From Transfiguration to Eternity

2-23-20

Grace to you and peace from God our creator and from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

It is good to be able to experience something just a little bit out of the ordinary, isn’t it? For example, a few weeks ago I took some time out of my regular schedule to spend an entire week reading all the books that has I had wanted to catch up on for the last few months but haven’t had a chance to. But one thing I did not expect to receive alongside knowledge and insight – a sore back from all that sitting. I have no idea how I did this college and seminary!

That week I got to “spend time” in a Religion 101 classroom with Barbara Brown Taylor. I dove into the life and wisdom of Rozella Haydee White, a speaker I had heard for the first time during the 2015 national youth gathering in Detroit. I read a memoir of a Latina Lutheran woven with the stories of immigrants and refugees in the Bible. I dug into how to cultivate a culture of generosity in congregations. I even traveled the world with mortician and death researcher Caitlyn Doughty as she explored death rituals in other countries. 

In one chapter of this particular book, called “From Here to Eternity” Doughty she wrote about her visit to a Buddhist columbarium in Japan called Ruriden, which is very surprising by our standards. The columbarium (a place where cremains are laid to rest) is a room full of thousands of niches containing tiny buddha statues all the way around. When a family comes to visit, using a swipe card coded to the location of their loved one’s remains, the tiny Buddha figurines begin to glow violet, and the Buddha figure that contains your loved one’s ashes shimmers with a bright white light. It may seem strange to us, but to the people of Japan, this is a deeply meaningful part of how they honor the people they love who have died.

The transfiguration story and Transfiguration Sunday is a strange little holiday in the church year…it sneaks up on us out of nowhere and puzzles preachers and church goers alike. But this story – and this Sunday - serves a very specific purpose. It is the space that separates the season after Epiphany and the season of Lent. It is the hinge that connects Jesus’ baptism and Jesus’ death. It is the liminal space – the “thin place” - the changes the course of Jesus’s journey and prepares him for what is to come. It is the mountaintop experience that catches the disciples, and us, off guard, and makes us wonder what we signed up for. It stops us in our tracks and interrupts our “regularly scheduled daily lives.”

As a friend of mine recently reflected, “How many of us go through our lives just going through our lives?” And yet, every so often, we all experience something like the joy and fear of a mountain top/ life changing moment. Sometimes they are sudden and come upon us unexpectedly – a surprise diagnosis, a shocking job opportunity, nearly missing a fender bender, or an accidental meeting that changed your life. For example, the morning I opened the email on Ash Wednesday 2017 to find out that I was in the top 10 in an international preaching contest that I had forgotten that I entered was one such moment.

Other transformational moments mark the hinge moments between important life stages, between two different states of life that we have been preparing for in one way or another, for months or even years:

Engagement - Wedding day – marriage

 School – graduation – “real life”/job

Pregnancy – birth – life

Pre-baptism – baptism – following Jesus as a disciple. (You get the picture)

The transfiguration of Jesus is the hinge moment in his ministry – setting him on the path toward Jerusalem, and his death on the cross. Similarly, Transfiguration Sunday is the hinge between the season after Epiphany, and the season of Lent.

Peter’s problem is that he wanted to live in this “hinge moment” up there with Jesus, Elijah and Moses on the mountain. The longer they stay up there, the longer they put off facing the whole “death of the son of man” thing. But we can’t live on the mountain top or in those transitional moments for ever. As wonderful as your wedding day might have been, can you imagine how stressful that would be to live every day in that kind of intensity? You would never go around your daily business wearing your graduation cap and gown. After your diploma is in your hand, you get to work putting what you’ve learned into practice.

After God had affirmed Jesus, using the same words as God did during Jesus’s baptism (though adding “listen to him” as an addendum), and the disciples had seen Jesus in his glory, consulting with two of the most revered prophets of all time, Jesus and his disciples had to come down the mountain.  They had to return to real life. Though the life they then returned to would never be the same again. This surprising experience is something they carried with them, and eventually made its way to us, to keep surprising us as well. They had seen Jesus through the eyes of God, and they would never be the same.

But that tends to be the case, when we look at others through the eyes of God – if the light of Christ has been given to each of us as we have been baptized, what would happen if we acted like we could see this shining flame ALL the time? What if we intentionally looked at one another, using God Vision? And what if you also saw YOURSELF that way?

One of my favorite books is Lila by Marilynn Robinson. Lila grew up poor and orphaned in the 1930s, and only saw herself through the eyes of those who looked down on her because of things she did to survive. Seemingly and surprisingly by chance, she ends up in a small town in Iowa, and marries the local minister.

On the day that preacher proposed to AND baptized Lila, he remembered the day they met: “I expected to continue with [loneliness] the rest of my life. Then I saw you that morning. I saw your face.” Lila replied, “Don’t’ talk like that. I know about my face.”

But he persisted. “I suspect you don’t. You don’t know how I see it.”

One night during a snowstorm after they were married, the two of them were talking, and Lila’s husband said, “Family is a prayer. Wife is a prayer. Marriage is a prayer.”

Lila, remembering her own baptism, adds, “Baptism is a prayer.”

To that, her husband replied, “No, baptism is what I call a fact.”

Your baptism is a fact. God’s love for you is a fact. God chose you – that’s a fact. As strange as it may sound, the light of Christ shines out in you too – as that light shown in the face of Jesus.

The season of Epiphany may be over, but the light will never be extinguished.  And as we face our own mortality and mark Jesus’ journey to the cross this coming Ash Wednesday, I would dare to say that it is not darkness that we are really afraid of. It’s shining that we fear. We would rather wait in the wings and hide in the cloud – or in three little huts – on the mountain top rather than go down the mountain to shine. But as Marianne Williamson wrote in her poem “Our Deepest Fear:”

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us....

We ask ourselves - Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.....

We are all meant to shine… We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; It's in everyone....

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

And that means, we gotta shine.

This world is a pretty scary place, And it can be even scarier when we go out on a limb and “let our light shine,” especially when what we do or say will be perceived as something that is surprising or shakes up “normal life.”  In those times, we can remember that the light that is within us is not our own - it comes from a source of light that is greater than us. Our light comes from God. God illuminates our way and defeats the powers of evil in this world. In Jesus, God revealed to all people God’s love in the flesh. And that love is given to each of us to shine in the world.

Together, we are able to shine, to rival even the sun in the sky…. Just as Jesus did, both up on that mountain, and in his words and actions, in his life and in his death… and beyond. So, as God says, Listen up! Listen to Jesus - Get up, and do not be afraid. Thanks be to God. Amen.

"God... Bless you!'

Grace and peace to you from God our creator and from our Lord and savior Jesus the Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, amen.

While I served as a pastor in New Jersey, I had the privilege of being the chaplain at a high school youth retreat at a local camp. It’s a Saturday night tradition to have an open mike night after evening worship, and normally kids sign up to sing their favorite song or play the guitar. But one act surprised us all. A high should senior got up and did a comedy routine, and she was funny.

She began her routine by describing what it was like to ride down to this youth event with her pastor at the wheel. When being cut off, this youth informed us, the pastor might yell, “son of a… child of God!” … Or when someone would suddenly slow down for no apparent reason, causing her to slam on her brakes, the pastor would say, “God… bless you!”

We “adult-type-people” sitting in the back were practically rolling on the floor laughing. It was nice to know that someone else also felt the same frustration that I did about some of the crazy driving I had encountered in New Jersey! But while I laughed, I also cringed. Because I’ve been there. I’ve been the person being cut off, and I’ve said some pretty unkind things alone in the safety of my vehicle. We all knew what this pastor had wanted to say, and we all knew that at one time or another we all had said those things, or we at least thought them.

But if a tree falls in the woods with no one to witness, does it makes a sound? And If no one hears my tirade against that driver, no harm no fowl, right? Jesus says …wrong. In that moment, according to Jesus, when we let our anger get the better of us, and say things we will regret later, we are breaking the fifth commandment – “Thou Shalt Not Kill.”

And so, after building us up for two weeks after hearing about being blessed if we are poor in spirit or mourning or peacemaking, and after hearing about how we are light and salt for the world… The gloves are off, the rubber has hit the road, the other shoe has dropped, and Jesus is done with the appetizers and is ready to get to the main course. And this meal is certainly hard to swallow.

You might say that this is where being light intersects life – after talking about letting our light shine in the world, Jesus here it telling us how that’s done, example by example.  Jesus here is asking us, not just to keep the commandments of old, but to exceed them in a way that sounds beyond human ability.

I don’t know about you, but I think that the 10 commandments are just fine, as is. For the most part where we live it’s pretty easy to refrain from murdering someone. In fact, it’s pretty easy to go down the list of commandments and think we are doing ok – yup, respecting my parents, nope, didn’t steal anything today, nope, didn’t testify in court… so I’m good.. right?

But Jesus stops us in our self-congratulatory tracks. It’s one thing to do the minimum, to refrain from causing someone physical bodily harm. But if you are angry with your sibling, if you insult them and call them names, they are as good as dead to you, and Jesus says that you as good as murdered them in your mind.

We would rather think about the Jesus that is all about love and tolerance and all that good stuff. Love then, becomes a blanket over all the bad stuff I do, and makes it ok that I keep doing it. But thinking about love this way is about as effective as roses and chocolate one day a year, and misery the other three hundred and sixty-four.

Another time Jesus says, love your neighbor as you love yourself. As in, you see your neighbor not as an object to be coveted or as a means to an end to get what you want, but as a human being with thoughts and feelings, with hopes and dreams, with flaws and needs. Love means that we should treat everyone as if they are a beloved child of God. Because that’s what they are.

Truly keeping the 5^th commandment in the Jesus Regime also means not labeling people or not insulting them and their families. AND, as Luther adds, it also means living together in unity and helping our neighbors out when they are in need. 

The same goes for Jesus’ take on the 6^th commandment – “you shall not commit adultery.” Luther’s explanation reads: “you are to fear and love God, so that we lead pure and decent lives in word and deed, and each of us loves and honors his or her spouse.” Jesus takes it a step farther by saying: “everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” 

When a man looks at a woman in this way, he sees her only as function of what she can give to him, he denies her autonomy as a person, and he reduces her to commodity be acquired. Women’s bodies have always been feared, shamed, and controlled. Jesus isn’t telling women to cover up because “boys will be boys.” Jesus is instead calling boys to be men, to put an end to centuries of blaming and shaming.

Jesus lived at a time where marriage provided financial stability and the assurance of a future through children. The idea of romantic love, or our obsession with a holiday that celebrates romance and couples would be completely foreign to them.

Divorce is a traumatic, life-shaking event no matter what the context. Jesus is affirming that, in the words of a colleague of mine, “Each person is sacred and deserves to be treated that way.” Divorce is naming what is, and it is never a sin to tell the truth. Divorce does not break vows – it simply states that vows have already been broken, whether by egregious behavior or “irreconcilable differences.” In fact, staying in a relationship that is unsustainable can only add to everyone’s pain and suffering. Staying can sometimes mean breaking faith with yourself, in not loving and honoring yourself enough to leave. Divorce is the most loving option when it is the only way that the sacredness of human life – YOUR LIFE – can be affirmed and defended, and remarriage between two consenting adults who respect the sacred humanity of one another is never a sin.

So, perhaps then instead a list of things to avoid, these commands become the means of living a life that is full of real love and real relationships, with Jesus leading the way.

And we who are following in his footsteps are going to aren’t going to get it right all the time. We will continue to be the angry ones and the ones who cause others to be angry.  Sometimes we will be ones doing the cursing in our cars and at other times we’ll be the ones doing the cutting-off on the turnpike. But if we choose to look at those around us through the eyes of Jesus, as beloved children of God, we infuse a healthy and much-needed dose of humanity back into the world. We are blessed by God, so that we become a blessing to one another.

Back at that youth retreat with the funny standup routine… That same pastor, the youth was talking about, came up to me after I had prayed individually over a long line of youth during a healing service…. not to receive a blessing, but to give me one.  In that moment I remembered that I too was a “daughter of a child of God.” As much as I was teaching and preaching and ministering to others that weekend, I was also continually learning from, and being surprised by, and being MINISTERED TO by others.

Even when we don’t choose life – when instead we choose isolation over connection, fear over acceptance, hate over love, death over life, death does not have the final say. Life has the final say – the life that Jesus not only tells us about but also shows us in every moment of his life on earth. Jesus came to show us that love has the final say.  AMEN

Mini Sabbatical/ "Reading Week"

During the week of Feb. 3 - 9th I did a "Reading Week" tiny sabbatical to catch up on the pile of reading that has been building up over the last few months. I went to a variety of different place to read, including Cross Roads Camp, the local library, and Princeton Seminary Library. What a fun week it was to absorb all this wisdom. I didn't pick any particular theme, but it seems that the theme picked me: all of these books really emphasized the power of relationship - with people we love (and have lost), with people who are different from us, between us, God, and our money, and with ourselves. 

The God who Sees: Immigrants, the Bible, and the Journey to Belong by Karen Gonzales5 stars. This book is also part memoir, part theological grounding and reminder that both the tenants of our belief and our holy scriptures calls us to see the image of God in immigrants. Though the author herself is from Guatemala, this book feels so relevant in the midst of the ELCA sanctuary conversations, the travel bans, and the recent report of the murders of people deported to El Salvador. This book gives a human face and human stories to a complex issues, and challenges us to fulfill our call as followers of Jesus to see what God sees - our beloved humanity in all people.

 Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others by Barbara Brown Taylor5 stars. This book really does live up to the hype. Loved it. As a pastor I too often get stuck in a Lutheran silo, so it's really nice to get any perspective outside of that.... It also resonated in a lot of my cross-cultural experiences. I especially appreciated the chapters about Jewish faith and Islamic faith.

 Love Big: The Power of Revolutionary Relationships to Change the World, by Rozella Haydee White5 stars. Part memoir, part call to action, this book was both a quick read but a deep one, to the point and complex, deeply Lutheran without some of that insider language that creeps in, inspirational and challenging. So much of this book feels alive and relevant it's hard to pick one thing. I appreciated her thoughts on how we search for love in the wrong places, and also her experiences working for and walking away from the ELCA machinations. 

From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death, 

by Caitlyn DoughtyFive stars. Though Doughty never says much about faith or pastors, I appreciate her honest take on death and the importance of ritual and making meaning around it. Pastors are "death professionals" too, and anything we can do to help make meaning and normalize grief helps us be better at pastoral care. This trip around the world shows that it's not about WHAT we do as we honor our loved ones, it's that we should remember with intention and love, and not avoid the conversation. PS, do you have a death plan yet? 

Contagious Generosity: Creating a Culture of Giving in your Church, by Chris Willard and Jim Sheppard  I would give this one 3.5 stars. It has some GREAT insight about shifting congregational cultures, developing tools and capacities, and some necessary come-to-Jesus advice. I will probably use it in my congregation. However.... ALL the quotes and ALL the examples were from male pastors in multi-pastor congregations (I have never heard of a stewardship pastor!) The theology is evangelism- adjacent. There's also a lot of references to the crash of '08. If the author would make a new addition just without all the dudes, I'd give it 4 or 4.5. A fast but good read (just skip all the dudes).

Walking into a Blessed Future

2-2-20

Grace to you and peace from God our creator and from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, amen.

We walk quickly and we walk slowly. We hurry when we need to be somewhere fast…. or we amble our way through a store or the mall when we don’t have a pressing need. We hike in the woods with purpose, and we drag ourselves up the stairs after a long day. But what does it mean to walk humbly? And what does it mean to walk with God?

We may try to take the lead and choose pace direction, but that often gets us into trouble. We can drag our feet and lag behind, but then we might miss where God is leading us. Every moment God is walking with us, next to us, and we could not have a better traveling companion. God knows the way. And God calls us to follow… and then calls us blessed.

Blessed? What? ME? No way! I don’t look at all like the perfect, happy people on all the commercials or in the magazines. I’m not as successful as the scientists curing cancer and famous authors I hear about in the news. I don’t make as much money as CEOs and movie stars. Surely THOSE people are the ones who deserve to be seen as special, not me.

The disciples might have been thinking the exact same thing as they listened to Jesus. Last week we heard about how they were at the beginning of their own walk with God. They had just been called by Jesus to follow him, to even drop what they were doing and just go. No more fishing for fish – Peter, Andrew, James, and John would be fishing for people from now on. So, I’m sure wondered, “What in the world did I just sign up for? And What happens now?”

Jesus’s answer comes in the next chapter in Matthew, as he begins what we call “The sermon on the mount” - it IS a sermon and it IS on the side of a mountain. This is Jesus’ very first sermon the Matthew – his inaugural sermon if you will, and this section is what is commonly called “The beatitudes.” This sermon will set the tone for the Jesus administration and sets the terms for what it means to be a disciple.

To be a disciple is “churchy” way to be a learner, a student. A student learns from and listens to a teacher. And the very first thing that Jesus the teacher teaches in his very first sermon is that his students are blessed. Jesus’s disciples are blessed, even though they would not be considered first round draft pics for Jesus’s Kingdom.

Take a look over who Jesus says is blessed one more time. This is a list that seems totally backwards, and shouldn’t make any sense to us. This is not how the world works, as we see on a daily basis. The world says– those who are wealthy and successful are blessed, those who are in power are blessed, the famous, the popular, those who seem to “have it all together” are blessed, those who are beautiful or attractive or thin or strong are blessed….Just look at the news, social media, or the cover of any magazines in the checkout aisle at ACME. They do not feature people like us.

But Jesus turns the world order on its head. Instead, THESE are the blessed ones –those who don’t have it all together, those who are bullied, dispirited, or fleeing their homes as refugees, those who are grieving, those who hunger and thirst for the common good, those who are merciful and compassionate, those who work for peace and reconciliation, those who have a single-minded devotion to God’s kingdom, those who don’t back down from working for justice, even when they are misunderstood and challenged. Jesus calls THESE people blessed. And I am sure that we can all find ourselves somewhere on this list

The NEW Kingdom, the Jesus regime, starts NOW, with his first sermon, which states that you are blessed, right where you are, however you find yourself. Jesus calls YOU blessed, because you ARE a child of God and a fellow disciple of Jesus. Jesus teaches us that we are blessed because we need to know where we are FROM before we can know where we are going.

Lutheran writer and speaker Nadia Bolz-Weber shared this reflection recently (in her most recent email newsletter): “Maybe the Sermon on the Mount is all about Jesus’ lavish blessing of the people around him on that hillside who his world—like ours—didn’t seem to have much time for: people in pain, people who work for peace instead of profit, people who exercise mercy instead of vengeance. Maybe Jesus was simply blessing the ones around him that day who didn’t otherwise receive blessing, who had come to believe that, for them, blessings would never be in the cards…” So, Nadia Bolz-Weber imagines Jesus standing among us offering some of these new beatitudes: “Blessed are they who doubt. Those who aren’t sure, who can still be surprised... Blessed are those who have nothing to offer. Blessed are the preschoolers who cut in line at communion. Blessed are the poor in spirit. You are of heaven and Jesus blesses you. Blessed are they for whom death is not an abstraction. Blessed are they who have buried their loved ones, for whom tears could fill an ocean. Blessed are they who have loved enough to know what loss feels like. Blessed are the mothers of the miscarried. Blessed are they who don’t have the luxury of taking things for granted anymore. Blessed are they who can’t fall apart because they have to keep it together for everyone else. Blessed are those who “still aren’t over it yet.” Blessed are those who no one else notices. Blessed are the forgotten. Blessed are the closeted. Blessed are the unemployed, the unimpressive, the underrepresented. Blessed are the wrongly accused, the ones who never catch a break, the ones for whom life is hard, for Jesus chose to surround himself with people like them. Blessed are those without documentation. Blessed are the ones without lobbyists. Blessed are foster kids and special-ed kids and every other kid who just wants to feel safe and loved. Blessed are those who make terrible business decisions for the sake of people. Blessed are the burned-out social workers and the overworked teachers and the pro bono case takers. Blessed are the kids who step between the bullies and the weak. Blessed are the merciful, for they totally get it.

Jesus lived the true meaning of being blessed, he fulfilled his inaugural promises, and while doing so he turned an instrument of death into a symbol of new life and the new family we are all a part of.

Jesus spent most of his time with the downtrodden and displaced, with those grieving, with those hungering and thirsting for God’s kingdom, with those actively making peace, with those with a heart for God’s justice, with those who are merciful when the world thinks it’s a sign weakness, and with those who are hated and feared by others.

We are called to be hungry and thirsty for God’s justice when there is a clear “Justice shortage.” We are called to show compassion when we are taught to only look out for ourselves. We are called to follow the voice and vision of Jesus above all the other desires of our hearts. We are called to be an active force for peace in the world.

To the rest of the world, this looks like a completely foolish endeavor. But, as Paul wrote, “Has God not made foolish the wisdom of the world?” “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.”

In the Jesus regime, what seems foolish is wise and what seems weak is strong. The merciful, the meek, the peacemakers, you, and me are all blessed and are brought together into a blessed community and family. And a crucified man is our ruler and guide in doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with him along the way on this journey. And whether than journey is fast or slow, straight as the crow flies or full of detours and, the destination is the same – The kingdom is coming, and the kingdom is already here… as we put one foot in front of the other, taking the next stop… then the next… then the next. Thanks be to God, amen.

Casting a Vision at FoG

Sermon 1-26-20 “State of FoG”

Grace to you and peace from God our creator and from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

One summer I went fishing with my uncle and cousin on a lake in northern Wisconsin. I did not notice the beauty that was all around me – the warm sunshine or the relaxing sound of the waves. I only remember that I could NOT get the hang of fishing. My uncle tried his best to teach me, but at every turn I struggled – baiting the hook – YUCK, casting the line – it didn’t get very far, reeling in the fish – the line got all tangled, taking the fish off – YUCK again.

Fortunately, Jesus would probably not ask ME to bait a hook and cast a line. I have other God-given gifts to use for Jesus’s work in the Kingdom. And you do as well. There are as many different ways to follow Jesus as there are followers. I look around this sanctuary and see the vast array of gifts that God is using – understanding of numbers and money, teaching youth and children, expression in music and creativity, practicing hospitality and care-giving, and the love of learning, just to name a few. Take a moment to think about how Jesus as called you. What kind of words has he used, or might he have used had you been the disciples on the beach? How would you finish the call of Jesus for YOU? “Follow me, and I will make you……” a nurse practitioner of the soul. Follow me and I will make you Scout for people. Follow me and I will make you coach for following in Jesus’ footsteps… or pilot for the route to the kingdom of God.

A friend just told me a “dad” joke that works well for today. What is something that you have, that when you keep it in your hand, it doesn’t work at all? Probably a lot of things fit the bill, but he was thinking of a net to catch fish with. A net for fish doesn’t work if you hang on to it. It can only do its job properly if you, quite literally, “throw it away.” Fortunately, no fishing skills are actually required for catching people for the kingdom of God.

For almost 45 years, Family of God has been “Fishing for People” on behalf of Jesus in the Buckingham community. In March it will be the 45^th anniversary of being an official and authorized worshipping community by the Lutheran Church in American, one of the processor Lutheran denominations that eventually formed the ELCA. We have not always been in this location – we’ve been in the Buckingham School, in the Hughesian   Building, at the Holiday Inn, just to name a few of the places we have worshiped early on, before purchasing this land and building this building. Things have not always been easy - between suffering through cold water on Sunday mornings to challenges with the township that never seem to change. But here we are, in 2020, hopefully with a clear vision –on how far we have come and what lay behind us, what God is doing in our midst right now, and how Jesus is calling us to follow him into the future for the next 45 years… or at least, for the next 5, as we look toward our 50^th anniversary in 2025.

But as for year 44… we’ve had our fair share of successes, challenges, and opportunities in the past 12 months, making for a pretty packed year! Way back in the early part of last year, we had our first ever MLK Day of service, along with a seven-week sermon series on baptism, dinners and learning over at Buckingham Pizza during Lent. Holy Week brought us large numbers for our brand-new family-friendly Good Friday service. In the summer we had no chance to slow down, with Kyle Campbell’s confirmation – which you all participated in, in one way or another, a week of visioning during our “Family Chats,” Vacation Bible School with Trinity Episcopal, updating the Multi-Purpose room, and attending the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Milwaukee WI. This left us almost no time to get ready for a very busy fall and winter – the beginning of our Joyful Noise services, Feed My Starving Children Meal packing at Del Val, welcoming new members including a first communion retreat, & painting our windows for Advent & Christmas for the third year in a row.

2019 also brought challenges – saying goodbye to our organist Father Glenn, mourning the deaths of a few beloved members, keeping worship consistent amidst our organist transition, the continuing struggle to keep our aging building in good repair while keeping the budget balanced, and recruiting volunteers and leaders in key positions to help keep our ministries active.

As we look back on 2019, we can ask ourselves how much of our nets are we actually casting. We are spending close to half of our budget on expenses related to internal operations, and the upkeep and management of our property. Almost a third of my time in 2019 was spent in tasks and activities related to administration and property. To put this in perspective, only about 15% of my time and about 10% of our budget was spent on outreach and community related activities. Are we casting the nets of our resources in the right areas?

As we are moving into 2020, and our 45^th year as a congregation, we have more than a few opportunities before us. I hope that through the help of the Holy Spirit, we can rise to the occasion, and motivate us to reallocate our time and our resources. We are the closest Lutheran church to New Hope - on the Pennsylvania side of the river – so the opportunity to becoming an opening welcoming and affirming community for our LGBTQIA siblings in Christ is right there for the taking. The “fish” are there, do we have the courage to do the work?

Now that we have a well-established Joyful Noise service for kids and families, how can figure out to be better reach out to them, especially families who have members with special needs and are on the Autism spectrum? Perhaps it’s time to cast our nets wider, which will be easier and more effective when we have more hands at the task.

Looking ahead, we have successfully reached our pledge goal of 45 pledges for 2020 – next, we must ask, how can we continued to foster a community of generosity in wholeness as a community, rather than sponsoring individual causes or reactively giving only when something goes wrong or need to be fixed… to instead transform into a community that is proactively generous and communally oriented. Much the same as the uselessness of nets for the purpose of fishing for people when they are in your hand… money in the bank or in a wallet does nothing for the kingdom of God.

We started some of this work last summer, during our Family Chats, and we hope to continue this work in the coming year as we explore some of the hopes and dreams that we shared together. I shared a few of these dreams in my report, but I also want to remind you right now of what we dreamed that FOG might live into –

-         More small group events, a summer evening midweek service, a full parking lot each Sunday with people greeting each other as they walk in,

-         Make more use of our building, co-sponsor events with other churches, become a community hub, outdoor movie nights, book discussions, 

-         Become the “go-to” church in the area, to encourage our young people to serve, to be welcoming of the LGBTQIA community, to include interactive elements in worship, update music in the framework of traditional worship....

I could go on and on with all of these wonderful, hopeful dreams we have. And not every one of us will feel called to every item on this list. Jesus calls everyone differently, at different times and different speeds. But we have all been called to be part of this congregation, in one way or another. Like the fish, we have all been caught by Jesus.

The disciples who dropped their nets and followed Jesus that day did not know how their adventure was going to turn out, and right now neither do we. Some days will be easier than others.

But Jesus is the one who chose us, caught us, and called us to a life of living in his footsteps. And we have one another as companions along the way, and we, at Family of God Lutheran church are continuing this journey so long after these first disciples. As we prepare to look back as a congregation on 2019, let’s listen hard to what Jesus is calling us to be and do in 2020. Together, let’s look and listen for how Jesus is causing the kingdom to come near to us, right now, with us and among us. Then we too can take up our nets in our own different ways, to follow Jesus into a new and exciting future.

There is a prayer that can be found in the ELW that is perfect for venturing with Jesus into the unknown. It’s one of my favorites, and we’ll say it again during our annual meeting. But really, we can’t pray it enough, and I think you’ll see why. Let us pray.

Lord God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Baptism of our Lord and Ourselves

1-19-20

I did something a little bit differently for this sermon - I walked everyone though the baptism liturgy and talked about each part, much like I did last year for A - "Affirmation of Baptism" during our "Season of Baptism" during  the season Epiphany last year. 

Grace to you and peace from God our creator and from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, amen.

Last year, Series on baptism do you remember? B – Born Anew, A -Affirmed, P- EmPowered, T- Trust, I – Inspire, S – Serve, M- Multiply

Baptize infants/ kids vs. “Believer’s Baptism”

The reason we baptize babies - symbolizes that we do nothing to earn God’s love

Part 2: Rite of “Confirmation = Affirmation of Baptism (we can affirm this all the time, not just when we’re in the 9th or 10th grade)

P. 227 - Go through Baptism service 

Opening prayer - Big ticket words - Water/word/ death/ resurrection / saints

Presentation: Parents present, or if older, they can answer for themselves (consent)

Go through each promise

TO LIVE WITH (HIM/HER/THEM) AMONG GOD’S FAITHFUL PEOPLE, Be part of a faith community

(HIM/HER/THEM) TO THE WORD OF GOD AND THE HOLY SUPPER – bring them to church!

TEACH (HIM/HER/THEM) THE LORD’S PRAYER, THE CREED, AND THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, (Self-explanatory)

PLACE IN (HIS/HER/THEM) HANDS THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, AND NURTURE (HIM/HER) IN FAITH AND PRAYER, (pretty obvious)

SO THAT YOUR CHILD MAY LEARN AND TRUST GOD, PROCLAIM CHRIST THROUGH WORD AND DEED, CARE FOR OTHERS AND THE WORLD GOD MADE, AND WORK FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE. DO YOU PROMISE TO HELP YOUR CHILD GROW IN THE CHRISTIAN FAITH AND LIFE?

Parents promise, sponsors promise, then WE all as a community promise (we need all of us!!) You are all responsible for each other.

Profession of Faith = early rite of Exorcism. Greek “Eckballo” to cast out, like throw a ball (renounce = turn your back on, cast out)

If you were to add things to “turn our backs on,” what would they be? What specifically “defies” or “rebels” against God? What other things might you add to the list? I would offer adding:

-         Fear and scarcity thinking

-         Too much consuming / big retail

-         Institutional racism and individual discrimination

-         Sexism, gender-based violence, toxic masculinity

-         Unjust economic systems (to name a few)

Creed = What we turn toward/ what we DO profess (can’t just be against things)

Trinitarian Creed – father son Holy Spirit (3 “no,” 3 “yes”)

Thanksgiving at the Font

-         “Flood Prayer” written by Martin Luther

-         Reviews the “Highlights of “salvation history” – the “big times” that God has saved God’s people, ending with Jesus

Actual Baptism: “sprinkling”

Where did we get baptism? John the Baptist, who we have been hearing about a lot! but also the end of Matthew – Command from Jesus to baptize in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit (the promise is that Jesus is with us until the end of the age)

Some traditions are (like ours) give the kid a white robe = made into a new person, and given new life in Christ, related to why pastors traditionally will wear a white robe, called an “Alb” (though it’s optional)

We say, “WE belong to Christ, in whom we have been baptized”

Prayer: same prayer that is later said over confirmands – Holy Spirit

Oil and Cross –oil from  old historical ritual from the tradition of anointing for special purpose - Kings, prophets, Jesus when he was on his way to Jerusalem

-         That cross may be invisible, but it never goes away! It’s always with us!

Candle: the light of Christ that is within us

-         Can and should light on our baptism anniversaries

-         Is where birthday candles come from

Congregational welcome! (Move on into service)

Martin Luther’s small catechism wrote “What gifts or benefits does baptism grant? It brings about forgiveness of sins, redeems from death and the devil, and give eternal salvation to all who believe it….”

An example of what it looks like to live our baptisms – MLK Jr.

Tomorrow we will affirm the life of MLK and all the gifts he had… working for justice and preaching good news to the oppressed – and to accept the cost of doing so, which for MLK was his life.

That was a walk through baptism, which is not just one day – it marks us our whole lives as belonging to God. Which is something of great value that we can take with us in our everyday lives, to walk through the world knowing that we are worthy and loved, and empowered to tell others that they are worthy and loved by God too. Thanks be to God, amen.

Epiphany: When We See the Face of God

1-12-19

Grace to you and peace to you from Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, amen.

Imagine for a moment that you are president of the United States. You are going about your business, doing your president thing, when one morning you hear a knock on the door of the Oval Office. Some dignitaries from various nations approach your desk with a question. They eagerly ask, “Where is the new president of the United States? Our intelligence has informed us that a new president is now in office, and we have come to pay our respects.” Your blood suddenly turns cold. To your knowledge there has been no election, no new president. You are the one in power, and you’d like to keep it that way. After all, you've worked so hard to get here. Who, then, could these ambassadors be speaking of? And what might it take to keep all this confusion quiet?

If you were looking for the person “in charge” in our country, you would look at the White House. Likewise, where else would you look for the birth of a king than in the royal palace the seat of power?

When the wise men finally showed up to finally take their place in our nativity scenes, they knocked on King Herod’s palace door. They were not the “Fun Kind” of surprise visitors. Their arrival struck fear into the hearts of those in power. Their arrival signaled to those who had a stake in the status quo that change was on the horizon. And for someone like King Herod – comfortable, in control, and backed by the Roman Empire, change is a bad thing. Change means revolution.

But this is not exactly how Christmas cards and Hallmark store displays have taught us to imagine the scene, in a stylized stable with well-behaved animals, dirty shepherd next to richly dressed men bearing gifts, with bright pointed star hanging overhead, shining light on the serene scene. In reality, Christmas is long over by the time the star leads these wise men to the place where Jesus is. Their journey was long and hard, probably through mountains and deserts…and when they finally arrived, their news brought fear and not joy. But through hardship and suspicion, they still pressed on, until finally the star stopped and revealed to the wise men where Jesus was. It was there, in a house somewhere in Bethlehem, that these wise sages of the East witnessed the unveiling of God face to face. They saw firsthand God’s “epiphany.”

This season we have now entered has a funny name. “Epiphany” is not a word you hear a lot. “I had an epiphany at work today,” you might say to a friend, referring to brainstorming a good idea for a project. It’s just a fancy way to describe that light bulb moment, quite literally, when a realization dawns on you, when suddenly things make sense and you can’t figure out how you couldn't see it just a moment ago. It’s when the world suddenly shifts into focus, like putting on a new pair of glasses …. and it takes you a moment to get used to how clear the world looks.

When those really good ah-ha moments happen – some people have cited falling in love, or having a child, or when you land that perfect job – your life is never quite the same again. And how could you live your life in the same old night now that the dawn has arrived? How could you put on your old out-of-date glasses now that your way is bright and clear? You can never go back, nor would you want to. You are living in a new world. Everything has changed.

Everything changed the night when Jesus was born, when the King of Kings and Lord of Lords revealed his face between bands of cloth in the straw of a manger. Everything changed when angels announced his birth and shepherds sang his praises. Everything changed when these men from another religion and another country acknowledged Jesus, a baby born into poverty, as their true king. As Mary’s song, the Magnificat said, the world is turned upside down – the mighty would be brought low and the lowly lifted up, the hungry would be fed and the full sent away empty. The ordinary order of the world of haves and have-nots could no longer hold. All because God revealed God’s true character in a baby born in Bethlehem.

But Epiphany is not just a one-time occasion that we celebrate and remember having happened in the past. No, God has Epiphanies all over the place. The God we worship is continually revealing to us who God is and how God is working in the world – through people, through churches and congregations, and even through other unlikely sources. 

Even novles, Movies, plays, and musicals can sometimes be a medium of God’s epiphanies.

When I was in high school, I fell in love with the musical Les Mis, and played my library copy of the ancient technology called a “CD” on repeat, and watched the anniversary productions on PBS. As you can imagine, I was very excited when a few years ago, a movie version with a star-studded cast came out in theaters.

As you might recall, Les Mis follows the fortunes of one man, Jean Valjean. At the start of the musical he is a hardened criminal, released on parole after 19 years in prison. He, like many in our own time, seeks work but is turned away time and time again because he is an ex-con. Hungry, cold, and desperate, he finds himself sleeping in a church, where the bishop of the church welcomes him, feeds him, and offers him a warm place to spend the night.

But Valjean saw the fine silver cutlery while he ate and that night, he stole the silver and took off. He is caught and dragged back before the bishop. Valjean knew that he blew his only chance - he would go back to prison for the rest of his life. The soldiers knew that too. They sneered and repeated Valjean’s paper-thin lie – that the bishop had felt sorry for Valjean, and GAVE him the silver. Yeah right. Like any person, even a bishop, would be so THAT kind to an ex-con.

But instead of press charges, the bishop took the silver candlesticks down from the mantle, and said, “you forgot, I gave these also…” The soldiers and Valjean are both aghast. Valjean is released, but the bishop was not finished. He told Valjean that he must use the silver to become an honest man, and that his gift had rescued Valjean’s soul for God. The bishop had given him his freedom, and said that he had a soul worth saving.

The rest of the musical reveals to us how this man chose to live the rest of his life after this epiphany - to live for others and not just for himself. At the end of his life, on his deathbed surrounded by his loved ones both living and dead, he is able to sum up his life by this maxim: “to love another person is to see the face of God.”

Though we don’t know what happened to the wise men after they saw the face of God, we can assume that they were never the same again. They had given fine gifts, but had experienced the greatest gift of all. Their lives had changed. For one thing, they had become fugitives, sneaking out of the country to avoid becoming Herod’s informants. Herod had no intention of paying homage to the newborn king. He would rather snuff out any threat to his power than see the true face of God revealed in a humble child.

But God continues reveals himself in unexpected places and to unlikely people. God reveals God’s face to a teenaged girl and her carpenter fiancé…..to tired shepherds in the middle of the night… and to star-gazing sages of the orient…. also, to you and to me. For God revealed God’s face in the form of a small child so that all people could have a place at the table – Jews, gentiles, men, women, non-binary people, and children, black and white, carpenters and lawyers, straight, gay, depressed, happy, mentally-challenged, socially challenged, financially challenged, bored, addicted, busy, ex-cons and bishops. We see the face of God in all these people. Thanks be to God, Amen.