February 26, 2012
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Mark 1:1-15
Today’s sermon was focused on the Greek word Euthus, often translated into English as Immediately. The sermon’s theme was about the Gospel of Mark and it’s sense of urgency. After major events, Jesus, the disciples, the crowds all performed their actions with urgency, as if they all knew that there was not enough time to get everything done.
It seemed that the sermon suggested that if you see something important happening around you or in your life, you don’t sit to the side and think about what needs to be done, you act immediately. You act with conviction. You do what is right. You do what you know to be true, leaving not a second to chance or doubt.
But what if you don’t feel that sense of urgency. If you do not feel that you need to do something right away, what does that mean? Does it mean that what you are feeling (or not feeling) is not right? If you are not feeling an immediate pull to something that others are already following, is the path the others are taking not the right path for you?
If you do not feel compelled to do something, could it be that you are not supposed to do it? Is Euthus an indication of a call? Or is it just one indication?
What happens to those who follow at a less immediate pace? Are we left behind to wonder what all the fuss was about? Or, perhaps, do we come with a different perspective, a different account of what happened?
If you feel a sense of urgency in what you are to do, embrace the Euthus. But, I think, if you do not feel that same requirement of speed, take a steady and slow approach to it. Do not feel as if your experience is “less than” just because you did not have that sense of rush, that Euthus. Perhaps God has slowed you down for a reason. Perhaps you are needed where you are right now.
Perhaps I need to follow my own advice.
Thoughts on Stewardship – January 22, 2012
Today I helped lead worship at church. It was my duty to read the Hebrew and Christian scriptures and to offer an invitation to Stewardship. Below is what I said.
“You must pre-pay for your car’s fuel before a single drop sees the inside of your tank. You pay for your groceries before you can leave the store with them. You pay your electric bill once the utility company calculates how much you’ve used. You get your paycheck after you’ve put in your time. The newspaper company will leave a paper in your driveway after you’ve paid for a subscription. You can’t hear your favorite artist perform live until you’ve purchased entry into the venue.
The majority of this world relies on payment for services. If you want something, you have to pay for it.
This church is not a store, but it does give you many options when it comes to filling your spiritual shopping cart. It is not a gas station, but it does give you the fuel you need to keep going. It is not a restaurant, but it gives you a period of rest between all the activities that fill your life. It is not a utility company, and yet it fulfills the basic need we all have that keeps us coming back for more: love and truth.
This church does not require payment for services rendered. There are no bills from the church at the end of the month. There are no hidden fees. There are no payment plans to help you get out of debt to the church.
And yet we pass these collection plates down the pews each week, hoping that you will give a goodwill offering. Something to show your appreciation, your gratitude, your faith in the church. That what we are doing here, what we are, is something good, something fulfilling, something everyone needs.
The diaconate will now come forward to collect your offerings to the church.”
Thoughts – December 21, 2011 – A follow-up
[/caption]This is a follow-up to my post on December 18, 2011. I’m writing it because I’ve had people ask me what an Affirmation Circle is, after I posted on Facebook ”I feel like I need a church camp affirmation circle experience right about now.” I’m writing this post to enlighten those who didn’t understand and to preserve the feeling as best I can so that I don’t forget it.
Monday was a bad day. Well, it actually started on Sunday, but I didn’t feel the impact until Monday morning.
Sunday I learned something about a close friend of mine that made me re-think my relationship with that person and forced me to evaluate my core values (still evaluating). I also felt a huge stab of betrayal, hurt, confusion and dread.
Then on Monday, I learned that my manager is retiring in January. Yay for him, not-so-yay for me: I’ve had 3 managers in 5 years and there’s almost always a long adjustment period when the new one steps in where I end up questioning if I’m right for this job, and if it’s right for me.
Mix those two together and it makes for a very, very emotional me. A very full-of-self-doubt me. A what-am-I-doing-wrong me.
I was very much in need of what our Interim Minister spoke of on Sunday: the gift of encouragement. But the more I thought about it, it wasn’t so much encouragement I needed. I needed reassurance that I was in the right place, that I was safe, that I was loved, that I was not the cause of the problem with my friend. I needed Affirmation.
At summer church camp, almost every small group held an Affirmation Circle at the end of the week. All the kids would sit in a circle, the lights were usually dimmed (or it was done during the nighttime small group time), and the Affirmation would start with one camper in the middle of the circle. One by one, each camper and counselor in that small group would touch the camper in the middle and say something affirming. “You are kind.” “You are a good friend.” “You have good insight.” “I like that you sat next to me even though you didn’t know who I was.” “You give good hugs.”
When you spend a week with 50+ kids your own age and quality small-group time with 10 of those kids, you get to know each other very well, very fast. You laugh with them, you cry with them, you fall down in front of them, you help them up. You eat with them, you sing with them, you share with them, you listen to them. A week of this almost guarantees that you will not only want to come back year after year, but that years, decades, after camp, you will still consider these kids (adults) to be your closest friends; you can only see them every 3 or 4 years and yet it’s like you’re just starting up a conversation where you left off when your cell phone dropped the call.
To have these kids, who have seen the very best of you and the very worst of you, lay their hands on you at the end of the shortest and longest week of your life and tell you, one at a time, that you are loved for who you are is probably one of the best feelings I have ever felt, second to the feeling of love that surges through you when your infant smiles at you with recognition for the first time. Affirmation from your peers after a physically and emotionally draining and uplifting week is the cherry on top of the experience that is church camp.
I did end up getting my Affirmation feeling Monday night; one of my best friends came over for wine and Mac & Cheese and she listened to me first and then she Affirmed me. She reminded me of who I am, where I’ve come from, where I’m going and what I’m doing. She touched me, my soul and my quivering heart.
Thoughts – December 18, 2011
Luke 1:26-38
If someone doesn’t tell you what they want or need, how are you to know? If you don’t tell people what is in your mind or heart, how are they to understand you? Why is it so hard for us to ask for help when we need it? Why do we hide our fears and needs from others? Why do we still think that showing our fears to others will make us look weak? The difference between a hero and the would-be hero is that the hero realizes he is afraid of what is ahead of him and acts anyway/. The hero does what is right even if it is a frightening task. Being afraid of something doesn’t make us weak: running away from that fear does.
We are not alone in our fears. All of us fear something (or somethings). So why don’t we share those fears? Why don’t we ask for help or encouragement? And why don’t we give it to others when we see their fears? Telling your neighbor that you are there for them during their trials can make a hero of both you and your neighbor. We should always ask for strength from our friends, family and neighbors when facing something we believe to be stronger than us.
Imagine the strength you can feel with you neighbors, friends, family and God behind you. You always have an army standing behind you, ready to help and defend.
You just have to turn around and see them.
Thoughts – December 4, 2011
Isaiah 40:1-5, Mark 1:1-8
Christmas is almost here. Today is the second Sunday of Advent, the time to prepare ourselves for the coming Christ. The time to clean out the closets of our lives, to sweep away the cobwebs and crumbs, and to polish the ornaments around us that help bring a little extra sparkle to our daily lives.
Isaiah tells us to prepare the way for our Savior. But if our souls, hearts and lives are full of unnecessary clutter. If we don’t take the time to clean up the little scraps and bits of leftovers from our “normal” life, we won’t have a clean and clear path in front of us that will lead us to Christ. If our path is obstructed, it will take us that much longer to reach Him.
You can’t plant a bulb if the ground is full of other shrubs and weeds and rocks. You must clear a spot, make it easier for that bulb to grow and blossom in our sight. And you don’t plant that bulb behind a bush that will never let us see that new bloom, you plant it where you will always be able to see it and it will always be visible and accessible. Why ask the Lord to come in to your life if He will be hidden behind other events and priorities?
God is always available to us, but we still have to meet Him halfway. We have to make and leave room for Him. We need to blaze a trail and tend it to keep it from being overgrown again. But just making the path for God is not enough.
We still have to walk down that path. We still have to take that first step.
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