People of Passion

"We are not alone. We are not alone. Deep in my heart I do believe that we shall overcome some day." Having now completed a weekly cycle with Open Door Community, I have observed volunteers, both residential and weekly, who are passionate about serving the homeless and the marginalized. Deep in their hearts the volunteers believe that no one should be alone. Each person should know justice and each one we serve on a given day is worth more than the time spent preparing and serving our friends. The ministry of Open Door Community is more than a bowl of soup, a sandwich, a warm shower, a new pair of shoes or badly needed foot care. The ministry of Open Door Community is about restoring dignity, treating the stranger and the marginalized with respect and honor, mindful that among the homeless today, Jesus Christ will be fed.

Each day, before we invite our guests in from the street, the community engages in Bible Study and prayer and we explore the role of servant, radical hospitality, and the meaning of gratitude, gratitude, not for the things we have or even for our family and friends, but the privilege to serve our Savior -- the one who is homeless, cold, dirty, and humiliated. Each day one of the least of these express their gratitude for the kindness we have shown them in sharing a bowl of soup. Each day we need to remind ourselves that it is not what I have done for you, it is what you have done for me -- you have given me an opportunity to provide hospitality, to serve God's children by providing a warm meal to carry you through the long days and longer nights. Your decision to come to Open Door today is not about what we have provided, but rather what you have provided for us, the joy of serving one of God's children. This is the passion of Open Door Community.

Besides a passion to serve the homeless and the marginal, Open Door Community has been a significant partner in the group, "Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty" (GFADP) Last night, Open Door Community joined GFADP for the 3rd Annual Mary Ruth Weir Memorial Dinner. Mary Ruth Weir died an untimely death to cancer, but until the day she died, Mary Ruth Weir was a passionate advocate to end the death penalty and gave up a fulfilling job, many material blessings to begin a partner community, Jubilee Partners, that believed in a simple life, passionate people open to the Spirit's leading and advocating for equality and justice for all.

As I reflect on Open Door Community and courageous leaders in social justice such as Mary Ruth Weir, I am remembering other courageous people who put their lives on the line time and time again. "One Day, after Moses had grown up he went out to his people and saw their forced labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his kinsfolk. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he killed the Egyptians and hid him in the sand." (Exodus 2:11-12) Although Mary Ruth and the members of Open Door Community would not advocate violence to others, they like Moses, are passionate about justice. They, like Moses, will put their life on the line in order that justice will be done. "Deep in my heart I do believe that we shall overcome some day."

Moses was passionate about justice. There is another story of passion that comes to us from the gospels. "Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned tables. he told those who were selling the doves, 'Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" (John 2:15-16) Once again we witness the passion of another example of faith and once again Jesus reminds each of us who set up our tables to buy and sell that this is not a value of God's Realm. People are not a commodity, animals are not butchered for our indiscretions and burned on the altar to fulfill a pagan ritual of reconciliation. This is not justice and it is not what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

The work of justice, equality, dignity and integrity of all of creation requires passionate people. None of us can fulfill all of what needs to be done, but together this community and the communities of our world have made a difference. In the midst of the abuse, the insults, the name-calling, and the hard work of social justice, we are called to remember Jesus command, "Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.' I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my passionate disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:33-35

So it is with Mary Ruth Weir and the passionate people of Open Door Community. "Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go." John 21:18. And so I babble on about justice, I babble on about radical discipleship and my soul sings with gospel choirs throughout the ages, "We shall overcome. We shall over come some day. Deep in my heart, I do believe that we shall overcome some day." Whether we are doing justice from behind a pot of soup, sharing in the grief and pain of family members visiting loved ones at the Georgia State Prison, or participating in a candle-light vigil on the day of an execution, people of passion must find strength and courage in what we know is right and one day, we shall overcome.

Broken

Prior to serving our guest, it is customary for Open Door Community to engage in a time of Bible Study, prayer, and preparation to give hospitality. A week or so ago, as part of this time of preparation, the community was led in a foot-washing experience where the focus was on being a servant -- taking the place of a lowly slave to wash the feet of the guests who would soon arrive for food and hospitality.

During that week several students from Memphis Theological Seminary were present at Open Door Community to work on their final project for their class, entitled, Urban Immersion. Most of these were young people who may have for the first time actually participated in such radical discipleship. As a part of their experience they were asked to create an art project and reflect upon their time at Open Door Community. So my blog today is not the work of my hands or my reflection, I am printing with permission from Open Door Community, a photograph of one of the art projects and the reflections of Camille Bradley.

First, let me describe the project. Its beauty and mystery is not well represented in this photographer's skill. The project is three dimensional. With heavy wire, you are able to see the shape of bare-feet. A towel is placed down the center of a broken bowl and continues to move upward like the flame of the Holy Spirit reaching up to God. A bar of soap rests on the broken shard and a wire hand, placed strategically at the center of the display brings all the parts together. From this image comes the following reflection:

"Jesus come to a broken world full of broken people and surrounds himself with them. Loving his own who were in the world, he loves them to the end. Knowing his time is near and soon he too will be broken; he wraps a towel around his waist and pours water into a bowl to wash the the feet of his beloved community. Jesus lowers himself and washes the feet of all who are present. He washes the feet of Peter who's feeling a little anxious. He washes the feet, as well, of the the one who will betray him. Then Jesus says: 'I have set an example that you also should do as I have done to you."

Jesus calls us to action and so we prepare to wash each others [sic] feet at the Open Door. We circle together, each one of us broken, much like the eve before Passover. Feeling anxious and humble, broken and weary, my feet are immersed in the basin. Ira [a resident volunteer] kneels down and with his strong brown hands gently and lovingly washes my white feet. No words are spoken. Yet, out pours the Spirit and I breathe deep while my eyes well up with water. After drying my feet, Ira rises and so do I. Two broken people embrace for a moment in the peace and wholeness that comes, from being together in a beloved community, right here at the Open Door.

We reflect all together to try to understand what has happened and still I'm not sure if I do. We talk of the poor and homeless outside and we're about to open the house to them. Somehow we're transformed into people of love, hospitality, and mutual respect. We are able to welcome to the beloved community other broken and anxious souls. Who for a moment at least feel the love and the peace that flows back and forth through all our our cracks. Our world is transformed as all of us who are broken come together in a diverse and beautiful whole. All because Jesus said: "For I have set for you an example, that you also should do as I have done." (Adapted, Luke 13:1-19, NRSV)

And so it is the kind of ministry that happens at the Open Door Community. There are no barriers here. there are only broken people picking up the pieces and through radical discipleship strive to bring life, dignity, grace and wholeness together again. And so I babble on with thoughts of the beloved community, the role of the servant leaders, and with renewed hope that peace, justice and humility is possible in our broken and fragmented world.

This is Open Door Community

I arrived at Open Door Community at the conclusion of worship yesterday and was asked before supper had ended if I would be willing to wash pots and pans from the evening dinner. Nothing like trial by fire. In the midst of learning the history, mission and ministry of Open Door Community, I have also learned why and how to use four stainless steel sinks to wash pots and pans. Rinsing, washing, rinsing again, and sterilizing, this is the process at Open Door Community in one context. Such may be an "new image" for churches who choose to live out Kingdom values through missional living. It would seem that rinsing, washing, rinsing again, and sterilization is a process by which we can understand God's love for us and for all who are created in God's image.

Open Door Community is a ministry on several levels. First and foremost it is a ministry of hospitality for the homeless and the marginalized. There is a soup kitchen, a foot clinic, showers, public bathrooms, shoe and clothing swap shop, and blankets and sack lunches are a part of their night ministry to the homeless in the city of Atlanta.

Related and equally important to this community is advocacy for prisoners, especially those in Georgia who are on death row. Open Door Community is located less than a mile from the Martin Luther King Center and an important part of their calling as a community is a ministry of justice and equality. The community does a great deal to raise community awareness around issues of race, culture, and justice. When there is an execution scheduled in the State of Georgia, the community gathers for a peaceful candle-light vigil.

Besides hospitality, advocacy for prisoners, especially those on death row, Open Door Community is also the permanent home of 15 plus people who range in ages from their early twenties to their seventies. In addition many from the surrounding community give time and service to Open Door Community and there are others, such as myself, who pass through for a time and reconnect with Kingdom values that were and remain an important witness to Jesus Christ and to the missional purpose of the church.

In many ways, I find myself a bit of an apprentice at Open Door Community. There is so much to learn and so many experiences that will continue to shape my personal calling as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Dallas Willard talks about being an apprentice to Jesus and nurturing a passionate life in Jesus Christ. He writes, "The crucial thing is that, as disciples, we have a plan for implementing the decision we have made to devote ourselves to becoming like our master and Lord -- to increasingly live in the character and power of Christ. Disciples are those who, seriously intending to become like Jesus from the inside out, systematically and progressively rearrange their affairs to that end, under the guidance of the Word and the Spirit. That is how the disciple lives." And so it is the prevailing attitude of the many who live in this community and those who come to serve the guests, the marginalized and the least of these. Open Door Community is a place where Christ's love is transformational and incarnational.

Experiencing the borderlands!

I am reading Gary V. Nelson's book entitled "Borderland Churches." This notion of "borderland churches" has captured my imagination. This image of the church has stimulated my imagination, partly because of the content of the book, but also because for most of my professional ministry, I've been thinking that the church I remember as a boy has moved from the center of community life to the edge of somewhere else. This somewhere else has not been clearly defined, but what I do know is that church today is different. This is not to say that this is a good thing or a bad thing, but rather I want to say it is different and like many of us who claim Christianity as our particular religious persuasion, I am trying to understand this strange and mysterious time for the Church of Jesus Christ.

I remember in the mid-eighties while I was attending Eden Theological Seminary, both Dr. Walter Brueggeman and Dr. Douglas Meeks talked about the church as the church in exile. Dr. Brueggeman compared the church of the eighties (and likely long before this decade) and subsequently the church of the early 21st Century to the Babylonian exile of the Hebrew people. All that was, is no longer and what is to come will not be the same. We know that the future image of the church is still unfolding and we probably won't know the new look until generations later when what we experience as religious and spiritual is a part of what we've always known.

Now, how is that for ambiguity? It is this ambiguity that intrigues me about "borderland churches." We are on the edge of something new and different. What this image of something new looks and feels like may depend upon how we choose to embrace or not to embrace this "new thing" that is happening as we "live and move and have our being." What's more is that those who claim this Christian faith are intricately entwined in this new image of the "new church," pushing us into the future even as we cling to the image of the church of yesterday.

Experiencing the borderlands is living on the edge, believing that the transformational power of the the living God will reveal, in due time, the New Jerusalem and in the meantime, those of us who are aliens to this new creation, we must use our borderland time to grow a deeper, more abiding faith that will strengthen us and carry us through this in-between time, this time where the church as we have known it, is experiencing the birth pangs of tomorrow's new life. With authority and with the power of resurrection hope, we must claim this time in history as we co-create and shape tomorrow's faith. I believe that this is our challenge and how thrilling and exciting it could be to be midwives to this new way of living and being the Church of Jesus Christ.

"Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?" (Isaiah 43:18-19) Or from the gospel of John, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me...I will come again and will take you to myself so that where I am, there you may be also." (John 14:1, 3)

My Seminary professors may say that the church is exile. Nelson believes that we must live as borderland churches, and I believe that we are strangers, aliens to the church today and our strength in these times must come from the prophets of old who spoke about a future place where God would meet God's people and a promise that we will not be left alone as we midwife this new church that is crowning, still waiting to be embraced, but nonetheless pulling us along into a new reality where God is our center and justice is our way of life. "Behold, I am doing a new thing. Do you not perceive it?"

And so I babble on with God's Spirit before me, the church as my constant companion, and the mission to be the church in unlikely places calls me into the future, into something that I may know only in part, but one day shall fully embrace. So, I remain in the borderland waiting for God's new thing to be born. Perhaps the borderlands is just a new way or a new place to experience God's all encompassing life. As you experience the borderlands, what do you think?

Book Review: Not Just a One Night Stand

“Not Just a One Night Stand: Ministry with the Homeless”
By John Flowers & Karen Vannoy
Discipleship Resource: Nashville, TN., 2009

In preparation for my time at Open Door Community, a ministry with the homeless, the marginalized, the incarcerated, and those released from prison, I felt it was important to read material that would reflect the kind of ministry I would anticipate at Open Door Community.

Flowers and Vannoy were two pastors serving Travis Park United Methodist Church (UMC) in San Antonio, Texas and through their leadership they transformed a silk stocking dying church into a cotton stocking growing church. This book is a reflection on how they were able to be transformed and to transform others by embracing their call to work with the homeless and the marginalized.

Flower and Vannoy stress early on that the goal of their ministry would be “mutual transformation” of the congregation, the members of Travis Park UMC, and those who participated in the Day Treatment program at Travis Park, UMC. Their authority and their permission comes from the urgency of gospel. They write, “We don’t need to wait for empowerment; we already have everything we need to build community of faith that embodies the gospel, and the world has never needed its transforming power more than it does now.” (Flowers, 2009)

Flowers and Vannoy know that the hearts of Christian people are in the right place. Flowers notes that people are compassionate and will not tolerate injustice when they understand the human story of suffering. We do good things for often the wrong reasons. The authors contend that our hearts are in the right place, but ministry among the homeless and marginalized is not something that we do a couple of times of year to relieve our middle-class guilt. No,the authors would rather work toward mutual transformation. Mutual transformation happens when we realize that we are more alike than different. Mutual transformation happens when we realize that the poor have as much to give to us as we have to give them. The authors observe that “when we are in the same space, at the same time, sharing our stories with equal air time and equal attention , mutual transformation has a chance. (Flowers, 2009)

With this notion of mutual transformation, the idea that we do not do ministry for the poor and the marginalized, but rather we do ministry with the poor the marginalized, the authors go onto share several ways in which this kind of ministry can become transformational. The authors suggest several steps that need to be taken in order for a ministry with the poor and marginalized can happen. They suggest that beginning with prayer and discernment is an important first step.

It has been said, “Morality begins at 1500 calories a day.” Clearly, this means that we cannot expect people to make sound moral decisions if they are hungry and so we need to eat. The author points out that we are also social creatures and suggest that this would be a wonderful way to make connections by eating together. By doing this we facilitate trust and build community. Eating together is a matter of survival.

Another way we can work toward mutual transformation is by paying attention. The best way to pay attention is when we can take time to listen to their stories. When we take time to listen, we don’t bring any demands, contrive expectations, or pass judgment. Instead, we enter their space and listen to their stories. Among other ways we work toward mutual transformation is by sharing power, careful discernment of “down and out” stories, and creating a safe, open, and inclusive space for worship. Each of these topics are addressed in some detail in subsequent chapters. The question that we as a church must struggle with in all facets of ministry is whether or not we ready to be the church or continue to play church.

Biblically, there are so many references to our call to reach out to the homeless, the poor, the marginalized, the incarcerated, and the forgotten. In light of this, let me end where I began with a quote that gives us the scope of our ministry. “…we need to build community of faith that embodies the gospel, and the world has never needed its transforming power more than it does now.” This is our call to mutual transformation.

Getting Ready

Today I begin a time of sabbatical rest and renewal. Yesterday, the send off and today the beginning of what I anticipate to be holy time, holy time that welcomes the Holy Spirit in the form of stranger, a new friend, a pilgrim, a seeker, an insight, or an unexpected surprise.

As my day began, it began with the more ordinary things of life. I had some notes to write, a trip to the cleaners to drop off my robes and stoles so that even my clerical robes and stoles will be renewed and refreshed for my ultimate return to my work and vocation. There was also a final trip to the travel agent to organize and clarify the mundane things that will facilitate a meaningful experience. Such things as plane tickets, hotel accommodations, and a final check on a trip to Athens. Although ordinary and seemingly secular, these matters are essential in this time of preparation. This is breathing time, a time to empty mind and body so that I may be more receptive to the Spirit's leanings.

Along the ordinary path of Monday morning, I noticed two bags of potting soil, two empty pots, a bag of pea gravel, and several gasping plants eager to anchor themselves in something more than a plastic container, pressing against their anxious roots in search of water, nutrients and room to spread out so that the world can see their beauty. I accommodated the call to be a co-creator with God and planted my tender plants. And so it is on this first day of my sabbatical, a time to see the possibilities.

I planted the planters today and they look nice against the front of our house. The plants have not adjusted completely to this new experience, but they're ready to take root and open up to God's prevenient care, each flower, each leaf is prepared to receive drops of rain and sunshine so that they may be receptive to the God's Holy Spirit that feeds them.

I guess in one sense that's where I am, getting ready to receive holy food. Like the new plants in a planter, the conditions are in place, and soon I will be in the midst of God's holy space and waiting to receive whatever it is that God would want me to see and hear. Such is my first day of my Sabbatical, and so I babble on, but not without purpose. No, just as a way to get ready for God's new chapter in my life. Where it will lead me, I do not know, but I'm planted and ready to receive, so that I might bloom to the glory of God.

Walking through the field of life

Recently, I worshiped at Journey Place and the presenter (Jason McCord) shared his own spiritual journey and used the metaphor of a familiar forest to talk about his journey. He challenged us to think about the metaphor that would best describe our personal understanding of our spiritual journey. Mine would be an open field or meadow.

Why would I compare my spiritual journey to an open field or meadow? When I think of an open field, I think of four things, predictability, beauty, warmth, and diversity and such reflects my spiritual journey. Let me explain.

Growing up in the home of a pastor, my year and my week was predictable. So much of my life and the life of my family revolved around the predictable calendar of the church. Such is why I have chosen a field to define my spiritual journey. Human experience knows what a field looks like. It is usually overgrown with tall grass, low-lying shrubs (perhaps raspberry or blue berry bushes) , and a number of wildflowers are seen. In addition, one can see across the field perhaps to another field, a stream, or the edge of a woods and this is what makes a field predictable. In almost any field, I can see to the other side and I will not get lost. My spiritual life is shaped liked that. I can stand at the beginning of the church year and find my way through the seasons and by participating in its life, if find comfort and joy. In the midst of the church year, I enter and re-enter the God's presence and experience again the newness of God's salvation -- a re-creation of a new day.

In the predictability of my spiritual journey, there has also been beauty. Along the way, from town to town, from congregation to congregation, there are beautiful people, beautiful traditions, and beautiful expressions of the personal and corporate faith. Like the wildflowers in an open field, we are distracted by their beauty, only to discover that God's paint brush is still painting and still creating. Each new day, each new opportunity is yet another day for me to discover God's handiwork in my life. Like the flowers of an open field, each experience is different and each one an inspiration that keeps pushing me along through the field of God's grace.

Because a field is open and on a sunny day, we can feel the warmth of sun beating down upon the open field. Although it is not always the case, most of the time, I have found warmth in the people of the church. I would define this warmth as community. Although, I enjoy my alone time, as a Christian I have also understand the importance of community. In the context of the community, we share a common experience, participate in Holy Communion, and together we do the hard work of sharing the love of Christ Jesus with all the world -- always working toward the fulfillment of the great commission -- "go and make disciples of all nations." It is in this context that I have been encouraged, affirmed, and challenged. It is the warmth of the community that is not limited to that "warm, fuzzy feeling", but it is the one that speaks the truth in love. As the sun shines down upon an open field -- its wonderful creation is held accountable to its destination -- to be fruitful and multiply and along the way, we give our life to God's service just as Jesus gave his life for us.

Finally, my spiritual journey has been blessed with a diversity of experiences that I will covet as long as I have memory. In an open field, there is diversity. Amid the gently blowing grass is the safe hiding place of a rabbit, a chipmunk, or a wild cat. In a meadow there is the annoying buzz of a mosquito or the beautiful song of a lark. The flowers show off their colorful clothes and the sweet surprise of a raspberry bush scratches the skin of an unsuspecting human finding his way to the other side of the meadow. All of this is God's wonder and beauty which opens my eyes to a global community that is more than the borders of nations or the religious and cultural differences that define a nation and its people. My faith is personal and global, seeking and growing, and all of it sustained by the promise of resurrection hope. This is my spiritual journey -- a journey that is predictable and beautiful, warm and diverse and that feels right to me and so I babble on with my thoughts as I make my way through this winding, amazing, field of grace.