Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Christmas Cards

Every December when the Christmas cards start coming in the mail, I am drawn back to Christmases past when I was growing up. I have a vivid memory of sitting at the dining room table with my Dad to my left, one of my brothers to my right, Mom at the end of the table, and the other two brothers across the table. Yes, we had assigned seats. Being the lefty in the family, I needed that corner. We won't get into the left-handed issues here - that is another blog for another time.

We sat at the table for dinner, as we did almost every night, and once the dishes were cleared and the freshly-baked Christmas cookies passed around the table, Dad would begin opening the Christmas cards we had received that day in the mail. He would read each one silently, maybe making a comment or two about the sender or the card, then the card was passed to me. Unless it had a beautiful scene or a funny caption or it came from overseas, and if I didn't know the sender, I would quickly pass it on. 

AND, if there was the annual Christmas epistle included, I DEFINITELY was not going to take time to read that. I was confident that if there was some bit of good news or bad news, Mom was going to comment on it when the card and letter made it to her. Quite often, we four boys had no idea who these people were that Mom and Dad were talking about, but we sat and passed the cards as they came to us. 

I can still recall those conversations about friends moving, new children arriving, family vacations and celebrations, as well as illnesses and deaths. The question was asked at least once a night, "Did we send THEM a card?" or "Did we get a card from them last year?" And sometimes it was, "Who is this?" Then the cards were placed in a wicker basket and placed by the Christmas tree, so when our extended family would come for the holidays, they could look through the cards as well.

Mom and Dad had a system. Dad had a box of index cards with names and addresses on them. When a friend moved, the card was updated by crossing out the old information and adding the new below it. On the back of the card was a list of years, followed by letters "S" and "R"- sent and received. Each year, the cards were scrutinized carefully, and if you haven't sent a card in the past two or three years, there may be a real possibility you would NOT be receiving the annual Woodward Letter, sent on colored paper and carefully detailing the activities of each of us boys, our family travels and information about extended family as well. Believe me, this was information you didn't want to miss!

I still enjoy receiving Christmas cards. We hang them up on the hallway door and give thanks for the greetings and news we receive. And now we receive emails and electronic letters too. I know that the letters and cards we receive do not contain all the joys and sorrows our friends and loved ones have experienced in the past year, but embedded in each one, there is a contact, a connection, a memory. These are gifts from God.

And I find my wife and I having the same conversations Mom and Dad had over the dinner table years ago. "Did you see that the Smiths are moving?" "Can you believe their daughter is in the eighth grade?" "Did we send them a card this year?" 

Thanks be to God for our friends and loved ones who take the time to send us these greetings. The news we receive and the memories it brings are things I cherish this season.

Peace,

Pastor Charlie

TWO MORE THINGS:
1. The blog is taking a long winters' nap and will be back on January 8th. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
2. I hope you get to church for Christmas Eve service this year, wherever you may be come December 24. From a sister congregation in Des Moines, Iowa, here is their invitation to worship for Christmas Eve. If you can't make it to Des Moines, know you are welcomed here!







Tuesday, December 9, 2014

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

This past weekend at Epiphany Far Hills campus, our worship was built around the Children's Christmas Program. This year's offering was "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever." I have to be careful about what I say about the show since I was in it - so was Pastor Jay! We shared the part of Reverend Hopkins - Jay took Saturday's shows, and I was on for Sunday. I think we got the part because we already had the costume.

That being said, the show was great! After 20 plus years of being the one responsible for the Christmas program, I can relate to the story told in this year's show. It is about putting the annual Christmas pageant together, and things don't go as planned. The play is about a family called the Herdmans - a family of rotten children. They lie, steal, swear, fight, light things on fire, and are generally feared in the community. When they get wind of the annual church Christmas pageant, they bully their way into the main roles and generally wreak havoc. What some feared would be the worst pageant in church history turns out to have a special quality that causes the community to rethink the real meaning of the Christmas story. (www.storysnoops.com)

Besides being a wonderful show, I am thankful for the blessings that we offer and receive through this outreach ministry. Here are a few that come to mind:
  • All Are Welcome. Everyone who wishes to be in the production will be given the opportunity to do so. Even the pastors. Even those who are not members of the church. All are welcome, and are welcomed with open arms.
  • Bridges Are Built. Children and parents, extended families come to participate and to see the program, and over time relationships are built. Epiphany becomes a place where those who come here feel at home and that they belong to the community. 
  • An Army of Assistants Get The Job Done. Parents, family members, church members and friends join in to make up a great group of helpers, workers, supporters and friends. The names of those helping out was longer than that of the cast. Amazing!
  • Talents Are Tapped. Epiphany has a unique ministry with the drama program. For over 20 years, children and adults have been given the opportunity to get on stage and try their hand at acting. I can see the confidence and communication skills that the children develop through this program. We also know that the stage is not for everyone. There are builders and seamstresses and props people and sound and light people. So many different talents all working together to share the message.
  • Opportunities To Try. Some of our helpers were asked to serve in areas that were new to them. One of the blessings the church has to offer is to be a place where people can try new things and see if this is where God has gifted them. We might make mistakes, but grace abounds. 
  • We Proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. One of my favorite lines from this year's show was by one of the Herdmans. When Imogene Herdman asks what the Christmas Pageant story was about, she was told it's about Jesus. Imogene's response was, “Everything here is!" To that I say, "Yes, yes it is!"
  •  What We Proclaim is Good News. The angel comes to proclaim Good News of Great Joy, that UNTO YOU is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Good News! Great Joy! I saw a lot of smiles, heard a lot of laughter, and experienced a great deal of joy at church this weekend. The reason I became a pastor is because I want to share this good news of great joy. It was tangible this weekend, and for that I am thankful.
I am sure you can add to this list. 

I hope and pray that this season of Advent preparation and Christmas celebration be filled with hope, joy and peace. And I pray that we as a church do all we can to share that message for all who gather here, and all who carry it out the doors and into the world. 

Amen, Come Lord Jesus!

Peace,

Pastor Charlie





Monday, December 1, 2014

Tis the Season

I have a confession to make. I really love to listen to Christmas music once Thanksgiving is over. I know, I know... Christmas music is for Christmas. Let's not get ahead of ourselves and forget about Advent. Every Advent it comes up - we shouldn't rush into Christmas and miss out on the anticipation, waiting and hope of Advent. On the other hand, there are many who ask why wait till Christmas to sing those great Christmas songs? And by the time we GET to Christmas, do we really want to hear MORE Christmas songs?

Advent is a time of preparation, being ready and making room for Christ in our lives. As a pastor, the time of Advent is a time of preparation for all the Christmas celebrations at church. So what better way to prepare for Christ and for the Christmas celebration than with Christmas music! Can you see I am trying to justify my music selections?

That being said, I thought I would share some of my favorites that I have come across in the past few days. I hope you enjoy these offerings. I invite you to share some of your favorites with me. My hope and prayer is that the music not rush us into Christmas, but rather be an avenue to focus our hearts and minds on the greatest gift ever given, Christ the Lord.

"Mary Did You Know?" by Pentatonix


"Angels We Have Heard On High" by The Piano Guys



This video I created last year. The nativity scenes were displayed last year for Advent at Epiphany. I took pictures of them and added these songs:
"Some Children See Him" by James Taylor
"Welcome To Our World" by Amy Grant
"Away In A Manger" by the Piano Guys


One more - "Silent Night" by Pentatonix







Let EVERY heart prepare Him room!

Peace,

Pastor Charlie








Monday, November 24, 2014

Run For God

For this week's blog, I want to share with you an article written by Connie Risch, one of our members and a participant in the Run For God ministry here at Epiphany.

Run for God, a Couch to 5K journey

On November 9th, at 1:00 pm, 7 Epiphany disciples met in the Far Hills parking lot wearing our Run for God shirts.  Destination, the VA for a 5K (well, technically it was only 3 miles) run.  The weather was fabulous; especially considering it was early November.  We were so blessed to be among friends as our 12 week journey was on its final leg.

12 weeks prior, our group of 10 began meeting at the Austin Campus.  The weather was hot and the road from couch potato to 5K seemed like a long and impossible journey, especially since some of us had a “severe allergy” to exercise.  Throughout the 12 week course we inspired each other in so many different ways.

The first part of a Run for God program is the Bible study.  As a leader, I felt that I was not properly equipped to do this job.  The best part is that I didn’t need to have all the answers.  We explored the lessons together and learned from each other.  There was a bible verse to explore before each of the workouts each week which gave us more time to reflect on our relationship with the Lord.

The second part of a Run for God program is the runner’s education.  We were blessed to have two fabulous mentors in our group.  The shared their vast knowledge with us each week.  Topics included proper gear, injury prevention, proper nutrition, and runner’s educate.  They were also our running coaches because…

The final part of a Run for God program is the running.  The program starts out slow with the first weeks workout consisting of running 1 minute at a time (a feet I thought was going to kill me).  As we progressed the workouts pushed us to new depths with the final goal being the 5K.  Our mentors were there to keep us on track during that first run of the week, and be our cheerleaders.  Believe it or not, they were beginners themselves too.

The best part of a Run for God program is the friendships built, the accountability to do better, and the encouragement to step outside your comfort zone.  It’s hard to spend 12 weeks with a group of people without getting to know them.  We were able to hold each other accountable for our goals, both spiritual and physical.  Although I was not able to run the entire 5K, I still received encouragement for every step forward I was able to make.

This is our 2nd Run for God session and I am learning and improving each time.  I look forward to our next session and hope you will consider joining us.  No matter where you are in your spiritual and physical journey, you will find this to be a very rewarding program.


I must mention that there were 10 people in our group.  1 was unable to run because of an injury, and 2 members did their 5K on November 8th.  I am proud of each and every one of us!

from left to right:
Julie Thomas, Angie Day, Caroline Kennebeck, Zach Auman (front), 
Connie Risch, John Deitrich (back), Kathy Whited 

Thank you, Connie, for sharing!

Peace,
Pastor Charlie




Monday, November 17, 2014

Leading and Following

I am finally getting over jet lag from our trip to Israel - we have been back in the USA for over a week, but it has taken a long time to get back on schedule. Waking up at 3 am gives one an opportunity to have some quiet time before the rest of the world wakes up, and has provided me some time to reflect on the trip to Israel. If you want to find out more about that trip, you can check out the weblog I updated each day - www.israelpilgrimage2014.blogspot.com


Caesarea

Masada

Jerusalem (taken from the spire of the Lutheran Church)

We had thirteen in the group of which I was responsible for, and we were joined together with a group of 15 from Missouri and 4 from Florida. 32 of us together for week on a bus with a tour guide and a driver. The tour company took good care of us, coordinating our sites, hotels, meals and schedules. Our job was to show up on time and stay together. And my job as the leader of our group was take make sure everyone was doing their job.

I guess you could say my role was to lead by following. And follow I did. There were some in our group who had issues walking, and Israel is not flat, nor are the paths made for easy travel. Lots of steps. Lots of rocks. Lots of slippery surfaces. I found myself at the back of the group, counting to 13 to make sure we were all present, and bringing up the rear. Being 6 feet 4 inches tall, this made my job easier to say the least! As I was escorting one of our members by the arm back to the bus garage a few blocks away from the church in Bethlehem, one of the vendors along the street who was selling umbrellas stopped his sales pitch when he saw us approaching. He said to me, "God bless you. You take care of your women." I said, "God bless you too!" I was almost compelled to buy an umbrella from him just for that.

The other part of my job was to make sure my group knew the schedule - where we needed to be and when we needed to be there. I commend my group for their keeping with the schedule - it wasn't any of my flock that showed up late! I did have a couple of the sheep who thought we had left them behind, so they headed back to the bus before the rest of the group. Silly sheep.

Someone once said, "A leader who has no one following him is just a guy out for a walk." Yet sometimes what we are called to do is to lead from behind. Sometimes, the one who leads also needs to be one who is also following. We put our trust into our guide, who knew where we needed to be. He knew the people, the places and the best way to get a group through the sites. I did not. I needed to follow, so that I could lead others to follow too. Does that make sense?

One afternoon, near the end of our trip, we had a free afternoon. We decided to walk from our hotel to the Old City of Jerusalem - about a 10 minute walk from our hotel. We made it to the entry gate with no problem, but when we starting walking through the tight streets of the city with all the shops and vendors, we soon realized we were walking in circles. The spice store and the other store with meat hanging up in the window that we saw three times made that obvious. We were without our guide, and I appreciated his leadership so much more that day.

 



As a pastor, I am called to lead and to follow. If I am not listening to the leader, woe to the ones who follow.

Jesus Still Lead On.

1 Jesus, still lead on,
till our rest be won;
and, although the way be cheerless,
we will follow, calm and fearless;
guide us by your hand
to the promised land.

2 If the way be drear,
if the foe be near,
let no faithless fears o'ertake us,
let not faith and hope forsake us;
safely past the foe
to our home we go.

3 When we seek relief
from a long-felt grief,
when temptations come alluring
make us patient and enduring;
show us that bright shore
where we weep no more.

4 Jesus, still lead on,
till our rest be won;
heav'nly leader, still direct us,
still support, console, protect us,
till we safely stand
in the promised land.

(Text: Nicolaus L. von Zinzendorf, 1700-1760; tr. Jane L. Borthwick, 1813-1897, alt.)

Peace,
Pastor Charlie





Monday, November 10, 2014

The Epiphany Bus

This past Sunday, I shared this illustration in my sermon. It isn't plagiarism when you are the one who wrote it in the first place, is it? I thought I would share it for this week's post!

Not so many years ago, a group of people decided they wanted to buy a bus, a bus that would take them on a journey. While the destination was important, also important was the journey itself. You see, they desired to take a journey with Jesus, a journey they were invited to take when they were baptized. These people were looking for a bus to ride on, not just by themselves, but also their families, so they could raise their children on this bus and invite others to climb on as well. The bus was given the name Epiphany!

The journey began, a journey with Jesus. And a journey with Jesus is one that provides a life full of hope, a sense of purpose, a place of forgiveness and grace, and a promise that this journey never ends. Along the journey, the bus not only serves those on it, but is equipped to serve others along the way.

Yes, the journey began, and over the years, the bus has been modified, changed, overhauled and expanded to meet the needs of those who have jumped on for the ride, and to meet the needs of those the bus-riders are called serve. And there have been several drivers along the way.

A few years back, the bus came to the stop at a crossroads, and the question asked, “Which way should we go?” The road map was opened and reviewed and studied. That should make it easy, yes? But there was a disagreement about how one ought to interpret the map. Some in the group saw it one way, and others in the group saw it another way. In the end, there were some who did not agree with the direction the bus was going, and so they got off and climbed on other buses.

And so it came to pass that the Epiphany bus was in need of a driver. It took a while but finally, a new driver got on board. When the driver got on the bus, he heard over and over and over again, “We are so glad you are here.” While in the parking lot, we got on the bus, took some time to get to know our fellow bus-riders, and we checked out the bus.

Yes, the people are glad the driver is here, and the driver is glad to be called to be the driver. But the bus was not built to sit in the parking lot and look pretty. This bus is designed to move forward. And so we do move forward, always mindful of the map that directs us. Each week we hear and focus on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, reminding us of God’s great love for us, and telling us that when get off on the wrong path, God’s love and forgiveness gives us the grace to recalculate our route, and get back on track.

As the one called to be the driver of this bus, I want to emphasize that what I intend to do is that which I believe God is calling me to do. Through prayer and study of God’s word and through constant discussion with staff and leaders and members of the Epiphany bus - I will be faithful to this calling to lead us out of the parking lot and forward into God’s desired future for us. Loving Jesus by serving others, and raising our children to do the same.

I am excited about the future of Epiphany Lutheran Church.

  • We are a growing church, with 11 new families, and several baptisms this fall.
  • We are a church focused on outreach – The Pantry, Operation Prom Dress, Storybook, Interfaith Hospitality, Global Missions, Project Blessing, Operation Christmas Child, Adopt A Family, Drama and Puppet Ministry, plus support of Lutheran World Relief and various campaigns, including most recently the Malaria campaign, reaching our goal of over $2000.
  • We are a church that gathers to worship – Music Ministry, Praise Bands, Choirs, Quality Worship, Gospel-focused sermons
  • We are a church that welcomes the children – we have a fantastic Preschool and Daycare program that serves over 100 children each week – a great entrance into the church for children and families
  • We are a church that values our youth, and provides a Youth Ministry program that is theologically sound and outrageously fun
  • We are blessed that we have raised up leaders for the church, including Sean Barrett, who was ordained here earlier this year.
  • We have re-established the small groups ministries and hope to add more groups next year.
  • We are a church that has an incredible staff who love Jesus and are committed to serving others

We are a church that is moving forward.

  • We are dedicated to sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ in everything we do!
  • We have dedicated pastors serving our two campuses as one congregation, who model hospitality and welcome
  • We are dedicated to Family Ministry, and through a generous bequest, we will add a new Children’s Ministry position beginning in in 2015
  • We are dedicated to quality, authentic worship, and will add to that a new praise band leader starting tomorrow – John-Philip Fultz.
  • We will also be adding a second service - a traditional worship service - at the Austin campus in 2015.
  • We are dedicated to outreach, both locally and globally.
  • We are dedicated to education opportunities for all

You see, here on the bus, we are constantly hearing the message of Jesus Christ. And the good news is that God is with us on the bus! (You see, I am not really the driver). The more we know who Jesus is and spend time with Jesus, and sit at the feet of Jesus, and come to understand what God has done for us in Jesus Christ, then when the time comes for the bridegroom to return, we will be ready. For we have been on HIS bus, and know that the journey ahead is in God’s hands.

Oh yes, there will be work to do, but this is the work we were made for – serving God as you have been equipped. Know there is place on this bus for you. This is a bus where your family can grow together. And know this –there are seats on the bus available so that you can invite others to climb on board. This is a bus where all are welcomed.

It is time to move forward once again. I invite you to get on board, and enjoy the ride.

Peace,

Pastor Charlie

Monday, October 20, 2014

At Your Service

Last week at our weekly staff meeting, Tonya Johns led the devotions. She shared the following posting on a weblog called "The Better Mom." I share it with you for this week's posting.

I thought I’d outgrown that kind of pettiness.

But there I was on weary feet, in a sticky kitchen, mind swirling through the two hundred tasks I’d checked off my list and the dozens of to-do’s yet undone.

And self-pity whispered innocent little questions like, “What am I — the household servant?” and “Why are people not falling all over themselves in gratitude around here?”

Earlier in the day, my motivation had been good…

I expended extra energy to bless a friend.
I provide wholesome entertainment for the kids by dismantling our leaky pool and assembling a new one.
I took my special needs son on a long-anticipated excursion, weathering his seizure and nasty fall along the way.
I cooked dinner, gave a haircut, ironed church clothes, and…, and…, and…
But somewhere in the middle of great intentions, I allowed pettiness and immaturity to sneak into my heart.

Ummm, applause, anyone? A pat on the back?

Do any of you realize I’ve set my own important projects aside to serve you all?

God greeted me and my endearing attitude the next morning with John 13:3-5:

Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

Wait. What?

Jesus knew who he was and the importance of his calling SO he took the towel and basin and washed the disciples’ feet?

Shouldn’t it read “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power… so he asked one of the disciples to be the servant and wash everyone’s feet?”

If anyone had “more important” things to do, it was Jesus. His calling, who he was, everything about him should have disqualified him from the role of servant.

But no, he “did not come to be served, but to serve” (Mark 10:45).

Me? I’m just like the disciples, hoping to pawn the dirty jobs off on someone a little further down the ladder. And if I’m forced to do it because no one else will, you’d better believe I want a little recognition.

But Jesus is so breathtakingly different. Everything about him is astounding.

He is the Creator, the King of Kings, and yet he stooped to wash filthy, smelly feet.

He stooped under the whip… under the weight of the cross… under the burden of my sin.

He humbled himself.

He knew his identity in his Father, and knew that serving didn’t change his standing… serving pleased his Father.

Oh, what a challenge to my warped perspective.

Serving isn’t about doing something “important.” It’s not about glamor, recognition, novelty, or gratitude. It’s just following the example of the One who served me. It’s an opportunity to offer myself as a living sacrifice.

Serving isn’t beneath me; it’s a privilege.

And even though I’m the one who belongs in the role of foot-washer… who merits nothing… my dazzling Savior sees my service and promises to reward it. Every unrecognized act of love, every sacrifice, every gesture of humility is applauded by him.

Unbelieveable. And so empowering.

Thank you, Jesus, that you came to serve and redeem my sinful heart. Please enable me to serve my family, friends, and even the unlovely through your grace. Thank you for the privilege of being one of your household servants.

*Can you relate, friend? How do you fight the temptation to grumble as you serve your husband and family? Maybe you have a go-to verse? Let’s help each other out — share!! :-)

Blessings and grace to you as you continue serving,

Jennifer
(http://www.thebettermom.com/2014/05/30/)

--

We love Jesus by serving others. Seems to fit, doesn't it!

Peace,
Pastor Charlie

Monday, October 13, 2014

Senses

We are making final plans for our trip to Israel in a couple weeks (yes, the trip is still on). We are working on a packing list, coordinating connections and group information, and getting all the things done that need done before we leave. I am excited about the trip, and looking forward to gathering people in our group together for an experience of a lifetime. The blessing of coordinating a trip with a company that has done it for decades is that the details are spelled out ahead of time. The company tells us what we need to know, where we need to be, and what we need to bring. Our job is to show up, and hopefully do it on time!

So my responsibility for the trip as trip coordinator is to keep people on time and on task. I am the one to remind the group what time dinner is, what time to be on the bus, and where to put your bags. How will I know these things? Because I will be paying attention to our tour guide, and simply relaying the message to the group. I guess that is kind of like preaching, isn't it? The information I share from the pulpit is not my message, but God's message. I am just the one conveying the message that I have heard to others.

One of the things we will be doing on our trip as a group is to take time each day to check in with each other. Our group of 14 (made up of people from Epiphany, people from my previous church in Westerville, including my colleague there, family and friends) will be traveling with two other groups - about 20 others. I found it beneficial to take time at the end of each day to talk about what we had experienced - what were the highs and lows. I will also ask the question - "Where did you see the hand of God?" That is a question we can ask ourselves every day.

When traveling to some place so unique and different in many ways than where we come from, I want to encourage my group to consider what they experienced through their senses. What did you see? What did you hear? What did you touch? What did you taste? What did you smell?

I know there will be a lot to see, but that isn't the full experience. So it is with worship, yes? Worship is more than what we see and here - it is about touch and taste and smell. It is about experiencing God in all that we are. My role is to encourage us to be mindful of all of this.

I invite you today to be mindful of what you see, what you hear, what you taste, what you touch and what you smell. How is God present in those for you?

And don't stop there. Give thanks to God for the senses.

If you want to follow along on our trip to Israel, I will be posting daily on our trip. I am adding a couple entries a week on the blog in preparation for our trip, lifting up one site from each day we are traveling and giving some background information on it.

The link to that blog is: http://israelpilgrimage2014.blogspot.com/

Peace,
Pastor Charlie


Monday, October 6, 2014

Indentured Servant

In preparing last week's sermon, the terms "servant, slave and tenant" came up in the Gospel lesson. So I did a little research to find out more about these terms, and I came across some interesting information about my own family history, as well as my wife's family history. I did some research via Wikipedia to find out more about my ancestor, John Howland.

John Howland was a passenger on the Mayflower.  He signed the Mayflower Compact and helped found Plymouth Colony. He fell overboard but was rescued by the sailors. I am glad he got back on board, or I would not be here today! At about mid-voyage the ship entered equinoctial gales and under instructions of the ship's master, Governor Carver directed that no one without official authority would go on deck. The ship was in danger and Howland, carrying some emergency message from the governor to the ship's master, was washed overboard.

Howland signed the first written constitution for a representative government 'of the people, by the people, for the people'. After the passengers came ashore John Howland became assistant to the governor over the new independent state created under the compact. The act of Governor Carver in making a treaty with the great Indian Sachem Massosoit was an exercise of sovereign power and John Howland was the assistant.

Howland was an indentured servant and the executive assistant and personal secretary to Governor John Carver and accompanied the Separatists and other passengers when they left England to settle in Plymouth, Massachusetts. John Carver, the first governor of the Plymouth Colony, to whom he was indentured and his wife survived the winter of 1620-21. However, the following spring, on an unusually hot day in April, Governor Carver, according to William Bradford, came out of his cornfield feeling ill. He passed into a coma and "never spake more". His wife, Kathrine, died soon after her husband. The Carvers' only children died while they lived in Leiden and it is possible that Howland inherited their estate. After Carver's death, he became a freeman. In 1624 he was considered the head of what was once the Carver household when he was granted an acre for each member of the household.

My wife's family has a story of indentured servitude as well. George Hempleman was born in Germany in 1732. His father was Lord Hempleman, a rich man with a large estate. George fell in love with Margarette Duffy, a peasant girl, the daughter of one of the peasants who lived on one of the farms of Lord Hempleman. The two knew they would be forbidden to marry in Germany, so they decided to run away to America and begin a new life together. When they reached the ocean, they had no money for the trip to America. So they made arrangements with a company there to carry them to America by agreeing to allow the company to sell them as indentured servants when they arrived in America.

They landed in Richmond, Virginia in 1752. George was sold to a cotton planter in the Carolinas, and Margaret to a tobacco farmer near Richmond. The two did not know if they would ever see each other again, but they planned that they would. The agreement was that they would meet each other after their four years of servitude at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Richmond. This church later became famous for Patrick Henry’s speech delivered there – “Give me liberty or give me death.”
George’s time of servitude was difficult, and his health suffered because of it. Margarette was more fortunate, and she fared better over the years. The family historian, George Whitely writes of their reunion:

Neither had heard from each other until their time of servitude had expired, but true to their promise, each started for Richmond and the little old church. Margarette Duffy being only a short distance from Richmond reached there first, and went directly to the church, attending every service regularly, hoping soon to see her lover return. Finally one cold, crispy morning as she sat watching ever passer through the door, she saw a stout, young German man coming through the door, pause for a moment, look around, seemingly looking for someone that he did not see, then he sat down, and draw from his hands a pair of white mittens, and laid them across his knees; immediately Margarette Duffy recognized those mittens as the ones she had knit in Germany and gave to her lover, George Hempleman. Time had wrought such changes in these folks that it was no wonder neither knew the other, but at the close of the service, those two wanderers were reunited. ("History of the Hempleman Family")

The two were married in that very church soon after their reunion. A side-note – the family settled near the Little Miami River a few miles west of South Charlestown, Ohio in the 1800s.

So how did indentured servitude work? Indentured servitude was a labor system whereby young people paid for their passage to the New World by working for an employer for a certain number of years. It was widely employed in the 18th century in the British colonies in North America and elsewhere. It was especially used as a way for poor youth in Britain and the German states to get passage to the American colonies. They would work for a fixed number of years, then be free to work on their own. The employer purchased the indenture from the sea captain who brought the youths over; he did so because he needed labor. Some worked as farmers or helpers for farm wives, some were apprenticed to craftsmen. Both sides were legally obligated to meet the terms, which were enforced by local American courts. Runaways were sought out and returned. About half of the white immigrants to the American colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries were indentured.

While slavery and human trafficking carry the strong negative images and connotations, as they rightfully should, there is more to being a servant than just those images. God calls us to a life of servitude, to place our trust in God and God's care. And we are more than just servants of God, we are also called God's beloved, and through the waters of baptism, we receive the title of Child of God. And as God's children, inheritors of all of the blessings of God - love, forgiveness, peace and life.

God is good.
All the time!

Peace,
Pastor Charlie





Monday, September 29, 2014

One Hundred And Counting

This week marks my two year anniversary here at Epiphany Lutheran Church. Someone once told me as a pastor in your first year at a church, you can't do anything wrong and the second year you can't do anything right. It is in the third year that ministry moves forward. I don't know how true this adage may be, but I am ready to move forward in ministry in this wonderful congregation.

When I came two years ago, interim pastor Pete Rudowski shared with me that he had started a blog to keep the communication lines open with the congregation and community. I found his blog insightful and helpful in the call process to get a pulse of the congregation and his leadership. When I arrived, I was asked if I wanted to continue to offer a blog. "Sure. Why not!" I thought I would give it a try and see how it would go. Well, today I am writing blog #100.

When I started, I didn't know what I was doing, or what I was supposed to do. Two years later, I am still not sure what I am doing or what I am supposed to do, but I do it. My focus is to share where I have seen God active and alive in my life the past week. It has become a blessed discipline.

I appreciate the comments I receive from people who read the blog regularly. I visited one member who shared with me her appreciation for the blog because her hearing is poor and sermons are hard for her to hear, but the blog she can read. The blog has also been an opportunity for people to share their stories with me. I am so thankful for the many stories people have shared with me about how God is active in their lives.

Maybe we should all write blogs! Maybe taking the time each week, or even each day to answer the question, "Where did you see the hand of God today?" It is a simple exercise, really. And it is a great springboard for prayer. Where did you see God? Thank God for that! Let me give you an example or two. This weekend I saw the hand of God as Pastor Jay stood before the congregation and was officially installed as one of our pastors. The past nine months of discerning God's future for Epiphany Lutheran Church, the formulation of a call committee, the call process and the call to a candidate all came together this weekend. God's fingerprints are all over this, and it is exciting to see. Dear God, thank you for your guidance in bringing Pastor Jay Shailer to Epiphany. AMEN!

Yesterday afternoon, we blessed the pets of many church members and friends. Many dogs, a few cats, and a bird. I even received a thank you note from one of the dogs this morning (I think his owner may have helped). Thank you God for our pets!

This morning, on the way into work, I saw the most beautiful cloud shimmering in the early morning sun. The lingering darkness to the west caused its shadow to be a deep purple. On the eastern side of the cloud, the rising sun sent its rays to brighten the cloud in shimmering white. And in the middle of the cloud, rising to the heavens, a red band of light where the colors met. My first thought was "Can I get a picture of it?" My second thought was to just enjoy it, and give thanks to God for it. Thank you God for your beautiful creation.

100 and counting. Thanks for reading.

Peace,

Pastor Charlie





Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Going Back To Where It All Began

Last Sunday, my wife and children and I went back to the church where I began my pastoral ministry - St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Massillon, Ohio. The church has been celebrating its 150 years of ministry over the past year, inviting back pastors and interns who have served there. I was the 11th of 12 guest preachers on the docket for the year, serving as the warm-up act for the bishop of their synod who is preaching next month. So many memories and emotions flooded through me as I prepared for the trip there, and so many more during our time there on Sunday.

It was great to go back to the place I was called to serve so many years ago. I was called to St. Paul's right out of seminary in June of 1990 as their Associate Pastor, focusing much of my time and energy on youth ministry. What a blessing it was to see some of those kids that were in my confirmation classes and youth group at worship this past weekend. Many of them have kids of their own that they are now raising in the Christian faith.

I started off my sermon by telling them in preparation for coming back to preach, I looked through some of my old sermons that I preached some 20 years ago, and I told them I had only one thing I wanted to say to them - I am sorry! Some of those sermons were not very good! But grace abounds, and over time, I guess it isn't the bad ones that are remembered. Or maybe they were just being nice and not mentioning those.

The memories came flooding in. I remembered baptisms, funerals and weddings, Christmas programs and youth events. I remembered Easter egg hunts and making hardtack candy in the basement kitchen. I remembered youth group meetings and Sunday school classes, confirmation classes and camp retreats, youth gatherings and Bible studies. So many memories from just five and a half years of ministry there.

 What struck me so vividly this past weekend is the influence we have on people that can and will last for years to come. I realized first of all the influence those years had on my ministry. It was at this congregation that I was given an opportunity to serve and try new things, and preach some sermons that were less than stellar, but also some that people still remembered 20 years later (in a positive way!). It was at this congregation my wife and children were nurtured and grew. It was at this congregation that I came to a clearer understanding of what it means to be a pastor. This congregation has had a great influence on me.

I also came to see the influence our ministry can have on others. LET ME STATE HERE CLEARLY - it is not all about ME! As a pastor, I am called to be the vessel by which the Word of God is proclaimed and the Sacraments administered. This is most certainly true. My call is to point to Jesus Christ, and to proclaim Christ crucified and risen. That being said, I was deeply moved by the words of thanks and appreciation from the parents and kids I served. Through social media, especially Facebook, I have been able to keep in touch with some of the members of the church, especially the youth (former youth, I should say), and I am so thankful to see how many of these continue on in their faith journey.

For me, this weekend affirmed how vitally important it is to give our children the encouragement and tools for growing in the faith. At the baptismal font, we make promises to raise our children to grow in faith and in relationship with God and others. What a daunting responsibility. What a great opportunity. We are to be the ones who nurture and teach and encourage our children (God's children) in their walk with Jesus Christ.

St. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, who were arguing over which leader they should follow. This was causing divisions in the church. The people took up sides - some claimed to be followers of Paul and some followers of Apollos, who was a leader from Alexandria that was also a leader of the church in Paul's day. So Paul shared these words with the church:
...When one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human?
What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.  The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.
According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 3:4-11)

We have been given good news, and good news MUST be shared. Don't think your words or actions are in vain. We plant. We water. God WILL provide the growth. Thank God for the opportunity to work in His vineyard!

Some pictures from our trip back to Massillon.




What a Pulpit - I love preaching up there!



Son Andrew, Wife Lisa, Son-In-Law Brad, Daughter Bethany and Me


Ben is one of the "kids" I confirmed some 20 years ago!



Peace,
Pastor Charlie







Monday, September 15, 2014

In The Band

We needed another guitar player for this Sunday's service. There is a guitar in the corner of my office that has been gathering dust for the past few months. I can play guitar - not with the skill and expertise of many of our Praise Band members, to say the least. But I can play some chords and keep the rhythm for the most part. I was planning to be at the services anyway - why not? 

So I dusted off the guitar and tuned it up. I printed out the music and started practicing. I realized it had been a while - the fingers didn't move as easily as they had years ago, and the calluses on my fingers had long since softened. But I kept at it, and on Sunday, I got to play in the band. I admit, I missed a few chords, got lost more than once, and the chords I played were not always right, but as I often say, "Grace Abounds!" No, it was not a stellar event, and no one rushed the stage or asked for my autograph afterwards (not like that was going to happen anyway!). But it was good to be a part of the band. Together we made music as an offering to God, and led the congregation in worship. 

We all have gifts we can offer - everyone of us. These are gifts from God. We give thanks to God for what God has done for us by using these gifts to share the message of God's great love and forgiveness with others. The American writer - Henry David Thoreau, spoke about the responsibility that comes with our having received talents and abilities from God. He retold today's parable to get at this point:

Once there was a king who had three sons, each with a special talent. The first had a talent for growing fruit. The second for raising sheep. And the third for playing the violin. Once, the king had to go overseas on important business. Before departing he called his three sons together and told them he was depending on them to keep the people contented in his absence. Now for a while things went well. But then came the winter, a bitter and cruel winter it was. There was an acute shortage of firewood. Thus the first son was faced with a very difficult decision. Should he allow the people to cut down some of his beloved fruit trees for firewood? When he saw the people shivering with cold, he finally allowed them to do so.

The second son was also faced with a difficult decision. Food became very scarce. Should he allow the people to kill some of his beloved sheep for food? When he saw the children crying for hunger, his heart went out to them and he allowed them to kill some of the sheep.. Thus the people had firewood for their fires, and food for their tables.

Nevertheless the harsh winter continued to oppress them. Their spirits began to sag, and there was no one to cheer them up. They turned to the fiddler, but he refused to play for them. In the end things got so bad that in desperation many of them emigrated.

Then one day the king arrived back home. He was terribly sad to find that many of his people had left his kingdom. He called in his three sons to give an account of what had gone wrong. The first said, "Father, I hope you won't be mad at me, but the winter was very cold and so I allowed the people to cut down some of the fruit trees for firewood." And the second son said, "Father, I hope you won't be mad with me because when food got scarce I allowed the people to kill some of my sheep." On hearing this, far from being angry, the father embraced his two sons, and told them that he was proud of them. Then the third son came forward carrying his fiddle with him.

"Father", he said, "I refused to play because you weren't here to enjoy the music." "Well then", said the king, "play me a tune now because my heart is full of sorrow." The son raised the violin and bow, but found that his fingers had gone stiff from lack of exercise. No matter how hard he tried, he could not get them to move. Then the father said, "You could have cheered up the people with your music, but you refused. If the kingdom is half-empty, the fault is yours. But now you can no longer play. That will be your punishment." (Henry David Thoreau)

I shared this story in a sermon at my previous church. I know at least one person was listening to me. She stopped on the way out of church and said to me, "I used to play the violin when I was in college, but I haven't played since. The story you shared in your sermon was like God speaking to me, that I need to get out my violin and play for church. Do you think I can play with the praise band?" Yes, yes you can! And she did. And she still does. And what a blessing that was and is to the congregation, and to God! Because she broke out the violin again, this inspired her daughter to take up the violin as well.

I have had other people hear the invitation to use their gifts for the church to give thanks and praise to God. The junior high girl who asked if she could dance in church. While it had never been done before in that church, we made the arrangements and it happened. And what a beautiful dance it was. Then there was the third grader in another church I served who had been taking guitar lessons, and when he heard me mention using your gifts for the church (another person listening to the sermon!), he asked his Mom and Dad if he could play in our praise band. We had to make arrangements for rehearsals with him so it wasn't past his bed time, but we made it work. He was better than most of us, and played a few solo parts in our songs. The local newspaper even ran an article on him!

I share these stories with you to encourage you to consider what you can give back to God in praise and thanksgiving. We do this in response to what God has first given us - ourselves, our time and our possessions - all signs of God's gracious love. What about you? Want to join the band, or the choir, or handbells, or the puppets or the drama team or the sound tech team or...? (I could go on and on.) We would love to have you be a part of the team As one theologian put it, find what brings you the greatest joy, and seek to use it to address the world's greatest need. I believe as a church, we are called to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the message the world needs to hear. May we work together, using our gifts to share the message.

Peace,

Pastor Charlie

Monday, September 8, 2014

Tears

I was moved to tears twice this past week. I am not one who cries often, but there are things that move me to tears, and it happens when I least expect it and sometimes it catches me off-guard. While there was plenty of reason for tears watching football games on Saturday, that was not the cause of my unexpected eye moisture. There were other events, including Pastor Jay Shailer's ordination (a wonderful, moving service) and time with family and friends, and a great kick-off to our youth events for the year, but these didn't move me to tears. No. Instead it was a song and a child.

Last Wednesday, my wife and I traveled down to Cincinnati with friends to see The Piano Guys in concert. I have mentioned this group in previous blogs. The group consists of a piano player and a cellist who play both classic and contemporary music, often blending the two together with precision and beauty. As a former cellist (I played from 4th grade through high school, and a little in college) I have always loved cello music. I have been a fan of cellists from Pablo Casals and Yo Yo Ma to the cellist in the 70's band Electric Light Orchestra. It was a couple years ago someone sent me a video of Piano Guys and I was hooked.

The concert was just the two guys on stage with a grand piano and three cellos which were used at different times for differing sounds. The cellist also had foot pedals that provided different sounds from his instruments, and a foot drum to boot. The different cellos were a traditional cello, a carbon cello, and an electric cello that looked like a piece of black metal bent to look like the outside border of a cello. The group has made dozens of videos, and incorporated several of them into the show as well.

I had a flashback during the concert. I remembered learning to play the cello, with pieces of tape on the neck of the cello to teach me where my fingers were supposed to be. That was the first step. Later as I advanced to more difficult music, it was time to learn different positions along the fingerboard to play higher notes and different sounds. This is a talent I never felt I mastered. I would try to get close, then try to listen to see if I needed to adjust my fingering to make the note sound better. A good vibrato would help as well - wiggle around the note til you find it!

What amazed me more than anything else was the precision and clarity of the music, especially from the cellist. His ability to play that instrument, moving along the fingerboard with ease and confidence gave me the pleasure of hearing beautiful sounds I have never heard before. And when they played the song "Bring Him Home" from Les Miserables in honor of all who serve in the military and their families, the tears came. Here is a video of the Piano Guys. I can assure you, the beauty of the song on this video was just as lovely in person as it is here.



There are many things that show us the handiwork of God. Music is one of them, is it not? Thank you God for music!

The second occasion for the tears to flow was at the baptismal font to celebrate and welcome Ella Christine into the Body of Christ - the family of God. I was doing fine until I took Ella into my arms to share God's peace with her, and introduce her to the congregation. In my arms I was holding a blessing of God, whose life was given as a gift from God. And at the font, the promises of God were given to her. What a blessing it is to be the one who shares this message and is the one who administers the sacrament.

There are many things that show us the handiwork of God. The beauty and joy of new life is one of them, is it not? Thank you God for life.

I learned from my Dad that tears are not something of which we should be ashamed. It is a part of who God made us to be. Than you God for tears.

Peace,

Pastor Charlie

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Let's Call It Worship

My first introduction into the Lutheran church was in college. Up to that time, I had been an active member of a Congregational church with my family back home in Royal Oak, Michigan. When I went away to Central Michigan University, there were no Congregational churches near campus. So my high school friend invited me to go to church with him. Chip was a life-long Lutheran, and had received a letter from the pastor at the Lutheran chapel on campus inviting him to worship. The first Sunday, even before classes started, we attended the 11 a.m. service (talk about catering to college students!). What caught my attention that first day in this new denomination was the liturgy and flow of the service. The pastor knew there had to be many like me in the pews not familiar with the service and flow, so he took time to explain a different part of the service each week. Being a person who likes structure, I was sold!

After a few weeks of attending this church, Chip and I were invited to a hayride and party with the New Song Folk Group. This was a student-led group that led worship once a month or so at the chapel, as well as travel to churches around the state of Michigan about once a month to lead worship. We decided to give it a try. We were soon heavily involved in the group, and to this day, we have several friends from that group. In fact, it was in this group that I met my wife! But that is another story for another blog.

In this folk group, we used a couple of different liturgies, including the Chicago Folk Service and others that were created by members of the group. I remember one of the settings used song tunes from Peter, Paul and Mary. We had guitars and piano and an occasional flute or violin. We also would, from time to time, lead a "Clown Service." That is ALSO another story for another blog. Yes, back in 1981, we were "cutting edge" to say the least! Yet the thing that drew me into the Lutheran church was still there - the flow and the structure.

I remember back in my previous church when we started the conversation of adding an alternative service to our two traditional offerings. I invited any and all who wished to be a part of the conversation to come to a jam session and bring their music and instruments. Several showed up, including a teenage member of the church and his two friends with their electric guitars and drums and speakers - when they played, the stained glass windows shook! On the other side of the circle was June, the retired organist with her auto-harp. My comment? Can we find something in between? Over time, we did.

We find ourselves in the church still seeking and trying different ways of offering worship. Technology, worship slides and projection, more instruments and recorded tracks continue to come along and evolve. In some churches, it is quite a production, with fog machines, bright lights and special effects. For other churches, it may be a couple of guitars and a singer. We also are blessed with a rich history of music and hymnody, liturgy and song in the Lutheran church. We are blessed to be able to offer a variety of worship styles.

So what do we call it? Do we call the hymns and organ service "Traditional Worship" and the guitar, pianos and drum service "Contemporary Worship?" What happens when the songs we sing in the contemporary service are older than some of the hymns we sing in the traditional worship? Should it be called "formal" and "casual?" Does that mean there is a dress code for one and not the other? How about calling the guitar, piano, drum service a Praise service? Well, that is all well and good, but we are told in Ecclesiastes that there is a time to mourn and a time to dance. So do we cancel the praise worship on those days of mourning?

Here's my thought: let's just call it worship. Maybe we can designate it by the time of the service, or the instruments used, or the location it is being held (outdoor worship this summer was not a good title, was it? So many rain days.) No matter the title, it is still worship. In the newsletter article for this week, I share my vision for the Praise/Contemporary/Casual worship service at Epiphany. What I believe is important is the distinct flow and structure to worship, no matter the style or the place.

Worship is about coming into the presence of God, with the people of God. We gather, confessing our sins, and are assured of God's forgiveness. We hear the Word of God in the Scriptures and the sermon and in the words of the music we sing. We sing together as the people of God as an offering to God (I remember the story of a parishioner telling the pastor that he didn't care for one of the hymns for that Sunday. The pastor said, "That's alright. We weren't singing it for you!"). We confess together as the body of Christ gathered in one place our faith in the words of the Creed. We offer our prayers to God, and listen for God's will to be spoken to us. In response to God's great gifts for us, we offer these gifts back to God for God's service. And then we receive the greatest gift of all - the gift of God himself in the meal - given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of your sins. Fed and nourished, we are sent out to face the week to come, ready to serve as we have been so equipped. That is what worship is all about. And what we strive to do is to offer God our very best.

So let's call it worship. One service may draw you in more than another, and that is okay. What a blessing it is that we can offer a variety, so that more people may be drawn to be a part of the community. May we give to God our worship and praise. May our worship be a sweet, sweet sound unto His ear!

Peace,
Pastor Charlie

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Creatures of Habit

So how did your day begin? I would venture a guess to say it was probably pretty similar to how yesterday began, and the day before that, and the day before that, and the day...  We are creatures of habit. After waking up and taking care of business, so to speak, it's time to let the dog out of her crate, walk with her to the back door so she can do HER business. Then she comes inside and stretches - it looks like she is bowing down to worship the dish where her food will soon be. I put half of her breakfast into the bowl and place it on the floor. While she eats that, I get my orange juice and granola bar. Then I give the dog the second half of her food. And so it goes. Really, it doesn't get any more exciting as the morning goes on, so I will stop the illustration here.

We are creatures of habit. We often park in the same space at work, have a routine of what to do when we enter the office, have a set time and place for breaks and meals. We listen to the same programs, read the same articles, blogs or newspapers, watch the same shows. We get into a routine and we like to follow it. I know there are many parents who are excited to have their kids back in school for MANY reasons, but often mentioned (and I remember it was true in our house as well when the kids were younger) is that it will be good to get back into a routine.

Of course, this happens in church, too. You all have assigned seats, and you know it. Now I know there are some radicals out there who like to sit in different places each week, but isn't that a routine as well? I will tell you I appreciate that you have your assigned seats, because the better I get to know you, the easier it is to take attendance! When I preach a sermon five times on a weekend, I have it down pretty well, so I can take time to look at you, while you are looking at me, or reading the bulletin, or checking for cracks in the eyelids. In fact, I can tell when someone comes into church before a service and I see that someone else is already in their spot - I linger to see what they are going to do. Hopefully we are gracious and welcoming. And as a side note, if that ever happens, there are some GREAT seats up front available - you can see what's going on, and you will be guaranteed to be first in line for communion!

I remember from my high school psychology class that habits are important for us to form for they help us in function each day without the necessity of thinking about every detail and decision. Since we have a habit or routine, those decisions are already made for us. We can focus on the other details, and find comfort in the routine.

As we gear up for another season of football, we will be following routines and habits as fans cheering on our teams. There may be routines you follow on game day - pulling out your Buckeye gear for the day, preparing to watch the game in your favorite seat with your favorite food. For many of us there is a routine. And if you were to attend a game, you would find that there are routines you are encouraged to follow. When to stand, when to take off your hat, when to spell O-H-I-O with your arms, and the liturgy of the fans. You know it - when you hear, "O-H" please respond "I-O."  In Massillon, Ohio where I first served at St. Paul Lutheran, the High School Massillon Tigers are a big thing. And when you hear "T-I-G" the correct response is "E-R-S." There is a routine. We expect it, and we appreciate it. And when someone new arrives, we encourage them to follow along.

And so it is with the church. We have a set pattern, a flow, a routine. At Epiphany Lutheran Church, it is the simple pattern of Gathering, Word, Meal and Sending. This pattern is the same no matter which service you attend. We gather in the name of God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We confess our sins, and we celebrate our reconciliation with God and others. We hear the Word of God in scripture and song and sermon. We offer thanks to God in response to this good news, and receive God's offering to us in the meal - the body and blood of Jesus in, with and under the bread and wine. We sing praises to God and are sent out serve the Lord. I believe this habit and routine is important, for it allows us to focus on the message. In our familiar seat, with a familiar flow, our hearts and minds can focus on God.

Instead of kicking the habit, embrace it. There is peace and comfort in the routine. What are some habits you might consider adding to your routine to let God speak to you each day?

Peace,

Pastor Charlie

Monday, August 18, 2014

Lessons from the Back of the Canoe

Last week, my wife and I took a day off together and went canoeing on the Little Miami River. Our wedding anniversary was earlier in the month, but didn't have time to spend together that day, so we made plans for this day trip and celebrated a couple weeks late. It was a beautiful day, and even though the river is a bit low, and we had a couple of times we did get stuck and needed to get out and portage a bit, we had a great time together. We enjoy canoeing together, and plan to go again in the future.

Traveling down the river, I thought that it might be a good exercise for couples to get into a canoe and head down a river as part of their pre-marriage counseling. What a great opportunity to see how well you are going to work together, how well you listen to each other, and how well you deal with the rocks and rapids along the way. (I also thought a good pre-marriage exercise would be to have the couple wall-paper a room together. If the two come out still talking to each other, then we proceed with the wedding!)

Here are some lessons I have learned from the back of the canoe that apply to married life. I imagine you may have more - I would love for you to share them with me.

  • We are both in the same boat. Genesis and the Gospels are where we find the words that, in marriage, two become one. While we are still individuals who make up this new union, we are together in the same boat.
  • Paddling is encouraged! It is one thing to get in the boat. It is another to do the work of paddling. Using your paddle provides an opportunity to move forward, and to guide the boat along the river and away from obstacles.
  • Same boat, but different roles. Depending on where you sit in the canoe, your role is different. The front of the boat is the person who should be on the lookout for obstacles and which direction might be best to head for smooth sailing. The person in the back of the canoe is the one who steers. This one has the ability to turn the canoe and hopefully head it in the right direction
  • These two roles should not be attempted from the opposite location! If you have ever been in a canoe with a director in the back, or the person in front attempting to steer, it is not pretty.
  • Listening is strongly encouraged. The person in front needs to listen to the person in back if he or she needs the front person to paddle on one side, or stop paddling on the other side. The person in back needs to hear about dangers and obstacles along the way. 
  • Trust is vitally important. Trusting your partner to do their role is the only way you will make it on the river.
  • You can change positions in the boat! It might be good to head to shore to do this, but the roles are interchangeable. It might be that one is better at one role than another, but that doesn't mean it always has to be that way.
  • Sometimes you still run into the rocks. No matter the warnings, the paddling, the use of that paddle as a rudder, the work and effort put into it, sometimes you still hit rocks or a branch. And sometimes you don't see the rocks until you hit them. How you respond to those times might be more telling than all others!
  • You might tip. It happens. We get wet, and we end up in the water. But the boat is still there, and you can get back in. That's forgiveness. Repentance is learning from that event, and working to make sure it doesn't happen again. (Now on the Little Miami River, we didn't tip over. It would have taken a lot of effort for that to happen. But on other rivers, we have found ourselves in the water.)
  • Calm waters and white water are a part of the journey. There is time for calm and peace, and there are always going to be rough places along the way. Instead of avoiding them, it is best to work through them together.
  • It is all a journey. And what a wonderful journey it is. And how wonderful it is to spend the journey together. 
30 years in the boat together, and I give thanks to God for my co-captain and paddling partner. I am thankful for the journey.

Some pictures from our canoeing trip last year.










Peace,
Pastor Charlie






Monday, August 11, 2014

Alive and Well

A friend of mine posted an article by Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber on Facebook last week. Below, I have copied that post for this week's blog. I echo her call to stop talking about the dying church. Our focus is to be on the Savior who is alive and well! That is what we are called to proclaim. That is what it means to be the church.

Here is the post:

"Stop Saying the Church is Dying (a sermon for the Rocky Mountain Synod Assembly)" by Nadia Bolz-Weber.

A week ago I was fortunate enough to be standing near a cliff in Cappadocia, Turkey taking in the view of hundreds of caves carved from volcanic rock in an alien looking valley. My friend Sara asked what I was thinking about. When I confessed that I was worrying about preaching at my Synod’s assembly next week, Sara didn’t hesitate to remind me sarcastically,  “Oh, you mean that little text on how Jesus tells us not to worry?”

So, yeah, nothing like worrying about preaching a sermon on how Jesus says we should not worry to make ya feel like a schmuck.

As today got closer and closer I would tell myself  “don’t worry, just come up with a plan”. I’d read the text, call my preacher friends, pray, repeat. And I am here to say that I did not, by worrying, add a single sentence to my sermon. Not one.

But I did become curious about what worry really is. And I began to realize that, on some level, worry is nothing more than fear.  Fear that either I will not get something I want or fear that something I have will be taken away.  And both of those fears seem to be centered on finitude. The fact that nothing lasts forever.  That everything comes to an end. And Jesus says who by worrying can escape this reality? But also, worry is kind of all about scarcity…. because I don’t know about you, but I have never once worried that I would have more money than I need next month.  I have never once worried that I might be happy and healthy and live a long life.

And we come by this fear honestly in a society in which a perceived state of scarcity is what drives the free market economy.  But I think Jesus points here to a bigger reality than that.  A reality he calls the kingdom of God. A reality he always seems to describe as being like things around us that are common, and small and insignificant and unimpressive.

Which is as good a time as any to talk about the Lutheran church. It’s no news to anyone here that there is a lot of hand-wringing these days about the longevity of the Lutheran church.  And yeah – to be sure, we used to be bigger, more significant and more impressive.  Sure, we used to own more property, have more members, bring in more cash and leverage more power than we do today. It’s hard to argue with numbers. But the thing is, buildings,  numbers, money, power – and other aspects of worldly success may indeed be signs of A kingdom, but brothers and sisters, they are not necessarily signs of THE Kingdom.. I mean, were this denomination of ours a company, then for sure, investors would be scurrying for cover. But, people of God, maybe now is the time for us to take a hard look at the ways in which the church has tended to judge our success on a set of values that perhaps we had no business buying into in the first place.  Namely our society’s free-market corporate American values of what success looks like.

If that is the case, then I repeat – we came by it honestly. Swept up as we were into having banked so much cultural currency in America.  But those days have gone.  They’ve gone.

And so, what are we left with if we are no longer the Lutheran church of 1964?

We in the year of our Lord 2014 have moved our bishop’s office from a fancy office space surrounded by PR firms and media companies in the seat of Denver’s power grid and into a slightly run-down church building in an unimpressive part of town. To some this may a sign that the “church is dying” but to others it is a sign that the church is living. Perhaps our definition of success can shift more toward what is foolishness to the world and yet life to those in Christ. Buildings and budgets and social currency will fall away. But what stands is the kingdom of God. Which Jesus tells us is the Father’s good pleasure to give to us.

Society will still have the Fortune 500 for profits, and non profits for service and day care centers for children and the ELKS Club for socializing and Starbucks for overpriced coffee and many other things we may not ever be. But we should never judge ourselves as the church according to these things because you know what the culture around us will NEVER do? Preach the Gospel, administer the sacraments and proclaim forgiveness of sins. You know why? That’s OUR job.  That’s our main job and while we are free as the church, to participate in any number of other activities in the world that seem bigger and more impressive let’s remember:  We are those who have been, and continue to be, entrusted with nothing less than the Gospel.  And what I’m about to say is a shamelessly prideful (and being shamelessly prideful is, I have been told, “not Lutheran”) but in a world where people are constantly being fed spoonfuls of nonsense and told it is Jesus …we have a better Gospel.

So given what we’ve been entrusted with, we cannot be distracted any longer by a corporate American Empire version of success.

So let me be the first to say, if in your congregation, regardless of size, prestige or property, if the Word is preached and the Eucharist shared and water poured and forgiveness of sins received, then congratulations, your congregation is a success. So when the numbers crunchers and church consultants say the church is dying…may I suggest that we only say this when we forget what the definition of church is.

And when we forgot whose the church is.

Because as the prophet Isaiah said, the Word will do that for which God purposes it and people, regardless of what happens to institutions, and trends and property and budgets…even when the president of the United States stops inviting us to the White House Prayer breakfast – Even if there is never any such things as a White House Prayer breakfast and old church building are more often condos than centers for worship, God will be praised.  God will continue to send for the Word which God has always sent forth.  So let us step back from the worry of how the church is dying, because long after we have gone, the WORD will remain.  Long after the ELCA is gone, even when my beloved House for All Sinners and Saints is gone, the church will not be dead because people will continue to gather in the name of the Triune God, hold up bread, say it is Jesus and that it is for the forgiveness of sins. Just as we will do here tonight so will it forever be done until the time in which we gather around the throne of the Lamb.

But let’s remember this, people of the Rock Mountain Synod, that the Gospel is not just entrusted to you for you to proclaim, it is, to be sure, also intended for you to hear. So since we Christians are a forgetful people – and need to be reminded of that for which the church was even created in the first place – so…

People of God, do not worry because we have this Word-

That there is a God who created us and all that is, this same God spoke through prophets and poets, claimed a people to be God’s own and freed them from the shackles of slavery. This same God led those people through the wilderness to a land of milk and honey, and told them to always welcome the stranger and protect the foreigner so that they could remember where they came from and what God had done for them. Then in the fullness of time, and to draw ALL people to himself, God came and broke our hearts like only a baby could do and made God’s home in the womb of a fierce young woman as though God was saying, from now on this is how I want to be known. And as Jesus, God the Son kissed lepers and befriended prostitutes and baffled authority. Jesus ate with all the wrong people and on the night before he died, he gathered with his faltering friends for a meal that tasted of freedom. He held up bread and told us to do the same thing and he promised us so much: that he would be with us, that forgiveness is real, that we are God’s, that people matter and that death is done for and that after a tough resurrection, grilled fish makes an awesome breakfast.

Which is to say, God chose to enter the finitude we fear– enter into the uncertainty and danger of mortal human existence in order to point to something bigger.  Bigger than what is fleeting and finite.  In the incarnation God has given us nothing less than a small measure of eternity through the birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ.  And made us an Easter people – not people who vapidly pretend that everything’s ok – but people who live in the Christ reality of death and resurrection. People who live in the reality of a God who brings live things out of dead things.

I say this as someone who a week ago was hiking in those desolate valleys of Cappadocia, a land that for 1,000 years was populated with Christians and now is not. That is to say, we are not the first group of Christians to worry about the decline of Christianity.

Sara and I would climb up into caves and look around at ceilings filled with Byzantine Christian iconography. A thousand years of Christianity and now only ruins left. Yes, the big, impressive, successful Byzantine Empire fell, and yet the church of Jesus Christ did not die, if it had, how could 2 middle aged women stand in old cave church 600 years later and sing Christos Aneste? Christ is risen. A song that no matter what, will continue to be sung, because worry not, the tomb is empty, and God will be praised. Amen.

Peace,
Pastor Charlie