The TMP Podcast

Sociologists tells us that 43-45% of people will go through a major faith transition at some point in their life. And that’s any faith transition. So that can be from one Christian denomination to another denomination; that can be from belief to atheism; that can also be from secularism to some form of faith. 44% is a huge number. It has some folks raising the alarm against those who would begin a process of doubt or healthy deconstruction. Doubt is considered by some to be the enemy of faith.  In this teach we will discover that viewing doubt in this way is both unhelpful and un-scriptural. Furthermore, it perpetuates the myth is that when we go through the process of doubt and deconstruction, we have somehow lost our faith. The fact is that if you doubt, it means that you do have faith. Throughout the ancient history of the church, faith has been defined as a combination of knowing and not knowing. Of a willingness and readiness by the grace of God to live with a certain degree of unknowing— or what the mystics call darkness.

Deconstruction was a term first coined by the philosopher Jacques Derrida in the 1960’s. Derrida’s use of the term was not about tearing down and building. Rather it meant becoming more mindful of the way we use words. Words themselves can privilege power, and we need to attend to the way words can shape narratives. In this teach we will deconstruct what we mean by the term deconstruction and discover that it is not a singular term or static experience. Rather, there are various dynamic ways— both helpful and unhelpful— of going through deconstruction. And ultimately, there is way of understanding deconstruction that sees Jesus at the centre of this journey.

October 31… Halloween or All Hallows Eve. While most people think of pumpkins, costumes, and candy— there is another meaning of this calendar holiday: reformation. 504 year ago today, Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis statements to the Wittenberg door and unknowingly launched a reformation in the Western Church. While this was a seminal event for Protestant Christians, it is just one example of how the church has experienced moments of decisive re-examination. In the positive sense, reformation has taken the form of renewal moments, monastic orders, and social changes. In the negative sense, it has led to schisms, division, and a fracturing of unity in the church. In the year 2021, some (like Phyllis Tickle) , have suggested we are on the verge of some major changes in the church. Certainly the usage of the #exvangelical & #deconstruction hashtags across social media have been persistent since 2016, garnering more than 300 million views on TikTok, 54,000 posts on Instagram and routinely getting more than 100,000 daily impressions on Twitter. In the age of deconstruction— what might it mean to be the church in our time? What might Jesus be asking the church to healthily deconstruct today? What might the church say to those who have walked away from faith?

David asks in Psalm 24, “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?” Rather than leave the question unanswered, David replies in the next verse, “The one who has clean hands and a pure heart”. The call to a pure heart is the call to being people of Jesus. Yet, as we consider the church’s legacy in Canada— especially in connection with Indigenous peoples— we must name the reality that church has not always hand clean hands and pure hearts. Howard Jolly is joining us this morning to help us understand the need for reconciliation through his own story and others. To be people reconciliation requires us to know God intimately, and to be people of clean hands and pure heart. These sort of people whom God is using as minister’s of reconciliation.

The Psalmist praises the faithfulness of God. It’s a faithfulness that “endures forever”v2. For the Psalmist, God’s love is shown through God’s faithfulness to an unfaithful people. Yet for many people, the picture they have of God that is anything but faithful. For some folks, God is only furious and angry at them. They believe the lie that God abandons sinners, and that they must earn their way back into God’s good graces. To this lie, we counter with the story of Peter. Peter is a deeply flawed man, and God in Christ is faithful to him. Even when Peter three times denies Jesus, we discover a God whose faithfulness is revealed in the midst of our deepest failures.

Psalm 104 is a song capturing the heart of the two creation narratives we read in Genesis 1 +2. In this song we hear the repeated themes: (1) God is Creator of ALL things (including humans); (2) God, with grace, mercy and wonder has created an abundant and generous home for ALL things and (3) ALL things look to God for life! This psalm beautifully captures the “shalom” – the fullness of right, good and mature relationships between God and Creation (including humans). This is the way it was created to be AND is what God is about in God’s “rescue plan” for ALL things (Colossians 1:15-20) – there is nothing outside of God’s redemptive plan – God intends to bring back Shalom  (including humans). It matters how we treat the earth because it matters to God! God's call and hope for humanity's role in creation is to "tend & keep" (Gen 2)... Let's get to it!

In the beginning, the earth was formless and void  (TOHU wa BOHU). This was a chaotic and negative scene. In the ancient world, it was the type of land that was desolate and could not have order. God steps in and creates order. God speaks light to the chaotic darknesses and the result is peace (shalom) and the thriving of all creation. It was good and very good. But in an instant, all that changed as Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s good instruction. They took of the fruit and ate, and sin entered the world. Fellowship broken. Peace shattered. Creation thrown into chaos. Darkness, depravity, fear, shame, and selfishness flooded the human heart, and plunged us back into the darkness and towards a TOHU wa BOHU. The situation was dire. But, God promises that we would not be left alone in the dark. A rescuer would come who would speak order to our chaos. On the first Sunday of Advent 2021, we join the longing of all those waiting in the darkness for light to come.

In the Gospel according to Mark, Jesus simply appears as a full-grown adult in the middle of the wilderness. But before Jesus can appear, someone has to prepare the way for him. So Mark begins his story, not with Mary and Joseph, but with a prophet, the first one anyone has heard in more than 400 years. Mark’s good news story begins with John the Baptist. Mark connects what John the Baptist is about to do through the prophetic cry of Isaiah, “Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the desert a highway for our God!” Mark isn’t just telling his listeners to hop on the road grader and smooth out the bumps. He’s saying, “Build a whole new road through this wilderness! A new thing is about to happen among you. God is coming.” How will this road get built? How will we prepare the way? Through the “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” On the second Sunday of Advent, how might we ‘prepare the way’ for Jesus in our lives? How might we be a witness to the coming of Jesus?

John opens his Gospel with ‘In the beginning…’a clear reference to the creation account in Genesis, and then John moves quickly to describe the life in Jesus as “the light of all humankind” (John 1:4). This light shines in the darkness and does not overcome it. John continues to weave this metaphor of light throughout his gospel— a metaphor that is found prominently in the Old Testament prophets. Jesus in John’s Gospel is revealed to be the essence of enlightenment itself revealing truth that had once been hidden under a veil of darkness. Jesus comes to show us a better way. This comes to the forefront in John 8, where Jesus declares on the Feast of Tabernacles that he is the light of the world. In the dark, we grope and grasp to understand, but in the light, we see as things are revealed to us. On the third Sunday of Advent, we will consider what it means for Jesus to be the promised light of the world.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells his disciples that they are the light of the world. It’s a shocking statement when you consider that Jesus calls himself the light of the world in John 8:12. How could imperfect people like us ever be called the light? John Chrysostom, a fourth-century Jesus follower explained it like this: “Jesus’ disciples are called the light of the world because they illuminated by One who is the true and eternal light” Like the moon illuminating the darkness , those who have been “lit” by the light of the Son, should carry that light out into the world by following his example. We are not ourselves the origin of light, but we reflect the light we have received.  This is to say that salt & light people inhabit the way of Jesus to be a radical alternative to a darkened world. Both salt and light are images for impact on something else: salt impacts, for instance, meats, while light impacts darkness. On the fourth and final Sunday of Advent, we will consider what it means for the church to be salt & light.

The Psalmist writes….Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.To be wise is to number your days, count your steps, and consider your ways. The only alternative is that we waste the time we have left. And time is a precious commodity. You can’t buy more of it. One life to live, and it will soon passWhat are you going to with the time you have left?Are you making the most of each day? Are you using the time you have or are you letting life pass you by? What do you need to START doing today?  What do you need to STOP doing today?

What is the good news? What is the gospel? For some folks the good news is only about how to get saved. For others the good news is about obtaining a ticket to heaven, or a strategy for health and wealth. There are all sorts of false gospels that try to lead us astray, much like the Galatians were led astray to a “different gospel.” Yet as we look to the Scriptures, we discover that the good news is so much more than a singular decision moment. The good news is a beautiful and expansive vision for the shalom of all creation that culminates in Jesus. So what is the good news? Jesus is the good news!

One of the most consistent themes in the New Testament is that Jesus is the Christ or King. Jesus is King and he proclaimed the gospel of the Kingdom. Jesus often said things like, “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15). For Jesus, the “good news” is the proclamation of the coming kingdom of God. In fact, the Bible summarizes the entire message of Jesus as “the good news of the kingdom” (Matthew 4:23; Luke 4:43; Acts 8:12; 28:31). The word kingdom isn’t used frequently anymore. Today we talk about nations and countries more than kingdoms. But king- dom (Greek: basileia) still has value when talking about the gospel, because it includes the word king (basileus): the one who shapes the vision and values of the kingdom. So what does Jesus’ kingdom look like? And why is this good news?

When the Apostle Paul describes the Gospel he received, he writes, “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” The Christ— Jesus our King— died to rescue us from sin. What is sin? Well the English word “sin” translates the Greek word hamartia, which means to miss the mark, to fail to hit the bull’s-eye, to be off target. Sin refers to any ways we fail to live the life of love for which we were created. Sin is being off-centre, out of sync, less than loving. Knowing that, you should be able to see that sin is the human dilemma. We are fractured and broken beings. The Good News is that Jesus the King came to save us from all that separates us from God and separates us from our complete healed and whole selves. This is good news!

A central meaning of the Gospel — as announced in the New Testament—is that Jesus is risen from the dead. As the Apostle Paul writes when he shares the gospel, “he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures”. (1 Cor 15:4) Resurrection is more than just good news about Jesus being alive. Resurrection is a seismic shift in all the fabric of the universe. Resurrection is the vindication of Christ Jesus, the death of death, the inauguration a new age, and a new creation. This means that for all who are in Christ, there is a new creation—- a new way of ordering the world. The early church will take this good news of new creation and begin to pattern their lives in ways that will give their kingdom allegiance to Christ. This will have radical social, political, and cosmic implications. Jesus is risen, therefore God’s new world has begun. Jesus is risen, therefore Israel and the world have been redeemed. Jesus is risen, therefore his followers have a new job to do. And what is that new job? To bring the life of heaven to birth in actual, physical, earthly reality.

When the Apostle Paul mentions in the Gospel he received in 1 Corinthians 15 he goes on a rabbit trail after verse 5. Many scholars believe that Paul actually continues his gospel statement at verse 20 and that the “gospel” Paul received and Paul preached and the Corinthians received did not end with  15:5, but continued to the end of all ends in paragraph C (vv. 20 – 28). In other words, there are reasons to think the Gospel of Paul included the ascension of Jesus, the second coming of Christ, and the full consummation of the kingdom when God becomes all in all. This is good news to a world underneath the reign of death and decay.  God will be God and we will be God’s people — and the whole Story will be about God.

God, who IS Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Trinity: Unity in multiplicity, multiplicity in unity. This God creates humanity. God says, “Let US create humankind in our image”-Gen 1.26We were created by the God of love for love. We were created by the Eternal Divine community for community.  Which is why it is such a problem when the first image bearer Adam does not have a suitable partner. God says, “It is not good for the man to be alone” Gen 2:18. We humans need community, relationships, and connection. It’s not good for us to be alone! God desires for us to be in relationship. This is what makes the problem of loneliness so tragic. Loneliness is not the design of our loving Creator. In our age of growing disconnection we desperately need to capture a vision of the relational God who made us for relationship. We need to partner with the God who “sets the lonely in families, and leads out the prisoners with singing.” (Ps 68:6)

Jesus is on his way to heal the daughter of Jarius when something unexpected occurs. A women who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, secretly touches Jesus’ cloak and she receives physical healing. Jesus seems to be aware of the secret miracle. Jesus stops walking and begins to ask, “Who touched me”. This is an odd question as there are crowds pushing around him on all sides. Still, Jesus asks, “Who touched me?” Why is it so important that Jesus interrupt his journey to Jarius’ house? Why must the ‘secret miracle’ be made known before everyone? Because Jesus is keenly aware the healing is not yet complete for this unnamed woman. Who is this woman? She was a social outcast due to her illness causing her to become unclean. (Lev 15:25-30) For twelve years she languished in isolation as one who was alone and poor. Jesus knows she has suffered more than just physically, and so he calls the women out not to rebuke her, but to continue her healing. Jesus refers to this otherwise anonymous outcast as “daughter” before the crowd. By doing so, Jesus ensures that she knows that he has restored her to the community, and also that the community recognizes that Jesus has restored her to it.In the same way, Jesus desires to holistically heal us in his work of salvation. This includes the dysfunctions we can experience in our relationships. Jesus wants to restore us to community! This involves the work of Jesus calling us to bravely step out from our isolation into being fully known and fully loved. As we consider the journey from loneliness to belonging, what might it mean to ‘step out’? What barriers might be causing us to shrink back?  How can we rewire our relational circuits? How can we take that step towards what Jesus has for us?

In the ancient world, nothing mattered more than your family. Your identity was grounded in the identity of your family of origin. This is why is it so shocking for Jesus ask the crowd, “who are my brothers and sisters”? Jesus was scandalizing his listeners by declaring that his mother and brother and sisters were not merely his biological kin, but included all those who did the will of God. He revolutionized our concept of the “neighbour” whom we are to love as we love ourselves to include not just those who are ethnically, religiously, or geographically close to us but even those who are our enemies. Many people were offended by these teachings because they believed that Jesus was devaluing the relationships between parents and children, or between people of the same nation or religion. Those people didn’t understand him. He was actually telling us that we owe that same level of committed care and compassion to whoever is in need of it, whether they’re biological family or not.As we consider what it means for the church to respond to loneliness, we need to understand that Jesus created the church to be a different kind of community. To be apart of the church is to think differently about family and belonging. It’s a community that tears down divisions to make space for the other. We have put on the ‘new self’ where there is no Gentile or Jew, slave nor free (Col 3:11) and where we live out compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness patience and forgiveness. (Col 3:12-14)  The church is to be a chosen family for those longing for belonging.

“We follow Jesus”…In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus begins his ministry by being led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness for a time of testing. Jesus is tempted by the devil to turn stones into bread,   to seize control of the kingdoms of this world, and to jump off the temple to make a clear display of God’s power by the public rescue of angels. The devil tries to bring Jesus over to his side, by grasping the right goal but through the wrong means. Jesus is tempted by the devil to establish the Kingdom of God through the illicit use of power for comfort, control, and coercion. Jesus rejects all of these temptations and instead demonstrates that how the Kingdom comes is what the Kingdom is. In the same way, we as a church are invited to courageously follow Jesus and his narrow way. In doing so, we become a radical alternative to every other path that could be followed.