It is the beginning of January, a new year has started, and the world has moved on from Christmas.  All up and down my streets are trees awaiting tomorrow’s trash collection and the lights are going off.  A few of us still have our decorations up (after all the Epiphany isn’t until January 6^th), but pretty much it is all over.  SIGH.

For me this is one of the most depressing times of the year.  We’ve been inundated with Christmas carols since the beginning of November, but they disappeared from the radio on the 26^th of December.  We had brightly lit neighborhoods, but now it is dark.  Television was filled with commercials and now…well they are still trying to sell us stuff.  Let’s not go there!  Let’s go back to the dark.

It was so nice.  All the neighborhood decked out in bright lights. Some homes had white, others multi-colors, but the theme was there.  Light.  And now it is dark.

And yet that is the point.  The darkness has been around for a long time.  But one day, so long ago, something changed.  The light entered into the world.   And “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”  Ever.

So the Christmas lights may be turned off for another year, but the true light is still here.  We are the light of the world, and if the darkness did not overcome the light, we should be shining bright.

And so, in this time of “after Christmas”, the time when the decorations are taken down and put away, the time when the natural light is still dim and the Christmas lights are put back into the basement we need to shine extra bright.  We need to show the world the light, bringing a true meaning to the celebration of Christmas.

Brothers and sisters, shine bright.  Show the world all the light you possess.  Remind us all once again the real celebration – the Light of the World.

Peace,

Bill

There are many mysteries in the universe, such as:

Why do we park on a driveway and drive on a parkway?

If a fork were made of gold would it still be considered silverware?

Isn’t Disney World just a people trap operated by a mouse?

And then there is my favorite:

What, exactly, does a pastor do besides the one hour on Sunday morning?

“Simple”; we make connections.

Yes we do a lot of administrative work in the church office, we prepare our sermons (which is not an easy thing to do week after week after week and takes far more time than any of us truly comprehend), we choose music, we plan bible studies and then teach them, we meet with people in need,  we meet with individuals, families and, of course, committees and boards (and often spend a lot of time planning for those meetings).  We correspond through phone, email, texting and in person.  We attend workshops, gatherings and community events.  We study the word of God, and we pray.  And pray some more.   And in all of these things, we make connections.

The Honey Brook Food Pantry http://www.honeybrookfoodpantry.org/ (please check it out and consider how you can support it) is a very important service organization in the Honey Brook area.  We have a lot of hungry people in this community – far more percentage wise than most of Chester County.  But the pantry needed a little help.  Many are unaware of their existence.  And so, when asked, I made a simple contact, connecting the food pantry to some of the churches.  This was a straightforward connection, nothing extraordinary on my part, but incredibly important.

A woman had gone to church her whole life.  She believes in Jesus, she knows the stories, she has great faith.  But she was unsure of one thing, the Doctrine of the Trinity.  In a sermon, the pastor preached the Trinity in a way that connected her to the doctrine, and more important, to God.  Simple, but great impact.

A person was feeling low and abandoned during a bible study.  The pastor looked up a passage of scripture and read it to that person.  A connection between God’s holy word was made, bringing comfort.

A woman was upset about being an outcast from her family.  The pastor pointed at the cross and spoke the good news of the gospel to her, connecting her to the God of the Universe.

Connections.  It is one of the things Jesus did, and one of the things pastor’s do.  Can you write it in a report?  Not really.  Can you quantify it and put it on a time card?  Of course not.  Can we live without connections?  No; especially the connection between people and God.

Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

Bill

It’s Tuesday morning and we have been in the usual morning rush – getting breakfast made, packing lunches, finding clothes (I swear it was right here in the closet!).  The breakfast dishes are finally done, the washer is running, and now I need to get myself ready to go to work (as if I have not been working since waking). 

But that is how we view things.  We go to work, even if our occupation or calling is one that is done anywhere.  We have housework, we have occupational work, we have family work and we have work to do for God.

Yet our Godly work is in everything we do.  When we make lunches, we do so with love for our families – and love is Godly work.  When we go to work and greet our co-workers, this also can be Godly work.  What if a co-worker is having a terrible day or a crisis in their life?  We can pray with them.  And prayer is Godly work.  What if they are having a wonderful day?  We can rejoice with them.  And rejoicing is Godly work.

Today, as you “go to work”, be on the look out for God’s work.  Look for those times in your office, your school, your home, or anywhere else when you see God at work – or you see someone in need of God.  And get to work!

Peace,

Bill

This has been a very interesting week to say the least.  It was filled with the normal ups and downs of ministry.  There were the weekly comments and complaints, the occasional mention of the sermon, the running around.  And there were some very special things, like discussing discipleship and baptism with a young adult, serving the community at the Shepherd’s Kitchen, the opportunity to pray for our students and time to enjoy the warm fall weather with my family at the lake one evening.

And then there were the clowns.

As my daughter was doing her homework, she had to read a story, fill in the blanks with the various “ou” and “ow” words, and in the end, guess the topic.  The topic was “clown”.

She picked a movie to watch, “Air Bud”.  The movie opens up with Bud, the gifted dog, being abused by his master – who happens to be a birthday party clown (not a very good one, at that).

But here is the weird part.  All during this, I’m reading Facebook posts about a threat to our local school.  A clown threat.  And then, on Wednesday, at our weekly bible study, the first thing that was mentioned was the clowns.

The “creepy clown” threat has been going around the nation.  Overall it is a hoax, but it is scaring people.  And I understand this.  Our nation is in a state of anxiety and fear.  The presidential campaigns are hardly inspiring anyone – rather both major candidates are trying to out do one another with their attacks.  There is still a lot of economic anxiety, wars and rumors of wars go on, there has been flooding all over the nation (and the world), and now the clowns.

This reminds me of another time in our nation’s history.  The year was 1938; a madman was taking control of Germany, and beginning “blitzkrieg”.  The world was in the Great Depression and governments were unstable.  And a brilliant director and writer decided to entertain the nation on his radio broadcast.  The director was Orson Welles and his acting troupe put on an updated, radio version of H.G. Wells classic novel The War of the Worlds.  Except, no matter how many times the announcer said it was a play, the nation was in panic.  People began to see Martian war machines all over the place.  Fear and anxiety ruled the day.  One person went as far as shooting a water tower – because he saw the Martian war machine.

In 1938 it was Martians.  Today it is clowns.  And my concern is that someone will act out – either dressing as a clown and doing real damage, or going clown hunting – ending someone’s life over a silly wig and nose.

Brothers and sisters, fear is the greatest weapon of the enemy.  Fear causes us to do irrational things.  Fear is a terrible way to live.  But God’s word constantly says “do not be afraid.”  God is in control and if we turn to God, if we join together in prayer, we can get beyond the fear – and enjoy the many blessings God has given us.

Bill

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

It was July 5^th.  I had to report to ambulatory care at 8:00 AM for a 10:00 AM operation.  So, of course, we arrived early.  We checked in and waited.  I was taken into the pre-op area to have my vitals taken yet again, and to get changed into that wonderfully stylish hospital gown.  My family had to wait a bit but was then brought into my room.  As we waited, the medical staff came in to do more tests, take blood, and hook me up to the first IV line.  It was getting close to 10 AM and I overheard others saying the OR was backed up.  Finally we were escorted to the surgical floor.  My family was taken to the waiting room and I was parked in a hallway, behind three others.  Each member of the surgical team came up to me, asked my name, birthday and procedure, then explained their role.  I was hooked up to more IVs and probably gave my name and birthday 8-9 times.  Once I know I joked about the procedure but I’m still a man so he knew it was a joke.

Finally I was wheeled into the OR.  More explanations, more things put onto my body, and then I had to use a nebulizer so my throat would be numb enough for the breathing tube.  Unfortunately, they had to put that in while I was still partially awake.  It was about 11:45 and I looked at all the people in the room, talking with each other while taking care of their parts of the surgery.  Realizing I was the second surgery for the team, I began to pray for them and for those who had and about to have surgery.  And I prayed for my family as they waited.  I felt love.

The next thing I remember is kind of waking up in another room with people talking to me.  Once a little more awake they took me to my hospital room where I was reunited with my loved ones.  At this point I was under anesthesia for about 8 hours so you can imagine what I looked like, and what I sounded like.  I smiled at my daughter and she said “Aunt Tina took me for water ice.”  I feebly asked “where is mine?”  Kiran looked around with that “was I supposed to get him some” look on her face.  My nurse said “come with me” and took Kiran out for a moment.  They returned with some water ice and my daughter lovingly fed me as my wife stood by my side.

Faith, Hope and Love; they are the foundation of our lives. I had faith in my surgeon, but I have more faith in God.  I hoped for a good outcome, but my hope is firmly in the Lord.  And I love my family, and I am loved.  Faith, hope and love.  With these three things, how can we go wrong?

This summer was pretty short – but just in these few summer months we have seen far too many violent acts in our country.  Shootings in night clubs, violence against innocent people, violence against police, stabbings, and the like. And all of these acts are opposed to our faith, hope and love.  What do we do?  We remain firm in our faith.  We look towards our hope in Christ, and we love one another as Christ loves us.  We do those little random acts of kindness like feeding a person water ice after surgery, or sitting with a family while a loved one is in the O.R.  We send cards of support, we trim someone’s garden.  We offer whatever help we can.  And we expand that to other people – people we don’t know.  Because that is the radical love Jesus calls us to.

Perhaps if we stopped getting in a huff over silly, insignificant things, and loved each other more, we can change the world.  After all, a small rag-tag group of fishermen, a tax collector and a political radical did that very thing.  They had faith, they realized their hope and they banded together to show love.  And the world changed.

Faith, hope and love, the foundation of our lives.  And when we add those three things together, our faith, our hope and our love, we will change the world and experience God’s grace.

I’m not used to being “sick”.  While I get frequent sinus infections, I continue on, striving to work as normal as possible.  But this is different.

I recently had neck surgery to remove two bulging discs.  The discs were pressing on my spinal cord, causing many negative symptoms.  The surgery was nearly 7 hours as the surgeon removed bone spurs that were pressing on nerves.  All went well and therefore I should be better, right? 

At least that is how I think.  Both the surgeon and my family doctor said “normal recovery time is 6-8 weeks” (with a six month to one year window of full recovery and activities).  But I want to be well now.

Here is the thing that my wife reminded me:  I am not just recovering from surgery.  I am recovering from a serious medical condition that caused pain, clumsiness and the loss of strength in my left arm.  It also has robbed me of stamina.  If I didn’t have the surgery, the long term prognosis included permanent paralysis.  And this condition has been going on for years, so why would I expect to be better in three weeks?

The Apostle Paul was also afflicted with something he called his “thorn in the side”.  He writes about this in 2 Corinthians 12.

…Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.…

I am normally the one giving the pastoral care advice.  Now I am on the receiving end and need to hear those words spoken by Paul, written to a church long gone, but written to me as well.

Today I need those words.  I need to hear Paul remind me that God’s grace is sufficient and I need to rest in those words.

Grace and peace,

Bill

Presbyterians CAN clap

And many of them are young

Today was day one of the General Assembly.  The day began with “Riverside Conversations” where we had a chance to talk about the church. The conversations were good – and many points were brought up.  For once, it was not the typical “gloom and doom” conversations.  Yes we spoke about lowered attendance, diminishing funds, members and congregations leaving, but we also spoke about spiritual hunger, a need for biblical literacy and the need for all voices to be heard (more about that later).

After the conversations we met for worship.  And, boy did we worship.  Starting with one of my favorite hymns “Holy, Holy, Holy”, we sung.  It always puts shivers down my spine when a large group of ministers and elders sing.  Especially when we sing to God’s glory, believing every word we utter.

As worship went on, we sung some more, heard God’s word, heard God’s word proclaimed, and celebrated the Lord’s Supper.  And then we sang some more. And that is when I saw it.  Presbyterians were clapping.  Yes, Presbyterians.  You know, the “Frozen Chosen”, the “Old White Haired, Mainline Dying Denomination”.  We were clapping IN RHYTHM TO THE MUSIC.  We can do it.  And then I looked around again – there were young people present!  Youth Delegates to the General Assembly.  Young seminarians who volunteered to serve.  Young pastors and elders.  People who were not AARP members!

Yes our church’s average age is “really old”.  Yes most of our congregations are 62 or above.  But today I saw young people singing with the rest of us.  And not only that, we spoke with each other.  As fellow delegates.  As colleagues.  As brothers and sisters in Christ. And their voice was the same as my voice – as it should be.

Today I witnessed something important in the life of the church.  And today I had the opportunity to meet a couple of “Youth Adviser Delegates” – sitting next to them, talking with them and welcoming their advice for the future of the church.

Today was a wonderful day for the church.  Rejoice and be glad.

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty
Who was and is and is to come

Jill Duffield, Editor of the Presbyterian Outlook, wrote an editorial entitled “All Hands on Deck”, (http://pres-outlook.org/2016/04/all-hands-on-deck/), calling Christians to work together in our time of crisis.  It is a well written article that calls us to unified action instead of “church party affiliation” (my term).  She says:

The line at the front is out the door, so all cashiers come to the front. The patient has just crashed, so everyone on the resuscitation team run to the room. The fire alarm has sounded, so put down the planned lesson and get the children safely out. All hands on deck.

As the son of a grocery clerk, I remember the days when I would visit dad at work.  He was in the frozen food section, usually arranging food in the big storage freezer and stocking the freezers in the aisles when the call would come; “All cashiers to their registers!”  Instantly dad would stow the frozen items back into the walk-in freezer and head up front to handle the crowds.

The problem with this analogy is that the grocery lines in our churches are not full.  There is no reason to call the cashiers forward, rather a need to send them out into the streets.  The best analogy Duffield uses is the one about the patient crashing.  An analogy I thought of was the television show M*A*S*H, when the P.A. announcer would call the medical staff for the incoming wounded, and the triage team would meet them at the helicopter pad. 

We do live in a battlefield.  There are injured people all around us, needing what the church hospital provides.  But unlike M*A*S*H, where the injured were met in the battlefield, cared for by a medic then transported to the hospital unit for emergency surgery, we expect the wounded to walk in.  We expect those with spiritual needs to find their own way to the operating room, sit down and participate (in the ways we want them to participate).

Jill, I loved your article.  Thank you for challenging us.  I want to re-read it, take it in, and act on it.  But I’m also going to consider how to expand it – to look at my ministry as a M*A*S*H unit.  Somehow, through God’s help, we can change how we look at the church.  We can send out more helicopter pilots and triage units to bring the wounded to the hospital.  But only by working together, rising above the factions and “insider battles” and relying on Christ can this happen.

Peace,

Bill

Easter Monday.  A day of rest after the (VERY) busy Lenten season, Holy Week and Easter Sunday celebration.  But my mind is not quiet, not at all.  You see, there is still a lot of processing going on in my brain – what we could have done better, what we will do next year, what we should do next Sunday.

Just before the Easter service, a member told me how much he liked the Good Friday service – how meaningful it was.  And he lamented that so few of our members came, considering how much work I put into the services. I thanked him for recognizing my efforts.  In fact, I received more of those comments this year than any over the past 7.5 years at this church.  More people have mentioned how meaningful the services were, more people realizing just how much goes into them. And I am not alone.  So many of my colleagues all put their hearts into Lent and Holy Week.  We strive to do something each Sunday to bring meaning into this season.  And then, Palm/Passion Sunday comes and we try to bring the story into everyone’s lives – connecting God’s story – Jesus’ story with our story.  By Easter, we are all exhausted.  And thankful.  Especially when we see how God works.  One man greeted me on Maundy Thursday, shaking my hand and not saying anything, at least with words.  His eyes did all of the talking.  The service reached him.  Another, a Baptist pastor who happened to come to our service, asked permission to use it for his congregation.  On Friday a woman shared how she never realized all of the parallels between the birth narrative and the passion narratives in the bible – until my wife and I presented them on Palm Sunday.

Don’t get me wrong.  I don’t do these things for recognition (although it is nice to see my work appreciated).  I do these things because I am a pastor.  I am a Minister of Word and Sacrament, and Holy Week is certainly a time to pastor.  Through the Word, through the Sacrament, through the messages, through the liturgy and through the music we can link God’s story with ours.  And that is really what we do.  It is not so much about things I say or do, but about connecting people with God.  That is my role.  That is what I do.  That is who I am.  And when that connection happens, joy results.

May God continue to bless you this Easter season, and may you connect with His story.

Ash Wednesday is upon us, which means we are entering the season of Lent.  Lent is a time of penitence, a time of fasting, a time to realign ourselves with God. 

Over the centuries, as a spiritual practice, people have given up things they love during Lent – usually sweets or snack items.  Last year I gave up something and was quite successful.  This year I was considering what to give up, and thought hard about my diet.

Normally I eat pretty healthy, but lately I’ve been under a lot of stress.  And my self-medication is potato chips.  Because everyone knows the best way to reduce stress is to increase our consumption of sodium and saturated fats, right?  Can I get an Amen?

So, I was convinced that I would restart my healthy eating on Ash Wednesday.  Then came Tuesday; 4:20 AM Tuesday to be precise.  I slept decently Monday night, but woke up at 4:20.  That is nothing unusual, as I often wake up in the night.  And I decided to pray a bit.  That is something I do when I wake up, and usually fall back asleep.  But not Tuesday morning.  I was praying and soon it was 5:00 AM and I was wide awake.  So I decided to get up, go downstairs and open up my devotional.  I read the daily scriptures and prayed some more.  Then it hit me. Hard.

I was doing a lot of talking to God.  But I was not really listening.  And I began to reflect on that.

In worship, after taking the prayer requests and before leading the congregation in the “Prayers of the People”, we sing a short verse.  Sometimes it is “Lord, listen to your children praying” other times “Hear our prayers O Lord.”  And as I thought about both of those songs, I noticed the similarities.  We keep telling God to listen to us.  But do we either ask God to speak to us, or do we bother giving God time to speak?  Do we listen for God’s voice?

I pray a lot.  I pray with others, I pray on my own.  And my prayer life can always get better – I can always pray more (in fact, I need to).  But, beginning Ash Wednesday as my Lenten spiritual practice, I am going to strive to listen more for God’s voice. I’m going to sit in the stillness and silence and “allow” God to speak to me.

Oh yeah, and I’m going to try and reduce the number of potato chips I eat as well.

May God bless you on your Lenten journey,

Bill