A lesson from broken glass

We are created with an inner drive and necessity, that sends all of looking for our true self, whether we know it or not. This journey is a spiral and never a straight-line. We are created with an inner restlessness and call that urges us on to the risks and promises of a second half to our life. There is a God-sized hole, in all of us, waiting to be filled. God creates the very dissatisfaction that only grace and finally divine love can satisfy. We dare not try to fill our souls and minds with numbing addictions, diversionary tactics or mindless distractions. The shape of evil is much more superficiality and blindness than the usual listed 'hot sins.' God hides and is found precisely in the depths of everything. Even, and maybe especially, in the deep fathoming of our fallings and failures. Sin is the stay on the surface of even holy things, like Bible, Sacrament or church. If we go to the depths of anything, we will begin to knock on something substantial, real and with a timeles quality to it. We will move from the starter kit of belief to an actual, inner, knowing. 

- Richard Rohr in Falling Upward, published in 2011

   I am a little more than halfway through Richard Rohr's book and it is quickly climbing up my list of all-time favorites. This quote particularly struck me, as I've been wrestling with the challenging truths that the Sundays teachings have revealed about time. When he talks about God hiding in the depths of things and that sin is what happens when we just stay on the surface, I realize that is precisely what happens when we pile on too many rocks. Busyness, even with good things, leads us away from the great things that the abundant life God offers has in store for us. In fact, Jesus said that when we find that abundant life we have found him (see John 14:6). But, we instead opt for the average or mundane, which is all we can fit in to our containers because we are otherwise...too busy.
   I think going deeper is more about doing less than working harder. As if I needed an extra lesson for my own life about what happens when you pile on too much, the glass jar of my illustration broke in the first service on Sunday, at 8:30 AM in the Chapel. For those who missed it, it happened when I starting placing the small rocks on top. The extra force of the trivial, little opportunities was enough to break the container. I snapped a photo of it before I cleaned up the cart and prepared to try again at 9:00 and 11:00. Maybe the memory of that will stay with me in the moments I am tempted to pile on the trivial instead of first placing the God rock in properly.
   I love serving as the pastor of this church and being a part of this community and am humbled that you join me in breaking glass, stacking rocks, and going deeper in the great love of God. Grace and peace to you, Scott

Prayer for This Day

O God, our Father, we remember at this time…

How the eternal Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We thank you that Jesus took our human body upon him, so that we can never again dare to despise or neglect or misuse the body, since you made it your dwelling-place.

We thank you that Jesus did a day’s work like any working-man, that he knew the problem of living together in a family, that he knew the frustration and irritation of serving the public, that he had to earn a living, and to face all the wearing routine of everyday work and life and living, and so clothed each common task with glory.

We thank you that he shared in all happy social occasions, that he was at home at weddings and dinners and at festivals in the homes of simple ordinary people like ourselves. Grant that we may ever remember that in his unseen risen presence he is a guest in every home.

We thank you that he knew what friendship means, that he had his own circle of men whom he wanted to be with him, that he knew too what it means to be let down, to suffer from disloyalty and from the failure of love.

We thank you that he too had to bear unfair criticism, prejudiced opposition, malicious and deliberate misunderstanding.

We thank you that whatever happens to us, he has been there before, and that, because he himself has gone through things, he is able to help those who are going through them.

Help us never to forget that he knows life, because he lived life, and that he is with us at all times to enable us to live victoriously.

This we ask for your love’s sake.  Amen.

- from Prayers for the Christian Year by William Barclay

The Myth of Control and the Truth of the Present

It’s strange how the mind works. The mind would rather fret about the future or pine over the past so the mind can cling to its own illusion of control. But the current moment? It cannot be controlled. And what a mind can’t control, it tends to discount. Brush past … over. It’s the battle plan of the enemy of the soul to keep us blind to this current moment, the one we can’t control, to keep us blind to Him, the One who controls everything. 

- Ann Voskamp, from One Thousand Gifts Devotional

   One of the greatest drains on our time is the persistent worry that pushes into our thoughts. Of course, Jesus spoke to this when he said in Matthew 6, "do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today."

   I appreciate the stark way that Ann Voskamp addresses one of the reasons that so many of us turn to worry: we want to believe we are in control. Instead, the limits of our control stop at the edge of our minds, our hearts, our words, and our actions. Regardless of how close or how influential we think we are to others or to a situation, we are not in control of much.
   God's call on our lives is to let go. I think this is what Reinhold Niebuhr was getting at when he penned the Serenity Prayer a century ago. He wrote: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

   Instead of letting go of the myth of our power in the moment, we cling to moments that are not present. This is precisely the work of the one who is working against our lives. Jesus came that we might have abundant life, but there are forces working directly against us. One of the best things that hell ever accomplished was to trick us into picturing a silly, red-costumed little person with horns and pitchfork when anyone mentions the devil. This way of thinking reduces our concern and prompts us to let down our defenses. Instead, we must remain vigilant in our watch for the real faces of evil that would lead us to destruction: worry, laziness, anger, arrogance, greed, or an unforgiving heart.
   God loves you and loves me. Could it be that we are at our best loving God back when we let go of trying to control others or let go of the past or future and instead live fully in the present? There is a word for this kind of living: faith.
   Grace and Peace, Scott

Out in the World and back in Church

   They say you cannot be in two places at once. 

   On Wednesday afternoon, Julie and I, along with hundreds of others, found our places on the bleachers of Joseph Sumrall Stadium at Bonaire Middle School to watch the first football scrimmage of the season. Sitting there along the 50 yard line, as boys played on both ends of the field the coaches had divided in half, gave us plenty to see. But, the stands were just as entertaining. There were kids walking around for attention, siblings wishing to go home, and parents enduring the heat in order to get some glimpse of future gridiron glory. 

    Before the game had ended I was out of the heat and in the very comfortable confines of our church building. It was the first night of Wednesdays@Bonaire and the meal before me was delicious. There was a good crowd gathered, as well. Dee Dee is a great cook and you cannot beat the value provided for $6 for adults and $4 for kids. After having our bodies nourished, opportunities to provide for our hearts and souls abounded. Matt and Courtney were excellent talking about their most recent trip to Belize, while tables groups and choirs were also getting started. Children sang and learned before later playing in the hallways. 

   Of course, not every week will be about firsts. But, I think every week for everyone of us should follow a similar pattern. I believe we are called to be out in the world and also back in church. While Paul said we are not to be conformed to the world (Romans 12), he did not say we are to avoid the world altogether. The call on Christians is rarely to separate from the world. Instead, we are to engage the world. How else can we be the salt and light Jesus spoke of in Matthew 5? Yet, he is also clear to say that salt can lose its flavor and light can lose its power. I believe this is true for us, too. We need the community to recharge us. We need the Word to revive us. 

   I hope you would consider your own pattern of being out in the world and back in church. This is a perfect time to commit, again, to worship every Sunday morning. And, I would also ask that you consider how Wednesday Supper might be a nice connector midway through the week. Again, the meal is delicious and easy. We have room for 100 people or more and the chance to hear a 30 minute program (we promise to be done by 6:30 every week) is a plus. I would love for you to join me, starting this coming week, as we begin a series of lessons on ancient and modern Israel, a land called holy, weaving images, history and the Scriptures together.

   I hope to see you out in the world and back in church, soon. Grace and Peace, Scott

Where Can A Christian Boast or Glory?

   College Football Preseason rankings are coming out and fans everywhere are boasting of their team's place. Politicians are now taking the stage in debates - in front of the few people willing to watch this early - boasting of what they have done and making promises about what they will do.
   What is a Christian to boast of? Our faith? The size of our churches? The reach of our missions around the world? Surely none of these. Instead, consider the words of Francis:

   "I did not come to be served but to serve (see Matthew 10:28), says the Lord. Those who are placed over others should glory in such an office only as much as they would were they assigned the task of washing the feet of the brothers. And the more they are upset about their office being taken from them than they would be over the loss of the office of washing feet, so much the more do they store up treasures to the peril of their souls (see John 12:6).
   Be conscious, O man (and woman), of the wondrous state in which the Lord God has placed you, for he created you and formed you to the image of his beloved Son according to the body, and to his likeness according to the spirit (see Genesis 1:26). And yet, all the creatures under heaven, each according to its nature, serve, know, and obey their Creator better than you. Even the demons did not crucify him, but you together with them have crucified him and crucify him even now by delighting in vices and sins.
   In what then can you glory (or boast)? For if you were so subtle and wise that you had all knowledge (see 1 Corinthians 13:2) and knew how to interpret all tongues (see 1 Corinthians 12:28) and minutely investigate the course of the heavenly bodies, in all these things you could not glory, for one demon knew more about the things of earth than all men together, even if there may have been someone who received from the Lord a special knowledge of the highest wisdom. Likewise, even if you were more handsome and richer than everyone else and even if you performed wonders such as driving out demons, all these things would be an obstacle to you and none of them would belong to you nor could you glory in any of these things. But in this we can glory: in our infirmities (see 2 Corinthians 12:5) and bearing daily the holy Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (see Luke 14:27)."

- Francis of Assisi, also known as Saint Francis, was an early church leader who wrote short words of instruction to those who would follow him as he followed Jesus. This brief section of the longer Admonitions was written around 1200 CE.