Jesus risked his reputation and the credibility of his story by tying them to how his followers live and care for one another in community…

the character of our shared life in congregations, communities, and families has the power to draw people to the kingdom or to push them away. 

How we live together is the most persuasive sermon we’ll ever get to preach.”[1]

When I read those words, I wondered, “What type of ‘sermon’ are we preaching at St. Paul Lutheran Church, School, and Childcare?”  What type of sermon does my life preach?  Or yours?  What is the quality of our life together?  After pondering possible responses to that question, it made me realize that my actions, attitudes, and words are tied to the “reputation and credibility” of Jesus’ loving work.  Wow!  What an incredible thought!  Scary, huh?

The Easter sections of Holy Scripture are clear: “You are my witnesses,” Jesus said.  That connection between Jesus and His people continues to this day.  Our lives are inextricably linked with our Lord and with His people.  Our common life together, and its quality and health, reflect upon our Lord and His witness to the world.  We ARE His witnesses.  But are we good witnesses?  Sometimes, I’m not surprised that people get turned off and stop coming to church.  Other times, I listen to church people complain and I think, “No wonder their children don’t go to our church.  Why would they?”   But most of the time, I hear people who tell me about the positive impact of the church on their life.  Or some person thanks me (really, me?) for the ministry of St. Paul’s school, childcare, or one of our church workers.

Dr. Christine Pohl, a researcher at Asbury Theological Seminary, has discovered that… “Growing into the likeness of Christ, and into the church as it is supposed to be, cannot be separated from the messiness and disappointments that are part of human relationships.”  Indeed, relationships are messy.  Disagreements, eating disorders, addictions, common misunderstandings, varied personalities, differing income levels, and a host of other human habits and individual idiosyncrasies make the work of the church interesting, to say the least!

But what can help us to faithfully follow Jesus as His people at St. Paul (or wherever YOU worship, dear reader) despite those habits and idiosyncrasies?  What traits do growing and healthy congregations have in common?  Dr. Pohl found four:

1)   Expressing gratitude is simply noticing the goodness, beauty, and grace in other people and communicating it to them.  Healthy congregations have members who choose to “stop feeding the cycles of complaint” and orient their life together around praise, testimony of God’s goodness, and thanks.

2)   Keeping promises means building in accountability for church workers AND congregational members.  This is a two-way street.  Accountability – of groups and individuals – is a vital missing ingredient in most churches.

3)   Living Truthfully means acknowledging our frailties and temptations so that no one can take advantage of duplicity.  Here is the fact: the church is a community of repentant sinners trying to follow Jesus.  We can be real with each other, and expect to be treated with truth AND love.

4)   Offering hospitality means spending time with other Christians, but it also means extending our fellowship to the lost and “the least of these” as Jesus described the poor and the social outcasts (Luke 12:12-14).

Why these 4 practices?  I think the answer is simple, even if the practices are a challenge.    Our God is faithful and true, gracious and welcoming!  My prayer is that we might become more like Him at St. Paul, especially in our common life together.

This made me think of one of the most popular metaphors for spiritual life: being the “light” of world.  Who wouldn’t say that being enlightened is better than being in the dark?  The Christian Scriptures tell us that we are “light in the Lord” and no longer “children of darkness.”  The apostle John writes that Jesus was the light of the world and that the darkness could not comprehend him.  ”God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.”  That just about sums it up, don’t you think?

But wait!  There’s an interesting verse in Exodus 20:21 – “The people stood at a distance, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.”  And then there is Isaiah 45:6-7 – “I am the Lord, and there is no other.  I form light and create darkness….”

There is something needful, in the created order of things, for both light and darkness.  Nothing is outside of God’s presence.  No “thing” can exist apart from Him.  Sun.  Moon.  Light.  Dark.

God is faithful, present, and working through it all.  In the darkness, seeds sprout in the ground and move toward the light.  In the dark, an infant takes shape in its mother’s womb and eventually emerges into light.  For the work that God can accomplish in the dark, and for the growth that the warmth brings, I’m thankful.

Because of St. Paul Lutheran, something special happened.

Years and years ago, a man by the name of Emil Meyerhoff sold his agricultural land and it was developed into the “Ridge Road Medical Mile” in McAllen. Emil gave a certain percentage of the proceeds of that land purchase to St. Paul Lutheran, McAllen. What did the church do with those proceeds?

St. Paul took Emil’s gift and built a new educational wing to the school. In the bathrooms of that new school, they had the foresight to pay for showers. That educational wing, and those bathroom showers gave St Paul the capacity to host overnight guests. Cots were acquired. Sheets were bought. Pillows were purchased. All because of…

Emil’s gift! A new wing to the building was built. We now have showers. Pillows. Blankets. What has come of it?

Students from Pennsylvania came to the Rio Grande Valley and restored a home for people living at poverty level. Those students were in the newspaper yesterday.

It made me think of all the wonderful hospitals, the adoption agencies, disaster response, social services, and immigration and refugee assistance of our church. The Lutheran Church has been known for these things. However, if you read McAllen’s “Monitor” there is no mention of the church in yesterday’s issue.

It made me ask myself: am I more concerned about making it IN the news or in MAKING the news?

Hopefully, like those students from Pennsylvania, it is more the latter!

Let’s make news together!

If you think all the political news is negative, think again!

There is good news coming out of Ohio.

Click on the “Hope for Ohio” link and read on.

While I sometimes disagree with politicians and our elected leaders, rarely do I question their competency or sanity.  Few have left me scratching my head and wondering, “What were the people thinking when they elected that politician?”  Governor Neil Abercrombie (former Congressman) of Hawaii, left me scratching my head in disbelief.  Dennis Kucinich caused me disbelief as well as disgust.  If he loses office, we’ll all be better off.

The Democrats AND Republicans of Ohio continue to define the Presidential Race, in my humble opinion.  If you want your vote to count, move to Ohio.  It truly is THE swing state to watch.  Just be prepared to pay the price!  I’ve never had higher taxes (even as a clergy person) than when I lived in the Buckeye State.  Speaking of high taxes, Hawaii was pretty steep too.  Maybe there IS a connection between Abercrombie and Kucinich? 

But I also want my Facebook page back!  For the majority of March and April, I will not be on the “social media” website that has become a major source of communication and connection between my family, my friends, and me.  I’m giving up Facebook, which, I’m feeling, is like disconnecting your telephone or putting a “stop” on your mail.  I’m having DT’s like a man who’s been cut off from “the sauce”; or a coffeeholic who’s had no morning java.  It’s ironic but I got the idea to give up Facebook from my college friend (and Salsa dancer!) Celeste Hickman.  How do we communicate?  Through Facebook!  I’m blaming Celeste.  Only I’m thinking it may turn into a thank you by the time Easter rolls around.

Through the ages, many Christians have chosen to voluntarily give up something for the weeks of Lent: chocolate, meat, alcohol, TV, coffee, or the March Madness games.  If you want to see a great movie about giving up something for Lent, get your hands on the DVD of “Chocolat,” the 2000 movie featuring Johnny Depp, Juliette Binoche, Alfred Molina, and Dame Judi Dench.  I didn’t give up chocolate.  I chose Facebook.

The reason for abstaining during Lent was NOT to earn favor with God.  People weren’t “more spiritual” because they gave something up.  Rather, giving up something gives us a taste – albeit a very small taste – of what it was like for Jesus to lay aside his heavenly power, and to abstain from his divine nature, in order for God to be a man who could love and save us.  Praise God that Jesus did it perfectly!

Here are some more ideas for Lent, and for your own spiritual practice throughout the year.  It is my hope that, as a pastor, the people of my church, and Christians everywhere will dedicate ourselves to grow into a more profound appreciation of what Jesus did for us, and deepen in discipleship to follow Him day by day, all throughout the year.  Here are some ideas that I’ve culled from others who have helped me to appreciate the abstinence of Lent in new ways…

Slow Down – Brooks, a character in my favorite movie, The Shawshank Redemption, said upon release from prison after fifty years, “The world’s gone and gotten itself in a big damn hurry.”  I think his line is true.  In what way can you slow down?  How can we – as a community of faith – slow down together?

Sign Out – Take a break from online gaming, internet shopping, social media, and exchanging endless emails that don’t accomplish much.  Sign out and take a “Sabbath” break from cyberspace.

Share – Life is all about relationships.  As a Family Life Pastor, I once shared an office with another youth director (shout out to you, Rich Kunst!) and we would say to each other, partly joking, partly serious, and always as a reminder, “Remember, ministry is ALL.  ABOUT.  RELATIONSHIPS.”   How can you enrich relationships?  Share food with those you love.  Share faith stories.  Share the necessities of life with those who are disadvantaged or in need.  Share in people’s burdens.  Share in other’s joy.  Celebrate life by sharing it.  In other words, take a break from “me.”

Sleep – Proper rest has been identified by some theologians as the most basic form of selflessness and trust.  As one writer put it, “Sufficient rest is a primal act of faith and powerful witness in this beleaguered, fatigued, workaholic world.”  Looking sleepy, feeling fatigued, and being droopy just isn’t Godly.  It’s a sign of taking too much on with deluded super-human, god-like powers that we simply don’t possess.  Take a day off.  Truly off.  Like a Jewish Sabbath: don’t cook.  Don’t work.  Eat.  Make love.  Take a bath.  Spend time reading.  Worship.  Sleep.

Stoop Down – Just as we begin Lent with Ash Wednesday (“Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return”), we can practice humility every day by living in repentance and faith. Humility gives the grace to stoop down, that is, to confess that I am a creature, who is not in control, and I am not God, who is in control.  If God, as the Scriptures declare “remembers that we are but dust.” can’t we do the same for others?

Awesome images of Ash Wednesday.  Click the artist’s link above or click this one to view his blog…

http://darkclothdiaries.com/category/ash-wednesday/

“If I descend to the depths, you are there.”

Anyhow…

1)  Total Family Sunday School (TFSS), which I tried to implement at Grace Lutheran Church & School in La Plata, Maryland.  Here’s what I remember: several Chevrolet Suburbans being packed with people. We drove to Richmond, Virginia.  The presenter made a compelling “pitch”.  We swung.  Sunday School was overhauled at Grace, so that all ages were together, learning God’s Word, and doing Sunday School.  This was supposed to be better than hitting the doors of the church’s building and then going separate ways.

The result?  It failed.  No questions asked.  Failure!  TFSS lasted about a month before people started dropping like flies!  

2)  The second failure, I don’t recall specifically.  But here’s what I do remember as its outcome: I stood in front of the Voter’s Assembly and admitted that we tried something innovative.  It seemed like a good idea.  But it flopped.  It belly-flopped.  It was painful AND embarrassing.

The result?  People wouldn’t acknowledge it.  

They said, “Pastor, it’s not your fault.”  Or they said, “It’s not a failure.  It just didn’t work.”  I got the point.  My admission of failure would not be recognized nor accepted.  As a result, nothing was learned.  Nothing was acknowledged and a charade continued.

What is it about us that we don’t want to admit failure?  We don’t want to acknowledge that someone else failed.  Or that we failed.  Or that they failed us.  Failure, acknowledgment, repentance, and forgiveness need to be core values of the church.  It takes humility.  We should value innovation while creating space for failure. Only in weakness can God’s strength be manifest.