Summer Sabbath

Exodus 20:8-10 Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God.

Sadly, we’ve lost the regular practice of Sabbath. Whether on the sixth or the seventh day, the Sabbath was God’s reminder for us to take a break; to rest; to relax; to spend quality time with family; to spend quality time with Him.

We don’t have a Sabbath anymore – most of us struggle to fit in an hour and a half (when you include travel time) to come to church on Sunday. Then it’s off to soccer games, on to yard work, back to the office, off to Walmart. I could preach myself blue in the face, and I don’t think the weekly Sabbath is coming back to American life, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. We don’t have a Sabbath anymore!

But we do have summer. For the ancients, summer was anything but a time of rest and reconnection. It was a time of agricultural labor – hard labor. They worked from sun-up to sundown, and the days are longer in the summer. But we get a bit of a break in the summer. Most of us have a few less meetings, a few less demands, and a bit more time. Most of us get to take a vacation: Another unknown in the ancient world. Although we have lost the practice of a weekly Sabbath, we have another opportunity for Sabbath keeping, and that opportunity is summer.

I invite you to use the lazy days of summer for some Sabbath activities: Take a break, rest, relax, spend quality time with your family, and spend quality time with God. Sabbath is more than just activities; Sabbath is a mindset. It’s a theological mindset that not only puts the feet up, but thanks God for the opportunity to put the feet up. It’s a mindset that lets God rejuvenate the gifts He has given you, so that when you reenter the rat-race, you do it better. It’s a mindset that savors relationship rather than production. Summer is upon us. Will you be better next fall because of it?

Something Greater

A few weeks ago I had an enlightening experience in our Orangewood Fellowship Service. The theme of the service was that when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper it is a foretaste of the great supper in the Kingdom of God where we will be reunited with loved ones who have passed away. Prior to communion, we asked each worshipper to sculpt, out of modeling clay, some representation or symbol of a loved one who has gone on before.

I hated it! In the same way that most people have a public speaking phobia (which, clearly, I do not have), I have an art phobia. I’m not good at it, and I have an irrational fear of people seeing my pitiful efforts. It was not a worshipful time for me – my discomfort got in the way . . . Until we began the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Suddenly, I looked around and we were seated at table in the Kingdom of God with our dear departed!

I had made a symbol of my grandmother. Emma, who was seated next to me, had made Duke, our dog of 17 years, whom we had to put down last summer. I looked around the table and saw some widows and widowers. I saw some people who had lost a parent in the last few years. Their art wasn’t that great either, but I was pretty sure whom they had made, and what it might mean to them to be seated at that table. My heart soared! My understanding deepened! My soul praised the Lord!

I had a big say in planning that activity and I knew I wouldn’t like it when we planned it. I kind of figured that so much of what we do is heady, intellectual, sermonic. Perhaps we should do something that might reach a different kind of person: The artsy, hearty, hands-on kind. I figured I could deal with a little discomfort if their worship was enriched with something different. That’s what I thought going in. Turns out God could do something greater than my limited expectations.

We have new projection capabilities in the sanctuary. Some of us are greatly moved to worship through it. Some of us really don’t like it. That’s okay. We’re all entitled to have likes and dislikes. We can deal with a little dislike, though, if it helps us to enhance the worship of a different kind of person: Those who are more visual. That may be the best some of us can do: “It doesn’t work for me, but I’m glad we do it for others.” That in itself is a wonderful Christian attitude. We will sit at table in the Kingdom of God with all kinds of people.

And who knows – maybe God can do something greater than our limited expectations.

It's Not About Me!

I went home from the December Session Meeting depressed. The Session took action to remove about 50 people from the church rolls. It was the right thing to do. It simply reflected reality – they were not active members any more. It saves us money on our per-capita assessment. But my heart grieved for each of those people. I’m sure God has not lost all of them, many of them must still be people of faith in Jesus Christ, but at least some of them surely are not.
I must admit I was feeling sorry for myself as well. I work hard. I think I’m good at what I do. I care passionately. Why can’t I grow a church? It’s all about me when I’m feeling depressed!
It’s not about me! Don’t come and pat me on the back and tell me it’s not my fault, because I might smack you . . . in Christ. To some extent it’s the fault of all of us! We’ve got a broken model of church, which worked from the ‘50s – 80’s but hasn’t worked since, and we’re still hanging on to it. It’s a model where we do church well and people come to us. We do church well: The campus is attractive, the music is beautiful, the preaching is decent, the programs are solid . . . but people aren’t coming.
We need a different model, and it’s not a model that some guru can simply tell us how to build. It’s a model where we attempt to be the church IN THE WORLD. Some of it will still happen on our campus, but we will have to let the world shape how we present the gospel of Jesus Christ. Much of it will have to happen in the office, the lunch room the playground, the soccer field, the bridge club as we seek, not to invite people to church, but to introduce them to Jesus Christ the Living Lord.
At the February Session meeting, we listened together to the call story of Abraham. We were all struck by how God called septuagenarian Abraham and Sarah to pack up and leave everything they knew to travel to a strange country on the strength of a promise of blessing from God. God is calling the church to pack and move to a strange land. Will we leave a whole lot behind? Yes. Will we know where we are going? No. Do we have a promise of blessing from God? Absolutely!
It’s not about me! It’s not about you! It’s not about the programs! It’s not about the building! It’s not about the music! It’s about the saving grace of Jesus Christ! We’ve got that grace, now we need to decide whether we will hang on to it and hope people will come, or whether we let it compel us into the world to share it.
We’re going to try some new stuff. We’re committed to try reaching out to the youth and their families of our neighborhood, and in the coming year we’re going to get serious about doing it. I’m intentional about that word “try.” This will involve some experimentation. Some of what we do will bring changes that put us out of our comfort zones. Some of what we do won’t be successful. That’s not our job. Our job is to pack and go when God calls us to do it. The success is God’s job! Abraham and Sarah never saw most of God’s promises fulfilled. Those blessings were for their offspring. God want’s to bless us and our offspring.
It’s all about God!

Whose birthday is it anyway? Yours? No, you’ve got one of those, and you’d probably prefer not to have two per year. Your kids’ or grandkids’ birthday? I’m sure that they would love to have another birthday, another special day that’s all about them, but this isn’t it. Christmas is Jesus’ birthday.

Now is a good time to examine your holiday traditions. Take a look at each of them, and ask the question: “Do they really honor the birth of Emanuel – God with us?” A lot of them do . . . when kept in their place. Jesus liked a good party, too. It honors God for us to get together with friends and family. The Bible even commands feasts for special days. Of course overindulgence has no place on Jesus’ birthday. Presents have their place, too. God wants us to enjoy the good gifts he has given, but spoiled children and months of credit card debt do not honor Jesus. Keep it simple!

Make sure to include the poor in your gift giving. Extravagant gifts for your family, while others starve and go without shelter do not honor Jesus. Keep your gifts to your family within your means, so that you can be extravagant in gifts that truly meet basic human needs. The $239 that you might spend on a Play Station 3 could buy 400 subsistence meals for people in Northern Africa who will die without them. It could pay an electric bill for a family in which mom or dad has lost their job.

Make sure to include advent in your “Holiday Season.” Advent is a time for preparation and expectation. What would you do if you knew Jesus was coming in four weeks? Decorating the tree and baking cookies would move way down on your to-do list, wouldn’t they? You would work on preparing your heart to be worthy of the presence of the Son of God. Advent is a time to do that. If you don’t currently practice daily devotions, now is a good time to start. There are devotional materials available in the back of our sanctuary, and plenty of good ones on the internet. Scripture reading and prayer are a must in preparing for Christ. Daily devotions with your family will help to make sure that your children are expecting Christ more than they are Santa!

May Christ come into your heart anew this Christmas, and may he find you a ready and willing disciple!

November

About ten years ago, I bought $2,000 worth of a particular stock. That was a lot of money to me back then – it still is. I owned it for about two years during which time its value doubled.

I had a preaching professor who warned me that a pastor should never tell a story in which s/he comes out as the hero. This looks like one of those stories . . . except . . . what I want to stress is that I checked the value of that stock every day. Sometimes I checked it twice a day! Sometimes I would get up in the morning and during the time when I usually do my devotions; I would get online and check my stock. Even when it went up, I worried. Should I sell now? Will it drop? Will it keep going up?

After I sold it, I decided that I do not have the temperament to own individual stock. Investment gurus would say my risk tolerance is low. I put my little bit of investment money in broadly diversified mutual funds, and made a commitment not to check it every day. In fact, I consider it a spiritual discipline to read my quarterly statements, and that’s it.

I broke my own rule last week and checked my investment account when the economic crisis came to a head. (Has it come to a head? I have to write my Pastor’s Page two weeks in advance!!) My little portfolio doesn’t look good! You know what I’m talking about? You do now! Just like you, I wish my risk tolerance had been even lower – as in Treasury Bonds or a hollowed out mattress.

I’m intrigued, though, that in the midst of rotten economic times, there were two very successful banks in a bidding war to buy Wachovia. (Chris Kaup used this metaphor first – I’m just running with it.) Truly successful institutions know that the crisis is the time to take a risk, to do something bold.

The Presbyterian Church is in crisis. We have been bleeding members over the past several decades. We have churches that have closed and many more that seem destined to. Orangewood has grown slightly over the last year, but the tenyeartrend is down about 20%. Statistically it doesn’t end well . . . or last very long. Here I am – your pastor with a low risk-tolerance!

The question is: “Which bank are we?” Are we a failed bank, just using creative accounting to stretch things out a little longer? Are we a sound bank, but one that doesn’t want to take a risk in these hard times? Or are we Wells Fargo – willing to step out and take a risk when the time is right? We have substantial resources of all kinds here at Orangewood. Are we risk intolerant, or are we ready to put them on the line for investment in the Kingdom of God?

Truly, the Kingdom of God does not fully lend itself to statistical analysis or investment metaphors – as if its success is up to us. The Holy Spirit is in charge here. It’s not our job to save the church or the Church or the Kingdom. Our job is to use our resources to join the Spirit which blows where it will in ministry. That’s risky! Especially in hard times, our natural inclination is to circle the wagons, but God wants those wagons headed outward. We have a special opportunity to reach out to a world that is anxious and hurting right now. I have found great comfort and courage in our Lord and in the fellowship of God’s people over the last couple weeks of crisis. This crisis is a great opportunity to bring others to God!

Which bank are we?

October

A bunch of times since I have been at Orangewood Presbyterian Church, I have been asked:

• Are you okay if the ___________ group reads __________ book?
• Is it alright with you if “they” have a speaker on __________ topic from ___________ perspective?
• Do you have a problem with an adult education class on _____________ taught by _______________?

Almost always, my answer to these questions is going to be “I’m fine with it!” Of course there is such a thing as truth, and God has revealed much of it to us, but there are also many issues where good Christian people differ. I’ll probably veto it when Satan wants to teach a class, or the Thursday morning Bible study wants to study the Kama Sutra, but mostly, I don’t feel the need to rule on such things. I trust you! You have wonderful brains and beautiful souls, and you will not be ruined by hearing/studying/reading about something from a different viewpoint. I do not perceive you as fragile souls that need to be protected from possible untruths. Rather, I view us all as spiritually discerning individuals who will almost always be strengthened and nurtured by a broad range of perspectives.

Actually, one of our strengths at Orangewood is a breadth of viewpoints. We come together in the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the desire to be his disciples, and because of that we can love and respect each other in the midst of differences. I will remind you that since I have been at Orangewood, I have preached on hot-topics as broad ranging as immigration; homosexuality; church and state; extreme poverty; war; “Should We Mess Around with Genes;” and “America – Right or Wrong.”

We’re still here! No one has gouged out anyone else’s eyes. There have been no charges of heresy before the courts of the church.

In a world where some churches have a party line on every issue, we are blessed to sometimes embrace differing points of view. We try hard to be a church where truth is often proclaimed, but also where truth is sometimes humbly sought after by listening to varying views. You are trusted to think for yourself. Your opinions are valued. Hopefully you will be challenged to listen to the perspectives of others and encouraged to test those perspectives against Scripture. Then, pray about it, seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead you and all of us into deeper truth and faith.

Ghost Ranch Preaching Conference

I debated whether to leave this picture out of my report about my preaching conference at Ghost Ranch. That way, I imagined you would picture me laboring away in a classroom all day. We did do a bunch of that, really! I had forgotten how nerve-racking it was back in seminary days to preach before your peers who usually got their chain-saws running as soon as you got your mouth running.

Our instructors were Jana Childers, Dean of San Francisco Seminary who is also a gifted preacher and stage actress; and Bill Carter, who is a pastor in Pennsylvania and the founding member of the Presbybob Jazz Quartet. Our focus was weaving music and culture into Biblical preaching. Particularly enjoyable were the parallels drawn between jazz music and preaching, as well as the discussions of creativity in preaching. We did preach for each other and it was wonderful to see how many different styles and personalities God can use to convey The Word.

Okay, now that I’ve proven I actually learned something – back to the picture. The best part of the conference was the collegiality: Meals together, hiking to the top of the Mesa, popping a cold . . . um . . . milk. It was a blessing to share struggles and joys, ideas and experience, laughter and pain with others who are on the same journey.

It got me thinking about the church – how so little of what is significant in what we do together happens in an hour on Sunday morning. So much more important is our hiking together: The meals, the watching each others’ children, the pouring of concrete at Rocky Point, the games of Mexican Train, the casserole brought after surgery, and the sharing of a conversation over cold milk.

If you truly want a mountain top experience, find some brothers and sisters in Christ and start hiking!