More Love: Working With Youth and Children

When talking yesterday about love being the basis of Godly authority, it struck me that this is also the core of having authority with (and occasionally over) children and youth when working with them in a church setting.  Everybody who works with young folks says, "I love kids!"  Does that verb take an active or passive role, though?  Is "love" just a sentimentality towards children in general...loving kids the way we love azure drapes or a fine red wine?  Is "I love kids!" mostly about our internal feelings?  Or does "love" take the form of outward action:  time spent, energy devoted, stories listened to, hugs given, games played, roads walked, mistakes endured, accomplishments praised?

Most children and youth have pretty good barometers.  They know when your work is all about yourself.  They know when your work is all about them too.  They know the difference between loving them as decorations and loving them in truth.  Generally they have little time for the former but crave the latter.

Working with and understanding God's younger children isn't rocket science.  You just have to love them in the real sense.  Your service to them shows the truth about you and your God.

Your service to them also communicates that they're worth that service, that you believe your time and energy are well-spent with them.  That's a powerful testimony.  For the most part I've found that if you invest your best in young folks they will absorb that and reflect it back.  If you expect to see something in them worth investing in you will find it.  They'll show it to you themselves.  If you walk in suspecting or not trusting in their worth then they'll hide anything of worth from you.  In a way, it's the ultimate act of faith.  You can't force a relationship.  You can't predict how the relationship will go.  Often you don't even know what the kids will say or do next.  You just believe something good is there and express that belief through word and action.  99 times out of 100 it will turn out to be true.  Both you and the kids will be better off for having found it.

It's important to remember this because I've worked with plenty of folks, both in my churches and advising other youth groups, who tried to start their relationship with children and youth somewhere outside of love or trust.  I can't tell you how many times I've heard things like:

• "We can't let them bring their friends because we'll have too many kids.  This event is only for people of this church."
• "Just make the youth clean up the lot.  They need something to do anyway."
• "You have to watch them and keep them in line.  Otherwise they'll take everything you brought right away."
• "We need to get these kids fund-raising for their activities.  They can't just have a free ride around here."

It's almost like people plan in order to keep anything bad from happening instead of going in looking for good to happen.  Ironically, when you approach in fear of the bad that's exactly what you get in this kind of ministry.  Only by trusting in the good--saying, "Let the kids come and let's do something amazing with them that'll be great for all of us"--do you experience the good in the ministry and in them.  Every once in a while one of them will knock you for a loop and you have to spend some time processing through awkward or bad things.  But those moments pale both in comparison and number to the good times and amazing experiences that grow from the love shared between you in God's name.

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)

Monday Morning Sermon: Mark 1: 21-27

This week's gospel came from the first chapter of Mark:

 21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. 23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, 24 “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
   25 “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” 26 The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.
 27 The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.” 28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.

Click through to find the true power in this miracle!

Genesee Lutheran kids created this poster:  looked up different virtues in the index of the Bible, found the Bible passages that talked about the virtues, selected a few passages and then using this art technique, journaled the message.  Cool, huh?

Blog Reporter Wanted

Do you enjoy taking pictures? Like to write news copy? Interview people? Do you know who Jimmy Olsen is? Want to help GLP communicate with our congregation and help spread the Word? Talk to Patrick about becoming a GLP Blog Reporter!

Dessert Night Saturday!

Tomorrow, Saturday the 28th, is our special Dessert Night at church!

You have a couple of options:

1.  If you want to come around 6:15 Phyllis Kanikkeberg is going to reveal all her secrets for making flatbread, those wonderful Norwegian crispy sweet things you all love so much!  If you've ever wanted to know how to make these delicacies here's your chance to learn from the best!

In a mostly-unrelated note, for those with less patience and skill Pastor Dave will also demonstrate how to make Doughnuts for Dummies.  They aren't as artistic but YUM!  They taste good!  Plus we can make and eat, like, two dozen doughnuts in the same time it takes those snooty dessert people to roll out one piece of their fancy bread.

2.  If you'd rather just eat and/or bring your own dessert to share, show up at 7:00 p.m.  We'll munch away and probably play easy games like cards or dominoes or who knows what!

We hope to see you for this sweet social evening!

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)

Annual Meeting Upcoming!

As we mentioned yesterday, our next Annual Meeting is this Sunday following worship.  We've got some changes in the air regarding annual meetings (and really all our congregational meetings) that you should know about.

In the past we've had a business focus to our quarterly and annual gatherings.  We've reported what's happened in the year past, approved a budget, elected officers, and gone home.  Anything forward looking probably came from my report and even then it was mostly about the current state of the church and its immediate future.

That's all fine stuff, pretty much what you'd expect from such a meeting.  It was like a C-level gathering, maybe C+ if we hit it right.

Our church leaders have been talking and we've pretty much decided that a C+ meeting doesn't reflect the A-level spirit of our church, nor the A-level ministry that we're trying to achieve.  So we're evolving the nature and process of our time together.

We're still going to take care of business in these meetings.  We'll still approve a budget and elect officers.  But we're shifting our focus from reporting on what has happened to looking forward to what will happen among us in the coming months and year.  It doesn't make much sense to keep our eyes trained on the past when we gather.  If you participated in the ministries we've done this year then you already know what's happened.  Even if you didn't, we hope you can see the effect of our ministry.  Either way, rehearsing it doesn't seem like a productive use of our time.  Too often these meetings have felt like people who have been working hard having to report on and justify that work to the people around them.  That's not who we are as a congregation and that's not the impression we want to leave on our fellow workers in the Kingdom of God!

We absolutely want to acknowledge and thank the people who have worked to make our ministries run in the past year.  But we want to spend most of our time and energy looking forward to what we're doing next.  We want to give hands-on, visual demonstrations of new developments.  We want to open up the ministry planning process and invite people to jump on board.  We want to engage and enthuse.

Before there was little reason to come to an annual meeting if you thought everything was going OK.  "Yeah, it's fine.  We know it's fine.  Why do we need to sit and hear a report about it being fine?"  That limited participation to two groups:

1.  A core group of members who always come and who care about things like budgets.

2.  People who have problems or complaints, who don't think everything is going OK.

Therefore the only real interaction in these meetings was either of the, "Why did this budget line go up?" variety or a fight.  Yikes.

Now, though, our interaction is going to be more informative, creative, forward-looking.  Even if you think everything is OK and nothing needs to be reviewed that much, even if you hate budget talk and business, these meetings will hold interest for you!  Now we're going to talk about the next things we're doing, where your church is headed, and how you can help.  Instead of dividing us or boring us, that conversation is going to unite us and give us direction.  Our words together as an entire congregation are going to reflect the same exciting vibrancy that our words together as individuals do.

This is a big change for us and we need your support for it.  We need your enthusiasm and your participation.  We need you to be on board with the direction we're headed  in the coming year and to pitch in wherever you can.  The best way to find out how is to come to this meeting.

We hope to see you there on Sunday.  I'm looking forward to it.  We're going to try to give you something you can learn from and look forward to as well.

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)

Weekend Activities!

Don't forget the great activities coming up as this week ends!

• Marriage Care Group meets Thursday at 7:00.  It's a perfect time for those who haven't been with us yet to come.  We'll meet on Thursday nights for 4-5 weeks to discuss the joys and pressures of being married.  Bring the vows you were married with this Thursday if you can!

• Saturday night we'll have a dessert potluck.  You can come at 6:15 p.m. to see how to make some traditional Norwegian delicacies and/or the world's easiest yummy doughnuts.  Or just come at 7:00, with or without a dessert to share, to eat, talk, and enjoy games!

• Sunday following worship is our Annual Meeting.  Everybody should come to this whether you're usually the meeting type or not.  We'll be talking about the future of our church, things to focus on in ministry during the coming year.  It's not just your usual, "Here's what we did last year, let's approve the budget now" affair but an exciting look at working together through 2012 and beyond!

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)

Bible Study Reflections: Isaiah 9

This week's Bible Study Reflection comes from our Wednesday Morning Women's Group and their continuing study of Isaiah.  After spending some time on the Messianic promise found in the early verses of Isaiah 9, we came upon these words, reminding us how much we need that Messiah:

Isaiah 9: 8-21
 8 The Lord has sent a message against Jacob;
   it will fall on Israel.
9 All the people will know it—
   Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria—
who say with pride
   and arrogance of heart,
10 “The bricks have fallen down,
   but we will rebuild with dressed stone;
the fig trees have been felled,
   but we will replace them with cedars.”
11 But the LORD has strengthened Rezin’s foes against them
   and has spurred their enemies on.
12 Arameans from the east and Philistines from the west
   have devoured Israel with open mouth.
   Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
   his hand is still upraised.

 13 But the people have not returned to him who struck them,
   nor have they sought the LORD Almighty.
14 So the LORD will cut off from Israel both head and tail,
   both palm branch and reed in a single day;
15 the elders and dignitaries are the head,
   the prophets who teach lies are the tail.
16 Those who guide this people mislead them,
   and those who are guided are led astray.
17 Therefore the Lord will take no pleasure in the young men,
   nor will he pity the fatherless and widows,
for everyone is ungodly and wicked,
   every mouth speaks folly.
   Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
   his hand is still upraised.

 18 Surely wickedness burns like a fire;
   it consumes briers and thorns,
it sets the forest thickets ablaze,
   so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke.
19 By the wrath of the LORD Almighty
   the land will be scorched
and the people will be fuel for the fire;
   they will not spare one another.
20 On the right they will devour,
   but still be hungry;
on the left they will eat,
   but not be satisfied.
Each will feed on the flesh of their own offspring:
 21 Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, and Ephraim on Manasseh;
   together they will turn against Judah.
   Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
   his hand is still upraised.

Click through to hear some thoughts about these ominous passages.

Weekly Devotion: The Ninth Commandment

The text of the Ninth Commandment reads:

You shall not covet your neighbor's house.

What does this mean?  We should fear and love God so that we do not scheme to get our neighbor's inheritance or house, or get it in a way which only appears right, but help and be of service to him in keeping it.

Click through to hear more about this commandment!

Sermon Recordings from Jan. 22, 2012 Service

Audio recordings of the Children's Sermon and Pastor Dave's Sermon from the January 22, 2012 service have been posted on the Church Sermon Recordings page.

The Best Thing That Happened To Me Today

I wish to announce that we've turned a great and momentous corner in our household.  For the better part of a year now I've been smooching my little daughter Ali, age 1-plus-change.  She's a good little smoocher but, much to my chagrin, was never an easy target for daddy kisses.  She likes kissing her mommy.  She loves kissing her stuffed animals, particularly the cats.  In fact they were the first thing she ever kissed voluntarily.  She'd toddle up to her little cat, wrap her arms around it, and say, "Mooww!" (like a cat's "Meow" noise).  Then she'd give it a great big wet one.  But daddy?  No way.

I've gotten plenty of kisses from Ali before.  But I always have to con my way into them.  Since I don't look much like mommy I would have to pretend to be a stuffed cat.  Sometimes I would hold the cat in front of my face and then switch really quick when she leaned in to kiss it.  Sometimes I would make her laugh by saying, "Mooww!  Mooww!  Mooww!" and pointing to my lips like I was a cat myself.  Then I could sneak a smooch.  But the event always involved plenty of asking with a little bit of trickery and deceit.

But then, just yesterday, I was standing in the living room talking and all of a sudden my little girl walked up to my feet, stuck her hands up towards me, and said, "Mooww?"  I looked at her like, "What???  Really?"  Then she stuck her hands up again and said, "Mooww!  Mooww!"  So I picked her up and she gave me a great...big...kiss.  She did it all on her own, of her own volition.  Yaaaayyyyy!  Daddy is happy.

This reminds me of one of the great lessons in evangelism.  If you have something good to share, if your purpose is noble, if you really care about the people with whom you are sharing, then a little bit of patience is not too high of a price to pay to get to that eventual goodness.  Like smooching, evangelism is about a relationship, not just an act.  Intent and desire have to come from both sides.  Sometimes that takes being gentle.  Sometimes that entails waiting.  You don't give up.  I didn't cut off my relationship with Ali just because she wouldn't kiss me, otherwise she never would have learned to!  In fact I kept at it, little by little, sharing the "good news" of how fun it was to kiss daddy, doing it in ways she could understand and accept.  But my big first kiss moment wouldn't have come if I had just plowed through our relationship insisting on nothing but, as if her intentions and desires didn't matter.  Instead we built trust day by day until that day when she saw that it really was a good thing.  And in the end, the patience and the investment in the daily relationship made that Big Smooch moment all the more special.

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)

Send In Your Devotions!

Rosanna's "Think Before You Speak" post below on the 8th commandment has given me an idea.  You'll notice that we only have two weeks of Ten Commandments based devotions left.  Afterwards I'd love to use some of your favorite devotional pieces...the faith lessons that have enlightened you on your journey.  They can be from a calendar, something someone has told you, or an excerpt from a longer book.  (If it's the latter, just pick your favorite part!)  E-mail a devotional lesson to the address below, let us know how it was meaningful to your faith development, and we'll try to talk about your lesson in our next few weekly devotional pieces.

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)

Monday Morning Sermon: The Gift of Discipleship

This Sunday's gospel reading came from Mark: 1: 14-20

14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
 16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 18 At once they left their nets and followed him.
 19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Click through to hear the "good news" in this reading!

THINK before you speak

Here's my personal reminder of that difficult Eight Commandment:


http://cookingwiths.blogspot.com/p/printables_30.html

Snow Days

Our Genesee students have had the last couple days off of school so I've been busy day and far into the night with games, movies, and the like.  Forgive the second day this week without a full post but I'm exhausted!  We'll pick up again next week for sure.  In the meantime, did you know you could scroll back through all the old posts to catch ones you've missed and/or start conversations in the comment section?  If you want, start one right here in the comments below.  I could use some new questions for thought.  Or you could just chat!  Whichever.  Comments and reader participation are two things that our blog needs to grow. 

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)

Confirmation Student Questions: Taking Advantage?

Another question today from the sermon notes of our confirmation students:

We talk about helping people.  What happens when people take advantage of that help?

This can happen.  Nothing we do can prevent it.  The only question we can ask is whether we're going to allow that to stop us helping people or whether we're going to take the risk--and occasionally get taken advantage of--and help anyway.

God already answered this question for us through the example of Jesus.  He died for our sins, right?  He made us free and saved us.  He did that so we could do good in the world.  But all of us mess up.  All of us occasionally use that freedom for bad things, selfish purposes.  We take advantage of the help God has given us, misusing it and hurting him, when we sin.  Did that stop God from giving us help?  Does that stop God from forgiving us?  Did the story go, "And then Jesus realized that all of these people were just going to take advantage of him so he got down off the cross, said, 'Forget you guys!', and went home"?  Clearly not.  Just as Jesus helps us even though we mess up, so we are called to help others even when they mess up.

Having said that, there are a couple things we can do in order to cope with being taken advantage of.

First, do everything you can to make your help unconditional.  That means you give because the gift is needed, not because you expect a person to act a certain way or pay you back somehow.  We're not buying good behavior with our gifts, we're sharing love.  There's a difference.  If your gifts are given freely, with as few conditions as possible, you won't really be taken advantage of.  It's your choice to give.  Once you've made that choice, let the gift go and be at peace.  You did what you could.

Second, every gift-giver is free to define what "help" means.  If you don't think your gift will be helpful--will do good--there's no requirement that it be given.  Let's say you were babysitting a brother and sister.  The brother climbs up on the roof and looks straight down on his younger sister.  When you climb up there to see what's going on he asks you, "Hey...have you got a big rock I can borrow?"  Are you under any obligation to "help" him here?  Of course not!  You have reasonable suspicion that the rock you're "helping" him with will be used for hurtful purposes.  Your gift would not bring good into the world so it's not really a helpful gift at all.

I have to define the real meaning of "help" every time someone knocks on my door (or passes me on the street) and asks for money.  Often people who ask for money on the street have problems with alcohol.  If I just give them money they might go and buy a bunch of booze.  That's not helping them or the world.  So I have to consider the situation before I just hand them a $20 bill.  Usually I'll ask what they need.  If they say "food" then I'll go with them to the grocery store and buy them a bunch of food...way more than $20 usually.  That way I'm giving a lot of help, but it's real help and not something harmful.  If I'm in a big city and can't stop for groceries I will tell them that I'm donating to a local shelter where they can get a hot meal.  Then I do it!  This is also helpful.

Sometimes our gifts to others don't involve money.  Listening to friends and supporting them is a helpful practice.  But here, too, you have to define what "help" really means.  Sometimes just listening is the right thing to do.  Sometimes friends use other friends as a crutch, as an excuse to continue their bad behavior.  Sometimes listening to someone's story gives the impression that you approve of their actions.  Or sometimes a person relies on a friend so much that it begins to drag the friend down, consuming their lives and making them worry.  Every once in a while you figure out that you're not the person this friend should be talking to...that they need more help than you can give and should talk to an adult or a counselor.  In all of these cases you have to ask what is most helpful.  Sometimes giving the gift of your time and a listening ear does more harm than good.  In those cases "helpful" means saying, "I'm sorry, I can't do this.  Here is who you need to talk to to get some real help."

In none of these cases do you abandon the person in need.  You're just helping in a different way, by getting them the right kind of support...a kind that you can't give.  Being able to do this well will keep you from feeling like you're being taken advantage of.

If you're not sure what to do in a given situation and it's worrying you, you might want to get some help yourself by talking to a parent, teacher, counselor, or...I don't know...your pastor!  These people might have some decent advice about how to proceed so that the person you're worried about gets the right kind of help without you being hurt or taken advantage of.

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)

Weekly Devotion: The Eighth Commandment

This week's devotion covers the Eighth Commandment:

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

What does this mean?  We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way.

Oh man!  Where to start?!?  Click through to find out...

Church Band Needs a Name

Our church band needs a name. One idea is to make a name from the initials of the band member's first names. So far the band is comprised of Jennifer, Rob, John, Louise, Chloe, Pastor Dave, and Patrick. We need some vowels to make a name. How about we use the first letter of the instruments in the band? We have a keyboard, guitar, bass, tambourine, penny whistle, and djembe. No vowels here either. I guess we need some ideas from all of you. Please comment on this post with your ideas.

Church Council Meeting Minutes: December 19, 2011

The minutes for the December 19, 2011 council meeting have been posted.

Monday (Tuesday) Morning Sermon: The Freedom of a Disciple

After a small break for Martin Luther King Day we're back in the saddle with the sermon recap.  This Sunday's readings all focused on discipleship in one way or another.  The Old Testament reading from 1 Samuel 3 told the story of the calling of the prophet Samuel when he was just a boy.  The Gospel came from John 1: 43-51, recounting Jesus calling Phillip and Nathanael to follow him.  Both of these stories had a similar arc:  folks met God with doubt in their hearts but walked onward into strength and certainty with God at their side, now able to do great things.

With those stories in mind the sermon actually focused on the second reading of the day, 1 Corinthians 6: 12-20...

 12 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
 18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

Click through to read how this bears on our discipleship as Christ's followers.

Confirmation Question: Unforgivable Sin?

Today we look at another brilliant question from the sermon notes of our fine Confirmation class students.

We talk about forgiving sin.  Is there such a thing as a sin that can't be forgiven?

The Bible actually talks in Matthew and Mark about "speaking against the Holy Spirit" as the one sin which cannot be forgiven.  Well and good...except we don't know exactly what that entails.  The Holy Spirit gives us a good portion of mystery and discovery just by his mere presence.  We don't even know entirely how to speak of him, let alone what speaking against him would mean.  Theologians have debated this for centuries without coming to a firm conclusion.  In any case, it's only mentioned briefly and never brought up again.  We could talk all day about what it means, but my pastor sense is tingling telling me that this isn't the best answer to your question.

The better answer probably starts with another question:  Who are we talking about doing the forgiving here?

It's certainly within the power of God to forgive all sins.  When we do the confession and forgiveness thing in church that's the same as God telling you that your sins are forgiven.  You are washed clean.  That's what makes you able to hear God's Word rightly, to participate in communion, to even sing or pray before God and have him hear your words.  God makes you clean so he can stay with you and so you can stay with him...not just in worship, but forever.

When we say, "Your sins are forgiven" we don't mean some and not others.  It's not a process of picking and choosing.  You can't be sort of clean and get into heaven.  There's no such thing as "mostly saved, except for that one thing".  Clean means clean.  Forgiven means forgiven.  God loves us so much that he doesn't leave any sin behind.  In that sense there is no unforgivable sin.

The issue gets more complex when you talk about how we forgive each other.  We're supposed to forgive each other just as God forgives us.  That means being able to forgive the people who do wrong against you, not holding grudges or carrying the hurt and offense around with you forever.  Ideally there would be no unforgivable sin in our relationships with each other either.

In practice, though, some sins cause so much hurt that it's nearly impossible to forgive the offender fully...or at least impossible to forgive the offender on a timetable, as in, "You've got to forgive them now!"  Sometimes even saying those words, "I forgive you" makes us hurt more because it feels like we're saying the sin didn't happen or wasn't important.  Each of us is always free to forgive another no matter what the sin.  Each of us should strive to do that.  But it's not fair for one person to say to another, "You have to forgive that other person right now or you're a bad person!"

I'm afraid that if I only describe the ideal situation--that we should forgive each other as fully and freely as God forgives us--someone reading this will say, "Pastor Dave is telling me I have to forgive this other person right now or I'm a bad person."  What if the sin in question was abuse...somebody was abused or attacked by another person.  Would it be fair for me to say, "If you don't forgive the person who abused you right now you're bad" when the whole tragedy of the abuse was that it made you feel bad?  I'd just be piling new badness onto the old.  That's not what God wants.

That's why we have to be more gentle with this subject.  We do say that God is capable of forgiving all of us of any sin. We say that we need to forgive each other too, just like God does.  But I'd also say that if the idea of forgiving someone right now is just so painful that you can't do it...I think God understands that.  Right now that sin might be unforgivable.  If not being able to forgive right this instant is a sin in itself, well...God can forgive that one too.

Therefore when talking about unforgivable sin I tend to say that I'm not certain that I could always forgive every sin but I am certain that God can and I won't stop him from doing it.  If someone did something awful to one of my children (or even one of my Confirmation students!) I'm not sure I could forgive them for a long time, maybe not ever.  But if that person were locked in jail and a priest or pastor came to see them I wouldn't be angry.  I would allow that God could forgive them...maybe even that they should be forgiven at some point.  I would just know that I wasn't able to do that right now.

So from a God point of view there are no sins beyond his ability to forgive.  From a human point of view we should try as hard as we can to imitate God and forgive each other's sins.  That should work 99.9% of the time with 99.9% of sins.  But if there are certain sins which cause us so much pain that we cannot bring ourselves to forgive at this time, that's OK.  God is here to comfort our pain, not to bring more.  He'll forgive in his way and he'll hold us tight in the meantime.

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)

Bible Study Reflections: Perfect or Flawed?

Today's Bible Study Reflection comes from the third edition of our Theology on Tap group.  This event just keeps getting better and better.  I had to leave around 9:00 to attend to some family things but I understand the event, having started at 7:00 p.m., lasted into the wee hours of the morning.  I'd judge that to be true considering the sleepy eyes of many of the participants at church the next morning!  Apparently this stuff is fun. Who knew?

In any case, our question today was posed by a couple of participants.  One began a discussion about doing good and then lamented how flawed we are as human beings.  After a few other comments another participant piped up saying that we're not flawed, we're perfect as God has made us.

We spent a few minutes talking about this dilemma before clearing a table and making both people engage in a best-two-out-of-three arm-wrestling contest to see who was right.  Sadly the results were inconclusive, as both were distracted by a passing box of chocolates before the third round could commence.  So we're left with the question:  flawed or perfect?  Which are we as God's followers?

Click through for some ruminations...

Weekly Devotion: The Seventh Commandment

Time again to look at our faith reminder for the week, this one covering Commandment #7:

You shall not steal.
What does this mean?  We should fear and love God so that we do not take our neighbor's money or possessions, or get them an any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his possessions and income.

How might we better live out this commandment?  Click through for some ideas.

The Baptismal Covenant: Our Responses

Yesterday we talked about the great gift of baptism, occasioned by the story of Jesus' own baptism in the Gospel of Mark.  We talked about all the things God does for us through baptism.  Today we're going to look at the other side of the baptismal story...the promises we make upon entering into this covenant.

We talk about our baptismal promises only after we've covered God's.  The true miracle work in baptism is all his.  We can't save ourselves, nor make ourselves clean and sinless.  We can't transform death into life.  We can't give ourselves God's name or adopt ourselves into his family.  He does all of this.  He does it first and he does it completely.  We have to acknowledge that before we can understand our place in God's covenant.  To put our promises first would be to imply that baptism was about us and our choices, powerful because of our will instead of his.  Some churches do this.  They say that baptism depends on how faithful you are to God and how sincere and true you are to your promises.  When you fail in those promises your baptism fails too and needs to be re-done.

We don't understand things that way.  Everything we bring to the table is flawed.  That's why we need God and baptism in the first place!  The power of baptism is that it works precisely in those times we do mess up, bringing us forgiveness and salvation despite our shortcomings.  That's the miracle of God's promise and transformation...not that they happen for good people but that they work so incredibly well for all of us sinners whom God loves.

We value our promises but we do not say that the effectiveness of baptism depends on them.  Instead we deem our promises a gracious and appropriate response to the love God shows us through baptism.  We have to experience the love before we know how to respond to it.  We have to be shown the goodness before we can bear it to others ourselves.  Thus we are baptized once, in an instant, and spend the rest of our lives living out God's love in gratitude.

This is why we have no problem baptizing babies even though they don't understand what's going on.  God's love comes to them first.  As they grown in stature and knowledge that love blooms inside of them, usually through the work of the parents and sponsors and teachers God has sent them.  But if we had to wait until they understood God in order to receive his gifts, they'd never get them.  Who among us knows him fully?  It's enough to be loved by him.  That's how we know him, just like we know our own fathers and mothers long before we know anything about them as people or about the sacred office of parenthood (let alone how we got here in the first place).  God wishes to be known by his love first.  That's a relationship even the youngest among us can participate in and benefit from.

As we grow we learn more about the specifics of our relationship with God and with each other through faith.  That's why we go to church and Sunday School.  This is also the direct purpose of our Confirmation classes.  This spring you will hear a half-dozen of our young men and women repeat the baptismal promises that were spoken for them when they were babies, now owning them with their own hearts and voices.  Through these same promises they will take their first step into their adult life of faith.

How long has it been since you remembered your baptismal covenant and its promises?  It might be good to check up every now and again and see how you're doing...what your response to God's love is (and is supposed to be).  They're every bit as important and life-changing as the vows you take in marriage or the implied contract of goodness you have with your children but they receive far less publicity.  Read them below and see what you think.

Click through to read the promises we make in baptism.

Monday Morning Sermon: The Gift of Baptism

This Sunday's readings all spoke of new creation, the world made new through the first day of actual creation in Genesis, the transformation of the apostles' ministry in Acts, and Jesus coming onto the scene in Mark 1: 4-11 through his baptism:

4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Click through for all the baptismal goodness God have given to us!

Bible Study Reflections: Isaiah 5

The stalwart theologians in our Wednesday Morning Bible Study met this week to consider the words of Isaiah, Chapter 5.   We didn't quite get all the way through it--too much good discussion!--but verses 8-20 proved particularly interesting:

 8 Woe to you who add house to house 

   and join field to field 

till no space is left 

   and you live alone in the land.

 9 The LORD Almighty has declared in my hearing:

   “Surely the great houses will become desolate, 

   the fine mansions left without occupants. 

10 A ten-acre vineyard will produce only a bath of wine; 

   a homer of seed will yield only an ephah of grain.”

 11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning 

   to run after their drinks, 

who stay up late at night 

   till they are inflamed with wine. 

12 They have harps and lyres at their banquets, 

   pipes and timbrels and wine, 

but they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD, 

   no respect for the work of his hands. 

13 Therefore my people will go into exile 

   for lack of understanding; 

those of high rank will die of hunger 

   and the common people will be parched with thirst. 

14 Therefore Death expands its jaws, 

   opening wide its mouth; 

into it will descend their nobles and masses 

   with all their brawlers and revelers. 

15 So people will be brought low 

   and everyone humbled, 

   the eyes of the arrogant humbled. 

16 But the LORD Almighty will be exalted by his justice, 

   and the holy God will be proved holy by his righteous acts. 

17 Then sheep will graze as in their own pasture; 

   lambs will feed among the ruins of the rich.

 18 Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, 

   and wickedness as with cart ropes, 

19 to those who say, “Let God hurry; 

   let him hasten his work 

   so we may see it. 

The plan of the Holy One of Israel— 

   let it approach, let it come into view, 

   so we may know it.”

 20 Woe to those who call evil good 

   and good evil, 

who put darkness for light 

   and light for darkness, 

who put bitter for sweet 

   and sweet for bitter.

Click through to hear a few thoughts on this scripture!

Announcements: Thursday and Saturday!

Don't forget that there's NO Thursday Night meeting tonight but that Theology on Tap IS being held on Saturday evening at 7:00 at the Carter residence.

--Pastor Dave

Seasons

In the coming week we head into one of the more under-appreciated seasons of the church year, Epiphany.  Sandwiched in between the more famous stretches of Christmas and Lent, Epiphany doesn't get the love it deserves.  This got me thinking...we should be going over each new church season as we get to it in order to remind people what we're doing and what we're all supposed to remember.  Since this is only the third season of a brand new church year, it'll be easy enough to play catch-up.

Advent marks the beginning of each church year.  As the name suggests, it's the season of "something's coming"!  The "something", in this case, is Jesus Christ.  We look forward to his coming in the manger as a baby and to him coming again at the end of all things, in both cases healing the world.  The color of the season is blue, reflecting the sky, the heavens from which Jesus comes.  Blue is also considered a hopeful color, as if looking to the sky for help or in anticipation.  Some churches use purple for Advent in addition to, or instead of blue...purple being a royal color.

Textual themes for Advent include preparing, staying alert and awake, announcements and prophecy, the world being stirred up into a frenzy of activity.  Symbols include the Advent Wreath and its candles, the baptismal font, and all the people from the Biblical texts who announced things:  shepherds, angels, John the Baptist among them.

You may have noticed among pastors a certain resistance to singing Christmas songs during the Advent season.  The focus on preparation is a major reason why.  Advent isn't supposed to be Christmas, Part I:  All the Songs You'll Be Tired of by the 25th.  Or, put another way, Advent isn't about getting things instantly, such as Christmas music.  It's about the discipline of preparing for something that's on its way and what you do in the meantime.  We live in the in-between times, after Christ rose from the dead but before he's returned to bring us to heaven.  Our entire lives depend on this story of being alert and doing well even when the Big Moment isn't here quite yet.  That's the significance of Advent.

Advent gives way to the Christmas season proper on December 24th, the Nativity of Our Lord.  Here the birth story of Jesus takes center stage.  Messages are familiar:  peace, joy, beauty, prayer fulfilled, the miracle of God among us.  The color is white, reminding us of purity and unbroken light.  The symbols are so familiar as to not need rehearsal:  the manger and stable, the animals, angels, and shepherds, the holy family, the star of Bethlehem.

The Christmas season actually lasts for twelve days, begun on the night of Christ's birth and ending with the coming of the wise men/magi from the East with their gifts.  The extra Sunday or Sundays of the Christmas season are always interesting.  We're singing Christmas songs and most people are going, "Still?  Aren't we done with this?  Ugh!" while their pastors say, "I told you so!  You shouldn't have gorged on Christmas music early!  This is still perfectly good and we're not going to waste it!  Starving kids in China would love to have this Christmas music!  Now sing!"  Depending on the year we get stories about Jesus' circumcision or Herod slaughtering the babies of Bethlehem in an attempt to rid himself of a rival King.  Even though the latter is a tough story to hear during the holidays it reminds us that Christ coming wasn't just about pretty decorations.  He came to heal the sins of the world which were, and still are, tragically abundant and profound.

The Christmas season ends on the day of Epiphany.  It's supposed to be a feast day comparable to Pentecost or any of the festivals we celebrate that lie just under the tier of Christmas-Easter significance.  The thing is, Pentecost and those other festivals always fall on a Sunday.  Epiphany, coming exactly 12 days after Christmas, rarely falls on a Sunday.  (This year it's on Friday, January 6th.)  Therefore we rarely celebrate it explicitly.  We just see its echoes in the Sundays after Epiphany.  

"Epiphany" means "discovery" or "realization".  The Epiphany season brings the first revelation of Christ's purpose among us.  He arrives through the Christmas story but we discover the meaning of his arrival--his identity, if you will--through the Epiphany texts. 

The story on Epiphany proper is the coming of the strangers from the East, men who proclaim Christ a king and give him gifts to match.  The Sundays after Epiphany contain the stories of Jesus' baptism, calling the disciples, healing the sick, and some of Jesus' most profound teachings, usually from the Sermon on the Mount.  We get a crash course in Christ...all the things he brings to the world bundled into a few Sundays. 

The color for Epiphany is green, indicating growth and discovery.  The festival days which begin and end the season--Epiphany and the Baptism of Our Lord at the start plus Transfiguration Sunday at the finish--are decked in white.  Symbols of the season include water (baptism), light (discovery, illumination, the star which guided the Easterners to Jesus), the gifts of the magi, sometimes salt (symbolizing Jesus' teachings seasoning our lives and him calling us the salt of the earth).

The final Sunday in the Epiphany season is Transfiguration Sunday, when Jesus' true glory is finally revealed on the mountaintop to his chosen disciples.  Seeing Jesus in God-like splendor, dazzling white, attended by Moses and Elijah affirms the importance and truth of all of the other Epiphany realizations.  It's the, "Whoa!  This really IS God!" moment...kind of like seeing Superman takes off his Clark Kent outfit for the first time.  Transfiguration Sunday also provides us a second direct message from the heavens as God's voice booms out, claiming Jesus as his Son and urging us to listen to him.  This provides a nifty bookend with the same declaration that happened at the beginning of Epiphany when Jesus was baptized.

And there we are...Advent, Christmas, Epiphany and the feast days in between.  We'll update you as the seasons change throughout this church year.  Hopefully we can all view these changes in worship with as much fondness and familiarity as we view the changes in weather and scenery during the Spring-Summer-Fall-Winter progression.  A happy Epiphany to us all!

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)

What's Coming Up

Now that the holidays have passed we need to catch up on what's going on in the new year!  Here's the lineuop for January:

• Women's Bible Study resumes this morning at 10:00 a.m., continuing our look at the book of Isaiah.  Sunday School and Adult Bible Study, the latter covering Romans, starts up again on Sunday.
• Next week Ladies Craft Night resumes on Tuesday and a special edition of our Thursday Night group for married couples will begin.  Each starts at 7:00 p.m. on its respective night.
• Theology on Tap meets at the Carter residence at 7:00 this Saturday.
• Saturday the 28th we're having a special Dessert Night at church.  Come at 6:15 p.m. to find out how to make flatbread, the world's easiest (and best) doughnuts, and maybe another dessert or two.  Or come at 7:00--bringing a dessert of your own to share if you wish--to eat!
• Sunday the 29th is our Annual Meeting.  Patrick Adams is going to give a hands-on demonstration of this very blog.  All of you who read here, we need you to be ambassadors, getting other people to check us out!
• We need a couple people to help Phyllis Kanikkeberg plan our Lent worship services, just as a small group helped to plan Advent and Christmas.  If you're interested, talk to Phyllis or me.

There are a couple other things in the works too, so check back often and watch your church bulletin!

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)

Weekly Devotion: The Sixth Commandment

Here's our devotional study for the week on the Sixth Commandment as explained by Luther's Small Catechism.

You shall not commit adultery.
What does this mean?  We are to fear and love God that we may lead a chaste and decent life in words and deeds, and each love and honor his spouse.

 Simple enough, right?  Could be, actually.  But maybe not.  It depends.  Click through to read more.

Monday Morning Sermon: Changes

This Sunday was both the first day of 2012 and the somewhat rare Name of Jesus day at church.  The text for the day from the second chapter of Luke fit both occasions:

 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
   and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
 21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

These passages cover a story we're familiar with from Christmas Eve, all save the last verse.  That adds something new.  Jesus is circumcised and given a new name, albeit one planned for him before he was even conceived.

Circumcision draws its roots from the story of Abraham in Genesis.  Abraham was the father of all faithful people, first Jews but through them, also people of faith today.  He is the root of our faith family tree.  God made a covenant with Abraham, promising blessings for him and his descendants.  Circumcision was the physical sign of that covenant.

Through the process of circumcision one loses something--a small but intimate piece of skin--but one also gains something: the visible sign of being dedicated to God and a member of his chosen people.  That's not to say that circumcision is the road to salvation or a prerequisite for it.  The New Testament is quite clear that outward signs are not required, that people of different cultures and backgrounds--including uncircumcised people--can be called God's children.  But the illustration is still valid for our purposes.  In circumcision you say goodbye to something old and embrace something new.  You lose part of your physical identity but gain something much more important.  You release something past and become dedicated to the greater purpose ahead.

That mirrors our New Year's journey fairly well, doesn't it?  Another year is gone.  We lost some things during that year that we now have to say goodbye to.  As the clock rings out the old year we are reminded that even the things we gain don't last forever.  There's always a little sadness associated with that moment.  Time moves so fast.  It seems like just yesterday we were saying goodbye to 2010...or 2000...or 1964.  Every time we try to hold on to something and build our lives around it that silly clock strikes again and the world moves underneath our feet.  It never stops, never slows.  Our only recourse is to let go and let it spin.

On the other hand each new year brings the promise of something new and better.  We don't know what we'll get to say "hello" to this year.  It could be marvelous.  It could be challenging.  All we know is that God has something ahead for us.  The only way to figure out the plan is to leap into 2012 with eyes open and hearts expectant.  We lose things but we expect to gain even more...even if that "more" is the realization that we are coming closer and closer to our ultimate destiny of love, joy, peace, and reunion with God and our loved ones.

We feel the snip of this annual circumcision and we cry but afterwards we are raised up with a new identity and a renewed name, ready to live up to what the Lord calls us to do.

In church we honored this event in Jesus' life and our own cycle of ending and beginning by writing down things about our old selves we were ready to say goodbye to and things we'd like to see changed about ourselves and our journey in the next year.  We brought them forward to the altar and offered them as prayers to God.  We'll actually take those slips of paper (unread by anyone but God), burn them, and mix the ashes in with our palm ashes for Ash Wednesday.  You might consider lifting up your own prayers to God about unresolved matters in  your life as you remember this occasion.  If you want to drop a slip of paper by the parsonage to include in the group you're more than welcome to.

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)