Occasio

"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"

Remember that little Golden Rule you were taught as a child? "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Jesus says we should treat others with compassion and grace because God has done the same for us. As a good parent he lavishes good things on us when we ask. But there is a problem here. I'm not sure I always believe this is the way God works. On many occasions I have asked God for something and he has remained silent, or even worse, he has given me something I didn't ask for or didn't want.

Where is God when we hurt? Why does he remain distant and silent at times? Is it okay to doubt God or be angry with him? These are tough questions and I don't pretend to know the answers (be cautious of those who say they do!), but on Sunday, November 14, I preached on Matthew 7:7-12, and I tried to acknowledge that it's alright to ask such questions.

Jesus says we should ask, seek and knock. Proverbs instructs us to call, cry, look and search to find God. David doubts and complains: "How long, Lord, how long?" U2 reminds us to run, crawl and "scale these city walls" and asks if we'll ever find what we're looking for. If you are interested in these themes you can read my sermon here.

Here are a few excerpts:

• Why should we live out the Golden Rule and treat others with goodness and compassion? Because we are to show the same grace and mercy that our Father God has shown to his children. Go ahead and treat others the way you want to be treated, but ultimately, treat them the way God has treated you.
• Our job as God‘s children, both individually and corporately, is to use every means possible to find God. And when we do, we are promised by our Father that we will not be ignored. In essence, this is the struggle—and the joy—of each believer‘s life: to ask and to receive, to search and to find, to knock and to have another door opened.
• David was not afraid to ask the hard questions of God. He was not afraid to simply be human before the divine. David kicks at God and accuses God. "Where are you, God? Why have you deserted me? Where did you go to? How long will you ignore me? How long will you cause my suffering? How long, Lord, how long?" David gives us permission, by his example, to yell, scream, and even cuss at God.
• As David demonstrates, the temple, the sanctuary, the church community is the absolute best place to go to ask questions of God. There is no better environment than being with brothers and sisters to do the heartfelt, gut-wrenching, soul-searching work of asking, seeking and knocking.
• Go ahead and shout at God. He can take it. Go ahead and question God. He is big enough. But, please, never, ever stop talking to him. He would rather have you yelling and doubting, like David, than not talking at all.
• Some critique U2 and say, "See, we knew they weren‘t Christians; they just said so. They haven‘t found God yet." But I say that‘s exactly the kind of Christian God calls us to be—always searching, always looking, always running.

Here is the U2 clip I showed in my sermon.

Here is the sermon.

Here is the MP3 (see "Second Service, November 14), but unlike Bono, I don't "like the sound of my own voice."

Wanted: spiritually significant songs from the U2 catalog

 

 

 

The students in my Theology, Culture and U2 course have the following assignment:

Choose one of the following and write an essay.

1) Discuss five to ten U2 songs and why they are spiritually significant to you personally. Describe how each song has affected you on a theological, spiritual and personal level.

2) Do a narrative interview of two or three individuals who have been following the work of U2 for at least twenty years each. Let them tell stories of how U2 has impacted them spiritually. Discuss their favorite songs and how the songs have been spiritually significant.

Many of the students in this course are fairly unfamiliar with the U2 catalog, so I'm throwing the invitation out to all. Would you consider leaving a comment below about the U2 songs that have impacted you spiritually? This would be a great way to hear some voices from outside of the class and would also function as a primer for the students in my class.

A few years back I decided that I shouldn't ask the students to do anything I'm not willing to do, so I wrote the same paper they are required to write. My discussion of spiritually significant songs includes "40," "Bad," "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," "Van Diemen's Land," "Until the End of the World," "Walk On," and others. If you would like to see why these songs are personally relevant on a spiritual level, you can download my paper here. If I were to update that paper I would have to add "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own," "Love and Peace Or Else," "All Because of You," "Yahweh," "Magnificent," "Moment of Surrender," "Unknown Caller," "Breathe," and possibly many others. Oh, I think I just added enough songs to the queue for a whole new paper. Stay tuned.

Here are three fine essays from former students in the class: Jessica Mast, Lawrence Smith, Jordan Wiebe.

Help us out and tell us what your favorite U2 songs are and why they have been spiritually significant. Thanks!

 

"October"

It's grey but warm on this cloudy October 1. I even noticed a few raindrops this morning though it will be 100 degrees this afternoon. It seems like a strange, almost contradictory collision of seasons.

The ancient Hebrew would have understood the imagery that the word "October" can conjure up had they the same names for the months as we do. They were well accostomed to the uncertainty of life through desert wanderings, failed kingships and, finally, exile in Babylon. It was in this Babylonian "October" that they mourned and lamented their forced dislocation:

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept

        when we remembered Zion.

There on the poplars 

       we hung our harps,

for there our captors asked us for songs, 

       our tormentors demanded songs of joy; 

       they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"

How can we sing the songs of the LORD 

       while in a foreign land? (Psalm 137)

But it's also during the exile that the Hebrews crafted their worship manual/hymnal which included Psalm 46, "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea." The Hebrews were able to reframe and readjust their perspective so that even in exile -- and in fact, because of exile -- they would further God's original mission by being his people and, thus, a light and witness of God's greatness to all the nations. The confluence of lament and mission, of tragedy and purpose might not have been immediately apparent, but it is a powerful lesson for us. "Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. The LORD Almighty is with us" (Psalm 46).

U2 reminds me of the changes that come, sometimes with great fear and resistance, yet filled with opportunity and liminality. The band, circa 1981, spoke about and performed their song "October" with the resilience of the ancient Hebrews. In the midst of dire social, political and economic times in Ireland they were a collective voice of optimism. Bono, Edge and Larry were part of a community called Shalom, a remarkable experiment in Christian lifestyle. Just entering his 20s, Bono proclaims, "This band stamps on pessimism -- we're anti-cynics." In direct contradiction to the angst of the day this post-punk band championed a voice of love and hope as an alternative to despair. The album, October, is a convergence of lament ("Tomorrow") and praise ("Rejoice," "Scarlet"), even more relevant now than when it was released.

In our "October" we are tempted toward fear and anxiety with each new undulation of a shifting culture. But, "the LORD Almighty is with us." And that changes perspective. "October / And kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall / But You go on / And on."

Here's a couple of clips I edited together. This is U2's "October." 

Christians and the Millennium Development Goals: Bono celebrates and cautions

 “The poor you will always have with you,” is the proof-text I heard a conservative political commentator use this week. He had a series of pies on a table in front of him and proceeded to illustrate how those who work harder should get bigger pieces of the pie and those who work less get smaller ones. “It’s simple,” he said. “There isn’t enough to go around if everybody expects to be given the same amount as I have, we’d run out of pieces of pie. After all, ‘the poor you will always have with you.’”

This defeatist type of theology will keep the poorest of the poor subjugated to the powerbrokers of the West indefinitely. There are many Christians, particularly Evangelicals (I’m in that camp) who believe that the world is rapidly going to hell-in-a-hand-basket, that the creation is evil, and that things will only get worse. This framework is driven and reinforced by the notion that history has to play out this way before the return of Christ, in fact, (as the rationale goes) we may actually hasten his coming by encouraging the crisis rather than mitigating it (i.e. the recent rise of the genre of Christian horror/fiction via the Left Behind series, the desire of more than a few for a full blown war in the Middle East, and the apathy toward care for creation).

However, if God is at work in the world and has not abandoned us (or more likely, has not abandoned those on the planet who have been abandoned by us), and if the missio Dei, the “mission of God,” is to bless all nations through his people, then our call must be to engage the culture and be a kingdom people.

This is why Bono’s message in the New York Times this week is so important. His Op-Ed piece, "M.D.G.'s for Beginners... and Finishers," is a wonderful, brief primer on the Millennium Development Goals project. As the superpowers descend on the United Nations this week for a summit, Bono reminds us of two things: much has been accomplished and there is good reason to celebrate, and, we are behind in meeting these goals – there’s lots of work to be done and everyone must participate.

These are common themes of Bono’s these days. If you caught one of the recent U2 concerts on the 360 Tour (they’ll swing back through America next summer), you would have participated in a grand celebration of grace and life and heard Archbishop Desmond Tutu offer his deepest and humblest “thank you” for all that’s been done for the continent of Africa. “Because our voices were heard millions more of our brothers and sisters are alive thanks to the miracle of AIDS drugs and malaria drugs. Ahhhh!” (See my earlier post for his full speech, and the video is a must-see.) 

Bono is also careful to root his message of hope and action in scripture (not in proof-texts, but in good solid biblical texts). In an often repeated speech at the 2006 National Prayer Breakfast he reached back into Leviticus to remind us that God’s year of Jubilee was a 50-year cycle of forgiveness, debt-relief and restitution. Bono went on in that speech to rightly demonstrate the importance of this theme for Jesus’ own ministry. Jesus’ first message was a proclamation of the Lord’s favor, the year of Jubilee (Luke 4).

As Christians we have the remarkable privilege, as well as heavy burden, of ministering the kingdom – the whole kingdom – of God to the whole world, not in a patronizing, colonizing way, but in a way that reaches out, touches and shares life with those who have been abandoned and disenfranchised. If that conservative commentator who so flippantly quoted scripture would have checked the gospel of Mark more closely he would have found the rest of the verse helpful: “The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them…” (Mark 14:7).

I Will Begin Again: Theology, Culture and U2

My course "MIN 340 Theology, Culture and U2" begins again this fall at Fresno Pacific University. This is the third time I will teach it (it's offered every other fall) and it's one of my favorites. I'll try to bring updates from the course to this blog every now-and-then.

I still have room for more students in the class, so if you're in the Fresno, CA area and have Tuesdays from 3:30-5:05 free and want to take it for credit or just audit let me know.

For texts we'll be using Bono in Conversation with Michka Assayas and Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog by Beth Maynard (over at U2 Sermons) and Raewynne J. Whiteley. Beth has been a great friend and somewhat of an inspiration for the class.

Here is a flyer for the course. Here is the the syllabus. And here is the class reading and topic schedule.

Feel free to comment, ask questions or give input.

 

Concert DVD released: U2360° at the Rose Bowl

I recently wrote a review of the new concert DVD U2360° at the Rose Bowl. Here's a teaser.

The release of U2360° at the Rose Bowl couldn’t have come at a better time. Whether by coincidence, synchronicity, or divine providence, I am again holding tickets for a postponed U2 tour (I also had tickets for the Vertigo tour finale in Hawaii which was delayed eight months). So, as I write this I should be standing in the GA line for the June 6th Anaheim, CA, show, but it’s a wonderful consolation to watch the new DVD and offer a few reflections.

On October 25, 2009, I attended the filming of the concert with a group of friends. We ended up with great spots on the floor about twenty feet in front of The Edge. The crowd was in prime U2 form, and the atmosphere was exuberant, so I wasn’t sure how the DVD would compare. Could my 50″ flat screen adequately represent the ethos, emotion, and energy of a front and center live performance?

Read the whole review here at the Interference website.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu with U2 at the Rose Bowl

As part of U2's celebration of grace at the Rose Bowl on October 25, 2009, Archbishop Desmond Tutu gave an inspiring pre-recorded speech. Here's what he had to say.

The same people who marched for civil rights in the United States are the same people who protested apartheid in South Africa, who are the same people who worked for peace in Ireland, and are the same people who fought against debt slavery in the jubilee year 2000, who are the same BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE that I see when I look around this place tonight in 360 degrees. WE are those people. WE are the same person. Because our voices were heard millions more of our brothers and sisters are alive thanks to the miracle of AIDS drugs and malaria drugs. Ahhhh! They will be doctors, they will be nurses, they will be scientists who will live to solve GREAT problems. Yes, there are many obstacles. Of course, there are always road blocks in the way of justice. But God will put a wind at our back and a rising road ahead if we work with each other as ONE... ONE!

The DVD of this concert was just released this week. If you would like to read my entire review of the concert check out the U2 Interference site here.

U2 at the Rose Bowl #1: No line at the Rose Bowl

This is the first installment of a series of reviews on U2's Rose Bowl concert.

GA line experiences can be exciting preludes to a U2 concert, but the one at Pasadena’s Rose Bowl was a test for even the most hardcore fans. GA, an abbreviation for General Admission, allows ticket holders to stand on the floor and get right up to the stage for a decent price. Anyone who has waited all day in one of these lines knows that they take on a life of their own becoming living, breathing, dynamic organisms.

At the Rose Bowl GA fans started assembling outside the stadium the day before the October 25 show, and did what U2 fans so famously do – self-organize. Wristbands with numbers were handed out and coordinated with a master signup list. A couple of fans met with the Rose Bowl security team and crafted a plan for concert day. A hotline was even set up instructing fans to arrive in a designated parking lot at 7:00 AM.

Our group arrived right on schedule. The first disappointment came when we had to walk almost a mile to the opposite side of the stadium where the GA line was forming. But we were pretty excited since our wristbands (from the day before) were numbered in the low 200s. Though we probably shouldn’t have been, we were surprised when we got to the line and there were already more than 500 people ahead of us, some having arrived as early as 4:00 AM.

It wasn’t long after our arrival that several event security staff came around and placed us in small clusters of 250, and renumbered our hands. More frustration – I moved from number 235 to number 591. We settled in, licked our wounds, put up a tent awning and busted out the food, iPods and the October 15 issue of Rolling Stone, with the resolute will of a true U2 fan to make the best of the situation.

Right around lunch time the event security staff came through the GA line again accompanied by several Pasadena police officers. This time they issued new wristbands with new numbers. What luck! I moved to number 521.

It was a picture perfect day for weather, friends and music… until about 4:00 PM. That’s when all hell broke lose. If you’ve stood in a GA line you know that there can be several false starts where people get up, shift around, move forward, and hope that they’re finally going in. But Pasadena was different. Without warning everyone stood up and rushed forward. From there things rapidly deteriorated. There were no security personnel present, there were no instructions given by a guy in a yellow jacket (you know, “no cameras with long lenses,” “no backpacks,” “small bags will be searched,” and “no flag poles”), and there were no staff to coordinate the flow.

Tempers began to flare, profanity and heated arguments abounded. We were packed against each others’ smelly, sweaty bodies so tight that there was no room for fresh air in the 90 degree heat. But worst of all, the tail end of the GA line rushed forward, crashed the barriers (which were primarily made of yellow “caution” tape) and overwhelmed the front of the line.

There was no sense of order or control. Confusion reigned. Two thousand people surged toward one gate manned by a few terrified ticket takers and one guy who now produced a bullhorn that no one could hear. I Facebooked, “This might be dangerous.” Within ten minutes there was no line at the Rose Bowl.

And then something very reorienting happened. We could hear the band sound checking and at the moment tempers, chaos and stifling air seemed to coalesce for the perfect storm, Bono’s voice broke through:

Every day I die again, and again I'm reborn
Every day I have to find the courage
To walk out into the street
With arms out
Got a love you can't defeat
Neither down or out
There's nothing you have that I need
I can breathe
Breathe now

I’m not sure if others heard it, but I did. And it worked.

I turned to the somewhat shaken and frustrated group I was with, “You know, we’re gonna have a great time. We’re not going to let someone else’s bad day ruin ours.” There was a wisp of fresh air. The stranger next to me responded, “That’s right. That’s what real U2 fans do.” I could breathe.

In the end, we got great spots on the floor; part of our group on the back rail in front of Adam, the other part just four deep in front of The Edge. Yes, there were people in front of me whose hands were numbered in the 1500s, and a host of rude and obnoxious (and probably drunk) people tried to crowd in during the Black Eyed Peas, but we celebrated with nearly 100,000 others in the Bowl, and millions via YouTube, at a party of love and grace, appropriately starting our time together with Breathe.

There’s nothing you have that I need. Now I can breathe.

It's hard to get in the door: A Christian radio station predicts the end

"It's hard to get in the door" is a series of posts illustrating why those searching for Christ often have a hard time accepting the church. If you have been raised in the church, try imagining what this piece would look like if you had grown up in a world without it. If you are unfamiliar with the culture of church, this will probably seem pretty absurd. All comments are welcome!

THE END OF THE WORLD IS ALMOST HERE! HOLY GOD WILL BRING JUDGMENT DAY ON MAY 21, 2011. So says Family Radio. Apparently May 21, 2011 is exactly 7000 years after the first day of Noah's flood. Oh, and 200 million (of us?) will be raptured.

This can't even be called "theology." It's the worse kind of scripture abuse and it's the stuff of cults, not Christians. Family Radio has hundreds of stations in 30 languages all over the world, and has been broadcasting for half of a century. It's hard to imagine how many people have fallen for this tripe.

On their website this "ministry" includes a detailed explanation of how salvation happens including step-by-step instructions. There's no ambiguity here. On their FAQ page the question is asked, "Should I attend church?" The answer: "Definitely NOT! The Bible tells us that for almost 2000 years after Jesus died on the cross, those who believe in Jesus, if possible, were to be members of a church. But now we learn from the Bible that God is no longer saving people through the ministry of the churches. The church age has come to an end. Fact is God commands in His Law book, the Bible, that the true believers are to leave their church."

So, get ready for the end of the world. Party on Friday. It'll happen on a Saturday. Sunday will be hell. This is really gonna put a damper on the movie 2012.

We ate the food, we drank the wine
Everybody having a good time
Except you, You were talking about the end of the world

Waves of regret and waves of joy
I reached out for the one I tried to destroy
You, you said you'd wait, 'Til the end of the world

"Until the End of the World" from Achtung Baby, 1991

U2 might have "too much theological content"

I'm sitting in the Dulles airport, after the U2 academic conference, and need to do a quick post about something that's bugging me. It's Beth Maynard's last post on her U2 Sermons blog. I read what she said late last night and I guess it stayed with me. She says something about the theology of U2 that is worth repeating. I could never say it as eloquently as her, so here it is in her words.

I'm annoyed when people choose bits of U2 lyrics as excuses to say something they want to say about theology without stopping to notice what the actual preoccupations of the whole text are. I'm annoyed when people highlight nothing else in U2 lyrics than the kind of material that would of necessity appear anywhere any Christian content is in play. I'm annoyed when people use U2 lyrics to claim U2 for their theological team. I'm annoyed when people pick a few U2 lyrics out of context to check off the "pop culture" box in their largely unrelated Christian talk. I'm annoyed when people act as if every U2 song must somehow be in code, a secret message that's "really" "about" some inner-circle Christian topic. I'm annoyed, in other words, when Christians interact exploitatively, superficially, thoughtlessly, or in a partisan way with U2 lyrics. And yeah, that happens a lot.

But I'm beginning to question if there's such a thing as claiming "too much" theological content for U2 per se. Maybe the real problem is just people claiming that content poorly.

I love this! Beth consistently argues against any notion that there is a dichotomy between sacred and  secular, holy and profane, Christian and non-Christian. I have been guilty of making that distinction for a good part of my life. I grew up believing I had to listen to Christian music because the secular stuff was bad for me. I lived through the "Bob Larson" era when we were told that drums brought evil spirits from Africa, rock music played backwards would say "Worship Satan" and burning cassette tapes would send those demons back to hell where they belonged. I knew that Christian equaled good, non-Christian equaled bad.

This bimodal way of looking at life leaves all kinds of dilemmas. Why could I listen to classical music and not other "secular" music? Was it because the classical masters were writing music for the liturgy (never mind about their personal lives)? What about art, was it acceptable to look at paintings only if they were painted by someone who believes in God (like Thomas Kincade)? Like Abraham in Sodom, can I listen to a band if there are three Christians in it? What about two? One? How many Christians in a band does it take to make the band Christian? Movies... R-rated are out of the question. Unless, of course, it's about the death of Christ and it's directed by Mel Gibson (he's Catholic you know; again, never mind about his previous movies or personal life -- that doesn't count anymore).

One of my favorite stories from the early years of U2 is when a publication in Britain announced that U2 was a "Christian band." Bono said in 1981 at a gathering of Christian musicians that the day the article broke he ran down the road to a friend's house and yelled, "We’re a Christian band! It’s all over. We’re finished." And then he commented to the group, "I thought the witness had ended!” At another point he clarifies, "We weren’t going to tell anybody, we were going to witness by our lives.” He goes on, "Jesus said that we should be the salt of the earth." Then he quotes Isaiah, "Sing his praises to the ends of the earth." That was, and still is, the founding mission of U2.

From the beginning U2 have worked against the dichotomy that something is either Christian or non-Christian. Bono in particular articulates this. His purpose for the band was that of mission with and in the culture, not isolated from it. This integration of faith in life, the refusal to compartmentalize and the embrace of God's creative activity in every corner of this planet is good theology and practice.

In the course I teach, Theology Culture and U2, I ask one question on the final exam: How has this course changed your understanding of theology? Many students reflect significant change and can speak to a more holistic sense of theology. Here's what Karen wrote:

Before taking this class, I thought theology was simply the study of God. I can understand now that theology is yes, based on orthodoxy, but also orthopraxy. The music of U2 has freed my soul in a way. Ha, I’m now more annoying to others – telling them what Jesus is doing in the world and throwing a few U2 facts and lyrics in as well. But more than just learning to “act out” my faith more, or even speak up more… things and life and faith become more primal. More sensory-oriented. Let’s taste our faith, feel our faith, smell it, hear it, let’s touch it. But together, please.

No need to be repulsed. Christianity lived at a distance form culture is a truncated shallow experience at best. If you're looking for affirmation of credal statements and four easy steps to heaven, don't look to U2. But, if you're looking for music and lyrics that struggle with the fallenness of humanity and the potential for redemption within that fallenness, not always having trite and comfortable answers, then, as Beth Maynard signals, U2 might just have "too much theological content" for you.