Faithful Journey

Beginnings....

2012-01-09T07:47:00.000-08:00

Mark 1:4-11

John thebaptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance forthe forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and allthe people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in theriver Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair,with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed,"The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthyto stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you withwater; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." In those days Jesuscame from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And justas he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and theSpirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "Youare my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

Beginnings--whateverthey are--are important. They tell us who we are, and they often tell uswhere we are going in this life. Think of a time in your life when somethingimportant happened…when you encountered a new beginning; the birth of a child,buying your first car, moving into your first home, meeting your firstgrandchild. We know that there is something sacred and holy about beginnings.

TheBible has a story about the beginning and some of us know it by heart. We heardit read as part of the readings appointed for today:

In the beginning, God created theheavens and the earth. The earth was a formless void and darkness coveredthe face of the deep, while a wind from God* swept over the face of thewaters.

Ilove that scene, that image! I love to think of God getting up close andpersonal, going into the midst of the formless void, the darkness. God lookinginto the storm tossed waters, the chaotic waters and making sense out of chaos.If we pay attention, if we listen carefully we hear of a God who is personallyconnected to the creation, not a God that is removed, and far off, but a Godwho is intimately close at every beginning. In this story of beginning we hearGod parting with a part of the divine self in order to bring forth something new,something beautiful and good. This story of beginning speaks a truth to us thatis beyond the simplicity of this story.

Ioften hear friends of mine who are not into Church complain that they can’tbelieve in a literal creation of the world because it is not scientific, itdoesn’t make sense to them; it doesn’t fit with our understanding of evolutionand geophysics. Well it’s not supposed to. The Bible is not a scientific textbook or a geophysics compendium; it was never meant to be. This story and thebible, are meant to convey a deep truth that is beyond the “facts”.

Thething is the people who wrote these ancient books we have put together in onevolume and called The Bible didn't think they were writing textbooks and theycertainly weren’t concerned with the facts. They were writing about theexperience of the holy in their life and what that experience was like in thelife of a whole people; how that experience changed who and how they were. Theywere trying to make sense out of their common experience of encountering God asa people.

Whatthey wrote down wasn’t a detailed account of God but rather how they came toexperience God. Like us they tried to make sense of their world in the only waythey knew how; in poetry, ancient stories, angry letters, legal documents,prose. Even a couple of old love songs wound up there. These stories,encounters, these writings were an attempt to capture a truth about God.

Evenin the book of Beginnings –Genesis -we see the people of God struggling to makesense of the creation, to make sense of their beginning. Genesis may be thefirst book in the bible but it is the youngest Old Testament writing. Thepeople of Israel believed themselves to be created at the Red Sea, in theescape from Egypt. Genesis was written while the people of Israel were incaptivity and needed to be reminded that God was with them, that God created themthat God was an intimate part of who they were from the beginning. Thisbeginning story was a story to reassure the people that when their lives andthe world around them was in chaos –it was not meant to be the facts of thecreation because no one was looking over God’s shoulder taking notes.

Ithink we need this story of beginning because it is the most important kind ofbeginning, a story that shows us God staring down chaos and makingbeauty. Because when the world feels like chaos, when we find ourselves trappedin the formless void, in the deep waters of loss or grief or despair, when Godseems to us to be nowhere...in that time when we are desperate for a newbeginning, we have this story. We have a Creating God who reshapes thechaos into order, even into beauty.

Yousee beginnings are important. They tell us who we are and they tell uswhere we are going.

Oneof the mistakes that most Christians and our culture often make when we readthe Bible is that we think that the Bible only has one beginning. Infact, the bible is a book that has dozens of beginnings, maybe hundreds, andmany of them echo this same theme. God creates order out of chaos.

Thatis where John the Baptizer comes in. John the Baptist appeared in thewilderness shouting, demanding that people rise up to take responsibility fortheir lives and for the state of the world. John didn't show up in aworld where everything was going just fine. It was a world scarred anddisfigured by the oppression of the many by the few, by state-sponsoredviolence, by greed, by the exploitation by the powerful of the powerless. John showed up there, standing in the waters of the Jordan calling the peopleto see the chaos around them and to make a change.

Andthen Jesus wades into the water next to John. And just as before, in Jesus therewas light in the darkness. God proclaims “You are my son, my beloved,with whom I am well pleased”. As it was in the beginning, here God was in theworld, creating order from chaos. This time it was by proclaiming goodnews to the poor and release to every captive.

Godwas in the world to speak peace to the world's strongest army, to feed thehungry as others hoarded their excess, to restore dignity to all in a worldthat afforded dignity to some and stripped it from others, to forgive us oursins and free us for love.

WhenJohn and Jesus arrived, the earth had again been covered in darkness. Butwhen God's Spirit moved on the face of the waters, God was making order fromchaos through Jesus.

There'snot one beginning in the Bible; there are so many. But they containechoes of the same theme: when the earth was a formless void, God orderedthe chaos and made a good creation. When injustice reigned in human life, Godgave us Jesus to reorder lives from the inside out. When the earth wasdark and its Savior had been laid in a tomb, on the third day he rose againfrom the dead to show once and for all time that there is no disorder that thelove of God cannot remake, there is no chaos that God's love cannot turn intosomething beautiful.

Thesame is true for us –there is no chaos in our lives, in our world that God isnot able, through Jesus, to make new. We are always and everywhere given achance at a new beginning. Beginnings are important because they tell us who weare, where we are going and remind us of whose we are. God is calling your chaos into a newbeginning. Thanks be to God. Amen.

The Rev. Deon K. Johnson

Preached at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Brighton MI January 8, 2012

Jesus born at K-Mart

2012-01-07T15:13:00.000-08:00

Luke 2:1-14(15-20)

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see-- I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!"

I have to admit that I love Christmas. Christmas is one of my favorite times of year. Not because of all the gifts and cards and chocolate cookies that get baked this time of year. I love Christmas because at this time of year everyone seems to be just a little bit nicer, a little bit smile-ier, a little bit more hopeful. We get into the Christmas Spirit this time of year…

I was reading about the Layaway Angels online the other day. In case you haven’t heard about this there are a number of people who have been going around to department stores, particularly K-Marts, and paying off the lay away balance on people’s accounts in time for Christmas. I don’t me just paying off a dollar or two here I mean paying in-full the entire account.

From the Daily Mail Online:

A Californian man is the latest layaway angel to embrace the spirit of Christmas charity by paying off $16,000 still owed to one shop for presents.

David Wilson, a car dealer from Laguna Beach, contacted the K-Mart in Costa Mesa…he asked the manager to tally up the balances on all the accounts with balances of $100 or less, then wrote a check for $15,919.61 to pay off the whole lot. The manager of the Costa Mesa K-Mart, Tricia Lawrence, then spent the whole weekend calling customers to let them know that they could come in and collect their presents.

‘The funniest thing is that I haven’t been called a liar so often in my life,’ she said…
Read more:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2077521/Christmas-layaway-angel-David-Wilson-pays-16k-accounts-K-Mart-store.html#ixzz1hTMXbxHh

We don’t often expect miracles, or random acts of kindness but at Christmas we don the spirit of possibility. This weekend people all over the world will hear the Christmas story once again, a story in which angels brought “good news of great joy” to a young woman, her betrothed, her cousin’s husband, and some shepherds. They will listen once more to the song of the angels and the greetings of the Wise Men.

The story of that night became far more than a story. For over 2000 years many have been inspired to live and walk in the light of that story and its subject, Jesus: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” [From John 1]

What Jesus’s birth reminds us is that God’s messengers are everywhere, in everyone who lives the message of the Jesus story, in anyone who finds a way to make light shine in the darkness.

Christmas reminds us why God came to us as a child weak and helpless. Because as we go through our regular everyday lives we don’t look for random acts of kindness, we don’t expect miracles but God reminds us that the best miracles, the greatest joy, the lights that shine brightest in the darkness are the ones unexpected. There is so much for us to be cynical and sad about in our world right about now; the economy, our job security, the environment, political gridlock, famine, war, heartache, broken relationships, loss…the list goes on and on. But at Christmas in the Child of Bethlehem we recognize God’s greatest miracle.

A few weeks ago one of our kids here asked me “Why did God come as a baby?” And I have to admit that I was at a loss for words for a little while. I could explain the incarnation and all that goes with it theologically but how do you make all that make sense for a 4 year old? So I said “God comes as a baby because everyone loves babies.”

And therein lies and eternal truth: God came as a baby because we love babies and needed a bundled miracle.

How many of you have held a new born baby? Whether it’s your child, grandchild, Godchild or a stranger’s baby you know the feeling you get when you hold a new born baby in your arms for the first time. They are so tiny, so frail, so fragile. But in that little squirming tangle of feet and fingers is a world of possibility, a long road ahead that is turned towards hope and love. You can’t help but smile when you hold a new born baby. You’ve been there, you know what I’m talking about. I remember holding my oldest niece for the first time. She was born premature and she was tiny. I was almost afraid to hold her in case I did something to hurt her. But once that little bundle found the nook of my arm it was over; your heart races, your breath quickens and smile breaks across your face because in that little tiny child is all the possibility in the world. I have seen the biggest, burliest of men reduced to tears the moment you put a baby in their hands.

As weak and helpless as they maybe, babies how the power of miracle; the power of possibility. That is why God came to us as a child, that is why we needed a savior that shared our life and our world because in a child we see possibility, we see hope, we see love made real. The coming of Christ into the world announces the wonderful news that God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us to love.

There is indeed something special about this season and how it inspires people to do good, to help others, to care for the poor, the weak and the sick. It is the season when we acknowledge that God draws near to the earth to be with and for all of us. It is the season when perhaps we understand most clearly that we are the new messengers, living God’s story in home and school, in work and world. Even at the layaway counter in K-Mart.

In that child of Bethlehem we are told in no uncertain terms that miracles happen! That God loves us deeply and dearly! That Christmas is not just a moment in time a few millennia ago but every day we draw breath. Christmas doesn’t end tomorrow. Christmas doesn’t end with Epiphany, or Lent, or Easter; Christmas is God’s continuing gift of God’s presence with us, and Christmas is our challenge to prepare room in our hearts, and in our lives.

And do you know why? Because as much as we hear about taking Christ out of Christmas what’s important is that Christ can’t take YOU out of Christmas… you are the reason there IS a Christmas- you’re the reason that Jesus was sent here the first place- because of God’s great love for you…because of God’s love for US! “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son!” For God so loved each one of us… because God loved, Jesus came to earth- bringing with him the foundations of everything he knows- love, joy, hope… and possibility.

And truly I tell you- that God loves you so very much- that tonight, and tomorrow and every single day that you are willing, (and even when you’re not willing…) when you’re singing carols, or heading back to work, or just watching the game you will be reminded that in you God sees infinite possibility and tremendous hope.

So as we pack up our ornaments for another year, fill the garage with boxes labeled “Christmas,” think about how your life in January and February can continue the work of Christmas. As you pull the tinsel off the tree and put away the Frosty the Snowman videos, imagine who is lost, who is hungry, who needs peace in March and April. When the shepherds are back with their flock in the box, remember their surprise and joy, and find someplace to offer the song of the angels to someone who needs it in June. As Santa Claus makes his way back to the North Pole, think of how you can carry the giving of Christmas to those in need of Christmas miracles in July and August. Christ is the Christmas baby for all seasons in you.

As Howard Thurman puts it this way in his poem “The Work of Christmas”:

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart.

So just remember…if we can find the love of God’s birth at the layaway counter in K-Mart how much more can it be found in you? Merry Christmas! Amen.

Our Lady meets Lady Gaga

2011-12-20T07:28:00.000-08:00

Luke 1:26-38

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God." Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

How many of you have ever heard of Stefani JoanneAngelina Germanotta? I suspect that most of you probably never even heard thename. What if I told you that she could teach us a thing or two about Mary?Here is something written by Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta:

Click to find out...

That’s right, Stefani Germanotta is none other than LadyGaga (Here begins your requested Lady Gaga Sermon).

Those of you who may not know who Lady Gaga is, she isthe Queen of Pop. She is the most searched, most googled, and most twitteredperson alive. If you’re wondering what Twitter is, it has nothing to do withbirds. Lady Gaga is shocking, outrageous and unpredictable….she showed up at anawards ceremony wearing a meat suit…with real meat.

But as strange and outlandish as Lady Gaga might be shereminds us that like Mary, underneath the makeup and glitter and "outrageousness" is an ordinary person called by God to be part of something extraordinary.

Whether we like it or not we serve a shocking, outrageousand unpredictable God that goes well beyond meat suits and over the topincandescent high heels.

You see the thing about Our Lady and Lady Gaga is thatGod doesn’t often call the powerful and the exceptional God calls the ordinary.Mary was not chosen to be the mother of Jesus because she was special. She waschosen because she was the spitting image of ordinary; A young girl ofmarriageable age, living an ordinary life in an ordinary town in an ordinarycountry with nothing to special or exceptional about her. There were probablyhundreds of other girls who could easily have taken Mary’s place.

But yet each year around this time we ponder thequestion; Who is Mary? Depending on your background there are a milliondifferent ways to answer that question. Mary is either to be held up as beingalmost divine or simply the mother of the greatest man that ever lived. To our culture Mary is by and large a distantfigure, silent, immobile, gazing at the manger; plastic. She is thereuntouchable. We don’t often see her as a real person; we see the image of herthat we have created.

When I was growing up we had a little plastic nativityset that was carefully stored away during the year and lovingly unwrappedaround Christmas. The figures were nothing special; they were made out of cheaphard plastic with paint. But to me those figures were priceless. I loved theritual of taking those little figures out and placing them somewhere near ourlittle plastic tree (no Douglas Firs in Barbados). But of all the figures Ilike Mary the best. The plastic look on her face that conveyed such love andhope and devotion for her little plastic cast son in a manger was endearing andengaging all at the same time.

I have no idea what happened to those plastic figures butthey tell a story of how to connect with the Divine. That little blue and whitefigure of Mary, as plastic as she was made her a real person to me; She wasmuch more than the Mary I knew from the prayers (Some of you can probablyrecite with me without much thought “Hail Mary full of Grace the Lord is withthee, blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. Holy MaryMother of God pray for us sinners now and in the hour of our death.)My littleplastic Mary took her from the realm of being the big, awesome Mother of Godand made her human for me. She was morethan the Mary of prayers.

This ordinariness is what makes the Mary’s story soextraordinary. How could someone so common give birth to a child that would changethe world? How could a child that would reflect the Divine be born into suchordinary circumstances, grow up under such plain-jane parents, and do suchordinary work (carpentry)? The answer, I believe is simply this: God’s Reign,God’s presence, God’s very self does not come through extraordinary people.God’s vision stands or falls on ordinary people embracing it and living it outin their daily lives.

What was significant about both Mary and her son Jesuswas the Reign of God that came into the world through them. This is why Mary’ssong never once mentions Jesus. It praises God for the justice and grace, thelove and peace that God is bringing into the world through her (See Luke1:46-55). None of this is intended to deny the unique nature and mission ofJesus. It is simply a challenge for us to recognize that if Jesus’ incarnationwas an extraordinary thing, that was done to us, it would have little impact onour lives now.

If Jesus came as some sort of superhero swooping in tosave us, then he would have had no need to call anyone to follow him. TheGospels are nothing if not a call to ordinary people to embrace the vision ofGod that was present in Jesus’ life and to live it out as Jesus did in lives ofcompassion, grace, love and sacrifice. Scripture is filed with ordinary peoplegoing about their lives and together reflecting all the awe, and beauty andhope and joy and peace and grace of an awesome and awe-inspiring God. From Adamright down to YOU God is in the business of calling ordinary people to the workof extraordinary love.

What this means is that Mary was not a unique human beingwho was uniquely chosen, and who we must simply watch and celebrate. No, Maryis all of us – ordinary, loved and called. We are all visited by God. We areall overshadowed by God’s Spirit. We are all parents of God’s Reign. Whichmeans that it is time to stop waiting for the fantastically and extraordinaryto save us. Mary reminds us that it is time for us all to accept the“calledness” of our ordinariness, and begin to give birth to God’s Reign in ourown small way. It is time for us all to choose, daily, to bring Christ and theReign of God that Christ revealed, into our world.

Mary was not extraordinary. Stefani Germanotta is notextraordinary. We are not extraordinary. Beneath the myth of Mary, the makeupof Lady Gaga and the masks we create for ourselves lay the truly ordinarypeople that God has called by name. It is not the extraordinary people that Godneeds. The history of God is filled with ordinary people who recognized whatGod was doing and joined the movement.

Seeking to be relevant or to matter?

2011-11-17T12:46:00.000-08:00

This week's meditation comes in the form of a reblog...yes that is allowed. IN thinking about all that goes on in our world and what happens in our faith the question of the future of the church always comes up. One of the blogs that I follow had the following post around what young peole across all denominations want out of faith. Take a read.

"The young adults I talk to are not looking for easy answers, vague spiritualities, dumbed-down theology, slipshod worship, therapeutic relativism, private faith, or a mono-cultural God. They are desperately searching for a Church that offers an encounter with the Holy that transforms, convicts, inspires, and draws them in.

They are searching for a Church that demands their best. Whether it is in mission, worship, theology, or daily life, they want a Church that is relevant not because it tries to tell them only what they want to hear but because it offers them a vision of the Holy and its transforming power. A Church that reaches for and preaches relevance is a Church that makes itself irrelevant. The quest for relevance is the mark of quiescent extinction.

This does not mean we quietly make our way off to the Grey Havens exiled in our own sense of righteous irrelevance as a new age dawns. It means that questing for relevance, as if it is a goal worth achieving in and of itself, is a sad and tired pursuit. It is not relevance that defines a people, that marks transformational leadership, but passion and purpose. It is passion for God that shines through and marks a Church as Holy, as set aside for God’s use, and as deeply and overwhelmingly relevant.

There is a profound difference between a Church that is “relevant” and a Church that matters. We are relevant only insofar as we offer a way for our believers to have their lives formed to the pattern of Christ’s own life. We are relevant only insofar as we offer cruciform living and it is only in offering that transformation that we matter.

Young people are not looking for the easy path in life. They don’t mind a challenge – it is too often us who fear the challenge. They are not looking for the path of least resistance.

Look at the number of young people Occupying across the country or those joining Teach for America, the Peace Corps, the Episcopal Service Corps, Jesuit Volunteer Corps, Americorp, Lutheran Volunteer Corps, and the countless other service programs out there that call young people to live sacrificial lives in the service of others. These young people are not trying to find an easy path – they are trying to find a path that makes a difference both to themselves and to others.

The Church must honor that deep desire by offering more – by offering them all that we have ever had to offer – the life-changing encounter with Christ. "

The Rev. Robert Hedrickson

Interesting to say the least. What has your experience of church been? Has it been an attempt to be relevant or to matter in the lives of those who would follow Jesus?

Stressing out on Stress...

2011-11-10T13:06:00.001-08:00

"Stop the world…I want to get off." The familiarquote from Anthony Newly comes to mind way too often these days. There are somany things going on in the world that is it is hard to figure out sometimeswhich way is up.

With economic news changing daily, default concerns inGreece and Italy, earthquakes in Turkey and Japan, poverty rates going up inthe United States, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan…the list goes on and on. Add tothe many things swirling around in the world out there our own personal crises. It seems sometimes that stopping theworld would be a good thing to do.

So what to do when everything seems to be spinning out ofcontrol around you? Well for me, when things get stressful and seemingly out ofcontrol, creating "sacred space" becomes extremely important. Oftenin the gospels Jesus "retreats to a quiet place" to escape thedemands of his day to day ministry. We are not so much different. If the Son ofGod needed time away we doubly need time to ourselves.

So a few suggestions on finding or creating your"sacred space".

1. Find a spiritual practice. One of the things that I havedone and continue to do is end the day with washing the dishes. I know that thatdoesn't sound exactly spiritual but trust me it is. Having that quiet time atthe end of the day to let my mind go blank and wash the stress of the day wayis simply spiritual. It is a time that I can focus on letting go and opening mymind to God's presence. My point is that whether it's washing the dishes orfinding a quiet place to meditate, create space in your day to simply be; tocommune with your soul and with God.

2. Create something with an end. I have found that doing someactivity or project that allows me to see its completion takes me away for atime from stress. It forces me to focuson one thing and see it to the end. Think of Paul writing all those letters tothe baby churches throughout Christendom. Paul knew that the possibility ofpersecution was around every corner and that he would never see the fruits fromthe seeds of faith he had planted. How different are we from Paul in our needto see something to its end?

3. Find out what helps you de-stress. When I find myselfstressed my house miraculously becomes spotless. Cleaning seems to be a greatway for me to let things flow. But find something that allows you to release toGod those things over which you have no control.

4. Pray. Need I say more?

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer andpetition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace ofGod, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your mindsin Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:6-7

A Case for waiting for Christmas...

2011-11-03T14:58:00.000-07:00

Since late September retail shops and department stores havebeen fahlalalalahing towards Christmas. The Christmas trees, the lights, theornaments seemed to appear much earlier than usual this year. Even the city I livein, Brighton MI, has already put up their holiday décor along the highways andbyways of the city. So ready or not here comes Christmas!

But I would make a case why we as people of faith shouldwait; why we should put the brakes on the mad dash towards Christmas. Yes Iknow this is not exactly the most popular of ideas, and I know it’s not goingto catch on too soon, but I am an avid believer in keeping Advent the season oflight, hope but more of all anticipation.

So here is my case for waiting for Christmas…

1. Anticipation is a good thing. Do you remember what it waslike to be a child waiting for a birthday or family visit of Christmas? Yourheart pounding, you palms sweating, bouncing off the walls waiting for theright moment. There was something exciting in being a child waiting to see whatwould come. For Christmas to have any real meaning in our lives we need a gooddose of that excitement. The birth of Jesus for us should be a looked-for thingnot a mad dash of shopping and busy-making. In Jesus’ birth we see the anticipationof Mary, the angels, the shepherds. We are called to join them in the longingand waiting.

2. In an era of instant everything being able to wait is ablessing. We live in an instant society; instant messaging, texting, fast food,and coffee just to name a few. We loathe having to wait on anything, we want itand we want it now! But the birth of any child involves waiting (ask any mom ifyou doubt me). No matter how anticipated, needed or wanted the Christ Child wasMary still had to be patient throughout the nine months leading up to his birth.Can we in our modern instant culture learn a lesson from first century peasantgirl about the value of waiting…if only for a few weeks?

3. We lose something in jumping to quickly into Christmas. Scarcelyhad the candy been put away from Halloween before “Forsty the snow man” took upresidence in department stores this year (actually his eyes of coal and carrotnose were showing up well before Halloween but who am I to judge). I think welose something in jumping to quickly to Christmas because we tarnish the lusterof the season if we run to it too soon. The lights aren’t as sparkly and thetinsel not as tinselly if we put them up in early September. Don’t get me wrongI LOVE Christmas music and the spirit that the season brings but if we pointtoo much and too quickly to that season by the time Christmas rolls around mostof us will be Bahumbuging rather than Merry Christmas-ing.

So in the end this year I plan on holding off on Christmas,at least for a little while. I plan on keeping Advent, spending time with Maryand Joseph and the unborn Jesus. I plan on anticipating and waiting andenjoying the journey because I know that in the end Christ will be born onceagain into our world and I don’t want to be so burnt out on Christmas that Imiss him.

Why I support the "occupy" movement...

2011-10-25T13:11:00.000-07:00

The Rev. Deon K. Johnson

One of my friends from New York called me earlier in theweek pretty upset. He lives in New York City and had a chance to go to the"Occupy Wall Street" protest area and was shocked that TrinityEpiscopal Church, Wall Street, had opened its doors to the protesters. He couldnot imagine why a church would welcome those who were protesting and still be"followers of Christ."

"No right Christian would support something likethat." I won't repeat what I said in response but it got me thinking aboutwhy the Episcopal Church, and me as a priest for that matter, would support theWall Street protesters.

So here are three reasons why I support the"Occupy" movement…

1. It is what Jesus would have done! Actually it is whatJesus did! Throughout his ministry Jesus continued to put before theauthorities of his time the poor, the widows and the marginalized. "Blessed are you who are poor, foryours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you willbe filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh." Luke 6:20-21

Those who were forgotten by his society were the ones Jesuslifted up as examples of those going into the kingdom of God. From the woman atthe well to the man born blind Jesus primary care was for those whom society convenientlyforgot or dismissed.

Those who are occupying the different cities throughout theworld seek to remind us that there are many marginalized folks that are an inconvenienceto our comfortable lives; the poor, those for whom opportunity has been takenaway.

2. It is about equity and seeing our lives as being shared.One of the worst concepts that has crept into our society and vocabulary is"self made" or "I did it by myself." There is no such thingas "self made", it takes a community for any of us to achieve successand one of the things that Jesus tried very hard to remind the Scribes andPharisees (and us for that matter) was that they did not createthemselves. It takes a village to get uswhere we are and the occupy folks are forcing us to see ourselves not in avacuum but as an extended web of connection. In God's view none of us are any better than the other we are equalreceivers of divine love. Maybe we need to start living like it.

3. It's about Economic Justice. During a time of cuttingback and downsizing, when people have lost their jobs and homes and livelihoodit seems odd that a select few would benefit disproportionately while othersare losing their shirts (literally).

One of the things that has annoyed me to no end, right herein Michigan, is our State Legislature's plan to balance the state budget on thelivelihood of the poor. Michigan currently pays $5.00 a day in cash assistanceto those living below the poverty line. As a way of reducing the state's deficitthere is a proposal not only to reduce that amount but to limit the length of thepoor's eligibility for such aid, while something as simple as raising the beertax by $0.05 would practically balance the state budget. [Correction...the Legislature has already passed the reduction of cash assistance measure AND made it retroactive. Almost 25,000.00 children will be kicked off the rolls of assistance in order to balance the state budget. I wonder how long it will take our conservative/fundamentalist sisters and brothers to get to Lansing to start lobbying for the rights of the widows and orphans that no longer receive assistance.]

As Christians we are to be champions on the side of thepoor. The occupy folks remind us that we are to be the ones fighting for theircause because in the poor we encounter none other than Jesus himself. "Come,you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you fromthe foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I wasthirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomedme, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, Iwas in prison and you visited me."

We are called to witness in the tradition of Jesus toinequities in society and maybe for just that reason alone I support the"Occupy" movement.

IMAGINE: Mission

2011-10-17T08:16:00.000-07:00

By Jenny Ritter

IMAGINE: Mission

Good Morning. My name is Jenny Ritter, and I am your Parish Coordinator, and Co-Director of Christian Education and Formation. I was asked by the Stewardship Team, to spend some time reflecting on the M in imagine… “Mission”, and then share my thoughts with you.

Where do I begin? The word “mission” can lead you in many different directions. What we “Do” on our own and what we “Do” as a whole… as the members of St. Paul’s.

Everyone has a “Mission”; we are all called into the “Mission” of God in particular ways.

What area in the community do you feel called to serve?

Feeding the hungry? Do you help with the Fish & Loaves program, or with Gleaners?

Are you called to prayer? Are you a member of the DOK or Prayer Chain?

What about the Homeless and forgotten? Have you volunteered with the R.E.A.C.H. program?

Do you “Sing out you Soul” in the Choir, teach Sunday school, or lend you neighbor or stranger a helping hand?

Were you a LACASA angel, helping women and children in need? Or are you called to bring the Good News of Christ to the Lonely, Sick, and the Poor?

Have you taken communion to the sick and shut-in? Set the Altar, worked at a Boutique, English Tea, or Art fair to help those in need?

Served on the Vestry, participated in Service and Outreach projects, Search Committees, or Strategic Planning? As we work towards the future together.

Shoveled the snow, painted, swept, planted a garden, donated money to help with Building and Grounds or hosted a “Coffee Hour”? So that St. Paul’s would be a place of welcome, and hospitality, to all who walk through our doors.

St. Paul’s is a Parish that has continued to serve not only its members but the community that surrounds us, and then some.

The good news for us is that we are not alone in this “Mission”. We have the Holy Spirit guiding us, comforting us, empowering us.

And we have each other, and the Church, and together, participating, resourcing, networking, and supporting each other, we can continue to live into the “Mission” of the church.

Jesus tells the eleven disciples in the “Great Commission” in Matthew 28, to “Go” – go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

I am with you always…

The people of St. Paul’s have been answering this call for over 130years.

“Joyfully growing, giving, and serving in all ways in Christ.”

As we continue to grow Spiritually, and in community, let us remember not only our personal "Missions”, but how we as a member of the Household of God, can continue to serve in all ways, and to never be afraid, for God is with us Always.

Imagine...identity

2011-10-10T07:28:00.000-07:00

Jeff Ellison is a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church.

For the stewardship campaign this year, the stewardship team isasking each of us – you, me – to imagine who you want to be in your spirituallife and what it is you hope for St. Paul’s future. What is it toimagine? I think of imagining as looking at the world and seeing itdifferently than it is now. It is hope for the future (“What would it belike if – ?”), and it also fills in things we don’t know with what we imaginethem to be. So the word “imagine” will be the topic to ponder thisyear. And we’ll do it in a unique way. We’ll look at the word“imagine” – seven letters – as an acronym that stands for seven differentwords. Each Sunday, one of us – today, it’s me – will share a few thingson one of the words in that acronym. The first “I” word in “imagine” is“identity.”

So what is my identity? How do I identify myself? Howdo I imagine myself to be? This is not something I think about often (orperhaps ever, in the conscious, deliberate way I have since being asked tospeak on this). But pondering it, the things that come easily to mind arewhat I am to others: I’m a father to my boys and a son to my mother. I’ma brother. I’m a friend and occasionally a best friend. How Irelate to others is part of my identity. It adds to my concept of self,of who I am and who I imagine myself to be.

Part of my identity – of who I am – includes how I imagine Godand how I imagine my relationship with God. That relationship with Godbrings me here, to St. Paul’s. Every one of us has a story of how wefound this place. For some, we were brought by our parents or by afriend. For others (I count myself in this group), we just found it, thissmall building, sitting on a hill, that a town grew up around; I walked intothis place out of curiosity, to see what goes on here, asking how is Godpresent in this place.

In your personal story, the reason you came here may merely beinteresting history. The person who brought or invited you may havepassed away or moved on. But you’re still here. This reminds me ofthe story of Ruth, who when her husband died, was urged by her mother-in-law togo back to her own people. But Ruth said no. She told hermother-in-law: don’t ask me to leave you. “For wherever you go, I willgo; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, andyour God, my God.” Ruth claimed as part of her identity the community shehad married into, even though her husband – the one who brought her to thatcommunity – was gone.

In the same way, we are part of St. Paul’s – it is part of ouridentity – even though the reason we first came through that door is not whatbrings us here today. For instance, I am here not because St. Paul’s is asmall building on a hill, although it is that. I’m here searching for Godand, in blessed moments, finding God.

What brought you here? How is St. Paul’s part of youridentity? How do you look for God – how do you find God – here?

The Holiness of God

2011-09-19T14:14:00.000-07:00

The Burning bush...

DAYS PASS and the years vanish, and we walk sightless among miracles.
God, fill our eyes with seeing and our minds with knowing;
let there be moments when Your presence, like lightning,
illumines the darkness in which we walk.
Help us to see, wherever we gaze, that the bush burns unconsumed.
And we, clay touched by God, will reach out for holiness,
and exclaim it in wonder:
How filled with awe is this place, and we did not know it!
Blessed is the Eternal One, the Holy God!

It is sometimes hard to see the awe, the burning bushes along the way sometimes. We now more than ever find it hard to trust that God will be there when we need God’s providence and presence that most. But time and time again God is there when we need God most. That was true for the people of Israel and it is true for us. Even when we complain, when we grumble and long for the way things used to be God reminds us that as we travel through the wilderness, with hunger and thirst, plagued by scorching sun and stinging insects, with all the calamities and trials of life, we are assured that God will be with us.

Beyond September 11th

2011-09-13T07:31:00.000-07:00

Towers of Light in New York City

Speech given by The Rev. Deon Johnson on September 11, 2011 at the Dedication of the City of Brighton's 9/11 Memorial

On a clear crisp day in Septemberthe world was turned upside down. Against the back drop of an unusuallycloudless and warm day the unimaginable happened. I was beginning my second year of seminaryand started my morning on the subway, headed to St. Paul’s Chapel for aninterview. As I came up from the subway the usual bustle of Manhattan seemedmuted and as I got to the top of the subway stairs almost everyone was lookingup. Smoke was coming from one of the World Trade Center towers. It all seemedunreal. My first thought was that a movie was being filmed, something thathappens often in NYC, until I heard the sound of an airplane. I watched in silence as the second planecrashed into the second tower of the World Trade Center, continuing to thinkthat it was all part of a movie.

The realization that this was notsome elaborate special effect hit home when pieces of the World Trade Centertower came raining down. All I could do was jump into a cab and make my wayback to the seminary all the while listening to the commentary on the radio. AsI arrived outside the seminary I remember hearing the bells, tolling a slowmournful toll, calling us to prayer. In the seminary chapel I joined myclassmates in prayers for the nation and for the people on the planes and inthe towers. Afterwards we made our way to the Westside highway, which looksdirectly down towards the World Trade Center and the Statue of Liberty. Westood there as those towers collapsed.

The next day I was dispatched toGround Zero with the rest of my seminary classmates to be chaplains to thefirst responders and to offer care to the families of those missing. I spent aweek praying, comforting, talking and trying to make sense out of all thathappened on September 11, 2001.

September 11^th 2001 isforever etched into the fabric of our common history as a day of tragedy andloss. But September 12^th is a day of shared unity and common cause.On September 12^th we were at our best, living fully into the idealof being the shining beacon on the hill that our forefathers and mothersenvisioned.

One of the images that stuck withme from the days following September 11^th was the hundreds of firetrucks, ambulances, police cruisers and other emergency vehicles lining theWestside Highway in New York City for miles. Vehicles from almost every stateshowing the unity found in common cause.

I spent September 12^thand after praying with those who rushed in to collapsing buildings, prayingover remains that were recovered, but most of all seeing the best of who we areas many different people united as one.

It is that sense of unity, ofpurpose, of hope that enveloped New York City in the days afterwards that isour focus on this 10^th anniversary. We are a nation comprised of people of many faiths and differing beliefs,but we all look to a God who calls us to hope.

On September 12^th we lived more fully into thathope that unity brings. If we dwell too much on the pain, the fear and the resentmentof September 11^th and let them be a cause of division and discordthen we dishonor the lives of those who died on that day. If we dwell on what happened in NYC andWashington DC and Pennsylvania, and we use it as an occasion of separation,disconnection and conflict with each other, then those who would insight terrorwould have won, they would have fulfilled their cause in making us fear eachother and to turn our hope into despair.

Let us instead live into the bestof September 12^th while commemorating those horrific acts ofSeptember 11^th. On this 10^thanniversary let each one of us be a testament that we as Americans, called fromdifferences, can be the best of who we claim to be. Let us live the words ofthe motto of this great nation, epluribus unum –from many one.

I will never forget that day thatchanged my life and has influenced my ministry and my call as an Episcopalpriest. I will remember those who lost their lives, those who rushed in wheninstinct said run away, I will reflect always on theevents of that faithful day and strive once more for the sense of unity andhope that September 12^th inspired in us all and I ask you to join mein that journey, that together we can be one united people.

Therefore go forth into the worldin peace; Be of good courage; Hold fast to that which is good. Render to no oneevil for evil. Strengthen the faint hearted. Support the weak. Help theafflicted. Honor everyone. Love and serve the Lord.

And may God continue to richlybless and keep you and those you love, filling you with hope for the journeyahead and may we once more find that common bond that unites us as one. Thank you and God’s peace.

What's on your bucket list?

2011-08-01T11:44:00.000-07:00

"I don't believe she died!" As I was rounding the corner in the grocery story these five words intrigued

me. Did someone have a sudden illness and died? Was there an accident? All manner of things crossed my mind. Now I went from hearing a passing statement to being an eavesdropper. "She was only 98, I can't believe she's gone." I almost didn't hear anything past 98. It seemed odd to me that there would be surprise around the death of a 98year old.

Mind you I know people live w

ell pass 100 these days but still. It made me think of how our culture treats death. We live in a society that tells us in subtle (and not so subtle) ways that we will live forever. Turn on the television on any given night and there are commercials for everything from facial cream to luxury cars that proclaim that by owning them we will somehow live forever.

But we know deep down that death is a part of life. We know that we too will one day shuffle off the mortal coil. And yet we deny. As Christians we are well aware that death is a part of life. We do not fear death (or at least we shouldn't), but yet we live our lives in many ways as if we will never face death.

In the movie The Bucket List the main characters decide to live out their dreams once they realize that they are dying. They live their lives as if every day was a wonderful gift with a new adventure around every turn. They became nicer and more loving, valued the people they loved as they tried to truly live each of their last remaining days. I have to wonder if that isn't our call as Christians.

We know that we will eventually die, but do we really live? Does it take a life threatening event or illness to get our attention that "life is short and we do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those we love or those who travel this way with us?"

We cannot deny death but we can live the life that God has given us.

2 Corinthians 4:16--5:8

We do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal. For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling-- if indeed, when we have taken it off we will not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan under our burden, because we wish not to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

Internetting God....

2011-07-18T08:03:00.000-07:00

This past week the internet went out at our offices. For almost three days we had no connection to the world wide web or anything that goes with being online. This was not a week to be internet-less; three services, a major wedding, multiple meetings and messy church, not to mention getting our regular office work done. Needless to say it was a frantic week.

But being without the internet, a setback though it was, was a much needed deep breath in an otherwise busy-making summer schedule. I found myself outside watering the plants, catching up on some much needed reading and getting around to making a parish video that I have been putting off for a while (that video can be viewed here). Looking back at those three days of not being "connected" I think I was even more connected, connected to my immediate surroundings and the things that have been left to temporary neglect.

I don't want to say or suggest that God caused our internet to go out, God has more important things to do than fry our router, but it was a God given opportunity to realize that sometimes the things most important are not always out there somewhere but right in front of your face.

In reflecting on this past week I thought of the many times in the Bible that God had to get the attention of someone called to ministry. God often has to get our attention and it is not usually with lightening or burning bushes but in simple, subtle ways.

How many subtle nudges from God do we miss in our drive to be productive? In the age of smart phones, ipads and wireless everything how difficult would it be for us to disconnect from these devices and listen for the voice of God? At the risk of being accused of being anti-technology I suggest a time to "disconnected".

With luck, my goal is to take Thursday afternoons as my "technology blackout". To take time to turn off the computer, put away my phone and to listen to where God is calling.

I invite you to take some time to let the technology rest. You may find yourself surprised.

‘Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ Isaiah 41:10

Finding God in Tomatoes

2011-07-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

I have to begin with a confession: I do not like tomatoes. I don't mean I tolerate, or if given the choice of eating tomatoes or not I just choose not to eat them, I mean I go out of my way to avoid anything that remotely looks like a tomato! I have a healthy dislike for tomatoes!

Having said that this summer I planted an organic garden in my limited backyard for the first time to get my hands dirty. This was not a difficult task since Home Depot sells a "grow kit" with instructions no less. So I diligently followed the instructions, connecting part A

to part B and screwing in part C. etc. I even bought seedlings that came with instructions: plant x inches apart, water daily, provide lots of sun. Tomatoes were on sale and I know they are a staple of any garden, even though I don't like them one bit. But into the ground they went. I thought I did a pretty good job.

Until the tomatoes started growing, and growing and growing some more. I realized that my tomato plants were mutants, the flora version of the Frankenstein monster! They took over the garden! The little tomato plants that were supposed to be no higher than 24" are twice that size. The poor egg plant, pepper, rosemary and oregano plants are barely hanging on with the little space they have left. And it would appear that ever branch of the tomato plant (bush? tree? shrub? not sure) has blossomed, so instead of a few tomatoes that I could pawn off to a few friends I can possibly start my own pasta sauce cannery.

I expected a few tomatoes, I got a few hundred tomatoes (well not yet but soon enough). So you are wondering where is God in all this? Well I suspect that God is a lot like my mutant tomato plants. We expect just enough from God but instead we are richly blessed with more

than we can conceive. I find that God shows up in the unexpected and God is always surprising me in ways I would never imagine.

If only we as people of faith could be a lot more like my tomatoes, surprising others with our generosity, with our love, with our abundance. We tend to think that there is always a limited supply but the reality is that with God there is more than enough, much, much, much more than enough.

We serve a God of abundance, not of scarcity, maybe it's time we started living like it.

Care for a tomato?

Matthew 13:1-8 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. ²Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. ³And he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. ⁴And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. ⁵Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. ⁶But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. ⁷Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Surprising acts of Hospitality

2011-05-19T07:27:00.000-07:00

A few years ago while at a dinner party I was introduced to a bunch of people as the evening went along. As with any event like this so many people introduce themselves to you that it is rare that you even remember the name of three of the people present. But there was something different at this party. It was the week before Passover and one of the people I was introduced to was a mother and her two daughters.

They stood out because they invited me to share Passover with them. It was jarring invitation to say the least, since I didn't really know them and they had just met me and yet here she was inviting me to join her and her family at table. It was a surprising act of hospitality.

At the heart of who we are as people of faith is hospitality. Surprising acts of hospitality define who we are as Christians and help remind us that we belong. We so often think of hospitality as little more than entertaining guests – family, friends, and sometimes, strangers. We prepare food , clean our homes and issue invitations, as a way of sharing our hearth and home with others. Sometimes we’re blessed and filled by those to whom we’ve shown hospitality, and sometimes we just wish they would go home.

Offering hospitality can be both energizing and draining, depending on our mood, the personality of the guests, and the degree of perfection we try to achieve in what we offer. At its foundation, we know that hospitality is simply welcoming others into our space and sharing the simple things of food and conversation with them. But surprising acts of hospitality are more than just food and conversation, it is about being vulnerable as the host and a sense of belonging as the guest. Jesus in his ministry often showed the least in society that they belonged to the kingdom around food, but it wasn't the food it was the feeling that endeared them to Jesus. That same thing draws us to him 2000+ years later.

We all want to be belong. If we simply remember how we felt when someone opened their heart to us, it won’t be so difficult to do it for someone else.

P.S. I did go to the Passover meal and had a wonderful time, along with making three new friends.

Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
-Hebrews 13:1-2

Taking time for Time...

2011-05-09T15:42:00.000-07:00

Last week I had lunch with a friend of mine who lives “the fast paced life”. We had to schedule our lunch almost three months out just to get it on his calendar and make time to nourish our friendship.

One of the first things that we talk about whenever we get together for lunch (or for any function for that matter) is how busy our lives have become. He said to me while the warm rolls arrived at our table, “you know I didn't grow up thinking that one of these days I’d have no time to do much of anything.”

It sounded like the lament of modern life, there is just not enough time to do the things that truly give us life. I thought a moment about what he said and found myself saying something along the lines of, “It’s your time, do what you need to do with it.”

The second those words came out of my mouth I realized I was talking to myself more than I was to my lunch companion. I thought of my calendar and how quickly it can fill up with the obligations of my vocation. How quickly I can get overwhelmed with needing to reply, respond and act on everything that comes across my desk and every invitation to engage. But in the end I am the one in charge of my time and my calendar.

We live in a busy world and often we feel pulled in seven different directions ten times a day, all this before lunch. But God calls us to make time, not just time for our friends and families but make time for ourselves and our souls to commune with God. How daring would it be if we actually scheduled that time in our blackberrys and smart phones. Would we look at the blocked out 1/2hour or hour that says “God time” on our calendars and decide that it’s expendable in favor of a meeting or an errand? Would we actually keep that appointment?

If we are so driven by our calendars and the hands of the clock maybe we do need to put “God time” on our calendars as a regular appointment, I know I will going forward. Try it! See what happens.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 A Time for Everything

1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. 9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

God is out there...

2011-05-02T08:26:00.000-07:00

Ever since Adam and Eve drew their first breaths God has been trying to get our attention. And more often than not whenever we stop running from God and experience God's love in a profound way we seek to enshrine that experience. The "gathering of stones" to commemorate the places where we met God are scattered throughout history and the world. But like any gathering of stones we cannot encapsulate God no matter how hard we try.

I remember my childhood church. The doors were always open, night or day. I didn't even know as a child if the doors even had locks, but I suspect that they did. But that church was alive in many ways, not just in the people but in the space. My childhood church was a "pass through", it was a place that you went through on your way to some other destination. I suspect that when we lose that sense that our places of worship are pass throughs we lose a sense that God is encountered and worshiped not in a church building but in leaving that building.

Our places of worship are not destinations where go to find God, but rather they are way stations, pass throughs where we stop for a time as part of the journey with God. God isn’t enshrined in our buildings, God is a nomad, a wanderer, a holy hobo who travels daily with us, our Church buildings are simply “sacred places” where we have communally experienced a closeness to the Divine. Like our biblical ancestors erected stones at important encounter points in their traveling so too are our church buildings. They must speak of a God who is on the move, who wanderers, who journeys not some domesticated geriatric God confined to a sacred nursing hoping for an occasional visit from the too busy family.

When we seek to encounter God as we go out into the world we are better able to allow ourselves to be pursued and found by the living God.

Thus says the LORD: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word." (Isaiah 66:1,2; ESV)

Don't worry...

2011-02-26T17:53:00.000-08:00

Matthew 6:24-34

Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you-- you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, `What will we eat?' or `What will we drink?' or `What will we wear?' For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today."

In September 1988 a song hit the Billboard Chart’s top 100 list and stayed there for a solid two weeks. The song went on to win the 1989 Grammy Awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocals. It was a song unique in many ways but particularly for the a cappella singing and the simple message it told.

Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t worry, be happy.”

It just makes you want to kick off your shoes, put up your feet and toss your cares out the door doesn’t it? Don’t worry be happy sounds easy enough when you put it to a nice Caribbean beat that you can dance to. But actually living that simple message is far from easy.

Jesus in our Gospel tells us just as simply as McFerrin’s song “Do not worry…”

We live in an incredibly worry filled culture. No matter what we do we can’t seem to escape the worries of the world. We worry so much that worry has become a commodity that sells. The evening news certainly depends upon worries at home and abroad to attract our attention. Commercials are constantly inviting us to worry about one more thing that can be solved by buy what they are selling. I mean really how many of us worry about if our cheese comes from happy cows or not and yet worry sells happy cow cheese.

What Jesus is calling us to do is to live in God's moment, live in the present, enjoy the wonderful things that the God of abundance has given us. Wealth and money are not bad things according to Jesus, but when they become idols, when they become the measure of who we are we are crippled by worry of how to hold on to what little we think we have.

But you know the thing is we serve a God who believes in abundance. We might sometimes like to think that God’s grace and love can only go so far. Bu think about your family, once you get a new member in the family, a new child, a new dog, we don’t love the people we had before any less, our love simply grows to be enough for the new. The same is true of God.

We falsely believe sometimes that our stuff will make us happy. That if we could only get enough money in the bank, enough stored up, if we could just get a little bit more we will be happy. But the truth is all the money, fame and notoriety in the world does not save us from worry and certainly does not make us happy.

As simplistic as it may seem, as unrealistic as Jesus’ command to not worry may be, he is right. God loves us infinitely, cares for us unconditionally and accepts us joyfully. When we start letting the things of our lives take the place of God we simply find new avenues of worry. So invite you this week to look at all you have, look at the stuff, the wealth, look at your family and friends and ask yourself where do you see God’s abundance most. I suspect you will find it in the places you are most love.

Why we need winter...

2011-01-27T12:09:00.000-08:00

Psalm 147:12-20

Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
he blesses your children within you.
God grants peace within your borders;
fills you with the finest of wheat.
Sends out the command to the earth;
the word runs swiftly.
God gives snow like wool;
and scatters frost like ashes.
God hurls down hail like crumbs—
who can stand before the cold?
God sends out a word, and melts them;
God makes the wind blow, and the waters flow.
Declares a word to Jacob,
God's statutes and ordinances to Israel.
God has not dealt thus with any other nation;
they do not know his ordinances. Praise the Lord!

Since late October we have been marking time until winter. The trees began to lose their leaves and the animals began the yearly process of gaining weight and finding places to hibernate (yet we call them dumb animals). We too were preparing for the coming of Old Man Winter. The yearly rituals of winterizing the house, the car, the kids, preparing our homes and ourselves for the long months of cold and snow. For most of us it seems an inconvenience to go through winter; the ice, the salt, the dirty cars. But those are only inconveniences if we let them.

Winter would teach us something about our spiritual lives. We don't often think of winter as a spiritual period of the year, Spring has that distinct honor, but winter more than any season has the possibility to help us find our spiritual center.

Winter call us to take time to rest, to let the ground of our being go fallow if only for a few moments. Farmers will tell you that the soil needs times to rest, to gather minerals and to lie dormant in preparation for the coming crop. Our souls are no different that fertile ground. We need times for the leaving off of the doings in our lives. Winter invites us to allow ourselves to go fallow and find periods of rest not just for our bodies but for our souls. Without that fallowing we make ourselves busy with the minutia of our lives.

One of my friends has said winter is like a long held breath and I think she is right. It is the earth taking a breath before setting off on the journey through the growth of Spring. We too need to take that breath, that pause, to allow our souls to prepare for what comes next. We need winter to teach us that we are not immune from needing to breathe deeply. That breath speaks of possibility, of things to come, of hope for what lays ahead.

So even though winter may sometimes be messy and barren and cold, we need that time of pause. Our souls need that deep breath of Winter to prepare for what lies ahead.

Hope in hard times!!

2010-12-16T13:04:00.000-08:00

Isaiah 40:1-5

Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice cries out: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’

If you've been listening to the news or reading the newspaper over the last year or so you know that we are living in hard times. No matter how you may define hard times or how others define hard times it would appear as though our reality for the foreseeable year we will be living through hard times.

With hard times come the unholy twins of fear and worry. If you're just starting out you worry about job prospects, if you have a job you worry about losing your job, if you've lost your job you worry about finding a new job, if your retired you fear losing your retirement. If you're not worried or fearful right around now there is something wrong with you is the message we are bombarded with on the news and in the news outlets.

The people of Israel knew a thing or two about hard times. Time and time again they found themselves in one hopeless situation or another. From the exile in Egypt to the crushing defeat by the Babylonians hard times was an ongoing reality in the lives of God's chosen people. But yet they never lost hope in the God who was their savior (well actually they did a few times but that didn't last too long thankfully).

The people of Israel knew that in their hard times that hope was not lost. They lived in hope that even if they themselves did not see the end of their hard times that their children and their children's children would see a new day.

Do we share that same hope?

As we turn our gaze towards Christmas we seek to capture some of that hope that the people of Israel sought in the midst of hard times. But are we filled with the same hope and trust in God that better things will come?

There is a reason why God chose to come to us in the form of a child rather than with trumpets and great glory. God chose to come as a child because in a child we see "the hopes and fears of all the years." We see possibility in a helpless child, we see hope. In Jesus our hope is made flesh. But our challenge as we live through these hard times is to place our hope in the One who call us to do more for others than for ourselves. Our hope is to be in the God who sees us through hard times. Our hope cannot be in ourselves or our things but in our good and gracious God.

May you find true hope in the midst of hard times.

Giving thanks?

2010-11-18T10:11:00.000-08:00

Psalm 134

Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands to the holy place, and bless the Lord. May the Lord, maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.

Psalm 134 Modern Translation

Be thankful, servants of God, You who wait for God. Be thankful all the days of your life. Be thankful for the beauty of the earth. And the One who is making it will bless you.

A seeker once went to the holy woman in the desert because life had become too chaotic and he yearned to have balance and order restored within him. The desert woman said to him, “Your life is chaotic because you have become dependent on change, on excitement, on variety. You want always to experience something new instead of finding what is new through the repetition of what seems old. If you would have balance and order within, do one small thing at the same time each day with gratitude in your heart and slowly the tattered fragments of your life will be bound together into a textured tapestry of beauty. It does not take great doses of hardship – only one small thing done every day at the same time with gratitude in your heart. One small thing every day, at the same time, with gratitude in your heart. One small thing, every day, same time, with gratitude. And that will be enough.

We live in a world filled that often moves a pace that many of us find had to keep up with on our good days. All around us tells us to go, go, go and if we are at rest something must be wrong with us. But there is something special about taking time to take time.

One of those times ahead of us comes in the form of the Thanksgiving Holiday. Many of us will be gathering with family for the yearly ritual of turkey and mashed potatoes. We will once again run ourselves frantic with preparing to host or be hosted at the table once more. And then on Friday next the frenzy of pre-dawn shopping. A time that is supposed to be about family and giving thanks for God's bounty has, like most other days of rest, become a time of chaos.

But what would happen if we stopped this Thanksgiving and really gave thanks? How different would our lives be if instead of frantically gathering the family for food we gathered our families and together prepared a meal with thanksgiving? What would happen if at our gathers rather than eating and running off to the football game of the day we gave thanks for each other? What if we shared memories and let our families know how much we love and care for them even when we disagree?

I think our Thanksgiving celebrations would be a lot different. I think we would find in this holiday a joy that has been lost in the shop-til-you-drop mentality that has become part of our cultural celebration of thanks.

I for one will make an effort to slow down this Thanksgiving Day, to give thanks for the many blessings and great things that God has given me in all aspects of my life. My invitation is for you to do the same. Let us promise that we will make this year different because if we lose sight of what giving thanks, we lose sight of who we really are, and that is too high a price to pay for the latest electronic gadget.

Why Go to Church??

2010-11-11T12:25:00.000-08:00

Scripture
Galatians 1:11-24:

For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I, Paul received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism.

I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in me so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any human being, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus.

Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him for fifteen days; but I did not see any other apostle except James the Lord’s brother. In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie! Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea that are in Christ; they only heard it said, ‘The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy.’ And they glorified God because of me.

Meditation: Why go the Church?

I have always been plagued by the question...Why do you go to church? More often than not my answer revolves around variations on "that's where I encounter God" or "that's where God works on me" but more recently I have started responding "Church is where I get my vision cleared." But there is much, much more to why I go to church than just that.

Recently I read an article that clarified why the church exists and why we go there. I share that article with you written by The Reverend Eyleen Farmer:

I’ve had my share of arguments with the Church. I’ve been bored enough to make grocery lists on the back of the bulletin; angry enough to stomp out in a huff; hurt enough to leave in a flurry of tears. Some of you may be shocked to hear this, but my guess is that I’m not the only one here who has ever felt this way.

Even my granddaughter, who is only five years old, has days when she would rather stay in her p.j.’s and play than get dressed and go to church. A few Sunday mornings ago, she told her mom, “I don’t like God, I don’t like Jesus, I don’t want to learn about them, and I wish church never existed!” Caroline of course is only the youngest in a very long line of church detractors.

In fact, it’s rather trendy these days to bash the church, along with religion and even God. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins and The End of Faith by Sam Harris have both been best sellers. And Christopher Hitchens’s book, God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, is currently number three on the New York Times non-fiction best-seller list. For Hitchens the falsity of religion is “blindingly obvious;” he calls those of us who cling to belief in God “morons, lunatics or liars.” (NYT review)

It’s too bad, but an undeniable fact, that the church so often lets us down. It disappoints, frustrates, infuriates. It betrays, wounds, and bullies. In its long, tortured history the church has more often than not been timid in the face of injustice, self-protective in the face of threat, and arrogant in the face of challenge.

You don’t have to know very much at all about history to click off the sins of the Church—Crusades, Inquisitions, and witch-hunts for starters. The greedy corruptions that fueled the Protestant Reformation, the misuses of scripture to justify slavery and the exclusion of women; more recently, abuse scandals and battles over homosexuality…

So, why are we here? Why do we continue to cast our lot with the broken body called the church? We come here, of course, for all kinds of reasons. But I can tell you that I am here because the freedom of which Paul speaks, living into the law of love, is more demanding, more difficult by far than following rules. I’m here because I know I can’t do it on my own, no matter how hard I try. I’m here, we’re here, because we need each other, because when we come together to say our prayers and share a common meal, we make love possible. Because here is where we have the best chance to grow into what Paul called “the full stature of Christ.”

Hospitality of Food...

2010-11-04T07:29:00.000-07:00

Isaiah 25:6-9

On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. And God will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

Food is an important part of who we are. Food expresses everything from our cultural background to our understanding of who God is in our lives. How we share food, with whom, when and where we share food are all important aspects of our identities and defines us to a certain extent.

Throughout the Scriptures food has played an important role in the lives of the people of God. Had Abraham and Sarah not set out a small feast for the angels God would have chosen another couple to be the parents of great faiths. Jesus in his day sat at table with the outcasts and disenfranchised of his time much to the chagrin of religious establishment of his day.

Food has been and continues to be a means of expressing hospitality. The funny thing about food is that it is a fundamental part of who we are as people. We mourn with food, we give thanks with food, we gather to reconcile, remember, drown our sorrows and even worship around food. Heaven has to be a place of dining tables!

Isaiah’s vision of a rich banquet, replete with foods of all kinds, the bounty of the nations gathered at God’s table to celebrate the best of who we are, is an inviting scene. This is Isaiah’s picture of heaven. I like the idea that heaven is a banquet. If heaven is a banquet of rich foods (and I would imagine no calories, this is heaven after all) we are in good company. We get a chance to preview heaven whenever we as a community gather for simple meals in our homes, for pot lucks at our church but especially on Sundays around the altar.

But like any good thing we can be tempted to draw lines around who is invited to the table and who is not. In Isaiah's vision all the nations come streaming into God's abundant feast and that is what we are to be about. We find it hard sometimes to even share food with the people next door furthermore inviting strangers to our tables. But hospitality around food makes the world of difference.

Imagine if you invited your next door neighbor over for dinner? Imagine if you invited that new couple at Church or that single guy you don't know very well to have lunch? I think stories would be told, common interests would be found, new relationships and connections would be made all because we chose to share the hospitality of food.

So think about Isaiah's vision and think about your dining room table. Perhaps in no other place in your house do you get an opportunity to glimpse the life of heaven than in the place where we share food.

P.S. The early church buildings were designed to be giant dining rooms so in a sense our churches remain basically feasting halls.

Prayer: A Celtic Welcome Prayer

We saw a stranger yesterday.
We put food in the eating place,
Drink in the drinking place,
Music in the listening place,
And with the sacred name of the triune God
He blessed us and our house,
Our cattle and our dear ones.
As the lark says in her song:
Often, often, often, goes the Christ
In the stranger’s guise.

Meditation: Christmas in October?

2010-10-20T12:23:00.000-07:00

Christmas has come early…or so it would seem. It seems as though every year Christmas come earlier and earlier. I walked into a store a few days ago to the sight of Christmas trees, lights and brightly colored presents. I honestly thought I had stepped into a Christmas wonderland, all that was needed was a guy in a red suit, some pointy eared elves and carols.

I have to wonder what it means that in the middle of October, well before Halloween and Thanksgiving, our culture has rushed on to Christmas. Do we really care as a society about the meaning of Christmas or has it simply become a commercial holiday?

The temptation for many us as people of faith is to join in the cultural rush towards Christmas. We can quickly be deemed "Grinch" if we don't follow behind the march towards Christmas trees and glitter. But what do we lose? I think we lose the tremendous meaning of Christmas; we cheapen the fact that the Creator of the Universe, the One who spun the planets and gave color to daisies deemed us worthy of becoming one of us. To me that is an awesome feeling that God chose to spend time in our shoes, coming as a child.

What we are called to do is to wait. We live in a society of instant everything, but the message of the church is to wait. There is something special about the anticipation of what is to come, and that is part of the allure of Christmas.

How will you hold off the onset of Christmas this year? How will you live in that place of waiting and hoping and longing for the coming of God in Christ? How we answer these questions will make all the difference in our lives and in our world.

Prayer

Gracious and Holy God, I know you come among me in the helpless and the lonely; grant that I may see you present in our world not only in the journey towards Christmas but in every journey. May IO see in the face of others your face and may my actions be guided and directed solely by you. I make my prayer in the name of Jesus your child our Savior. Amen.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

2010-08-17T09:24:00.001-07:00

"All endings are beginnings. We just don't know it at the time..."

Eddie is a grizzled war veteran who feels trapped in a meaningless life of fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. As the park has changed over the years -- from the Loop-the-Loop to the Pipeline Plunge -- so, too, has Eddie changed, from optimistic youth to embittered old age. His days are a dull routine of work, loneliness, and regret.

Then, on his 83rd birthday, Eddie dies in a tragic accident, trying to save a little girl from a falling cart. With his final breath, he feels two small hands in his -- and then nothing. He awakens in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a lush Garden of Eden, but a place where your earthly life is explained to you by five people who were in it. These people may have been loved ones or distant strangers. Yet each of them changed your path forever.

One by one, Eddie's five people illuminate the unseen connections of his earthly life. As the story builds to its stunning conclusion, Eddie desperately seeks redemption in the still-unknown last act of his life: Was it a heroic success or a devastating failure? The answer, which comes from the most unlikely of sources, is as inspirational as a glimpse of heaven itself.

This rare glimpse into the life of heaven is a wonderful tale of the people who impact our lives in so many ways.

Following after Sum: Forty Tale from the Afterlives, The Five People You Meet in Heaven is a quick read and a wonderful transition into the realm of heaven.

As you read The Five People You Meet in Heaven here are a few questions to think about:

Which person did you think had the most influence on Eddie's life?
Why do you think these particular 5 five were chosen to show Eddie his life?
Who would your five people be? Why those five?
If you could only thank five people who have significantly impacted your life who would they be and why?

Sum: 40 Tales from the Afterlives

2010-06-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

What happens when we die?

That has been the question that humans have asked perhaps from the dawn of time. We all would love to know what happens once life is over. Is there an afterlife? Does it involve clouds and angels? Do I get to meet God? Fair questions that we all ask as we journey through life.

In Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives David Eagleman attempts to answer, sometimes with great humor, the big question of what happens after death. Drawing from several understandings of the afterlife, Eagleman creates a theological platform for his readers to jump into the mystery of what happens after death.

As our July discussion book this collection of parables will elicit a number of different reactions. Each tale is about two pages long and will tickle your imagination in such a way that you'll fall into temptation: the temptation to read all the tales in one sitting. But I recommend that you read each one slowly, taking no more than two a day, which will give you a chance to appreciate and digest each tale. My hope is that we will have a lively discussion after reading this book.

So to spark our discussion here are some questions to ponder and respond to as you make your way through the book:

Which afterlife was your favorite?
If you could create an afterlife what would it be?
Do you think we shouldn't diverge from the "authorized" understanding of the afterlife? (Heaven with angels and St. Peter etc.)
Do you think some of the tales would offend? Which ones?
What did you like most about the tales? What did you like the least?
If you could sum-up Sum in two sentences or less what would they be?
Would you recommend Sum to a friend?