New Birth

Birth is a wonderful and painful thing. This past week, 2,100 Presbyterians gathered in Orlando to give birth to two separate organizations. As some of you have already heard, a new denomination was formed, The Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians. More than 100 congregations, many with great sadness, cast off the lines tying them to the dock of the PCUSA and set sail in this grand new adventure. The rest of us stood, waving and wishing them well, rejoicing as well in that we are their one tie back to the PCUSA.

However, the rest of us had a birth, or rebirth, of our own. We come back to our congregations with a fresh realization that narrative trumps numbers. We come seeking a new way of doing church. What new way, you ask? For churches willing to commit to one another within this fellowship, we come together in something very much like the parish council which FPC Ennis has been a member of for almost 40 years! However, our dialogue takes on a new form. We ask how God has been working within the walls of our congregations, what ministries the Holy Spirit has led us to support and promote outside the walls of our congregations, we commit ourselves and our families to study of the word at home and not only in church, we share ways God has challenged us to share time and talents, and we seek to develop new worshiping fellowships outside of our own Sunday morning gathering.

In short, we promise to be the church God has always called us to be and we share with one another how close we are coming.  It means we wish to remain accountable to one another, share in best practices of ministry, eliminate the air of suspicion and mistrust that has, at times, existed between higher governing bodies within the PCUSA and the local congregations, and to become more transparent with one another.

In many ways this means we change everything. For most of you in the pew it changes nothing. We will do the same ministry we have always done. We remain firmly implanted within the PCUSA. We continue the wonderful ministry to our shut-ins and nursing home folks. We go to presbytery meetings, even though that may have been one thing many of us would have been willing to change! We are committed to inclusivity, gender equality, and bringing the justice and mercy of Jesus Christ to the world around us. Our Gospel and preaching remain as firm as they have always been.

What an exciting time to be a part of the PCUSA!

Pastor Craig

Who Do You Belong To?

Who do you belong to? I know you know the answer to that question. When it is asked in the context of the church bulletin, we know the answer should probably be in the same context. Our minds start to work and we come up with all the possible spiritual or religious answers – Jesus, The Holy Spirit, our Heavenly Father, the entire fellowship of Christians. You know, any of those will get you in the general area even if you don’t hit the exact context the one asking the question may have wanted.

If the question were asked at a larger social gathering you may have pointed to your spouse, date, or other person across the room and replied, “Oh, I’m with. . .”

Within our religious context though, why is it that we so often act as if we are our own? I Corinthians 6:19,20 tells us something quite different; “You are not your own. You have been bought with a price.”

That’s correct. You have been bought and paid for. You no longer own your own life. You no longer have the final say on anything anymore. It is indeed appropriate when the Scripture calls us servants of Christ.

If that is indeed correct, and it is, it is our highest goal to do the will of our master. We bend our will to his. What he labels as important, that very thing moves to the top of our task list. We don’t get to make the rules anymore.

In light of this, what are those things our Master has labeled as priorities? Love one another, even to the same degree that he has loved us. Go everywhere, telling everyone of the grace and mercy of our Savior. Shelter the homeless. Feed the hungry. Give to those in need with no thought of return. Clothe the naked. Seek justice for the weak. Deliver the oppressed. Forgive because we have been forgiven much.

My goodness! It seems like we have a great deal to do. We pull out our list of things to do and scan through each item. If you’re like me, you will quickly find that only a handful of them would fit into God’s priority list for the day. Indeed, we arrive at the end of the day to find the hungry still hungry, the homeless still exposed to the elements, the lonely sitting by themselves, our enemy not reconciled to us, the oppressed still oppressed, and those in need of the Light of Jesus Christ still wandering in the dark. Maybe it is time to plan our day as we read the Scriptures, centering our planning around our theology instead of our own desires.

Pastor Craig

Sleepy

In the story of Rip Van Winkle, a well-loved, joyful, albeit lazy and unproductive villager literally sleeps through the American Revolution. He unwittingly follows the lead of a spirit and drinks from a keg that puts him into a deep sleep. He sleeps through the war. He sleeps through the growth of his children. He sleeps through the death of his wife and friends. Twenty years later, when he finally awakes, Rip Van Winkle is understandably disoriented. His proclamation of loyalty to the King gets him in trouble since America now bows not to King George III but recognizes George Washington as president. Rip walks around in a fog, unable to reorient himself to the new reality.

There are certainly things we wish we could sleep through. We would like to wake up and find that our situation had dramatically changed, hopefully for the better. The problems of life seem overwhelming from time to time. Unfortunately, we wake up to the same set of problems, in general, that we went to bed with, and this is true no matter how long we have slept. Sleep accomplishes little unless what we really need is rest.

The Scriptures themselves warn against idleness and laziness. Paul himself advises one church which seemed to be having problems with people eager to share in the distribution of free food to those in need, “if any shall not work, neither shall he eat” II Thessalonians 3:10. Paul certainly seems firm about getting people to take care of their own responsibilities.

The Scriptures repeatedly tell us to “Awake!” We are to be about the work of the Kingdom of God, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, befriending the lonely, comforting the dying, bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ to a lost world in search of hope. That isn’t a task that is accomplished in a day, not in a year, not even in a single lifetime.  The Church (Yes, that is with a capital “C”) has been at it for centuries, and we are to be about that same work every day of our life. Living out the Christian faith involves making that vision our vision, about accepting not just the person of Jesus Christ, but also his priorities for living and our life. It is my hope for 2012 that we be used of God to move the Kingdom closer to reaching those people and that no person within our sphere of influence may be able to say that they have not felt the presence of Christ through our hearts and hands.

Pastor Craig

Faithful

The holidays are over. Many of you have taken down the Christmas decorations. The rest of you are in process. The bowl games are over, FINALLY, all 35 of them! Some of us remember when there were only a handful of bowl games, and only 4 that really mattered: The Sugar Bowl, The Cotton Bowl, The Rose Bowl, and The Orange Bowl. Back then the names did not come with any sponsorship attached.

Now, it is impossible to have a bowl game without a sponsor. This begs the question; to what would you want to attach your name? Forget bowl games and sporting events. What act, character trait, and way of life would you want your name linked with?

As we begin the New Year we look for some guiding thought or principle to see us through, an anthem or motto for 2012. What would yours be?

One of the best indicators for the future is behavior in the past. I know, exactly what you didn’t want to hear. Some of us had less than stellar years in 2011. We would prefer to chart a new and different course leaving our failures and shortcomings behind.

Maybe a better way to look at it would be to ask, “Who would sponsor you?” Yep, just like those bowl games.  For 2011 who would your sponsor have been? You’re still thinking about it not being a stellar year aren’t you? You may be thinking of a failed marriage, or poor financial decisions. You may be thinking of the times you lost your temper or the times you refused to forgive others when they lost theirs.  You may be thinking of the commitments and promises you left unfulfilled. Who would want to sponsor that? It’s hard to get a sponsor for a product that seems to be lacking in value or character isn’t it?

Yet, I know who was begging to sponsor you in 2011, who wanted to sign his name across the whole year of your life, every incident. Jesus Christ was there for you, even the times you didn’t want him to know what you were doing. Even though you may consider 2011 a failure, he has already asked to sign on for 2012. Of course, he wants you to sign on as well; after all, this is a covenant. The Scriptures tell us he is faithful in all situations.

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful [is] he that calls you, who also will do [it]. (I Thessalonians 5:23-24).

He will do it, not through your hard work and effort, not through your righteousness, but through his own; because only his work, his effort, and his righteousness are up to the task.

Remember, you enter the New Year, I pray, as a follower of Jesus Christ, a Christian. Carry his name proudly.

Pastor Craig

Mayhem at the Manger!

 

Who would have believed it?! A brawl broke out at the manger!

Maybe you didn’t know, but the Church of the Nativity has three Christian denominations laying claim to it, Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodox, and Armenian Apostolic. To clean and provide care for an area of the church is to claim ownership of it. All this led to an altercation or as Associated Press put it, “The annual cleaning of one of Christianity’s holiest churches deteriorated into a brawl between rival clergy Wednesday, as dozens of monks feuding over sacred space at the Church of the Nativity battled each other with brooms until police intervened.”

Imagine that, people fighting over the place where Jesus supposedly was born, a place where all should be welcome, but which a few desire to claim as their own. What if the magi had arrived and started a fight with the shepherds claiming that shepherds were of low character, smelly and dirty, and had no place at the birth of such an important person (Something some would have actually claimed at that time had they been aware of the birth at all)? I can see it now! The shepherds would have claimed that they had been personally invited by the angels, even God Himself. The magi would have held their ground, and soon shepherd staffs would have been swinging and swords would have been drawn.

While I would have bet my money on those hardened shepherds, that isn’t the point. It wouldn’t have mattered who won or who lost because everyone is a loser when Christians fight over something like who has a place around the manger. Yet, some would say that is exactly what our own denomination is doing today, fighting as to who has a place at the table of our Lord.

Don’t get me wrong, I have my own opinion on the matters before us, and I do believe they are matters of importance. However, I do think we are going about deciding the issue entirely the wrong way. It cannot be a matter of win or lose.

The year ahead will see some dramatic changes in our denomination. It is my prayer that none of those changes will be made in anger, that efforts to follow the Gospel as closely as we may understand it will not drive people away from the church and give them one more reason to avoid organized religion even though sometimes it turns into a bunch of broom swinging monks.

Pastor Craig

Just a Room, Please!

Last night was Christmas Eve at First Presbyterian Church. We had our sanctuary mostly full with friend and family from out of town who were here to visit. We also had some people who I had never seen, including one person who seemed to be looking for a warm dry place on a cold and rainy Christmas Eve. The lady came in the back of the church shortly after the service began. I watched from my point in the front as one of our ushers took the orange tarp she was carrying to shield herself from the rain and a little of the cold.

She sat through the service, on the back row. She raised her candle on the last verse of Silent Night, just like everyone else in the congregation. She lined up to wish me a Merry Christmas with all the other folks scurrying out to join family and friends for some other Christmas celebration, but I knew before she spoke that she had nowhere else to go and no one waiting for her.


She tried to have a conversation with me while others were still waiting to shake the preacher's hand and move on. I asked her to give me a minute to finish wishing the other worshippers Merry Christmas, and she did.

When everyone else had finally exited and it was down to myself, an elder, and this other child of God, she proceeded to unpack her story.

She poured out a confusing story about a family member stealing an apartment from her that she thought she had rented, about not wanting to be a burden to other family members or involve them in the conflict, and feeling a strong responsibility to have a place of her own.

I told her that I could only offer her one room for one night, and I tried to steer her back towards the family members she said she had spent the previous evening with. It was Christmas Eve and I was ready to get home to my own family, to finish some of our own preparations, but God wouldn't let me alone.

The Holy Spirit has a way of being down-right annoying from time to time. He kept throwing at me the sermon I had just preached and the Scriptures I had just read, the whole no room at the inn thing! Really, how dare He!

I knew I would have to call the local hotel, make the reservation for her, drive her there, sign her in, and make the payment before I could make a dash for the grocery store and finally head home. I wish I could tell you that the Christmas spirit overwhelmed me and the love of Jesus Christ poured over me and motivated me to empty myself, even as I had already told the congregation that Jesus Christ did when He was born in the stable. Sorry, it wouldn't be true. The influence to move me to do the right thing was to avoid the guilt I knew I would feel later for turning away someone in need even as the innkeeper had done so long ago.

I did pat myself on the back for offering to throw in a meal as well. "Have you had anything to eat?" I asked.

"Yes, I am fine," was the reply. "I just need a place to rest. Just a room, please."

There was that Holy Spirit again reminding me of the same words Joseph may have used on his desperate search. My mind said, "Hey, I'm doing the right thing here! Cut me some slack! Don't convict me about my attitude as well!"

Thirty minutes later I watched her head out of the cold and rain and into her motel room for the night. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was warm and dry, and they would feed her in the morning.

By the time I got to the grocery store, it was closing for the rest of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. There would be some elements missing to the Christmas Day feast because of this side trip.

I wish I could tell you a story about some divine encounter or some evidence of the person of Christ Himself being ministered to on that raw night. The only comfort I had came the next morning reading the verse about "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." (Hebrews 13:2).

The Holy Spirit was still working from the previous night. My heart tried to listen, to discern some great spiritual truth. This time the Spirit had only one thing to say, "

I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? or athirst, and gave thee drink? And when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? And when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, (even) these least, ye did it unto me. (Matt 25:35-40)

And to think I was just wondering if I might have seen an angel when in fact I realized it just might have been someone far more grand!

Merry Christmas!
Pastor Craig

Claus, Krampus, or Christ?

I am fully aware that Christians of good faith may have dramatically different positions on the person of Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, or any of the other names the Jolly Old Elf may have around the world. We think of Santa with his naughty and nice lists. In our childhood wonderland, we struggled to comprehend just how he could track all the children in the whole world, how he could fit all those toys into one sleigh, and how he could manage to get the whole job done in just one night! It was just amazing.

 

Of course, in our western version of Santa Claus, every child eventually gets on the nice list, and every child SHOULD get a present from Santa. However, it turns out that in other parts of the world Santa has a sidekick and not every child makes the nice list. According to Bavarian tradition Krampus follows after Santa and punishes those children who are not on the nice list.

When it comes to the secular portion of the Christmas story, it’s obvious that the theology just doesn’t match up. While we like to think of good people of all ages during the holiday season, we know that it is because we are exactly the opposite of good that Jesus Christ came in the first place. We are, all of us, adults and children, male and female, every race, every culture, every nationality, in desperate need of forgiveness. So, because your name and my name, indeed every single one of our names are absent from the “nice” list, Christ came into the world to give the greatest gift of all, His righteousness.

We know this is the greatest gift of Christmas, not I-pads, X-boxes, or a Lexus, not whatever is hot with Neiman Marcus this season. The simple gift that no one can top, the gift of a clean heart, not a reward for having a clean heart, but actually granting that change of heart we all need. This means the greatest gift you could ever give this Christmas is the gift of introducing someone to the Child in the manger, the Savior upon the cross, and the King rising from the grave.

Merry Christmas!

Pastor Craig