2023 The Heart of Christianity: Sin and Salvation and...

This week’s teaching dovetails nicely with Marcus Borg’s chapter on Sin and Salvation from his book, The Heart of Christianity. The root meaning behind the word “save” that provides foundation for the word salvation is “to heal”. To make well. To make whole. To bring harmony where there was discord. To bring peace – not simply the absence of conflict but something much deeper – a sense of everything working together for the wellbeing of the whole. Salvation for an individual would be that a person is deeply well and whole. Salvation for a relationship would mean that the relationship was deeply well and whole. Applied to communities and countries, it would mean that all involved feel the same deep peace and wellbeing, a fairness for all. Saving the planet would mean that it is well and whole, too, operating in health and harmony. The salvation sought, I believe, is at the core of every person’s deepest desire. Deeper than the self-centered goals of the Western world that focus on personal success and accumulation without significant regard for the impact of their pursuit on other people and the planet itself. I believe God’s invitation to Abraham to begin something new was an attempt to foster a way of relating to ourselves, each other, the planet, and the divine that leads toward that wellbeing. The single word for that state in Hebrew is “shalom”. The Christian phrases “eternal life”, salvation, abundant life, and Kingdom of God (among others) refer to the same thing.

The dominant thinking that people in our culture think of when they hear the words “sin” and “salvation” concern the afterlife: get your sins forgiven by God so that you will be welcomed into heaven. In this view, God is the Forgiver and Heaven Provider. While this is not entirely wrong, it is so woefully incomplete in its scope that it is nearly false given its paucity. If we were to write an essay on a test addressing what salvation is about, and our answer was that the whole thing is about dealing with the forgiveness of sins, we would get an “F” on that test, where “F” does not stand for “fantastic” but rather failure because it is such an incomplete understanding. And yet this is the primary understanding for many people today. No wonder people are leaving the faith at an accelerating rate that has not been seen in our country since its founding! What a boring story!

Borg points out that the earliest answer to such a question regarding salvation referred to the Exodus – the people of Israel wanted, needed, and received God’s help in being liberated from their Egyptian slaveholders. God was Israel’s Liberator. Centuries later, the Jewish people found themselves in exile and longed to return home, which God helped happen in time – another facet of salvation for them. God was Israel’s Guide. God as Forgiver was present, for sure, but one among several other understandings as well.

I believe that God – the “More” than flesh and blood – is firstly known by love and welcome, so the first and very common rendering resonates with me, especially when I have become aware of my attitudes and behaviors that have led to the disturbance of shalom (a good way to think about the definition of sin). I have also at times in my life felt enslaved to certain thoughts and behaviors that I did not choose or welcome – they were the reality I lived within without my input. Family systems, popular culture, our political ethos may at times feel like enslavement – no way out. I have experienced God freeing me to varying degrees from the shackles inherent in a variety of systems that constrain us. I have also felt very much disconnected from my True Self at times over the course of my life when I knew who I saw in the mirror did not reflect who I really am in the depths of my being. I experienced God wooing and nudging me back home to myself. All these images therefore resonate.

Jesus Christ is often referred to as Savior by those who follow him. What was he saving us from? We can use the framework above and see the relationship to Forgiver, Liberator, and Guide. But if we look at his life, we may find that he was about saving us in myriad ways. It is important to note that Roman Emperors used the term “Savior” for themselves, that Rome’s Empire and its way was truly Good News for all those who came under its subjection, and that they saw themselves as the promoters and providers of healing and wellbeing. When Jesus spoke of Good News, he was not just saying something about God and himself, he was also taking a shot at Rome and its Emperor. Jesus was a provocateur, wondering where shalom was “off” and offering ways to usher it back more fully.

So, what did Jesus do and how did it serve to save?

In the Gospel of John, we see that the salvation Jesus was about was eternal life, abundant life, for all. Not heaven – though the hope for afterlife and all it meant shows up in John – the life Jesus came to teach and model was one that was life in God as Walter Rauschenbusch would say was his goal. Life in God – Life in the Spirit – yielded all sorts of good fruit individually and corporately. What he taught and did helped foster the very life made available to us.

In John’s Gospel remembrance of Jesus, we identify five major movements his incorporated. He stretched – he was a lifelong learner who at times challenged long-held ways of thinking. Having our paradigms deconstructed and reconstructed is liberating and guides us toward wellbeing – learning is a form of salvation from constricting thoughts and ideas, and Jesus was all about it. How have you chosen to stretch in the past year? How will you choose to stretch in the year before you? How might this help foster more shalom for you and all others?

He kneeled in service to others, offering healing (a literal translation of “saving”), food, touch – all of these met real needs with real hands. There is something amazing about service – when we serve, the one we serve is sometimes (maybe often) not the greatest beneficiary. The one who serves often walks away feeling more blessed than those they served to bless! How did you serve others over the past year? How will you serve others in the coming year? How might such service bring about more of a holistic wellbeing for all involved?

Jesus also graced people who were severely lacking it because it had been withheld from them. Grace happened when he intermingled with lepers and healed them, when he gave sight to a man born blind, when he forgave a woman [who was set up in order to get] caught in adultery, and when he invited himself to dinner at Zacchaeus the tax collectors’ house. While these are individual stories, these encounters pointed to a vision for all people to be treated similarly. The word for this is justice. Jesus spoke and taught words that called for justice and how to promote it nonviolently. To follow Jesus today calls us to offer grace to individuals and justice for people groups who are not treated fairly. How have you responded to this call to be a conduit of grace and justice? This is an obvious way of bringing shalom into the world.

Jesus broke away to connect with God regularly. He undoubtedly spent time in deep reflection and listening – what we call mindfulness and contemplation today. How have you spent time for such things in the past year? How will you in the year to come? Such stillness serves to limit the constant distractions that clog our ears, making it challenging at times to hear the still small voice of God which, in one translation, is the sound of silence. Sometimes the only way we can become whole and well is to first be quiet enough to notice where we aren’t whole and well.

Jesus spent his public ministry in the incarnate community of faith – people who knew and wanted to foster the Spirit in and between them. There is salvation in community – from feeling isolated, from being siloed, from hubris, from everything that happens when we try to live solo. There is a wholeness that is very difficult – if not impossible – to experience apart from community. NOTE! The United States is built on radical individualism. To be in genuine community may feel incredibly unnerving to many US citizens because it calls us to think “we” more than “me”.

A final note about wellbeing and wholeness. All parts of our story are still with us, and everything belongs in our story. I do not believe that God orchestrates what happens in our lives, so “everything belongs” does not mean that it was predestined or foreordained to happen and therefore we should shut up and deal with it. Nope. I don’t believe God controls because God by love, and love does not control. What I mean is that there are parts of our lives that we keep tightly locked away because they are deeply painful. We ignore and deny their part in our story, pretending that in doing so we are robbing those chapters of their power. That is a lie. All the chapters are part of our lives and continue to speak into our lives. They inform us. They can also serve us toward shalom if we incorporate them carefully and appropriately. Since all the chapters are in you whether you like it or not – like the Bible itself! – perhaps it is wise to give them their place at the table. Doing so has helped me see areas of my life where I was really disconnected from wellbeing. But looking is terrifying because we are afraid of what we may see about ourselves. Yet the Spirit of God is love. The Spirit is a Good Shepherd. The Spirit is a loving parent who wants to help us heal, to find resolution, to identify lies we’ve embraced about ourselves and live in truth instead. Facing chapters we want to remain closed requires tremendous courage, and sometimes professional help from therapists. For me, the process has helped me identify lies that told me I wasn’t good enough, that I wasn’t loveable, that I was not capable, not smart, not talented, not worthy, not forgivable, a failure, a wimp, and on and on. Looking at the chapters not only requires courage, it takes work to sit with and examine what we’ve taken away from those chapters and determine what is truth and what is fiction. However difficult, the process serves to make us whole, which means God is with us, because at the end of the day, such shalom is the end and means of all that the Spirit of God is about.

May you discover anew that God is indeed Forgiver, Liberator, and Guide, as well as hundreds and thousands of other roles all working to lead us individually and collectively toward deep beauty, truth, wellbeing, peace, and love.

What follows is my annual State of Communion, where I give some highlights of what CrossWalk has been up to in our fostering salvation in its fullest sense here in Napa and beyond.

2023 State of Communion

Dear CrossWalkers,

Our goal as a church is to be a catalyst for the wellbeing of everyone and everything, everywhere, starting with those within closest reach. This is what love invites us to do. This is what cultivating shalom means – for individuals, families, communities, our city, state, nation, and world. As stewards of creation, it means we also do our part to foster the wellbeing of the planet itself – another expression of shalom. Our approach is to do our best individually and corporately to follow the model and teaching of Jesus. The Way he lived life in relationship with God/Abba helped manifest the best of life for all in his time and space. When we incorporate those same movements – Stretching, Kneeling, Gracing, Connecting, and Incarnating – we usher in the best of life in our time and space. Here are some of the ways we moved like Jesus since our last Annual Meeting:

We Stretched.

· Kids. Our Children’s Ministry continued to grow, benefitting from customized curriculum that fits CrossWalk’s progressive ethos and theology. It takes our Children’s Ministry Director, Lynne Shaw, significant time and talent to create a God-is-Love based offering that kids will enjoy, and parents will approve. Each week features a faith-related lesson/story, a craft, a snack, and activities all tied together by the same theme which is determined each month. Thanks to an incredibly generous grant from which we will benefit for 10 years, we were able to hire Emma Matheny as our WeeCare Lead Caregiver. Having a qualified, caring person like Emma makes it a whole lot easier for parents to drop off their kids. A huge shout out goes to retired teacher Renee Pelagi who covered Lynne while she was with me on Sabbatical! And another huge thanks to the faithful, loving volunteers who invest love and energy into our littler CrossWalkers! We intend to expand the program very soon to accommodate continued growth and programming needs for older kids.

· Adults. Because of my Sabbatical last year, the teaching portion of our weekly service was exceptionally broad and diverse! I received much positive feedback about the variety of speakers and their content – there was something for everyone, I think. Thank you for being so welcoming and receptive! When I returned, I took us through a handful of series that I hope were helpful: Why Stay Christian? (informed by Brian McLaren’s book), Becoming Our True Selves (informed by Martha Beck’s The Way of Integrity), LOVESTRONG, and The Heart of Christianity(heavily informed by Marcus Borg’s book). I like weaving together appropriate texts with books that can be read and talked about – I think it increases the stretch factor. There were non-Sunday opportunities to stretch as well, but I am choosing to make note of them later in this report.

We Kneeled.

· Food Pantry. Karie Nuccio and Linda Smetzer, along with a handful of other volunteers, have masterfully pivoted again and again to do what we can to offer food to select Napans who may otherwise slip through the cracks of the broader system. This targeted approach serves folks with dietary restrictions and/or cannot get to the Food Bank due to their unique circumstances. This pivot was born out of the pandemic when we stopped turning our gym into a grocery store once a month. Recently, they struck a partnership with the city agencies to load the pantries of folks emerging out of houselessness. What an incredible way to bless these neighbors!

· Deborah’s House and Immigrants, Tijuana, MX. Deborah’s House, a place where women and children find refuge and restoration from domestic violence, is up and running again after pandemic and other challenges temporarily brought it to a halt. The Global Servants we support, Deliris and Moise Carrion-Joseph not only pastor the women there, but Moise (especially) serves the immigrant community toward rebuilding their lives in Tijuana instead of trying to do so in the United States, which is highly unlikely and far too expensive for most. We hope to send some CrossWalkers to visit them before our next Annual Meeting. Let me know if you are interested in making the trip!

· Furaha Community Centre. Our friends in the Huruma slum outside Nairobi, Kenya continue to do good work. The good news is that many more churches and individuals have risen to support this school that provides a top-notch education for the poorest of the poor in one of the worst slums in the world. We originally provided school feeding programs but have switched to helping with projects for their high school facility in recent years, providing tables and chairs for their multipurpose space used for eating, studying, and meeting.

· CrossWalk Campus. We continue to provide space for a wide range of organizations that are doing important work. We have partnered with Feeding It Forward, led by David Busby, which captures food that would otherwise be thrown out and repurposes it for our food insecure neighbors. That partnership has led to a large refrigeration unit behind our sanctuary for their use, funding for the last leg of remodeling in our Gym kitchen (which is underway) and more solar panels to offset their electrical usage. We are “home” to over 40 distinct recovery groups helping people overcome a wide variety of addictions or support for those related to others in recovery. We are the home of A Place of My Own preschool, which strives to meet part of the growing need in Napa for affordable childcare. Several nonprofits look to us for meeting space for a variety of events that promote all manner of good work in Napa. Our gym is home to schools, clubs, and groups. We recently invested significant time and resources to renovate the gym locker rooms, bathrooms, and lobby so that we can serve the community more effectively. Funds were generated from an individual donor, two grants from the Napa Valley Community Foundation, and funds we accumulated from rental income. We saved tens of thousands of dollars thanks to CrossWalkers who handled the bulk of the labor. Thank you, Jim Cannon, Jim DellaSanta, Ed Edwards, Ben Neuman, and Ted Valencia! By the way, what we do with our facility is already a model for other churches to follow. What an opportunity for churches to serve – simply by opening their doors. For CrossWalk, it has become a sustainable win-win-win: groups who need us find space, we gain enough rental income to make it worthwhile, and wellbeing is fostered in the process.

We Graced.

· The God of Justice Bible Study. This robust group spent eight weeks working through a study to help participants become more fully aware of the importance of justice throughout the Bible. Why is this under the “Grace” report? Grace expressed communally is the work of justice. Huge thanks to Pam Gumns and Emily Vigoda for leading this important group, which could also fit under the “Incarnate” umbrella.

· Black History Month. We were once again privileged to host Napa’s Black History Month Celebration, which was a standing room only event! Congratulations to the planning team on such a turnout. The guest speakers, presenters, and food were all fantastic. We look forward to hosting once again on Saturday, February 3, 2024!

· Building Lasting Bridges. In February, Stephen Corley interviewed Author and Pastor Katie Choy Wong about her book and work regarding anti-racism. From that, Stephen is now leading a group through the book (along with workbook exercises) and has plans to continue to develop this important aspect of CrossWalk. Look forward to good things ahead!

· Earth Care Day Clean Up. Thank you to those CrossWalkers who skipped church to lend a hand cleaning our “home” at Napa sponsored events/spaces.

We Connected.

· Sunday Services. We have a rhythm in our services that we mostly stick with so that regulars can benefit from the flow and can confidently tell friends what to expect. We made a shift to what I refer to as a “karaoke” approach to our worship music starting in December (though we experimented with it before that). I have been amazed at how well you CrossWalkers have embraced it! Thank you to Shannon Prutch, Reis Tucker-Meade, Anne Waggoner, and Brian Worel for using their gifts to lead us in song each week! If we have devoted CrossWalkers who have musical abilities and want to share their gifts, we are certainly open to it! Let me know if you are interested or know someone who is. Or if you have drama skills or dance skills – let’s use them! A huge shoutout to CrossWalkers who help us stay awake with their early-morning coffee making that is so welcoming to all who come, and Anne Base for providing 600,000 doughnuts over so many years – all completely healthy. And to our Greeters who make everyone smile and feel welcome.

· Mindfulness. We have incorporated time for mindfulness into our services for many years, which helps us center and be more open to the whisper of the Spirit in our lives. We are blessed to have several capable CrossWalkers to lead us in this part of worship: Pam Gumns, Loren Haas, David Kearney-Brown, Jeni Olsen, Sharon Rogers, and Gordon Waggoner. Thank you all! Plus, we are extra fortunate that Dave has been training in this field for many years and is delighted to offer courses at CrossWalk, as he is currently doing featuring material from Martha Beck’s The Way of Integrity. Thank you, Dave!

We Incarnated.

· New Members! Over the last twelve months we welcomed the following to our membership: Pam Bryant, Elizabeth Campbell, Casey and Zion Curiel, Kim Hester-Williams, Jeanette Hull, Dave Kearney-Brown, Barbara Orsini, Don and Peta Schindle, Reis Tucker-Meade, Emily Vigoda.

· Baptism! Congratulate Rachel Alley-Tracey, Norman Prigge, Candace Ramsey, Nicole Timm, and Lori Westphal on their baptism at our Maundy Thursday service which waws held April6, 2023.

· Sunday Services. Being the “Body of Christ”, a community committed to embodying the love of God fully is what “incarnate” means in this movement. This surely takes place on Sundays as we come together in faith.

· Groups. Over the last twelve months several groups have been offered that typically hit two or three movements at once. The God of Justice Bible study and Building Lasting Bridges groups provide stretching and incarnating as they talk about justice (grace for the masses). My groups typically hit stretching and incarnating, as does Carol Toland’s book study group.

· Meals! While I was away on Sabbatical, you all joined together several times for lunch after our Sunday service – something we want to keep going! Men’s Breakfast was served for the 6-10 guys each month. Women’s FUEL group enjoys lunch once a month after service. All of these are opportunities for us to gain and grow friendships over time and are very important for a full life.

Bonus: We Administrated.

· Leadership. It took an enormous amount of work to get things ready for my time away on Sabbatical – from myself ahead of time (setting up guest speakers and lots of miscellaneous details), Dar for taking on more responsibility in my absence, and the Board of Stewards for overseeing it all. I cannot thank you enough for that time away. It helped me see things that I simply could not while on the job or simply on vacation. I was the first pastor in this church’s 163-year history to receive such a gift. I hope is becomes a standard for future pastors as well – the model is once every seven years – a reward, a relief valve, and an opportunity to reset that represents a wise long-term investment in the church. Thank you, Stewards and Officers and all other behind-the-scenes servants who make CrossWalk tick, and for all of you who were so incredibly supportive of Sabbatical!

· Officers. We are seeing transitions happening in our corporate officers. Ed Edwards was appointed Treasurer by the Board of Stewards in January, following Stephen Corley’s tenure for several years (thank you for your service, Stephen!). Linda Smetzer has been at the Board of Stewards’ table for many years, and we are finally letting her retire. Thank you, Linda, for faithfully serving so well for so long – the Church/Board Secretary is an important corporate role that you fulfilled incredibly well. Hayley Russel, while not an officer, resigned from her role at the end of March after many years of service for which we are grateful. New member Elizabeth Tausch has stepped into the role as Interim Financial Secretary – thank you for filling the gap on such short notice, Elizabeth!

· Property Development. While I mentioned some facility improvements being made (and didn’t mention others that aren’t nearly as fun to talk about, like plumbing and roof issues), the Board spent significant time over the last two years looking into developing our unused property. We entertained using it for housing of some sort, or childcare, or a theme park for cats (it already is!). After much deliberation and discussion with community leaders, contractors, and potential partner organizations, the Board of Stewards in April decided that such a move would jeopardize CrossWalk’s ability to move freely in the future to minister to the community as we see fit. New construction requires a new use permit which potentially bring many (and some sever) limitations that would hinder our operation. The Stewards believe that such cost is much, much greater than the limited benefits we (and the community) would receive if we built housing or something non-ministry related. Things can change with time, which could cause the leadership to visit the issue once again, but this is unlikely to occur soon.

For CrossWalk to be a sustainable exemplar of The Way of Jesus, we need CrossWalkers to be supportive. How can you let us know your skills and interests so that we can help you develop your life and faith? How might you use all of who you are to help CrossWalk? How might you help us financially? Inflation affects CrossWalk. Can you help us more than you have before to offset our increased expenses?

Finally! Please attend our Annual Meeting, Sunday, May 21, 2023 @ 10:00 Service. Ballot items:

· Election of Officer Candidates. Treasurer: Ed Edwards. Church Secretary: Carol Toland

· Election of New Steward Candidates: Pam Gumns. Bob Nations. Sharon Rogers.

· Adoption of 2023-2024 Proposed Budget: $520,770

Questions? Attend Town Hall Meeting Sunday, May 7 (Large Conf. Rm.). Email me, Treasurer, Stewards.

I am so grateful to be the Senior Pastor of CrossWalk Community Church. God has partnered with and empowered us to co-create a beautiful expression of “Church” that is a breath of fresh air for many who seek God, and a lifeline for those who gave up on faith because of poor experiences elsewhere. You are awesome people. Thank you for blessing my life, my family, this community, and far, far beyond.

Toward Shalom, With Shalom, TOGETHER,

Pete