To Mall or Not to Mall

One of the biggest events in our nation's history will take place thirty minutes from our home in Fairfax, VA.  I resigned myself a few weeks ago, when it became apparent that I wasn't going to win any inaugural tickets in the lottery, that I'd watch it on TV.  In my sermon yesterday I even mentioned how disappointed I was at having come to that decision.

Today our clerk of session dropped by and casually invited me to join her in her historic adventure of braving the crowds and the waiting lines for the porta-potties to be able to say, "I was there".  Watching the swearing in and speech on the jumbotron with 2 million other Americans has got to be worth the trouble.  Last night John and I watched a tape of the "We Are One" concert in the warmth of our living room and I for one could hardly stay in my seat.  I needed a crowd to drown out my off key singing.  

So - 2,000,001 - count me in.

Being in Time

Yesterday I participated in a day-long Advent reflection on the Rituals of Sabbath and Spiritual Practice led by Duke Divinity professor Lauren Winner.  This event was hosted by Wesley Theological Seminary and funded by the Lilly Endowment Foundation. I say 'participated' because Ms. Winner suggested we try to rid ourselves of using of the phrase "spent time" as in "I spent my day harvesting apples."   Her thought, as I understand it, is that we commodify time when we 'spend' it.  We exchange time in order to produce or reap something tangible from it.  

Another way to think about time is "How are we to be in time?" An especially important question to ask ourselves in the season of Advent.  Dr. Winner's focus was to think about how we are to be in "Sabbath" time - a time when we rest together with God.  She pointed out that there exist many ancient creation

 accounts -- all very similar.  What distinguishes the creation stories is that other gods created humans as a replacement for the god while the god rested. The Judeo-Christian God invites humanity into the activity of rest with Godself.

Later in the day we were given the assignment to go off with a couple of scripture readings and contemplate aka 'rest' with them.  Taking my preassigned readings I went outside to sit in the crisp, fresh air.

I wasn't into it.  Wasn't feeling anything profound.  I kept reading the texts.  Nothing. God wasn't speaking to me at the moment.

So -- I started thinking about what I was feeling --

**Glad that I wasn't preoccupied with emails, Face Book updates, and cell phones.

**Thought about the family and where each of us 'were at' happiness wise in our lives. 

**Bored - I started recording my feelings and wondering if I was really going to turn them into something utilitarian.  (Guilty)

As I journaled, I looked back at those preassigned texts and realized they were, providentially, some of my favorites passages.  Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest..." John 14 "My peace I give to you...I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

Jesus gives us one rather big caveat in John 14: If you love me, you will obey what I command. 

That includes entering into God's Sabbath rest -- being in time rather than spending time. 

Image: THE SABBATH REST by Samuel Hirszenberg (1866-1908)

Oil on canvas 1894 

Lunch with Lisa

Nine of us dined on brown bag lunches, Isaiah 40:1-11 and Mark 1:1-8, and spiced with a little Psalm 85 and 2 Peter 3:8-15a.  It was a Advent lectionary reflection and Bible study.  One of my favorite things to do -- explore how different folks hear and interpret the Scripture.  I'm grateful to those who joined me in listening to the text as I fearfully prepare to proclaim the good news next Sunday.

We talked about wilderness -- what it is and how do we get there?  Sometimes we land there without knowing why, other times we're called there by a God who has a reason.  And, when we are in the wilderness, what would salvation look like?  What would we imagine needed to happen for us to be saved by God?  

Thoughts?

p.s. Thanks David, Della Mae, Margaret, Lisa, Kathleen, Fred, Sheila, and Evelyn!  You made my day.

Golden Birthday

Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,

for in you I put my trust.

Teach me the way I should go,

for to you I lift up my soul. Psalm 143:8

The morning Psalm is number 143 as I celebrate the 50th anniversary of my birth this day.  What rings true for me today is that there is so much more for me to learn - and most basically is to trust in a God who is bigger (and older) than I am.  It's a hard day if I think in terms that both of my parents have passed on to eternal life, my grandmother who was fifty when I was born, would've been 100 years old this year, and now it seems I can truly count on my mortality.  

It's liberating, really.  As friends and colleagues have shared with me, by fifty, you have the wisdom not to worry much about earthly matters.  You'll be living life more fully, abundantly, realizing the blessings God has provided even when they have been cloaked in pain.  And - as one friend wrote, you'll most likely be ushering in the next generation of your family.  Good thing -- I miss my little boys.

Miscellaneous Thoughts from Study Leave

A week of time lay as a blank space on the calendar two months ago. As time progressed -- aka drew near -- I found this blank space crunched with activities.   A routine breaker was the three days spent in Stony Point, NY with a variety of Presbyterians.  It was an interesting mix of folks and their thoughts regarding what to do about the Presbyterian dilemma of mainline malaise and members of the PC(USA)'s allergy to evangelism.  The denomination has been hemorrhaging members since 1968.  Twelve years ago the denomination even published a 'study' on evangelism for the PC(USA), which has not had any effect on the aforementioned ailment.  

So the discussion at the conference raised the interesting question "Can the PC(USA) be a movement rather than an institution?"  "Can the presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst inspire a movement rather than keeping the 'status quo' of the institution?" As one pastor observed, "People join movements, they don't join institutions."  Another former pastor turned church consultant commented something to the effect that, "Our current systems are perfectly designed to get the results they are presently achieving."  

Some speculation centered on raising the bar on member expectations; the idea that low requirements gets low commitment.  Other speculation focused on monastic practices that would bring a new spiritual energy for a younger generation yearning for connection.  Still others thought long and hard about reviving practices that would bring current members to a deeper spiritual place.  Do we need evangelism both inside and outside the denomination?  What does it take to make the PC(USA) a movement rather than an institution?  Is this what it would take to grow the church "Deep and Wide?"

A Lection Election Morning

My body's still transitioning to a new clock as a result of Daylight Savings time. So, John and I were awake at 5:00 AM getting ready to stand in line to vote. When we got to the polling place at 5:50 AM there was nowhere left to park in the parking lot and the line looped the entire parking lot of this Fairfax Lutheran Church. It took only 55 minutes to get in to vote.

By 9:00 AM I'd had my morning coffee, read the paper, and began an initial look at the lectionary for November 9th (see sidebar for easy access). The following are my first impressions without any research:

Joshua 24:1-3, 14-25 ~ What a beautiful verse "...choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods of you ancestors...but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." (vs. 15) But then there's the shocking verse 19 where Joshua tells the people "You can't serve the Lord, for he is holy, jealous, and unforgiving." It's sounds like a taunt. Are you sure you're strong enough, good enough a match for this God of all gods? Of course it raises an "Oh yeah, just watch, we can too!" response. I'm sure Josh was trying to hide the smile behind his "are you good enough, strong enough" challenge.

Jesus on the other hand, tells the parable of the Bridesmaids in Matt. 25:1-13, posing the question "Are you ready?" An exercise of good wisdom will ensure you are not left out.

Either way, there is a condition to be met. A conditional God??

Psalm 78 is a promise the God will guide the next generation. With all the changes happening so fast in life, we certainly hope so.

Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians is about Resurrection Hope usually a topic covered well at Easter time in the liturgical year. But, oh so appropriate for Election Day! What might be dying and rising to new life?

How's this week's lectionary working on you?

Two Worthy Commands

On Friday I was at a church growth seminar where the speaker, Paul Borden, made the point that the Christian Church’s inner nature is usually rooted in one of two ways. Oversimplified some churches are rooted in The Great Commission: Go make disciples of all nations. These churches have a heart for evangelism and want to reach as many people as possible with the Good News that God loves them. They are out there with the message, seeking ways to bring people into the fold. Other churches are rooted in The Great Commandment: Love the Lord your God with all your mind, with all your heart, and with all your strength AND love you neighbor as yourself. They are seeking to love people into the fold.
If I’m not mistaken, I’ve come to learn that a substantial root of John Calvin Presbyterian Church is The Great Commandment. Listen to our list of Fall 2008 activities: CROP Walk, Walk for the Homeless, Alternative Gift Market, Support for Iraqi refugees, ACCA financial support as well as support for its activities, Bread for the World Sunday, supporting a Ugandan child’s education, Children’s Worship and Arts, Kid’s Musical Theater, and protesting genocide in Sudan. I’m sure I’m leaving something out but the point is, this is a church that believes in loving its neighbor as a sign of God’s influence in our lives.
We have much to celebrate and much to be proud about. Yet, if Paul has a message for us today, it is that God is not done with us yet. “Our inner nature is being renewed day by day.” We each are ‘works in process’; so too, communities of faith are also ‘works in process’. God is working in us to transform us from one degree of glory to another.
The idea of God’s transformation does not mean that whatever has gone before us is old or used up or in need of elimination. It means God is expanding the root system and that God intends for us to bear more new fruit. In a sense, we are always in process of being “Re-formed.”
With the decline in numbers of most of the mainline churches, I would venture to guess that God would like to transform us to be a little more like our sisters and brothers who, like Paul, say “I believe, and so I speak”. On the other hand, folks like Rick Warren who are really good at The Great Commission have recently been paying more attention to The Great Commandment. Praise God for both transformations!