February 28, 2024

Wednesday Word:  Different Eyes

Joelene and I were part of our first Youth Group gathering here at Saint Luke’s this past Sunday afternoon.  We had a total of seven kids, which isn’t bad for our first time out.  We spent time learning about our names, what schools they attended, and their interests.  We set norms for the group, ate walking tacos and brownies, and played a game of Bible Pictionary which probably ended in a tie.  We closed out our time together by praying Compline (pg. 127 in the BCP if you’re looking for a good way to end your day).

I also asked if they were comfortable giving me their contact information so we could keep in touch with events and reminders.  A few of them even asked if they could sign up to receive emails from the church so they could participate in Lent Madness. 

All in all, it was a good time.

On Monday I put together a Youth Group email group so that I could just type SLEC YG in the “To” box without having to type each individual email.  After doing that, I went to send my first email to the group . . . and only two names came up.  I put much more than two into the group, but that's all that ever came up.  I spent 30 – 40 minutes trying to figure out what was going on; but no matter what I did, I only had two people in the group.  I finally called tech support, and Monica came into my office.

After showing her what was going on, she said, “You don’t have emails for those other people.”

And there it was, clear as day . . . I had only entered emails for two people in the group.  After updating each contact, I found that I had the right number of people in the group.

Sometimes it just takes a different set of eyes to see the problem.  Sometimes it takes a new set of eyes to see differently.

This Lent, as we work to make a right-beginning, as we examine ourselves, our conduct, and our practices, and as we spend time in prayer, fasting, and study, what is something that you have seen in a new way because somebody else showed you a different way of seeing?  What is something old and familiar that you’ve seen in a new way?

May we always be open to seeing God and ourselves in new ways.

February 21, 2024

Wednesday Word:  In

Have you ever thought about the word, In?  It’s such a small word – one syllable, two letters.  But despite its smallness, it can hold multiple meanings and it serves as a preposition, noun, adjective, and adverb.

If you’ve picked up a Lenten devotional from the church, you will see that in holds a special place today.  The theme of today’s meditation is on gratitude, and the author quotes a passage from 1 Thessalonians that reads in part:  “give thanks in all circumstances.”  They point out that this doesn’t necessarily mean giving thanks FOR all circumstances, but IN all circumstances.

As an example:  when a parent, spouse, child, friend, or beloved pet dies, we do not necessarily give thanks for the circumstances of their death.  We can, however, give thanks in the circumstance of their death for a life well-lived, or a life in which we were able to participate.

You will also see the word IN when we talk about the Sundays in Lent, not the Sundays of Lent.

Lent, as you know, is a season of fasting.  It’s a season when we refrain from eating certain foods to remind us of those in need, or to allow us to re-allocate part of our food budget to certain charities.  It’s a season we refrain from participating in certain activities which, hopefully, creates space for us to spend time in prayer or relationship building.

Sundays, by their very nature, are never days of fasting, but are always considered a feast day.  It’s a day when, if you were/are actually fasting from food, it is allowable to eat.  That doesn’t mean that you get to use Sunday as a day of excess, but it does serve as a kind of reprieve from the austerity of Lent.

I explained this difference once by saying, “It’s like when Paul wrote that, as Christians, we are IN the world, not OF the world.”

As you continue your journey through Lent, pay attention to that word IN.  Are you able to give thanks in all things?  Are you living out your baptismal covenant in a world that has other priorities?  Are you making appropriate space for Christ in your life?

How are you in this season?

Blessings,

February 14, 2024

For those who attended our First Annual Game Night last night, I hope you all had a good time.  For those who missed it, we had a number of games that people brought and played, plenty of snacks, and we even burned some old palms from last year.  It was a fun way to close out the Epiphany season and have our own little Mardi Gras celebration.  That festive feeling, though, now gives way to the penitential season of Lent and the Ash Wednesday services of today.

Today we pray that God will create and make in us new and contrite hearts.  Today we are invited to a season of self-examination and repentance; a season of prayer, fasting, and self-denial; a season of reading and meditating on Holy Scripture; and a season of reconciliation and forgiveness.

On this day we are also reminded of our mortality: Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

On this day we are called to make a right beginning.

During this season of Lent, may you find time to explore the wilderness, may you identify that which pulls you away from God and set that aside, may you find that which draws you closer to God and pick that up, may you rend your heart and not your clothing, and may you be restored to wholeness of body, mind, and spirit.

Ash Wednesday Services will be held today at Saint Luke’s at Noon and 6 pm.  Both services will include the imposition of ashes and Holy Communion.

May you have a holy Lent

February 7, 2024

Wednesday Word:  On Death

One day your soul will quit your body . . . all that we do know is that die we shall, and for the most part sooner than we expect. – The Devout Life, St. Francis DeSales

Death is never easy.  Oh, it may be easy for some who die, but not always.  It may be expected and a relief, such as after a long illness.  For those who are left behind, expected or unexpected, death is never easy.

For those of us left behind, we must begin to make a new reality, for what was is no more.  Whether that is daily, weekly, or monthly conversations that can no longer happen, to regular coffee shop visits that are now ended, and everything in between, we are forced to make an adjustment to our lives.  We are forced to recognize that for us, life will and must continue, even though it continues in a form we would rather not adjust to.

While the death of a friend, family member, or even acquaintance leaves a particular empty spot in my life, and while tears are shed and questions asked, I still live in the hope of the resurrection.  This doesn’t mean I don’t weep.  It doesn’t mean I have a Pollyanna view of life and death.  It simply means I live in hope.

Some of my favorite words in the BCP comes from the Proper Preface of the burial service: 

            For to your faithful people, O Lord, life is changed, not ended; and when

            our mortal body lies in death, there is prepared for us a dwelling place

            eternal in the heavens.

Death comes for us all.  May we weep for lives and loves lost.  May we smile and laugh for lives lived well.  And may we always live in hope.

All of us go down to the dust; yet even at the grave we make our song:  Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Todd+ 

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,