Who's Really Our Leader?

OK, so it's a lame title for Sunday's sermon, but I really wanted to work toward some tie-ins: 1) with the election -- I've heard so many people complaining about this election -- like we're doomed one way or another. I happen to think it's good that people are complaining, that means that change -- of one sort or another -- is coming. At least that is what they teach us in church transformation classes. But what I want to emphasize is that we're not doomed one way or another. In fact, God is still the one we should serve before anyone else. Sunday's scripture (Matthew 23:1-12) emphasizes that human leaders are often self-serving and that ultimately we need to place our faith in God. Verse 10 "The Messiah is your only leader." 2) with my church's stewardship theme of "belonging." I want to remind people once again that they belong to God BEFORE country. Sometimes I think we forget that God is much larger than one country. And we act surprised when we discover that God is actually God of all -- hmmm . . . interesting concept. 3) True Christianity is seen, not politicized. I love the commentary on the Pharisees in verses 5-7, "Everything they do is just to show off in front of others. They even make a big show of wearing Scripture verses on their foreheads and arms, and they wear big tassels for everyone to see. They love the best seats at banquets and the front seats in the meeting places. And when they are in the arket, they like to have people greet them as their teachers." In other words, we who follow God rather than politicians are to live our faith so no one wonders what it is we believe. This morning on msn.com, one of the headlines was: What is Sarah Palin's religion? Who cares! If we can't tell by looking at her life, what does it matter?

So these are my early considerations for next week's sermon. I also will be serving communion on Sunday so will consider how the gifts of God for the people of God fit in as well. I also really like the greatest/least story elements. Makes me think of the fables about the lion who was saved by the mouse who chewed him out of a hunter's net. I'm wondering if I might use that . . .

For those of you following my exercise, I've exercised daily for the past 14 days!!!! 30 minutes of Wii Fit each day is marvelous! My Wii Fit age has been in the low 30s all week long so I'm doing OK for my age group. My hips are staying sore from the advanced Hula Hooping and my weight is stable, though not going down. I'm eating well (not excessive, not unhealthy) but can't initiate the weight loss. Maybe I should drink more water.

Daily Post

I'm trying for the daily post these days. Had a really nice service this morning after I got over my frustration with my printer not working and the church's internet being down and the All Saints Banner missing in action. It was Pastor Appreciation Day and the church surprised me (really, they did) with a cake and a bunch of cards. I needed that. I still do. I've been really doubting myself lately. I know I'm becoming a better preacher every week. They let me know that. And my stories are getting better the more I tell them. I'm learning to listen for God as I speak and it's amazing to preach like that. The story is incredibly powerful. Today I was preaching on how we are to treat neighbors (the anyman/anywoman) as we would treat family and I was convicted myself of my desire to look out for my family before anyone else. I still don't know what God wants me to do about it, but I do want to really think about how I can LIVE my love of neighbor. I believe that will stay with me for a few days. I guess I am being changed right alongside my congregation. But my doubt is more about wondering if I am really liked. It sounds so junior high, but I really care about whether or not people like me. My congregation is full of people who are not in my peer group so I don't suppose they ever will really "like" me though they will appreciate me. And I think this is what bugs me the most. I have friends my age (not in my church) who like me for me. But I wonder if a congregation is supposed to "like" their pastor. They say they do, but I don't know . . . Maybe I'm PMSing or something. This is just the stuff that roams around my mind when I've had a long day with little sleep. Perhaps I should try again in the morning.

Sermon Surmises

I've been trying to work out my sermon for Sunday and, like everything else, I get overwhelmed by the many possibilities. But it's a good overwhelmed. There is so much good stuff in the scripture that I can't decide where God's leading me through it. One of the things I learned in my storytelling workshop is that I must decide on the M.I.T. -- the most important thing -- to guide my storytelling. But it's also true that sometimes, as you tell stories, the stories proclaim their own M.I.T. My job is to listen for both -- both my MIT and my story's MIT -- sensing how to focus in on only one MIT.

Sunday's scripture is from Matthew 22:34-46 (though I'm stopping at 40). 34When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37He said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38This is the greatest and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

My church's stewardship emphasis this year is on BELONGING and so this week I'm hoping to focus on the M.I.T. that we belong to one another. My research has led me to the understanding that in 1st century Mediterranean culture, to Love was an action rather than an emotion. Further, the concept that one must love one's neighbor as one's self was not the psychological appeal that we must love ourselves (thanks, Sarah Dylan, for that one) but rather the reminder that we must love others as we love our own family members. I serve a retirement congregation where most of the members were raised in the Depression. They know what it means to hoard just in case. And always in the back of their mind, there is the hope that when they die they will have something left over to leave for their families. (and because of their frugality, they will most likely have more than anyone would dare believe!) This hope that there will be something leftover, however, doesn't seem to be what Jesus was talking about. Rather, I think more about the way that we try desperately to care for our family members, that they may have more than us and better than us.

A few weeks ago I was talking with my mother about generosity. She's a very generous person and has willingly given anything she has to help someone else. But she mentioned that it can be quite frustrating when no one pays back what she has lended them. Immediately I remembered all of the many dollars I could possibly owe her for all of the generosity she has offered -- from dinners out when we come to visit to a place for my husband to stay while he's been in school. I made mention of this and she immediately said -- oh no, not you! I wanted to give these things to you! Besides, when I am old, I expect you to care for me! Her attitude toward me, however, is exactly the attitude we are to have toward our neighbor. Jesus wants us to bend over backward for our neighbor -- giving them exactly what we would give our beloved son or daughter. And why? because we belong to each other.

To love God, we must love our neighbor, tangibly. We are not just to have that Christian emotional love in our hearts that says, "I love you but I don't like what you do." Rather, we are to love them with our actions. And who is our neighbor? it's everybody. It's the person living next door that I've never had over for coffee. It's the cashier at Publix that has had a horrible day. It's the teenager that plans to drop out of school this year because they just don't care. It's the family that abandoned their child because they couldn't feed her. It's the village living in poverty and oppression in a far off country. It's the soldier fighting because he was taught to hate from the time he was a boy. We could spend our whole lives trying to love our neighbor as ourselves, working to make sure that their needs were taken care of as much as ours were. It's intense, tough love.

When you're on the recipient end of being the neighbor, you understand the correlation to God. When your needs are met by someone unexpectedly, you can't help but believe that God loves you so incredibly much. So give so that someone else may know love.

This is my direction for Sunday. I'll tell stories to communicate all of this. And it sounds as if my M.I.T. is a bit more than just "we belong to each other," but rather something more along the lines of how acting on our neighbor's behalf with the actions we reserve for our own family is, indeed, loving God with all of our hearts. I wonder how that will translate?

Blog Updates

Besides my posts, I am adding lots of fun links from my page. Take some time (if you have it) to look around. You'll find some of my favorite music sampled via mp3 links to the left. Down below you'll find some ingenious Jesus products. (I really want the Magic WWJD Jesus!) I also have a link to my non-church job where I would love for you to buy eco-friendly products (like solumel that gets out permanent ink from walls and tables! or Melapower which is so concentrated a laundry detergent that you only have to use one ounce per load and I swear it works! Talk about saving money! Just click on my no debt family link and fill out the form on there!) You'll also see links to books that I'm reading or that I recommend and yes, Kira Salek is now one of my favorite authors. And if all of this seems like too much marketing for your taste, just read my post and come back often. I'll try to keep things enjoyable!

Storytelling from the Pulpit

As many of you know, I attended a conference last week about how to tell stories from the pulpit. As I emphasized to my congregation, this is not an attempt to tell LIES from the pulpit, but rather to find the place where our lives match up with the faith story. Like many, my firsthand experience with sermons was the 3 point sermon . . . and in my upbringing all three points had to start with the same letter . . . i.e. God wants us to 1) STEP outside our comfort zone, 2) SEEK the lost, and 3) SAVE their souls . . . yada yada yada. But I wasn't comfortable with the three point approach and especially not with the alliteration. It just wasn't me and God called me to be me, not to fit into somebody else's box. So I've been experimenting for the last 7 years (yes, I've been ordained for 7 years next month!) with the sermon style that is "mine." In my field education experiences, I learned that sermons could be well-written, and thus the focus became the Word, which, according to John 1, is a pretty amazing thing. I found myself enjoying preaching from the manuscript, realizing that I could push myself while pushing my listeners, but I knew that there was something missing between my manuscript and my congregation's response. And so I began searching again. In seminary I studied homiletics under David Buttrick, one of the "greats" when it comes to homiletics. He had rules to follow, but not so intensely that they couldn't be broken. His rules were more about content and making sure stories and analogies "fit" what was to be communicated with the congregation. But what really has stayed with me from his class was his acknowledgment that in today's fast-paced society, people can't grasp hold of 3 points anymore . . . in fact, you're lucky if you can get them to grasp hold of 1 point. He reminded us of the society we live in . . . where information is thrown out at us so quickly and we are, as the receivers, asked to sort through that information at lightning speed. We'll take that, thanks. Toss that, it's junk. Mentally that's what we do. I wanted to find a way to communicate across generations in a way that would undo the expectations of the now ONE point sermon. And how better to do that than a story.

Doug Lipman is a professional storyteller/marketer who just so happens to be married to a wonderful Disciples of Christ pastor. So when the opportunity came for me to attend a storyteller workshop for clergy at his home, I didn't hesitate. I got permission from my session to be gone for a few days and off I went. What I discovered was the reason I'm always buying children's books and reading fantasy novels. I was reminded that I LOVE stories. And I was also reminded that a good story is open-ended enough to meet us wherever we have a need. Children find their place in a well-told story. Senior citizens find their place in a well-told story. And so I am making it my goal to tell stories this year -- all year long. I don't want to simply tell inspirational stories that come through my e-mail 50 times each day, but I want to tell stories that connect to the stories of my faith.

This Sunday I'm preaching about "the greatest commandment." What is it, Jesus, the Sadducee wants to know -- Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. And love your neighbor as yourself. It's pretty basic, you know, but in the context of the story, it becomes HUGE and invites all ages in to listen and believe. 93% of this story is unknown. So I wonder what some of the details were. I wonder why the Sadducee is asking Jesus this question . . . is he trying to "catch" Jesus like the Pharisee who failed in the paragraph before? What is Jesus feeling as he is asked this question? What is so important in the rest of the law that Jesus seems to ignore? What sounds and sights surround them in their discussion? Does someone else watch what is going on? And then, as we transition this faith story to our story, I wonder how many times we fail to love God because we fail to love our neighbor. I wonder what the stories are in my own life where I didn't attend something because I knew "so and so" would be there. I wonder how exclusive I've become in many areas. I wonder if knowing my own exclusivity would encourage me to open my heart to those I have excluded. And I remember what it feels like to be excluded, to be ignored or not taken seriously.

The story is so broad, yet to pertinent. So here I rest, with memories and feelings instead of the all-important Word. Perhaps this is what it means to live what your learn or to practice what you preach. Whatever it is, I'm lovin' it!

My Friend, the Wii Balance Board

The Wii balance board is my friend. Every morning when I step on, it waves at me and expresses joy in seeing me again. It offers me tips if I want them, but understands if I'm just not in the mood. It doesn't tell me my weight, though it does remind me not to snack if my weight increases from one day to the next. Don't get me wrong, it's not my BEST friend. I don't want to spend ALL of my time with it (though my body would be stunning if I did!) but there's nothing like a little encouragement at 6:00 AM. The kids have been getting up early to watch me exercise (joy joy . . . ) but my 7 year old is a great encourager. I'll be groaning as I do my sit-ups (I had forgotten I even HAD abs!) and my daughter will cheer, "great job, Mom!" every time I start the crunch. So, for those of you cheering me on from cyberspace, I'm exercising . . . everyday. I'm aiming for 30 minutes/day though today I stopped mid-jog to groan and quit. But I'll finish before the day's up. My BMI is slowly going down as long as I'm exercising. Over time I should see something.

Running to Oklahoma

I'm in Oklahoma taking an incredible course on how to use story in worship and it's both fun and incredibly challenging. I spent time yesterday on the elliptical they have here and took a noon walk through the beautiful cool woods. Ahhh, fall! I miss this at home! Today I haven't done the elliptical, but I'm hoping for a mid-day walk. We'll see. I miss wii fit, though.

Back to the Pavement . . . Kinda

I've been waiting for the heat to let up before heading back out to the pavement with my nice Saucony running shoes and my exercise clothes. But I forgot that in FL the heat really doesn't even begin to let up until late October. What to do?! Well, I think I've found the answer. I don't have room for a treadmill in my house (nor the money to buy one.) But my dear hubby got a Wii for his birthday this past summer and it finally came home two days ago. I set it up with that awesome balance board and Wii Fit program and I get to daily work on my balance and get the update on how much weight I've lost or gained . . . quite the humbling experience. But this morning at 6 AM I pulled on my tennis shoes and ran around a whole island with other runners cheering me on. The temperature was perfect . . . being that the night A/C was still on in addition to the fan above my head. The other runners were quite friendly and waved even when they passed me. My trainer kept encouraging me to keep it up. I crossed a bridge and saw a beautiful waterfall. I ran through a quaint town with absolutely no traffic or pollution. And when I crossed the finish line, people applauded me and jumped up and down! What a high! You'd never guess you could get a workout running in place in your living room, but I was sweating and panting by the end . . . and yes, I worked out for a full 30 minutes and at least half of that was at a running pace. My muscles are a bit sore tonight. I guess that's a good thing too.

We've incorporated Wii Fit into our homeschool day. The girls each have to complete 30 minutes on the days they don't have cheerleading. Bill and I are committed to the same. I played around with the ski jump and the soccer heading as well as step aerobics and yoga. It's good stuff. And best of all I don't have to go to the gym and face all of those skinny people. I can save that fuel and honestly look at myself (they adjust the Mii to be heavy when we're heavy . . . kind, huh?!) and set achievable goals in my own home.

Wednesday I'm leaving for Oklahoma for a few days. I'm going to learn about the gift of storytelling and how to use it in sermons, etc. I'm really psyched. But I won't be able to take the Wii with me. I hear there are some good running trails in the neighborhood where I'll be so I'll pack my shoes and plan to enjoy some nicer fall-ish weather.

So I guess the title of my post shouldn't be "back to the pavement" but back to the tile floor. Hmm . . .

This is the news from Arbuckle Creek, where the heat in fall is almost as bad as the heat of summer; where the 89 year old neighbor killed a 4 1/2 foot rattlesnake in his yard with a garden hoe while the snake was choking on a squirrel!), and where the kids don't even bother to go outside so afeared they are at the wildlife!