Enough about me. This is for [y]ou.
More on Me Here
e-mail me
What should i Link to?
Archives
Training Sight to See the Beatific Vision
Here's a good quote for Epiphany:
Second, the church's assemblies mst again become places of seeing. We are told by Scripture that in the Kingdom this world's dimness of sight will be replaced by, as the old theology said it, 'beatific vision.' It is a right biblical insight that God first of all speaks and that our community with him and each other [and it is of first importance] that we hear him and speak to him. It does not, however, follow, as Protestantism has made it follow, that to listen and speak we must blind ourselves. In this age, accurate hearing is paired with dimmed vision: it is precisely a promised chief mark fo the Eschaton that accurate hearing will then be accompanied by glorious sight. And in this age, the church must be the place where beatific vision is anticipated and trained. (Robert Jensen, How the World Lost its Story. p.135. (essay in collection).
This thought invites a lot of other thoughts and inquiries.
1. Would you consider your worship gatherings places of "seeing?" Most worship gatherings I go to these days settle to be places of feeling and thinking.
2. How are we cultivating and training our people to "see" and to "behold" the 'beatific' vision?
3. What is the 'beatific' vision?
4. How are we utilizing media and electronic imagery to inspire and train this kind of sight? How do we use such means to "substitute" for this kind of sight?
5. What are the limitations?
6. How might we be misusing electronic media and imagery?
7. What if one of the main questions we pondered about our worship experiences was, "What did I (we) see?"
8. Your question here?
Labels: epiphany, worship and media
posted by John David Walt | at 1/15/2009 03:00:00 AM | 7 comments
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Epiphany and The Blind Leading the Blind
One thing we want never to characterize worship leaders and designers: "The blind leading the blind."
Think about it. In the midst of the seduction of Eden, we get this exchange:
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."Then this:
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
How does one become aware of blindness while their eyes are open?
Now look at this. In the midst of the Epiphany of Emmaus we get this exchange. (Luke 24).
Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem. 14They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16but they were kept from recognizing him......
25He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26Did not the Christ[b] have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" 27And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
.....When he
was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"Anybody want to take a shot at some theological/doxological analysis from these "eye-opening" texts? Any "epiphanies" ????
Labels: epiphany
posted by John David Walt | at 1/13/2009 08:40:00 AM | 2 comments
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Worship and the Practice of Seeing
Epiphany is about seeing. Jesus echoes Isaiah when, in the midst of his parable teachings, he says:
15For this people's heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.' 16But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
Think about it. In order to "see" and not just look, one must have "eyes to see." The best worship design and leadership trains our sight (often without our knowing it), shows us where to look, and what to look for, but only the Spirit can make us see.
So what's the secret to "seeing?" I think it begins with the humble disposition to recognize I have not seen it all yet. Somehow, the pride of my familiarity must be broken. I must learn to read anew. Just when we think we have extracted all the "relevant" applications out of the text, we must remember that reading Scripture is less about getting something out of it, and more about getting ourselves into it. I am looking for worship design and leadership that opens doors into vast chambers of revelation, orienting me with the kind of World God is making, where mountains bow down and oceans roar and the trees of the field clap their hands in joy. This kind of worship begins with an epiphany, wherein we behold the manifestation of Jesus Christ. There's so much to say here-- but people don't read long blog posts. ;-) Let me give a favorite pastor and a profound poet the last words on this entry.
There is hardly a detail in the gospel story that was not at the time (and still) overlooked because unlikely, dismissed because commonplace, and rejected because illegal. But under the surface of conventionality and behind the scenes of probability, each was effectively inaugurating the kingdom: illegitimate (as was supposed) conception, barnyard birth, Nazareth silence, Galilean secularity, Sabbath healings, Gethsemane prayers, criminal death, baptismal water, eucharistic bread and wine. Subversion. Eugene H. Peterson, The Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989) p.33.
Earth's crammed with heaven and every common bush aflame with God,
but only he who sees takes off his shoes.
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.
To design and lead this kind of worship, we must recover the humility to see and the faith to take off our own shoes. . . .
Labels: epiphany, practicing the story, story, worship
posted by John David Walt | at 1/08/2009 10:20:00 AM | 1 comments
Today...