Changing Season

A day after Thanksgiving, the temperature dropped. Things just feel different. Monday the church was decorated for Advent and Christmas, this just added to the sense of transition into something new.

Advent marks the beginning of the Christian year. This is the season we prepare for The Christ to be birthed into our lives. Have a blessed Advent.

Born For This

Today is Christ the King Sunday.

Jesus taught his followers, and still teaches us today that to lead you have to serve. He taught that Loving God meant loving each other. But Jesus wasn't just a life coach. Jesus wasn't just a philosopher or a teacher. Jesus wasn't just a rabbi. Jesus made absolute claim that he was the word of God made flesh. He claimed to be God's anointed one. Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is the Christ.

If Christ is King, if Jesus is Lord that means we don't have to be or even pretend to be. That takes a lot of pressure off!

If Christ is king, I will bow before him no matter what the minimum requirement.

If Christ is king and he was rejected, then its alright if I get rejected because I am his disciple.

If Christ is king, then we have to see all of our aspirations, failures and successes in the light of his rule.

If Christ is King then hope and comfort will reign instead of despair and grief.

If Christ is King then violence and hatred are overcome by mercy and forgiveness.

If Christ is king we know someone is in charge.

If Christ is king, then I know that I am not.

If Christ is king then no one else is.

Jesus Christ is a king like no other. Christ the king doesn't call us to rule over others. Our king doesn't call us to violence. Our king doesn't promise riches or material security.

Our king asks us to follow him.

Our king invites us to rest in him.

Our king says to learn from him.

Our king tells us to Love God with all that we are.

Our king says that he and the father are one.

Our king says to love your neighbor as your self.

Our king tells us to go and make more learners and teach them all that he taught us.

Our king spoke often of the Kingdom of Heaven..the Kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God is like a farmer who sows seeds

The kingdom is like a mustard seed

The kingdom is like a field of wheat and weeds.

The kingdom is like treasure in a field

The kingdom is like yeast

The kingdom is like pearls of great value

The kingdom is like a fishing net.

Humanity has largely rejected the idea of earthly kings as a political reality. Our country had its birth when it fought a war to cast off monarchical rule. Now every four years we elect someone that half the country will criticize relentlessly until the next election. We don't trust our fellow humans with power over us. We don't trust those who claim to have the right to rule us. There is a good reason for this. It was never God's plan.

When the Hebrews wanted a ruler, a king like other nations had, the judge Samuel went to God with the request and it was King Saul was made ruler over them. If you have read your bible you know that arrangement didn't work out so well for the people or for Saul. Then David was king. Then a cycle of Bad kings and not-so-bad kings ruled and continued to make a mess of things all the while, the prophets of God continued to call the people back to God. Then God intervened.

Jesus was born. Royalty born in a barn. The King of kings for all eternity born to a young couple in an occupied land making the difficult journey to Bethlehem. He grew up and only a few recognized him for who he was but even they abandoned him in the end. He was crucified. He died. He defeated death. He ascended into heaven and reigns as King.

This is where we find ourselves in the story. What happens next we do not know. Scripture says he is coming back. We cannot predict when that will be or what that will look like. Jesus says don't even try to guess.

Christ is king and he his a king like no other. He didn't come and conquer. He didn't subjugate. Jesus came as a servant. Jesus came and sacrificed himself. As we find ourselves today, in this chapter of God's story, we have a king who has called us to follow him. How will we respond? Where does our allegiance to Jesus fall in our list of loyalties? How does Jesus fair on your list of important things? Spouse, children, parents, siblings, country, culture, politics, where does submission to Christ the king fall in your list?

In the Gospel lesson today Jesus is on trial before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. Pilate clearly wants little to do with this situation. He doesn't want Jesus to be his problem. The question of kingship comes up. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my f0ollowers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is ,my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?”Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

Born to testify to the truth. Jesus said that is what is was born to do. What were you born to do? Can you put your finger on one thing? What were you born for? If you can name something, how often do you do what you were born to do? How well do you do what you were born to do?

Jesus said he was born to testify to to the truth. Pilate asked him “what is truth?” Good question!

A lie is a lie even if everyone believes it and the truth is the truth even if no one believes it. If Jesus said, “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice,” then why are there so many well meaning, intelligent people not listening to his voice? Perhaps its because some of the people who claim to be his followers have forgotten to listen for his voice and have presented a distorted what it means to be a disciple of Christ. If Jesus is not at the top of your priority list, if Christ is not your king then what is? The kingdom of God will be made manifest in those who listen and obey. The kingdom of God will be realized when we let the Holy Spirit inhabit us and transform us. The kingdom of God will be on earth as it is in heaven when those who claim the name of Jesus as lord. How can Christ be king of the world if he is not even king of his believers? How can this world heal, if we don't abide Jesus' rule?

When Jesus was about to leave this world he commissioned his followers to do the work he was doing. He once said that his followers would do greater things than he did. It is only by submission to his will that this is possible.

We all are on this journey of life together. The question for our spiritual lives and our life together is always, “what's next?” The answer to that questions is always to seek a deeper connection to God. We are never done. We can always go further up and further in. We can surrender more and more of our life to our King. On our journey we will discover things that will impede our efforts to get closer to God. These are the things that we will remove. The things that are ineffective in drawing us to the truth, we will leave behind.

So, how is it with you today? Have you accepted Christ as your king? Is Jesus the Lord of your life? I am praying for you my brothers and sisters. May Gods kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

On Kinney Down

I went to my hometown for Thanksgiving.  Eli with his cousin.  

My family's heraldry includes farming symbols.

This is the chimney that goes through the room that
was my bedroom as a child.  My chalk art that
I made to make it more attractive has survived
for a quarter-century.  

Hold On!

I wish is had a blood pressure cuff this past week. I was at home with the family. We had the television on. And a political ad came on. I couldn't believe it. The election was over. Aside from being a wast of money because they aired the commercial at the wrong time it was a waste of my time because, like most people I got pretty sick and tired of those ads and I didn't want to hear one more word about it. I started going into a tirade and wasn't a couple of sentences into it when I noticed the commercial started moving in fast motion. I hadn't realized until that moment that the program we were watching was recorded from the week before and now my loving wife was kindly fast forwarding it to spare me the pain of watching one more moment of it.

A moment of pause would have done me well. A moment of reflection and patience before speaking would have saved me some grief. Fortunately, only my family was around to see this embarrassing display. With out saying a word; with out a gesture or a glance' with the quick action of the remote control my wife said “hold on!”

That's a multipurpose phrase, “Hold on”

“Hold on” can mean to pause as my wife's actions suggested. Its what you say when you are wanting to catch up to someone, getting them to wait. Its what you say when you are challenging someone on an idea. You ever done that? It seems to happen more around election season. Someone is passionate about a subject and they are going on and on and at some point they cross a line that you cannot agree with so you stop them with a “hold on.” I wonder what the criteria is, for some people when forming their political opinions. It ought to be be based on the great commandments of God but I am convinced that's not always the case. What is the line that some one crosses that causes you to say, “Now hold on!”? It's interesting to look inside and investigate where our biases come from.

Jesus gave the disciples a “hold on” in the scripture today.

Jesus and his disciples were walking out of the temple and they were awestruck by the immensity of the place. And Jesus told them not to be so impressed because all this is temporary. Well scripture has Jesus saying, “ Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left on another. All well be torn down.”

These guys were small town fishermen and they were with Jesus in Jerusalem, in the temple which was at that time one of the wonders of the world. And Jesus was saying that this marvel was temporary. Ti must have seemed unbelievable.

This week in history 25 years ago, in 1987 I was a small town boy getting ready to play in the state championship football game in the Pontiac Silver-dome. We came out of that tunnel for a short practice onto that field that two nearly years before Barry Sanders ever did. My coach, taking a cue from the movie The Hoosiers, pulled out a tape measure and measured a yard and, yep, it was a regular ole yard, 36 inches. And now The Silver-dome goes unused.

This is a temporary world with temporary things and temporary problems. Jesus disciples wanted to know when the destruction of the temple would happen. They wanted dates. They wanted a time line. They wanted a heads up or a warning. But Jesus gave them a “hold on.” There will be people who will try to use events to try to claim to be the Christ but don't you listen to them. Jesus in his loving care didn't address their question directly but warned them about the dangers of their way of thinking. We ought not be looking for signs of the end but instead we should be staying true to what God commands us.

Hold on and also mean brace yourself. There is rough road ahead. Its like when I get last second directions in the car to make a turn. I tell the kids, “Hold on!”

Do you other parents instinctively put your hand in front of your child in the passenger seat to protect them? We do that I a lot of ways not just in the car. We try to keep those we love safe in a world that is dangerous and full of things we cannot control.

When we face difficulties, sometimes the only thing we can do is hold on, to minimize the loss or the damage. That feeling of being out of control is not one that we desire. This is a dangerous world. We can marvel at a sunset over Lake Michigan and say that God is good but then we also have to look at the devastation that Hurricane Sandy has wrought and hold on to the same understanding of God. God is still good. There are some who say that this storm or that storm is a judgment by God about this or that action of a people. That doesn't make much sense to me. Does that mean that we northern Michiganders get punished with dangerous blizzards every January and February for our sins? Only to be rewarded with heaven on earth every summer and fall? No its just a dangerous world we live in. Bad things happen. During the good times we rest in God and During the rough times we hold on and rest in God. Jesus said that there wold be wars and rumors of wars. Jesus said that there would be earth quakes and famines. Hasn't this happened many many times in the past 2000 years? Hasn't there been many predictions of the end of time that have come and gone? Has that been spiritually profitable to anyone? The current one that is getting attention is the end of the Mayan calendar. I know its frustrating when you get to the end of the calendar you are using and have to buy a new one, especially when it's been carved out of stone and is centuries old but time marches on and we have something eternal to hold on to.

That's another way to use the phrase “Hold on”. Keep secure what is true and valuable. Hold on to my grandmothers frog that was her door stop for all the years of my life. But even as solid and as permanent as it seems it is temporary so I don't hold to tightly. Hold on to what is eternal. Hold on to what is true: God loves you unconditionally; God took the initiative in saving you the tangle of hell you have created for yourself; Jesus is God in human form and came to give you life; Life in Jesus means life in eternity.

So, how is it with you today? Hold on! Pause and asses your situation. Hold on! It could get rough, but God is there. Hold on! Hold on to what is true and eternal.

On Kinney Down

Jay getting his glasses adjusted AGAIN. The staff at the optometrist know us well. 

Some notes from the Kindergarten Sunday School class for me.  What a delight!

This is the entrance where I get my hair cut.  I now have a barber.  Thought I have
been gong her for over a year now, I finally can call her "my barber" because there is now
that familiarity means little needs to be said.  Its a Zen-like understanding. 

  

Blessing of a Home

This is not a home altar. These items are in my study in the church.
The painting is of the lighthouse in Ludington painted by my wife.
This is to acknowledge that the true holy land is where you are
not some particular piece of geography. the egg is wooden and hand-
painted from Ukraine.  Its gift from my brother and a nod to Christian
tradition.  The paper is a "love letter" from a former church wishing me well.
The cup reminds me of the cup of blessing. The photo is of my siblings. the
Shell is a symbol of baptism and a souvenir from my kids' mission trip.
The Nativity scene is hand carved olive wood purchased from Palestinian
Christians. 

 In my last post I brought up the idea of consecrating our homes, of perhaps, even having a home altar. The home is the place where we can truly practice God's unconditional love. In our homes we are free from pretense. In our home our true nature is most revealed. In our home life is at its most raw. How blessed would it be to come before God, as a family, in our shared weakness to ask for God's strength? If you have children or grand children they will learn from you how to relate to God. If you only relate to God one day a week, then that is how they will likely relate to God. If you make your spiritual life indivisible from the rest of your life, well then our children will be all the stronger for it.

In our home we have weekly family meetings. In these meetings each person has an opportunity to bring up a topic of discussion to which every person has a an opportunity to respond to. This act of intentional communication with each other has strengthened us and has brought greater peace and harmony to our home. Wouldn't it stand to reason that if we included God in our daily lives that the blessings would multiply? Yes, most families have a prayer before meal time but what about a more intentional way of living our life together?

In our United Methodist Book of Worship there is a SERVICE FOR THE BLESSING OF A HOME on page 610. In this service, several scriptures are suggested (I will list them below). What if, at the beginning of Advent or the beginning of the calendar year we rededicate not only ourselves and our families but our homes as well, to God? The liturgy for this service will take less than ten minutes. What a great way to start the year and what a great way to get to know each other better! You could make it as simple or elaborate as you want. I could breeze in and breeze out or you could make it a party!

I would enjoy comments, suggestions and even Guinea pigs for this.

Blessings. 

Suggested lessons for the blessing of a home:

Joshua 24:14-25

1 John 4:11-21

Acts of the Apostles 2:43-47

Ephesians 3:14-21

Matthew 7:24-27

Matthew 6:25-33

John 14:1-3

Ship Building

Mark 12:38-44

A Staircase, for many, is an impassabile barrier.
How many of these barriers do we have in our
chruch?

Are we looking for attention, or are we drawing attention to Jesus?

Based on this text, this could easily be a message about money and tithing and stewardship.   Those are all good things to talk about in church.  Yes the widow offered to what she had to live on, while the rich folk put in a little of the extra they had.  They were offering out of their abundance while she abandoned any sense of sense of attachment to material things and honored God by offering what she had.  This is a powerful lesson on trusting God. But this incident that is recorded in Holy Scriptures also reveals a lesson about intention and attention.

We are made to give attention to God and we are made to need God’s attention.  However we are also given the ability to reject God and to isolate ourselves.  The greatest commandment is to Love God with everything that you are.  I would say that means paying attention to God.  The second is to love your neighbors as yourself.  If we love our neighbors the way we should, then not one of us will go without the love and attention we need.  We, as a community of God’s people are the body of Christ on earth.  The Love and nurture we show is God’s love for those who need it. 

But the fact of the matter is that some…many fall through the cracks.  There are many who do not have the love and attention they need.  So they seek it out in different ways. 

I remember once when I was a boy.  I was probably nine or ten years old. I was riding my bicycle and I got into some loose sand at the turn of our driveway.  I crashed pretty hard and skinned my arm and had gravel everywhere.  I didn’t get up.  There wasn’t anything broken.  I wasn’t hurt so badly that I couldn’t get up but I wanted someone to notice that I had fallen.  I was looking for a little attention.  I lay there in the driveway in the Hot July sun for a few minutes before I realized that no one was coming and even if they had the pain had mostly gone and I wouldn’t really have much to complain about, so I got up and when about my business.

We all get attention for various things.  The difficult part is when we get used to it and then lose it.  Perhaps we can’t do the things we used to do.  Perhaps we don’t feel as useful as we once were.  Perhaps our gestures of generosity go unnoticed by those who benefit from them. 

The widow who put her two coins in the box at the temple didn’t expect to be noticed that day.  No one notices her.  Every one notices the teachers of the law with their long robes and such.  Everyone pays attention to the big donors because their contributions can do so much.  The widow with her two coins came, made her offering, and went, nearly unnoticed.  But God noticed.  Jesus drew his disciples’ attention to her actions.  He set her up as the example.   She has God’s attention and the attention of Christian disciples for two millennia as we read her story in scripture.  With that said it is likely that, in life, she never knew that anyone saw what she did.  We don’t know what happened to her after this.  We don’t know how she got her next meal.  We don’t know how much longer she lived.  But one thing we do know: She honored God and God noticed.  God was paying attention.   

God is paying attention and God can see our intention.  This event is presented in scripture along with Jesus warning to his disciples, “Watch out for the experts in the law. They like walking around in long robes and elaborate greetings in the market places and chief seats in the synagogues, and chief places at feasts:  Those who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”  It seems that the intention of the experts in the law is to get attention from people, and Jesus says they will receive greater condemnation.  The widow’s intention was to Honor God and she is honored for it. 

In a few weeks we will see some plans for a proposed renovation of the church building.  A few of us have seen the early version of it and it looks wonderful.  It will make the whole building easier to use for those with trouble getting around.  The whole building will be accessible by wheel chair if follow through with it.  If we do go forward with it no one will pat us on the back and say good job; no one will give us a medals or awards; it will be inconvenient and expensive.  But then we aren’t looking for attention are we! Our intention is to fulfill the mission of making disciple of all nations, teaching them all that we have been taught.  Our intention is to Love God with everything that we have and everything that we are.  Our intention is to love our neighbors as ourselves. 

If we go ahead with this project, in a couple of years when a visitor comes to St. Paul UMC they may not know or even notice that this church had done a renovation but they will notice that they feel welcomed and loved as they are able to participate fully in the vital ministries of this church because there will be no barriers; there will be no part of the building that they cannot get to because stairs go in their way.  We want noting to stand in the way of God’s love for people.  If we can make this building easier for people to be in then we ought to do it.  If we can remove physical barriers then we can build a larger and stronger community of believers to love and care for each other in Jesus name, bearing each other’s burdens.

So how is it with you today?  Do you know that God loves you and sees the good you have done?  God knows the obstacles you face and the ones you have already overcome.  God knows what wonderful things are in store for you and God asks us only to have faith. 

On Kinney Down

This week Savannah was away to a leadership camp.  For a 13-year-old she seems to be gone a lot.  She left on Wednesday and will get home this afternoon.  I miss her.  I knew I would miss her before she left.  I hear of parents with teen aged children complaining about how difficult they are to raise, and, granted they do present very different challenges from previous years, but I think they are great.  I fear that when the day comes that they leave for college I will be a mess.  I am addicted to my kids. I can’t help it.  I got a little taste of this when I officiated my sister Abby’s wedding this fall.  When she came down the aisle I was overcome with emotion.  Now, mind you, I don’t cry; I don’t get emotional and I certainly don’t get “overwhelmed” but it was Abby, my baby sister; my little princess.  I held back. I soldiered on.  We got through.  I don’t think I’ll be as successful when it’s my daughters turn.

Alex had his first quiz bowl this week.  He loves it! he said, "I have found my people."  It was an awesome nerd fest, and I mean that with the greatest amount of love, coming from a self-avowed, practicing nerd.  Alex made the same observation and I said in response, “Yes, but these are the people who will be ruling the world in a couple of decades.”

The Contemplative House

Here is a blogger that has explored the idea of a home altar a little further than I.

http://oblatespring.blogspot.com/2010/06/contemplative-house-benedictine-oblate.html?m=1

Your Child's Spiritual Guide

     On election day I set out early with my son Eli to go to the Riverton Township hall to vote.  I was number 60. That seems to be the thing to say nowadays.  The little electronic counter on the machine you feed your ballot into counts you and then you compare with your friends which number you were and what time you where there.  I was a long ballot this time.  lost of bubbles to fill in.  Eli played at my feet, demanded to be held a couple of different times.  We got through it.  Actually I enjoy it.  Voting that is.  I like the illusion that my vote matters.  That somehow by taking the time to do this that my only earthly power is exercised.  Of course we all exercise greater influence through our day to day interactions. We are immersed in our own culture. We are shaped by it.  It defines who we are.  Most of us don't think we have a "culture" it is just normal life. But try living in a different culture for a little while, even if it is just a little different. 
     On election day buried a friend and church member.  She and her husband moved away a few months ago to be closer to family Grand Rapids.  While her graveside service was here in Ludington. The cemetery was right behind the hall where I voted three hours before.  the funeral was the day before in Grand Rapids.  I attended that service as a friend, a mourner, and an observer.  I observed that her family has great faith in God.  I don't say this lightly.  I have officiated many, many funerals where the families "believed" or were "church go-ers" but few had such trust in the promises of the Christian faith as this family does.  It seems to be part of their DNA to trust that she is living eternally in the presence of God.  Other families I have met seem lost, confused, disoriented at the loss of a family member.  This family, though hurting and sad had a calm assurance about them that I admire.
      I was number 60 on the voter tally.  I don't know what my number is when it comes to leaving this world (if you believe in that sort of thing). I do know this: leading my family into a life of faith is a gift that has no equal.  To be able to grieve loss without being destroyed spiritually and emotionally is necessary for survival. 
     A new friend of mine gave me a great idea.  In his home he has his own altar where he centers himself and devotes himself to God.  He has made his home a sanctuary.  I am going to suggest that we all do this.  That we view our homes not just as a place where we sleep and keep our stuff but as a place, a safe place,  where we rest in God's presence continually.  Parents, you are your child's primary spiritual leader and guide.  As a pastor I see kids once a week and it is from a distance.  You are there through it all.  You can gift your child with a framework of understanding that gives some meaning to this life and the life to come. 
     I look forward to exploring this idea of sanctifying the home in the weeks to come.