The Time Is Fulfilled: A Lenten Meditation

Joseph wondered where Jesus had gone. One day he was working in Joseph’s carpenter’s shop and the next he was gone. The boy Joseph had raised had become a man, almost 30 years old. No longer a child, Joseph thought about making him a full partner in the family firm, eventually turning it over to him. He did good work. His body was rugged and strong; hands steady. He was quiet and caring, good with the customers. He was the most peaceful man Joseph had ever known. Never rushing, deliberate, sure.

But there always seemed to be an undercurrent of impatience to him as well, Joseph thought. While Jesus’ eyes were outwardly fixed on the task of planing rough wood, his inner gaze seemed to be looking out over some unseen vista, his ears straining for some sound beyond that of hammer and saw.

He must have finally heard it, whatever it was he was listening for, for one day when he left home, instead of walking with Joseph into the shop he continued on, not saying a word.

Curious, Joseph followed. One block. Two blocks. Then past the outskirts of Nazareth. Joseph struggled to keep up, the younger man’s stride becoming stronger and more purposeful. Townspeople looked up from their morning chores and watched the odd, two man parade. Then, because they had better things to do than watch an old man and his son hiking out of town, they returned to their work. One mile turned to two, two to three, three to four.

Finally Joseph stopped. I’m fit for my age, he thought, but I’m no youngster. I can’t keep up. The younger man kept walking, even picking up his pace.

Walking beside Jesus, Joseph had thought Jesus’ body seemed to tingle with energy, an energy he’d never seen in the shop before. Or had he? There was always something special about that boy. Something deep within him that set him apart from others his age. Or any age, for that matter. For one he had an affinity with the wood that even Joseph never seemed to possess. He seemed tuned into to the world about him in ways Joseph had never observed in any other person. The dust of the earth swirled about his feet and Joseph strained his ears. He heard a faint music in the air.

Ah, it’s probably just the wind playing tricks on an old man’s ears, he thought. Yet Jesus seemed to be walking in time to it.

Joseph stood in the morning sun, the sky blue above him, a few clouds sailing silently by, and watched him.

Where was he going? he wondered. He had taken no pack, no lunch, no clothing, no walking stick. He had said nothing at breakfast that morning. The day was just a day. Work had to be done. And yet he just walked off – unprepared for a trip, yet obviously leaving on one.

Joseph watched until he was a just a shimmering speck on the horizon. Still the young man's pace never slowed, even as he approached the foot hills. Mount Tabor loomed against the edge of the world. Joseph shrugged and turned toward his shop. Someone had to finish Levi ben Jacob’s table.

About a week later, the merchant Mordecai stopped by Joseph’s shop with an order for a cedar wood chest. Mordecai told Joseph that on his business travels to Caperneum, Magdala, and Tiberius he stopped by the Jordan to watch this fellow John who baptizing men in the river.

“I’m always up for a little entertainment,” he chuckled, “especially by those river preachers. They are something to watch – all that shouting and holy fervor.” Then he spied a man walking out of the Galilean hills. This man came to where John was baptizing in the Jordan. Mordecai asked who it was, covered with dust yet eyes brightly shining. Jesus of Nazareth, some one told him.

“That’s your boy, isn’t it?” he asked Joseph. Joseph nodded yes, while thinking that the closest point on the Jordan River was thirty miles from where he lived. That’s if Jesus had traveled in a straight line, which Joseph’s carpenter’s eye said he had been doing. There were no roads that led directly to from the Jordan to Nazareth. Not that the young man seemed to need any. It appeared that he was comfortable with the dirt, rocks, trees and mountains and they with him.

Perhaps it was singing I heard, thought Joseph, while Mordecai rambled on. Even though I am just a simple carpenter, I know there is more to this life than what most people see. I witness it every time I take a piece of wood and try to shape it. If I work with it, and let it become what it wants to be the results are beautiful. If I force it to become the way I think it should be, it looks that way. Perhaps the boy, I mean the man, had a similar connection with rocks, dirt, mountains, and grass that I had with trees.

Joseph was brought back to the conversation when Mordecai startled him with the announcement that Jesus had John baptize him. And that a dove descended from heaven and a voice was heard proclaiming “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

“It wasn’t your voice I heard,” said Mordecai.

“No,” Joseph replied, “I’m sure it wasn’t.” And he remembered other times when the boy had done remarkable things and other voices had come from heaven. Times of him teaching in the Temple in Jerusalem while a boy of 12 or so. Of angel visitors telling of miraculous births and evil kings. Life had certainly been far from the dull, but satisfying life he though he’d have when he first had apprenticed to be a carpenter.

“Then,” continued Mordecai, “after the voice from the sky, he came up out of the water and started walking into the wilderness on the other side of the Jordan. He just kept on walking. Clothes dripping wet. Not a sack of food or a sleeping bag. I’ll tell you, Joseph, I am worried about that young man.”

“I am, too,” said Joseph, though he wasn’t for the same reason Mordecai was. Jesus wasn’t possessed by demons, like Mordecai thought. Something more powerful had possessed him. God.

Another week passed. Then a month. Then two. Joseph went about his work. His wife, Mary, did, too. She never mentioned the fact that Jesus had just disappeared one day without a word, heading out over the Galilean countryside without so much as a goodbye. She was surprisingly peaceful, though traces of worry etched her brow. Joseph wondered at that, too. How could she not be wondering where her first born had gotten himself off to?

As the second month since Jesus walked out of Nazareth ended, he walked back in, coming back over the same route he traversed when he left. Joseph was hard at work on Mordecai’s chest when a shadow filled the doorway. He looked up, eyes straining through the shops sawdust laden air to see who stood silhouetted against the sunlight.

“Hello, Joseph,” Jesus said. Not “Hello, Father.” Joseph knew something had changed.

“Come in, son, come in,” Joseph called to him, and hugged him to him. “I’ve missed you. Where have you been?”

“I have been to the mountain,” Jesus said, “and the riverside and the wilderness.” And Jesus went on to tell Joseph about his baptism, the dove and voice, and spending forty days being tempted by Satan in the desert.

“My only attendants were wild animals and angels,” Jesus chuckled. “I’m not sure which I was more afraid of.”

It had obviously been a harrowing, life and soul changing time, Joseph thought. The caring, sensitive lad he had known was still there in the man standing before him, but there was steel and fire to him now that had not been present before. Jesus told him what had happened during those forty days and nights and while it sounded incredulous, like the ravings of the demoniac Legion who lived in the tombs overlooking the Sea of Galilee, they were clearly not the tales of a madman. They had the ring of truth. A life changing truth. For both he who spoke the words and those who heard them.

“What now, son?” Joseph asked, as Jesus ended his story.

“I have new work to do,” replied Jesus, softly, but firmly. “The kingdom of God is at hand. It is time sound repentance and good news throughout the land. The time is fulfilled.”

“Yes, I supposed it is,” though Joseph. And what a time it will be, he thought. I hope I am ready for it. I hope you are ready for it. I hope the world is ready for it.

The time is fulfilled.

-- by Brent

Jesus in Valpo: from the Messiah of the Midwest series

Zeal for Your House: A Lenten Meditation

“There’s going to be trouble,” Benjamin yelled over to Jonas whose booth sat next to his in the Temple courtyard. That was his first thought when he saw the itinerant rabbi from Nazareth lead his disciples in through the Temple gates. The courtyard was full to overflowing, yet here came the back country preacher, the crowd parting before him like the Red Sea before Moses. He could tell from the look in his eyes that he was upset.

“It certainly looks like it,” Jonas called back to his friend and fellow merchant. “I’ve heard that if he gets upset, then heaven help the man who faces his wrathful tongue.”

Benjamin and Jonas had been busy setting up their tables and cleaning their booths. The sun would be at its zenith soon and they wanted to get the awnings over their changing tables just right so they could sit in shady comfort. Soon it would be so hot from all the people crowded there that no breeze would be found. If there was, it would more likely blow with the scent of overripe bodies than that of freshening coolness.

It was Passover time – a good time of year for them. Moneychangers like them always had business, of course. So long as Jews came from around the world to worship at the Temple, they’d make a good living. Drachmas, assarions, leptons and staters from Greece, danarius from Rome, Persian daracs, silver and gold coins from Egypt, Sardis, Tire, Sidon and even Palestine itself were valid currency for commerce, but not for the Temple tax. And every Jewish man over nineteen who came to the Temple had to pay that half-shekel tax, the levy that kept the Temple rituals and sacrifices going daily. Two days wages for the good of the faith. Not too bad, but not payable in foreign coinage. It was unclean. They could be used to pay any of one’s debts except the debt to God. For that they had to be changed to shekels.

Shekels – the money of God. Or at least his Temple administrators and priests.

That was the needed service Benjamin, Jonas and their fellow moneychangers provided. They took dirty money and cleaned it – denarii for shekels, the good for the bad. Of course, even though it was a service, it was how they made their living, too. The moneychangers set up a pricing schedule that they thought was fair, something they could all live with. That way no one would undercut the others. There were plenty of pilgrims and so no one had to get too greedy. The exchange rate they came up with was sort of a two for one deal – a tax payer could exchange his money into shekels for a fee that roughly amounted to one day’s wages. They didn’t think that was too bad. Two days for God, one for me. And God got His in good shekels while they got theirs in various foreign currencies, all of which went up and down with the markets and depending on how foreign wars were going. The moneychangers had to do something to cover their risks. Besides, the Talmud allowed moneychanger to make a profit. As it said, “he is obliged to allow the moneychanger some gain.” So making a profit on this service wasn’t so bad. Besides, it was not a mere service they were providing, but an opportunity to worship with a clean heart and clean coins.

And now it was Passover time. All the Temple merchants were in a good mood. This was their big season. While business had been steady throughout the year, now it would get downright brisk. Over two and a quarter million of their fellow Jews would be gathering in Jerusalem for Passover. They’d be coming to the Temple. Most would need to change their money from secular to sacred. These would be both High Holy and high profit days for Benjamin, Jonas, and their fellow tradesmen.

“He’s getting closer,” Benjamin hollered to his friend, nodding toward Jesus.

“Yes, and he looks furious,” answered Jonas.

Jesus’ robes swirled about him, his sandals kicked up both dust and the stench of hot bodies and animal waste all crowded into an area barely big enough to get up a good game of soccer. Jesus bent low to the ground, picked up some loose rope. The crowd closed around him.

“What’s he doing now,” asked Jonas, unable to see.

“It looks like he’s picked up some rope or something and is braiding it together,” said Benjamin, stretching on his tip toes, trying to make out what the rabble rouser was doing in the middle of the crowd. “It looks like he’s making a whip of some sort.”

“That’s trouble, trouble indeed,” called Jonas. “I hope the Temple guards keep a close eye on him. What’s got him so upset.”

“Maybe them,” said Benjamin, pointing to the sellers of sacrificial animals.

Jonas turned to look, calling, “With radicals like him, you can never tell.” They looked beyond the stalls of their fellow moneychangers. Their gazes came to rest on the stalls full of oxen and sheep, cages with their doves.

“Maybe that’s it,” Benjamin nodded, his head pointing toward the animals. “All these animals have turned the place into a sort of zoo.”

“Yes, it’s despicable,” agreed Jonas. “Especially at this holiest time of the year. Besides, those men are extortionists.”

“I agree,” said Benjamin. “Many of these good people who are coming want to have a thankoffering sacrifice besides merely paying their Temple tax. Or they have some sins to atone for. Either requires as suitable offering. Those fellows have quite a racket in sacrificial lambs.”

“Well, the worshippers could buy their sacrifices outside or bring them with them. That’d save some money,” Jonas said.

“Sure, sure,” laughed Benjamin. “They could buy one outside the Temple walls and bring it in. But to be certified acceptable – pure and without blemish – they’d have to get it past the mumcheh.”

“Yes,” Jonas shook his head sadly, “and those Temple appointed inspectors charged a fee as well, almost a half day’s wages.”

“That’s just for the service,” Benjamin clucked. “Then the inspector often finds the animal impure or imperfect. Then the pilgrim had to find another animal.”

“It is practically blackmail,” added Jonas, “the way these poor pilgrims are victimized into buying their sacrifices from the Temple booths if they want to sacrifice at all. Maybe that’s what has Jesus so upset.”

The crowd parted again and Jesus was heading toward them. His stride became ever more purposeful. He had surged to the front of the crowd like a breaking wave. The crowd fanned out in his wake, watching in wonder. They’d seen him assault people verbally before, but this time he looked like he might actually do some physical violence. Gentle Jesus wasn’t so meek and mild all of a sudden. He began swinging the homemade whip over his head and stormed toward the animal sellers. Benjamin and Jonas breathed a sigh of relief as he went by them and headed for the stalls, waving the whip with one hand and turning over tables with the other.

“Get these out of here,” he shouted, opening the dove’s cages and shooing the birds away. “How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!”

“His father’s house?” laughed Benjamin, enjoying the site of those animals sellers scurrying around, alternately trying to round up their merchandise and avoid Jesus’ whip. “His father was a carpenter from that hick town Nazareth.”

“It is written,” Jesus was yelling, “’My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’”

“Now he thinks it’s his house,” chuckled Jonas, his laughter dying in his throat as Jesus turned toward him and the other moneychangers and started tearing up their booths, throwing the tables over and scattering coins about the courtyard. The crowd followed him, mingling money with manure as they ground both underfoot.

“Quick,” called Benjamin, “grab what you can and let’s get out of here.” The two money merchants snatched all the sacks of coins they could as Jesus’ and the mob approached. Then they scooted toward the Temple gates, hoping for safety. Benjamin glanced back over his shoulder and saw his booth torn apart by the indigent itinerant. The Temple guards pushed their way through the crowd at the gate, making their purposeful way to put down the unruly crowd. Benjamin hoped they’d be able to handle it. Otherwise the Roman soldiers would be called into to restore order and though Gentiles were allowed inside the Temple courtyard,

Benjamin didn’t want any pagan soldiers there.

As they made their way toward the gate, they noticed one of Jesus band was leaning against the Temple wall. “Judas, that’s what they call that one,” Benjamin said to Jonas, shrugging his shoulder to the man, his hands and arms too full of money bags to point. This Judas seemed to be talking to himself. As they drew neared to him, pulled by the current of the crowd flowing out through the gate, they heard what he was saying.

“Zeal for your house consumes me,” Judas was saying, “and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.” He repeated this over and over.

“You there, Judas,” Benjamin called, irritated. “What nonsense are you carrying on about. You’re one of his men, aren’t you.”

“Yes, I am,” Judas answered slowly, a slight smile on his face. “Zeal for your house consumes me and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.’ That’s what I was saying. It’s from the Psalms. It’s about the Messiah.”

“The Messiah,” snuffled Jonas, “that man leading the rabble, turning over tables, destroying the Temple’s lifeblood. You think he’s the Messiah?”

Benjamin and Jonas were then swept through the gate by the crowd.

“Messiah?” called Judas to their retreating backs. “He just might be, he just might be.” He saw something shining on the ground. He stooped down to retrieve it. It was a silver coin. I wish I had about thirty more like you, he thought, then went back to repeating to the people passing by

“Zeal for your house consumes me.”

Jesus in Iowa: "Jesus: Messiah of the Midwest" series

Photo taken at Forest Cemetery, Oskaloosa, Iowa

On Quaker Life and the Peace Testimony

"I know plenty of Quakers who have served in the military. I know plenty of Quakers who have marched against war. I wouldn’t consider one group of Friends better peacemakers than the other." – Katie Terrell, editorial, Quaker Life magazine.

I’m like Katie in this (and far different from her in many other ways). And her recent editorial, (read it please – and the entire Quaker Life issue when it’s available) has certainly stirred the Quaker pot, as evidenced on Quaker Life’s Facebook page. As I pondered what she wrote, I was reminded of a section of my book Sacred Compass that deals with this issue to some extent – the issue being, in my eyes, how Quakers (indeed how Christians of all stripes) have arrived at different conclusions about how to live out the peace testimony. And how we can learn to respect another’s decision if we trust that God is working in others as God is working with us.

For myself, I am today a firm adherent of the traditional understanding of the Peace Testimony – that Christians should not participate, under any circumstances, in making war on others. But, I did not arrive at this place easily. And so I offer the following from Sacred Compass.

Why don't we all have the same leading about the same issue? I think it's because Christ, our Inner Teacher, knows our teachability. The Spirit works with us where we are and within our own capacities for growth. Yes, God might stretch us. We will probably feel such spiritual stretching most when we’re lead in a way that others are not. But as the Psalmist says, “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you for your own good, who leads you in the way you should go.” You. In your way. God will not teach anyone else in your way; everyone is taught differently.

I turned eighteen at the height of the Vietnam Conflict. This meant I was supposed to register for the draft, which I did. Since I was a Quaker, I had the choice of signing up as a conscientious objector, but I couldn’t. At that time I was ambivalent about war. Four of my uncles served in the military, and my mother’s father fought in the Spanish-American War, yet I didn’t feel led to that same way. I had been accepted into college and knew that as long as I kept my grades up I wouldn’t have to decide whether or not to go to war for at least four years. So I registered and got my student deferment.

My friend Bob Gosney, who I met in seminary a few years later, found his way opening very differently. After initially not registering for the draft, he registered and applied for conscientious-objector status. He felt his participation in war went against his call to live in love and with nonviolence toward others, so he acted to keep himself out of the war. But Bob’s application for conscientious-objector status was denied, and he refused induction into the military. He didn’t flee to Canada to avoid prosecution, but rather stayed and took his lumps. He found himself in federal district court facing a five-year prison sentence and a ten thousand dollar fine. However, the Selective Service System had the court case dismissed and reconsidered his application. He was found to be a conscientious objector and served two years of alternate service working at a state institution for mentally handicapped people.

Mark Peterson, now my son-in-law, found way opening for him in a still different way. His draft lottery number was high enough that he was in no danger of being drafted. But he was raised Lutheran, and as he looked over his life’s and faith’s call, he felt led to serve. This call is consistent with the two-kingdom theology (we are citizens of two kingdoms—the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of earth that sometimes needs to take up arms) of his Lutheranism. So he joined the Air Force, where he served in Vietnam and then stayed in as a career military man.
Mark, Bob, and I were all strongly religious. We each wanted to do what God called us to do. But we each saw a different way opening. Why was that? Was there one right way and one of us found it, while the other two messed up?

No.

Each way was the right way because we approached it with prayer, study, and a deep desire for God’s leading. Each one of us was led by the light we’d been given. What light I had at eighteen came from an evangelical Quaker congregation that was conservative politically and my family with much the same convictions. I could have registered as a conscientious objector, but I didn’t have any clear leading either to go to war or to be a conscientious objector. I was led safely into student status.

Bob, on the other hand, was affiliated with a group of Friends that, like many other Quakers, was

against the war (any war—not just Vietnam), and was raised with a biblical and social understanding much different from my own. His faith was saturated with calls against the war and for peace.

Lutheran Mark Peterson saw national service as a way to be a Christian. He still feels the same way—that his service in the military was a major part of his living out his faith.

What these three stories show is that we have to be led by the light given to us. We can’t be led by another’s light; it will be unable to really light our way because we don’t own or understand it. Neither Bob’s way nor Mark’s way could have been my way—I wasn’t in a place to own or understand either one. God worked with me in God’s time and not the government’s, the church’s, or my family’s.

These stories also show a need to respect others whose ways are not our ways. This respect grows from faith, especially when we have the chance for faithful dialogue with others whose way led them to a place that we ourselves would not go. Listening to each other with spiritual ears wide open helps us to understand each other.

And, I would add, to hear the voice of God more clearly for ourself and not worry about hearing the voice of God for others. A sort of different way of worrying about the log in our eye instead of the mote in an other's.

-- Brent

excerpt from Sacred Compass: The Way of Spiritual Discernment, © 2008 by J. Brent Bill, published by Paraclete Press, Orleans, MA.

Meetinghouse Photos: Benches and Window Reflection, Indiana

Meetinghouse Photos: Ceiling Lights, Pennsylvania

Meetinghouse Photos: Benches and Light, Pennsylvania

Meetinghouse Photos: Open Door, Pennsylvania

Meetinghouse Photos: Meetinghouse Floorboards, Pennsylvania

Meetinghouse Photos: Bench and Pillow, Pennsylvania

Meetinghouse Photos: Benches and Beams, Pennsylvania

Meetinghouse Photos: Benches and Light, Pennsylvania

The Revitalization of the Quaker Message for Today: The Final Report on the Recent Retreat

This is the final report from the revitalization retreat held at Quaker Hill Conference Center last month. In the final session, I introduced the group to some positive change tools that could be used in their local meetings.

Since we were running out of time we only did one of the tools as a group (more about that later). The three tools were:

• Interview
• Asset Mapping
• Flourishing Café
  

Since "Interview" is the tool we used, I'll talk about it in this report last -- and show what results we had from doing it.

Asset Mapping is an exercise that has the purpose of transforming thinking from “deficit based” to “abundance.” We often talk about what we don't have (our lacks) instead of what we do have (our assets). When we approach things from an asset point of view, we can see "deficits" in a new way and turn them into positives. Assets we were going to map as part of the retreat were
physical assets, individual assets, associations, institutions, and economic assets.

If you're interested in seeing how you can use asset mapping in your Meeting, go to http://www.alban.org/uploadedFiles/Alban/Bookstore/pdf/resources/Asset_Mapping/resource2.pdf

World Café -- I had planned to use this tool last in the day. World Café is an innovative yet simple methodology for hosting conversations about questions that matter about important questions that a group needs to work on. These conversations link and build on each other as people move between groups, cross-pollinate ideas, and discover new insights into the questions or issues that are most important in Meeting. As a process, the World Café is meant to make visible the collective intelligence of any group. To see how it works, visit http://www.theworldcafe.com/

We were going to use it, as a group, to address three questions:

• what has the retreat said about Friends at our best?
• what three practices, conditions, or circumstances contribute to revitalization?
• what have you heard that has real meaning/resonates with you?
  

The tool we used was "Interview." I asked everyone to pair up with someone they did not know well (which was not difficult, given the diversity of the crowd). Once they had chosen a person to interview, I explained that I would give them three questions. It was to be an interview, not a dialogue. So each person got fifteen minutes to ask their partner the three questions. They should take notes, just like a "real" interview. Then their partner would ask them the same three questions.

The questions were:

• what attracted you to/kept you among Friends?
• what was a “best moment” for you among Friends?
• what three wishes do you have for Friends?

The purpose of these questions was to discover the circumstances, condition, and/or practices that contribute to vitality. After 30 minutes, the group came back together and reported what they found in their interviews. I recorded the answers to questions one and three. I have not edited or commented on what was said. They are in the order they were presented to the group. I offer them for your thinking/observation.

What Brought You To/Kept You Among Friends?

Being a camp counselor
Hearing an inner voice
Strong youth group
Wife is a Quaker minister
Was a church/meeting for the whole community
The mystical worship where God was experiences
The values and beliefs made sense to me
I was born a Quaker, believed the tenets, and experience the truth of it for myself
Silence
Learning that I didn’t have to be born a Friend
The people were friendly
There were women in ministry
The lack of liturgy and doctrine
The contemplative nature of worship
The emphasis on peace

What Three Wishes Do You Have for Friends?

We’d be open to change
We’d share non-violence
We’d have the ability to communicate in English instead of Quaker-ese
We’d nurture everyone’s spiritual gifts
We’d Spread message of tolerance/forebearance
That more Friends could have the ESR experience
We’d stop divisiveness
We’d be able to listen deeply to each other
We’d live faithful, holy lives
We’d exemplify integrity
We’d leave a positive legacy
We’d let our current light shine
We’d humble ourselves
We’d grow numerically and spiritually
We’d have some positive surprises

I found the time together engaging and energizing and would love to do it again. The conversations were rich and deep. I just wish we'd have had more Friends present and more time together.

-- Brent

The Revitalization of the Quaker Message for Today: Report 4 on the Recent Retreat

After the groups reported out on their responses to the four proposals ("Unprogrammed Programmed or Programmed Unprogrammed?", "Where to Sit: A Shift in Architecture", "The End of the Quaker Pastorate" and "Seeking the Seekers"), Katie Terrell and I had a "public conversation" about worship groups and why we each participate in one. The title for the session was "New Worship Forms."

We opened by me giving a brief introduction to three main forms:

• Monastic Communities
• House Churches
• Worship Groups

I noted that New Monasticism differs from traditional Christian monastic movements in many ways. The New Monastics generally do adopt a "rule of life" (i.e. the Benedictines) though traditional monastic vows of celibacy, poverty and obedience are not normally taken. People who participate in New Monastic communities do not always live in a single place but rather geographic proximity. New Monasticism allows married couples and celibate singles and their
members do not tend to wear religious habits.

I had additional information to present at the retreat, but since time was getting tight, I did not share it there. The following is what I would have presented, if I would have had time.

New Monasticism is characterized by (in their words):

1. relocation to the abandoned places of Empire
2. sharing economic resources with fellow community members and the needy among us.
3. hospitality to the stranger
4. lament for racial divisions within the church and our communities
5. combined with the active pursuit of a just reconciliation
6. humble submission to Christ’s body, the church
7. intentional formation in the way of Christ and the rule of the community along the lines of the old novitiate
8. nurturing common life among members of intentional community
9. support for celibate singles alongside monogamous married couples and their children
10. geographical proximity to community members who share a common rule of life
11. care for the plot of God’s earth given to us along with support of our local economies
12. peacemaking in the midst of violence and conflict resolution within communities along the lines of Matthew 18
13. commitment to a disciplined contemplative life

Some of the people who are known for participating in and writing/speaking about this movement are Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Shane Claiborne, and Maria Kenney, and Sarah Jobe. For information, check out http://www.thesimpleway.org/

Next I spoke about House Churches. It is estimated that there are between 30 - 50,000 house churches in the United States with between 5 - 12,000,000 adults attended regularly. According to one pollster (Barna) 10% of the adult population claims to have attended a house church in the past month.

House Churches are also known as “simple church” and they share particular characteristics:

• they are born out of the spiritual life of their founders/original participants
• they tend to be grass roots/local experiences
• they believe in face-to-face community
• every-member has a role and responsibility to the church
• their meetings are open-participation
• their leadership is non-hierarchical
• they celebrate centrality and supremacy of Jesus Christ as the functional Leader and Head of the gathering
  

For more information, go to http://www.housechurchresource.org/ or http://www.housechurch.org/

Next Katie and I began our conversation on worship groups. We both shared how we had felt led to begin worship groups -- but that we needed, to an extent, the encouragement of others to do it (mini-clearness committees?).

The Friends in Fellowship group that meets biweekly at Ploughshares Farm (Brent's farm) was started as place of theological hospitality -- where everyone is encouraged to speak of her or his spiritual journey in her or his theological language. Those who gather listen respectfully and we hope to learn from each other. We have programmed Friends and unprogrammed Friends who attend. There is theological diversity represented -- from Friends who a theologically conservative to very liberal. There is no "program" -- other than a starting time, the evening progresses as the Spirit leads. FoF is open to all (Quaker or not) and we occasionally advertise on Facebook. The group was started largely by e-mail invitation (sent to people we though might be interested, many of whom passed it along to others). We have had as few as 3 and as many as 25 in attendance. Once a year we decide, via sense of the Meeting, whether we feel led to continue the group or lay it down. This group has been meeting a bit more than 3 years.

Katie spoke of her group, which consists of three women who are single and have no children and live on the same street. Their goal is to go deeper in their spiritual lives and to provide spiritual support for each other. Like the FoF group, they have no set program. They have a starting time and meeting place (in a home) and leave the "work" to the Spirit. Participation is by invitation only and occasionally (by invitation) other women attend.

Both of us said that the groups we participate in do not replace our desire to be active in a local worshipping community. We both feel that being a part of a worship group sharpens our spiritual lives and makes us long for real connection with a vital, living worshipping community. We both cautioned that Meetings should not think about starting worship groups primarily as a way to attract new members. Such groups need to arise from a true movement of the Spirit and leading by people who have a deep spiritual need.

We offered some queries for people as they think about worship groups:

• do they replace/supplement congregational life?
• what needs are they serving?
• do they contribute to revitalization of larger faith tradition – or just for personal growth?

For more information on starting a worship group, go to http://www.ohioyearlymeeting.org/startingworshipgroup.htm

The next post will be about final session of the retreat -- including "what brought you/kept you in Friends?" and "what are your three wishes for Friends?"

-- Brent

The Revitalization of the Quaker Message for Today: Report 3 on the Recent Retreat

Following the presentation of my four proposals for revitalization, the group (again -- consisting of Friends from a number of states and pastoral and unprogrammed (Conservative and FGC) traditions), the participants then self-selected which topic most interested (or irritated!) them and joined a group to address that topic.

Below are the notes (unedited or commented on by me) from the four discussion groups. They are rough -- but should give you an idea of some of the groups' thinking. The "Unprogrammed Programmed or Programmed Unprogrammed" and "Where to Sit" were the smallest -- 2-5 participants in each one. The "End of the Pastorate" and "Seeking the Seekers" were the largest, with about 15 participants each.


Unprogrammed Programmed: Group Notes
Having a bulletin is okay if there is plenty of time for meaningful open worship.
• Announcements on paper are helpful
Involve kids by having them help with offering, children’s message, reading scripture
Begin worship with period of silence
Remember, the Spirit works during the week (in planning), too! Not just “in the moment”
Having no bulletin means pressure on the organist
A challenge will be how to get people to go through the initial anxiety of not having a bulletin/order of worship
• Also is a challenge for the worship leader (if you have one)

Where to Sit: Small Group Notes
Sitting in the arrangement proposed in “A Modest Proposal”
• This setting promotes engagement
• Promotes the atmosphere of the equality of all believers
• Individual seats would provide more flexibility than pews
The current forward facing seats (of most Friends churches) promote passive observation of worship
• Forward seats promote a desire to be entertained or “fed” or disengaged critique rather than full engagement
• Forward facing makes hearing and sharing/vocal ministry difficult
o Speaking to backs of heads
o No dialogue or feeling of interchange
Meetings members will be highly resistant to change
• Perhaps short term experiments in new seating arrangements might overcome resistance
Some Meetinghouses’ architecture would make reconfiguration difficult – sloping/angled floors

End of the Quaker Pastorate: Group Notes
Unprogrammed Friends – yes to “released minister”
Survival is dependent on local people
Empower people in worship/care
Too many rules in open worship (what can be said/not said/how said)
• Some Meetings don’t have so many rules
Released minister
• Courage to say Spirit did not guide me to give the message today
• Congregations would have to trust the minister
o People want their “money’s worth” – what do you do w/ rest of your time???
Other examples
• Baltimore YM – Meeting Coordinator
• West Richmond – “Pastoral Minister” (not always charged w/ preaching)
Fifth Sundays could be opportunities for unprogrammed worship and encouraging members to minister
• Fewer people come on Fifth Sunday
• Try to break tradition
o 5 or 10 minutes of silence to start
Spend more time in prayer arising out of silence
Empower more small groups
Have to be more externally centered (not so inward)
How do we heal churches and communities from division
• Overcoming judgmentalism
• Love quietness and hear God’s speaking of love
• Listen for Christ’s example of forgiveness
What do you expect of worship?
• Inspiration
• Worldview expanded out of narrow-mindedness
• It’s not theology – it’s loving everybody
Speaking out of silence
• Different window to look through
• Speak from experience
• Worship is a process
• Train congregation HOW to hear ministry
o There is an art to listening
• Train ministers to affirm ministry by the congregation
Need more “teaching meetings”
• Where mentoring of ministers can occur
Acquaint congregations with what is coming out of ESR
• More mentoring of current ministers by ESR?
• Most denominations have problems with their seminaries
When people leave a congregation, minister by talking with them and learning why
• No one calls to see why people leave
Remember – absolutes don’t work.
Church of the Brethren is facing many of this issues, too

Seeking the Seekers: Group Notes
Regarding using “social media” we don’t know what we don’t know. Need more training.
• Suggested Indiana folks could attend a workshop social media held by the Indianapolis Center for Congregations on either May 19 or May 20 (depending on their location
Get training on what makes for a good website
Should look for outreach opportunities (i.e. QuakerQuest, etc)
Investigate other times than Sunday morning for events/worship

Following the small group discussions, each group had someone report their discussion and notes to larger group. The total group then engaged in asking clarifying questions, offering comments, and so on. It was a very energizing time -- with much positive language and feeling.

Next up was the conversation between Katie Terrell and me about new monasticism, house churches, and worship groups. And then participation in a positive change activity -- that's all in the next report.

-- Brent

The Revitalization of the Quaker Message for Today: Report 2 on the Recent Retreat

The second session of the revitalization retreat began on Saturday morning with a look a four topics, three of which had been included in A Modest Proposal. The topics were

• Unprogrammed Programmed or Programmed Unprogrammed?
• Where to Sit: A Shift in Architecture
• The End of the Quaker Pastorate
• Seeking the Seekers

In the "Unprogrammed Programmed or Programmed Unprogrammed?" I said that what Quakers have for others (and ourselves) is a winsome invitation – to meet God. It's this idea of silence being an opportunity for participatory listening to/for God sets us apart from other Christians. We don't have a mass or proclamation of the Word as other Christians do. So we should scrap a written order of worship included in a bulletin and formalized worship planning (again as in the order -- "We'll do this now and that next and then..."). Let's trust the Spirit to lead worship.

I said I felt that if we did that that perhaps more of us would come prepared to encounter the Divine because worship would require us to be to be more participatory. We could recapture the idea that we are each responsible for being fed in worship -- and stop looking to the singing, or choir, or message from some "official person" to feed us.

I said I was not proposing that we scrap singing, choir, sermon, etc. No. Choirs can still rehearse. Pastors can still plan sermons. What I was saying that we should hold worship in holy silence and trust God to lead people to sing, share, sermonize at the right time. We should also try to find creative ways to involve children and kids and young adults in worship.

I said our goal in ditching the printed (or implied) order of worship was to create a sense of spiritual hospitality in the silence where there was a feeling of expectation that “anything, God willing” can happen -- and would!

In "Where to Sit" I noted that the buildings of Friends churches (primarily) resemble other church buildings and that this seating arrangement puts the focus on people and performance — not on God. Again we have no mass to celebrate or Word to be proclaimed by an ordained clergy authorized to do just that, so why are we all facing the front? This doesn’t fit what Quaker worship should be about — welcoming the presence of Christ in our midst.

I said we should do a seating arrangement something like this:

I then gave three reasons for this alteration. One is so we change from looking at a particular place from which we expect ministry to a view that says ministry comes from anywhere/anyone. The second reason is that the said rearrangement makes it easier to hear vocal ministry which can arise from anywhere. The third reason is so that we can see the faces of those God has gathered that day -- as we see the gathered community, we pray for, care, and love them.

The next proposal was to "End the Quaker Pastorate." In this I noted that the concern about Quaker pastoral ministry has always been that it will evolve into “profession.” Using the word "Pastor" has led us more toward that evolution, especially since most congregations members have a well formed idea of what a pastor is based on their experience in other congregations. A former Lutheran turned Quaker has an idea of what a pastor is and does that is different from what Roman Catholic turned Quaker does and what a Quaker who's always been Quaker. All of which may be completely different from what the reality of what a Quaker paid minister should be -- some odd creation!

For our congregations to be receptive to the Spirit in this day, there are four needs.

• specialized ministry of a trained and called paid minister and the universal ministry of a called and equipped congregation
• the meeting for worship must be free from rigidity which prevents the workings of the Spirit
• preaching in our meetings for worship must be under the leadership of the Spirit.
  we must adhere to Friends’ business methods and never let power and authority be centralized in the pastor
• paid ministers and the other members of the meeting must be trained in the art of silence.

Lorton Huesel, former General Secretary of Friends United Meeting and a Friends pastor, formulated these -- not me!

I proposed that a new descriptive name could be 'released minister.” This helps us recover the idea that all of us are ministers and recapture the Friendly idea that there are many types of ministry. We also need to encourage local Friends congregations to recognize those among them who exhibit gifts of ministry – but may not be “professionals.”

In the "Seeking the Seekers" section, I said that we needed to think outside the Church Box by becoming more missional and reaching out to those who would resonate with our message. I showed three videos...

Seeking the Seekers, Part 1

Seeking the Seekers, Part 2

Social Media
Then I spoke about using Social Media to advertise this retreat. I took out a Facebook ad for this conference and targeted people who live in the United States, aged age 18 and older
who like Quaker, Quakers or Religious Society of Friends. The ad generated 120,000 views in 9 days and resulted in 180 clicks on the Quaker Hill Conference Center site for a cost of $47.55.

We then broke into four small groups to based on interest in these four topics. My next post will be the notes those interest groups developed.

-- Brent

The Revitalization of the Quaker Message for Today: A Report on the Recent Retreat

On Friday and Saturday January 27-28, around forty Friends (and others) gathered at Quaker Hill Conference Center in Richmond, Indiana to talk about how to revitalize the Friends message. Friends came from a variety of states (mostly Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois), represented unprogrammed Friends (FGC and Conservative) and pastoral Friends (FUM). The following is a summary of the weekend. More detailed reports on each session will follow.

The retreat's titles was "Worship Groups and Other Alternatives to “Traditional” Church: A conversation about the revitalization of the Quaker message for Today." On Friday night we began with my presentation "Facts and Figures." After a season of deep worship, I opened with this quote by George Fox:

“The Lord had said unto me that if but one man or woman were raised by His power to stand and live in the same Spirit that the prophets and apostles were in who gave forth the Scriptures, that man or woman should shake all the country in their profession for ten miles round.”

I mentioned that everything that followed had to be predicated on our being open to being vessels of the Spirit -- otherwise we were merely rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic. Well, if not the Titanic, maybe the Woodhouse.

I then presented some statistics (most of which are in "A Modest Proposal"), beginning with
the idea that "Congregations Still Matter" and noted that in the past 20 years there were
+32,000 new congregations in the US, with +28,803,815 new attendees, and that religious affiliation is up 26%.

Then I asked "But… do Quaker Congregations Still Matter?" and noted that in the past 20 years
we’ve added 311 new congregations, but have have lost 17,000 members, and dropped recognized affiliation by 14%. Friends United Meeting has dropped 15,000 members, Evangelical Friends International has dropped 3,000 members, and Friends General Conference has grown 1,000 members.

I spoke of myths that we (as congregational members) live by, strengths of growing (spiritually, numerically) congregations, activities that are undertaken by growing congregations (not just numerically growing!), and showed the interrelation of theology and growth (none!). These were all based on scientific studies of religious life in the United States and Canada.

On Saturday we began with me presenting "A (Not So) Modest Proposal. This consisted four ideas, three of which came from my tract (pamphlet, essay, rant) "A Modest Proposal." The four were:
Unprogrammed Programmed or Programmed Unprogrammed?
Where to Sit: A Shift in Architecture
The End of the Quaker Pastorate
Seeking the Seekers

After I presented these ideas, the group broke into four self selected groups to talk for about an hour on the topic that most interested them. They gathered their thoughts on presentation pads. At the end of this session, the groups on "Unprogrammed Programmed" and "Where to Sit" presented the highlights of their discussion. The entire group then asked questions (clarifying ones, mostly) and offered some opinions/thoughts.

Following lunch, we heard from "The End of the Pastorate" and "Seeking the Seekers" groups -- again followed with questions and thoughts.

Immediately after that, Katie Terrell and I had a dialogue, with questions and conversation from the attendees, about "New Worship Forms" -- including New Monasticism, House Churches and Worship Groups. Katie and I both belong to (and helped start) worship groups that meet in homes. They have very different purposes (except for the common theme of worship and sharing) but shared some similarities -- wanting to go deeper in faith, allowing the Spirit to lead the time together, having a set starting time but not ending time, and other things.

After a short break, I introduced the group to some positive change tools that could be used in local Meetings, at Yearly Meeting, in YM committees or other places that wanted to address revitalization issues. The three were interview, asset, mapping, and World Café.

As we were near the end of the day, there was only time to practice one of the tools -- interview. I asked everyone to pair up with someone they did not know well (which was not difficult, given the diversity of the crowd). Once they had chosen a person to interview, I explained that I would give them three questions. It was to be an interview, not a dialogue. So each person got fifteen minutes to ask their partner the three questions. They should take notes, just like a "real" interview. Then their partner would ask them the same three questions.
The questions were:
what attracted you to/kept you among Friends?
what was a “best moment” for you among Friends?
what three wishes do you have for Friends?

The purpose of these questions was to discover the circumstances, condition, and/or practices that contribute to vitality.

After thirty minutes (give or take a few minutes -- you know how Quakers are!), we got back together and people shared their "interviewee's" answers to the questions. I captured these on chart paper.

Then, since time was waning, we went into a period of rich worship, with some vocal ministry.

All in all, I found the retreat a powerful experience. There seemed to be high energy and engagement in the topic. Friends also seemed to be sorry that the time was drawing to a close -- feeling that we could have gone on longer. Of course, that's my perspective as a leader. I'll be curious to hear what participants think!

More detailed reports on each session (especially the notes by the groups and thoughts from the interviews) will follow in the coming days.

-- Brent

Art Photography: Ice Storm 2011 -- Swing

Art Photography: Ice Storm 2011

Meetinghouse Photos: Through a Glass (Window) Brightly, Indiana

Meetinghouse Photos: Clerk's Table, Summer, Indiana

Meetinghouse Photos: Bench Carving, Pennsylvania

Meetinghouse Photos: Benches, Beams, and Light, Pennsylvania

Meetinghouse Photos: Benches and Floor, New York City

Meetinghouse Photos: Through a Window Darkly, Sugar Grove Meeting, Indiana

Meetinghouse Photos: Almost Open Door, Pennsylvania

Conditions for Gospel Ministry: A Least for Me...

I am speaking at a Friends Meeting on Sunday. That's not unusual. I receive regular invitations to travel in ministry -- which often includes giving a message if the place I've been invited is a pastoral meeting. But lately, as I've been working on the ideas in "A Modest Proposal" and how they impact my personal ministry, I have been feeling more and more led to adopt some new conditions (though that sounds harsher than I mean it) before I accept an invitation. Most of them have to do with my needing to both think about and practice what it means for me to be a Friends minister traveling in Gospel ministry. So I've been mulling over things such as not using a prepared text (as I normally do) and sitting out in the congregation and speaking from there.

So, in the interest of trying to follow this leading, I am going to be sharing the following with any pastoral meeting that invites me to come share in worship --

Hello XX –

Thanks so much for inviting me to bring a message at XX Friends Meeting on XX. I appreciate this opportunity. There are a few things, however, that you should know before I accept your invitation. Each of these is a response to my wishing to be faithful to my understanding of what it means to be a Friends minister traveling in Gospel service.

1. As I endeavor to honor the Friends witness of speaking only when led, I will not prepare a written sermon beforehand. Therefore, I won’t be able to send a sermon title or scripture reading to you for the bulletin (if you have one). I will continue to read and study in preparation for speaking, as I always have.
2. Also, when God’s spirit directs me to I will speak out of the time designated for holy silence (open worship, silent worship, etc.) of the gathered people of faith. I do try to be faithful to listening to Christ our present teacher and so, if I do not feel lead, will not speak. While this has rarely happened, I do want to honor the direct leading of the Spirit.
3. If you have a time in Meeting for Worship in which the pastor normally prays aloud (pastoral prayer), I will be honored to do that, if requested.
4. I do not have a set fee nor do I require an honorarium to bring a message. If you are led to support my ministry, then any amount (or none) is welcome.
5. If possible, I would prefer to not speak from behind a pulpit or lectern. I would rather stand and speak, when lead, from the same level on which the other Friends are seated.

These things are not meant to be quirks or set me apart from other Friends ministers. Rather , they are ways that I am attempting to be faithful to the way Christ continues to teach me what it means for me to be a Friends minister. They are negotiable, depending on the needs of your Meeting. I certainly understand if you find these a bit odd and would prefer to invite someone else to speak to you. If God continues to lead you to issue an invitation, I look forward to worshipping with you.

In Friendship,
Brent


Following this leading is a real leap of faith for Mr. Anal-Retentive, Obsessive-Compulsive. But, in my lifelong quest for faithfulness to where I am in my life with God, I think it's what I'm supposed to do. And I certainly don't recommend this as THE way for anyone else -- it's just where I am right now.

Especially as regards the first point in the letter, I want to make clear what I mean by "prepare." What I mean is that I won't prepare a specific written manuscript, which has been my tendency. This is a real challenge for me...

When I first started out in pastoral ministry I was so smart and knew exactly what God wanted me to say (well, that's a bit strong, but not much. I think I probably came across as more than a little bit arrogant. I hope not, but ...). Back then I gave sermons based on 3 points I jotted down on a 3 x 5 card. I filled in the rest from the vast storehouse of knowledge in my shallow soul.

As I aged though, and after a hiatus from pastoral ministry, I changed and began using prepared manuscripts. That's because I'd writing much more and deeper and was learning to be care-ful with words. Words are so important -- especially in communicating the deep riches of the spiritual life. But as I look back, perhaps I was too slavish in adhering to them and in trying "plan" worship too much along the lines I thought the congregation should go/needed.

I'm not sure that either of the above (my young fill in the blanks approach or my older power of words approach) those are bad things. They might even have been good things. I'm just no longer convinced that they were the best thing. The most faithful thing. And I think the Gospel ministry deserves the best, most faithful thing.

So when I say I'm not going to prepare as I used to, what I mean is that I won't write anything down. I will think about what's in my heart/mind as I see the day approaching. And I will continue to read and study during the week. Just not with an eye toward coming up with some amazing technical points or fascinating anecdotes. I will spend time in silence listening for the voice of God around a couple of queries -- "Why did You have them invite me to give a message?" and "What is the message You want me to bring.?"

Now before someone asks, "Do you believe that God can only lead you to speak during the time allotted to waiting/open/silent worship? Couldn’t God also lead you to the message in advance?", let me say that I believe that. I think God can work in all sorts of ways. I think that my past prepared manuscripts (and even the 3x5 cards) were examples of God at work in the "advance" instead of the moment.

Who knows (or maybe I should say "God only knows" ) maybe I'll be led to some combination new combination of preparation -- 3x5 notes, typed manuscript, and complete openness to the movement of the Spirit in the moment.

For now, though, this seems like the place for me to set out on a new adventure of being a disciple and learning to listen more carefully. And for renewing my own ministry.

-- Brent

PS The photo is of the young 3x5 card Brent Bill. More hair but even less smarts than now.

Meetinghouse Photos: Meetingroom Bench & Hat, Pennsylvania

Meetinghouse Photos: Clerk's Table, Pennsylvania

On Christmas Day...

It is the evening

of the birth of God.

Singing &

with gold instruments

the angels bear down

upon the barn, their wings

neither white

wax nor marble. So

they have been recorded:

burnished,

literal in the composed air,

they raise their harps above

the beasts likewise gathering,

the lambs & all the startled

silken chickens ... And Joseph,

off to one side, has touched

his cheek, meaning

he is weeping ---

But how small he is, withdrawn

from the hollow of his mother's life,

the raw flesh bound

in linen as stars yield

light to delight his sense

for who there is no ornament.

-- "A Nativity Poem" by Louise Gluck

Christmas blessings,

Brent

Christmas Eve Blessings

This is no time for a child to be born,
With the earth betrayed by war and hate
And a nova lighting the sky to warn
That time runs out and the sun burns late.

That was no time for a child to be born,
In a land in the crushing grip of Rome;
Honour and truth were trampled by scorn—
Yet here did the Saviour make his home.

When is the time for love to be born?
The inn is full on the planet earth,
And by greed and pride the sky is torn
Love still takes the risk of birth.

Madeleine L’Engle’s “The Risk of Birth”
copyright 1974 Madeleine L'Engle


I am grateful that Love still takes the risk of birth this Christmas Eve and, indeed, every day in the heart of God and the hearts of women and men everywhere.

Risking Love and sharing God's with you,

Christmas blessings,
Brent

The Christmas Story -- Fact or Fiction. Part Duex

Since I have gotten in "trouble" (lumps of coal for me this year, I guess) for my previous post about the Christmas story, I thought I'd try to atone with this little quiz (made especially for the Bible scholars who read this).

HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW THE CHRISTMAS STORY?
Here are twenty multiple choice questions for you to answer. There is at least one correct answer to each question but some have more than one right answer (in all 27). Each correct answer receives five points for a possible total of 135 points. For every wrong answer, five points will be deducted, so be careful! Since Christmas is to be a joyous occasion, you may find reason to laugh at some of the choices, but don't let yourself get fooled by trick questions! You may not use your Bible. DO NOT LOOK AT THE ANSWERS UNTIL FINISHED!!

1. When Joseph discovered that Mary was expecting a child:
a. he was very happy
b. he asked for a divorce
c. he contemplated getting a divorce
d. he brooded over it until he fell asleep

2. Before Jesus was born...
a. Joseph left Mary
b. Mary left Joseph
c. Joseph and Mary led a normal married life
d. Joseph built a crib

3. Why did Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem?
a. King Herod made a decree
b. Joseph and Mary were related to the king
c. A star appeared and led them to Bethlehem
d. An angel appeared and told them to go

4. How did Joseph and Mary get to Bethlehem?
a. They both rode donkeys
b. Mary rode a donkey and Joseph walked
c. They rode camels
d. The Bible doesn't say

5. Which animals were present at the manger when Christ was born?
a. Sheep and cows
b. Donkey and ox
c. The Bible only mentions sheep
d. The Bible doesn't say

6. What did the shepherds in the field see?
a. an army
b. a choir
c. a star
d. three kings

7. Who were the visitors from the East?
a. Relatives
b. Kings
c. Astronomers
d. Farmers

8. How did these visitors find the baby Jesus?
a. They followed the star to Nazareth
b. They followed the star to Bethlehem
c. They followed the star to Jerusalem
d. They followed the instructions of King Herod

9. What did these visitors do when they arrived?
a. They had a snowball fight
b. They found the child in a manger
c. They dreamed of the bad man
d. They sang Christmas carols

10. Which is the most probable time of Christ's birth?
a. December
b. In the year "Zero"
c. In the year "One"
d. Five to seven Anno Domini

11. The innkeeper...
a. ...sent Joseph and Mary away because they were Jews
b. ...was angry because they woke him from a sound sleep
c. ..offered them a place in the stall
d. ..isn't mentioned in the Bible

12. Which book of the Bible has the most to say about Christ's advent?
a. Revelation
b. Matthew
c. Luke
d. Isaiah

13. When Christ was born...
a. ...there was snow in Bethlehem
b. ...there was snow in Jerusalem
c. ...there was snow in Israel
d. ...the Bible doesn't mention snow

14. How many brothers and sisters did Jesus have?
a. Jesus had two brothers
b. There were at least seven children
c. Jesus was an only child
d. The Bible doesn't say

15. Where did Jesus live the shortest length of time?
a. Bethlehem
b. Nazareth
c. Egypt
d. Capernaum

16. Why did Joseph and Mary take Christ to Jerusalem?
a. because Herod wanted to kill him
b. for Christ's baptism
c. for Christ's circumcision
d. for Christ's dedication service

17. When was Jesus baptized?
a. shortly after his birth
b. on his first birthday
c. as a young lad of twelve
d. a few years before his death

18. As a youngster...
a. ...Jesus was a good student
b. ...Jesus stayed back
c. ...Jesus confounded the teachers with his knowledge
d. ...Jesus' parents were not happy about his behavior

19. How did Jesus get his name?
a. An angel gave him his name before he was born
b. Joseph named him
c. He received his name in the temple when 8 days old
d. The prophet Isaiah gave him his name

20. How well do you think you did on this test (Read instructions again!)?

a. I believe I received between 75 and 135 points
b. I think I have 50 to 70 points
c. I probably only have 25 to 45 points
d. I doubt if I got more than 20 points

Answers to Christmas Quiz:
1. The correct answer is "d"
Joseph was not at all happy about Mary's pregnancy. He contemplated "putting her away" (breaking their engagement) but since they were not yet married, he could not have gotten a divorce. According to Matthew 1:18-20, Joseph brooded about the situation until he fell asleep and an angel appeared in a dream.

2. The correct answer is "b"
According to Matthew 1:25, they did not lead a normal married life until after the birth of Christ. Mary left Joseph when she made an extended visit with her cousin Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist (Luke 1:39 and 56).

3. The correct answer is "b"
Not King Herod, but Augustus made the decree mentioned in Luke 2:1-4. According to the genealogies of Matthew 1 and Luke 3, both Joseph and Mary were descendants of King David, whose birthplace was Bethlehem.

4. The correct answer is "d"
The Bible doesn't say how Joseph and Mary got to Bethlehem. All other answers are "Christmas card theology"!

5. The correct answer is "b"
This idea is taken from the writings of Isaiah who wrote, "The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner's manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand." Since it is Christmas and we want everyone to live peaceably, "d" may also be considered correct. If you
checked both, you get ten points even though that would be a contradiction - it's Christmas!

6. The correct answer is "a"
The shepherds first saw a solitary angel, who was soon joined by a heavenly host (army), which praised God, saying... Nowhere in the Bible is there a reference to angels singing, although Revelation 8 speaks of them blowing trumpets. The NIV mentions angels singing in
Rev.5:12, but the Greek word is "lego", which means speaking. I still think that they can sing though!

7. The correct answer is "c"
Because there were three gifts, some reason that there were three visitors. The Bible does not say that they were kings. This is an old tradition of the Church, which even gives them names and racial origins. The Bible describes them as Chaldean or Babylonian "magi" which indicates persons who study the stars. One root for this tradition can be found in Isaiah 49:7-12 and 60:3-6. (See comments at end!)

8. The correct answer is "a" (See comments at end!)

9. The correct answer is "c"
According to Matthew 2:9-12, they dreamed of Herod, who was obviously a very bad man. Only the shepherds are reported to have visited the stall. (See comments at end!)

10. The correct answer is "d"
This is the only question that cannot be answered from the Bible, but you should be aware of the fact, that our calendar is not correct.

11. The correct answer is "d"
The Bible mentions an inn, but not the innkeeper (Luke 2:6)!

12. The correct answer is "d"
More is written about the coming of the Christ in the book of Isaiah than in all four gospels together.

13. The correct answer is "c"
Jeremiah wrote "Does the snow of Lebanon ever vanish from its rocky slopes?" (Jer. 18:14) and there is a similar verse in Isaiah 55:10. The peak of Mount Hermon glistens with perpetual snow.

14. The correct answer is "b"
Matthew 13:55-56 mentions four brothers and at least two sisters of Jesus.

15. The correct answer is "a"
Jesus lived longer times in Nazareth and Capernaum. Many believe that Joseph died sometime before the wedding of Cana, after which the family apparently moved to Capernaum. The stay in Bethlehem was less than 40 days (compare Luke 2:22; 39 and Leviticus 12:4 and comments at
end)

16. The correct answer is "d"
It was forbidden to enter the temple while unclean; purification rites lasted 40 days according to Leviticus 12:4.

17. The correct answer is "d"
Jesus was baptized by John about three years before his crucifixion.

18. The correct answers are "a,b,c,d"
Read Luke 2:40-52 and you will see that this is true!

19. The correct answers are again "a,b,c,d"
Read Matthew 1:21-25; Luke 2:21 and Isaiah 7:14!

20. Congratulations if you got these five points!

Here is a bonus question (no points!):

1.) Which modern song is most closely related to the angel's message to
the shepherds?
a. "Silent Night"
b. "Jingle Bells"
c. "Don't Worry, Be Happy!"
d. "O Tannenbaum"

The angels message to the shepherds was "Fear not, for we bring you tidings of great joy!" That is pretty close to "Don't Worry, Be Happy!", don't you think?

COMMENTS and EXPLANATIONS:
How did the wise men know that a king had been born in Israel? We know that they saw a star, but how did they know that this star meant? The wise men were obviously familiar with a yet unfulfilled prophecy of the famous Babylonian prophet, Balaam (or Bileam).

Chaldea or Babylon (now Iran and Iraq) was world-famous for its Chaldean prophets. Bileam or Baalam lived and prophesied about 1400 years before Christ. The Moabite king, Balak called upon him to curse the Israelites (Numbers 22-24), but against his own will and to the
utter chagrin of the Moabite king, Baalam could only bring forth blessing. After several attempts, the king commanded Baalam to cease his prophesies but Baalam was compelled to prophesy one more time. He foretold the appearance of a star which was to announce the coming of a special Jewish king (Numbers 24:17).

But the appearance of a new or different star alone would not have in itself provided sufficient evidence. The wise men were undoubtedly also familiar with the unfulfilled prophecy of yet another famous Chaldean prophet, Belteshazzar, better known to us as Daniel. It was acclaimed of both Baalam and Daniel, that all their prophecies came to pass (Numbers 22:6 and Daniel 6:3). Daniel lived about 800 years after Baalam and foretold the exact time in which that special Jewish monarch would arrive on the scene. He even prophesied that this special prince would be executed without a fair trial. (Daniel 9:24-26).

Six centuries after Daniel and fourteen centuries after Baalam, the Chaldean astronomers or "wise men" of Matthew's gospel saw a special star and concluded that it had an important significance. Perhaps they searched for clues in the gigantic collection of more than 100,000
clay tablets that were stored in Nineveh, at least 30,000 of which still exist. After recognizing that the only unfulfilled prophecies of their two most famous prophets coincided exactly, the wise men set out on their long journey (about 600 miles) to Jerusalem, where they fully
expected to find a new-born prince in the palace of the king.

"And when the fullness of time was come..." Galatians 4:4 The arrival of the Chaldean wise men in Jerusalem did not go unnoticed. Their query about a new-born king of the Jews caused no
small stir in the king's palace and also in the city. You see, the wise men were not the only ones who were familiar with Old Testament prophecy. Jewish leaders and residents of Jerusalem, including the aged Simeon and Hanna, were also expecting the imminent arrival of the
Messiah (Matthew 2:3; Luke 2:25-40). Joseph of Arimithea was also expecting the Messiah (Mark 15:43) and Luke 3:15 declares that the people of Israel were in general expectation of the Christ, wondering if John the Baptist could be the promised Messiah. It is reported that the leading Jews sent Levites and priests to Bethany on the Jordan to investigate this possibility (compare Malechai 4:5; Matthew 11:14; 17:11-13; John 1:19-21). King Herod took this news so seriously ("Even the devils believe and tremble!" - James 2:19) that he called all the leading theologians into his palace for consultation. Gemaliel, Paul's famous teacher, was probably among their number (He was also of the line of David. Could he have been staying in "Bethlehem Hotel"
where there was no room for Joseph and Mary??). The Jewish Theologians told King Herod that according to Micah 5:1, the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, so he sent the visitors to this town with instructions to return and give a detailed report on their findings to the king
(Matthew 2:1-8). Herod was so upset about the failure of the wise men to report back to him, that he ordered the slaughter of all infants in the vicinity of Bethlehem.

The star did not lead the wise men to Jerusalem as some assume. It appeared to them first while they were in their own country. Although the wise men set out for Bethlehem, they wound up in Nazareth instead, for the same star which they saw in the east reappeared and directed
them to the "house" where the young child was living (Matthew 2:11). Their journey must have taken months, yet Joseph and Mary could not have been in Bethlehem much more than a week. Even if Jesus was circumcised in the Synagogue of Bethlehem after 8 days, he was brought
to the temple in Jerusalem for his dedication. This took place after the "purification" which lasted 40 days (Leviticus 12:4), after which the family "returned to Nazareth" (Luke 2:21-22 & 39). The wise men did not obey Herod, but obeyed God instead -- as wise men still do!
(Matthew 2:9-12).

Have a blessed Christmas and may you be resolved to study your Bible more carefully in the New Year!

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear. The Christmas Story -- Fact or Fiction

Well, according to the picture above from a prominent United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, it's fiction. I'm not surprised they feel that way -- my sainted fundamentalist Friends grandmother often warned me about hanging around with Methodists. "Why," she exclaimed, "the only time you ever hear the name Jesus in a Methodist church is when the pastor falls down the steps."

Me and my peeps, as true believers, hold to the veracity of the Christmas story ... down to the donkey that Mary rode to Bethlehem.

Holiday Blessings on us, one all.

-- Brent

Holiday Wishes

Photo of antique sleigh at Ploughshares Farm by Brent

What Kind of Christian ARE You?

Emergent. Missional. Post-Christian. Post-modern. Pre-post-missional emergent traditional Orthodox. What canst thou say?



-- Brent