Lay Theologians

I am a professional theologian. That is, I have extensive training and study which have established a wide body of theological ideas and findings which enrich my spiritual journey, usually giving me direction for life decisions.

Lay theologians ordinarily do not have that kind of educational background unless, much later in life than us professionals, they choose to attend seminary for the purpose of learning and not just making a living.

It has been my privilege to bump into four lay theologians over the last year. Dee Lambert I’ve known for over 30 years and she is now helping two little churches keep going by being their lay speaker. I’ve posted one of her poems on my blog. See October 26 below for it.

Barbara Wendland I’ve known about fifteen years and she continues to actively stir up the denomination not only in her part of the world (Texas) but reaches many people around the country through her newsletter (www.connectionsonline.org).

Art Davis, my poet friend, has always been insightful but he recently showed me an essay in which he argues that God may be tired of creating new earths which seem all to end in environmental or military catastrophe. Our earth is number 7. His closing words are “Will any survivors report to Me? PLEASE. UFOs up to family-size are ready!” At least God is willing to try again, Art says.

Natala Orobello teaches English at a local college and has published her first book, DESTINED FOR GREATNESS (available through AMAZON.COM). It is one of five she has finished. When asked why she chose this one to be published first, she answered, “God told me.” When you read it, you can see why.

I read her book as I read other novels, a little bit at a time, usually just before bed. That works for novels just fine. But when I finished, I found I had to go back, not for plot points or character names, but for insights which she slips in all through the book.

The format is “novella” but the purpose is “spiritual journey.”

She does not preach. But she illustrates her main proposition that God intends greatness for everyone but each one of us makes choices which even to God, come “as a surprise to us!”

Professor Orobello was born in Sicily and was raised in the Roman Catholic Church. The standard theology she heard from the priests left many questions for her which usually, when answered at all by the priests, were called “mysteries.” She wasn’t satisfied with that and has thought through what her experience and educational background provided as substantive answers. DESTINED FOR GREATNESS does not trace her spiritual journey but is more the result of it, with hints of how she struggled to get there.

Her book deserves to be read as part of one’s devotional practices. But it is not didactic. You will be tempted to keep on reading at the close of each of her brief chapters.

What I like the most about a lay theologian is the freedom to explore thoughts which those of us with traditional theological training hesitate to do. Are the results of their explorations going to become mileposts in humankind’s spiritual journey? Who knows? Quite possibly!

To me, they are a sign that God continues to converse with us and those who hear are sharing their thoughts in creative ways.

Short Christmas Sermon

The local paper asked me to write a sermon for their series "SERMON OF THE WEEK." Here's my offering:

Christmas is my favorite time of the year. I love the lights, the music, the stories, even the commercialism! While a lot of advertisements are gross and the desperation to sell gets annoying, it still seems as if all of America and much of the western world finds a way to be brighter, be cheerier, be more generous than any other time of the year. And that sure helps us pass through the darkest days on the calendar, those around the winter solstice.

Far more important to me than the flurry of exciting activities and decorations which lighten the season is the Incarnation. “God with us,” God becoming human to live with us, walk . . ., sweat . . ., work . . ., attend worship . . ., deal with difficult people . . ., struggle with all the issues of humanity including physical suffering and death. He knows first hand what we go through!

He also lived in a time when power was international, except we need to realize his country was the one being occupied.

And he taught that his nation was ordained by God to rule the world. HA! No, Jesus’ kingdom was not of this world. Somehow we’ve forgotten that part of His message.

He taught many things but the key to his call to us is that we are to also incarnate God’s love. As He came to live God’s love among us, so we are to do the same, live God’s love with everyone else. And the Judgment of God about our lives will be based on whether we fed the hungry, welcomed the stranger, healed the sick, and visited the imprisoned. The Bible says that and I believe it, and that settles it!

That “final exam” described in the Book of Matthew, 25th chapter, verses 31-46, takes us way beyond any belief system which we follow in our religious life. I’ve discovered that people who believe differently than I do and take Jesus as seriously as I do, are the last to presume immigrants, legal or illegal, are evil and need to be removed from our midst. I’ve discovered that people of other religions not only welcome the stranger, they feed the hungry and clothe the poor and care for the sick and imprisoned.

“You will know them by their fruits,” Jesus said (Matthew 7:16).

What then is faith? Fear for our immortal souls? Fear of disobedience? Fear of being wrong? No. As the angels told the shepherds, “Fear not!” Doubt is not the opposite of faith. Fear is.

Faith is far simpler. It is trusting God.

For months, Annie prayed for a horse for Christmas. She did it each night before she went to bed. Even though the main focus of her prayers was to bless her parents, neighbors, friends, and even the strangers in her town, she slipped in her desire to get the horse. Her parents having only a small apartment for the three of them had no way to afford a horse or renting a place where it could be boarded. But they didn’t have the heart to challenge Annie’s earnestness and faith that she’d get the horse.

Christmas came. Annie gleefully jumped out of bed and ran into the living room to check out her presents. She found a doll buggy and a new doll under the tree. She put the doll in the buggy and went door to door on her floor in the apartment building, showing everyone what Santa had given her.

Her parents were stunned. Annie said nothing about there being no horse. She was just full of joy to have the new toys.

When she got back from her trip to the neighbors, they talked to her. “Annie, we’ve always told you that God answers your prayers. But he didn’t answer the one about your wanting a horse.”

“Oh but God did answer my prayer,” Annie said. “He just said ‘No.’”

That’s faith.

Coach's strategies

One of the marks of Coach Mike McCarthy's work with the Packers is that his game plans have been effective. How else do you win when you do not have a running game?

One of the things you do not see on the game films of opponents is the opponent coach's game plans. You can get an idea but until you have a history in the league and against a particular opponent, it is hard to know what to expect.

McCarthy's plan to attack the Cowboys deep last Thursday night was a great idea. For a lot of reasons, it failed. It appears the Cowboys' defensive game plan anticipated just that attack. Perhaps they are better at self-scouting than the Packers are just now. Given the average and injury-struck defensive backfield, any smart coach might have done the same as McCarthy did.

McCarthy learned a lesson. Sometimes you have to plan to go strength on strength and let the attack on weaknesses come later. If the Packers get to play the Cowboys for the conference championship, the game plan is more likely to be just that.

But first, McCarthy will have to prepare the team for an emerging Oakland Raiders. The Bears are coming on and the Lions will have nothing to lose. The Packers will have a whole set of battles to win before they can start talking about game planning for the Cowboys!