Life in God's Sandbox

Recent sightings in my life of ministry which give meaning to my balance of work and play:  While studying in my "mom cave" I watch robins and bluejays partaking of the cool refreshment of my 3 birdbaths.  They perch on the edge to drink their fill in this staggering heat.  They look around and then plop their whole bodies down into the water, wriggling and shaking with delight.  Then back up onto the ledge to clean and preen.  Or - watching our Little Explorers lined up along the playground fence watching our lawnmowers or our roofers or our men cleaning out window wells and asking with fascination, "Whatcha doin?"  Or - sitting in my daughter's backyard watching 2 year old Adrianna dance in and out of the sprinkler squealing with delight.  I can really resonate with Jesus in Mark 6: 30-34, 53-56 when he calls the disciples away to a deserted place to rest awhile.  We all need to find respite from our work, whatever work means to us.
But what does it say about my quality of "play" that I'm merely a spectator in these delights?  These observations may be a metaphor for how we worship God.  In Ephesians 2: 11-22 Paul describes a world of conflict and sin.  We can identify with this as we read of heinous crimes, the elderly dying in the heat, children hungry because they don't have access to free school lunches in the summer, incredible mass killings in Syria, and battleships heading to the Persian Gulf.
Then, Paul switches to the past tense as he describes what Jesus has ALREADY done: broken down dividing walls of hostility, created a new humanity with access to the Holy Spirit, and built us into a holy temple as a dwelling place for God.  Really??  Where??
Although I fully believe God is anywhere and everywhere, on most Sunday mornings we enter a specific sanctuary to worship our God who has done all this in Christ.  Are we spectators in our worship as we praise God, not fully trusting this picture of peace and reconciliation with the realities outside worship?  Using Cindy Rigby's ideas on the theology of play, I suggest that we learn to play and participate more fully in worship - IF play is re-defined from frivolous downtime into "engaging in the work of the sovereign God in such a way that the world is transformed" (Rev Cindy Rigby, "Living the Kingdom:  A Theology of Play," Kansas Pastors Conference, Newton, KS, January, 2010).  Cindy professes that worship is not only a time to practice for the kingdom, but a time of actively participating in the kingdom as described in the second half of our Ephesians passage.  "We must create space for play in worship so that we can begin to imagine and participate in the kingdom - a place where we're free to create through God's grace" (ibid).  In worship we can splash and play in the baptismal waters of God's grace, and then having been fed, go out into the world - where we play as mutual partners with sisters and brothers with no dividing walls between us.  In play, both in worship and in the world, we can imagine and discover that equality that Christ has already begun in the apostles and saints who have gone before us in God's sandbox of love, where God's love so amazing, so divine demands our all.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Shelley

Dirty Dancing

American author Erma Bombeck wrote “Guilt: the gift that keeps on giving.” We are all too familiar with guilt in our world today – guilt over things done, things undone; guilt over failing our boss or our children or our parents or our teachers. We are reminded in every commercial, in conversations, in emails of the burden of guilt.

In our Scriptures today, King Herod’s guilt is overwhelming. Read Mark 6:14-29 and Ephesians 1:3-14.

This story, used in the context of discerning the identity of Jesus, is a flashback caused by Herod’s guilt over killing John the Baptizer. It is a story of seduction, power, lust, tragedy, and vengeance – no wonder it has been extended into a play and a famous opera. In the face of power, John continued to speak the truth – John continued to follow God’s call unto his death.

It seems that we are often more like Herod than John, capitulating to what is easy and what pleases the people around us instead of following God’s call on our lives. It is easier to give into the whims of the world around us, to give into the dirty dancing that calls us to consumerism, materialism, gossip, and posturing, away from the Other-centered existence, away from reaching out to the least of these.

The story ends with a sad, foreshadowing moment, as the disciples retrieve the dead body of the religious leader who was not afraid to speak truth to power, to follow God. Yet we know that this story takes place within the larger Story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are secure in the knowledge, as we read in Ephesians, that redemption, forgiveness, and grace are freely offered to us and are destined to be in God’s family. Even in our Herod moments, when we are weak and hear the Word but are too perplexed, we are presented with a deep hope that this is not the end – that redemption is possible. Rest in the assurance that Herod and his kingdom were temporary, while the kingdom of God will reign forever.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Kate

No Excuses

Who's ever returned to their hometown after a big success - big job title; success on American Idol; a star out on the ball field; academic honors; all kids graduated with Ph.Ds - and faced initial acclaim and curiosity?  And then received the cynicism of jealousy or the rumors of competition or the hurt of those left behind?  Andy Griffith, who just died this week, returned to Mt Airy, North Carolina (his hometown) after the success of the movie, "No Time for Sergeants."  At the parade in his honor there were few lining the sidewalks and little acknowledgement of hometown-boy-made-good.
This is what happens to Jesus in Mark 6: 1-6a when he returns to his hometown of Nazareth where his miracle healings and deeds of power preceded him.  So there was probably a big crowd in the synagogue when he rose to speak.  But whatever he said turned the worshipers against him.  Referring to himself as prophet suggests to me that he was speaking truth to power - something that gets most people in trouble.  However he challenged the congregation, they would not listen.  Jesus responds with wisdom:  "Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kind, and in their own house." (Mk 6: 4)  Amazed at their unbelief, Jesus could do no deed of power.  So he shook the dust off his sandals and went onto other villages to teach.
In vivid contrast, Jesus then calls the twelve disciples and sends them out, two by two, to heal.  With instructions to travel lightly and with authority from Jesus, the disciples cast out demons and healed the sick (Mark 6: 6-13).  Jesus shares his wisdom and experience that they should shake the dust off their feet if they are unwelcomed and unheard.  Having quite the opposite experience from Jesus in Nazareth, they are successful!
This turn of events - side by side stories of failure and success - is unexpected.  Where do we turn for understanding?  To God, of course.  God can't be heard in those with hardened hearts and closed ears.  Some explain it as "familiarity breeds contempt."  To plunge a bit deeper I also think such familiarity may be Christians who think they have Jesus all figured out.  When Jesus' words run contrary to how we think about him, we hide our eyes and turn our backs.
Remember how Mark continuously portrays the disciples (go back to last week:  Mark 5: 21-43) as clueless and slow to understand.  The ONLY way they might claim the authority to cast out demons or heal the sick is for God to work through them.  In 2 Corinthians 12: 2-10, Paul reminds us of the power of God:  "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor 12: 9)  Like the disciples we might think of ourselves as clueless or unworthy or too busy.  But like the disciples, we must first trust and take risks of faith.  No excuses if we want God to work through us!