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

We Can't Know All of God

What are the different roles you maintain?  If asked I'd list my highest priorities as Christ follower, mother, wife, pastor, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend.  Although my list gets longer as I contemplate my roles as a member of the Presbytery of Northern KS or as a member of the Topeka community, I notice that my roles aren't so much job or duty related, but they are relational.  I am defined as one of God's children by my relationship to God and to my neighbors, both near and far.  Yet in all these roles at different times and places, I am always me - myself - one person.

Looking at John 16: 12-15, we see that God is defined in relationship to Jesus and the Holy Spirit. As Jesus says farewell to the disciples (and to us), he makes promises for our sustenance.  Here he promises:  that the Holy Spirit (the spirit of truth) will guide us in Jesus' absence; that the Holy Spirit will tell us what we need to understand what is happening; that He will send the Holy Spirit; that He and God the Father share all things; that the three are so intermingled that they are a trinity of love and knowledge.  Notice that "trinity" is not specified here or anywhere else in scripture.  Instead people of faith have taken this scripture (and others) to explore the mystery of God.  Although we cannot know all things about our transcendent God, God desires to be known.  One way to "know" God is how God is revealed in creation (Creator God) or through the stories/parables/challenges of Jesus or the promises with his resurrection or through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

The doctrine of the Trinity shows us how God relates to Godself and to us.  The image of perichoresis is one metaphor for envisioning these relationships.  Peri means around (think perimeter) and choresis is the origin of our choreography.  Envision God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in a mutual dance of love and accountability to one another with anticipation of each other's actions - interchangeable in their knowledge of each other.  Envision the Irish ceilidh in which a pair of partners engage with each other with the same movements and change partners and engage again in the dance.

What does the doctrine of the Trinity have to do with us beyond a way to know God?  We are all created in the image of God.  As we participate in a dance of mutual love and service with each other, we are transformed even more closely into the image of God.  If we participate in the dance with the Godhead at the center, calling out moves/guidance/encouragement, do we not bring the kingdom of God on earth a bit closer to realization?  Through the variety of roles that our trinitarian God plays in our dance of life, we can see and know and relate to God as we experience God as Father/Creator/Sovereign or through Jesus as Redeemer/Counselor/Friend or the Holy Spirit as Sustainer/Power/Presence.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Shelley

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 

Lights - Camera - Action: God as Director

"Yes, we'll gather at the river, the beautiful, the beautiful river; Gather with the saints at the river; That flows by the throne of God." (Robert Lowry, 1864)  Baptisms - a sacrament in the Presbyterian church - are times when the invisible grace of God is made visible through the holy symbols of water, laying on of hands, marking foreheads with the sign of the cross, and God's Word spoken in blessing those precious ones whom God names and claims for God's own.

So Jesus' baptism in the River Jordan by his cousin, John the Baptist, should be extra special, shouldn't it?  As portrayed in Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22, Jesus appears on the banks of the river among the stream of people waiting for John's words of forgiveness: "I baptize you with water."  Jesus' baptism seems unremarkable - no special ritual - in Luke's gospel account:  "Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized..." (v 21a).  It's not until AFTER the baptism, when Jesus is praying that people's attention is drawn to Jesus.  For the heavens are split open and the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus in the form of a dove.  As if this weren't startling enough, there comes from the heavens a voice (think Charlton Heston):  "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." (v 22b)

Jesus is affirmed, named, and claimed by God - and he hasn't even begun his public ministry yet! The transition from John the Baptist's ministry of repentance is coming to an end (a horrific end) and Jesus is preparing to launch his ministry.  His leadership as preacher/teacher/healer/rabbi/Savior/Lord begins with God's affirmation of a special relationship with God's Son.

Is God well pleased with us because we love and serve and do pleasing things - or - does God love and affirm us who are baptized into God's family?  With such affirmation, how do we respond to God?  On this week prior to President Obama's inauguration and Martin Luther King Day, Trinity also prepares to ordain and install new leadership.  While doves may or may not descend from the heavens, the words "With you I am well pleased" should ring in our Elders and Deacons ears.  May the Holy Spirit rest on their shoulders as they too prepare for the more public nature of their call to leadership and a ministry of presence.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Shelley

Prepare Your Spirit

When you hear ‘spirit’ during the Advent season, what do you immediately think of? The spirits of Christmas past, present, and future? The Christmas spirit? Making spirits bright? What kind of spirits you put in your eggnog? Or maybe even the Holy Spirit and how it is moving, breathing, pushing, pulling in your life and the life of Trinity right now? 

Many Christians think of Advent as a time to slow down – to catch our breath - that as the world gets busier and busier, we intentionally take time to still our hearts and prepare the way for the Lord once more. But as we prepare our spirits for the coming of the Christ child, it’s less of a “find your centering place” and more of a “Buckle your seatbelts – it’s going to be a bumpy ride.” 

Mary’s encounter with her cousin Elizabeth takes center stage in our Scripture this week. Read Micah 5:2-5a and Luke 1:39-55.

The Holy Spirit came upon Elizabeth, and the preacher’s wife became the prophet. The marginalized young unwed mother-to-be sang a revolutionary song, about God turning the world upside down, about a God of grace and mercy, about a good God who keeps promises. As Mary and Elizabeth’s spirits went on a rollercoaster ride between joy and worry and exultation and anxiety and fear that no one would believe them, they found solace and assurance in their relationship. They found that the Spirit came when they were together, those two women who carried the messenger and the Message. They found that it was easier to prepare their spirits for the coming uncertain days if they had community and connection. 

So too is my wish for all of us at Trinity – that we can truly prepare the way of the Lord through community and connection, that our spirits are complete only when we are together, that we find joy and assurance in how the Holy Spirit moves in our own spirits. The Christ child comes again at Christmas to fully be in relationship with all of humanity – so prepare your Spirit as we start to live His story again. Amen. 

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

Survival After the Flood and God's Promise of New Life

Lent 2012 at Trinity will be a time to ponder God-Promises  -  those promises God vows throughout the Hebrew Bible (our Old Testament), culminating in the ultimate promise of salvation and eternal life through the resurrection of Jesus the Christ.  We will celebrate this final, climactic covenant on Easter, April 8th.

Meanwhile, in Genesis 9: 8-17, God initiates and establishes God's first covenant.  After flooding the corrupt and wicked earth, saving 2 of every creature and Noah's extended family, God shoots his unstrung war bow across the sky to remind us of God's vow never to destroy the earth again.  In God's act of re-creation (beginning again with a remnant) is the promise of new life.

The problem is:  we continue to sin.  And as we begin Lent - 40 days for contemplation to consider our wicked ways - Jesus begins his ministry with his baptism in Mark 1: 9-15.  Immediately following his baptism, Jesus is driven into the wilderness, where temptation besets him.  This is the same wilderness of our lives, where temptations flood us with the attractiveness of the idols and lies that we can be in control and be our own gods.

The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting.  In this permanent, eternal covenant, God's mercy trumps God's judgment.  God's Promise of everlasting life, with the possibilities of new life that only God is mighty enough to grant, we find the comfort and challenges to partner with God in our kingdom wilderness.  May the rainbow always remind us of the possibilities that we might bridge the gap between what is and what can be as God works through us.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Shelley

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