For that Bright Land

A litany for worship inspired by Romans 8:18-27

by Ken Sehested

We enter this house of meeting with lips pursed in praise, voicing rejoicing, hearts heaving to the rhythm of mercy and the beat of beatitude.

’Cause we woke up this morning with our minds stayed on freedom. And stayed on Jesus.

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Wonderfully made

A litany for worship inspired by Psalm 139

by Ken Sehested

Merciful One, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you hear my thoughts from far away.

Encompass me with your Presence, and lay your hand on my heart.

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Religious liberty, or social mischief?

Understanding the "wall of separation" between church and state

by Ken Sehested
9 July 2017, Circle of Mercy Congregation, Asheville, NC
Text: Psalm 72

(The text below has been expanded from the original sermon.)

        Not so long ago a sermon on religious liberty would likely provoke yawns. The widespread and diverse claims of “religious freedom” are so common and unquestioned in our culture, they mostly go without notice. (Which, if anything, may be testimony to how tamed our assumptions have become.)

        In recent years, however, a new crop of claims of religious freedom has arisen to give credence to some very old forms of discrimination.[1] Some claims to religious liberty disguise social mischief. How do we distinguish the two?

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Loyalty Test: The Case of Chaplain Robertson

by Ken Sehested

Originally printed in the 2 March 1994 issue of The Christian Century

      Lieutenant Colonel Garland Robertson is an Air Force chaplain at Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Texas. He is endorsed by the Southern Baptist Convention's chaplaincy office. His military record includes a Distinguished Flying Cross for rescue of a reconnaissance team in Vietnam during the war there. He has commanded a nuclear missile site. A native Mississippian, he is self-effacing, almost shy.

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News, views, notes, and quotes

Signs of the Times  •  11 July 2017  •  No. 127

Invocation. “I will bow and be simple, / I will bow and be free, / I will bow and be humble, / Yea, bow like the willow tree. / I will bow, this is the token, / I will wear the easy yoke, / I will bow and will be broken, / Yea, I'll fall upon the rock.” —a Shaker hymn, “I Will Bow and Be Simple” performed The Christmas Revels

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Liberating Bible Study

Laurel Dykstra and Ched Myers, eds., Wipf and Stock, 2011, reviewed by Vern Ratzlaff

        Here is an excellent compilation of 25 essays dealing with social justice issues as they are dealt with by biblical writers and by current activists. ‘The bible is a record of displaced and dispossessed people who have found a communal identity…. It provides an important perspective for reflecting on responsibilities toward refugees…. The bible is a book by and for refugees…. First century Christianity in Asia Minor, as reflected in 1 Peter, faced the same issues as did the church in Central America in recent years’ (p 198,199).

        The book has well defined subject matter: chs 1-10, the Hebrew bible; 11-19, Jesus and the gospels; 20-25, the Epistles. I found the last section the most moving as the writers dealt with issues of sanctuary: the church as counter-cultural, the biblical emphasis on hospitality, and a powerful poem reflecting on Vancouver’s east side street life of the homeless.

        The fiery trial (1 Peter 4:12) is not so much a case of persecution by outsiders but of collusion with the enemy, capitulation to consumerism, the profit motive, conformity to values diametrically opposed to a gospel celebrating G-d’s favour toward the poor. The ‘Christian nations make and sell the bombs, train the torturers, create and refuse the refugees’ (p 210). A powerful section deals with 17 political dimensions that appeared in the Galilee of Jesus’ day and contemporary forms (‘top down social organizations and control’, p 149-151).

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The Power of Parable: How Fiction BY Jesus became Fiction ABOUT Jesus

John Dominic Crossan. HarperCollins, 2012, reviewed by Vern Ratzlaff

        Crossan examines Jesus’ parables and identifies what he calls the ‘challenge parable’ as Jesus’ chosen teaching tool for urging his followers to probe, question and debate the absolutes of religious faith and the presuppositions of social, political and economic traditions. He proposes a three-fold typology for the parable genre: riddle parables (allegory) (eg Sower and the Seed, Mark 4); example (seeing the lost things (Luke 15) and challenge (his major category)(p 244). He then presents the four gospels as mega parables, interpretation by the gospel writers challenging and enabling us to co-create with G-d a world of justice, love and peace.

        Crossan invites a new perspective involving the probable setting of an oral tradition. ‘Would there have been an absolute and respectful silence, for say an hour plus as Jesus performed his story? Or would there have been interruptions and pushbacks, agreements and agreements, not only between speaker and hearers, but among the hearers themselves?’ (p 95), an audience participation involved a class reversal of traditional expectations (eg the Good Samaritan). Challenge parables are participatory—because provocative—pedagogy. The gospels are challenge parables not by but about Jesus.

        Crossan presents a non-violent Jesus who rejects rhetorical violence. But what of the violent metaphors Jesus uses (ie ’hypocrites’, especially in Matthew 23)? Here Crossan sees the gospel writers as parable writers; ‘does Jesus change his mind or does Matthew change his Jesus?” (p 187). ‘The power of Jesus’ parables challenged and enabled his followers to co-create with G-d a world of justice and love, peace and nonviolence’ ( p 252).

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Precious indeed

Reflections on a post-bin Laden world

by Ken Sehested
4 May 2011, on the fifth anniversary of my grandson’s birth

        I spent more than an hour pouring over the newspaper Monday morning, whose oversized front page headline boldly proclaimed “A nation united” above its story of Osama bin Laden’s death. Rarely have I felt more disunited, disheartened, discomforted. Literally dispirited, the Holy Spirited-pledge to make all things new now mocked by Sunday crowds awash in frenzied rejoicing over assassination. All this, barely a week after Eastern morning, with its renewal of baptismal vows “to renounce Satan, and all his works, and all his promises.”

        Locally, the newspaper included theological justification in the words of a local pastor, who suggested that the military’s raid “sends a message that their lives [those killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks] counted and their lives were precious.”

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