Countryside Community Church - Joy Luke Club

This weekend at Countryside we’ll be looking at Luke 8, a chapter that in which Jesus heals three different people: a “demon-possessed” man (probably schizophrenic), a woman who had been hemorrhaging for twelve years, and even a girl thought to be dead.  As Marcus Borg has observed, there are so many stories of Jesus healing people in the gospels that it is hard for even the most skeptical of scholars to deny that healing was an authentic aspect of Jesus’ life and ministry, even if we don’t understand how he did it or doubt the historicity of one or more particular stories.

I believe Jesus healed people.  And while I cannot claim to know how Jesus did it, or that each and every story of healing is historically accurate, I have seen enough examples of healing within the ongoing community of Christ to believe that there are certain times when we actually stumble onto and engage the very same spiritual powers that Jesus himself engaged when healing people.

Not everyone will agree with me in this regard.  However, I believe we can all agree that the Founder of our faith would affirm the practice of healing, including those practices that utilize the tools of modern science more than prayer or healing touch.  As Jesus observed, “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers” (Luke 6:42-43).  The medical community has certainly offered humanity much “good fruit” in the last century.  While not all medical advancements may be universally acceptable or praiseworthy, there are precious few of us who yearn to return to the state of medical knowledge that existed even in our own parents’ and grandparents’ lifetimes.  While the medical arts, particularly as practiced in the West, seem far removed from the techniques used by Jesus, the fruits of these arts indicate that they spring from a “good tree.”

It is therefore saddening when certain members of the medical community – typically those engaged on the cutting edge of research – are maligned by certain people, acting in the name of Jesus, who view their work as antithetical to that of Jesus.  I’m thinking particularly of those medical researchers currently involved in embryonic stem cell research, using embryos that would never have resulted in the birth of a child.  Regardless of one’s view of abortion, it stretches the boundaries of both logic and imagination to consider it immoral to use such embryos in research that holds so much promise for curing diseases like diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Multiple-Sclerosis (In Nebraska alone, approximately 130,000 people suffer from these horrible diseases).

Currently, opponents of embryonic stem cell research are urging the University of Nebraska Board of Regents to restrict approved research at the University.  I find it incredible that the majority of these opponents are acting according to what they conceive to be Christian convictions.  While I have no doubt that many, if not most, of these Christians are good people who are honestly seeking to put their faith into practice, I have strong misgivings about the theological basis upon which they base their opposition.

To this end, I have written an Open Letter to the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, which I am sharing with you below.  If you find that this letter resonates with you, I encourage you to send your opinion to the Board yourself by using the simple interface found at www.nebraskacures.com.  Feel free to cite this letter if you like.  And whether you agree or disagree, I encourage you to post your comments on this blog.  And if you wrestle with this issue and seek to engage in personal conversation about it, I invite you to contact me at the church. I would be happy to listen to, and converse with, any member who disagrees.

An Open Letter to the University of Nebraska Board of Regents

Dear Regents,

I am the Senior Pastor of Countryside Community Church (UCC), a 1,700 member congregation at 87th and Pacific in Omaha, of which over 200 members are part of the medical community.  I am writing in support of continued embryonic stem cell research in accordance with federal and state law and ethical guidelines established by the National Institutes of Health.

While I cannot claim to represent the views of each and every member of my congregation, I can claim with high certainty that each of our members’ lives have been impacted by the diseases of diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and/or Multiple Sclerosis, either through personal experience or through relationship with a friend or loved one who suffers from one or more of these diseases.

As a congregation that stands in the historically moderate and liberal theological traditions dating back to the pilgrims, we do not join the vocal minority of our Christian sisters and brothers who feel threatened by advancements in science.  Rather, we embrace all advancements that enable us to better understand the Universe in which we exist (Jesus said, “The Truth shall set you free”-  John 8:32) or relieve the scourge of human suffering (Jesus said, “Whatsoever you have done to the least of these you have done to me” – Matthew 25:40).

Jesus, the founder of Christian faith, was a healer.  While he was not a healer only, the fact that healing was an important part of his ministry carries important implications for those who claim to follow him.  Jesus’ choice to heal people signals that concern for our physical bodies does not run contrary to spiritual concerns, but rather is organically related to our spiritual life.

It is also significant that Jesus himself observed with respect to followers who would come after him, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these …” (John 14:12).

Stem cell research carries with it the hope of curing the very diseases that afflict members of my congregation, their friends, and their relatives.  Indeed, they afflict the lives of over 130,000 people in Nebraska alone.  These are diseases that Jesus himself would have chosen to cure.

Therefore it is as deeply ironic as it is troubling that a vocal minority, claiming to be acting in the name of Jesus, are trying to block important stem cell research, and along with it, our hope for curing these debilitating and fatal diseases.

There are those who claim that manipulating embryonic stem cells is akin to “playing God.”  Yet, I would ask any Christian who seeks to block stem cell research on these grounds how we can neglect our responsibility to “play God” in this way when Jesus, the Great Healer, commanded us to “Go and do likewise …” with respect to attending to our ailing neighbor (Luke 10:12)?

For a decade, it has been the policy of the University of Nebraska Medical Center to have its scientists and doctors conduct this vital research in accordance with federal and state law and the ethical guidelines established by the National Institutes of Health.

The abandonment of this long-standing policy currently being debated by the Board of Regents would prohibit scientists from pursuing some of the most promising avenues of stem cell research.  While certain Christians find all forms of stem cell research to be intrinsically problematic to their faith,  there are a great many of us who not only affirm such research when it is applied to curing diseases, but find it to be a continuation of the great work that Jesus himself practiced and encouraged of his followers.

I strongly urge you to vote to maintain the current policy and allow this potentially lifesaving research to continue.

For those of you who are ready to move on to Luke 8, here’s the corresponding “Roadside Conversations” video commentary.

This week a Countrysider was obviously listening to the sermon, where I stated that all the major world religions have some version of the Golden Rule as a key facet of their practices.  She passed me a compilation of scriptures from around the world:

BRAHMANISM (A form of Hinduism): This is the sum of duty: Do naught unto others which cause you pain if done to you. - Mahabharata 5:1517

BUDDHISM: Hurt not others in a way that you yourself would find hurtful.  Udana-Varga 5:18

CONFUCIANISM: Surely it is the maxim of loving-kindness: Do not unto others what you would not have them do unto you.  - Analects 15:23

TAOISM: REgard your neighbor’s gain as your own gain and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss. T’ai Shang Kan Yig P’ien

ZOROASTRIANISM: That nature alone is good which refrains from doing unto another whatsoever is not good for itself.  - Dadistan-i-dinik 94:5

JUDAISM: What is hateful to you, do not to your fellowman.  That is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary. – Talmud, Shabbat 31a

CHRISTIANITY: All things whatsoever ye would do that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.  - Matthew 7:12

ISLAM: No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself. - Sunnah

If you haven’t been to the Charter for Compassion website, read the charter that was released last week, and/or signed the charter yourself, I suggest clicking here.

Just for fun I thought I’d post the very brief video I took this morning at our 11 am service of the congregation donning 3D (anaglyph) viewing glasses to experience an illustration between living life in 2D (described as following the principle of reciprocity – “do unto others what they have done unto you”) and living life in 3D (following the principle of compassion – “do unto others as you would have done unto you”).  Watch below, but don’t blink because it goes by fast!

Of more satisfying length – and better video quality – is this clip from Saturday night’s Experimental Youth Service - a jazz taize service in which Luke 7 was highlighted as well.

This evening one of my “Facebook friends,” Brian McClaren, turned me onto what may just be the single most intelligent article written about the Fort Hood shooting thus far.  The article is written by Paul Rauschenbusch on the “Progressive Revival” blog on Beliefnet.  The key insight from Rauschenbusch’s article reminds me very much of Luke 6:31 and Jesus’ command to “do to others as you would have them do to you” – a passage we will also be engaging this coming  Sunday when we focus on Luke 7.

Here’s the heart of the article:

We who are White, Christian and Male (WCMs) should ask ourselves this basic question: When we heard about the Oklahoma bomber, Columbine, or the shooter at the Holocaust museum – all horrible crimes committed by WCMs did we think to ourselves – ‘oh, this will reflect badly on me?’

The answer is no. Why? Because still in this country, White, Male, Christians are considered normative and therefore the range of WCM behavior, from very good to very bad, simply represents the wide range of human behavior. I know I have nothing in common with Timothy McVeigh and so does the rest of American society. Unfortunately, people of other races and religions in America do not have the benefit of recognition that there are very good people and very bad people among them. Instead, the actions of one person of a minority group reflects upon the reputation and sense of security and worth of the entire group.

This has to stop.

Given our conversations on Luke 6 this week, with its pointed emphasis on love and compassion, it is one of those “beautiful coincidences” that November 12 marks the unveiling of The Charter for Compassion – a document created by representatives from each of the major world religions calling all people of faith to move compassion back into the center of their faith and practice.  Each of these religions emphasize some version of the Golden Rule (“do unto others as you would have them do unto you”).  The call, initiated by Karen Armstrong, is meant to reclaim that principle as a world-wide act for the common good.

To watch an brief introductory video regarding the Charter for Compassion, click here.

The “God Complex” (referenced in the last post) just published the link to the radio episode today.  Find it by clicking here.

Moments ago, I welcomed the listeners of a radio show called “The God Complex” to join us here on the Joy Luke Club blog for more conversation around Luke’s Gospel.  If you are one of those listeners, welcome!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with The God Complex (the radio show, that is, not the actual complex!), it is an internet radio show hosted by Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow and Rev. Carol Howard Merritt and deals with a wide variety of subjects that fall under the general category of “progressive Christian.”  As their byline goes, “Where the fully divine runs smack dab into the fully human.”

This is the second time I’ve been on the God Complex.  The first time was to talk about my book, Asphalt Jesus and the walk across America that inspired it.  This time, it was to talk about Luke’s gospel – specifically the part of Luke that appears in the Revised Common Lectionary this year (Luke 1:68-79 and Luke 3:1-6).

If you are new to the Joy Luke Club blog, here is how to utilize the resources:

(a) We’re moving at the rate of one chapter per week through Luke.  I create posts once or twice in a given week and very much invite reader response in the comments section.  I LOVE responding to reader questions and drawing attention to insights posted by others.  Currently, we’re on Luke 6.  Note that we skipped Luke 1-2 so that we can take up those chapters during Advent, starting Oct 29.  Also note that this blog is NOT meant to be comprehensive!   Rather, it is meant to supplement other materials that we suggest people use to more fully engage Luke’s gospel.  Besides the Bible itself, these materials are listed below.

(b) An excellent commentary written by Rev. Bruce Van Blair called The Believer’s Road: A Journey Through Luke, which is available in book or Kindle format through Amazon.com, or if you’re in the Omaha area, at Countryside Community Church.

(c) A video commentary called “Roadside Conversations” produced by Ray Meints, featuring Bruce Van Blair and myself holding a conversation of approx. 10 minutes in length per chapter.  For the most part, we try to cover areas that aren’t covered in Van Blair’s commentary, though the videos do not require that one is familiar with that commentary.  New episodes are posted on the blog each week so people can watch them over the internet.  Simply scroll down in this blog to find links to the various episodes/chapters.

(d) Each week in worship at Countryside we’re highlighting the same chapter as the Joy Luke Club Bible study groups.  We just started video-streaming the sermons over the web, and and an audio version is also available.  Simply click here to go to the audio/video archive.  Incidentally, I have not been the preacher the last couple weeks (Nov 1 and 8), but our guest preachers have continued the practice of preaching on the appropriate chapter.  Nov. 1, we had Dr. Eugene Lowry filling the pulpit, who had just come from giving the Beecher Lectures at Yale.  Nov. 8, we had our own Rev. Lea Marshall (Assoc. Pastor) in the pulpit.

Again, if you are new, welcome!  Check back regularly, leave questions/comments, and spread the word!

What do dragonflies have to do with Luke?  Find out this weekend!  Rev. Lea Marshall will be preaching this Sunday, 11/6, on Luke 6.  She’ll be focusing particularly on the opening verses, 1 – 16, and I understand she’ll be making a connection with dragonflies.  Why not prepare for Sunday by reading Luke 6 and watching the corresponding video commentary from “Roadside Attractions”?

Meanwhile, I (Eric) will be attending the Emerging Progressive Leaders conference, sponsored by the Plymouth Center for Progressive Christian Faith and the Beatitudes Society.  at Dunrovin Retreat Center outside Minneapolis.  The intent of the conference is to link “emerging” progressive leaders with established national leaders in a mentoring relationship that can help ensure future leadership in the progressive Christian movement.  This trip is a bit of a sentimental journey for me.  Three years ago I was invited to mentor “emerging” leaders at this conference and received my first phone call from Countryside Community Church while there!   Since there is scant cell reception at Dunrovin, however, the call went to voicemail, so I didn’t talk to anyone from Countryside until after my trip was over.

To watch the “Roadside Conversations” videos associated with Luke 5 – 7, simply click on the links below.  If you have trouble viewing them, try taking off the “HD” setting by clicking on the icon at the right of the video.  Enjoy!

Luke 5

Luke 6

Luke 7