Nativity of Our Lord, Year C

Readings: Psalm 97 among others

Sermon: Titus 3:4 - 7

No Notes

4 Advent, Year C

First Reading: Psalm 80:1 - 7

Sermon: Luke 1:39 - 55 (Mary’s Song, Magnificat)

No Notes

Over this Advent season, I have been preaching from the Advent scriptures on the Advent topics through some (modified) traditional dramatic cues.

Advent’s five parts (four weeks plus the Nativity) fit well into the traditional dramatic structure of the five-act play or opera.

Act 1 sets up the main conflict and the main protagonists. In Advent, this is the week of “desperation.” The people of God are desperate for a savior, and unable to save themselves. The view is focused primarily on the Second Coming, with the Nativity as type for the Second Coming. Depending on the year and which text is preached, the First Sunday of Advent is Israel qui gemit in exilio, in the words of O Come, O Come Emmanuel [Israel who mourns in lonely exile here]. Whatever the case, the conflict is set up: a world in need of salvation and God’s intervention. The protagonists are announced: God, God’s people and God’s deliverer. The story opens.

Act 2 continues the character and plot development, and offers a preliminary solution to the main conflict, although it does not resolve it. In fact, often, this preliminary hint at resolution merely stands to deepen the existing conflict. In Advent, this is the week of “promise.” The view is still divided between the Nativity and the Second Coming, but the Nativity is starting to take greater precedence. This week speaks of the coming messenger who will signal the arrival of the Deliverer. Nevertheless, in Act 2, we have seen neither messenger nor deliverer yet.

Act 3 is the final act before the intermission. In this act, the conflict often reaches a climax. Often, this is because there is the first major plot twist in this act. In this Advent Act, the messenger shows up on the scene. However, his message is not quite what the people of God were expecting. In fact, in light of the promise of the messenger’s role, his words seem downright divisive. Nevertheless, the theme of the 3rd Sunday of Advent is “preparation.” The deliverer is not yet on the scene, but the messenger is here to prepare people for the coming of the Lord. This week still has a divided focus between First and Second Coming; depending on what themes are preached one or the other has precedence. At the end of this Act the conflict is the greatest: the main conflict is unresolved and the proposed resolution has deepened it, it seems.

Act 4 is the act that accelerates the conflict toward resolution. This usually is brought about by a plot twist - the second twist, perhaps. In Advent, this is usually a Sunday that finally brings the Nativity into the main focus. If executed well, it also brings out how the Nativity was not the expected outcome or resolution of the conflict. The people are desperate for salvation, and they get a… baby? This week is often about “the virgin who will concieve and bear a son.” It is, really, hope enacted.

Act 5 is the act that brings the conflict to resolution, either through comedy [in the traditional dramatic sense, it doesn't have to be funny, just happy] or through tragedy [usually the death of one or more of the protagonists]. In the Advent drama, this is the Nativity. It is, of course, comedy (in the traditional sense). There is the birth of a baby, and the promise of something new. The baby beomes the resolution to the conflict. However, we discover by the end of this Advent drama that this play is situated in the midst of a series: between the Creation/Fall/Old Covenant set and before the Manifestation (or Ministry)/Passion/Resurrection/Ascension/Life of the Spirit set. The end of the Advent drama propels us to the Cross, and thence to the Resurrection. As Advent closes, everything in us should know that there is more to the story.

Merry Christmas.

Today, while Christmas shopping, I picked up a couple of books for myself. (Of course… I couldn’t resist! I’m such a bibliophile…)

This evening, I sat down and read one of them in its entirety.

Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni (San Francisco: Wiley/Josey-Bass, 2005), [x+260 pages], is a book on dealing with meetings that are simultaneously boring, stressful and unproductive. According to Lencioni, meetings at the executive level are one of the major contributing factors to an organization’s life and vitality. Unproductive, boring and stressful meetings sap life and hinder productivity.

Lencioni puts forth two major ways of dealing with meetings to bring them to where they need to be.

FIRST: Create and resolve the appropriate level of conflict in the meeting.
SECOND: Create the proper structure, timeframe and purpose for the meeting.

Organizations need different kinds of meetings for different purposes. This book is a Godsend and I will be recommending it to our congregation’s leadership in hopes of generating progress in our meetings.

Check it out!

3 Advent, Year C

First Reading: Isaiah 12:2 - 6 (The First Song of Isaiah, Ecce, Deus)

Sermon: Luke 3:7 - 18

No Notes

2 Advent, Year C

First Reading: Luke 1:68 - 79 (The Song of Zechariah, Benedictus Dominus Deus)

Sermon: Malachi 3:1 - 4

Handwritten / No Notes

Congregational Meeting Followed

Alan Hirsch asks a profound question of Christian origins

(via Bro. Maynard, as usual…)

100AD There are as little as 25 000 Christians
310AD There are as many as 20 000 000 Christians

He then asked the question, and it has haunted me to this day, “how did they do this?� “How did they grow from being a small movement to the most significant religious force in the Roman Empire in two centuries?� Now that’s a question to initiate a journey! And delving into this question drove me to the discovery of what I will call Apostolic Genius (the inbuilt life force and guiding mechanism of God’s people) and the living components or elements that make it up. These components I have tagged missional DNA or mDNA for short.

Breaking down Hirsch’s numbers, we see that the church grew

80,000% in 210 years
or, 3.18% per year (APY), assuming a constant rate of growth,
and, it doubles every 21.78 years.

This means that the following table may be employed for the growth of the church in the first two centuries:


year population emperor
100 25000 Trajan
101 25809 Trajan
102 26643 Trajan
103 27505 Trajan
104 28395 Trajan
105 29313 Trajan
106 30261 Trajan
107 31240 Trajan
108 32250 Trajan
109 33293 Trajan
110 34370 Trajan
111 35482 Trajan
112 36629 Trajan
113 37814 Trajan
114 39037 Trajan
115 40300 Trajan
116 41603 Trajan
117 42949 Trajan
118 44338 Hadrian
119 45772 Hadrian
120 47252 Hadrian
121 48780 Hadrian
122 50358 Hadrian
123 51987 Hadrian
124 53668 Hadrian
125 55404 Hadrian
126 57196 Hadrian
127 59046 Hadrian
128 60955 Hadrian
129 62927 Hadrian
130 64962 Hadrian
131 67063 Hadrian
132 69232 Hadrian
133 71472 Hadrian
134 73783 Hadrian
135 76169 Hadrian
136 78633 Hadrian
137 81176 Hadrian
138 83802 Hadrian
139 86512 Antoninus Pius
140 89310 Antoninus Pius
141 92199 Antoninus Pius
142 95181 Antoninus Pius
143 98259 Antoninus Pius
144 101437 Antoninus Pius
145 104718 Antoninus Pius
146 108105 Antoninus Pius
147 111601 Antoninus Pius
148 115211 Antoninus Pius
149 118937 Antoninus Pius
150 122784 Antoninus Pius
151 126755 Antoninus Pius
152 130855 Antoninus Pius
153 135087 Antoninus Pius
154 139456 Antoninus Pius
155 143967 Antoninus Pius
156 148623 Antoninus Pius
157 153430 Antoninus Pius
158 158392 Antoninus Pius
159 163515 Antoninus Pius
160 168804 Antoninus Pius
161 174263 Antoninus Pius
162 179899 Marcus Aurelius
163 185718 Marcus Aurelius
164 191725 Marcus Aurelius
165 197926 Marcus Aurelius
166 204327 Marcus Aurelius
167 210936 Marcus Aurelius
168 217758 Marcus Aurelius
169 224801 Marcus Aurelius
170 232072 Marcus Aurelius
171 239577 Marcus Aurelius
172 247326 Marcus Aurelius
173 255325 Marcus Aurelius
174 263583 Marcus Aurelius
175 272108 Marcus Aurelius
176 280909 Marcus Aurelius
177 289995 Marcus Aurelius
178 299374 Marcus Aurelius
179 309057 Marcus Aurelius
180 319053 Marcus Aurelius
181 329372 Commodus
182 340025 Commodus
183 351022 Commodus
184 362375 Commodus
185 374095 Commodus
186 386195 Commodus
187 398685 Commodus
188 411580 Commodus
189 424892 Commodus
190 438634 Commodus
191 452821 Commodus
192 467467 Year of the Five Emperors
193 482586 Septimus Severus
194 498194 Septimus Severus
195 514307 Septimus Severus
196 530941 Septimus Severus
197 548114 Septimus Severus
198 565841 Septimus Severus
199 584142 Septimus Severus
200 603035 Septimus Severus
201 622539 Septimus Severus
202 642674 Septimus Severus
203 663460 Septimus Severus
204 684918 Septimus Severus
205 707071 Septimus Severus
206 729940 Septimus Severus
207 753548 Septimus Severus
208 777920 Septimus Severus
209 803080 Septimus Severus
210 829054 Septimus Severus
211 855869 Septimus Severus
212 883550 Caracalla
213 912127 Caracalla
214 941628 Caracalla
215 972083 Caracalla
216 1003523 Caracalla
217 1035980 Caracalla
218 1069486 Macrinus
219 1104077 Elagabolus
220 1139786 Elagabolus
221 1176650 Elagabolus
222 1214707 Elagabolus
223 1253994 Alexander Severus
224 1294552 Alexander Severus
225 1336422 Alexander Severus
226 1379645 Alexander Severus
227 1424267 Alexander Severus
228 1470332 Alexander Severus
229 1517887 Alexander Severus
230 1566981 Alexander Severus
231 1617661 Alexander Severus
232 1669981 Alexander Severus
233 1723994 Alexander Severus
234 1779753 Alexander Severus
235 1837316 Alexander Severus
236 1896740 Maximinus Thrax
237 1958086 Maximinus Thrax
238 2021417 Maximinus Thrax
239 2086795 Gordian III
240 2154289 Gordian III
241 2223965 Gordian III
242 2295895 Gordian III
243 2370151 Gordian III
244 2446809 Gordian III
245 2525946 Phillip the Arab
246 2607642 Phillip the Arab
247 2691982 Phillip the Arab
248 2779048 Phillip the Arab
249 2868931 Phillip the Arab
250 2961721 Decius
251 3057512 Decius
252 3156401 Trebonianus Gallus
253 3258489 Trebonianus Gallus
254 3363878 Valerian
255 3472676 Valerian
256 3584993 Valerian
257 3700943 Valerian
258 3820642 Valerian
259 3944213 Valerian
260 4071781 Valerian
261 4203475 Gallienus
262 4339428 Gallienus
263 4479778 Gallienus
264 4624668 Gallienus
265 4774244 Gallienus
266 4928657 Gallienus
267 5088065 Gallienus
268 5252628 Gallienus
269 5422514 Claudius II
270 5597895 Claudius II
271 5778947 Aurelian
272 5965856 Aurelian
273 6158810 Aurelian
274 6358004 Aurelian
275 6563641 Aurelian
276 6775929 Probus
277 6995084 Probus
278 7221326 Probus
279 7454885 Probus
280 7695999 Probus
281 7944911 Probus
282 8201873 Probus
283 8467146 Carus
284 8741000 Carinus
285 9023710 Carinus
286 9315564 Diocletian
287 9616857 Diocletian
288 9927896 Diocletian
289 10248994 Diocletian
290 10580477 Diocletian
291 10922682 Diocletian
292 11275955 Diocletian
293 11640653 Diocletian
294 12017147 Diocletian
295 12405818 Diocletian
296 12807060 Diocletian
297 13221279 Diocletian
298 13648895 Diocletian
299 14090341 Diocletian
300 14546066 Diocletian
301 15016529 Diocletian
302 15502209 Diocletian
303 16003598 Diocletian
304 16521202 Diocletian
305 17055548 Diocletian
306 17607176 Constantine (inter alii)
307 18176645 Constantine (inter alii)
308 18764533 Constantine (inter alii)
309 19371435 Constantine (inter alii)
310 19997966 Constantine (inter alii)


Thus, the Christian population doubled in 121/122, 143/144, 165/166, 187/188, 208/209, 230/231, etc.

While I place great weight in Hirsch’s qualifiers - offered as the bulleted list on his original post - understanding the point he is making, I might suggest another possibility here that I would like to proffer for the discussion.

If these rates are to be believed (and there is little reason at this time why they should not be), then it would seem that these Christians did not merely make conversions at the rate of 3.18% per year, but rather grew the population of mature believers at the rate of 3.18% per year. Better put, perhaps, these Christians grew the body of people who are able to make believers of others at the rate of 3.18% per year. In my mind, of course, that assumes maturity in the faith, to a large extent.

Put this way, it is necessary for us to establish two major datasets, one largely numerical and the other systematic.

The numerical dataset would be the rates of attrition between lifestyle and proclamation, between proclamation and conversion, and between conversion and reproducible maturity. (The rates of attrition due to death and renunciation should be included as well.) I hypothesize that the rate of attrition between conversion and reproducible maturity, equivalent in the very least to the difference between spiritual infancy and spiritual adolescence, was significantly smaller in those days than in the contemporary West. Moreover, I hypothesize that while data from the Empire would be sparse, similar data from China would be correlative and rather more available.

The systematic dataset would speak to the systems, structures and approaches utilized by these Christians to achieve a yearly reproducible maturity rate of 3.18%. I hypothesize that their priorities for ministry were significantly different than the average church in the West.

The point I am making is this: a 3.18% growth rate is an amazing growth rate for the Western church these days. However, it is a rate that speaks to the annual growth rate of the portion of the population that is able to reproduce (spiritually, please), with all attrition factors taken into account. The challenge for the churches of today is to find ways of measuring the spiritually reproducible population within congregational life. This population should be the dominant voice and factor in churches that hope to grow. However, I assume that they are not.

How many people in my congregation make up the spiritually reproducible population? Have we measured this? How great is their voice in congregational dynamics? Are they heard? Do they get priority? What do we need to do to to get there?

I would appreciate Mr. Hirsch’s response - any that he is willing to give.

Stanley Hauerwas via Captain Sacrament

Chasity is a sin qua non of lucidity and concentration. Any community capable of sustaining singleness as a way of life … Yoder and Bonhoeffer both discover singleness is at the heart … the most extraordinary thing that … early Christians did that distinguished them from the Jews is that they didn’t have to marry. I mean, you gotta remember that Jesus was not a good Jew. He was single, he walked around with twelve guys, you have to wonder whether he really understood his sexuality…

Followers of Jesus didn’t have to marry. You may think, that was because they had negative attitudes about sex. They may have had negative attitudes about sex, but that’s not why they didn’t marry. The reason why they didn’t is because you don’t have to have a child to be a Christian. You don’t have to have a child to be a Chrisitan, because we’re an apocalyptic sect that grows by witness and conversion.

Just about every time Christians make a fetish of the family you can be sure that they don’t believe in God anymore. It’s because they don’t want to witness to anyone about the truth of the gospel, they just want to make sure that their kids grow up thinking that they don’t have another option but to go to the Reformed Chruch. Singleness is the absolute necessary correlative of the fact that the church is an evangelizing body that grows by witness and conversion. … One generation God could call every Christian to the life of singleness and yet we believe that God would create the church anew through witness and conversion.

Think about what kind of community, What kind of practice that community must embody. Any community capable of sustaining singleness as a way of life must also be a community of trust made possible by speaking truth to one another…

One of my deepest frustrations in ministry is trying to communicate the True Gospel to Christians with a “family fetish” who cannot, or will not, see that the nature of the church is that we grow “by witness and conversion,” not by biological procreation or civic duty and function. This “family fetish” is the demise of the church in many places in the world - in the places where the theology is still largely orthodox but the congregational life is in decline. A “Family Church” was never God’s intent for his people. The church grows by witness and conversion. Dying churches have lost those things at a very basic level. Can those things be instilled in a church that is in decline so that it is transformed and becomes healthy? I certainly hope so.

Because that’s the job I’m here to do.

On this day in 1818, Illinois became the 21st state in the union.

Happy 188th birthday, Illinois!

1 Advent, Year C

First Reading: Psalm 25:1 - 10

Sermon: Luke 21:25 - 36

No Notes

Today started off in the mid-60s Fahrenheit. I entered a bookstore at 1:30 PM today with nothing more than a sweatshirt. By 4:30, when I re-emerged, it was cold. Bone-chilling cold. The evening news said that the wind was gusting up to 61 MPH.

This rather complicated the next errand I had to run - purchase, secure, and set up a new Christmas tree. The highway-speed winds caused me to reconsider. But I proceeded anyway.

In the end, it all worked out. I went in to the open-air lot, selected the first halfway-decent tree I could find (with nearly 0 degree fahrenheit windchills) and carried it singlehandedly to my car. A friendly employee of the store provided me with some nylon twine, but was not allowed to assist due to insurance liability.

Oh well.

In the end, I secured the tree to the bike rack on the trunk, propped up like some sort of coniferous missle over the top of the roof of the car. Every time the wind shifted, I felt like the tree was going to launch into orbit. Compacted isobars notwithstanding, I made it back home without incident.

Probably not going to try that again, though.

Ever.