Napier Baptist

!!WARNING, LONG POST - I THINK AND HOPE IT'S WORTH READING!!

Have just flicked through the latest copy the NZ Baptist and 2 articles stuck out to me. The first one is by Charles Hewlett. Charles is the director of Ministry Training at Carey Baptist College. He is an amazingly caring person whilst at the same time being an amazingly wise and profound person. It's always a thrill to have a chat to Charles or to hear from him. In his article Charles talks about his role as the Chairman on the Borad of Trustees of his son's special school for children with extreme physical and intellectual disabilities (of which his son is a pupil). In his article he relays a touching meeting he had with the school principal and deputy principal who stopped during the meeting only to look out the window at the disabled children and say "Don't they just look so beautiful" Charles said "it brought tears to my eyes. These women (the DP and the Principal) didn't see the frames of wheelchairs. They didn't focus on the white stick that Ricky was carrying. They didn't hear the excited screams of my James as he walked along. They weren't put off by the uncontrolled arm waving, or the contorted expressions on their faces. Rather these women looked out the window and saw boys and girls that they knew personally. They looked and saw people with personality and potential. They knew about the children's struggles and pain and appreciated all their small achievements. They saw the boys' and girls' naive innocence, their sense of humour, and their enjoyment of life and they valued it." He goes on to say "As a pastor (his role before Carey) I would look at people and think "What can they do and how can they contribute? We have our formula all worked out on how our church can grow and we look for and value the people who have the skills to help us achieve it. It s easy to invest our time with those who will give a good return on our investment. We like our services to look good and to run smoothly and therefore we can easily value people who look good and can do and present things well. As I write these comments I have just returned from the special school's break-up and prize giving. It it probably the closest thing I know to heaven on earth. Oh, the world would look and think what a shambles. The people there look funny and their bodies are broken, twisted. They dribble, they rock, they jump up and down, they yell out when they get excited, and they wander up the front at the wrong times...But the love, the joy, the compassion, the acceptance, the depth, the closeness, the unity is just unbelievable. People looking after other's needs before their own, people slowing down to help. No one is judged for what they look like, OR FOR WHAT THEY ARE ABLE TO DO - OR NOT (emphasis mine). People are valued and appreciated for who they are. May this be true of our churches also. May we appreciate that worth goes way beyond what we can do and what we look like. May we look hard for the beauty within people and then take genuine interest in their lives and what happens to them during the week. Let us be people who ask the question, "How can I help you?" rather than, "How can they help us?" And when they contribute in their very small way, value it significantly!"

Wow! Thanks Charles!

The other article that struck me was in the Readers Forum and is a report on the latest Baptist Assembly we had in November (which I attended). In it Roger Driver-Burgess commented on how outstnding the Assembly was, especially the sermons by Paul Windsor and George Wieland on Acts 17 and Acts 15 and implications for mission from which the whole assembly split into groups to discuss these texts and how they might impact how we perceive mission for the local church. In these groups there was much talk about how our local mission isn't cutting it and how we need to rethink our mission as churches. We came up with sentences that spoke about how we might think of mission in new and fresh ways for 21st century New Zealand. This was encouraging to many people to sense a fresh breeze blowing into our movement of churches. But the author said he was startled from overhearing one of our long term missionaries say that she was so angry she had to walk out! When he asked her what the problem was 'she explained that she had heard us agreeing that, as a movement, we were failing to reach our fellow kiwis with the gospel; and our response was to talk about it? Why weren't we repenting with tears?! We had seen there was a problem with strategy - she saw that there was a problem with sin. Our immediate response was to respond with our head - she was amazed at our heartlessness. She is right.' He says 'in Cindy's words I immediately knew myself.' Having been at this assembly, and this was my highlight of the assembly (even if I wondered where all these sentences, phrases and words we came up with might end up?), this article has impacted me. In Roger's description of Cindy's comments 'I immediately knew myself.'

Hi all, I'm keen for people to interact with the sermon text together with me throughout the week. Feel free to add your thoughts or reflections on the text because half the joy of preaching is having your heart melted through studying the text and why should I keep that joy all to myself? These scriptures aren't my scriptures, they're our scriptures; our community's scriptures together and I'd love to engage with them together (as well as anyone else from outside of our community). This Sunday's text is Lk 6:17-26, the sermon on the mount, or in Luke's Gospel it's the sermon on the plain (see Lk 6:17). In Luke's version we find that where Matthew spiritualises issues of the poor and the hungry (Matt 5:1-12), Luke refuses to soften the hard edges of Jesus' words. Concern for the poor, the oppressed and the outcast are at the forefront of Luke's gospel for Jesus and his disciples not because they want to be nice people, but because concern for the poor, the opressed and the outcast are at the heart of the very nature of God. To be a disciple of Jesus is to enter into the life of God, one of love and care (even to death) for the poor, the oppressed and the outcast.

I read this in a commentary this morning: "The first beatitude desribes a way of life, and we, who are not poor - not really - run to Matthew in reflief. But our preference for Matthew says much more about us than about the words of Jesus. The poor are those whose desparate need and inability to help themselves have driven them to turn to God for their hope, but we are now being called to recognize that Jesus really meant the poor and not just the humble. Gustavo Gutierrez, the liberation theologian, has commented that 'God has a preferential love for the poor not because they are necessarily better than others, morally or religiously, but simply because they are poor and living in an inhuman situation that is contrary to God's will. The ulitmate basis for the privileged position of the poor is not in the poor themselves but in God, in the graciousness and universality of God's agapeic love.' Because we are not poor, the beatitude either mystifies us or leaves us feeling guilt rather then joy. Like the rich young ruler, we hear the Lord's word and go away sorrowful because our possessions are many. Our pride and our ability to provide for ourselves have blocked the channels of blessing. Our first response, therefore, needs to be repentance and a reordering of the priorities we have set for our lives. But what a hard thing that is!"

Ian mentioned in his comment that this blog gives people permission to think. I certainly hope so. It reminded me of a phrase that Cityside Baptist Church (in Auckland) use: Thinking allowed, thinking aloud allowed! I certainly want this blog to be a space where people can tease out thougths, reflections or ideas and know that it's ok if their thoughts are only provisional. Teachability is a sign of health and so I hope that people (especially me) are allowed to change, develop and grow their opinions and thoughts on this blog. In the end, all truth rests with God and not with any one person. This sets us free to passionately search for truth and seek understanding.

This is a prayer from Kathy Galloway from The Iona Community :

Oh my heart's heart, in love and anger I turn to you,
for my soul cries out, 'where is justice,
when will the balance be redressed
for the fearful dreams of children who sleep with knives,
for the beaten women, and the shamed and helpless men?'
Where is justice?
For the agony of hunger is not to be set
against the insatiable appetites of jaded palates.

In the villages and the camps, the children lie bleeding,
and great wounds gape from their throats and sides.
In the city, there is no safety for them;
as the leaves blow through the night streets,
they are swept away, they disappear without trace
as if they had never been.

In the marketplace, weapons are bought and sold;
they change hands as easily as onions from a market woman,
and killing comes lightly everywhere.
The value of people is weighed out on crooked scales
and found wanting,
they are discarded like bruised apples
because they lack the appearance of perfection.

But you, my heart's heart, you are careful;
like a thrifty housewife, who sees no waste in anything,
you gather up that which has been cast aside,
knowing its sweetness,
and take it home with you.

And I see you in the camps and villages,
working late into the night,
showing patience in the midst of confusion,
reweaving the web of life.
I see you in the cities,
seated in a circle, making new plans,
drawing attention,
naming the forgotten names.

I will see you in the marketplace,
dressed in black,
with the carved face of an old woman saying 'no' to war,
and you will stand your ground,
and you will seem beautiful to me.
For you are my sanctuary and my light,
my firm ground when the earth cracks
under the weight of warring gods.
As a woman in mortal danger flees to her sisters
and finds refuge,
so you will comfort me, and dress my wounds with tenderness.
And when the flame of courage burns low in me,
your breath, as gentle as a sleeping child,
will stir the ashes of my heart.

Tech me to know your judgement as my friend,
that I may never be ashamed of justice,
or so proud that I flee from mercy.
For your love is never less than justice,
and your strength is tenderness.
You contain my soul's yearning,
and in your encompassing, I am free.

I thought I'd put some links to some different blogs/websites that I often read.

Some Kiwi Voices:

• Steve Taylor is the lead pastor at Opawa Baptist Church down in Christchurch as well as lecturing at BCNZ Christchurch (he used to lecture me at Carey). He blogs here Steve's a leading voice in the New Zealand emerging church scene. He wrote a recent book called The Out of Bounds Church .
• Lynne Taylor blogs here
• Stu McGregor is the youth pastor at Mt Albert Baptist Chruch, he blogs here
• Paul Fromont and Alan Jamieson (Alan's a pastor at Wellington Central Baptist and he's written A Churchless Faith and Called Again) blog here
• Tim Bulkeley is lecturer in Old Testament at Carey Baptist Collegeand he blogs here He's also developed an online hypertext commentary of the book of Amos here
• Stephen Garner is a lecturer at both Carey and BCNZ and is completing his Phd at Auckland Uni. He blogs here

Some other people I like reading and engaging with are:

• Maggi Dawn who's an Anglican Priest, chaplain and lecturer at Cambridge University in England who blogs here
• First Day is the blog of First Baptist Church Asheville and can be found here
• William Willimon is a Bishop in the United Methodist Church in the US and has authored many books. He blogs here
• Frank Rees is the acting Principal at Whitley (Baptist) College in Melbourne. He blogs here
• Sean Winter is a tutor in New Testament Studies at Regent's Park College, the Baptist College at Oxford Uni. He blogs here

There's heaps and heaps of good blogs out there. These are just a drop in the ocean of blogs but they give you a few to sink your teeth into:)

I'm reading Henri Nouwen's The Inner Voice of Love: A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom at the moment. Nouwen was a Catholic Priest who taught theology at many different seminaries and universities. In 1986 he left his post at Harvard University and became the pastor of L'Arche Daybreak Community, a community for people with mental and physical disabilities. This book is Nouwen's secret journal that he kept during the most difficult period of his life (December 1987 - June 1988).

"After many years of life in universities, where I never felt fully home, I had become a member of L'Arche, a community of men and women with mental disabilities. I had been recieved with open arms, given all the attention and affection I could ever hope for, and offered a safe and loving place to grow spiritually and emotionally. Everything seemed ideal. But precisely at that time I fell apart - as if I needed a safe place to hit bottom! Just when those around me were assuring me they loved me, cared for me, appreciated me, yes, even admired me, I experienced myself as a useless, unloved, and dispicable person. Just when people were putting their arms around me, I saw the endless depth of human misery and felt that there was nothing worth living for. Just when I had found a home, I felt absolutely homeless. Just when I was being praised for my spiritual insights, I felt devoid of faith. Just when people were thanking me for bringing them closer to God, I felt that God had abandoned me. It was as if the house I had finally found had no floors. The anguish completely paralyzed me. I could no longer sleep. I cried uncontrollably for hours. I could not be reached by consoling words or arguments. I no longer had any interest in other people's problems. I lost all appetite for food and could not appreciate the beauty of music, art or even nature. All had become darkness. Within me there was one long scream coming from a place I didn't know existed, a place full of demons."

For 8 years Nouwen didn't publish this journal because he thought it was too raw. But through the urging of some of his friends that these insights, born out of deep pain, could be immense help to people he decided to publish his journal. He ends his introduction with "I hope and pray I did the right thing."

Did that last post work or was I dreaming?

Wow! Birthing of a blog for Napier Baptist Church (NBC) has happened almost too easily. A couple of mouse clicks and hello world. I hope this is a space where we can share together in the wild journey of reckless, fearless and boundless love God takes us on - often called discipleship. I hope this blog is roomy enough for many people with their varied experiences to pull up a chair and join us around our fireplace - even if it's only for a time.