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Holy Week resources and reflections
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Where the Light Shines Through: Discerning God in Everyday Life

by Wes Avram. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2005. ISBN 1587430886. Pb., 156 pp., $14.99.

 

In the first of the sermonic essays in this collection, Wes Avram recounts a story from a physician's memoirs about a young man who lost his leg to bone cancer. The young man went through long and difficult therapy to learn to live without his leg. During his physical therapy, the doctor sometimes asked the young man to draw a picture of how he was feeling. On one occasion he drew a picture of a cracked vase, depicting his feeling of being broken right at the center of his being. As the years went on, the young man gradually accepted his new life and learned to find joy again. Much later, the doctor met the patient again, and had an opportunity to pull out of his files the old picture of the cracked vase. The former patient took the picture back and said, "This isn't finished." He added something to the drawing. "'Now it's complete,' he said and turned it back to the doctor. He had drawn rays of light shining from inside the vase. He said, 'Now I know that the crack is where the light shows through.'" [p. 31]

Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace

Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace, by Miroslav Volf.  Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006.  ISBN: 0-310-26574-6.  Pb., 247 pages, $12.99.

Read this book; it will strengthen your Lenten preaching. Free of Charge is the Archbishop of Canterbury's "Official 2006 Lent Book." In the Forward, Archbishop Rowan Williams says, "This is a book about worshipping the true God and letting the true God act in us." Volf captures the essence of his book in a more engaging way in the Postlude, a conversation with a skeptic who questions all Volf's assumptions, even his view of God. Volf responds, "I don't mean to insult you, but I wrote this book mainly for myself and maybe for folks like me, not for you. Most books I write, I write for myself as a spiritual exercise almost. And to tell the truth, my biggest problem is not with the arguments that may pull the rug from beneath the whole Christian way of life. In a sense my biggest problem is not an argument at all." (p.229)

Volf and the skeptic continue the dialogue. Volf says, "I am what we Christians used to call a 'sinner,' though we are now a bit embarrassed by the term." (p.230) "In the book, I argue, among other things, that we should embrace our enemies as Christ has embraced us. Well, an 'enemy'- a small one -- arose in my life after I wrote the book, and I sensed in myself the propensity to return in kind and exclude rather than forgive and embrace. And then I heard myself saying, 'But you argued in your book ...' It was like an academic version of the still small voice my wonderful and godly mother so often speaks about."

"Did that help?" the skeptic asked.

"It did! It reminded me that I was failing, that I wasn't true to God and to myself. It helped me resolve to act differently, to love my 'enemy.'" (p. 232)

Imagining Redemption

As I was preparing this review of David Kelsey's provocative treatment of redemption, none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California, was already bandying about the word in the media. Explaining his refusal to commute the death sentence of Stanley "Tookie" Williams, the governor-cum-theologian said, "[Williams'] redemption may not be complete."

It is clear that the governor was operating under a certain definition of redemption, clearly popular in our hyper-individualistic culture, bathed as we are in self-help. In our cultural milieu, redemption is a human act of will, something that Mr. Williams ought to be able to "do," and, barring that redemptive accomplishment, he somehow forfeits his right to live. Lest any in the faith community believe that this understanding is remotely Christian, Kelsey's book comes along and reminds us that redemption is not a self-help project or a human project at all; redemption is a gift of grace, an act of God, and we are simply invited to live into this redemptive space in response.

The Gospel According to Oprah

For those who are skeptical and dismissive of Oprah Winfrey, it is particularly challenging not to be condescending of a religious book that seeks to evaluate Oprah and her influence on our society. In The Gospel According to Oprah, Marcia Z. Nelson provides us with a thorough theological evaluation of Oprah and her empire that invites us to re-evaluate this "pop-icon," and possibly learn and appropriate lessons from her. 

Oprah's influence is unparalleled. Her show is broadcast in 108 countries around the globe, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe; she claims 10 million viewers in the U.S. alone; her magazine has 2.7 million readers. Her empire includes movie production, Internet, and product endorsement. Her core message, "improve yourself, make a difference, and learn from life's lessons," is consistent and strong throughout all areas of her work. 

In the Reformed tradition, we believe that any dichotomy between sacred and secular is a false one. We claim that God is actively involved in all spheres of life: church and culture, pastor and pop-icon. How is it that we might see Oprah as an instrument of God? It is hard to dismiss Oprah's generosity: more than $175 million donated to causes and organizations that promote human development. The testimony of countless people who claim to be living more full lives because of Oprah is equally compelling. Oprah has raised consciousness about critical social issues such as child abuse.

Blood Done Sign My Name: A True Story

by Timothy B. Tyson. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2005. ISBN 1400083117.  Pb., 368 pp., $14.

 

Many words will be spilled over this review of Timothy B. Tyson's autobiography, Blood Done Sign My Name. All of them are intended to encourage you: read it; invite your congregation members to read it; listen deeply to what it says to you, in you, and about you.

Tyson provides one of the most engaging autobiographies this reviewer has read. He integrates his coming of age story into the crime of murder, committed in an apparent spirit of racial supremacy. He challenges us to see more than is comfortable and to admit all that we know but dare not speak.

Tyson's generous personal story, woven with his clear and accessible exposition of complex civil rights history, captivated me. He cleverly negotiates the distance between past and present, between his story and the story and laces it all with theological assertions, challenges, and hope. Tyson avoids the dangers of nostalgia by delving into the messy complexities of racism and our continuing grasp toward, but not of, reconciliation. Chapters are measured with insightful humor and grit, making the recounting of pain caused by the sins inherently consequent given racism in our culture and in our church more palatable.

Back through the wardrobe: A Review Essay

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C. S. Lewis.  New York: HarperTrophy, 2000. ISBN 0064409422. Pb., 208 pp., $8.99.

C. S. Lewis: Letters to Children, edited by Lyle W. Dorsett and Marjorie Lamp Mead. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1985.

 

This season's opening of the film "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" has taken many of us back through the wardrobe into Narnia. My hope is that the new travelers have not only the film trip, but also the wonderfully imaginative one through the book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which was the first of the seven books in the Narnia chronicles by C. S. Lewis.

Some wonder at the staying power of Lewis. He was a scholar, a medievalist, and professor of literature at both Oxford and Cambridge, and for some years an agnostic. His path to faith sets him as a premier example of one who reasoned his way to the brink of faith. One cannot reason all the way. He said the final step was like diving off the high diving board for the first time.

Lewis' writings ranged beyond excellent works in his professional field to the publication of his World War II radio talks -- now available as Mere Christianity. Countless Christians found their first doorway into faith through that book. Beyond these moving apologetic pieces (never out of print), he published novels and science fiction.

Of prime importance to us is the series of the Narnia Chronicles. Here the children wander through a wonderful wardrobe into the land of Narnia, where it is always winter but never Christmas. The White Witch rules and her kingdom is defeated only by the quite remarkable lion, Aslan (pronounced by Lewis Ass-lan).  Many have seen in Aslan a Christ figure. He suffers ("velveting his paws," emptying himself of his power) and lays down his life for others. He comes bouncing back to life and breathes life into countless elves, dwarves, and animals that have been turned to stone by the White Witch. One of the children (Edmund) is a Judas figure, a sneak and a traitor. The fearful children (like the disciples) join the risen Aslan to do battle against evil.

Some ask whether we have "read in" our Christian theology here. Did Lewis intend to tell the Jesus story? In this essay I share Lewis' own words in the revealing book C. S. Lewis: Letters to Children. We do not have the children's letters, but to our great pleasure we have C. S. Lewis responding to them.

A child asked in 1953 about Aslan's other name (is he Jesus?). Lewis responds: "Has there never been anyone in this world who (1.) Arrived at the same time as Father Christmas. (2.) Said he was the son of the Great Emperor. (3.) Gave himself up for someone else's fault to be jeered at and killed by wicked people. (4.) Came to life again. (5.) Is sometimes spoken of as a Lamb (see the end of the Dawn Treader). Don't you really know His name in this world?" (p. 32)

Recent books on spirituality and devotional reading

A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life, by Parker J. Palmer. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004. ISBN 0-7879-7100-6. Hb., 192 pp. $22.95.

Drawing attention to the divided nature of our lives (the "blizzard" that assaults us without and within), Palmer seeks a means by which we might live as more whole persons, "undivided" in the relationships in which we seek to live and serve. Palmer offers no quick fixes, but calls for his readers to create safe spaces to nurture the soul in community; his hope is that such undivided lives will enable us to live non-violently in the world.

 

A Table of Delight: Feasting with God in the Wilderness, by Elizabeth J. Canham. Nashville: Upper Room Books. 2005. ISBN 0-8358-9804-0. Pb., 132 pp. $12.

Canham invites readers to find God at work in wilderness experiences--both the chosen wildernesses of retreat, and the un-chosen wildernesses of barren times of life. She shares with the reader ways that the wilderness can be a place of prayer where God is at work.

God Was in the Laughter: The Autobiography of David Haxton Carswell Read

by David H. C. Read. New York: Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, 2005; available by order from The Hood Library at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church (921 Madison Avenue, New York, NY, 10021; $20 plus $3 shipping and handling).

 

During a scheduled "free" afternoon of a continuing education event at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, David H. C. Read spent his "free" time reading the sermons of, and offering instruction and encouragement to, a pair of young pastors. Each chapter of his autobiography God Was in the Laughter radiates that same grace and generosity.

David Haxton Carswell Read was for thirty-three years pastor of Madison Avenue Church in New York City and perennially listed among the best preachers in the United States. His voice was heard regularly on the National Radio Pulpit. In 1973 he was the Lyman Beecher lecturer at Yale Divinity School. He published about a dozen books of sermons and a half dozen other volumes on preaching, evangelism, and as well an introduction to Christian faith. His sermons are bright and witty, theologically rich, wonderfully insightful to the human need for God, and though they were preached decades ago, they may still be profitably read as models of homiletical discipline and vessels of God's grace.

A More Profound Alleluia: Theology and Worship in Harmony

edited by Leanne Van Dyke. Grand Rapids, Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2005.  ISBN 0-8028-2854-X. Pb., 155 pp.  $15. 

 

Leanne Van Dyke, at the end of her contribution to this book of essays on theology and worship reminds us that if one pulls on a single thread of worship practices, "theological implications begin to spill out," and if one pulls on a single thread of theology, "worship practices begin to spill out." Accordingly, the "thoughtful pastor, church leader, and lay person will wish to think through these mutual integrations so that worship and theology can fit together and be a fragrant offering to God." (p.78)

Van Dyke's own effort to trace the mutual relations between what we believe and how we worship centers on the church's task of proclamation, pairing our understanding of the Word made flesh in Jesus Christ with the word that engages us in Scripture, sacrament, preaching, and other liturgical moments. She is joined in this integrative effort by five other contributors: John Witvliet, whose initial essay deals with the opening of worship and its Trinitarian shape; William Dryness, who traces the mutual connections between the church's act of confession and the doctrines of sin and grace; Ron Byars, whose essay shows how the church's practice of confessing the faith in creedal form (and in the prayers of the liturgy) implies a certain doctrine of the church that in turn sheds light on the meaning of our confessing; Martha Moore-Keish, who writes on the deep connections between the church's practice of celebrating the Eucharist and its eschatological hope; and David Stubbs, who helps us see the end of worship as the calling to live in such a way that our lives do not mock our worship but rather reflect its truth and reality.

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