Sackbut! Love, Pretty Women, Dogs, and Drinking

Sackbut! It was enough to make me snicker in Junior High School, especially when our trombone player spelled it using the variation of sagbutt. I am older now, so I went to the Sunday afternoon musical performance expecting antique music from sackbuts, lute, viols, harp, and more varieties of recorders than I had ever seen. The concert included a nice selection of popular music of the 15th and 16th century, as well as religious music by Martin Luther. We still sing many of the Luther hymns in church. The popular music seldom is heard, though the themes -- love, pretty women, dogs, and drinking -- are readily identified in country, rock, tejano, and other modern music. But do those moderns use the sackbut? And are they missing out, since Luther's hymns are sung 400 years later while the other compositions have faded?

Easter Sunrise 2009

"Christ Is Risen!"
"Christ Is Risen Indeed!"
That ancient response greets another year in the lives of the people of God. And we are invited to live into that proclamation. Yet, we, like Mary Magdalene, may be confused about the meaning at first. (She initially thought Jesus was a gardener, not a risen God, after all. John 20) But the Lord calls us by name to enter the promise -- the alternative answer to death and all the perceived finalities of existence. Our sights must rise to see God's great Easter news. Our sights can rise to newness in life!
No slacker to new meanings, Mary proclaimed, “I have seen the Lord.” That same Lord of newness calls us today and always to see the resurrection touch our world.

Good Friday

I was in seminary, carrying an old cassock supplied by a retired pastor. I was leaving my house to assist at a local church. The neighbor called out to me -- "where are you off to with that old black robe?" I explained that I was going to be a participant in a Good Friday service. Then she commented, "Good Friday? It wasn't very good for Jesus. He died." The quickest response I could find (since I was running late already) was "Well, it is good for us! He died for us!" Did that count as evangelism -- telling the Good News? Or was I just being flippant?
To this day, I love Good Friday. Maybe it is the emphasis in my seminary education on the Pauline theology of the cross. (A favorite of Martin Luther as well.) But whatever it is, how can you not immerse yourself in "Sacred Head, Now Wounded" or "Beneath the Cross of Jesus" as they are sung? Or how can your heart not melt when you read/hear the Passion account, pick your favorite Gospel. What a story. What a God. What a demonstration of God's love. What a Good Friday!

Maundy Thursday 2009: Feet, Love Command, Communion

The challenge for a preacher is to cram all these themes into one service, one sermon on the Thursday before Easter Sunday. Or, a pastor might delete one and focus on the other(s). But has the message then been lost or reduced? Even the original Four Gospel writers seem challenged. Only John places foot-washing and the giving of the Mandatum (Old English "maunde") -- "Love one another, just as I have loved you" -- in the context of the night Jesus was betrayed. And John's Communion service is reported in a completely different context (John 6). Matthew, Mark, and Luke all focus on the Holy Communion inauguration that critical night. So, I suppose one could focus on one, two, or three of the events and still be faithful to the diverse witness of the Gospels. Thank God, Jesus could keep them all together, even if we are not sure how!


The British painter, Ford Madox Brown, included most of the story in his work: Jesus Washing Peter's Feet at the Last Supper, circa 1865. But I am still not sure if "love" is there. The disciples look sad or confused to me. (Graphic from Tate Gallery, London)

For the third year, Dallas hosted an AFI film festival (www.afidallas.com). So far this year, I have only attended a movie called "Skin." The film set in apartheid-era (and after) South Africa relates the story of Sandra Laing, born of two "White" parents who is "Black" in appearance, when race was all important. Her parents had her legally declared "White" but the society judged by appearance. An engaging film, "Skin" journeys fully into sadness and disappointment with glimmers of joy and hope. It is worth seeing if it gets a US distributor.
I particularly appreciated the Q&A afterword where the actress playing the mother in the story, Alice Krige (a South African, perhaps better known as the Borg Queen of Star Trek), spoke about race relations in current day South Africa. She spoke about hope for the future of the whole nation, if only partially realized in the story of Sandra Laing. The hope was present because of the deep ability of the Africans to forgive the past, to accept the possibility of reconciliation. If that is possible for a nation, maybe we individuals can share it as well.