Is the Christmas Story Real?

I just had an e-mail from someone who asked how the Christmas story is taught in seminary, realizing that the story has strange origins. As I'm preparing his answer, I thought I'd also share it with my blog readers.

It's true, the Bible story does not match our nativity scene. Matthew and Luke write two very different stories -- Matthew tells the infancy narrative from the perspective of a geneologist who also knows prophecy -- showing the link between Jesus and Abraham, but strangely this link was through Joseph, not Mary. And Matthew's story reiterates that Jesus was conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit of God. Then suddenly, in chapter 2, Jesus was born in Bethlehem (to fulfill the prophecy) and it's two years later and kings from the East come to visit him in Egypt (to fulfill prophecy). Matthew's telling was all about fulfilling the prophecies made to Israel.

But Luke tells the infancy narrative from a completely different perspective -- a birth story in humble setting complete with angels announcing the news to shepherds. There is no star here . . . or kings from the East.

Both of these tellings have agendas -- but what is wrong with that? Yes, there are literary agendas that state that "Greats" in history were frequently born of virgins and that angels were present, and there are prophetical agendas at play here -- Matthew's telling wants to show the fulfillment of prophecy. And we can ask -- were these written just to fit in Jesus' life to an agenda? Is the Christmas story real?

Getting lost in the details is frustrating at best, but it hides the meaning behind the story -- that whether the birth happened "actually" as it was written in Matthew or "actually" as it was written in Luke, the story tells the same thing -- that a baby was born. And for us who claim to follow Jesus, there is something special about acknowledging his birth-day. The actual day we do not know, but I think it's pretty cool that politically it was added to the calendar in the time of the Winter Solstice so that there would be a Christian agenda in a pagan world. And I think that's what we get to continue to celebrate when the consumer-culture tries to create a different holiday than we are celebrating. Christmas is about Jesus -- whether his beginnings were humble or prophetically scripted does not matter. What does matter is that the One who I believe opened the pathway for humanity to have a relationship with God -- that ONE was finally born. And that's worth a birthday party!!!!

For more detailed information, take a look at Raymond Brown's book An Adult Christ at Christmas -- here is the preview -- http://books.google.com/books?id=Co8Mh-GliPIC&dq=2+christmas+stories,+matthew+and+luke&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=5dFpHxXxUA&sig=Vwy54BC6V1F49-u4L65oB0AJVR8&hl=en&ei=oHQnS5SGHoS1tgeGwpHLCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CA8Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=&f=false And here is the link to purchase --

Vivian, Click Here!!!

Images of Jesus needed . . .

I am putting a sermon together for next week where I am hoping to talk about how we one-sidedly misconstrue our images of Jesus -- imaginging a halo-topped child in a manger or a radiant resurrected Christ all in white rather than a man who suffered, who struggled, who got dirty, who needed a bath on occasion, etc. As I am working with this concept, I am looking for images of Jesus that you can find that are more "human" and "suffering servant" than brilliant. Can you help?

Thanks.

All Saints Banner

I promised I'd tell you about the All Saints Banner I made a few years ago. It's really simple to make and very meaningful as well. I wish I had a picture of it, but I don't. I have to make a new one as my church has misplaced the old one. So here is what I'm going to do.

Get a dowel about the width of most other banner rods in your church. You could use a shower curtain rod if they are easier to come by in your area. Then purchase a variety of spools of white ribbon -- grosgrain, satin, white, off-white, etc. A variety of widths is nice too and a few tulle ribbons adds a nice effect. Decide how tall you want your banner to be by measuring other banners in your church top to bottom. Then measure out ribbons that length plus 2". With a hot glue gun, attach the ribbons to the dowel (I wrap them around. If you are more of a sewing person, you can also creat loops in the tops of the ribbons to slide onto the dowel.) The ribbons should hang over the top of the dowel, all in the same direction so the pattern is something like this (see below):

-------------------------------------- (this is the dowel)
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (the vertical lines are the long ribbons)
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo (these are the bells)

To the bottom of each ribbon, I attach jingle bells.

At the All Saints service, we read the names of those who have entered the Great Cloud of Witnesses (Hebrews) the previous year and ring a bell for each name as it is read. Then we invite the widows or loved ones to come to the banner and write the name of their loved on on the banner, using a Sharpie marker. We've used black markers, but silver or gold would be nice too.

The varied ribbons give the effect of a fine curtain between this life and life everlasting. And the jingle bells are joyful noises as the banner flows.

When I talked about this banner on a blog last year, someone designed something a little different and I liked it too. They took a solid white sheet/fabric and made a loop hole for the banner rod to slide through. Then they gave out colorful ribbons for church members to write out the names of their loved ones who had passed away. These ribbons were safety pinned to the banner for a colorful/joyful effect.

Use your imagination! The possibilities are endless!

Planning for All Saints Service (end of October!)

I heard this song yesterday and immediately thought, "I have got to use that in this year's All Saints service!" It's Sara Groves "What do I know" and you can download it from Amazon for 99 cents.



The idea behind the song is that there is very little we know about what happens after death. We proclaim heaven and other wonders read in the Good Book but there is little we know because we've never been there ourselves. Yet there is a hope passed along in this song. The hope is that "I know that to be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord. And from what I know of Him, that must be really good." I've thought about buying the track and singing it myself because it's not too high and it's very simple. But I haven't found the track or the accompaniment score yet.

For those of you not familiar with Sara Groves, there are a couple of other songs of hers that are also awesome for All Saints services. The first is "O When the Saints"

which has a lot of meaning for me right now. A woman in her 80's told me yesterday that when she died she'd like the hymn version of this song at her memorial service while the children play tamborines down the aisle! What a celebration!!!

And the other song I'd recommend for All Saints Day is by Carrie Newcomer called "Gathering of Spirits." It is my all-time favorite!!!


In my next post I'll tell you about the All Saints Ribbon Banner that I made and how it helps us to celebrate the great cloud of witnesses!

I Saw God

Sunday someone made an announcement in church that they were trying to get a group together to go visit one of the church's shut-ins for her birthday. The woman was one of the charter members of the church and has, in the last year, lost complete use of all of her limbs thanks to a debilitating muscle disease. She's confined to a wheelchair and is the equivalent of a quadrapalegic. The good news is that her mind is strong and she can communicate like nothing is wrong.

So Thursday I showed up for the birthday party, and I am so glad I did. There, in this woman's living room, were about 15 church members, a birthday cake, a balloon, and a pile of cards. As I said the Birthday Blessing, I was amazed that these people had thought to bring the church to someone's house. And I knew that I was seeing God.

Healing in the Wilderness

John 3:14-21
14And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

Healing in the Wilderness

The ancient Hebrew people had a cleansing ritual for anyone who had gone through a soul changing event. The soul-changing events included such life events as menstruation, sex, giving birth, and observing death (http://www.shalomctr.org/node/275). To the Hebrew people, those who engaged in any of these soul-changing events would become inwardly focused. Thus, to re-engage with the community, to set their sites on something other than themselves, a ritual had to be performed. In the case of touching or observing one who had died, the one wishing to be restored to community was asked to make a red sacrifice. The sacrifice was to be made of a red cow with red blood so that the priest making the sacrifice would stare intently at the red, then close his eyes and see the color green as the mind reversed colors. (expound) Green was the sign of life – growth, newness. The idea was that as the sacrifice burned and the red smoke billowed, the individual was moved from inward focus (blood) to an outward focus on the community (life).

Today’s stories ask us to blink, to move our eyes from our internal pain to the Source of our external healing. A few weeks ago I had the stomach flu and I found myself extremely inwardly focused. All I could think about was the nausea – I could not interact with family or anyone else because I was immersed in myself – in my own pain, in my own body. The only thing that offered me any comfort, that could separate me out from my body, was the coolness of a wet washcloth on my head that forced me to look up, to breathe, to blink. And as I looked up, I was healed, able to take the focus off of my own pain and consider, instead, that there was life outside of my illness – that eventually I would emerge whole and be restored to the community of my family and my life.

The Hebrew people were dying, one by one, as snakes bit them and forced them into an internal focus. Granted, they had been internally focused before the snakes bit them – they had whined and belly-ached in the wilderness about the many ways God had failed them – they were already separating themselves from the community before the snakes started biting. But it was the snake bite that made the people ask for a ritual. It was the snake bite that made them demand of Moses that he talk to God and that God please save them. And it was the image of the snake held high that caused them to blink, that caused them to live.

In the wilderness, those dying from snakes looked up to a greater snake and were healed. A little bit idolatrous, except that we realize it helped people look up, to remove their fear of their own death and to, instead, experience the hope of God. Upon staring at the very thing that was killing them, they could blink and call forth a greater snake to heal them. We who are dying from our humanity – from the drone of sin that complicates our lives, that distracts us from what’s really important, can stare at the very thing that is killing us – our humanity – and recognize instead a greater human – one unafraid to be filled with the fullness of God – to heal us. It is not the cross itself, the instrument of torture, that becomes our saving grace, but Jesus Christ – God in flesh – who replaces the serpent held high for the Israelites.

It’s interesting that in Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus, the very one who asks, “How can I be born again?” we also get the reference to the story in Numbers. 14And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

In our context we understand that Jesus was lifted up on a cross as a spectacle for people to look upon. And often, when we hear the passion narrative, we look at the cross and start to feel ill much as we would if we had stared at a red sacrifice – we see a man in anguish and pain, unjustly murdered before our eyes, struggling with all he was to breathe, to live – and we hear the gruesome details of his death. But today’s scripture asks us to look at the man dying on the cross in all of its’ gruesome and gory details, and to blink, to see the reversal our mind allows us turning the red into green, into life, for only then we will be made well – to be restored to complete health. We are asked to look at the Son of Man and receive eternal life. With eyes weakened from the drug of venomous sin, we can look up, and receive eternal life.

Just as God, frustrated by the Israelites’ complaining, provided the means by which they could be healed, so God, saddened by our sinfulness, provided the means by which we could be made whole. In both cases, God loves. God loved the Israelites so much that God removed the sting of those very snakes God placed in their paths. God loved the world so much that God removed the punishment for the sin that separates us from God. God loved. And God still loves.
The words of John 3:16 are taught to us from the time we can memorize, and why? Because there is something very raw in there – a love for you and for me that is so strong that God was willing to give up God’s very self so that we would make it. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is about love – more love than you or I could ever even imagine on our own. It is the love of God that is able to refocus us – that is able to take away our inward wallowing and help us to blink, so that we can see that life is not just about us, but rather about God in community, about God working through us in community.

John 3:16 reveals to us the heart of the gospel – For God so loved the world . . . . It is this love that we are called to share with our neighbors, with our friends, with our acquaintances. The A-team is trying to teach us how easy it is to share God’s love, but also how vital it is to share God’s love. It’s easy because if we ourselves have looked up and believed in Jesus Christ ourselves, we can’t help but share what happened to us – how we were changed when we removed the focus from ourselves. And it is so vital to share God’s love because people are dying. Every one of us will agree that this world needs changing. Things are ugly out there! Metaphorical snakes are biting everywhere, forcing people to look out only for themselves and even making us focus on our own survival. But God wants to heal, to refocus minds and hearts on life; God wants us to look up. As long as we are inwardly focused, we will always be dissatisfied by the fact that no one else seems to want to live in the light. But when we look up, when we believe that Jesus can get us out of this self-focused angst, we will be healed and as such we will be able to help others look up and believe. There is healing in the wilderness

When one faces death, you can be changed or you can be paralyzed. You can call forth something more powerful or you can let the poison kill you. There is a story about a woman who, in Auschwitz, was standing in line at the gas chambers. The woman in front of her began screaming as the line got shorter and shorter – her fear was tangible. But the woman, facing the same immanent death, turned to the fear-filled woman and held her close, offering care and compassion that caused the fear-filled woman to blink, and to face her death, instead, peacefully, surrounded by the love of God in her neighbor. Our body can be harmed, but they can’t touch our spirit. May we, no matter how difficult life may be at the moment, choose to share God’s love in community so that others will look up and be healed. Amen.

Clean House and Come On In!

John 2:13-25
13The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 19Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Clean House and Come On In!

I don’t know if your family had this rule or not, but when I was growing up it went something like this: “Before anyone can come over, the house must be picked up.” “Picked up” meant that everything was in its right place. The beds were made. The dishes were done. The floors were vacuumed. And the halls were swept. The house where I grew up was quite large so there was plenty of room to store our junk so that it was out of the way when guests came. My Mother was smart enough to suggest that the Barbie’s house was simply shelves in a closet that could be simply closed up when company came. Cleaning up was no one’s favorite chore, but for friends to come over, we engaged in its necessity.

We have the same rule at my house now – no one comes in unless the house is cleaned up. However, the house I live in today is much smaller than the house where I grew up. There is not nearly as much room to store all of the “stuff” that seems to creep into our living space everyday. But I LIKE a clean house. And my girls would really like to have friends over some time. So I began to clean. I scoured the sink and scrubbed the counters. I got rid of the sticky patches that I found on the table. I swept up the crumbs and filled up the trash can with junk mail that was still sitting around. I dusted the TV and polished the piano. And just as I started feeling pretty good about what I had accomplished, I decided to look at my clean house through the eyes of a guest, to see if they would also appreciate my hard work. Do you know what I saw? Not clean counters or a polished piano, but boxes piled with keepsakes in the corner because I hadn’t made room for them yet. I saw art supplies spilling out of our craft closet because the closet was full. I saw handprints on the glass doors to the lanai. I saw that even though I thought I cleaned my house, things still weren’t cleaned up.

Jesus traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover, joining people coming from all over. For Passover you were supposed to bring an unblemished sacrifice to atone for your sins. Remember that Old Testament story where Moses asked everyone to kill the unblemished lamb and place the blood over their door so that the angel of death would pass over them, sparing their first born? The Passover is the Jewish ritual of remembering God’s faithfulness to the Israelites at a crucial time in their history. People traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, to celebrate God’s faithfulness. But it is awfully hard to travel a long distance with an unblemished animal for your sacrifice. Animals got bruised and tired and hungry and worn. So the temple had come up with a plan to help – they would provide unblemished animals for people to buy as their sacrifices. The animals could remain at home, without blemish.

There was more to it, of course. They realized that travelers would have only the money of the Roman Empire. The money that people carried had Caesar’s face on it, thus it was considered idolatry to carry this coin into the house of God. So the temple set up tables where people could exchange their idols for temple coins so that they could enter the temple as faithful servants of the Most High God and make a pure sacrifice for Passover. The temple leaders thought they were doing the right thing – helping people come to God by having everything set up for them. They thought it was a good thing to help people get rid of their idols when they entered the temple. They thought it was a good thing to offer unblemished sacrifices for the people to have, saving their own animals the possibility of becoming blemished on the long journeys to the temple. But Jesus didn’t think it was a good thing.

Jesus turns over the tables and pours out the idol money and the temple money, pointing out the boxes that are still piled high in the corner and the crafts that are spilling out of the too-full closet. Jesus rants and raves because the handprints are still on the glass doors. Jesus takes out a whip and lets all of the unblemished sacrifices run loose! Jesus sees things for what they are – a mess, a shambles, a marketplace. And Jesus asks, “Did you really think you were doing a good thing?! Did you really think this place was cleaned up?”

Now if a man came in here, ranting and raving about something that was commonplace to us, something that had been rightly approved by the session and accepted by the congregation, would we listen to him? No! We would get on the phone with 911 and have a police officer out here in no time flat.

But the Jewish leaders listened to Jesus. I wonder why. Maybe it was because something that he said resonated with them. Maybe it was because they too felt that something was out of place. Maybe it was because they could see the boxes that were piled high in the corners, the crafts spilling out of the too-full closet and the fingerprints on the lanai door. Maybe it was because they thought that perhaps Jesus was right.

So the Jewish leaders asked Jesus to tell them why they should believe him. And he made this crazy comment about tearing the temple down and rebuilding it in three days, a comment that his disciples began to understand only later, after his death and resurrection. Only upon later reflection did the disciples understand that Jesus was talking about his own body as the temple where God lived – his own body that would be rebuilt after his death.

In 2001, a musician by the name of Karl Paulnack lived in Manhattan. He writes of heading down to the conservatory on September 12th to do what he always did. He sat down at the piano at 10 AM to begin practicing as he always did. Out of habit, without even thinking about it, he lifted the cover on the keyboard, opened his music, and set his fingers on the keys. Then he took his fingers off the keys. He writes, “I sat there and thought, does this even matter? Isn’t this completely irrelevant? Playing the piano right now, given what happened in this city yesterday, seems silly, absurd, irreverent, pointless. Why am I here? What place has a musician in this moment in time? Who needs a piano player right now? I was completely lost. And then I, along with the rest of New York, went through the journey of getting through that week. I did not play the piano that day, and in fact I contemplated briefly whether I would ever want to play the piano again. And then I observed how we got through the day. At least in my neighborhood, we didn’t shoot hoops or play Scrabble. We didn’t play cards to pass the time, we didn’t watch TV, we didn’t shop, we most certainly did not go to the mall. The first organized activity that I saw in New York, that same day, was singing.” (from a speech by Karl Paulnack of Boston Conservatory posted on facebook, 2009). And, as you can imagine, what was once a routine habit of daily practice became instead an expression of the soul.

Sometimes it takes a tragedy to help us see things in a different light and change our responses. Sometimes it takes a raving mad man claiming to know something only God would know. And sometimes it takes a conscious effort to open our eyes and see the boxes, the spilling crafts and the handprints that still need to be worked on.

We are still walking with Jesus through the season of Lent. One of the spiritual disciplines we can take on is the task of taking a closer look at ourselves – as individuals and as the church. What, in our lives, is just not quite right? Are there habits that we have for seemingly good reasons that we may need to examine a bit closer, asking why? Asking how God could use that time or that habit or that routine? The “A Team” (our membership and outreach committee) is asking us to invite someone to come to church with us. And in being asked that question, we have to look at ourselves a bit more. We have to reconsider why WE are here and what WE have found redeeming in Christ. What has become a routine act of coming to worship every Sunday has been tossed before us by your pastor and your session (all of us raving lunatics!) so that we take a closer look at why we are here. When we search the scriptures we discover that we have been called to share God’s love – not simply to come into worship for an hour every week but to respond to God’s love and pass it on!

It is my hope that during Lent, no matter how much you have scrubbed and swept and polished and dusted you will join me in seeing the boxes in the corner and help me find a place to store them; that you will notice the crafts spilling out of the craft closet and help me clean it up; that you will see the fingerprints on the glass doors and take a few moments with me to wipe them off; that you will notice your fingers on the keys and play from the heart; that you will hear God’s voice to you while you are here and decide, with me, that our faith is much too important to keep to ourselves. I hope, with me, you will decide to share God’s love with someone else.

Amen.

"early" musings

It is Thursday night and I am posting my "early" musings for Sunday's sermon. I suppose I should be further along than "early" musings, but I'm not. So here goes.

The scripture for Sunday is Jesus' cleansing of the temple. He wanders up to the temple and sees people exchanging regular money for the temple money (because they can't have Caesar's picture inside the temple -- it would be idolatry.) But Jesus is furious and he turns the tables over on these moneychangers. Imagine the sounds -- coins dropping and birds squawking as pre-sacrificed offerings. Jesus causes this disruption because he's had it. This is not what the temple is supposed to be about.

Think about it . . . why would people need any money anyway inside the temple? Well, to make a sacrifice. In the "olden" days, people would bring what they had -- the best sheep of their flock, or the nicest chicken -- to atone for their sins. But now, (now being 2000 years ago) they are expected to purchase their sacrifice, not from the bounty God had given them, but from animals the temple people have chosen as "worthy."

They needed money to make atonement.

Now here is where I have to get out my commentary and do a little more research, but offhand I'm thinking Jesus is upset that people can't bring a portion of what God has given them. He's upset that what God has already given isn't "good enough" for the temple. If God had given a family 4 chickens, would not one of them be more than enough to atone for sins? Why would they have to sell one, take the money they gained from selling it to the temple, and exchange their Caesar money for temple money so that they could buy a more fitting sacrifice? Is that the purpose of having a temple? to please the rabbis? or is it something else? Perhaps the purpose of coming to temple was to please God? to offer oneself to God -- to bring a sacrifice of what God had given to you?

The title of my sermon I have: "Clean House and Come On In!" It sounds mighty Southern, doesn't it? When I came up with it, I thought about how often I won't let people into my house because it is too messy. I feel I have to get it all perfect before I can let anyone in. But Jesus' table-turning endeavors at the temple seem to speak of something more lasting than that. It's like he told the money-changers -- "don't make them clean house before they come in! Don't make them live up to your standards. Let them come in as they are -- with their idoled coins and heavy hearts. Let them bring to God what is really important to them, not to you." And really, that's what I should do too -- I shouldn't worry who comes into my messy house because the point is to let them in! I don't expect perfection from my guest either -- I just want them to be themselves, to come on in and make themselves comfortable. I don't request that they exchange their shoes for my shoes at the door, for in doing so I would be exalting my status above theirs. No, when I let you into my home, I am to honor you as my guest.

So I'm wondering now if Jesus' actions had something to do with the hospitality code? If the moneychangers were driving people away from the temple rather than welcoming them??? Please comment if you are studying this scripture too. Your thoughts matter to me.

Thinking toward Sunday

Mark 8:34-38
34He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Our congregation is entering an interesting time during Lent. Together we are "taking up" a responsibility -- the responsibility of sharing God's love with our neighbors. But we're really not quite sure how to do that. We can talk about it with each other. We can listen to sermons about it. But when it comes down to it, we're not quite sure "how" to do it. Which is why we are entering into this discipline of evangelism together.

I have been the pastor of the Spring Lake Presbyterian Church for five years and in that amount of time we have seen a lot of people come in and join with us as fellow members or friends. Some have wandered in, looking for a Presbyterian church. Others have come because a neighbor invited them or because a church member cared for them and left an impression upon their lives. Still others have come because they recently moved into the neighborhood. But people have come, and as they have come and the love of God has been shared, the Spirit of God has begun to fill this place. People sense that when they walk into worship on Sunday morning. On more than one occasion I have heard the words, "God is here." And I believe them.

As this is week one of this emphasis where we will slowly learn "how" to share God's love, we are starting simply, focusing on what it is about this particular church that drew us in and kept us here. You've heard a few testimonials from members of the "A Team" -- our ministry team for membership, outreach, and evangelism. You've heard about the friendliness of the congregation. You've heard about how the people and the rituals tend to grow richer with age. You've heard about the welcome. And you've heard that someone felt God's presence when they walked into this space. Personally, as you know, I came because it was a job . . . but realize something else. I came because God called me here. I have never doubted that. No, I take that back. It was five years ago and I walked into this space as your new pastor during a Lenten meal and I must have had a look of fear on my face because one of the PNC members turned to me and asked, "you didn't realize how old we were, did you?" For a brief moment, I suppose I did wonder what was on God's mind when calling me here. But all it took was a conversation here, an invitation there, a visit here, a comment there, a conflict here, a resolution there and suddenly I realized that I was in a sacred place . . . with sacred people -- the children of God. For in the time I have been here, I have grown in my faith as I have watched you grow in your faith. I have seen God at work in ordinary places I had forgotten to look in the past. I have learned to lead you -- God's people -- as you have made a place for me just as I am. And in this dance of learning to lead and learning from leaders, we have together discovered the secret to this hallowed place is that God is here . . . with us. In the sorrows we share together -- like Skip's funeral yesterday. In the joys we celebrate -- like cancer free anniversaries. And in those in-between times when God holds our hands as we face whatever will come. In all of this . . . God has been here and God will be here. So as we begin this journey of Lent together, as we reflect upon why we are here and how God reveals God's self to us in fellowship with one another, we are beginning to become Christ's disciples together.

In Mark's gospel today we hear those words -- If anyone would want to follow me, he or she must deny themselves and take up their crosses and follow me. We are asked to willingly take up a death sentence to follow this One called Jesus, the Christ. This isn't a shallow game about looking good before others or even feeling good about what we are doing; if we take Mark's words seriously then we must be willing to give up anything that leaves us looking rosy for the sake of following Christ. It's not about us anymore. It's about denying ourselves so that God can fill us. It's about listening to the wants, the needs, the whines, the aches that drown out God and saying -- Be gone! -- so that we can hear the One who speaks our name.

Mark speaks, 35For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? As we, in the Membership, Outreach, and Evanglism "A Team" met to talk about what this church needed to do, we realized that we must take Mark's gospel seriously -- that we, as a church, needed to be willing to share the gospel with others. We realized that there is no profit in wondering how God will provide for our church if we are not willing to do what has been asked of us. God asks for us to be willing to lose our life for the sake of the gospel. We are not to be ashamed to tell friends and neighbors what God has done for us. We are not to be ashamed to tell acquaintances how God has changed peoples' lives in our church. We are not to be ashamed to look deep within our own hearts and say, "Yes, God, begin with me. I want to follow you. I don't want to be ashamed."

We're going to take things one step at a time. And we are going to enter what might be a little uncomfortable territory -- we're going to ask you to invite a friend to church. But we are going to help you along the way because it's a little uncomfortable for us too. We know what it's like to take that risk and talk about God in a world that doesn't talk about such things. But we also know that we're willing to take that risk because God is the Source of our life, the Reason we are alive, the Presence we can not escape, the Love that fills our souls.

Let us not be ashamed of the Gospel. For it is a Gospel -- a good news -- just waiting to be shared. Amen.

Stranger Things Have Happened: The Sermon

Mark 9:2-10
2Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. 4And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 5Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” 8Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.
9As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean.

Stranger Things Have Happened

It wasn’t as if Peter, James, and John had not been surprised by Jesus before. On the contrary, just the week before Jesus had fed four-thousand people using 7 loaves and a few fish and a few weeks before that he fed 5000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish. At another time Jesus defied religious law and ate with a woman and a sinner at that. And before that Jesus calmed the winds and the sea by walking on the water toward them. And before that he healed the sick – a woman with a fever, a man who was paralyzed, someone with leprosy, another who was deaf. So when Jesus led them up to a high mountain, I am certain they expected something a little different to happen. After all, when Jesus was around, stranger things usually happened.
But then again, I am also certain that they were not expecting to meet up with Elijah and Moses. Elijah had been whisked off to heaven in a chariot of fire 9 centuries earlier and Moses, he had lived somewhere around 1400 years earlier. The last thing Peter, James, and John expected to see were two people who had lived and died hundreds of years earlier. But then again, with Jesus, stranger things had happened.

Peter considered it an honor to be in the presence of Elijah and Moses. He wanted to build them houses, keep them around for a little while. All he could think was . . . “Finally we’ll get some answers!” Finally Moses can tell us what he meant when he received all of these laws! Finally Elijah can tell us what really happened during the time when he lived! Finally the Word of the Lord will be taught to us authentically, by the people who lived the stories in the first place . . . no more distance from the social context of 1400 years ago, . . . no, we can get the whole story and perhaps understand what we can DO with that law. And so Peter tried to hear what Moses and Elijah were saying, but it got harder and harder to hear because a cloud came down upon him and James and John drowning out all voices except the one that belonged to God.

Imagine trying to hear the voices of those who helped to form your religion. Would you not strain to hear what was being said? Would you not want to make them the finest houses and clothe them in the clothes of royalty? And would it not knock you off your feet for God to cloud your understanding of what they were saying so that instead you heard the voice of God? Why, God’s voice trumps the human founders of your faith any day! God’s voice is like a homerun! A royal flush! Hearing God’s voice is like winning the lottery! And that’s what Peter James and John hear. They hear God’s voice, and they realize it’s no longer important what Moses and Elijah are saying. God says, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” God says, don’t worry about what Moses and Elijah are saying, listen to Jesus, my Son. He knows what he is talking about.

This is HUGE. It’s the equivalent of God telling a Christian – don’t worry about what the Bible says, listen to this person instead – he’s my child. As God’s voice enveloped Peter, James, and John, they were told that what was truly sacred was standing right in front of them. More holy than the scrolls of even Moses, than the stories of even the great prophet Elijah, Jesus was the holy one.

As they walk down the mountain, they had to start believing that nothing stranger than this had ever happened. Surely they had seen it all. Except Jesus had spoken of the resurrection of the dead. With Jesus there was always more. The possibilities opened themselves up before him. When someone was sick, he would heal. When someone was a sinner, he would forgive. When someone was hungry, he would feed them. When someone was afraid, he would calm not only the winds and the waves but hearts as well. In the presence of Jesus, stranger things ALWAYS happen!

And that’s the good news, folks. When you’ve reached the end of your rope and feel that there’s not a chance on this earth that your situation will improve, you are reminded that stranger things have happened. When cancer takes over your life and healing seems a distant thought, remember that stranger things have happened. When your bank account seems empty and you wonder how you will ever pay all of your bills, remember that stranger things have happened. When it appears divorce is your only option, that your spouse will never understand what it means to love, remember that stranger things have happened!

Because stranger things HAVE happened! Transfiguration happened as Jesus’ clothes became radiant white on that mountaintop. And resurrection happened – life after death. If we truly “Listen to him” and believe the message that Jesus lived and proclaimed, then stranger things will happen!

When the session of this church last met, we dealt with the fact that we had a mold problem in the education wing. The bid from those who could get rid of the spores for us is running around $6000. As we met around the table, aware of our responsibility, one of the elders spoke up – “it has to be done, guys. The money will come from somewhere.” And we recognized that she was right. She reminded to us all that stranger things have happened than God providing for a church. The week after that, a church member called me up and asked if there was any pressing need that the church had. This week I brought an anonymous check for $6000 to the church office. Stranger things have happened.

Peter, James, and John kept forgetting that stranger things had happened. Someone would be healed and they would be amazed. And then someone else would be healed and they would be amazed. And then the winds and the waves would become calm and they would be amazed. And then they saw Jesus transfigured and they were amazed. And then they saw Jesus die and come back to life and they were amazed. Stranger things always happen. As Christians who believe that God is able to do stranger things than this, why do we continue to forget that stranger things have happened? Why do we continue to be amazed when stranger things happen?

I stand here to remind you so that you don’t forget. Stranger things WILL happen. All we must do is realize that Jesus is God’s beloved Son. Then we must listen to him. We will be amazed. Our situations will change. Our needs and desires will be met. For in the presence of our resurrected Lord, stranger things ALWAYS happen.

A Prayer For Those Who Struggle

(c) 2009 Rev. Katie Treadway

God, can you really meet my needs?

They seem to overwhelm me, to paralyze me, to the point that I just don't know what to do.

Stranger things have happened.

Calling forth something out of nothing at the creation of the universe;

Parting the Red Sea for a few hopeless creatures to find hope;

Sending a chariot of fire to woosh Elijah away to worlds unknown.

God, can you really meet the needs of this world?

The media plagues us with statistics of death and hatred and poverty and hunger.

Stranger things have happened.

Incarnation.

Transfiguration.

Resurrection.

Time, Time Tickin'

It's 11:32 PM and I'm exhausted but can't sleep, so I decided to write. There is much puttering around up here in my head -- the need to begin thinking about worship for next Sunday, the bulletin that needs to be completed tomorrow, the floors which need mopping, phone calls which need to be made, follow up visits to attend to, yet here I sit, averse to doing any of those . . . at least at this time of night.

I think I'm up because so much has been going on at the church lately. My outreach committee is really working hard at being a team to teach this congregation HOW to invite friends to worship and to share the love of God with their neighbors. This is big. I have tried many approaches to helping this happen but, like everything else in the church, a church member (preferably a volunteer leader) needs to get an idea in their head that this is what we need to do. I guess I see myself planting seeds until someone eventually says -- aha! THIS is what we need to do! And I nod my head as if I had never mentioned it before in my life. So anyway, this committe/team is doing a 2 month emphasis on sharing God's love with the "unchurched" -- meaning those who do not have a place to worship and who may not have ever considered that they even want a place to worship God. The first month they are introducing ways to connect to people. The second month, they are challenging the congregation to invite someone every week. I'm excited about this because the committee is excited about this. I'm also excited about this because the focus is not on money for a change but on the real stuff of ministry -- sharing God's love with our neighbors.

The idea behind the whole thing, however, is to show the congregation what they can do. After the 2nd month is over, we don't expect things to chill out at all. Rather, we hope that everyone has "practiced" inviting their friends and that they aren't so afraid to invite people in the future.

So this is the year of the invitation. And as people come, we will have to follow up with them, care with them, help them make this church their home, etc. But the Invite is first.

I suggested to the committee that as part of the training we talk about why we like this church and what brought us here. The committee members are going to share their reasoning and challenge others to share. (I secretly hope there's a revival where everyone begins talking about what God has done in their life and how they began to notice when they came to this church!) The committee members told me -- but Katie, you don't have to tell why you're here. But you know, I began to think. Sure, I came for the job. But the longer you stay someplace, the more you become a part of the community and the more you observe what's going on in the community. I began to see prayers being answered and people giving thanks to God. I began to see incarnation as the body of Christ served one another when community members were sick or lost a loved one. I began to form relationships as I trusted people with my own concerns and joys. And through all of this, I began to see God through the eyes of older people whose lives of faith had been challenged, yet still they persevered.

In a couple of weeks I will have been here 5 years. I am grateful to be a part of this young church's growth.

Sermon Rough Draft -- February 15

2 Kings 5:1-17
I Corinthians 9:24-27
24Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. 25Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. 26So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; 27but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.

In our weekly gathering of youth at Roserio's Pizzaria I have been amazed at the sheer number of youth and young adults who are preparing to enlist in the United States military. For them it is a chance to make something of themselves -- to get an education, to travel and see the world, to matter. Last week three of these young people were talking about boot camp. I asked them if they were excited about it and all three said "yes!" But when I asked if they were prepared for it, all three said "no!" During the week these three decided that they would begin preparing for boot camp -- waking up early, exercising, whatever it would take to get themselves ready for the incredible stress bootcamp would place on their bodies this coming summer. Midway through the week I ran into one of the girls and asked her how it was going -- she said she was sore from playing football with the youth last Saturday. When I asked her if she was going to be ready for bootcamp, she just kinda shrugged her shoulders as if the goal that was before her was already beginning to fade. But yesterday I spoke with one of the other girls who will be enlisting this summer and she says she has started working out -- everyday. For her the goal is before her and she is rising to the challenge. She wants to reach her goal . . . whatever the cost.

There are two stories today. The first is the story of Naaman, the commander of the Aram army that has just defeated Israel. Strangely, this story appears in the Hebrew canon even though it is about their enemies and why? Most likely it is because of Naaman -- a man who converts to the Hebrew faith in this very story. Naaman had leprosy and whether we're new to the Bible or not, most of us are aware that leprosy is a horrible disease which, left untreated, can cause damage to the skin, nerves, limbs and eyes. Naaman was losing social status quickly, thanks to the disease, and wanted desperately to be healed. Naaman's wife's servant had been captured during one of Aram's raids on Israel and she conveyed to Naaman that she knew someone of her own people who could heal leprosy. Naaman was ready to try anything, well almost anything. He wanted to "save face" (bad pun) and maintain his authority and dignity during his healing, but he was willing to ask his king to talk with Israel's king . . . if he could just be healed. The King of Aram sent a letter to the King of Israel with lots of riches, asking if he would please allow Naaman to be healed. And the King of Israel thought the King of Aram was making fun of him by asking him to do something that he obviously could not do. But Elisha, the prophet, heard about this, and asked the King of Israel to have Naaman come to him so that the God of Israel could be known.

Meanwhile Naaman makes his way to Elisha's house, a little put out that a man of Naaman's social status would have to travel out to the countryside where those less-than-royalty lived. Coming to the door, Naaman's servants knocked, expecting the great healer to come out, bow down before Naaman, and touch him so that he could be healed, but Elisha had sent his servant to the door with a message that Naaman was to go bathe in the River Jordan 7 times and he would be healed. This made Naaman even more angry -- for he wanted to be shown respect! He didn't want to "grovel" in his enemy's river . . . not when greater rivers existed in his own land! He wanted healing on his own terms. And at that point, he almost gave up.

I'm going to stop the story there . . . just for a few minutes . . . so we can think for a minute about the epistle I read today from 1 Corinthians. 24Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. 25Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. 26So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; 27but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified. What happens when a runner doesn't train? Well, he most certainly won't finish the race! She most certainly won't win the prize! If we, like Naaman, decide that we want spiritual healing on our own terms and fail to follow through on what's required of us, fail to discipline ourselves to listen for God rather than telling God we know what's best for us, then we will not win the prize.

Rick Warren, the pastor of the famous Saddleback Church and the author of the Purpose Driven Life and other purpose driven books teaches the following lesson: "We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense. Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness,'which is my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others."

Naaman was focused on his problems. He was the one with leprosy and he deserved, in his mind, to be treated with the utmost care because of it. He, in his mind, deserved to be healed because of his social status, because his king had put forth the best money on his behalf. He did not want to wallow in his enemy's river . . . he did not want to demean himself. He wanted healing on his own terms. But then one of his servants said something that caught his attention: What if the prophet had asked you to do something difficult, something that would be more suitable to a man of your status -- wouldn't you do it? And if so, then go on down to the river and do this simple thing -- it's no loss to you. So Naaman did. He swallowed his pride and focused on his purpose rather than his problem. And when he came up out of the water the 7th time, he was completely well. And with that, his spirit was well too -- for he realized that healing had nothing to do with his own terms. He realized that the God of Israel had healed him. He realized, as Rick Warren pointed out, that he was made by God and for God, and suddenly life began to make sense.

What is the prize that is before us? It would appear that the prize that is before us is the purpose that drives our life -- and we get to choose what that will be. But until we realize that we were made by God and for God, until we realize that our lives are vessels that God can fill to provide hope and love to this world, life is not going to make any sense. Some of us realize that we were made by God and for God, but, like Naaman, we want life to happen on our own terms. We want inter-personal healing, physical healing, economic healing, vocational healing, spiritual healing -- but we want it on our own terms. Now. And frequently when we don't get healing on our own terms we become paralyzed with fear -- we look at our problems instead of focusing on the prize that is before us.

Here in this church, we've spent a lot of time dwelling on problems -- financial problems, dwindling membership, etc. -- and when we do so we forget the purpose to which we've been called. We are the body of Christ -- blessed by God -- and called to be a blessing to others. We are called to share the Gospel of Christ with others. We can't lose sight of our goal by paralyzing ourselves within the problems of the moment. We can't lose sight of our goal by requiring that God heal us on our own terms -- with a larger income and a bigger membership. Rather, we have to allow ourselves to receive healing on God's terms. When we focus on God's purpose for this church -- to share God's love with our neighbors and to serve God with our whole lives -- healing will come.

Discipline is tough -- it requires that we look to our goal even when failures threaten to discourage us. We as Christ's body, are called to discipline ourselves -- to take time everyday as we not only pray to God but as we listen for God. We are called to listen for God as we read the scriptures, trusting God to meet our needs and heal us on God's terms. We are called to set aside our arrogance that we know what is right and who is wrong and rather open our eyes to obey whatever it is God wants us to do . . . even if it means that we must return to the place of Naaman's healing, the place of Jesus' baptism, the place of our own baptism and be made whole. We must run in such a way that we will win the prize. Amen.

Twas the Night Before Preaching

Tis the day before Sunday and here in my house, the pastor is studying and avoiding the souse. The scriptures on Naaman and leprosy and running are causing me grief that's in no way too stunning.

Here are the scriptures: 2 Kings 5:1-17 and I Corinthians 9:24-27 -- I've opted not to use the gospel story of Jesus healing the leper.

I love both of these passages. I love the 2 Kings story because 1) it's not familiar and 2) it takes some doing for Naaman to accept the healing that God wishes to pour out on him -- he's got quite a few "roadblocks" -- specifically arrogance -- that stand in the way of receiving what God has for him. And I love I Corinthians because it talks about the discipline with which Christians are to go through life to gain a prize that is eternal. In both of these scriptures, I see the prize before us -- for Naaman it is healing of both body and spirit -- and for Christians it is eternal life. But what else ties these two passages together? I'm stuck, you see, because Naaman seems to get hung up on receiving the gift that is before him because it's so simple, while Christians in I Corinthians seem to get hung up on the discipline that we must train ourself with because it's so hard. In both, God blesses. But the process to receive the blessing seems so very different. So I'm working through that now at the not quite 11th hour. If you have any last minute thoughts as you prepare for tomorrow, drop me a note!

Healing

I changed my sermon again. I realized that my congregation needs to hear more about healing right now than about focus. Or at least I felt that was the message I could share today. So here's a quick sketch of what I did. Again, from Mark 1:29-39

I’m a “Sound of Music” fan. Anything to do with music and dancing and frolicking children, well, that’s just good stuff. My favorite scene, however, is the horrible thunderstorm where, one by one, the kids come into Maria’s room (Maria being the nanny/nun) to try to find some comfort. And music is the great healer. (tell more)
Jesus was asked to use this power that God had blessed him with to bring comfort, much like Maria. When he was ready to call it a day, he healed Simon’s mother-in-law and suddenly scared people from all around town crowded him, asking him to heal them. And he did. . . .
But there came a point when Jesus said – it’s late, let’s go to bed. He said goodnight to each of his “Vontrapp” children and laid down to rest for the evening.
But he was troubled. Although he was thrilled to be given this gift of healing by God, he wanted someone to sing to him, to comfort him, to heal his mind and his heart of all of its overwhelming questions. So he went back outside, this time the children weren’t lined up hoping for healing. They were all asleep in their bed, fears gone. And Jesus sat. And he prayed. He asked God -- what is it YOU want me to be about? Is it this healing that everyone seems to want? Is that it? Because if that's what you want I'll make it my focus. Or is it the casting out of demons like I did the other day in the synagogue? Is that it? Because if that's what you want I'll make it my focus. Or maybe you want something else, something entirely different. Just tell me. I'm here as an empty glass waiting for you to fill me with your focus, your purpose. Just tell me. Just heal my mind, God. And as Jesus sat, he listened. (stop everything and listen for some sort of revelation).
We know that Jesus was healed of all that was plaguing his mind because by the next morning he was back to focusing on what was most important. He didn’t get caught up in the thunder and lightening that had haunted him the night before – no, he realized what he had been called to do. And he followed.

It’s so easy to lose our focus – to miss out on what God is telling us, what God is calling us to be. We get sidetracked by the storms that blow up on us in life. We think – I CAN’T – until someone reminds us that we can, until someone starts singing to us about “raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.” Most often what we need to do is just get away from it all, taking a step away from the routine and the demands just to pray to God, asking God to heal us, and then to listen. (stop everything and listen for some sort of revelation)
And when we emerge from our silence, we will know what it is we are called to do. We will know where our own healing comes from so that we can heal others, singing the song of healing for others – so that we will know what it is we have been called to.
Throughout life we will need to be healed. Sometimes we need physical healing, but always we seek spiritual healing – someone to touch us and take away our fears, someone to offer us hope.
That’s why we gather here, week after week. We gather to listen for the one who speaks with authority – not me, but God. We gather to listen for a word of hope, a word of healing. We gather to ask God to heal us, and we wait, expectantly, for that word . . . for that song that will allow us to sleep soundly.
What is the Word we are receiving, Spring Lake Presbyterian Church? When we, like Jesus, go off to a quiet place to listen for God, what do we hear? Jesus must have been given hope because by morning he was ready to do God’s will. He got up, acknowledging that he wouldn’t be able to heal everyone, and moved right along to the next town and the next town and the next town. He walked into synagogues and said – This is the message of God – not a set of laws, but simply two rules: Love God and love your neighbor. And healing occurred. Healing occurred in Jesus himself because he realized he was doing exactly what God had called him to do – not what the crowds wanted from him but what God wanted from him. And healing occurred in all who heard him – perhaps not physical healing (though that happened too) but a deeper healing, a spiritual healing – a healing that replaced fears with hope.
Where is it you need healing today? Of what are you afraid? Let Jesus touch you and watch the fever disappear. Is there a place deep within you that feels empty or lonely? Take the time to listen for the One who speaks with authority – not me, but God. Allow God to meet you in your emptiness and fill you, heal you, befriend you. Allow God to sing you the song you need to hear so that you can sleep soundly.

Where's My Focus?

Here is where I am in sermon preparation right now:

Mark 1:29-39
29As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. 31He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.32That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. 33And the whole city was gathered around the door. 34And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. 35In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. 36And Simon and his companions hunted for him. 37When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” 38He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” 39And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

The working title of my sermon right now is "When the bandwagon is going the wrong direction." The old phrase "Jumping on the Bandwagon" seems apropos these days. A new church pops up in the middle of town and everyone runs to it, only to run to the next one when it opens, and the next one when it opens. We like to be a part of something fresh and new. We like to feel that we are a part of the best thing going on. But sometimes, as people are hopping on the bandwagon, they have no idea what they are hopping on for. They have no idea where the bandwagon is going or why it is going. They know only that they want to be a part of it. And that is where things start to go wrong.

Jesus set out to do God's will. Last week we learned that he spoke with a new kind of authority -- an authority that people could easily hear, and authority that even the demons listened to and obeyed. So in today's story, his authority is catching on. Simon's mother-in-law was sick so Jesus was called on to heal her. And he did. he walked right in, took her hand, and the fever went away.

Imagine, if you will, that you heard that someone might be able to heal someone YOU know -- just by touching them. No meds or surgery, just a touch and suddenly that person would be well. Wouldn't you follow? Well, that's what happened. Simon told his friends who told their friends who told their friends and suddenly, everyone had jumped on the bandwagon, bringing the sick to Jesus and asking him to heal them. And by the power of God, Jesus did heal them one by one. But Jesus realized something -- they were no longer coming to hear him because he spoke with authority. They weren't coming because of the message he had to give them. They were coming because they wanted healing. And this disturbed Jesus.

He slept a restless sleep that night, a sleep full of questions without answers. And so early, before anyone else was up, so early that it was still dark outside, Jesus disappeared to a place where no one would look for him. The place was quiet and the cool of the early morning was exaggerated by the darkness that preceeds dawn. Jesus wandered off to this place where he could think and pray without the agendas of the people being thrust upon him. And there he sat. And he prayed. He asked God -- what is it YOU want me to be about? Is it this healing that everyone seems to want? Is that it? Because if that's what you want I'll make it my focus. Or is it the casting out of demons like I did the other day in the synagogue? Is that it? Because if that's what you want I'll make it my focus. Or maybe you want something else, something entirely different. Just tell me. I'm here as an empty glass waiting for you to fill me with your focus, your purpose. Just tell me. And as Jesus sat, he listened. (stop everything and listen for some sort of revelation).

We don't know the specific words that were spoken to Jesus. We just know that he heard something, that he finally got the answers to his questions. Simon searched everywhere for Jesus once the people started lining up to be healed outside of his door. He had no idea why the great healer would hide from people. It was his responsibility to heal him, to use his gift to make these people well. Simon found Jesus praying and told Jesus the urgency with which he was needed. But by then, Jesus had his answer. And he looked at Simon and pronounced -- tell the people I'm not going to heal them today. It's time for me to go to the next town and do God's will there. It's time for me to share the message with people who need to hear. What was that message? If we look back at the beginning of Mark 1, we remember that John the Baptizer pronounced that the one who is coming will baptize people with the Holy Spirit -- with understanding and clarity. It's no wonder that those in the synagogue said he spoke with authority. Jesus was speaking in such a way that people could understand what the Kingdom of God was all about -- Jesus was speaking about more than a catchy phrase that signals that it's time to jump on the bandwagon.

And so he went to many other towns. He continued casting out demons and healing the sick. But his focus? Well, his focus was on bringing understanding in the synagogues; his focus was on speaking a message that can be heard.

What is our focus, Spring Lake Presbyterian Church? At one point, 5 years ago, this church decided that our mission would be to demonstrate God's love to each other and the world. But is that still our focus? Are we willing to demonstrate God's love to people who have never been loved? to saints and sinners alike? Are we willing to ask our neighbors: What is it you need in order to see God? to know God? to find God? Are we willing to take our focus away from what is comfortable for us so that we can help others be comfortable? I learned this week that there are 500 school-aged kids in Spring Lake alone -- that's not including preschoolers or young adults. Are we willing to demonstrate God's love to them? As we talked about last week, there are so many people in our community who really don't care about what might happen in a church because what they are truly looking for is authenticity rather than organized religion. Are we willing to demonstrate God's love to them? I'm here to challenge you, Spring Lake Presbyterian Church, because you are incredible about demonstrating God's love to each other. I've never known a more generous community who will bend over backward for each other. I've never seen a more caring community in which cards are sent, calls are made, food is shared, and friendships are established. But God's love has got to get out of this building, has got to go into the world. And so perhaps, what we need to do, is step away from what we know, from what feels good and familiar, and instead ask God: What do you want of me? Will we make ourselves like an empty glass and allow God to fill us with God's purpose, God's focus? Are we willing to set aside our own agendas and ask, instead, what God has for us?

Even Jesus had to step aside. Taking time to re-evaluate is not something that weaklings do. Rather it's something that anyone who wants to be open to the pouring out of the Holy Spirit should do. This church is God's church. Let's take time to ask God how we can serve, what we've been called to do, and may we offer ourselves without hesitation.

Yesterday at the youth gathering, I met four youth who are preparing to enlist in the military. These young people -- aged 16-21 -- knew the sacrifice that was involved and decided to offer themselves to serve this country without hesitation. One even said -- even if I have to go to a place like Iraq, I will. And I had no doubt that she was serious. She really feels called to leave her own comfort zone so that others can be made comfortable.

The call of Christ sounds to us just as deeply -- come, open yourselves to the possibilities, even if that means sacrificing your own agenda for yourself. Get off the bandwagon, the notion that Christianity is simply a "popularity" contest, and join instead the One who calls us to give beyond ourselves, to "be all that we can be" and even more. Amen.

meeting God

I just finished a memorial service for someone I never knew. He was young -- 65 -- and a member of the community, though not at all associated with the church. I'm used to leading memorial services for church members, but it was really interesting to lead one for a stranger. The church was packed -- close to 80 people there and only 5 church members. And I got to wondering, as I often do when I don't know the person, how he might have experienced God in his life. It doesn't sound like he ever entered a church. He was a Harley Davidson rider and a nature lover (hunter and fisher). And I got to thinking . . . ya know, God meets us wherever we are. He seemed to live in response to having seen a bit of the Blessing too. He lived 9 years longer than his doctor expected him too. In return he took his neighbor to the store and to the doctor; he drove his wife to work and waved at all of her fellow workers, he drove to the hospital to help his older brother pull through 8 weeks of intense pain after a motorcycle accident. And while I don't believe the gospel of Jesus Christ is about works, I do believe it is about grace and as such, I believe the way of Christ can meet us wherever we happen to be. And I believe that the works we do reflect the fact that God's love has touched us, and changed us. So where is he today? Like I can really say . . . but I believe he's in the arms of God. Aren't we all?

Jesus Came to Do What?

Mark 1:29-39
29As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. 31He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
32That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. 33And the whole city was gathered around the door. 34And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. 35In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. 36And Simon and his companions hunted for him. 37When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” 38He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” 39And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

I've always wondered why Jesus wanted to "keep things secret" in the gospel of Mark. There are academic answers for that which I won't go into right now. But as I read the scripture the one thing that popped out at me in such a way that I could not look away was verse 38: "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do." He literally turned people away who wanted to be healed, who could have added to his following. He walked away from them and said -- this isn't it. This isn't what I'm supposed to be doing right now.

I wonder some times if we miss it also. Perhaps if we stopped for a moment and listened to God and prayed a bit we might hear what it is we are supposed to do. I'm thinking that's what Jesus did. He was getting really excited about this healing stuff, but in stopping and talking to God, he realized, it's just not it -- it's not why I am here.

We Christians like to talk about our Jesus - our healer -- but is that what he came to do? Perhaps we should think about that. What are your thoughts?

Life Is Short Benedictions

To go along with my sermon, here are a couple of Benedictions that I treasure.

From my friend, "Mother Emily": Life is short and we do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those who travel with us. So be quick to love and hasten to be kind.

From my friend, Pastor Blythe: Life is short, so be swift to love and make haste to be kind, and may the blessing of God, your creator, redeemer and sustainer be with you now and always.

And to both, we add "Amen."

Final Draft: What Really Matters

Here's my final draft -- what I'm really preaching today. Some of it is a bit less pointed. I don't like to put people on the defensive so they can't hear what God wants to say to them, but I pray God will use me to communicate at least some of what God is saying. If nothing else, God speaks to me as I prepare sermons. Peace. KT

I Corinthians 7:29-31
29I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, 30and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, 31and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

What Really Matters?

The Dog Story: As promised, Bill has gotten me out to exercise every day this week. As we were walking one day through the Spring Lake neighborhood, we passed a house with 5 dogs in the side yard, barking hysterically at us and our dog. It’s a dog’s job, his destined purpose, to bark at any stranger passing by his house. Further, it is his job to tell the world that another dog is infringing upon his property (or at least getting close to it.) My dog ignored the five dogs, but Bill and I watched and began to laugh as two of the little dogs, so excited by the prospect of doing their job, began to attack one another – wrestling and growling and biting and yipping. Within seconds of our approach, they had already forgotten what they were barking about and, instead, turned on one another. They had forgotten their purpose! And instead made a spectacle of themselves! The story would not be complete unless I reported that 5 minutes later we turned around and returned via the same street. The five dogs immediately began barking again, as if they had never seen us. And as we approached, the two again began to attack one another. Somehow, in all of the excitement, those two had forgotten what really matters.

In I Corinthians, Paul has been writing about how important it is to focus on God, and, in the passages prior to today’s scriptures, he has acknowledged that frequently sex and taking care of your spouse can deter your focus upon God. It doesn't preach really well in this day and age. ;o) However, the bigger issue is that Paul is urging Christians to focus all of their attention upon God. In verses 29-31 he sums it up by reminding us that the time we have on this earth is so very short and as such, we should live as though the only thing that mattered was God. If you are mourning, don't let that stand in the way of what matters. If you are overjoyed, don't let that stand in the way of what matters. If you have money to spend, live as though you didn't. Think only about what is important . . . what is lasting . . . what is real.

As I began working on this sermon and thinking about those things that really matter, I realized that God was speaking to me. I had found myself annoyed by pettiness complaints that seemed to consume my time. As I read this scripture and began to focus on God’s call to me as both Pastor and Christian, I realized that God was reminding me to focus on what really matters. Any time we gather together, it is tempting to focus on who-likes-who and who-doesn’t like-who; it is tempting to be drawn into a conversation where we judge one another for what we have said or how we have acted; it is tempting to get on the band wagon and form groups for or against someone or something. But I am reminded that in the big picture, it is not for me to focus on who-likes-who and who-doesn’t-like-who. It is not for me to judge another human being for how he or she has acted. It is not for me to takes sides for or against another individual. These things do not matter. If life on earth is truly as short a period in infinity as it seems to be, why am I wasting precious energy on being angry about the pettiness around me? What really matters?

If we continue Paul’s line of thinking in I Corinthians, we will discover that all that matters is that we have only a short period of time in which to share the love of Christ with our neighbors – with those who are easy to love and with those who are not. The church exists not to exact a bunch of rules and regulations upon people, but rather to care for one another. The church is not a building, but a body – Christ’s body – broken yet healed in resurrection. What really matters? Simply spending our time sharing Christ’s love with others . . . that is the ONLY thing that really matters. We must change our focus from: What matters to me? to What matters to them? When our focus shifts from guarding our own feelings and experiences to nurturing another’s feelings and experiences, we have begun to focus on what really matters. We have begun to be the Body of Christ in the world.

Given the fact that I spent a lot of my early adult years in Nashville, I came to find that country music wasn't quite as bad as I had always been led to believe. In fact, occasionally the lyrics will hit a home run. Tim McGraw sang a song that has stuck with me since I first heard it. The lyrics are right in line with the scripture for today, albeit a bit more "country!" He said I was in my early forties with a lot of life before me when a moment came that stopped me on a dime. And I spent most of the next days, looking at the x-rays, talking bout the options and talking bout sweet time. I asked him when it sank in that this might really be the real end? How does it hit you when you get that kinda news? Man, what'd you do? And he said, "I went sky diving! I went Rocky Mountain climbing! I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fumanchu! And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter and I gave forgiveness I'd been denying." And he said, "Someday I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying."On Tuesday, one of my kid's friend's father was diagnosed with cancer. At that point all of the worry about who would get the kids to school, what to have for lunch, when the church meeting would meet, who was wearing what at the game, how clean the house was, what was said or done wrong in the last few days, ALL OF THAT suddenly didn't matter. All that mattered was the realization that life is so very short and we are given but a brief window to allow God's will to be done through us. We have but a brief window to connect our stories to God's stories. We have a brief window to live in harmony with one another, to resist petty divisions and opportunities to be angry and anxious. We have only now.

Yesterday I attended a memorial service for an 8-week-old. At that point all of the worry about who would get up for the midnight feedings, who would change the diapers, where the college funds were going to come from, whether Aunt June and Grandpa Joe would ever get along, ALL of that suddenly didn’t matter. All that mattered was the realization that life is so very short and we are given but a brief window to allow God’s will to be done through us. We have but a brief window to connect our stories to God’s stories. We have a brief window to live in harmony with one another, to resist petty divisions and opportunities to be angry and anxious. We have only now.

Today we will receive the Annual Report of the Spring Lake Presbyterian Church. In it are many blessings where we came together to allow God’s will to be done through us. In it are many examples of the places where our stories connected to God’s stories. You will see names listed of people who gave of their time selfishly, so that others could focus on what really mattered. You will see a list of just a few of the anonymous gifts given throughout the year to keep the ministry of the church vital, even on a bare-bones budget. You will see the approved 2009 budget which looks just like the 2008 budget and the 2007 budget. The budget was not met last year, but we realize that God did not stop blessing us. We also realize that our ministry did not come to a stand still. The budget is what keeps up the operations of the church – it’s what pays the light bill and the pastor’s salary and the Sunday School lessons and the copier upkeep. The budget is what allows us to do God’s work from here at 5887 US HWY 98. But our ministries do not stop with the budget. The Presbyterian Women raise funds to give to missions, to share with other organizations who are doing God’s will. And the deacons use their funds to feed the hungry and care for the grieving and the sick. But our ministries do not stop with PW and the deacons! Because of the worship we are able to share here on Sunday mornings, you and I are encouraged to share the love of Christ that we just can’t contain within our spirits! What really matters? Does a budget matter? Only if it prepares us to share the love of Christ, to live as if all we had was today, to live like we were dying.

29I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, 30and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, 31and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

We have only today. I hope we’ll go sky diving! I hope we’ll go Rocky Mountain climbing! I hope we’ll go 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fumanchu! I hope we’ll love deeper. I hope we’ll speak sweeter. I hope we’ll give forgiveness we’ve been denying. For the present form of this world is passing away. Today I hope we take the chance to live what really matters, to live like we were dying. Amen.

What Really Matters?

The title of my upcoming sermon for Sunday is "What really matters?" I find it an appropriate title because it is the Sunday of annual congregational meetings. And in truth, regardless of what a budget does or does not say, regardless of what the annual reports tell us about who we have been and who we hope to be, What Really Matters? I'll be preaching from I Corinthians 7:29-31 which says (in the NRSV):

29I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, 30and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, 31and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

Paul has been writing about how important it is to focus on God, but that frequently sex and taking care of your spouse can deter your focus upon God. It doesn't preach really well in this day and age. ;o) However, the bigger issue is that Paul is urging Christians to focus all of their attention upon God. In verses 29-31 he sums it up by reminding us that the time we have on this earth is so very short and as such, we should live as though the only thing that mattered was God. If you are mourning, don't let that stand in the way of what matters. If you are overjoyed, don't let that stand in the way of what matters. If you have money to spend, live as though you didn't. Think only about what is important . . . what is lasting . . . what is real.

The message I'm preparing is especially real for me today. In the past hour I've been extremely irritated by gossip that is spreading like wildfire in the church about something that truly does not matter. And yet rumors abound and only one person has faced the situation head on and realized that the rumors are simply rumors. Everyone else is getting upset over nothing. And I am reminded that in the big picture, it truly does not matter. If life on earth is truly as short a period in infinity as it seems to be, why am I wasting precious energy on being angry about the pettiness around me? What really matters?

Given the fact that I spent a lot of my eary adult years in Nashville, I came to find that country music wasn't quite as bad as I had always been led to believe. In fact, occasionally the lyrics will hit a home run. Tim McGraw sang a song that has stuck with me since I first heard it. The lyrics are right in line with the scripture for today, albeit a bit more "country!"

He said I was in my early forties with a lot of life before me when a moment came that stopped me on a dime. And I spent most of the next days, looking at the x-rays, talking bout the options and talking bout sweet time. I asked him when it sank in that this might really be the real end? How does it hit you when you get that kinda news? Man, what'd you do? And he said, "I went sky diving! I went Rocky Mountain climbing! I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fumanchu! And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter and I gave forgiveness I'd been denying." And he said, "Someday I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying."

On Tuesday, one of my kid's friend's father was diagnosed with cancer. At that point all of the worry about who would get the kids to school, what to have for lunch, when the church meeting would meet, who was wearing what at the game, how clean the house was, what was said or done wrong in the last few days, ALL OF THAT suddenly didn't matter. All that mattered was the realization that life is so very short and we are given but a brief window to allow God's will to be done through us. We have but a brief window to connect our stories to God's stories. We have a brief window to live in harmony with one another, to resist petty divisions and opportunities to be angry and anxious. We have only now.

So the budget this year says the same thing it did last year. There are no differences. Why? Because we didn't meet last year's budget. And truth be told, if we don't meet this year's budget, our reserves will be gone leaving only pennies in the bank. So what do we do? Do we pull back some more, delaying the inevitable? or do we live like this is the very work we have been called to do by God Almighty? Do we live as if every day left is left only for the purpose of loving and serving God? I hope we opt for the second. This year I hope we take the chance to live like we were dying. Amen.

Beginning Again

Here is my sermon for today as it currently stands.

Genesis 1
Mark 1:4-11
4John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
9In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

Created Again: Returning to the Beginning

Let’s start at the Very Beginning! (the very best place to start) In the beginning, God created . . . and it was good.

When I was right out of college I wrote a story. It was a children’s story . . . with a bit of depth to it. And it just came to me. There was no planning for it, no sitting at the computer waiting for creativity to strike. It just appeared. And since then I’ve shared it in many different settings and always heard the response – It is good. I’m filled with pride at this work of art that literally welled up in me until I just had to give birth to it. Art is like that – it is not designed for anyone but the artist who feels so compelled by something that they must get it out, giving birth to it. And when it is out – all the way out—it is good! (at least to the artist, the creator.)

In the beginning there was a blank canvas, a tabula rasa, pure darkness, emptiness, loneliness, and then God was compelled to bring something more to it – to paint, to write, to create – and there was purpose and there was beauty and there was energy and there was life and there was companionship . . . and it was good.

We don’t know much about Jesus’ beginning except some birth stories that just happen to jive really well with the prophecies of old. But after the birth narratives, there is silence as we wait 30 years for the little baby in the manger to grow up. I’m sure the 30 years were pretty eventful – most of the young years are – playing and practical jokes, first words and fatherly advice, doing chores and chopping wood with his dad the carpenter, memorizing the scriptures and making eyes at girls. All we know is that he grew up in the Middle East and suddenly we find him at another beginning, distanced from the stable in all of its ironic holiness.

John the Baptizer calls out to people to receive a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Typically everyone went to the temple to make a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins, but John offered something different. He offered the chance to make atonement by confessing not to the priest but to God and then to be baptized as a chance to start over, to return to the very beginning. REPENT AND BE BAPTIZED FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS! He called out in the wilderness. And they came, all of them wanting forgiveness, wanting to start over. As they stood up out of the water the guilt disappeared, the fear of God’s wrath left, and the desire to begin again compelled them to be a new creation, to start again.

And Jesus said, “I want a new beginning.” And Jesus asked to be baptized. We have no idea what he repented or why he repented. We know only that somewhere deep within him creation compelled him to return to the beginning, the very beginning, (the very best place to start). He returned to the beginning when the canvas would be God’s and not his own. “I want God to start fresh and create in me whatever the Mysterious Artist wishes to create.”

And so John baptized.

And Jesus returned to the very beginning.

And he saw the heavens torn open as light was painted on his black canvas, and the Spirit of God descended on him in the form of a dove, and he was marked as the one compelled to baptize others with the Holy Spirit. And a voice came from heaven and spoke, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” And God, the Creator, said, “It is good!”

We have the opportunity to start at the very beginning today. Do you cry out in your heart, “I want a new beginning!”? Age has nothing to do with it. Regret plays no part in creation. When the Holy Spirit comes upon us we are compelled to be born into newness. The fullness of time overwhelms us and we live a new and different life. We are compelled to live a life that is no longer for ourselves. We are compelled to live whatever life God lives through us, for when the Creator lives through us, it is always very good.

Here in the church we have so many opportunities to share this new beginning. We must discipline ourselves to listen for the Spirit in Bible study, in prayer, in worship, in life. And when we see the Spirit of God at work in our lives we must open ourselves to be compelled to show others that the same Spirit of God is active and alive baptizing THEIR lives with hope and love, calling THEM good as God paints upon the canvases of their lives.

Jan Richardson, in her recent blog, writes that “medieval artists often painted the river rising to meet the naked Messiah, surging up to enfold him, arcing around his waist. Often this appears to be for modesty’s sake, though the usual transparency of the river doesn’t entirely accomplish that aim. At times, however, the rising of the river seems to be for nothing but pure joy: the creation reaching out to meet and enfold Christ, the God who has become intimately, incarnately intertwined with the world.” And then she tells us that “there are times when our lives rise up to claim us, occasions when that which we were born to be leaps up to envelope us. Something calls our name. Reminds us we are blessed and beloved. Baptizes us. Sends us forth.” (http://paintedprayerbook.com/)

In Jan’s image of the baptismal waters, I find myself at the edge of an ocean, watching the waters of creation drift my way as the tides come in, slowly overtaking me and pulling me into an all-encompassing baptism. When I baptize children I sense these waters – waters that have always been with us, surrounding us with a love that is deeper than our own understanding. At other times, specifically as maturity comes upon me, I find myself still sitting in the sand as the tide goes out, away from me. In those times I know that I must, like Jesus, take those steps to approach the water, to begin again. (Walk toward font) As I step into the waters, my canvas is washed clean, and the Holy Spirit comes upon me, and it is good. I am compelled to live whatever life God lives through me. For when the Creator lives through me, it is always very good.
Amen.