially the property of the husband, who acquires her to bear his children.

So either, she’s lost five husbands to death, or she’s been rejected multiple times…"

This week we talk about making connections by crossing boundaries, as Jesus does when he talks to a lone woman from an opposing tribe. Whether it’s the fierce boundaries between Jews and Samaritans, or the categories that divide us from our fellow humans today, there are ways to move toward connection. Listen below or read Leah’s notes for more: 

Connecting Through Song

"I remember the first time I experienced contemporary worship—people singing songs to Jesus in an intimate way. I was in college as a freshman, and had met this guy who was saying, “I’m starting a group for theater people who want to talk about God.”

And I thought, ehh, I’ll show up.

This group of people were in a small room in the basement of the arts dorm, and somebody pulls out a guitar and starts playing these simple love songs, "Jesus, your name is like honey on my lips."

And I was struck by how weird it was… These folks are singing these love songs to God..."

So it can take a while to get into worship. But some people really get into worship—like King David, dancing in the streets. Check out Leah’s notes or listen in for more about connecting with each other and with God through song: