Resolved: Play...

Last one of the series. Play.

Play is pretty normal for kids. We, the grown-ups of the world, have largely forgotten how to do it. We exercise. We are "active." But we don't "play" very well.

I just read Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less and one whole section is devoted to play. This is a business book...learning to eliminate distraction and too much responsibility in order to do what you do well. Part of this healthy best practice is play. The author argues that in the relaxed energy of play you find a creativity that transfers back into the workplace. Our brains are wondrous things when treated well. Play (and sleep, BTW) often lead us to solutions that otherwise cannot be found.

Congregations who have forgotten how to play together are usually in trouble. Same holds true of families. The NPR series suggests that play exposes us to words that build our basis for literacy. I think it exposes us to the relationship and creativity it takes to live this life of discipleship. We adults take ourselves so seriously, we forget the joy of praise, the glorious freedom of grace, and the gift of faith community which nurtures us in so many ways.

Faith practice has been central in my family for generations. My mother tells stories of baptizing cats in the stream (not an easy practice), of taking turns "preaching" and taking up the "offering," of pretending to walk on water or feed five thousand. We did the same. "Playing" with faith words, with or without understanding, lays a foundation.

My cousin used to teach me the words to old hymns. There was one about "Gladly, the cross-eyed bear." We agreed we didn't understand why the cross-eyed bear was in the hymn, but we sang it with abandon now that we knew the words. We also sang the one about fishing... The old rugged cross...where the dearest and bass... (dearest and best if you want the grown up words). I insisted, again, it didn't make sense. She instructed me that it didn't have to make sense...that's what faith was. I was pretty impressed at the number of creatures included in the hymnody of the church.

I love that play is included in the list. It takes it from a to-do to a gift. Who would think in this era of experts and worriers that building faith foundations would be so easy.

I wish for you the most fun talk, sing, read, write, and play ever!

Resolved: Write...

I think people will see this as, by far, the most difficult practice. But, of course, to write this blog, I have to challenge that assumption.

Write how? Certainly not Shakespearean reams of iambic pentameter. Not NYT or WaPo worthy essays. For children, the act of shaping letters helps create the synapse for literacy. There is definitely a practice between our behaviors and our brains. So...write something. 

Kids in worship can draw a picture of what they hear or see or experience. After you get home, or as you are waiting for your restaurant lunch, write two or three words on the picture that help explain it. Leave the picture up on the frig for a week...then replace it with the next picture. You can talk about that experience all week. If you have those wonderful refrigerator letter magnets and do not have one of those subversive stainless steel refrigerators that are not magnetic, you can make other words that reflect the picture. Make it a family activity. Fun.

Adults. We hate to write. (OK...obviously not all of us...but go with me here.) SO, God's gift to you is a smart phone. Open that list app. Write a word or phrase you pick up in worship or a small group on Sunday. Maybe two or three. It will keep you occupied during the sermon...and you will listen better.

Then, several times during the week...say during boring meetings or while waiting in carpool lines...go back and see what you wrote. Spend a couple of minutes thinking about how you are living into those noted lines, or how they are living in you. The next Sunday, delete that one and make a new one. (And, you can, of course, do this on paper...but it is harder to carry that notebook around than it is your phone.)

At the least, you continue your worship practice into your week. Is there really a downside? I can't find one...but feel free to correct me if you want.

But you'll have to write it in the comments...

Resolved: READ...

If you can stop talking and singing for a bit...you can do this next one. READ. Perhaps not as exciting as sharing with God the natural consequences of some of our singing voices, but easy easy as far as resolutions go.  Tell me reading is not more attractive than walking outside in this miserable wet winter weather.

It is utterly proven that reading to our children help them become literate. You can kill two birds with one stone if you spend some of that reading time every day reading Bible stories. There are a million books out there with bible stories for children. (I'll link to a few later today.) You develop your own faith as well...especially if you take the time to hit the real biblical text when you find a story you don't know. Don't angst too much about full understanding. Just let the story sink in. (Talk to someone later with questions or struggles--that will also nurture faith.) Having a library of faith stories in your head seems to grow our faith...another eternal mystery, if you ask me.

Hate to read and don't have kids? Pick a Psalm. Read the first verse. Stop. Having that in your head for the day, along with your grocery list and honey-dos will also nurture faith. Read the same verse every day for a week. Or a month. When it's memorized, choose another. Or try D365. This online devotional is quick, quality, and short. Another trick? Attend a Bible study, listen to others read a passage. Then choose one of those verses for your weekly "read."  But know that if you ignore reading the foundational text that enables conversation between us and God, your faith nurture suffers.

Talk, sing, read. Still a couple more coming...but isn't it nice to know that faith nurture is this simple? I listened to this story on NPR, and realized much of the "magic" is the relationship built because of these practices. Kids learn to love reading because parents love it, and love them. That's the essence of faith as well, being deeply connected to God and neighbor.

And it offers God a brief break from the din....

Resolved: SING...

This is the second of five "simple ways to prepare your child for literacy"...unabashedly co-opted and turned into spiritual literacy...because--they fit. Talk, sing, read, write, play...

Yesterday we TALKed. Today's we SING. Don't stop reading yet. Anyone can sing. In fact, I learned last week during sermon prep that the Hebrew word for "sing praises" means literally a high pitched squeaking sound. So sing away. God set us up to be successful even if we can't carry a tune. Joyful noise, people. Joyful noise.

Teach your kids the hymns sung in worship. Choose one a month. You'll teach them to yourself as well. Your kids will actually teach them to you. They will learn them much faster than you can. Believe me, it is cool to sing without using the hymnal. I've been trying to learn the hymns we sing--glancing at the words, then trying to remember as I look up. I miss words, or sometimes make them up. The ceiling hasn't fallen in and I haven't been struck by lightening. So, go for it.

I don't know what it is about singing that builds faith. But it does. As we age and find ourselves losing most of what we thought made us worthwhile, we seem to hang onto the songs the longest. Try to preach in a nursing home and you may or may not make any sense or get any connection. Sing an old hymn, badly or well, and you will immediately find voices joined with yours.

All kind of music is out there...use it. Learn what you like and what you don't like. (Usually, what we don't like is what we don't know...you may find you like it better when you know it.) Google the old hymns and learn the stories behind them. Many from the reformation were set to pub music...drinking songs with church words...go figure.

I always thought you had to be a really good singer to sing...to lead singing...to teach singing. Then I heard John Bell. He's a great musician. He's written great songs. But he is not a great singer. He would get three X's from the judges for sure. But he sings with passion and he teaches a phrase at a time and he draws me into the community that sings praises...or laments...or drinking songs...

It doesn't get much easier than that...except maybe for tomorrow's. Tune in.

Resolved: TALK...

Forget the workouts and the diets. How about some fun New Year's resolutions?

NPR did a story on preparing children for literacy last week. Librarians are providing space for parents and children to TALK, SING, READ, WRITE, and PLAY. That seems way more fun to me than diet and workout resolutions. So for the next five days...some connections between these five practices and the nurture of faith literacy.

Today...TALK.

This is super simple for little ones. Talk about your faith. More importantly, ask about theirs. Listen. Ask questions. Don't feel like you need to correct them. Let them practice articulating their spiritual experiences. It also challenges us to articulate ours...because they are likely to mimic the practice and ask us questions right back. (Don't panic...answers are far less important than talking together. Saying "I don't know" is perfectly fine...they'll probably teach you the answer.) Some good starter questions might include:

• Did you see God at work today? when? where? how?
• Did you do some work for God today? when? where? how?
• Did you learn anything about God today?  (same follow ups...)
• Insert your question here...the really fun thing about little ones is they don't think this is weird at all...Enjoy it. Your kids will think you weird soon enough. 

Bring God into other conversation, especially with little ones who have not yet mastered the eye roll. We love the little toes that God made. We see the dogs/cats/squirrels that God made and watch how creation works together. We help each other because God helps us....possibilities are simply endless. Even washing dishes or cleaning house provides examples of God's blessing or creation to talk about. 

If you establish this pattern when children are young and faith/God/practice conversations are common, it is easy to transition as your kids get older. My youngest was asked to write "What I did at Thanksgiving" at some point in her middle school years and her essay ended with, "and then we talked about God...because we always talk about God." Her teacher thought she made it up. "No one does that," the teacher insisted. 

Eye roll.  "We do," says my child.

If you haven't established the practice, don't give up before you start. Just begin with you, not them. 

• "I really felt the presence of God during ___ in worship today. It surprised me."
• "I saw homeless people eating out of trashcans today. I wondered what God thinks of us that we live like this."
• "God seems pretty distant to me this week. I wish God was more easily accessible sometimes."

They may not respond at first. Remember, these are invitations to conversation. Mealtimes are good. Car drives are great. (There's something about you keeping your eyes on the road that encourages conversation.) Seeing something as you drive that starts the God conversation works well. (It also keeps God's work and ways in our heads as we carpool. When's the last time that happened?!) Connecting their complaints/joys to their faith journey in brief ways is also good. Make a comparison with a Bible story, or ask how God might expect us to behave and the challenges that brings.

And know this. The lack of a verbal response doesn't mean they are not thinking about what you said. They are. Even if they are thinking that is the stupidest thing you ever said, they suddenly find themselves considering God's role in their immediate world...and that's the point, right?

TALK...remember you don't have to have answers. You only have to talk and listen to them talk. If there's an unanswered question, explore it with others. Make it a game. "You ask your friends, I'll ask mine...meet you back here next week at this time." Encourage them to ask a pastor. I would be ecstatic to get a call or visit from a family struggling to articulate faith. Sometimes we can help...sometimes we are inarticulate together. Always the conversations strengthen us.

Talk...talk...talk. Avoid one thing. Judgment. It's easy to fall into discussing how God wouldn't like this or that, how we are better than those or them, how others should change or improve. Recognize God at work transforming, reconciling, drawing the world to God. Be challenged to find our call in that transformative and redemptive work. But leave the judgment to God. 

There's a great old spiritual titled "Who Will Be a Witness For My Lord?" We won't SING it...that's tomorrow's post. Being a witness is not the five point plan or some other annoying approach to the stranger behind the doorbell. It is, simply, talk. And, though we've talked about kids...this works for adults as well. It's a really cheap app that you don't even need a smart phone for. 

Go for it.

Advent: The Gift of Hope...

Week Four: Transformational Gifts...

...you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.
Luke 2:12
Newborns elicit smiles. Something about a puppy, kitten, or baby giraffe melts us from the inside out. Newborn humans are no different. We adore them. Something about the newborn draws hope from us. There is only potential, only the best to come. Our hopes and dreams coalesce into reality as we see tiny hands and feet, watch the tiny eyes watch us, smile in spite of ourselves.

Today, a savior is born. We are prepared for so many gifts that this little one will bring. We’ve heard the stories. We tell them ourselves. But today, when the savior is newborn, that’s when we really know the miracle of grace.

The baby is born. We reach out to touch his hand, to caress his head. The warmth of his skin connects with ours. We belong to this baby, he belongs to us.

Somewhere deep inside us, defenses crumble. All we want is to cuddle up, to be present for this gift of life.

That is Christmas hope.

For your gift of self in human form, we are grateful. Amen.

Advent: The Gift of Sovereignty...

Week Four: Transformational Gifts...

See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more. For the first things have passed away.
Revelation 21:3-4

We live in dark times. Others have before us. Others will after us. But often the darkness seems to be winning. The longest night of our solar year fell December 21. The darkness swallows the light.

A friend who pastors a congregation in Chicago holds a service of remembrance and healing on the winter solstice. They speak the names of all those in Chicago who have lost their lives to homicide in the preceding year. The list is long. The pain is intense. Darkness fills the space as name after name lingers in the sanctuary.

The gift of God’s sovereignty guides us through the darkness. In the words of the gospel of John, “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.” The sovereignty of God means God is active and involved in every aspect of our lives; nothing escapes God’s notice and power. The sovereignty of God means God’s purposes will be accomplished and nothing we do will stop God from accomplishing God’s purposes.

“Why not now?” we cry out, especially when the darkness is so great. “How long must we wait?” I don’t know. God’s timing is not ours. But God’s love is. God’s power is. God’s promise is.

We wait in the darkness for the final coming of God’s kingdom...when God will dwell with us, here on earth. We wait. The practice of Advent waiting in the darkness of winter reminds us of that.

On this night, the eve of the coming of the Light, we are reminded of, and grateful for, the gift of God’s sovereignty.

God has come. God comes. God will come again.

God, we celebrate on this Christmas Eve the Light that came before, the Light that is here among us, and the Light that will come. Amen.

Advent: The Gift of Unity...

Week Four: Transformational Gifts...

There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:28

Our greatest expertise is division. One of my seminary professors talked about the division between Jews and Gentiles in the first century. The people were the same. They had the same ancestry. They looked the same. But people found a dividing factor. Judaism. The religion meant to draw the world to God divided the world into insiders and outsiders.

Since those days, we continue to divide. Typing “church” into a GPS inside any population center results in dozens of possibilities within two tenths of a mile. I played one day just to see if I ever got out of range. I didn’t.

We continue to divide. It seems our greatest pleasure. Our politics are divided. Our neighborhoods are divided. Our nations, our shopping habits, our recreation...anything you can name...we divide.

But God has a different vision. “...you are all one in Christ Jesus.” All...One...

Living with the fundamental reality that we are ONE would transform our world.

Get real? Perhaps. I don’t see it happening worldwide anytime soon. But I know this. We can live this way in our congregations, then expand to our world. The church of Jesus Christ is the place where no divisions should occur. That we can control. We can resist with ever fiber of our being the temptation to divide ourselves. Step inside our walls and there is no Democrat or Republican, Independent or Tea Party. There is no rich or poor, no good Christian or bad Christian. There are simply children of God trying the best they can to live in obedience and gratitude.

We won’t agree. Our differences will always be evident. But we will not be able to be divided. We are one. That is what it means to be united in Christ.

God, enable us to cling tightly to one another. As differences arise, give us the heart and strength to bond in spite of what divides us, celebrating the knowledge that you are our unity. Amen.

Advent: The Gift of Shalom...

Week Four: Transformational Gifts...

Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. The effect of righteousness will be shalom, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.
Isaiah 32:16-18

We focus, often and rightly, on the miracle of abundance evident in this story of the feeding of the 5000. More than enough food was supplied for all with baskets of “broken bread” left over. But I saw the parable with new eyes this Advent season when exploring stories of hospitality.

We have to understand two important terms.

Righteousness: Righteousness is “first and foremost a quality ascribed to God.” For us, it is living the recognized standard of God’s righteousness... defined simply as “obedience” to God’s commands summarized by Jesus as love God, love neighbor.

Shalom: God’s ultimate goal for all creation. Often translated “peace” in the biblical text, shalom is a Hebrew word that is deeper and broader than our language allows. It connotes health and well-being, peace, comfort, safety, and the ability to thrive--for the entire community. Shalom has not been achieved when some, or even most, people have it; it is present only when everyone lives in “peaceful habitation.”

The picture painted in Isaiah follows the exile. According to the prophets, a primary reason God was displeased with God’s people was their oppressive behavior. Some people did well; most were oppressed. Success was achieved at the expense of the poor, the weak, the helpless. Again and again, God condemns God’s people for worshipping in great spaces and with great correctness while people outside the temple suffer.

God tell us that right worship happens only when we work for shalom and act in ways that result in the health and wholeness of all people. Interestingly, I have yet to find biblical instruction on treating others well if they “deserve” it. Shalom is for all, deserving or not.

This is good news for us. God comes in Jesus to show us how to live and serve in righteousness so that shalom can happen for all people. We who are aware of the gift we have received in the incarnation are grateful it is not dependent on whether we deserve it.

I can’t help but think that our first small step to establishing shalom for all of God’s creation is to stop trying to determine whether those we are able to help are “deserving.” Each of us can do that...it depends on us and us alone. But it may be the hardest small step we ever take toward justice.

When justice dwells in the wilderness, the wilderness is tamed. God’s people live with enough, in secure homes, enjoying quiet resting places. In a word, shalom.

Strengthen us, O God, in your service...the simplest ask is the hardest thing for us to do. Amen.

Advent: The Gift of Hospitality...

Week Four: Transformational Gifts...

When the crowds found out [Jesus had withdrawn to Bethsaida], they followed him; and he welcomed them, and spoke to them about the kingdom of God and healed those who needed to be cured...
Luke 9:10-11

We focus, often and rightly, on the miracle of abundance evident in this story of the feeding of the 5000. More than enough food was supplied for all with baskets of “broken bread” left over. But I saw the parable with new eyes this Advent season when exploring stories of hospitality.

Here is Jesus in a small town, likely a fishing town. Archeological evidence reveals worship sites for Roman gods. Jews lived there as well. Living in the town and surrounding area were also those needing to be healed and those needing to hear about the kingdom of God. I am pretty sure it is safe to assume that the crowd included Jews and Gentiles, clean and unclean, insiders and outsiders. In a crowd of five thousand, there would be plenty of not-to-be-associated-with-folks.

Jesus instructs the disciples to “feed them.” After the back and forth about what was possible and what was not, Jesus instructs the disciples to have people sit down in groups of about fifty each.

My second assumption--though I think it is fair--is that a group of fifty anywhere on the hillside would include those you knew and those you didn’t know, those you approved of and those you didn’t, those clean and unclean, Jew and Gentile, insider and outsider.

And then, they ate. Eating in this culture made you family, transformed enemies into friends, elevated the status of guests to their host’s status. No group ate more, less, or best. All had bread and fish. All ate until satisfied. Twelve baskets were left over.

Not much is said about the response of the crowd, but this I know about people. Eating together establishes connection, relationship. It changes us. Sit at table with people and stories are told, connections made, barriers lowered. No one was excluded from this meal--a rarity in a culture defined on exclusion. This is a remarkable story of generosity and abundance, but it is a more remarkable story of hospitality...acceptance without condition.

The attraction of the early church was not an attraction of doctrine or worship style. The early Christian community was known for their hospitality. All were welcome. All were cared for. All were included. That hospitality drew people in. That hospitality changed the world.

Consider what we avoid--people, places, events--to keep from being excluded or judged or uncomfortable. We even avoid the possibility of that happening. Consider the transformative power of radical hospitality practiced by Jesus on that hillside. Consider the radical hospitality practiced by the God who chooses a people so that all nations (translate every person) will come to know and love the God who knows and loves them already. Consider the power of hospitality from the act of incarnation, the act of God coming as human...wrapping God’s very self in human flesh to practice hospitality in a way we could see and hear, taste and feel.

Hospitality...a gift of transformation indeed.

May we practice the radical hospitality that we have experienced. Amen.

Advent: The Gift of Story...

Week Three: Gifts of Faith Community...

...for you will be his witness to all the world of what your have seen and heard. 
 Acts 22:15

Perhaps the greatest gift of the faith community is the gift of story...testimony. God’s command to Paul is also God’s command to us, we will be God’s witnesses.

We as faith community have lost much of our ability to witness. We have confused it with the obnoxious “witness” of some denominations who visit your home or workplace, ask if you are saved, and condemn you to burn in hell if you haven’t or won’t follow their prescribed method. Or we assume that witness takes some special education, practice, and method for which we are not qualified.

But our charge is to witness to what we have seen and heard. God at work is part of our experience. Many of us have heard our whole lives about the goodness of the Lord and the transformation that can happen when God stirs the mix. We tell the faith stories just like we tell the stories of our kid’s first date or the best vacation ever--only these stories have life-changing implications.

What makes our stories compelling, what makes them different from the knock-on-the-door-irritation-story, is the content. When we are witnesses to God’s transformative work in our own lives or the lives of those we love, the story compels. When we speak about our experience of grace and unconditional love, the story compels. When we live in ways that love God and neighbor, and when we speak the reason, the story compels. When we acknowledge and confess our imperfection, God’s love in spite of our shortcomings, the story compels.

Culture tells a different story. We are individuals; our worth is based on our achievement. We are responsible for ourselves and must care for ourselves regardless of those around us. Everyone is out to get what we have; we must protect ourselves from the other. These messages creep into our being and spill out of us without much training. Remember the carnations that your middle school teacher would put in food-colored water to show you the process by which flowers suck up the water? The coloring was absorbed by the flower and the flower was changed in spite of its best efforts not to be oranged by Betty Crocker. Like those poor carnations, we live in toxic water that destroys community and our own souls in the process.

Witness changes the water. Stories of God’s work reveal the possibility of new life, of transformation. This is the gift of the faith community. We are the ones who have eyes to see. We have been made aware of the grace that makes reconciliation and redemption possible. We are the storytellers of grace.

Give us the words, O God, to tell the story of your work. Give us the joy and gratitude that compel the story’s birth. Give us the love that backs the story with actions that reveal your love for all creation. Amen.

Advent: The Gift of Word...

Week Three: Gifts of Faith Community...

The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.
Isaiah 40:8

Proclamation of the Word...a strange practice of the faith community. It holds the central place in our worship service. We understand that as a pastor spends time in study and prayer, considering the message of the text, the needs of the congregation, and trusting the power of the Spirit, that God will gift a Word to us. We are not hearing the pastor’s opinion of a text, we are listening to hear what God is saying--to us.

Would we approach worship in the faith community differently if we understood that God promises to speak to us in worship? Would we even consider “skipping church” if we truly believed God would be bringing us a Word? The miracle is even greater when you trust that the Word will be there for you despite the shortcoming of the participants in worship. There is a Word to be heard.

Word read, Word proclaimed, Word sung and prayed, Word enacted by the congregation...a gift indeed.

The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.
Thanks be to You, O God. Amen.

Advent: The Gift of Prayer...

Week Three: Gifts of Faith Community...

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16
Shoes get very interesting when a prayer is needed. Prayer is nice and all, but no one really knows how to do it. Certainly no one wants to do it in public. What if they messed it up?

The faith community teaches us to pray. In worship we speak words of prayer, listen to others pray on our behalf, wish we were better pray-ers...wish we could pray at all.

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances." No process, no rules, no criteria for acceptable prayer or unacceptable prayer.

Attitude.

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances."

The gift of prayer is nurtured in faith community. The practice of prayer becomes ours as we rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances.

C.S. Lewis says,

“I pray because I cannot help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time--waking and sleeping. It does not change God, it changes me.

Almighty God, Creator of the universe, Maker of all that is, invites us to be in relationship and gifts us with prayer to help relationship grow. Surely shoes are not more fascinating than that...

For the gift of prayer, we are grateful. Hold us tightly as we practice speaking to you and listening for your will. Amen.

Advent: The Gift of Confession...

Week Three: Gifts of Faith Community...

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:15-16

How is confession a gift? The gift would be no confession. God would just understand that we don’t mean to, that we aren’t always aware of our wrongdoing, that we are fundamentally decent people and we appreciate our forgiveness. Why confess when God forgives us our sins?

As we ask questions about the value of young black men’s lives, the purpose and reason for enhanced interrogation techniques (that seem torturous to me), the response to Ebola no longer on our shores but devastating west African nations, as well as the questions of our personal lives and relationships, we need the gift of confession. We must stand together and articulate our failures. We must learn to recognize our sins (in our classic language). If we do not confess in worship, where will we even start to admit we are less-than-perfect? Nowhere in our culture can we admit we are wrong. Nowhere can we admit we have failed others. Nowhere can we show weakness or claim fully that we are to blame for brokenness.

A relationship counselor will tell you that a broken relationship cannot be healed until fault is recognized, admitted, and amends are made. Twelve step programs start the same way. Healing begins with acknowledged brokenness. We act like healing begins with excuses, or justification, or the insistence that we are nice people and should be given every consideration. But healing--the receiving of promised mercy, the finding of grace that helps in time of need--healing comes when we boldly uncover and confess our brokenness to the one who understands what it means to be human.

We. are. broken. Sometimes we know it. Sometimes we need to be reminded. All the time, we need to practice standing boldly in our brokenness before the throne of grace. The faith community is the last place that enacts this most precious gift...the gift of confession.

God, our brokenness is complete. We confess to You that brokenness again and again, knowing that Your greatest wish is our healing and the health and wholeness of the whole creation. Begin the healing in us by teaching us how to look at our sin, know our shortcoming, speak our faults. Then use us to continue Your healing, stretching the ripples of Your love across the universe. 

Advent: The Gift of Singing...

Week Three: Gifts of Faith Community...

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude let your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.
Colossians 3:16

God’s people are commanded to sing. “Sing to the Lord a new song.” The earliest biblical texts we have are songs, Miriam’s song in Exodus and Mary’s song in Luke. But while everyone has thousands of songs on their digital devices, the practice of public singing declines. Budget cuts have eliminated it in many schools. And our assumption that we can only sing if we sound like Adele or Sinatra keeps us from participating.

We miss a lot if we don’t sing. Recent studies have been done that show singing is scientifically beneficial. An article in Huffington Post titled “Choir Singing may be Good for Your Heart” describes some of the benefits scientists are finding in the practice of singing in community.

The author of the study says that the controlled breathing synchronizes the participants’ heart beats, resulting in better physical health. Studies also indicate that group singing results in better mental health and stronger social connections. In the church, singing teaches our story, enables us to praise and pray together, and connects us to each other and to God. St. Augustine says, “Singing is praying. When one sings, one prays twice.”

When one sings. Unfortunately, in many congregations a worship band has taken over the music and people watch, or congregants assume they can’t sing well enough to participate, or they think they can’t sing at all so they just stand and wait for the singing to be over.

But singing is a gift. And God, in God’s infinite wisdom, gives us congregational singing as miracle. Never in the Bible are we commanded to sing well, or beautifully. We are commanded to make a “joyful” noise...to sing out in the presence of God. If everyone sings, we become one...not a group of weak voices, but a body singing praise, thanks, prayer, and joy to our God! Individual voices are carried and absorbed into the community and we actually sound good together!

I love this text as we take this Advent moment to re-orient our understanding of sing-to-the-Lord. With gratitude let your hearts sing. Not with fear or embarrassment or concern. Not with pride or criticism. With gratitude we let our hearts sing.

Once again, God gifts us with our centering moment. We sing not because of who we are or what we can do, but because of who God is and what God has done.

With gratitude...SING!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow! Praise God all creatures here below! Praise God above ye heavenly hosts! Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! Amen!!

Advent: The Gift of Praise...

Week Three: Gifts of Faith Community...

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the LORD your God; him alone shall you worship; to him you shall hold fast, and by his name you shall swear. He is your praise; he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things that your own eyes have seen.
Deuteronomy 10:17-21

Some gifts we give and receive in congregation. It’s not that we can’t do them on our own, but we don’t tend to. Public witness strengthens our practice when we are in the gathered congregation.

Praising God in the congregation is an expression of worship which “recognizes and acknowledges God as the ultimate source and giver of all good gifts.” We praise, bless, glorify, magnify...part of the language the worshipping community learns to understand as they practice praise.

This praise is a different animal from the praise we give our kids when they accomplish a task or the praise we receive when we do a good job at work. Human praise is tied to accomplishment. Praise of God is tied to who God is.

Praise is a gift we give to God, but in true God fashion, it gifts us right back. Praising God recognizes God as the ultimate source and giver of all good gifts. Our fatigue too often comes from our attempt to play God, to be the greatest employee, the most magnificent parent, the most perfect friend. We work non-stop, are tethered to others through electronics 24/7/365, are constantly comparing ourselves and our lives to what we see in others...our attempt to earn that human praise that elevates us closer to god-status.

And then, in worship, we praise. We use language and music that acknowledges God as ultimate source. And I, for one, breathe. It’s not me in charge of creating perfect children, God is the source and giver of that beautiful gift. My home, large or small, is a gift. My job, my talents, my everything is from God.

Praise is perspective. God is God. I am creature, beloved by God. Probably can’t make a Martha Stewart living off that premise, but there’s where I want to live. I want my worth dependent on who God is, not on who I am (cause you should see my garage...ugh....) Congregational praise is the practice that brings me back, centers me again, and lets me re-enter a crazy world knowing who I am and where I belong.

God, the great and mighty things you have done in calling and claiming us as yours call forth our songs of praise, this and every day. Amen.

Advent: The Gift of Congregation...

Week Three: Gifts of Faith Community...

Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.
Lev. 19:2

“Church-going” was a given my entire life. If it was Sunday, I was in church, except for a few Sundays while I was in college and thought I had a choice. Same for my mother. Same for my kids. However, I confess, it was well over forty years before I understood “congregation” as a gift.

Congregation is defined in Mounce’s Dictionary
as “what is brought together or assembled.” That, I believe, defines the gift of congregation. From beginning to end in the biblical witness, God’s gathers God’s people. Together they are charged with being God’s people, together they are holy as God is holy, together they receive God’s Spirit, together they serve and participate in God’s work. The life of a disciple, a God-follower, Jewish, Christian...this life is not individualistic. You don’t get your charge, your Spirit, your call individually--and then join together. By definition you are congregation...to quote my mother, “we’re going to church.”

I know the other side...the “I-feel-closer-to-God-on-the-golf-course” or “alone-in-nature.” Perhaps true if we define “closer to God” as “fun” or “peaceful” or “easy.” Understanding the life of Jesus as perfectly in relationship with God, I challenge you to find fun, peaceful, or easy. Jesus is in conflict with the religious authorities as he worships and speaks in the temple. He is frustrated with the disciples, he is tired from teaching and healing masses of people. He goes to the mountains to pray--to be alone for a bit...but only to return to the gift of gathered community. Ministry, miracle, transformation always happen in community.

Communities are far from perfect. Gathering of humans can be healthy, or dysfunctional in every way. But togetherness completes us in ways I’m not sure we are fully aware or appreciative of, especially in our culture. God gathers us because some hold memory and some eagerly reach for the new and next. Some are highly caring and empathetic, some are effective problem seers and solvers. Hammerers, cooks, cleaners, and artists come together to make a whole. Those who had a good Sunday getting their kids to the church walked with me when I arrived as a murderous mama at her wit’s end. The next week, I could return the favor. The people who drive me most crazy in this precious community are the ones teaching me what God wants me to learn, pushing me to be more effective in my faith practice, showing me where I need to grow and trust.

Congregation is gift. Each time we are gathered we can unwrap a bit more grace. Sometimes the wrapping tape sticks and grace is hard to access. Other times, grace oozes out of the package and covers our hands with sticky wonder as we rip into God’s promises. But every time, over time, we receive God’s gift of community--the congregation.

I must admit, however, if I had kids to raise again, I wouldn’t use my mom’s phrase “we’re going to church,” I’d say...gift time!!

Gather us in, O God, and reveal to us the gift of congregation. Amen.

Advent: Unexpected Gifts...

Week Two: Gifts for God's People...

O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him, to receive a gift in return? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.
Romans 11:33-36

A young man stepped off a city bus with his cell phone in his hand. As he finished his text and started to put the phone in his pocket, he was approached by a teen demanding use of his phone. “Man, don’t ask me that. I can’t give you my phone...you know that’s not a good idea.”

The situation escalated. The demand was repeated. An offer to call for the teen was met with attack, slamming the young man’s head into the concrete and destroying the phone.

Was this God’s plan? Can’t imagine it was. God is not the author of evil. But the next day when the young man met with a different teen in a tutoring session, he learned who his attacker was, a friend of this friend. The following day, an apology was brought to the young man, along with an offer to pay for the phone. And here’s where it gets interesting.

The young man’s response was, “Forget it. Clean slate. Start over.” He explained later that he knew the teen would not have been able to pay for the phone regardless, but he was more interested in showing the grace and forgiveness he had received when he, himself, was a teen in trouble.

Most of his friends and acquaintances didn’t understand why he responded the way he did. He should have held the teen accountable, they said. He should have let him feel the consequences of his behavior. He should have “put him away” so he couldn’t hurt anyone else. But this young man knew he had been prepared by God’s judgment. He knew what it felt like to be trapped in trouble and get a second chance. He knew what forgiveness meant.

Would the young man have been able to predict the event when he was a teen himself? No. This was an unexpected gift..an unexpected gift of God’s grace that enabled a response that brought a little light into the darkness of a teen’s despair.

God, from you and to you and through you are all things. For those unexpected moments that remind us that we are yours, we give thanks. Amen.

Advent: Life-Changing Gifts...

Week Two: Gifts for God's People...

Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.
James 5:13-16

How can prayer possibly be effective? We lift words or thoughts to One who cannot be seen, is often silent and inaccessible, whose power and work we hear about, but cannot always see for ourselves. And yet, we are asked to pray, commanded to pray, told that prayer will save the sick, ease suffering, and heal the world. Michele Krull shares her experience of the power of prayer:

The electricity of fear was real as I began my double-lung transplant journey. I was running on continuance, discipline, and stoicism as I went through the daily ritual rhythms of the hospital noises and procedures. Sometimes it made me feel like a nun wanting to leave the cloister. 

When I was questioning if I wanted to live, or why the physical therapist was using so much pomade on his hair, or why I was too wounded in my battle to understand why all this was happening...I reached for my quilt. The quilt. MY QUILT that I could hold close to my face, use as a pillow, or rub the knots between my fingers so I could see the faces and feel the hands of all those who had tied the knots and were praying for me. The quilt provided hope, strength, good health, encouragement, love, prayers, and the promise that God will always be with me. Holding the quilt or just having it near me were the times I could revel in calmness, the controlled promise of wellness and the preservation of my spirit. That feeling remains today. 

Unless you have been the recipient of a prayer quilt, you will never understand the magnitude of its meaning. I have inexplicable gratitude for the angels who made my quilt and the disciples of God who put on the finishing touches. The prayers were felt over and over and are still felt today.

(Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you I also use my quilt to contain my fear that artificial flowers will become extinct!)

We will never know why prayer works; we only know that it does. And that is worth knowing.

God, what other response is there than humble gratitude for the gift of prayer. Amen.

Advent: Shared Gifts...

Week Two: Gifts for God's People...

These are the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you shall celebrate as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the Lord offerings by fire--burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day--apart from the sabbaths of the Lord, and apart from your gifts, and apart from all your votive offerings [offerings in fulfillment of a vow], and apart from all your freewill offerings, which you give to the Lord.
Leviticus 23:37-38

I don’t remember reading this verse before. Leviticus is not a book I sink into for comfort or inspiration. But as I was searching what the biblical text says about the gifts we bring to God, this one grabbed me.

The appointed festivals, times of holy gathering and special worship, are an important part of the worship practice of the people of God. But they are only part of the gift-giving practice. They are occasional and special...a strong connection to this time of the year when we gather to “green” the church and bring our special things out to play. These festivals are not, however, the norm.

Leviticus reminds us that most of our gifts are given outside of special occasions. These are the gifts that Bo and Marion Stephenson share:

God has blessed us over the years with many good friends and family members that we think about, especially at this special time of the year. They gift us with support as we live with our daughter, Kathy’s, struggle with illness and successful transition to becoming more independent--living on her own, caring for her own needs, and making good decisions.

Kathy’s brother has also gifted us and her with relationship and support. We truly feel totally blessed.

Gifts shared at festival times are special and meaningful. But the gifts that get us through the dark places, through the daily struggles, through the real work of life, are the gifts that are “apart.” They are given apart from the special times...in the daily routine of life. They are the gifts we make because of our promise to serve God, the gifts we bring every day when we do the smallest of things in service to our great God.

Perhaps that is the true miracle of gifts given. The smallest gift is as significant in bringing grace to each other as the largest festival event. That is, truly, good news.

For the tiny, transformative gifts that change our world, we give you thanks. Amen.