Worldly Holiness

“According to Jesus, there is no authentic Christianity, discipleship or Christian ethics apart from doing the deeds he taught his followers to do….” - Glen Stassen

“Life naturally provides those moments and occasions of unintentional contemplation, times when the foundations of life seem swept away and we are left with the need to see life from a different perspective. - Parker Palmer

Recently I had the chance to help with a project building a home in North Africa in a region that was struck by an earthquake a few years ago. Many in the host community lost their lives and the survivors are struggling to put the pieces back together as they put a new roof over their heads, hopefully a home that will better withstand a future quake. I volunteered with a non-profit that is rebuilding communities, house by house, making an impact on lives and families and helping the local economy by employing local tradesman for various aspects of the building projects.

It was our job to dig ditches for the foundation of a new home. Not a large home but one that makes sense for the region and fits the lifestyle of a small family. As we worked harder than I’ve worked for a long time, family members dug alongside us investing sweat equity and pride in the building of their own home. They also provided food and wonderful, sweet mint tea during breaks. The weather was intense for a guy from the Northwest and the topography did not easily yield to our intentions to dig ditches. But we made headway. A particular feature that slowed our work were the veins of rock that decided to hide themselves under the veneer of normal dirt where we drew our lines for a hole or trench. The rocks probably saw us coming and wagered on which of these white guys could break them down. Ha.

I pounded on one such rock for the better part of 30 minutes one morning. After me, another guy on our team spent yet more time on the same stone. Thought I had loosened it for him. Apparently not. One of the local workers finally came to our rescue. He got into the same hole we were in for 45+ minutes with a pick. He taped in several places, found a weak spot, pried with the point of the pick, tapped a bit more. In less than 10 minutes he dislodged a huge rock to our shame and chagrin. But were we glad. We also knew who knew what they were doing right then.

I don’t want to over spiritualize this little story but the parallels are striking. Sometimes in my inner life I try to remove the rocks myself, with brute force of will or determination. These are good qualities for some tasks in my life but generally not the inner life. The best way to become conformed to the image of God is to yield, to trust the Holy Spirit to apply his gentle hand at the inner surgery that is sometimes needed in my heart. That is not a passive, static posture. I still need to get in the ditch to uncover the rocks and use the tools given by God. But ultimately it is a work of the Holy Spirit.

The guy who unearthed the rock at our project site has a nickname. They call him “rock whisper.” I kind of like that idea when I think of the work of the Holy Spirit in my life.

“The things that come out of a man are they that defile him, and to get out of them a man must go into himself, be a convict, and scrub the floor of his cell.” - George MacDonald

Blue Mosque at Sunrise, originally uploaded by papalars.

Well, I haven’t finished my “Common Word” report yet because some other exciting things have come to the front burner since coming back from California. Last Friday I was the guest speaker at a local mosque, addressing the community gathered for Friday prayers. You heard right. This picture is not THAT particular mosque as many of you might know, unless of course I was speaking last Friday in Istanbul. My two sons just visited this city, but that is another story.

About a month ago I spent the good part of an afternoon with an Imam in the Seattle area for a great conversation, with another friend. This was one of those times when that certain “click” just happens and for one reason or another, or perhaps all of them together, we went deep fairly quickly. Near the end of our conversation I got this amazing invitation to come as a guest to the mosque to speak on some issues on Christian-Muslim relations. The agenda evolved a bit in the intervening time but last week it took shape. The Imam wanted me to address his gathered community during Friday prayers with the following questions: “why is there such a negative view of Muslims in the Christian Church? and what is your church doing to help change that predominant view?” More generally he wanted me to lead a discussion on how we could both minimize the negative perceptions of each other that are fostered by minority, fringe groups in our respective religions?

As you can imagine, these questions were somewhat delicate so I tried to tell my personal journey from ignorance of Islam to a better understanding and new respect for Muslims. I told the story of how I seek to help churches understand Islam better by teaching classes, and building bridges with local Muslim communities, etc. I also shared about what I learned through building friendships with Muslims. Then I told the story of a Palestinian shop owner I met in Jerusalem last year who was bitter about injustices that his people regularly suffer. That seemed to hit home. Maybe because it has hit me and is a growing burden. I also asked for their forgiveness if they had ever experienced painful or negative things at the hand of Christians.

They initially didn’t know how to respond to my confession. I really kind of bared my soul to them. There was an awkward moment of silence and then a string of spontaneous responses from the crowd across the main prayer room. The Spirit of God seemed to be especially present. We finished up the formal session with some Q & A, engaging me and another guest, a Catholic priest, in discussion and dialogue. Get this, after all of that, we were invited to another room for snacks, cookies and tea and I joined my 8 other Christian friends who accompanied me in multiple conversations until about midnight. The topics of conversation ranged from Middle East politics to who Jesus is and what is the nature of sin in each others’ faith tradition. I also heard the Imam declare in one circle that violence has nothing to do with Islam, that terrorists have a political agenda and do not represent true Islam. When I step back and ponder all that happened, I’m really quite amazed, blessed, and excited to see where God leads next in these relationships and conversations.

Let me know if you’d like to join me in the mosque sometime. It just happens to be one of the places where discussions on life and faith, between Christians and Muslims are getting pretty dynamic for me these days. And I really, really love it. My new friends have extended an open door to continue the conversations and relationships. One thing for sure, Muslims understand hospitality and we seem to keep coming around to talking about Jesus somehow.

Seattle Pan HDR, originally uploaded by papalars.

Wow! It's Friday again. Seems to come upon me sometimes a little too quickly. For most of those who will read/see this your Friday may be already slipping into the weekend. Life seems to happen after everybody else here on the West Coast sometimes. My old friends in Spain are fast asleep, or at least they should be. Saturday soon greets them.

I took this photo last night after my class in West Seattle on the Qur'an. Let me tell you a little about that before I post this photo.

In my efforts to build relationships of trust with my focus friends, and to understand their faith, I have taken upon myself to read their holy book. To help me in that task I am taking a class in West Seattle on the Qur'an. We are getting deep into our subject, reading whole sections, chapters [Suras], and verses. In our study we are also drawing comparisons to the Hebrew scriptures and New Testament. Very fascinating, needless to say.

One of the criticisms raised by Christian theologians and pastors with regard to a study of our scripture is the danger of reading single verses from the Bible out of context. Many hair brained doctrines or beliefs spring from this inappropriate use of the text. It is funny how the Bible is often used to buttress ideas that in fact are contrary to the clear teaching of scripture when read and understood in context.

It turns out that the Bible is not the only holy book that is used and read in this way. A commentator on the Qur'an that we are reading in our class in fact says this: "Since the Qur'an is….., all its component parts–phrases, sentences, verses and surahs–form one integral, coordinated whole. Hence, if one is really intent on understanding the Qur'anic message, one must beware of a 'hasty approach'–that is to say, of drawing hasty conclusions from isolated verses or sentences taken out of their context…"So I am trying to understand the Qur'an, and its message in its whole. You'd be surprised what I am discovering. The Qur'an, apparently, has been twisted and used to support all kinds of agendas, much like the Bible. Muslim believers are not happy about this at all.

Two weeks ago I went to a lecture given by a leading Imam who was visiting the Seattle area giving a series of lectures on "purification of the heart." I liked the topic and found much that I could agree with. Not all, mind you, but much. A theme is beginning to emerge in conversations for me with the Muslim faithful–the issue of materialism and its negative effect on the spiritual life. That is a bridge I can walk across in my sharing. Afterward I met some of the area leaders, exchanged names, phone numbers and emails. Curiously, I thought to ask one of the Imams if I could insert my notes which I had scribbled out on a piece of paper from the lecture into my Qur'an. He smiled at me and said, if the text was in Arabic, I should only put the notes in the front part of the holy book, not in the middle, like a book marker, half way through the text. Wow, what an interesting insight. The Arabic text printed in the Qur'an is literally the word of God and should not be broken apart with another piece of paper. That act would be interrupting God, so to speak.

I am learning much. I have much yet to learn. Pray for me. "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." 1 Peter 3:15

Khalid, originally uploaded by papalars.

I've been thinking recently of our trip to the Middle East and to Jerusalem and the experience we had with the shop owner on the Via Dolorosa–literally the "street of pain!" Luke's story of Christ's Triumphal Entry into the very city whose streets we walked is also bouncing around in my head. This is quite a place and our experience seemed to live up to the city's reputation, both in scripture and current day. There is no shortage of tension.

Our new friend, Khalid, manifested some of the ethnic and religious pain when he shouted an insult at us strolling by his shop. We were
noticeably American. And we didn't stop to look at his stuff in the shop. I think
he had some pent up anger toward America and we were his target. It hit
a hot button in my friend, Nate, who had to respond to the insult. So
for the first 5 minutes of our encounter, Nate and Khalid were face to
face, about 5 inches apart, Mid-East style. All other pedestrians in
the area began to swing wide of the incident, perhaps wanting to avoid
any fallout. I came up to Nate and Khalid and began to pray while I
sought to insert calm comments from time to time.

You may remember the scene in the New Testament when Jesus entered Jerusalem near the end of his time on earth. If you are not a Bible scholar that is OK. The story has been re-enacted in movies for some time. Anyway, it unfolds like this. People were all excited when Christ was entering Jerusalem and the people were praising God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen. The Pharisees must have been jealous because they asked Jesus to rebuke his disciples to which he replied–"if these become silent, the stones will cry out!"

Jerusalem is full of many stones. The old city is built with stones. Cobblestones on the streets, bricks and larger stones in the buildings, gates, and of course the famous Wailing Wall is a formidable tribute to the principle building material in the region. Jerusalem, the city, is full of stones. It is also full of much pain. 

Back to our incident with the shop owner, a Palestinian. Bit by bit, and for no reason of my own effort really, things began to calm down and within about 15 minutes were inside the shop talking more calmly on stools offered by our new host. At minute 30 I think we were offered coffee. Within the hour we were shoulder to shoulder for this picture and exchanging emails. Clearly God was with us. We listened, extended our hearts of understanding and empathy and sought to be the presence of Christ. I bought a very nice, simple cross necklace for Carol. Maybe this was our new friends strategy all along. Grin.

I kind of feel that Jerusalem is a microcosm of our current world, especially on the issue of religious and cultural fault lines that now seem to divide us around the globe. I also feel that we are called to be ambassadors for the Prince of Peace in this conflicted world. If we remain silent, the stones of the city of Jerusalem, which have seen so much pain, will probably cry out if they don't collapse in upon us. The world needs to know the Prince of Peace and the message he brings to all–"For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity…" [Ephesians 2:14-15]. By the way, the story of Jesus to which I refer is in Luke 19:40. There are some new protagonists in the story but the storyline is very similar in present day Jerusalem.

As-sallamu Aleykum 

Desert Floor, originally uploaded by papalars.

Hey friends, I bet you are beginning to think about Christmas. Actually many of you are probably well into your shopping list for friends and family. I have not started. In part because I was out of town last weekend, from Thursday thru Sunday night. Likely excuse, right? I was well south of here, in a region where they have things like the foto you see above. I love the way cacti look. Or is it cactuses? Anyway, the town I visited is also home to some ministries I am looking at for the Mosaics Project, serving and loving focus people for Christ. I also spoke at the local Covenant church and began conversations with several people in the congregation about next steps for themselves.

One of the important ministries that I became acquainted with is serving Iraqi refugees, providing an oasis of care and support for these wayfarers as they transition into a new society. Not an easy task. By the way, you can pray for the 2 million plus Iraqi refugees held in limbo presently in countries bordering Iraq–like Jordon, Lebanon, and Syria principally. One recent estimate puts the number of Iraqi citizens displaced from war and violence at around 4 million. About half of those remain in Iraq but have been uprooted from their homes because of the sectarian violence. Most have a family member who has been killed. The people I met last week are ministering to the needs of the few who are coming into their city, with practical things like basic home furnishings, clothes, English classes and the like. The recent arrivals are looking for an oasis and have found it with my new friends.

By the way, on another note, I have wanted to mention for some time an exciting thing that has happened in recent months, a significant bridge that is being built from the Muslim to Christian community, reaching across the chasm that divides Christians from Muslims. Last fall a leading group of Muslim leaders and clerics in Jordon drafted a letter to the global Christian community. The letter is called "A Common Word Between Us and You." In the letter a strong appeal is made to Christian leaders around the world. The content addresses the desire to demonstrate love of God and neighbor to each other, to strive together for a religious peace that would be the foundation for world peace, and to find common ground that could be the basis for genuine interfaith dialogue. Scriptures verses from both the Bible and the Qur'an are used to support the appeal. This is perhaps the most significant move in interfaith relations in my lifetime. Many in the Christian community are giving the letter, and the intent behind it, high marks. God is up to something.

Below you will find two important links to the actual letter from the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought in Jordan, and a Christian response from the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. My professor from Fuller signed the letter as did many other leading evangelicals. I actually signed the response found on the Yale site. Look for my name. It is in the long list of "who's who" in the Christian world, but a little down the list, where a growing number of not so "who's who" are adding their two cents. Actually, this initiative is worth a lot more than two cents. This is really big and provides a bridge upon which more positive interaction can be conducted.

The link to "Loving God & Neighbor Together: A Christian Response to 'A Common Word Between Us & You'" can be found here. The official Website of "A Common Word Between Us & You" from The Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, Jordan can be found over here. Both of these links are now also listed in my sidebar in the Outward section. We are living in interesting times that are pregnant with very significant movements in our world. Behind the mayhem and ugly stuff God is doing something. Will you take notice? Won't you join me in prayer for this opportunity? Let's pray that at all levels God could use this for his Kingdom.

By the way, this is Friday so enjoy this edition of Friday Fotos!