To the Angel of Philadelphia

In the days following the Superbowl, I saw a surprising amount of people wearing Broncos apparel. I laughed a little to myself and wondered if they watched the Superbowl – weren’t they embarrassed to identify as a Broncos fan? Weren’t they embarrassed by their team’s performance at the big game, on the national stage? I imagine that’s exactly why they continued to show their support though – they are loyal fans, faithful to their team no matter what happens.

Read Psalm 119:1-8 & Revelation 3:7-13.

The angel to the church in Philadelphia commends the faithful church for being like a post-Superbowl Broncos fan – continuing to stand up for God’s name in the midst of adversity, to continue to be faithful. If Ephesus was the loveless church and Pergamum the compromising church, Philadelphia is known as the faithful church. As with the other churches, the angel’s message commends their work, makes promises, and leaves them with a challenge or two.

Have you ever thought of Trinity as a faithful church? What does it mean to be a faithful church – that we pray a lot, that we take care of each other, that we take care of strangers, that we believe in and trust in Jesus Christ? What does it mean in your own life to be faithful – faithful to the church, faithful to your friends and family, faithful to your job or school or football team? Are you a bandwagon fan, faithful when things are going right, or are you a diehard fan, faithful even when things are tough?

It’s hard to think that faithfulness is not something we can earn – I mean if we memorize everything about the Broncos, go to all the games, we are faithful fans right? If we learn the Bible, show up to church, enjoy our fellowship together, pray for each other, serve the least of these, we are faithful Christians, right?

At the end of the day, we are still sinners. At the end of the day, our tendency is still towards ourselves instead of others; toward worshiping football instead of God; toward ignoring the angel’s challenge instead of stepping out in faith. We are not always faithful. We try, with the little power that we have.

The Good News in both the angel’s message to Philadelphia and the Psalmist’s writings is that we have  a faithful God. Regardless of how many times we stray, God is still faithful. Regardless of what we forget to do, God still provides. Regardless of how many promises we break, God keeps God’s promises. God continues to show up, God continues to send angels, God continues to send the Holy Spirit to push and pull us into remembering the promises of God. God continues to supply our strength, to guide us in God’s way, and to grant us faith as well as opportunities to be faithful.

Praise be to the God who sends us the gift of faith. Praise be to the God who loves us enough to send angels. May our ears be open.

Grace and peace,

Kate

To the Angel of Ephesus

Who is the angel at Trinity? Is it a man or a woman or a being that transcends gender? Does the angel have a pair of wings, or six wings, or multiple arms and legs? Does the angel speak quietly or loudly? Has the angel been there since 1953, or has Trinity had multiple angels? Do they really get their wings every time a bell rings?

Read Psalm 115 and Revelation 2:1-7.

The angel to the church in Ephesus has a mixed message for the church. On one hand, there are a lot of things they are doing right. The angel praises their commitment, endurance and hard work. On the other hand, the angel has a serious problem: where is the love? According to the angel, this is now a loveless church.

Seems a bit paradoxical, as we can think of all the love that we have experienced at church, and all the work our church does to let others outside the church feel the love. In fact the very basis of the church is love – check out this article Tom Ehrich wrote this week. 

But this message to Ephesus reminds us that angels aren’t just sent to give us good news of great joy – the angel of Trinity is there to challenge us, to keep us on our toes, to guide us to follow the path of Christ. The angel of Trinity is not only here to affirm our discipleship but also to let us know that we aren’t done yet.

So how do you recapture the first love? How do you return to what was good at the start of Trinity without regressing on the progress we have made? How do we not only have commitment to the Gospel at Trinity but also to the messy love we find in grace?

I think part of the answer lies in who is our angel at Trinity. I think our angel at Trinity encourages and emphasizes community and relationships – that from the very beginning, Trinity has been family, raising kids together, going through loss together, celebrating together, having fun together. How can we continue to show that love to new friends at Trinity and throughout the community? How can we reorient our commitment and attitude back to the love we first knew through baptism as God claimed us as God’s own?

During this time of transition, let’s take a moment to reflect on the love we had at first – when we were first baptized, or confirmed, or became a Christian, or became a member at Trinity. Let’s find ways to reignite the passion and remember the bigger picture of who Trinity is as the body of Christ. Thank you for your hard work and your patient endurance – don’t forget to love!

Grace and peace,
Pastor Kate

Our Family Tree of Saints and Sinners

Pastors have the privilege of being invited to family gatherings.  Dr Delmer Chilton remembers the family reunion where a woman excitedly began a report on her family history.  Beginning in the 1700s, she went on and on and on, talking for more than an hour.  As she finally came to the end, she asked, "Did I leave anyone out?"  The bored kid next to Dr Chilton responded - under her breath - "Yeah, Adam and Eve!" (Rev Dr Delmer L Chilton, "Sermon for All Saints Day")

On All Saints Sunday, before we recite our Christian family tree, remembering the saints who've gone before us, we should clarify what we mean by a saint.  I especially like Frederick Buechner's definition of a saint:  "In his holy flirtation with the world, God occasionally drops a pocket handkerchief.  These handkerchiefs are called saints." (F Buechner, "Beyond Words," Harper San Francisco, p352).

I remember sitting in my seminary New Testament class, when the professor would begin class with:  "Welcome Saints.  Let's get started."  I was jarred by being addressed as a saint because at the time I was wondering if I could survive the journey of seminary when I was plagued with doubts.  But I believe my professor was right.  Seminary students, professors, everyone sitting in a congregation - we're all saints because we're all grafted into God's family tree through our baptisms.  As adopted children of God we're sisters and brothers of Christ.  We've been marked with the sign of the cross on our foreheads and so we try to live into our adopted identities as holy ones (Greek for saints).  But we're only human, so if we adopt the moniker of saint (which I think is justifiable), we also should claim our status as sinners also.  Robert Louis Stevenson characterizes our status as: "The saints are the sinners who keep on going."

So, what is the witness of the communion of saints who have gone before us - that great cloud of witnesses who hover over and around us?  First, their witness is that we are part of a family - a family that began long before our present time and will continue long after us.  We have a place in this family. Second, God calls us to remember our own saintliness, our blessedness, and our holiness as a gift from God.  We're called to live into our saintliness.  Living into our saintliness means remembering the values and traditions of our ancestors and translating them into our rituals, our daily lives, and our care for ALL beloved children of God.  Third, we remember the promise of resurrection as we read about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11: 32-44) - a precursor or foreshadowing of Jesus' own resurrection available to us.  Lastly, Revelation 21: 1-6a describes the new heaven and the new earth, the holy city and the new Jerusalem.  This is God's kingdom being realized here on earth:  "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'See, the home of God is among mortals.  God will dwell with them; they will be God's peoples.'" (Rev 21: 3)  While we honor the saints who've gone before us, we sharpen our eyes for God's handkerchiefs living now among us.  For we are all part of the communion of saints past, present, and future.  Let us follow in these footsteps.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Shelley