Jesus is the reason for the season?

 

 

I hate clichés.  If you want to know how to push my buttons, go ahead and start spouting some.  Trite and contrived statements just don’t cut it for me:  especially statements of faith that sound like they just came off the clearance rack at a Hallmark store.  Two such faith clichés that drive me to drink are “Jesus is the reason for the season” and “Put Christ back in Christmas”.   I don’t even know what those phrases mean.  Do we even know who Jesus is?  Each gospel writer paints a different portrait of him.  Luke tells us that Jesus blesses the poor while Matthew says that he blesses the poor in spirit.  Well, which one is it?  The evangelists even have different names for him.  Is Jesus Son of God or Son of Man?  Is he a teacher or the Messiah?  Is he the Vine or the Good Shepherd?  Is he the Bread of Life or the Living Waters?  Is he the King of the Jews or the Prince of Peace?  While Mark goes to great lengths in emphasizing Jesus’ humanity, John goes to the other extreme of depicting his divinity.  Which Jesus is the reason for the season?  What Christ are we to put back in Christmas?  Is it the Jesus who in Matthew’s gospel literally referred to the Pharisees as “snake bastards?”

Here’s a story of Jesus I never see depicted in Christmas yard ornaments. “In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God…and the word became flesh and dwelled among us”.   How do you tell that story in someone’s front yard?  How do you tell the story of Jesus taking on our flesh and blood and moving into the neighborhood? 

A babe wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger only tells part of the story and is not the reason for the season.  Christmas is about God joining us on the journey; making himself plain as day to us.  No more guessing.  No more looking under rocks for him.  Christmas is a reminder to us that when we look at Jesus, we’re looking at God; and when we see God, we see love poured out in abundance for us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

So maybe Jesus is not the reason for the season.  Do you want to know who was at the center of God’s Christmas idea?  Do you want to know who God desired to lift up on the very first Christmas?  Do you want to know who is in God’s heart at Christmas?

You!

Peace and Love,

Pastor Doug

A Year After Newtown

On the eve of the one year anniversary of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Ct., an 18 year old kid goes into his high school in Centenniel, Colorado, armed with shotgun and molotov cocktails to hunt down a teacher.  When all is done, a 15-year old girl is critically injured and the young gunman has killed himself.  Meanwhile, gun control and mental illness healthcare are a joke.  Have we learned nothing?  Clearly those we've elected have failed us miserably.

A farm bill will soon be voted on in Congress which will further cut SNAP support for the most vulnerable among us.  It's been reported that in New York State, 850,000 will be adversely affected by further cuts with an average of another $90/month being cut from food income.   What are the options for those already not able to put enough food on the table?  And let us not think for a moment that non-profits can take up the slack.  All of this is enough to make me almost want to give up all hope.

Ironically, here we are in the season of Advent; a season that emphasizes hope:  Hope not based on the illusion of generic optimism, but hope that names the crap all around us.  Advent acknowledges that the world we live in is broken and that we're broken.  Advent vigorously opposes the false prophets who assert that if you just have enough faith life will be happy.

Advent admits that God's rule is not yet apparent in the world; God's promises are not yet fulfilled.  Even if everything does not work out for the best and we do not live happily ever after, Advent hope means there are still things worth living for, worth suffering for, worth dying for.  Which means Advent is a season of waiting.  Waiting is what we can do if we have hope; we can endure the problems of the present in the promise of a better future.  Advent waiting is not passivity.  It is more like the kind of waiting practiced by a cancer support group, whose members have decided they will live with cancer, not just die from it.

People of faith neither accept nor give easy answers to the problems of evil and suffering in the world.  In our liturgy, in the framework of our church year, we are invited to journey with a God who has entered into the brokenness and vulnerability of our humanity promising to never leave our side. The season of Advent gives voice to God and to our own legitimate voices of grief, sorrow and doubt.  This is precisely why the season of Advent is a blessing.  A culture that has been celebrating Christmas since Halloween has no means to deal with tragedy.  But the scripture readings and hymnody of Advent give voice not only to our pain but also to the hope that we are not forsaken by  God.

There will be more school shootings and I will continue to hold my breath everytime I drop my kids off at school wondering in the back of my mind....

Those who are hungry will continue to suffer at the hands of societal apathy and I will have my doubts that God can break through hardened hearts....

But will we give up?  Will we throw in the towel and just let the cards fall where they will?  Or is there a glimmer of hope that a crokus can grow in the desert?   That a drop of water can be found in parched sand?  That a vulnerable baby in Bethlehem can overthrow a powerful emperor in Rome?  That an empty tomb can follow a cross of death?  Is there hope after all?   Join me in worship.  Join me in prayer.  And together let's find out.

Peace and Love,
Pastor Doug

Mary's Protest Song

The problem with the church in these days leading up to Christmas is that we’ve toned our message down to “milk toast” consistency.   Jesus’ birth has in many ways become just another sentimental love story of boy meets girl; girl meets God; girl has God’s baby….

What if our celebration of Christmas is more than just telling a story of a cute little baby in Bethlehem?  I think we have underestimated the radical implications of what it means that God has become one of us.  I also think that we have underestimated Mary’s radical rebelliousness.  In Hebrew, Mary’s name is Miriam which literally means “their rebellion”.  She and her people certainly have a lot to rebel against.  The Roman Empire has demanded that she and her people revere Caesar as God or Son of God.  Taxation has been corrupt and oppressive.  The Empire’s construction projects are backbreaking and exploitative.  Religious leaders have colluded with the Empire in a temple system that favors the rich while abusing widows and orphans. 

It is in this context that an angel visits Mary informing her of God’s plans both for her and her people.  Unlike the temple priest Zechariah, who resists this insider information, Mary not only welcomes it, but becomes a willing conspirator in God’s holy mischievous plot.  Upon hearing of God’s plans that she will bear the Christ child, this knocked-up, teenaged, unwed mother living in poverty breaks into a raucous song of protest:  The lyrics of which go something like this:

“My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant…He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.  He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty” (Luke 1).

There’s a fancy Greek word that some really smart people like to toss around when it comes to Mary.  They refer to her as “Theotokos” – “Mother of God”.   But I once heard someone say that Mary should go by another name.  “Punkotokos”.  “Mother of all rebels with a cause”.    (Now we’re talkin’!!)  And what might that cause be?  Well, given all that her son did in his life, my guess is that the cause has something to do with loving enemies, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, tending the sick and visiting those in prison.

Does the church dare to join this rebel cause?  Do we dare say to “The Man” that there is an alternative way of living, wherein the lowly are lifted up and the mighty are brought down?  Does the church dare to come down off its pedestal of dogma, doctrine and tradition to actually embody Mary’s protest song?

How we answer these questions, will determine our future (as well it should).

Peace and Love,

Pastor Doug

God's gift of Advent

"Born thy people to deliver, born a child, and yet a king; born to reign in us forever, now thy gracious kingdom bring.  By thine own eternal Spirit rule in all our hearts alone; by thine all sufficient merit raise us to thy glorious throne" (ELW #254).

Time is a gift of God's creation.  It is that measurement by which we mark events past, present and future.  The church year is how we tell the story of God who stands above time, and yet has acted decisively in time.  For its part in the marking of time, the season of Advent places us squarely between past and future events:  Between the comfort of knowing that God so loved the world he sent his only son to die for it, and the discomfort of knowing that the crucified, resurrected and ascended Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead.

The season of Advent reminds us that life beyond the bells of Christmas is fraught with crooked roads and cavernous valleys.  Advent reminds us that like our ancient forebears, we often find ourselves in exile crying desperately for God to tear open the heavens and come down so that the mountains of brokenness and pain might quake in God's presence.

And yet in this season of Advent, we along with the prophet Isaiah are invited to see beyond our present time of exile to the day when hearts will be healed and those held captive will be set free.  What better place to view life beyond exile than in that place of God's promised presence?  In the word proclaimed and the sacraments shared.

In the  coming weeks as we begin preparations for Christmas celebrations, let us also take God's gift of Advent time to prepare our hearts for that day when our exile shall be no more and we shall greatly rejoice in the Lord once and for all.

Peace in Christ,
Pr. Doug

The Death of the Church

The American Heritage Dictionary defines death as, "The act of dying; the termination of life; extinction". Death is not a word for polite dinner conversation nor is it a word that we in the church like to talk much about. And that's too bad. Who better to talk of death than the followers of the One who himself experienced death and was raised to new life? Who better to talk of death than those in the church who confess that Jesus did not stay dead?

 So why do we tremble with dread and fear when we hear the words "death" and "church" used in the same sentence? I think the church has been descending toward death for a very long time now:  Not just over the last 30 years with attendance decline, but since about 325 CE when Constantine declared Christianity the official religion of the Empire.

 In her book, The Great Emergence, Phyllis Tickle puts it another way.

"Arguably, one of the most potentially destructive things that can happen to a faith is for it to become the accepted and established religion of the political, cultural, and social unit in which its adherents live" (p.161).

 
My take on this?  Religion is the cancer of faith.  The moment faith became institutionalized, it ceased to be a verb and instead became a proper noun; “the church”.  People of “The Way” were now called “Christians”.  People of faith now became people of church whose vision no longer extended to the coming of God’s Kingdom but instead to the parochial preservation of a structure.   Over time, the church had to be preserved and God had to be controlled at all costs.  Hence, centuries of crusades and bloodshed followed.

Do we really think for a moment that Jesus intended to start a new religion?  The word “Christian” never once came out of this Jewish man’s mouth and in fact didn’t come about until the late first/early second century. (a good 70 to 100 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection).

 A long time ago, some of the very first followers of the crucified and resurrected Jesus gathered together on a daily basis and “devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayers" (Acts 2:42). And as if that were not enough time together, they gathered at other times throughout the week in peoples’ homes breaking bread and eating food “with glad and generous hearts, praising God” (Acts 2:46-7)  Not only did these early followers of Jesus have all things in common, but “they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need” (Acts 2:45). 

This is all we’re told about the earliest gathering of Jesus’ followers.  Maybe that’s all we need to know.  Maybe following Jesus has less to do with preserving institutions and more to do with nourishing relationships.  Maybe following Jesus has nothing to do with religion where I seek to control God and instead has everything to do with faith:  trusting that Jesus will lead me into right relationships of love and peace with God and the world.

As a follower of Jesus named and claimed by God in the waters of Baptism, I will not be seduced by the Church or any institution claiming to have God in its back pocket and demanding my allegiance to it.   But I will follow Jesus into the places of deepest darkness. I will follow Jesus into the neighborhoods of profound brokenness.  I will even follow Jesus into the valley of the shadow of death.  But not before I gather with you in prayer, praising God, breaking bread and sharing all things in common with glad and generous hearts.  Breaking bread, praising God, sharing all things in common?  I’ll do that with you any day of the week.

 

Peace and Love,

Pastor Doug

Not a Fan of Jesus

I'm not a fan of Jesus.  There, I said it.  Now before you grab the nearest pitchfork and torch, let me explain.

I'm not a fan, but I am a follower.  Or at least I try to follow.  (Though more often than not, I think I do a pretty sucky job of it).  Let's face it, it's a lot easier being a fan than a follower.  Fans can watch from a distance without having to exert much energy.  Fans are entertained by somebody else's actions.  Fans talk and talk about the game without ever having to play it.  Fans can be armchair Christians deluding themselves into thinking they have insider information about Jesus and the will of God.  Finally, fans can change team loyalties anytime.  Whenever I'm sick of cheering a team of losers, I can switch jerseys and root for whoever is winning. 

In a recent Huffington Post blog, Mark Sandlin writes  that "when we are fans of Jesus rather than followers of Jesus, our focus is inward turned".  He goes on to write that in this self-centered fandom, it's easy to "forget there is a world of hurting people who we are not only called to stand with but who we are to recognize as equally created in the image of God."

I think he may be on to something here.  Jesus doesn't tell me things I want to hear.  Sure I love when he tells me that he is the Shepherd and I am his sheep.  I love when I read that God so loved the world he gave his only son. I'm a fan of that!   But there's a whole bunch of other things that I'd prefer to leave behind if truth be told.  I'm not sure that I can be a fan of someone who tells me to love my enemies and to do good to those who hate me.  I know I'm not comfortable blessing those who curse me and praying for those who abuse me.  And who does this Jesus think he is telling me not to judge lest I myself be judged?  And what's up with that "new commandment" to love one another just as Christ has loved us?  Christ poured out his life for us.  Am I really supposed to do that for the guy down the street I don't know or even like?

Fans pick and choose what they like without risk of any personal investment.  Followers.... well followers actually walk into the same crappy places Jesus goes breaking down barriers and giving up their lives.  Getting down and dirty with the broken and hurting world around us is what following Jesus is all about.  It's neither fun nor entertaining and it's sure as hell not easy.

In Philippians, the Apostle Paul exhorts those who would follow Jesus to "look not to your own interests but to the interests of others letting the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus who...emptied himself taking the form of a slave...and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:4-8).

I don't know anybody who's a fan of emptying oneself and taking the form of a slave, nor do I know many people (myself included) who are fans of looking to the interests of others.  But that is the call that Jesus issues not just to you and me but to the whole church.  Maybe the church's purpose then is not to entertain or be entertained, nor is it to talk about God.  Maybe the church's purpose is to follow Jesus into the broken world helping those who wish to follow Jesus do so in ways that are faithful and authentic.  Maybe the church's job is to change lives.  And why not?  Changed lives change the world.  And maybe - just maybe - changing the world is what following Jesus is all about.

Peace and Love,
Pastor Doug

A Letter to our RAIHN Guests

Dear Dawn and Wanda,

The doors of our church were opened to you this week as we invited you and your families to make our church building your home.  We do this four weeks a year:  Opening our building to those in need of a home through the RAIHN program.  Yet this evening as we gathered for bible study like we always do, something was different.  Tonight, our small group of Incarnate Word folk were not simply meeting in a building at 597 East Avenue, we were meeting in your home.  And in your home this evening, "host" became "guest" and "guest" became "host" right before my very eyes.

Coming to our bible study you shared your stories of faith:  Of what following Jesus means to you.  Of how in the midst of adversities that I cannot even begin to comprehend, your faith in God's faithfulness has sustained you.  I thought we were hosting you and as it turns out, your witness to God's greatness and love made you my host:  Offering me a safe place for my own faith struggles:  A safe place to share my own moments of faith poverty:  A safe place for me to confide my occasional bouts of faith amnesia, when I get so caught up in life, that I forget all about a great and faithful God who loves me despite my many and egregious imperfections.

A long time ago, the writer of Hebrews wrote of entertaining angels and not even knowing it.  I saw that for myself this evening in your graciousness and in your proclamation of God's transforming and abundant love.  Tonight in the church where I function as pastor, your grace and faith preached to the preacher.  It turns out that in the place I have called home for nearly nine years, I was your guest and you were my host.  Tonight, my journey with Jesus was profoundly nourished by your grace and love and for that I cannot begin to thank you enough.  I cannot begin to thank God enough.

Our God is indeed an awesome God!  I know this because of your journey with us this evening.  You are indeed angels:  Messengers of an incredible God whose love and mercy knows no end.

Amen.  And again I say Amen!

Peace and Love,
Pastor Doug

NASCAR and Church?

I heard a most disturbing story on NPR this morning involving one of my favorite sports:  NASCAR.  Now I realize that to many of us northeasterners, NASCAR is hardly considered a "sport".  I mean how athletic must you be to sit behind the wheel of a car driving around a circular track?  Well, in defense of those drivers, you and I probably wouldn't even make it once around the track without hitting the wall.   And then add to that, other cars riding inches away from your bumper at 180 miles per hour?  Good luck with that.

NPR reported this morning that NASCAR is now beginning to experience a decline in both attendance and viewership around the country.  Sound familiar?  For many years, the sport of NASCAR racing has been one of the most popular ones, even attracting presidential candidates desperately seeking to show us how they're just plain ordinary Americans.  Now even major television networks are picking up on this trend and are beginning to re-evaluate their desire for NASCAR contracts.  CBS is walking away from NASCAR altogether.  For reasons that are not entirely apparent to me, we as a culture are beginning to move beyond the need for speed.  Perhaps in the age of technology, we are no longer stimulated by just watching cars go around a track like we did thirty years ago.  Maybe for some its just become too expensive to fuel up the RV and take a few days to enjoy the NASCAR festivities.  Maybe our culture's obsession with cars is being supplanted by an obsession with I-Phones and Androids.  Why else would texting while driving be at epidemic levels?  Maybe NASCAR appeals to mostly white males who as a demographic are declining in number.

Whatever the reasons for the decline in NASCAR's popularity, one thing is for certain.  The culture in which we live is very different from the culture of twenty or even thirty years ago.  Times are changing.  Is NASCAR?

Now substitute "church" for "NASCAR" and this question hits even closer to home.  Times are changing.  Is the church?

At the formation of Incarnate Word in 1961, mainline Protestant churches were the cultural religious establishment, as such, they relied on a sense of obligation as a powerful motivator for membership. They were the only game on Sunday morning.  Attending church, having your children baptized and sending them to Sunday School were obligations you were supposed to fulfill.  Over time a sense of complacency set in as church leaders and others assumed the church had a guaranteed place and constituency.  In 1961, the era of Christendom was alive and well fueled by a sense of civic faith that said, if you were a good American, you were a good Christian and you were in church.

Times have changed and so has our culture.  An unpopular war in Vietnam, assassinations of prominent leaders and the scandal of Watergate helped erode a sense of trust in society's institutions, the church among them.  Moreover with the implementation of the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965, our culture became more racially, ethnically and religiously diverse.  No longer did the assumptions of civic faith hold true that to be a good American was to be a Christian who attended church every week.  No longer taking for granted that folks will simply show up on our doorsteps ready to join us in church, we've had to reassess the church's purpose and its relationship with the world around it.  We've had to re-examine what it is to be the church in a post-modern, pluralistic and inter-connected world.

The culture around us has changed.  Have we?  The adaptive challenges that face us today compel us to re-examine our own congregational culture and assumptions.  Gone are the days when "membership" had its privileges.  Those outside our church walls are no longer "joiners".  They are "seekers":  Looking for healing, transformation and purpose.  Are we offering that?

The life and death choice facing the church today is clear:  Do we lament the changes around us yearning for a return to the good ol' days, or do we adapt to them?  The church that adapts to these cultural challenges; that sees them not as threats but as new opportunities to tell and re-tell its story of a God in love with the world, is the church that is going to live another day bearing witness to the timeless story of a God whose love and healing in Jesus Christ knows no end.

Just sayin'...
Pastor Doug

 

A church of gimmicks?

I've heard a lot of talk recently about the steady decline of the mainline Protestant church and how the church just doesn't pack folks in like it used to.  We look at statistical bar graphs of membership, worship attendance and Sunday School enrollment for the last thirty years and are saddened, perplexed and even terrified as we see the irrefutable trend:  Numbers steadily going down.

So is this the end of the church?  Have we shrunk so much that death is imminent?  There is no question we have significantly declined.  The culture around us is in the midst of major change; an emerging generation of younger folks are for the most part absent from our churches.  Little wonder then that when folks from this missing demographic journey into our midst on a Sunday morning, we descend upon them in a scene right out of "The Walking Dead", grabbing them for all we're worth and trying all sorts of gimmicks to keep them coming back to church.  (i.e. coupon for a free coffee at fellowship hour, a free loaf of bread for each visiting family...you get the picture).

The problem with these "free gift" gimmicks is that despite being well-intentioned, they're not real.  They neither invite the stranger in our midst into an authentic relationship of trust with us or with Jesus.  Instead they tell the visitor, "if you come to our church, you'll get stuff".  Not exactly what Jesus was getting at when he preached, "if any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." (Matthew 16:24).  By the way, Jesus says this on the heals of Peter trying to stop him from going on to a cross in Jerusalem to suffer and be killed.

Our culture is so saturated with advertising gimmicks promising free stuff that we've become skeptical of them.  Free pizza for test driving a car?  Really?  Car dealers are not in business to give away free pizza.  Their purpose is to sell us cars.  Is this how the church is perceived too?

Maybe instead of trying to market ourselves we should just listen.  Listen to God and listen to our neighbors.  What does the God who came to serve and not be served want for our congregation?  What does the God whose son poured himself out for the life of the world want to see us do in the city for good?  What events have broken the hearts of those who live in the neighborhood around us?  Who are those in our neighborhood who are broken economically or spiritually?  Who in our neighborhood needs to experience the healing and wholeness that walking with Jesus brings?  These are the questions for which we need to listen for answers.

Regardless of demographic, folks wandering into our pews on a Sunday morning are not looking for an opportunity to help pay the light bills.  They don't really care about that beloved pastor who served for many years, or that the Presiding Bishop of the ELCA, Mark Hanson was with us a year ago.  They don't even care where we drink our coffee and eat our donuts on Sunday morning.  What they are looking for is what each of us is looking for:  Jesus and the radical healing and transformation that comes from being in his presence.  They may even want to be a part of something bigger than themselves yearning to make a difference in the broken world around them. 

As admirable as congregational loyalty may sound, it is not what those outside our church walls are looking for.  As much as we rightfully love and cherish our congregational history, that too is not what those outside our church walls are looking for.  Folks who wander into our midst are looking for communities of faith who are committed to mission, not maintenance; living and loving with authenticity and generous hearts. 

Maybe Jesus got it right when he said a long time ago, "Love God.  Love your neighbor.  Nothing else matters".  Just sayin'...

Peace,
Pastor Doug

Maintenance or Mission?

For many weeks and months now,  I've been wrestling with what the church is all about.  What is it's purpose? Is the "business" of the church to maintain what we've got?  Or is it to be like Jesus emptied out for the sake of the world?  I don't think the church has done a very good job answering these questions.  For too long pastors and parishioners have functioned in the church as if it were 1959, when it was just assumed in our culture, that if you were a good American you fulfilled your civic duties by being in church.  How many times have we longed for the good ol' days when extra chairs had to be dragged into worship to accomodate large Sunday morning crowds?  How often do we beat ourselves up as we lament the empty pews in our sanctuaries?

But the culture has changed.  The church is no longer at the center like it was in 1959.  If we are lucky, the church is barely in the cultural circle at all anymore.  At the very least, we are off to the side watching the world go by without us.  It seems to me that if we don't want to be irrelevant, we need to begin to ask the tough questions.  Do we stay off to the side watching the world go by, mournfully longing for the days when the church was in the cultural center?  Or do we actually do something about it by engaging the post-modern, multicultural, interconnected world with the good news that God through Jesus heals and transforms broken lives? Do we stay locked behind closed doors waiting for a "magic bullet" to fill our pews again, or do we seek ways to pour ourselves out in love for all?

Let me put it another way.  Are we a church of "maintenance"or "mission"? 

Here's how a maintenance church rolls as I see it: 

The maintenance church:

seeks to preserve membership;
focuses on congregational survival;
depends on pastors and other professionals to do the ministry;
has volunteers who will do the work of ministry if there is time;
uses terms like "inreach" concerning itself with making all members happy all the time;
assumes new members will come to it;
focuses primarily on the congregation and what happens within its four walls;
is driven by the ABCs:  (Attendance, Budget and Cash Flow);
expects very little commitment by members;
identifies itself as "congregation".

On the other hand,

The mission church:

seeks to make disciples;
understands that you find your life when you give it away;
believes that ministry belongs to the people with the pastor helping to equip for ministry;
is not about membership, but the lifestyle of discipleship;
is focused outward;
is called to love people and go to them;
is concerned with advancing the Kingdom of God;
is not obsessed with numbers but with how people are living the faith and sharing the gospel;
understands that being a disciple is a 24/7 commitment;
identifies itself as "community of faith".

These are questions with which I continue to wrestle.  I hope and I pray that you will too.

Peace and Love,
Pastor Doug

 

The big lie....

 

 

As I continue to pray about and prepare my sermon for this Sunday, I can't get it out of my head that we will be celebrating a healing liturgy.  But I've got to be honest here. When I think healing liturgy or healing service, the first image that comes to mind is of the religious charlatans and hucksters who manipulate the vulnerable with sensational promises of crutches and wheelchairs no longer being needed.  That will not happen here on Sunday morning!

When I think of healing, I think of brokenness.  The world around us is broken.  Those who govern us are willing to put our nation and the world on the edge of financial collapse.  Children living in the city of Rochester are more likely to live in poverty than in any other U.S. city.  Cancer, heart disease and strokes are overly abundant in our lives and in the lives of those we love.  Relationships between spouses and among children crumble before our very eyes.  Depression and anxiety crush the lives of so many under their weight.   And the list goes on.

In the face of such brokenness, what is often spouted among well-meaning folk is the phrase, "God won't give you more than you can handle."  This in fact is a big lie!  In fact, this little gem of a phrase isn't even in the Bible.   Oh sure, there's something that sounds like it in First Corinthians 10:13, but it's not the same thing.  In First Corinthians, Paul says that "God is faithful and will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear".  Paul is talking about temptation, not about the amount of suffering you can endure.

Often times life is too  much for us to bear.  God knows that.  Paul even acknowledges this in Second Corinthians.  But that's okay, because we don't bear it alone.  As Paul says, "we rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead" (2 Corinthians 1:8,9).

Maybe Luke had this in mind when he decided to tell us a story of 10 lepers, who at the end of their ropes and imprisoned by their diseases, were healed by Jesus.  At this point in Luke's gospel, Jesus is literally crossing borders between Jewish and Gentile lands on his way to a cross in Jerusalem.  He is completely disrupting the expectations and borders of institutions and individuals alike.  What Luke tells us is that as insurmountable as they appear to be, God will not be stopped by the borders and brokenness that surround us.  In other words, the sufferings that threaten to imprison us are not administered by God in some kind of endurance test, but are overcome by God.

Trite platitudes designed to explain everything away and to make us feel better with bumper-sticker theologies do little in the face of real pain and brokenness.  They might sound good, but they don't heal:  Only Jesus does that.  And who better to heal than the one who suffered the forsakenness of torture and death only to be raised to new life?  The gospels don't tell us why suffering happens, they only tell us what God does in the midst of it.  God heals.  Not sure how.  Not sure when.  But God heals.  Come to worship on Sunday and see for yourself.

Peace and Healing,
Pastor Doug

What I need from church

I read a blog this morning from a single dad who visited a church yesterday morning with his two sons.  I'm not sure where the church was, but it could be any one of ours.  The church they visited was celebrating their 100th Anniversary.  But as this dad pointed out, the congregation was so intent on remembering the stories of yesteryear, they completely ignored their visitors.  Fellowship with each other was more important than hospitality to the strangers in their midst. 

Ignoring their visitors might in some way be related to the fact that for every young person in the pews, there were three older folks.  Now don't get me wrong, one's age does not determine one's friendliness.  Some of our most hospitable individuals at Incarnate Word are well into their 70s, 80s and even 90s.  But when folks are visiting, how we welcome them or not will determine if they ever come back.  The fact remains that most visitors are younger and are searching for churches with whom they can connect their faith lives.  If there are not many young people in our midst, we have to ask ourselves, how well we welcome visitors.  Speaking as a dad myself, I want my kids to connect with something larger than themselves.  I want them to connect with a faith community that doesn't just talk about "the golden rule" but embodies radical, unconditional, systemic-changing love.  I want a place where healing happens and a place where my gifts along with those of my children can join with the gifts of others to change the world.  That is what most people want when they enter our churches on a Sunday morning.  Healing and transformation!

Let's face it.  This may be "My Father's World", but it can be pretty sucky when it comes right down to it.  People are isolated in unfulfilling jobs, stressed from too much homework and too much programming, going through divorce, battling medical diagnoses, recovering from addictions, facing bankruptcy and that's just the tip of the iceberg.  From this cesspool of crap, people are literally looking for a holy habitation: a mountain of respite and hope:  A place to call home.

What's nothing short of miraculous is that in the midst of these life storms, folks who don't even know us have taken a risk to come into our midst.  They don't know if they can trust us.  Will they be made to feel like outsiders?  Will they hear a fire and brimstone sermon inflicting guilt on those who are gathered?  Will they see love or hate in those around them?  Will they hear destructive gossip being whispered between pews?  Will their wallets and pocketbooks be put upon?  Will they be ignored?  Or will church folks eager to see "young blood" descend upon them like a herd of "walking dead" trying to get them to sign on the dotted line?  Those who enter our sanctuary for the first time on a Sunday morning, don't know what they'll find, but they've taken a huge leap of faith to be there.

I'm not sure I like the term "visitor" for it implies someone who is just passing by and not looking to put down roots.  I don't think folks coming into our sanctuaries on a Sunday morning are visitors.  I think they are immigrants longing for connectedness to something greater than themselves in need of healing and love.  If so, what they don't need are coffee mugs, loaves of bread and other similar marketing ploys which say we want your body and not your soul.  None of us likes to be marketed to.  Haven't we all been conditioned to associate marketing and advertising with lying?

If you've been here at Incarnate Word for fifty years or you're coming into our midst for the very first time, here is what I pray you will find:  Whoever you are, wherever you're from, whatever you've done or whatever you've left undone, I pray that when you come through the doors on a Sunday morning you will find a people and a place where there is healing from the hardships of life.  I pray you will find a people and a place that will empower you to make a difference in the world.  If you are courageous to just get out of bed on a Sunday morning and come to church, I pray that you see people who will not only acknowledge and remember you, but who will be genuinely happy that you are alive.

We don't need a new program or ministry of outreach.  We don't need door-to-door prosyletizing.  What we need is love.  Love will change us.  Love will change the world.  Hey, if love is good enough for Jesus....

Just sayin'
Pastor Doug

Government Shutdown...

"I appeal to you therefore brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:1-2).

Here we are just two days into the government shutdown and already my patience is wearing thin.  As much as I love the national parks, their closure at the moment is not my chief concern.  What does concern me are the 800,000 federal employees who just like me have mortgages to pay, credit card balances to manage, utility bills to keep up with, and food to put on the dinner table.  Just because they work for the federal government does not make them the "bad guys" as some in Congress might portray them.  What does concern me are the low income recipients of "Women, Infant and Children" vouchers who depend upon these to put nutritious food on the table for their families.  These are not the lazy freeloaders that some of our more affluent legislators in Washington claim them to be.  By the way, I use the term "legislator" lightly when referring to some of these elected officials.  For you see, many have not been elected to govern, they have been sent by their "constituents" to shut down the government.  Apparently their mission has been accomplished.

The reckless behavior of those elected to positions of governance is astounding.  Whether one is a supporter of the Affordable Healthcare Law or not is not the issue.  Holding an entire segment of our population hostage (let alone the most vulnerable) to promote one's legislative agenda is morally corrupt.  What's happened to the concept of governance through reason, compromise and commitment to the common good?  Though it is Congress' responsibility to pass a federal budget, that budget belongs to every American.  My taxes and yours when combined with all other tax revenues is designed to support the well-being and infrastructure of our society.  When nearly 1 million people are put out of work and many others are unable to put food on the table due to a small group's political agenda, it is astonishing.

Like it or not, Congress duly enacted the Affordable Healthcare Act and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld its constitutionality.  Despite over forty efforts by Congress to "repeal" this law, it has not happened.  How many millions of dollars have been wasted in these repeal efforts?

Paul talks a lot about discerning the will of God.  In  my reading of scripture, God's love of and concern for the most vulnerable among us is overwhelming.  Jesus himself is not only the embodiment but the fulfillment of all the Hebrew prophets of old who raised their voices for justice, peace and mercy.  Though some would claim that God is as American as baseball, hot dogs and apple pie, people of faith know better.  We know that God did not send Moses to bless Pharaoh or Jesus to bless Caesar.  In fact Jesus himself died at the hands of Caesar.  So we're probably better off to not go there.

Where is the voice to call those who engage in political brinkmanship to task?  How can we, as people of faith, not raise our prayers and our voices in advocacy for the poorest and most vulnerable among us?  I for one will be writing yet another letter to those in Congress who represent me all the while keeping this prayer foremost in my heart:

"O God, your son came among us to serve and not to be served and to give his life for the life of the world.  Lead us by his love to serve all those to whom the world offers no comfort and little help.  Through us give hope to the hopeless, love to the unloved, peace to the troubled, and rest to the weary, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen" (ELW p.60).

Your brother in Christ,
Pastor Doug

Pastor Doug's Excellent Adventure!!

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

 The "Excellent Adventure" begins in mid-October, when I will begin my part-time studies toward a Doctor of Ministry degree concentrating in justice and advocacy. Though coursework will occur in a variety of settings, I am working toward this degree through the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia in a program that can be completed in no less than three years and no more than six.

 What does this mean for Incarnate Word? It means that you my brothers and sisters will be my mentors, on occasion my case studies, and always my friends with whom I will work to both experiment and apply advocacy programming in our congregation. Therein lies the beauty of the Doctor of Ministry degree. Unlike a Ph.D., which is academic in nature and requires full-time attention to coursework, the D. Min degree is designed for full-time parish pastors and their congregations.

 Using my continuing education time, there will be a couple of weeks over the course of the year that I will need to be in Philadelphia doing coursework. The remainder of the year, I’ll be working with you and other leaders of Incarnate Word in programming as well as the day-to-day pastoral ministry we have always done together.

 The course I’m taking in October is entitled, “Discerning a Direction Toward Renewal”. In this week long intensive course, we will be examining and critiquing multiple 21st century approaches to congregational transformation and renewal. I will also be assessing my own leadership style and skills as well as the strengths and challenges of our mission context here at Incarnate Word. The desired outcome of this course is to give us tools in our continued efforts of assessing and developing suitable strategic plans for our congregation.

 I am tremendously appreciative of the love and prayers of both Executive and Congregation Council leaders, who have encouraged and supported me in these efforts of discernment. I am thankful as well for each and every one of you as together in Christ, we strive not to be a corporate entity focused on church survival, but a mission outpost seeking to pour ourselves out in love for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

Peace in Christ,

Pastor Doug

How important is our building anyway?

The following blog was posted by a dear friend in Toronto who recently led a group of Torontonians to Rochester on a tour of sacred spaces.  Peter's words magnificently highlight the stunning beauty of our building's unique and powerfully symbolic architecture.  Though our ministry is not defined by our building, it can certainly be inspired by it.

Enjoy,
Pastor Doug

http://peter.yorkminsterpark.com/2013/05/the-lutheran-church-of-the-incarnate-word---rochester-pilgrimage-of-sacred-spaces.php 

SNAP cuts? Really?

"Here are symbols to remind us of our lifelong need of grace; here are table, font, and pulpit; here the cross has central place.  Here in honesty of preaching, here in silence as in speech, here in newness and renewal, God the Spirit comes to each"  (ELW #526).

Honestly this was the verse of our opening hymn on Sunday that gave me the courage to try and bring Amos' scathing words of economic injustice to my sermon.  Though my sermon was by no means intended to be political, its purpose was to invite the church to speak its collective voice in protesting the proposed federal budget cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

The proposal being made in the House of Representatives would cut $40 billion over the next ten years.  No big deal right?  What's $40 billion among friends? 

According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office $40 billion looks like this:  4 million low income families will be removed from the SNAP program in 2014 followed by another 3 million families per year for the next ten years.  These cuts will most adversely affect low-income families with children where the parent(s) work for a living but are unable to provide enough food to feed their families.  What has SNAP really done for low income families anyway?  Well, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, food stamps kept 4 million families out of poverty last year.

As a follower of Christ, the one who specifically instructs us to protect the poorest and the most vulnerable, how can I not be morally outraged at those in positions of legislative power who have masterminded such a devastating assault on the weakest among us? 

Historically SNAP has enjoyed bi-partisan support and been recognized as the most effective tool against hunger, but now a majority of congressional representatives are determined to cut  these critical nutrition programs.

Kind of makes Amos' words from this past Sunday come to life.  Preaching to a prosperous people who have forgotten their covenant with God to protect the most vulnerable among them, Amos unleashes harsh words of warning on God's behalf.  "Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land...The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:  Surely I will never forget any of their deeds".

Not easy words to preach.  Not even easy words to speak outside of the pulpit.  But how can I as a follower of Jesus, who sings every Sunday about a "feast of victory for our Lord" sit by and idly watch as millions of families, who are already "food insecure", are cast further into the desert of famine?

Perhaps evangelical preacher and president of Sojourners, Jim Wallis says it best:

"They are going after the poor and hungry people because they think it is politically safe to do so. So let's call that what it is:  moral hypocrisy.  Our job, as people of faith, is to protect the poor and to make it politically unsafe for politicians to go after them - to pick on the poor".

Now that's the honesty of preaching the church needs to hear.  For us to do otherwise is to turn our backs on the very ones Jesus and the prophets before him called us to protect.  Moreover, to do otherwise, places the church in the dark tomb of irrelevancy:  A place in which the church has historically been satisfied to dwell.  Like Lazarus emerging from his dead-end tomb of death at Jesus' beckoning, let us listen for Jesus' call as we too emerge from our own dark, dead tombs standing up for the poor, bearing God's creative and redeeming Word to all the world.  How can we as people of faith do any less?

Click on the ELCA Advocacy link of Incarnate Word's website to find out specific ways in which we the church can raise our voices of justice, mercy and love.

Peace in Christ,
Pastor Doug

A beautiful ending...

"The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart, a fountain ever springing!  All things are mine since I am his!  How can I keep from singing?  No storm can shake my inmost calm while to that Rock I'm clinging.  Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?"  

These were the concluding words that a bunch of us pastors sang at the end of our Synod Ministerium retreat this morning.  Though these words alone are powerful in their affirmation of Christ overcoming all the storms of our lives, what spoke most powerfully to my heart today was what happened at the conclusion of the hymn.  Each and every one of us found ourselves caught up in the moment as we began to "hoot and holler" and applaud wildly, as if the home team had just pulled out a bottom of the 9th inning walk off homerun to win the game.

What was it that stirred us "good order" pastors to spontaneous applause and celebration?  Could it be that each of us knows all too well what it means to live in a world broken by heartache, violence, darkness and death?  Could it be that what we experienced today was sweet release from our own pain and tears that we shed on behalf of those whom we lovingly serve as pastor?

I know with all my heart and soul that God does not abandon us in the storms of life, though it may feel like it.  I am quick to convey that reality to anyone overwhelmed in tears of grief.  But deep down in the darkest places of my own heart, I need to know that reality for my life too.  I need to hear that truth conveyed to me.  I need to know that when my own heart breaks there is a rock to which I can cling.  Jesus Christ:  Lord of heaven and earth.

This is what I heard and what I felt this morning in worship.  I am convinced more than ever that this is what life is supposed to be like whenever we gather together in worship in the place where the crucified and risen Christ has promised to be present.

I was renewed this morning by the Spirit who nurtures life in outrageous diversity; who brings Christ near filling our worship and guiding us in hope and who continues to be poured out on all flesh comforting us and at the same time calling us to cross the line between male and female, slave and free, Jew and gentile.

That is what must happen in worship on any given Sunday in any given place.  With this in mind,  I leave you with the words of this morning's benediction:

"May the Spirit be the storm that shakes the foundations, the leap of new fire, which turns oppression to ash; may her wildness seduce us with holy desire; and the blessing of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit go with you now and always,

Peace,
Pastor Doug

An "a-ha" moment...

In my nearly twenty years of ordained ministry, I have finally come to see what my role as pastor is all about.  (Okay so I'm kind of a slow learner.)  In my head I have known that my function as pastor is to preach the word, preside at the sacrament, teach and bring comfort to God's people.

But yesterday during worship, the "why" of these functions became clear.  As I do most every week when communion distribution is finishing up, I began to ready myself to grab a communion assistant and take the sacrament over to those folk who are physically unable to come forward.  Before my feet even started to move, one of our wonderful liturgical deacons stepped out with a communion assistant in tow and delivered the body and blood of Jesus for me.

We pastors tend to overanalyze a lot of things, but what hit me yesterday was abundantly clear.  My job as pastor (you know, that preaching and presiding stuff) is not to sell the church to the world like some stereotypically sleazy used car salesperson, but to help God's people discern their God-given gifts so that they can be Christ in the world.   Bearing Christ was just what I saw happen in worship yesterday.

Imagine if everyone who was there yesterday took Christ with them back out into the world bearing God's creative and redeeming word in whatever way they are gifted.  I don't have to imagine it.  Knowing the folks of Incarnate Word, I have no doubt that the healing hands and loving heart of Christ went out from here yesterday to a city and a world hungering and thirsting for mercy and justice.

And by the way, here's the miraculous thing about it all.  Not only do they put up with my "out there" preaching and those more than occasional wrong notes I hit in the liturgy, but the very folks who embody the healing and love of Christ in the world have themselves been hungry and thirsty for that same healing love.  What can I say?  God is great!!

Overwhelmed by Christ's love,
Pastor Doug

Dear Parents with Young Children

"You are doing something really, really important. I know it's not easy. I see you with your arms overflowing, and I know you came to church already tired. Parenting is tiring. Really tiring.

I watch you bounce and sway trying to keep the baby quiet, juggling the infant car seat and the diaper bag as you find a seat. I see you wince as your child cries. I see you anxiously pull things out of your bag of tricks to try to quiet them.

And I see you with your toddler and your preschooler. I watch you cringe when your little girl asks an innocent question in a voice that might not be an inside voice let alone a church whisper. I hear the exasperation in your voice as you beg your child to just sit, to be quiet as you feel everyone's eyes on you. Not everyone is looking, but I know it feels that way.

I know you're wondering, is this worth it? Why do I bother? I know you often leave church more exhausted than fulfilled. But what you are doing is so important.

When you are here, the church is filled with a joyful noise. When you are here, the Body of Christ is more fully present. When you are here, we are reminded that this worship thing we do isn't about bible study or personal, quiet contemplation but coming together to worship as a community where all are welcome, where we share in the Word and Sacrament together. When you are here, I have hope that these pews won't be empty in 10 years when your kids are old enough to sit quietly and behave in worship. I know that they are learning how and why we worship now, before it's too late. They are learning that worship is important.

I see them learning. In the midst of the cries, whines, and giggles, in the midst of the crinkling of pretzel bags and the growing pile of crumbs, I see a little girl who insists on going two pews up to share peace with someone she's never met. I hear a little boy slurping (quite loudly) every last drop of his communion wine out of the cup, determined not to miss a drop of Jesus. I watch a child excitedly color a cross and point to the one in the front of the sanctuary. I hear the echos of "Amens" just a few seconds after the rest of the community says it together. I watch a boy just learning to read try to sound out the words in the worship book or count his way to Hymn 672. Even on weeks when I can't see my own children learning because, well, it's one of those mornings, I can see your children learning.

I know how hard it is to do what you're doing, but I want you to know it matters. It matters to me. It matters to my children to not be alone in the pew. It matters to the congregation to know that families care about faith, to see young people... and even on those weeks when you can't see the little moments, it matters to your children.

It matters that they learn that worship is what we do as a community of faith, that everyone is welcome, that their worship matters. When we teach children that their worship matters, we teach them that they are enough right here and right now as members of the church community. They don't need to wait until they can believe, pray or worship a certain way to be welcome here, and I know adults who are still looking to be shown that. It matters that children learn that they are an integral part of this church, that their prayers, their songs, and even their badly (or perfectly-timed, depending on who you ask) cries and whines are a joyful noise because it means they are present.

I know it's hard, but thank you for what you do when you bring your children to church. Please know that your family -- with all of its noise, struggle, commotion, and joy -- are not simply tolerated, you are a vital part of the community gathered in worship"  

                                                                                           ~ Jamie Bruesehoff

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This post originally appeared on I Am Totally *That* Mom.

This Guy is Trouble...



Right from the start, we know that Jesus is a troublemaker.  The very first sentence of this Sunday's gospel reading says so.

"Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near  to listen to Jesus".

Not just some of these people of ill-repute, but ALL of them.  Tax collectors were by nature dis-honest collaborators with the Empire.  First century loan sharks extorting as much money from the 99% as possible.

Sinners.  Well those were everyone else who was for one reason or another ritually unclean and kept on the outside of the religious institution:  The dermatologically challenged, women having their period etc....

And Jesus attracted them all.  Luke tells us that every single one of them were coming near to listen to Jesus.  Juxtaposed to this are the Pharisees and scribes doing what good religious folk do when they see the rules being violated:  They took to grumbling.  Notice their grumbling isn't in the past tense but in the imperfect tense.  It's not a once and done thing.  They were bitching and moaning over and over again about this guy Jesus who was breaking all the rules.

Ironic isn't it?  In both the Hebrew and Christian Testaments, God is always beckoning God's people to listen.  And yet these good religious insiders who could recite the rules backward and forward were unable to do what the "sinners" were doing.  Listen.

"Hear O my people, and I will admonish you:  O Israel if you would but listen to me...I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt...and yet my people did not hear my voice" (Psalm 81).

And Jesus says, "The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice.  He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out" (John 10).

Grumbling wasn't a once and done thing in Jesus' day and so too not in ours.  What do we religious insiders today grumble about?  What do religious leaders like me get our panties all in a bunch over?  Who does the church spend lots of time and energy condemning or worse walking right by without even noticing?

I'm going to keep wrestling with this, because I know for a fact that just about all of us have a pretty sketchy track record when it comes to being open to newness.  More often than not we've dropped the ball in welcoming those who differ from us either intentionally or not.

Maybe if we listened a little more and yapped a lot less, we'd see transformation right before our eyes.  Come to church tomorrow and perhaps together in the hymns we sing, the prayers we offer and the meal we share, us "Pharisees", "scribes", "tax collectors" and "sinners" will not only see Jesus, but we'll hear him as well.

Peace and Love,
Pastor Doug

 

Breath of Fresh Air



 



It was reported just this past week that Pope Francis made some random "calls of kindness" one of which was to an unwed pregnant woman.  In tears, she expressed her fear that no priest would baptize the baby of an unwed mother.  He replied, "Well there's always me!"

Does this not embody a breath of fresh air not only in the Roman Church but in the larger Church as well?  Or is this guy just crazy?  As I'm putting pen to paper this week for my sermon, this story seems in keeping with the gospel story of a crazy shepherd who stopped at nothing to search for a lost sheep, thus putting his very livelihood in danger if something happened to the other 99.

Or what about that crazy woman who after turning her house upside down to find a lost coin, presumably spent what that coin was worth and even more to throw a party in celebration?

Can we, the church, learn anything here?  If crazy, extravagant and maybe even reckless actions are lifted as virtue in scripture, can we be anything less?  What does that even look like here at Incarnate Word as we find ourselves planted in a poverty-stricken and violent city?

In the city of good?  Maybe our mission statement should be amended:  "In the city for CRAZY good".  Just sayin'...

Pastor Doug

Never Forget?

Today is 9/11.   And as such we will be asked to relive the trauma of that day twelve years ago when the peaceful skies over New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania were shattered with explosions, collapsing towers and mountainous rubble.    Doubtless there will be observances from "sea to shining sea".  Speeches will be made, memorials held and through it all, we will be told to "never forget".

For some this day, the grief and pain of losing loved ones will be revived, cutting deeply and shattering hearts once again.  For these family and friends, today is a genuine day of remembrance and of not forgetting those whom they loved.  But for those others like me, who did not suffer the loss of friends or family; who saw the tragedy only on television and were never touched personally by it, to "never forget" only serves to cheapen the overwhelming grief felt by those who did lose a parent, child, sibling or spouse that day.

But even more than this, by insisting that our collective memory never forget, a threat is implied:  A threat of vengeance on those who would attack us or even worse on those we think might attack us.  For the past twelve years we have never forgotten.  And where has that gotten us?  Fears have been aroused, wars have been waged, torture has been justified and civil liberties have been eroded.  All because we could never forget.

In the midst of this societal memory characterized by fear and violence, what is needed now more than ever is a new voice speaking a new language: A language not color-coded in hues of retaliation but overflowing with grace upon grace; echoing the One we claim to follow who calls us unabashedly to comfort the afflicted, to pray for our enemies, to turn the other cheek, and to forgive endlessly.  If the church cannot lay claim to this voice - if all we can do is sit on the sidelines offering no alternative to a culture which continues to re-open its 9/11 wounds year after year, then we are not a resurrection people.  We are not the church.

For those who would tell me to never forget the events of 9/11, have no fear I won't.  But neither will I live enslaved to vengeance, fear and retribution.  I will remember.  I will remember that Jesus whom I confess as the Christ, the Messiah of God, is also the Prince of Peace.  Moreover, week after week as I gather with God's people in the place God has promised to be,  I will be reminded that through the waters of baptism I have been called and equipped to embody Christ in the world not just for a day, but for a lifetime!

Peace and blessings for the whole world:  No exceptions.
Pastor Doug