Ben Collins preaches.
Kellie Robinson leads worship.
9 PM
Newport Beach Cafe
5071 N Dixie Hwy
Newport, MI
Friday, August 13, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
The (Phenomenal & Free) Monroe Jazz Festival This Weekend!
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| David Sanborn |
Brilliant guitarist Chuck Loeb plays at 5:45.
There are a lot of incredible musicians, bands, and singers. Again - no charge. This is one of the great things our city of Monroe does.
You can get the schedule here.
Redeemer Ministry School - Only One Month Away!
I am getting very excited about the beginning of our third year of Redeemer Ministry School.
Here are a few notes for incoming & prospective students.
- If you are living in the RMS house you may move in anytime beginning Sept. 1.
- Sept. 12 - Sunday morning - we want you to be at Redeemer as we present RMS students to our church family. 10:30 AM.
- Sept 12 - 5 PM - All RMS students + parents, RMS alumni, & RMS faculty and staff are invited to a picnic at my house. NOTE: RMS alumni, faculty, and staff - please bring a dish to pass - salad, chips, dessert, summer good stuff. We'll provide the burgers and hot dogs. This is just a time to get to know one another and hang out together.
- Monday, Sept. 13 - Thursday, Sept. 16 - we'll spend time hearing about community from Jim & Denise Hunter, have orientation, getting to know each other. My Spiritual Formation class will begin that Thursday morning from 9:30 - 1, and Jim Collins will teach Kingdom of God I that Thursday evening from 5-8 PM. We will also have worship at 9 AM.
- If you are an incoming student and have any questions please e-mail me (johnpiippo@msn.com) or call (734-242-5277).
- If you are still praying about coming to RMS this fall please go to our website and check out the information.
The Crafting of a Sermon - #8
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| Munson Park Taken a few nights ago |
I'll staple them together.
I'm heading across the street to Munson Park. I'm going to slow-read and ponder these notes.
I am NOT going to try to make something happen. Either God makes it happen, or it's not going to be much.
I'll just read... the text... my commentary notes... slowly as I walk.
When God speaks to me I'll write it down.
I'll be out walking for at least an hour and a half, maybe two.
I will come back with lots of new notes, from things God is making clear to me, direction he wants to give me. I'll have some new questions. During this time I get preached to. I do love doing this!
The Crafting of a Sermon - #7
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| Rembrandt The Risen Christ appearing to Mary of Magdala |
I'm meeting now with N.T. Wright. We're talking about John 20:11-18. Wright asks us to "feel the force of v. 17": Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' By "feel the force" Wright does not have in mind "The Force" that Obi Wan Kenobi talks about. Rather, when Jesus says these words to Mary of Magdala, "something has altered, decisively. Something has been achieved. A new relationship has sprung to life like a sudden spring flower. The disciples are welcomed into a new world: a world where they can know God the way Jesus knew God, where they can be intimate children with their father." (Wright, John, 145)
I love this! And, it rings true to me, both hermeneutically and experientially.
N.T. Wright goes further in saying, because of what has changed, we can be "true Israleites at last." After all, Israel's calling was to be God's firstborn, God's son (Ex. 4:22). In various Old Testament writings and in subsequent Jewish thought "there was a sense that if Israel really was God's child an estrangement had taken place." (Ib., 145) When, e.g., Jesus told the story of the son who went in disgrace to a far country (the "parable of the prodigal son"), the Jewish listeners knew Jesus was talking about them.
Most American sermon-hearers do not make that connection, if it is to be made at all. The parable of the prodigal son is always taken as an "everyman" tale. Wright asks how Jesus' hearers would have heard this parable. He is certain that they would have taken it personally. I not only can see how they would have thought that way, but I'll add that I know the ways we think of these parables are mostly not how Jesus' hearers did. The Gospels are not to function like Rohrshach tests whereby we read them and speak forth what we see.
Let's follow the "lost son parable" a bit further. The lost son goes into "exile." But now, with his death and resurrection, Jesus has "broken through the exile, has made a way back from the ultimate far country, death itself. A way back to the father's house. And everyone who follows Jesus is welcome there in his name, as a beloved son or daughter." Whew! And... wow... How beautiful...
So Jesus, in our passage of concern, gives Mary of Magdala a "stunning invitation." There she is, weeping, mourning. She is an exile. All exiles are now invited to join her. "Normal" life is death-inevitable. Mary's teacher is dead, and they have stolen his dead body. So things are worse, as if they could be any worse. Mary represents all people who have wept over this death-world that, frankly, at times just plain sucks. Here we have "the world's grief, Israel's grief, concentrated in Mary's grief." (Ib., 146)
Then, Mary looks in the tomb. It's not as expected in our world of expectations. Angels are there. When people are afraid, angels tell them not to be. When people's eyes flood with tears, angels ask why. Mary speaks to them (whether or not she recognizes who they are): "They have taken away my lord..."
Wright asks us to stand with Mary, peeking into the tomb. We bring our cares to these angels, saying... "They've taken away... my home... my husband... my children... my rights... my dignity... my hopes... my life. "They have taken away my master."
I like what Wright is doing here. He understands the text (he "stands under" the text), and preaches from that point of view. Surely Mary brings her loss, the loss of her life, to the two white-dressed persons. She had placed her entire life into the basket of Jesus. Now Jesus' body is not even here to look at, to anoint, to care for.
Then Mary turns around, and there he is.
She thinks he's just the gardener. (Wright massages the word "gardener" and says that, in some ways, Jesus is The Gardener. right now the thought comes to me... I won't be preaching this. It's taking too much textual liberty. It strikes me as doubtful that this kind of double meaning is God-intended.)
Jesus asks her, "Who are you looking for?" Does Mary know? Yes, and no. Yes, of course, she knows Jesus. But Jesus is alive "with a new sort of life, the like of which we'd never seen before." Wright then invites us. "Let Jesus call your own name, and the name of whoever you've brought with you, whoever needs his love and healing today." (Ib., 146) Nice. this might be the way God asks me to go at the end of Sunday's message.
Furious Love Event Promo
Coming to Redeemer in Monroe.
April 6-9, 2011
The Crafting of a Sermon - #6
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| Charlton Heston (middle) Probably somewhere in Colorado |
Linda and I are leaving in a half hour for the funeral service of our friend Patsy Duffey's mother. Linda has been asked to play "It Is Well" on piano. For us, this is a great honor.
When I got up I had breakfast - a bowl of Kashi Island Vanilla (mmm!) & 1% milk. I turned on the tv and "Planet of the Apes" had just started. There's Charlton Heston and two actos I don't recognize. Heston tells them they are 300,000,000 light years from earth and 2000 years into the future. Back on earth (if there is an earth) their loved ones are all gone. One astronaut looks at Heston in disbelief and says "That's just a theory!" Heston says, "It's a fact - get over it."
They are on this planet, but it's really the Grand Canyon area in Arizona. So it's not easy to make the cognitive leap. But the movie is mesmerizing. I get caught up in this thing again. But I also have things to do. So, in a powerful display of self-control, I turn off "Planet of the Apes" and open N.T. Wright's commentary John For Everyone.
Wright is that rare person who is both a brilliant scholar and can write things for everyone. Because of this, and because he's Anglican, he's been compared to C.S. Lewis. I am always using Wright in my sermon preparation. I do this for a variety of reasons, to include the idea that Wright has it pretty much right in regard to a hermeneutical theory that is temporally biblical and thus not grossly fundamentalist-anachronistic.
In his "For Everyone" series Wright often picks up on certain themes and preaches them, rather than going verse-by-verse (which he could easily do). In this section (John 20:11-18) he focuses on Mary's moment of recognition. Good! Because this has stood out to me from my first reading. Here "something extraordinary has taken place, not only to Jesus - though that's extraordinary enough - but to the way the world is, the way God is, the way God and his disciples now are. Up to this point Jesus has spoken about God as 'the father', or 'the father who sent me', or 'my father'. He has called his followers 'disciples', 'servants', 'friends'. Now all that has changed." It's this change that I am very interested in, and which I now feel certain I will share with our people this coming Sunday morning.
I'll look at this later today. Then I'll probably print out my notes so far and take a long prayer walk with them.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Brian Courtney Wilson's Transcendent Worship Song
Worship songwriters take notice and learn. Watch what Brian does melodically, juxtaposing very cool, sweet chordal moments that are unexpected and just flat-out perfect. Lyrically it's simple, deep, different, and surprising. A glorious production. Great musicianship. Brian's voice reminds me a bit of Dug Pinnick (the Dug I knew when he was part of our fellowship in Joliet, Illinois). This is, I think, a one of a kind song. Creative, different, and making total sense, worship-wise.
Spend $.99 and journey to the spacious throne room of God...
The Crafting of a Sermon - #5
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| Val Fowler made these cookies for our anniversary. Thank you Val! |
I'm opening up Andreas Kostenberger's wonderful commentary on John. Kostenberger is Prof. of New Testament and Biblical Studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He also heads up Biblical Foundations, a nice website for anyone interested in New Testament studies. I also like his name - "Andreas Kostenberger." Thank God he turned out to be a scholar!
Now I'm digging deep... into John 20... I'm going to go as deep as I can... bring up buried treasure... and present it to my people this coming Sunday morning.
John 20:11-3
- The disciples went back to their homes. Mary of Magdala stood outside the tomb crying. The term κλαίω (klaio) "denotes the loud wailing typical of people in the Ancient Near East." (Kostenberger, John, 567) Mary is wailing outside the tomb. (Note: I took two years of biblical Greek while in seminary. I know enough Greek to look words up, understand and read some sentences, but because I have not kept up with my Greek it's not what it could be. Here's the Greek Bible website I use.)
- Mary of Magdala is wailing, not because Jesus has died, but because his body has disappeared. "Abuse of the dead was considered an abhorrent offense." (Ib.)
- I love the way Kostenberger continues: "In what follows the Johannine narrative turns the attention away from the possibility of grave robbers to the reality of the invasion of God's power, with angels adduced as witnesses to the activity of the Father." (Ib.) From grave robbery to an invasion of God's power - nice! This is the kind of thing that is true and preachable.
- Kostenberger adds nothing new for me re. the two angels, so I read on.
- 10:17 PM - Kostenberger says "Mary's failure to recognize Jesus continues the pattern of misunderstanding that characterizes [John's] portrayal of Mary throughout this chapter up to this point." (Ib.) The stone rolled away + the angels inside the tomb + the risen Jesus himself fails to remove the misunderstanding. In spite of this Mary does not give up searching for answers.
- When Jesus addresses Mary as "woman" is neither particularly endearing nor harsh.
- Jesus asks her, "Who are you looking for?" But of course Jesus knows who she is looking for. How odd it would be if he did not know the answer to his rhetorical question.
- It's early morning. Other mourners could be there. Gardeners attending to the grounds would have been the only other people around. Mary thinks Jesus is a gardener. Kostenberger quotes, nicely, Francis Moloney: "The one whose body she is seeking is asked for a solution to the mystery of the empty tomb." (Ib., 568) That would be like you coming up to me and asking me where I am. In all of this it's important to keep in mind how distressed Mary is. She has just been agonizing and wailing.
- Next comes the tender, intimate moment. Jesus says, "Mary." Mary answers, "Rabbouni!" John writes the Aramiac word, which serves to "create a heightened sense of intimacy." (Ib.) Kostenberger says that, because Mary calls Jesus "Teacher," she has not yet come to terms with the reality of Jesus' resurrection. Jesus is her teacher, but he is far more than that. We must keep in mind the fact that Jesus had saved Mary from a "dire condition." (Ib.; when Jesus cast out 7 demons)
- Kostenberger interprets Jesus' words "Don't hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father," to refer to "the awkwardness that surrounds the interim between the resurrection of Jesus and the sending of the Spirit." (Ib., 569) This is a transition period. The disciples are not to act like it's the goold old days with Jesus. They cannot get a hold of "the nature of the new spiritual relationship with their Lord that soon will be mediated to them by the Holy Spirit." (Ib.) OK. Keener looks at these words differently. A preaching decision will have to be made by the time I step up to the plate on Sunday. Right now Keener has the hermeneutical edge.
- Had Mary already touched Jesus? Keener believes so. Scholars have debated this. Pause now and note: Scholars have so studied the Gospels in the minutest details that they've even spent big time effort trying to decide whether or not Mary of Magdala had already physically touched Jesus. If so, then Keener makes sense. Witherington, Raymond Brown, et. al. also think so. So... when Jesus said "Do not hold on to me," he said this because Mary was at that time holding on to him.
- Jesus says what he says because his permanent being-with her (abiding with her) in the near future is not to be physical, but in the Spirit.
- Jesus has not yet ascended. Kostenberger writes: "Jesus is not yet in an 'ascended' state; his process of glorification has not yet been completed. By salvation-historical necessity, Jesus must move on; the Spirit will take his place." (Ib., 570) This is helpful. I'll ponder it and re-word it, translating the scholarly language into language most will understand. This is but one of the ongoing challenges of preaching; viz., to take deep ideas and make them available to the common person. ("Common person" does not mean "ignorant person," but rather, in this case, "theologically untrained person," or non-scholar in this area.)
- For Jesus this is not the time for holding on to him; it's "not the time for sentimentalities." (Ib., 570) It's time for action. Jesus entrusts Mary with this very important message. Now watch how Kostenberger puts this: "The message to be conveyed by Mary to Jesus' disciples is that Jesus is 'in the process of ascending' to God the Father. That's beautiful! And, to be explained...
Our 37th Anniversary!
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| Linda & John Piippo Maumee Bay State Park Summer 2010 |
She gave me a card with a beautiful note listing many of the things I have done for her over the years - it was fun reading it, and it was in a poetic rhyme form. I gave her a card thanking God for her, and our life-companionship. We're going to do a 4-day anniversary getaway in a week by going to one of our most favorite places on the earth - Warren Dunes State Park in southwest Michigan. Beautiful sand, large dunes, and Lake Michigan. We'll sun, sit, listen to music, talk, read, and eat various summer delicacies. We've spent a lot of time at this park, and can't wait to be there together!
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