One More Thing – A confirmation sermon on Acts 2:43-47

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Acts 2:43-47

So last week I said something about “this one thing” – that if our confirmation students remembered, if any of us remembered nothing else about anything the church speaks into our lives, we can remember this one thing – nothing, absolutely nothing, not what we do or what we don’t do, not what we believe or what we don’t believe, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  And I stand by that.11568242776_42e80297ae

For the most part.  Because it is really hard to just leave one thing there.  Even a really good thing.  Even the thing that I believe is the best news of all.  Even the thing that I believe declares the core tenet of our faith.  Even then it’s hard to leave just one thing and say, “If you remember nothing else….” because sometimes it’s hard to remember even just that one thing.  Sometimes it feels like it is impossible to find comfort in even that one thing.

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This One Thing – A confirmation sermon on Romans 8:18-39

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Romans 8:18-39

Even though I don’t have my own yet, I have spent enough time with teenagers to know that the concept of fairness is pretty important to them.  Who am I kidding?  It isn’t because I spend time with teenagers that I know this; it’s because I was one.  And it’s because even just thinking about my years as a middle schooler brings my desire for fairness flooding back to mind.  I can remember the day of the huge algebra test that the fire alarm went off in third period.  The kids who had algebra third period got to delay their test after they already started it and had seen all the questions.  Only I had orchestra in third period not algebra.  Those of us who had algebra at any other time in the day still had to take the 3271430123_7380e85c9etest just like it was a normal day.  It wasn’t far at all!!!  Oh yeah, I remember that desire for fairness!

I also remember the typically adult answer the teacher gave.  The same answer my mom used to give when my sister and I would bicker over who had more chores to do, the same answer I give now when something stirs up that desire for fairness in my own children – – “Life’s not fair.”  Ugh.  Even though we know it’s true, both when we hear that answer and when we give it, it is just a hard statement to swallow

Life’s not fair.

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Counting down to sabbatical

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To Do Before I LeaveIn just over two weeks I will begin a sabbatical from my pastoral ministry at First Presbyterian Church of Hudson.  The sermon countdown has begun (two more to write).  The “To Do Before I Leave” list at the left is constantly being updated.  I’m getting excited as I imagine what it will be like to have a summer full of weekends with my family instead of trying to squeeze our fun into the 12 hours we’re all awake on Saturday.  At the same time nerves are starting to mount a little, too.  Will the kids and I get along (enough) most days?  Will I know what to do with myself when I’m not being a pastor?  Will I miss the relationships in my life that are disrupted by this time away? Continue reading →

Ministry Snapshot – Your mess is mine

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I walked in my office this morning to find this:Pentecost mess

It should not have been a surprise since that’s exactly what it looked like when I walked out the door on Sunday after worship and fellowship.  These are what my mom calls “little ones out of big ones” – the scraps left over from the flames my daughter was diligently cutting out to help me get ready for an activity we were doing in worship.  It’s a mess, and a mess that needs to be cleaned up, but it is by no means the biggest mess in my office right now.  It also isn’t the mess that got my first attention today. Continue reading →

Top Ten – a sermon for Pentecost on Acts 2:1-13

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Acts 2:1-13

Last week was the final episode of The Late Show with David Letterman, and like many TV viewers I watched with curiosity to see what he would do with his final Top Ten list.  On the TV show the Top Ten list comes with all sorts of fanfare and anticipation.  There’s this big dramatic build up with an animated introduction. Dave waves his cards around triumphantly, “I have here in my hand tonight’s Top Ten list!” Even if you’re not really a late night person you can usually stay awake for the mock excitement of the Top Ten list.
top_ten
Well, Pentecost was real excitement, not mock excitement. Continue reading →

A Life and Death Decision – A sermon on Romans 6:1-14

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Romans is Paul’s longest letter.  He has a LOT to tell the church in Rome.  Either they have a lot of questions or he has heard a lot of, shall we say, interesting versions of theology coming from the community.  Whatever it is he has a lot to say to them.

Some of the things he says are the basics, spelled out simply, but also beautifully.  We heard last week, “But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” (5:8)  Other things, like the things we will hear today are teachings that take it to the next level.FPC fonts

I imagine this week’s reading as a sort of answer to an unspoken question – – only I imagine it spoken.  I have heard it spoken – in conversations with confirmation students year after year, in Bible studies with women around that library table back there, in coffee shops and airplane seats when someone with some bones to pick with the church finds out what it is I do.  The question is this, see if you’ve ever asked it, “So if Jesus goes to such great lengths to save us, if God loves us so much that God’s going to forgive any sin we have anyway, why not just keep on living the fun life?  Why bother to be good anyway?  We’ll get forgiveness for our sins anyway, won’t we?” Continue reading →

Ungodly? Who? Me? – A sermon based on Romans 5:1-11

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A friend of mine from college likes to tell the cautionary tale of her first video conference job interview.  It was several years ago when using Skype to talk to a potential new employer was still fairly new and some of the kinks in the system or best practices in general hadn’t quite been identified.  With all the technology tested once and then again, she got dressed for 4549892831_2bdbd6e5b7the interview.  It only being in front of a camera she decided to take advantage of the set-up putting on her best blouse and suit jacket and her comfiest pair of flannel pajama pants.  After all they would be out of sight.

Everything started out well.  It took an unfortunate turn however, when she excused herself momentarily to grab a resource from across the room.   Standing up in front of the camera it was only as she saw the image of her comfiest flannel pajama pants flash not-quickly-enough across the little box in the corner of her own screen that she remembered her chosen attire.

She was mortified when she heard, coming through the speakers, the compassionate snickers of the team of interviewers.  Coming back to the table after retrieving the book she needed, she apologized as best she could, which was met with gracious understanding.  Each of the interviewers on the other end of the call admitted to choosing the same sort of attire for their own interview, and the whole group had a nice laugh about it.

We’ve all gotten pretty adept at showing the world just the parts of ourselves that we want to be seen.  Continue reading →

Ministry snapshots – Telling stories

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There wasn’t a whole lot on the schedule for today which was good because my absence on this blog reflects how much has been on my calendar in recent weeks.  I’m not worshiping at the altar of busy.  Just stating a fact.

But anyway, there wasn’t a whole lot on the schedule for today except for two visits – one with a retiring pastor in my presbytery who had invited me to come take what I wanted off of his bookshelves, and another with one of the oldest members of the congregation I serve who had some music to share.  It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon, and in a sense both of these visits were about the same thing – telling and hearing stories.

Ministry Snapshot 1

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Now What? – a sermon for the second Sunday of Easter on Matthew 28:16-20

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As worship began at First Presbyterian Church of Hudson, WI two ruling elders who serve on the session, Sheldon and Attie Kay, reported to the congregation a decision that had been made a special meeting of the session the previous morning, April 11, 2015.  The action taken at that meeting approved the following statement.3160120344_6037d571c0

“Marriage is a gift God has given to all humankind for the well-being of the entire human family.  Marriage involves a unique commitment between two people, traditionally a man and a woman, to love and support each other for the rest of their lives[1]. At First Presbyterian Church of Hudson, WI requests for Session consideration of marriage will not be denied based upon sexual orientation.

[1] Language from PC(USA) General Assembly Amendment 14-F (approved by a majority of PC(USA) presbyteries for inclusion in the Book of Order as of March 17, 2015)

Matthew 28:16-20

I want to begin this morning by thanking Sheldon and Attie Kay for their careful sharing of the news that came out of the special session meeting yesterday. I imagine that decision, whether it is one you personally celebrate or question or maybe even mourn, has not moved far from the front of your mind as we have worshiped together this morning.  It hasn’t moved from mine nor, I imagine, the minds of the session members here this morning even though we have been sitting with the decision almost twenty-four hours longer than the rest of the congregation.

And I don’t think it necessarily should because it is a decision that carries great weight for many in our church and community.  It is a decision that came after months of intense session discussion and really two years of congregational study in a variety of different formats and venues.  It has been an emotional discussion for many, and yesterday it was an emotional decision, in some way or another, for every person
sitting around that meeting table.

As the meeting drew to a close, following almost three hours of discussion and prayer, sharing and wondering aloud, discernment, but very little, in fact absolutely none of what I would categorize as antagonistic debate, I knew my original thoughts on Jesus’ Great Commission would have to be set aside.  I knew what the Spirit was calling me to talk about instead was the decision we had just made.  The question that remained, however, was “*What* was the Spirit calling me to say?”  I guess in that sense the sermon title I had picked for entirely different reasons five or six days ago still fit.  Now what? Continue reading →

Finding Joy – a sermon for Easter on Matthew 28:1-10

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Matthew 28:1-10

Please don’t mock me if this is true, but I may be the last person in the United States still watching the ABC TV show Grey’s Anatomy.  Is there any chance I am not alone in this?  It’s OK if you don’t want to admit it. Many, many people believe the show has, as they say, jumped the shark, long ago lost any resemblance to a quality program, but it is one of my guilty pleasures.

In a recent episode* Dr. Meredith Grey, the show’s title character who began almost ten years ago as a surgical intern, was experiencing a streak of good luck.  She hadn’t lost a patient or had an unsuccessful outcome in surgery in about three or four months.  It seemed like impossibly good luck, and it did not go unnoticed among her peers and subordinates.  In fact, she developed a literal following among the surgical interns.  The student surgeons would flood her observation galleries as she practiced her craft.  Everyone wanted in on one of Dr. Grey’s surgeries or wanted Dr. Grey working on the case for their patients.  Defying the odds she seemed to almost miraculously be able to defy death.

When talking to a colleague about Dr. Grey’s new intern-disciples, fellow-surgeon Dr. Miranda Bailey tried to explain, “Don’tbailey you remember what it was like to be a resident and have all this death around you being new, terrifying? Why do you think they care so much about this stupid streak?  Death is scary. They just want to believe that there’s somebody out there who can defy it.”

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