Lectionary Leanings

I'm beginning a sort of series at the church - each week is one way that we are called to be the church.

I'm tying in very loosly "I Am who I am" with "Who do you say that I am" from last week and the fact that although Peter gets that Jesus is the Messiah, he doesn't fully understand what it means.

Our word this week is "Accept" - it's not enough to have the right answer to the question, we have to live out our belief that Jesus is the Messiah and that the God who wouldn't even give us a name is the one who tenderly holds our lives in the palm of her hand.

Living it out is a lot different than just saying it. I think that's why Peter had such a hard time... he wanted to follow a Messiah who would save him here and now, who would elevate him, who would give them liberty without the struggle. And to be honest, that's how we have painted Jesus in our culture today - just say these simple words and believe.

But Romans tells us how we have to live - what embodying and truly accepting "You are the Messiah" means for our lives.

Last night, Michelle Obama said these words in her speech: "They’ll tell them how this time we listened to our hopes, instead of our fears. How this time, we decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming." It's a different context, but I think the words apply. We have to stop being afraid of what will happen to us if we truly follow Christ and we have to have hope that if we truly follow Christ, amazing things will happen and the world will be transformed.

That's where I'm going...

glued to the tv

so, for the last two weeks I've spent time watching the olympics and now I'm glued to the television watching the democratic national convention. This isn't a pulpit, so i'm going to take the liberty to share some of my political views =)

i was amazed tonight to see Senator Harkin and former Representative Leech from Iowa standing up there together. I grew up in a family that was full of Republicans, it was all I really knew. And they always talked about Leech - how he was the good guy and Harkin was the bad guy (that's oversimplifying, but when your 12 that's how you understand it).

Since then, I changed my own views as I grew up and started to think for myself. I came home and didn't feel like I could really express myself, at least around my family. I've been a big fan of Obama since I first began to hear him speak years ago. And I was very excited by his decision to run for president, mostly because of the values that he is talking about as he talks about change: hope - the belief that dreams can come true, that change can really happen; unity - that we have to work together and listen to one another in order to make things happen; and a grassroots sensibility - that it takes all of us, each and every single one of us to be the kind of country that we dream of.

I was so excited to see those two congressmen stand up there and say that this is not a red or blue issue, but a red, white and blue issue - what is best for our country. It has been great to hear all sorts of ordinary people speaking tonight about how they found the ability to dream again, they found hope again, and as a Christian, I don't believe that hope is a trite thing.

btw... Michelle Obama's speech was amazing.

seriously... the sheep on the left was me this past week. I think I said that exact sentence.

Lectionary Leanings

1. Christ wants us to BUILD HIS CHURCH
2. The Church as a Living Body
a. WE don’t create it… Christ does.
i. Isaiah 51:1-2 “look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham and to Sarah – for he was but one when I called him, but I blessed him and made him many.”
b. Letting Go of our own ideas – both the “good old days” and the “we shoulds”
i. Romans 12:1-2 “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God… do not be conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of your minds.”
c. BUT we have to use the tools that we have been given!
i. Romans 12:6ff “We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us..”
ii. “The church will never be any better than we are.” – Peter Gomes
3. It takes all of us to be the church, not just some. This isn’t some country club that you have joined, this is a community of followers of Christ and starting this fall, we are really going to focus on what that means.
a. Each week until Advent, one way that we are called to “be the church” and “embody God’s Kingdom”
b. Then after we have explored each of those ways, I am going to challenge you to take a step of faith and to make a new kind of commitment to this church (will be covenant discipleship groups starting after the new year – and dividing the congregation up into classes w/ leaders). But first, we need to get back to the basics and remember what we are called to do.

Friday Five

Here are five things to ponder about dates.

1) Datebooks--how do you keep track of your appointments? Electronically? On paper? Month at a glance? Week at a glance?

oh goodness. I am terrible about this. I used to do it through outlook on my computer - but then never had it with me. Then I bought one of those fancy franklin covey planners and it is beautiful, but I don't really use it like I should and it's too big to stick in my purse on the go. Right now, I'm using the scheduler in my cell phone. Which at least lets me know when i have something coming up due to the great alarm feature.

2) When was the last time you forgot an important date?

I kind of missed out on my dad's 50th birthday and my parent's 25th anniversary. The last few years have been crazy and I wasn't home that summer and so while I as the eldest daughter should have thrown a HUGE party for both occasions - I totally missed out. I don't think I even realized it was my dad's 50th until months later. Bad Katie, Bad.

3) When was the last time you went OUT on a date?

I actually went on a strange sort of triple date a few weeks ago, except, one of the other girls couldn't end up making it because they had to move. As far as just me and my hubby... It would be sometime in Nashville... I can't even remember. We have done things like going out with friends to dinner and then a thing (a movie, or to see the Whirling Dervishes!), but I honestly can't remember the last time just the two of us went out. That's kind of sad!

4) Name one accessory or item of clothing you love even though it is dated.

I have a bunch of my grandmother's scarves. Silky ones that would be tied around the neck under a blouse, but is totally out of style. I wore some of them in my hair in a more hippy dippy faze of mine, but now they are just in the closet. My favorite is white with orange images and writing - all spices and herbs!

5) Dates--the fruit--can't live with 'em? Or can't live without 'em?

I actually really like dates. At our Maundy Thursday service I recreated a sort of last supper with types of food that might have been around at the time. So we had dates and figs, unleavened bread, olives, etc. And then when we took communion, we did sort of a love feast with it and everyone passed around the food and it was a really moving experience for a lot of people. We moved from that to hand washing (which i thought would be a bit less scary than foot washing since they hadn't done it.)

TIKI

It's official... itty bitty kitty is named tiki =)

obligatory pictures of new kitty

the new kitty still doesn't have a name... i'm calling him "itty bitty kitty" until we agree on one... but he's so cute!!!!

In the running are: Freddie, Chewy (Chewbacca), Tiki, Midge, Gizmo, Weeble, and lots of others... Do you have a favorite? Or any other suggestions?

Friday Five

For this Friday's Five, share with us five transformations that the coming fall will bring your way.

Bonus: Give us your favorite activity that is made possible by the arrival of fall.

I'm really gearing up for fall at the church - our big kick off is a week from Sunday! It doesn't seem possible that students are heading back to school already and that fall is almost here - especially when August is usually so hot. We are actually in store for a very early fall according to some accounts - a frost is expected by mid-september, which will wreak havoc on the already late crops here in the midwest. lots of prayers needed here!

As for the five biggest transformations of this fall:

#1 - We are getting another kitty! We love Turbo so much that we think he needs a friend. There are kittens at the local vet and we are going on tuesday to pick one of the gold ones up. He will be about 6 weeks old then and is getting his vaccinations on Monday. I can't wait to have another addition to our family!

#2 - I will be teaching confirmation this fall and spring at my church. They normally do confirmation for 5th/6th graders, but there are a number who were missed a couple years ago, so we have about 9 kids spread out from 5th - 9th grade. I'm looking forward to working with them!!! and i'm going to be trying out the claim the name resource... but i can't decide if i want to do it just for the fall or for the whole year. we are doing confirmation during sunday school time - which means that they will be there for church for sure, but if we do the whole year long program, i won't be involved in any other sunday school stuff all year long. This is my FIRST time doing confirmation... eek!

#3 - My biggest personal goal for this fall is to transform my body. I really need to exercise more and need to build some kind of routine. And I think transformation really is the right word for it, because I need to change inside and out. I've done it before, so I know that it is possible... but it will definately take more willpower than I'm currently exhibiting.

#4 - My biggest transformation around the church will be in my personal visitation ministry. While I may seem to others like an extremely outgoing person, I am so anxious about visiting people. I talk myself out of it most of the time. I have been fairly consistent about visiting people in the hospital (when i know they are there) and in the nursing home (I do a service there monthly and spend time after visiting) and somewhat with people who are homebound - but I really need to get out and start making the rounds with the whole church. Especially those people who are members but I have never seen or met in the almost eight months I've been there. I know it will make a huge difference, but I can't work up the guts to do it. I'm pretty sure once I do it, I'll wonder what the big deal is, but its a step that terrifies me about ministry.

#5 - One thing I have tried fairly hard to do since I have been in this church is to change up the order of worship with every new season. We had one liturgy for the season after epiphany, another for lent, another for after easter, and now we are in another for the season after pentecost. I'm starting a new sermon series with our fall kick-off, and think it's a good time to change up the liturgy again. that way we don't get too tied to any one way to worship and it helps the church to be a bit more flexible. I'm excited to think about new possibilities and ways to incorporate prayers, hymns, etc., into the service. For example: in this season after ephiphany, we have sung our prayer for illumination as "Spirit of the Living God" - but during Epiphany we sang "Thy Word." Other times, it is a spoken prayer. One of my big changes this fall is to add a mission/stewardship moment before the offering each week and to invite people from the congregation to share about an way our offerings and our pledges this fall help to support the ministry of the worldwide/local church.

Bonus: I'm actually pretty excited for high school and college football to start back up! I'm a big fan of the Iowa Hawkeyes and so I can't wait to catch a few games (we often had the SEC games when we lived in Nashville) - either on tv or in real life... and my family has tailgated in Iowa City at the games, so we might go join them a few times. It will also be neat to see what the spirit is around this small town with their local high school for football games. I'm looking forward to getting more involved with the students in their school activities and showing up a bit more.

bagh!

i got a message today from the conference that the church has not been paying my pension and health insurance (which includes my individual contribution that has been witheld from my paycheck every month). I'm assuming the treasurer just didn't know it was supposed to be sent in. But it means that we technically have $10,000 more in our accounts than we should and that we are not holding steady on our finances like we thought. doh.

Yet another thing they don't teach you about in seminary.

edited: good news! the mess up wasn't on our end! the conference forgot to bill us. we still owe the money, but at least neither me or my lovely wonderful treasurer messed up =)

Lectionary Leanings

"Throw me a bone here!"

My local pastors gathering talks about the lectionary a week early, and so last week I came up with the core of my message and my sermon title.

Jesus tells the woman he can't help her because he has a mission... which the text says she isn't offended by, but simply responds... yeah, but even the dogs get crumbs don't they?

My translation: Throw me a bone here Jesus!

additional throughts from my weekly roundtable pulpit group:

1) There are always leftovers and crumbs. So as Jesus set about his mission to preach "only" to the lost sheep of Israel - there were bound to be people evesdropping and picking up the leftover pieces along the way.

2) lots of thoughts about the desperation of the woman with the possessed daughter. We talked a lot about parents today who have problematic children - either because they are mentally ill, handicapped, or simply troublemakers. The notion that God never gives us more than we can handle came up - but it seems as this woman is at the end of her rope. She needs God's help to keep going.

3) we have no idea what Jesus was thinking. And we can't put words into his head. So from the persepective of the disciples and the woman, they at least saw a "changed" Jesus - and certainly the disciples had the rug pulled out from under them.

4) we talked about having one mission and one purpose to focus on - it clarifies and allows you to really make an impact in one area. But there will be spillover as you work, "crumbs" that will appeal to others. Ironically, you may end up feeding the "crumby" people more than those you intended to (especially if the children keep throwing their food on the floor!.... aka Israel rejecting Jesus)

Friday Five - Dog Day Afternoons

1. What is your sweetest summer memory from childhood? Did it involve watermelon or hand cranked ice cream? Or perhaps a teen summer romance. Which stands out for you?

Hmm, I think the closest thing I came to a sweet teen summer romance was on a camping trip my family took around the Wisconsin dells when I was in probably 8th grade. I can't remember his name, but I do remember how much fun we had in the water park at the campground!!

2. Describe your all time favorite piece of summer clothing. The one thing you could put on in the summer that would seem to insure a cooler, more excellent day.

I guess probably just lazing around in a bikini and one of my sarongs from hawaii would have to be on the top of that list. I also have a great new pair of mesh shorts with the heat wicking technology that I love to wear when I disc golf - that and a white tank top totally keeps me cool. But NOT a ribbed tank. I didn't realize how much that extra ribbing traps in heat until I almost died of heat stroke the other day (okay, I just felt like I was going to die)

3. What summer food fills your mouth with delight and whose flavor stays happily with you long after eaten?

Sweet corn. I LOVE sweet corn. And it stays with you because it gets stuck in your teeth!!!! I also love a great glass of sangria. I have a friend who made white sangria and it was to die for.

4. Tell us about the summer vacation or holiday that holds your dearest memory.

I would have to say the first time we went up to raft on the Menominee and Peshtigo Rivers in Wisconsin. This last time was fun, too, but I love playing cards and being outside and it seemed like that was all we did that first trip. That and drinking wine.

5. Have you had any experience(s) this summer that has drawn you closer to God or perhaps shown you His wonder in a new way?

I think getting myself back into my devotional life has been really good - and I did it on vacation while i could sit outside and enjoy the beauty of God's creation.

Bonus question: When it is really hot, humid and uncomfortable, what do you do to refresh and renew body and spirit?

When i was a kid, the sprinkler would be running. Now as an adult, I just head for the nearest air conditioning... how boring is that?

Lectionary Leanings

After preaching last week on who is missing... I feel obligated to listen for God's word on how we reach those that we have named.

This week's lectionary readings, have me thinking about going to where people are - instead of waiting for them to come to you.

Romans has this great two step plan for salvation: believe and you will be justified, speak and you will be saved. Well, speak not just anything... but speak the truth about God. That Christ is Lord.

One of the scariest questions (in my opinion) that had to be answered on our examination questions for ordination is "How do you interpret the statement 'Jesus Christ is Lord'?" I have often hesitated to use that statement because of the way I have heard others use it. I hear it used in militaristic and political ways that seem to have no connection with the Jesus who speaks out of the scriptures. I hear it used solely as a means of gaining salvation, as the defining measure - rather than as a beginning point for a whole life lived in faithful action. I hear it in ways that separate and promote Christ from the Trinity.

What I realized is that the question is really about HOW Jesus is Lord and finally was able to write that we can only call Jesus, "Lord" in the context of the Kingdom he proclaimed. A Kingdom that is for the poor and oppressed, a Lord that walks along side the people and offers them life, rather than ruling from above. When we claim that Jesus is Lord, we are proclaiming a kingdom that is not of this world - that seeks peace and wholeness rather than power and domination. We proclaim that our final allegiance doesn't lie with our family or the state, but with God.

In my lectionary discussion group, we spent quite a bit of time bemoaning the crazy and chaotic world around us... and I heard many laments about the downfall of Christianity in America. But I am more than prepared to say that living in a post-Christian America may in fact be exactly what we need to more fully accept Christ as our Lord. Living in a post-Christian America means that we no longer are Christian by default, but that we now have the ability to choose to deeply commit our lives to this way. And it means that there are new opportunities to share this gospel with people who are disheartened by the world - to offer them a future of hope that lies now within our modern politics, but with God's kingdom. We offer an alternative to the world as it is - not rose colored glasses - but a connection to something that is bigger that our current struggles.

I'm also thinking a lot about Matthew and Peter's venture out onto the sea in connection with a poem by the late Eddie Askew. I can't remember the title or which book its in, but here is the piece of the poem I have:


And, suddenly, I notice with unease, you standing with them, outside the boundary wire of my concern. Not asking that they be admitted to my world, but offering me the chance to leave my warm cocoon, thermostatically controlled by selfishness, and take my place with them, and you. At risk in real relationships, where love not law, defines what I should do.

I keep thinking about how often we tell people to come to church, rather than take church to them. I think about all of those people who will never on their own accord set foot in our large brick building. I think about the people who are in the bars in town - or working at the grocery store or the dollar general or the gas station. And I think about Jesus standing with them out in the storms of their lives.

While the storm was raging on that lake, the disciples were relatively safe in their boat. It seems they were more startled than anything else by this figure that appears and Peter doesn't really believe it could be Jesus... what on earth is he doing out there? Why doesn't he stay where it is safe... either get in the boat or stay on the short! He is outside the boundary of where Peter thinks he should be. And so to make sure it is really him, Peter wants proof. If it's you Lord, command me to come to you. And Jesus says, Come.

Peter gets out there, but its scary to be in the world without all of the safety of the church (ahem, I mean boat). and so he falters and Christ picks him up and helps him back into the boat. It is new and terrifying to try to proclaim Christ out in the world, rather than just in the safety of the church, but we are called to do so. Not because Jesus tells us to (after all, Peter is the one who suggested it)... but simply because that is where Jesus is.

still

in college I took at least one class where I learned about Buddhism. and then in seminary, one of my favorite and most fulfilling classes was on Buddhist-Christian dialogue.

Even after my short entre into Buddhism, I'm not prepared to say if it is a religion or a philosophy like some will debate. I probably wouldn't feel comfortable teaching about it without a good resource to guide me.

But what I do know is that there are many parallels between what I learned and practiced in those experiences about the present moment and letting go of oneself that have kept coming back to me in the past weeks and months.

There is a Christian author Caussade (I believe) that I really want to read. He talks about living in the present moment and sees it as the only way to live fully into God's providence. We cannot control the past and the future, we must trust that they are in God's hands... but we can look to the ways in the ordinary and mundane that God is revealed to us.

As I sat down to type this, my cat hopped up onto my lap and curled into a ball and instantly began purring. Purring for cats is a way of expressing the need for or love of companionship. They will purr when scared or giving birth because those are moments that they need comfort, as much as they will purr when content. I think one of the points was that a cat who is alone will never purr out of happiness. It is an expression of the need for another.

How true is that of our lives as well. We need one another and we need God and even in the little ordinary things like a cat curled up in a lap, God's will is revealed.

Lectionary Leanings

After preaching last week on who is missing... I feel obligated to listen for God's word on how we reach those that we have named.

This week's lectionary readings, have me thinking about going to where people are - instead of waiting for them to come to you.

Romans has this great two step plan for salvation: believe and you will be justified, speak and you will be saved. Well, speak not just anything... but speak the truth about God. That Christ is Lord.

One of the scariest questions (in my opinion) that had to be answered on our examination questions for ordination is "How do you interpret the statement 'Jesus Christ is Lord'?" I have often hesitated to use that statement because of the way I have heard others use it. I hear it used in militaristic and political ways that seem to have no connection with the Jesus who speaks out of the scriptures. I hear it used solely as a means of gaining salvation, as the defining measure - rather than as a beginning point for a whole life lived in faithful action. I hear it in ways that separate and promote Christ from the Trinity.

What I realized is that the question is really about HOW Jesus is Lord and finally was able to write that we can only call Jesus, "Lord" in the context of the Kingdom he proclaimed. A Kingdom that is for the poor and oppressed, a Lord that walks along side the people and offers them life, rather than ruling from above. When we claim that Jesus is Lord, we are proclaiming a kingdom that is not of this world - that seeks peace and wholeness rather than power and domination. We proclaim that our final allegiance doesn't lie with our family or the state, but with God.

In my lectionary discussion group, we spent quite a bit of time bemoaning the crazy and chaotic world around us... and I heard many laments about the downfall of Christianity in America. But I am more than prepared to say that living in a post-Christian America may in fact be exactly what we need to more fully accept Christ as our Lord. Living in a post-Christian America means that we no longer are Christian by default, but that we now have the ability to choose to deeply commit our lives to this way. And it means that there are new opportunities to share this gospel with people who are disheartened by the world - to offer them a future of hope that lies now within our modern politics, but with God's kingdom. We offer an alternative to the world as it is - not rose colored glasses - but a connection to something that is bigger that our current struggles.

I'm also thinking a lot about Matthew and Peter's venture out onto the sea in connection with a poem by the late Eddie Askew. I can't remember the title or which book its in, but here is the piece of the poem I have:


And, suddenly, I notice with unease, you standing with them, outside the boundary wire of my concern. Not asking that they be admitted to my world, but offering me the chance to leave my warm cocoon, thermostatically controlled by selfishness, and take my place with them, and you. At risk in real relationships, where love not law, defines what I should do.

I keep thinking about how often we tell people to come to church, rather than take church to them. I think about all of those people who will never on their own accord set foot in our large brick building. I think about the people who are in the bars in town - or working at the grocery store or the dollar general or the gas station. And I think about Jesus standing with them out in the storms of their lives.

While the storm was raging on that lake, the disciples were relatively safe in their boat. It seems they were more startled than anything else by this figure that appears and Peter doesn't really believe it could be Jesus... what on earth is he doing out there? Why doesn't he stay where it is safe... either get in the boat or stay on the short! He is outside the boundary of where Peter thinks he should be. And so to make sure it is really him, Peter wants proof. If it's you Lord, command me to come to you. And Jesus says, Come.

Peter gets out there, but its scary to be in the world without all of the safety of the church (ahem, I mean boat). and so he falters and Christ picks him up and helps him back into the boat. It is new and terrifying to try to proclaim Christ out in the world, rather than just in the safety of the church, but we are called to do so. Not because Jesus tells us to (after all, Peter is the one who suggested it)... but simply because that is where Jesus is.

gone

h

I found out yesterday that the house I grew up in burned to the ground.

It was a beautifully constructed old farmhouse. The woodwork was beautiful throughout the entire house, with built-in cabinetry throughout the house - stuff that you just don't see made any more. Some of the walls had been painted years and years ago and were practically frescos. When I was born, there still wasn't running water in the house (according to my baby book) and the entire time we lived there, there was no electricity in the upstairs bathroom. It had a beautiful cast iron clawfoot tub and I grew up taking baths in candlelight. We had a woodburning furnace in the house and as kids we would help dad chop wood and toss it into the basement through one of the windows.

My family still owns the property, although no one has lived in the house for eight years. We decided to build a new house and as we moved on with our lives, that house remained as a part of our past. There were no plans to sell the house and so we gradually moved out stuff into our new house - and what we didn't move, was just left.

We moved right after my senior year of high school, and the new house didn't quite feel like home yet, so as I prepared to go to college, many of the things that I just didn't have room to take with me, things from my childhood remained. Books that I had read as a child and then a teenager, scraps of memorobelia, clothes that I had grown out of, but didn't take the time to sort through and donate.

A few years ago, as I moved into my first apartment in divinity school I went back and got a table and chairs and an old writing desk to take with me. I keep trying to remember if there were other things in the house that were left behind and are now gone.

I always have had so many dreams for that house. While it was beautiful and had so much history, it was a sort of embarassment to me growing up... it always was in the need of repair and more love than we had the time or energy to give it... but I had dreams of someday restoring that house to its original beauty and either living there or turning it into a bed and breakfast or something. It would probably cost a half a million dollars to do so... but still, it was a dream.

I had so many plans this summer, now that we are back in the state, to head over there and sort through things. Throw out what we never intended to keep, find those treasures all over again and give things away. I even had a dream right after we had the tornados north of us that this same house had been completely wiped out by a tornado - and I woke up with the same regret and emptiness that I have today. I think I might have done something about that feeling, but with all of the flooding that hit a week later, there just wasn't time. I needed to be in other places, with other people.

All of that is now gone. My husband and I stopped by to see what remains. The charred ruins smouldered still. All that was recognizeable was the stone foundation and the porch that was right below my window. I sometimes used to sit on the roof of the porch - careful to avoid the weak spots. But not anymore.

P.S. I hate that I only get 145 characters in a mobile post.

omniscient

At a meeting, it hit me how facebook changed our world, when we knew where others had been & been doing fromstatus updates. Good or bad? Discuss.