Tea Drinking as a Spiritual Practice

I just had a nice conversation with a student and a colleague who is a specialist in eastern religions. I learned that there is a variety of Japanese Buddhism that uses the preparation and drinking of tea as a meditative practice. I like that. As a lifelong tea-drinker and abstainer from coffee I have long been appreciative of Nietzsche's remarks on the superiority of tea. So Buddhism and materialistic atheism both have their proponents of tea.

"Coffee spreads darkness."

This makes me long for a Christian account of the spiritual significance of tea, or Christian advice for drinking tea as a spiritual practice. Christianity certainly has the theological resources for this sort of thing, and I'm sure someone has written on it. But I don't know where to find it, and it seemed easier to write something myself. So let's start with the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 4:

"For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer" (1984 NIV).

Tea: God's idea.

From this we learn that God invented tea, and that it is good. So here is my advice for drinking tea Christianly. Prepare your tea carefully and reflectively, remembering the doctrines that God created the world and that God is good. As you drink your tea, be grateful for your tea, and say a prayer of thanks to God for inventing it and letting you share in His good idea.

How to do Christmas in these Modern Times

When I think of Christmas, the first things that come to mind are images of green, laurel decorations, pumpkin-spiced coffee, and wrapped presents.  I know that it's about the Birth of Jesus, but our cultural past has added things to this religious holiday.  Wonderful things.

I'm supposed to criticize what Christmas has become, but I can't - I love it.  I love the way TV shows encourage us to help the needy during the holidays.  I like songs about family and friends enjoying their time together.  I like the TV specials, the children waiting on Santa, and seeing my family members open the presents I picked out for them.  And, frankly, I like opening presents, too.  In fact, I like that part, a lot.  I could pretend that I'm above that sort of thing, but I can't help it; I get really excited when I see boxes with my name on them.

Of course, I didn't mention Jesus in that paragraph.  Have I allowed the commercial/cultural attachments of Christmas to overcome my religious observance?  I don't know.  But I do know that the non-Christian things our culture associates with Christmas are fine things.

Think about it. 

Charity.  Family.  Gift-giving.  Warm meals and fun decoration.  Estranged relatives who show up once a year and try to get along with everyone.  These are all good things, and I won't be ashamed of looking forward to them.

Of course, as a Christian, nothing is more important to me than recognizing Jesus' birth.  That's the event that started this holiday season, and it's His charity and kindness that we are all trying to show to others.

Festive lights, like this, have nothing to do with Jesus Christ - but there's no reason to whine about it.  Don't rain on anyone's parade by playing the Scrooge.  Just enjoy the lights.

So, don't hate on modern-day Christmas.  Non-Christians say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas," but this is probably the only time of year that certain people will say anything to you, so return their kindness.  If I wasn't a Christian, then I wouldn't care about the Nativity, and I don't blame my non-Christian friends for not caring about that part of the holiday.  But, I can answer their kindness with kindness, and show them how much love and charity I can provide. 

Let's not be the Scrooges of our neighborhoods and complain about every modern convention of the holidays.  Instead, let's spread Joy.  How many clothes can you part with and give to the local homeless shelter?  Find out.  How much kindness can you show to your family when you get together?  It might help them through a tough time.  How many friends and neighbors can you encourage in this time of year?  It can be depressing during the holidays, so give them something to be happy about.

And, remember, non-Christians think that the Christmas season is a time to celebrate virtues of love and kindness - there's no reason to spoil a party like that.

WHY I DO NOT SUPPORT PULPIT FREEDOM SUNDAY

Pulpit Freedom Sunday this year was October 2. While that probably disqualifies it as a topic for current event discussion (especially given the fast moving pace of the blogosphere), I decided to write on this topic because I have heard Christian radio programs continuing to speak about it.

For those who might not know, Pulpit Freedom Sunday is a Sunday each year when participating clergy (I'm not sure how many, but I'm pretty sure it's relatively small in relation to the overall number of clergy in the United States) purposely preach sermons that violate an IRS tax code which says that certain charitable organizations cannot explicitly endorse political candidates without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status. There's a bit more to it than that, but that should be enough background for us to launch into the body of this blog entry together.

As you might have gathered from the title, I do not support the Pulpit Freedom Sunday movement, and I want to explain why. But first, a caveat:

Depending on what you have in mind, I think it is perfectly fine for the Church to be involved in politics. True, the Scriptures teach that Christians are citizens of a Kingdom that is not of this world, one that has yet to fully appear. At the same time, the Kingdom has come in part: an established front before the true invasion begins, a seed germinating just below the surface before it suddenly springs into full bloom -- there are a variety of helpful images from which to choose. Christians are to live out the reality of the coming full reign of God and to exhort others to submit to the reign of God now. And it turns out that God has quite a few things to say about what things will look like when the Kingdom finally, fully comes, about how the poor will be treated, about how human dignity and value will be measured, about war and peace, about ethics, morality, sin, and salvation. All kinds of stuff. While it would be naive in the extreme to believe that we can bring about the Kingdom -- make Heaven on Earth, if you will -- preaching the Kingdom, living out the Kingdom, and pleading with others to do the same are all part of the Christian mission.

For current mailing address, just put "Not of This World." For party affiliation, put "Jesus."

That said, here are some thoughts on why I do not support the Pulpit Freedom Sunday movement:

FYI, Churches are not being specially targeted by these tax laws. The laws apply to a wide range of nonprofit organizations that do not have political involvement as their primary purpose.

These tax laws help protect the political process. I think it's a great thing that people can't just funnel money into any ole nonprofit, all the while avoiding being taxed on the funds, turning them into megaphones for particular candidates. Politics in this country is controlled by money and corruption enough as it is.

Whatever their intentions, these tax laws actually protect the Church. I don't have space in this blog entry to give even a cursory review of church history, but let me just say this: in situations where it is suddenly politically advantageous to join the Church, disaster tends to follow. If churches could suddenly start endorsing candidates, the likely scenario in my mind is that churches would soon become enslaved to lobbying interests, political parties, and particular candidates. If pulpits suddenly became free campaign stumps, do you really think that many churches could protect processes like membership, selection of clergy, or tithing/giving for long?

Sorry , everyone, but it looks like we won't be able to finish the new sanctuary until the next important election.

These tax laws DO NOT say churches cannot be involved in politics. As far as I can tell, the restrictions say that churches cannot a) endorse a specific candidate, or b) spend a "substantial" amount of their resources and activities trying to influence legislation. I only gave the IRS tax code a brief look over (and I'm not a lawyer, but I watched alot of Matlock growing up, as well as the movie, My Cousin Vinny), but here are a few things I figured out I could do as a pastor at my church:

*preach an entire sermon on why I think abortion is right/wrong, what I think the Old Testament teaches us about how to treat immigrants, or what the Scriptures say about homosexuality

*preach an entire sermon in which I do nothing but explain to my congregation what an upcoming piece of legislation says and means as long as I don't tell my congregation how to vote on it

*preach an entire sermon on what a godly leader might look like, as long as I don't start saying so-and-so candidate is someone God would want us to vote for, and so-and-so candidate is not.

*use the church building as a voting center

*have copies of certain political materials available for members of my congregation

The prophetic voice of the Church must remain unfettered. Properly understood, the Church is a nation calling other nations to live as all nations ought to in light of the fact that God reigns. Now if indeed God reigns, then of course the Church has quite a bit to say about the sloppy, messy business of life on this earth, even in areas we might deem "political." But if the fundamental message of the Church is "Jesus Christ is Lord" (In other words, God reigns through his Christ), then it is of fundamental importance that we do not point to anyone or anything else but Jesus as the source of hope for mankind. There is nothing to be gained by the Church by endorsing specific politicians or political parties, and there is much to be lost.

Can you seriously think of a politician worth hitching Jesus' wagon to? Is this really a situation where you want to risk the Church's credibility by saying, "Thus, saith the Lord"? I will be the first to admit that I am incredibly cynical when it comes to politics, but just think about the political scene in this country over the last -- well, really whatever time frame you want to use. Given all the corruption, greed, immorality, and incompetence in politics in this country, do you really want to pull the trigger and say, "Yep, now this is a person God would be psyched to see in office! As someone who has the Spirit of God and is in a personal relationship with Him, I am totally comfortable saying this man/woman is His choice from the field of contenders!" I usually just vote for the least worst candidate, personally. So even if churches could endorse specific candidates, would you really want to?

In light of the upcoming Advent season, I would encourage you to vote for whichever candidate you think would be least likely to make Baby Jesus cry ...

Any church that really feels God calling it to primarily exist as a a political machine is more than welcome to become one. They simply are choosing to no longer primarily be a charity that qualifies for tax exemption. No one is going to drag your pastor away in the middle of the night here, okay? And your church is more than welcome to participate in the political process as congregants (no one is saying individual Christians can't champion a candidate as God's choice) and even as a congregation within certain limitations. If you find those limitations restrictive, that's fine. But if you are going to become a lobbyist group for a certain candidate, then that changes the nature of your organization, and you need to be willing to play by new rules.

If you really feel like you have to bring God's ballot down from the mountain top for your congregation (and let's just not worry for now about why you feel you are qualified to do so), then you have much bigger problems as a pastor than the "freedom" of your pulpit. Are the discipleship programs at your church so poor or the training you give your congregation in listening to and following the Spirit so inadequate that you really don't trust your congregation to vote wisely? Is your congregation so insensitive to God, so ignorant of his Word, so anemic in their lives before Him that it is not enough to teach them how to think about politics in a godly manner, but you actually have to hold their hand while they check the right box on the ballot? If that is the state of your church, then quite frankly, fellow pastor, you have far greater concerns to address!

Not trust my fellow Christians to vote their conscience without me looking over their shoulders? How otterly ridiculous!

The pulpit is a powerful symbol of moral and spiritual authority. We would do well to guard what is and is not said by those who stand behind it. But let us make we understand what we are guarding and why.

THE IMPORTANCE OF ADVENT

I know, I know. It's way to early for a Christmas blog entry. BUT this is an entry about the Advent season, which begins less than two weeks from now (Nov 27), making it both a timely and a relevant topic. So there. Loophole. And there's nothing you can do about it.

For those of you who might not know, Advent is a season of reflection that many Christians set aside in order to meditate upon and celebrate the birth (or advent) of Jesus Christ. There are, of course, a great variety of Advent traditions, but most churches that celebrate Advent center the season's events around a special wreath (pictured right) with five candles, each with a special significance. The white candle always represents Christ, while the other four vary. Some churches use the other four to emphasize some of the important themes of the season (e.g. Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love), while others use the four candles to progress through the Christmas story itself (e.g. Prophecy, Bethlehem, Angels, Shepherds).

Now, most people would see the importance of celebrating Christmas for Christians (notice how "Christ" is part of both words ...), but why set aside five weeks to do so? In reality, Advent is only a small part of the larger Christian calendar. Depending on your branch of Christianity, this calendar gets full pretty fast! So why all feasts, events, remembrances, etc?

The early church understood something very important: how we order our time, plays a large part in orienting our identity. I don't know if "we are what we eat," but I can guarantee that, to a large extent, "we are what we do." The earliest Christians wanted to make sure that throughout the year various holidays and celebrations would keep them focused on who they were: the people of God awaiting their risen Lord. To this day, almost all Christian branches continue to employ some sort of church calendar for this very purpose, even if it's nothing more than a special worship service to mark Easter and Christmas.

Extended seasons of Christian reflection are important because there are so many competing systems trying to order the Christian's time, and thus his or her life and our world. Some systems of timekeeping are imposed upon us. Think about school, for example. As a child my entire year and life revolved around whether or not I was in class. Rather than the four seasons of Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall, my life was "Cold School," "Last Part of School," "No School!!!," and finally "Schoool! Noooooo!" I came to see myself primarily as a student, and the school seasons came to dictate my mood, feelings, actions, and even self-perception for any given part of the year.

While you and your pagan friends were trudging around on January 2, 1987 like it was just another day, my fellow devout students and I were celebrating the Holy Feast of SNOW DAY!!!

Other seasons we choose to organize our time around, such as sports seasons for guys. I love football (college and pro), and its shows. I get a little more spring in my step come August (It's almost Football Christmas!), and I come down from my emotional high fairly soon after the Super Bowl. It's a long, cold, bitter sports winter between February and August for me. It's so bad, I tried out the XFL one time when it was still on. "Football Season" is a very real season of life each year for me, one full of celebrations, meaningful rituals (BBQ!), and unfortunately often mourning, given some of the teams I cheer for.

Pictured: "The time of year the Cleveland Browns are effectively eliminated from playoff relevancy." Also known as early September.

One of the best ways to reinforce a Christian identity is to order the calendar year around Christian events, rituals, and remembrances. Some churches will remember and celebrate Jesus' advent on one Sunday they choose in December (though Christmas does actually fall on a Sunday this year). Our church will remember it for five weeks. Thus, while no Christian ever actually forgets Christmas, for our community, the events and significance of Christ's birth will be at the forefront of our minds for an extended period of time, shaping how we see ourselves, our lives, and our world.

Some branches of the Church will immediately transition into the season of Epiphany. Our congregation will rejoin them on the calendar at Lent/Easter. From there some churches will include other important seasons like Kingdomtime as they await the arrival of Advent once again. Though all of these seasons of church life congregations will be remembering and rehearsing what God has done, what He is doing, and what He will do -- and who they are as a result of all this.

Do you have to celebrate Advent to be a good Christian? I'm definitely not saying that. What I am saying is that seasons of the church calendar, such as Advent, are incredibly powerful tools for ordering time -- and thus a sense of identity and purpose -- year round. Why not take advantage of them, especially with so many other systems for ordering time competing for your attention, some imposed and some by your own choice?

Keeping Christ at the forefront of our lives can start with our calendars!

They Asked Me if I Believed in Demons

The class was talking about demons.  I don't attend an evangelical school, and plenty of teachers and students are quite proud of their "post-Christian" views, but my classmates were not ashamed to admit their paranormal fears.

At least two students mentioned personal experiences with some sort of "dark feelings" they experienced when visiting places where violence had happened.  Our professor said that he couldn't think of another explanation for the Holocaust other than something demonic.  Neither could anyone else.  I was astonished that not a single person said that they didn't believe in demons (or something similar), at all.

But what about me?  The conversation was interrupted before I could answer.

Last week, something terrible happened in my hometown.  A man went to a party and was attacked by a few men.  A broken beer bottle was stabbed into his back, he was punched repeatedly, and then he was thrown into a burning barrel while his attackers laughed and watched him burn.  At last, some party-goers intervened and he managed to escape with his life - barely.

And, they did this to him because he is gay.

The men have been arrested, and I hope the law finds them very guilty.  I've known people like this all of my life; they know they are strong, and they find weaker people to brutalize.  It makes me feel like nothing is right in our world when these things happen.

An old friend of mine said that he hopes these guys get murdered in prison.  Normally, I would protest that sort of hatred - we should love our enemies, right? - but, not this time.  To my own horror, I agreed.  I can't force myself to forgive these sorts of people, and that means that I'm not as enlightened and loving as I pretend to be.  And that makes me even more upset about this whole thing.  Meanwhile, back home, a man is looking out his window and hoping that no one is coming to kill him.

Do I believe in demons?  Do I think that there's something in this world that is working against us, to try and hurt us?

I most certainly do.