maundy thursday

Maundy Thursday…the first Communion, the Last Supper of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This evening millions of Christians will gather around the world to take part in this Christian tradition of Communion that originated from the Jewish custom of Passover. The Christian tradition began on the night that Christ was arrested nearly two thousand years ago, while the Jewish custom began the night before Moses led his people out of exile in Egypt some 3500 years ago. In my tradition we believe that it was on this night nearly 2000 years ago that Christ gathered with his disciples to celebrate the Jewish festival of Passover, after all Jesus was a devout Jew. This night he broke bread with his disciples and said, “This is my body broken for you, eat in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took a cup and filled it with wine saying, “This is my blood shed for you, drink in remembrance of me.” Finally he took the bread and the cup and said, “As long as you eat the bread, and drink the cup you will have life everlasting.” These are not only Christ’s words from Scripture, but they are the words that will be spoken in many different languages and in many different ways throughout the world this evening. When we share table with one another we often only think of those who are sitting at the table with us, or sitting in the pews next us, however the table is a place that unites us all with one another and the body of Christ. While we may celebrate communion on different days than our fellow Christians, this night is one of the few that millions of Christians will participate in it on the same day. This night represents where the tradition of Communion comes from, and when we come to the table it is important to remember that we are not sharing this meal with only those members of our local church, but we are participating and celebrating with the church universal, the “holy catholic church”, as it says in the Apostles’ Creed.

Thirteen years ago I was baptized and confirmed into the church. I was baptized on Christmas Eve 1996, and it was the first time that I was able to share communion. At that time, I only knew that now I was able to eat a piece of bread or wafer and throwback a shot of grape juice. However, as I reflect on that moment thirteen years later I recognize the importance of that night, and communion. It was the night that I was baptized into the community of believers, confirmed in the church, and shared in Communion, which unites all of us in the Body of Christ with everyone who has shared that meal before us, with us today, and will do so in the future.

Let us also not forget how this night ended 2000 years ago. Christ was arrested after praying to the Father, and even in the midst of being betrayed and turned over to the Roman authorities he remained the same. Instead of instructing his Apostles to fight the soldiers, he instructed Peter to put his sword away, and when Peter did not and struck one of the soldier’s Christ picked the soldier’s ear off the ground and placed it back on his head and healed him. Thanks be to God for sending us his son to die on the cross for all of our sins. Thanks be to God for also giving the church such a tradition that unites the church as one body of Christ.

altar calls and holy week

A friend of mine and I have been having conversations about church and bringing people to Christ countless times over the last couple years. In the last couple of months these conversations have become more plentiful with him telling me how many people were brought to Christ on Sunday even though the Pastor’s sermon was not up to par. I’m glad to hear so many people are “becoming Christians” at his church. However, there are a couple things that bother me about this understanding of “becoming a Christian”. Christ called the Apostles in the last few verses of Matthew 28, “To go out and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” This verse does not say the way to gain converts is to preach a good sermon and then ask people if they feel “led” by the power of the speaker’s sermon or words to become a Christian. Instead the verse says to make disciples. Make disciples. Disciples are not made when in ministry we go an inch deep and six feet wide, disciples are made when we go six feet deep in all directions. In order to do that, we (as in pastors, youth directors, congregation members) must enter into conversation with others. We must enter into community with one another.

I’m currently reading Postmodern Youth Ministry by Tony Jones. A very good book and I recommend it to not only those who is in or looking to go into youth ministry, but anyone who has any interaction with youth in the church, or is interested in learning more about how to engage today’s youth through ministry. Anyways, on p. 133 Tony states, “Faith in Christ is a journey, a long-term thing. Discipleship is a path that takes a lifetime to walk.” He is exactly right. We should not be concerned with making altar calls and having people blindly confess their faith, rather we should be relational in our ministry and work to build relationships between those who are outside the church and the church. Being a Christian means being Christ-like. Christ did some of his most amazing work with people one on one not with a crowd of people. Sure he fed the 4,000 or 5,000 depending on the gospel you’re reading but mob also turned on him and sentenced him to death.

In the back of my mind I always wonder about these people “who are brought to Christ” via altar call on Sunday mornings across the country, and those who are call out to their congregations and say something like, “If you have been searching and have found Christ this morning and wish to become a Christian this morning please come forward. Or, if you have been struggling with your faith and wish to recommit yourself to the Lord please come forward.” What I find interesting, and would like to ask these people about is their understanding of salvation and the church. When these people are saved they carry that date with them for the rest of their lives, telling people I was saved when I became a Christian on fill in the blanks month, day, year. I push back at this understanding of personal salvation. You see to me, we (and when I mean we I mean the world (John 3:16)) were saved on a Friday about 2000 years ago when Christ died, that is the important day to remember.

Good Friday is coming up at the end of this week. Thursday I will begin posting everyday through Easter Sunday discussing my thoughts on the four of the most holy days in the church: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday, using texts that I will be preaching from this Sunday at Scottish Rite as we walk through Jesus’ final days.

opening night

Last night the Atlanta Braves opened their 2009 season in Philadelphia and won 4-1. It was a great game, not only because the Braves won, but also because of the way they played for most of the game, and the game reminded me of my grandfather. My grandparents lived right across the street from me for most of life, in fact as I type this I am sitting here in their house which I now live in. The Atlanta Braves were important to my grandfather, who was a Braves fan through the rough years, and he was so happy when the Braves won the World Series back in 1995 against the Cleveland Indians. The Braves were an important part of the relationship I shared with my grandfather. I would get home from school and walk across the street and we would talk about the Braves, and I would have the stats and know how every player was doing on our team. I would walk back across the street for dinner, and then come back over to his house when I was done to watch the game with him. I watched so many Braves games sitting on his lap as a child in his rocking chair, or sitting next to him on the couch when I got too big. I was reminded of my grandfather last night, and how much we enjoyed spending time together talking about the Braves and what we thought they were going to do the coming year. I never really knew the Braves when they were terrible I only knew of their success, and I expected them to always when the NL East and play for the World Series which they did several times in the 1990s. Last night as the Braves embarked on yet another 162 game season I thought of the man who shared my passion for the Braves. I thought about opening day and how for several years in a row my grandfather would take my cousins, my dad, and myself to opening night at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. As the new season begins I think about my grandfather and how much the Braves meant to him, and how much I meant to him. I think what was most important to him wasn’t how the Braves did night in and night out, but was spending those nights watching them play with me, his grandson. I miss him. Go Braves!

Tuesday of Chapel Week

Yesterday, Tuesday the 24th Tommy Carrico preached on Ecclesiasties 5:1-3 and our text for the entire week Matthrew 16:13-15 about who he says Jesus Chist is in chapel. The following is his sermon, please feel free to leave him and us any feedback that you have concerning his sermon.

Ecclesiastes 5:1-3 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; to draw near to listen is better than the sacrifice offered by fools; for they do not know how to keep from doing evil. Never be rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be quick to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few.  For dreams come with many cares, and a fool’s voice with many words.

Who do you say that I am?
Who do I say that you are?
Who do I, Tommy Carrico, say that you, Jesus Christ, are?

To be perfectly honest…I’m not entirely sure.  My first instinct would be to state the obvious – that who I say Jesus is depends on who I am arguing with.  In the past couple years I have said that Jesus is: fully god; fully human; both fully god and fully human; a myth; a neat historical figure; a savior; my savior; our savior; the savior; a prophet; a priest; a king; a teacher; a miracle worker; an exaggeration; god-with-us; the one true elect; the one true reprobate; and one way of experiencing the divine (to name a few).  Needless to say, I approach this question with freedom that comes with the knowledge that the hinge upon which Jesus Christ’s identity turns is not my answer to this question at any particular point in time.
My first semester in college, believe it or not, I developed several recreational activities that were less than beneficial to my education and general well-being.  Second semester, I began attending a Christian group on campus.  I made some very good friends in the first few weeks of the semester (while only engaging in a minimal amount of my first semester hobbies) and agreed to go to a conference that this organization was hosting.  At that conference I committed my life to Jesus Christ.  At that point, I confessed Jesus to be the one who rescued me from a life of sin and would act as the moral and ethical guide to all of my future endeavors.  I hadn’t really read much of the Bible, but I had been listening to what my new peer group was saying and doing and it was obvious that Jesus was the one who was solely concerned with the correction of my improper behavior, so I could be a light to show my first semester friends what a wonderful life they could lead by behaving just like me.
At this point, I need to make a disclaimer.  I have a natural tendency towards sarcasm.  However, my present disdain for the judgmental Christianity I formerly lived by combines with this sarcasm at this point to taint my story.  The experience that I had was real.  I do not regret it.  I do regret the bridges that I burned with the people that I judged…though I do believe this bridge burning certainty of capital ‘T’ Truth to be a testament to the power of religious experience.  The fact that I may experience Christ in new ways at different times in my life doesn’t negate any and every prior confession, but does cast them in a new light.
Since then, I’ve become much less certain which, I fear often becomes synonymous with “less faithful.”  This is not the case as I believe that faith should not exist without doubt.  Doubt, though, is a loaded term.  Much like a lack of certainty, doubt carries the stigma of being an attribute of a weak or failing faith leading to its suppression among those who fall short of the alleged ideal of certainty (which I believe are a vast majority of us).  However, I also believe that when expressing doubt one can be overly dismissive and use any reason for doubt as an excuse to shy away from difficult issues and give up attempting to answer questions that lack clear-cut answers.  In summation, doubt is something that can be perceived and employed incorrectly.
In my experience, doubt keeps me on my toes, causes me to ask questions, and make claims with the confidence that I have a good idea, but that I may be completely mistaken.  Doubt allows me to see other points of view by positing the notion that the other person may be right and I may not or – at the very least – that this person has as much to teach me as I may have to teach her.  It has allowed me the capacity to see why each side of a given issue makes sense within the framework of its adherents – which I must say makes discussing politics extremely difficult for me.  Doubt slows me down, and causes contemplation.  Conversely, faith urges me to act, to believe in something and to fight for it.  The thing about faith is it adds a sense of urgency to the impulse to define and do good.  The thing about doubt is that it adds a sense of urgency to the task of making sure that one’s own idea of “good” really is good.  Doubt keeps faith seeking (and acting) while faith keeps doubt from having the last word.
This all seems like somewhat of an endless cycle…and maybe it is.  But asking questions isn’t a bad thing, not asking questions or giving up seeking answers very well may be.  Five or six years into this period between doubt and faith, I am still encouraged by Qohelet, the teacher, gatherer, preacher who narrates the book we know as Ecclesiastes.  We heard this morning the admonition to “Never be rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be quick to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few.”  If my doubt and my faith are constantly calling each other into question, this verse reminds me that it is all done before God – in God’s presence.  This verse also states that God is in heaven and I am on earth.  I don’t take this to imply some sort of spatial distance between God and what goes on here, but a reminder that while from time to time I may ask some very clever questions and make some very astute observations I am not God, nor can I be certain that I share God’s perspective on the way things should work.  I am told by the wise, ancient sage to let my words be few and that it is better to draw near to learn than to offer the sacrifice of fools.  I am told to act with humility, knowing that I will always have much to learn.
Where exactly, though, does the person of Jesus Christ fit into this meditation doubt and belief in the presence of God?  The question of the week, after all, is: ‘Who do you say that Jesus is?’  Moving to an earlier point in Matthew, we read that “they shall name him Emmanuel’, which means, ‘God is with us.’ (Matthew 1:23)”  I agree.  Jesus Christ was a person, with all of the baggage that people have – the temptation, the anger, the joy, the confusion…But Jesus was, and is, God-with-us.  In the tension between faith and doubt we trust that God is and God is with us.  As usual, though, my confession of faith is now subject to questioning.  The seemingly simple phrase “God-with-us” may imply quite more than I intend it to.
First, it begins with the assumption that God exists.  However, my implying that God exists doesn’t mean that other people do or must believe this assumed premise.  Christians are allowed to confess that the Spirit moves outside of the church and still be Christians – even where God’s existence is explicitly denied or divine activity is referred to as something other than Jesus Christ.  This freedom of confession though does not mandate that those in whom we see the work of the spirit make the same confession that we do.     Secondly, the ‘us’ in this sentence may seem to imply that God is with us Christians and not with those…others.  I hope that by now you all realize that I don’t believe this to be the case.  Perhaps I would be clearer by saying that Jesus is God-with-creation.  People of differing faiths and no faith at all can work for the common good of each other and the world, and there God is at work, regardless of what each person may or may not name their motivating factor.
It would come as some relief to me if I could come to a firm conclusion and succinctly state who Jesus is or what makes a Christian a Christian.  However, I would feel cheated if I didn’t come in contact with those who believe differently from me, who challenge my assumptions and make me clarify my faith – my motivating factor to define and then work for the common good.  These are the experiences that make answering the question “Who do you say Jesus is” so difficult for me, especially when the most antagonistic questioner of my faith is myself.  How do I know?  I don’t.  I am – and in all likelihood will continue to be – listening, learning, asking questions and seeking answers in the presence of God.  I doubt.  I believe.  I say that Jesus is the one who grants the freedom to not know.  I say that Jesus grants the freedom to trust in the midst of uncertainty – uncertainty about God, about salvation, and about what exactly the “common good” refers to.  I say that Jesus is Emmanuel, God-with-us, and God-with-creation, and my motivating factor to define and work for the common good of creation.

Chapel Week

Today was the beginning of my group’s chapel week. Over the next few days I will be chronicling our chapel week as it progresses. The theme for chapel week is based on the question that Christ asks Peter in the Gospel of Matthew, “Who do you say that I am?” Over the past couple weeks my group has had the ability to talk to students and professors on campus, and some folks from the community around the seminary to video their interpretations of who they say Christ is to them. The answers we have received through video, and through opening this discussion to word through posting here and on soulpancake.com have varied. They have shown us that there is no single interpretation of Christ. Just as Christ understood himself in various ways, so too does the world today. Over the course of the week we will be sharing these understandings of Christ with our seminary community in chapel. Today we showed a few students, the President of the seminary, and the lovely prayer from Talladega Nights, where we find several different understandings of who Christ is, and what Christ does. If you are able to attend our chapel week at Columbia that’s great, and we thank you for attending. If not, that’s okay too; I will continue to post updates concerning our chapel week so that you may comment and interact with us in this space. If you have not already submitted your answer to the question, “Who do you say Jesus is?” We would love for you to take a moment and think about your understanding of who Christ is, and let us know by commenting here so that we might share your understanding with our community, so we might better understand the world that we live in.