Boise State & Psalm 102

Granted, that title isn't too catchy and it has little to do with Advent, but then again even as we prepare our heart and mind for the Advent of the Christ we do so within the context of a very real world. After all, are we simply to lay aside all of our worldly concerns in these weeks leading up to Christmas? Does not God want us to enjoy life? What harm is there in cheering for a team that is most definitely an underdog in the world of college sports? Couldn't how we cheer for Boise State be a witness to others about how to go about being a fan?

Maybe its a bit much to say that being a good fan of Boise State is on par with being a good witness to the love of God found in Jesus Christ. Yeah, it probably is. But what the heck, after all, as I said they're underdogs when you consider football programs that have dominated the headlines for generations. So why not join with the psalmist and make our prayer for Boise State:

Hear my prayer, O LORD;

let my cry come to you.

Do not hide your face from me

in the day of my distress.

Incline your ear to me;

answer me speedily in the day when I call. (Psalm 102:1-2)

What could be the harm? Maybe by praying thus for Boise State we'll get into the spirit of relying on God even more on more pressing matters in our life. Maybe by praying thus for Boise State we'll begin to see that there are other concerns in our life that need to be covered in prayer just as passionately. Maybe by praying thus for Boise State we will find in ourselves a longing for the living God who comes among us as the ultimate underdog; as a babe in a manger.

Fruits of the Kingdom

Reading today's daily lectionary is a challenge. The Psalm is about God rescuing someone, but in the process of doing so there is much fire & brimstone language. In Amos the prophet speaks for God who has gone to great lengths to show favoritism to Israel and yet still Israel does not turn to God. In the Epistle, 2 Peter, there is instruction about not following those who might lead us astray. And finally in the Gospel for today, the Parable of the Vineyard in Matthew 21:33-46 Jesus tells the story of a man who grows a vineyard and then travels to a foreign land while the neighbors kill all the vineyard workers and even the vineyard owner's son. In short it is not a very cheery set of readings.

And yet, toward the end of the Gospel Jesus says, "the kingdom of God will be ... given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom."

Although I'm certain if I turned around and consulted my Bible commentaries there are many wise men and women who could tell me more specifically what Jesus meant by the "fruits of the kingdom" but it made me think about Jesus' response to the question about what the greatest commandment is and his reply; loving God and loving neighbor. Jesus' words about producing the fruits of the kingdom also made me think about Paul's letter to the church at Galatia where he said, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things."

Even in the midst of some very challenging passages of scripture, Jesus' words about the kingdom of God belonging to those who produce the fruits of the kingdom seem like very applicable words in the hustle and bustle of early December. For if the fruits include loving God and loving neighbor there are many opportunities for us to pause in the midst of our many tasks and give thanks to God as well as looking out for the many people who make up our neighbor.

Likewise, with so much stress being associated with the month of December, trying to keep in mind things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control can bring a lot of growth to our preparations. Granted, adding one more list to an already burgeoning list of responsibilities might seem like a lot to ask, but when we think about the outcome achieved by producing the fruit of the kingdom, that of coming into an even fuller embrace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, perhaps the added responsibility might just be worth the effort.

Heroes and Psalm 147:10-11

Tonight at our church's LOGOS ministry we're doing "Heroes Night" and as I lay awake early this morning I wondered about why we're still fascinated by or repelled by heroes. And then I read this morning's daily lectionary from the Psalms, especially verses ten and eleven which read; "[God's] delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner; but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love."

What those two verses said to me is that we want someone in whom we can trust steadfastly. And even as we are reminded again and again that steadfast love is what God wants from us, we fickle, finite, people are always on the lookout for a being who is greater than we are and yet also one whom we can see.

That's where heroes come in. Whether they are heroes from the battlefield, like the dwindling number of Medal of Honor Recipients, or heroes from the ball field, or heroes from the world of comic books; we all long for someone who can do more than we can and whom we can trust to be there for us no matter what. Of course that is who God is in our lives and our longing for God to be more present was accomplished by God through the incarnation and later the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of God's Son Jesus Christ who made the way for the Holy Spirit.

And yet even as we confess our faith in such beliefs we daily long for something more tangible. And so we put our hopes in the boys in blue on the blue turf in Boise or in the men and women who give of themselves overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan or we look to supermen and women from the world of "graphic novels" to rescue us. And yet at some point or another all of these valiant heroes let us down in one way or another and we would better serve by the One who came to be among us--Emmanuel--God with us. And that is our challenge for this Advent season, to longingly trust that God comes among us and lives in us and that makes all the difference in the world.

Advent Calendars & Amos

This morning I awoke to the sound of Kathy egging Eric on about what new special thing he would get to do starting today. He had all sorts of guesses and it took him awhile to remember that this being the first day of December meant he could begin opening his Advent Calendar.

I'm sure most of you have had Advent calendars with little doors that open up revealing either symbols of the season or maybe even a little treat. I remember being especially fond of the chocolate Advent calendars as a child, but with a little sister that meant that we alternated days of opening the little doors. In our family's case, Kathy last year made one out of twenty-five little tins that reveal chocolate, legos, and this year a Bakugan!

And so I was reminded that, if I can remember, I might try and blog through Advent using the daily lectionary and other sources. And boy what a surprise to read Amos today. I mean, I've been thinking about how the sermon might unfold with this coming Sunday being the Second Sunday of Advent with Luke's introduction of John the Baptist and how people have mixed feelings about having to run headlong into John in their Advent/Christmas preparations, but he's nothing compared to Amos.

Amos' word from the Lord makes John's "voice crying out in the wilderness" seem rather tame. Which makes me wonder about whether or not we really understand the prophetic voice, especially at this time of year. Sure, some Christians will get upset about all the Santas and Reindeers and Elves and cry out "Jesus is the reason for the season." But really, do any of us think that will make a difference? With all the suffering in this world, what does it matter whether or not people focus too much on Santa?

Maybe instead of getting all worked up about decorations or the greetings people extend to us we should look out for words from the Lord that we see in those around us whether or not they claim any faith or not. After all, God doesn't want our self-righteous indignation, but rather the gift of our heart in response to God's gift of Jesus and then our sharing of ourselves for those in need.

Things I Didn't Learn in Seminary #......

There are, of course, a multitude of things I didn't learn in seminary but the most pressing one this week is whether or not to accept the gift of a cut spruce tree for decoration in our sanctuary for Advent & Christmas. On the surface this sounds like a no-brainer, doesn't it? I mean how can you turn down a generous gift, in this case someone in the church who has for the past 20 years been growing a spruce in her yard for the express purpose of donating it to the church.

But the more people talk about it the more difficulties arise: people who are allergic to evergreen trees, the size of the tree and getting it up into our second floor sanctuary, the daily watering and monitoring a cut live tree requires, and then there are the clean up issues just to name a few. On the up side there is honoring the generous gift of a caring member of the church, coupled with the "traditional" feel of a real tree along with the beauty it would add to our worship space for a few weeks in December.

The tough thing for me is I don't simply think its a matter of making a "pro" and "con" list. Is that really how we should be making decisions in the church? Sure we've done it that way for a long time or at least for as long as people can remember. But is there any where in the Bible or in the early history of the church where leaders made a pro/con list or allowed a simple majority to win? No, it seems like prayerful appeals to God and God's Son relying on the guidance of the Holy Spirit are the foundations of decision making in the Old and New Testament communities of faith.

So where does that leave us in twenty-first century Southern Idaho? Can we get past a simple issue of whether or not to put a spruce tree in our sanctuary in a way that honors Christ? Should such considerations even matter? Or do we simply let people's opinions or a majority of pros versus cons rule the day?

Great Day!

Today has been one of those awesome, incredible days that keep me going. In worship the handbells offered a very stirring piece, the chancel choir did a great job, the younger elementary kids sang The Lord's Prayer with gusto, folks responded positively to the sermon and we baptized a mother and her daughter! And during fellowship time one of our young moms took me up on the offer of having her six month old baptized on Christmas Eve at our 5 p.m. Lessons & Carols service.

This afternoon the weather has been unreal for mid November. With temperatures in upper 50s, plenty of sunshine and very little wind I joined Rob Blackston for 18 holes of disc golf and had a great time. Then when I got home Kathy had mowed the lawn and while she rested from that Eric and I threw frisbee in the front yard for half an hour or so. He's not really into catching, but he really can throw quite nicely. So we laughed and enjoyed ourselves as a family.

Which brings me to this afternoon and evening's Church Officer Training about to start in twenty minutes or so. Even though I'm pretty tired I know how much folks appreciate the training so we're off to a few hours of reformed theology and the ordination questions. There ought to be some really good discussions and I know when I go home that I'll be tired out, but that it has been a stellar day thanks be to God!

Urban Renewal & Church Renewal

While I really should be working on my sermon this morning another idea popped into my head as I was thinking about an outline for this Sunday's sermon. It popped into my head because last night the Price family was invited to an election wake. One of the men in our church ran for city council and lost by a scant 120 votes out of about 2500 votes cast and one of the issues he was running on was how to go about redeveloping and renewing the downtown area of our small city of Twin Falls. It was a nice affair with he and his wife's neighbors and supporters from around town sharing our condolences over the loss and speculating on what might have been.

Remembering that this morning as I woke up got me thinking about how Twin Falls has (from what I've heard) over the years tried various strategies, hired different consultants, and gone with different approaches to get people back to downtown shopping and living. Of course the reason that business and community leaders have been working on this issue in towns and cities like Twin Falls all over the country is that years ago shopping downtown was the thing to do and these leaders would like to recapture something of those glory days if not at least bring some of that energy back.

This made me think about how downtown churches have gone to similar approaches in renewing their ministries in historic buildings in downtown Twin Falls as well as across the country. Just as downtown businesses have had to struggle with the big boys like Target, Wal-Mart and Best Buy, so too have historic downtown churches had to deal with comparisons to large big-box churches in the suburbs or outskirts of towns and cities.

This really hit home for me yesterday afternoon while sitting down with a couple who are preparing to have their infant daughter baptized this Sunday. After a very cordial and friendly conversation the young mother asked, "When does your young mother's group meet?"

Earlier in the conversation they said that they had attended one of the big-box churches on the edge of town for a few months but that they want to be a part of our church for how welcoming and hospitable it is. But the thing about our warm and hospitable church is that while we have young families we also have many middle-aged families and quite a few much older couples and widows/widowers; not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just that after their big-box church experience they were looking for something similar in our historic downtown church that simply can't offer the same amenities as the big boys.

What we do offer however is that we do several things well, much like some of the downtown businesses in Twin Falls. For instance, if you want to buy new kitchenware in Twin Falls you can always go to Wal-Mart or Target and find a really good price but then again you could also go to Rudy's on Main Street who specializes in and knows all about a whole range of kitchen needs. Or say its time for a new grill, there are three dozen different models available at Lowes, but downtown on 2nd Avenue Brizees specializes in some really amazing grills that will last a generation.

So too, if someone is looking for many niches under one roof there are several big-box churches that offer every conceivable niche ministry under the sun. But here at First Presbyterian there is high quality music, hospitality that can't be beat and people who want to know your name and who you are.

I don't if I have any answers, it just seems that the urban renewal movement and church renewal movement might have something to learn from one another.