Lectionary Leanings - Keep Awake!

My lectionary leanings for the next month or so are actually going to come from sermon starters that I wrote for the United Methodist Publishing House's "Circuit Rider"

November 30
Isaiah 64:1-9, Ps. 80:1-7, 17-19, I Corinthians 1:3-9, Mark 13:24-37

Isaiah thinks that we need a dramatic wake up call. “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,” we hear in the first verse. Mark, too, seems to be drawing our attention to signs and wonders in our readings for this first Sunday in Advent. Get ready! Be prepared! The signs are all around you!

Maybe we are too distracted by the Christmas music that has been playing in stores since the end of October. Maybe we have let the election steal our attentions for the past two years. Maybe our church has been so preoccupied by a building campaign
that we forgot to notice the gospel right in front of us. Whatever it may be, Advent is the time of year when we get slapped upside the head with the challenging images of the heavens shaking and the earth trembling and voices crying out prophetic words from the wilderness. Advent isn’t a time for the soft and cuddly, but a reminder of the ever present Kingdom of God that is about to fully break into our midst – whether we are ready for it or not.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the signs and wonders, but unlike Isaiah; I don’t necessarily believe that God has hidden from us. Maybe we just aren’t paying attention. Barbara Brown Taylor wrote in her sermon, “Late Bloomer,” (found in Gospel Medicine) “…what better way to live than in the grip of a promise… to wake in the possibility that today might be the day. To remain wide awake all day long, noticing everything.” What if the call to keep awake was not a call to be prepared for catastrophic billboards from on high, but to simply notice every day where God is present around us?

Yes, Christ promises to return, and in the Advent season we eagerly await the return of Christ. But Advent is also the reminder that God has already come down and made his life among us, and that while there may have been a star in the heavens, the presence of God was found in the ordinary. An infant born and laid in a manger of hay. Smelly shepherds coming in from the fields. A life lived among the people of God. A holy meal of wine and bread.

We claim and proclaim a Kingdom that is already here and not yet fully realized. To live in that tension is a call to be always aware of where God is active and moving among us, and also to be aware of where and when God is about to do a new thing in our midst.

Advent Conspiracy

My friend Matt posted over at his blog "The Truth As Best I Know It" about the supposed war on Christmas and the Advent Consipracy.

I too, fail to lament the taking of Christmas out of stores of our courthouses... when Christianity becomes too confused with the civic religion, it suffers and gets bogged down in consumerism and appearances. If the only place I see a nativity is outside of the church - fine by me. Heck, our church is right next to the courthouse anyways! When we reclaim the tradition from the culture, than we truly can celebrate the scandal that is the Advent and Christmas proclamation.

Now, that doesn't mean that we privatize it. It just means that we don't allow it to be controlled and dictated by the culture around us. We let the Word of God speak.



As far as my own Advent Conspiracy - we normally decide what to do about presents at Thanksgiving. Usually we all draw a name so that we are only buying for one person in each family. But I want to do something for the whole family as well - in a way that is meaningful and not cheesy. There isn't a lot of time left, but my thinking cap is definately on! In some ways, this meal that Brandon and I are cooking for his family this week is our gift to them. It's a lot of work, but I think that if we weren't the ones doing the cooking, we wouldn't be getting together.

On my mom's side of the family, the year after my grandma died, we bought presents for a family in their hometown. And it seems like there has been something special like that every year. My grandpa is so generous and I would really like to do something like that for them again this year. One of my ideas is to get a simple brick and talk about a donation made in their name to the hospital we are working to support in Tanzania

the kitchen smells WONDERFUL!!!

My husband and I are making our first turkey EVER this week! We have always done the circuit of parent's and grandparent's houses, and while we are still doing most of those, his mom's side is coming over to our place.

And I am WAY excited. I started making a few things already... well, for other purposes as well. I baked two loaves of banana bread (from the bread and honey blog!) and the cranberries are on the stove as we speak. I also made some of Rachel Ray's stuffin' muffins for our church potluck tomorrow... my hubby isn't so keen on all of my crazy recipes for the big T-day.

He's excited as well... I think. At the very least, he keeps taking dishes away from me =) lol... So far, he is in charge of the turkey and the sweet potatoes and the glazed carrots. I'm doing the rolls and corn and mashed potatoes and cranberries. And then of course, there are others who are each bringing a dish. It is going to be so entirely yummy, that I simply cannot wait.

I think that Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays of the year, but my favorite chuch season is definately Advent, and in my mind it is no coincidence that they are right next to one another =) This morning I planned our worship services for the season and I am really excited about our wreath litany (from the UCC) and the song that is leading us through the season - "I want to walk as a Child of the Light."

What I have discovered so far in my life as a minister is that it is really hard to plan far enough in advance to truly accomplish all of the things that you want to in a church season. I found that for Lent, I simply did not have enough time from the day I started at the church to get ready properly. And Advent has come up just as fast and I feel just as inadequately prepared - at least to really add all of the smells and bells in that I want to. Not smells and bells per se, but I really did want to work on making worship more multi-sensory and participatory. It's not quite there yet. But then again, if I tried to do everything I'm dreaming about all at once, then I would't have anything new to do next year!

Spam Turns Serious and Hormel Turns Out More
By ANDREW MARTIN
Published: November 15, 2008
The canned meat product has become the emblematic food for hard times as consumers look for ways to stretch their grocery budgets.



Anybody have a spam story, or a favorite spam recipe?

consumption, part 2

I found this article in my NYTimes email this morning...

Op-Ed Contributor
Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee
By MICHAEL KINSLEY
Published: November 14, 2008
American consumers, who have been steadily losing interest in buying things, would ideally now go on one last spending spree — and then start saving like mad.


As I'm thinking about Christmas, I too have been having this dilemma. Do I go ahead and buy the wonderful gifts I have been thinking about for everyone all year long (yeah, it would have been easier if I had just bought them as I thought of them), or do we all just simplify this Christmas and spend some quality time with one another with an "everyone bring one gift" exchange.

It's strange to finally have a real paying job and to sort of have money (but not really, because there are still student loans to pay off) and yet not want to spend any of it.

Friday Five @ RevGalsBlogPals

Remembrance

1. Did your church have any special celebrations for All Saints/All Soul's Day?

We remembered the names of those had passed with a moment of silence for each and the lighting of candles. Our whole worship service however was geared towards a remembrance of the saints and talking about what it takes to become a saint of God... which in the Methodist tradition is simply opening yourself up and letting God work through you with sanctifying grace.

2. How about Veterans' Day?

We didn't do anything specifically at the church, but had the day off from normal bible studies and fellowship groups so that our people could attend the local Veteran's Day ceremonies at the school.

3. Did you and your family have a holiday for Veterans' Day/Remembrance Day? If so, how did you take advantage of the break?

I don't really remember having the day off growing up. Perhaps we did, but since it is a Tuesday, there is no three day, or four day weekend to really take advantage of. If we had the day off, we probably spent it with my grandparents, who lived nearby and who took care of us while our parents worked.

4. Is there a veteran in your life, living or dead, whose dedication you remember and celebrate? Or perhaps a loved one presently serving in the armed forces?

My grandpa is now deceased, but he served in the Korean War. I also have connections through a cousin, Jenna, who has served in Iraq. And there are countless people I know through my church family who have served or are currently serving.

5. Do you have any personal rituals which help you remember and connect with loved ones who have passed on?

I've never been big on visiting the graves of loved ones. I'm not quite sure why, either. I remember growing up that my mom and her family would often visit the grave of their sister, but the kids always stayed home. And now that I am grown, I haven't taken my own personal time to visit the graves of my grandparents. But I do remember them. I remember my grandpa whenever I peel potatoes - because I remember stories that he would tell about KP duty in the army. I remember my grandma whenever I see a turtle - she had a fantastic collection of figurines. I remember my great-grandma whenever I see a kolache - she made the best kolaches I have ever had.

vindication and guilt

A former colleague of mine just got dissed in the UM Reporter. I'm not giving out any details beyond that. But I felt strangely vindicated. You see, while I appreciated this person's ministry, there were parts of it that were very troublesome to me. It seemed like they were stretching the boundaries a little farther than they were meant to go. And while I was often frustrated by that boundary stretching (and this is coming from the queen of boundary stretching!), I was a mere lowly intern at the time and had no real venue to share my frustrations - aside from petty gossip among other interns and colleagues.

So, while part of me is glad that finally someone else noticed and is making others aware of what was going on, and also doesn't approve, the other part of me is feeling kind of guilty. Guilty for not really stepping up and saying something myself sooner. Guilty for feeling pleasure over the article now when I'm not so much affected by the situation.

those silly lutherans...

In my small town, there are basically five churches: Presbyterian, Nazarene, Catholic, LCMS, and my United Methodist church. Outside of town there is a UCC church and an ELCA church that participate with us.

We have a fairly good relationship among all of the churches and together have a ministerial alliance that distributes funds for gas, food, lodging, etc. for those in need in the community.

I have been amazed to discover that the LCMS pastor in town has been one of my best mentors. There is at times very little that we agree upon, but there is plenty of grace in our relationship =)

This morning we got to talking about the lectionary passage for Sunday the 23rd. Neither of us would be preaching on the text, but we thought we'd discuss it anyways. I have always loved the passage from Matthew 25 on the judgment of the sheep and the goats, because, for me it was a reminder that we are supposed to live the gospel and not just speak it with our mouths. For the most part, we talked about how the works described are like the fruits of good trees, they are the natural growth or response of a person to the faith which is alive within. We could agree on that.

We got into a lively discussion and I was amazed to hear about how difficult it was to preach this text to their congregations. In Lutheran theology, there is a very fine pathway to tread between legalism and antinomianism and there is always the danger that the message will be interpreted in a way that causes you to "fall off the cliff" in either direction.

I got to thinking about the difference between that and Wesleyan theology. And the greatest difference is that we believe that the works described in the passage from Matthew - the feeding of the hungry, and caring for the sick, etc., are in and of themselves means of grace. We don't believe that works earn us God's salvation, but that they can open us to the grace of God poured out into our lives. Particularly in regards to sanctifying grace.

My Lutheran brothers (they were both male) on the other hand recognize more limited means of grace: the word, the "wet" word (baptism), the "eaten" word (communion), and the "shared" word - fellowship, bible study. And so the works described had the danger of negating the power of faith to save us.

Whew. Yet another day in which I'm glad to be a methodist.

consumption...

I was listening to our local NPR station a day or two after the election and what they talked about more than anything else on Talk at 12 was the idea of consumption and consumerism.

One of the commentators said that at first she was troubled by the fact that a retail giant like Circuit City was closing so many stores, but then she stopped herself and asked - do we really need all of these things?

My generation has been raised to believe that we can have anything we want. It's true. And it's not necessarily a selfish thing... after all, our economy runs on consumption. President Bush told us after 9/11 to go out there and shop. Businesses survive and thrive because we buy single use items, throw things away rather than repair them, and always want the newest, the best, the most fashionable.

Another one of the commentators on the show asked a simple question - maybe the question isn't about more, but about better. Maybe we need to ask ourselves what is more important, having more things, or having better air?

I think that people in my generation are trying to make this switch to cleaner, safer, more earth-friendly consumption, whether that means recycling more, buying bamboo products (my cousins recently did part of their wedding registry at target just by selecting everything that was made of bamboo ;), buying CFL bulbs, etc.

But the simple fact is, it's still consumption. And it's still expensive.

I personally have a lot to confess about my own patterns of consumption. I want things I don't need and probably shouldn't have. Like a blackberry pearl. (which my husband says I can't have). I've been longing to buy things especially, though, for our house.

I want to get a beautiful matching bedroom set - nothing too fancy, but right now, we just have the bed and my husband has a bookshelf on his side of the bed and we have a dresser. But there is nothing on my side of the bed. So I want the whole package. And because I'll want something more eco-friendly, we'll probably end up paying twice as much for it.

And I told him that the other day, I was lamenting the fact that we are working on paying off our student loans and can't just go out and buy something.

And as soon as I had my little rant and pouting fit, I felt terrible. I felt like all of those things I believe about "live simply so that others may simply live" was complete rubbish deep down inside. I thought - is this really who I am?

My husband surprised me the other day. I got home, and he took this old glass top end table that had been broken (the legs were no longer attached to the top) and he fixed it, and he set it up beside my bed. And put my alarm clock and my lotion and all of my little things on it.

And I think that it was the best gift I have recieved in a long time. Because it reminded me of why I married him. And it reminded me that I can be happy with less. And it reminded me that we have so much stuff in this world, more than we even know what to do with and that we don't need more, we just need to find new ways to use what we have. I think that it was the best gift I have recieved because it made me feel like a better person, like I can live what I'm preaching.

time to get back in the swing of things.

i've been a bit absent from the blogging recently.

but like everything in life, there are ups and downs and highs and lows and maybe i'm on the upswing.

I am very excited and inspired by how this latest political election has turned out. Not just that my favored candidate won. (although, I do break out into a smile whenever I think about how amazing of a thing we did on Tuesday and whenever I think about that beautiful family moving into the White House)

I'm inspired by the fact that Obama's speech was a sober speech. That he understood the weight of the moment and that we are all going to have to work together (those who supported him and those that didn't) and sacrifice a little bit more (time, service, energy, money) to get to that place we are all dreaming of getting - of being a better nation.

I'm inspired by the fact that he talked about "we" instead of "I."

I'm inspired by fact most of all though that all of this is nothing and absolutely meaningless because we have someone else that we follow.

This morning, the refrain for the morning office was: “Because the needy are oppressed, and the poor cry out in misery,* I will rise up,” says the LORD, “And give them the help they long for.”

This Sunday, I preached on Genesis 28:10-22 - "I am God, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. I'm giving the ground on which you are sleeping to you and to your descendants... Yes. I'll stay with you, I'll protect you wherever you go, and I'll bring you back to this very ground. I'll stick with you until I've done everything I promised you."

Until everything that God has promised comes to pass, God will be with us. the Lord will not forsake us. God will not let us go. No matter how much we either screw things up or get things right, God will give us the help that we long for.