Kait McCann and Nathan Bedsole are all smiles while sitting in Goodson Chapel before worship. |
At a Glance
Theme:
Listening and Discerning with the Holy Spirit
Faculty Speaker:
Dean L. Gregory Jones and Rev. Susan Pendleton Jones
Lectionary Texts:
Jeremiah 29:11-13; Psalm 119; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Matthew 4:1-11
Reflections on today's plenary: Keeping up with the Joneses
The Joneses (Dean L. Gregory and Rev. Susan Pendleton) teamed up this morning to challenge DYA to consider the practices that shape fruitful Christian discernment. Rev. Jones turned to the biblical narrative to emphasize the importance of Sabbath-keeping, noting how Sabbath recalls God’s creation of the world (Gen 2), liberation of Israel (Deut 5), and resurrection of Jesus.
In an American society where “time is money,” God’s counter-cultural gift/command of Sabbath helps God’s people to cultivate patience, shift their focus from “doing” to “being,” and learn weekly that God (not us!) is in control of our lives.
For Dean Jones, the key to living the “life in the Spirit” described in Phil 2:1-4 and Gal 5:22-23 is to form “holy friendships” with fellow Christians. Our “holy friends” fulfill three roles in our lives:
- challenging the sins we have come to love,
- affirming the gifts we are afraid to claim, and
- helping us to dream dreams we otherwise would not have dreamed.
Such friends can resist our ingrained tendency to rationalize away our vices, reveal hidden gifts to ourselves, and work with us to continually re-imagine an authentic gospel vision of the Christian life.
For Dean Jones, there are no shortcuts to holy friendships – they can only grow in and with time.
A few of the Jones' quotes...
“We can accomplish more than ever, and faster than ever, and yet depression is three times higher than in 1980.” – Susan Pendleton Jones, commenting on how unlimited consumer choice can be paralyzing.
“In the Ten Commandments, Sabbath is the hinge between love of God and love of neighbor.” – Susan Pendleton Jones
“When I start claiming that I can’t take off the Sabbath, my wife just asks me, ‘What, are you more important than Desmond Tutu?’ ” – L. Gregory Jones, reflecting on Tutu’s success in keeping a Sabbath even during the darkest days of the apartheid era.
“You can only develop quality time if you spend a quantity of time with people.” – L. Gregory Jones.
Overheard in the halls of the divinity school...
“He spoke with words instead of volume.” – Brian Tanck, reflecting on tonight’s preacher, Keith Daniel.
What's ahead...
Tomorrow students will go to their service sites for the last time.
Tonya Armstrong will lecture on pastoral care and also will preach during evening worship.
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