Jesus Undercuts Tribalism

By Father Kevin Miller

One of the most powerful forces in our world today is what the political scientists call nationalism and the sociologists call tribalism. This viewpoint drives elections and many of our news stories. Tribalism says, “What’s right is the needs of my tribe.”

While not denying the right of nations to make decisions about their interests, the life and teaching of Jesus consistently undercuts tribalism. Consider these verses: "For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us” (Eph. 2:14) and "There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

In Christ, what’s right is what provides dignity and humanity for every person God created. So at the national level, we support policies that treat immigrants and refugees with respect; locally, we support the work of our ministry partner World Relief DuPage Aurora. And in our church, we try to give a warm welcome to every visitor or guest, no matter what their background or how they may be different from us.

Thank you, friends of the Savior, for how you do this.

What Attracts People to Anglicanism?

By Deacon Joshua Steele.

Based upon my "fieldwork" in starting and running a blog called "Rookie Anglican" at AnglicanPastor.com, I was asked recently by The Telos Collective to write a post about what attracts people to Anglicanism.

You can read my entire post over at the Telos Collective's blog, but here's a sample.

First, I address the apparent lack of "seeker-sensitivity" within Anglicanism. On one hand, I think this is a good thing.

No “culture of this world” can be equated with the culture of Jesus Christ. This is, I suggest, the important sense in which Christians (and not just Anglican ones) should not be “seeker-sensitive.”

And yet, on the other hand, the very mission of the church seems to demand that Christians be “seeker-sensitive” in the best sense of the phrase. This is because the gospel, though it does contain a powerful critique of a world alienated from God, is only “good news” to the extent that it resonates with (and does not merely refute) the cultures in which it is proclaimed.

So, perhaps we Anglicans need to do a better job of being “seeker-sensitive”—in the sense of resonating with the culture(s).

“Resonating” with the culture, however, does not necessarily mean “approving.” Instead, the church’s resonance with the cultures around it will frequently be “subversive”. . .

Toward that end, I’d like to consider some ways in which I’ve noticed the Anglican tradition subversively resonating with the culture(s) around it—especially those in the United States of America in recent years.

If you'd like to read the rest of the piece, please click here to view the post at the Telos Collective's blog.

God Is Always Already at Work

--by Pastor Sandy Richter

As I enter this new season of ministry at Church of the Savior, I find myself reflecting on the way my view of ministry has shifted over the past 15+ years and how that shift impacts my new work here.

Perhaps like some of you, I was raised in a Christian tradition that put much emphasis on my part of working out my faith in deeds and service. Although I appreciate the stress this tradition places on being an active participant in our faith, the implicit message I internalized was that ministry was largely up to me and what I was willing to do for God.

Several years ago I began to perceive an imbalance in that framework of ministry as I saw many well meaning people around me burning out and giving up, or stumbling under the heavy weight of responsibility.

What I came to realize was missing from this framework was a robust sense that God is always and already at work in the world. A friend of mine likes to say that burnout is also a theological problem, and I have come to agree. When we lose sight of God’s work in the world as the foundation for our ministry, we become cut off from our true and deepest source of life.

On the other hand, when we do grab a hold of this reality, it is abundantly freeing for ministry. If God is already at work, then my ministry is a response to that work, rather than a work of its own. I see God at work and want to join in. I trust God is at work, and I move forward out of faith and love rather than anxiety or fear.

One of the key elements of my new role at Savior is to come alongside our Ministry Team Leaders. I was humbled to realize that we have over 15 lay leaders who serve to coordinate and lead various ministry teams. As I thought about what I would want to impart as I serve these leaders, I realized that the first and most important thing is this--that God is always and already at work.

This has a couple of concrete applications for ministry. First, if God is already at work then he has given us everything we need to do the work into which he has invited us to participate. That is not always readily obvious, especially when we are in the thick of ministry. But whether it be through helping to recruit volunteers, acting as a sounding board, or troubleshooting logistics, I hope to be a sign of God’s presence as we work together to see the ways he will provide.

Second, if God is already at work then he is not surprised by or anxious about our challenges or difficulties. He cares deeply for us and those with whom we are serving, more than we can ever imagine. This realization has helped me to hold my ministry more lightly as I look to God rather than my own ingenuity or strength to navigate hard situations. And it has helped to build my faith as I realize that all I have to give, my few loaves and fishes, God is faithful and delighted to use no matter the circumstance.

I am blown away by the grace of God who loves us and invites us to join in his love for others. And I am encouraged to have the privilege of working with so many of you in this great work. Paul’s words to the Philippians seem particularly apt:

Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart. I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God’s Message, from the day you heard it right up to the present. There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.
                    Philippians 1:3-6, The Message

As we seek to be renewed by his love and to minister that love to others, may we all be continually refreshed by the reality that this is his work and that he who began this good work in us, will be more than faithful to complete it.

Thomas Merton on Loving Others

--by Fr. Kevin

On Saturday, I preached about the teaching and spirit of the Pharisees, which A. W. Tozer summarized this way: “The blight of the Pharisee’s heart … was doctrine without love.” This makes me very glad for Savior’s mission statement that keeps us coming back to loving God, loving others, and loving life. I’ve been helped and challenged by this from Thomas Merton: “Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody’s business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy.”

A Word from Fr. Kevin on Names

--by Fr. Kevin

Eugene Peterson once said that next to the Bible, the church directory is the most important book in the pastor’s study. To learn someone’s name and use it is a gift. I encourage each person at Savior to learn the name of others at the church. Did you know that by doing that, you are becoming more like God, who knows each one of us intimately and calls us by name?

·      Jesus says the good shepherd (a metaphor for himself) “calls his own sheep by name” (John 10:3)

·      Isaiah says that God “brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name” (Isaiah 40:26)

·      Jesus reveals that he’s alive again to Mary Magdalene by using 1 word, her name: “Mary!” (John 20:16).

(And if you forget a name, as I sometimes do, there is grace.)