The Message in a public sphere

The church was in darkness. Only candle light on a central table at front. In the background Arvo Part’s Speigel im Spiegel quietly, gently playing over and over and on right through the whole worship time at the Caim. Our text - Acts 8 v1-8
It caused us to consider persecution for faith beyond us as well as the message in the public sphere. In the face of persecution in Jerusalem they scattered and became missionaries. Philip’s mission taking the Gospel to Samaria and ‘joy’ coming to the city in the face of oppression was the other part of this.. The challenge to us was, as Brueggemann puts it

“The gospel is too readily heard and taken for granted as though it contained no
unsettling news and no unwelcome threat. What began as news in the gospel is
easily assumed, slotted, and conveniently dismissed.” (Finally Comes the
Poet: Daring speech for proclamation, 1989).

So taking it on from there I have been pushed to consider further ways in which we dress up the good news in ways that actually cover it up. Do we actually love the trappings more than the gospel itself? Do we believe any more that the gospel is plausible? Where is the daring speech in the face of whatever it is that hounds us today as the church? What is our reticence with all of this?

I’m not saying we need to go to the public square and shout at people, but how do we share the message in ways that ‘joy may come to the city we are in as response to the gospel proclamation?

I also had a piece to write recently on 'Creating a culture attractive to non-church people.' Needless to say I didn’t like that whole phrase in many respects so opted rather to turn it into cultivating the congregation as a hermeneutic of the gospel. My point being that we should be in the patient and humble, but no less demanding work of ‘cultivating’ and seeking a depth of plausibility in faith rather than mere relevance which seems to me to be breeding more and more simulated experiences of gospel and is façade at its cheapest and weakest. Jason Clark has some interesting things on this that has stimulated response too. worth a look at especially his recent on cultural neutering: which echos my own thinking somewhat and I look forward to what he will go on and say.

Yet in trying to avoid the neutering process we can actually perpetuate it. We
may create a new emerging church subculture that is as culturally neutering for
modern church people and postmodern people outside the church. Relevance is
important, but in many cases it is can be largely superficial and focused on
re-branding and marketing, however unintentional. Without an examination of the
things we believe, and our message, the church becomes obsessed with the
acceptable and trendy, and can become more self-focused and irrelevant.(Jason Clark)

We offered prayers first picking up a nail(s) and placing them on the table a symbol of our prayers for oppressed, those who suffer injustice etc. and then there were some scattered small coloured squares all over the floor. People also were invited to come pick up as many as they wished of whatever colour and before they left to place these on the table as a symbol of our prayers for the church in the world in all its colourful parts. These interactive prayers for others coming from our text caused a waiting around the table (yet again).

When I looked more closely too it was the small expressions of these prayers left symbolically that struck me - ways in which clusters of coulour squares were set out, ways the nails were made into sign of a cross or left side by side; all placed upon a cloth we'd used and written names on and had stains of red juice on...
and so we went out into the night and I look at Pentecost and consider more and more how we might make some public display on that day at least. Any ideas? Our theme that day will be

"What is going on here?"

(ps. got fed up of blue blogspace so decided a change was needed. I think its brighter and clearer!)