Tag: Faith and Doubt

Jesus & the YMCA

The Y decided long ago, wisely, not to make religion an expectation or requirement of membership or employment.

Loyalty to Jesus Christ is always about grace, about gifts and blessing, not about coercion.

George Williams and his eleven friends – and later Anthony Bowen, John Mott, MLK, Paul Limbert, Harold Smith, Carlos Sanvee – are evidence of what happens to men who do believe Jesus, who take a leap of faith and pledge their loyalty to the Kingdom of God.

And that is how Jesus is alive and well in the YMCA today, when Y staff and members show up desiring to embody the love and loyalty of Christ to whoever comes across their path.

“I first learned in Bridgewater”, said Williams, “to love my dear Lord and Saviour for what He had done for me…I was on the downward road…I said, ‘Cannot I escape? Is there no escape’ They told me in this town of Bridgewater how to escape—Confess your sins, accept Christ, trust in Him, yield your heart to the Saviour. I cannot describe to you the joy and peace that flowed into my soul when I first saw that the Lord Jesus had died for my sins, and that they were all forgiven.”(7)

Sir George Williams, quote taken from edhird.com

It is undeniable, the role of Jesus in the origins, heart and purpose of the YMCA.

George Williams and the eleven Christian friends who founded the Y in 1844 did so out of their love and loyalty to the Lord Jesus.

As an Association it’s impetus for action was Christian love and loyalty to the Young Men in their factories and neighborhoods who were facing crushing inequities, overwhelming temptations to vice, loneliness and purposelessness.

Our history is centered on the real presence of Christ Jesus, a man who figures in the background of the Y and the foreground of our leaders throughout the many generations.

The Y logos since 1881

The “X” and “P” in the background of the original Y logo are Greek letters, religious symbols for the name of Christ in the New Testament, written in Greek and spelled XRIST – Chi Rho Iota Sigma Tau.

Was the simplification of the logo in 1897 a secularist removal of Christ from the Y or rather a pragmatic marketing move?

Considering the Christians leading the Y in those days, men like John Mott, Luther Wishard, etc, their work and words, attitude and lifestyle was the real embodiment of the “C” in the YMCA.

The reality is that Christ is present in the Y irregardless of what the logo looks like, for it is through people that Jesus does his reconciling work, not marketing materials.

It is undeniable, though, that the role of the “C” – of Jesus – has become more complicated and conflicting in the YMCA.

The 1960’s seemed to have changed everything. One could make the case that the Great War of 1914 broke the ecumenical Christian Spirit of the world, that the Holocaust and atom bomb of WW2 poisoned the global Christian Spirit, and that it took decades for these reverberations to unsettle and upheave Christianity in our American culture; the 1960’s were the unveiling of the brewing chaos.

In post-war 1940’s elderly John Mott is noticing the waning of the Christian mission of the Y; in the 1950’s the famous Christian theologian and Y advocate Emil Brunner is calling the Y back to Christ; in 1989 the revered 101-old Paul Limbert laments the lack of awareness of Christian principles and legacy in the Y.

The YMCA was affected by the 1960’s, and all that led up to it, and since then; in some ways the Y embodies the culture of its communities and countries – in other ways we influence it.

One example: The diversity of Christianity in the USA is found in our YMCA staff and members.

This religious inclusion was intentional, hard-fought, often resisted, but crucial to us living out our name.

What the Y learned through religious inclusion has been seeds for greater inclusion amongst our increased dimensions of diversity – not without struggle, obviously.

Christians have always been part of the push for inclusion in the Y; they are also ones who resist it.

That’s been the history of Christianity, it’s attempt to live out Jesus’ prayer recorded in the New Testament Gospel according to John “that they may all be one.”

As Christ’s gospel encountered different tribes and nations, the diversity of the Faith increased, and so did the complexity and conflicts amongst the Body of Christ.

You can see this in the by-laws of the YMCA:

THE YMCA IS UNIVERSALLY REGARDED AS BEING IN ITS ESSENTIAL GENIUS, A WORLDWIDE FELLOWSHIP OF PERSONS UNITED BY A COMMON LOYALTY TO THE PRINCIPLES OF JESUS CHRIST FOR THE PURPOSE OF DEVELOPING CHRISTIAN PERSONALITY AND BUILDING A CHRISTIAN SOCIETY. THE YMCA SHALL BE NONDENOMINATIONAL AND SHALL NOT DISCRIMINATE AGAINST ITS STAFF, BOARD, VOLUNTEERS, COMMITTEES, MEMBERS OR RECIPIENTS OF SERVICES BASED ON ANY CHARACTERISTIC OR STATUS PROTECTED BY FEDERAL, STATE OR LOCAL LAW AND IS COMMITTED TO A CULTURE OF INCLUSION AND UNDERSTANDS, RESPECTS AND VALUES THE DIVERSITY OF OTHERS.

It’s ironic: as Christians strive to bring the peace-full gospel of Jesus to more people, there sometimes ends up being more struggles and even chaos – hence the emphasis by the Y on inclusive fellowship in imitation of Jesus Christ.

The Paris Basis of the YMCA, the original document for framing how different Christians could work together across the globe emphasized “harmonious relations”:

“The Young Men’s Christian Associations seek to unite those young men who, regarding Jesus Christ as their God and Saviour, according to the Holy Scriptures, desire to be his disciples in their faith and in their life, and to associate their efforts for the extension of his Kingdom amongst young men.
Any differences of opinion on other subjects, however important in themselves, shall not interfere with the harmonious relations of the constituent members and associates of the World Alliance.”

What could it look like now it for Jesus to still be part of the Y? Challenge 21 is a compelling strategy and framework, developed in 1998 in reflection of 15 decades of YMCA ministry.

The first challenge is: “Sharing the good news of Jesus Christ and striving for spiritual, intellectual and physical well-being of individuals and wholeness of communities.” Read more at https://www.ymca.int/about-us/ymca-history/challenge-21-1998/

Sometimes we think too little of Jesus.

Is Jesus like a little Christmas elf, lurking in our buildings to bless people? Is he a ghost that haunts our facilities with nostalgia for the glory days of Christendom?

Is he a severe judge condemning all the sinners who work out at the Y? Is he a cultural critic of the right or left?

Is he wringing his hands at the mission drift of the Y? Is he rolling his eyes at the crazy Christians in the Y? Is he a timidly permissive of whatever people want to do or believe at the Y?

No.

Whatever Jesus is doing in the Y – in our world – in our communities – in our homes – it is with and through people, for all creation.

And whatever Jesus has done, is doing, and will do, it will often be – to be frank – unbelievable.

Why do I say that?

Because that’s the general experience of people as recorded in the New Testament.

It requires a leap of faith, to quote Kierkegaard, to believe Jesus existed and is still who he claims to be.

On the face of it, there is an unbelievability to Jesus.

But George Williams and his eleven friends – and Anthony Bowen, John Mott, MLK, Paul Limbert, Harold Smith, Carlos Sanvee – are evidence of what happens to men who do believe Jesus, who take a leap of faith and pledge their loyalty to the Kingdom of God.

And that is how Jesus is alive and well in the YMCA today, when Y staff and members show up desiring to embody the love and loyalty of Christ to whoever comes across their path.

The Y decided long ago, wisely, not to make religion an expectation or requirement of membership or employment.

Loyalty to Jesus Christ is always about grace, about gifts and blessing, not about coercion.

History shows that Jesus is not bound to our expectations and will not be manipulated or coerced, nor will he require that of us to others.

The grace of Christ grants us an almost unbelievable amount of freedom – which is why St Paul admonishes us to use our freedom for good “all things are permissible but not all are beneficial.”

At almost 180 years old, the relationship the Y has with Jesus is complicated and conflicted, which ought not to be much of a surprise.

But no matter how many decades have elapsed, life with Jesus always require more trust, which means there always more room for doubt.

Our faith only grows when tested, which means we will face more complicated conflicts which give us the opportunity to increase our hope and reveal the resiliency of our love and dependence on God’s Grace.

Are there still Christians still in the Y? Yes.

Is Jesus and the Y still a thing? Of course?

Do we crave more certainty and security about the “C” in the Y? Probably too much.

Did Jesus come to make people comfortable and happy? Not really.

Jesus did come to be the light in the darkness, to rescue us from evil, to call people to join him in a ministry of reconciliation for the restoration of all creation.

That’s what Jesus is doing in the world, in the Y, with and through and for people – people who can be stiff-necked, hard-hearted, stubborn and rebellious.

Yet he faithfully, patiently, with great endurance overcomes evil with good, redeeming it all by love, for those that believe it, who trust that this is what God is doing in the world through Jesus.

Sometimes Christ is in the background of our Y, like in that first logo; sometimes you can’t see him in obvious ways, like our current logo.

But since it’s by faith, through grace, that Jesus fulfills God’s will in the world, may we choose to believe that Christ is in the Y, that he is mysteriously present in the background and foreground leading us – the complicated and conflicted people that we are – into his promised future, where there is flourishing for all.

Here is how Carlos Sanvee authentically puts it, our World YMCA Secretary-General, in his 2021 Easter message to the Y:

I also realised how my faith in Jesus aligned with my African understanding of Ubuntu: that a person is a person only through other people; and that I am, because you are.

The YMCA taught me triangles and trinities: of the interlinkage of body, mind and spirit; and the interrelation of me, my neighbour and God.

So my work has always been my faith, and my faith has always been my work.

The core of my faith is to endeavour to accept and understand the unconditional love of God, shown to us at Easter. And my work is to try and share that love.

Jesus poured himself out in love and service. He preached and he lived the social gospel. He bridged the divides in society, and he reconciled us to God and to each other.

We in the YMCA are called to do the same.

Carlos Sanvee, https://www.ymca.int/eastermessage/
Ascension of Jesus

YMCA and Gerard Manley Hopkins

YMCA and Gerard Manley Hopkins ::: an unlikely and unique connection between the genius of George Williams and the British poet Hopkins – a rare exploration of the convulsive context in which the Y was founded and the poetry created – both a testament to their personal and transformative experiences of God’s salvation and calling upon their life.

The Y and Hopkins were born the same year, in 1844; both British in birth and embodiment of the diverse Christianity that grounded their culture.

June 6, 1844 is the founding of the Y; Hopkins is born July 28, 1844 and would die still a young man at age 44 on June 8, 1889.

  • George Williams
  • Gerard Manley Hopkins

This past Sunday I wrote about Williams founding the Y, today on Hopkins death-day I want to remember him and the cultural context he shared with the Y, and what it could contribute to an ecumenical Christian emphasis today.

There are very few articles on the internet that make this kind of unique connection; this one published by JSRT of Gonzaga University titled Romantic Critiques of Industrial Technology is illuminating.

A bit more about the context in which the Y was founded:

The Young Men’s Christian Association was founded on June 6, 1844 by 23 year old George Williams and eleven Christian friends.

Williams was involved in the drapery or clothing industry, and would become very successful and prosperous in it.

His conscience was pricked by the complex societal difficulties and suffering of urban families, especially the young men leaving the family farms for factory work.

This cultural upheaval was experienced as one caught in the roiling surf, almost caught by a riptide but almost to tired to take the extended hand of the lifeguard in the boat.

The YMCA was started for multiple intertwined reasons: to save the souls of young men in the city who had left their parish behind; to save the minds of these young men from the grinding and filthy monotony of the factories; to save their bodies from the base temptations afflicting their neighborhoods.

The wider cultural changes included resentment and resistance to the calculated rationale of the Enlightenment and its mechanistic interpretation of the world which fed the appetites of industrialists but destroyed families.

Movements emerged which sought to re-humanize the world, to lift up the heart and value personal experiences; this was reflected in part by the birth of evangelical revivals which stressed individual conversion marked by emotional and dynamic evidences.

Poets, artists, novelists, philosophers and theologians all added their talent and energy to this movement.

The YMCA was not the only Christian organization to emerge in this time to rescue young men from the de-humanizing industrialization of the community and create space for them to have a transformational inward spiritual awakening and calling.

It seems so simplistic now, but it was a radical act of hospitality to open up housing for these young men that was safe, sanitary, secure, but also spiritually alive.

Bible studies, prayer sessions, worship gatherings were all forms of protest against state-supported or traditional churches that rigidly clung to form of transformation, logic over emotion, correctness over inspiration, hierarchy over brotherhood.

Inspired by the dark and grueling context in which Williams founded the YMCA, what are the depressing and gross circumstances that young people need rescued from today?

What kind of housing and hospitality, safety and spiritual vitality can the Y offer in these dangerous days?

A bit about Hopkins and his context in 1844:

Gerard Manley Hopkins converted from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism, inspired by the writings of Cardinal John Henry Newman, much to the sorrow and grief of his devoutly religious family.

As a young man he was caught up in continual conflict, complicated loyalties, frustrated talents, and isolated friendships.

His deep love for nature and people put him at odds with the rational industrialized culture which prioritized technology and production over people.

As a poet he had a roiled soul, drawn to love and serve God, inspired by the stunning Creation, but personally struggling with depression, loneliness, and meaninglessness.

Like the YMCA, he spent his life with young men, seeking to build them up in spirit, mind and body.

Though the YMCA was a evangelical Protestant Christian organization, and Hopkins a Jesuit Roman Catholic, they both valued the inner heart of an individual, striving to bring discipline and freedom to their soul, instructing and guiding others to be one with God and be His faithful servant in a fallen, corrupted, industrialized world.

The YMCA and Hopkins are both unique in their Christian contribution to God’s work in the world; both are still a force for good and an inspiration to Christians these many years later.

They both inspired many other people to experience renewal and attempt their own creative projects.

The Y has been a source of original contributions to the world: ESL, camping, basketball and volleyball, group exercise and swim lessons, etc.

Hopkins invented a fresh and engaging form of poetry, putting together new words and rhythms that compel attention and spur fresh insights into Creation.

At their heart, the Y and Hopkins strive to see the world as it really is, to see men and women as they really are, to see humanity in truth and grace.

They know darkness and the light, joy and suffering, friendship and abandonment, success and failure.

For Y leaders wanting a fresh perspective on seeing the world, try taking up some of Hopkins eclectic and intriguing poems.

For Christians wanting to remember the real context for the founding of the Y in all its complexity and genius, getting to know the real George Williams and Gerard Manley Hopkins can ground you as well as inspire you.

Here are a few of my favorite poems by Hopkins that attempt to help us see the complex spirit of humanity, the faithful Spirit of God, and how we can participate in the reconciliation and restoration of all things as ones loved and transformed inwardly by Christ Jesus.

Gerard Manley Hopkins – 1844-1889

God’s Grandeur

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs–
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

Sunrise over Jerusalem

Pied Beauty

Glory be to God for dappled things—
   For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
       For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
   Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
       And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise Him.

Silver Bay YMCA on Lake George, NY

As kingfishers catch fire

As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies dráw fláme;
As tumbled over rim in roundy wells
Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s
Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;
Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:
Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;
Selves — goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,
Crying Whát I dó is me: for that I came.

Í say móre: the just man justices;
Kéeps grace: thát keeps all his goings graces;
Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is —
Chríst — for Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men’s faces.

Kingfisher

#CHRISTISNOWHERE: Will We Find Jesus, Our King Of Christmas? – [Fourth Sunday / Sermon of Advent]

With all the shopping and wrapping, hurry and stress of the season, along with the many crises of 2020, it is almost impossible to sense the presence of Christ. What can we do to remember and live as if Jesus is King of our Christmas?

Advent is that season of the church which precedes Christmas.

It’s a time to remember when Christ was nowhere.

We are the Christmas people though, believing and giving witness to the world that Christ is now here.

But there was a time in the world when Christ was not.

And that is how it still feels for too many people.

It can feel that way in the church too.

Often it feels like Christ is nowhere, but we choose to remember and believe that Christ is now here.

There is a word that describes this Advent experience.

Prolepsis.

Prolepsis is not a word used much around my house. Never, actually.

For those in speech or debate class, you may be familiar with prolepsis. It’s the anticipation and answering of a possible objection to a point you are making in your presentation.

For those that are story-tellers, we use phrases that tap into prolepsis.

When we use a phrase like: “he was a dead man walking” – he’s not really a dead man yet, but he will be, and he is seen as a dead man now, though he is not yet.

A few years ago I was in jail, thinking about prolepsis.

Following my sermon study, I made a visit to the county jail. While waiting for the inmate to be brought out for our visit, I stood leaning against the cement wall pondering how to explain prolepsis.

I got to thinking of all the inmates I have visited in jail.

There are some inmates who are truly imprisoned.

For them, the past, present, and future are wrapped up in being imprisoned now. They feel trapped, they don’t know how to avoid being jailed, and though they don’t want to stay in prison, they don’t know what to do different to stay out of prison once they get out.

But there are the prisoners I visit with who are already free.

They may be on the other side of the glass, but they are with me in spirit. When we talk, we talk about what will be different, and what is already different. They are ready to do the work now that will both lead to freedom and keep them free.

They are not just living in the future, they are doing now what they will need to do in the future to be and stay free.

Though they are not as free as they want to be, they are as free as they can be. They are so certain of becoming an staying future, that they live and act now as if they are free.

That is prolepsis. The future present now, but not yet. The present that is yet to be. The future unfolding in the now.

Prolepsis in Scripture is scripted by promises.

Prolepsis helps us see the Christmas story anew, because Christmas is about promises made and promises kept.

Christmas is about the present that is yet to be, about a future that is unfolding in the now.

Christmas is about Jesus as king now, but not yet.

You can see this so clearly in Mary the mother of Jesus, as written down in the Gospel according to Luke.

The messenger of God proclaims good news to Mary:

you shall bear a son who will save his people from their sins; You will name him Jesus, and he will lead his people out of exile; Jesus will become king of Israel, he will sit upon the throne of his ancestor King David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom shall come and it will never end.

What does Mary do? A few things.

First she wonders why the angel is even there.

Then she wonders how all this will happen.

But then, in wonder and delight, she responds with faith and faithfulness:

“May it be to me as you have promised.”

Mary, Theotokos – mother of God

Soon after she hurries off to hang out with her cousin Elizabeth, who had a similar encounter with a messenger of God.

While there, Mary bursts into song, and it’s full of prolepsis.

Mary’s song envisions a world where what God has promised has already come to pass.

Mary’s Song of Protest, Gospel via Luke, chapter 2

All the angel did was announce the birth of a king, and Mary is singing about the downfall of the proud.

Mary believes a savior will be born, and now she is lauding the Lord for having lifted up the poor and humiliated.

She’s not even pregnant yet, and Mary acts as if the promises to Abraham and David have already been fulfilled.

That is prolepsis.

Believing a promise so strongly you behave as if it is fully true now.

King David had a promise-making moment with the Lord, one that is very relevant to Mary’s song and our proleptic examples.

He finally had rest from warring against his enemies. David sat firm and secure on his throne. But as he looked out from his palace, he realized that God dwelled in a tent. Whereas David sat in royal splendor, God’s house was a stitched together of animal skins.

Maybe David felt guilty? Maybe David felt bad for God? Whatever the reason, God wasn’t impressed. He didn’t need a new house, didn’t want a new house, and didn’t ask David to build anything for him.

Actually God put David in his place: who are you to decide what kind of house is good enough for God?

But then God followed up with a string of promises to David: God will build a house for David that lasts forever. The God of Israel who established David’s kingdom will cause it to never end.

It’s an extraordinary promise to David, who is completely humbled by this turn of events.

David breaks into song and prayer, praising the Lord for making this promise to his house, to Israel. But David sings as if the promise is already fulfilled, he prays as if the kingdom is an eternal one already.

It’s like when a bride and groom pledge to uphold their vows to one another, promising fidelity forever.

In that moment, they are caught up in savoring an eternal promise. Right there and then they experience the feeling of a promise of forever fidelity.

For sports fans out there, everyone knows that elite athletes practice prolepsis. The basketball shooter at the free throw line can see himself putting the ball through the hoop before he actually does it. The future point is already present in the now, but not yet.

The quarterback can already see his wide receiver making the catch in the end zone before the throw has been made. The sprinter has already crossed the finish line in first place before he is out of the starting blocks.

In their minds they are victors before the contest has begun. They practice in prolepsis, seeing themselves holding the trophy while they prepare for it as if it had already come to pass, but not yet.

This is what the church does when we share in Eucharist together.

The bread and the cup of communion is a present experience of a future reality, the Great Banquet with the King. We eat and drink now as if the Great Banquet has already started.

We believe we are having a communion with the Lord now as if he had already set the table.

Or take baptism: we go under the water and are brought up from it as if we were dying and being resurrected from the dead.

Baptism is death and resurrection now, but not yet. It is believing the promise so strongly, we live now as if we have already died and been raised bodily from the grave.

Prolepsis is powerful and transformative; it is the name we give to the experience of believing the promises made to us, and living in the light of them.

Advent is a proleptic event: it reminds the church that we are a proleptic people.

If you:

have been baptized, you are living in prolepsis

partake of Eucharist, you are doing prolepsis

believe the promises God made to Israel were fulfilled in Jesus and are given now to you,

then you are doing prolepsis.

Christmas is prolepsis; the First Christmas being prolepsis of the Last Christmas.

Jesus coming to Israel as their king was a now AND a not-yet reality.

He is God reigning over the world in Jesus of Nazareth, king of Israel and lord of all nations, but not yet.

The crucified, resurrected, ascended Lord Jesus Christ was, is, and shall rule in truth and grace forever; he does so now through the church, but not yet fulfilled.

He has promised to rescue us from sin and death, we experience it now, but not-yet.

We are so confident in Jesus keeping his promise to save us, that we act as if it has already happened; the future present now.

Our trust in the Lord is so strong that we live now as if our forgiveness on Judgment Day has already occurred; the present that is yet to be.

The faith we have in God is so vibrant, we believe that his reign has already begun on the earth;
Christmas is about promises made and promises kept.

Christmas is about prolepsis. Will you believe it?

For those with searching eyes and yearning hearts, it too often feels like Christ is nowhere.

That’s what it felt like to the inmate I visited in jail, as she poured her heart out to me. How does God feel so far away? Why doesn’t he feel close?

But to those who have heard the promise and believe it, Christ is now here.

That is prolepsis.

And that is what Christmas is all about.

2020 Lectionary Reading for the Fourth Sunday of Advent: 2Samuel 7v1-11 & 16 // Luke 1v47-55 // Romans 16v25-27 // Luke 1v26-38