Sermon Reflection | July 28, 2013

Hello Church! 

Let me tell you some things that are exciting me:

• Our youth had a brat fry fundraiser on Saturday and they raised $637.35!!  Along with a Matching Grant from the Webster Foundation, which matches up to $500, we were able to just barely break our goal of $1100!  How cool is that?  I'm really proud of them.  
• With this money, they will be going to Chicago to participate in a weekend of mission experiences including serving at soup kitchens and food distribution centers, witnessing the wealth disparity in the city of Chicago as they drive through both wealthy neighborhoods and neighborhoods in poverty, and on Sunday morning attending worship at Lawndale Community Church, a church much different in worship style and size from our own.  The program that is leading this trip is called Center for Student Missions.  You can learn more about it here.
• The community-wide VBS is coming up! I'm anxious to see how this goes, as it will be my first year seeing it in action.  The goal is to host 200 of the communities children in this way, and so far there are already 133 registered!  If you're interested, go here to register: http://www.riponvbs.org/
• We have officially hired our new, permanent Christian Education director, Olivia Wetzel!  Her job at the church is to work with the Sunday School kids and help develop opportunities for fellowship for everyone, but especially for young families, in the church (ie: ice skating, trivia nights, movie nights, retreats, etc.).  Olivia is a recent graduate of Ripon College and is going on to get her Master's Degree at the University of Oshkosh in professional school counseling.  She'll be posting here on the blog once a month, so look out for her posts!

Okay, what's really cool is that this is a lot of stuff about youth and children!  I like that kinda stuff because it's an area where I see our church evolving in the next few years, and I'm feeling confident that we have the right people-- from volunteers to paid staff like Olivia-- to lead the way.  

Now, sermon reflection. 

Read: Psalm 85 and Luke 11:1-13

Listen: Help me and Thank you

Dig a Little Deeper:  

     The book that I referred to during my sermon, "Help Thanks Wow" by Anne Lamott can be found here on Amazon.  I might suggest checking your local bookstore first (I see nothing wrong with Amazon, but I always try local first!) but if you don't find it there or don't have a chance to get out anytime soon, now you have the link.  Also, Amazon has a Kindle Edition. 

     There are about 10 million ways to talk about this passage from Luke.  I do have an appreciation for the preachers who dissect the Lord's prayer and help us remember why we say it every single Sunday.  I even appreciate the preachers who do a sermon series on it, using one line from the Lord's prayer each Sunday for several weeks.  But it didn't seem like quite the right time for that here, this week.  Instead I wanted to talk about asking God to help us in times when we feel completely overwhelmed.  I've met a lot of overwhelmed people since coming to Ripon.  This is a town full of people who DO THINGS.  Lots and lots of things.  And while I know they are often fulfilled and glad to serve, I also see people get overwhelmed more often than not. 

     So I wanted to share my image of God the Organizer.  My new favorite image, at least for this point in my life.  This is the God who sorts and stacks and arranges and helps to make our lives make more sense.  I hope you like this image of God too.  

A Prayer for Boston

So I'm a few days late on posting this week, but I'm asking for your grace and understanding. This has been a difficult, emotional week for me. Allow me to egocentrically explain:

On Saturday, I was on Long Island for a dear friend's bridal shower. It was fantastic to see my best friends again--to celebrate the promise of things to come, to hear good news, and to belly laugh the way you do with people who have shared every aspect of your life for the past 7+ years. It was also incredibly painful for me to realize how temporary this was, and made me yearn for just a little more time with them. Another week seemed perfect. And so on Saturday, I was on the phone with Southwest Airlines, hoping that they might generously postpone my flight home until next Saturday, so I could go to Boston, visit more friends, cheer on the Marathon runners, and listen to my beloved gospel choir in their concert on Friday night. I was heartbroken when Southwest wanted to charge me another $300 in order for that to happen. Which wasn't going to happen. I'll be honest, I cried. It wouldn't be the last time this week, either. 

My heart is in anguish within me,

the terrors of death have fallen upon me. 

Fear and trembling come upon me,

and horror overwhelms me.

And I say, 'O that I had wings like a dove!'

Then...well, we've all heard the news. Pressure cooker bombs. Cell signals overrun. Three dead, hundreds injured--and how many more unreported with broken spirits, injuries unable to be cured in a hospital? Families separated. Complete chaos, utter fear of the unknown. Exceptional first-responders. Marathoners giving blood in the minutes after they finished the race. Students organizing to walk the final five miles for those who didn't get to finish. TV personalities expressing solidarity with the city in their own way. 

And then there's the rest of it. Factories exploding, even more school shootings, earthquakes around the world, controversial legislative votes. The Onion actually expressed my thoughts on the week well (warning: explicit language, if you're offended by that stuff). 

Confuse, O Lord, confound their speech;

for I see violence and strife in the city.

Day and night they go around it on its walls,

and iniquity and trouble are within it;

ruin is in its midst...

And then I woke up this morning and found out my beloved city was on lockdown. As David and I listened to Boston radio stations online (Thank God for the internet), I could barely keep it together. As we saw descriptions of neighborhoods we knew well, pictures of buildings in which I've worked or shopped or walked by, I was so scared for my city. My home. And I felt torn. I know my family is grateful that I didn't stay the extra week in Boston--and I am, too, to a certain extent--except that I'm not really. My heart, mind, and soul are stuck 1,157 miles east of here. It's isolating. Heart-wrenching. Like a mother who can't stand to watch her children suffer, I can't bear sitting so far away as I watch the place I love, the place where I grew up, where my friends still live, become a police state. 

But I call upon God,

and the Lord will save me.

Evening and morning and at noon

I utter my complaint and moan,

and [God] will hear my voice.

The Psalm I've been referencing is Psalm 55, a lament--a song of grief, loss, suffering--attributed to King David. In my own words, I like to imagine the composition of the psalm as something like this: "Hey, God, it's me. And you're going to listen to me right now. I know you're busy or whatever, but I need you right now. Things are really rough around here--like, really bad. Have you SEEN the news? Everyone's dying or suffering or being scammed. It's hard to deal. Even people I thought I knew well are saying things that don't make sense anymore. They're so calm when they talk about terrifying things, hateful things. And I want to ask you to destroy them, to enact revenge, but...well..instead, I'm asking you to be with me. I need you right now--we all need you right now. That's all I'm asking. Remind me that I'm not alone."

I will trust in you. 

We are not alone. GOD is with us.
Behind locked doors in an East-coast city, God IS with us.
Stranded 1,157 miles away from your heart's yearnings, God is WITH us.
As we wrestle with how we should react to the past week's events, God is with US.

Amen.

Sermon Reflection | March 4, 2013

Read: Isaiah 55:1-9 and Psalm 63:1-8
Listen: Drink a Gallon of Water Every Day
Dig a Little Deeper: 

I have several pastor-friends who are doing Lenten blog series' of some sort or another.  You'd be blessed to check them out!

• Rev. Emily C. Heath is the pastor of West Dover Congregational Church in West Dover, Vermont. She is doing a daily Lenten reflection.  
• Rev. Rachel Hackenberg is an author/speaker/pastor doing a Lenten prayer/poetry blog.  
• The Northwest Ohio Association of the UCC put together a series of Lenten resources on their blog.  
• Several of my pastor-buddies are contributing to this UCC series called "Peek, ponder, pray" a quick daily meditation.  
• I loved, loved, loved this Lenten blog last year called "Words Matter," but apparently I was the only one who loved it because it disappeared about halfway through Lent.  Still, you can read the posts that did go up!
• I hope to add more; waiting for permissions! 

So, what kind of spiritual disciplines work for you?  What do you wish your prayer life looked like?