Sunday, October 18, 2009

Invitation to the Women


From Nancy Gin:

An African proverb 'It takes a village to raise a child'. It does take a 'village' to raise a child in the 21st century - but now the village is a GLOBAL one.
Yesterday at the Women's Retreat at FPC, we defined and 'experienced' community, Christian community and Christian community in action.
I would like to extend an invitation to ALL, especially the women of FPC to join in a 'movement' to partner with our 'sisters' who have incredible selfless vision to further women's well being 'globally'.

Read 'Half The Sky' Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide' by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, and lets get together to brainstorm and find a way to 'invest' in young girls and women's future.
May God bless you as you become a blessing to many.

Your sister-in-Christ,
Nancy

The Call to the Depths

Luke 5:1-11
Monday nights are swimming lesson nights for our family. I say for our family because William is still in a parent-child class, so when swimming lesson night comes along it means some parent must join a child in the pool. Two weeks ago it was my turn. While I was in the zero entry shallow pool with William, Karoline was with her class in the big pool. This is her first session with lessons in the big pool. She’s learning to swim, but she is by no means a strong swimmer. She’s getting better, but she’s really much more comfortable in the end where she can touch the bottom.

The other week her class started in the shallow end of the pool, but I could tell as the lesson went on it wasn’t the teachers’ goal to stay there. They had the noodles, the floating devices out, and the teachers were sort of coaxing the class into deeper and deeper water.

After the lesson, when Karoline was giving me her play-by-play version of what happened, she said to me, “Mommy, they wouldn’t let me stay where I could touch. They kept calling my name and making me kick farther and farther to the deep end. It was so so scary!”

And it was for her. It was terrifying. Try to remember that time, if you can, when you first felt that feeling of NOTHING below you in the water. How uncertain it felt, unfamiliar, confusing even to have nothing on which to place your foot, to have no ground on which to stand. Imagine, remember if you can, what it felt like to have that chaotic emptiness, even in the stillest of pools, that feeling of the unknown, wide, empty space just below the surface of the water that seemed endless, swallowing even. Remember the deep water.

The deep water wasn’t unfamiliar to Simon and the rest of the fishermen. They knew exactly where it was and EXACTLY how to avoid it. There was no tricking them out there with floating noodles or promises of gold stars. They knew the depths were nothing to mess with. The depths represented chaos, the wild uncontrollable power to destroy and overwhelm. The depths have only ever been contained by the one who is uncontainable. The depths have only ever been restrained by God. No one in their right mind would CHOOSE to set sail for the depths, no matter how desperate.

And those fishermen were desperate. All night long they had fished the usual spots, the spots flush with fish to feed themselves and their families. All night long they had cast their nets and waited, expectantly, hopefully, to pull them in full and heavy. But it was all for nothing. Catching nothing they pulled their boats to shore and began to clean the debris from the night’s fruitless efforts out of their nets.

So really, Simon had nothing to lose when the wandering preacher asked him to put his boat out a little way so that he could speak to the crowds of men and women going about their daily chores on the shoreline. There weren’t any fish to clean and prepare anyway. He took the man out and listened to him teach with authority enough to warrant calling him “Master.” But when the man made an even more ridiculous request, Simon had to argue.

Go out again into the water, and not just the water, the deep water? Cast his nets out there after a full night of catching nothing? Who is this man and what is he thinking? Does this wandering preacher think he can do better than the professionals?

And go out into the deep water, is this guy kidding? It’s the deep water! It’s unknown. It’s murky. It’s dangerous. It’s terrifying. It’s so, so scary. It’s everything Simon feared. It’s everything we fear. It’s lack of control. It’s where we can’t touch. It’s loneliness. It’s out of reach. It’s just plain crazy. No one sails into the depths on purpose. No one faces those fears if they have a choice. In fact lots of us ignore the depths even if we DON’T have a choice. We make the choice NOT to learn to swim, not to face the pressure that is mounting, not to deal with the reality that is right in front of our faces – the reality that we can’t control it all, we can’t be safe all the time. We can’t avoid the depths.

Illness comes. We don’t invite it in, but it comes and it can grip lives. Bankruptcy comes, we don’t go looking for it, but it comes and it beats our spirits down. Joblessness comes, we don’t give them up willingly, but it comes into our lives and shakes the very foundations of our security. The depths come, and while some of us would rather turn our heads and try to ignore their presence, steer our boats around them, avoid facing the reality of their tumult, Jesus has another idea all together.

“Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch,” he invites. We may think he knows NOTHING about what we’re going through when he invites us to follow, but we have so much to learn.

“Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch,” he calls. Come with me into the deepest, darkest places in your life, the deepest darkest places in your soul. I’m going with you, and there you’ll find a catch, there I will touch you with a blessing.

"Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch,” he PROMISES. Your fear can’t stop you. Your fear doesn’t stop me. Together, let’s go to the depths and see what blessings we can catch.

The deep end of the pool at swimming lessons seems a terrifying thing at first. It really does, but it doesn’t come without its rewards. Immediately after declaring it “so so scary,” Karoline continued to tell the story of how she made her way out there. “My teacher kept calling my name, so I just kept kicking. You know, it’s not swimming if my feet are touching the ground.”

She’s exactly right. It’s not. It’s not swimming if your feet are touching the ground. It’s not fishing if you aren’t throwing your nets into deeper water. It’s not believing, if we aren’t trying things that seem outrageous when we already feel like we’re in over our heads.

The deep waters aren’t the first or the last place any of us wishes to be, but the deep waters are there, and sometimes, just sometimes, like it or not, we have to go right into the middle of them. And right there in the middle of them, right there where the bills are piling up, right there where the kids are getting sick. Right there where our parents are aging, right there where memories are fading, marriages are crumbling, friendships are slowly slipping away. Right there in the middle of it all, sitting next to us in the boat is Jesus telling us to cast our nets, telling us to trust him, calling us to follow.

Because the deep water is no time to turn away. The deep water is no time to lose faith or give up following. The deep water is where we learn to swim. The deep water is where our believing becomes real, not because of some false promise that God will magically turn all our tribulations into triumphs. Not because our risk is worthy of a reward or passing the test will grant us admission to God’s treasure trove. The deep water is where our believing becomes real because it is there we have to trust and believe that the God we know in Jesus Christ is not afraid of the depths we find most frightening.

Whatever Jesus said from the boat to the crowds must have been very convincing, because Simon went. He put his boat out in the deep water, against his better judgment, against the disapproving and flabbergasted looks from shore. He pushed his boat out farther and farther into the lake of Gennesaret until he reached the deep waters. There he and his partner put out their nets and caught so many fish the nets were bursting at the seams. They pulled in more blessings than their boat could carry. They piled so many fish in there the boats they even began to sink!

Simon knew then who he had met in the deep water. He knew then he would believe the truth and this comfort this man would speak – “Do not worry about your life. Are you not of more value than the birds?” “Daughter, son, your faith has made you whole.” “I will not leave you alone. I am coming to you.” “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The God we know in Jesus Christ is MORE than capable of using the deep waters as a place of revelation, if we are willing to meet God there. The God we know in Jesus Christ can turn the deep waters into a source of blessings more than we can carry. Even in the middle of the deepest waters, we can find friends and companions for the lonely journey. We can find relief when commitments are overwhelming. We can find compassion in cold and impersonal systems. We can find understanding when all our cries have gone unheard.


In the deep end we learn how to swim. In the deep waters, we learn how to follow and believe.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Not Safe, but Saved

Mark 10:17-31

I heard a couple of news interviews this week that sort of stuck out to me. The first was early in the week on a morning news show. The interviewer was working hard trying to get some answers out of one of the lawyers in the David Letterman scandal. She pushed and pushed for an answer, but the lawyer just kept dodging the question. Answering unasked questions and ignoring the one really at hand.

Later in the week it was a radio news story. The interviewer was speaking to an administrator for the US National Park system. A question came about the law that allows guns to be carried in the National Parks. The administrator was asked, “Do you agree with this law?” Expertly, the administrator answered, “My job is to find the best way possible to make sure the laws set by Congress are upheld.” He must have taken Interviewing 101 from Jesus, the first rule of which is, “If you don’t like the question they are asking, simply answer another one.”

Jesus does this all over Mark’s Gospel. Jesus has something to say, a particular message to advance in the world, and he doesn’t have a lot of time. The gospel speeds from one scene to another, from one village to the next, and Jesus has a message he needs to share. If the people interviewing him, questioning him, and learning from him aren’t going to ask the right leading questions, Jesus is just going to answer the question he wants to hear anyway.

A faithful man approached him one day. He fell to his knees in humility at the feet of Jesus, the sign of one who comes seeking healing, restoration to wholeness, a blessing. In humility he asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” By his body language and his words we can only assume that he is sincere. A faithful man, devout and sincere, a man who recognized the goodness of God in Jesus, has come to the good teacher and asked for the key to everything! The secret for obtaining that last piece of security for a righteous man – assurance that life as he knows it will never end.

He’s looking for that golden ticket, that perfect retirement investment opportunity. Bankers and brokers have shown him countless options. He has read the portfolios of life insurance plans, mutual funds, IRAs, and 401 ks. He has searched the web, asked friends, talked to advisors, all so that he can build that perfect, responsible, safe nest egg for the future. And, heck, if it’s lucrative, too, well that wouldn’t hurt too bad either, would it?

A little safety net, that’s all he’s looking for. A little something to point to, to look at every once in a while, to hold on to, to know that even though he has kept the faith for his whole life, this is the one thing he has done to ensure that he possesses the most important thing a righteous man can seek – eternal life.

I mean, he isn’t asking for all the riches in the world. He isn’t looking for wealth to add to what he has. He doesn’t sound greedy or sinfully ambitious or like all he is after in the world is money. He has come to the teacher he has heard is good. He has come to the man he understands is next to God. He has come to the one he believes can give him a little security, help him rest a little easier knowing that his future is taken care of, his children will be fed and education, he and his wife will have a place to live, a place, in fact, in eternity. He has come with a very important question.

But like a well-practiced interviewee, and he certainly is by this point in the gospel, Jesus, doesn’t answer his question. First, he affirms what the young man has already acknowledged; he is in fact a man of committed faith. “You KNOW the commandments,” he says. Listing them one by one, almost straight from the stone tablets themselves, Jesus confirms not only what the man knows, but what he has done – faithfully pursued the godly way of life through his obedience to the letter of the law. So, next Jesus answers the question he wished the man had asked, “How good teacher, do I live with you in the kingdom of God?”

Do you hear the difference? Not “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” But “How do I live in the kingdom of God?” Not “What can I hold onto for security of the life to come?” But “How can I live life to the fullest, life with you, in this one?” It’s a huge difference. We find out, of course, that the young man is used to looking for things to hold onto. It doesn’t say he’s greedy, although that label has been placed on him by tradition. It doesn’t say that he has been unfair to others, although some say that’s why Jesus added the “extra” commandment “You shall not defraud.” It just says that he is rich; he has many possessions, and because of these he walks away grieving at Jesus’ answer to the question he didn’t ask, “How, good teacher, do I live with you in the kingdom of God?”

That’s the question that really matters – not “How can I live forever?”. Oh sure, he tells his disciples later, eternal life is part of the story, but it’s the part that comes in another age. Before we get to that age, there are some things we need to do. And like it or not, comfortable or not, those things can be hard for those of us considered rich by the world’s standards – not impossible, but hard.

The man is told by Jesus to sell what he owns and give the money to the poor. This is more than a heavenly garage sale with the proceeds going to the food shelf. This is a complete reversal. This is a radical request! Sell everything you own. Let go of EVERYTHING you hold onto. Give up your security, your safety net, your nest egg for the future, your assurance that you will be taken care of. Sell it all, sell everything you own, everything that owns you, and give it to the poor. Make yourself poor.

For that’s another aspect of Jesus’ answer, isn’t it? If this man were to sell everything he had and share all that he got for it, he would become one of those he was serving. If this man were to do as Jesus says, if he were to follow the directions for living in the kingdom of God, he wouldn’t just serve the people with less while holding on to what he possessed, he would become one of them, without wealth, without possessions, without tangible comfort or security for the future. He would do more than walk in their shoes; he would give up his shoes to walk barefoot next to them, knowing his is just as needy as they are.

Jesus doesn’t answer the man’s question about what he can do to be sure he has comfort and security for his future; he doesn’t tell him what he needs to do to sock away the insurance policy for eternal life. Instead, he tells him the exact opposite. He tells him everything he needs to do to risk entering the reign of God, not in some undefined and eternal future, but here and now, in this world, surrounded by these people afflicted with this need.

Go, sell what you own and give the money to the poor. If I stopped there, where would we be? Left with a challenging, if not impossible, instruction for life in the kingdom. Go, sell your house, sell your car, sell all your clothes, but the shirts on your backs, sell your toys, your books, your bikes, your time shares, your cabins, your pensions, your retirement funds. Go, sell it all, and give it to the poor. If I stopped there, where would we be?

“For mortals it is impossible, but not for God. For God all things are possible.” We can’t do it. Most of us can’t do it. There are some who do! There are nuns and monks and maybe others who live this kind of completely ascetic and sacrificial life, but most of us can’t do it. Does that mean we’re left out of the kingdom? Does that mean there’s no hope or no chance for all of us? “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God. For God all things are possible.”

God can push our stubborn camels through the eye of that needle. God can, and does, call us into kingdom living and show us how to do it. “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God. For God all things are possible.” The God of possibilities shows us how to live in the kingdom, leaving the wisdom and convention of our families behind – turning “look out for number one” into look out for the poor among you. Leaving our love of money and desire to stockpile it behind – turning pay yourself first, into give the first fruits to God. Leaving our desire for more clothes, more food, more resources behind – turning “Keep up with the Joneses” into “When I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me something to drink, when I was naked you gave clothing.”

But this way of life, entering the kingdom of God here and now, doesn’t come without its risks. Leaving conventional wisdom behind often means separation, even if not physically than ideologically, from brothers or sister or mothers or fathers. Setting the collective norm aside to risk living according to the kingdom rules can mean leaving the comfort of the “home” we all know. But Jesus doesn’t promise us a safety net. Following him, entering the kingdom of God isn’t about the safety of the gift of eternal life. It’s about being saved from our misplaced trust and dependence and sense of security based on the things we own, the things we can hold onto, the things that we possess and that possess us.

In the end the question for Jesus is not, “How will I be saved?” That’s a question about eternal life which, while a precious gift from God, is a gift to be enjoyed in the age to come. The real question, then, is, “What am I saved for?” Jesus didn’t come to hand out safety nets. Eternal life may be the gift to be enjoyed some day in the age to come, but it isn’t just another possession to cling to, a balance in our spiritual bank accounts, put away for safe keeping. Eternal life is the sign of a new way of life, life under God’s rule, life in God’s kingdom, where living in the footsteps of Jesus is risky, but by the grace of God, not impossible.

Jesus came to invite us into the kingdom of God, a kingdom so radically different than any on this earth that the invitation comes with a risk. You may leave sister and brother; you may leave mother and father. You may leave your home, your fields, your safety and your security behind. You may end up dead last.

But the earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it; the world, and those who live in it. This is the kingdom of God, only it just doesn’t look that way all the time. Some are rich, while some are poor. Some are joyous while others are grieving. Some are healthy while others are ill. Some are strong while others are weak.

The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it; the world, and those who live in it. Entering the kingdom of God isn’t something to look forward to in the distant future and the age to come. Entering the kingdom of God – a kingdom of equality, a kingdom of healing, a kingdom of forgiveness and compassion and grace – joining the risen Christ as he continues to build the kingdom of God is something we are called to do right here and right now. “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God. For God all things are possible.”

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Why Christian Education?

In a recent blog entry Pastor Stephanie asked “Why are you Presbyterian?” This sparked the questions Why Christian Education? Or more accurately Why is Christian Education important to ones faith journey? However before we can answer this question I think we have to ask a more basic question; What is Christian Education?

In recent years the idea of Christian Education has taken on several other names which I think are helpful in our understanding of Christian Education. One name is faith formation. The name faith formation hits home that we are not just educating people about God and Christianity but rather helping individuals recognize, accept, and respond to God’s gift of grace (this concept comes from theologian Craig Dysktra). A second name is spiritual growth. I like this name because it emphasizes God presences in and around us as well as the fact that we are always learning and growing. For me Christian Education is a combination of both of these ideas.

With this in mind we can ask the question Why is Christian Education important to ones faith journey? I think the most important reason is that God wants us to continually recognize, accept and respond to the gift of grace he gives to us freely. We are continually changing and our world is continually changing so we need to rediscover how to recognize, accept and respond to God. Thus, it is our job as children of God to do so. In order to discover or rediscover and begin to understand God’s grace we have to be in relationship with God and with the community of faith. This is not to say that God only gives grace to those who know him but rather that when one knows God and is in a relationship with her it is easier to recognize, accept and respond to the grace given. One cannot be in relationship with someone that they do not know. Because God is not here in flesh and blood we have to learn about God through the Scriptures, through others encounters with God and through the world around us. In other words we have to know something about God to know God. Once we know about God we can continue the important work of exploring our relationship with God. We can together in community see where God’s grace is give and discover how we are called to respond to that grace.

Christian Education provides an opportunity for begin and grow in our relationship with God. Christian Education also helps us build relationships with those in our congregation. Christian Education provides an opportunity to learn about the ways we can respond to God grace in our lives, in our homes, in our congregation and in our community. Christian Education is important for everyone because God’s calls us to be faithful people recognizing, accepting and responding to the gift of grace in our lives! And God keeps on giving grace anew each day!

Words, words, words


With many other people around the country I have been wondering what has happened to civility. It seems that in the last month or so people in all sorts of walks of life have forgotten what it means to speak to others with respect and dignity – outbursts at town hall meetings, outbursts in Congress, threats on a tennis court, rude interruptions on an award show stage. Each was an individual occurrence, but is the clustering of these events a sign of something larger going on in our culture?

Preachers around the country who use the lectionary were bubbling over with excitement at these news reports. OK, maybe that’s an over-statement. Rarely do we celebrate rudeness and disrespect. However, the epistle lessons assigned toward the middle of September, when all of this was going on, came from the book of James. Here are a few verses my colleagues were wrestling with in their sermon preparation:

“Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on first, and is itself set on fire by hell.” (James 3:5-6, NIV)

The warnings are strong about the power of words and the mouths that say them. In a Children’s Sermon I recently talked about the old adage children have been taught for generations, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” We decided together that this is not true. Words can hurt. Words matter! The words we choose to say, when we choose to say them, and the tone with which they are spoken MATTER.

Back to my first question – are the recent “newsworthy” events a sign of a larger problem in our culture? Well, I don’t know. I think it’s too soon to tell. I think the outrage of the public about these events is a good sign. It tells us this sort of behavior and treatment of one another is still shocking and considered unacceptable to many. I also think that, if nothing else, these have been a wake-up call to many, and a reminder to Christians of our call to treat others with respect and dignity. James puts it this way:

“With the tongue we praise our Lord and father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.” (James 3:9-10, NIV)

It should not be. All human beings have been made in the image of God, and all human beings deserve to be treated in such a way. This does not mean there can’t be debate, discussion, and disagreement. This does not mean there can’t be protest. It does mean, however, that our disagreement should happen in a way that honors the humanity of our partners in conversation, their creation in the image of God.

The words we speak matter. They matter to those to whom they are directed. They matter to those who overhear them for they speak volumes about what we believe. They matter to God. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (Ps. 19:14, NRSV)