January 31, 2024

Wednesday Word – Go, Go, Go

This past Sunday was our Annual Meeting.  We read the reports of the various committees and programs of the parish.  The 2024 budget was presented.  We elected three new Vestry members (Perry Smith, Charlotte Velasquez, and Tom Berry) and approved one more (Bob Kessler) who will fill the unexpired term of Mike Hanson who had to resign last year.  We also elected a Convention Delegate and Alternate (Monica Smith and Linda Clark).

Pam, Jo Ann, Monica, and others spent a good amount of time preparing for the Annual Meeting and we were all rewarded with good food, good company, and a meeting that stayed on course accomplishing what we needed to get done.

Now that the Annual Meeting is over, my attention has turned to Lent and Holy Week.

As you’ve seen in a number of places, this upcoming season holds a number of opportunities for worship, prayer, and contemplation.  We are once again teaming with St. Luke’s Lutheran and the UCC for a Wednesday Lenten program.  Stations of the Cross will be offered weekly throughout Lent and daily during Holy Week, at which time the church will also be open for individual confession.  The Triduum, the singular liturgy of Christ’s Passion and Resurrection that covers the three days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil, is being planned for.  We will close all of this out with the Festal Eucharist of Easter Day.

There is a lot going on and a lot to plan for; and sometimes I get overwhelmed and tired just thinking about it.

I’ve been reading through the Gospel of John during this Epiphany season.  One of the things that has struck me is how deliberate and intentional Jesus is.  When a group of men bring only a woman caught in the act of adultery to Jesus for judgment, he stoops down and draws in the dirt.  When he meets a Samaritan woman at a well, he takes his time with her.  At the Last Supper, he takes time to wash the feet of his disciples.  When faced with his own death, he has a long conversation with Pilate about truth.

As Lent and Holy Week approach with their crush of obligations and opportunities, may we all take the time to be deliberate and intentional about what we are doing.  It just might be by doing that we will live into the fullness of each, rather than feeling rushed as we jump from one event to another.

May you be deliberate and intentional in this upcoming holy season.

January 24, 2024

Consumerism and the Church

We live in a consumerist society.  On one hand, this is simply the way things are:  we exchange our labor for wages and our wages for those things we both need and want.  On the other hand, we are always in danger of allowing this system to rule over us: wanting the latest style, trend, or gadget, wanting more than we need, hoarding what we have, and allowing our purchases to dictate who we are.

Because consumerism is such a big part of our lives, it can bleed over into every single aspect of our lives.  Donors to sports programs demand winning results.  Large donors to hospitals or universities want to see their name on buildings or research centers in recognition of those donations.  Every interaction is a transaction and viewed with an eye as to how it can benefit me.

This, unfortunately, can also be seen in churches.  People have been known to withhold pledges because they didn’t like the priest, or the programs, or the Communion wine, or the music, or you name it.  People have donated large amounts of money to choir programs with the understanding that they, not the choir director, would choose the music for special days.  I once had wealthy parishioners who, during a complete renovation of the nave (new paint, new floor stain, new carpet), offered to pay for the carpet portion as long as they got to choose the carpet.  After politely telling them no thank you, I’m not sure I ever saw them in church again.

Having a consumerist mentality works for businesses and day-to-day operations, but it will eventually destroy a parish.  That’s because it allows parishioners to make ceaseless demands in trying to get the most of what they want for the least amount of effort or cost. It’s because it teaches people to put themselves and their desires over and above the needs of others.  It’s because it blinds a person to the true cost of discipleship:  the willingness to follow Christ in all things, the willingness to search out Christ again and again, the willingness to continually ask for forgiveness of sins done and left undone, and the understanding that discipleship will cost you your life (D. Bonhoeffer).

A consumerist mentality causes us to ask:  What do I get out of this?

A discipleship mentality causes us to ask:  From the gifts God has given, what am I giving to God?

Which question are you asking? 

January 17, 2024

The story of Jonah should be a good story.  This should be a gloriously happy story.  After an attempt at running away from God, then being swallowed by a fish, Jonah finally does what God asks him to do:  he enters the great and wicked city of Nineveh to proclaim God’s judgment and their impending destruction.  Then something amazing happened:  all the people of Nineveh listened to Jonah.  They repented of their evil deeds and turned to the Lord.  God also repented – that is, God changed his mind – and did not destroy the city.  That’s where the lesson for this coming Sunday ends.  This should be a gloriously happy story.

But the lectionary doesn’t give us the whole story.  If you read the book of Jonah (it’s only four chapters long, so you can read it in under 15 minutes), you will find that, instead of being gloriously happy, Jonah is exceedingly displeased and becomes very angry.  Why?

Because when it came right down to it, Jonah couldn’t abide God’s love and compassion being offered to foreigners.  He couldn’t abide God’s love and compassion being offered to the enemy.  He couldn’t abide God’s love and compassion being offered to other people in the same way it was offered to him.

Upon reflection, aren’t we a bit like Jonah?  How much compassion do we show when someone sits in our pew?  How loudly does our Judge-O-Matic go off when someone who doesn’t fit our expectations, or who looks like they “don’t belong,” shows up at church?  How much compassion do we have toward panhandlers, or foreigners, or people who blow their leaves into our yard, or . . . or . . . or?  There is no shortage of opportunities for us to be an angry Jonah.

In this Epiphany season of revelation and manifestation, in this season of outsiders bringing gifts and insiders trying to eliminate them, may we be more like the foreign Ninevites who turned to the Lord, and less like Jonah who was angry that he couldn’t keep God to himself.

Blessings,

January 10, 2024

Wednesday Word:  Epiphany

January 6 is the Feast of the Epiphany, also known as the Manifestation of Our Lord Jesus Christ to the Gentiles.  This is the day we celebrate the arrival of the magi/wise men at the house of the Holy Family in Bethlehem.  We are told in Matthew that the wise men came from the east and followed a star that eventually led them to the house in Bethlehem.  They were the first non-Jews to recognize the importance of the birth of Jesus.

The first Sunday after the Epiphany is celebrated as the Baptism of Our Lord.  All three synoptic gospels record the baptism of Jesus, and the Gospel of John strongly implies it.  All four record the Spirit of God descending from heaven and resting Jesus, signifying something important.

This coming Sunday we will hear disciples beginning to follow Jesus, as well as hearing of Jesus’ ability to see things mortals can’t.  After that we will hear Jesus calling disciples, healing people, and driving out demons.  All of these Epiphany passages reflect various ways in which Jesus is made known to us as the Son of God. 

This time of year, between the end of the holidays and Ash Wednesday can be seen as a quiet time.  The busyness of the holidays is over, and the quiet preparation of Lent is just getting underway.  The Epiphany season itself is a type of Ordinary Time, a green season of counting the Sundays after Epiphany.

But, as I mentioned above, this is the season of manifestation.  This is the season of revelation.  This is the season of seeing Jesus for who he really is.

This year Epiphany is only six weeks long.  Instead of thinking there’s nothing going on during this time, or instead of looking forward to the next big event (Ash Wednesday and Lent), I encourage you to take some time and live into Epiphany.  Where do you see the presence of Christ, in your life or in the lives of those around you?  Where do you see opportunities to answer his call to follow him?

Maybe most importantly, where do you see opportunities to point him out to others and invite them to join you?

Blessings,

January 3, 2024

Wednesday Word:  Still Christmas

Today is the Tenth Day of Christmas.  According to the song, this is the day a true love receives ten lords a-leaping. 

I hope you are still celebrating the Christmas season. I hope your tree is still up.  I hope you still have Christmas decorations displayed.  I hope your creche sets have the wise men/magi still making their way to Bethlehem, while moving closer every day.

I hope all this because, in a world that is in a rush to get to Christmas (store decorations seem to run concurrent with Halloween now) but pushes it aside even faster, it’s important for us to remember that Christmas is a season.  It’s important to remember that Advent doesn’t begin on December 1, but on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day.  It’s important to remember that the Twelve Days of Christmas begin on December 25 and run through the evening of January 5.

It's important to remember that the wise men/magi weren’t at the manger in Bethlehem, but they were at the house of Mary, Joseph, and toddler Jesus.

I say all this because the world wants to drive us to a day of gift-giving that is over almost before it starts in order to ramp up for the next frenzied holiday.

But it’s important to remember that we are not to be driven by what the world tells us is important; it’s important to remember that we have different priorities. 

Christmas is a 12-day season because the Incarnation of God as a human baby is too important to neglect.  Christmas is a 12-day season because it is the time we remember those who gave their lives for the message of the Gospel (Saint Stephen, Deacon and first martyr), those who wrote passionately about the love of God (Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist), and those who were killed because they were seen as a threat to worldly powers (the Holy Innocents).

The Christmas season is too important to be relegated to one day.  So be joyful and merry.  Sing Christmas carols and hymns.  Say, “Merry Christmas!” to the cashiers at Lynn’s and DJ’s.  Drink your eggnog (if you can find it) and make toasts.  Continue to celebrate the miracle and gift of God made man for another few days – because this gift is too important for only one day.

Merry Christmas,