This Sunday is Pentecost, the day many consider the birthday of the church. We figure every birthday calls for a party, so instead of our normal morning gathering we're having a bar-b-que!

So join us at the Arends new house (77 Crawford Way) on Sunday May, 27 at 5pm for a good old backyard bar-b-que.  We'll have brats and hotdogs on the grill as well as drinks.  You're welcome to bring side dishes, salads, desserts or whatever you typically bring to this kind of thing. 

And invite your friends and neighbors- we did!

See you there!

A few weeks ago Arianna and I were watching the History channel. (Actually, I think it was H2, which gets all the really fun history stories...)  The show was titled something along the lines of "Jesus' Lost 40 Days,"  referring to the days between when Jesus rose from the dead and when he ascended into Heaven.  It went through the 8 different accounts recorded in the Bible of Jesus' actions after the Resurrection.  It was not what I had hoped for (but more like what I probably should have expected.)  

As there is little mentioned in the Bible of those forty days I thought the show might investigate some accounts that didn't make it into the Bible.  Perhaps it might compare and contrast the stories that are in the Bible.  There are so many fun theological questions they could have played with.  But as I said, I was disappointed.  

It was about the Shroud of Turin.  

Actually, it wasn't even about the shroud itself.  It was mostly about a CG artist using the image found on the shroud and using it to make little videos showing what the 'real Jesus' looked like at these encounters.  Sadly, there wasn't even any discussion over whether the shroud was real or a medieval forgery.  No discussion about why the image on it is believed to be of the exact moment Jesus was brought back to life (a claim I hadn't heard before but was repeated by this CG artist.)  And most of all, there wasn't any discussion about why we should even care about this shroud.  

The real question is the one that Jesus asks in the Coffee with Jesus strip above (which can be found on Radio Free Babylon's facebook page.)  "What's it matter?"  Personally, I really don't care about the Shroud of Turin.  My scientific, intellectual side is somewhat curious about its origins, by my theological side really doesn't care.  Even if it is real, I wouldn't consider it Holy.  I have a hunch (and it's only my humble opinion) that Jesus wouldn't want us to care about it either.  Here's why.

Jesus' ministry was all about the people on the edges.  He didn't care so much about the temple (the supposed resting place of God).  When he did talk about the temple it was usually about its corruption or the fact that it would soon be destroyed.  When Jesus died the curtain blocking off the innermost Holy of Holies was torn in two, suggesting that God was not confined to this little space anymore.  God is, and always has been, on the loose.  Going to the temple would not bring you closer to God and neither would touching, or looking at a piece of fabric that was wrapped around Jesus body when he came back to life.  Jesus is quoted in the Gospel of Matthew saying, "I will be with you always, to the ends of the age" (28:20), not "I'll leave you a really cool picture of me on a sheet. Hang on to it because I'll be in there."  

I believe that we have something much more Holy than a shroud.  We have a promise, that is often accompanied by bread and wine or water.  Christians gather all over the world weekly (even daily) to share the promise that Jesus Christ was given for them and that they are made whole and clean and perfect through Jesus.  Our God is truly present in that promise with the bread and wine.  It doesn't matter whether you believe the bread and wine magically turn into blood and flesh or if you believe they're only symbolic.  Jesus is present in the promise that accompanies them.  That's the part that matters.

You can sit around and argue all you want about ancient relics and minute theological points or whatever.  Just know that those are all secondary.  What matters is that promise.  What matters is that gift.  What matters is that Jesus is here for you right here, right now.

by dave

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "David Arends" <davearends22@gmail.com>
Date: May 19, 2012 5:32 PM
Subject: No Service Tomorrow
To: "Post blog" <post@spiritinthecanyon.com>

We will not be meeting to worship tomorrow, May 20th.

Anybody familiar with Christianity, or any religion for that matter, knows that there are a lot of rules.  There are the big rules, like the ten commandments, and the smaller, less known rules, like ones concerning toilets while at war.  There are rules about hairstyles, diets, sanitation, and all kinds of different behaviors.  If you have any questions about moral behavior odds are good that a rabbi or pharisee somewhere, at some time, made a rule concerning it.  

But me, I don't like rules (other than trying to figure out how to break them).

This is why I was delighted to read a letter that Paul wrote to a church in Galatia a couple thousand years ago.  Paul is pissed at these people.  He calls them 'foolish' and suggests that they have been 'bewitched'.  You might assume that these people in Galatia were breaking some big rules, perhaps murdering, of having 'relations' with their brothers or sisters or their farm animals.  But this is not the case.  Paul is pissed at the Galatians not because they were breaking rules, but because they were enforcing too many!

The Galatians were making men get circumcised (become Jews) before allowing them to become Christians.  Without this circumcision, they taught, a man would not be saved by Jesus.  This teaching is a load of bull hooey.  And Paul called them out.

But he didn't stop with the issue of circumcision.   He went on to say if you followed one part of the law, expecting it to lead to salvation, then you would need to follow the entire law.  That's several hundreds of rules.  To attempt to follow the entire law was just stupid, considering that in Jesus a person is made completely free of the law.  Let me repeat that;

In Jesus all people are made completely free from the law.

Following the rules, or breaking the rules don't matter.  What matters is living in the Spirit of God, following Jesus.  "For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "love your neighbor as yourself" (Galatians 5:14).  In this freedom of Jesus we are free to live in the Spirit, which is "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23).

So don't worry about the rules. Forget about all the rules.  Stop all the finger pointing.  Stop all the hating.  In Jesus there is only one rule- Love.

by dave

The Word– Mark 16:1-8

1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Jesus. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 They had been saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?" 4 When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6 But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you." 8 So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.