Commentary

Mamrean encounter

A meditation on the threat of refugees, the burden of strangers and the bounty of God

by Ken Sehested

Eons ago, “the Lord”—in the guise of three traveling
strangers—ventured into Abraham’s and Sarah’s
oaken camp at *Mamre, were given hospitality, and
then announced the promise of a fertile womb beyond all conceivable prospect.

Today, that same angelic presence peers through the eyes of yet more strangers, waylaid on some new Jericho Road, modern refugees from Cain's ancient madness, and
not so far from the ancient Mamrean encounter. Their apprehensive, hungering gaze
is arresting, innocently clawing at stingy souls, imploring more than furtive glances and alibis.

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Deepening the Call

A wilderness fast in opposition to a "Desert Storm"

by Ken Sehested

The following was published in February 1991 by the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America (BPFNA), along with the names of 1,700 individuals who earlier formally endorsed  the “Call to Prayer and Fasting” action sponsored by the BPFNA as one response of resistance to “Desert Storm,” the U.S.-led war against Iraq. This material was originally delivered at Prescott Memorial Baptist Church, Memphis, Tenn., on Wednesday evening, February 13, 1991, as part of the church’s Ash Wednesday service.

            Two months ago we urged members of the Baptist Peace Fellowship (and any others who would join us) to engage in daily prayer and weekly fasting. We issued a document entitled “All Things Are Possible: Call to Prayer & Fasting.” Its purposes were to mobilize and amplify the voice of Baptists and others who opposed the prospect of war in the Middle East, to affirm diplomatic initiatives to resolve the conflict, and to suggest creative, practical and redemptive ways for Christians to express their convictions.

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From ecstasy to epilepsy

A Transfiguration Sunday sermon

by Ken Sehested
Text: Luke 9:28-43

            Once upon a time, Chris Semper and I both lived about an hour southwest of New Orleans, so we know about the significance of this time of year in South Louisiana. (TO CHRIS: Did you go to a lot of Mardi Gras parades?) The parades in New Orleans go on for more than a week; and lots of smaller towns down the bayous had at least one parade, all leading up to “Fat Tuesday,” the day before Ash Wednesday.

            Mardi Gras is almost synonymous with “revelry.” Partying. Excessively so, in some cases. Bourbon Street, in the heart of the French Quarter and ground zero for Mardi Gras festivities, is appropriately named.

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Realm of earth, rule of Heaven

Bodified faith and environmental activism

by Ken Sehested

        The greatest failure in the history of Christian thought is the separation of souls from bodies, spirit from soil, the wrenching of hearts from habitation—all representing the abdication of the realm of earth from the rule of Heaven. It is the great anthropomorphic heresy: that redemption is for humans alone, and then only for some ethereal essence: no bodies, no biology, no hills or dales, neither minnows nor whales.

        As Tom McMillan has noted, for 200 years we've been conquering nature. Now we're beating it to death. To be saved we must cultivate a bodified faith.

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Conscientious objection

Stories of faith from veterans

Few testimonies about nonviolence are stronger than those from war veterans. Our friends at the Mennonite Central Committee's Peace Education Office have compiled the following online resources. (For those who work with young people: These would be excellent resources for discussion, particularly for those approaching the age of mandatory Selective Service registration.)

•Reflections from Iraq War veteran Ben Peters. Six video clips (each 4-7 minutes long) with study guide for high school students/adults.  Ben discusses the identity-shaping experiences of boot camp, his struggles with post traumatic stress syndrom, the question of whether violence can be redemptive, biblical frameworks and more.  Ben is thoughtful, articulate and a compelling presenter.  

•Reflections from Iraq War veteran Logan Mehl-Laituri and Marine Joe Gibson. 
Five video clips that feature reflections on conscientious objection, moral injury and contrasts between the call of the armed forces and the call of God.

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Hold Fast to Dreams: Defaulting on the Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

Lecture at the "Protestantism, Public Theology and Prophetic Relevance" conference

by Ken Sehested

"Protestanismo, Teologia Pública e Relevância Profética: Diálogos
com as éticas teológicas de Martin Luther King Jr. e Richard Shaull"
(“Protestantism, Public Theology and Prophetic Relevance,
in light of the vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Dr. Richard Shaull”)
Centro Cultural da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
24-26 May 2007, Aliança de Batistas do Brasil

            It is a rare privilege to take part in this historic occasion. My prayer is that, years from now, you will look back on this occasion as the starting point of a powerful movement in shaping the faith and witness of the church in Brazil. And maybe for the whole world.

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Write the vision, make it plain

Sermon on the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birth

by Ken Sehested

Text: Habakkuk 2:1-3  “I will stand at my watchpost, and station myself on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he will say to me, and what he will answer concerning my complaint. Then the Lord answered me and said: Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay.”

Why do we devote special attention to the “saints,” to those gone before us, to people like Martin Luther King Jr.? When we focus on particular people, don’t we run the risk of turning them into HEROES? By giving certain individuals special attention, don’t we risk distancing ourselves from them? Few if any of us feel heroic. We’re not like Superman: faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. If saints—hero’s of the faith—are so unlike us, can they be of any use, other than as objects of fantasy whom we put on a pedestal to admire? But also to collect dust?

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Watch night history

Awaiting the quelling word

by Ken Sehested

“Watch Night” services began in 1733 with the Moravian communities in what is now the Czech Republic. By 1740 John Wesley and his Methodist movement within Anglicanism had adopted the tradition, with New Year’s Eve services ending after midnight, marked by penitence over shortcomings in the year past and resolution of greater faithfulness in the year ahead. One of the observance’s functions was to provide an alternative to the drunken revelry common in Britain on that night.

The Wesleyan revivals were especially attractive to the working class. Indeed, the early Methodist emphasis on sanctification (“holiness”) did not split personal from social application. Methodist societies were active in the abolitionist movement. “The ‘General Rules’ began with the commitment to give evidence of salvation by ‘Doing no harm’ and avoiding evil of every kind,” writes Bill Wylie-Kellermann,* noting that “‘doing no harm’ is an 18th century synonym for practicing nonviolence.” Significantly, the originating Methodist conference in the US called for the expulsion of any member participating in the slave trade, though the press of economic forces gradually weakened the tradition’s abolitionist convictions.

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Note to a friend, Rabbi Douglas

The mixed meaning of religious tolerance

        “You’ll be interested in this. Most late afternoons I sit with Mom during her early dinner at the nearby assisted living facility where she resides. On Monday a combined Brownie-Girl Scout group came caroling. Two of the pieces they sang were Chanukah songs, one I hadn’t heard, about the miraculous oil lamp, the other a popular dreidel song.

        “The fact that such music is employed in caroling, especially here in the South, is a pretty interesting phenomenon. The other interesting thing is that none of the other songs were about the Christmas nativity, but about Frosty, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, white-Christmas-dreaming, etc. Except for the finale, a lovely preadolescent rendition of ‘Silent Night.’

        “I think it’s a good thing, at least in the short run, that Chanukah has filtered down into civil society holiday traditions. Maybe we’re finally emerging from that ugly current in the Protestant Reformation, as when Martin Luther penned The Jews and their lies. Though, even given the uptick in violence against Muslims in this country, FBI statistics reveal that 59% of hate crimes are against Jews.

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The Manger’s Revolt

Mary's Magnificat

by Ken Sehested,
Text: Luke 1:46-55

        One of the great political debates of our generation is which phrase is more appropriate this time of year: “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas”? This is but the latest front in the culture wars fought over whether we should “keep Christ in Christmas.”

        Like with every cultural conflict, there are multiple levels that we need to sort out, putting up resistance in some places, offering affirmation in others. Let’s look a just a few bits of complicated history regarding the celebration of Christmas.

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