Nathan R. Hale

A personal blog

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  • A meditation for Christmas Eve

    There are few images as precious to me as Christ on the cross, the Creator King of the universe hanging, naked from two rough pieces of wood, crushed like a common criminal…

    …Christ on the cross, defeating death by allowing himself to die while forgiving and loving even people like me that would do such a thing.

    The mercy and grace and indeed justice for all people in that image defies comprehension.
    But there is another image equally precious to me.

    It manifests when I realize in order for Christ to offer his perfect humanity on my behalf on the Cross, he had to live as a human.

    He had to be born as a human.

    So, the picture of baby Jesus, cradled in his mother’s arms, is indeed precious, its humility no less scandalous in our contemporary world—and perhaps more so—than the cross itself.

    At the cross we are ever reminded that God would not, could not, does not die for something he does not love.

    As we turn our attention this night to the baby in Mary’s arms we are rightly overwhelmed at the accompanying thought that God would not, could not, and does not live as something he does not love.

    There, in a naked, nursing baby, we glimpse something of the deepest goodness of God.

    This Christmas is so different, and even perhaps disappointing, when held up to what we wanted.

    The first Christmas was no doubt the same.

    No one wants to deliver a baby in the midst of foreign occupation, while obeying an inconvenient executive order, in the cold, among manure and far away from family.

    Nevertheless the light of that night has never been extinguished, and it gives light to the world still, and the darkness of the pandemic, of isolation, of unmet expectations, and unspoken hurts, and years of selfish and self destructive mistakes cannot overcome it.
    The light of Christmas is God becoming one of us because he loves all of us.

    The light of Christmas is the fullness of God entering the human family, and in so doing welcoming the fullness of humanity into the divine family.

    The light of Christmas is God taking on, not human illusions of progress, power, and prestige, but the real substance of humanity itself, womb to tomb, in all its frailty and vulnerability and smallness.

    The light of Christmas is Jesus Christ, God from God, living unrelenting love for every human, by becoming a human destined to die, so that his divine love would swallow death forever!

    He was raised, vindicated and Resurrected, by the Spirit of love. He now gives us that same Spirit, his Spirit, God from God come again to dwell in and among his people now!

    The light of Christmas is nothing less than true fellowship with God. This is something we can know and live and receive in and through and because of Jesus Christ and no one else!

    This Light and Love that has come to us in, through, and by Christ, transfigures us finally into the very image of Christ, and imparts to us immortality and eternity.

    It is the only gift we truly need.

    And the good news is that it is ours!

    Christ has come.

    Christ is here.

    Christ will come again!

    Amen.

  • A Culture of Unhealthy Silence

    I reject the notion that the solution to any communal tension is to pretend it doesn’t exist by not talking about it.

    As a pastor I have been explicitly discouraged on occasion from speaking about certain topics in the church because the topic itself–not simply the way or time in which in which it was approached–was considered inherently divisive.

    Yet topics in themselves do not have the power to divide. Only our reactions and responses to them do.

    And by not speaking about difficult topics openly and keeping each other accountable to loving, respectful dialog, we rob ourselves of the opportunity to actually resolve tensions in a healthy way.

    We have already surrendered to the demonic spirit of division.

    By fostering a culture of unhealthy silence, we sponsor a culture of suspicion that necessarily leads to fear, relational rejection, and pain.

    Worst of all, we are behaving as if our mutual faith in Christ and love for Christ in one another is not truly enough to be the ground and glue of our relationships.

    Either we can trust Christ and his Spirit with our whole selves and community (including disagreements and tensions) or we can’t.

    I believe Christ is trustworthy.

  • This Advent, those of us that claim the Name of Christ have an opportunity to–like John the Baptizer—point beyond ourselves, and cry out with joy and urgency the true story of God come to us in Jesus…

    …The true account of God come to us in the flesh, his miraculous birth, his perfect life, his sacrificial death, his vindicating Resurrection, and his Kingly ascension…

    …The true gift of God come to us now in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in and among us…

    …The true testimony of God come to us in the preaching of word, in the sacraments, and in the fellowship of the saints….

    …The true and only lasting hope of Christ coming again to finally renew all things.

  • “Holy ordinances are Christ’s, though administered by weak men.”

    ~ Matthew Henry

    Hallelujah!

  • Dan Scott, writing at Facebook:

    In the last few months, all sorts of prophets told us how the election would turn out, who was on God’s side and who was not, and so forth. These abusive claims were simply ways controlling others. They differed considerably from carefully constructed arguments from some man or woman of God saying something like, “after looking at this situation, or this ideology, or this person carefully in the light of our faith, I have come to the following conclusions and offer them for your consideration …”

    Saying “thus saith the Lord concerning how God intends for you to vote” is abusive, deceitful, and ungodly. Such tomfoolery should be dismissed out of hand.

    God has called his people to develop wisdom and discernment, He does not call his people to surrender their lives to some seer that stands beyond all accountability and common sense.

    Amen and Amen.

  • So grateful for Fr. Kenneth Tanner’s way of articulating a key implication of the Gospel here. This has helped clarify my thinking, soften my heart, and strengthen my faith.

  • Faithful companions

  • The reading chair

  • 108 COVID-19 deaths reported in AZ today. I believe this is a record high, the previous being 103 on July 17.

    Lord, have mercy.
    Christ, have mercy.
    Lord, have mercy.

    Almighty God, Father of mercies and giver of comfort: Deal graciously, we pray, with all who mourn; that, casting all their care on you, they may know the consolation of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

    Data source: www.azdhs.gov/preparedn…

  • With Pastor Matt, I affirm I’m not an economist. I’m a priest. That said, it is part of my vocation to bring the witness of Scripture to bear in regards to what a healthy society looks like and the place of material wealth in that society.

    So, I have been doing my best to carefully consider the biblical witness in relationship to a lot of emotionally-charged rhetoric around so-called “socialistic” and “Marxist” public policies–things like universal healthcare, more funding for public education at all levels, more taxes on the rich, and so on.

    I have been thinking about these things because they have been presented to me often as de-facto morally reprehensible because of an alleged connection to the economic/social philosophies listed above. However I’ve not seen a similar skepticism of the American version of “Capitalism” and its associated policies. So often, this has been presented as the “obviously Christian” option–mostly because it emphasizes a kind of non-coerciveness, I think, in the minimalist approach to regulation. There’s certainly something to that.

    Nevertheless, the post below is a great reminder that no economic/social/governing philosophy is wholly biblical, and careful discernment along with a counter-cultural, faithful witness is needed no matter what system we find ourselves in.

    Matt Tebbe, writing at Facebook:

    Some thoughts on ‘Marxism/Socialism’, Capitalism, and USA Christianity:

    1. Marxism isn’t an enemy to Christianity – any more than Capitalism is an enemy to Christianity- which is to say
    1. Both economic systems have a logic and telos contrary to parts of our Chrisitan story and yet
    1. I know Socialist Christians. And Capitalist ones.
    1. All that to say: here’s some things that aren’t socialist but seem like they are to USA Christians:
    • Collectivism: Every single culture represented in the Bible was collectivistic; we misread and misapply to our own peril when we individualize Scriptures. Biblical collectivistic assumptions aren’t Marxist, they’re Christian. Christians are told to live with a collectivist ethic in Scripture.
    • Critiques of meritocracy: It strikes us as unfair and criminal that people would get what they don’t deserve and yet the politic and economy of the Kingdom of God is scandalously un-meritocratic. To critique and dismantle meritocracy isn’t Marxist, it’s Christian.
    • Taking corporate responsibility for history/societal ills: The atonement loses all meaning, the stories of judgment and deliverance make no sense, Paul’s logic of jew/gentile unravels unless one holds to the notion of corporate responsibility. To be complicit and culpable in systems/structures of evil and have a responsibility to reckon with that isn’t Marxist. It’s Christian.
    • Suggest that wealth redistribution to the poor is morally superior to wealth redistribution to the rich: USA has billions of dollars in govt handouts to the wealthy, corporations, and rural middle class. Wealth redistribution is a central part of our economy. To advocate for wealth redistribution to the poor isn’t Marxist, it’s commanded over and over in Scripture (OT and NT, both individuals and governments). Wealth redistribution isn’t Marxist, it’s Christian. Wealth redistribution to the wealthy is Capitalist, not Christian.
    1. All these things seem Socialist (or Marxist) to USA Christians because we are good disciples of Capitalism.
    1. The reason Socialism seems like such a threat to us and elicits such fear in us is not because it’s incompatible with Christianity; it’s because it threatens our allegiance to Capitalism.
    1. I am no expert in economic theory; But I see the above dynamics playing out in articles, conversations, and books I’m reading and this is how I’m beginning to work it all out.