tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8332432794325617002024-03-13T22:22:34.330-07:00Was Heißt Das?Making Sense of a Life of FaithUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833243279432561700.post-84355057652472915092017-04-17T06:24:00.001-07:002017-04-17T12:43:35.775-07:00Splashing In God's Living Waters<style>
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Vacation Bible School isn’t just about fun. I mean, sure, it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i> fun. But that’s only the second most
important ingredient. For me, VBS first and foremost must be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">deeply theological</i>. After all, being a
part of the body of Christ is about digging deep and discerning together who
God is and who we are in relationship to God. And whether or not the average
three-year-old has any idea that God is right
there in her VBS fun or not, it doesn’t change the fact that God is, in
fact, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">right there. </i>So when I set out
to develop our theme each year, my first question to myself is: what, biblically, do I want to dig into, draw out, and explore with these kiddos.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This year, I thought of water. Specifically, I was thinking
about one of my favorite stories: the Samaritan woman at the well, and Jesus’
talk about “living water.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From there,
the phrase, “Splashing in God’s Living Waters” just sort of popped into my head
(I think this is a lot how the Holy Spirit works in my life, which is way
cool.) Beyond that, I didn’t give it too much thought. I just brought it to the
team to kick around—I don’t work in a vacuum. Often (nearly always) God’s most
profound insights are discovered when Christians come together to wrestle with
God’s Word. So I dropped the theme on the group (Dottie Fergus, Jen
Nelson, Pr. Jon and Steve Manacek). I said, “Let’s do a bunch of Bible stories
about water.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then Pr. Jon said (and I’m paraphrasing because I can’t
quite remember), “It’s all really about baptism.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
His words were like the Holy Spirit’s “Ice Bucket Challenge.” I was
completely doused in the most breathtaking ice water deluge, accompanied by a
voice from heaven saying, “Duh! Of COURSE it’s about baptism!” Okay, there
wasn’t actually a voice, but there was (for me at least) this profound moment
of clarity. I honestly hadn’t gone into it with the baptism idea in mind, and
yet every story about water somehow comes back to baptism.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Water is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AWESOME</i>.
Ordinary water can wear down mountains. Living water can break down our most
intractable barriers, those walls we build between ourselves and the Other.
Ordinary water nourishes life. Living water nourishes the spirit in ways so
profound we can hardly comprehend it. Ordinary water washes away dirt and grime.
Living water washes away Sin and Death. How can this NOT be the greatest VBS
ever?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With baptism at the center, the dam broke wide open, and a cascade of ideas flowed outward, drenching all
of us in excitement. We won’t just be dipping our toes in here, folks, we’re
diving deep. The theme song started writing itself in my head not a day later.
Here are the lyrics so far:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Splashing in God’s living waters,</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Diving into the Word,</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Rising up a new creation,</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>This is what we heard:</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>God said,</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“You are my beloved daughter,</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>You are my beloved son,</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>You belong to me forever,</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>You’re new life has just begun!”</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hope you will join us this June as we douse these amazing
kiddos with God’s living water!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833243279432561700.post-60146407636433777772017-02-08T11:07:00.001-08:002017-02-08T11:29:47.516-08:00Naming the Other<style>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
For two years now, we’ve been treated to Pastor Jon’s
excellent preaching. He has delivered inspiring and powerful sermons touching
on both law and gospel, those two most basic aspects of Lutheran biblical
interpretation. His sermons on gospel tell us of a God who loves
unconditionally, who redeems, uplifts, inspires and blesses. His sermons on law
tell us of a God who exhorts us to love our enemies, to feed the hungry, clothe
the naked, heal the sick, visit the imprisoned, and stand up for the oppressed.
In short, to reach out in love and service to the Other.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We hear these messages and we nod our heads. We are
comforted and challenged. We are called and inspired.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Twice in the past two years, Pr. Jon has gone a step further.
He has <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">named</i> the Other. A year ago,
he named the Other as the African American community, which is suffering under
intense and painful institutionalized discrimination. More recently, he named
the Other as Muslims, whose
civil rights are being violated by our government.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Naming the Other changes things. As Pr. Jon named the Other,
and named the injustice, we reacted at a much deeper level. Some of us said to
ourselves, “Yes! THIS is the Christian message. THIS is what it means to follow
Jesus!” We left affirmed and inspired. Others of us said to ourselves, “This is
politics and it doesn’t belong in the pulpit.” We left disappointed and angry.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
People of Calvary, this could be a serious problem. Or it could
be an amazing opportunity.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is a serious problem if we refuse to engage in dialog
with one another about these things. It is a serious problem if we keep to
ourselves our disagreements with one another, if we dig in to our own ideas and
opinions convinced that we are right and others are wrong. It is a serious
problem if we have conversations behind closed doors rather than open dialog
within our loving and embracing Calvary family.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is an amazing opportunity if we can come together and
wrestle with these very real issues. I think that we can at least agree that our
communities and our nation are experiencing an unprecedented level of
divisiveness, anxiety and anger. We have been worshipping and sharing in
community with one another for years, and even decades. We have practiced
Christian hospitality with one another, and we have loved unconditionally. What
better environment in which to come together and grapple with difficult issues
that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">directly</i> impact our lives and
our call as Christians?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I will tell you now that whichever direction we choose, it
is not going to be comfortable. We face either being frustrated with one
another in secret, or being honest with one another in what might be painful
ways. If we do choose the way of dialog, we will need—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">absolutely NEED—</i>to set aside our insistence that we are right (this
will be especially difficult for me!) We will need to be prayerful, loving,
forgiving, and open-minded.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is probably obvious which option I favor. We cannot
simply use Calvary as some sort of ivory tower in which to take refuge until
the current turmoil blows over. I do not believe that is what it means to
follow Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe to the very core
of my being that if we remain silent in the face of injustice, we condone that
injustice. If we fail to take action to stand up for the oppressed, we are
complicit with the oppressor. So I, for one, cannot remain silent. It is my
deepest hope that you will join me in prayerful and loving conversation in
which we are unafraid to name the Other.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833243279432561700.post-78067024276920356402017-02-04T12:34:00.002-08:002017-02-04T12:35:57.055-08:00Living into the Comma
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Last week at the children’s sermon, I asked the kids what it
meant to be blessed. None of them could put it into words, even though I got
the sense they had some idea of the definition. To help them out, I showed them
a series of pictures of people and asked them whether or not they thought the
people in those pictures were blessed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unsurprisingly, they recognized right away that the family
with the nice, big house, the family at Disney World, and the older couple
toasting wine glasses on a yacht were blessed. How did they know? Well, they
had “stuff.” And they looked happy. So that’s what it means to be blessed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I showed them pictures of a homeless family, a woman
grieving, a Muslim woman in front of a mosque that had been vandalized, and a
man in jail, they were emphatic. These people were not blessed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Maybe it was a little bit of a dirty trick—the gospel lesson
for the day was the Beatitudes, after all, and of course I was going to
challenge the kids’ notions of what it meant to be blessed. But at the same
time, these kids had just come from a Sunday School lesson in which they had
been discussing this very story, so I was a little surprised that none of them
smelled a rat in my questions about blessing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised, though. Because as
adults, many of us lifelong practicing Lutherans, we’ve read the Beatitudes and
heard them preached on countless times. We <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">know</i>
that Jesus turns what was the accepted understanding of blessing in his time on
its head. And yet somehow, we still haven’t gotten the message. We <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">still</i>—and I mean <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all of us</i> at some time or another—fall into the belief that
blessings are material things bestowed upon us or the presence of positivity
(people, situations and things) in our lives. We <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">still</i> look at those who are suffering and cannot fathom how to see
them as blessed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course, all those wonderful things in our lives, material
and otherwise <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are</i> blessings. All that
we have comes from God. And if we have good things, those good things come from
God! So we are, in that very culturally-defined way, blessed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The problem is that that’s where most of us stop. We live as
though we are blessed-period. Blessed. But the truth is that God’s blessings
don’t end in a period. They end in a comma. We are blessed-comma. Blessed, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i>… Blessed, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to</i>... Blessed, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">so that…</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
God said to Abraham, “I will make of you a great nation, and
I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing… <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and in you all the families of the earth shall
be blessed.” – Genesis 12:2, 3b</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If we are ever to get unstuck in our inability to recognize
God’s blessings beyond just the positive material things in our lives, we have
to live into the comma. If we are ever to fathom how to see the suffering as
blessed by God, we have to move <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">past</i>
the comma into the calling. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Luther wrote of God as “the God of the preposition:” God’s
work <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">through</i> us. Now I would never
suggest that God is unable to work outside of human agency—that the suffering <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">aren’t</i> blessed unless <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we </i>work to bring them blessing. That
being said, I do believe that God calls us—in no uncertain terms—to be a
blessing to those who are poor, who grieve, who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, who experience persecution. God calls us to take action on their
behalf, to reach God’s arms around them in love and healing, to work to change
systems that continue to do them harm.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is not simply an admonition, but an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">invitation</i>. When we live into the comma,
suddenly our own blessings seem less hollow. When we stop counting our
blessings and start sharing them, life takes on real meaning and purpose. We
get “a foretaste of the feast to come” when we will live in joyful community
with God’s people (which is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all</i>
people!) Isn’t that exciting? So go forth! And remember that you are blessed,</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833243279432561700.post-13023303651895378512017-01-16T15:05:00.002-08:002017-01-16T15:05:45.569-08:00Throwback
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
On Christmas morning, there were maybe thirty people at
worship. Many of our members were out of town or celebrating with family.
Others were kept away by the ice on the roadways. It was an intimate gathering,
and without prompting, everyone sat in the front few pews. I joked that it was
so Pr. Jon wouldn’t be lonely up there.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The greeting of peace took longer than usual. With such a
small group, we felt compelled—or maybe it was invited—to take the time to
visit with everyone, whether with a handshake or a hug. One person even hugged
another twice saying, “I came back for seconds.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The singing was accompanied on piano, less formal and
bombastic than the organ, lending additional intimacy.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The sermon, too, was less formal, with Pr. Jon asking us to
listen for words or ideas that jumped out at us as he read the gospel and then
inviting a few of us to share what we connected with. Then he dug a little
deeper into John’s poetic “In the beginning was the Word” passage by reading
from the materials I wrote for the Christmas program. He talked about Jesus’
presence from the beginning in the trinity, and shared the theological basis of
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tempus Perfectum</i> as it related to
John’s gospel.</div>
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As I sat in that little gathering, I was reminded of what
I’ve been learning about the early church. After Jesus’ resurrection and before
the gospels were written, the disciples and Paul planted little churches all
around the Mediterranean. These were not large, formal groups in big buildings
with pipe organs (or the first century equivalent). They were small gatherings
of people in private homes. Someone would read from Paul’s letters, which were
the only Christian readings they would have had, and possibly from Jewish
scripture. There would have been a meal. I don’t know if there was music.</div>
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I thought: would it be better if this is what church was
like on a regular basis? Is this what “church” was meant to be? Certainly one
has to wonder whether Christianity would have survived at all had it not become
the social-norm-turned-imperialist-weapon that allowed it to spread and grow into
the largest world religion. But everything I’m reading at seminary points to
the fact that this trajectory of Christianity inevitably removed it from its
basic purpose and most central theologies. Wouldn’t it be fascinating to take
things back to those earliest days? </div>
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What would such a church look like? How would we “be” the
church in the world? Would we miss the sound of the organ, the large choirs,
the decorated sanctuaries? Or would it be liberating to gather in simple
settings, with guitar and piano. Would we bemoan the loss of Sunday School? Or
would we cherish the opportunity to welcome children as full participants in
worship and have everything be intergenerational? Would we mourn VBS and other
activities? Or would we be relieved to give up the endless drive to “create
programs” in order to compete for members and resources? What if our main
function was to serve our neighbors rather than to grow our congregation?</div>
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I suspect we would be deeply uncomfortable. It would be a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">huge</i> change from what we know. There is
so much about our Lutheran tradition I would dearly miss in a small, informal
setting.</div>
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But maybe we can have the best of both worlds. Perhaps it is
not necessary to completely relinquish “church” as we know it in order to move
back toward “church” as the very presence of Christ in our suffering world
through our actions of love toward our neighbors. Certainly from everything I
have seen thus far at Luther Seminary, this is exactly the work that the ELCA
is presently engaged in, and the work for which Luther is training its next generation
of church leaders. This, too, would be the work of Calvary, should the
Five-Year Plan come to fruition. </div>
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In the weeks to come, I will explore this and other musings
inspired by my seminary education and life at Calvary. I hope you will join me
in my reflection and I look forward to spirited conversations with you as we
journey through 2017!</div>
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