TheEnterpriZe: Whatever!

By Stephanie and Eric Stradford, U.S. Marine Corps, Retired

Once upon a Learning Journey, learners landed in Savannah, GA where the 6^th Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church was celebrating “Founder’s Day.” Afterwards we started considering the legacy of Henry McNeil Turner, 12^th Elected, Consecrated Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church as well as that of Richard Allen 1^st Elected, Consecrated Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in commemorating the founders.

The Bishop of Georgia, The Right Reverend William Phillips DeVeaux Sr. 113^th Elected, Consecrated Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces), called on Stephanie and requested she minister a hymn.

This week, while finalizing our Last Wills and Living Trust, good news arrived from the Veterans Administration. YOU’RE APPROVED!

WHATEVER!

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

FAS2, February 9, 2006, Atlanta, GA -- Whatever! It is one of the most frustrating responses a parent hears from a scolded child. Perhaps you have been the recipient of such a response in your own lifelong lot. “You’re gonna get a time out if you don’t….,” one parent said. To this, the ever-ready, quick-draw youngster responds, with attitude, “Whatever!”

This week, a group of theologians at Turner Seminary interfaced with young scholars on the question, “Can the Floppy Disk Generation Minister in a CD-Rom era?” Of course, the easy answer is no! They are incompatible formats, requiring different hardware. The same question, applied to endless possibilities through Jesus Christ opens yet another door for the presumptuous prophet and the revolutionary Good News theology recorded in the Holy Scriptures.

In both applications, available memory is a key factor. Eyes have not seen, nor have ears heard the endless possibilities for ministry in an era of favor.

Conservative teachers of the liberating Gospel might suffer offense to this revolt, but, as a devastated entrepreneur once etched into our spiritual sense of right and wrong, “Whatever!” The church is, for the most part, a conservative body. However, the Gospel of Jesus The Christ is undoubtedly liberating.

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:

If Jordan above me shall roll,

No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life

Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

Sister Matthews was prepared to share a moment in Black history with heart surgeon Dr. Daniel Hale Williams. Sister Green had something to say about the Atlanta riots. But there was not enough Chronos time in conventional one hour Bible Study to cover all that needed to be said. “It is well.” An early morning whisper echoed the conservative Bible Study lesson and embedded a theological foundation for ministering to the “Whatever!” generation. “It is well.”

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,

Let this blest assurance control,

That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,

And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Whatever answer God gives, our anticipation must always be, “It is well.” Otherwise, why bother to believe that God can do anything?

This week, Dr. Bill Dickens, a District Church School Superintendent in Tallassee, FL, presented a distance learning opportunity to a select few learners. His edification of Black History calls on descendants of Richard and Sarah Allen, Rosa and Raymond Parks, Martin and Coretta King to perpetuate Black History truths instead of promoting Urban Legends. “Black History Month in the United States has regrettably been reduced to political history,” said Dickens.

One comparison drawn between AME Church Founder Richard Allen and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas exemplifies revolutionary theology. Whatever the politics, the preaching must replace empty pews with hungry souls. “The single most influential black American today is US Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas. Thomas’s work impacts the lives of all Americans; Black, White, Hispanic or Oriental,” said Dickens.

Is Clarence Thomas a presumptuous prophet? What about Colin Powell, Condolezza Rice, and a host of conservatives who stand in the gap on the shoulders of giants like Richard Allen, Thurgood Marshall and Rosa Parks. The songwriter in his days of mourning, found hope in his “Whatever!” submission to God’s will. The words, “When peace like a river attendeth my way,” speak to the eternal hope that all believers have--no matter what pain and grief one might endure on earth.

But, Lord, ‘tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,

The sky, not the grave, is our goal;

Oh trump of the angel! Oh voice of the Lord!

Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!

It is well! This hymn of submissive praise was written after two major traumas in the songwriter’s life. History records that Horatio G. Spafford was a wealthy businessman, perhaps even a political conservative. His first tragedy was the great Chicago Fire of October 1871, which ruined him financially.

Shortly after that financial tragedy, Spafford’s wife Anna, and four daughters took a cruise across the Atlantic. All four of Spafford’s daughters died in a collision with another ship.

Spafford’s wife Anna survived and sent him a telegram with the subject, “Saved alone.” Several weeks later, as Spafford’s own ship passed near the spot where his daughters died, he was inspired to scribe these words. “Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, It is well with my soul.”

Spafford and his wife were perhaps spiritual cousins to some “men of fairer clay” who ministered a “Whatever!” generation through the Great Plague of Yellow Fever. In 1783, Richard Allen became widely known and called upon for an obvious anointing on his life and ministry. By 1787, Allen, Absolom Jones, and a band of Free Africans found enough favor to walk away from the St. George’s church building. They established a beyond the walls ministry they called Free African Society.

Preaching the liberating Gospel is a time-tested, proven method for winning. It does not matter whether a soul is hi-tech, lo-tech, vo-tech or no-tech. Whatever the lot, we’ve been taught to say, It is well. It is well. With my soul.

Former President George H.W. Bush looked out to the gathering at funeral services for Coretta Scott King. “I come from a small Episcopal parish,” he said, gazing out to the high-spirited 10,000 seat sanctuary. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.” The former president’s comment was perhaps more prophetic than comedic.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!

My sin, not in part but the whole,

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Ironically, the CD-ROM, Jump-Drive and PDA generations must minister healing and wholeness to captors as well as captives in this the year of God’s Favor. Under their breath, if not aloud, many have retorted, “Whatever!”

This expression of revolutionary response to elders is far from original. In Isaiah 61:1-7, a presumptuous prophet foresaw a future event that unfolds in Luke 4:18-24.

The Good News reports that Jesus rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue stared at him intently. Then he said, "This Scripture has come true today before your very eyes!"

All who were there spoke well of him and were amazed by the gracious words that fell from his lips. "How can this be?" they asked. "Isn't this Joseph's son?"

Then he said, "Probably you will quote me that proverb, `Physician, heal yourself'--meaning, `Why don't you do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum?' But the truth is, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown.

When Peace Like A River

Words: Horatio G. Spafford, 1873.

Music: Philip P. Bliss, 1876

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,