October 21, 2020

 “Where were you when we needed you?”

This question was posed in a 2013 issue of a publication called Congregations, and it was part of an article regarding a totally different topic than what I'm discussing here. But this is a question we could ask ourselves today.

The COVID pandemic has changed our lives in so many unforeseen ways. We were separated from each other for a long period of time, and it seems that we are just now finding our way back together.

This is a time when we need each other. The pastoral care team has been making phone calls to check up on people, but after several months, those are beginning to understandably slow down as people find new rhythms to their lives. At the beginning of the pandemic, we were forced to only offer online worship in the form of Morning Prayer. We then moved to what is called “Spiritual Communion,” and now, for about three months, we have had limited in-person worship, allowing people to gather and receive Communion. And now, with permission from the diocese, I am once again allowed to visit people in their homes and bring Communion to those who can't or are uneasy about coming in person.

During this time of a pandemic and uncertainty of all kinds, know that the Church is here when you most need it.

But this is also a two-way street. For just as we need the Church in this time, the Church also needs us. One way you can be there for the Church is to return pledge cards and let the Church know how you will continue to support it through your time, talent, and treasure. Another way we can be there for the Church is through personal evangelism – talk with friends and neighbors and let them know of the good things we are doing in the name of Christ, because it is only through you that the Church can live into its mission. Just as Jesus invited people to join him in revealing the kingdom of God, we must also work to reveal the kingdom of God and invite people to join us.

This is a time when we need each other. Let us remember to not only look for what we can receive, but let us look for what we can also give.

Blessings,

October 14, 2020

 There's a long history of how fishing is tied to the Gospel story. Depending on which story you read, fishermen were the first four people Jesus called to be his disciples. There are several stories about Jesus being with his disciples while they were fishing. In one of them, Jesus tells the fishermen to let down their nets on the other side of the boat (as if fish new the difference between one side or the other) and they ended up catching many fish. And Jesus tells Simon, “From now on you will fish for people.”

The pastor of the Methodist church across the street from us in Montana was (and is) fisherman. He uses fishing stories and the gospel like I use football. And the only time I ever wanted to be a Methodist was on the Third Sunday of Easter in Year C when the assigned Gospel came from John and Jesus is cooking fish for the disciples. Pastor Ben would designated this as Communion Sunday and he would use fish he caught and smoked for the event.

We are in the fishing business, so to speak. We are charged by Jesus to go out and fish for people, bringing them into the net of the kingdom. This is about where this analogy breaks down though, because, unlike fishermen, we don't kill the fish we've caught. Instead, we work to nurture them as disciples. So maybe we participate more in the “catch and release” variety of fishing rather than the “catch and keep.” That is, we catch, nurture, feed, and grow the fish so they can become fishers of people themselves.

But this world has a way of taking something good and misusing it, turning it from its intended purpose to sinful purposes. And that has happened with fishing.

Fishing has been hijacked to become phishing. Instead of fishing for people to become disciples, phishing has become a new way to scam people. The idea behind phishing is to cast as wide a net as possible, usually with a “oh poor pitiful me” or a “poor pitiful person in need” story in an attempt to get people to bite and steal their money.

Some of you received an e-mail from “me” a few weeks ago asking for some kind of emergency assistance. Thankfully enough of you questioned that request, brought it to my attention, and I was able to get word out about the scam. You may have received an e-mail from “Bishop Sutton” requesting assistance in the form of purchasing gift cards. As a matter of fact, I received one of those e-mails myself while in a clergy meeting with the Bishop this past Monday.

Be wary of anyone asking for financial help via e-mail or other virtual formats (a player in Words with Friends tried to pull the “I need gift cards” scam on me recently).

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad.” – Matthew 13:47-48

We are in the business of fishing. Honest fishing will yield good results; dishonest phishing, however, will result in the bad phish being thrown out. Know the difference.

Blessings,

October 7, 2020

 

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus – Philippians 2:3-5

These verses were part of the assigned reading from two weeks ago. A parishioner asked me about this, saying they had trouble seeing others as “better than” themselves; equal, yes, but not necessarily better than.

One of the ways to look at this is to, as Paul said, “let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.”

In various places Jesus talks about himself coming to serve others, not to be served by them. When two disciples try to secure their place of honor, Jesus pointed out that whoever wants to be great must serve others. When he says, “The last shall be first,” he's reiterating this position of servanthood. And on the evening of his betrayal and arrest, one of the last things the eternal, omnipotent, God-incarnate did was to humble himself and wash the feet of his twelve disciples, including the feet of the one who would betray him to the authorities.

It may be difficult to see others as better than yourself, and that's understandable. But if that feels problematic, try having the same mind that was in Christ – and that is to see yourself as a servant. As it so happens, this idea of servanthood is built into our own mission statement: Worship, Welcome, Serve, and Encourage. How, especially now in this pandemic, can we position ourselves to serve others? This probably means more than giving away food and/or clothing, although those things certainly help. But how can we look to serve others in ways that have long-term effects?

Part of being able to do that, I think, is to be willing to humble ourselves in such a way that we see ourselves as servants, not necessarily as the ones with all the answers. By humbling ourselves, by emptying ourselves as Christ emptied himself, we can be in a position to both take in the other as well as give ourselves to the other. As Ilia Delio said in, The Unbearable Wholeness of Being, “A self that is 'full of itself' can neither receive the other nor make genuine movement toward the other” (p. 134).

Serving others requires that we humble and empty ourselves in order to build others up. Serving others can be difficult when we are asked to make sacrifices or give up things to which we've grown accustomed to having.

When we are asked to empty ourselves, let us not focus on what we are losing, but instead let us focus on what the served and server are gaining.