First Welcoming All

This weekend we are going to Simon Peter’s hometown in the gospel of Mark. Visiting the home of Simon Peter and his brother Andrew’s childhood, they find Peter’s mother-in-law in bed with a deathly fever. Jesus heals her, basically raising her from the dead. And she begins to serve them.

After a night filled with healing everybody and their brother, Jesus sneaks off in the early morning hours to go and rest and pray. To spend a little time having Sabbath after such a taxing time taking care of the people of God.

Cut to a few hours later when Simon Peter and the other disciples are literally hunting and hounding him down because “everyone” is looking for him to do more work. Jesus responds by ignoring their requests and telling them we’re moving on to a new thing.

So we find ourselves with a conundrum. A study of discipleship if you will.

On the one side, we find Peter’s mother-in-law who has one interaction with Jesus and turns her life-changing experience into mutual service with her neighbors.

On the other, we find Simon Peter and the disciples who are with Jesus 24-7 expecting him to do all of the work, hunting him down when he needs rest and restoration, and still not getting anything about what this kingdom of God is actually about.

Begs the question, where would we fit into this story?

Blessings,  Pastor Janie

Have you ever played a game of telephone?

You remember the game from childhood, right? A whole bunch of people stand or sit in a long line, then the first person whispers something into the second’s ear and on down the line until “my mommy loves the color green” turns into “we’ve got a tsunami of gangrene.”

Not surprisingly, as all of the biblical scholars have met over the centuries, there have been countless debates about what the historical Jesus actually said. Interestingly, though, there is only one saying that everyone could actually agree on. And it is in our passage this weekend.

The kingdom of God has come near…

That little tiny snippet is what everyone agrees upon.

God has come close. God is set loose. God is already at work in our midst.

So gather around and listen up, because when God gets to work, you never know what will happen next!

Blessings,  Pastor Janie

This weekend we get a different kind of invitation.

If you have ever seen O Brother, Where Art Thou?, then you know the scene to which I am referring. Streams of people leading down by the riverside. Looking for the One who will help them wash and make them whole. Shall we gather at the river?

Down in the river to pray…

Unlike other remembrances of baptism, this is the time that we take a few moments to watch as the One we never expected is taken to the waters to be baptized. He doesn’t need it, at least, not in the sin sense – for he has loved everyone around him as fully as he could from the moment he took up residence in his mother’s waters. But he does need something else.

He needs to be marked. Anointed. Chosen. Sealed by the Spirit.

A sign to change everything and a voice giving him the name we all need if we are going to do God’s work: Beloved. Because it helps us to understand that God will always abide with us.

Yep. There is definitely something in the water. That same deep, deep river Jordan that parted for God’s children long ago now embraces the Living Word through which everything came into being and God calls that One Beloved.

But now, the real work begins. Because just as God’s Breath stirred up the forces of chaos in the very beginning, so this start to Jesus’s ministry is a healthy reminder to all of us about the work that God’s Word made flesh will do in our midst: God’s gonna trouble the water.

Blessings,  Pastor Janie

Artwork: “Beloved” by the Rev. Lauren Wright Pittman of A Sanctified Art, LLC

Happy New Year!

And welcome to the light at the end of the tunnel (no it’s not a freight train – at least we’re pretty sure).

This weekend we pick up the very end of the Nativity account, about five years into the story, when the Magi, or wise guys, arrive in Bethlehem to find the holy child who has been born as the new king. They are so wise, in fact, that they accidentally set off a killing spree by stopping for directions in the holy city of Jerusalem and talking to the wrong person, i.e. Herod. Because when one has power, one will do anything one can to hold onto it, even slaughter children.

Which makes this Sunday’s story a study in contrasts. Men with power displaying how differently one can wield it – choosing to give to those who have need and worship God or choosing to bring the whole house down to maintain what they believe they want.

It begs the question: how will we approach our life of faith in the new year?

Blessings,  Pastor Janie

While in the process of cutting the Nativity Video, I learned the background of a song that hit the airwaves about fifteen years ago. It was a reworking of a much older carol, once recorded by Bing Crosby and Johnny Cash to a very different tune. But what all of these earlier songs lacked was a true attempt to honor the haunting and bittersweet nature of the lyric’s origin.

Written during the American Civil War, in the years following the death of his beloved second wife and the severe wounding of his son in battle, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow penned the poem that would later become the carol, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, as a way of processing the tumultuous and unprecedented events occurring around him.

Yet, a portion of what he describes is still true in this world, here and now. For Lord knows that hatred is the hardest weed to root from even God’s vineyard.

Still, like every lament psalm in Scripture, Longfellow finds himself in a place of faith and assurance by the end, that one day wrong shall fail and God shall have the final victory over every form of bigotry, prejudice and hatred that have a foothold in our world.

So, without further ado, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day:

I heard the bells of Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And mild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

‘Til ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
  And with the sound
  The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearthstones of a continent,
 And made forlorn
 The households born
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
 ”For hate is strong,
 And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
 The Wrong shall fail,
 The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, goodwill to men.”

And for those who are wondering which musical version I am speaking of, it is Casting Crowns’ rendition from 2007, seen here.

See you for Advent IV & Christmas Eve!

Blessings,  Pastor Janie

I saw a meme earlier today that read: Ours is a God of rules and order… until the day of the yearly children’s nativity, at which point God sits in the third row and lovingly chuckles at the good-natured hilarity that ensues as the youngest members of the community proclaim God’s Word.

As Ecclesiastes says so poignantly, there is a time and place for everything and a season for every matter under heaven.

Having experienced some of the ethereal cathedrals of Europe, stoney ceilings reaching far into the heavens and leaving us mere mortals in peaceful silence on the ground, there is much to be said for listening for God’s still small voice in a worship space filled with quiet.

And yet, the psalmist and the biblical histories recount how time and again the people made cacophonous noise and boisterous melodies in celebration of who our God is or in extreme lamentation when the whole world went to Sheol in a hand-basket. Never forget, everyone’s favorite king, David, danced like a fool in worship before God’s glory.

In reality, God created us for all of it.

Far more importantly, God created our children to wiggle and giggle and move and grove. And as we gathered with a very large portion of the over twenty children and youth who are taking part in our Nativity Play to rehearse last Sunday night, they brought all of the energy God gave them (and then some) to our massive sanctuary.

They are learning the story of Jesus’s birth in the most hands-on way we can give them. Things will go beautifully and things will go horribly wrong. And it will all be absolutely perfect.

Because here is the honest truth about the life of faith (and every children’s nativity play): Perfection has absolutely nothing to do with doing everything right or correctly or exactly the way others think we should. It has to do with being faithful and loving and doing the best we can in the moment we are in. That is what God has actually called us too.

In real life, it looks like keeping on the move towards becoming a more loving person and getting into the groove of being better at welcoming all of God’s children into your heart and life. Those are the life goals God and Jesus actually set for us.

We can all start by cheering loudly for these ridiculously adorable and hard-working children and youth this weekend. Thank their parents and grandparents who helped make it happen. And remember that Jesus told us that we have to become like them to get into heaven.

Blessings,  Pastor Janie

The story continues.

As we all whirl away into our cookie and cocoa-induced stupor, this weekend we will all get a jolt of surprise…

A voice cries out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord!”

That’s right, it’s everyone’s favorite hippie cousin from down by the river: John the Baptist. (And luckily for us, the gospel of Mark has no references to the “brood of vipers” – and the people rejoiced.)

Truth of the matter is, however, that in the gospel of Mark there is no infancy narrative. No angels singing. No journey to Bethlehem. And no crazy genealogies. Instead, the story begins in medias res, right as Jesus is about to begin his ministry.

First up is a visit to that crazy young coot, John.

Loads of people are coming out to meet him in the River Jordan to receive a baptism for the forgiveness of their sins. All the ways they have missed the mark that God has set for them in bearing God’s image into the world. Turning back to God and back to reconcile with those whom they had wronged.

This was John’s ministry. A simple and straightforward one.

It is the beginning.

But like so many other things, Jesus is going to take what is there at work among God’s people and expand it.

God’s gonna trouble the water.

Because the Holy Spirit and fire that is coming does not stop with simply a one time event – it sets the world on fire with new life.

Blessings, Pastor Janie

Artwork: John the Baptist – Modern Icon, by Gracie Mobitzer

Advent.

As one wise woman called it, the season of perpetual hope.

It is a time of preparing for the Christ-child’s arrival at Bethlehem. And while the whole world is caught in a frantic frenzy of Christmas cheer, we know there is far more to this time than sleigh bells and snow-covered lanes.

Nearly everyone knows at least the main pieces of the birth narrative. How the angels came and people went and did and a census and Bethlehem and yada yada yada. We know the story. We hear it every year. Right?

But what does it really mean?

Have you ever paid attention to the unlikely cast of characters God chooses to include around the Christ-child’s birth?

We have the unwed teenage girl. Her ancient barren cousin. The lovable, but laughable husband to the cousin who ends up upsetting an angel so much he can’t speak for nine or ten months. The amazing stepdad who takes the really long way on the road trip. The lost and least of society who get invited to the birthday party. And the supposed wise guys who show up years late and manage to get a megalomaniac to throw a temper tantrum that nearly wipes out the younger generation of an entire region and turns the child’s own family into refugees.

While everyone else is paying attention to the improbable set of circumstances surrounding the Christ-child’s arrival into this world, God is intentionally bringing together people who need one another. Creating community out of this dubious band of misfits. And God is also drawing attention to those groups whom God chooses to specially seek out because while the world may see that some have it made in the shade, those who come close to God-with-us are among the last and often forgotten. 

God paints a vibrant picture of how we are to welcome others with the profligate love we receive. One that broke into the deepest shadows of the night. One that can leave even the most pompous of despots in flares of rage without a leg to stand on. One that can overcome even death itself.

Because this love, this Love is God’s own Self-made-flesh. One that seeks the best for others and includes mishpat and misor – God’s justice enacted and equity. Just as Jesus lived in this world. Just as God has always done throughout the history with God’s people.

As we prepare our hearts and minds and lives for Christ’s coming into the world, may his birth-story be our guide that we might learn to live as he always did: with love in all he did and hope for a better day ahead.

Blessings,   Pastor Janie

This weekend we are going to be talking about what it means to be truly thankful. But as we prepare for our lavish feasts this coming week, there is a parable lingering at the edge of our consciousnesses that needs to be addressed.

The gospel reading for this weekend is the parable of talents. You might remember this one: a master, getting ready to travel, summons his slaves and entrusts them with money to keep the estate going, each according to their skills. The first gets five talents; the second gets two talents; the third gets one. After much time passes, the master returns and settles accounts. The first comes forward, having somehow doubled his money – he is entrusted with much more responsibility. The second one has also somehow doubled his money. He, too, is entrusted with more responsibility. The third one has buried the money in a hole and brings back the original investment, blaming the master for being too harsh and taking what was not his. He is thrown out into punishment.

It is worth noting here that a talent is actually a unit of measure, representing the amount of money, in silver, equivalent to pay a day laborer for fifteen years of work or a crew of mercenaries for a month. That alone is a fascinating storytelling choice. (Maybe that master is as cruel as the third slave suggests.)

What do we do with such a tale?

Well, in truth, what we find here is slaves who are doing the opposite of what the world would suggest.

Note, they are someone else’s property and then they are being entrusted with riches (feels like entrapment).

Nevertheless, the first two play fast and loose with seventy-five and fifty-years worth of a day-laborer’s wage. They have gumption and tenacity and are willing to do what is necessary to keep up their master’s work – even if the world may look at them strangely.

The third slave buries the money, hiding it away for safekeeping – something that many today would still call a sound strategy given the way the markets have been in recent months. He then tries to pass the blame and gaslight the master, attempting to talk his way out of the sticky situation he has found himself in. The world would call him shrewd, savvy, and sharp.

Yet Jesus flips the world’s assumptions on their heads and says it is the first two who we should be imitating. Who cares what the world thinks – are we willing to give the kingdom of God our all?

Something to ponder. See you soon!

Blessings, Pastor Janie

This weekend we are heading into what liturgical nerds like me lovingly refer to as “baby advent.” In the few weeks leading up to the church’s new year and the preparation for our journey to Bethlehem, there are some wonderful and adventurous passages to help us get ready.

This weekend is no exception. The parable of the bridesmaids and how they handle their lamps – for remember, in the ancient world, wedding parties had far more import and responsibility than they do today – offers even the most avid biblical scholar quite the quest.

In this case, it was these ten young women’s responsibility to wait and watch for the bridegroom and his retinue. Having been delayed for some unknown reason, these women are forced to keep vigil into the night. Five remembered to bring extra oil for their lamps; five did not. While the five who forgot are busy trying to get their hands on the right thing, the bridegroom comes and they are shut out.

Beware, Jesus says, for none of us know when this day is coming.

What is this oil that we can keep our lamps burning until the bridegroom arrives – namely the day when Christ returns?

Something to ponder as we rededicate ourselves to the task of Christ’s ministry at FPCH this weekend. See you soon!

Blessings, Pastor Janie