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the grace of presence

~ dwc ~ Leave a comment

Sadly, I won’t be home for Christmas.

At least my original home…
I’ve lived almost as long in Aotearoa NZ as I did back home in the USA…
This has me thinking about place and presence.
And this, in turn, has me building a mental taxonomy of the different kinds of absence.

The choice between absence and presence becomes manifest at Christmas.

I Can’t Be There

One type of absence is simply about physics. As much as I might like to, science won’t let me be in Birkenhead, Auckland, New Zealand and Bolivar, Missouri, United States – at the same time – for Christmas.

This kind of absence is kind and regretful. I give my apologies and excuse myself.
It’s also very practical, as in, “Don’t include me in table-setting numbers.”

I Won’t Be There

There’s another type of absence that is not about physical possibility but perceived propriety. It’s about judgment. I am constrained not by physics, but by ethics.

After the 2024 re-election of Donald Trump, a phenomenon called “Boycotting Thanksgiving” happened, where people would protest both his re-election and family members who voted for him by absenting themselves from family Thanksgiving gatherings. Trump support trumps family relationships..

Ironically, boycotting your family at Thanksgiving for doing politics wrong reminds me of the Exclusive Brethren (Plymouth Brethren Christian Church) practice of ‘shunning’ your family for doing religion wrong.

This kind of in-your-face face-turning has many forms. ‘Snubbing’ or ‘blanking’ is famously pictured in The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss. The Star-belly sneetches, knowing themselves to be superior to the Plain-belly sneetches, “saunter straight past them without even talking.” It’s the same posture as the hilariously exaggerated arrogance of the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable where he thanks God he is not like the tax-collector (Luke 18:9-14).

Publican & Pharisee Icon

This kind of absence is passive-aggressive and judgmental. I toss the hand-grenade over the wall and it explodes with the message that reads, “I won’t be around that person.” I protest the presence of ‘that person’ by excluding myself from the gathering or denying them the dignity of eye-contact.

You Can’t Be There

The third kind of absence is about safety. And that makes it really tricky…

Safety is really important – obviously. For example, on the one hand, we need to reform our approaches to crime and incarceration, but on the other hand, the fact still remains that at least in specific situations some humans need to be kept away from other humans. But safety is different from what is sometimes called safety-ism…

What concerns me is when this kind of extreme language is used of much more ordinary situations. When ‘safety’ language is used to describe situations that are not truly dangerous, but about difference of opinion and clashes of personalities. Even more concerning is when such ‘safety’ language is used to justify excluding people from spaces.

Human spaces like churches, volunteer organisations, workplaces and sports teams will always have challenges, because of the humans that comprise them. But being ‘difficult’ is not the same thing as being ‘toxic’ or ‘unsafe’. It’s one thing to need some time-out in a situation, or put a time-limit on a conversation. There are a thousand ways to stay present with ordinary difficult people rather than excluding or rejecting them.

This kind of enforced absence can feel authoritarian. In the name of virtuous protection, it points the finger and says “Yep exclusion may sound rough, but that’s exactly what you deserve.” It imagines itself as rescuing victims from persecutors.

I’ll See You There

By contrast, Advent and Christmas is about the God who is omni-present (present everywhere) becoming uniquely and locally present in the person of Jesus Christ. The Creator whose presence surges through the cosmos in a way that electricity can only dream of, who never ‘left’ the creation, majestically ‘arrives’ within and connects to the the creation, to the earth, to humanity, to the nation of Israel, to Mary the Theotokos (the God-bearer).

Photo by Burkay Canatar on Pexels.com

This is the God of Scripture who promises his unique presence (described by rabbinic tradition as Shekinah) in various ways, times and yes places. It’s the God who walks in the Garden, meets on Mountains like Sinai, dwells between the cherubim above the ark, and mysteriously descends to feed his people through Bread and Wine.

This is a vision of God whose cosmic presence is always a reality, but who will never coerce us to seek out, align with, and thus encounter and experience his local Presence. Christ is the Incarnation of a God who loves to welcome all who seek Him (including the ones we least likely expect to be looking for God). This is a Saviour who dines with the one who betrayed him to death. And who doesn’t flinch when religious leaders like priests, Pharisees and pastors exclude themselves from his presence.

It’s a God who is never ‘not there’.
It’s a God who says ‘I’ll see you there.’

What does this vision of God mean for us this Christmas?
It can mean as much as you dare to let it mean.

May it mean looking for the presence of God in those you are least likely to see it in.
May it mean going to that dinner, that function, that space where ‘they’ will be.
May it mean courageously seeking out that person you have cut off and extending an olive branch.
May it mean eye-contact or even a hand-shake with someone you don’t really like.

May it mean forgoing the judgment of absence…
And instead practicing the grace of presence.

Faith, Humility, Service

~ dwc ~ Leave a comment

Bill Wilson based his 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous on the 6 principles he learned from the Oxford Group. The 12 steps are often summarised with 3 points: Trust God, Clean House, Help Others. Those three points can be seen clearly in the 6 principles of the Oxford Group:

TRUST GOD / FAITH

  • 1.       A Complete deflation.
    • Bill Wilson described this ‘deflation’ in the language of powerlessness. A ‘deflated’ person is not ‘inflated’ with power, or ability to manage their life (or the lives of others!). They are not bubbling over with strength and sanity. They are at the end of themselves, and know their complete, total need of power outside of themselves.
  • 2.       Dependence on God.
    • In Bill Wilson’s 12-steps, when it came to getting results, you could have all of the technical (or theological) accuracy in the world when it came to the language or concepts of ‘God’, but without the absolutely essential posture of ‘dependence’, little or no change would result. I depend on God by turning my ‘will’ and ‘life’ over to God’s care

CLEAN HOUSE / HUMILITY

  • 3.       A Moral inventory.
    • Bill Wilson expanded this concept to include the notions of fearlessness and searching. This hard look at one’s self could not be half-hearted. The light must be shone on all parts, even the less presentable ones. Likewise, this inventory was to be fearless. This was not about fearing the judgement of God, but rather about real honesty with self. This kind of inventory makes a person ‘properly armed with the facts’ about themselves.
  • 4.       Confession.
    • The self-learning one gets through an inventory must be shared and sharpened through confession to a human other. Even confession to God is not enough, for we are always translating the voice of God into our own. We need to share what we find with someone loving, caring and honest enough to help us see what we must see.

HELP OTHERS / SERVICE

  • 5.       Restitution.
    • Just as our self-discovery necessarily compels us to self-disclosure (confession) to an other, so also our discovery of the ways we have harmed others necessarily compels us to take actions that (as much as possible) set those wrongs right. Bill Wilson wisely added guidance here about taking care that our efforts in setting things right don’t create fresh harm in the process. Cleaning our consciences must not be done at the expense of others.
  • 6.      Continued work with others in need.
    • Bill Wilson experienced first hand the spiritual principle that one must give away what one has in order to keep it. Love by nature is overflowing.

prophesy against the prophets

~ dwc ~ Leave a comment

The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: ‘Hear the word of the Lord! 3 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! 4 Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins. 5 You have not gone up to the breaches in the wall to repair it for the people of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the Lord. 6 Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. Even though the Lord has not sent them, they say, “The Lord declares,” and expect him to fulfill their words. 7 Have you not seen false visions and uttered lying divinations when you say, “The Lord declares,” though I have not spoken?

Ezekiel 13:1-7

What makes a person, a church, a ministry, a sermon, or what-have-you prophetic? It depends on what you think prophecy is, or who prophets are.

Prophecy is the activity of prophets. Yes, that sounds circular. Well, a prophet (navi in Hebrew) is one who sees. Everyone sees things in one sense, but a prophet is someone who can see things others aren’t seeing, or aren’t seeing yet. Prophets change the vision of a community.

What the heck is going on in this passage, then, when Ezekiel is told to prophecy against the prophets? Hint: he’s criticizing their prophecy.

Prophetic Critique

Criticism is kind of a thing that we need if we are going to be prophetic. But I reckon we need just the right amount of it. And it needs to be directed at things that need to be critiqued. The alternatives are: a) critiquing what does not need critique, or b) not critiquing what needs critique.

What gets criticized in your church context? Usually in a church setting, criticism is directed externally at ‘the world’. And fair enough, too. There are things we can rightly critique. Sometimes a church will criticize other churches. And that can have its place too, and it could in a sense be what Ezekiel is doing here.

But I think it goes even further.

This is, I think, critique from within.

The Value of Critique

Ezekiel is critiquing “the prophets of Israel”. Ezekiel was a priest, a Levite, a member of God’s people. Prophetic critique was most often turned on the people of God, to call them back to the ways of God.

When it comes to critiquing our leaders, we go to extremes. None or way too much. When it comes to leaders welcoming or dealing with critique, we have room for improvement. Critique can be unhelpful in various ways:

  • When the one critiquing exaggerates the criticism, making it easier to dismiss it.
  • When the critic is insensitive to the timing (e.g. don’t critique a leader immediately after the church service!) of the critique.
  • When one is closed off to critique, feeling they never need it.

Wise leaders know how to remain open to critique, and to be willing to even seek it out at times, and follow up the critique with change and work. The prophets of Israel in this passage are – shall we say – not open to critique.

Pretend Prophets

Ezekiel doesn’t hold back. He calls their prophecy false. Prophesying out of their own imagination. Following their own spirit. Seeing nothing. Blind seers! The Lord has not sent them, and the Lord has not spoken what they are saying.

That is pretty intense. Imagine modern prophets being told they are full of it!? “Hey you so-called anointed and appointed prophets going around doing your thing with your prophetic pastor friends. You’re making it all up, bro. That’s 0% God’s spirit, and 100% your ego. Stop lying and pretending.”

Eugene Peterson’s rendering is provocative. These prophets are “making things up out of their own heads and calling it ‘prophesying.’” They “fantasize comforting illusions and preach lying sermons. They say ‘God says . . .’ when God hasn’t so much as breathed in their direction. And yet they stand around thinking that something they said is going to happen.”

A bit later in Ezekiel 22:23-29 , the critique is extended to everyone – we might say the five P’s: Princes, Priests, Prophets, Politicians, and the People. Again the prophets are accused of “false visions and lying divinations”, and saying “ ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says’—when the Lord has not spoken. “

Positive Prophets?

The wider context in Ezekiel (and Amos, and Micah, and Isaiah, and…) is violence, idolatry, compromise, injustice, sin. Things are awful, and these false prophets are papering over it all with positive prophecies, whitewashing a thin wall, saying “peace” when there is no peace (Ezekiel 13:10, 16 – see also Jeremiah 28:9 where Jeremiah makes is clear that prophesying peace places the prophet under special accountability!).

Restorative Prophecy

It is really easy to critique, and I’ve erred (and I really do mean erred!) in the past on the side of critiquing where it was not needed or helpful or appropriate. But the prophets of Scripture are absolutely clear: being ‘prophetic’ has nothing to do with papering over the sins of God’s people with positive distracting declarations of the nice things God is going to do. This is the opposite of prophecy. Instead of seeing and saying the transformative things God wants to say, such happy distractions don’t transform anyone, and remain blind to what is going on and what God is saying.

God desires us to turn from our arrogance, violence, sin and injustice; and become channels of love, grace, mercy, hospitality, care, healing and reconciliation. Where the Church is turning from evil and doing good, we dare not critique that. But where Christians are participating in things that do real harm to people. Critique is coming.

Sometimes we need to prophesy against the prophets.