The Little Things

Today as I wandered over at 9ish to begin my Monday morning routine, I stumbled upon one of the elders steam cleaning the carpet. Last weekend our boiler melted down and threw out soot-laden steam/smoke. By the grace of God, and after a costly repair, the boiler was functional and the facility was warm for our Sunday activities. The only trouble was the meltdown and subsequent repairs had created a nasty residue in front of the door to the boiler, which is, unfortunately in our fellowship space. On Sunday I hemmed and hawed with a few elders about the mess that was cleaned to the best of our ability, but still inadequate. The end result was inaction on my part.
As I walked in today, however, an elder was cleaning the space with care and grace. No one asked him to do it. No one expected him to do it. He just did what needed to be done. It's those little things like this that matter so much to me as a pastor and encourage me. I am reminded that when I try to be flashy and great, that I have missed the point. It is the simple acts of service that really matter.
Once, when a couple of Jesus' disciples were jockeying for positions of prestige and authority in the Kingdom of God, Jesus responded by saying, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as rules lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:42b-45 NRSV). Sometimes the little things, like steam cleaning a mess, really are the big things.

Moving on up and over

For the next few weeks, follow the 21 Day challenge at www.merrillpc.org/21day/.

-Pastor Bill

21 Day Challenge: Developing Spiritual Habits

I have always been very interested in identity. In my teens and early twenties I wrestled and wrestled with my own sense of identity. I marveled at people who seemed to have no care (at least on the surface) for their own sense of identity. I was absolutely floored by my peers who seemed to have a strong sense of identity, even in young adulthood. The question, "Who am I?" is perhaps the most profound question I thought anybody could ask. After all, who is more important to know than one's own self?
Thanks be to God that in college I learned that there was one who was far more important to know than even knowing myself. In some dark days when, God shined his light a desire was placed in my heart to know God. Further, I knew (in the special way of knowing we call faith) that God knew me, all about me, even things I did not know about myself. Even further, as I came to know God more, through faith in Christ Jesus, I would come to know who I am in God's eyes, which is my true identity. Far greater than coming to know myself, I have found that the great question is, "Who is God?"
God did not leave us orphaned as we seek an answer to the great question, "Who is God?" Jesus Christ (and Christ alone I would add) is the revelation of who God is. Jesus, the Son of God, fully God in the flesh, reveals to the world who God is. So to come to know God means coming to know Jesus. Jesus himself said,"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him " (John 14:6-7 NRSV).
So how does one come to know Jesus? What are reliable ways of getting to know Jesus? First, like anyone, one must be in relationship with Jesus to come to know him. I cannot know you and you cannot know me unless we have a relationship, i.e. a revelatory exchange. I must reveal things about myself and you yourself if we are to come to know one another (we will leave the problems of this model aside for now). The same is true for God and as Jesus himself said before, he is that revelatory communication, that information-giving/identity-exposing relationship in the flesh. Jesus is the revelation of God's identity in his being, speech and actions. That's why John earlier in the prologue of the Fourth Gospel is quick to say that Jesus is the Word of God made flesh (1:1; 14).
Now there could be many ways of coming to know the Word made flesh. We could have been one of those people blessed to walk with the savior, but we do not live in that time. We could believe that we receive open and new revelation from God, direct speech with Jesus, but it seems that those who claim such direct lines of communication often do or lead others to do things that seem contrary to who Jesus is as revealed in Scripture. And therein lies the trouble. In other words, the followers of Jesus must have an agreed upon source of revelation to judge whether some insight or idea regarding Jesus is actually true to who he is. We call that agreed upon source, Scripture, consisting of the books of the Old and New Testament. If some idea regarding God as revealed in Jesus is contradictory to the teaching of Scripture (which is admittedly a broad and often vague set of documents), then the followers of Jesus, those who seek to know God through faith in Jesus, can reject it outright. Of course, such processes are best done in a community of believers, i.e. a community of Jesus' followers, so to best avoid misinterpretation.
Now God is even more abundantly gracious than all that. Not only has God given us the gift of Jesus to reveal who God is. Not only has God given us the Holy Scriptures to be THE source without parallel to come to know Jesus. Not only has given us a community of fellow believers to help us all to read and study the Holy Scriptures. Not only all of those things, but God Himself, the Holy Spirit, is present with every follower of Jesus, giving the gift of faith and filling the follower with the necessary gifts and tools to truly come to know Jesus in person through the reading and study of Scripture. Even more, the Holy Spirit gives the followers of Jesus encouragement and strength to live as Jesus lived (Jesus was the full human being, revealing to us also what true humanity is).
So to come to know God, we need to know Jesus. And to know Jesus means to be guided in faith by the Holy Spirit. Of course, this also means joining human action to the divine provision outlined above. We simply cannot get to know Jesus unless we cultivate a relationship with Jesus. That relationship is nothing less and nothing more than pure grace which is ours by faith. Our faith is built up by the Holy Spirit through the study of Scripture, the following of Jesus' teachings and prayer. Jesus said, "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on rock" (Matthew 7:24-25 NRSV). To build our house (our identity) on the rock (Jesus) we need to know him and his teachings and DO them. We can only build that house if we know and follow Jesus, if we live as Jesus lived. And we can only live as Jesus lived if we KNOW how Jesus lived.
So here's the challenge. Most of us know that it takes 21 days to form a habit, good or bad. If I do something for 21 days (without skipping a day, because then I have to start over) it becomes a habit. If we want to know God, we need to know Jesus as revealed in Holy Scripture by the testimony of the Holy Spirit. Thus, for the next 21 days read the Scriptures at least once a day. No prescription on how much, nor where to read. Rather, just open the Bible and read. I suggest starting with a Gospel, perhaps Matthew or John. Just read the Bible and let the Holy Spirit bring you into relationship with Jesus as you come to know God through him. Of course, reading Scripture is best when paired with prayer (open, simply and direct communication with God), so daily prayer should accompany daily Scripture reading.
If you are interested in the greatest question, "Who is God?" then you simply must come to know Jesus as revealed in Scripture by the Holy Spirit. There is no time like the present to get started and do not be surprised if you come to know yourself in the process.

Things I support (a little raving)

Last week I made a list of 8 things with which I am officially done. As I am now in the Christmas spirit, I thought I would try to make a list of things that I view as good and exciting. Without further ado, 8 things I support:

1. The life-changing power of the Gospel: God changes people through faith in Christ Jesus. I love to see the Holy Spirit at work in the lives of people in our little community. I love to see that look in someone's eyes when they all of sudden connect with God in a surprising, yet deeply satisfying way. I just love it when people hear the Scriptures speak to them; those moments when Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth and the life" (John 14:6) and someone hears those words being spoken to him or her. I really live for those times.

2. Enjoying my job: Life is far too short to spend our time doing things that make us miserable. Sure, there are good parts and bad parts to every occupation, but I truly enjoy what I am called to do. I love studying the Scriptures, I love teaching, and I love connecting with people around faith. Sure, there are times that I wonder if I have not made a huge mistake, but then God reminds in some way or another that He called me to be a pastor.

3. Vacation: While I enjoy what I do, I also enjoy time away to relax. Ministry is tough work for an introvert and I need time to be quiet and alone. Vacation helps me to do that and I am thankful for it and highly recommend it to everyone. If you cannot take a vacation, you are doing it wrong.

4. Warm feet: During winter I think about my feet a lot. Warm socks and cozy slippers certainly are a luxury in winter, but I support any and all means to maintain warm feet.

5. Family Movie Night: While many family movies leave something to be desired, there are some real gems out there worth watching. Marian is especially fond of any movie involving a monkey. Warm blankets, good snacks and family-friendly entertainment is alright in my book.

6. Dale Bruner's commentary on Matthew: Here's a link to the part 1 of Bruner's excellent commentary on Matthew on Amazon: here. Simply put, this is the best commentary on any biblical book I have ever read. It is simply uplifting and informative.

7. Giving Marian bubble baths: Marian is the cutest little girl I know. She especially enjoys taking baths. She splashes, plays and from time-to-time attempts to drink the water. No matter, when she is done she has that clean baby smell and settles down to take a good long night's sleep. Marian sleeping is good for daddy sleeping.

8. Bringing flowers to my wife: Tamara likes flowers. I like bringing flowers to her. I used to do so more often and now not so much. Hmm, perhaps a new year's resolution is in the works here.

That's my list and I'm sticking to it.

Things I am done with (a little ranting)

Over the last 2 and 1/2 years I have learned a very few things about pastoral ministry here in Merrill. Please note that I wrote, 'very few.' In general I am still trying to find my way through the maze of pastoral duties, congregational expectations and professional obligations. That being said, there are a few things with which I am done. I compiled them into a short list for easy access:

1. The Lectionary: I preached the lectionary for 6 months and then left it to go lectio continua. I just find that preaching a text without jumping over controversial passages is challenging both to me as the preacher and to the congregation. Plus, this helps with #2.

2. Biblical Illiteracy: I can handle that the culture is moving away from Christendom. What I cannot handle is the Church divorcing herself from knowledge of her Scriptures. I also am annoyed when people seek to criticize Christianity then show a woeful lack of knowledge concerning the central text of the faith. If for no other reason, people need to know the Bible to understand Western culture; its art, literature and background values.

3. Manipulation: The next person that passively-aggressively tries to triangulate me into doing something is getting both barrels of my sardonic wit.

4. HUGE portion sizes at restaurants: I am a man who loves to eat (I know gluttony is a sin, but what are you going to do?). Even I, however, have to throw my hands up and say, "Hey, that's too much for me." I would rather pay the same price for a reasonably sized meal than feel like I am wasting food. I get especially annoyed when I am on the road and the option of a doggy bag is unrealistic.

5. Wearing a watch: I quit wearing a watch a year ago. I do check the time and am on time to most appointments, but I am no longer a slave to the clock. Freedom is a good thing and I am thankfully living out my freedom given to me in Christ Jesus.

6. People who confuse weird and intelligent: Just because you are outside of cultural norms does not mean that you are intelligent or better. Sometimes weird is just weird.

7. Those who dismiss all Christians as unintelligent: Some Christians are anti-intellectual, anti-scholastic, and anti-science, but not all of us are. Some of us are quite intelligent and able to hold our own in intellectual discussions and debates. Remember, if you really want to argue against something, you look best when arguing against the best of your opposition. If you want to refute or argue against Christianity, pick on Calvin or Aquinas or Augustine or Barth.

8. Gross commercials: I hate watching a program and then, BAM, some lewd commercial comes on making everyone feel uncomfortable. I do not want to watch advertisements concerning sexuality and I wonder how effective those commercials are.

That's my list today and I'm sticking to it.

Should the Lord will it

I meant to be in San Francisco this morning awaiting my training for reading ordination exams. Instead, I am sitting in my living room. My flight was canceled yesterday due to inclement weather. I suppose I should feel upset, but yet I have peace. After all, who wants to be on an airplane when the pilot/tower are unsure if it is safe to fly.
About a year ago my wife and I were delayed returning from a retreat due to a problem with one of the plane's engines. While our daughter awaited our return at her Nana's house, we calmly lived through the experience (and slept in a really dingy hotel room). A gentleman seated directly in front of us, however, stood up and screamed at the flight attendant, "You get this ----- plane in the air right ----- now, I have a meeting to catch in the morning." He apparently did not care if the plane would fall out of the sky, because he had business to which he needed to attend. I am not sure what meeting is important enough to risk your very life.
This morning I am reminded about the reason for my peace, that is Christ Jesus, our Lord. James, the brother of Jesus once wrote, "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.' Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.' " (James 4:13-15). While I may have made other plans, the Lord's will is still sovereign. So when flights are canceled, when people are late for meetings, when sorrows like sea billows roll, I can have peace because I know I follow the Lord and His will will be done.
So instead of traveling today, I will study and pray, visit and meet, but most of all serve the Lord and seek His will.

Faith and family

This week I am experiencing a real challenge. My wife's mother is very ill and so Tuesday my wife decided to go to Seattle to be with her. I completely support my wife's decision and believe she is doing the Lord's will in her presence with her mother.
The challenge comes on the home front. My beautiful and energetic one-year old is home with me, making even simple pastoral tasks very difficult. Even now I am stealing a few minutes during her naptime to put up this post.
As a family we need your prayers and most of all we need God to be strong in our weakness.