The Role of Poetry in Following Jesus

Before Jesus speaks persons gather. They converse in crowds. They anticipate. Expectation and excitement stands up and walks about with nervous energy. Strangers bond with shared eagerness. Friends bond with shared stories.

But after Jesus speaks these bonds can break. The words of Jesus can agitate. Listeners transform into intense preachers. “He has a demon,” some proclaim. These profess that Jesus speaks from an evil source. His words are devilish. Others declare that Jesus “is insane.” His words are jibberish. Lunacy drapes him. He is out of his mind. Yet, others find clarity. The words and deeds of Jesus rescue sanity and returns it to them. “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon,” they say.

When Jesus speaks people divide. Bonds break. Opinions separate.

The cause of the division is not surprising in one sense. But what facilitates the division does surprise me. Jesus claims to be “the Good Shepherd.” This exclusive claim outrages and scandalizes. Borrowing Old Testament language for God and applying it to ones’ self is bound to spark controversy. Less understandable is how Jesus’ use of poetry disrupts. Prior to the outrage, Jesus confounds with His choice of language. All Jesus said was that He was the Good Shepherd. He explored the metaphor. He fleshed it out. But Jesus’ word-choice dismantled crowds into bewilderment. The narrator (John) tells us about it:

This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not
understand what he was saying to them. (John 10:6)

Jesus’ language choice is on my mind. Jesus seems to possess the habit of doing theology with poetry. When Jesus wants to teach us about His divinity, he says: “I am the bread of life,” or “I am the light of the world,” or “I am the Good Shepherd.” Jesus’ language choice resembles the Old Testament pattern. When God speaks of Himself He refers to Himself as a rock, or an eagle or a strong tower.

For those of us whose church stories are rooted in the language of systematic theology or western philosophy, the way Jesus does theology can confound us. I wonder if we sometimes assume that in order to demonstrate a deep and rich appreciation for God we think that we have to speak with the language of systems, creeds and confessions. We may even think that theology done with poetry demonstrates a watered-down and simplistic approach to God. We may feel that if a person really cared about God and the doctrines of God they would quickly abandon poetry. After all, to say that God is a rock seems childlike. More adult language would say that God is omnipotent. Right?

But while I value and treasure my theological heritage with its language. I can’t help but consider a question: “Which phrase is theologically more accurate? Which phrase is more doctrinally sound? To say that “God is omnipotent? Or to say that “God is like an eagle underneath whose wings we are sheltered?”

The Language of Religion, C.S. Lewis helpfully describes these three language options. I can summarize them and then apply them to the Bible in this way:

Scientific Language: The language of precision and measurement
e.g., “It’s 13 degrees outside.”
e.g., “It does not say, “and to your offspring’s,” referring to
many, but referring to one, “and to your offspring” which is Christ. (Galatians 3:16)
Ordinary Language: The language of daily and ordinary life
e.g., “It’s really cold out.”
e.g., “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35)
Poetic Language: The language of metaphor and experience
e.g., “The owl with all of its feathers is skin and shivering”
e.g., “The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God endures forever.” (Isaiah 40:7)

While precise language is necessary and ordinary language is prudent, I wonder what it would mean to confound the religious elite with poetry as Jesus did? What does it mean for me that Jesus seeks to do theology with poetry? How do I come to terms with that?

-Zack

Be

In a welcome address by Karl Paulnack to the incoming class at Boston Conservatory he said, "The first people to understand how music really works were the ancient Greeks.  And this is going to fascinate you; the Greeks said that music and astronomy were two sides of the same coin.  Astonomy was seen as the study of relationships between observable, permanent, external objects, and music was seen as the study of relationships between invisible, internal, hidden objects.  Music has a way of finding the big, invisible moving pieces inside our hearts and helping us figure out the position of things inside us."

Google Karl Paulnack, and you can easily find the whole speech.  It is VERY worth reading.

At Riverside we are assuming Jesus was who he said he was: mysteriously God and Man at the same time.  We view the Bible then, as a strange, long book of narratives, poetry, songs, some argument, and other genres that explains what it means to be truly human.  Therefore, one of our core values is simply to "be".  For this reason we work hard on our music on Sunday mornings.  For this reason we are trying to help local art and artists - because Art mirrors the side of us that wants propositional truths.  There is that side that wants to understand Jesus in light of Heaven and Hell.  There is also the side that is moved by images, or music, or when the wind changes the temperature just slightly.  There is a part of us that wants to know more than what happens to me when I die, there is a part that wants to know why I am moved by beauty...  And by tragedy and darkness.  

The Bible states that we are made very beautiful - Imago Dei, and yet we are bent by the rebellion that is written about in Genesis (did you ever notice the move from the exalted prose in the first chapter of Genesis, to the more earthy language in the second chapter?  For some reason it helps me to appreciate the vastness of the story, and then suddenly it is a not-so-vast story.  Amazing writing).  As a community, Riverside is dreaming about "Being".  What does it mean to "Be" a human being?  What does it mean to be a human being in light of Jesus of Nazareth, not simply a system but a man from a particular place, who lived in a particular time, taught a very compelling way of thinking about humanity and divinity?  He even went so far as to claim (ridiculous, unless somehow true) that he embodied both fully.  What does/will it look like for Riverside Church to be/become a community of people willing to embrace their "Be" ing-ness,  their beauty and their limits?  What does it look like for Christians to be appreciative and supportive of the arts which draw from us affection for the beauty and tragedy of existence?  

Drinking Christianly and Exclusivity

So, if you have been to Riverside (or been around for the 7.4 years of its existence) you are probably not surprised that our blog is not a well-oiled machine.  If it was, you might wonder if someone not-from-Riverside was running it!  And, show me some blogs that ARE run like well-oiled machines and we should at least give them a different title!  That is way too many exclamation points...

So, in lieu of the Monday (its not Monday) blog, I would like to open the floor to some questions.

A few weeks ago Zack brought up the question, "What does it mean to drink Christian-ly?"  While I would LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE to give my thoughts, I would actually rather hear your thoughts.

If that one isn't interesting, or if you would simply rather skip it, how about Ryan's Sermon from this past Sunday (did you know that all of our recent sermons are available on our website?  www.riversidestl.org    The sound is really amazing too)?  He brought up some of the implicit and explicit claims of Jesus in his Sermon on "I am the light of the world".  The gist of a few of them, "Jesus claims exclusivity...  which is pretty not-socially-cool to do.  But, is it, in fact, more exclusive to claim that nothing is exclusive than that Jesus (or Buddha for that matter) is exclusively the 'way-to-Heaven'?  To be true to the way Ryan brought it up, do you worry when you hear this that the Church (capital "C") is trying to get you into it's system/clutches?  

And, if you need a third option: what would you like to see more of on the Riverside Blog (or less of)?

A Present Community

I felt at rest. Time seemed to move slowly and my schedule had nothing on it. Have you ever had one of these seasons in life? Some of you are thinking, “Yeah, 15 years ago when I was in college.” Or, “I can remember the days before we had kids…” Perhaps it happened on your last vacation. Well, regardless of the circumstances, most of us have had moments of deep rest at some point in our lives. We’ve known what it was like, as it were, to be at peace in the world.

I recently returned from a study leave afforded to me by Riverside. The lake house I found myself in had a massive fireplace, the cupboard was fully-stocked, and the company I had all played a role in giving me a restful place to simply be. It provided me “space” to study, to read the Bible, to pray, and enjoy moments of reflection too. It was ironic because I was reading a book by Henri Nouwen called “Reaching Out”. One of the major themes of his book is a recovery of Christian hospitality. Hospitality, says Nouwen, is "the creation of free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy." In that lake house, hospitality was shown forth and I was further invited into being human.

Hospitality does not simply refer to giving someone, who happens to be passing through town, cookies and milk and wishing them happily along their way. Rather than treating people like Santa Claus, hospitality is much more than providing a meal and a place to stay. I need to interject: room and board are certainly hospitable acts of love, but there is much more to hospitality than just food and sheets. Nouwen suggests that hospitality is a “disposition of the heart” to allow people that God brings in our midst a safe place to be. To be hospitable is to allow room for God’s work in the lives of our neighbors, without our forcing or controlling. It is to create space while remaining present.

As we seek to be a community at Riverside, it is our aim to create space while remaining present. It means that we won’t run away. It means we won’t control. And it means that loving-well will be characterized by patience and care. Why would we pursue community this way? Because we are aiming to promote restfulness and comfort, ultimately, in Jesus. What does this mean—restfulness in Jesus? While I’m no statistician, my experience in caring for the human heart leads me to the conclusion that about 100% of our disquietude of soul (whether one is a follower of Jesus or not) comes from our inability to rest—to find our deepest satisfaction—in Him. So true rest is of this kind: where the soul is at rest in Jesus alone.

To have this sort of community will mean that we must remain present with others. It will assume that we are doing the hard work of taking our own fears to God, so when people respond in ways that are uncomfortable for us, we’ll know that we are safe too. In other words, our best community will only be experienced to the degree that we are able to give space while remaining present (hospitality). But the giver and protector of this space will only be able to do so to the degree that they themselves have found Jesus providing this selfsame space for them...

I’d love to hear your thoughts, if you care to share them…Ryan

Common Things?

Yesterday I mentioned this organization called Project Healing Waters. In short, it is a privately funded organization that aims to care for wounded soldiers by giving them an opportunity to fish. A retired Navy Captain started this program in an attempt to care for those around him who had suffered loss. I mentioned, too, that one of the men on this video was a former high school lacrosse teammate of mine. This video “stirred up” all sorts of stuff within me.

We’ve been saying for the past few weeks that historic Christianity has always asserted that Jesus of Nazareth was both fully God and fully man. Our series the past few weeks have focused on the human-side of his person. We’ve asked the question, “What does Jesus, by being human, tell us about what it means to be human?” The angle that we have taken in all of this was through the 5 senses.

Jesus ate food and, into ways that I am just beginning to tap, this seems highly significant for us. Sadly, some parts of the Christian church have left Jesus floating on clouds, throwing out platitudes to those who might listen, and shooting lazers out of his fingers at those who do not. And we have done this to a fault. But there is something about “seeing” him eat that puts him back on the soil. It seems to me, then, that Jesus is telling us something about being human, something about what being human is all about.

If Jesus was the human par excellence (and I believe he was), then he shows us what is normative about being human. And since Jesus ate, he seems to be showing us that to eat is good and proper. After all, when God put man in the Garden (Gen 2) He told him to eat. In other words, eating seems to have a “place at the table” regarding what central to being human. Perhaps when we get together and eat food and celebrate it as a good gift, we are returning—so to speak—to Eden, living as we were intended. Put simply, we were made to eat; and when we eat we are living out our human-ness before God as He made us. I realize that that I am not accounting for the general abuse that is associated with eating (and it needs to be addressed…but not here) and all the problems stemming from this abuse. Nevertheless, as we eat we are living as God made us…we are partaking in something that was Good, even before we ate (Gen 3) and things became sour (enough with the puns, Ryan!).

So on the lakeside, the day’s first catch and fresh baked bread—common things—were no longer devoid of value. Everyday, yes; trifle, no. These mundane things were not only enjoyable in themselves, they were the context in which neighbor love was carried out. I’ll say that again: neighbor love (mission) happens in the context of common things.

Now back to Healing Waters. On the river, a fly, a rod, and the company of friends were common things enjoyed unto the end that my friend “felt human again.” He had an understanding that something was lost about his human-ness when the roadside bomb went off. And in a boat, with a fly rod in his hand, and close companions at his side it was restored. Rhetorically, I'll ask, "Has mission happened?"

Maybe for the first time in my life I’m thinking about what Jesus shows us about being Human. I’m convinced that he lived more humanly than any other man or woman or dog that ever (really!) walked our sod. I believe to follow him will mean restoring what was lost in Eden as we make our way to the New City. 

If you care to share them, I’d love to hear your thoughts…

--Ryan

Blood Sport: Love

I vaguely remember some aspects of my childhood but some stand out more than others. One such standout is the movie “Bloodsport.” Who can resist Jean-Claude Van Dam jumping in the air while dispensing a various array of kicks and ninja moves? He wants to defend the honor of his good friend who tragically was murdered in the kumite by a Korean haus and win for his master who trained him during his youth (sounds very typical 80s to me). The thing that stands out , besides the ninja moves and the Korean guy losing, is the bond between Frank Dukes (JVD) and his Master. This martial arts master trains Frank physically, emotionally, and mentally to achieve an end goal. What does it mean to mentor?

When I was a teenager, I remember the man who walked along side me during high school and “lived life” with me. He was my youth pastor, Brian Burkey, and I could tell that although it was his role to be my youth pastor, there was something different in the way we interacted. Brian cared about my spiritual growth but his focus wasn’t about changing my behavior, it wasn’t about training me to be a leader in my youth group, it was about loving me well when my faults and sins were known to him. Brian is a mentor. He is a man who loved and cared for me, first and foremost, like one of his own kids and was transparent enough to show me his own shortcomings. He wasn’t a “Superman” type figure in my life but a broken man who loved me in a real way. His love for me was a means to no end. In relationships of actual love there is no agenda – especially at the beginning.

What would it look like for the Riverside family to embrace mentoring? Is it possible for us to do it, not as a means to an end but through “living life together” as our starting point? Wouldn’t mentoring then be a natural outgrowth? It’s easy to talk a big game and use this term “living life”, and in this way we definitely ‘talk the talk’ at Riverside! But, mentoring requires us to move beyond just teaching and training and engage the issues of life. That’s what Jesus did. He lived day in and day out with his disciples and his main message to them was to love God first and foremost and love other people. Do you think Jesus spent 18-20 hours a day only teaching and telling parables? Jesus laughed with people, cried with those who were broken, got excited about doing certain things, and probably told a few zingers himself. What I’m trying to say is that mentoring should not be our focus…but love. When we love people well we will naturally become a mentoring community.

Brian and I continue to meet up and have a close friendship. He’s like a second father to me in almost every way. I don’t think we would still be hanging out 10 years after I graduated from youth group if his focus wasn’t love.

PS - did you know Blood Sport is based upon a true story? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodsport_(film)

-Simon Kim

Learning to Touch Christianly

I've been thinking about how doctors and nurses must use gloves in order to touch us. Skin on skin contact endangers us. Our noble bodies are contaminated. To touch is dangerous, even if our design is to heal another. The danger of healing touch reveals how broken our sense of touch is. To touch is to risk harming or being harmed. To touch requires faith. 

But touch is broken for more than bodily reasons. The human heart has broken human touch. Human lips are meant for covenant touch. The lips of one friend or one sibling or one lover touch the body of another as an act of neighbor-love. Kisses are given as a tool from God to offer a settled sense of blessing, strength, intimacy and true love to another. But, the human heart can misuse kisses and trash them. Wickedness enslaves kisses and forces them into actions they were never meant for. Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss. So many of us still limp and wheeze and bleed from the trauma of mistreated touch. 

Our message this past Sunday raised the question, "what does it mean to touch Christianly?" Jesus touched the sick. He touched children. He touched and received the touch of the scandalous. Jesus touched the mundane and made the ordinary sing as if it was a sacrament. 

Edenic touch (that is, touch as it was created in the garden of Eden) served neighbor love. Recovering the noble purity of human touch forms part of what Jesus does by His life, death and resurrection. Jesus is redeeming human touch. He is preparing those who follow Him to touch the way inhabitants of heaven will touch. Heaven does not offer us virgins for our lusts. Heaven kills our lusts and makes virgins of us all. We will touch there and be touched as if we were original, pure and whole. 

A missional church offers neighbor love. Neighbor love requires close human proximity. Close human proximity includes and requires the redemption of the way we touch or refuse to touch.

To touch will require us to settle into being human. Being human is what we were created for.