resurrection

There's No Place Like Home

May 27, 2008 By heather Leave a Comment

If N.T. Wright and music had a child, it would be Jeremy Begbie.

I’m pretty sure neither Wright nor Jeremy would endorse that statement, but there it is.

Begbie spoke of my two favorite things: the resurrection (meaning not just Christ’s, who is a foretaste, but the resurrection of the world) and arts. As a friend said, the resurrection makes me giddy. It’s true. I think of frolicking–yes, frolicking–at a beach with my grandparents or riding the back of a tiger (or even a unicorn!) or jamming on the piano with a jazz combo. Can you imagine what it’ll be like to play and sing and dance in the midst of the music of every tongue and nation? Can you imagine what it’ll be like to cuddle up next to a lion? Can you imagine what it’ll be like to sing with the mute, dance with the lame, and chat with the deaf? Who says being a Christian isn’t fun? (See–I mention the resurrection and end up on a digression.)

What’s more, Jeremy spoke in a language I understand: music. Throughout his session, he used Prokofieff’s Piano Sonata 7 to work through his points.

It made me happy.

I can’t begin to go through all of his points and do justice to them (I suggest buying the CD of his session).

Jeremy took on the topic, where do we go from here? What is the vision of arts and the Church? The vision comes from the future (rather than going into the future). Instead of moving from present to future, instead of keeping up with trends, trying to make the Church hip, dare I say trying to make our art edgy? (now there I go stepping on toes again), we move from the future to the present.

Amen.

We have a glimpse of the future in the resurrection of Christ, in Revelation 21-22, and in Isaiah and other prophetic writings. (My imagination often goes crazy with these passages thinking of a time when creation is beautiful and just and harmonious and radiant.) The Holy Spirit brings the future into the present, churning the culture. Begbie compared it to the transfiguration–God’s future erupting into the present.

This is our jam session. This is what we get to participate in.

The Spirit’s work is energizing, creative, unifying, deep, inverting. The possibilities of the Holy Spirit’s work are limitless.

How can we not get excited about this?

We taste the resurrection, don’t we? In relationships, in nature, in art, in a good meal, in dancing. This is what we are to cultivate.

Let me make a note (and this relates to the above statement about "edgy"): cultivating the resurrection does not mean ignoring or trivializing the evil. On the contrary, it’s willing to go to the depths of the evil around us. A story is only good if the hero has to overcomes obstacles, if he has to go through a trial. This story reflects the story of humanity and the story of Christ. Christ delved into the depths of evil. He resisted the temptation in the desert. He "descended into hell." From there comes the beauty of resurrection and victory. I say this relates to my comment about "edgy" art because there’s a difference between taking risks and trying to be edgy for the sake of being edgy, a trap into which I fear we sometimes fall. I’m not saying that anyone who uses the term "edgy" has fallen into this trap. I’m only saying let’s be careful. As C.S. Lewis said, "In literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it." This from the man who’s greatest work of literature is a retelling of an old myth (Till We Have Faces).

This journey is complete. We’ve been called to be beautifully unuseful to God, we’ve been mentored in the lifestyle, we’ve crossed the threshold, we’ve met our enemies, dealt with trials, and found allies, we’ve descended into the depths of the ordeal, and today we’ve been resurrected, our art has been resurrected.

The question is, our we willing to return to our Original World with the lessons we’ve learned from our journey, with this elixir to heal the nations? In other words, am I willing to use my art to participate in God’s kingdom work by showing Truth and creating beauty?

Filed Under: aesthetics, art, eschatology, Jeremy Begbie, resurrection, theology, transforming culture

Book Thoughts–Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright

March 31, 2008 By heather 6 Comments

My thoughts here are biased, I must warn you.

I loved N.T. Wright’s newest book, Surprised by Hope. He explores the meat of the Christian hope, what he calls the after-afterlife.

I’m biased because I’ve been frustrated by our misplaced, paltry hope. I’ve been frustrated by our Platonic belief in some sort of nebulous heaven up yonder where some roll is called. (Don’t believe me? Check out my post on our Platonic world.) Sure, we go to heaven when we die, but this is not our eternity. This is not our ultimate hope. Our ultimate hope is when heaven comes to earth, when God re-creates, restores, and reconciles the earth and our physical bodies. He will undo the affects of the Fall, namely, the hostility between man and God, between man and man, and between man and earth.

We sometimes forget about that last one. Oh, I don’t think we forget about the hostility between man and earth with tsunamis and hurricanes and tornadoes warring against us, with our war against nature in our pollution and exploitation. We forget that we will one day live in harmony with nature, caring for it as God intended us to.

I get a little preachy about this.

Back to Wright’s book. Wright addresses the misconceptions (a.k.a. bad theology) that’s infiltrated not just the world (i.e. reincarnation), but also Christianity (i.e. when we all get to heaven).

The belief in Jesus’ physical resurrection is on the line here, folks. If you believe in Jesus’ physical resurrection, if you believe that he is the firstfruits, than you have to believe that we do will experience that physical resurrection. The whole earth (which now groans) will experience it.

Wright turns the gospel message upside-down. No, he turns how we talk about the gospel message upside-down. It begins with an overarching story–God’s plan of redemption for all of creation. Within that, individual salvation fits.

He then talks about why it’s important in the here and now, in areas such as justice, art, and evangelism (are you getting a feel for why I’m passionate about this?). He’s hard on all sides. Somehow Wright is one of the few people who can point out the faults of everyone specifically (moderns, you’re doing this; postmoderns, you’re doing this; liberals, you’re doing this; conservatives, you’re doing this) and still be liked by all parties. Personally, I’m a dispensationalist (which means, in my view, that Wright and I may disagree on some middle stuff, but we absolutely agree on the end, we absolutely agree that this end is the important part, and we absolutely agree on our present course of action). Wright’s hard on dispensationalist (and for good reason). I will say that he has a generalized and limited view on dispensationalist. Maybe he understands more but for simplicity’s sake boils it down. Maybe he only hear’s the loudest dispensationalist (with whom I probably don’t agree). But that’s beside the point to me.

The point is, Jesus’ resurrection leads to the resurrection (redemption) of the world, and somehow our participation in God’s kingdom work in the present contributes to that (although it doesn’t bring it about–God brings it about).

Too often, we let our lingo speak falsely. "When we get to heaven," we say, whether we mean that or we know better and should say, "In the resurrection." Personally (a lot of personals here), I’m going to correct my false lingo. I want to paint the right pictures.

What does it mean for art? It means embodying the groaning of creation and the hope of resurrection. It means no false sentimentality, like some guy walking into clouds. It means incarnating Christ himself.

I’ll stop now. If you want to read what others have to say about the book, here’s a recommended book thoughts list:

Klyne Snodgrass on Prime Time Jesus

Scot McKnight on Jesus Creed beginning goes chapter by chapter (the link is for the first chapter).

Raffi Shahanian at Parables of a Prodigal World

Nathan Gann (and his list of reviews, which includes several I haven’t read)

Side note: I’ll be leaving bright tomorrow morning (at an hour I’ve been told exists, but I have yet to believe it exists) for the Transforming Art symposium. I couldn’t be more excited! Get ready to have an earful (or eyeful, rather) when I return.

Filed Under: books, eschatology, resurrection

The Gardener

March 24, 2008 By heather 1 Comment

Because she thought he was the gardener…

The Gardener hung on the cross to atone for the gardeners. On the third day, he rose from the dead, conquering the death and evil that swept through his garden.

He prunes us. He snips away the deadness.

He gives us life. We, the branches, suck nutrients, minerals, and the water of life from the Vine. The Gardener became the firstfruits of the resurrection for which the whole garden groans.

It groans.

We groan.

Someday we will be like the Gardener. We will join in the resurrection. The garden will be resurrected and transformed.

Even now, He begins his transforming work, snipping, pruning, watering, feeding. He teaches us out to be gardeners, how to take care of the garden. He gives us the shears and points. "Remove that deadness," he says. "Take away that oppression, that disease." So we join the Gardener in his work.

Sometimes we rejoice at the riddance of the ugliness. Sometimes we yank and yank, but the roots have infiltrated deeply, and it takes more work, causes more calluses, needs more tools than we expected. Sometimes we say, "But, Gardener, it still looks pretty."

He hands us the shears. "Remove that deadness," he says. He prunes it from our lives. He prunes it from the lives of the oppressed. He prunes it from the lives of the sick. He prunes it from the lives of the powerful. And he fertilizes and waters and tenderly lifts the buds.

Each of us flower the cross. Each of us, individual blooms, together become a bouquet of new life.

Because she thought he was the gardener…

Filed Under: gardening, Jesus, resurrection

Holy Week Thoughts–Art and Theology

March 19, 2008 By heather 3 Comments

What, you may ask, does Holy Week have to do with art besides all those Passion plays?

It has to do with creation and recreation and the Imago Dei and the kingdom of God and beauty and transformation.

It has to do with the Creator becoming part of His creation, sacrificing for creation.

It has to do with the Creator redeeming His creation in every way possible, spiritually, physically, relationally, and aesthetically.

It has to do with our participation in that redemption.

We bear the mark, the image, of our Creator God. Part of that mark is creating. Granted, we don’t create in the same way that He does, but we create. We build, sculpt, compose, paint, write, fashion. The Fall corrupted this creative process. It hindered our imaginations and abilities. But in Christ we have victory, Christus Victor, as the early church called it. He redeems us, and as part of that redemption, he fills our minds and imaginations.

…so fill our imaginations…

The closer we draw to God, the more alive we become, including our imagination. In art, there is communion with God.

…that we may be wholly Yours…

As we are transformed, we participate in His transformational ministry to the world. We create. We guide others in their formation through our art.

...then use us, we pray, as You will, and always to Your glory and the welfare of Your people…

In some ways, art reflects baptism. It emmerses in the waters of sacrifice, taking on the evil of this world, and it embodies the resurrection, shining with hope and glory. Our art can identify with the sufferings of the world then point to the victory we have over oppression and the oppressor. Our art can take God’s beauty and incarnate it to the hurting.

As I enter into the sufferings of Christ, who himself entered into the sufferings of the world, as I anticipate his glorious resurrection, I reflect on this in my art.

Because of the resurrection, I write stories.

Because of the resurrection, I play piano and flute.

Because of the resurrection, I compose musicals and songs.

Because of the resurrection, I create.

Note: I recommend reading through this report on a talk Thomas Cahill gave on church history and art.

Filed Under: aesthetics, art, resurrection, theology, transforming culture

Incarnating Christ

March 8, 2008 By heather Leave a Comment

My husband and I love to go camping. Of course, you can’t go camping without a campfire, and my husband loves campfires.

He’s a master at making things burn.

The secret to a great fire is getting the big, exciting flames to transform the wood itself and to continue spreading to other pieces of wood as you add them to the fire. As the fire transforms the wood, the wood becomes coal. The fire infuses the wood. These coals are hotter than the huge flames that leap as you ignite the fire. It is with these coals that you can keep yourself warm, cook your meal, and spread the fire to other logs.

It hit me that this is the Christian life.

Christians shouldn’t be in the business of fighting culture or merely trying to keep up with its trends. They should be joining God in His work of transforming it.

The Christian’s hope lies in the future, in the physical resurrection of creation. While we won’t see fulfilment of that resurrection until heaven comes to earth in the culmination of God’s kingdom (Revelation 21-22), God has initiated His kingdom of peace, healing, and restoration. His agents for this redemption are human. The agents are believers.

Jesus’ resurrection demonstrated His victory over death and evil. It is also a foretaste of the physical resurrection all believers will experience at His return. His work on earth demonstrated that the transformation begins now.

It begins in a restored relationship with God, but it doesn’t stop there. That restored relationship spills out into restored relationships with other humans and with the earth. Only in Christ do we discover what it means to be fully human. Only in Christ do we defeat the power of death and evil in our lives and on earth. As we join in Christ’s death, so we join in His victory.

Though at a future time, this victory will culminate in an instant, in the present, it happens in a process of persevering in the faith, acting out in the present our future hope.

This is what I call spiritual formation. Spiritual formation is done by the power of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us. It’s based on God’s revelation of who He is through creation (i.e. the arts, sciences, beauty, cultures, humans), through community, through Scripture, through the Holy Spirit, and through Jesus’ incarnation–God’s ultimate revelation of Himself in the God-man. We learn of the revelation of the Word become flesh (the incarnation) through Scripture, which contains the witness of God’s people, God’s prophecy, God’s story. We understand Scripture in community, in relationships where God most fully reveals Himself through different personalities and gifts that together present a more full understanding of who He is.

Spiritual formation’s purpose is to become more human. Through formation (or transformation), we become not the same as each other, but more fully ourselves.

In becoming more human, more fully ourselves, we learn God’s purpose for humanity: to love the Lord our God (Matthew 22:37), to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:38), and to care for God’s creation (Genesis 1:28). As we fulfill this purpose using the spiritual gifts God has given each of us through the power of the Holy Spirit, we become agents of God’s redemptive plan for the earth.

We learn how to fulfill God’s purpose from Christ’s ministry. Indeed, as his body, we continue his work, incarnating his love to a hurting world. We seek to live our lives as he lives his. Christ’s ministry included healing the sick, providing for the poor, preaching the gospel, extending forgiveness to the repentant, challenging the sinner, encouraging the discouraged, and discipling the follower.

Christ’s work was creating and recreating. He embodied the sufferings of this world and the resurrection. His victory over death and evil becomes our victory over death and evil. God transforms us, guides our minds, forms our wills, and fill our imaginations. We become more alive in our thinking, in our love, in our creativity and art.

So we participate in transforming culture by embodying His victory as we share God’s story and redemption, as we create and embody theology in art, and as we fight oppression in all its forms.

Below, I’ve provided resources to help facilitate intentional relationships and ministry that carries on Jesus’ work for God’s kingdom in order to glorify God. There’s nothing magical about the resources. The magic occurs in the relationship between God and other believers as they together serve God’s kingdom. As God transforms us, we take these heated coals and start new fires, spreading His kingdom of love and peace. This happens in our art, our workplaces, our families, our neighborhoods, our friends in the physical, messy, daily life.

For suggestions for engaging in art in your everyday life, click here.

Spiritual Formation Resources

Transforming Life series:

About
Download (free): Part One (Identity), Part Two (Community), Part There (Integrity), Part Four (Ministry)
Purchase

Experience the Life

Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming by Henri Nouwan

The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives by Dallas Willard

Spirit, Soul and Body

Social Justice Links: Links to help you incarnate Christ’s love to the hurting

Adopt a Legacy, a ministry to the poor, widows, orphans, and AIDS victims of Africa

International Justice Mission, a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression

All God’s Children, an orphanage in Honduras

Blood:Water Mission, promotes clean blood and clean water to address the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa

People not Profit, an organization that works with artists who donate their art to raise funds for the poor

Imagine Art, an organization that works with artists with disabilities

Art from the Streets, an organization that teaches art classes in homeless shelters and sells the artwork, giving the homeless an income

Arts Link, an organization that connects artists with short- and long-term mission opportunities that uniquely use the gift of the artist to minister in foreign contexts

ICE (International Council of Ethnodoxologists), a group of ethnomusicologists with a vision to see Christians in every culture expressing their faith through their own music and arts

Global Girlfriend, fairly-traded apparel and accessories handmade by women and communities in need

Tom’s Shoes, based on an Argentine shoe, for every pair of shoes you buy, Tom donates a pair to a child in need.

Responsible Shopper, alerts the public about the social and environmental impact of major
corporations, and provides opportunities for consumers and investors to
vote with their dollars for change.

Come Let’s Dance, a non-profit, grassroots organization dedicated to empowering and inspiring the youth of Africa to initiate change
in their own communities, one kid at a time

Arts Resources: Links to connect artists with other artists and to inspire your creativity

Infuze Mag, an online magazine

Artist Melanie Weidner

Artist Makoto Fujimura

Picasso catalogued

Philosophy Cafe

Burnside Writer’s Collective

Early Christian Art: Mind, Body, and Soul Connection, an article on the beginnings of Christian art

Relevant Magazine

The Master’s Artist, a group blog of writers

Belle Aerie, an online forum for artists

Jubilee, a non-profit band with jazz-influenced sounds that donates half their sales proceeds and 10% of their booking fees to International Mission Justice

The Christian Pulse

Image Journal

by Faith Magazine

Holy Week Art and Theology, an article connecting art and the resurrection

Act One Program, comprehensive training and mentorship to train the next generation of Christian artists and professionals

Inspire Me Thursday, "weekly invitation to amuse your inner muse. Be inspired to reflect, connect, explore, journal, and create."

Artcyclopedia,
search or browse art by artist, medium, subject, or movement–a great
place to figure out what movement was doing what and who was creating
in that them

Artchive, same song, second verse

Teesha Moore’s site, art, journal pages, and a blog to boot

A very cool recommended reading list put together by Imago Dei Community on God-centered theology of arts and culture

The Doorpost Film Project, short films on themes such as hope, freedom, love, pain, energy, and others

Ten Dreams gallery of art, specifically art featuring symbolism, magic realism, and fantasy.

Craftster, how to take old items and thrift store finds and create something new with them

Noise Trade, a great place to discover and support emerging musicians.