Creatio Ex Nihilo

Mythbusters: The Inconceivable Jesus

About fifteen years ago, I was sitting in a Mexican restaurant with my best friend Tom.  Tom was a college professor of classical languages.  That night we were joined by a friend of his, another professor named Alan.  Now when you get people like us together we tend to talk, and analyze and analyze.  Having two professors at the table only raised the level of analysis.

Now on this night, the topic of our conversation was very controversial.  The issue at hand was one of our identities, and how we were perceived in the world.  Entering a new phase in his life, Alan was thinking of making a big change and so was I. I had recently quit my job to start my own company and I thought this was as good a time as any to change who I was.  Alan agreed.  So we sat there for an hour debating the ins and outs of these proposed changes in our social identities.

Alan announced, rather seriously, his intention to make a big change in his life.  “Guys,” he said, “I’m thinking of buying a hat.”  Tom and I were taken aback.  “Are you sure you want to do this Alan?  A hat is a big step.”

You Can't Handle the Truth

A message on John 18:37-38 by Don Heatley, pastor of Vision Community Church in Warwick, NY.  Given at the Warwick Valley Ecumenical Council's Lenten Luncheon.

I have noticed something when I talk to people of younger generations? Well, it started with younger people?  And then moved on to include even people my own age?  I’m 46 years old?  But notice I am telling you I am 46 years old?  But it sounds like I am asking you if I am 46 years old?  It’s a way of communicating where our inflection always sounds like we are asking a question?  It’s a way of conversing where it always seems like I am looking for your approval? Or reassurance from you?  Like I have no passion? Or conviction?  Whatever? 

I don’t know if Pontius Pilate spoke that way, but I think he thought that way. When Pilate asks, Jesus, “What is truth,” I don’t think he is seeking a philosophical debate.  He isn’t starting a discussion about the meaning of existence.  Pilate was not a secret Christian.  History tells us he was a mean S.O.B.. He once crucified 2000 people in a one day.  Pilate’s “what is truth” is the imperial equivalent of “whatever”, “who knows?”, “yeah, what are you gonna’ do?”


Having experienced the intersection of multiple cultures, Pilate was jaded ruler who ahd seen it all.  Even his conclusion of “I find no case against this man” reveals his view that Jesus is no one special. “Sure, you’re the messiah Jesus.  That guy over there, he’s the Messiah,  The guy sitting in a drawn circle on the ground and praying, he says he’s the Messiah too.  Yeah, you’re the Messiah.  Whatever works for you.  Whatever.”

Mythbusters: I'm Not the Boss of Me

Over the past few weeks, we’ve explored different images of God, how evolution may be part of God’s creation, and whether or not Christianity is the only way to God (and whether that should even matter if you’re a Christian).  For many people, perhaps even for you, those are scary topics.  They are the kind of subjects that make you nervous, get your palms sweaty and your heart beating faster.  So you will be relieved to hear that today we are discussing a concept most of you will find safe, Jesus as Lord.

Lord.  Often it’s used merely as a synonym for Jesus.  For some, this interchangeability of the words “Jesus” and “Lord” extends back into the Old Testament.  In the Hebrew Bible, some translations print LORD in all capitals.  Contrary to common belief, in these texts, LORD refers not to Jesus but God.  For instance, when we read the story of the LORD giving Moses the Law, LORD refers to God, not Jesus.  More specifically, LORD is how many Bibles translate the divine name Yahweh, often written YHWH to prevent it from being spoken aloud.  This name is the “I AM who I AM” whom we met a few weeks back in the story of Moses and the burning bush.

Even so, “Lord “ and “Jesus” are used interchangeably with no regard for what Lord actually means.  In certain circles referring to Jesus as “Lord” or “the Lord” functions almost as a code which conveys that you are the right kind of Christian.  “I’m spending time each morning in the Lord” brings to mind a very different type of Christian than someone saying, “I begin my morning with contemplative prayer.” In other Christian subcultures, “Lord” functions almost as a punctuation mark.  I have been a part of communities where it was expected to  begin each line of my prayers with the word “Just” and end them with “Lord”. It made me fit in and sound like a Christian.

As you can see, due to bad experiences in my life, I have hot button issues  too. For me, when people start doing a lot of “Lord” talk, my palms get sweaty and my heart beats faster.  Someone says  “Lord” to me and I brace myself for an anticipated onslaught of judgmentalism, apocalyptic theology and right-wing ideology.  I get afraid of the word “Lord”, but I am afraid that I am afraid for the wrong reasons.

How ironic things like evolution, on the one hand, and fundamentalism o the other, scare us. But we find the idea of Jesus as Lord comforting. Jesus as Lord ought to scare the crap out of us. If it doesn’t, it’s because we do not fully understand the meaning of the word.  It’s like that scene in “The Princess Bride” where after Wallace Shawn repeatedly exclaims “Inconceivable!” in response to events that keep recurring.  Andre the Giant’s character responds, “You say that all the time. I don’t think that word means what you think it means.”

A New Home for Vision

Dear Fellow Visionaries,   Over the past seven years, whenever someone would ask me how Vision was going, I would always respond, “Great, but we’re still looking for a new place to worship.”  It seems I have been chanting that refrain forever. We have investigated many possibilities, rejected by some locations, and had a few disappointments along the way. Now, at long last, it appears we are heading to a new home.    In January, the leaders of the Amity Presbyterian Church in Warwick reached out to us about renting their building.  Vision’s leadership was very excited about this possibility, and we visited the site several times. Pam and I spent a lot of time there, and I spent a morning praying in the sanctuary.  I really believe this is the place where God is calling us, and Vision’s leadership agrees.   In the weeks since then, the Amity congregation has decided to dissolve after more than two hundred years in Warwick.  Later this month, the Hudson River Presbytery of the PCUSA will take over ownership of the property.  At that point, our church will begin negotiating the final details of renting the church property.  We are hoping, God willing, to be able to begin worshipping there before the summer.  We will communicate the exact details as they become available.   The Amity property (located at the intersection of Newport Bridge and Amity Roads) would empower us to be a church with ministries every day of the week.  In addition to the beautiful sanctuary (which is currently set up for a traditional worship style), there is a schoolhouse we would use for offices and a nursery on Sundays, and a house that we would use for VisionKids and our youth group. For many of you, this will be the church where you raise your children.  Picture in your mind this vision and the remarkable opportunity God is giving us.   In the meantime, we need all of you to do the following:   Pray for the congregation of Amity Presbyterian Church as they go through the painful process of closing their doors.  These wonderfully faithful Christian people are being very generous and accommodating to Vision. The good news is that many of you have been very committed to serving and giving to Vision.  In 2008, giving to our church was up almost 50% over 2007, for which we are grateful. However, as we grow, our expenses grow as well. At this time, Vision is not meeting our current budget. If we cannot close this gap in giving, not only will we be unable to make the move to Amity, the future of Vision will be in doubt as well. This Sunday, we announced the “Vision Stimulus Package”with the goal of raising $50,000 to close our current budget gap through the end of the year.  If each of our 50 families gave a one-time gift of $1000, we would meet this goal.  We ask that you prayerfully consider giving to this fund.  From this past Sunday's offering alone, we are more than a third of the way to our goal.  If you are someone who does not regularly attend Vision, but supports our mission, we ask that you pray for us and consider making a gift to our ministry.  Gifts can be sent to: Vision Community Church. PO Box 1122, Warwick, NY 10990. We need everyone to be more committed to attendance and to giving.  In addition, we need giving to be consistent.  Fill out a pledge card and make up for the weeks you cannot make it to Vision. In the fall, we explored God’s call for all of us to practice stewardship and tithing.  We have added some new tools to make your giving more convenient, including automatic debit of your gift to Vision.  For more information about this or any aspect of Vision’s finances, please contact our Finance Team.  I know how much Vision means to all of you.  God has been good to us for the past seven years and is now calling us to take the next step.  Many of you have told me that if it weren’t for Vision, you would not be in any church.   This is the time for you to decide to make Vision your church and ensure that we will be here to make disciples of Jesus Christ and continue God’s mission in the world.   This is the open door and moment for which our church has been waiting.   We must all have the commitment and courage to step through it.    May the Peace of God be with you, Don Heatley     Pastor - Vision Community Church

Mythbusters: One Way?

A message from John 14:1-17 by Don Heatley from Vision Community Church 3/15/09

It has happened to me so many times, that I don’t even know with which story to begin.  At our former church, an eighty year old woman in a Bible study  took me aside quietly and asked, “My best friend is Jewish and is the most good and moral person I know.  Is she really going to Hell because she’s Jewish?”  At a dinner party, a Vision member introduced me to their neighbor, who promptly attacked me by asking, “How can you say yours is the only right religion and everyone else is evil?”  I didn’t realize said that.  I had thought I said, “Hi I’m Don.”  At every dialogue sermon I have had here at Vision, some form of this question is always asked.  Not so much as a litmus test of “Do you believe Jesus is the only way?”  But more with an attitude of incredulity, “How can Jesus be the only way to God?”

That incredulity is understandable.  After all, we live in a pluralistic world.  Truth is, we always have.  It’s just that we are more aware of it now.  For those of us from culturally American Christian backgrounds, our parents and grandparents socialized mostly with other cultural Christians.  Sure, maybe they had a few Jewish friends, but that was about as exotic as things got.  Our grandparents went through most of their lives never really interacting with Hindus, except perhaps at the end of their lives when they were cared for Indian doctors.  Non-Christian people were a bit of an abstraction for previous generations, relegated to the tales of Rudyard Kipling or the pages of National Geographic.

But our world is very different.  Our children and we have friendships with people of diverse cultures and religions.  This became clear to me a few years ago when my daughter had a sleepover birthday party.  Our den was packed with sleeping bags holding girls who were Protestant, Catholic and Jewish. There was a Charismatic, an atheist, a white South African and an AIDS orphan from Ethiopia.  It was a veritable “We Are the World” in Sponge Bob and Dora the Explorer sleep attire.

Mythbusters: Creative Evolution

A message from Genesis 1 by Don Heatley from Vision Community Church 3/8/09

It doesn’t matter where you grew up, in a city, the suburbs or out in the country, every neighborhood has THAT house.  You know the one.  The one with the strange family, the parents who don’t act like the other parents on the street.  The kids seem strange.  Even their pets are a little odd.  It’s the house your parents always warned you about.   Yet, growing up in that neighborhood, you were always curious about that house and that family.  You would occasionally meet the kids and talk with them and they didn’t seem that weird.  In fact, they even seemed nice.  You wondered what all the fuss was about.  How were you supposed to reconcile the horrible things your parents and the others in the neighborhood told you about that house, with the good experience you actually had when you got to know that family.  Although no one could quite tell you why, or explain what would happen if ventured into that yard, the message was clear, “Stay away from that house!”

In the neighborhood of church, the theory of evolution has often been THAT house.  It’s the theological house on the street about which we are warned by some to “Stay away!”  Yet your experiences in life, your education, even your own sense of reason have led you to wonder, why are some people in churches so opposed to evolution?  You may have no objection to the concepts of evolutionary biology, but you have always been uncomfortable talking about them in church.  Perhaps you had the experience of voicing your thoughts in a church and were promptly corrected or even told your weren’t a Christian. 

Somewhere along the line, you got the impression that Christians cannot believe in evolution. If you did, you had to keep it quiet, sometimes to prevent being attacked, sometimes to avoid upsetting people.  Some well-meaning moderate pastor may even have told you he agreed with you, but patronizingly advised that verbalizing those thoughts could destroy the faith of a less enlightened Christian.

Mythbusters: 2.5 Random Things About God

A message from the Exodus 1:1-15 by Don Heatley from Vision Community Church 3/1/0

If you’re on Facebook, I don’t even have to explain the phrase “25 Random Things About Me”.  For a couple of weeks, it seemed everyone I knew was listing twenty-five things they wanted me to know about them.  I even wrote a parody of such a list on my blog, but unfortunately few people realized it was a parody. Some of my friend’s lists,  I really could have done without.  Did I really need to know which foods caused the frequent irregularity of a college friend?  Not really.  Yet, some of what I read on those lists was quite moving.  I discovered things about people I thought I knew well.  I learned about personal tragedies and challenges that I never knew about before.  Some misconceptions about them were shattered for me.  I feel like I know them better now.

This is why I wish God had a Facebook page.  Being a social kind of guy, I am sure he too would have taken part in the “25 Random Things About Me” fad.  We could use a list to shatter some misconceptions about God. This list would come in handy because atheism is cool again.   Much atheism is based on misconceptions about God.

 In recent years, I have met people who describe themselves as atheists. This is a curious phenomena since I don’t think many of these people would have used that word in years past  If I were to ask them, just say back in the nineties, about their religious views, they most likely would have responded, “I’m not religious.  I really don’t go to church,” or “I’m spiritual, but not religious”.  Nowadays, however, more people are comfortable going the whole nine yards and saying, “I am an atheist.”  (Personally, I think people tell me this to keep me from inviting them to Vision.  It’s a great way to close down the conversation.  Much like when I Jehovah’s Witnesses come to my door and I tell them I’m a pastor.)