Saturday, November 15, 2008

Time

It seems that time is slipping away quickly. These past few weeks, heck even the past few months have just disappeared. Not that this is a bad thing, it just makes me feel like I'm running in a race, and will be exhausted at the end of this. I've been trying to take time for myself, and work on a careful balance of time, but it seems like there is always so much to do.

I haven't really made a post about myself the last few weeks, so here is the rundown. I am really enjoying Salem, it's given me a lot of opportunities to see my call to ministry strengthened, and understand that I am very capable through God's help of spreading the message of the Gospel. Along with all the weekly responsibilities, I've done quite a few exciting things in last few weeks.

One was presiding over a funeral on my own, a second was running a women's retreat. Both went extremely well. I've really been blessed with the opportunities that are left open to me. Along with these opportunities, come some very deep conversations with Pastor Hardy, which have both been enlightening and thought-provoking.

The latest conversation, is one that I would like some others feedback on. We were discussing how you can lead worship and still worship. PH informed me that he does not expect worship to be a time of worship and praise for him, instead he sees it as his responsibility to lead. Instead he says that he finds daily devotion as his way of furthering his relationship to God, and that he can't even really get much out of a worship service lead by someone else, because he analyzes it too much. Is this what clergy are stuck into? Or are there ways that there can still be a time of worship for the staff leading the service? Anyone have some personal experiences with this struggle or thoughts? I'd be interested in other opinions, because I haven't given up on the idea that worship can still happen for pastoral leaders.

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Sunday, November 2, 2008

Let's walk.

This is my sermon for All Saints Sunday on the Matthew 5:1-12 text.


As I read this text earlier in the week, I was reminded of a bright pink bracelet and a beaded bracelet that I used to wear in Jr. High School. I wore these bracelets every day for at least two years. Whenever they would get loose, I’d always tie them a bit tighter to make sure I didn’t loose them. Of course, a good portion of teens my age were wearing very similar bracelets to mine. They all had imprinted on them four letters. The letters were: WWJD. Perhaps you remember them? Those four letters had a very strong message that they were conveying. That message was: What would Jesus do? This is an age-old question regarding our morality. When we think we are going to do something wrong, we are encouraged to ponder how Jesus would react in that same situation.

These bracelets became very popular, taking on a culture of their own. It became cool to collect things that had those four letters on them. Those four letters were out to start a revolution. They were supposed to alter the way people thought about each other, they were supposed to inspire behavior of saints, instead they became a status symbol. You either had one, or you didn’t.

Jesus in his famous speech, commonly referred to as the Beatitudes text, offers up what appears to some as a path to do as he did. As Jesus ascends the mountain, he is followed by those eager to hear a laundry list of things that they have to do in order to receive the blessing of salvation.

It can be easy to picture them waiting to hear what details of their lives they must alter. They were most likely expecting to hear things such as: don’t eat this food, dress this way, give this much to the poor, do this, do that. These people longed for a list of what they should be.

It’s easier when someone gives you concrete steps to attain something. It’s often quite difficult to accept that things are out of our hands. Whether that means that we pray and give our worries over to God, or whether we rest in the comfort that God gave us salvation and we can do nothing to receive it. This reality, can make people uneasy, they think that it just seems too gracious.

In a world where there are power struggles daily, where rebel units can take over countries such as the Congo and make them a war zone, this is a world where people are afraid of their hostile governments, and where suicide bombers aim to solidify their place in heaven with a combination of dangerous theology and desperate attempts. In a world driven by power, most of that power being economic, we find it difficult to see things such as being meek or humble as virtuous. We find it difficult that there is no laundry list of behaviors that will grant us a place in God’s kingdom.


The message that those who were following Jesus up that mountain heard, was a message of the radical, of God’s will being done on earth. Jesus wasn’t giving them a list of things to be, but he was blessing what the crowd felt was unusual. Jesus declared freedom from despair, freedom from grief, freedom from want, and freedom from injustice.
Then he declared freedom for healing, freedom for integrity, freedom for peace, and freedom for faithfulness. This beautiful picture of God’s will done on earth, shows us how there can be a radical reversal of what we see as truthful and powerful. It has nothing to do with who holds more power or who can perform purity laws better, but instead encourages us to view things a bit differently. Jesus was declaring freedom for the oppressed, the weak, the foolish, the poor, the mourning, the ill, and the trapped.

This is not a message of the future, but a message of the now. Jesus declares blessing upon all of society as it transforms to reflect God’s will.

The pink bracelet with the letters WWJD on it, also had a transformative power and still does for me. It had nothing to do with how society was reading those letters though. Instead of reading it as What would Jesus Do? And looking for a list of actions that were appropriate behavior, it became a new acronym for me after a friend of mine enlightened me on the power of those four letters. WWJD, was no longer What would Jesus Do? But Walk with Jesus Daily. That powerful transformation of those letters spoke to the beatitudes.

Instead of trying to make an outline of how to gain blessing, we are reminded that we already have it, because Jesus is walking with us. That blessedness is available to us now, and we are given it freely as we walk with Jesus.

In remembrance of those who we have lost throughout the year, we take this Sunday and honor those who Jesus walked alongside on earth, and those who now are comforted by his eternal love and compassion. As we mourn the loss of loved ones, we can rest in the promise of Jesus on the mountain, and remember that we are blessed in our walk with him, just as our Saints are blessed in their relationship with him.

It is not an easy path that we trod with Jesus. There are plenty of times we feel lost and stumble, but then we can remember that Jesus is right there beside us, blessing us in that very moment. We may struggle through challenges, we may mourn, we may be weak, and we may be feeling helpless, but Jesus is present in our immediacy. The kingdom of God is not a faraway vision, but is with us in our suffering. Jesus walks with all of us on our paths, faithful and true to his blessing, he will never leave us to suffer alone.

We can offer ourselves reminders of Jesus’ promise to each of us, through our tokens such as WWJD bracelets, and remember that we walk with Jesus daily. We don’t have to be perfect, in fact we aren’t asked to be at all, instead we are loved for just exactly who we are, loved as a Child of God. And that is something we can all rejoice in. Amen.