TVLC

The disciples would like Jesus to come back to Capernaum, but no, he says his mission is to keep moving on, keep going out there with the message of life. That sounds so simple, but every one of us knows that nothing Jesus ever did was simple. He had everything going for him in Capernaum, and yet, he moved on to those who had not yet heard his message. He gave up what was safe, known, successful in order to accomplish his purpose.

In the February issue of  The Lutheran there is an article by the bishop of the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast synod, Michael W. Rinehart. He said, “The turnaround of mainline churches will happen when we in those churches care as much about those outside the church as we do those inside. To embrace relevance, we will have to let go of survival…My theory is that mainline churches have ceased to be relevant to the culture because insiders trump outsiders every time. All decisions, even the little ones, are made for the benefit of those inside the church. Insiders trump outsiders…decisions aren’t made considering what will attract spiritually hungry outsiders but what will please the card-carrying, bill-paying membership…Church structures were set up to preserve what exists, not change it. These stable structures work well when society is changing slowly, imperceptibly. If something is working, protect it at all costs. But what if it’s not working? What if the rate of societal change skyrockets and old patterns and structures no longer work?” Rinehart then quotes management consultant Peter Drucker, “When the rate of change outside the organization exceeds the rate of change inside the organization, the organization is doomed.”  Change,  Rinehart says is the only thing to do. “What got you where you are now won’t get you where you need to go in the future…Change is hard. Change, however, is non-negotiable..there is no growth without change…Any kind of change creates conflict. Leaders can only tolerate so much discontent. And even a little discontent sounds loud when you’re in the hot seat. so when things heat up, leaders circle the wagons, which is precisely the wrong thing to do…nothing great is accomplished without risk.”

Well, I could go on and on but you get the picture. I have been one of those bill-paying, card-carrying members all my life–I too have my very cozy comfort zones. I know how difficult it is to let go of what seems so secure in order to be open to that fresh and living Word. It’s such irony that we see our whole purpose as following Jesus, and yet, Jesus did everything BUT make people feel comfortable, he did everything BUT preserve the status quo. He went after the outsiders with care and compassion even when it made the insiders furious.

To tell you the truth, I think this is the constant struggle, and if we read the Bible, it has been the constant struggle. Jesus keeps on saying that there is abundant life to be found in following him, but it’s so tempting to want to stay in the safe place. Letting go of what is when what is to come is not yet in view takes faith. It has always been this way. It also takes a willingness to risk.

Bishop Rinehart says,” The world is hell-bent on destruction in countless ways. It is desparately in need of a church that offers a way of peace, truth, compassion and hope, as opposed to the world’s way of power, materialism, exploitation, and violence…It needs a church that so loves the world, she’d be willing to die for it.”

So, what do you think? I’d love to know….

Pastor Gayle

The gospel of Mark makes it sound so easy—Jesus called his disciples, and off they went—”immediately” they put down their nets, “immediately” they left their father and the hired hands. Who does that? If you are a mom, you know that NO ONE ever immediately does what you ask. And truth be told, none of us is that willing to just leave it all behind and follow, no matter who is doing the asking… Letting go is not an easy thing. The gospel lesson for this weekend gives us no hint at all about any inner fears or struggles or anxieties that might have been going on inside the minds of Simon and Andrew, or James and John.

We might actually identify a little more easily with another character from the assigned texts for this week–Jonah. Now that I can understand–”you want me to do what? excuse me while I run in the opposite direction”

The thing is, God seems able to make something of those who are called–God’s followers, you and me. Maybe it is like a lot of things, until you let go you cannot begin to imagine that there might be something more, something amazing, although for sure, not always something easy.

Years before I went to Luther Seminary as a full time student I had taken some pastoral care classes there, and had taken one unit of Clinical Pastoral Education. That led to me working as a chaplain in the chemical dependency unit of my hometown hospital. I loved working with people in treatment, partly because they were at that point in life where the only way to get better was to be able to look at the mess of life straight on, and that takes courage. It is  difficult for any one who is addicted to alcohol or drugs to believe that there could be something good on the other side of that, that God as they understood God might actually be able to provide something better. I don’t think they are alone in that thinking. Even for those of us who are not addicted to drugs or alcohol, the desire to hang on to the way things are is powerful and we know that letting go and trusting God does not come easy.   

In fact it is just plain impossible sometimes. I think we are born wanting to find something that will provide safety, security. And sometimes we are looking in all the wrong places. God wants to be our resting place. God wants us to trust God, not our own notions of what will give us peace or hope or life. Jesus comes along and says, the kingdom of God is near—come, follow me. Can we dare to lay down our nets? Can we give up what “is” for the promise of what God wants to provide for us?

And so another year begins, 2012. We have been working on THE BUDGET which will be presented to the congregation at our rolling congregational meetings the weekend of January 14th and 15th. It seems sometimes that a budget is such a dull thing to have to contemplate—and yet, this budget is filled with so much that makes up our life together. Finance committee members and council members have spent hours dealing with how to meet our current obligations and at the same time, move into our future. We are essentially stating our mission plan, setting our priorities, establishing our goals for the coming year, and daring to dream of what might not yet even seem possible.

It is tempting sometimes to just hunker down–circle the wagons so to speak—we have a good thing going, lets just maintain the status quo. And there are of course, many things that need to be maintained, but we are a church in mission for the sake of the world. We are a church, called by God to participate in God’s dream for this world. So how do we set a vision before us, how do we dare to sometimes think outside the tried and true, how do we trust that God will continue to guide and lead us beyond our own comfort zone?

To live under the call of God is to stay in the conversation—to be willing to go out in faith, believing that God will be acting in our lives in ways that we can barely imagine. It is never easy to live in that tension of going forward in  faith while at the same time being responsible for the many obligations and givens of our day to day life. In other words, if we don’t pay our bills, all our dreaming won’t get us too far. And we have some large bills. We have a debt on the Family Life Center that we continue to chip away at, we have the cost of maintaining a beautiful campus, and the cost of paying the salaries of the people who work here. When we get beyond that, then we are in the arena of dreaming for the future. Are there ways to make better use of the space we have?  Are there exciting possibilties for expanding our life together, growing in faith, building community? Are there people, organizations we can partner with to accomplish even bigger purposes? Are there needs in our neighborhood or our community that we are capable of addressing because of the many resources we have? These are some of the questions we ask ourselves as we move into our future. What are some of the things YOU are thinking about as you ponder the future of TVLC? What are some of YOUR hopes and dreams?  How can God use YOU to accomplish great things?

Pretty soon our fresh new calendars will be filled with commitments and appointments, with plans and agendas and to-do lists. It’s called life—and that’s the point–to live, to be engaged, to be connected and awake.  And that too is the point of the church—to be engaged, to be connected and awake to the ways that God is at work. Don’t be fooled into thinking that a budget is a dull thing—essentially when we make our budget plans we are writing all over our calendar, we are saying YES to the future.  Happy NEW YEAR, full of possibilities.  

The celebration is almost here. This past weekend we had over 500 people in church, and I expect that this weekend we will have probably double that. There is something about this story that draws us to worship. That Almighty God would choose to come as an infant, a helpless baby–would choose to come in weakness in order to be with us—is almost too good to be true. And that, I think, is part of why we are drawn to church at this time of year especially. There’s lots of talk out there about the C and E’s—you know, the folks who come to church on Christmas and Easter. They usually have a bad reputation–uncommitted, unchurched, unfaithful. We who gather every week often raise an eyebrow at their lack of discipline, or are curious as to what it is that makes someone want to come to church twice a year.  Sometimes, I think the surprising thing isn’t how many people don’t come to church. The surprising thing is how many people DO. For those of us who do come regularly, the most important thing we can do is practice hospitality, invite, welcome, be a sign of grace.

We need to remember that the first ones to see the baby Jesus weren’t the regular church goers, weren’t the who’s who of the temple—but the shepherds–field workers who were considered at the bottom of the pile in terms of upstanding and trustworthy. Shepherds who were known for their cheating ways and their slick conniving style. THAT is where the angel of the Lord showed up to announce the good news, that is where the glory of the Lord was first revealed. They were invited by such good news that they could only go and adore.

I hope that we all feel invited by such good news, I hope we can share that good news with all the people who are waiting for signs of hope, I hope that we can be radical in our hospitality, I hope we can proclaim( which is just a fancy word for “tell others with conviction!”) that God has come, in the flesh and this is the dawn of redeeming grace.

People are looking for a community to be part of, for signs of hope in the midst of some dark realities–invite them. Smile when you see them, introduce them to your friends, be a sign of that light that shines in the darkness. Christmas is coming…. this is going to be a wonderful celebration.

I wish you every blessing as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, I pray that your hearts would continue to receive the Christ and  be a place where he is at home. Thank you for  the many ways that you have been a light to me in the past four months, and the joy that you have shared with Jay and me. Thank you for helping us to feel at home here, and thank you for all of your Christmas wishes and greetings. Jesus is born! Share the Good News!

+Peace

Up and down the halls this afternoon, everyone is talking about the winter weather… I guess it is winter, the wind is blowing a little stronger, the rain is coming down, but hmmmm, not so sure I can think of it as winter. And Christmas seems connected to winter, and so, I have to keep nudging myself to get with it and get things done–decorate, send packages on time—this land of eternal summer makes it just a little harder to keep track, to live by the seasons… but we are learning. Certainly I can sense the difference between the days of 112 degrees that were the norm in my first weeks here. Certainly I can smell the creosote after the rains, and the furnace comes on in my house for a little while each morning lately. I will say I am not sure there is a place that gets darker at night than Tucson. So, it may not be “winter”,(and lest you wonder, no, I do not miss snow and bitter cold) but the darkness of the season is good for Advent waiting. The Word became flesh, the light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it. Those are the claims from the Gospel of John, the claims that we cling to as people of faith. No matter how dark it is in this world, no matter how deep the pain or the suffering, no matter how dark the evil forces around us, no matter how broken we feel, God, in all powerlessness, comes to share in this life with us. God comes, in the flesh, in the helplessness of a baby and brings light that no darkness can overcome. This Advent, spend a little time sitting in the dark. Spend a little time being quiet. Spend a little time…

Some year, and maybe I won’t dare do it until the year I retire, I am going to declare Advent a quiet zone….no meetings, no busy work, no events that take us away from quiet reflection… you see now how I may not dare do this for a while! We are DO-ERS, and while many of the events of the month help us to think about the birth of Jesus, much of what we worry about just fills our hearts and minds with more worry. Much of what we are busy with just gets in the way of our REAL preparation. This is only the 2nd weekend of Advent, don’t wear yourself out.  And it isn’t simply a matter of waiting for this sweet baby born in the manger–this is the radical coming of God that we are talking about, the God proclaimed in Mary’s Magnificat: He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and has exalted those of low degree; He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away.

In his essay, Waiting for God, Henri Nouwen says, “…the more afraid we are, the harder waiting becomes…The whole meaning of the Christian community lies in offering a space in which we wait for that which we have already seen. Christian community is the place where we keep the flame alive among us and take it seriously, so that it can grow and become stronger in us…It is waiting in the knowledge that someone wants to address us. The question is, are we home? We need to wait together to keep each other at home spiritually, so that when the word comes it can become flesh in us. That is why the book of God is always in the midst of those who gather. We read the word so that the word can become flesh and have a whole new life in us.”

Blessings to you as we wait together,

Pastor Gayle    

This weekend the gospel is the well known parable from Matthew in which Jesus tells his followers about the King who is present in the hungry and the thirsty, in the stranger and those who were sick, naked, or in prison. It’s funny isn’t it–sometimes we are so eager to serve God, but the people drive us nuts, especially the people with all their many needs! And here we are told pretty clearly that it is when we serve the people with all the needs that we are serving Christ our King. Somtimes we so prefer the sanctuary. We so prefer to keep our faith confined to our relationships with people “like us.”  But the life that God wants for us is a life that is found in serving others—over and over that is the message—you have to lose your life to find it, in death there is life, to love God is to feed his lambs.

The prophets make the point loud and clear. Ezekiel announces that God will bind up the injured, strengthen the seak, but destroy the fat and the strong. God promises to feed his people with justice.  It’s easy to get paralyzed, to think we can’t possibly live up to this calling that is ours, to be sure that we are never doing enough. Throw away your score card, entrust yourself to Christ, the work will be done in you and through you. That is also the promise.

We are headed into some busy times.  I hope you will have a wonderful Thanksgiving this coming week. We will gather for worship on Wednesday evening, and the Friday night after Thanksgiving we will have a great opportunity to enjoy the African Children’s Choir—invite your friends—doors open at 6:15 with the concert at 7.

Peace, Pastor Gayle

The church year is winding down. November 20 is the last Sunday of the year, and a new one begins with the first Sunday of Advent on November 27th. In many ways, it’s good to be a little out of step with the calendar. Advent comes, and with it our waiting, longing, expecting for the one who comes, the Word made Flesh. All around us people will be going a little nuts getting ready for all things Christmas, but we are invited to stop, to sit and wait, to think about the One for whom we wait.

This weekend, November 5th and 6th we remember the saints. We remember those who have died, those whose lives made a difference in our lives. We name them and we remember, knowing that their earthly journeys are over and that they have joined that great cloud of witnesses. In our communion liturgy we acknowledge that we gather around the table of the Lord with all the saints, choirs of angels and the whole company of heaven. 

We also think about the saints who are part of our daily lives, the ones who help to encourage and sustain us. Remember those who have died, but don’t forget to give thanks for the ones sitting right next to you. And the one who waits on you in the restaurant, and the one who cleans up after you or helps the kids cross the street or comes to give you your medication when you are in the hospital. The saints are all around.  “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.” (C.S. Lewis, “The Weight of Glory”) Wouldn’t that be something to think about in our interactions with people?  And how about how we treat ourselves? When you look in the mirror, you are looking at a saint of God. Don’t forget that. God is able to do amazing things in us and through us. Saints and sinners, at the same time, no wonder we are often confused!

We are in the midst of our pledge campaign, giving us an opportunity to plan our giving, to look at our stewardship of all that God has provided for us. It might seem that has little to do with All Saints or whatever else we are up to around here, but it has everything to do with it. We are God’s own, given a job to do in this world, given gifts and talents and financial resources to be used so that others might come to know God. We are called to let our lights shine—that’s what saints do. God has made you to be a giver, to be generous, to be concerned about the needs of your neighbor. Stewardship is another word for the relationship we have with God, it is part of our identity as disciples, followers of Jesus. Celebrate the fact that God can and does use YOU. There is a whole world of people who need what we have to offer… there are no ordinary people, you have never talked to a mere mortal….

Thanks for the ways you are blessing my life…

Pastor Gayle