Before embarking on the journey to the College on the first day, I joked on Facebook – “Study intensive begins today. Never thought I'd be studying at a place with "divinity" in the name. "Adelaide College of Divinity" here I come. I should have wings and glow by weeks-end all going well. ;-)”
You see, I’m not a Pastor, I’m not a Chaplain, I’m not an Ordained Minister, Priest or other Professional Christian – and yet, I find myself in the unusual position of taking a course that I feel inadequately ‘qualified’ to undertake. Sure, apparently I have participated in ‘Christian ministry’, but somehow, I’ve avoided (or been lead down a different path?) to the typical ministry paths adopted by others.
That is not to say that I don’t have a deep appreciation for people who have those titles, or even see a place for them – I do - it is just to say – that I don’t identify as one of them.
It is courses like these that give me hope that there is some Spiritual fuel left in the movement Jesus started. For although the titles and structure of Christianity are present – it seems to me that weeks like these give an opportunity for the Evidence of the Divine to be sharpened in our lives.
The DJ’ing concept illustrated by U2 was one of those moments. I’m still not quite sure why, but in the midst of Bono calling us to prayer and praise in the context of a rock concert, I shed a tear. I think it was something to do with the collision of reality and music, relevance and magic, authority and well-used power. To my mind, there was more to U2 than a cleaver overlay of theme, presentation and music. To give that ‘something more’ a name is tricky – but I’m going to go with ‘prophetic authority’.
Last December, my wife and I were invited to walk on stage during the singing of ‘Walk On’ at the U2 concert in Brisbane. We held a spotlight shining up into sky above Suncorp Stadium. It was a powerful experience. I wrote on Facebook at the time, “Ok - so here it is... the footage of our 'Walk On' on Wednesday night during the U2 concert in Brisbane - if you look carefully you'll pick me out - I'm the tall one. ;-) This was one of the most powerful public prophetic declarations I have been involved with. From my perspective, each step was taken with deliberate intentional declaration of God's purposes for the people of Burma - Freedom! This is what it means to live life with passion, prayer, muscle and intelligence. After we walked off-stage, I shook the hands of two teenage Karen former refugees who also participated. It seemed like the right thing to do - from Thai refugee camp to on-stage with Bono! Sounds like God to me! :-)”
By mid-week I wrote on Facebook, “Have been reflecting on the story of Elizabeth and Mary in Luke 1:39-45. Seems as though little un-born and un-named John the Baptist growing inside Elizabeth knew his purpose was to declare the coming of Jesus and did so even before birth. If conceived in today's world, would Jesus and/or John the Baptist have been aborted? What gifts from Heaven are we missing by our consumer-approach to life and rights?”
Just prior to the course I wrote on Facebook, ‘The building of Christian Empire has never been on the mind of God. His heart is for the reconciliation of humanity to himself, and to each other. When we recognise the power of that reconciliation we begin to become a movement that changes the places we inhabit.” It seemed natural to continue the theme into the course and go with the resurrection reflection activity.
In relation to this, I wrote on Facebook: “Spent today reflecting on 'what the resurrection means to me?'.. images of Asian Tsunami, Earthquakes, Cyclones, Burma and Africa come to mind - and in each, a hope of tomorrow, a hope of life that emerges from pain, and a hope of a forever held in the grip of a God who knows the way.”
The week concluded – it included divine Piglet moments, engagement with Art, sense-ual experiences, and amazing interactive discussion. I didn’t end up with a pair of wings, or glowing, but the final reflections on Facebook went something like this: “We need to remember to speak what we hear the Spirit whisper.” And “The job of a leader is to protect the Freedom for God to move.”
