"Living in the House of Love" — A Parable by Henri Nouwen

Once there was a people that surveyed the resources of the world, and they said to each other, “How can we be sure that we will have enough in hard times? We want to survive whatever happens. Let us start collecting food, materials, and knowledge so that we are safe and secure when a crisis occurs.” So they started hoarding and hoarding, so much that other people protested and said, “Hey, you have much more than you need, while we don’t have enough to survive. Give us part of your wealth.”

But the fearful hoarders said, “No, no, no, we need to keep this in case of emergencies, in case things go bad for us too, in case our lives are threatened.”

Time passed, and then the others said, “We are dying now. Please give us food and materials and knowledge to survive. We can’t wait. We need it now.”

And then the fearful hoarders became even more fearful, because they were afraid that the poor and hungry would attack them. So they said to one another, “Let us build walls around our wealth so that no stranger can take it away from us.” And thus they started erecting walls so high that they could not see any more whether there were enemies outside or not. And as their fear increased they told each other, “Our enemies have become so numerous that they may be able to tear down our walls. Our walls are not strong enough to keep them away. We need to put bombs on top of the walls so that nobody will dare to even come close to us.”

But instead of feeling safe and secure behind their armed walls, they found themselves trapped in the prison they had built with their own fear. They even became afraid of their own bombs, wondering if they might harm themselves more than their enemy. And gradually they realized that their fear of death had brought them closer to it.

__________

This parable is the opening to the talk, "Living in the House of Love," which was an address to the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship Breakfast during the 197th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Indianapolis, Indiana, June 1985. It can be found in The Road to Peace by Henri Nouwen (edited by John Dear; © 1998).

Love Bids Us Welcome — Easter Sermon

Good Morning, I Know It's Easter
As many of you know, I was ordained as a deacon back in August of 2013, and then I became a priest in June of last year. Esther, our six-year old, has been very interested in all of this stuff, and she has been very supportive. For example, yesterday, I was sharing with Rebekah some of my plans for today’s sermon. Esther was listening in, and she interrupted our conversation and said, “Daddy, I know how you can begin your sermon.” I was grateful because making a beginning is so often the hardest part. And so, let me begin my sermon today in the words of Esther:

“Good morning, I know it’s Easter.”

I know it’s Easter. But what does it mean to know it’s Easter. At its most basic level, Easter is all about the resurrection of Jesus. Easter is about how God literally raised Jesus from the dead, the same Jesus who, just days earlier, literally died a humiliating and torturous death, with a cry of abandonment on his lips. Why did he die? Why was he raised? These are strange things. So if we want to understand them, if we want to know what they have to do with us in our daily lives, then we need to take a few steps back to gain some perspective. We need to put them into context, because these strange events that have taken place these past three days, are not the whole story, but the climax of a much larger, grander Story.

The Slavery of Death by Richard Beck (Part 2)

I just came across this three-part series of posts from Beyond the Box (beyondtheboxpodcast.com), entitled "Perfect Love Casts Out Fear." In these posts you can listen to an interview with Richard Beck on his blogposts "The Slavery of Death," which served as the foundation of what eventually became a book by that same name.

“The Slavery of Death” @ beyondtheboxpodcast.com
   • Part 1:  The Sting of Death Is Sin
   • Part 2:  The Denial of Death
   • Part 3:  Perfect Love Casts Out Fear

The Slavery of Death by Richard Beck (Part 1)

I have been reading a recent book by Richard Beck, The Slavery of Death. Beck is a Professor of Psychology at Abilene Christian University. I came across is blog Experimental Theology about a year and a half ago, and I have found it very stimulating and useful. The following description does not do the book justice, but I have decided that if I took the time to write a post that did the book justice, then there might never be a post (owing to the fact that the book has a lot to commend it and I'm too much of a perfectionist. And so, this will simply have to be good enough).
     As a committed Christian, writer, and evolutionary psychologist, in The Slavery of Death, Beck blends Eastern Orthodox theology, modern psychology, the theologies of William Stringfellow and Walter Wink, and the interpretation of biblical texts to explore Hebrews 2:14-15.

"Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, [Jesus our Great High Priest] himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death."

     Beck argues that our society as a whole operates out of a basic and a neurotic fear of death. And this neurotic fear of death gets manifested by individuals, groups, companies, and churches. We are unable to love fully because we are held captive to the fear of death. Because we live in this fear of death, we generally focus our time and energies on survival and self-preservation. This focus inhibits us from looking to the interests of others, let alone to loving them in self-sacrificial ways. What we see then is that fear is the opposite of love, yet according to 1 John 4:18, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. So in The Slavery of Death, Beck offers an integrated biblical, theological, and psychological perspective as to how the Gospel addresses this systemic problem and how we as individuals and as churches can begin to address this fear and begin to love.


Prelude: “The Sting of Death"

Part I:  “The Last Enemy”

Chapter 1:  Ancestral Sin
Chapter 2:  Christus Victor

Part II:  “Held in Slavery by Their Fear of Death”

Chapter 3:  The Denial of Death
Chapter 4:  The Principalities and Powers

Part III:  “There is No Fear in Love”

Chapter 5:  An Eccentric Identity
Chapter 6:  The Sign of the Cross

Interlude:  Timor Mortis

Chapter 7:  Practicing Resurrection
Chapter 8:  The Freedom of God

Name That Commandment

What's the best way to love God with all that we are,
all that we have, and all that we ever hope to be?

Sunday, October 26, A.D. 2014

RCL, Year A, Proper 25, Track 1

Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Matthew 22:34-46

Download Sermon as a PDF

Watch on YouTube HERE

NAME THAT COMMANDMENT

Name That Tune

Two weeks ago, I began my sermon on Moses and the Golden Calf by talking about the game show, To Tell the Truth. This past week, I went back to the same well. And so, I shall begin today’s sermon by talking about another game show I remember watching as a kid, called The $100,000 Name That Tune. Does anybody remember it?

     Name That Tune was a syndicated game show that aired during the latter half of the 1970s. Each week, two contestants from the studio audience would be chosen to compete against one another in a series of challenges, where they had to name the title of songs. The challenge I remember most was called Bid-a-Note. During this segment of the show, the host, Tom Kennedy, would read a clue about a song, and the two contestants would take turns bidding against one another for the chance to identify the title of the song.

One contestant might begin, “I can name that tune in 6 notes.”
And the other might say, “I can name that tune in 5 notes.”
“I can name that tune in 3 notes.”
“Okay then. It’s yours. Name that tune.”

At that point, the first three notes of the song would be played on a piano, and the winning bidder would try to Name That Tune.