Ordinary Time bursts with learnings for those paying attention.
When the church calendar turns from Advent/Epiphany and Lent/Easter to “Ordinary Time,” congregational activities tick down a notch, and church professionals’ continuing education opportunities spike upward. Scholar lectures, support associations and colleague groups schedule their gatherings in liturgical off-seasons.
The editor-publisher in me assigns the reporter-commentator in me to report on such gatherings, and the pastor-theologian in me jumps at the chance to glean exegetical insights, theological twists and turns, contextual analyses, pastoral renovations and programmatic innovations.
Such is how it has been of late — spending several days at the 2014 convention of the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators (APCE) and then the “Mid-Winter” lectures at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
The APCE convention was headlined by Brian McLaren, a mega-church evangelical pastor-turned-author/itinerant conference speaker and establishment evangelical-turned progressive change-agent. He still identifies with the evangelical movement; his belief in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord is non-negotiable. But when speaking to the educators, he pressed them to go back to their Bibles and read them again in a different way.
“Many of us have seen the Bible as a constitution,” he said. For some it’s binding in every clause. For others it is a flawed and dated constitution. But, he said, “The Bible is not a constitution. It’s something better. It’s a conversation, a library.” In fact, he said that the Bible promotes not simple agreements but arguments. Instead of simply analyzing, interpreting and arguing its case, we need to “enter,” “inhabit,” and “practice” it.
The heart of the message of the Bible, he insisted, is its invitation to connection — with God and with one another.
The Austin seminary lectures also emphasized connecting. Samuel Wells, Vicar of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London, and former dean of Duke University Chapel, delivered three lectures focusing on the preposition “with”: “God being with God,” “God being with us,” and “our being with one another.”
“It is my contention that ‘with’ is the most important word in theology,” he declared. He outlined eight essential dimensions of “with”: presence, attention, mystery, delight, participation, partnership, enjoyment and glory.
Some key thoughts: “The mutual indwelling of the Trinity is the model of what presence means … Mystery is more of a thing to be entered than a problem to be solved. … Integral to human flourishing is the experience of sharing mutual joy. … There is no getting there unless all get there. … When hanging on the cross, and crying, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ Jesus is being pressed with the choice of being with God and being with us.” He paused and then concluded, “And he chooses us. Therein is found our salvation.”
Scot McKnight, professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Chicago, delivered two lectures on the Apostle Paul’s vision of the Christian life, and he, too, focused on connections. He supported Wells’ commitment to “with.” But he pressed Wells to add, “for,” as in “God is for us,” and “unto,” that is, God is transforming us unto the kingdom.
Rachel Held Evans, who kiddingly said, “I’m no theologian; I’m a blogger,” also delivered two lectures referencing her bestselling books, “My Year of Biblical Womanhood” and “Evolving in Monkeytown.” In a discussion forum with the other two lecturers and conference worship leader Shannon Johnson Kershner, she also lifted up the “with” and “alongside” of relationships, particularly as an evangelical woman who has discovered the fullness of partner equality with her husband.
Might we add, “Learning with?” Ongoing learning stands as a core value and defining practice of the Reformed tradition. In fact, the Outlook not only offers webinars for just such a purpose, and not only lists upcoming educational opportunities in our “Calendar Check,” we actually report on such events. We happen to think that they can turn ordinary time into extraordinary learnings for those who are paying attention.
—JHH
