outside is better

Talking about Revelation: Developing an Eschatological Hermaneutic

 I have written before about how local churches need to engage with Revelation. To some, this might be an insurmountable task.

The character of Revelation makes an auditory involvement necessary. In country terms; We need to HEAR Revelation.

Those in the company of preachers must learn to call the church to its eschatological dwelling place.  In the enterprise of the earthly church taking Revelation back, local pastors serve both as truck drivers and road crew.  We direct the energy as well as take care of the movement so that the laity can travel alongside. Intentionally preaching eschatologically means a deliberate admonition of the end that comes across as assured as the deliberate notions of beginning. Our role is to theologically play the childhood game of “connect the dots”. We are story-tellers, not date-setters.   

As pastors we must tell people about the other world,  living in the the subversive act of preached hope. Instead of romantic historical meanderings that lament morals gone amuck, we focus on preached time. Preached time creates the path to New Jerusalem.  This alternate narrative answers the question of who really is in charge.

Whenever I teach Revelation to a new group of people, I start with a question. It goes something like this; "I am going to let you make a decision as to how we will read this book and how I will teach it to you. We can either let Revelation be a book that only pertains to a distinct group of people at only one time in the history of the world or we can read it as though it has informed the church for 2000 years and will continue to speak to us."

I have never had a group take option A. Even if they are hardcore Left Behinders, the second choice just sounds better. If teaching Revelation freaks you out, let the congregation make the first choice. Present to them a basic reading strategy. It will allow you to stay away from so many testy issues.

Revelation doesn't work in a passive setting. We have to be intentional and deliberate with it, but shouldn't we with all scripture?

Related Posts:
The Apocalyptic Pastor
Preaching, Mindmapping and the Apocalypse of John
Christian Time and the End of Times

Glory be to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
As it was in the beginning, is now, and shall ever be, world without end.

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This is a repost from a blog I ran for a few years postmoderneschatology.com. I have decided to merge that content in with this blog and will occasionally post from its archives.

Sermon: I against the World

This week at St. Paul's New Song service we started a new series called "A new look at old school." The Old Testament really gives us a good picture of what proper worship looks like, what the contents of it are and what the response of the people of God should be. I am taking some arcs of scripture that can be several chapters long and using the key stories as our beginning points. This week our passage what 1 kings 16-18, and Elijah's relationship with Ahab and the showdown with the prophets of Baal.

I had some great conversations (on twitter no less!!!) with friends when I was preparing this sermon, so they might recognize their contributions. One of the elements that really jumped out to me was Elijah's invitation to worship in 18:30. Thanks for listening.

Chad Brooks 1 Kings 16-18

Growing into God's house: 1 Peter 2:2-5

This last week my sermon was from one of my favorite passages of scripture. I love 1st Peter because it somehow speaks to the immediate as well as the timeless qualities of faith.

Sermon 8:28:11

Worship Wednesdays: A bit of Old and a bit of New

I like to use plenty of scripture when I design worship. Years ago, a mentor suggested learning to weave the larger story of scripture in services. Instead of leaning on one longer reading, find several related pieces of scripture and use them throughout the service. This was great advice. I want to show you one of the ways that I do this.

One of my favorite academic resources is the Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament from Baker Academic Press. This book looks at the usage of Old Testament passages in the New Testament. It does so much more than simply list, but gets into the theological reasoning behind why these passages relate. The book shows the "quotations, allusions and echoes" that are found in the New Testament. One of my favorite writers, G.K. Beale, edited the book and it is a huge resource.

But we aren't writing an exegesis paper...we are designing worship. Here is how I used the book this week when planning worship for my community.

I am preaching from 1 Peter 2:2-5 on Sunday. I knew that I wanted to use more scripture to serve as the call to worship, an additional scripture reading during the praise set and perhaps even the benediction.

1Pet. 2:2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation—
1Pet. 2:3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
1Pet. 2:4  Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and
1Pet. 2:5 like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (NRSV)

D.A Carson (who wrote the section on 1st Peter) notes three main OT reflections for my scripture; Ps. 118:22-23, Is. 8:14-15 and 28:16. These images deal with the "stone" imagery found in verses 4-5.  Peter also utilizes Psalm 34 in the language of "calling, tasting and seeing." As you see, there are plenty great images already built in the main scripture for the sermon. I wanted to enrich those images.

Ultimately, I settled on Psalm 34:5-6 for my call to worship, and took it out of the NLT.

Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy;
         no shadow of shame will darken their faces.
In my desperation I prayed, and the LORD listened;
         he saved me from all my troubles.

For the additional scripture reading I chose Psalm 118:22-24, also from the NLT.

The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing, and it is wonderful to see. This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

I made these decisions after thinking how the specific language of these pieces fit in congregational worship. I decided to save the Isaiah passage (28) for the sermon. When it came time for the benediction, I ultimately decided to use another piece from 1 Peter 2 (2:9-10) that helps continue the scriptural path Peter has laid out.

Books like these are a great resource to worship designers who design services around a sermon title and text. For churches wanting plenty of scripture in the service, resources like this book help build a strong theological thread through worship. One of my main goals is getting people participate in the narrative of scripture. This service fit the bill!

Search for resoures that help you find these larger themes of scripture. It can be a wonderful addition to your toolbox.

Eating the Book

Yesterday in my sermon I challenged folks to become "imagining storytellers in the great Drama of Scripture." Nice words....they sound pretty nice changed together like that. But I am straight serious. To be Christians in the 21st century, participating in God's mission for the world, we have to understand the Bible as something that actually effects our life.

In the past, we understood its effects as knowledge and moral priority. We read the Bible to find more knowledge about God and to learn the do's and don'ts of the Christian life. These still apply, but perhaps not in the same order or priority. We need to get past a mechanistic understand of the Bible. Instead of it being something we hang on a tool belt, it instead becomes part of our mind and body. With this mindset, the idea of knowledge and behavior come into play, but understood because we are in a relationship with God instead of religious obligation.

Scripture belongs to the life we live now. We learn to talk about ourselves in terms of the actions of Christ, the deliverance from Egypt in the Old Testament and the hymns of hope in Revelation. The people of God have a story. It has been the same story since Abraham was called. The creator of the universe wants to draw all of the world into a redeemed relationship. He Himself came down, and Jesus took care of everything. While Jesus now sits at the right hand of the Father, the Holy Spirit now speaks the words of God to us.

The practical side of storytelling means that we need to read scripture. We read it slow, fast, with deep intentions and at a glance. In all points of time the word of God is with us. It means we might have times where we read huge stretches or it might be the verses we memorized as a child. Through reading, we take it in as part of our lives and are then able to tell it to others...as something we own.

In several places in scripture, God challenges a prophet to eat a scroll. As Christians, we ingest scripture, letting it become part of our body. We do this as individuals and we do this as corporate bodes. Scripture becomes as natural as an organ, influncing our life in ways that we don't even realize.

Sermon: Whose Story are you following?

I was asked to preach the Easter Vigil at Asbury Seminary a few weeks ago. It was a huge honor to occupy that pulpit. We have not had a vigil since 2005, and I was surprised they asked a student, much less me, to preach the service. I tried to use several of the texts that were read that night, but drew most of my inspiration from Ezekiel 37 and Romans 6.

I love participating in services like the vigil. The dramatic nature of Christian worship draws the participants out of the temporal and gives us visions of the eternal.

Easter vigil sermon

Palm Sunday Sermon: The Whole World has gone after Him.

I was given the chance to preach yesterday at church. I am always thankful that Aaron shares his pulpit, and lets a student preach on a day like Palm Sunday. My text was John 12:12-19. I picked this over the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and John) because the narrative flowed in a manner that really related to beginning Holy Week.

I was really struck by how the story of the Triumphant Entry is bookended by the larger Lazarus story as well as the pharisee's realizing the extent of the gospel message.

 

 

John 12;12-19

 

Preaching Without a Net

Tonight I preached from Revelation 7 at our Monday night congregation at church. My friend Blake pastors this congregation and asked me to fill in for him. Normally, I am in the clothing closet, helping in the kitchen or just functioning as a gopher. I do lead a few mountain hymns at the beginning of the service, but it was fun changing roles.

Due to the nature of the service, I preached from a few notes in my bible. Normally, I write out a manuscript and memorize around 70% of it. But I changed things up tonight...mainly because Blake preaches this way and the formality of a manuscript wouldn't fit in with my friends here on Monday nights. The issue of contextuallity is really important to me, and this service really needed me to conform.

 

It was fun. If I didn't know the passage so well I would have been more worried. But I am glad to be growing in this direction in my preaching. I am preaching both Palm Sunday and an Easter Vigil in the next week...so I might have another chance. I just might do it.

Is Congregational Worship Necessary?

I stumbled upon this blog post tonight. The pastor is explaining why his church will disband weekly worship in favor of an extremely intense discipleship ministry and a once a month large meeting.

Some of it sounds really good. He hits the nail on the head regarding several issues. For those that have a heavy heart for missions and the justice of God his language really fits into the movement that the evangelical church has been going towards in correcting some of its inclusiveness and narcissistic ways.

 But I think this is a great example of doing all the right things completely wrong.

 

Can a church that doesn't worship truly be the church? Before you go wild on me, read the whole post. The pastor gives the idea that the actions in worship aren't formational enough to be important.

I am not saying we do away with them, but we preach and sing too much and serve and love in radical ways far too little.  The answer is not to add love on top of the sermons and songs, but to decrease the sermons and songs and increase the service and love to create a balance that looks like the life of Jesus.

John Wesley notes that good works are only possible once a vibrant and intense relationship with Christ exists in the heart of the individual. His sermon  The Almost Christian speaks about justice being evident to those who still haven't turned their hearts over to Christ. Justification by Faith  mentions that the things of love cannot truly be done in the name of Christ unless we have we have directed our own entire love to him. Finally in his sermon, The Way to the Kingdom, Wesley really develops this by explaining how our good works are only truly righteous when they spring from the inward spirit that is truly only devoted to God.

 I don't mention these things to question the faith and salvation of these folks, but to plead for worship. Hebrews 10:25..."Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching." The eschatological makeup of the Church in worship lives with the expectation of the return of Christ.

 When the worship meeting becomes an evangelical outreach only, I would agree with many of the reasons for an evaluation. But worship should never been seen as a pragmatic event to draw people in. Worship develops a ragtag group of people into an eternal priesthood. We worship because we love Jesus Christ and want to join with the church around us, before us and in front of us in praising the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Worship staunchly stands against the world and says "No!!!

Worship stands in an intense relationship with justice. The Old Testament prophets had two messages for Israel; That their worship was bad and the poor in the streets were neglected. My friend JD has mention that if injustice exists in the streets idolatry is present in the sanctuary. The two are not held in opposition or competition, but a co-eternal dance. Mission and worship are in deep cahoots with each other.

Worship develops us into a people that can face the world head on, and bring the kingdom to it. We can't participate in the missio dei without also participating in the doxo dei.

Related Posts:
Geek to Chic: brand identity as Christians
Hymnaling (and being Methodist)
What drives us in Worship?

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This was originally posted at Levite Camp, a community fostering a theological conversation on worship design.

Sermon: Pattern Changing Worship

Last week I had the chance to preach at church, thanks to Aaron Mansfield. It was an honor to share the word of God with my these folk. I love being a part of a church that has historically trained Pastors. 

Over the last few months I have been thinking about idolatry, especially what it actually does to the worshipping life.  I came across this passage in Deuteronomy in my devotional reading and kept coming back to it, especially in reference to the conquest (Joshua) and the failed dwelling in the land (Judges).

I missed the first bit of my sermon, but I wanted to post the audio here. My text was Deuteronomy 12:1-9 (NLT)

  

 

“These are the decrees and regulations you must be careful to obey when you live in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. You must obey them as long as you live.

 ² “When you drive out the nations that live there, you must destroy all the places where they worship their gods—high on the mountains, up on the hills, and under every green tree. ³ Break down their altars and smash their sacred pillars. Burn their Asherah poles and cut down their carved idols. Completely erase the names of their gods!

 ⁴ “Do not worship the Lord your God in the way these pagan peoples worship their gods. ⁵ Rather, you must seek the Lord your God at the place of worship he himself will choose from among all the tribes—the place where his name will be honored. ⁶ There you will bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your sacred offerings, your offerings to fulfill a vow, your voluntary offerings, and your offerings of the firstborn animals of your herds and flocks. ⁷ There you and your families will feast in the presence of the Lord your God, and you will rejoice in all you have accomplished because the Lord your God has blessed you.

 ⁸ “Your pattern of worship will change. Today all of you are doing as you please, ⁹ because you have not yet arrived at the place of rest, the land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession.

Deut 12 sermon