9-28-11

Dear Family of faith,
I hope you are all enjoying this beautiful fall weather after the monsoon on Monday!
I have a friend that both irritates me and inspires me for the very same reason. When he is talking with someone and I try to get his attention to say a few things, he completely ignores me. Even in the midst of a crowd of people, he is focused on what he is doing at the moment and he is unable (or unwilling) to be distracted. You practically have to grab him by the arm or stand right in front of him to get his attention. That's the irritating part. And yet this person gives you his complete and undivided attention when carrying on a conversation with you. He is not talking on his cell phone or texting or even looking through you or around you. He is looking right at you and speaking to you as if you were the only one in the world. That's the inspiring part, and I have been the recipient of that kind of attention from him. I wish I could be more like that myself. Especially on Sunday mornings I find myself having to talk with so many different people and see people wanting to say something to me that I often feel like I'm cheating the person in front of me. I imagine Jesus to have been someone who was completely absorbed by the person in front of him at the time. That was surely part of his charisma. What does it take to become more like that? Concentration and the will to do it! I'm going to try harder. It's so encouraging and affirming to receive someone's complete attention!

9-21-11

9-21-11
Dear Family of faith,
It's a sad day when our nation has to wait to hear whether a man may be wrongfully executed in Georgia for a crime he probably didn't commit. As I write this, Troy Davis, is scheduled to be put to death in spite of witnesses recanting their testimony, the concerns of dozens of prison wardens and executioners across the country, even Jimmy Carter and the Pope. Why would a governor turn a deaf ear to such a cacophony of voices calling for a stay until the matter can be resolved? Because we have this desire to blame someone, anyone, for the troubles of our lives. In this case the family needs closure, and it doesn't matter to them whether they have the right criminal or not. This incident makes me think about my own life and how often I want to blame someone else for the things that go wrong. Yet our New Testament teaches (in Romans 12) that revenge is not part of our Christian lifestyle. Vengeance belongs to God. We are told not to judge others and to leave the justice to God because our judgments are often faulty and our justice imperfect. We misjudge too often, so rather than add to our own sin, God wants us to practice Jesus' way-- the way of the One who said, even as he was being unjustly put to death on the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing."
Recently I saw a photo in the newspaper about a local group that has been helping to feed children. Under the photo was a caption that said that the particular program was "providing food to deserving families with children in Hernando County," When I read that, I thought to myself, "I wonder what their criteria are to be a "deserving family." It made me wonder whether the group might withhold food from kids if they thought the parents were not worthy of help. This is the problem we get into when we're trying to help others. Who is deserving? Are little children to go hungry because they have bad parents? Certainly there are unfit parents in this world-- we have all seen them and heard of them, but can we punish the children because of their parents? No doubt our government assistance programs help out a lot of "undeserving parents" in an attempt to keep the children from poverty and worse. What would Jesus do? He told us in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:42): "Give to everyone who begs from you." I'm glad Jesus doesn't keep his love and grace from me because I'm undeserving.

9-14-11

Dear Family of faith,
Being a pastor is an impossible job, except by the grace of God; but it certainly is not a boring one. Today I got a phone call from a woman who was distraught because she had been to a Bible Study in another church and had heard the leader say that children with physical disabilities were cursed by God. When she went to the pastor of the church, he said the same thing!! Isn't that sad? In previous times I would have thought the whole thing too far-fetched-- that anyone in today's world would consider physical disabilities a punishment from God. But these days this is how bad it has gotten in the "church." That's one of the reasons that I put on our church sign this week, "We don't beat people up in here." The woman called me because she had seen a UCC ad on TV and had heard that we were an accepting church. It's so incredible to think that so many self-righteous Christians are in the business of keeping people away from God!
Also today, a zip lock bag of pamphlets was left in the church mailbox. There was no name to indicate who had left it there, but the bag was full of religious brochures from such diverse groups as the Mormons, fundamentalist churches, the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Roman Catholics. Whoever left the bag was probably making a statement of some sort. I took it as the ultimate sign of disgust with the Christian Church as a whole-- that all those groups had become so loathsome with their judging and condemnation of everyone in the eyes of the bag owner that he/she was giving up on religion completely. The statement was perhaps, "Here, you can have it all back. I want none of your religion."
Dear family, we can rejoice that we are different from 'the pack.' People who come to our church are looking for affirmation and acceptance, for caring and compassion. I'm so glad that you are a people who have seen that as your identity--that you care less about what others think than about what Jesus thinks. Keep loving and caring!

9-8-11

Dear Family of faith,
It seems like forever since I wrote my last midweek news to you. Jill and I certainly missed you while we were gone visiting family and friends. We bring warm greetings to you from Peter and Jan Bastow and John and Sylvia Chapman (in Maine), Walt and Marilyn Wiwczar (in New Hampshire), and Duke and Polly Yaguchi (in Georgia). They are all fine and we shared some marvelous memories with them. We put on over 4,000 miles on our car during the trip, but I it was so affirming to see so many wonderful people who have been with us in good times and bad. The relationships of life are what make life real and beautiful. It's a lesson to be reminded of, especially in difficult economic times like we face today. Life is never about things; it's always about people.
Being gone from the church so long also reminded me of the privilege it is to be your pastor. You are wonderful people, so accepting and loving, and I never take that for granted. I only wish everyone could experience the bonds of caring that we have in our church!