The Adventures of Rev Wags

thoughts on Osama bin Laden

2011-05-02T08:29:00.000-07:00

I typically post my sermons and such as I have gotten out the habit of blogging. Perhaps this is a chance to get back to it. The recent news of Osama's death has been interesting to watch, especially through the eyes of social media. Many posts I have seen are patriotic and celebratory.

Now, I will not deny that this man has been responsible in some way for countless numbers of death around the world over the years. But does that fact make it right to celebrate his death? Does the loss of life ever warrant celebration.

Hitler, Saddaam Hussein, and others of this sort need to be stopped, but loss of life is still loss of life. Marked with solemnity and reverence for life, not a party like atmosphere in front of the White House.

I think what causes me to pause most is the number of pro life folks who seem to be all about the death of bin Laden...does that not seem strange? How they value a human life that has not even been born but yet celebrate the death of another? I had a friend point this out to me several years ago and caused me to rethink my position on the death penalty.

Death of bin Laden - justice done or just a human life lost?

Maundy Thursday Sermon

2011-04-22T06:41:00.000-07:00

An Ordinary Day
Maundy Thursday 2011

It was an ordinary day. Breakfast was being served. The man of the house was off to work. The woman of the house was off to a meeting. Then, the nanny storms down the stairs and announces she has had enough, the children have run away for the last time and she quits. (pause)

The opening song sung by Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins begins with “Winds in the east, mist coming in, like something is brewin’ about to begin” It was an ordinary day that would not stay that way. For the Banks family, the ordinary was about to change.

For the disciples, their world was about to turn upside down. These are the stories that we will tell together as we enter the Triduum. The Great Three Days. The disciples had no way to know what was brewin’. They had entered Jerusalem a few days before with Jesus. Then the crowds had dissipated. Jesus had been teaching in the temple. Life seemed ordinary. They were preparing for the Passover. John’s gospel takes place as the disciples were gathering with Jesus for an evening meal. An ordinary evening meal just before the Passover. But what would follow would seem to be anything but ordinary.

They were sharing a meal, but during dinner, Jesus got up and did something they did not expect. He took off his outer garment, took a towel and took a basin and filled it with water and began to wash their feet.

Footwashing in the first century was ordinary. Footwashing was customary. People walked everywhere. Their shoes were no more than leather tied to the bottom of their feet. Feet were dusty when it was dry and muddy when it was wet. There were usually pots of water and basins and towels at the door so people could wash their feet. But washing feet was one of the most menial tasks. Usually given to a servant or slave, it was not for the master. The holy is under the ordinary.

The meal was ordinary. An evening meal shared with friends. The disciples probably ate meals together more often than not. But we know that like the footwashing this ordinary event was changed as Jesus took the bread and the cup and made them symbols. Bread and wine, now made symbols to help them re-member their time together. The holy is under the ordinary.

How many ordinary acts do we experience in a day? We stand with Peter as he protests Jesus’ act. Peter protests as he can only see the ordinary. He could only see his teacher, his Lord washing his feet, a job for servants. He could not see that to receive Jesus’ act of hospitality and love was to be included into the days ahead. Peter could not see that he was participating in the holy.

Jesus comments that Peter does not understand what is happening, but that later he will. As Jesus finishes washing their feet, he puts on his robe and takes his place at the table with them. He tells them that he has set an example for them to follow. That if he as their Lord and master can serve them in this way, then they too should serve one another.

As the evening goes on Jesus leaves them with a commandment to love one another as he has loved them. A commandment that he has enacted in the footwashing. It is a commandment not to wash feet as we might see at the surface, but a commandment to seek the holy underneath the ordinary. To find the holiness in an everyday act. When the holiness is uncovered for all to see, people will undoubtedly know these are Jesus disciples, there is a difference in the action, the people will see acts done in love.

We are given this commandment as well. Today was probably an ordinary day for most. Got up, went to work, went through our daily routines, but tonight we have joined together to mark the beginning of Triduum.

We have come to remember, not a first century scene of dinner and footwashing, but to participate in it, to remember it here and now, and to be re-membered into it.
We are here to seek the holy beneath the ordinary.
To seek the holy in bread and wine,
to seek the holy in water and basin,
to seek the holy in handshakes and hugs
to seek the holy under the ordinary.

In the midst of the ordinary, how do we know what the holy looks like? In Mary Poppins it is seeing the woman on the steps of St Paul’s feeding the birds, it is in the tupins that Michael gives to his father, it is in the act of mending a kite and going to the park where father and son enjoy the afternoon. So what about our lives?

The holy lurks in conversation over a cup of coffee.
In reconnecting by phone with an old friend.
The holy waits for us in being church, hosting IHN, providing for those in need, providing meals for families who are sick and for families who mourn,
The holy is here at the table,
in the bread and in the cup,
it is in the basins and water
and in those who will wash feet.

As we enter the Great Three days, where might you find the Holy lurking? Where do you see the love of Christ that calls us into community, that calls us to be disciples, to love one another as we have been loved by Jesus. As we remember, reenact, and relive the stories over the next three days be looking, the holy is under the ordinary.

Where is the Pneuma blowing?

2011-03-29T20:29:00.000-07:00

A cold blustery as the season of Lent begins. The residents of the small French village are shuffling into the Cathedral just off the town square. The mayor stands at the door of the church welcoming them. He clearly is in control. Everyone knows their place. The people look the other way rather than see what is right in front of them. The grieving widow still grieves, even after 42 years. A boy is not allowed to be a boy and run and play with the others, he is protected by his mother. A woman is an abused wife, but stays with her husband. She remarks that if you don’t fall in line with the town traditions then you are crazy. They all have their place. The town believes in order.

Just as the town portrayed in the 2001 movie, Chocolat, I think we all seek order. We like life to follow predictable patterns. Morning routines, Sunday morning worship, we like to know what to expect, to know what comes next. We are content to go about our daily lives having an idea of where life will lead us today, of what tomorrow could bring. I think Nicodemus sought that too.

Nicodemus was a Pharisee, he was a ruler among his people. He stood on generations of wisdom and education. He liked the predictable. He liked the expected. Like the mayor of the small French village, he liked everyone in their place. The problem is, that things do not always stay predictable, orderly.

In the French village, the worship service starts, the congregation sings “come Holy Ghost, creator come, and take possession of our souls and make them thine own…” A strange wind begins to blow. Candles flicker. The scene changes to two figures cloaked in red, walking along the outskirts of the city blown in by a stiff wind. A woman, Vianne, and her daughter. They have come to rent the local patisserie just across the square from the church. They complete the deal with the landlady as the worship service continues.

The young priest mounts the pulpit speaking about the Season of Lent. A time for abstinence, reflection and penitence, the mayor quotes along. The priest continues the wind whistles through the church. “Where will we find truth?” asks the priest. The church doors blow wide open with a strong gust of wind. The mayor rises and quickly moves to close the doors, but only after a bit of a struggle.

The chocolatrie is something new The mayor does not want change. Not while he is in control. He writes the sermons for the young priest, he controls what the people hear. He protects the traditions and the generations of the way of life of the small town. He leads through is own example and watches over his village. He trusts the wisdom of past generations.

How many doors do we shut to keep out the winds of change? I, for one, am not a fan of the daylight savings time as it messes with my routines. We resist having to change our driving patterns for construction or special events. We argue that “we’ve always done it that way” to prevent changes to traditions. We seek truth, but are we willing to let it change us?

Jesus had been performing signs during the Passover. Many people came to faith because of what they saw. The Pharisees had seen the signs too. But what Nicodemus and others had witnessed during the Passover was anything but predictable. Nicodemus trusted the wisdom of generations and was a believer in tradition as well. Nicodemus was well versed in Hebrew Scripture, but he could sense something new was blowing into town. Nicodemus seeks out Jesus. He comes by night. We are not given any clues as to why Nicodemus comes by night. Maybe the fear of being found out? Maybe it was the only time for uninterrupted conversation? Maybe his questions about Jesus and the signs he has been performing have kept him awake?

As we listen in on the conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus, Nicodemus respectfully addresses Jesus as “Rabbi.” He seems to have come honestly seeking to gain understanding into what he and others have witnessed. Even though he comes seeking, Nicodemus is unprepared for what he finds.

The encounter with Jesus does nothing to restore order it only confuses the Pharisee further. Jesus tells Nicodemus that no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above. This can be translated 2 ways in Greek. Born again or born from above. Nicodemus takes the literal meaning, puzzled by how a grown person can be physically born again. Jesus answers him with another play on words. Jesus tells him again he must be born from above, be born of the Spirit, Pneuma. In the verses that follow Jesus speaks of the wind, pneuma, blowing where it chooses and that one knows neither where it comes from nor where it goes. At this point, Nicodemus asks “How can this be?”

So what is this born again/ born from above thing? How do we hear this today? Growing up in the Bible belt I hear the phrase and think of all my friends who came from traditions that practiced a believers baptism. For them, being born again was about a specific event that was when they accepted Christ. In my own understanding, I don’t really point to one event, I was baptized as an infant and I have always been on a journey of faith. I think the key is that we start on this journey of faith and that we open ourselves to the Spirit moving in our lives.

Too often, whether we come to faith at birth or later in life, we become complacent in our faith and we stick to the predictable routines. They are comfortable. It is like taking the same path to work everyday, it is familiar.

Just as Nicodemus is stumped by the born again/born from above thing, he is further confused by the play on Pneuma, the Greek word for both Spirit and wind. I can imagine Nicodemus thinking to himself, “what on Earth is Jesus talking about? I have read and studied the Hebrew Scritpures but I have never heard of anything like this.”

Just like Nicodemus, the Mayor encounters something he did not expect. As the movie Chocolat continues to unfold, the community begins to slowly change. They begin to live into the breath of fresh air that has blown in with Vianne and her chocolate. The changes occur slowly and often outside of the sight of Vianne. She becomes discouraged.

As she is set to leave, she hears laughter in the kitchen. She is surprised and touched to find members of the community finishing preparations for the Easter day celebration. The mayor watches from his office window and is distraught as he watches members of the community whom he trusts, going in and out of the chocolatrie. He can take no more and under the cover of night, he breaks in and destroys the window display and in doing so gets chocolate on his lip. He is overcome with the taste and is discovered the next morning asleep among the chocolate.

He finally gives into the encounter with Vianne. He finally gives into the encounter he has with this woman who came with the wind. There is a lightening of the spirit in the town. A freedom from complacency, from predictable order.

Nicodemus is offered this same freedom. He has encountered the living God. He is given the opportunity to be open to the movement of the Spirit. His spiritual rebirth is nothing he can do on his own as the Spirit will blow where it will. We see Nicodemus briefly later in the Gospel of John, once to defend Jesus and at the end as he brings the burial spices after Jesus’ crucifixion. We do not know much about this man, but his actions speak to the beginnings of letting the Spirit blow as it will and perhaps blow Nicodemus beyond his predictable life.

We too encounter the living Word. We too can experience a spiritual rebirth. The Holy Spirit blows where she wants and to have been born of the Spirit is to surrender to her movements, to follow where we are led. We do not know what old parts of our lives will be blown away or what new experiences will blow into our lives.

Where are the places in our lives that we experience the winds of change? Where are there places that we need to seek the leadings of the Spirit to guide us to something new? This breath of fresh air blows not only into our lives individually, but into our life together as well. Where do we as a church need to seek change? Where is the Spirit blowing new life into Westminster Presbyterian Church?

If we are willing to be open to encountering Jesus, willing to be born again, willing to follow as the spirit leads us, where might the freedom from predictable order take us? May we be willing to follow where the pneuma may blow.

Starting the Easter Prep

2011-03-29T20:28:00.001-07:00

Dear Fellow Followers of the Way:
I know it is not Easter yet, but meetings are underway to plan for Holy Week, and last week a few of us attended a seminar at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary about The Great Three Days. Westminster Presbyterian Church has a tradition of celebrating Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil during Holy Week. They may sound like three separate services, but in actuality they are one service that spans across the days. There are lots of parts to read and prayers to be prayed. Many in the congregation will have a part to play.

You might look at the schedule for Holy Week and think “Wow! Thursday, Friday, Saturday AND Sunday. That is a lot of church!” The reality of it is that it is time that we spend together retelling our story, the story of who we are and how we got here.
We begin in the upper room as Jesus shares a meal with the disciples and washes their feet. We journey through the chaos of Good Friday to the cross upon which Jesus dies. We join on Saturday to retell the salvation history of the people of God and to celebrate the Risen Christ.

This is about storytelling. And just as with good storytelling, you have to take your time and tell the stories with care. It is important for us to bring the past into our present memory, to continue to sit together and retell the story every year. These are the stories that we want to become a part of the very core of who we are. That is why we like to have lots of people involved in retelling these stories.

You may still think that it makes for a lot of church. I invite you to mark you calendars now however to be a part of this great story. Step out as you need to, there are others who will continue to tell the story, to keep the story flowing, but remember this is your story, it is our story so plan to come and join is as much of the Great Three Days as is possible.

Grace, Mercy and Peace,
Karen

Weekly Word for August

2010-09-06T09:05:00.001-07:00

Deuteronomy 6: 4-9
4Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. 5You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 6Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. 7Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. 8Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, 9and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Dear Fellow Followers of the Way:

I have been reading a book entitled Shift. It is a book about family ministry based on the Shema. These verses have long been a part of daily prayer life of Judaism. As you read the verses above, the first part is a declaration of One God and of having faith with all that we are in that One God. Then in verse 7 we are instructed to recite these words to your children and to talk about them at home and away.

While this text is nothing new, it is a great reminder to all of us that church and home are inseparable. Parents are the primary religious educators as children learn from watching their parents. Prayers at mealtimes, at the beginning and/or end of the day, and reading the Bible are great ways for families to engage in spiritual disciplines at home.

If you feel like you don’t know the Bible stories, get a children’s Bible and read stories with your children. Talk about what happens in the story and where God is acting. Ask your children where they have seen God in the world today. Maybe in the sunset, or in a bright blue sky, maybe they have seen God in someone they interacted with at school or at the store with you.

Get involved in the life of the church as well. When children know their parents are going to Sunday school or going to worship, they see that as well. There are several Sunday School classes for adults as well as different opportunities for children. Serve as a greeter and have your child serve with you; have your elementary student sing in the children’s choir, have your youth participate in youth group events, come to all church events like the retreat at Mo Ranch or the upcoming events such as Hands Across Exposition or the Barn Dance. Let your children see your faith at home and help them build it by becoming and active part of the church family of Westminster. We are a great family of faith. Let us all remember to serve the One True God with all that we are and to tell our children about God.

Grace, Mercy and Peace,

Karen

Ordinary Time

2010-07-20T22:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Fellow Followers of the Way:

In recent weeks I have found myself drawn back to a book by Renita Weems Listening for God. It is a book made up of short stories about her spiritual journey as a pastor and theologian with all of the ups and downs that all of us encounter in our spiritual lives. One I was reading this past week is entitled “Ordinary Time.” In it she speaks of how in discovering the liturgical calendar in seminary, she began to make sense of how she felt in her personal life.

Ordinary time makes up the majority of the church year. We get excited for Advent and Christmas, for Lent and Easter, for Pentecost and Trinity Sunday, for the high holy days of the church year. There is special music, colors in the sanctuary change, the mood of worship changes. The well known stories line us up for encounters with our God who is mysterious and wholly other. We wait with Mary for the incarnation, for the birth of the Christ child; we engage in the solemn feast of Maundy Thursday and marvel with great joy the resurrection on Easter morn; and we wonder with amazement the tongues of fire as the Holy Spirit breaks forth on Pentecost. But the rest of the year is ordinary time.

However, ordinary time is not ordinary. All time is God’s and therefore all time is holy. It is a time however like summer, a time when our pace slows just a bit. I look at the calendar and can hardly believe it is the end of July. There are not as many meetings or other events going on. Committees are taking some time off. We take vacations and enjoy other hobbies. We take a deep breath.

A deep breath which is in contrast to the breathlessness that we experience in the midst of the other liturgical seasons. A deep breath as we may find God silent, but we know God is ever present. The stories we read show God’s presence in the everyday of life. The parables we have been exploring this summer are great examples of how God is always at work around us. Ordinary time is a chance to look for the everyday miracles around us and to reflect on how God is working in us and through us.

This week I invite you to take a deep breath. Look around you at the ordinary, everyday miracles of God. Pause in conversation with the Divine and reflect on how God is at work in your life.

Grace, Mercy and Peace,
Karen

From Fear to Hope

2010-05-22T09:12:00.000-07:00

A sermon I preached recently. I had never preaching on a Revelation text before this. Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 21-22

A simple prayer. Spoken by a child as part of the prayer before dinner. Spoken in times of great anxiety. Three words. An invitation. A plea.

Dark clouds roll in. The sky turns a eerie shade of green. In the fading light of the day, a tail drops down from the clouds. A tornado forms. Sirens blare. Families scurry to take shelter. It sounds like a freight train. Come Lord Jesus!

Three words; an invitation; a plea. Eighteen inches of rain fall in a day. Water overwhelms everything. The river continues to rise. The waters crest and spill out of the river banks. The streets become cement-bottomed creeks. Homes are destroyed. Water seeps in; mud follows the water; people are displaced. For those who don’t speak English are left behind. Come Lord Jesus!

Three words; an invitation; a plea. The economy takes a downturn. Banks are struggling. There are rising costs of food and of gas. There is less money coming in; but it takes more money to stay afloat. Credit cards become an easy way out, but then personal debt increases. There is more and more debt and less and less money. Retirement savings take a hit. There isn’t going to be enough money to retire just yet. The worry over money begins to take a physical toll. Money for health care just isn’t in the budget. What to do now? Come Lord Jesus!

Three words; an invitation; a plea. When we are anxious, these words are spoken as a plea. We don’t know the outcome of an event, we are overwhelmed by apprehension and fear, we begin to doubt ourselves and our judgment. We become paralyzed by fear.

There is much to be anxious about in the world today. Every time we turn on the TV or pick up the paper, the news seems dire. Natural disasters have been in the forefront of the news almost weekly it seems. The economy is still uncertain. There is still unrest in the middle east. We encounter news that makes us nervous about what will happen next. We may feel that there is nothing we can do to help the situation. We get stuck. Come Lord Jesus!

The community to whom Revelation is written would have been anxious too. They faced persecution from the Roman Empire. If caught meeting, they could be killed. They longed for Christ to return. We have the stories in the Gospels of the disciples gathering behind locked doors after Christ’s crucifixion, the early church was in hiding as well. Their world was filled with struggle and catastrophe too. They were anxious about the future. But it didn’t stop them from gathering. As they gathered, they sang, read, prayed and ate together.

Revelation was a letter written to be read in community, to be read with the gathered faithful. They are words that speak to the fear and anxiety of the believers, to the fear and anxiety of the world. Words to calm the doubts of those who don’t feel safe. Words of reassurance. Words to remind them of their agency in the kingdom, to remind them of what they are at their best. Words to bring hope. These final words of the Bible are eschatological in nature. Eschatology, the doctrine of last things, the doctrine of hope.

German theologian Jurgen Moltman, wrote A Theology of Hope. He speaks to the hope we as Christians find in the resurrection of Christ. On this ascension Sunday, we look toward the fulfillment of the promises of Christ. The promise that we have a great high priest who has suffered as we suffer and who has triumphed over death that those who believe may have eternal life. The fulfillment of this promise ensures us that we will be made new and makes us long for that day. We see the world around us and know that this isn’t what we have been promised. Our hope gives us a purpose, to work for the coming of the kingdom of God.

Christ will return and is bringing reward to the faithful. Those who keep doing the work of the kingdom will be brought into the gates, will be given access to the tree of life. They had not been abandoned. Christ was in control. As they gathered together, Christ came into their midst. The community was important in continuing to hope for the coming kingdom. They all faced persecution, but they could hold onto each other.

Isn’t that why we hold onto church? To gather and welcome the Risen Christ into our midst? A place where there are others to hold the Christ light for us when we are living in the night time of fear. (Servant Song). Ascension Sunday is about hope. Jesus Christ, the Alpha and Omega has gone before us and there is nothing outside of Christ. We are not left alone.

We are in the here and now, but we believe and trust that this is not all there is. We name the injustices within the world, we work toward bringing about the kingdom. Christ calls to the church in the final words of Revelation. It is a call to the faithful to continue to work. It is a call to action. We cannot sit passively. Church, our faith are not a spectator sports.

Three words; an invitation; a plea. After the tornado strikes, the community gathers to find those hiding under the rubble, to provide for their needs, and to wrap their arms around them. Come, Lord Jesus!

Three words; an invitation; a plea. A Hispanic minster and his wife seek to help the non-English speaking people who have lost everything in the Nashville floods. Come, Lord Jesus!

Three words; an invitation; a plea. Churches provide financial planning advice. The community finds ways to gather and to support one another in times when budgets are tight. We find new places to focus our attention, going out to serve instead of simply writing a check. Come, Lord Jesus!

Jesus calls and the church responds.

Jesus says “I am coming soon”
The church pleads “Come!”

As Christ announces his coming, he also announces that he is bringing not judgment, but reward for the faithful. Reward for those who wash their robes.
The faithful know that their robes have been muddied, stained, soiled and seek to wash them and be restored to righteousness, to be have their heavenly garments be made new. They continue to work in the world.

Jesus says “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” There is nothing in heaven or on earth that is outside of Christ.
The Spirit and the bride, the church cry out “Come!” All who hear the cry join in “Come!” An invitation to anyone who is thirsty to Come, to drink of the waters of life. It is the water that is offered to the Samaritan woman at the well in John’s gospel. It is this water that carries God’s grace to us in the sacrament of Baptism, the church’s outward sign of the grace of God. This water is offered to anyone who seeks it. In this water we find re-creation, new life. In this water we find community as we are grafted into the body of Christ. In this water we echo the plea of the church “Come!”

Jesus calls again “Surely I am coming soon!” A fulfillment of the promise of the coming of the kingdom, that Christ’s reign will be established. Where oppression has taken hold, God’s justice will come. A call to remember. A call to action.
The church responds “Amen! Come Lord Jesus!”

We respond to Christ’s call not from fear, but from a place of great hope that with the faithful saints we will be welcomed into the gates of the city and given access to the tree of life. We respond in hope that the here and now is not the end, that God’s justice will come! We wait with anticipation, with excitement and as we wait we continue to do the work of the kingdom and reach out to others at our best. Offering the water of life to all who seek it. Holding onto hope. Shouting “Amen! Come Lord Jesus!”

Using your Spiritual Gifts

2010-04-13T17:22:00.001-07:00

1 Corinthians 12: 4-11
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

Dear Fellow Followers of the Way:

The passage from 1 Corinthians, which is quoted above, goes on to talk about how believers in Christ have been baptized into one body and how the body needs all its various parts to function. Baptism marks our entrance into the body and we are reminded of our baptism weekly as the assurance of pardon is spoken from the font, as we celebrate Baptisms, and as we participate in the remembrance of Baptism during the Easter Vigil.

In our Baptism God claims us. It is a sign and seal of God’s grace, a reminder that we cannot do anything in and of ourselves, but that what we do is in response to the grace of God. The words most frequently spoken in the church where I grew up were a reminder that we are made new.
“Hear the Good News! Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old life is gone; a new life has begun. Know that you are forgiving and be at peace.”
So in being made new; in receiving God’s grace; and in joining the Body of Christ, what is it that we should do to respond to what we have been given?

As it is stated in 1 Corinthians 12, we have all been given spiritual gifts. We, as members of the Body of Christ, are called to make use of those gifts to serve God, the world, the church and one another. What are your gifts? What are the things that light you up from the inside? Are you the hands that serve the homeless? Are you the ears that listen to members? Are you feet that spread the good news?

We all have gifts and everyone is needed. Take a look around the church, where are opportunities to live out of your baptismal identity as a child of God and serve? It may be seemingly unlikely. When you find ways to exercise your gifts, you will be energized and filled. You will find yourself emptying yourself for others so that you may be filled again. May we all find our gifts and ways to use them to serve in the Kingdom of God!

Grace, mercy and peace,
Karen

Honoring Ellen Babinsky

2010-03-02T06:52:00.001-08:00

This past Friday night Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary marked the retirement of Rev. Dr. Ellen Babinsky. Faculty, students and alums gathered to share memories and honor the impact she has had on faculty and students alike. While I was taking church history my junior year, I came up with songs to help me study for the tests.

One of the pieces of information that no student could leave Ellen's class without having committed to memory was the date of the nailing of Luther's 95 Thesis to the door in Wittenburg, October 31, 1517. With that is mind and in tribute to Ellen, I post this song here (it and others like it can be found at sillyseminarysongs.blogspot.com)

Reformation - Luther

(To the tune of the Addam's Family)

Halloween (snap, snap), 1517 (snap, snap),
95 theses on the door at Wittenburg (snap, snap)

The reformation started,
from the Catholic Church they parted,
for the contrite hearted,
Luther in Germany

Fredrick "the Wise" defended,
Pope’s authority up-ended,
Leipzig debates were ended,
Luther was condemned.

Edict of Worms (snap, snap), Condemns reforms (snap, snap),
Luther could be, killed on sight, that was the norm (snap, snap)

Charles the 5th wore the crown,
Luther’s writings all around,
the reformation abounds,
as Luther is kidnapped

Revolt of the Peasants (snap, snap), right to shoot pheasants (snap, snap),
Thomas Muntzer violent and radical, death wasn’t pleasant (snap, snap)

1st Diet of Speyer,
regulation by each sire,
to do as they desired,
in 1526.

Believers in Christ’s name,
church to believe the same,
"Godly prince" soon became
Luther’s church order

Speyer 2 diet (snap, snap), Catholics didn’t buy it (snap, snap),
Resolved to enforce, Edict of Worms, hoped Luther would bite it (snap, snap)

Lutherans lodged a protest,
they came to an impasse,
Protestant described them the best
Luther’s church reform (snap, snap)

Heading into Mission Presbytery Mid Winters

2010-01-20T06:51:00.000-08:00

James 1:19-27
You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing. If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Dear Fellow Followers of the Way:

January brings Mission Presbytery’s youth Mid Winter Conferences at Mo Ranch. This year’s theme “The Word: It’s What You Do” is based on James 1:19-27. Last weekend Robert Quiring and I got to accompany several of our middle school youth and this week Robert and Lesley Fields will take some of our high school youth.

As I have been preparing to keynote the high school weekend, the words of James have been ringing in my soul. Be quick to listen and slow to speak. Words that I think we all need. How many conversations do you have in the course of a day that you actually stop and listen? That you set yourself aside and don’t have a prepared response before the other has finished speaking?

When we listen, truly listen to another, we honor them with our full attention and presence. It is not just their words that we hear, but we pick up on non-verbal messages. We hear all the things they are not saying. However, this is not a skill that comes easily, we have to work at it.

The second part of the passage speaks to being doers not hearers of the word. How do we put our faith into action. The concept of works is what has made the book of James questioned. Martin Luther did not think the book belonged in the Bible, that it talked about doing good things instead of having faith, but James speaks to works stemming out of faith. Our deeds, according to James, are our faith lived out. It is what keeps us from being in the Christian secret service. Those who show up on Sunday and then go undercover the rest of the week.

To live out our faith in daily life is to put our faith into action. These don’t have to be heroic size actions. It is as simple as praying for others, sharing your faith, helping those who need it, or listening to people. These actions stem from our love of God and cause us to share that love with others.
The last part of the passage talks about true religion. For James, true religion is about caring for widows and orphans, those who are most vulnerable in society. Who are the people around us who are the most vulnerable? It may look different. It may be someone you work with who is struggling with a problem and needs someone to listen to them. It might be someone who has lost a job or who has lost their way.

How do you live out your faith? Do your actions show your faith? We are called to be in community with others, to be involved in others lives. May we all work toward being quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger and to find ways to live out our faith through the things we do.

Grace, mercy and peace,
Karen

Weekly Word October 2009

2009-10-07T11:36:00.000-07:00

And I shall clothe myself in your eternal will,
And by this light I shall come to know that you, eternal Trinity,
Are table, and food, and waiter for us.
You, eternal Father, are the table that offers us as food
The Lamb, your only-begotten Son.
He is the most exquisite of foods for us,
Both in his teaching, which nourishes us in your will
And in the sacrament that we receive in Holy Communion,
Which feeds and strengthens us while we are pilgrim travelers in this life.
And the Holy Spirit is indeed a waiter for us,
For the Spirit serves us this teaching by enlightening our mind’s eye with it
And inspiring us to follow it.
And the Spirit serves us charity for our neighbors and hunger to have as our food.

Catherine of Siena (14th c)

Dear Fellow Followers of the Way:

Tuesday Chapel at Austin Presbyterian Seminary is when the community gathers to celebrate Communion. The professor who preaches usually presides at Table. One Tuesday during my senior year, I was sitting in the balcony of the chapel for worship. I had many things that needed to be done, but I wanted to hear that particular professor preach. I was going to leave after the sermon, but for some reason I stayed.

As I fell into the back of one of the lines, my mind was filled with thoughts of how much further behind I was getting with what needed to be done that day. I stepped forward to receive the elements and as I did I lifted my gaze from the floor to meet the eyes of my professor. As our eyes met, I felt the bread being pressed into my hand and the weight of her hand as well, but the eyes that I was gazing into were actually the eyes of Christ looking into my very soul.

As she spoke the words I have heard and have spoken hundreds of times before “The body of Christ broken for you” I had the sense that it was no longer my friend serving me, but Christ. I felt the impact of those words more profoundly than ever before. I encountered the risen Christ that day while being fed at the Table. It was an encounter that would not have happened had I not stayed.

I was reminded of this encounter on Sunday as we celebrated World Communion Sunday and we shared in the Lord’s Supper with Christians around the world and were re-membered into the Body of Christ. Being a part of the Body of Christ, we are called into relationship with one another to bring about the Kingdom here on earth. We are called to remember our relationship to God, others and the world as we have been talking about this fall.

As I read the words of Catherine of Sienna and as I listened to Dr. Cynthia Rigby lecture on the Trinity recently, I was reminded that we worship and serve a relational God. The Triune God is intimately related one to another. Theologian Elizabeth Johnson describes the relationship as a triple helix, three separate strands that are woven together. And just as intimately as the Godhead is related to each other, the Triune God is also intimately relational to us.

This is the God who created both male and female in God’s image, the God who became human and walked among the people, the God who gifted the apostles with the ability to speak in other languages and spread the Good News to all the world. This is the God who still acts in the world today and interacts with us. God has reached out to us,, it is our time, by the grace of God, to respond.

Everyone leads busy lives, but we make time for that which is important to us. I challenge you to look at your relationships. How are you connected to God? How are you connected to others in the Body of Christ? How are you connected to the world? Relationships only happen when we are present. How can you be present and grow in your relationships this fall? We are pilgrim travelers in this life, may we meet at the Table to be nourished and walk the road together as we seek to deepen our relationship with God, others and the world.

Grace, mercy, and peace,
Karen

Weekly Word from August 27th

2009-10-02T13:39:00.000-07:00

Forgot to post this...

Dear Fellow Followers of the Way:
As we seek to grow Christ’s church deep and wide, we are starting the fall by talking about connection. How are we connected to God, to others and to the world? In claiming the name Christian, we worship and serve a God who lives in community. We can connect to the Triune God as God has reached out to us first and through Jesus Christ has invited us into the life of the Trinity. We do this through worship, through study, whether in groups or personal, and through our relationships with others.
Our connection to others brings us closer to God as we are greeting by the God in them. As we connect with others we also become more the body of Christ. We come together bringing our gifts to serve together. As we have opportunities to gather together over meals, during fellowship events, and even in meetings which can deepen our ties one to another. As we get to know one another, we find that we have people to turn to in times of need and in times of great joy.
The deeper we are connected to both God and others our faith naturally draws us to serve the world around us. We are met in our need and we respond by meeting others in theirs. We sense God calling us to take care of the widow, the orphan, the homeless, and the hungry. We bring a piece of the Kingdom of God into our midst.
How are you working to deepen connections with God, others and the world? Do you come to worship regularly? Are you coming to Sunday school or other study weekly and spending time with God everyday? Have you been to a fellowship or small group lately? Have you gotten to know the people you go to church with on a deeper level than their names? Are you looking for ways to serve the world and letting your faith reach out to the world?
There are opportunities to do all this things at Westminster. Worship, Sunday school, Theology on Tap, P3 playdates, youth fellowship, IHN, contributing to Manos de Christo, and the list could go on. As we start the fall, I urge everyone to seek deeper connections to God, to others and to the world.

Grace, Mercy and Peace,
Karen

Sermon July 19th - The Promises of God

2009-07-29T21:53:00.000-07:00

This is the manuscript version of my July 19th sermon at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Austin, TX. I know for a fact that I did not stick to the manuscript the whole time.

Scripture: 2 Samuel 7:1-16 - God's Covenant with David

In the 2009 movie “Up” we follow Carl Fredrickson in his adventure. If you have seen the movie or even the movie poster or trailer, you have see the house floating underneath thousands of balloons. His adventure is about following a dream his wife had a young child, to live at Paradise Falls. So after her death, he takes the house with him and floats off on his adventure. When he arrives in South America, he doesn’t land where he wanted, so he carries his house, which is still supported by balloons, attached to him by a garden hose, in an effort to place the house in just the right spot. He is tied to his house not only by the garden hose, but by the memories in the house of his wife.
Buildings signify presence and give a sense of stability. Building a house sends the message that people intend to occupy that land for a length of time, the builders intend to stay put. Since 1948, there has been a building at this site bearing the name Westminster Presbyterian Church. In the 1950’s fellowship hall and the education building were added to the campus. Later the parking lot and the Annex became part of what we call Westminster. Over the past year, we have watched as the old fellowship hall was torn down and another was built in its place. We have a new addition to our house. We are planted in this place.
In our text this morning we find the Israelites planted along with their king. David, given the gift of a new luxurious palace, is settled in and as he looks around his house, he decides that God needs a house as well. David says this to the prophet Nathan. Nathan tells him to go ahead with his plan. David doesn’t ask for God’s help, but makes plans on his own. At one level, David’s decision to build a house, in this case a temple, for God can be seen as a gesture to provide for God as God has provided for him, but underneath it all, David’s decision to build the temple is political and theological.
David has brought the people from tribal associations to a united kingdom, a people governed by judges who are now ruled by a monarch. There have been many battles along the way as the kingdom has been established. This has been a time of upheaval as the people enter a new way of understanding themselves and of understanding God. God has been with David as he battled many enemies and David is looking to legitimize his rule. One of the ways to do this in the ancient near east was to construct a temple, a house that represented the divine presence with the king. A temple would give David the authority of God.
The temple would also ensure that God would stay with David and with the people. As Moses brought the Israelites out of Egypt, the ark was carried in front of the people. God tented with the people and moved with them as they moved. The ark was carried into battle as God went with them. David moved the ark into Jerusalem, signifying that God was in Jerusalem. David’s decision to build a temple meant he would have God in a box, contained, controlled. But God has other ideas.
Speaking through the prophet Nathan, God sends a message to his servant David reminding David that God has always moved among God’s people and in the past has never asked for a house of cedar and that David will not be the one to build it either. God reminds David that God called him from the pasture to be the king; that God has been with him; and that God has cut off all his enemies. God has been faithful to David in the past and to show God’s continuing faithfulness God agrees to make David’s kingship legitimate but in God’s way. David will not build God a house, a temple, instead, God with build David a house. Not a house of brick or wood, but a dynasty.
God will not be contained nor controlled, but God promises that God will ever be with David and David’s descendants. David’s throne will be established forever. With this promise a new covenant has been formed. While in the wilderness God established a covenant with Moses on Mount Sinai. Written as a treaty , God promised to be with the people if they were obedient. The people were to follow the commandments given to Moses if they wanted God to remain with them. This covenant is what had defined the Israelites; it is why it was important for David to have the ark in Jerusalem, why it was important for David to find a way to ensure God’s presence.
The “if” of the Mosaic covenant has defined how the people understood God. They saw with Saul losing God’s favor what happened if one was disobedient. However, as the people were shifting from tribal to centralized government, from judges to a monarchy, God provides a new promise and a new relationship. God still wants obedience, but the if is no longer part of the equation.
In the new promise made in our text this morning God says “I will be a father to him and he shall be a son to me.: There is relationship. “when he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings.” Obedience is required and if not there are consequences. “but I will not take my steadfast love from him as I took it from Saul.” Steadfast love is how the word hesed has been translated. A Hebrew word with no true English equivalent. Steadfast love, mercy, kindness, goodness, everlasting love, unconditional love. God declares that God will always love and will always be present with David’s house. This promise brings hope. Hope in God’s faithfulness. Hope in God’s righting of the world. Hope for the future, hope for a messiah.
Today, Christians recognize this hope in Jesus Christ. This text, often used during Advent reminds us that Jesus is born of the house and lineage of David. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament covenants with Abraham, Moses and David and we have been made heirs to these promises. We have been brought into the kingdom. There are no longer to be insiders and outsiders. We are all equal and have the same access to God. As we heard read in Ephesians, God is building a home. It’s foundations are the prophets and the apostles and Christ is the cornerstone. We are being fashioned into the bricks to build a temple in which God is at home.
Last summer we watched as the old fellowship hall was demolished. The squeals, squeaks and clunks of the machine that would tear it apart. The cracking of the timbers. We had said good bye to the old space. Messages on the wall including “I hope there will always be mac and cheese for the kids.” The messages adorning the walls, spoke of a home. A place were memories had been made, a place where friends gathered and where God moved. The land was cleared and it was time to begin to build.
The space was prepared and the foundation poured. Careful watch was kept to ensure that it cured would provide the foundation needed for our new building. Over the months steel beams went up, the walls went up, the roof went on. As the building began to take shape, I think many of us wondered what it would be like. I remember the first time I went into the nearly completed space. It felt large and empty, hollow. It was the new part of our house. But now, as we have celebrated together and we have begun to make it our own, it feels more and more like home. The space will be filled with new memories and more importantly, the space will be filled with love.
Love makes the difference between a house and a home. God did not want a house. God did not want to be contained in a physical structure. If God did not want to be contained then, should we contain God in our physical structure now? God has promised God’s steadfast love, God will be faithful, so may we find ways to transcend the physical space of 3208 Exposition Blvd and take the love of God and the hope we find in the promise made to David out into the world around us.
Israel had a new page, a new way to understand God as they are given a new covenant. We have been given a new page here as well. Will we choose to be a fort and hunker down inside the walls of the physical space, or will we choose for this to be a home. A place where God’s unconditional love transcends the brick, stone and wood, a place were we welcome the world in and where we are refreshed to go out into the world.

Calvin's Definition of Faith

2009-07-14T21:17:00.001-07:00

Dear Fellow Followers of the Way:
This past Sunday we, along with reformed Christians around the world, celebrated the 500th birthday of John Calvin. In the weeks leading up to the celebration, I found myself pulling out books and notes on Calvin, most from my days in seminary. One of my memories of learning about Calvin is the first seminary quiz I took, writing Calvin’s definition of faith from memory for Systematic Theology I with Dr. Cynthia Rigby.
Found in Book 3 of the Institutes of the Christian Religion (3.2.7 to be exact), Calvin’s definition of faith is this: “Faith is a firm and certain knowledge of God’s benevolence towards us, founded upon the truth of the freely-given promise in Christ, both revealed to our minds and sealed upon our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” So what does it mean?
It means that faith is a gift of God and it is nothing we can achieve by our own work or study. Faith is beyond simple comprehension, it is our assurance of God’s steadfast love for us as we experience the mercy and compassion of God in the depths of pain and the heights of joy. It is our growing confidence that although we have never been promised great riches or all that we could want, as the prosperity preachers would lead us to believe, God is always with us.
Through Scripture as illumined by the Holy Spirit, we come to know Christ Jesus. We are assured of salvation because of God’s overflowing love that meets us in the manger every Christmas and on the cross every Easter. We know this both in our mind, for our intellect is a gift from God, and in our hearts, the very core of who we have been created to be. Just as the Spirit gives us the gift of faith, it also leads us to increase our faith as we desire to learn more of God, more will be revealed.
I encourage everyone to spend time thinking about faith and your own journey. How did you come to faith? Have you known it all your life or was it an epiphany? When did you first truly know that you were loved by God? How has your faith shaped your life? What in your life is shaping your faith? Spend time in prayer, spend time in study. Pray for illumination and spend time with God that your faith may be firm and certain.

Grace, mercy and peace,
Karen

The importance of gathering

2009-06-01T21:11:00.000-07:00

Dear Fellow Followers of the Way,

This past Sunday we heard the story at the beginning of Acts 2, the gift of the Holy Spirit that was given when the community of believers was gathered together. If we had continued in the story, we would have read Peter’s sermon and the baptism of 3,000 people that day. After the people had been baptized, we learn that the people “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers” (v 42).

Sunday night we had that same opportunity as we gathered to celebrate in our new fellowship hall. We gathered over a meal and enjoyed a time of fellowship and worship. Our new space will hopefully see this repeated with great frequency in the months and years to come.

God can do great things in our midst, particularly when we gather as the Body of Christ. As we gather for worship or for fellowship, we are made more complete as more people gather together. We all have unique gifts and callings and the presence of each one is important.

As we enter the summer, people will begin to travel. When your travels take you away from Austin, find a local congregation to worship with where ever you may be. When you are in town, come and gather with us at Westminster. Even when you you may not feel like coming, your presence may be the very thing that uplifts another believer. Remember that you are important and you are needed. Come and join with the Body of Christ on Sunday mornings and let the Spirit move you!

Grace, mercy and Peace,
Karen

Baptismal Promises

2009-04-21T22:14:00.001-07:00

Dear Fellow Followers of the Way,

I love rain. I particularly love to splash in puddles. One evening while in seminary, one of my friends and I went out and played in the puddles after we were finished with class for the day. Fellow students and some professors looked at us rather quizzically as we were absorbed in splashing each other. At one point in our puddle-stomping fun my friend yelled, “Remember your baptism!” This yell was followed by a wave of water that was kicked my way.

A few weeks ago we joined together for the Easter Vigil, we celebrated a remembrance of baptism during the service. It is a time to remember that we have gone under the waters and have been buried with Christ and to remember that we have been raised to new life in Christ as well. As we celebrate and remember our own baptism let us also remember the promises that we have made as others have been baptized as well.

All of the children and youth who have been baptized have been given the promise that people would nurture them, teach them, and be the body of Christ to them. This Sunday, the youth will lead us in worship and we can celebrate with them the nurture and care they have received to this point in their journey of faith. In the coming weeks the Session will hear statements of faith from the confirmands, and we will welcome them as new members of Westminster.

Many of you have contributed to the spiritual lives of these young people. Know that as a family of faith, what we say and do impacts our children. I encourage everyone to find ways to nurture the children and youth of the church. Teach Sunday school, help with youth group, sing with the children, offer your gifts and talents in other ways with them, and even something as simple as greeting them and welcoming them when you see them. One of the great joys of being a part of a family of faith is to witness milestones and celebrate them together. How can you follow through on promises you have made at the baptism of our children and youth in the coming days and weeks as we celebrate with them?

Grace, mercy and peace,
Karen

Volunteer or Disciple

2009-03-10T20:34:00.001-07:00

Dear Fellow Followers of the Way:
After Kathy’s sermon on Sunday, I have been pondering the difference between volunteers and disciples. As I have read the various call stories of the disciples, they were all hand picked by Jesus and they made radical shifts in life letting go of an old life to follow Jesus. They didn’t volunteer to be a follower of Jesus, they were chosen.

If they had volunteered, they would have always had a choice. As a volunteer you choose the organization and how deeply involved you want to be. How much money and time will you commit? What is your level of commitment? The other element of volunteering is that you always have a way out. You can choose not to help just as easily as you can choose to help.

Discipleship doesn’t give you that easy way out. You have been chosen, it was not your initiative to be involved. We have been called to a lifelong relationship with God and with our fellow disciples. It is a life that is to be shared without reservation, a life of giving ourselves up for others. We have to learn to be dependent not on ourselves but on God.

Just as Jesus served the disciples, he told them that they had to learn to be the servants of others. He commanded them to love one another just as he had loved them. He drew them in to a new way of being and we too are called to a new way of being. As Jesus calls to the crowd and to the disciples to “take up their cross and follow” and he calls to us as well.

I agree with Kathy that the church is a group of disciples and not volunteers. We have been hand picked; we don’t have a way out. And when you have no way out, you need to go in further. I leave you with part of the lyrics from Garth Brooks The River

Too many times we stand aside, and let the waters slip away
‘til what we put off ‘til tomorrow has now become today
So don’t you sit upon the shoreline and say you’re satisfied
Choose to chance the rapids and dare to dance the tide.

As we continue this journey through Lent, I invite you to look for ways to go in further and deeper. You are a disciple and not a volunteer, take up your cross and follow Jesus.
Grace, mercy and peace,
Karen

Mark 10:36-52

2009-02-21T11:46:00.000-08:00

Mark 10:46-52

They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

This is the 2nd time Jesus has asked the question “What do you want me to do for you?” the first time is 10 verses earlier to James and John who knowing what they are asking for, ask to sit at Jesus’ right and left hand. Bartimaeus knows exactly what he wants.

What do you want me to do for you is a powerful question. I had this question asked of me by a Westminster member a couple Sundays ago. I, unlike Bartimaeus, was speechless. I was being served by the Christ in this member, but was unable or unwilling to throw off my cloak and meet Christ with a clear answer.

Bartimaeus jumps up and throws off his cloak. Most likely his only possession, and leaves it by the side of the road. The cloak would slow him down in trying to get to the Son of David, who has stopped and called him.

We all have cloaks, things that protects us, clothe us, give us our identity and possibly hinder us. Are we willing to leave them by the roadside because Jesus calls? Or does the cloak help us hide from ourselves? If we keep the cloak on we see Jesus from the roadside, but are not face-to face and we are not asked the question. We don’t have to examine ourselves for the answer to “What do you want me to do for you?”

It is often easier to let ourselves get lost in the crowd, hiding under our cloak. Seeing Jesus but not coming face-to-face. Hoping that the status quo will not change. But not Bartimaeus. He hears that Jesus is passing by and he so desires to come face to face, he will not be deterred. The crowd tells him to be silent, but he raises his plea once again.

May we have the persistence and the desire of Bartimaeus. May we so long to meet Jesus face to face that nothing will deter us, and when the chance comes, may we heed the call, spring up, throw off all that hinders us and have a clear picture of the thing we want more than anything else. That way when Jesus asks the question “What do you want me to do for you?” we know in our answer in our heart of hearts that our faith may make us well and we too will follow Jesus along the road.

Dealing with Hard Times

2009-02-03T22:21:00.001-08:00

Dear Fellow Followers of the Way,

The news has not been good. The economic situation in the country has continued to slide, businesses are continuing to need to be bailed out, and our church budget issues are all pressing issues. These are issues with no easy answers. As the news continues to be bad, more tragedies begin to surface.

Last week a father, after losing his job, killed his wife and five children before killing himself. In his faxed note, he says that he and his wife saw no reason to live. In the news reports as they spoke with neighbors, the neighbors were shocked. They knew Ervin Lupoe as a loving father and one neighbor spoke of being invited over for dinner and Lupoe recommending a builder for them. The neighbors never knew that anything was wrong.

Have we become so good at presenting a façade that all is well, that no one knows what is really going on in our lives? Have we separated ourselves from others so that we live on our own little islands? We ask how people are doing hoping that they respond with the socially appropriate answer “fine.” We are exchanging pleasantries, not really asking a question. Would this family of seven still be alive if people had stopped to really check in? Would that be enough to help them maintain hope?

So what are we the church called to do in times like this? I believe we need to remind people that we have a God who is faithful and is in the midst of our agony. When hearts break, God’s is the first one broken. This is a time to be joined in prayer and a time to be reconnected to the family of God by being in church. Check in with the people you know, really talk to them and find out how things are going. And remember, that God is faithful and will make a way where there is no way.

Grace, Mercy, and Peace,
Karen

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
our helper he amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal.

Doubt

2009-01-13T20:24:00.000-08:00

Fellow Followers of the Way:

“What do you do when you’re not sure?” This is the opening line of Father Flynn’s sermon in the play and the new movie Doubt. I know several members of Westminster have seen the play or the movie, but for those who haven’t, here is the synopsis from the Internet Movie Database.

It's 1964, St. Nicholas in the Bronx. A charismatic priest, Father Flynn, is trying to upend the schools' strict customs, which have long been fiercely guarded by Sister Aloysius Beauvier, the iron-gloved Principal who believes in the power of fear and discipline. The winds of political change are sweeping through the community, and indeed, the school has just accepted its first black student, Donald Miller. But when Sister James, a hopeful innocent, shares with Sister Aloysius her guilt-inducing suspicion that Father Flynn is paying too much personal attention to Donald, Sister Aloysius sets off on a personal crusade to unearth the truth and to expunge Flynn from the school. Now, without a shard of proof besides her moral certainty, Sister Aloysius locks into a battle of wills with Father Flynn which threatens to tear apart the community with irrevocable consequence. Written by Miramax Films

One of the things that I pondered after seeing the movie was how certainty and doubt play a role in the lives of Christians. In the movie, Sister Aloysius acts on her moral certainty. Christians like this scare me. I am reminded of a lesson learned in school that there are very few occasions when the terms always and never apply. The world is not so black and white that things can be categorized as “always this way” or “never like that” People who think this way quite honestly scare me. If we get into this certainty of thought, we are always right and we never give new ideas a chance.

However, doubt is a scary thing too. It is hard to predict what the future holds and whether we should meet the future with anxiety or excitement or both. Doubt can paralyze us into inactivity or it can cause us to turn a blind eye to those things we need to correct. How do we live in the murky middle? How do we live between certainty and doubt? How do we let our fear keep from getting the better of us?

The theme for the Mid Winter Youth conference was “Need a Power Outlet? Plug into Jesus!” It was based on Romans 12:1-8. We talked about not conforming to the world, but to be transformed and to live into what we are each called to be. When we live in doubt, our tendency is to conform, we become afraid of standing out.

One of the small group activities during the weekend was a guided meditation. In that meditation you are guided into a room full of weights. The weights are of various sizes and each one is labeled with a burden or problem. Jesus is next to you and asks you to hand the weights over to him. As you hand a weight to Jesus, he takes the burden and gives you a feather light coin with the same problem on it.

One of the points to this is to realize that Jesus takes the burden of our fears and doubts, but it doesn’t mean that we are rid of them. They are still ours, but the burden has been taken away. We can go to God in prayer, we can release our doubts; the reality of our situation remains, but we can be freed from fear. We become like the father in Mark 9:24 who cries out “I believe, help me now my unbelief!” When we put our faith in Christ, it doesn’t mean all our problems go away, but we are freed from the burden of them.

Certainty and doubt, 2 states that can lead to fear and can paralyze us. It has long been a part of the Christian faith. There are many hymns that speak to doubt. This is the last verse of the Hymn of Promise by Natalie Sleeth. It is in Sing the Faith.

In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;
  In our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity,
  In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,
  Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

I am reminded that belief comes from doubt and that what lies ahead can only be seen by God. If we are so dogmatic in our belief, we leave no room for God to work within us. By the same token if we dwell in doubt, we are afraid to do anything. So “what do you do when you’re unsure?” The Christian response needs to be turning to God, turning to faith and letting God work in and through us to transform us. May we all put our trust in God, knowing the God alone can see what lies ahead for each of us. May we all find belief even amidst our doubt.

Grace, mercy and peace,
Karen

Remembering to live in the moment

2008-12-20T20:47:00.000-08:00

I am amazed at how much time I spend worrying about what lies ahead. Usually it is stuff that is beyond my control. My realization of the week has been that there is one thing that I can control and that is my attitude. Situations are what they are, but how I deal with them is my choice.

This was brought on by a confrontation after feeling attacked. I chose to let it dominate me instead of choosing my attitude toward it. Fortunately, I got things in my head straightened out with the help of good friends.

searching

2008-12-16T20:30:00.000-08:00

I have begun to ask myself what parts of my ministry excite me. Unfortunately I am discovering that there are parts of my job that are outside of my passion areas. There are areas that don't have energy within them and require more energy from me.

That then begs the question what to do if there isn't energy for a program in a church, should it be allowed to die People say it is important, but they don't really support it with their time.

Advent Word

2008-12-03T20:55:00.000-08:00

Expectation – anxious, collective and operative expectation of an end of the world, that is to say, of an issue for the world – that is perhaps the supreme Christian function and the most distinctive characteristic of our religion.

Historically speaking, that expectation has never ceased to guide the progress of our faith like a torch...We persist in saying that we keep vigil in expectation of the Master. But in reality we should have to admit, if we were sincere, that we no longer expect anything. The flame must be revived at all costs. At all costs we must renew in ourselves the desire and the hope for the great coming. But where are we to look for the source of this rejuvenation? From the perception of a more intimate connection between the victory of Christ and the outcome of the work which our human effort here below is seeking to construct.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (19th Century Jesuit Priest)

Dear Fellow Followers of the Way:

The journey to Bethlehem has begun; a season of expectation is upon us. The lectionary readings for the first Sunday of Advent remind us to keep watch and alert us to the coming of the Son of Man. We are given the example of the doorkeeper who keeps watch for the Master to return.

Unfortunately, the only doors we keep watch over it seems are the ones that lead to business establishments where we can buy more stuff. Our society has become so obsessed with the commercial side of Christmas that Black Friday, originally named by the Philadelphia Police in the 60’s because of all the traffic, has become truly black. Last Friday, Jdimytai Damour, a temporary employee at the Valley Stream, NY Wal-Mart, was trampled to death by the crowd as they broke down the doors to get at the items on sale. Not only did the crowd kill Damour, but injured 4 others and news reports state that many consumers were angry about being asked to leave.

With this event Pierre Teihard de Chardin’s words struck me. “We persist in saying that we keep vigil in expectation of the Master. But in reality we should have to admit, if we were sincere, that we no longer expect anything.” The mad rushing crowd, the craze of bargain hunting, our expectations seem too often to be about finding deals and not about the return of the Master.

This week as we stand with John the Baptist in the lectionary text, let us hear the voice in the wilderness. A voice that cries out for repentance, that calls us to come to ourselves and to turn toward God. It is a voice that can perhaps help us revive the flame of our faith. A voice that perhaps can remind us to see and hear the Christmas story with new eyes and ears.

During Advent the church recounts a story known by the oldest and the youngest saints. The more often we hear it, the more immune to the story we become. The more immune to the story we become, the easier it is to become consumed by greed and materialism. This is a most amazing story. Through the weeks of Advent we are called to keep watch for the coming of the Master. John the Baptist calls us to turn toward God and then we read the stories that remind us of the incarnation, to celebrate the first coming of the Prince of Peace. As we wait in anticipation for the coming of the Christ child, let us remember to keep watch at the door of the Master’s house. Let us remember who we are and who we are called to be. May our hope be a light to the rest of the world so they too may stand watch with us.

With Advent anticipation, expectation, and hope,
Karen

God of Abundance

2008-11-11T17:10:00.000-08:00

God, whose giving knows no ending, from your rich and endless store—

Nature’s wonder, Jesus’ wisdom, costly cross, grave’s shattered door –

Gifted by you, we turn to you, offering up ourselves in praise;

Thankful song shall rise forever, gracious Donor of our days.

Treasure, too, you have entrusted, gain through powers your grace conferred,

Ours to use for home and kindred, and to spread the gospel word.

Open wide our hands in sharing, as we heed Christ’s ageless call,

Healing, teaching, and reclaiming, serving you by loving all.

Dear Fellow Followers of the Way:

The sermon text last Sunday was the story of the feeding of the five thousand and while listening to Bill’s sermon, I was struck by God’s abundance in the story. I began to think of other biblical examples of God’s abundance and then I decided to email some of my friends and have them brainstorm other examples with me. Here is a start to references to God’s abundance.

Genesis 1 Job 42 Matt 6:31-33 John 10:10
Genesis 15 Psalm 23 Luke 5:1-11 All Healing and Miracle Stories
Exodus 16 Psalm 103: 1-5 Luke 14
Numbers 11 Psalm 104: 25 Luke 15:22 Romans 15:13
Ruth Eccl 5 :18-20 John 2 2 Cor 9:8 - 11
1 Kings 17 Amos 13 John 3:16 Revelation 21:15-21

I would guess there are hundreds more examples to be found. And although we see great abundance in these stories, the concept of scarcity lurks within the texts as well. In an article by Walter Brueggemann, “The Liturgy of Abundance, The Myth of Scarcity,” he points out the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt. In Genesis, Pharaoh orders the harvest to be stored. It was not about offering it to the people, it was about greed and making sure he had enough. Several generations later, the Pharaoh is scared of the abundance of the Hebrew people and orders the midwives to kill the baby boys. According to Brueggemann, “The fear of not having enough brings about the mentality of scarcity.” The author of Ecclesiastes comments on this as well in 5:10 “The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain. This also is vanity.”

How could the author of Ecclesiastes have been so spot on for our world today? Consumerism is rampant. People buy without money to pay for things. It has created an environment of stress, distrust, and greed. Many people are never satisfied with what they have, they claim they will be happy if they just ____________. How have we let the fear of not having enough choke out the memory of the promises of God? How did we get so trapped in this mentality of scarcity? How do we get out of it?

I think we have to start with how we define abundance. As one of my friends reminded me context makes all the difference. Abundance looks different for someone with enough to eat and enough money to pay the bills relatively stress free than it does to someone who worries about which bills to pay in a given month or to someone wondering where the next meal will come from. Our culture tends to define abundance in material things as seen in the bumper sticker “He who dies with the most toys wins.” This kind of abundance is a source of lots of stress.

In a quest for more things, our society as created a sense of fear that there will never be enough. It is easy to want to hoard what we have and push others away, but is this what God intends for our lives? No. God intends for us to reach out to others and to live life with an open hand: an open hand that receives the grace and the blessing from the God who Provides (Jehovah Jireh Genesis 22:13-14) and an open hand that extends those blessings to those in need. As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 9:11 “ You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion.” Our society, the world teaches us a mentality of scarcity, but in God we find extravagance and abundance.

In this time of Thanksgiving, may we remember that our God is a God of plenty. Let us offer ourselves in praise to God and use the talents and gifts we have been given to reach out to people in our community and in our world. Let us celebrate God’s abundance and reach out with an open hand to the world and give the world hope. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).

Grace, Mercy and Peace,
Karen

How easy is change?

2008-11-04T21:53:00.001-08:00

Barack Obama has just been elected as the new President of the United States. He has had a platform based on hope and change, the people have bought in. I think many realize that we cannot continue the same path we have been on. But how easy will it be for us to actually change. How easy is for anyone to actually change? Only time will tell.

Here is to the hope of change. the hope of finding a new way.

Weekly Word for September 16th

2008-09-16T19:34:00.001-07:00

1 Peter 5:1-6
5Now as an elder myself and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory to be revealed, I exhort the elders among you 2to tend the flock of God that is in your charge, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have you do it—not for sordid gain but eagerly. 3Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock. 4And when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away. 5In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for‘ God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time.
Dear Fellow Followers of the Way:
Leadership has been in the spotlight in recent weeks. Whether it is the Presidential campaigns which are heating up or the leadership seen in light of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, we have seen leaders in a variety of areas of life. Our own denominational publications are not different. This month Presbyterians Today and The Presbyterian Outlook have both published journals whose lead stories are about leaders in the church.

Hundreds of books have been written on leadership with titles such as Who Moved My Cheese?, The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader , and Leadership Without Easy Answers, written by the likes of Spencer Johnson, John Maxwell, and Ronald Heifetz. The articles printed in Presbyterians Today and The Presbyterian Outlook speaks to the need for leaders to improvise like jazz musicians and for “Dangerous elders to be alive in their faith and fully empowered to be spiritual leaders in their church.”

Regardless of the leaders we see on television, I am drawn back to an assignment from the leadership class I took while in seminary. We were given a list of biblical figures that were seen as leaders, Moses, Joseph, Deborah, David, Esther, and my personal favorite Peter.

They all had gifts that were needed and they were all called by God, but Peter is my favorite as we can see a change in him as we move through the New Testament. In the gospels we see a younger, brasher Peter. The one who in one breath says “You are the Christ,” and in the next is rebuking Jesus only to hear “Get behind me Satan!” Peter with faith to get out of the boat, but not enough to stay dry. Peter who denies Christ three times, but is asked three times to feed Christ’s sheep. This is the man who is one of the great leaders of the early church.

Peter is one of my favorites because he is so very human. Faithful and loyal but full of fear. Peter needed to be reassured and needed help as he learned from his mistakes. As his ministry draws to a close we find the text quoted above. We are invited to lead willingly as God would have us do, to humble ourselves before God.

I invite you to read the articles “Like Jazz Musicians Effective Church Leaders have the ability to Improvise,” and “Dangerous Elders, Dynamic Deacons.” I also invite you to spend time getting to know Simon Peter in the Gospels, Acts and the Epistles of Peter. If his leadership style doesn’t match yours look at Moses, Deborah, David, Esther, Paul or find another leadership style in the Bible. Then look at where and how you might use your leadership skills. Where is God calling you to step out in faith and lead?

Grace, Mercy, and Peace,
Karen

Weekly Word..

2008-09-01T15:23:00.000-07:00

About once a month I am charged with writing the "Weekly Word" in the weekly email newsletter for Westminster Presbyterian Church. I have decided to start posting them here as well.

Dear Fellow Followers of the Way,

Every night when I get home, I open up my laptop and spend several hours online. Yes, I will admit it, I am a tech geek. I am one of the thousands who are addicted to text messaging, email, and Facebook. For those of you not familiar with Facebook, it is a online social network that has around 80 million users. It is one of several social networking sites that have been created for people to connect to online communities.

I am fascinated with this new phenomenon of online communities. What has happened in society? What happened to the days of talking to neighbors over the back fence (and yes, I remember talking with neighbors over the fence)? Where are the days when the church was the center of community life? When was the last time you picked up the phone and called a friend? The back fence and the local church have been replaced by high speed internet and cyber community. Telephone conversation has been supplanted by text messages and email.

What I find so fascinating is that we long for community, so we are more physically accessible than ever. Laptops, cell phones with more memory than the laptops of 5 years ago, and blue tooth headsets make us accessible at all times, but do they help foster community? We may be connected, but is that what makes community? I would argue no. Community is about relationship; it is about something that ties us together at a deeper level. Community is about being open and vulnerable to others and being a part of one another’s lives.

As Christians we are called to live in community. Jesus called the disciples to follow him. He invited them to be a part of a community. They shared meals together, they traveled together, they sat at Jesus’ feet to learn together. There were a part of each other’s lives. The invitation to follow Jesus is an invitation to not only be in community one with another, but it is an invitation into the very life of God.

We worship the Triune God who is the very essence of community. Theologian Elizabeth Johnson in She Who Is describes the Trinity as a triple helix, individual strands not connected but intertwined and inseparable. She also borrows the image of the divine round dance where the Godhead spirals inward, outward and forward out of freely given love; love that overflows in the freely given love in the person of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ draws us into the very life of God; we are invited into the divine dance. We are invited to be in community, to be intertwined and inseparable parts of one another’s lives. So how intertwined are you in the life of the community that is Westminster Presbyterian Church? To become intertwined means to participate in the lives of one another; to participate in the life of the church. As we approach Rally Day and the All Church retreat, where will you plug into the life of the church? Will you sit on the sideline or will you enter the divine dance?

In Christ’s love
Karen

A New Adventure

2008-07-06T20:52:00.001-07:00

I am off to Massanetta Springs, VA in the morning. I will be the keynote speaker for 2 identical middle school conferences. One of my seminary friends and classmates, Kelly Kaufman suggested my name. I have moved from panic to terror. Two sermons and 4 keynotes plus 3 devotionals and questions after keynotes has moved me to a state of terror.

This is another experience that although it is my "first rodeo" I feel like it can't appear that way. I had these same feelings when I presided at my first funeral. On one level I am pretty sure everything will be just fine. I will deal with things as they come and everything will get done. On another level I am glad for the panic and terror because this is the Word of God.

Here's to trusting God and going forward!

At the close of GA

2008-06-28T12:05:00.000-07:00

I have been watching the streaming video and participating in a live blog during GA. Many will think we are going to hell in a handbasket after voting to delete G-6.0106b. It will be interesting to see what happens across the church. I am truly interested to see how many people in my congregation actually know what went on.

And yes, I have tipped some cows. I have learned that it must be done carefully and with great care. "We've never done it that way" rings about many things, but often those are the very things we do in fact need to change. This fall will bring about several changes. Should be fun!

Anyone for Sacred Cow Tipping?

2008-04-26T20:45:00.000-07:00

Over lunch I was sharing some of my ideas that have stemmed from needs expressed by parents of preschool kids. In the course of conversation, I discovered a sacred cow. To move forward with these ideas means the possibility of re-engaging several families into the life of the congregation, but it also means to risk pissing off some staunch members because "We've never done it that way before" and I feel like they are afraid that one change may lead to a bigger change.

I would love to make gourmet burgers, but I don't want to alienate folks either. Trying to find a way to tip this sacred bossie over in the hopes to help families of preschoolers without completely alienating myself from some other members. There is big risk, but there is also big reward.

After the first week

2008-04-05T19:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I made it through my first week back in the real world without running away screaming! The first week at Westminster was good. I had committee meetings the first 2 nights and spent a lot of time unpacking and reading curriculum. I have a lot to catch up on, and I have to remember that it will take some time. People here have been happy to have me back.

One of the meetings was a Session meeting with a strategic planner. In looking ahead, it makes me wonder why God has called me to this place at this time. After Tuesday night, I feel sure that I have been called here, but I know not why. What is it about my particular set of gifts that is needed in this place. That is the question that lies ahead for me.

Friday I met with the children's ministry team chair and there is much work to be done. I am teaching the elementary group in 3 weeks, planning curriculum for summer, VBS, and revamping curriculum for the fall. I think it will keep me busy.

I have also continued to get the apartment unpacked and even have some pictures up now. Woo Hoo!

I really hate moving

2008-03-24T19:50:00.000-07:00

For the last couple weeks I have been packing and repacking stuff into boxes. Throughout this process it is ever apparent that my mom and I do not do things the same way. It has been a cause of tension. My sisters have stuck up for me. I think everything is now packed and ready for the movers.

The next few days will be crazy, but then I start my new position as Director of Christian Education on Monday, March 31st at Westminster Presbyterian in Austin. I am excited about the position and the possibilities that exist. It is nice to be returning to a community that I already know.

But I still hate moving.

Griping about airlines

2008-03-10T19:00:00.000-07:00

Just flew back from Virginia and thought I was going to get stuck with both my carry ons (a backpack and computer case) at my feet because of the suitcases that were boarding ahead of me. Unfortunately with all the new restrictions coming about checked luggage, I think there will be more and more suitcases carried onboard.

When people lug these things onboard they slow down the boarding process because they can't seem to lift their bag over their head and into the bin. When they finally get a corner balanced on the edge of the overhead bin, half the time because they have the expandable suitcase fully expanded they have to fight to get it into the bin anyway. I swear I saw suitcases that were almost the size of my checked 23" bag going on board. They finally made people gate check them because of the space.

I wish instead of charging people $25 for a second checked bag, the airlines would charge for the stupidly overly large luggage going on the airplane!!

Stan Hallisms

2008-02-13T21:30:00.000-08:00

Many of the APTS blogging community have made comments about the death of beloved professor Stanley R. Hall. He was an editor of the Presbyterian Book of Common Worship and was the one who taught me (and many others) to love and respect liturgy and worship. Since taking The Church as Worshipping Community my junior year, I have looked at worship and worship space differently.

One of the fun things about class with Stan was his quirky turns of phrase, what have been lovingly dubbed "Stan Hallisms." You never knew when one would be uttered, but some of them were absolutely priceless. Here are some of my favorites.

• Presbyterian worship, boredom to the glory of God
• Nothing is as new as what is old
• To gather as a community we commit theology
• No prejudice against the merely dead in Christ
• Prayer – doing deals with God
• To make a difference, that if we closed our doors we would be missed
• Never neglect the use of strange funny words
• Latin is a good language for offering sacrifice
• Big sucking font
• Great God org
• The 70’s brought in a lot of balloons and grab-ass liturgy
• Jesus soup
• Rich visceral stuff
• Wigged out over worship
• Gifts to the church are your enemy
• Aesthetically slightly ugly
• Enough water to drown a cat

So to Stan who has transferred membership to the church triumphant, thank you for a new look at boredom to the glory of God, for an appreciation of the rich visceral stuff that happens so that we would indeed be missed if we closed our doors. I promise not to relive the 70's or to create church architecture that is aesthetically slightly ugly. Stan Hall will be missed, but I am richer for having known him.

The Adventures in Ministry Begins

2008-02-08T14:54:00.000-08:00

Although it is not what I expected my first step to be, I have accepted a position as the Christian Educator at Westminster Presbyterian Church of Austin, TX. At this point it is a non-ordained position, but there is possibility of it becoming ordained down the road. I have begun to feel that I am marking time and this church offers a chance to engage in congregational ministry and gain experience. I have also discovered a passion for working with children and youth and exploring theology.

I see this as a chance to vision with people for what they want in ministry with children and youth and help them work toward it. I also understand that this is only one stop of many in my future of ministry.

Yet another library burns...

2008-02-03T19:41:00.000-08:00

Today marked the 2nd library to burn in the last week. Last week saw the death of Jack Stotts. Today the living library Stanley R Hall died. I am grateful for the time that I got to spend learning from Stan and getting to know Stan. He has left a living legacy in all the students who sat in class with him, whether they agreed with him or not. I have been shaped by Stan's gift of knowledge.

I can't help but think that there is now a task ahead for the students of Stan and Jack. For those of us who knew these men, we know the legacy that they left us. The torch has been passed. it is now ours to run with, to nurture the flame and to watch it grow.

I pray for comfort for the family and friends of Stan Hall as they mourn his passing. For me, Stan Hallisms run through my head. The one that yells the loudest in my mind is "Let us not be prejudice against the merely dead in Christ."

thought for today

2008-01-30T09:20:00.001-08:00

I have been reading "The Sins of Scripture" by John Shelby Spong as part of a women's study group at my church. There are lots of interesting ideas, some I agree with and some I do not. The last section is titled "Reading Scripture as Epic History" and he talks about the creation of the Old Testament through 4 sources (remember that from Andy Dearman?). The last chapter is about Jesus beyond religion. It is about moving away from the tribal deity to a bigger concept of God.

"Jesus commissioned his disciples to go into all the world (Matt 28:16-20). They were to go beyond the boundaries of their nation, their tribe, and most specifically their religion. When they would finally escape all of these boundaries inside their expanded and open humanity, they were to proclaim the gospel - that is, the infinite love of God for all that God has made,a love that recognizes no barriers. Boundless love will even love those who have sought to crucify the Love of God...All becomes God's chosen. No one is an alien. No one is separate from God. We live in God; God lives in us."

Have we in our denominations become tribal once again? Do we cling to the God of our tribe and refuse to accept any other God or to let our God be sovereign over more than our tribe? If the love we encounter in the gospel through the life of Christ is a love that knows no boundaries, have we been truly transformed if we do not live that love out? What does that then mean for our denominations that vehemently defend one way of thinking? What does it mean then for all of us to be chosen by God? What does it mean to live in God and have God live in us?

Just some thoughts.

What's in a Name?

2008-01-29T13:57:00.000-08:00

What Karen Means

You are a seeker of knowledge, and you have learned many things in your life.
You are also a keeper of knowledge - meaning you don't spill secrets or spread gossip.
People sometimes think you're snobby or aloof, but you're just too deep in thought to pay attention to them.

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection.
You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive.
You have the classic "Type A" personality.

You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something.
You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense.
You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun.

You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.
You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.
At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people.
You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts.
You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Ryan Pappan had this on his blog, so I did it. Weird that it is quite accurate in some regards. It is also a lot like Ryan's...hmmmm

Beginning of a new year

2008-01-27T19:52:00.000-08:00

After celebrating another birthday, it is the beginning of a new year of life. I hope to soon see a new call and ministry in a new place. There are changes that need to be made and things to be done. So here is to a new year.

In Memorium

2008-01-24T18:22:00.000-08:00

The sad news from Austin, TX today was the death of former President and Professor Jack Stotts. As one who spent time in Stotts dining hall under the watchful gaze of his portrait (which he didn't like), he will be missed. I had the good fortune to get to know Jack and his wife Virginia at Central Presbyterian Church. Jack was a gentle spirit and truly a light of Christ.

Good-bye Jack.

Epiphany

2008-01-06T21:42:00.000-08:00

This morning as I was preaching, my question was "What are you seeking?" Is it wealth and power as Herod? Is it knowledge for knowledge's sake like the chief priests and scribes? Is it an unknown journey, having faith to follow without knowing the specific like the magi?

It dawned on me that the call process is the journey to encounter the Christ child. It is a journey of faith. Stepping out to follow was partially the step to go to seminary, but it continues. Seminary was the stop at the palace, a place to gain knowledge. Now the journey continues. The star will come to rest over that church where I am called to be. That journey will leave me changed, but filled with joy and excitement.

So, to the journey and following where ever it may lead!

Kicking off 2008

2008-01-02T10:14:00.000-08:00

2007 was a good year, but there is unfinished business at hand. I had hoped to have a call by this time, but alas it was not to be. God has definitely been in the process and things continue to move. I have some interviews coming up this month. I have spent the last several weeks doing pulpit supply and have had the opportunity to play several Christmas gigs. I keep busy with substitute teaching, pulpit supply, and a variety of odds and ends. I will start volunteering on Mondays at the Presbytery office next week.

I am learning to do ministry where I am. I am learning to be patient and to wait. I am learning to deal with frustration and find silver linings in the situation.

Blessings as we start a new year!
Oh yeah....GO SOONERS!!!!! Maybe they can win the Fiesta Bowl tonight!

The Golden Compass

2007-12-16T19:16:00.001-08:00

I finished reading the book on Friday and went to the movie on Saturday. First, I thought the book was way better than the movie (but that is usually the case). Second, I understand why the Christian right and the Catholic church could be up in arms. The movie opens speaking of the "Magisterium" which tells people the truth they want them to know. This movie and the book does offer a challenge to the form of Christianity that is dogmatic in belief and leave no room for independent thought or for questioning.

The author has been quoted as saying that church history shows Christianity to be violent and oppressive. I can't argue with that. Christians have been and I would argue still are violent and oppressive. How many theological arguments have ended up with one side being deemed as heretical and killed or otherwise silenced.

I would encourage everyone to see this movie and to decide for yourself. Maybe it is time for the church to listen to an outsider (Pullman is a self proclaimed agnostic) and see what we may actually look like.

Bummer

2007-12-16T19:14:00.000-08:00

Well, no snow to speak of, oh well, it is only the beginning of winter. The ice has melted, the clean up continues. Central Oklahoma looks to be clear for a while now, but I have to say it was nice to see the sun again!!!

The next winter storm approaches

2007-12-14T09:08:00.000-08:00

My folks didn't have power for almost 80 hours, but we spent a night at my brother-in-law's folks and then 2 nights with my sister and brother-in-law (Janet and James and my nephews Josh and Jayson) since they had power. The power came back on about noon yesterday and then we spent the better part of the afternoon cleaning out the refrigerator and cleaning up some of the branches in the yard. The next storm approaches. We are supposed to have 2-4" of snow in the next 24 hours or so. I will post pictures soon. I missed taking the picture of the 1/4" of ice on my car.

Oklahoma Ice Storm 2007

2007-12-10T16:57:00.000-08:00

There are over 500,000 people in Oklahoma without power. My family included. My folks lost power Monday morning around 3:30 am. We went to my sister's who had power (the other lost power about the same time we did) and then she lost power about 2:30. We have ended up at my brother-in-law's parents. They are out of town and one of his brother's and his family are here too. Huge house, and they have power so we are staying the night.

The weather isn't supposed to really improve until late afternoon Tuesday. Tons of tress are down which have caused a lot of the power outages. For all of you outside the state of Oklahoma, pray for those caught in the midst of the largest power outage in the state's history.

For now, me and my family are fine. I also talked with Tim Blodgett and he had power earlier today.

Providence

2007-12-03T16:13:00.000-08:00

Although I am tired of waiting, this may be a part of the grand design of things. It has been helpful for me to be in Norman especially as my nephew has had continuing health issues. There have been several days that I have stayed with him to allow for less disruption in other schedules. In the meantime, I have done some pulpit supply, substitute taught, reconnected with church family and other friends and had time to read. God's plans for us are always more than we can see or imagine.

Odds and Ends

2007-11-28T21:45:00.001-08:00

I have enjoyed being in Austin. It was a great chance to see some friends and it was a privilege to participate in Arun Jones' installation service. I didn't realize how much I missed singing with Meredith, Monica, and Renee until we started singing. I didn't realize how much I missed APTS and many of the people who are still here. I didn't realize how happy being in this place made me.

On the drive here I had thought about new church development and have had some wonderful conversations with people here about it. It is an idea to think about, but there are some other new ideas that are percolating as well.

On the home front, I just found out that my 10 year old nephew was admitted to the Children's hospital in Oklahoma City to see if they can figure out why he has had headaches for 6 weeks. A mix of emotions from family members, but I think they need to do what ever needs to be done to help him. And a friend of mine who had heart surgery a few weeks ago had to be taken to the emergency room and had surgery to remove fluid. I ask for prayers for my nephew Josh and for my friend John. And I offer prayers of thanksgiving to the many people who have touched my life through this seminary. God Bless.

mmmmm Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T17:41:00.001-08:00

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. Mine was filled with turkey, mashed taters, all the trimmings, football, xbox, and playing with my nephews. My dad and I lost 35-21 to my oldest nephew and his dad in the now annual backyard football game. Blessings to all!

oh yeah, it can be Christmas, I heard the B.C. Clark jingle!

Oklahoma Centennial

2007-11-16T15:58:00.000-08:00

Today is the 100th Anniversary of Oklahoma's statehood. This is a picture of the south oval at the University. The flowers were planted specifically for the day. There have been parades and all sorts of civic celebrations. For Thanksgiving, the Pride of Oklahoma will be representing the state in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.

On another note, I needed my trip to Austin and although there were several people who I saw only briefly, it was a nice change of pace and of scenery. I look forward to going back in a little over a week.

I'm Tired

2007-11-11T13:56:00.000-08:00

I am tired. Tired of living with my parents. Tired of not yet having a call. Tired of people asking me if I have heard anything. Tired of waiting. Tired of the sense of doubt that lurks in the dark corners.

My Nephews

2007-11-05T13:15:00.000-08:00

These are pictures of my nephews Josh (10) and Jayson (4). We carved pumpkins for them. I took the pictures on different days and I was amused that they were both wearing orange shirts when we did the pictures. One upside of being home is getting to hang out with these 2 more often. We have been to museums and the zoo, we have done puzzles, made paper airplanes, played baseball, played xbox, and eaten pizza. What a joy to be around them!

Fall Sites in Norman, OK

2007-11-04T21:12:00.001-08:00

This is a shot of pregame as the Pride of Oklahoma runs out of the tunnel and onto the field. Every time I watch them do pregame I am reminded of growing up watching it happen from our seats in the north endzone and then the feeling of the first game when I stood on the field in the middle of the formation.

The arial shot of Memorial Stadium in Norman. Where 84,000 people gather on a Saturday. For those in Austin, TX the atmosphere is much the same, just not so orange. People tailgate most of the day and the crazies come out.

The monarch butterfly migrates through Norman, OK every year. This is one that lit in mom's flower bed. This was also the largest one we've seen this season.

The trees that run along the side of my high school, Norman High, are gorgeous in the fall. They are not done changing color and in the coming weeks they should turn a fiery orange, yellow, and red.

Reformation Day

2007-10-30T19:41:00.001-07:00

It is the 490th anniversary of Reformation Day.
Let the doors of the Castle Church in Wittenburg, Germany be opened!

When will the next reformation begin? Who will be the unlikely leader? Martin Luther stood against the abuse he saw in the Catholic church, he was deemed a heretic by the Catholic church. What are the abuses that the church today is guilty of and who are they calling heretic? What is the purpose of the church?

Luther wanted the power of the church to be shifted away from clergy to the masses. He wanted a priesthood of all believers where people would have access to the Bible, the Word of God, for themselves. He wanted them to know God as loving and kind, a God of compassion. Martin Luther never intended to start a new denomination, he never intended to be schismatic, he just wanted to correct the injustice he saw. He argued against relics, they led to worshipping something other than God. He argued against indulgences, paying for grace that is God's gift to us.

What are the relics we worship today? How do we deal in indulgences in this day and age? What do we worship that isn't God and why do we ignore the grace we are given? When will the next reformation start?

Part 2....more sin

2007-10-24T20:42:00.000-07:00

I decided that I needed to do some reading so I read Barbara Brown Taylor’s Speaking of Sin and reread part of Migliore on humanity and sin. Here is how sin was defined in the readings.

Barbara Brown Taylor – “Sin is the existential state of distance from God. Sins are willful human choices that maintain that distance.”

Migliore (157) “Sin is basically a refusal to live in right relationship with God and others, the denial of God’s grace and the refusal to live in just and peaceful community that participates in and reflects God’s own life in communion.”

Sin is our choice to live with broken relationship to God and others. We deny the grace that God has extended to us and (as stated in the Confession of 1967) “we claim mastery of our own lives and turn against God. It becomes idolatry of self or others. Something else is put first, something that is not God. I think this is a willful choice, either by ourselves or by others as their choices affect us too. This is where the corporate nature of sin comes into play. The choices we make affect the lives of others, both positively and negatively. It is only by grace that I can make any turn, any realization that I have placed something in the place of God. Only by grace through Jesus Christ can I hope to be restored in relationship with God or with others.

So now my question as this related to the church is do we place false standards on people, make requirements of them to be in relationship with us. I am drawn to the parable of the Prodigal Father. The youngest son is welcomed back with open arms after he comes to himself (I love that phrase), it is his moment of realization that he has distanced himself from his father. He plans his confession, the prepared speech he will make upon seeing his father and his offer for repentance, to live as one of the hired servants. And when he returns, because he has made his confession and repentance, he is given the restoration.

I see the church as the older brother. We are jealous when the father welcomes our brother home. We have been there all along, but have we truly been in relationship with the father (yes I know, I am using exclusive language)? Sometimes the greatest distance is where it seems to be least likely, is that the case now? Are those of us who claim to be Christians really in right relationship with one another or with God?

What would happen if we were to have the type of community that Bonhoffer writes about in Life Together? What would happen if we truly sought confession, pardon and repentance with one another that our relationships might be fully restored. What road blocks to we put up that keep us from being in right relationship? What standards do feel people have to meet before we will accept them?

BTW - If you haven't read John Shelby Spong's "The Sins of Scripture" I would recommend it. Interesting whether you agree with him or not.

On the topic of SIN

2007-10-14T16:35:00.002-07:00

I have been attending a Sunday school class at my home church. It is taught by our parish associate and his wife. He is a retired pastor and she is a retired University professor of Religious Studies. They are teaching a class on the history of Christian doctrines. Today we were discussing Atonement theories. What was interesting today was at the end of class. We had a few minutes so Ray launched into a brief discussion of sin.

He asked if anyone had every knowingly and willingly done something to harm God. His contention is that sin is an act that is willingly done against God, and that we don’t try to harm God or neighbor generally. Sin requires a willful intent. To go with this he talked about how big is the god who you can sin against? He further contends that the concept of sin is something the church has put in place to create fear and guilt and to promote a wrathful God.

So what is sin? How does it affect your view of God? How does your understanding of God affect the understanding of sin? I’m still chewing on this one.

A gift from a friend

2007-10-09T12:23:00.001-07:00

I had lunch with a pastor friend of mine who is the pastor of a 5 point parish. She has been in ministry for 29 years and has endured much that has paved the way for me and other women entering the ministry. She gave me a great phrase and outlook on my situation.

I am God's servant in waiting. That is what the servant does, waits for the master to call and the right servant is called for the task at hand. So I will wait. I will wait for the master to summon me for the task that I have the gifts to do.

The Search Starts Over

2007-10-08T13:25:00.000-07:00

I have now been turned down by Boise, ID. I kinda knew it was a long shot since I didn't have the experience they were looking for and on some of these, the gender issue may still be lurking. So, I start over, sending PIFs to some new churches I have found online and hope to hear from some that I have been referred to. As I have gone through this process I think I am starting to have a clearer picture of what I am looking for in a church....finally!

I am disappointed and frustrated, but trying to patiently wait on God. I know that this is on God's time not mine, but it doesn't make the day to day of it any easier.

DeColores!!!!

2007-10-01T07:17:00.000-07:00

I have spent the last 5 days at Canyon Camp near Hinton, Oklahoma. I went to Oklahoma Presbyterian Cursillo #38. Cursillo is a 72 hour spiritual retreat. A chance to get away from the busyness of life and to bask in the glory of God. A chance to be surrounded by Christian hospitality and love and to hear from laity and clergy what is means to live into Christ. As a staff member you are the givers of hospitality which a blessing in itself.

This time I was on staff not as a musician, but as a spiritual advisor. The weekend is run by lay people but there are 3 clergy who lead morning chapel, celebrate communion (the one ordained pastor on our staff did that), are available for individual intercessory prayer, and give some of the talks, This year, there were 2 of us who were on staff as spiritual advisors who have not yet been ordained. It was a great joy to serve as a spiritual advisor. It offered me a chance to preach in a new setting and within a short time. To work to bring in elements of what others have said into what I am saying. I also had the chance to do something I have never done, to preach in my pajamas.

The participants are told to "come as you are" so as the staff, we all model that too. The participants are given robes of righteousness, as was I. It is like wearing a bedspread. :) Good thing it was about Jesus telling us to come as we are.

If you have the chance I would recommend you pray about going.

Neenah said No

2007-09-25T18:32:00.000-07:00

Let this be a lesson in trusting your own instincts. I got a phone call from one of the committee members in Neenah, WI and we are finished. They liked my energy, but felt there was a disconnect. As I have thought about it, I was having to talk myself into it. It wasn't a match.

In the long run this is for the best. It is always a little hard to take rejection, but when I stop and really look at it, I think I knew it wasn't right.

So it is back to the proverbial drawing board and waiting to hear from Idaho.

I am looking forward to being at Cursillo this weekend. Time away to regroup and to listen.

After the Interview

2007-09-18T19:27:00.000-07:00

I felt my interview in Neenah, WI went well. I felt like I had a good rapport with the committee and with the pastors. I had lunch with the pastors. I think the Sr. pastor is more introverted and therefore I had some problems reading him and getting a feel for whether I could work with him or not. From some of the material they gave me and the interactions I had with folks, the church seems to be content with where they are and what they do. There are some who seem to want to expand and experiment, but I don't see either pastor really taking that on.

The big surprise of the weekend was being thrown in on Sunday morning. I ended up taking over the lessons in Middle School and in Pre-K because they wanted to see how I interacted with the kids and if I understood developmental levels. That is where my teaching background comes in handy! They wanted to see if I could pick up a lesson and run with it with no prep time.

Coming away from the interview, I didn't have an overwhelming feeling that I am called to Wisconsin, but I also didn't walk away thinking, "There is no amount of money that could get me there" Part of the problem is not having another face to face visit to compare it with. Time will tell. But I did get a phone call from the Sr. pastor tonight to get my address so he could send me a couple of audio tapes of his preaching. Interesting that he called and not a secretary or a committee member. He said they were very impressed with me and I was high on their list, but they had other candidates. He also said the next step would most likely include me being asked to come back. I'll keep you posted.

Some Pictures of Neenah

2007-09-15T14:28:00.000-07:00

After 2 hours interviewing this morning, then dinner with the pastor and associate pastor, I got a tour of the church. Some of the pictures I took on the tour. Then I went on a driving tour then walked back down to the church from the hotel and took pictures of the outside of the building.

This is downtown Neenah.

First Presbyterian Neenah from the outside.

Who knew that the "Great God Org" lived in Wisconsin. This one happens to be of the Aeolian Skinner variety. The sanctuary is big. French Neo Gothic.

Neenah, Wisconsin

2007-09-14T18:49:00.001-07:00

I arrived in Neenah, WI and was met at the airport by Scott and Dave, members of the APNC at First Presbyterian in Neenah. I am interviewing with them for an associate pastor for Christian Education position. I had a good phone interview with them and outside of not preaching much, it looks like a good position. Neenah is one of the communities in what is knows as the Fox Cities. Combined, the Fox Cities area is about 125,000 people.

I will post more after the interview and should have some pictures. What I have seen of the area, it is gorgeous. And I am loving that it is about 50 degrees outside.

4 Truths Discovered by Building Cathedrals

2007-09-10T12:48:00.000-07:00

This is taken from an email I got. I pulled this part of it as I feel it applies to a more general audience.
The picture is of Castle Church in Wittenburg.

Four life-changing truths, I learned in reading a book on cathedrals:
(1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. (2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. (3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. (4) The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything. 
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it."  And the workman replied, Because God sees." I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place.

It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done is too small for me to notice and smile over.

A Next Step

2007-09-07T13:09:00.006-07:00

Next weekend I am flying to Neenah, WI for a face to face interview with First Presbyterian for their associate pastor for Christian Education. They emailed me the agenda for the weekend which includes a written "teacher training plan" and then have you "train the committee" as if we were CE teachers giving a lesson. Target taking 30 mintues to "train the trainers" and assume that the committee represents ages pre-school through adult. So that is the project, getting a topic figured out and getting everything made.

I am choosing to do a unit on parables. The younger ones will only have a few parables while the adults can cover more. I am thinking of the parable of the sower from Matthew 13 as the focus for what I will "train the trainers" with. I am reworking a sermon on the same text, but I don't preach this go round.

My only concern with this position is that I would preach only 1 every 6 weeks. Otherwise, I like the information on the CIF and I think it would be a good match. I also have to consider whether for a first call it is more important for me to preach weekly or to gain experience in a larger church. Often times the shifts in position happen laterally in the church, so in that regard starting in a multi-staff church may set me up better for being the head of staff of a larger church down the road. There are oh, so many things to think about in this process.

I am tired of waiting, but this is a chance to work on my ability to wait on God. I hate waiting.

Feeling out of Rhythm

2007-09-03T19:03:00.000-07:00

I went for a walk this evening and felt like I was just out of sync. Then it dawned on me that for the last 3 years, the Tuesday after Labor Day marked the beginning of a new school year. Before that there was the rhythm of teaching in public schools. This year, I don't have a rhythm. There isn't a normal pace to my days. There are days that I accomplish nothing, which isn't always a bad thing, but there are also days that I feel positively aimless.

The call process is partially about learning to wait on God. The next step is not on my time, but as one who likes to be in control of things, particularly my own life, this creates a feeling that life is out of sync. Oh well.

To all my friends beginning another year in their seminary career, blessings to you. To the seniors, enjoy time with your fellow seniors. To echo Tim, a realization after graduation is that the path of the pastor is a lonely one indeed. Cultivate relationships and bask in the glorious time that is graduate school. Learn all you can and live life to the fullest. Blessings!

Back into Teaching

2007-08-31T13:30:00.001-07:00

I decided to do some substitute teaching while I await a call to a church. My first job was for 3 days in a severely emotionally disturbed class with 7 boys 3rd through 5th grades. It was a little odd to be in the classroom again, but after a little bit it felt very normal. It helped that I was at one of the schools where I taught so there were several familiar teacher faces around.

I had this kind of kid in my PE classes, so I knew that there were reasons that they were in this class. I also reminded myself that every child can learn. My 3 days with these boys served to remind me that every child can indeed learn, but you have to find the "hook" that will get them started. That is truly the art of teaching. The aides in the classroom remarked that a couple of the boys had done more work for me than they had been doing previously.

Every child truly can learn, but it takes time and patience to get to the place where they can learn. These boys, once you got past all the junk that has been placed upon them with medical issues, family life, labels from parents, teachers and kids, and self and can get underneath all that, I found that these boys was each a bright child with untapped potential. It is a matter of trying to help them tap into that resource within themselves.

A Privilege and an Honor

2007-08-26T20:30:00.000-07:00

I had the privilege of participating in the ordination service of my friend Paul Burns today as a member of his ordination commission. It was truly an honor to be a part of this momentous occasion for a friend whom I have known since high school and with whom I spent many hours studying and singing with in seminary. It was nice to see Paul's family and celebrate alongside them as well.

Back from Austin

2007-08-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

Okay, so Tim is right, my brain probably won't ever be straightened out, but it was nice to see people in Austin. Once again when I went seeking answers I came back with more questions. The questions I came back with will however serve to sort out where I might be called.

To the Seniors facing ords: Relax and take them for what they are. They are tests. If you don't pass, you can take them again, they are no the end all, you will still graduate. Review information so it is more easily accessible, read the question and answer all the parts of the question, and know that there are people praying for you.

To the Middlers: Enjoy your middler year. This is the year when you know the ropes and you aren't having to look forward quite so much. Junior year is a long haul with lots of new experiences. Take this year to grow in your relationships and prepare for what you will encounter in SPM and CPE.

To everyone else: It is always good to see friends and to have a chance to catch up a little.

Blessings!!

Quick Trip

2007-08-19T13:13:00.000-07:00

I decided on a change of scenery from Norman, OK so I drove to Austin, TX. I knew it would be different. I realized as I drove in that this place was no longer home. Part of what made it home was my classmates, part of it was the routine of life as a student. Those have both changed. It still however is a place of refuge and comfort. I have enjoyed seeing friends so far and worshipping with 2 congregations that welcomed me during my time here. A nice chance to get away and hopefully get my brain a bit straightened out.

What a Day!

2007-08-07T19:46:00.000-07:00

Today marked the end of CPE! I passed. Some good evaluation comments and some challenges for continued growth as well.
I also had an interview tonight with Southminster Presbyterian Church in Boise, ID. This church caught my attention as they are interested in worship and are willing to have fun and enjoy worship. They are a church with a sense of humor and a church who want to have an impact locally.

I thought the interview went well, but they asked some tough questions. This is a church that is looking for a pastor with 2 years of experience or more and so several questions focused on what experience I had in administration and in pastoral care that would meet that expectation. I talked about my view of ordination and I brought up the fact that in someone is homosexual and celibate, they can still be ordained according to G6.0106b. They also asked me if I would ordain someone as an elder who didn't believe in the virgin birth.

It is still a bit of a stretch as to whether I will progress past this interview or not, but I felt good about the interview and that theologically it would be a match. It would represent a HUGE learning curve for me, but I think it would also present lots of opportunities for growth as well. We shall see.

Peace Out Yo!

Woo Hoo!!!!! I finished my last day on the floor...

2007-08-04T15:52:00.000-07:00

Today was my last day of visiting folks for CPE. All that is left is Tuesday final evaluations, but I figure if I weren't going to pass my supervisor would have already said something about it. One more hurdle almost cleared.

The search continues

2007-07-30T19:49:00.000-07:00

As a few more friends receive calls and embark on their journey into pastoral ministry, an update on my process. First, congratulations to those who are proceeding forward. To Paul who will be just outside of Nashville, to Tim who it looks like will be in OKC and to those already called somewhere, blessings to each of you.

As for me I have had phone interviews with the APNC's of Columbia, SC and Neenah, WI. Both of these positions are associate for Christian Education. I talked to Brenham, TX, but there are happenings in the life of that congregation that has slowed their process. I have sent my PIF and a sermon DVD to 2nd Nashville. Heard back from them today that they would like to set up an interview in the next couple weeks about their associate position. I have also just sent my PIF to Boise, ID. It is a solo pastorate that looks absolutely cool.

I will just have to wait and see what God has in store for me.

Just finished Harry Potter

2007-07-22T23:40:00.000-07:00

I just finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Good book. Ties things up nicely. A couple of things I didn't see coming. Some interesting theological points. Made me think of Julie and any number of people who argued with her junior year.
Okay, i will say no more.

It's Saturday, July 21, 2007 and Death STILL SUCKS!!

2007-07-21T19:42:00.000-07:00

I am not feeling quite so unbalanced. I spent a 12 hour day at the hospital. Today I was the chaplain. I ended up with 10 crisis calls and of those 4 deaths. Death is inevitable for everyone, but it still hurts like hell and well...sucks. What clicked for me today and yesterday (worked 2 deaths yesterday that I felt like I was talking to myself) is that no matter how much I believe the Heidleberg Catechism or Romans 8, death is still painful.

The sense of loss and grief speaks to our humanity. The realization that we are finite, even when we trust in the promise of eternal life. Henry Van Dyck wrote about death as a ship. As the ship sails from the shore and those on this side of death watch until the sail dips below the horizon, we morn the loss of a loved one. But on the other shore, there is Christ, standing with arms open saying "There she is!!"

Once again, this is about finding the tension between what seems to me initially as opposites.

But no matter...
DEATH STILL SUCKS!!

Being unbalanced

2007-07-17T17:42:00.000-07:00

In my struggle with thanatology....death...I decided to bring it up in group supervision in CPE today. My supervisor got me out of my head and pushed me to talk about walk I feel about death. First, I hate talking about feelings. Second I hate talking about feelings about death. Fun huh? The image that started was feeling isolated, cut off, then I got to feeling like I was off balance.

We talked about a triangle on its point, but ended at feeling like I was standing on one leg waiting for the other to be kicked out from under me. I brought this image up in IPR (for you non CPE folk it is a group discussion time). I talked about feeling off balance all summer. Not only did I leave seminary where I have been for 3 years, but I moved home. And I have been somewhat transient every few weeks. On top of that, CPE is a disconcerting process that as Greg brought up, is like the first semester of theology. You kind of get your beliefs shaken and you have to figure out what is important and how things fit. On top of this is the anxiety of seeking a call and not knowing where the next step takes me.

I don't like feeling out of control and out of balance. I don't like feeling like I am going to get kicked down. But if I do get kicked down, it is a matter of getting up, dusting myself off and going again. I also need to remember that I am surrounded by lots of friends and family who are willing to help me in whatever situation I may find myself.

A while left of being unbalanced. I guess I better get used to it.

the voices...stop the voices

2007-07-08T17:06:00.000-07:00

I was given the privilege of the pulpit at my home church this morning. My pastor had asked me to preach my senior sermon. So I changed the end and tweaked some of the wording that I had gone over with Kristin Saldine. Then this morning when I climbed into the pulpit, the voices in my head kicked in. Comments made by Jennifer and Kristin about my preaching which invaded while I was preaching. Crazy!

CPE question 3

2007-07-05T18:13:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh, week 6. Over half done. The next question of the summer is what is my understanding of thanatology? I don't know as I can clearly define my pastoral understanding of death. I have not yet made sense of all of it yet. There are several scriptural references that run in my head as well as how death is linked to life and to hope. This one may take a while.

The Next CPE question to ponder

2007-06-21T20:50:00.001-07:00

Last week was about the question "What is your image of God?" This week, the question is "What is your biblical model for being a pastor?"

I am one of the disciples. Working hard, following Jesus, but not yet understanding what lies ahead. I am exploring the life of Peter. One who followed from the beginning, who jumps in quickly often not understanding why or what he is doing. He denies Christ, denies who he is called to be. Once reconciled to Christ however (John 21), Peter becomes one of the great leaders of the church. We see a totally different Peter in the Book of Acts than we do in the gospels.

Who is your biblical model?

What's Your Image of God?

2007-06-19T20:47:00.000-07:00

This was a question posed to me by my CPE supervisor. She challenged me to look beyond the typical answers that I gave. She gave me "Maestro" or "quartet leader." The quartet leader image has caught my attention. Just as a quartet needs a leader, there is also an element of every one being vital to the functioning of the quartet.

Where I went with it is I become the 4th member of the quartet, the members of the Trinity being the other 3. Just as the Trinity can be thought of as engaging in a divine dance, why not in musical terms. By being brought into the quartet, I, in my totally depraved humanity, am brought into the life of the Godhead and I have agency. My part is important to the whole. In this it does not take away from the importance of any of the other 3 parts at the same time. I am still playing with this image, but I challenge everyone to take a look at their image of God.

Peace

Dealing with Death

2007-06-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

I ended up on a crisis call today and worked a death at the hospital. It is strange how someone can be alive one second and dead the next. Reminded me of a M*A*S*H episode where Major Hoolihan remarks how it never ceases to amaze her that you are alive one minute and dead the next, no fanfare or anything. Just gone.

There are so many things that happen in the hospital after a death, that was more where I was uncomfortable than with the family although, I did have to confront my theological view of death as well as heaven and hell. One of the family members asked if I thought their mother went to heaven even if she didn't believe. As I have continued to ponder this, I end up looking to the invisible church and the fact that we don't know who is elect and who is not. I have to believe that God's love is bigger than I can even fathom and I have to hold hope that God leaves the 99 and looks for the 1, whether we want to be found or not.

Lots to process.
Peace

A few weeks in...

2007-06-12T18:32:00.000-07:00

CPE is a tiring thing. I have found it emotionally and spiritually draining. It will be good for me to learn to set up emotional boundaries. I am struggling in part because this is new and I am still trying to learn the basics. I have much to learn, but it will not make for an easy summer.

CPE Day 2

2007-05-30T16:20:00.000-07:00

Today was a better day. We had a more specific orientation to what we are doing as well as a chance to tour the hospital with one of the staff chaplains and a tour of pre-op with another chaplain. After lunch, they printed off the rooms of people who needed initial visits (Baptist has chaplains try and visit everyone) and we were each given part of the lists and off we went. The first few cold calls I did weren't very good, I was way nervous and anxious. The visits got better as I did more of them. That is more what I will be doing for the summer.

CPE has begun

2007-05-29T19:09:00.000-07:00

Today I started my 11 weeks as an intern hospital chaplain at Baptist Integris in Oklahoma City. CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) is an intense 11 week time period in hospital and crisis ministry. We start door to door cold visits tomorrow (day 2) and continue with orientation and beginning to work on learning goals for the summer. This will be a time of growth and introspection as I discover more about who I am and continue to live into who I am as a pastor.

Growth is often a painful process and I became aware that I have once again entered the wilderness. It'll will be a bumpy ride.

I'm going to have to change the name of my blog...

2007-05-23T21:41:00.001-07:00

Now that I am a seminary graduate, I am going to have to come up with a new blog name. Baccalaureate was fun since I got to play trombone alongside my dad. It was special for him too. Graduation day there are several monetary awards that are given out during the proceedings, but alas, I did not receive one. I did however receive a gift from 3 of the professors. They decided that for all of the "stuff" that I did around the seminary and was involved in that I deserved the "MVP" award. So I received a hat with MVP on it, Dr. Suess's "Oh the Place you'll go" along with a Dr. Suess type poem in the front of it, Godiva chocolate, Mozart CD's, Indigo Girls CD, pen, magnet, bookmark, all in a beautiful bowl. To get a gift like that from 3 professors who I respect very much means more than any monetary award. Very cool.

I am back in Oklahoma with a few days off before starting a clinical rotation as a hospital chaplain (CPE). It will be an interesting summer living at home. It was really hard to leave Austin, and especially to leave all the people who have become my family over the last 3 years. So I am home at least until August, and still in the process of searching for a call. I have had some conversations with a couple of churches and now we play the waiting game.

Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doot, doo, doo, doo, doo,doo

That is the Jeopardy theme incase you didn't recognize it!

It's almost official

2007-05-16T09:40:00.000-07:00

Picked up my graduation regalia this morning. All that is left is to be approved by the faculty.
It is weird to think that I am about to graduate. I'm not sure where the time went.
Exciting and terrifying all at the same time.

Now to keep packing.

Bright Sunday Sermon - "Keeping Up Appearances"

2007-04-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

This is the sermon that I preached yesterday at Westminster Presbyterian in Austin, TX. This is the congregation where I have been interning all school year. I have learned a lot working with this congregation and they have helped me to grow.

Here we are the week after Easter. Back to normal, no brass filling the sanctuary, the lilies are gone. We celebrate Christ being risen from the dead, but wasn’t that last week? So now we can go back to normal. Or can we? It is easy to think of Easter as a single day, after all anything Easter related is up to 75% off at most stores now, but Easter is bigger than that. We have entered Eastertide, the “Great Fifty Days” as we move toward Pentecost. This is a season of the church year for continued celebration and to explore what it means for us to live as resurrection people. The gospel of John provides the experiences of several Bible figures who we have come to know well, Mary, the disciples, and Thomas.

We start on that first Easter day. Three days removed from the crucifixion of Jesus. Mary, the disciples, and Thomas are all struggling with grief, fear, and doubt. We enter the story with Mary. She has gone to the tomb and finds the stone rolled away. Scared, she runs back to find Peter, who with the beloved disciple, return to the tomb with her. They find the tomb empty. Then the men leave. They leave Mary, standing in front of the empty tomb. They leave Mary standing at the empty tomb weeping.

The stress of the last 8 days overwhelms her. A week ago she was with the crowd as they entered Jerusalem shouting “Hosanna.” Little did she know that by the end of the week she would see Jesus arrested and crucified. A wave of grief sweeps over her. This man was her teacher, her Lord. She had followed him for many months. A few days ago she had lavished pure nard on his feet and wiped it away with her hair. She could still smell the scent in her hair. All she wanted to do now was care for his body. Finding the tomb empty, she is hit by a flood of emotion. She is drained physically, spiritually, and emotionally. She is tired. She is scared. It feels like a nightmare, but she can’t wake up. All she can do is cry.

She peers into the empty tomb to see two angels in white who ask “Woman, why are you weeping?” Through her tears she stammers that she is looking for Jesus. She can no longer bear to look into the tomb. She turns, her head down, still sobbing. She notices someone standing there. He repeats the question of the angels “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She does not recognize the man. She is consumed with her grief and exhaustion. She responds to him thinking he is the gardener.

While Mary is weeping at the tomb, the disciples are hidden away behind locked doors.
They like Mary are trying to process everything that has happened in the last few days. They are afraid of being persecuted if they are identified a followers of Jesus. Their teacher is gone, what are they to do now? They sit in silence; they are spent. They are afraid. Fear permeates the room, it has paralyzed them. Then Jesus appears to them. He stands in their midst, they can’t believe their eyes. Jesus speaks, “Peace be with you,” but they have yet to recognize their Lord.

Later in the day we meet Thomas. He was not with the others but has heard their story.
He is skeptical of what they have told him. Thomas looks at them as if to say, “Yeah right, whatever!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” Thomas is not one to be easily swayed. He needs proof.

When Mary, the disciples, and Thomas first meet the Risen Christ, none of them recognize him. Mary is consumed by her grief. The disciples are paralyzed with their fear. Thomas is filled with doubt. They cannot recognize Jesus on their own, they need Jesus to meet them where they are. Christ comes to each in a different way, but it is exactly what they each need in order to have faith.

For Mary, Jesus calls her by name. This is the moment when Mary encounters the Risen Christ. She hears her name, “Mary.” It is the voice that speaks it. She has heard this voice call her name so many times before. Soft and tender. Full of compassion and love. His voice finds its way through the tears, through the fatigue. It reaches the very core of her being and draws her back. Like a parent’s voice that breaks through the screams of a child’s nightmare drawing them out of their fear, finds its way through the tears. In calling her name, Jesus breaks through her nightmare of the last few days and she recognizes him. Because Jesus has met her and drawn her out of her grief, her spirits are lifted and she is able to set off to tell the others.

For the disciples hidden in fear, Jesus greets them twice with the words, “Peace be with you.” The second time he adds, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Then Jesus breathes on them and tells them to receive the Holy Spirit. Just as God breathed life into Adam in Genesis, Jesus breathes new life into the disciples. The peace of Christ dispels their fear. Jesus sends them out into the world to offer the forgiveness of sins to the world. They are excited because they have just met the risen Christ. It is in their excitement, not fear that they talk to Thomas about their experience.

Thomas is doubtful of the story and wants physical proof. The next week the disciples are again meeting, but this time the doors aren’t locked, just shut, and Jesus comes and stands among them. He greets them with Peace again. Turning to Thomas, Jesus is relaxed and at ease.

He is not angry with Thomas, Thomas is just being Thomas. Jesus smiles, he knows Thomas well. Because he knows Thomas and he loves Thomas, Jesus says “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” We don’t know if Thomas touches him or not. But we do know Thomas’ response. “My Lord and My God!” Thomas is a believer.

In these stories, all of them believe in the end, when they have met the Risen Christ. Jesus meets Mary in her grief by calling her name; meets the disciples with the gift of peace and the Holy Spirit; meets Thomas with a physical presence. Jesus meets them where they are. He meets them as they have need. But these aren’t the only people who have met the Risen Christ.
Christ meets us where we are and gives us what we need for faith. The author of the gospel of John states that these stories are written down that others might believe. Scripture is one way that we are enabled to encounter Jesus. When we read about Mary, the disciples and Thomas, we can see ourselves in their stories as well. We have all known sorrow, fear, and doubt. Scripture is a reminder to us that Jesus meets us too.

While teaching the 2nd and 3rd graders a few weeks ago, we were walking through the timeline from Palm Sunday through the appearance stories. I asked the children as we read the Thomas story, if they would have believed the disciples even when Thomas didn’t. One of the girls said “Yes, but we know the story!” Her response struck me. She is right. We do know the story. We have been given Scripture that we might experience Christ that we might believe in the resurrection.

However Scripture is not the only way the appearance of Christ continues. Just as the disciples were sent we are sent too. We as fellow believers, as the church, are called to keep up the appearance of the risen Christ. We are called to reach out to people by name. People hurt. They grieve. We as church are called to speak their name. To remind them that they are beloved children of God. We do this every time we speak names of people we love and care about in intercessory prayer. We do this when we send cards and notes or call those who cannot be physically present with us. When we sit with someone in the hospital. It is amazing what being called by name can do. When we call them by name, they are remembered into the body of Christ. We keep up the appearance of our resurrected Savior.

We as a church are also called to bring the peace of Christ. In the midst of community, just as the disciples were gathered in community, we pass the “peace of Christ.” Think about the words of the liturgy. The peace of Christ be with you. And also with you. As we have been reconciled to God through our confession of sin and reminded of our forgiveness in Christ and assured of our pardon, we then share the peace that Christ brought to the disciples to one another. We are gathered together, reunited as the body of Christ. We keep up the appearance of our resurrected Savior.

We all have times of doubt; we have moments when we are Thomas. We need a physical presence. We need to be met individually. Seeing another who has struggled with faith, yet we can see the depth of their conviction. Watching one another live out their faith. We are the physical presence when we reach out to others in mission. I thought about this as storms rolled through Friday night. Northern Texas was hit hard, we are the physical presence with one anther in the midst of situations like the storm Friday night. We are physical proof to one another when we cry together, laugh with one another, and celebrate as the family of God. We are strengthened by the faith of others, we see Christ shining through them. They embody Christ for us. We keep up the appearance of our resurrected Savior.

These stories are given to us that we might have faith, that we would believe Jesus to be the Son of God and that we may have life in his name. We read the stories of the first Easter day and the week that followed, Jesus has met his followers in a variety of ways. He has given them what they need for them to believe. Christ still meets us today. Meets us through Scripture and through others that we too will have faith. As the Risen Christ lives within us, may we, the beloved children of God, be gathered as the body of Christ in our worship, so that as we go forth into the world we can embody the Risen Christ and keep up the appearance of our Risen Savior. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Easter Peeps

2007-04-14T11:19:00.000-07:00

Easter peeps, I think are perhaps the most disgusting thing ever created! Found out a friend of mine likes them. Also found out that you can do peep jousting in the microwave. Have found a zillion peep links on the internet, some of which are quite funny. So being a senior and needing a creative outlet, I have begun working on a movie/documentary about peeps. Well, more of a creative diversion. I have discovered that peep jokes are endless.

They like to play "hide and go peep"

They like the village peeple. One of their favorite songs is "Peeple."
If you were to eat a purple one, you would be a purple peeple eater.
They just keep getting worse.

Being me is enough

2007-04-04T00:30:00.000-07:00

Senioritis has struck as the end of my seminary journey draws near. My PIF (pastor information form...aka resume) was released by my presbytery and is now out in the wild. This means I can begin sending my PIF to churches I am interested in and the national office will begin matching me with prospective churches and the call process begins.

It is interesting to read what churches write about themselves and about what they are looking for in the pastor they seek to call. A deep and abiding love of Christ (probably a good thing for a pastor), communication skills, and a sense of humor. These seem to be pretty common, but what is striking about so many of the positions is it seems that churches are looking for someone to be everything to everybody.

In recent weeks I have had the revelation that being me is enough. My problem is I don't think I believe that all the time. Being me is all I can do. I need to remember this as I proceed into ministry. I can only be me, and being me is enough. I am the only me there is. I think this has been a cause of my stress lately.

I need to listen to the folks at WPC more. I have only been there since August and several have said they are sad to see me go in a month or so. It meant a lot to have a couple youth moms comment that they wished I could stay another year and one said her son really liked me. Another parent commented Sunday that her 8th grader had said she liked that I had enthusiasm and she could tell I really believed what I was saying. It has meant a great deal to have feedback from the congregation that includes comments that some church will be blessed to get me. Others believe it about me...now why don't I believe it?

Palm Sunday

2007-04-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

Today we remember the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The crowds shouting "Hosanna!" When the Pharisees tell Jesus to quiet the crowds he states that the stones themselves would shout. This is the same crowd who later this week will shout "Crucify Him!"

Great Cartoon

2007-03-31T15:58:00.000-07:00

I love the site Reverend Fun. This was up a couple days ago. My question is what is the perfect sermon?

Playing in the Rain

2007-03-26T23:01:00.000-07:00

Today was SMURF-TACULAR!!!! Yep, I am bringing smurf language back, just because. It was a rainy day in Austin, TX and I love rainy days! Playing in puddles is a favorite past-time. So after class, it was back to the room to change clothes and shoes and back out into the rain to play in the rain.

One of my good friends came out and played in the puddles too. We were soggy. Several of our classmates thought we were really crazy. Sherry snapped the picture from her dorm room. My advice to everyone is "don't get too old to play."
My other piece of advice is watch out who is around you when you splash in puddles, so you don't get someone wet who didn't want to play. Although one time I did get a couple people a little wet, but they were good sports and didn't get mad at me.

Senior thoughts

2007-03-20T21:13:00.000-07:00

Okay, being a senior isn't all it is cracked up to be. Trying to get a PIF (like a resume) done and online, looking at churches, seeking a call, dealing with moving and graduation stuff, and trying to remember to be a student when senioritis has a firm grip on you. Crazy! Had a nice but very brief visit home last week during my spring break. 8 weeks left of school and a bunch of stuff to do. It is the downhill race! Peace.

A Sermon for Lent

2007-03-07T19:23:00.000-08:00

A whole 5 days after preaching my senior sermon, I had the priviledge of preaching at Westminster Presbyterian where I am the seminary intern. Wednesday night service, totally different text. This one is on Luke 4:1-13, Jesus' temptation in the WIlderness.

Tests. We encounter them in all forms. As a student there are standardized tests and tests created over specific knowledge. Outside of school we test people’s patience, we are put to the test, and we test the waters. But there is something that happens with any test, trial, experiment or examination. We go into a test one way and we come out differently on the other side. Tests are a way of discovering what we are capable of, what is possible, of what is important.
In our text we find Jesus, having just been baptized, being led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness where he faces 3 tests at the hands of the devil. It is important to note the wilderness experience begins with the Holy Spirit’s leading. Jesus didn’t just go but was led. These were tests, a time that he was guided into. We too are sometimes led into the wilderness, into times of spiritual testing.
When we find ourselves in the wilderness, we usually think of it as a time when we are spiritually dry, hence the wilderness. In the wilderness we may feel abandoned, that we have been left to struggle on our own. We may feel that our prayers go unanswered. We may feel there is no hope. When I think about wilderness times I have encountered, they are times I have felt spiritually isolated, hungry and thirsty.
We read that at the end of 40 days in the wilderness, Jesus was hungry. This is when the devil jumps in with the temptations. The devil tells Jesus to turn a stone into bread, he almost dares him to do it. Can’t you just see it? The devil, not the half goat, half man with horns and a pitchfork, but the slick, well- polished, designer suit and silk tie variety.
“Hey Jesus. You look hungry. Why torture yourself. You’re the son of God, tell the stone to become bread.” Jesus doesn’t go for it, so the devil tries to deal a bit. So he takes him to a high place so they could look out over the land. This time the devil says he will cut a deal. “you can have power over all that you can see if you will do one thing. I am the one who can give you all of this. All you have to do is worship me.” Again, Jesus turns him down citing the Scriptures.
The devil is finding this to be a hard sell. So he tries one last time. But this time the devil uses Scripture to make his pitch. At the high point of the temple in Jerusalem he says, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down for it is written: ‘For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” Even though the devil quotes Psalm 91, Jesus again refutes him using Scripture. After having no luck, the devil departs, “until an opportune time,” doing his best Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonation “I’ll be back.”
The 3 temptations represent 3 areas where we are often challenged as well. The first is to provide for yourself. It is not wrong to want food, it is not evil to provide sustenance. But if Jesus provides for himself at this point, he does not rely on God. The 2nd temptation is about power, and to whom you are loyal. Again earthly power isn’t in and of itself wrong or evil, but to trust in human power, to be loyal to earthly things is to put something else before God. The 3rd temptation is about making demands of God. To go to God with prayer is what we are to do, but it is the motive behind the action that makes the difference. We are urged to pray without ceasing and to take everything to the Lord in prayer, but these are not to be petitions that put God to the test. As Jesus refutes the devil, he quotes another wilderness adventure found in Deuteronomy, the exodus of the Israelites.
The 3 quotes are significant because they not only link Jesus to the heritage of Israel , but they reference areas where the Israelites lacked faith. The first temptation, to provide bread, is refuted using Deuteronomy 8:3, “It has been written that man shall not live by bread alone.” Matthew’s account goes further, “but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” At this point in the exodus story, the Israelites have been reminded that being hungered humbled them, but the Lord did provide for them and gave them manna. God’s is faithful in all things and will provide for all our needs. In this day and age, who do we trust for our needs? Ourselves or God?
The second temptation brings a response from the 10 commandments as Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:13. “You will worship the LORD you God whom alone you will serve.” Jesus refuses to bow and serve the devil unlike the Israelites who fashioned a golden calf for themselves. It is easy to get pulled into the power of the world, but what or whom do we worship and serve? Another or God?
The devil quotes, or rather mis-quotes Scripture for the third temptation. In reading all of Psalm 91, it is about the protection of God for the righteous. It speaks of God as refuge and fortress, as the one who delivers and protects. But this protection is not meant for foolishness. God’s protection is for the faithful. “When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them (v 15).” Jesus refutes this trial with Deuteronomy 6:16 “Do not put the LORD your God to the test as you did as Massah.” This reference is to the story in Exodus 17 when the Israelites were complaining to Moses about not having water. They were thirsty. God responded by telling Moses to strike the rock with his staff and when Moses did as God commanded, water sprang forth. Once again, God provides, but God is not to be foolishly tested.
The temptations may link Jesus to the wilderness experience of the Israelites, but it also proves that he is the Son of God. as he remains faithful to God throughout these tests. For Christ to be fully human, to truly enter into our human condition, it was crucial that he suffer as the Israelites did, as we do. As we read in Hebrews 4
Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.
We, like the Israelites sometimes struggle to remain faithful and obedient. We are more inclined to be more reliant on ourselves, to look at being successful rather than faithful, and to look to worldly rules and compromise on faith . However, we are given Christ as our model for faithfulness.
The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years. Jesus was tested in the wilderness for forty days. We too have entered the wilderness or at least a time to remember the wilderness. We started our 40 days a couple weeks ago at Ash Wednesday with the reminder that we are dust and to dust we shall return. Dust that was once lush green palm branches has become dry and ashen, disintegrated by heat. These forty days are a time to examine the dry areas of our lives, to struggle with areas where we need to be more faithful and obedient to God.
This self-examination is a chance to come out of Lent different than when we entered.
We journey through Lent with Jesus, following the narratives of the season. We have come from the waters of his Baptism and entered the wilderness, led by the Holy Spirit. As the forty days for Jesus ends, we find him beginning his ministry, once again, led by the Holy Spirit. But Jesus has changed. The wilderness has prepared him for what lies ahead. The devil has departed until an opportune time. We will see this character again in the story, we will see Jesus tested again and again through the Gospel narrative. But through it all we will continue to see that God is ever faithful and present. That is the promise that we have.
We have been baptized and we now walk with Jesus through the wilderness. We too have been led by the Holy Spirit. The forty days of Lent can change us, and we can leave this wilderness differently than when we came in. Through these days we will not be abandoned, forsaken, or thirsty. God will provide.

Sr. Sermon

2007-03-04T16:51:00.000-08:00

My senior sermon went well on Friday. I preached a totally different sermon than what I presented in class. Wednesday in class we ran it through the ringer and it was well worth it. I walked out of class with the story of Eisleben, Germany and the text. 48 hours later I preached the most tightly focused sermon I have ever done. Now the bar of my expectations has been raised as well.

Bound by Circumstance, Free in Christ

Faintly, you could hear the rhythm of the pickaxe, mining copper and silver. As you moved closer to the village, you began to hear the voices of the crowd gathered in the market square. Then, over the din of the noise, from the tower, the church bells began to peal. This might have been the sounds of Eisleben when Martin Luther was born or even upon his death, but they are not the sounds today .

On a cold gray day in January, our seminary group toured the Luther death house museum and 2 churches in town where Luther was known to have preached. The churches felt like museums too. St. Andrews was housing the historical memorabilia from the Luther birth house, which made the church feel even more like a museum.

Besides a few people hurrying through the damp cold of the day, there was very little activity in the town. After spending the morning as tourists, we met with the local Lutheran co-pastors, Scott and Claudia at the house church they use during the winter. They use the house church to save on the cost of heating the cathedrals. We found out that this town, once in an area that was a hotbed of religious activity, was struggling in many ways. Where there had once been a thriving mining and smelting industry, there was now high unemployment. We learned that our tour guide had no other job than being the local guide. Where the church had once been vibrant, it now languishes. When Scott and Claudia arrived 3 years ago, there were 1000 people on the membership roles, but average worship attendance was 15.

If I were to see this church on a church information form I would look no further. I would look for another church. This church scares me. The church in Eisleben is oppressed by financial burdens; there are 3 cathedrals, but only enough money to maintain 2. It is subdued by societal norms; Scott told us of a Lutheran study found that it takes an average of 17 invitations to church before someone will attend in America, in Eastern Germany it is cultural taboo to do it once . It is shackled by an a-religious culture; a survey was taken at the train stations, one of the questions was “Are you a Christian or an atheist?” One of the responses was “I’m not Christian or atheist, I’m normal.” The church scares me because there are so many factors that bind it.

As Paul wrote to the Philippians he was bound too, in a literal sense. He was in prison. If we look at the book of Acts we find that Paul was arrested for preaching the gospel. His opponents thought imprisonment would hinder Paul and the gospel message. When it didn’t, there were people who preached to spite Paul, to upset him while he awaited the verdict of his trial. Paul could have been oppressed by his situation.

But for Paul, chains and preachers with false motives were not of concern. In fact life or death as he awaited the outcome of his trial was not an obstacle, for one reason. Christ. The situations did not determine Paul’s response, Christ and the power of the gospel did. While it didn’t change the situation, we know from the book of Acts, it changed Paul. As Fred Craddock puts it “Paul was in bonds, but the gospel was not.”

This imprisonment was not in a small cell with bars, nor was it chained to a stone pillar. Paul was shackled, 24-7, wrist to wrist with one of the elite Roman praetorium guards. These were the bodyguards of the emperor and high officials.
The guard on Paul rotated every 4 hours. This is how the whole palace guard knew about him and his imprisonment for the defense of the gospel . So Paul is shackled to a different guard every 4 hours, what do you think he was he going to do? He was in chains for preaching, so in chains, he continued to preach. What should have been a hindrance to proclaiming Christ, has “actually served to advance the gospel.”

Eisleben and its congregation with 15 in worship 3 years ago could have been a hindrance to Scott and Claudia proclaiming Christ, but has served to advance the gospel. Again, an obstacle seen in light of the gospel, became an opportunity. In 3 years the average attendance has changed from 15 to 60, but where the gospel is truly evidenced is not in the numbers, that is only a quantifiable measurement, but it is in the spirit of the members of the church. A church dedicated to continuing their witness in the life of the town. The people are working to advance the gospel. The people have been encouraged.

Paul has encouraged fellow believers as well. He tells the Philippians of those who have been encouraged to speak more boldly. And just as there are those who speak from good will and love, there are also those who preach out of rivalry and envy. But Paul is not concerned with them. No matter the motive of the preacher, if they are proclaiming Christ, nothing else matters. The gospel has its own authority and is not dependant on human motives. The message is more powerful than the messenger.

The message is more powerful than the messenger was a sentiment that Scott expressed to us as well. He told our group that he didn’t worry about numbers, money and the like because if “God wanted a church in Eisleben in 20 years, there would be a church in Eisleben in 20 years.” He and Claudia understand that they are witnesses to the gospel. They are the acting agents, but it is Christ working within them that makes the difference. They, like Paul, have discovered that they need nothing else, only Jesus Christ.

In their community the church, like the land, bears the scars of the mining industry, but there are signs of healing and hope. Scott and Claudia have been able to reach out to the youth in the town. They told us about the kids who aren’t members but who come with their friends. And even though the pastors know these kids are out of Eisleben as soon as they are able, they also know that they are opening them up to the good news of Jesus Christ. All that matters is that Christ is proclaimed. As they talked about their work in Eisleben, I got the sense that while they are deeply saddened by the state of the church in their town and in the area, they are not bound to the circumstances. They are free in Christ and they have a vision of what the power of the gospel can do. They encourage not only the people they pastor, but they encouraged me.

Before we left, we prayed together. Their only request of us was to continue to pray and to encourage others to as well. Christ is at work in this village in Germany, the gospel is being advanced. Christ was at work in Paul, in those who heard him, and in the church at Philippi, the gospel is being advanced. Christ is at work here and now at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, the gospel is being advanced.

As I sat in Stotts (our campus dining hall) yesterday at lunch, surrounded by the community. I looked around the room, and thought about how each of us is called to boldly proclaim the gospel message, even though we have no way of knowing where that call may lead us or the situation in which we will find ourselves. I have listened to many stories shared around those tables. People confronted with obstacles, yet they are able to press on, knowing that Christ would see them through and knowing that they had the support and encouragement of the community.

To hear those stories, to listen to Scott and Claudia who minister in spite of their circumstances, to read the letter to the Philippians as Paul continues to preach even in prison, is to be encouraged to speak more courageously; and it is to know that it is not just Paul or Scott and Claudia or us who are called to advance the gospel, but every believer from Eisleben, to Philippi, to Austin, and to where ever we are sent. May we all see with new eyes so that our obstacles become opportunities, that where we may be bound by circumstance we find freedom in Christ. May we be encouraged to go out into all the world and boldly proclaim Jesus Christ so we might serve to encourage others and to advance the gospel. Amen.

Long Time no post

2007-02-23T20:58:00.000-08:00

Back from Germany and Switzerland and hit the ground at a sprint. It is the last semester of seminary. I have recently finished my PIF (like a resume) and it is being read and edited by some trusted folks. In the meantime there is an ethics paper due Tuesday, the first draft of my sermon due to my classmates Tuesday so we can discuss on Wednesday. Sr. Sermon on Friday ( and after Sarah preached today...the bar is set way high). Next Tuesday presentation for the older adults at WPC and preaching for the Lenten series on Wednesday March 7th. If I live until spring break it will be a miracle!

I will try to be better about posting, but no garuntees.

Snow in Switzerland

2007-01-23T11:41:00.000-08:00

IT SNOWED TODAY!!!! Great fun to walk in the snow, in Switzerland and to have a snowball fight. Off to the French Alps tomorrow. The trip has been great but my brain hurts. Pictures upon return. Peace out!

Skipping across the pond...

2007-01-12T22:40:00.000-08:00

The day has finally arrived to head to Europe. Two weeks in Germany and Switzerland following the footsteps of Luther and Calvin. I look forward to walking in the footsteps of history and thinking about the implications for the future. Pictures and updates upon my return. Peace.

Quote for the day

2006-12-27T20:08:00.000-08:00

Time with friends is not spent, but invested.