Remember You Are Dust

Lent is finally here - kind of late, don't you think? A little trivia for you: Ash Wednesday is set by the date of Easter which is forty days after Ash Wednesday, not counting Sundays. Easter is set by the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. Share that bit of knowledge with your friends and you will really impress them!

In preparation for our Lenten journey, I share with you a sermon from last year by Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber.

Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. (Joel 2:12)

Today we begin a 40-day period of wilderness wandering. Forty days because that’s how long Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. Even those in our society who have never really observed Lent know that it’s the time of year when us pious people suffer and give things up so God will be impressed with us. So that passage [above] from the prophet Joel – "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning"- seems to set things up pretty well. Fasting. Weeping. Mourning. For those of us who act like Lent is a competitive sport, this text from Joel is a pretty awesome starting place.

But this week, I began to wonder why God says to return to God with all of our heart rather than return to God when we get our crap together. I mean, in Lent we tend to really focus on our behavior, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but if God says return to me with all your heart, I think that maybe the implication is that we give our hearts to a whole lot of things that are not God. So if we think Lent is about giving things up so we can impress God, maybe we should ask ourselves: which is harder – the fasting part or the returning to God with all our heart part?

Because I don’t think that my problem is that I eat too much sugar or I spend too much time on Facebook. My problem - and maybe yours, too - is that I sort of piece my heart out to things that cannot love me back. Don’t we piece our hearts out to the unrequited love of so many false promises and self-indulgences, and doesn't the toxicity of all of it all seem to preserve those little pieces of our heart like formaldehyde.

I mean, by the time I even get to the table of God’s grace, I’ve made lovers of so many things and ideas and hopes and doubts – I’ve given myself to them so completely that there’s so little left. So little to be fed by God’s grace, since my starving little heart is doled out in so many pieces trying to get it’s own needs met.

And so, thank God once a year we gather to speak the truth of how we piece out our hearts, how we sin and fall short, how we rely on every single other thing to love us – everything but God. How we love each other and are loved by each other so poorly with the small leftover bits of our hearts: After we've given most of them, and time to career advancement, and saving the world, and saving for our future, and destroying gems, and buying fake cows on Facebook, and the dull pain of [addictions] and sugar binges, and CrossFit and the next spiritual practice or restricted diet that promises to make us whole. It’s not our time that’s so wasted with all of it…I think it’s something so much more valuable… I think it’s our hearts.

So together again this Ash Wednesday, with the faithful all across the world, we gather all the pieces of our broken selves - all the broken who deserve a break today - pieces of our starving little hearts. And we come again here to be told, of all things, that we are dust and to dust we shall return. The very thing we are trying to pretend is not true. Because I think we give our hearts away because we’re afraid of the limits of our self-hood. So we create endless ways to either avoid our self-hood or expand our self-hood. In other words, we sin. And all of it - and I hate to be so cliche, but basically, when it comes down to it - all of it is about the fact that we’re afraid to die. And as a giving-our-hearts-away-afraid-to-die people, you’d think hearing you are dust and to dust you shall return would be pretty bad news, but not so. Because here’s the thing: in the creation story in Genesis 2, it says that the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.

So, yes, children of God…you are dust and to dust you shall return.

But remember this: it is from dust and the very breath of God that you were created out of divine love. A divine love which mends the pieces of your heart back together whenever you return to it. Always, always, always.

And to do this, to gather the given-away pieces of our hearts so that in returning to God, God can make them whole, well, there’s a term for that …it’s repentance.

I used to think that repentance meant to feel so bad about being bad that you promise to not be bad anymore.

But now I see repentance as just returning again to God. Our contemplative in residence, James Wall, tells about how difficult a certain Carmelite nun found contemplative prayer to be, because her thoughts would wander a thousand times during a 20-minute prayer session. She was sure her teacher, Thomas Merton, would rebuke her for such a failure, so she was surprised when instead Merton said that her wandering thoughts were just 1,000 opportunities to return to God.

That’s what Ash Wednesday and Lent is…a thousand opportunities to return to God with all you heart. Returning again to the only thing in which we have any true self-hood …and that is the eternal and divine love of God. The eternal and divine love of God which created you from dust and breath. The eternal and divine love of God to which you will return after your last breath, when again you are dust.

Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. (Joel 2:12-13)

Amen.



Peace,


Pastor Charlie

The Call Process - Step By Step

On February 11, Church Council met together with Bishop Suzanne Dillahunt and Assistant to the Bishop Ed Williams about the call process. The two went over the details of what will happen in the coming months as we seek a new Associate Pastor here at Epiphany Lutheran Church. The bishop said God already has someone in store for Epiphany. We just need to be patient and thorough in our search to find who that person is.  We shared with the bishop and assistant our hopes and dreams for Epiphany, and what we are looking for in a new pastor. There is a sense of hope and anticipation for the future, and it was exciting to hear that articulated at our meeting. We have come a long way in the past 3 years!

In our discussions, we shared the desire to find a candidate who will be able to bring energy and creativity to ministry opportunities focusing primarily at the Austin campus of Epiphany. This pastor will preach and preside at least three of the four Sundays a month at Austin, and will be responsible for the ministry and outreach activities there. This pastor will also be working with the staff to provide ministry and leadership in activities at the Far Hills campus, will have an office at Far Hills, and will oversee the Outreach Ministry Lane. The staff will also work with this pastor in the ministry activities at Austin. We are one church with two campuses, and we want to reflect that in our leadership structure.

We were given a lot of material to review as a council, and given the charge of appointing a Call Committee and filling out a congregational profile. These will be the next steps to accomplish in the coming weeks.

In case you are wondering what the steps are in the process, I have listed them below. I will do my best to keep you updated on where we are in the process.

What I ask of you today, and in the days to come is to keep the Church Council and soon to be established Call Committee in your prayers.

Here is the process we will be following in the days ahead:

• Church Council drafts a job description for the Associate Pastor position.  Council completed this on February 4. 
• Church Council meets with Synod Bishop.  This took place on February 11.
• Update congregational membership list.  This has been accomplished by the staff for our annual report.
• Church Council and staff gathering information for Congregational Profile.  This is in the process of being completed. 
• Establish a Call Committee based on demographics of the congregation.  Church Council met on February 18 to begin this process.  Once a Call Committee has been established, the congregation will be informed who these people are.
• The Call Committee will identify leader of Call Committee and a secretary.
• Complete congregational profile. Submit to Synod Staff.
• Call Committee will review the process with Pastor Ed Williams, Assistant to the Bishop.  He will go over the information from the Synod about the process.
• Call Committee shares initial thoughts of needs and criteria for an Associate Pastor.
• Call Committee Brainstorms questions, thoughts, ideas, and reviews the information to be gathered.
• The Call Committee communicates to the congregation the process and will ask for names of candidates to be considered. 
• The Call Committee will request names of candidates from Synod.
• Synod submits up to 3 names of candidates to Call Committee.
• Pastor Charlie will first meet with candidates.
• The Call Committee will interview up to 3 candidates.
• Candidates will also have an opportunity to interview with staff members.
• The Call Committee will refer 1 candidate to Council and inform other candidates.
• Church Council will interview the selected candidate.
• Set-up a meet and greet with brief the candidate.
• Synod sends call form and related materials. Sets up call meeting with congregation.
• Congregation votes on candidate (2/3 majority required) and compensation (simple majority required)
• Complete call form.
• Forward completed call form to Bishop's Office.
• Bishop's Office forwards call to candidate.
• Candidate responds in 30 days.

So we have our work cut out for us. As we continue down this road, remember God is in charge. God has brought us this far, and God will continue to guide us in the days to come!

Peace

Pastor Charlie

Do You See What I See

I had a conversation with a young girl (about 8 or 9 years old) at church on Sunday after worship.  She asked me if my glasses were new.  I told her they are new, and that with these new glasses, I can see everything people are doing in their seats during worship.  She said, “Oh, kind of like a security camera!”  Out of the mouths of babes!

It is true that from the front of the church, one can see all kinds of things going on, such as who is sitting where, who didn't get enough sleep last night, who is trying to keep their child in line, and so much more. And since we are creatures of habit, worship is a time for us worship leaders to take attendance. This has taken some time for me to figure out here at Epiphany Lutheran Church with six worship services on a weekend at our two campuses, but I am learning. 

Here is a little trick you can play on your pastor – sit somewhere different. At my parents’ church several years ago on April Fool’s Day, the ushers asked everyone coming in to church to sit on the opposite side of the church. It wasn’t long into the service that the pastor knew something was not right!

I have also noticed that there are times I say something during a sermon that hits a nerve, causes some emotional response, or even times when whoever is listening doesn't comprehend what I just said (I hope that doesn't happen too often). I have come to learn how to read people’s faces, which sometimes can be helpful, and other times… not so much. I remember one Sunday at a previous church, all through my sermon, a member continued to look off in the distance, head tilted, and a puzzled look on his face. 

Afterwards I spoke with him and told him I noticed his puzzled expression, and so I wanted to asked him what was troubling him. A little embarrassed, he said he wasn’t paying too much attention to the sermon, because he couldn't help but notice the angel on top of the Christmas tree in the front of the church was crooked, and he was wondering how he might fix that later. 

On the flip side, I imagine you all can see what we are doing up front during worship, too. I try to be mindful of that, so that my actions don’t get in the way of the message, if you know what I mean. My hope and prayer is that all that we say and do as worship leaders point to Jesus Christ, and the good news we receive through him. One of my colleagues would begin each of his sermons by praying, “And now we wish to see Jesus, and Him only.” That is my charge, and the reason for us to be here.

Let your light shine before others, so they may see your good works, and give glory to your Father in heaven. And be careful what you do in the pews. I have new security camera glasses! 

Peace,

Pastor Charlie

We Are Members of the Body of Christ

I imagine many of you joined me in watching the Super Bowl this past Sunday. Not much drama in who was going to win the game after the first quarter or so, but even when the game is not so compelling, it is fun to watch. Not only is there the game, but the entertainment (wasn't the National Anthem the best we've ever heard?) and the commercials to keep us glued to the TV.

It is plain to see that Seattle won the game as a team. The players worked well together. The team had a plan, each member knew the role he was to play on the field, and each player carried it out to near perfection. It was quite impressive, to say the least.

As the members of the body of Christ (the church), we, too have a plan, and that plan is to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to all the world! Sounds like a pretty daunting task, yes? But you and I do not do it alone. We are just one of many who make up the body. And just like a body or a team, we all need to work together to get the task done!

From "The Message" transliteration of 1 Corinthians 12:

 God’s various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people...You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything.

Working together with me are a wonderful staff, and some new players to help in this time of transition. Two Epiphany members have joined the team leading us in the coming months. Sean Barrett has been a member of Epiphany for several years, and is in the final year of his seminary studies. He is a gifted preacher and worship leader, who will be using his gifts primarily as the preacher and worship leader at the Austin Campus. And Pastor Tom Rutherford, who has been a member of Epiphany for a couple of years, but we haven't seen him around too much. Tom has been serving as an interim pastor, most recently at Zion Lutheran in Middletown, where Pastor Sara Cutter has been called to serve. Tom will be assisting me primarily in areas of pastoral care and leadership. Tom also serves as a chaplain for Hospice of Dayton. We are blessed to have both of these men share these gifts with us. I encourage you to welcome them and thank them for their time and talents.

The Good News we share is that we are on a winning team. The victory has already been won for us in Jesus Christ, and now all we have to do is go out and claim it, and share it! Thank you for being a member of the team - the body of Christ!

Peace,

Pastor Charlie