Breaking Out

What was the last great story you told? Was it about the latest clever thing your grandchild accomplished? Was it a classic fairytale? Was it a slightly embellished ‘big fish’ story? Or a completely real story? Was it a Bible story, or an embarrassing story of what happened to you at work?

Read Psalm 104:24-34, 35b and Acts 2:1-21.

Often people think of the Bible as a collection of stories. But if we look for the work of the Holy Spirit, we will start to see all the stories as connected – part of one larger story. The story from Acts is no different, as it follows the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. The disciples huddle together, worrying about the future. Will they be arrested? Who will believe what has happened to them? Where will money and food come from? How on earth can anything they do compare to the divine ministry of Jesus?

They sit together, consumed and paralyzed by their problems, until the Holy Spirit enters their very midst and breaks them out of that upper room. The Pentecost story echoes the Genesis story, where the wind/breath/spirit swept over the water at creation. Just as the spirit moved then, so too does the Spirit sweep over the disciples and the crowd at Pentecost, making them a new creation.

In the darkness of their fear, the Holy Spirit pushes the disciples out of the upper room and forces them to tell the story. Like the first creation, the Holy Spirit moves them from darkness to light once more, from death to life, breaking them out from their comfort zones and prisons of anxiety.

As the Holy Spirit shows up, She doesn’t bring any quick fixes or instant solutions to the problems of the disciples. But the Holy Spirit does push the disciples out into the world, reminding them of Jesus’ command to be disciples to the ends of the earth – and conveniently, She pushes them into a crowd filled with people from the ends of the earth!

From where do you need breaking out? What prisons have you created for yourself – prisons of fear, anxiety, guilt, resentment, envy? What is holding our church back from leaving the building and sharing the Good News with everyone we meet, from telling them that “MY CHURCH IS” inviting, witnessing, welcoming, serving, teaching, uniting, and loving?

Look around – how can you break out from the old creation and into the new? How can the Holy Spirit rush over you and give you the courage and ability to speak of God’s deeds of power? This is our story, the story that we can’t help but tell. Our story is tied into the Story that starts with the beginning of time. Our story is that we are empowered to continue the story, to continue the new creation. May it be so.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Kate

The End is the Beginning

Having recently seen the latest X-Men movie, Days of Future Past, I’ve been trying to reconcile the various space and time dimensions we experience in that movie. So one character sends his consciousness to the past, so the past is the present, but he is also still in the future. And the present continues until he changes the past, which also changes the future. And when he arrives in the future which is now the present, he can't remember the past. Got that? So where is Wolverine – the past, the present, or the future? 

Read Psalm 68 and Acts 1:6-14.

As we read through the Gospels, we learned that Jesus was the Word made flesh, the Word that was with God from the beginning. So Jesus, the Son of God, entered our present world through a stable birth, and lived as fully human – teaching, healing, feeding, laughing, crying. He is betrayed, convicted, and crucified, only to be risen from the grave. Jesus is somehow at once in the past, present, and the future.

The disciples, as they learned from Jesus, must have thought they were on the cusp of a new beginning. With his death, they concluded that it was the end, only to discover a whole new beginning on Easter morning. They then spent forty days together with Jesus, eating and learning – which brings us to today’s reading.

Jesus instructs them to be witnesses to the ends of the earth and is lifted up on a cloud. The disciples stand there awestruck, until two men in white robes shake them up. Another ending – their rabbi and dear friend has now ascended into heaven. Their inner circle follows into an upper room, praying together.

Aren’t our lives full of endings and beginnings and beginning of endings and ending of beginnings? At Trinity, we experienced an ending when Pastor Shelley retired. As Pastor Alex guides us through this transition time, it feels a little like those disciples gathered in the upper room. Rather than going out and witnessing, we are stuck in a prayerful time, waiting for our next installed pastor who will start Trinity on a new beginning.

Where are you? Are you still processing the ending, or are you ready for a beginning? More importantly, where is Jesus? In the past, the present, or the future? Is Jesus up in heaven, removed from our daily lives? Or is Jesus in our hearts? Or is Jesus in the space between us, pulling us together, sending us out to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth? Maybe Jesus like Wolverine - the answer is YES to all of the above!

As we devote ourselves to prayer, let us brace ourselves for the new beginning that is just around the corner. Get ready for the house groups, where we will discuss the future of Trinity and what that means for our next leader. Continue to reach out through VBS, Let’s Help, the Rescue Mission, and our new day camp in July. Let us not forget our call to be witnesses NOW – not when Jesus comes again, not when our new pastor comes again, but TODAY. May this be so.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Kate

Day by Day

How would you define ‘church’? Is it our building? Is it a group of people who gather together in the name of God? Can it be a group of people who run together? Or a college student Bible study? Are we church when we work at Harvesters or the Rescue Mission? Are we church when we organize for justice, or knit together? 

Read Psalm 23 and Acts 2:42-47. 

This Sunday, 2 of our youth will be baptized, and 6 of them will profess their faith publicly as the last step in becoming a member of our congregation. You can read their faith statements here. It will be a joyful celebration of their journey this past year, as well as looking forward to the ways they will continue to contribute to Trinity's family. 

The passage from Acts describes the early church, a church that gathered around teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers. Does that sound familiar? As they dedicated themselves to these four acts, the community was moved to a place of generosity and abundance, as they shared everything and made sure that no one was in need. And day by day, their community grew. Day by day, more people came to know of Jesus Christ and his saving grace. Day by day, our Shepherd God brought more people into Her flock. 

Day by day, Jesus is still at work at Trinity and in Topeka. Day by day, we are given opportunities to share what we have been given: forming new disciples with our Sunday School classes, telling strangers about ‘my church,’ studying the Bible in a doughnut shop or at R&R with the Word, volunteering at Harvesters, tithing, caring for the children in our nursery, ushering on Sunday morning, and delivering bread to new friends. 

The way that God is overflowing our cups does not mean that there are never any complications, or that our justice and mercy work never gets messy. Day by day, as more are welcomed into our family of Christ, we must make room, we must be willing to sacrifice our own comfort and security to make room for new members in our family. 

Timothy B. Hare writes that “The Christian life is about adjusting ourselves to the existence of a gracious God.” We adjust ourselves to abundance and graciousness as we share our lives together, day by day. Come join us on Sunday and witness to our gracious shepherd God as our family grows, day by day. 

Grace and peace, 
Pastor Kate

Holy Spirit Holes

Where are the holes in your life? Is it where a loved person has left? Is it where a child never was? Is it the loss of physical ability or memory? Where are the holes in your life? Are the holes physical, emotional, mental, spiritual?

Read Romans 8:22-27 & Acts 2:1-21 to hear about Holy Spirit holes.

For the disciples, following the Ascension of Jesus, there was a big hole in their life without the bodily presence of Jesus. Sure, he had promised to send the Holy Spirit, but what did that really mean? Where was their friend they ate with, they laughed with, they cried with, they prayed with? Where was their teacher who confused them with stories, who challenged their perceptions? Moreover, what were they supposed to do now? Their lives were so filled with holes they must have looked like Swiss cheese.

We too are in a time of disorientation, in a time where our lives both individually and collectively are filled with holes. What does church mean to people in 2013? What does it mean that Sunday mornings don't work for young families? What does it mean that our sisters and brothers go to Christ in death? Trinity is filled with holes of people who have been here and are gone - filled with holes of groups and activities that used to flourish.

In some medieval churches, there were trap doors in the ceiling known as Holy Spirit holes. On Pentecost Sunday, a few brave people would scale the roof of the church. Then, with the reading of the Scripture, a wooden dove would be lowered through that hole. And red rose petals would rain down like tongues of fire. Normally, we would say having holes in the ceiling is a bad thing. But in these churches, these were holes where the Holy Spirit would slip in, dramatically, surprisingly, with sighs too deep for words.

Like the disciples being surprised by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost - when things seemed the worst - maybe we too can be surprised by the rushing in of the Holy Spirit. The holes in our lives might just be the places where the Holy Spirit can slip in, can do something new, can radically change our plans and our lives. The problems, the challenges, the cracks in our lives are the places where the Holy Spirit can bring grace to shine through. The holes in our lives are places where God can re-create something new.

So bring your holes on Sunday. Bring your doubts, your worries, your fears, your anxieties. For we don’t have to be afraid of being broken, of holes in our lives – for those are the places where the Holy Spirit can enter to give us what we need for the next step in our life together.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Kate 

Looking Up

Look up. What do you see? Blue sky? Sunshine? White fluffy clouds? Scary storm clouds? Trees blossoming their spring blooms? An office or school ceiling? Look up! Do you see anyone? A plane? Birds flying through the air? Look up! Wait, watch out for that pole! 

Read Psalm 47 and Acts 1:1-11 to prepare for worship on Sunday. 

This Sunday we’ll celebrate the Ascension – Jesus being lifted up, Jesus exalted on high, being seated at the right hand of God the Father until He comes again in glory. The Ascension rounds out our Easter journey that began 40 days ago – the ascension completes the resurrection. Jesus moves from being lifted up on the cross to being lifted up in a cloud of glory, departing bodily from the earth and the disciples. 

I can picture the disciples, jaws on the floor, one more amazing miracle they get to witness. Even after Jesus disappears from view, they are so shocked that they stand there, looking up at the empty sky. That probably explains why God sent two messengers to bring their eyes back to earth – “You Galileans! Why do you just stand here??” Have you ever felt like the church was just standing here? Have you ever asked Jesus “Is now the time? Are you going to restore the church to her 1950s heyday? Are you going to lift up the church once more as an institution to be respected? Is it time to restore the kingdom?” Sometimes we get stuck waiting, staring at an empty sky, waiting for Jesus to just do something already – forgetting His commands for US to be the witnesses, for US to claim the power of the Holy Spirit. We get caught looking up, forgetting to look around us for those in need of food, of water, of healing, of resurrection. 

The Good News is that through Jesus’s life, death, resurrection, and ascension, we too are invited to take part in life, death, resurrection, and ascension – not only at the end times but in our daily lives. We now experience what it is like to lose somebody, the mixed emotions of grief and relief, of sadness and gladness as we enter through transitions in our life. We know what it is like to be emotionally resurrected one more time. And hopefully we have those moments where, as CS Lewis describes, we are “surprised by joy” – we are lifted up into the very heart of God. 

Let us look up in awe of our risen Lord, who prays for us at the right hand of God the Father; but let us not forget to look around, to be witnesses even to the ends of the world. For we the church are charged to be Christ’s body in the world today. We are charged to testify to the power and the glory – that our Lord, who submitted to death, is now alive – that through that power the Church can be alive today too. Praise be to God for looking up and looking around. 

Grace and peace, 
Pastor Kate

The Holy Spirit of Pentecost

"God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh..." (Acts 2:1)  Jesus has arisen and Pentecost is his promise to all Christ followers that they/we will be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Pentecost (50 days following our Easter Resurrection) is the birth of the church as the primary place (although not the only place) where Jesus will be present to us through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.  Read Acts 2: 1-21 for an account of the fiery tongues of flames, roaring winds, and the languages across the nations as God pours out the Spirit for ALL peoples.  This is the power of God given to the church empowering it to be the Body of Christ.
The power of the Holy Spirit, represented by wind and flames, can be perceived as a life-threatening force when we think of wildfires wiping out wilderness or tornadoes tearing through the towns of Joplin or Harveyville.  But the real power of the Spirit is a spirit of love and goodness.  At the same time it's a power of transformation - both mundane and miraculous.  Because real transformation can be difficult to perceive within a short timeline or because of the often personal nature of transformation, we have trouble recognizing the Holy Spirit blowing through our lives and our church.  The Holy Spirit is always on the move and any Body of Christ that becomes stagnant or self satisfied cuts themselves off from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is about the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5: 22): love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.  Or as Paul writes in Galatians 4:18:  "It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good."
The challenge for the church is to continue looking and asking, "Where is the Holy Spirit moving, breathing, working, pushing, pulling, nudging, whispering to me and throughout my church?"  When we can discern answers to this question, we will have the direction and challenge to which we must respond.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Shelley

Sharing a Chariot

I remember when I first read about the Trayvon Martin case, I was astounded. And then, as I heard commentators like Geraldo Rivera say that Trayvon shouldn't have been wearing a hoodie, I was absolutely baffled. A hoodie? I wear hoodies all the time - always have, and I doubt anyone has ever felt threatened by my article of clothing. But I'm white. Trayvon sadly was the Other.

As you remember what you know about his case, read 1 John 4:7-21 and Acts 8:26-40.

I'm not saying that all the facts are clear in the death of Trayvon Martin, that the shooting was or was not justified. But the media storm that followed made one thing very clear to me: we are SO not post-racism. And it's hard for that feeling to not influence stories like the encounter between Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, an encounter between two guys from very different worlds.

When we read this story, it is so easy to slip in the shoes of Philip and think this is who we need to be as Easter people, that this is the kind of evangelist God calls us to be. If only the Holy Spirit would call us – we would be ready to go! Surely God would grant us the courage to share the Good News, that Jesus Christ has lived, died, and was risen so that we may have eternal life. Surely we wouldn’t be afraid of a desert road, or a foreigner in a fancy chariot, or of baptizing someone without the permission of Session. It is so easy to identify with the Christ-follower.

What if this story is less about Philip’s faithfulness and more about the Ethiopian eunuch’s faith journey? We can read between the lines of Scripture and know that this man was probably pretty different from Philip – a different race, country, socioeconomic class, sexuality. The Ethiopian eunuch was not like Philip – a sweaty, poor Jewish man on the lam from persecution in Jerusalem. So often we commend Philip for not letting those boundaries stop him from sharing the Good News.

But it’s the Ethiopian eunuch who shows his hospitality and invites the stranger into his chariot. It’s the eunuch who is educated enough to know how to read, devout enough to spend time studying Scripture and making a long journey to worship, and humble enough to know that he needs help. Hospitality, education, devotion, and humility – why do we not strive to slip into his shoes, to live up to the eunuch as a pillar of our faith? Is it we who are scared of the Other, scared to cross boundaries, scared to ask for help, scared to read the Scripture with someone so radically different, scared of a young black man in a hoodie with a bag of Skittles?

Maybe this story is not about Philip or the eunuch but about the Holy Spirit bringing sisters and brothers together in Christ, so that not only knowledge but testimony may be shared. Being in the community with the Other does not mean writing checks to El Salvador or VIDA or the Rescue Mission (although that’s a nice thing to do). Being in community with the Other means an incarnational relationship, means face-to-face meeting, means learning what it’s like in the Other's lives. Then the Other will cease to be the Other, and, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we will all rejoice in baptisms and Good News. Thanks be to God.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Kate

Sacraments as Acts of God's Power

Presbyterians refer to our two sacraments of baptism and communion (Eucharist; Lord's Supper) as visible marks of God's invisible grace.  I refer to both sacraments as holy mysteries infinite beyond my comprehension.  Experiencing them and growing into these mysteries will be a lifelong quest I embrace with passion.  By trying to explain them in only rational ways ends up underestimating God's power and the presence of the Holy Spirit operating through these sacraments.  They are symbols of both God's almighty transcendence and Christ's intimate nearness to us as we open ourselves to the Spirit at work in them.  Both sacraments offer us a human-divine encounter as we are sprinkled/dipped/or drowned in the waters of baptism and as we receive a taste of the promised kingdom in bread and grape juice/wine.  We use such ordinary things as water, font, table, chunks of bread, and a chalice of juice to open ourselves to God's grace at work in our daily lives.

In Acts 19: 1-7, author Luke says "If you've been baptized in John's baptism [of repentance], you're ready now for the real thing, for Jesus." (E Peterson, "The Message," Acts 19: 4b)  The real thing is the power of the Holy Spirit.  In Mark 1: 4-11, we read of Jesus' baptism as the new baptism available to us.  The waters of the Jordan River and the presence of John baptizing Jesus were real and visible.  But who of us in our baptism experience the skies split and torn open?  Who of us is dive-bombed by a dove (the presence of the Holy Spirit) in our baptisms?  Who of us hears God's voice thundering down, "You are my Son, chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life"?

When we are Christ followers baptized in Jesus' name, we can claim this same Holy Spirit and adoption as God's children into God's family.  We can claim God's grace and mercy.  We can regularly celebrate our union with Christ by sitting at table where he is the host.  But it's up to us to experience the power of the Holy Spirit with expectancy and openness to the regular God-sightings available if we but see and hear and look with our hearts.  While the power of the Holy Spirit can be thunderous and mighty and miraculous, this same power and presence can be quiet and profound - as Mother Teresa says:  "We can do no great things - only small things with great love."  To practice our faith as daily small things with great love is effected through the power of the Spirit at work in our lives.

May both sacraments remind you to respond to God with small acts of great love,
Pastor Shelley

God's Wild, Wonderful Word is WOW for Pentecost

Acts 2: 1-21 is our Pentecost story. Open your Bible & read it. It's a story of wild rushing gale force wind; tongues of flames on the disciples' shoulders; worldwide languages spoken by Galilean peasants with no schooling in languages, but understood by all those visitors present in Jerusalem for the Feast of Weeks (50 days after Passover). And Peter interprets all these signs with a blockbuster sermon in which 3,000 come to believe. God will pour out God's Spirit on all people.

Sitting out on my back deck these last few weeks watching the strong winds whirl my tall mature trees reminds me of the strongest winds we've been experiencing: tornadoes & their especially destructive force in Reading, KS & Joplin, MO. Usually when we think of the Holy Spirit coming, we yearn for the peace, comfort, & healing presence that Jesus promises. I have a disconnect if I equate the Holy Spirit with tornadic winds or the devastation of forest fires, such as those currently in AZ.

Where do I see God in all this? I'm reminded that while God can certainly speak in the quiet of silence, perhaps it's appropriate to tremble when we say, "Come Holy Spirit, Come!" How might God challenge or push or pull us when the Spirit is strong enough to un-moor us from our comfortable & usual ways of doing things?

I look forward to hearing your stories of how you are called to prophesy or see visions or dream dreams.