I’m going to go home tonight to a warm house, where my wife and daughters will be safely asleep in their beds.I’ll get a beer out of the fridge, go downstairs to my chair, and sip that beer while I read for a bit before heading off to bed.I like living in this house.I’m comfortable here.I wouldn’t want anything to happen to it – and with the economy going the way it is right now, that’s not just an idle worry for many of us.
Maybe you’ve got your comfort level arranged here, too.After seven or eight weeks of classes your dorm room or your apartment is as set up as it’s going to be.The loan money hasn’t run out yet, so you’re still eating more than just ramen noodles and macaroni and cheese.You know where to go in Ames for good pizza, and where to go for cheap movies.This is something we all do:we build a life that brings enjoyment and comfort, adding in established rituals like “Wednesday Night Pizza” or “Sunday Night Supper.”No one likes to be uncomfortable.
Here’s the thing, though:following Jesus brings about some tough challenges to our comfort.The Pharisees knew it:it was the reason they plotted to kill Jesus, so that his rebellious nature wouldn’t upset the apple cart of religious comfort the church had built around the Temple.Following Jesus was what led the Orthodox to split from Rome and Luther to post the 95 Theses on the door of the CastleChurch.Following Jesus was what brought the Puritans to America, Bonhoeffer to plot against Hitler and Dr. King to lay his life on the line for a people hungry for justice.It seems to me that Jesus is rarely interested in maintaining the status quo, because it is so easy for us to stop growing and changing and falling victim to the idolatry of “we’ve always done it that way.”
Someone once said, “When you say ‘Yes’ to Jesus, you say ‘No’ to everything else.”It’s not easy, following Jesus, because saying “No” to everything else includes saying “No” to my house, my car, my Cornhuskers, even my wife and my kids.To all these things, which are indeed good, Jesus says, “Wonderful, but let’s keep them in their place, shall we?I am the One who saves you, and I tell you your comforts are far less important than the mission into which I am sending you.”
This reading from John’s gospel brought to mind the song “The Rebel Jesus” by Jackson Browne.True, it’s a Christmas song, but the message of comfort overshadowing Jesus is true today, also.As you listen, may the rebel Jesus reveal to you the love he bears for all of us, and the call to seek first the kingdom of heaven, in which we find the greatest comfort of all:the love and mercy of God the Father, Jesus the cherished Son, and the Spirit who calls us together tonight.Amen.
“The Rebel Jesus” by Jackson Browne
All the streets are filled with laughter and light
And the music of the season
And the merchants' windows are all bright
With the faces of the children
And the families hurrying to their homes
While the sky darkens and freezes
Will be gathering around the hearths and tables
Giving thanks for God's graces
And the birth of the rebel Jesus
Well they call him by 'the Prince of Peace'
And they call him by 'the Savior'
And they pray to him upon the seas
And in every bold endeavor
And they fill his churches with their pride and gold
As their faith in him increases
But they've turned the nature that I worship in
From a temple to a robber's den
In the words of the rebel Jesus
Well we guard our world with locks and guns
And we guard our fine possessions
And once a year when Christmas comes
We give to our relations
And perhaps we give a little to the poor
If the generosity should seize us
But if any one of us should interfere
In the business of why there are poor
They get the same as the rebel Jesus
Now pardon me if I have seemed
To take the tone of judgement
For I've no wish to come between
This day and your enjoyment
In a life of hardship and of earthly toil
There's a need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure
And I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel Jesus
My buddy Matt decided that it would be great to use his blog as a force for good a few weeks ago: specifically, raising funds for the Alzheimer's Memory Walk in honor of his mom, who suffers early onset Alzheimer's (though I would be remiss if I didn't note that he still hasn't blogged about the walk itself. Shame! There, Matt - you've been tagged.)
So, I'll do the same here for our local CROP Walk. CROP is a Church World Service fundraiser: Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty. While I don't have a personal connection as Matt does, in a sense we all have a connection to the fact that the vast majority of us on this planet are forced to live on less than $2 per day, with limited access to clean water and sufficient food. CROP is just one small way that each of us can make a difference.
Here is a link where you can donate to the Ames/Story County CROP Walk for my team. If you'd rather provide a general donation, you can do that here. Either way, even $1 would provide a substantial benefit for those in need. Thanks for doing it - not from me, but from those for whom I and our Lutheran Center folks will be walking. God bless!
This should NOT be happening. When did my little girl get this big?
Don't tell me she isn't watching Mom & Dad around the house:
Mommy took this picture of our pretty little girl before heading to worship Sunday morning: And here are the pictures that provide the occasion for pondering - Ainsley moved into her "big girl bed" tonight:
That's the sign for "bed" she's giving Mommy:
"Daddy, stop snoring!"
Thankfully, the transition seems to be going well thus far. Here she is, thirty minutes after bedtime:
Now, if you don't mind, I'll just be over here in the corner, pondering the relentless march of time. Oh, and my evening beer. :-)
RevKim tagged me for a meme. Six Unremarkable Things About Me. Note that this is NOT to be confused with the "7 for 700" due in a few weeks.
1. For a couple of years in college, my shirts consisted almost 100% of marching band and church camp t-shirts.
2. I have become my mother when it comes to cleaning, laundry, etc. I've been known to rearrange dishes and glasses until everything that needs washing gets a spot, and it's arranged in such a way that it's most efficient also: big plates behind little plates, etc. I think I may actually suffer from a mild form of OCD when it comes to such things, because I get irritated if Kristin does my laundry and doesn't put things away as I'd like them to be put away. For example, my shirts in my closet must all face the same direction, arranged by type (button-down, polo, t-shirts, starting each with short sleeves and moving to long-sleeves). All right, that may be a bit remarkable. Enough of the anal retentive stuff.
3. I have a small hemangioma underneath my right eye.
4. I cannot eat cooked squash, and can barely stomach muskmelon and cantelope. If I try to eat cooked squash my throat will lock up and my gag reflex kicks in.
5. I don't wear any gold jewelry, watches or rings, at least, as far as I'm aware. My wedding band and watch are both silver (the watch has a black leather band).
6. Boxers. 'Nuff said.
So, there's your Monday Meme. And now for something completely different:
I'm just not feelin' theFriday Five at RevGals today. Nothing wrong with it, mind you - I'm just not feelin' it today. Not sure why.
Maybe it has something to do with the conversation I accidentally read on Facebook this morning. You know the saying, "Never listen at a keyhole, lest ye be vexed?" Literally, that means "Don't eavesdrop or you might hear something you wouldn't like." But the first sounds so much more Poor Richard's Almanac, don't you think? Anyway...
Facebook occasionally posts conversations your friends have with each other. This morning Facebook posted a wall post by student who's been here at the Center, talking excitedly about worship at another ministry here in town. I was crushed for just a little bit. It's one thing to say, as I often have, "It's better for you to be spiritually fed at someone else's place than to be miserable and starving here with us." It's another thing entirely to see it possibly happening. I know I'm supposed to be more mature than this, but with all of us pastors there is that small boy or girl who desparately wants to be liked. It's like I'm forever in sixth grade!
In our noon book study group, we were talking about faithful church life involving sacrifice and willingness to serve one's neighbor. What if the sacrifice includes admitting that we cannot be all things to all people? As much as I believe that we've got a good thing going here at the Lutheran Center, it's not going to be the means of grace to everyone who walks through the door, and if we try to be, we're going to wind up being nothing to everyone. Maybe Paul could be all things to all people, but I can't, and I don't think it's healthy for any church to try to be.
I think this kind of self-awareness and self-confidence is part of the journey toward mature Christian faith. If we are indeed here to serve, then we must hold all things and all people lightly. Marriages where the partners manipulate and guilt-trip their partners into staying usually end in disastrous failure: can we expect the church to be any different?
Thanks, God, it's Friday. That's enough weighty thoughts for the week. I'm going home! :-)
Liz asked a pretty serious question over at her place the other day:
I want to ask you - parents and parents-to-be - what does a vocation of parenting look like to you? What do you feel you are called to be for your kids? What do you feel the need to model in your homes? What do you love best about your kids? And what do you hope for them in the future? Even if you don't have kids yet I think these are important questions to think about. Maybe by thinking about them now I'll have some clue about how to proceed when I do in fact become a mother. So blogland, please share your thoughts with me. I'm very curious.
It's such an intriguing question that I thought it warranted a blog post instead of a comment at her place. That and I'm not getting any closer to post 700 this week - it's just not been a blogging type of week. Too busy! I know, that's a cop-out, but it's the truth. Anyway, this is post #677 and I promise we'll get to #700 before the end of the month.
So, the vocation of parenting. What does it look like to me? Massive confusion. :-) Actually, 99% of the time it is the greatest privilege and burden any of us can ever bear. There's a movie where Keanu Reeves notes that you have to have a license for damn near everything except bearing children; it's one of the most painfully correct movie lines I've ever heard (and the fact that Mr. Whoa utters it always blows my mind a little, too). The thought of what happens to my girls if I screw up too often is ever-present. I'm called to be a lot of things to my girls: provider, supporter, comforter, discipline-giver, teacher, etc. But the deepest calling I have as a parent (and I think Kristin would agree with me on this) is to be one who loves them deeply and models a giving, nurturing love for my spouse and the rest of my family as well. Even the great mistakes I'll make will be less damaging if they are made in deep love.
What do I love best about my kids? Well, in Ainsley it is her joy. We have been so blessed by the presence of this happy little girl in our lives. Some of that comes from our love for her, we know, but not nearly as much as she gives. She is just a joyful kid and we love her all the more for it. Alanna, well, she's only now becoming something more than a newborn, so we are just now beginning to discover who she is and what we'll love about her in time. The adventure, of course, is part of the fun.
Future hopes? As Liz noted, it's not for success and wealth (well, at least primarily it's not those things): we hope for strong faith, deep joy, and great love. Get those three, and everything else takes care of itself, as far as I'm concerned. I've seen no evidence to the contrary in my 34 years.
So, that's parenting in a nutshell for me. Comments? I welcome them. Thanks for reading.
Not too long ago I developed a pretty bad teacher's crush.Her name is Susan Briehl and she's worked in a number of different capacities in the church over the years:pastor, liturgist, lyricist, poet, teacher, and so on.Three years ago, she spoke at our pastors' retreat on a lake in northern Minnesota, and I was smitten.Hard.She's a solidly Confessional Lutheran.She loves her some Small Catechism.She can quote the Large Catechism from memory.She reads Luther's Works for inspiration.We spent our time talking about the lesser known aspects of Luther's work – the fact that Luther was a professor of Old Testament before he became the great reformer, and spent years working with the Psalms as a teacher of the church.All of these wonderfully Lutheran things, coming from a woman who had rarely been to the Upper Midwest and doesn't have a drop of Scandinavian blood in her.Hmmm.I think I STILL have a bit of a teacher crush…
In our time together, Pastor Briehl told us a great Luther quote.The first half of it is, "A person is not justified by works."You've probably heard me and other Lutheran pastors say those words before.They are beautiful words – and you should know that, as a writer, I love beautiful words.Words are important – possibly more than we can ever imagine.How important?Just try living in my shoes if I haven't said "I love you" to my wife more than once a day.When Kristin and I get home at night, it's check-in time; time for words about our day.Kristin loves to quote the study that estimates men need to speak about 7,000 words per day, but women require a few more:20,000.So when we check in, if I know what's good for me, I listen as Kristin gets the last of her 20,000 daily words in.AND woe be unto me if she asks me, "How was your day?" and I reply, "Good."
Words are important, in pleasurable and painful ways.Think about the impact of these words:
Thank you.
I'm sorry.
Excuse me.
Help!
I now pronounce you husband and wife.
I'm pregnant.
I'm not pregnant.
I love you.
I hate you.
I promise.
The surgery was a success.
I'm sorry: your father has died.
Words have power – power to hurt, power to heal.Poets and writers have known this as long as we've had language, and they've been using words to change our lives from the moment we started recording things in words.Words are contextual – they mean different things at different times, and from different people.When we say, "I love you," a beautiful phrase, it means many different things to any different people, and if we use it incorrectly or inappropriately there can be very unpleasant consequences to suffer.
I love words – I always have.There are books galore in my office here at the LutheranCenter, and also in our house.I spend a lot of what little free time I have left reading words, and as a preacher words are a very important aspect of my vocation.It pays for me to be a connoisseur of words, but in this parable from Matthew's gospel, all these beautiful words come up against one harsh word from Jesus our Lord:words alone are not enough.
Two young men gave their word to their father.From one, the word was plain:I will not work for you in your vineyard.From the other, the word was just as plain: I willNeither of them kept their word, but Jesus said that one of them was right with his father.They both broke their word, yet one brother did the deedAccording to what Jesus taught, our deeds can outweigh our words.
I mentioned half of a Luther quote earlier.The whole thing goes like this:"A person is not justified by their works; but no justified person is without works."Lip service doesn't accomplish anything in the kingdom of heaven.Even a lover of words like me has to admit that words lose their power if they are not accompanied by deeds.I can say "I love you" to my wife and kids until I'm blue in the face, but if I abuse them, treat them with contempt or neglect, my words come to mean nothing.Without works to match our words we fall from grace and find ourselves bound to our own brokenness.The best example of empty words I can give you comes from my own life.When I was a teenager, I was irresponsible, selfish and lazy.(some of you are thinking, "as a kid?")Somehow, though, I developed the idea that if I said "I'm sorry" often enough, I could get away with whatever I wanted.That all ended one day when my dad finally had enough and said to me, "You know, I wish you'd say you were sorry a whole lot less and mean it a whole lot more."My works and deeds had made my words empty, meaningless, a lie even I no longer believed.How does our confession go?"We confess that we are captive to sin, and cannot free ourselves.We have sinned against you in thought, word and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone."Our captivity to sin holds everything we hold dear.Even our precious words are broken and stained by sin.
There is, however, one Word to which we can cling, even in the depths of our sin.There is One who has always been pure in thought, word and deed.Jesus Christ has always been and will always be the Word made Flesh – the Word that Does what it promises.The power of Jesus' Word never fails, because Jesus' Word is always accompanied by Jesus' Deeds.Jesus' Word comes to us in our baptism, joining with plain, ordinary water to drown us in our sin and raise us up in new life.Jesus' Word comes to us in his supper, the holy meal given that we might eat and drink forgiveness, the reminder that no deed was too great for the power of His love.Jesus is the Word that rebuked the Pharisees for their stubbornness.Jesus is the Word who called Peter, James and John from their fishing boats to a life of service.Jesus is the Word who came to Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon and the reformers in the darkest times of medieval Europe and offered hope to a people oppressed by a church that had forgotten the voice of her shepherd.Jesus is the Word who came to Susan Briehl and called her to be a pastor, called me to be a pastor, and calls you to seek the kingdom of God and find your role within it.Jesus is the Word who comes today and makes a promise to you, that no matter who you are, the Word of forgiveness will transform your life through repentance, making you "what Adam and Eve were meant to be, only better."This Word, Jesus' Word, is TRUTH.
We don't always like to hear this word of change and forgiveness.We like to think we've had it figured out all along, that our comfortable lives and our level of happiness are proof that we have no need of Jesus' Word of transformation.When Jesus spoke the words in today's gospel reading, he was talking to the established church.He was talking to people like us, the good kids.One scholar notes that "[Jesus'] ministry of transformation and reclamation offends those with a vested interest in reinforcing the status quo…Jesus' transformation of the world requires the self-examination of those heretofore in charge. Or, one can simply resist the transformation and challenge the authority of Jesus himself." [1]It reminds me of one of my favorite stories:"Revelation" by Flannery O'Connor.In "Revelation" we are introduced to Mrs. Turpin, a woman who owns a small hog farm with her husband Claude in the deep South in the early 20th century.Mrs. Turpin sat in the waiting room at the doctor's office and considered out loud how fortunate she was that God made her who she was.She wasn’t white trash or black – she was a woman of means who had the good sense to be thankful for what she had.Finally, a young girl named Mary Grace had enough of Mrs. Turpin's smug self-righteousness.She hurled a book at Mrs. Turpin, tried to strangle her, and then told her, "Go back to hell where you came from, you old warthog!"This shocked Mrs. Turpin to her core, so much so that later that day, as dusk was coming on, Mrs. Turpin found herself standing on the fence of her hogyards, shaking her fist at heaven and accusing God, "Who do you think you are?"
Here Mrs. Turpin receives her second revelation:
[She saw] a vast horde of souls ... rumbling toward heaven. There were whole companies of white-trash, clean for the first time in their lives, and bands of black niggers in white robes and battalions of freaks and lunatics shouting and clapping and leaping like frogs. And bringing up the end of the procession was a tribe of people whom she recognized at once as those who, like herself and Claud, had always had a little of everything and the God-given wit to use it right....They were marching behind the others with great dignity, accountable as they had always been for good order and common sense and respectable behavior. They alone were on key. Yet she could see by their shocked and altered faces that even their virtues were being burned away. [2]
In the end, nothing will matter except Jesus' Words and Jesus' Deeds.Tax collectors, prostitutes, good children, bad children, good church folk, whoever we are, we are only saved by Jesus' words and Jesus' deeds.Jesus Christ is the One who gives us both words and deeds together, whole and pure.You and I are here because God has called us here to receive this word:grace.You and I are here because we are recipients of this deed:forgiveness.Jesus Christ, the living Word of God, speaks and works in you, now and forever, with a power above all other words and all other deeds.Whether it is your sins or your virtues being burned away by Jesus' love, today is a day for both words and deeds, brothers and sisters, because the living Word Jesus Christ is our Lord, and we are his people through the power of his Holy Spirit, to the glory of the Father.And that, friends, is a good word, a powerful word, and the last word.Amen.
OOOOOOOh, the Lord is good to me, and so I thank the Lord
For giving me the things I need, the sun and the rain and the appleseed,
The Lord is good to me. Amen. Amen. Amen amen amen. AAAAAAAAmen!
From RevGalBlogPals:
Raise your hand if you know that today is Johnny Appleseed Day!
September 26, 1774 was his birthday. "Johnny Appleseed" (John Chapman) is one of America's great legends. He was a nurseryman who started out planting trees in western New York and Pennsylvania, but he was among those who were captivated by the movement west across the continent.
As Johnny traveled west (at that time, the "West" was places like Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois) he planted apple trees and sold trees to settlers. With every apple tree that was planted, the legend grew. A devout Christian, he was known to preach during his travels. According to legend, Johny Appleseed led a simple life and wanted little. He rarely accepted money and often donated any money he received to churches or charities. He planted hundreds of orchards, considering it his service to humankind. There is some link between Johny Appleseed and very early Arbor Day celebrations.
So, in honor of this interesting fellow, let's get on with the questions!
1. What is your favorite apple dish? (BIG BONUS points if you share the recipe.)
Kristin’s Grandmother’s Brown Bag Apple Pie.Will share the recipe early next week.GOOOD stuff.
2. Have you ever planted a tree? If so was there a special reason or occasion you can tell us about?
We helped my Dad plant a few trees around our house when we were kids, but other than that I haven’t.Now that I’m a homeowner, I hope to plant a tree or two either here or somewhere else before my time is done.Of course, being a native Nebraskan (home of Arbor Day) planting trees is as much in my DNA as Cornhusker football!
3. Does the idea of roaming around the countryside (preaching or otherwise) appeal to you? Why or why not?
Roaming, yes – being an itinerant preacher, NO.I’m way too settled for the latter.But I enjoy finding backroads and getting to know the lay of the land wherever I go – much to Kristin’s occasional chagrin, especially when we take a new route and get lost.
4. Who is a favorite "historical legend" of yours?
King Arthur.I LOVED Le Morte d’Arthur in high school, and I’ve read The Once and Future King several times, along with The Dark Is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper.Granted, it’s not an American historical legend, but it’s my favorite.
5. Johnny Appleseed was said to sing to keep up his spirits as he traveled the roads of the west. Do you have a song that comes when you are trying to be cheerful, or is there something else that you often do?
I love many different genres of music, so my “happy songs” tend to come and go quite a bit.This is going to sound twisted, but lately Green Day’s “American Idiot” has been a favorite.“To live and not to breathe / is to die in tragedy…”There’s a passion for authenticity there that I find so very inspiring.I think “Jesus of Suburbia” is one of the greatest rock songs ever written. Eh, it’s what gets me right now, right?
Anyway, there’s some seeds sown for you! Have a great weekend, everyone – see you Sunday with the sermon.
1. Of all the bands/artists in your record collection, which one do you own the most albums by? I think it's a tie between Storyhill, Jars of Clay, Rich Mullins and Neil Young. Ainsley has completely destroyed any sense of order in the ol' CD case, so it might be a few years before I can answer this one definitively.
2. What was the last song you listened to? “Madeline's Song” by Rich Mullins
3. What’s in your record/CD player right now? A mix CD created by a good friend from the last call in Minnesota. Includes some really good tunes (40 by U2 being one of the best) and some "wtf?" songs.
4. What song would you say sums you up? "Calling Out Your Name" by Rich Mullins or "Scatter-brained People" by Peter Mayer
5. What’s your favorite local band? Storyhill, followed closely by The Wild Clover Band.
6. What was the last show you attended? The Wild Clover Band at The Brazen Head Pub in Omaha.
7. What was the greatest show you’ve ever been to? I've not seen a lot of 'big' concerts, especially in the last ten years, so I'd say Storyhill at Pioneer Place on Fifth in St. Cloud, MN.
8. What’s the worst band you’ve ever seen in concert? I hate to say this, but the woeful praise band that played a youth gathering I was at a few years ago. 90 minutes of pure sonic hell.
9. What band do you love musically but hate the members of? It's kind of a package deal for me - if they're assholes it usually shows in the music. That having been said, for some reason Poison comes to mind for a band with exceptionally poor music AND manners.
11. What show are you looking forward to? The next time I see Storyhill or TWCB. Oh, and Stomp will be in Ames next spring.
12. What is your favorite band shirt? Don't have any. I don't wanna be "that guy."
13. What musician would you like to hang out with for a day? Johnny Hermanson OR Chris Cunningham, Storyhill. Harry Connick, Jr. Wynton Marsalis. Too many to choose!
14. What musician would you like to be in love with for a day? Hmmm - KT Tunstall or Joss Stone? Sheryl Crow? Natalie Imbruglia? Since it's all a dream, who knows?
15. Commodores or solo Lionel Ritchie? oooh - I just threw up a little bit in my mouth there.
16. Punk rock, hip hop or heavy metal? First or last - just please, no hip hop.
17. Name 4 flawless albums: Johnny Cash - Live at Folsom Prison Stevie Ray Vaughan - Greatest Hits Vol. 1 (okay, it's a compilation, but COME ON - the man's the greatest guitarist EVER) Eric Clapton - From the Cradle Green Day - Dookie
17b. Name one almost-flawless album: Green Day - American Idiot. I just don't see how "What's Her Name" fits. Everything else is just incredible; "Jesus of Suburbia" might be the best rock song ever.
18. Did you know that filling out this survey makes you a music geek? Your point?
19. What was the greatest decade for music? 1990-2000; Cobain, Pearl Jam, Metallica's best, DMB and Chili Peppers get their props, R.E.M. doing some good stuff. BUT u2 was down and BNL hadn't hit the bigtime yet. Hard to pick a decade, imho. You could say 1964-1974: British Invasion and the best 70s rock, pre-disco days.
20. How many music-related videos/dvds do you own? Two or three.
21. What is your favorite movie soundtrack? "The Commitments" or "Once"
27. What was your last musical ‘phase’ before you wised up? Gangsta rap in 9th grade - don't ask.
28. What’s the crappiest CD/record/etc. you’ve ever bought? Whitney Houston, don't remember the album, I was really young, 'nuff said. Hey - my brother bought the Crash Test Dummies album, so I wasn't THAT bad.
29. Do you prefer vinyl or CDs? Considering how hard it is to purchase, play and maintain vinyl, I'll take CDs, though I'm usually a bit of a sucker for throwback stuff like that.
Last Friday was a pretty frantic day, with an overnight retreat and the requisite prep work added to a normally busy Friday schedule of final Sunday prep and meetings. So I neglected the Friday Five, much to my regret because it deals with the coming of autumn, my absolute favorite season. So, I'm playing today - the day before the next Friday Five play. Hey, it's my blog, right?
It's that time of year, at least north of the equator. The windows are still open, but the darned furnace comes on early in the morning. My husband went out for a walk after an early supper and came home in full darkness. And yes, where we live, leaves are beginning to turn. As this vivid season begins, tell us five favorite things about fall:
1) A fragrance Harvest and leaves, a combination I always find intoxicating. The smell of corn and beans drying and drawing toward the reaping and leaves falling off trees. There is no way I could ever describe the combination eloquently enough, but I know it when I smell it and I savor that short time when it is all around me.
2) A color
Will this do?
3) An item of clothing My sweatshirts. Being a naturally warm-blooded guy, I don't usually wear sweatshirts until autumn is in full swing; but when it does come, I love throwing on a good fleece as a warm, comfy insulator against crisp morning air.
4) An activity Well, for any good Nebraska boy, autumn means football, and of course the football season is dear to my heart. But running this time of year might just be my favorite. The smells and colors are incredible here in the American Midwest from now until the trees are bare in late October. The three years I spent running in the Twin Cities (including the Chain of Lakes, pictured below) and four years running around Barrett Lake in Barrett, MN were wonderful.
5) A special day
Again, not specifically an autumn memory, but marching from Westbrook Music Building to Memorial Stadium in 1992 for my first game as a member of the Cornhusker Marching Band was pretty special. If this were a picture of the 1992 band, I'd have been in the front row, second from the left. Good times. :-)
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” Matthew 18.1-5
I worked five summers at Carol Joy Holling Camp in Ashland, Nebraska; the first three as a counselor and the last two as the Site Manager of TipiVillage. Dave, one of the year-round staff had a great routine – whenever he saw someone, he’s ask, “How’s my favorite counselor today?” “How’s my favorite site manager today?” Everyone got this greeting, which made it that much more funny, especially when a whole group of summer staff got it, right down the line.
Today, I’m not so sure he was joking. At least, not entirely. You see, I have two daughters, and I’ll be damned if I can figure out which one I love best. Is it Ainsley, my “mini-me,” with her curly red hair, constant happy demeanor, and overall cuteness? Or is it Alanna, my dark-haired beauty, who melts my heart as she falls asleep in my arms? I can’t pick one: I’m over the moon about them both, and I wonder sometimes if Dave didn’t feel the same way about all of us summer staff, too.
So when the disciples asked Jesus, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” I wonder if Jesus wasn’t thinking about the question differently than we disciples would generally think about it. Our tendency is to prioritize; to rank; to strive for the number one position. But if God feels about us the same way we feel about our kids, then the question changes, doesn’t it? There is no “greatest” in our family; there is only the individual children, whom I love, whose innocence and simplicity make them dearer to me than I’ll ever be able to explain.
When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we begin, “Our Father in heaven.” In the Small Catechism, Martin Luther says:
“With these words God wants to attract us, so that we come to believe he is truly our Father and we are truly his children, in order that we may ask him boldly and with complete confidence, just as loving children ask their loving father.”
When Ainsley wants something, she comes to us and simply asks for it. There are no flowery phrases, no pre-request flattery: she asks, we say “Yes” or “No.” Alanna is even more simple: she can only grunt and cry and hope that we understand she is tired/hungry/poopy. Both Ainsley and Alanna will outgrow this simple innocence, and though I’m looking forward to knowing my girls as they grow up, there is a strong part of me that wants them to stay young and innocent forever.
What Jesus means is this: God is over the moon about you, and nothing you can say or do will make that love any stronger. You are God’s children, and God looks on you with eyes that love and ears that listen, ready to care for you with the deep, abiding love to which every loving parent aspires. This is not a competition, folks: each one of you is “fearfully and wonderfully made,” as the psalmist says, and your place in God’s family is assured, not because you are great, but because God’s love for you is great.
Rich Mullins once wrote a song about God’s love for children, and I’ll close with that this evening.
On this YouTube video you'll find the song in question, "Madeline's Song," at about 6:50. Unfortunately, the last few notes got cut off, but you'll get the drift nevertheless. The embed wasn't working right, otherwise it'd be right here. Here are the lyrics:
Madeline fusses and Madeline laughs
The angel who watches says, "Hey look at that"
There's your faith, mountains will shake
Cuz God gladly bends just to hear Madeline when she prays
Madeline stretches and Madeline kicks
The angels in heaven say, "Hey look at this"
There's your faith, mountains will shake
Cuz God gladly bends just to hear Madeline when she prays
And the only angels that I've ever seen
Look like tears on the face of the sky
Though it sure breaks your heart to see heaven all streaked up
With sorrows like theirs, still you know all the while
From where cobbles shine golden like emeralds shine green
From where gems stud the streets and the walls
God looks out a window at us just to see
If anything frail as a sparrow should fall
Madeline fusses and Madeline laughs
The angel who watches says, "Hey look at that"
There's your faith
mountains will shake
God gladly bends just to hear Madeline when she prays
God gladly bends just to hear Madeline when she prays
Okay, hear me out. This comes from a discussion group on Facebook regarding Kelly Fryer's new book, Reclaiming the E Word. Someone used it as an example of effective evangelism and it's so funny and fresh that I think it works.
Of course, what the movie shows is fake, but the end result is EXACTLY the type of reaction for which we should be aiming, right? A faith lived out so boldly, joyfully and publicly that people say to themselves, "I want some of THAT!"
This would look different for all of us - but the point remains the same: never be afraid to live your faith joyfully, loudly, passionately, publicly.
I can't believe I missed a long-expected party last night. September 22nd is the birthday of both Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, and upon a time I had that date marked in my Palm Pilot so as not to forget it. Alas, with my switch to the new Centro and some syncing problems, I lost that date along with many, many others. So, last night I enjoyed a beer in my hobbit-like basement completely unaware that I was neglecting my old friends, even as I journey through Tolkien's Unfinished Tales toward The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Bilbo, Frodo, even though you're fictional, you have my deepest apologies for missing the chance to raise a glass with you. Next year I shall do better.
This week's gospel reading has brought to mind one of my favorite short stories, "Revelation" by Flannery O'Connor. If you haven't read O'Connor before, I highly recommend it, but be sure you strap on a helmet before setting forth. O'Connor was a demanding, critical person in both her Christian faith and her writing. She once said, "I don't deserve any credit for turning the other cheek as my tongue is always in it" But her prose was as powerful as her faith, and as I read some of what Jesus says in the gospel of Matthew I can't help but think of her demanding challenge to all of us: what does it mean to truly be a person of faith?
"Revelation" is one of those stories that I'll never forget reading, along the lines of "The Gift of the Magi" or another O'Connor classic, "A Good Man Is Hard To Find." Here's the quote, toward the end of the story, that just might find its way into my sermon on Sunday:
[She saw] a vast horde of souls ... rumbling toward heaven. There were whole companies of white-trash, clean for the first time in their lives, and bands of black niggers in white robes and battalions of freaks and lunatics shouting and clapping and leaping like frogs. And bringing up the end of the procession was a tribe of people whom she recognized at once as those who, like herself and Claud, had always had a little of everything and the God-given wit to use it right....They were marching behind the others with great dignity, accountable as they had always been for good order and common sense and respectable behavior. They alone were on key. Yet she could see by their shocked and altered faces that even their virtues were being burned away.
Powerful stuff there - but the best sermons are always powerful, and this story is as much a sermon as it is a story. I hope those of you preaching out there will consider it for Sunday's message.
I should note that the word "nigger" occurs in the mind of the main character; I don't use such language in my own speech, nor do I condone it in the speech of others. But the story is set in the deep South of the early 20th century and thus belongs to its context. It is intended as a critique of the main character and should definitely be read as such, okay?
You are cordially invited To attend, at $100 a plate A testimonial to those Who have devoted their lives Unstintingly Unselfishly To the humanitarian purpose Of making money
No sacrifice too great No relationship too dear To accumulate enough To afford the luxury
Of giving it away In some worthy cause Or other.
Just listen to that applause From the thousand or more Gathered here in tribute, Black tied, bejeweled, Pledging their allegiance To the honorees and To the secret hope
That one such memorable night They too might step Into the blue white shaft And receive their plaque.
Thanks to happy circumstance, the Sermon is 95% written already, and should require a very little bit of revision prior to preaching on Sunday morning. Thus I'm in for an afternoon of good coffee and catching up on my reading. Damn, but I love my job!
We're all guilty of working too hard in the wrong direction occasionally. In reviewing the sermons I've preached over the last few weeks, I've thought that perhaps I'm doing too much lecturing on our calling as the church of the 21st century. It's necessary and even helpful lecturing, to be sure, but there's not a lot of gospel to be found in defining what it means to be a forgiving church in a culture that doesn't value or understand forgiveness. Frankly, I've been demanding a lot, and while we do need the occasional challenge from the pulpit (even when you don't use a pulpit), the last thing students need at the four week point of the semester is more lectures.
So - tonight will be reflective. A reading from First John on love. A very brief give and take on one question: how do you feel or imagine God's love for you? What is it like? Then a time of meditation using one of my favorite hymns, Ubi Caritas et Amor, a motet composed by Maurice Durufle (yes, you've seen it before here, but it's so beautiful I thought I'd use it again). There is so little time for these students to be in a place where they are simply valued for who they are - another lecture won't suffice. Thus, time for peace, for love, for community. It might be sappy as hell, but that's okay - I've been accused of worse.
"Literature in the 21st Century" by Ronald Wallace
Sometimes I wish I drank coffee or smoked Marlboros, or maybe cigars— yes, a hand-rolled Havana cigar in its thick, manly wrapping, the flash of the match between worn matchbook and stained forefinger, the cup of the palm at the tip, the intake of air, and the slow and luxuriant, potent and pleasurable exhale. Shall we say also a glass of claret? Or some sherry with its dark star, the smoke blown into the bowl of the glass, like fog on portentous morning, the rich man-smell of gabardine and wool, of money it its gold clip?
Sometimes I wish I had habits a man wouldn't kick, faults a good man could be proud of. I'd be an expatriate from myself, all ink-pen and paper in a Paris café where the waiters were elegant and surly, the women relaxed and extravagant with their bobbed hair and bonbons, their perfumed Galoises, their oysters and canapés, and I'd be writing about war and old losses— man things-and not where I am, in this pristine and sensitive vessel, all fizzy water, reticence, and care, all reduced fat and purified air, behind my deprived computer, where I can't manage even a decaf cap, a mild Tiparillo, a glass of great-taste-less-filling light beer.
Wonderful, huh? Good stuff.
This is just a quick post to ask for a blog favor. I'll soon be blogging my 700th post, and for that I'd like to answer seven questions, posed by the two or three of you who are still reading this blog. If you've got a question, post it in the comments and I'll answer it in post 700. Any question will do, from my middle name to my favorite candy to my take on The Brothers Karamazov (actually, I've done that last, but you get my drift).
