Wales' Tales

The cold and snow came rushing in
Before I had a chance
To make the change in how I live,
Or find some winter pants.
My scarf was hidden in my stuff.
My gloves were still in storage,
My boots were stiff and way too cold.
For breakfast I had porridge.
But now the sky is oh so blue,
The snow is white and frozen.
And winter is in place for now
Not something I have chosen,
But life itself is full of things
That I would never chose,
Events that make me quite surprised,
With things to find and lose.
The doors that would not open,
The path that seems too hard,
The barriers that block my way,
The dross I must discard.
A lifetime full of miracles,
Of joy and bitter tears,
The ups and downs of every day,
The triumph and the fears.
But as we move towards Christmas time
I also am aware
That God with wisdom far above,
Has planned to offer care
For wayward sheep, for silly geese
Who try too hard to win
A game of life that seems so full
And yet seems rather thin.
A plan that called for simple birth,
And life of service true,
Of death and resurrection
And the chance to start anew.
So as I find my winter clothes,
My complaining to release,
I’ll settle down and watch the snow
And just enjoy God’s…
                                    Peace,
                                    Pastor Alex

God Holds a High Bar: Pole Vaulting with Jesus

Have you ever seen a pole vault athlete leap with great speed over an incredibly high bar? They get a good running start, plant their pole and trust that it will stay, and then they fly through the air, reaching heights of over 19 feet! It takes a lot of practice, a lot of skill, and a lot of trust in their pole. When all their practice and all their talents come together, a miracle occurs as pole vault athletes can fly!

Read 1 Kings 17:17-24 & Luke 7:11-17.

Here we have two healing and resurrection stories of two widow’s sons, separated by thousands of years but both testify to the divine power of God. Elijah had met the widow at the city gate, similar to where Jesus meets the widow at Nain. Neither widow is given a name; instead they are identified by their relationship (or lack thereof) to a man – a widow. A widow in these cultures was vulnerable, as they could not own property themselves. They were dependent either on their sons or charity to provide for them. They were left on the margins of society, put in the same class as orphans.

And yet Jesus and Elijah see these widows. Jesus is moved with compassion for this widow who had not only lost her husband but also her son – moved with compassion for her lack of security. There is no great declaration of faith, there is no teaching – Jesus is simply moved with compassion for the widow, and with a touch restores not only her son but the widow as well.

Do you believe in miracles? All too often in our lives, we pray for big miracles, for people to be physically, emotionally, mentally restored to life – and we don’t get it. We bargain in our prayers, promising to be the best Christian ever if only God just healed our father/mother/children/spouse/friend. While miraculous events occur, they seem to be too rare for our preference.
But what about the smaller miracles that DO happen? Do we see them? This August, hundreds of kids will get backpacks filled with school supplies and a pancake breakfast. Those kids will really have no idea where the pencils, the glue, the dry erase markers came from. They won’t know about our VBS Mission Project or you tossing a few folders in your grocery cart. It will simply be a miracle to them, a miracle for their family.

For when Christians put our grief-broken hearts together, that is a miracle. And what we can do together with the help of Jesus are miracles. When we as a church take off running as pole vault athletes, aiming for the high bar that God holds, Jesus is our sturdy and reliable pole, the one we can rely on, the one who will help us reach that high bar. Jesus is our Lord who sees us, who knows our brokenness and loves us through it. Jesus is our Lord who empowers us together to reach the high bar that God holds – a high bar of reaching out and seeing widows, the least, the lost, those in need right here in our own city. With Jesus as our sturdy pole, imagine what miraculous height we might reach together, and how we might be transformed in that process – miracle after miracle!

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

And Many Believed

Life and death.  Death and Life.  Scenes of death and destruction are infused in our consciousness from the array of media communications:  the carnage of the Boston Marathon bombings; the fire at the fertilizer plant in West, TX with flames and smoke billowing into the air carrying the dangers of anhydrous ammonia; innocent looking letters with ricin within; and of course the daily deaths throughout the world where violence prevails.  These scenes are burned into our consciousness in a non-ending stream.

So where does the resurrection of our shepherd, Jesus the Christ speak to us of the possibilities of new life conquering the pervasiveness of death?  Three weeks after our Easter celebration, we hear another story of resurrection.  The apostle, Peter is called to Joppa where the widow, Tabitha (or Dorcas in Greek, which means gazelle) has died.  Tabitha was a disciple (the first known feminine use of the word "disciple" in the New Testament) who was devoted to good works and acts of charity, providing robes and other clothing for the poorest of the poor - the widows.  In Acts 9: 36 - 43, Peter responds to the community surrounding Tabitha who have placed their hope in his healing power by washing Tabitha and laying her in an upstairs room.  Notably Tabitha's beloved friends have NOT anointed her for burial. Peter raised Tabitha from death and showed her to be alive.

AND MANY BELIEVED - PUT THEIR TRUST IN THE MASTER.

This miracle points us to the mighty power of God working in the world.  God's story does not end with the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ.  The hope that accompanies healing is a powerful demonstration that God was at work through the disciples in Peter's time - and is still at work in our time today as we shepherd one another.

Alongside the images of bloody bodies and lost limbs in Boston were the first responders who rushed toward the wounded:  doctors who had just finished the race; medical volunteers; firefighters and police; and innumerable citizens who pulled off their belts to use for tourniquets as ambulances surged into the melee.  Like Tabitha who was surrounded by friends and community who took action in the adrenaline of hope, we see miracles upon miracles of people pulling together to respond - the power of a shepherding community pulling together.  Death is all too real.  But the life-giving power of the hope of resurrection reminds us that God enters into the shadows of the valley of death alongside us.  When we're able to "see and be" communities of people operating in this hope, our faith shines in the darkness.  We walk in faith and trust, and many continue to believe.  And many more will put their trust in our Master Shepherd.  And the visions of the kingdom coming slowly to realization is alive as we respond.  Revelation 7: 9-17 is a cacophany of praise to God as we stand before the throne of the Lamb singing:  "Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever!"

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Shelley

God Gets the Last Laugh

To the saying "The only sure things in life are death and taxes," I'd add "our need for forgiveness and God's love."  As we approach tax day (extended for 3 days this year), we generally have a sense of dread.  I dare to suggest that we often approach our regular propensity to sin and the need to confess our sinfulness to God with dread.  Yet 1 John 1: 1 - 2:2  (a Word of Life) reminds us that God eagerly awaits our confessions with an abundance of grace and mercy. Because God is light and Christ is our earthly and heavenly Advocate, we can confront our sin openly and honestly. When we step into the light of confession, God is eager to speak the Word of assurance:  "You are forgiven."

Last week was Easter Sunday when we celebrated the Resurrection:  God raised Jesus from the dead.  On this second Sunday of Easter (Eastertide), we celebrate that God has confronted death (our ultimate fear) face to face and has laughed at death.  Herein lies our assurance that laughter is how we live and love because it's how God loves and lives in us.  While never denying our sinful natures, 1 John points us toward the light of laughter.  We who walk in the light of Christ by confessing our earthly nature, are able to have fellowship with one another through our faith in the fellowship of our trinitarian God:  Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer.  This Sunday (Holy Humor Sunday), we'll laugh with joy as we celebrate our assurance of God's grace and mercy.

Let us live, love and laugh,
Pastor Shelley

Resurrection: God's Ultimate Covenant

Do you appreciate the mystery of cliff hangers?  Whether it be a book or tv show in a series, I hate the "who-done-it" mystery that keeps us hanging - waiting for resolution.  Remember the tv show Dallas & the question heard round the world?  "Who shot JR?"

Well this cliff-hanging technique is how Mark ends his gospel with Jesus' resurrection.  We can get more resurrection details from the other three gospels.  But if we stick with Mark we can wrap ourselves up in wondering.  Why did Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Salome come to the tomb early Sunday morning when Sabbath was over, if they knew the tomb was sealed with a huge stone?  Why did they purchase sweet smelling spices to anoint and embalm their beloved Jesus if they would have no access to his body?  How was the stone rolled away?  Who was the young man in white robes sitting in the empty tomb?  How did he know what had happened to Jesus?  Why were the women so afraid and terrified when they heard that Jesus had been raised - as Jesus had predicted before his death?  What kind of story ends with the women running away telling no one, when they were instructed to tell the disciples and Peter?

As Tom Long says, "Is this any way to run a resurrection?" (TG Long, "Dangling Gospel," The Christian Century, 2006.)

This open-ended ending is an invitation for us to continue the story of proclaiming to the world that Jesus has lived, died, and been raised to new life.  This non-ending means that our lives and our testimonies carry the story into our time and place.  This cliff hanger invites us into a mystery of faith - provocative and inclusive of our experiences of Jesus who goes ahead of us as part of God's Promise - God's Covenant with us.  Where/when/how do you see Jesus whispering, inviting, and beckoning you to follow?  Who will you share stories of Jesus with?

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Shelley

What's in a Name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose - By any other name would smell as sweet," Juliet says to her star-crossed lover, Romeo. Here Juliet tells Romeo that a name is an artificial, meaningless convention, and that she loves the person who is called "Montague", not the Montague name and not the Montague family. Romeo, out of his passion for Juliet, rejects his family name and vows, as Juliet asks him to "deny (his) father" and instead be "new baptized" as Juliet's lover. This one short line encapsulates the central struggle and tragedy of Shakespeare's play. 

The Bible has different take on "what's in a name."  When God re-names Abram to Abraham and changes Sarai's name to Sarah, it is to signify the everlasting covenant that God makes with this faithful but barren couple in their 90's.  God says to them in Genesis 17: 1-7, 15-16:  "You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations." (NRSV, v 4b)  God too claims a new name for Godself:  El Shaddai - God of the mountains - the One who created heavens and earth - God of the highest mountains and the lowest valleys - God of all creation.  In this second covenant of the Hebrew Bible, El Shaddai blesses Abraham and Sarah with the promise of a child and the royal promise that Abraham and Sarah's descendants will forever be God's people.

It's fitting that the gospel lesson  (Mark 8: 31-38) paired with this second covenant is Jesus' answer to the immediately preceding question Jesus poses to the disciples:  "Who do you say that I am?" (Mk 8: 29).  Jesus goes on to foretell his death and resurrection, which will define his disciples as Christ followers:  "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross..." (Mk 8: 34). What does it mean to be named a Christ follower?  How does it change us?

We can begin to claim our identities as Christ followers by trying to understand what it means for Jesus to claim his identity as Messiah - a process Maya Angelou succinctly critiques in response to someone who identifies himself as Christian with "What?!  Already?!"

God took the initiative with Abraham and Sarah.  God names Jesus at his baptism as "Beloved Son."  In baptism God claims us and names us as children of God.  In covenanting with our descendants, our Messiah, and with us, God initiates the relationship with re-naming.  Our challenge is to respond to our new names  as Abraham and Sarah did - fall on our knees and rejoice.  Our challenge also is to avoid responding as Peter did by rebuking and rejecting the servanthood sacrifices Jesus lays out for us.

What's in a name?  The answer:  Our very identity and relationship with our Lord.