How awesome is this:  http://lacentralcity.org/newPages/homeless_karaoke.php

There’s also a documentary about it: http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/homeless_karaoke/

How are people feeling about the space we looked at on Main?  I’d sure like to get a look inside to see what we’re up for in the back room.  As far as location, I think it will serve our mission very well.  It’s relatively visible (even if it is hiding behind a truck) and close to the neighborhood we had in mind.  And as cool as it has been hanging out at Karlene and Josh’s, we all know that we could be getting “out there” a little more.

What other kind of potential does this space hold for our church and community?  Anyone getting any kind of great revelations for or against moving in?  I know I *think* it’ll be great, but I haven’t heard any booming voices from the sky.

What’s our time table for getting into the place?  Does anyone else looking at it?

“It is the Christians, O Emperor, who have sought and found the truth, for they acknowledge God. They do not keep for themselves the goods entrusted to them. They do not covet what belongs to others. They show love to their neighbours. They do not do to another what they would not wish to have done to themselves. They speak gently to those who oppress them, and in this way they make them their friends. It has become their passion to do good to their enemies. They live in the awareness of their smallness. Every one of them who has anything gives ungrudgingly to the one who has nothing. If they see a travelling stranger, they bring him under their roof. They rejoice over him as over a real brother, for they do not call one another brothers after the flesh, but they know they are brothers in the Spirit and in God. If they hear that one of them is imprisoned or oppressed for the sake of Christ, they take care of all his needs. If possible they set him free. If anyone among them is poor or comes into want while they themselves have nothing to spare, they fast two or three days for him. In this way they can supply any poor man with the food he needs. This, O Emperor, is the rule of life of the Christians, and this is their manner of life.”

Last Sunday we talked about the proposal for the Eugene downtown security to ban certain “undesirables” from the downtown area.  There have been some threatening incidents toward shop owners, which I agree are totally unacceptable.  But I feel that the ability to banish people from public spaces has a big potential for discrimination, because it would only be used on people who make the respectable folk nervous, aka. dirty homeless people and punk teenagers.  Can you imagine a group of elders being asked to move along from the benches on the sidewalk?  Security certainly wasn’t bothering with the group of middle aged peace protesters who were flanking the entrance to the library on Saturday, but they did shoo the crusties off the benches they were chilling on when I was there on Tuesday.

I’ve been reading “Jesus for President” and thinking about standing up for powerless people who are being disrespected by the powerful.  I wish we had more people in our faith community at times like this.  How do you argue with 50 Christians joining the gutterpunks and homeless people on the sidewalks?  I looked on the City of Eugene website and I didn’t see any upcoming public meetings that will deal with this issue.  I really feel like this will end up being an abuse of power, and that we as a church should say something about it.  Are there any other churches in town that care enough about it?  I know you can’t force respect on people, but we can show others when they are acting cruel.

The second part of the issue is finding and being part of a positive solution, like an alternative safe place for teens to hang out and be themselves without being pushed around.  The teen area in the library is minuscule.  Nuestro Lugar requires those pesky commitments like obeying the law (for the record, I think LEAD is amazing, but I can understand why some don’t want to be involved).  Everyone wants something like that (so they don’t have to deal with them out on the street) but they don’t want to pay for it, and when it happens, it’s a long struggle.  LEAD didn’t have their own space for many many years, and the organization is 10 or 11 years old.  The Youth Action Council has been trying to get a teen center since before I was involved in it in high school.

There’s a cycle in this lack of respect that happens between age classes.  Adults disregard the rights and potential of teenagers, so the teenagers believe it and push back, which proves to the adults that they’re just bad eggs.  Why does it have to happen that way?  Where’s the support that growing young people need from stable adults?

Ok, someone else can use this soapbox now.  What are we going to do about treating homeless people like human beings?

After lots of work, dozens of ideas, discussion, debate, and more than one session together, we have chosen our name!

Springfield Community Church

We chose it because “community” is an essential element of our understanding of ourselves and our mission. We wanted to avoid names that were inaccessible, or overly used, or overly trendy.  We want to identify with our town, even at the risk of being generic. And in the process of consensus building, this is where we were led together.

Now we can set up our official documents!

We are still on a quest to choose a name for our church! Here are the top suggestions that we came up with Sunday afternoon. We may end up with one of these names, or we may find some more inspiration. If you have any other ideas, please post them!

Riverside Community Church

Washburne Community Church

Peace (or La Paz) Community Church

The Way

The Neighborhood Church

Other ideas included: Element Community Church, Open Arms, Open Doors, The Well, Border Crossing Community Church, Namaste, Manna, Mercy, Trinity, and Trillium.

Sermons always deliver very differently than they are written, but here is Sunday’s transcript, even though a bit different from Sunday.

Zacchaeus
Luke 19:1-10

Zacchaeus has always been a Sunday School story. I remember the song that I sang as a kid and my daughter sang as well. But the only message that really stuck with me about the story was that Zacchaeus was short.

But there is so much more to this story than Zacchaeus’ stature. The Jews in Jesus’ time were pretty unhappy about Roman rule. Even though it had been a very long time – hundreds of years by now – since they had possessed the land and ruled it themselves, it was deep in their story as a people that this promised land should be theirs, and that one day a great king would rise up and deliver them from the oppression of occupying rulers and re-establish the throne of David. Being forced to live under the thumb of Rome and having to pay taxes to these foreign pagans was a great burden.

And the tax burden was made worse by the general corruption of the tax collectors – who were often Jews who were looked on as betrayers of their people for collaborating with the Romans. Why would a Jewish man want to join in helping the pagan oppressors? Money. The system of tax collection was designed to be corrupt. The Romans would auction off the job in a particular area to the highest bidder. They didn’t provide a salary to the tax collector, but gave him power to collect as much as he could get above and beyond what was required by Rome. Tax collectors were despised because they were able to get very rich by exploiting the poor and demanding money from people at their own whim. They were generally greedy, ruthless and hated. So when we read that Jesus was a “friend of tax collectors and sinners” that wasn’t really considered a virtue in his time, even though it has taken on a sentimental tone to us who are removed from the context.

So here we have Jesus coming through the city of Jericho on his way to Jerusalem. His reputation has preceded him and excited crowds are gathering around him. Zacchaeus can’t see, so he does something rather undignified for a man of his situation and climbs a tree to get a view of Jesus. Of all the people in the crowd clamoring to get a view of Jesus, the one he picks out is probably the most hated in the entire community. And the people don’t appreciate it. The most undeserving gets the greatest honor! Is Jesus really the great person we’ve thought him to be?

But I think the grumbling stopped pretty quickly when the people saw the result of Jesus’ actions. Zacchaeus’ natural response to the presence and attention of Jesus with repentance. His sin has been exploiting his own people, of his own community in order to get very rich. He gives away half of his possessions to the poor, and will pay back four times what he has cheated from people. His words in the Greek text have implications into the future – that this is not a promise of the moment, but a change in his behavior going forward.

And here is where the story makes a profound turn – Jesus declares that salvation has come on his house, and that he is truly a Son of Abraham.

So what is salvation? We have spent the past couple of days talking about evangelism in our class at school, and what the message of the gospel is. According the Jesus, the good news is that the Kingdom of God is at hand. The expected response to this good news, is to repent and believe. Zacchaeus responds to Jesus with a faithful repentance shown by a transformation of his behavior. He will no longer oppress the poor and he will make right what he has done wrong. And even above that, he will give away half of his possessions to the poor.

How does this compare to what we have heard about salvation in church? What have we always been taught to do that would bring us salvation? How is this different from what we read in this passage?

Jesus also restores Zacchaeus to his community. By pronouncing that he is truly a son of Abraham, he restores his connection to those around him. He is no longer a ruthless collaborator with the enemy – he is one of them again, a true son of Abraham. This is a beautiful work of reconciliation.

In this story, who do we most identify with? Are we one of the crowd, resenting and grumbling the attention that Jesus gives to someone we hate? Are we Zacchaeus, aware of the ways that we collaborate with the oppressor and hoard our wealth and harden our hearts to those in need around us? Are we like Jesus, who seeks out the most hated of society?

____________

We shared some beautiful conversation about salvation and reconciliation and the ways that this story challenges us.

This week following communion we talked about the value of Redistribution – what happens when people begin to love each other across class lines. We talked about resources and what it looks like when resources are justly distributed in a community. We talked about the resources we have already among us, and how we might work toward using those resources in the future. We talked about the relationship of redistribution to reconciliation and relocation.

We talked about our desire to make sure that our finances as a church reflect our values, and while we didn’t feel that we were ready to come to consensus on a particular percentage, that we will be deliberate about setting aside and protecting a portion of our church’s income for direct needs.

Since the youth snow trip got canceled due to, well… snow, they got their gear on and got to spend much of the day playing out in the park across the street. We had a spontaneous inspiration to put on a big pot of soup, made a trip to the store for some additional food, and had a really fun afternoon cooking, eating, and laughing together following the service.

Here is the rough manuscript of the homily on John 1:29-42. Again, please feel free to continue the conversation!

“Come and See”

This story captivates my imagination. Can you picture it? John – this provocative, outspoken prophet. He’s defying the establishment and he’s outside of the Temple, outside of the walls of the city, preaching and baptizing in the muddy Jordan river. People were drawn to John. His message of repentance pricked their hearts. They wanted to come clean, to be washed and ready for the kingdom of God – and it was exciting to hear the conviction in John’s voice when he said that this kingdom was coming soon.

Imagine these two friends. We don’t know much about these guys before this story. But we know that they were longing for something – something they couldn’t seem to find in the Temple, or in the synagogue, or in the routine of their daily lives. They went searching for it in the words of this crazy, compelling prophet. And the longing began to mix with excitement and anticipation as they listened to him proclaim “there is one who will come after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

And then one day he comes. They don’t realize it at first. But imagine the tone of John’s voice and the look in his eyes when he motions to Jesus and says, “Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

Without any apparent hesitation they follow this man – knowing or hoping that what they are longing for will be found in him.

And Jesus sees these two guys following him. Can you feel the awkwardness here? He doesn’t shoo them away, but asks them a very important question. “What are you looking for?” He doesn’t ask why they are following him or who they are. He doesn’t even pause to introduce himself. He cuts to the chase and asks them this probing question, “What are you looking for?”

What would you say? What are you looking for?

Their reply seems to me like a bit of a dodge. I don’t think his lodgings are really what’s on their minds, but they answer his question with a question, “where are you staying?” Jesus lets them off the hook, but he gives them an answer that is as profound as his question. He says, “Come and See.”

He didn’t say, I’m staying two blocks past the synagogue in the brown house. He said, “Come and see.”

What are we looking for when we first catch a glimpse of Jesus? Peace? Hope? Healing? Meaning & purpose? A vision? Like Peter, do we want Jesus to tell us who we are, and perhaps give us a new name? If these two new disciples had given the deeper answer to the question, “What are you looking for,” do you think Jesus’ response would have been any different?

I think there is something profound for all who begin following Jesus in these words. It’s not that Jesus is going to give us exactly what we want, or take us where we want to go. But following Jesus means going we know not where, to receive we know not what, in faith that our journey of obedient faith will lead us ultimately to salvation.

The way to be a Christian is to “come and see,” following Jesus wherever he leads us. Not by intellectual assent to propositional truth. Not by church attendance. A Christian is one who follows after Jesus, choosing to “come and see” where he leads each day.

As we are becoming a new community of followers of Jesus – a church connected to the larger Church of all Christ’s followers – we feel compelled to gather because we are longing for something. We sense this calling and when Jesus asks us what we are looking for, we struggle to put it all into words. But when we look upon Jesus, we realize that we are seeking him. And so we are setting out together, not knowing exactly where, or how to get there. But we are going to follow Jesus and “come and see” where he leads us on this adventure.

The coming year is going to challenge us tremendously – as individuals and as a community. We are in some ways like a new baby that has to learn how to walk and talk and grow up together. In some ways we are like a new marriage, where we will have to learn how to communicate with one another and make decisions together, and submit to one another. We don’t know what this year will bring. But we are beginning a journey together where we will follow Jesus and ‘come and see’ what will happen!

This is a copy of the manuscript from this morning’s talk on Relocation. I really enjoyed our conversations, and would invite us to use this forum to continue the conversations.

The Sermon

I want to talk about the issue of relocation. I want to also talk about becoming. Because the two are interconnected in a way that is, in a way, mysterious. To further befuddle the matter, I want to talk about the incarnation, that is, the act of God becoming human, in the form of Jesus Christ. One might say that these three things are completely unrelated. One might be right is saying that. But, if you’ll bear with me for just a few minutes, I hope that I can create enough of a web of thought to entangle our imaginations in the ideas of relocation, becoming and the incarnation.
The other day, I was reading an article in a technical magazine about robots. Not just robots in factories that make cars, but actual robots that perform household duties. Our very own Rosie’s being tested, built and developed in labs across the world. In one such lab, at the University of Genoa in Italy, they are taking a different approach to the issue of creating help robots. Instead of programming a robot to understand certain scenarios, like emptying the dishwasher, or picking up a stapler, they are instead programming their robot, named RobotCub, to learn by observing and following the actions of it’s master. This is the exact same way that humans learn from one another. As children, we looked to our parents for how to interact with the world, and then we mimicked them. If they would move a chair, we would throw out our hands and move the one next to theirs. Parents often have to be careful around “impressionable ears” for this very reason. Children grow and learn by observation, be it a tiger cub or a human toddler. The “parents” of RobotCub were basing their experiments in artificial intelligence on this very common natural learning method. They found that in order for RobotCub to learn that it had to have the same features of it’s master. RobotCub has to have two hands, ten fingers and two opposable thumbs if it is going to mimic the way in which it’s master stacks cubes one on top of another. In order for us to learn from our fathers and mothers, we must look like them. There has to be something in common between these scientists and RobotCub if they are to interact and purport meaningful change.
What the Italian scientists are banking on in their research is the natural way in which a parent teaches a child to learn through interaction. What they realized is that this phenomenon works throughout all of nature, and that it requires similarity of parent and child. A common ground and substance must be shared if lasting change is to happen.
As I was reading this article on artificial intelligence, my heart became warm as I recognized that this story of science was reinforcing my journey of faith on the topic of relocation. In our spiritual walk we have a similar story. We are all created in the image of God. We are told in scripture that we are formed in our Creator’s image. We can find similarities, which allow us to find common ground with God in order that we may learn. Our master, like RobotCub’s master, has created us in such a way that we can relate and mimic behavior in order that we may grow and become a people pleasing to our Lord.
But we are not just made in the image of God. The central part of the story between God and creation is the coming of God into creation through Jesus. We call this the incarnation. At Christmas time we celebration this phenomenon and we call this child Emmanuel, God with us. Eugene Peterson, in his adaptation of the bible, states that God moved into the neighborhood. This is a lovely thought and central to the idea of relocation. In order to make effective change, God chose to draw close and move into the neighborhood. Proximity was a key issue for Christ. Part of relocation is proximity. But I think there is more to it.
You see, when God came to be near us, he chose to take on flesh. He became one of us. In the story of the incarnation we have something drastically different than that lab in Genoa, Italy. Not only did the father make his children in his image, but with Christ, God took on the image of humanity. God now had two hands, eight fingers and two opposable thumbs. It wasn’t enough to simply draw near, but God chose to teach us, and save us, by becoming one of us. And in a sense, this is almost more powerful than simply drawing close.
In the Old Testament we have stories of God drawing close to his people in all his glory. It was always a little to intense for his people. They would be overcome with the power and the differences of God, rather than find the common substance. Maybe that’s why Jesus came in the form of man.
What does this mean for us on our own journeys of reconciliation and relocation? I think it means that it is not simply enough to move. That’s important, but we must also become. While we already share physical characteristics, our hearts might be unwilling to open to the others surrounding us and move into commonality with them. One of the core values of being a Christian Community Development church is this idea of relocation. This does not mean that everyone in this room will be required to go home and put a for sale sign in their front yard. It does, however, require everyone in this room to open our hearts wide enough to identify with the other, find value in them, and recognize that part of our own becoming will move us in humanity towards them. Just like it did with Christ. Even though God created us in his image, he was not above taking on our image as a means of drawing near. Most of us in this room currently are middle class. As we seek to draw near to the poor, we must come with the same humility, willing to have equality with our neighbor, by allowing ourselves to become like them.

Josh and I believe strongly that God has been moving us toward ministry among the poor and to be agents of class reconciliation. All signs point to this being a very difficult task. When trying to research churches that are doing this successfully, the CCDA (Christian Community Development Association) kept popping up. They have invaluable experience and their methodology has been tried and proven over time. After visiting a prominent CCDA church in Chicago , and attending their annual conference, we believe that their model of ministry is a fit for us.

The CCDA is grounded on what they call the three R’s – Relocation, Redistribution, and Reconciliation.

Relocation means moving into the neighborhood and living among the people. It is modeled after the incarnation of Christ who gave up heaven and all the privileges of deity to live among us. Relocation means sharing in the life of the neighborhood and having a vested interest in its growth and well-being. Relocation establishes trust and helps breaks down us-and-them barriers. John Perkins says that relocation means living close enough to the people to identify with their real needs.

For us, the neighborhood we are feeling led toward is the area surrounding downtown Springfield. But our home and our immediate neighborhood are barriers and we feel that God is preparing us for relocation. This is challenging us on so many levels! We would love for God to call others to relocate with us, but please do not think that relocation is a requirement for being a part of this church! We would only encourage you to relocate if you were convinced God was calling you to do so. Many people within our church community will live in other parts of town.

Redistribution refers to bringing resources back into the neighborhood that is used to having its resources sucked away. It’s related to relocation because when you move into the neighborhood you bring resources with you – your money, talents, time, education etc. and “spend” them in the neighborhood. Where there is poverty and hardship, the people who can get out of there usually do. So the brightest and most resourceful take themselves and their resources somewhere else. Redistribution encourages people to stay and invest those resources back into the community that needs them.

The life and ministry of our church will exist in a community that we hope to bless and help transform. The resources our church brings to the community is a part of redistribution. And over time (community development is a long-term commitment) we hope to see people whose lives have been transformed stay in the neighborhood and continue the work.

Reconciliation is the heart of the gospel – restoring broken relationship with God, with self, and with others. Reconciliation restores wholeness and brings healing. Josh described this well at our first meeting, as concentric circles with God and self in the middle, and then other individuals, and then small groups and then large groups. Reconciliation with God through Christ Jesus is essential to transformation and the start of the healing needed to restore families, to mend communities, to heal racism and classicism and other “isms.” True reconciliation overcomes fear and hatred and brings peace.

This begins with us in spiritual community with one another. Before can “do” we have to “be” and then what we do will come from who we are. This first year will be formative for us – becoming a community that will be grounded and equipped for the work Christ has prepared us to do.

The CCDA itself stresses that it’s not an organization that people subscribe to. It’s an association that its members define. By being a CCDA church we are in fellowship with 600+ other ministries who share these values. The resources of this association are incredible and will be helpful to us as we grow up as a church. We have the comfort of knowing we’re not alone in this kind of ministry, even though it seems unconventional, and we can benefit from their rich experience.