You are invited.........

Remember how wonderful it felt to receive that invitation in the mail?  You are invited.
You are wanted.  We want YOU to be there with us.  You belong.  What a powerful message, even when the invitation is only to a 3rd grade birthday party.


An amazing number of people who consider faith at the center of their lives have never invited someone else to come and see what God might have in store for them.  Although many value the grace of knowing they belong to a community of faith, they hesitate to invite someone else to discover the joy of belonging to this earthly community and divine Creator.  Even though they find worship to be fulfilling and centering, they don't consider inviting another to come and experience the Spirit at work.

Can you imagine waiting outside the door, wanting to learn more about this God and hoping someone, anyone, would invite you inside to be a part of the community?  Can you imagine making that move into foreign territory on your own?  If you think I exaggerate how difficult it is, consider your hesitancy as you approach the door of a mosque so you can learn more about Islam.  Will you be welcome?  Will you offend someone inadvertently? Are you dressed appropriately?

Invite:  this is a tool of faith formation.  Invite him to the men's breakfast on the first Friday of the month.  Invite her to Wednesday night service, shorter, more casual, more intimate.  Invite the new children to participate in the CROP Walk with your kids.  Invite the new member to partner with you on the Samaritan Center meal prep.  Invite, invite, invite.

You will be opening a door for the other while at the same time, you will find all the reasons your life is enriched by your relationship with Jesus.

Remember how wonderful it felt to receive that invitation in the mail?  You are invited.
Invite someone today.

Sort of like 'jumbo shrimp'.............

Do you know what an oxymoron is?  It is a phrase that is inherently contradictory....like 'jumbo shrimp' or 'make haste slowly' or 'a cruel kindness.'

Serving others leads to just this kind of oxymoron for it is in 'giving that we receive', it is 'in serving that we are served'.

This applies to any and all serving, not just that done in Jesus' name.  Funny things happen when you open yourself to 'the other,' or provide for a stranger, for when you respond to a human need you begin to stand with this one who is in need.  You begin to erase the distance between yourself and him.  You begin to see yourself as a part of a much larger human race.


Of course, we have to fight through our own self-satisfaction and pride to reap these benefits and not everyone works hard at cracking their own shell of self protection.  For many of us, our first real experience of serving results in us feeling a whole lot better about ourselves.  It takes a while for us to get to the place where serving humbles us and opens our compassion for others.

Jesus is a model for this kind of serving.  He told his disciples, "I came not to be served but to serve."  God's love for us in Jesus began when Jesus stepped into this messy world, eliminating the distance between the divine and the mortal and standing shoulder to shoulder with us.  This God who knows us at our worst and loves us into new life has come to us to serve....and in so doing, reveals the path to truly loving others.  We need to eliminate the distance between us and them, getting close enough to see our similarities and the opportunities for bringing light into their lives.

I would think by now it is fairly easy to see how serving others helps to bring folks to faith in this one who loves and who gives.  When we give, we model Jesus' powerful giving to us.  Whenever our faith begins to falter, serving others brings it all back into focus again and we are strengthened for tomorrow.

Aren't sure about 'believing'?  Come and help out at Samaritan Center.  Come and work at 10 Tons of Love.  Come and lead worship at a nursing home.  You will find Jesus waiting for you....and you will find yourself as well.

"Hold hands when crossing the street."

"Hold hands when crossing the street."
This is advice for all ages even though we all learned it in kindergarten according to Robert Fulghum in his book, Everything I Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.

Hold hands when facing danger or stepping into uncharted waters. Have someone with you when finding your way in a new city or receiving a diagnosis.  A trusted friend; a spouse; even your pastor.  Don't go in there alone.

For humans were not meant to be alone.  God recognized this.  In Genesis 1 God makes male and female at the same time.  In Genesis 2, the second story of creation, God realizes that animals are not exactly what the lone human creature needs, and so a second is made, and we have male and female, two parts of one whole.

Perhaps that is why relationship and companionship are critical to our well-being; when we are alone too often, we feel like that missing sock......a little lost in the world.  So we reach out and hold the hand of the other, if but for a short time.

Once we recognize our own need for the other, encouraging others becomes a calling.  "Well done."  "Enjoy your day."  "Thanks for your help."  "You did that so well."  These are the most basic of the tools of relationship and the more folks pick them up and use them, the kinder this world becomes.

Are you surprised that our faith benefits from encouragement as well?  No matter what our age, it makes us stronger to have someone nearby who has been through this particular storm, who has been overwhelmed with doubt, who has lost their ability to pray and found it again.

Faith communities are especially fertile for encouragement.  Our relationships are founded in Jesus and his love of others, forgiveness of others, and desire to bring healing to others.  So, parents find encouragement from other parents as they raise their children in the faith and learn how to be gracious and forgiving.  Aging couples look to others like them to navigate the spiritual rapids that are both new and dangerous. We pray for one another.  We help carry the other's burdens if only for a little while.

Encouraging others can be a particular gift of the Spirit and if you have been blessed, you have known someone who simply believes in you and your faith more than you do.  However, the everyday version of encouraging one another is a tool for building and strengthening our faith, a tool each of us can pick up and use often.

Let me tell you a story............

Here is a paradox for you.  We often find ourselves - that is, get to know ourselves better - through the stories of others.  A story about someone else often allows us to examine and consider qualities, decisions, actions of our own.  Stories can be mirrors - showing us ourselves at a safe distance.  We listen; we learn.

The key is to know a lot of stories....which is exactly what you find in the Bible.  The Bible is a collection of thousands of stories of people of faith - the good, the bad and the ugly.  There are tricksters and murderers; there are devout and self-righteous folks; there are the faithful and the betrayers (often in the same person!).

And, of course, God.

In the Bible, flawed human beings encounter God and here are their stories.  Believe me, they don't all come off looking like the Church Lady from Saturday Night Live.  God, however, is consistently faithful.  God will pursue all creation out of great love no matter what.  Foolish humans thought they could avoid God's love for all people by crucifying Jesus, and yet, there he was, 3 days later, ready to love again.

Your story is within the pages of the Bible.  All of your stories, and the stories of all people.  You will find desperate mothers and arrogant rich men.  You will find traitorous brothers and frightened leaders.  You will find lost children and adulterous husbands.  You will find compassion and healing and grief and joy.

The journey to discover your story will help you discover this God of love who challenges us to leave the darkness and live in the light.  We teach our youngest children Bible stories but then pretend that we have learned it all and there is no meaning left hidden.  When we were little it was a story about a boy who had 5 fish and 2 loaves.  What does this story say to you today about generosity and blessing?  About scarcity and abundance?

Faith is found in the stories of the Bible.  Faith is formed through the stories of the Bible.  Faith is strengthened through the stories of the Bible.....because your story is in there, just waiting for you to discover how much God loves you.

The Bible is a powerful faith tool....and it's lots of fun as well.

More than just confetti

I have a good friend who would always open his prayers when leading a group by saying, "Let's talk to God."

Prayer is a conversation with God, like conversation with that kind of old friend, that even if you haven't seen or spoken for years, you can pick up exactly where you left off.  That's prayer.  You know about each other and at some time you have made some kind of commitment to each other.

Prayer is about relationship.  We turn to another expecting that they will listen, care about what we are saying, and, even if unable to make anything change, stand with us.  We expect that of our friends.  We can expect it even more of God.

Not just at special times of the day, or special times in our lives.  No, we can pray as we drive or try to remain patient with children or bosses.  We can pray when we are frightened or joyous or lonely or thankful.  We can use ancient words that we have memorized or we can simply breathe out a thought.  We can doodle a design while we engage with God, or use beads on a bracelet or sit in absolute quiet.

Most of us start out with simple, egocentric prayers:  Please help me with this math test.  Lord, keep me out of the ditch (a good prayer for snowy roads).  Help me find a job.

But over time we find a deeper power to prayer: the power to ease our anxiety, change our attitudes and open new perspectives.  We find the power of praying for others; focusing on their needs and hurts and joys....sometimes even folks we don't know.

One thing prayer is not is confetti; just thrown into the air with hopes that someone gets pleasure from it.  It is a powerful tool to strengthen our faith, and a comfort in times of doubt or sorrow.  Pretty soon you are talking to God quite regularly and it won't seem strange at all.

Faith formation tool number two.

Strong in the Faith

How did we get here?
How do we stay here?

Yesterday 4 of our young people took on the grace and responsibility of living as a person of faith.  They did not arrive at this destination on their own.  They were called by the Holy Spirit into baptism and nurtured by people of faith around them: parents, grandparents, sponsors, adult friends, members of the community at Luther Memorial and other influences we will probably never know about.  In fact, many of us are not completely sure how we ourselves have held onto our faith through the years.

How does faith come about?  How does it grow? Here are six tools.  These are the tools that parents use to help form their children's faith life;  they are the ones we all use to maintain a solid, healthy relationship with the God whom we believe has blessed us.

Worship.  Sunday mornings much of the time; occasionally Wednesdays; plus once a year we gather throughout Holy Week.  We worship.  We come to worship.  How is it a tool to our faith formation?

When you walk through the doors on Sunday morning for worship, you know you are entering a sanctuary - a holy place where your burdens can be laid down.  You know that this space has been set apart for connecting with the God whose love for you is neither blind nor naive.  Here you find the Divine Voice which tells you, "I know all about you.  Every nook and cranny.  Everything you want to remain hidden from sight forever.  I know you."

Once we have admitted the truth of all that is known, then we can breathe in the power of this God's second statement, "I love you.  The you who I know, I love. I created you, gave you breath and now I want you to experience life separate from the brokenness of this world."

Each person who walks through the door gives up a hour and a half of time to be with the Lord who knows and loves them, surrounded by others who are there for the very same reason.  We use ancient words, and occasionally ancient songs to repeat the good news of this delivering, loving God.  We share some bread and some wine and we are made whole by the outpouring of God's love for us.  A gift of life.  For each one of us, no matter what we dragged through the front door before we got started.

It is the source of all else that flows.  It is the lens through which we see the world.  It is our foundation and shows us the fullness of what can be.

We worship.  Tool one.

Laying down with the Good Shepherd

Many find the 23rd Psalm comforting.
Pollsters tell us it is the most memorized piece of holy scripture.
It leads us to lie down.

That's what it says, "He leads me to lie down in green pastures."  Even those of us with little or no knowledge of sheep find the image comforting.  To lie down - to be at peace - to let go of fear and responsibility - to rest.  How many days have you wished that you could do just this very thing?  When the going gets tough, lying down in green pastures is my deepest desire.  Beside still waters.  Restoring my soul.

I am suspicious, however, that sometimes this idyllic and renewing scene has become for too many the ultimate goal of our faith life.  To lie down.  To be at rest.  To leave it all up to someone else.

We forget that the psalm begins, "The Lord is my shepherd."  Perhaps this psalm is more about the shepherd than it is about the desires of the sheep.  Perhaps this psalm is about the world that the shepherd opens up for the sake of the sheep.

We forget that the psalm says, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death....."  There's some serious walking involved in this psalm.  In fact, the walking around part may be the reason we are sheltered and fed in the beginning....so we can be strong; so that we know the shepherd who is leading us; so we can tell others of the grace and power of this shepherd in these times.

This is the shepherd's psalm; we follow this shepherd and not another.  We are counted among this shepherd's sheep and not some fly by night shepherd.  This shepherd knows us; we know this shepherd, and we want to live in the pastures this shepherd supplies for us.  So we follow, closely.  We trust, completely.  We are grateful for our very lives.

It's not all about us......really

We all call him Doubting Thomas, although if you check Thomas out through the entire gospel of John you might change that to Impetuous Thomas.

But, as usual, we are focusing our attention on the wrong character in the story.  It's not Thomas' fear or doubt or unbelief that is at the center.  It is Jesus. Coming. Twice. Not detoured by a wavering Thomas.

Here, look, touch.  I am right here with you.

It's not about our wavering (In the gospel of Matthew, at the ascension some worshipped and some doubted).

 It is Jesus' faithfulness.

Really folks, it's not all about us.  We truly aren't the center of the universe.
The one who created it is.