In the Least Expected Places

One thing I’ve discovered about being a pastor is that I start thinking about the next church calendar season well before it actually arrives.  Advent doesn’t start until Sunday, but I’ve been thinking about it for a couple of months now--planning a sermon series, doing initial research about Luke 1, working on our liturgy, making sure that someone got candles for Sunday. 

We will be preaching through Luke chapter 1 over the next four weeks.  This Sunday I'm preaching on the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth from Luke 1:5-25.  Along with the text, this poetic and musical retelling of the story has been in my heart over the last couple of weeks.  This song is by a band called So Elated on their Christmas album, The Bewildering Light (follow the link to get the album legally for free at noisetrade!). 

Jerusalem and the holy temple filled with smoke
Zechariah shuns the news from the angel of hope
Stuck behind an incense cloud of religion and disappointment

God keeps slipping out of underneath rocks 
in alleys off the beaten path
Open both your eyes.

Prophets and kings and poets can contribute their work
just like eggs in a nest are alive with the promise of birds
But the Lord of Creation will not be subjected to expectation

God keeps slipping out of underneath rocks 
in alleys off the beaten path
Open both your eyes.

Elizabeth, barren, her knees black and dirty like coal
her consistent prayers float to the sky and revive her soul
God we will wait though we don't understand your redemptive story

God keeps slipping out of underneath rocks
in alleys off the beaten path 
Open both our eyes.

I love the reminder that “the Lord of Creation will not be subjected to expectation.”  I have expectations, and hopes, and dreams, but God who created heavens and earth doesn’t fit neatly into those boxes.  But that doesn’t mean God is absent, because often we see glimpses of God where we least expect it, “in alleys off the beaten path.”  God came to Zechariah and Elizabeth in the middle of their dashed expectations, and he did something unexpected in and through them. 

And my prayer for myself and for you this Advent, especially while we are in those places where God isn’t doing what we expect, is that our response will be like Elizabeth: 

Elizabeth, barren, her knees black and dirty like coal
her consistent prayers float to the sky and revive her soul
God we will wait though we don't understand your redemptive story.

Image by Nick Thompson, http://www.flickr.com/photos/pelegrino/1356007875/, November 30, 2012.  Used under a Creative Commons License.

On the Church Calendar

When I lived in China, I went shopping with a teammate and some students for Christmas decorations.  As we went from booth to booth, sorting through the over-glittered window decorations and artificial Christmas trees, I saw an artificial wreath.  I was struck with an idea, “I can make an advent wreath!”  We always had an advent wreath at home when I was growing up, and my mom found various devotionals for us to use during the season.  Once I tracked down some purple candles, the advent wreath helped me to focus on the season.  In the morning darkness, I would like the candles and be reminded that “the people walking in darkness have seen a great light” (Isaiah 9:2).  That was a particularly dark season of the year for a variety of reasons, and the simple candles gave me hope and peace in the midst of it.

Advent is just one season in the church calendar, the way that the church tells time.  Growing up, although we did observe Advent, we really only paid attention to some parts of the church calendar.  But as I have lived with the church calendar longer, it has become an important way for me to order my life.  A Lutheran source says, “People order time in various ways, often based on the rhythms of nature. The church organizes time by the church year. It tells the story of God, who is beyond time, acting in history – above all through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”  

This way that the church organizes time shapes us.  It doesn’t happen overnight, but through the years we are oriented to get the full view of God’s work in the world.  Instead of organizing our life by when we get to take vacation from our work or have to buy lots of gifts, we organize our life by Jesus life, death, and resurrection.  Instead of being forced to be happy all of the time, we have a variety of seasons with different timbres.  The church calendar is countercultural.  It continually points us towards Christ and helps us to meditate on his work.

And the church calendar is a good teaching tool.  It is simple enough for kids to learn.  The colors associated with each season give us a visual way to engage the story.  It tells God’s story.  This past Sunday was Christ the King (or Reign of Christ) Sunday.  We were reminded that Jesus reigns and that all parts of our life are under God’s authority.  What better message on a weekend of obsessive consumerism? 

This Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent, I will remember the start of the church year.  The way God sent his son to earth.  And I will remember again that the “people walking in darkness have seen a great light.”  I am thankful for the church calendar that helps me to pay attention, to remember, to focus on Christ.   

 

Calendar image copyright © 2011 Michele Quigley, http://www.family-centered.com/living/2011/11/printable-liturgical-calendar/, accessed 27 November 2012.  

Used under a Creative Commons License.

Sunday Afternoon Prayer: A Grace

I found this simple yet profound prayer this week:
O God,
To those who have hunger give bread,
To those who have bread
Give hunger for justice.

From South America, found in Around a Thin Place: An Iona Pilgrimage Guide by Jane Bentley and Neil Paynter, pg. 77

My Thanksgiving Adventure

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.  For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.” (Psalm 100:4-5)

For Thanksgiving this year, my parents and I decided to celebrate at my apartment and invite some of the refugees I work with.  I invited a family of 5 that recently arrived from Nepal, and we cooked and set the table accordingly.  As I was driving over to pick them up, I was wishing my apartment was bigger so I could have invited a Sri Lankan family that lives nearby, too.  When I got to the Nepalese family’s home, I found out the mother wasn’t feeling well and the daughters were going to stay home to care for her.  That meant only 2 of 5 were going to come. 

We got in the car and started driving home, but as we were about to pass the Sri Lankan family’s apartment I decided to stop and see if they wanted to come over.  I didn’t have their phone number in my phone to call them, so I just knocked unannounced (which I don’t usually do).  I asked if they had plans and invited them over.  They said yes and I waited while they got ready to leave. 

I arrived home with 6 people instead of 5, so we slipped another chair around the table and put the food on the table.  My mom and I cooked a pretty traditional Thanksgiving meal—turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, roasted vegetables, cranberry sauce, a spinach salad.  At times, conversation seemed strained, since I was the only person that really knew everyone.  But as the meal went on, it got easier.  Everyone helped clean up (except maybe my dad because one of my Nepalese guys told him in their culture the young people serve the older people) and participate in the day.  My parents told them stories about life in Michigan farmland.  My mom played with the 3 year old.  He had discovered my baskets of toys and games, and one of the young men asked my mom how to play Phase 10.  She explained it and then I heard him enthusiastically say “let’s play.”  He has been through an incredible amount of pain in his short life, and it made my heart glad to hear him excited about a game.  So we played a few phases of Phase 10 before it was time to go home.

As we were saying goodbye and leaving the house, several of them said they felt like they were a part of a family today. 

That is about the best thanks I could receive.  The day wasn’t quite what I was planning, but it worked out well.  I am thankful for this opportunity to share home, food, parents, games, a holiday, and love with others.  I am thankful to be able to share “hospitality with strangers” (Hebrews 13:2).  

Thanksgiving Standing Stones

“In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean? tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”(Joshua 4:6-7)

When God’s people entered the promised land, Joshua instructed the leaders to set up standing stones to remind them of what God has done.  They were reminders of God’s presence in human history.  For the past few years, I have created a “Thanksgiving Standing Stones List.”  I usually draw stones in my journal and write what each one symbolizes.  This year, I am sharing the list here—my reminders of what God has done.

 

Ordination!  I was ordained as a Minister of the Word on January 1, 2012.  Even most of a year later, sometimes I still can’t believe it.  The fact that I am ordained is a testament to God’s faithfulness and sometimes mysterious ways.

      Liz and Allison, friends who have been to the heights and depths with me this year.  They celebrated my ordination with me, let me cry on their couch, brought me Jimmy John’s in the hospital while my mom was having surgery, and ate lots of meals with me.

My mom’s healing; she had a serious infection in her knee last winter which resulted in a hospital stay, 2 surgeries, and a long recovery period.  She has recovered really well and been able to maintain an active life this summer and fall.

      Starting the second year of my residency.  It is fun to be going through things the second time around, when I have at least an idea of how they go.  It is also exciting to see the Holy Spirit moving in our midst.

      Rediscovering camping and hiking this summer and fall.  I loved getting away and spending time outside in God’s creation.

Thanks Be To God!

Standing stone photo by Ian W Scott, http://www.flickr.com/photos/ian-w-scott/5752055707/, November 12, 2012.  Used under Creative Commons License.

All other photos are my own.

Sunday Afternoon Prayer: To the Light of the World

This morning, I offered the intercessory prayer on behalf of our congregation.  The sermon text was Matthew 5:14-16 so I made heavy use of light imagery from the Bible.  I have changed proper names to protect their privacy.

Jesus, light of the world:

When we look around our world, the darkness often seems overwhelming.  But we know that the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. 

Jesus, shine your light into the darkness of the Middle East.  May your light shine instead of rockets in Israel and Palestine.  May your light shine in the midst of conflict in Syria.  Protect Christians living in those places, and give them courage to be your light in the darkness.

Lord, shine your light into the dark places in our lives.  We think of those in the dark place of grief.  We remember L&H and H&F as they grieve recent losses.  We remember the many members of our community that face a new phase of grieving this week as the holiday season starts.  Surround them with your love.  Remind them that the darkness has not overcome your light.

And we ask that you will comfort the members of our community who are facing health problems, especially B.  Give wisdom to the doctors and peace to their family members.

Jesus, who is the light of the world, you have also said that we are the light of the world.  We pray for T. as he lets his light shine in the prison.  And we pray for his family, that they would see your light in him and in others you have put in their lives.

The Christian Reformed Church has designated today as Chaplain’s Sunday.  Today we bring our chaplains to you as they let their lights shine in the shadows of hospitals, nursing homes, military units, and workplaces.

We praise you for the ways that you have helped us to let our light shine through our English as a Second Language programs.  Continue to help our tutors to let their lights shine to their students, that they would give glory to you.

Help all of us to let our light shine in our homes, neighborhoods, and workplaces.  May many see our good deeds and join us in giving glory to you.

We pray all of this in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen. 

Photo by Kalyan Kanuri, http://www.flickr.com/photos/kalyan/163744627/, November 17, 2012.

Used under a Creative Commons License.

Be Not Afraid

I was talking with a friend today.  She is in a time of some uncertainty.  As I think about it, almost all of my friends are in some time of transition or uncertainty—looking for a new job, starting a new job, beginning a new relationship, moving to a new home, or having a new baby.    

This reminded me one of my favorite songs I’ve learned at Church of the Servant, “Come, Holy Ghost.”  I first heard it sung by the choir as they prepared for a service.  It was during the first month or two I was at COS, just trying to get my bearings.  The chorus really struck me: “Be not afraid, where you go there I am with.”  At that time, the words floating through the church building set me at peace.  Even though I was in a new place doing a new thing, God was with me there, too.  I didn’t need to be afraid, because God was with me.

I did some research on the song today and found that the words are attributed to the early church.  The chorus was added and it was set to music by Ray Mills and Bruce Benedict a few years ago.  You can listen to this setting on their website.

So for all of us in some time of transition, this is my prayer:

Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest, And in our hearts take up Thy rest; 

Come with thy grace and heav'nly aid to fill our hearts which thou hast made, 

To fill our hearts which Thou has made. 

 

O Comforter, to thee we cry, Thou heav'nly gift of God most high; 

Thou fount of life, and fire of love, And sweet anointing from above, 

And sweet anointing from above. 

Chorus: 

Be not afraid, where you go there I am with you. (2x) 

 

O Holy Ghost, through thee alone, Know we the Father and the Son; 

Be this our firm unchanging creed, That thou dost from them both proceed, 

That thou dost from them both proceed. 

Praise we the Lord, Father and Son, And Holy Spirit with them one; 

And may the Son on us bestow all gifts that from the Spirit flow, 

All gifts that from the Spirit flow.

Photo by Messiah Lutheran (Mechanicsville, VA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/mlcas/6970671144/, November 16, 2012.

Used under Creative Commons License.

How Long, Lord? A Post-Prison Lament

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me? (Psalm 13:1)

Psalm 13 gives us words to talk to God in life’s hard times.  It is a lament, a way to express frustration and anger within our relationship with God.  If there is a population that has cause for lament, it is returning citizens—men and women who have felonies on their record but have completed their prison sentence.  My church is involved with a number of ministries both inside and outside of prisons.  One of them is a group called CONTACT for returning citizens to worship and fellowship together.   

Members of this group have been working on creating a staged reading based on Psalm 13 and their experiences as returning citizens.  Sunday night, they debuted it as part of our evening worship service.  They told their stories of regret and guilt.  They told their stories of meeting Jesus and the new life they have found in him.  They told their stories of the struggles to find good housing, get good jobs, reconnect with family, make friends, find a church, and look towards the unknowns in the rest of their life. 

One man told his story to us.  He, like the others in his neighborhood, started to use drugs and alcohol as a young teen.  When he was 25, he was partying one night—he described himself as totally wasted--and stabbed 2 people, one of whom was his best friend.  He spent over 20 years in prison.  While he was there, he heard about Jesus from another inmate.  He became a follower of Jesus, and God delivered him from drugs and alcohol.  God changed his life.  Now that he is back on the outside, he is working a steady job and found a church home.  But he is about 50 years old.  Most people his age are set with family and friendships, so it is hard to make friends.  Since he was incarcerated for most of his working years, he wonders what retirement will be like.

They concluded with the story of the Lost Son from Luke 15, the story of the Father’s unconditional love and how they have received this love from God.  Like a Biblical lament, they started with the struggles and questions and ended with trust in God’s grace. 

“But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.

I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.” (Psalm 13:5-6)

Photo by Giara, http://www.flickr.com/photos/giara/6351299142/, November 13, 2012.

Used by Creative Commons License.

Sunday Afternoon Prayer: A Post-Election Prayer

Many prayers were offered before the elections in the United States this past week.  I know that some people are thrilled their prayers were answered their way and some are devastated that their prayers were not.  Here is my prayer for this country (and American Christians) as we go forward.

Healing God,

You see our broken and fractured country. You see broken relationships, even within the church, because of politics.  You see fractures among people of different ages, races, genders, classes, and religions.  Bring healing to these fractures.  Heal broken relationships.  May we find our unity in you.  Help us to see beyond ourselves, our interests, our party affiliation, and see the good in others’ points of view.  Heal the broken hearts of candidates who lost elections after pouring their heart and soul into the race.

Wisdom-giving God,

Give your wisdom and discernment to our leaders.  Help them to discern what is best for our country: for our citizens of all kinds, for those hoping to be citizens, for our allies around the world, and for our relationships with countries we might consider our enemies.  And help them to work together for good.  May we all find the power of compromise with one another.  May our laws and policies bring a touch of your peace and justice in this broken world.    

Sovereign God,

Our help comes from you, maker of heaven and earth (Psalm121:2).  Help your people to remember that you are sovereign, that this world belongs to you.  No matter what happens to our country, you are still in control.  Remind us again and again that our primary identity is not in our citizenship, but in the waters of baptism.  We are new creations in Christ, and our only comfort in life and in death is that we belong to you (Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 1).   

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Galloping Away

I’ve been reading through Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing by Sally Lloyd-Jones and Jago (author and illustrator of The Jesus Storybook Bible).  This is a new book of devotions, geared for kids, but applicable for anyone.  It is really a lovely book of very short devotions/thoughts on Biblical stories, verses, and themes with wonderful illustrations.

One of the devotions picks up on an image in Jeremiah 8:6 to help us think about the nature of sin. 

“The Bible says [sin is] not like simply wandering off the path and getting lost by mistake.  It’s like a horse charging at full speed away from him.  We want to get away from God that badly!  We are like horses galloping headlong after the things we want” (pg. 32).

This vivid image reminded me of one of the starkest Q&A’s in the Heidelberg Catechism, which says “I have a natural tendency to hate God and my neighbor” (Q&A 5).  Most of us don’t really like this much.  We want to believe that we are naturally good people, full of love and not hate.

But we are like galloping horses.  Without the Holy Spirit, we naturally are galloping away from God towards what we want.  It is easy for me to see a horse galloping across a field, away from its owner or another horse.  The picture captures, for me at least, the heart of this question and Biblical truth in a way that the words themselves don’t.

Photo by bozo_z_clown, http://www.flickr.com/photos/bozo_z_clown/18475388/, November 10, 2012.

Used by Creative Commons License. 

A Profound Mystery

I recently read Lauren Winner’s new book, Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis (HarperOne 2012).  Winner told the story of finding faith in an earlier memoir, Girl Meets God.  Since then, she got married, got divorced, and her mother died.  In the turmoil, she found herself struggling with faith and doubt, and she shares those struggles in this book.  One of the things I most appreciated about this book is that in the midst of her doubt, she continued practicing her faith—she didn’t give up on the church, on spiritual disciplines, or the sacraments.  She kept at it, trusting that someday she would find God/God would find her again.

In one of her notes, Winner tells the story of being the chalice bearer during the Eucharist at a small Episcopal church.  Towards the end of the line, an elderly couple came and knelt at the rail.  Each one of them took a wafer from the priest.  When she came to them with the cup, the wife dipped her wafer in and ate it.  Then the husband dipped his wafer in.  But he didn’t eat the wafer.  He handed “the Body and Blood to his wife” and she ate it for him.

After the service, the priest told Winner that this man had been suffering from a wasting disease for 12 years, leaving him unable to digest most food.  But that wasn’t what Winner saw.  She only knew “the couple’s hands and mouths, and that I am seeing one flesh.  I have read about this, heard sermons about a man and a woman becoming one flesh; and here at the altar, I see that perhaps this is the way I come to know such intimacy myself: as part of the body of Christ, this body that numbers among its cells and sinews an octogenarian husband and wife who are Communion” (38-39).

Winner’s story reminds me of Ephesians 5: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’  This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5:31-32, NIV 2011).  These verses come in the context of a longer passage about husbands and wives, and the clarification that Paul is actually talking about Christ and the church actually seems rather abrupt. 

And yet its abruptness is welcoming.  It points us away from this just being a household code of rules and regulations about who can do what around the house.  It points us to the truth that anyone can be a part of this relationship between Christ and the church; married or single we are united with Christ in baptism.  We are not all in a good marriage where we get to experience being one flesh.  But, as Winner points out, we all find intimacy in the body of Christ—with Christ and with each other.  When we are united with Christ in baptism, we are also united to the Church, to the body of believers.  This couple is united to each other and to the others in that congregation and to Winner and to us.  Together we are mysteriously “united in love, so that [we] may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that [we] may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ” (Colossians 2:2-3, NIV 2011).

Sunday Afternoon Prayer: On the 16th Anniversary of My Profession of Faith

16 years ago yesterday (November 3, 1996), I stood before my church and claimed God’s baptismal promises as my own when I made public profession of faith.  16 years later, this is my prayer: 

Thank you, Father:

            For your covenant love expressed in the waters of baptism;

For the adventure of following you;

            For the people who have surrounded me on the journey.

Christ, have mercy:

            When I think I can follow you myself;

            When I forget your loving promises;

            When I want to know the destination and don’t trust you to guide.

Spirit, guide me:

            In the upcoming year of following you;

            In growing more like Christ;

            In resting in your promises.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen. 

A Stary Sky

Welcome! I am starting blogging again today.  I’m planning to post a couple times a week with thoughts on life, ministry, and scripture.  If you are new here, you can also look at some of my old posts—most of them are related to my two internships during seminary.

The inky black sky was thick with thousands of bright stars.  Possibly more stars than I have ever seen in my life.  Certainly more than I had seen in a long time.  And that was just walking from my campsite to the bathhouse on a camping trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. 

I stood in the campground road and took in the stars.  They took my breath away.  As I curled up in my tent that night I was reminded of Abraham.  God promised to make his descendants more than the stars in the sky.  It must have seemed impossible to Abram, looking into the night sky (in a place with no light pollution!) that he and Sarai would have any descendants.  They were old and childless.  They didn’t have one descendant, much less as many as the stars in the sky.  But God kept his promise to Abram and Sarai.  He gave them one descendant who became a whole nation, as many as the stars in the sky.  Throughout scripture, God does seemingly impossible and improbable things.  He parted the Red Sea so his people could pass through safely.  He used a childless foreign widow to become the king of Israel’s great-grandmother.  He changed the heart of a violent man who persecuted Christians. 

Thinking about Abram and the stars that night, I was comforted.  In the midst of the uncertainties of my life, of all of my questions about what the future might hold, the stary sky was a reminder that God keeps his promises.  God kept his promises to Abram.  God will keep his promises to me.  A promise to be with me.  A promise to love me with unfailing love.  A promise to give me hope and a future.
  

  

I didn't get a picture of the stars, but here's one of my favorite pictures of my Sleeping Bear Dunes trip (at Empire Bluff).