Memories

For me, music is a powerful part of my life and so songs have the power to bring back memories that I hadn't thought about in many years. At dinner last night, Sophia started dancing to a fun, fast paced song with the words: "I get knocked down, but I get up again." And I immediately had a mind full of memories of the year I spent in Belgium and my roommate from that year.
Now as I'm working on a sermon about memories, I'm playing my favorite Indigo Girls CD, full of songs that bring back memories of college and seminary and one of the only concerts that I ever attended.
Hymns do the same thing for me. When I hear "Beautiful Savior" I think back to a funeral when we were on internship in Kenyon MN for a young high school girl. "Beautiful Savior" was sung by 5 of her best friends, holding hands tightly as they sang, with tears streaming down their cheeks.
When I hear the hymn, "All are welcome" I think back to our wedding, being surrounded by family and friends as Chris and I started our life as husband and wife.
I know for many in our congregations, our hymns and music carry many memories. What memories have you forgotten that music can help you remember?

It takes time...

In southwestern Oregon, Stout Grove has some of the biggest, tallest redwood trees in the world. One giant redwood has an arch cut in it that the road goes through. The arch in the tree is big enough for a car to drive right through, so imagine how large the tree itself is! A sign near the giant redwood tree says this: "More than 2000 years ago, a seed was planted by nature and it grew up into that massive redwood before you." A lesson in patience indeed. We are in the business of planting seeds. Sometimes those seeds blossom and grow before our eyes. Other times it takes 2 years or 20 years. Martin Luther was once asked what he would do if the world would end tomorrow, in a rare optimistic moment, he said that he would plant apple trees. It is our job to be seed planters so that others may one day, far into the future stop and marvel at the awesome growth that has happened. We trust in God to care for the seeds that are planted so that one day, perhaps beyond our vision, beyond our lifetimes, there may be a glorious redwood tree of faith that grows!

Little things matter

I just saw a piece of trivia that makes me smile. It reminds us that in a world where we look for bigger to be better, little things do matter. In 1713, there was a club in London for men who were under five feet tall. It was called the Little men's club. They would meet once a year on the shortest day of the year at the restaurant called the Little Piazza. Their dinner for the evening was not a huge steak or super-sized meal, instead they were to dine on a meal of ....you guessed it....shrimp! It's the little things that count.
Sometimes in faith, we look for the big moments that show us God's presence. But we shouldn't forget that God comes to us in small things too. Remember Jesus teaching about the widow's mite. It was small, but mighty David who slew Goliath. And it was our savior, the King of Creation, who was born as a tiny baby in a little town called Bethlehem. How is God using the little things in our lives to be present to us? How can we pay more attention to the small things that do indeed matter?

Sunny skies

There's a camp song that goes like this:
"It's a happy day and I thank God for the weather. It's a happy day, living it for my Lord. It's a happy day and things are gonna get better, living each day on the promises of God's word."
Today is a day when I thank God for the weather, the sunshine, the light puffy clouds, the breeze. This camp song is often sung in the morning as a wake up song, recognizing the potential in each day that God gives us, reminding us that each day is good. No matter what the weather, hot and muggy, cold and snowy, still each day is a happy day if we live it for God and with God.
No matter what our days hold for us, sorrow, joy, frustration, laughter, excitement, or even boredom, we live each day on the promises of God's word.

Why I love weddings.... continued...

Over the history of the church, marriage has been used as an image to speak about how God loves his people, the church. The prophets often speak of God as a bridegroom still loving his bride, even though she may be unfaithful. The Song of Songs is a love poem, often used to speak of God's passionate love for his people. Medieval religious folks often used the image of a marriage to help us see the depth of God's love and faithfulness for us. Sometimes, we get cynical and skeptical about love and marriage. We see a relationship that we had once respected come to an end. We hear about a spouse who broke their marriage vows in an obvious, hurtful way. We can become hard-hearted about marriage. But then, there are those marriages that show us a depth of love that is astounding. A couple who has been married for 60 years, still loving each other, still companions for each other. Or we see a husband and wife face daunting tragedies together, still by one another's side through it all. God's love for us is like that. Some speak of marriage as a reflection of God's love story. When we are at a wedding and we see the bride and the groom standing there, all nervous and excited and hopeful and tremendously in love, our skepticism and cynacism fall away. And we for a moment can see the brilliance of God's love shining in the bride and the groom on that day, in that moment. Each bride and groom is a gift to us. Each new marriage reminds us how much God loves us, too.

Why I Love Weddings

Maybe it's been since waking up in the middle of the night to watch Princess Diana walk down the aisle in her gorgeous wedding dress when I was little, but I love weddings. Since becoming a pastor and officiating at some memorable weddings already, I continue to say that I love weddings. I loved planning our own wedding and I've loved being at the unique weddings of some of my friends, but I also love each wedding I've been a part of. It's not the party or the cake or even the beautiful dresses that I love. It's not the bubbles or the bird seed as the couple leaves the church. It's not the unity candle or the flowers, though I do love to see the flower bouquets. Still, I love weddings. They are another one of those sacred, holy, life-changing moments that we are invited to be a part of over and over again. I have already in 6 years of presiding at weddings already gathered some wonderful wedding memories. There's the outdoor wedding that had just the bride and the groom and their parents and their 3 little girls where we all wore denim out in the middle of the Pennsylvania mountains. There's the wedding I did for my dear friend and mentor at a vineyard in Maryland, where we read the Gospel where Jesus says, "I am the vine and you are the branches", while looking out over the vines stretching out behind us. There's the New Year's Eve wedding that I had 30 minutes notice for, but that turned out to be my most memorable so far. There's the one with Scottish kilts and a bagpiper. There's the one that so radiated love and joy that I'll remember it for quite a long time.
Weddings give us a glimpse of deep emotion: love, trust, joy, faith as a couple begins an unknown journey together. Emotions are raw at weddings, we see parts of people's souls that we rarely have a glimpse of. And that is holy. That is sacred. That is an honor. That is why I love weddings.

When things don't go our way

Sometimes, things don't go the way we'd like them to go. Perhaps we have a plan for our day, a hope for a relaxing, calm, quiet day, which instead turns out to be a day full of phone calls and errands and many things to do. Perhaps we have a dream for our career, but our real life work seems not to be what we had thought it would be. Perhaps we had a vision of what our family life would be, but our marriage or our children isn't exactly what we expected. We have a choice when things don't go the way that we thought that they would. We can get upset and angry, taking out our disappointment in ways that show the world that we are unhappy. Or we can stop for a minute to think about twists and turns on our path that may not be what we planned, but may lead us where we need to go. Think about Abraham and Sarah, asked to leave their homeland at quite an advanced age to go to a place God would show them. Abraham could have argued, after all he probably had not envisioned himself moving so late in life. But he went on a journey that led him to a new land, a new faith, where he was blessed to be a blessing. As people of faith, we are part of a community that is larger than ourselves, larger than our families, larger than our own personal wants and desires. Sometimes, things do not always go the way we would like or the way we had hoped. But as Christians, as part of the body of Christ, we are called to be part of this kingdom of God that is greater than ourselves. Certainly, sometimes we are disappointed, sometimes we grumble about the path that we seem to be on, but God is with us, calling us to see beyond ourselves to care for the greater good, to be part of his kingdom.

God the Gardener

This next few Sundays have Gospel readings that talk about seeds and crops, likening God to a farmer or a gardener. For these readings, I always rely heavily on what other people tell me about gardening or farming, because gardening is just something that I don't do well. My mom and I tried to have a garden when I was young, but the rabbits constantly eating my green beans soon ended our attempt at a garden. A few years ago, I tried cherry tomatoes because my uncle grew them and told me that as long as I watered them, they would grow for me. Not so. Maybe it is that I don't really take the time that is needed to have a successful garden. Perhaps because of our always changing schedule, I don't tend to the garden as faithfully as it needs. Perhaps, I'm just made to care for animals and people, as pretty as I think a flower garden is.
And then we have these Scripture readings that speak about a farmer sowing seeds and watching them grow, some producing nothing at all, some producing far more than expected, and I think about God as a gardener. God who is willing to get his fingers dirty planting his seeds in our world. God who is willing to faithfully tend and nourish his garden day after day, year after year. God who has the patience to wait for his garden to bear fruit, maybe not right away, maybe years from now. God who scatters his seed abundantly, God who scatters his love abundantly, God who spreads his grace abundantly. God the Father, God the King, is also God the gardener.

Last Moments

To sit at the bedside of someone who is coming to the end of their earthly life, is a privilege for us as pastors. To be there in the moments when a person is coming to the end of one journey, but also beginning another journey is a sacred time. As we are there with a spouse or a family, we hear all kinds of remembrances about their life, what they loved to do, what made them happy, what special things they did in their lives. Some of these memories haven't been shared for years, some of the stories have almost been forgotten until they are told and retold at the loved ones bedside. It can be a sacred time of saying many things that may have been left unsaid through the years, the "I love yous", the "Thank yous", the "I forgive yous" and the "I'm sorry's". Said through tears, said in a whisper, these words are precious when they are spoken. All of these things can be said, bringing peace and closure to a relationship. And then, we entrust our loved one into God's care, knowing that God's love for them already surrounds them, but letting our loved one rest in God's presence and be carried in God's strong and eternal arms.

Wash over me

If you've ever watched children around water, it's clear that they are drawn to any kind of water. Washing dishes in the sink, splashing in puddles, watching a fountain, swimming in a lake, water draws children to it. Perhaps, that's what makes the symbolism of water and baptism so powerful. In baptism, water draws each of us to God. Water washes over us and claims us as God's beloved children. Water washes the muddiness of our world from our lives and lets us have a new clean start in God's eyes each day. Water gives us life, physically and spiritually. Martin Luther chose to use normal everyday water for baptism, rather than holy water because it made a point for him. Each time that we see water, Martin Luther hoped that we would remember our identity as children of God. Each time we did a load of laundry, each time we went fishing on the lake, each time we boiled pasta on the stove... Any time we see water, we can call to mind our baptism and how it makes us beloved children of God. Today, just for today, try to do this: every time you see water around you, let it capture your attention and remember that you are a precious child of God, claimed by him in the washing waters of baptism. Then, try it tomorrow too!