The Feats of God
The summer Olympics are quickly approaching. For a couple of weeks, we will be able to see the best athletes in the world competing against each other. Michael Phelps will be going for another record number of swimming medals. The American gymnastics teams will likely hold many a breath as they toss in the air during the moves they have practiced for years.
When I watch the Olympics, I often try to picture myself doing what they are doing...and my scenarios always end up with me getting hurt fairly badly. My washboard abs continue to be in hiding behind a few others layers. The reflexes in my muscles are not attuned to great feats of skill...unless you count the way I can click my remote without looking at it.
I look at these people who are gathering in London to compete, and I know that I can not do what they are doing. I have neither the years of training, nor the natural level of coordination.
This Thursday is called "The Ascension of our Lord." It is a feast day (a high holy / special day) during the season of Easter...celebrated right before Pentecost Sunday. The reading for this day come from Luke 24...where the resurrected Jesus leaves his disciples with a commission, a blessing, a promise of the Holy Spirit...and then ascends into the clouds. Luke's gospel continues with the book of Acts, and if you start reading the book of Acts, you find that the disciples look like they were watching the Olympics in Jesus' ascension into heaven...
"Did you see what he just did!" (my words)
Then two angels appear and ask them this great question, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand there looking up into heaven?" Maybe the disciples are still caught up in the amazement of it all, or maybe they were hoping Jesus would peek out from behind a cloud for just a second, or maybe they thought...how do we follow that?
The angels are saying...why do you look up into heaven for Jesus? Go and do the great feats you have just witnessed through him...because Jesus is now alive and at work in you through the Holy Spirit.
So, go out and forgive...love...heal...bringing life and hope to others this week...not because of any training you have received...but because these are the great feats God has given and filled you with in Jesus Christ.
In Easter joy and wondering,
Pastor Harold
God's list...
Do you ever feel like you are running behind?
As I am writing this weekly email on Wednesday instead of Monday, you can guess...yes...Pastor Harold is running behind.
I
think we all carry some form of list(s) with us. They are sometimes
written down on paper, nicely organized by priority. Sometimes they are
scribbled on the back of napkins to remind us of something later. If
you are digitally inclined, maybe you keep a list of to-do items on an
iPad or smartphone.
I probably keep about 3 lists running at a
time...one for work, for home, and the "other." Yet, as the week gets
going, I easily look around my office or around the house and see many
untold lists crying out to me...stacks of papers to file...a full
calendar of events coming up...toys scattered everywhere in the
kitchen...dirty dishes in the sink...the flashing answering machine....
AH! STOP!
Take
a deep breath. Breath in...pause...breath out. The word for breath in
Greek is "pneuma"...where we get the word "pneumatic"...like pneumatic
drill. This word also is the word in scripture that is translated
"Spirit"...God's Spirit. So...as you pause to take a breath right now,
let it sink in that it is the Spirit you are breathing in...filling your
lungs with good things...with life!
And, once you have started
breathing funny because you are paying attention to your breathing,
know that time is something that God also surrounds with his love. Time
is a gift...and we should not let our lists tell us any different.
That despite our lists and calendars, we have a God who loves us and
rains down a steady shower of grace upon all creation to renew it
daily...to remind us to stop and pause amidst the busy-ness of
life...and experience the one thing on God's list.
Have a God-paced and Spirit-filled week!
In Easter joy and wondering,
Pastor Harold
Responding to the April 27th, 2011
This past Friday, the 27th of April, was the one year anniversary of the tornadoes that swept through the mid-section of our country all the way to Alabama, killing over 300 people. Flags were at half mast on our travels through Iowa that day, a subtle reminder of a not so subtle day for the lives of many.
When I think of the purpose of the church and why it is even here,
or why God would ever die only to be resurrected in three days,
it all becomes clearer for me...if only for a brief moment...on days like April 27th, 2011.
...that God did not suffer and die and rise from the dead in Jesus to make for an unforgettable story or to merely show off to us how powerful God is...no...Jesus suffered and died on a cross to let you and me know that wherever there is pain and suffering and loss...Jesus is there...God's love is at work there...in subtle and not so subtle ways...through hugs...communities reaching out to communities...Lutheran Disaster Response...and you...leading to resurrection.
I have been tinkering with a definition for the church recently...one for me individually as a member of the body of Christ in the world...but also for us communally as the body of Christ in the world. Yet, my definition keeps coming out as a question...maybe even moreso a lens...to see each day, each decision, each breath...each half-mast flag...in a different way...and I want to share it with you for your week ahead.
"How does this fit into God's mission to bring life to the world?"
This is to be replaced by our thoughts...our words...our actions today.
This is also how we respond to the needs of others.
This is what we are doing as church together.
This is stockshows, sports, school, work, and home time.
This is every bullet on the council agenda.
This is ever line item in our congregational budgets.
This is how I spend, invest, distribute, give, or put to work my money, time, and resources.
Yet, this is not so much about doing...but fitting...realizing that God is already at work in the world, and joining into the kingdom of God already breaking into the world.
I would like to hear what you think about my working definition for us as church...
and would love to hear your own.
Blessed ponderings and participating this week!
In Easter joy and wondering,
Pastor Harold
Listening for Jesus
So...if you saw a ghost...what would you feed him?
It's a weird question to ponder. I think of Casper the friendly ghost from the cartoons. The times I recall him or his ghost friends eating something, it fell right to the ground. I always wondered...how were they able to hold it, if the rest of their person was so...well...nothing?
This coming Sunday, we find the disciples on a beach, eating dinner...when all of a sudden Jesus appeared standing before them (this was after the resurrection by the way). The first thing they thought they were seeing was a ghost. So, it's not wonder they didn't offer any of their dinner to Jesus at this point. Why feed a ghost...right?
Well, as the account continues, Jesus invites them to touch him to see that he is not a ghost, or a figment of their imagination. He shows them the wounds on his hands and feet that resurrection left untouched. And the disciples react to all this with "joy...disbelieving...and wondering" (Luke 24:41). And yet, they offer him nothing to eat.
Jesus then asks them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish. He took it and ate it for all to see.
I have always been puzzled by this whole account of Jesus and his disciples. What purpose does it serve us these days...us modern day disciples? Maybe to remind us that joy, disbelief, and wonder are all called for when responding to the God who both meets us in our mess and calls us to new life. Maybe its to show that Jesus was not a ghost...that food did not fall to the ground when he ate...but that he was as real and alive as anything could be...closing once and for all the chapter on the power of death.
Yet...my thought for today is this...that even post-resurrection...Jesus is in need. He is hungry. And, maybe in this reading we find that discipleship at its heart is about listening and responding more than simply understanding or reacting...that when we hear the voice of need in Fredericksburg or Uganda, we should hear the voice of Jesus.
I suppose a disciple...a follower of Jesus...based on this account might be defined as:
"one who responds to the needs of others, not as if they are ghosts,
but as if they are ones who have been marked by resurrection."
Continued Easter joy and wondering,
Pastor Harold
Terror and Amazement
He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Words that can't help but make those alveoli in the lungs tingle with joy!
Yet, for those of us who read the resurrection account from the gospel of Mark on Sunday, we had the wind somewhat taken out of us in how he ends his gospel...women fleeing from an empty tomb...unable to speak...filled with terror and amazement at the same time.
The Greek says the women were literally traumatized and filled with ecstasy simultaneously.
It takes something pretty amazing and powerful to do that...
For those who do not know, the Vanicek's have gerbils. They are pretty fun pets. They don't bite. They are cuter than mice. Although, their bathroom hygiene is poorly lacking...and the tips of their tails come off if you try to catch them that way. (It's a defense mechanism)
So, on Saturday morning, I knelt down to see how all was going in gerbil world. Both Max and Sam were frolicking around as usual...and then I noticed some of the bedding slowly move in the corner. Well...we didn't have two boy gerbils after all. And, now we have 5 little baby gerbils!
I have to say my initial reaction contained a bit of trauma..."we now have 7 gerbils!" "How could this happen?" "Why us?" "That's a lot of poop to clean up." "Who would be interested in owning their own gerbils?" Yet, I was also filled with amazement. "Just think, these little creatures have been growing and forming right under our eyes and without any help from us!" "Look at the little pink bodies...their eyes still shut." "Look at how Sam instinctively takes on momma duties." "What a sight for Virginia and Henry to witness!"
New life, even in the smallest amounts can terrorize and amaze us, opening our eyes in new ways to how God is continually intersecting this world with signs of resurrection and hope.
So, may your week be filled with the kind of terror and amazement that let's you know resurrection and new life have just broken into your world once again.
(And if you would like some gerbils...call 830-992-3021) :)
A blessed Eastertide to you all,
Pastor Harold
Easter is coming...
In my Easter preparations, I came across this wonderfully crafted video that I wanted to pass onto you. It was made by some professors at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN.
Blessings to your Maundy Thursday,
P Harold
What our peeking already tells us
SO...it is Holy Week...the week where Palm Sunday bookmarks one end and Easter Sunday bookmarks the other. It is also the high point of the Christian church year...more-so than even Christmas! This week we witness God's love for us.
When the last Harry Potter book came out a few years ago, it came out with much anticipation. I knew some who turned right to the last chapter to see how it ended...and only then did they read the book, confident in the outcome...knowing where the story was ultimately leading.
As Christians on this side of the resurrection, we live as people who have peeked at where the story is going. We come into Holy Week already knowing what will happen on Easter morning. In Christ's resurrection, we can confidently see where God is going and the kind of resurrected people God is calling us to be in the world.
And maybe this is why Holy Week is filled with those extra times to worship...Maundy Thursday and Good Friday...inviting us into the parts of God's story that can not be disconnected from our Easter morning peeking...or our present day Easter-living. In the matter of a few day, God reveals for us once again that death and resurrection are bound together.
And with this mystery...with this gift...with this hope...we can journey with joy and peace through any week that may come.
Blessed Holy Week to you all,
Pastor Harold
Doing Justice
For this week's devotional, I wanted to reflect a moment on something that happened recently in our country...something that you may have already of had a conversation with others about...the shooting of the youth Trayvon Martin in Florida.
A headline today reads, "Calls for justice rage on a month after Trayvon Martin's killing"
What is justice? It is easy to think about courts and judges and who is guilt or innocent. When I hear the word "justice," words like "fair" and "reasonable" come to mind. Justice is said to "be blind"...impartial...that with all things being equal, you should get what you deserve.
So, what does justice look like for Trayvon Martin, or the one who shot him? Does it take the form of an eye for an eye? Does it mean bringing to awareness and addressing an unresolved issue in our society and culture? Maybe. Yet, as a Christian, I ask the question, what is justice without love at its center?
What would it mean to come at justice not as a result, but as a response.
The prophet Micah said, "...what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"
""Doing Justice" (from the ELCA website) means addressing inequities in political, economic and social systems. It works to restore relations among people and with the earth to the way God intended them to be. It means challenging ourselves to step outside our comfort zones. Justice is love applied to many neighbors."
We can not change what has happened. Yet, we can respond to our neighbor with loving kindness. We can be about the daily work in our community of restoring relationship with others where they have been broken or shattered or torn apart.
We can do this, because in Christ we have been restored to life that not even death can put a pause to. So, let us go out and not only call for justice, but do justice that restores relations among people and with the earth...a justice that restores those affected by this tragedy in Florida.
Peace be with you,
Pastor Harold
Mowing your way to Peace
Okay, so Spring Break is not always a break...even when you do have time off! Either way, I hope you all had a grace-filled last week! Please note what is up-and-coming...mentoring this week with confirmation students, carwash on Saturday, National Youth Gathering fundraisers the next two Sundays...and then its Holy Week!...and then the summer! ;)
Yet, before I scroll us through the calendar too fast, I want to back up to Spring Break. People last week all over the country used it in different ways. Some went on ski trips, some stayed at home, some still went to work while the kids needed something to do, for us, we traveled to visit family and friends.
It is hard to slow down in our fast paced culture, even on a break, where slowing down is often seen as being lazy or not being productive. When I returned to seminary for my senior year, after my internship in Arkansas, I shared in a class that one of the hardest parts of my internship was balancing everything...trying to separate my vocation as intern with my vocation as parent...trying to make healthy space for each...to slow down enough to enjoy it all.
The professor said something from her own experience that struck me. She said sometimes you cannot compartmentalize life...you must seek to find ways to integrate it together...to find ways to integrate the daily grind, with the daily family needs, and personal/communal spiritual needs...to look for those places where they naturally overlap. Experience has shown me that this works sometimes, but not always.
Yet, I wanted to share a moment last week where it worked for me. In visiting my mom, I was asked to mow the yard...a yard that takes about 3-4 hours to mow. I did this countless times growing up, and did not always look forward to Saturday mornings because of it.
This time though, I noticed that when I started mowing, I started mowing in the old patterns and paths that I used to do those many years ago. It became relaxing to do so. It was meditative...a chance for me to freely think while I worked...to wrestle with things in my mind (and the clover)...to talk with God without saying a word. In many ways, mowing grass was like walking a labyrinth, a spiritual practice I enjoy when I find one.
Labyrinths are ancient. They are walking paths that are designed to slow you down...to center you in the midst of a busy world...to help lay for you some old patterns that you can return to when spring break feels more like spring sprint. See the labyrinth to the right for an example, and know that the nearest one is at the Episcopal Church in Kerrville for anyone to walk.
So, may your week after spring break be filled with intersections of daily and holy life. In the busiest and slowest of times, know that God is in all things, and in God all things hold together.
Grace and peace fill your week,
Pastor Harold
Pointing to the Bluebonnets
Our family went for a drive this weekend. I was amazed at how green everything was. We even saw our first bluebonnets of the year! And, just seeing that spark of blue and white on the sides of the roads reminded me of the tough past year with the drought.
I have heard that Texas has 1/2 the cattle in the State, compared to only 1 year ago. That means a lot of ranchers and farmers made some difficult decisions in recent times...that means the future will look different than the past...that means anxiety...frustration...concern...for all people who have more than just tire treads connecting them to the land.
...and then we have had rains in the past months that can only be described as grace...water that is waking up those bluebonnet seeds...I believe...as a timely reminder of grace...of hope...of new life that can pierce the hardest droughts in this area or in our lives.
Jesus liked to point to nature...maybe to say how beautiful it is...but he often did it as a way of pointing to God...to say, look at those lilies (or bluebonnets) of the field...they don't do anything to earn the water or soil or sun, but God provides for them...so know...and trust...that God will provide for you in the seasons of your life.
So, when you see those bluebonnets in coming weeks, see them as a sign of grace and hope and new life...as a holy moment to pause and trust the God who loves us to death.
A poem to water your thoughts and faith this week...
"Carefully I crafted a loop with the string and tossed it into the river.
I never caught a fish with buttercups or a knotted string.
But I saw them swimming by in fleets of flashing silver
And for me, that was enough."
- Emily Vizzo
Grace and Peace fill your week,
Pastor Harold