The Joy of Giving Thanks

The immigrants from England, Pilgrims, brought with them an ancient English custom of a harvest festival. This festival was a time of dancing, singing, sports, games, and of course, feasting. Since then Americans, an interracial mix of many nations, have adapted this festival into what we celebrate today, Thanksgiving.

The festival of harvest has turned into a festival of eating too much followed by a nap and some football. Most of us are blessed to not think about harvesting. Instead, we have the luxury of going to the nearest grocer to find a year around supply of most anything we can eat. We don’t show up at a grocer and wonder if there will be apples. We have the gift of assuming that no matter the season the store will provide apples.

This reality allows us the comfort of not thinking about how our food gets to the table. The people who harvest often don’t come to mind at the Thanksgiving table as we give thanks for our many blessings.

We have become separated from the life sustaining earth; instead there are days when our feet don’t even touch the soil. We have become separated from any injustice in the fields; instead we assume they are immigrants and are lucky to be in this country. We are separated from the slaughterhouse; instead we complain about the price tag.

Our call from God is not to get caught up in our luxurious living so we can become more separated from God’s creation. Our call is to thank God for our luxurious living by turning our hearts from our wants and needs to the needs of our neighbor.

This Thanksgiving, let us reconnect with all of creation so our hearts will be changed though the real joy of giving thanks.

Romans 8:18-21

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

The end of the WORLD!

When is the end going to be?

We thought it was:

In the 60’s – the Cuban Missile Crisis

In the 80’s fear of a nuclear war

Then we had the millennium

Now we have the box office hit 2012 – the end of the Mayan Calendar

If we happen to make it to 2013 we’ll still want to know the end of the story. I believe Newton said something about 2060?

It’s not just in the BIG picture that we want to know the end. It’s also in our personal life decisions. Let’s say you’re going to invest money. You’ll weigh all your options wanting to know the outcome before making a decision. Every day we are trying to figure out the end of the story so we can do the “right” thing. However, the truth is we don’t get to know the end of the story.

So, what can we do?

Approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith (Hebrews 10:22). I am not talking about the assurances we have in the finite but the assurance we have in Christ. We continue to approach because story is not over.

The story did not end with the people of the Old Testament. The story did not end with the people of the New Testament. We are God’s living story in the world today. God’s living Word is in you.

We may not get to know the end of the story – but how awesome that we get to be a part of the story!

Technology - does it bring us together or isolate us more?

I am part of a generation that fell on the cusp of a drastic change. In high school during class we would write notes by hand, fold them in unique ways, and pass them to one another in the hall between classes. Then we would sit in the next hour class hoping our friend would have a moment to write a note back. Then we would have to plan to run into one another in the hallway again between classes for another exchange.

Now I am in the workforce five states from my hometown. I can text an old high school friend, who I connected with after all these years over facebook, and instantly get a response.

I learned to type in high school on a typewriter. By college I had a laptop computer and my very first email account. In college my friends and I didn’t even think about cell phones and a year after graduation we had them by our side.

This change is obvious and may seem simple as most of us quickly adapt to a world that can network like never before. However, this change is putting stress on the church. An older generation experiences worship differently than the younger generation – yet we are called to worship together.

Let’s say we bring a video into worship to reach the younger crowd. A man in their 60’s responds, “It was so fasted paced it left me out of breath and all I was doing was watching a video.”

On the other hand, a twenty-three year old who watched the same video said, “It is too slow.” In this electronic age we are being wired differently. Our brains process information differently and therefore, we experience worship differently.

It is no surprise that those most influenced by electronic culture participate in church at far lower levels than those of previous generations. Article after article is being written about meeting this technology generation on the web: Facebook, Blogger, MySpace, and YouTube… and I won’t deny these can be great tools that the church can embrace.

However, we can’t just get on the internet and stare at a monitor while typing on a keyboard and call it church. In Greek the word for church, ecclesia, means assembly or call out. It is a gathering of those who are called out. We must continue to gather and find a way to not be even more isolated on Sunday morning. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “The most segregated time in America is on Sunday between the hours of 10-11am.”

What is your denomination? What is your style of worship? What is your ethnicity? What is your sexuality? What is your age?

These labels are human instituted, yet, we continue to worship where our labels place us. We are called out by God to gather as one body in Christ. May the Spirit guide our hearts to see our human instituted labels less and our gracious gift of being one in Christ more!

Do you carry a bottle of Purell?

I just read an article titled, “Goodbye, Hand Shake.” Yep, you guessed it… the question on the table is will H1N1 spell end of the handshake greeting? Some churches have stopped sharing the peace with one another in fear of spreading a virus. Some pastors have stopped shaking hands with parishioners after services. The common cup at Communion is switching to individual cup. It’s becoming more and more common to carry a bottle of Purell with you at all times.

Recently, I was in the airport. As I was checking out with a bottle of water the clerk asked, “Would you like a bottle of Purell with this?”

I responded, “Is it free?”

“Nope.”

“Then I’ll pass I already have a bottle in my purse.”

That’s right not only is it being pushed at a check out in the airport, but I too am guilty and carry a bottle with me. It’s almost a new addiction. So, the question I struggle with is: What does this new fear of touch mean for the Christian community?

After all we are a community already hurting in the age of technology. Now we add the element of physical-virus-spreading-contact!

As I am thinking about this and reading scripture, I had to laugh out loud when I read the story of the blind man in Mark 8. Jesus is asked to touch him so he will be healed. As I am debating this hand shake issue I was intrigued by the story because Jesus takes the blind man by his hand. However, I had to laugh out loud when the story got even better. Jesus spits on him!

Now I am not encouraging us to spit on one another, we’re not Jesus. However scripture reveals to us a healing element in touch.

In Matthew 8 Jesus stretched out his hand and touched a Leper so he may be healed.

In Mark 10 people were bringing their children to Jesus so he may touch them.

In Matthew 9 a woman who was living with a lifelong hemorrhage reached out to touch Jesus cloak so she may be healed.

Now we may not have the healing powers of Christ, but there is something special – life giving in touch. Current day research verifies this reality. Children must be held, people who hug get sick less, and even a soft nudge of a cat or dog has the power to lower blood pressure.

I don’t know… I’d rather risk physical-virus-spreading-contact than give up the physical-healing-power-of-touch.

Jesus Liberates!

Out of all the Gospels St. John colors a unique picture of Jesus.

This is a Jesus that liberates!

At the wedding of Cana Jesus doesn’t just turn a few stone water pots into wine – Jesus turns six into wine – so we may know the abundance God gives.

Jesus at the well offers living water – so we may never thirst again.

Jesus was sent by God as bread from heaven – so we may never hunger.

Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead – so may know God is not limited by our mortality.

Jesus is the light of the world – so we may never walk in darkness.

All of these are unique to the Gospel of John.

Truth! Freedom!

The harsh reality is that we are slaves to sin. And what is Jesus response?

John 8: 31-36 “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free... So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed!”

As John colors a unique picture of a Jesus who liberates… I can’t help but go back to the days I used to color.

I think of a little child with their crayons and coloring book. They are given a variety of colors and are taught to color in the lines.

A little child maybe given tons of colors, but they pick one. The coloring book may have a picture on it, but they see the whole page not the lines. They put gusto into their coloring and it goes all over the page. Then the child walks up to you and say’s, "Here is my picture!" With the biggest brightest eyes, "I colored this just for you."

How do you respond? I mean you could look at the child and say, "Ummm… didn’t you notice that there are lines to help you color this horse. And didn’t you realize that you have more than just red… there is brown (which is actually the color of the horse) and blue for the sky, green for the grass…"

NO! We don’t say that because we don’t look at the details of the picture we look at the love put into the picture.

We take the picture out of their hands with a huge smile and meaningfully say, "That is beautiful!"

We are coloring a picture for God with our lives. This picture we draw is often outside of the lines. We are good at making a mess. We might have used to much red. We didn’t even realize it was a horse that we were supposed to draw. But with big bright eyes we open our hands to God and say here I am. Here is my life and I drew this for you.

And God says, "That is beautiful!" As God gives us the ultimate grace.

Sure God will occationally show us a new color of life that we may have not noticed or used before, but we pick up the new crayon and try again.

You are loved. You are God’s. And the picture you’re drawing daily maybe imperfect, but you have been made free!

Free from sin, through the divine activity centered in Christ’s death and brought into right relationship with God!

Liturgy

Rituals give us a way to experience the Holy. We often think of the church as a place rich with ritual. Most Lutheran services start with confession and forgiveness, a cross is processed forward, and the candles are lit. We have communion every Sunday, the elements are uncovered during offering and we end our service saying, “Thanks be to God.” We come to worship knowing we will experience these rituals and be fed to live as disciples in the world.

If we step foot in a new church we will notice a difference in rituals. Maybe they don’t process a cross before the service or have communion every Sunday. Often it is in these small ways that we experience a disruption in our worship. We may think, “Wait we don’t do it that way.” However, no matter what Christian church you worship with there are two things that are steadfast, communion and baptism. Sure we may do those rituals differently – some immerse, some sprinkle water – but the truth is we baptize.

The Eucharist and Baptism are liturgy at the core. The creeds, theories, text and prayers were formed to help worshipers understand baptism, not baptism being created to help understand the creeds and prayers. It was the community’s regular act of Eucharist and Baptism (liturgy) that brought about a theology to help understand and reflect on these encounters with the living God.

In the Lutheran tradition it is foundational to say that we leave the ritual space transformed and renewed through liturgy. The Church does not bring about liturgy, but liturgy that brings about the Church. It is a communal act not an individual act. Christians do not worship because they believe nor do they believe because they worship at least in a sense that liturgy is a machine that will produce faith.

It is a presence that draws us to liturgy and a revelation experienced. Liturgy transforms the community into something they were not before the event began. It was a presence not faith that drew Moses to the burning bush. It was a presence not faith that drew the disciples to Jesus and revelation that they found. Since then we too have been drawn into assembly by the same presence. The assembly is transformed through liturgy becoming different from what they were before the act happened. Rituals give us a way to experience the Holy. Liturgy transforms us.

Feet

Where have your feet taken you?

Look back on your life – think of all the places you’ve lived, worked, played, visited, cried, sang, danced… Where have your feet taken you?

This past week my feet took me to San Francisco, CA. It is a part of the country I had not seen, smelled, or experienced before. I got to breathe in the rich smell of the redwood forest, the creatively made wines and admittedly the stench of the sea lions. I got to see the beauty of the vineyards, redwoods, Pacific Ocean, and the hilly city.

Each of these new experiences made me realize how much I have yet to see in this world. I have traveled quite a bit in my life, but there is still so much more to experience. God created a world so rich how can we not want to experience it all?

It is easy to want to experience the world around us. Yet, it can be difficult for us to experience God. I mean how do we experience a supreme being – not of earthly laws – who loves us even when we don’t love. Who longs for our devotion when we’re busy worshiping the things God has created instead of God.

Our feet may take us many beautiful places here on earth. However, the most precious place they can take us is a little disturbing – it’s not a place we would expect. The most precious place is when our feet stand at the foot of the cross. It is in this unexpected place that we can experience God.

It is natural to expect a supreme being – not of earthly laws – to be sitting in that high glorious throne waving a judging gavel at us. Yet, at the foot of the cross we see a God who suffers so we don’t have to suffer. A God who is not high on a throne but a God who is willing to go to the most vulnerable of places so we can know how much we are loved.

Where have your feet taken you?