Since this is a time of resolutions, I have to confess that my cynical side gets aggravated when I hear “This isn’t your grandmother’s church!”  A remark meant to put down the past, the old, and the traditional.  At least sometimes.  This is the time of year where we asses ourselves and resolve to improve whatever area needs improving.  “Out with the old and in with the new!”  But, should this be a clarion call for the church?  Is it better?

At Epiphany, another traditional-old-feast day, Jesus comes to John the Baptizer and requests to be baptized.  This isn’t Jesus doing a new thing, it is Jesus participating in a ages old ritual of washing and cleansing.  And later in his ministry Jesus sits at table with his disciples and shares a meal with them, one that has been shared for centuries, the Passover meal.  Here Jesus institutes an old thing and gives to us new ways, Holy Communion.  Likewise, our Baptism was an old thing and yet gives to us daily new ways to live…..in grace, in love, and in mercy.

Tradition is not in itself a bad thing.  In fact it instills in us a sense of connection, of being a part of something bigger than ourselves.  Words, actions, rituals, these become a part of who we are that then allow us to live more deeply within our callings throughout the world. 

Yes, Jesus did a new thing!!  But he did it within a larger and older way of doing things.  Of doing life, of doing community, of doing church.  Epiphany is a time for all of us to see Jesus and his connection with old things that bring about new ways……new life.  So, my answer to the opening confession is this……Yes, this is your grandmother’s church.  And her grandmother’s…..and her grandmother’s.  My faith, my connection with Jesus comes through the ages, through the sacraments, through my family, through you all, and through an old book that talks about new ways of living……the Bible.  And so during this time of Epiphany maybe, just maybe, and I can look up and say…….AHA!!  Old things, new ways.

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When you read this it may have snowed here in the valley for the first time.  A sign of things to come…..

 

Advent is a time when we look and listen for signs.  The readings of the first Sunday direct us to the tension of the now and the not yet.  We live a faith that is known now and yet is not yet fulfilled.  Jesus has been on earth and yet he will return again.  God’s redemption for all creation was and is in the cross, yet we wait until the full redemption and return of God’s new kingdom.  Lives of simple faith yet also very esoteric ideas that seem to cause real questions as to what to do now?  Why should I care?  If I am saved now, then do I wait it out?

 

A star, a manger, smelly shepherds, travelling, all parts of the story that we live out once again.  Wake up!  Stay awake!  Don’t let the day of the Lord sneak up on you.  It is in our staying awake….of living out our faith everyday that keeps us ready for the Lord.  Don’t be distracted, be alert.  Live out your faith, worship God.

 

“The common element of our waking up or staying awake is focused on the saving acts of Christ.  On the one hand, we are called to awaken to the gift of salvation that has come through the incarnation of Jesus.  On the other hand, we are to anticipate the gift of redemption that is yet to come when all creation and humankind will be made anew by the coming of the Son of Man.  Just as one form of God’s Kingdom slipped into our world in Bethlehem while many were sleeping, so the second coming of Jesus will come-but this time we are to anticipate it and stay awake for it.  The outcome of our spiritual vigilance will be a life of generosity and kindness.” (Sundays and Seasons)

 

Enjoy the season….

 

 

Pastor Matt

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 Pause

 

What was your response?  Was it God-centered or was it self-centered?

 

 

I wonder how many of us, including me, if given this question out of the blue would answer with a self-centered answer.  What do I mean by this?  Well, how about….To feel better, to get something out of it, to see my friends, etc.  We all have our responses but how many of you responded with this….To worship God.  This is the answer to the question, why do we go to church?  If we go to church expecting to “get something out of it” every single time, we will be disappointed.  If we go to church to give praise and thanksgiving to God, we will never be disappointed.

 

The book that we are reading in the summer book study, Loving Jesus, Mark Alan Powell reminds us that worship is for God, not for us.  He asks an Austin, TX teenager if he loves Jesus and he answered he did.  He asked him if he would die for Jesus, he answered he would.  Then he asked him if he goes to church on Sunday morning and he said he did not, it was too boring.  You would die for Jesus, but you won’t be bored for him?

 

“Don’t go to that boring church because of what you hope to get out of your experience there; go because you love Jesus and want to worship God.  Then, see what happens.”

 

I think this also relates to our continuing conversations with Holy Trinity and Christ.  Why are we doing this?  There are pragmatic answers and there are self-centered answers but I would like to think that we are looking ahead and paving a path towards a community of believers who want to give their best to God and to the world.  Now, how do we go about doing that?  Is it a waste of time and energy?  Do we really want to step out in faith with what we don’t know yet or lean on what we have and do what we can?  It all depends on perspective, eh?

 

Dr. Powell’s words, “A Pentecostal pastor once told me a story about worship.  At the time, I didn’t get why it was about worship, but now I do.  He said: I grew up in a small town, and when I was about ten years old my mother sent me to the florist to pick up some flowers for the dinner table.  I was terribly worried that my friends would see me and tease me or call me a sissy.  Six years later, I was in love with a young woman, and I saved some money and I went to that same florist and bought her a bouquet.  As I carried it through the streets to her home I never once thought about what anyone would think or say if they saw me.  I thought only of her, and of how happy she would be to get flowers and of how delighted I was to be the one to bring them to her.”

 

Our discernment with the other churches and our time in worship are intimately intertwined.  Both require us to let go…..and let God be the center.  Where God takes us is up to Him.  Our feelings, our excitement, our terror, our certainty, our uncertainty, are merely by-products. 

 

If we make the worship of God and the loving of Jesus our center then faith will be our stronghold.  If we make “what I want” or “what I feel” the center then to what do we fall back on?

 

Let us be the older youth bringing the flowers to his girlfriend….not noticing any distractions or comments…..just doing it out of sheer love and passion.

 

How did you answer the question at the beginning of the article?  Can we now all answer God-centered?  I sure hope we can.

 

 

 

Pastor Matt Larson
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Do you not see it?

 

“I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.  Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:  Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.  I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not see it?  I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.  Isaiah 43:15-19

 

 

Fifty days after Easter we celebrate the birth of something new….the church of Jesus Christ.  Pentecost marks the day (one of the last that Hallmark has not touched) when we remember and give thanks for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to the disciples who were locked up in a room sitting in fear and contemplating their next move.  Oh to have an experience like that!  For none of us have been in that situation, have we?  Being locked in a building or situation where we sit in fear about the future?  HMMM.  Maybe it does sound familiar.

 

Pentecost is the breath that leads to new life.  When the Holy Spirit surrounds and fills us it moves us out into the great unknown proclaiming Jesus, Son of God!! 

 

Isaiah is writing to remind the Israelites that he once brought them out of (exodus) a dry way through the sea.  And now that the Israelites are in exile, returning to Israel from Babylon they are not sure how they are going to do this thing.  God is promising them that they will now go the wet way through the desert.  The first way was the snuffing out of Pharoah and now it is the quenching of the people’s need for freedom.

 

Don’t look back!!  When the spirit blew into the disciples they no longer looked back at the fear they had in the room.  When the Israelites were returning to the promised land a second time God told them to not remember the former things or consider the things of old.  Look for the new things happening!

 

When we look at what God is doing now….the new things, our energies then project ourselves into the future.  Our call is to work for tomorrow and give thanks for today.  God is springing forth something new here at Good Shepherd, what that looks like we don’t know, yet.  But I ask that you all pray and participate in the coming months in the conversations and forums that will be organized so that we can all have input and reflection.  God is moving….let’s keep up!!

 

My trust is in God.  My fear will be blown away by the Holy Sprit.  My faith will be strengthened and freed by Christ’s continuing presence of new life and resurrection.
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Do you not see it?

 

“I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.  Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:  Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.  I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not see it?  I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.  Isaiah 43:15-19

 

 

Fifty days after Easter we celebrate the birth of something new….the church of Jesus Christ.  Pentecost marks the day (one of the last that Hallmark has not touched) when we remember and give thanks for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to the disciples who were locked up in a room sitting in fear and contemplating their next move.  Oh to have an experience like that!  For none of us have been in that situation, have we?  Being locked in a building or situation where we sit in fear about the future?  HMMM.  Maybe it does sound familiar.

 

Pentecost is the breath that leads to new life.  When the Holy Spirit surrounds and fills us it moves us out into the great unknown proclaiming Jesus, Son of God!! 

 

Isaiah is writing to remind the Israelites that he once brought them out of (exodus) a dry way through the sea.  And now that the Israelites are in exile, returning to Israel from Babylon they are not sure how they are going to do this thing.  God is promising them that they will now go the wet way through the desert.  The first way was the snuffing out of Pharoah and now it is the quenching of the people’s need for freedom.

 

Don’t look back!!  When the spirit blew into the disciples they no longer looked back at the fear they had in the room.  When the Israelites were returning to the promised land a second time God told them to not remember the former things or consider the things of old.  Look for the new things happening!

 

When we look at what God is doing now….the new things, our energies then project ourselves into the future.  Our call is to work for tomorrow and give thanks for today.  God is springing forth something new here at Good Shepherd, what that looks like we don’t know, yet.  But I ask that you all pray and participate in the coming months in the conversations and forums that will be organized so that we can all have input and reflection.  God is moving….let’s keep up!!

 

My trust is in God.  My fear will be blown away by the Holy Sprit.  My faith will be strengthened and freed by Christ’s continuing presence of new life and resurrection.
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Jesus Saves! 04/13/2010
 
Jesus Saves!

 

Nothing like a little bumper sticker theology to get one ready for Easter!!  How many of you have seen this saying on a billboard, or the back of a car, or perhaps even on a sign on a front lawn?  Jesus Saves!

 

Our faith in Jesus Christ rests on this simple phrase.  We use scripture verses to back it up and we make public profession of our faith with these words.  But have you ever thought about WHAT Jesus saves us from?  Some of the standard answers are hell, death, sins, and even from ourselves.  These are all worthy answers and I would profess to them all.  But I would like to jump into the deep waters of theology and faith and propose to you another tenet of salvation that comes through Jesus Christ.

 

And what could this be Pastor, you ask? 

 

What if Jesus is saving us TO something not FROM something?  The idea that Jesus is continually saving us to BE God’s ministers here on earth.  That salvation is directing us forward to be the new creation that God has made us to be.  Sure, being saved from hell is a big deal.  But to my knowledge Jesus talked a lot more about doing stuff right now, that the Spirit moves us to BE movers and shakers in our world now.

 

Jesus Saves!

 

I think my bumper sticker would say, “Jesus is saving”.

 

God is telling us in Word and Sacrament that salvation is now (and later) and that Jesus is saving us TO be witnesses for the church and for God.  God is at work right now, saving you.  Wake up!!  Be saved!  Come and worship the living God this Easter and experience the present power of salvation that comes through the daily grace of Jesus Christ.

 

Pastor Matt
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“Gee Mommy, Lent doesn’t seem so bad this year.”

 

How many years has it been that you have heard the Lenten herald of giving something up for Lent?  Well, it seems that this year with our economic situation and fearfulness of the immediate future we all have been giving up stuff.  Lent doesn’t seem so bleak anymore, we are already there! 

 

Although….God does and continues to bless us in many ways.  Even though we may not notice it at times God continues to be with us, even in economic downturns.  Perhaps we will do more with less?  Maybe we will find better ways to do things?  I know that we will make it through this, even though we may not be able to see it.  For the unemployed, the underemployed, for those losing a house, for those getting back on their feet….God is for you and so are we!!

 

How have you helped your neighbor in these times?  How can the church help those needing some support?  Are you praying for our nation, our world, for those needing help?

 

With God all things are possible.

 

As I reflect this Lenten season at the foot of the cross I ask myself, “What can I do?”  I can pray.  I can preach.  I can teach.  I can give.  I can volunteer.  I can get involved.  There are many “cans”, which ones are you doing?

 

I know that there are a lot of questions in this article, but I don’t have many answers right now.  Maybe later.  Lent is our time to prepare for Christ’s death and resurrection.  To reflect on our own faith lives and if that means giving stuff up or perhaps adding things to your life then do it!  God willing, we will all listen to what God is telling us and we will go forward with prayer and action.  You know, Lent doesn’t look so bleak and it’s not because I have to give something up, is it?

 

Pastor Matt
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Pastor’s Corner

                               

(Excerpt from the web site The Voice Institute, an ecumenical site for the growing Christian – written by Dennis Bratcher)

We enjoy celebrating Palm Sunday.  The children get to make paper palm branches and for many it is one of the few times they get to take an active role in "big church."  We wave the palm branches and celebrate. And we all love Easter Sunday!  It is a happy time, with flowers, new clothes, and the expectation of Spring in the air.

But it is too easy and promotes too cheap a grace to focus only on the high points of Palm Sunday and Easter without walking with Jesus through the darkness of Good Friday, a journey that begins on Ash Wednesday. Lent is a way to place ourselves before God humbled, bringing in our hands no price whereby we can ourselves purchase our salvation. It is a way to confess our total inadequacy before God, to strip ourselves bare of all pretenses to righteousness, to come before God in dust and ashes. It is a way to empty ourselves of our false pride, of our rationalizations that prevent us from seeing ourselves as needy creatures, of our "perfectionist" tendencies that blind us to the beam in our own eyes.

Through prayer that gives up self, we seek to open ourselves up before God, and to hear anew the call "Come unto me!" We seek to recognize and respond afresh to God’s presence in our lives and in our world. We seek to place our needs, our fears, our failures, our hopes, our very lives in God’s hands, again. And we seek by abandoning ourselves in Jesus’ death to recognize again who God is, to allow His transforming grace to work in us once more, and to come to worship Him on Easter Sunday with a fresh victory and hope that goes beyond the new clothes, the Spring flowers, the happy music.

But it begins in ashes. And it journeys though darkness. It is a spiritual pilgrimage that I am convinced we must make one way or the other for genuine spiritual renewal to come. I have heard the passage in 2 Chronicles 7:14 quoted a lot: ". . .if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." This usually is quoted in the context of wanting revival or renewal in the church, and the prayer is interpreted as intercessory prayer for others. But a careful reading of the passage will reveal that the prayer that is called for here is not intercessory prayer for others; it is penitential prayer for the faith community, for us. It is not to call for others to repent; it is a call for us, God’s people, to repent. It is our land that needs healed, it is ourwicked ways from which we need to turn, we are the ones who need to seek God’s face.

Perhaps during the Lenten season we should stop praying for others as if we were virtuous enough to do so. Perhaps we should take off our righteous robes just long enough during these 40 days to put ashes on our own heads, to come before God with a new humility that is willing to confess, "Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner." Maybe we should be willing to prostrate ourselves before God and plead, "Lord, in my hand no price I bring; simply to the cross I cling." That might put us in a position to hear God in ways that we have not heard Him in a long time. And it may be the beginning of a healing for which we have so longed.

O Lord, begin with me. Here. Now.
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Old things, New ways

 

Since this is a time of resolutions, I have to confess that my cynical side gets aggravated when I hear “This isn’t your grandmother’s church!”  A remark meant to put down the past, the old, and the traditional.  At least sometimes.  This is the time of year where we asses ourselves and resolve to improve whatever area needs improving.  “Out with the old and in with the new!”  But, should this be a clarion call for the church?  Is it better?

 

At Epiphany, another traditional-old-feast day, Jesus comes to John the Baptizer and requests to be baptized.  This isn’t Jesus doing a new thing, it is Jesus participating in a ages old ritual of washing and cleansing.  And later in his ministry Jesus sits at table with his disciples and shares a meal with them, one that has been shared for centuries, the Passover meal.  Here Jesus institutes an old thing and gives to us new ways, Holy Communion.  Likewise, our Baptism was an old thing and yet gives to us daily new ways to live…..in grace, in love, and in mercy.

 

Tradition is not in itself a bad thing.  In fact it instills in us a sense of connection, of being a part of something bigger than ourselves.  Words, actions, rituals, these become a part of who we are that then allow us to live more deeply within our callings throughout the world. 

 

Yes, Jesus did a new thing!!  But he did it within a larger and older way of doing things.  Of doing life, of doing community, of doing church.  Epiphany is a time for all of us to see Jesus and his connection with old things that bring about new ways……new life.  So, my answer to the opening confession is this……Yes, this is your grandmother’s church.  And her grandmother’s…..and her grandmother’s.  My faith, my connection with Jesus comes through the ages, through the sacraments, through my family, through you all, and through an old book that talks about new ways of living……the Bible.  And so during this time of Epiphany maybe, just maybe, and I can look up and say…….AHA!!  Old things, new ways.
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Do Not Fear! 12/01/2009
 
Do Not Fear!

 

Often when faced with one of this world’s many obstacles we, unknowingly, revert to the oldest part of our brain, the part that stimulates our bodies in response to fear or danger, the medulla oblongata.  Along with the hypothalamus and other parts of the brain our bodies are designed to detect and react to fear and danger.

 

So Pastor why are you giving us a physiology lesson? 

 

Because I believe it is useful to know that where there is danger and fear we react, unconsciously, to the fear either by fleeing or fighting and in some instances freezing.  To know that we are genetically programmed to react to danger and then understanding that our natural state is to “fight or flight” is very useful information.

 

If you were to go back and read the Gospel of Luke and count the number of times the words, “Do not fear” come up you would wonder if the people in Luke’s story were overly fearful people.  How about the whole Bible?  Want to know how many times ‘do not fear’ shows up in the Bible……365.

 

So in Luke’s opening chapters we are introduced to a world full of fear (taxes, travel, pregnancy, shelter, etc) characters visited by other worldly guests and a small back water village that has a name that means “house of bread”.  Doesn’t sound like a backdrop for a mighty king, or a savior does it?  Yet in all of this we are told repeatedly, “Do Not Fear!”  In the midst of everyday life God comes and breaks into our world.  Something that should be feared!!  Yet, we are told by the angels and later in the story many times by Jesus, “Do Not Be Afraid!!” 

 

Perhaps it is in this area of history and life that God comes to us and knowing our “DNA” repeatedly says to us, do not fear.  Something we need to hear over and over again because there are many times in our lives that we flee or fight with God because of our fear of life and sometimes also of God.  It is in the Christmas season that we remember the child born of poor parents in a meager stable, fearful and yet trusting in the one who sent the angels and this child.

 

 Our fear is real, our faith is stronger.  Do not fear, for the Lord is with you.  Even in the midst of all that is occurring and shall occur, Jesus has lived and died and continues to live on and grants us peace and forgiveness not fear and foreboding.  Give thanks for the child born in Bethlehem!!  Celebrate!  Live life as if you are free…..not in fear.
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