IN Lent, But Not OF Lent

Each year, as we approach the 40-day season of Lent, I am reminded of the way the church talks about this season - unlike any other.  As the weeks of the Easter season go by, you will see that we are in the "Second Sunday OF Easter," for instance.  But not Lent.  For this season, we are "IN" it, but never "OF" it.

It reminds me of the way our Lord speaks of sin, and the world in which we live, of the arguments that divide us, or the temptations that pull away our focus on God.  These are all things that we go through, that we are apart of - but we are to strive to never have them define who we are, never are they to claim our lives in any foundational way - never are we to become a part OF them in any significant way.

The season of Lent is a powerful journey, if you are willing to open your heart wide enough to allow the truth of God to enter.  But be careful!  It is not a truth that seeks to comfort, or confirm where you are, or validate your opinion of yourself.  It is not a truth that seeks to accomplish your will, but rather to bend and break you toward the will of God.  It is a truth that you need to crawl toward, instead of walking proudly upright.  It is a truth that comforts you when afflicted - but won't hesitate to afflict you when you get too comfortable.

It is a journey that leads us to the cross - and so to suffering, and betrayal, and the burden of bearing the cross that is laid upon our shoulders too.  But ultimately, it is a journey that leads us to the only source of life, and hope, and forgiveness and love - as our lives are not defined by the things we bear, but rather by the One who bears them with us.  May we always discover new life, as we become OF Christ.

Christ's Peace,
Pastor Rick

                                            Transfigured to Bear The Cross

The Transfiguration of Christ happens at the top of a mountain.  All of the greatest revelations and interactions with the Almighty happen on the top of mountains.  When you're reading along in the Bible and the scene moves to a high place, get ready - God is about to say something important, share a new set of laws, or fulfill the old ones!

What is said to Jesus is the confirmation of who he is, what he is being called to do - and the power of God is bestowed to accomplish the task.  "You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased."  And then a word to the disciples (and each one of us): Listen to him.

Great! the disciples think.  This is fantastic!  Finally a confirmation that the one we are following is "The One."  Peter suggests that they build three permanent shelters and camp out - Let's experience this "mountain top experience" for as long as we can.  Maybe we can change the world from up here!?  Right?
Nope, says Jesus.  That's not the confirmation I've received.  We need to travel to Jerusalem now, to the cross, to my suffering and death... and finally, to the new life that will be lavished upon the entire world.

This week marks the end of the season of light (Epiphany) and the transition to the season of darkness - Lent.  You are invited to journey to the one place you would rather avoid... to the broken relationship that needs mending, to the person you treat as a leper, to the one who holds up a mirror to your judgmental self-righteousness.

This is Your Cross.

Family begins at church.
Transformation begins in faith.
And the cross awaits us all, no matter how hard we try to avoid it.

Time to Recalculate Time

• 

  
  
  
  
  

  You know The List...

  
  
  

  • We're busy - often too busy for our own good.  
  • There's not enough time in the day to get done the priorities on our To Do List.  
  • As the years go by, it becomes more difficult to remember all the wonderful memories that have filled our years, but the most painful ones seem to still impact our daily life.  
  • We run into people we used to know, and may not recognize them amidst all the changes of age - yet we often feel internally that we are still the young and vibrant person we have always been.  
  • The recognitions of growing old multiply as our aches and pains increase, as we are called "Sir" more often, and as the average ages of those listed in the daily obituaries match our own personal number.

  
  Some day our time will be over, and the legacy that we have left behind will take our place - at least for as long as there is someone to remember it.  And when the remembering of our time here on earth is forgotten, our impact will continue perhaps unconsciously in the lives of those we have indirectly effected. 

   
  By God's grace it will be... enough.

  
  The one thing that helps me deal with the advent of time is - thankfulness.  Because in my gratitude for the Past, I am filled with thankfulness for the memories of those who have blessed and challenged my life.  Thankfulness is the gift that pushes me to savor every last moment and immerse myself in the Present time that God has granted as an immediate gift.  And it is thankfulness that pulls me forward into the Future with hope, and fills me with anticipation for what great things God has in store for me around the next corner.
  
  Thankfulness helps me recalculate MY time into the increments of GOD'S time at work in my life.  When I am bitter that I don't have more time, when I am grieving that a friend was taken "before his time," and when I wish time was going faster through the pain I experience... it is God's time that allows me to recalculate my own existence.  

  
  

  As this year begins with a whole new resetting of our expectations and vision for the time we have - may God grant us the time to be thankful for all we have been given, all we currently experience, and all we will ever have.
  
  Christ's Peace,
  Pastor Rick 

Top Ten Excuses People Use for NOT Coming to Church

1. It's the only day I get to sleep in.

2. We had family visiting from out of town.

3. I don't believe in God, and if I did, it wouldn't change the way I live. (Would it change the way you die?)

4. I just got out of the habit.

5. I don't know why I don't come, but I just don't.

6. I'll miss the start of the football game.

7. We never sing any of the old hymns. (or: ALL we sing are the old hymns!).

8. The weather was too bad - or too good.

9. It's our one day to be together as a family.

10. All they do is ask for money.


The Pastor

Top Ten Qualities of a Crappy Chaperone

10. Like to get a lot of sleep.

9. Don't like to hang around kids.

8. Desire quiet, peaceful nights.

7. Continue to correct their kids around others.

6. Don't do well with surprises.

5. Prefer a lot of "alone time."

4. Abhor eating pizza twice a day.

3. Like to "stay on schedule."

2. Think that the trip is about them.

1. Haven't yet realized that it's all about Love.


The Pastor

12 Steps to Recovering From - Religion

Religion is one of the greatest dangers to our faith.  ~Karl Barth

1. We admit we have often been powerless over religion—that our lives have become unmanageable as we focus on How we worship God, instead of celebrating Who we worship.

2. We need to come to believe that a Power greater than ourselves can restore us to real faith – and this power will allow us to stop defending or relying on religion.

3. Make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand Him – realizing that faith is a gift that comes from God, not something we generate ourselves.

4. Make a searching & fearless moral inventory of how we have put our faith in religion, instead of, moved by the Spirit to place our faith in God.

5. Admit to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our reliance on religion.  We can be fearless in facing our Religion, because it has no power over our lives, or eternal life.

6. We need to become entirely ready to have God remove all our reliance on religion, and to transform and restore us to people of faith.  This begins in the recognition of our own need to God’s mercy, forgiveness and love.

7. We need to practice daily the letting go of our religion, by humbly asking God to grant us the power to... sit in different pews, sing from various hymnals, support a wide range of music, and try a different worship time at least once each year!

8. Make a list of all persons we have harmed by attacking their religion, instead of listening to their hearts, and to see others as God’s children... and to become willing to make amends to them all – through expressions of the love, forgiveness and mercy of God.

9. Discover ways to open ourselves to hearing God’s voice above our own, and ways to quiet our voices so that the God-shaped hole in our hearts can be filled with God’s Spirit.

10. Recognize our hunger to place concrete worldly things in God’s place – including family, possessions, ideas and religion.

11. Seek through authentic worship, prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, so that we might deepen our ability to celebrate God, reconcile with others, and live joyously in this world.

12. Having had a spiritually-faithful awakening as the result of these Steps, we will try to carry this message to others who feel the talons of religion digging into their lives, and strive to practice these principles of Faith in all our affairs.

Seeing Osama In The Mirror of Christ

After Jesus rose from the dead - after experiencing the terrorism of his interrogation, public shaming, condemnation, rejection and betrayal, his beatings and crucifixion - he sought out the 

   -  the soldiers who pounded the nails, mocked him and divided his cloths

   -  the guards who beat, spat upon and crowned him with thorns

   -  the government officials who condemned him through apathy and collusion

   -  Pilate who sentenced him wrongly to capital punishment

   -  Each member of the crowd who yelled for his crucifixion

   -  Peter who thrice denied him as Lord or friend

   -  Judas who betrayed him with a kiss, and for 30 pieces of silver

   -  each religious leader who plotted his death

   -  as well as his disciples who abandoned him, and hid themselves behind the locked doors of their    

       compound.

Jesus found them all, starting with his disciples - and he shot them all dead.

Because Jesus was clearly about revenge, and holding people accountable for their evil actions.  Their behavior was a reflection of their sin, and so Jesus acted out of self-defense (for who knew when they would plot their next crucifixion of an innocent man).  And Jesus felt self-justified (of course he did, he was God and perfect!) as he made people pay for their participation in the death of innocent people.

And now, he's looking for others, including us.

   -  those who eat more than their share, as others die of hunger and malnutrition

   -  those who harbor more than one coat in their closet, while others freeze to death

   -  those who enjoy a nice level of healthcare, while others die because they can't afford a 20-cent

        immunization.

   -  those who have failed to turn the other cheek when struck by another

   -  those who have fallen short of being perfect as their heavenly Father is perfect

   -  those who fail to rejoice and be glad in the loss of a loved one, or in the face of persecution

   -  those who have failed to pluck out an eye, or cut off a hand, in response to a sinful look or action

   -  those who have ever been angry or lusted in their heart (sorry Jimmy) for it is the same in God's eyes as

       murder or adultery

   -  those who claim to be a follower, but have failed to sell all their possessions and give the money to

       the poor

   -  those who condemn others, but fail to see the depth of their own sin

   -  those who have failed to love their neighbor as themself

   -  those who have failed to love their enemies

   -  those who have failed to hate their mothers, fathers, wife and children

   -  and those who fail to forgive, love and show mercy as God has done to them

   -  those who gladly cast the first stone.

I am so thankful that I don't fall into any of these categories. (Oh I can't lie any longer - I actually fall into all of them)

It saddens me that so many of us begin with the sin of others, as a shield against the recognition of our own brokenness. So many of us hide behind the sins of what we do, but fail to see the sin of who we are. We rejoice when we can lift up another who is grossly, and obviously, worse and more evil than we are - as if God will celebrate our comparison as faithfulness.

We are afraid to let go of the self-preservation of our Either/Or Attitude.  We are eithergood, or we are bad.  You are either with us, or you are against us.  Faith in Christ requires more than this superficial, self-focused, worldly philosophy.  It requires some depth of nuance, and the vulnerability of paradox and the bold faith to look honestly at our own humanness.  We are commanded to live in the Both/And Attitude that marks a child of God - one who can suspend fear long enough to open a heart to the exposure of Christ's love.  For we are Both completely sinful, And a forgiven child of God.  (Most of us would prefer to rejoice at the forgiveness part, but we would rather skip the "completely sinful" designation.  Too bad for us.)

And so we love, but we love to condemn.

We dance and sing when we can kill another.  Our chants expose our true allegiances.  That's what gets me, the dancing and rejoicing.  And once again, we fail to see the world through the eyes of God.

So here's a question: Who is going to dance and sing when we finally receive what we deserve?

Be careful... Jesus is looking for you and me next.  

He's either going to shoot us dead, or he will claim us as his forgiven children.


The Pastor