September 4, 2019

Chores and Sin

We all have our chores to do around the house; at least, I hope we all do and don't let the care of the house fall to one person. In my house, because I have Fridays off, it's my job to do the weekly laundry, pay bills, and clean the bedroom and bathroom that belong to me and my wife. Very rarely I need to skip cleaning the bathroom due to something that gets in the way, but it almost always gets cleaned.

The tub is sprayed down and scrubbed. The shower doors are Windex-ed. The sink and vanity mirror get the same treatment. The floor is vacuumed and sometimes scrubbed. The toilet is cleaned inside and out. And the mats are vacuumed. Luckily it's not a large bathroom, so it doesn't take a whole lot of effort; it's just a matter of getting in there and doing it – 30 minutes tops, maybe 40 under special circumstances.

While I was cleaning this past weekend, I noticed that the space behind the shower door bumpers was looking icky, so I took those off and cleaned both wall and bumper. And when I was doing the sink, I remembered that it had been awhile since I took out the drain stopper. Whereas the bumpers were icky, this was positively gross, with black, brown, and gray gunk built up, along with a small wad of hair (for those eating breakfast right now – sorry).

As I said, I clean the bathroom faithfully every Friday; and yet, there was still an accumulation of yuck.

Sin works the same way. We try to keep our lives clean and holy. We participate in church on a weekly basis not for pardon only, but also for renewal. And yet, no matter how hard we try, how faithful we are, sin has a way of gathering in our lives, finding places to hide and grow, that, if not dealt with regularly, will result in an accumulation of yuck.

We generally don't like to talk about sin, confession, or repentance. But, if we want to do more than a cursory clean where people see only our surface, if we want to do a deep soul-clean, we need to open up those places where sin can build up and, eventually, cause major problems.

Just like we do regular maintenance and cleaning around the house to keep it from being overrun by yuck, we also need to do regular spiritual maintenance and cleaning in our lives to keep it from being overrun by sin.

Take time to examine your life. Take time to confess and repent. Take time to remove the yuck that slowly builds up over time. And then do it again next week.

Blessings,

August 28, 2019

Football and Church

I often say, “There's a lot of similarities between football and church;” especially as the season gets closer. I don't necessarily go looking for the similarities, but they do seem to pop up on a regular basis.

Last week I was out doing my preseason running, minding my own business, doing my sprints along with the regular morning dog walkers whom I've come to be friendly with, when a car that usually drives on by parked near me. A professional-type gentleman got out and said, “Excuse me. I hate to interrupt your workout, but do you live around here?”

My initial thought was that I was being busted by the HOA enforcer for not living within the community. So I said, “Yeah, I live over that way,” pointing in the general direction of some houses and hoping I wouldn't have to defend myself too much more.

“Oh, okay. Well I've seen you out here quite a bit and I was wondering what level of football you work?”

I told him I work high school games in the county. And he said, “I'm going to retire soon and I was thinking that refereeing is something I'd like to do once I have the time.”

So I gave him my name and number, told him to give me a call next April/May, and I would be glad to get him hooked up.

“How is this like church?” you may be wondering. Over the course of my thirty years of being involved with officiating football, I have asked many, many people to become referees. As far as I can recall, none of those people actually took the plunge and got into this hobby I love so much. However, there have been a few people who have known I officiate, or, as this most recent gentleman did, saw me doing my thing and approached me to ask questions as to how they could get involved.

Over the course of my lifetime in the church, I have asked many, many people to come to church. As far as I can recall, none of those people actually took the plunge and got involved with this faith and church that I love so much. But there have been a few people who have seen what I do, or who have seen what the church is doing, and approached me to ask questions as to how they could get involved.

Sometimes evangelism isn't about telling people about your faith in an attempt to draw them in; sometimes evangelism is simply about living your life as a follower of Christ and letting your light shine so that it attracts others to you. And then you can tell them about this faith and church that you love so much.

Blessings,

August 21, 2019

Celebrations

Celebrations come around every so often on a regular basis: Easter, Christmas, birthdays, and wedding anniversaries are a few that come immediately to mind. Celebrations also occur spontaneously: a good test score, an unexpected refund check, your team wins a big game, and others. And sometimes we want a celebration to be over so we can get on with life.

Last Sunday we celebrated the completion of the flooring project as we were in the church for the first time in two weeks. This coming Sunday we will have the opportunity to make one more celebration, as we officially welcome and celebrate Deacon Sue.

Much like the official installation and Celebration of New Ministry for a rector often comes months after their arrival, this liturgy of welcoming our new deacon also comes almost a full two months after Sue's arrival at Saint John's.

By now we've all had a chance to meet and welcome Sue to Saint John's as our new deacon. As the saying goes, this IS her first rodeo, so there are some things to work out and improve on. But I have found her great to work with and she has already begun inserting herself into both the community of Saint John's and the wider community around us.

Which brings us to the upcoming celebration of her new ministry with us. Archdeacon Jane O'Leary will be present Sunday as we officially welcome Sue. At the 8 am service there will be some official words of welcome. And at the 10:15 service there will be a symbolic giving of gifts and we will participate in a liturgy of new ministry.

And then, after all of this is over, we will go back to life as normal. Every celebration has its ending. Every celebration can be seen as a respite from the daily grind of life. So before we get back to business as usual, or before we get bogged down with the minutiae of every-day living, let's take this time on Sunday to pause and give thanks for our new deacon and use this celebration as a starting point for how our ministries might change in the future.

On Monday we work. But this coming Sunday we celebrate! Please join us.

Blessings,

August 14, 2019

Back at it.

Sometime back in May, I think, but certainly by June, my calendar clicked over to the “It's time to start getting physically ready for football” season. So every Tuesday and Thursday I would head out to a long, flat stretch of lawn that covers the length of a football field to run.

I call it “running,” but it's really a bit more complicated than that. I do a warm-up set in 30-yard groups that takes me the length of a football field. Then I do some side shuffles, crossovers, and back-pedaling mixed with forward sprints. Add to that some flag throwing so I can accurately judge distances and hit my spots, and you have the makings of a morning “run” that roughly simulates what I do on game day.

Three weeks ago I was out of town on vacation, so no running there. Two weeks ago I was home on vacation but sick, so no running there. Last week I was recovering from being sick, so no running there either. Finally, yesterday, I began training again.

Unlike my first run earlier this year, I'm not sore (thankfully!), because I'm now smart enough to know not to return to the same level as when I left. So I'm easing back into the running regimen, looking to be ready for game day in a few weeks. But I'm back at it, and that's the important thing.

This is kind of like our time in church. We have a weekly regimen of attending Sunday services, as well as an Evening Prayer service and mid-week service. Obviously not everybody attends every service, but we all (hopefully) have a spiritual regimen that we follow. And then comes vacation, or a series of business meetings, or some other event that disrupts that regimen.

These disruptions often take us out of rhythm and away from our regimen. And even if we manage to maintain the regimen, there's something . . . different . . . about it. I went to church with my mom, but it wasn't the same. I could've maintained my training by going to a nearby school. We could've done something while away from our familiar surroundings to maintain our regimens, but sometimes that feels more like a chore than simply saying, “I'll start again when I get back.”

Summer is coming to an end. Vacation times are coming to an end. It's time to get back to whatever spiritual disciplines or regimens we were actively pursuing before we slipped away. There's nothing wrong with getting away, even Jesus and God took time to rest. And just as it's important to keep our physical bodies in shape, it's also important to keep our spiritual bodies in shape.

It's time to get back at it.

Blessings,

August 7, 2019

Enough.

Just before I went on vacation, President Trump verbally attacked four congresswomen of color telling them to, “Go back where you came from.” The implication, of course, being that unless you are white you aren't from here, nor do you belong here. It's a clearly racist and xenophobic view held not only by him, but by the vast majority of his supporters.

While I was on vacation, the president verbally attacked Rep. Elijah Cummings of Baltimore's 7^th congressional district. The most (in)famous words when he called Baltimore a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess” where “no human would want to live.”

Besides being obviously racist, the president's rant contained other dark undertones. In stating that no human would want to live there, he effectively identified those people who do live there as sub-human and less-than. As a white man describing this black-majority area this way, he has used a tactic that slave owners, traders, and white supremacists have used for centuries, equating non-whites as sub-human. I'm waiting for him to propose a bill stating that blacks get 3/5 of a vote. It is also reminiscent of the posters and other propaganda that were distributed in the 1940's during the Nazi occupation of Denmark equating Jews with rats that must be exterminated.

And this past Saturday evening, I went to bed with the news that 18 people had been killed by a gunman in El Paso and awoke Sunday morning to the news that 9 had been killed in Dayton. In El Paso, a white nationalist who idolizes the president and his racist rhetoric set out to cleanse Texas of the Hispanic invasion. The Dayton killer had compiled both a “hit list” and “rape list” of those he wanted to kill and/or harm. All of this on the heels of the seemingly endless words from our president pushing a white, nationalist agenda that proclaims there are fine people in the white supremacy movement.

Enough.

In the face of these and other acts acts of misogyny, xenophobia, racism, and other hate-spewing rants, I can no longer be silent. In the face of lies designed to appeal to our most base nature, speeches designed to increase our fear of others, and evil words and actions that have been utilized and normalized by a swath of Christianity, I can no longer be silent.

What is being held up as virtuous by this president and his supporters are, in fact, evil powers which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God. There is no repentance, only poor excuses. There is no resistance to evil, but an embrace of it in the name of national purity. There is no proclamation of Good News, only a bullhorn proclaiming fear. There is no desire to seek Christ, only a desire to seek the elimination of those not like us. There is no striving for justice and peace, but a striving for homogeneity that silences minority opinions and voices. There is no desire to serve, only a desire to maintain power and control over those who are different and a desire to be seen as the greatest.

Feed the hungry. Welcome the stranger. Love the enemy. There is no more Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, for all are one in Christ. This is the gospel we should be following. And unless we speak out against the atrocities of the current regime, we will be seen as supporting it, because our silence will be our approval.

Enough.

July 17, 2019

Vacation

So, after almost three years here at Saint John's, I'm finally taking a vacation. There are several reasons why I haven't done so until now, probably none of them are very good.

First, I'm more of a “short few days away from the office” kind of guy than a “long two or three weeks away from the office” kind of guy. I've really always been this way, never really liking being away for a long period of time. Well, let me rephrase that: I've never liked coming back to the office after being away for a long period of time. So I avoid it when I can.

Another reason is that Joelene hasn't always had the time available from her job to take a vacation. She's used days here and there, just as I've used time here and there. But now she does have the time so we can both take vacation at the same time.

And a third reason is geography. “Way out here in western Maryland” it can be difficult to find supply clergy to fill in. We don't have any retired priests within the congregation able to do so, and retired priests in general are in short-supply out this way.

So there are some reasons why it has taken me so long to get away.

That said, Joelene and I are heading to Washington (the big one in the upper left corner) this Saturday. We will spend time visiting family and friends in Seattle, Wenatchee, Richland, and Spokane. And then we come home on a red-eye flight that gets us into Baltimore at 6 am.

While I'm away, you can contact Deacon Sue or Melonie if you have a pastoral emergency. Dusty and Sherrie, with their pastoral care team and Stephens Ministers are also available if needed. And for my part, you all will continue to be in my prayers.

I'm looking forward to being out west once again; but I'm also looking forward to a safe return home. Have a good couple of weeks.

Blessings,

July 10, 2019

Three Priests and a Truck

Well, it was more like, “Two pastors, a priest, and a truck,” but that's too long for a tag line.

Monday I put out a request to the congregation asking if anyone was available to help a parishioner make a short move on Tuesday. I knew this was extremely short notice, but you never know what will happen when you ask. Unfortunately nobody was able to help.

So yesterday morning, on even shorter notice, I put out a text request to a local clergy group I'm part of. Texts flew back and forth, a phone call was made, and we were able to pull together a total of three clergy guys and a truck. We made two trips, and probably another few trips will be required to finish it. At 5 pm on Tuesday I still wasn't sure if we were going to get this done.

Spending my day moving a parishioner wasn't on my list of things to do when I got into the office yesterday. Spending my day moving a parishioner today is probably not on my list of things to do, but we'll see how it turns out.

Sometimes we are hit with the unexpected. Sometimes we are asked to do things not on our schedule. Sometimes we are asked to provide neighborly assistance when we have other things on our schedule.

And all the time it's those little things that are big to somebody else where God steps in and is present.

“The Lord be with you,” we say. Let us also remember that, for the Lord to be with you, I need to be with you. For the Lord to be with me, you need to be with me.

We are all in this together, and, hopefully, none of us will have to face any unexpected surprises on our own.

Blessings,