Vicar interferes with sermon again

Well, my latest sermon, based on “Velvet Elvis” by Rob Bell, seems to have gone down well. This despite the Vicar doing his usual act of interfering and asking me to do things differently form what I had planned. Fortunately I am used to him doing this now, and almost expect it. And to be fair, it is usually an improvement. But it does rile me that he does not implement his recommendations in his own sermons.

My son was on the PA system that night, and resisted all urges to turn me off.

My sermon was primarily about spiritual maturity, not getting dogmatic about things but being able to stretch ones faith and work with people who disagree rather than building exclusive doctrinal walls. Since it was a communion service, I was going to ask people as a practical exercise to approach the table with either a more or a less sacramental idea than they normally would. Mr Vicar extended this, by making me ask people to get up form their chairs and form groups – i.e. transubstantiation in that corner, consubstantiation over there, symbolic remembrance over here, etc. The idea was that people would then discuss these ideas, and possibly move to another group. Of course the groups comprised like-minded people, so it wasn’t 100% successful. But it made people think, and that was the main thing.

The disturbing thing is that our Vicar didn’t really seem to be aware of the range of opinion, and found this line of teaching to be quite informative. Since the Eucharist is central to Christian worship, I would like to think that an ordained minister in the Church of England has been fully trained in the theology around it.

Velvet Elvis, Rob Bell, Book Review

Velvet Elvis – Repainting the Christian Faith
Rob Bell
Zondervan

I bought this book when I was at the Excel men’s conference at the Abundant Life Church in Bradford.

I dipped into it in the bookshop – and it burned my fingers and it burned my soul. I knew I had to buy it. But I also knew that it was a deep book, which would challenge my faith. I wasn’t ready for that challenge at the time. You don’t set off fireworks in an explosive factory – and I had to wait until I could read it in a way that would enhance my faith, not wreck it. (I am adopting the same principle with “Hail, Holy Queen” by Scott Hahn – I haven’t dared lift it off my shelf since 2003)

So, now I have read Velvet Elvis.

I plucked up the courage, picked it up, opened the cover, and was immediately swallowed by it. I had to emerge occasionally – work, food, toilet, supervising kids, etc, but spent most of the time sitting on the step next to bookshelf with my nose between the pages – totally captivated. When I did emerge for the chores, I kept telling my sons “you must read this book”, and telling my wife all the things I had been reading.

To give you a clue as to how important I think this book is, I am thinking of changing my "Bullets of truth" column on the left there as a result of things Rob says.

Now, in all this, I also have to be frank and admit that it does [in my view] tail off towards the end. For me the better stuff is at the start.

Here is a sample of stuff I have picked up.

(SPOILER WARNING – Rob Bell tells it much better than me – read the book)

Trampolines

If you build your faith like a wall in which the doctrines are the bricks, when one brick is removed the wall falls down. But if you use the analogy of a trampoline in which the doctrines are springs, when one is removed you can still jump.

Similarly, the brick wall example requires your church to be full of people who think exactly the same – the walls then become lines of division and dispute. But a trampoline is a place where you can invite anyone – yes anyone – to jump with you as you explore God together.

Jesus the Rabbi

Jesus was not a Christian. He was an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi. This leads on to loads of really good insights, especially ‘binding and loosing’ (see below).

The Gates of Hell

This refers to the worship of the god Pan at Caesarea Philippi, and about how the church will triumph over paganism, sexual immorality, and the trends of society.

Binding and Loosing

Whoa! This is a biggie, for me. Subject of my next post!

Universalism

I think Rob lost me a bit on this one. He is so busy redefining heaven and hell, and redirecting evangelism (hence my possible changes to my 'Bullets of Truth'), that while I am clear and in agreement with him over heaven, I’m not sure what he thinks about future hell and if/why anyone goes there. Not sure if this is because he is not sure himself, or just didn’t explain it well, or if I just missed what he was saying.

SUMMARY

I was very glad that I read this book. I think everyone else should too. It expanded my mind. It changed my mind. It challenged me. Buy it. Read it. Cogitate on it.