You're Welcome!

       We've had a long break from hard winter this year.  It has been fairly mild and lots of records have been set for record highs.   But it is January and this is northwestern Minnesota and winter is here.
       Yesterday morning it was below zero and windy.  I knew without a thermometer that I was going to need to dress really warm.  First of all, when I came into the living room, the two oldest (and biggest) cats were curled up together in my husband's chair on top of the fleece throw.  Then when my husband left to go to work, he came back into the house.  When I asked what he'd forgotten, he answered, "No, I need my real winter jacket today."  He hadn't even gotten it out of the closet yet this year.
       He doesn't get cold often.  When he puts on extra winter layers, the weather service is probably putting out advisories about the cold.
       When I get cold in the car, he could well be driving in his (short) shirtsleeves!
       Needless to say, one of the areas we have had to learn to compromise and work with each other is in regulating the thermostat in the car and at home.  I wear more layers and keep a blanket handy and he wears short sleeves often even in the winter.  He puts up with my cold feet at night and I enjoy coming to bed and getting my feet warm.
       There is a lesson in this for how we get along together in Christian community.  We all have different set points when things become uncomfortable.  Sometimes it is change itself that makes us uncomfortable.  Like my husband and I in the car, it is often when we are sitting together in worship that we find ourselves in disagreement.  Where some people find comfort in familiar words and patterns, other people find boredom and wonder if those same words and patterns have anything to do with what is going on in their world today.
       It is human nature I think to see such preferences as disagreements that put people on one "side" or another.  Our language becomes divisive; for or against, one or the other, yes or no.  We can become so side-tracked by this that we cannot see the value and treasures in variety or the wider welcome it gives to more people.  Culture has made compromise into a negative value, equating it with failure and equating moderation with being mediocre.
       Faith calls us to live in harmony with on another.  The mark of our faith is not in being right but in looking out for the faith of others and in welcoming those who are new to the Gospel.  Paul writes in Romans; "Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding." (Romans 14:19)  Our focus is not to be on ourselves but on others; and we are to act not out of judgment but out of love.
       The four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) and the book of Acts give a wonderful picture of Jesus' disciples and the early church full of flaws, chaos, differences, and the power of Jesus' love and grace.  Jesus collects a group of people from all corners of his world, people who wouldn't have found themselves together by their own choosing, and from them begins this thing called the Church, the Body of Christ, this community.
       You and I have also been called into this community, to put ourselves aside and to love and serve others; in this God is glorified.  Read Romans 15:1-7.

God Bless You!

       I love worship on Christmas Eve: singing all the carols, all the candles and lights in the church shining in the winter darkness, hearing the familiar story once more about the birth of Jesus and then celebrating and tasting that truth in the sharing of the bread and wine.  These experiences have been with me as long as I can remember.

       I am never bored in spite of all that is same.  There is always something special and something unique and it is often a complete surprise.  This year, it happened during communion.

       At our churches we welcome everyone to come forward during communion.  Young children who are not yet communing, taking the bread and wine, receive a blessing.  With my thumb I trace a cross on their forehead (just like at baptism) and say the words, "Jesus bless you as you grow".  I blessed a young toddler in his father's arms, and he looked me straight in the eyes and said confidently, "He does.  I know."  Then he smiled.

       It brought smiles and giggles all around.

       Just another cute kid story?  Yes and also a wonderful confession of faith:  'Yes, I know that Jesus blesses me.'  We should all be so confident in the love God has for us.

       It reminds me of something that happened in my first year of ministry.  It had become my habit to begin the benediction with the words, "And now may the Lord bless you and keep you...".  It didn't take too many repetitions for a retired pastor in the congregation to take me aside and remind me to go back to Hebrew of the benediction.

        In the Hebrew (and in the Greek translation) there is no maybe.  The blessing is imperative. There is no question of whether or not God can bless us or may and might not bless us.  "The Lord bless you and keep you.  The Lord's face shine on you and be gracious to you.  The Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace."(Numbers 6:24-26)  What God promises, God keeps.
       Without really thinking about what I was doing by adding my own words before the blessing, I was changing the faith statement of the blessing into a question.  My friend and mentor was right to question me and to get me to not only change my words but to think deeply about what I was doing.
       It is all too easy for us to turn God's love and grace into something that we are somehow responsible for either by merit or worth.  Perhaps the hardest part of faith is accepting that even faith itself is God's gift to us out of God's love, that knowing us even deeper than we know ourselves, God loves us that much.  It is the story Jesus tells over and over again in the parables and his teaching of God's abundant, extravagant love.

       Unlike much of the giving that happens during the Christmas season, God's giving is sure and true.  God so loves the world that Jesus comes and we are blessed.  This is the love that God has for me and for each of you.  It is not a maybe.  It is not dependent on what we do or what we don't do or how we feel.  It is God's promise, given and kept.  Read John 3:16-17

Jesus Is Here/Jesus Is Coming

       I have a good Methodist friend who once complained to me while discussing theology, "Lutherans are so frustrating.  When someone asks you if A is true or B is true, you say yes.  You have to have it both ways."

       She is right in the sense that much of Lutheran theology finds us trying to hold two truths in tension: we are saints, completely forgiven and washed clean; and we are also sinners, still imperfect and falling short all throughout our lives.  Saint and Sinner.  Now and not yet.

       Advent and Christmas are full of this now/not yet tension; we celebrate the birth of Jesus who has already come and we wait for Jesus the Christ to come again.  Jesus is born human, a tiny newborn like any new baby and Mary labors and gives birth like any mother and yet this Jesus is also God, completely divine, and comes to Mary unlike any birth before or since.  

       The deeper my faith gets, the more I realize that it is filled with the tension of these paradoxes; the now/not yets, the yes to seeming contradictions.  It is not that God's gift of faith is imperfect but rather that I cannot grasp the entirety of the mystery.   Sometimes I think that the deeper my faith grows, the less I know or perhaps it is that I am able to let go of needing to feel like I have the answers.  

       I think that the very beginning of a child's faith and the deep faith of a lifetime of faithfulness bring us to the same place:  God loves us and sent Jesus, the Savior to save us.  We are loved and forgiven.  The gift has been given.  I cannot pretend to understand how God has accomplished this, or the whys; all I can do is rest in faith and trust.  Sometimes I think we can spend a whole life-time of faithful searching, study, and prayer just to work ourselves back to the sure faith of a child: "Jesus loves me, this I know".  (Of course, Jesus said something about this, read Mark 10:15.  "Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.")
        My experiences as a mother have perhaps helped me live a little easier with all the paradoxes of now/not yet.  For me, pregnancy was living out an ultimate paradox complicated by several miscarriages.  The early months it can be very hard to really feel and changes, unless "morning sickness" is part of the experience.
       But then as the pregnancy progresses, the existence of the baby becomes more and more real.   The urge to share that with my husband meant that he had to learn patience as he put his hand on my belly, waiting to feel the baby kick.  Later on, I've had such experiences as people watching me as the baby had hiccups and you could see my belly bob up and down or watch a foot or elbow move from side to side.  Then finally with birth, the child is here.
       The time of now/not yet can be very precarious and so our waiting is filled with fears and impatience as well as joy.
       The same is true of faith.  We wait eagerly and we wait with hope, but the time of waiting also leaves us time to doubt, to ask questions, and to make mistakes.  That is why God's grace is the only thing that makes faith last.  By ourselves, the paradoxes, the questions, and the waiting would wear our faith away but God gives us the gift of faith and stays with us through it all, loving and caring for us.
       With the birth of Jesus, God-with-us, we declare to the world that the promise has been fulfilled.  Salvation has come!  Alleluia!  Read Romans 8:19-15.

Waiting in Hope

       The summer my second son was born, my mom came to stay with me to help after the baby was born.  She arrived on my official due date.  Unfortunately, my son wasn't born until three weeks later.  All of this was complicated by the facts that we were living in student housing with no air conditioning and we were having record-setting July temperatures!
       Every morning (it seemed that way to me anyway) when I came out of the bedroom, Mom would say, "You're still here".  She was disappointed to still be waiting and I was growing ever more uncomfortable and disappointed myself.
       It seemed like that birth was never going to happen.  I tried everything: bumpy rides over the railroad tracks, washing the kitchen floor, baking pies and bread, going for long walks, and what ever else came to mind.  All that happened was that I got tired.  And grumpy.
       I was reminded of my own stories of waiting as I was contemplating the stories of Mary and Elizabeth this week.  Elizabeth had waited for years on end to have a child until any real hope of pregnancy was gone.  She was too old, but yet she conceived.  And Mary was so young and a virgin.  And yet their stories converge as they meet and the Holy Spirit reveals just what is happening to them both.  It seems that even John and Jesus meet as John leaps in his mother's womb upon hearing Mary.   Their next recorded meeting is 30 years later as Jesus comes to be baptized by John at the beginning of his ministry.
       Mary's words at their meeting recall the history and generations upon generations of those who have been waiting for the coming of the Savior.  There is that sense of heaviness, of long hard waiting that is finally released.
       We are still in the waiting of Advent.  It isn’t Christmas yet.  It is probably the most radical thing the church does throughout the year, taking the whole time of Advent to wait for Christmas while the rest of the world runs pell-mell into Christmas. 

       But in church, we still have Advent, the time to repent, to prepare for the coming of Jesus, time to be still and take time to think and pray, to take our faith seriously.

       Advent takes a long time, and a lot of waiting, especially this year.  Advent is defined as the four Sundays before Christmas.  And with Christmas Eve not happening until Saturday night, Advent this year is the longest it can get.  There are four full weeks of Advent this year.  We wait and we wait.  And perhaps we get a little grumpy and out of sorts for the waiting.  But we wait with hope.

       We are not waiting for presents and parties but for the Savior of the world to come.  He comes out of God's love.  For God so loved the world, that Jesus has come and is among us.  This is not just about the past but is also about our present and our future.  Because of Christ, we are forgiven, and restored to God. 

       Our hope in Christ is real and strong.  Even death is defeated by this hope.  The Christ we wait for came and destroyed the power of sin and death.  This Christ is with us through the power of the Holy Spirit and will come again.  We are still here, waiting, but God is also waiting with us.  Jesus is coming!  Read Mary's words called the Magnificat, Luke 1:39-55.

One Small Candle

      The year is drawing to a close, Advent is upon us, and Christmas is coming again.  I could tell that today and it didn't have anything to do with Christmas sales or programs or commercials.  I would have known even without all of those markers and even without the church year calendar turning to a new month and beginning the cycle again.
       What was it that was such a sure sign of the season?
       As I was going across the hall from my office to teach confirmation, I paused to turn on the hallway lights.  It was already getting dimmer at 3:30 and would be nearing dark by the end of class.  The days are much shorter now.  That fact along with the cold seeping from the doorway are sure signs of the coming dark and cold of winter.
       It is into this cold darkness that Advent invites us to light a candle for each week as Advent progresses toward Christmas.  It is not much light; just one small candle this week, and two next Sunday.  It surely isn't enough to really make a difference against such cold and darkness.  Why bother?
       When I was a child, I saw the lighting of the Advent candles as a countdown to Christmas.  I was impatient and it took too long.  Advent calendars were better, there was a window to open for every day we got closer to Christmas, but I could still only open one a day.  Now, there is an ornament that counts down the weeks, the days, the hours, and even the seconds.  But what does it count down to: Sundown on December 24th and the beginning of Christmas Eve? Midnight and the beginning of Christmas Day? Sunrise on the 25th?  Christmas worship? Opening presents? Christmas dinner?
       I have a feeling that the ornament's zero hour and mine would be very different.
       I think I will stick with my candles: one candle for each Sunday and the larger white candle in the center for the coming of Christ at Christmas.  The flare of the flame recalls the beginning of worship and invites me to contemplation and prayer.  It is a small light, only one candle this week and so we draw closer to each other and to its' light.  As the candle flickers in any draft, it reminds me of the cold and dark outside and how fragile life can be outside this time of year and I remember those who are cold, hungry, or homeless.  When the candle is blown out, the smoke of the candle floats into the air and the smoke is like the incense of evening prayer rising to God.
       Gather four candles into a circle or make a simple wreath and keep watch with me this Advent season.  Use it for your personal prayer time and as a family at your evening meals.  As the darkness and cold advance, the lights increase as the time for Jesus comes closer.  Open your minds and hearts to include service to those in need as a way to give thanks.  Your devotions and prayers can be as small and simple as the candle burning on your table.  Read Psalm 141: 1-4, 8.

On Thanksgiving Day

       Here are some ideas for giving thanks this week as you gather as family.
       Celebrate Thanksgiving Day, fix a meal together and share it with family and friends, remembering the meaning of the day.  It came about as a time to give thanks to God for getting through hard times, for bountiful harvests, and working and learning together with other people.  I invite you to take this day and make it a time of gratitude and sharing. 

Some activities for the day of Thanksgiving:

(** 2 stars indicate child friendly activities)

            **  begin the meal with prayers such as:

                 Come Lord Jesus, Be our guest, And let these gifts to us be blessed.

                 Blessed be God who is our bread, That all the world be clothed and fed.  Amen

            **  decorate a 3”x5” card on the blank side with stickers, or stamping, or pasting fall leaves.

            **  Set a card at each plate.  Have people write down things for which they give thanks.

                 Share them out loud, include them in prayers, and/or take them home as reminders.

            *   If you use Grandma’s jello bowl, or mom’s recipe for pumpkin pie, etc…, share those memories around the table.  Even better, write them down and make copies for everyone!

            **  Before or after the football game, turn off the TV and share family stories.

                 Starters: funniest thanksgiving, most embarrassing moment, most favorite, best food, worst food disaster, biggest storm…

            **  Buy blank cards and envelopes, set out markers, stamps, stickers, ribbons, etc…; decorate cards and send them to relatives who weren’t able to join you or for service men and women deployed overseas.

            **  Involve as many people as possible in making the meal from bringing dishes to share, peeling potatoes, setting the table, folding napkins… give thanks to the cooks by having the non-cooks clear the table and clean up after the meal.

            **  Take a post-dinner walk together, taking time to enjoy all of the natural wonders you find.  If walking isn't an option, take a slow and scenic drive and look for the same things.

                Variation: make a game of being the first to spy something we thank God for: a bird, pretty leaves,  a tree, animals, etc…    Bonus win to the person who spies a wild turkey!

           **  At the end of the day, take a moment to read Psalm 100 and pray a prayer of thanks.

                May God bless you all and keep you safe in your travels.  

God's Variety

      I love to watch people in all their infinite variety of colors, shapes, sizes, and decoration.  It's a great way to pass the time at an airport or to relax while sitting at a mall.  To me, it is akin to birdwatching or going on a scenic drive so I can enjoy the wonders God has made.  This hobby is one of the things I inherited from my mom.  She also liked to sit and watch people but if one of her sisters were around, they also like to comment on them in Norwegian which I neither speak nor understand.  Perhaps because of that, I didn't get into the habit of people watching as an exercise in judgment.
       It's a very common thing to do, to comment on what someone is wearing, or how tight their pants are, or their hair, etc.  Sometimes it is complimentary but more often than not, it's negative.  The judgment is often based on stereotypes, gender or racial or class bias.  Young people hear it from elders; "My mother wouldn't have let me out of the house in something like that".  All of this judging is often based on the attitude that there is a right or better way and that being different is seen as a negative value.  It is amazing to me that when we look at he scenery around us, we are amazed and refreshed by the variety around us: the leaves turning color or multitudes of blooming wild flowers but when we see the same variety in people, we react negatively.
       There are many ethical, moral, spiritual reasons not to engage in such judgment of each other.  It is divisive, hateful, demeaning, destructive and often leads to or is the excuse given for much violent behavior.  When we participate in the judgment of others who are different or when we stand by in silence when others are belittled, we hurt others and destroy community.  We can share basic values and ethics without requiring everyone to be alike.
       Just as there is an amazing variety of animal and plant life in the world, people too are different.  For me, enjoying the variety is a spiritual exercise in learning about the nature of God.  It is not about the judging others by our biases; it is more about the vastness and complexity of God.
       I go back to the first chapter of Genesis, verse 26: "Then God said, 'Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness".  And going on, it records, "in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them."
       Our diversity as people is not only intentional; I truly believe it is part of what it means to be created in God's image.  Even that which is created in God's image is different from the every beginning.  People are fragile vessels, we are incapable of holding, containing, or even naming the divine creator and yet we are each made in God's likeness; our very differences are reflections of the vastness of God.  Instead of seeing our differences as faults to be brought into line with one another, we should celebrate and give thank for them; they are gifts from God that make us stronger and benefit us in community.
       Are we imperfect reflections of God? Yes; our imperfections are both inside and out, how we are made and affected by the choices and chances of our lives.  And yet we are beloved by our creator, forgiven and redeemed.  I know for myself, I have learned the most and become stronger not only in spite of but sometimes because of the very parts of myself I tend to see as imperfections or faults.
       Our different gifts and abilities are together what gives us strength and beauty as a community.  God created a world where no two trees are alike, each one grows according to the sun and water it has received and is shaped by the wind and exposure, and the room it has to spread gain height.  So too, each of us is different from the beginning and then affected by and shaped by the circumstances and world around us.  May God help us to see each other as belonging to God and to recognize and celebrate our different gifts.  Read 1 Corinthians 12:4-7