Grace Happenings

I went over to my wife's coworker's house last night. She had some boxes to give us because we are moving next week. While we were there she asked if I would help her try to figure out why her garbage disposal and outlet by her sink wouldn't work. As she was talking I saw a reset button on one of the other outlets and dumbly pushed it. As I did that, she was saying, "See it just stopped work..." at that time she flicked the switched and low and behold the garbage disposal began to grind away, doing its job.

She was elated that it was working again. I thought that she was going to pick me up and spin me around. The look of joy and relief on her face was simply priceless. In that moment, I experienced undeserved grace. Thanks and more thanks came from her mouth. And all I did was push a button, but what she experienced was freedom. One never knows what actions will lead to. Gratitude is amazing. It's infectious and beautiful, and not always expressed as it ought. When one woman is so grateful for her garbage disposal working again, how great it is to be reminded of all the gratitude I have for all the wonderful and unexpected little grace happenings in my life.

Inviting to Community without Distinction

I recently read an article by the leader of a evangelically minded group within the ELCA. (I would hope that we are all evangelically minded.) I am so glad this group exists and is getting positive attention from the wider church. I consider myself a partner with them in raising up the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world beyond the church. However, there are a couple of terms used by groups like this one that I can't seem to buy into: "unchurched" and "dechurched".

I will admit, I have used these terms myself, but the more I think about it, this is yet one more church word that creates "us vs. them" distinctions that divide and shame instead of invite and encourage. These words assume a superiority of class in being "churched" or a member of a church. I have observed that for many of people of faith, and in particular, the upper Midwest (as this is really the only Christian culture I know) we are much more comfortable and conversant in the language of "church" than we are in the language of "faith". It is easier to answer the question, "What's your church doing for your life and in your community?" than it is to answer "What's God doing in your life and in your community?" This is a critique, but one that I make with care and concern for the life of the church, the people.

There are great benefits to being "churched" like having a caring community around you, being prayed for, having a group of people to share in the joys and disappointments in life, being encouraged in one's walk of faith, having a place to ask hard questions, and connecting with God in community, among others. But, I urge those of us in the church to celebrate these things in such a way that we honor and respect those who have yet to experience the benefits and blessings of the living Go.

I haven't heard Jesus calling out those outside of the faith to be indoctrinated, I hear Jesus calling the world to find its uniqueness in the Risen Savior. I would argue that Jesus' hope for the world is not that we all join a church, but that we be the church in everything that we do. I hear Jesus invite those outside of faith to consider the ways of God and to follow them.

We have all been created in God's image whether we are "churched", "unchurched" or "dechurched", therefore are we not all brothers and sisters trying to find our way in the world and in the community of God?

A Mindless Day

Friday is typically the day I take off. Today, I took a mental holiday that would rival any other's. I vegged out so much that I hardly came into the day. Mindlessness and pure emptiness, with interspersed episodes of good intentions to do things, but really never developing was the rhythm of the day. I should feel guilty...nah. Sometimes I think that I can be washed over with the desire for rest to the point that I am numb, paralyzed even. That is kind of how today was. Every once in a while, I think it's ok to be paralyzed by nothingness. It was rest and I will be ready for new experiences tomorrow.

Lent - A Season of Reflection

Lent is the the 40 days before Easter when Christians have historically taken spiritual inventory of their lives and repented for sins. Sin isn't a four-letter word, it is simply an honest statement about being human. We sin.

As a kid, I loved Lent. I remember how we "put away" the Alleluia, sometimes even physically in a box. The thing I remember most is the way the music changed. Christmas and Epiphany were filled with melodies that let you know everything was right with the world, Jesus was here and we knew that he was the one God had chosen to bring salvation to all the world. But, Lent was something wholly other. Because Jesus was the one who had come to bring the world freedom, there had to be a season of struggle, a journey that was more difficult than Immanuel, "God is with us". The music made a dramatic change into minor keys, darker tones and unresolved chords. The music itself anticipated Easter, but would not go there until the resurrection. Then on Easter morning the trumpet would sound...oh wait, we're not there yet. I'll come back to it at Easter. It's worth the wait.

Journeying from past to the future

The other night, I decided to stop into a Bible Study that is led by Pr. Gary. We were talking about the Last Supper, it's Jewish roots and the way that it has been celebrated throughout the centuries in the church.

When Jesus celebrated the Lord's Supper, it was really a celebration. Passover was a commemoration of God's deliverance of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. There was wine and food, and ritual, and good conversation. The wine was there, so was the flat bread and the sacrificial Lamb. When Jesus picked up the bread and said, "this is my body" everything changed. The ritual was broken and something new was begining the past was becoming the future for those that followed Jesus.

One of the components of Passover was the empty seat at the table that was reserved for Elijah, who it was said would come to usher in the time of the messiah. It was the cup reserved for Elijah that Jesus picked up after supper and who said, "this cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sins." Jesus claim was that the messiah had come, in spite of Elijah's absence from the Passover.

Yet, there was a time that Elijah came, with Moses, who led the people out of Egypt. They met Jesus and a few of his disciples on the mountain at the transfiguration. In that event, God was drawing together the past, present and future into a single scene. God's blessing was on Jesus to bring the past and the future together.

The people of Israel celebrated their deliverance at the time of Jesus, in spite of the fact that they again were occupied and again were under another power's political authority. This is a miracle of faith.

We have much to learn from the Jewish people, when we reflect on our own lives and our hearts are heavy. There is strength in weakness, there is light in darkness.

The other night I was talking with some people and a question arose about where people get their hope. What came out of that conversation was an incredible witness to the power of hope when things are very discouraging, dark and when weakness is all one can feel. Stories flowed freely and the depth of pain expressed was almost tangible. At the end of each story emerged an inexpressible sense of hope. It was against logic and reason, but it was real. God was in the middle of all of it. It was as though God's own hand carried us through these stories into hope and light.

I felt so alive, so connected to everything. I only pray that I may have the courage to go to those places with others so that new hope may emerge. It is in confronting and confessing the darkness of our past that the future may show hope and promise, as God showed to us in the night in which the Lord was betrayed.

Peace to your house.