“Does babies have to be born in a belley.” What you have just read was not misspelled, at least by me. My seven year old daughter typed that into the Bing search engine the other day. I discovered it shortly after she got off the computer. I sat there looking at the question for several minutes trying to think of what must be going through her brain. My daughter Jasmine and her twin brother Charlie are adopted. As I sat there I could sense the pain that must have went into that search. Jasmine has expressed that pain a lot lately to us. We took Jasmine and Charlie into our arms when they were just four days old. They were preemies and weighed about three and half pounds each. We knew then that one day these types of questions would be coming. For Jasmine the questions started early, when she was about three and a half. We have always been very open with our children about their adoption, when they have asked questions; we have always answered them to the best of our ability. I say to the best of our ability because we never met or had any contact with their biological mother and father. Ours is a closed and sealed adoption. That was the choice of the biological parents, not us. What we do know we share with them. We knew the questions would come because our children are African-American and we are white. In fact I was curious when the questions would begin. Right after we adopted them I read several books on the history of African-Americans and also books on the psychology of raising children of another race so that I would be prepared for all the stages.
What I didn’t see coming was the cluelessness and sometimes cruelty of other people. Now before I explain that statement let me say first of all that those people are in a very small minority. The vast majority of people have been openingly accepting of both the kids and our mixed race family. Charlie and Jasmine have been the recipients of tons of love and support. In fact I have been overwhelmed at times by the response of people to my kids and to us. So again what I am about to tell you is the result of a very small number of people. What I have learned though, is that a small number of people can cause a lot of damage in a small child’s life. I am amazed for instance at what people feel they have to say. When Jasmine was 3 and half she came home and informed my wife and I that she was black. Now I know that sounds like an obvious statement, because she is. The problem is that most children don’t realize their skin color until age four and when African-American children do they refer to themselves as brown, not black. So I knew she hadn’t come up with this on her own. I knew someone older had pointed that out to her so she would know that she was a different color than her parents. I knew this was my first test. I swallowed hard because what I wanted to do was ask, “Who told you that?” So that I could go track them down and hit them up side the head with a two by four. I did ask her in a very gentle manner, but she wasn’t telling. Several months later you came up to me and said, “Daddy, I’m brown.” I said, “Really.” And she said, “Yeah, and you and mommy are orange.” So for a long period of time we were the brown and orange family. We still laugh about that.
The questions increased in Kindergarten. Jasmine is a very beautiful, smart and athletic girl and so this brought a lot of jealously from three particular girls in the class. The one thing they apparently figured they had on her was that she was adopted, and they brought that up to her all the time. Finally one day she had enough and she turned around and took all three of them out. After they stopped crying they pointed out Jasmine as their attacker. Jasmine was punished as she should have been and we punished her as well at home, but when we approached the teachers about the cause behind it, nothing happened. Thankfully the next year the three girls were put into a different classroom than Jasmine and the problems have decreased.
The other day my wife was sitting in the front room with Charlie and Jasmine and a neighbor kid from down the block that is their age. In the middle of watching TV the kid turned to Jasmine and asked, “So why didn’t you stay with your real family?” My wife interrupted and told him that none of us knew why they had been given up for adoption. The damage had been done though. After I heard about it I spent some time lying in bed with Jasmine as she went to sleep that night. I talked to her again about her adoption and how much we loved her and that I was her daddy no matter what and that I would always be there for her. I know this is a subject that is on her mind a lot.
One night Jasmine said to Darla, “I bet my first mommy really misses me.” Darla told her I am sure that she does. I bet she thinks about you a lot. I have watched my wife time after time through the years defend Jasmine and Charlie’s biological mother, a woman she has never met. People will make statement to us about how they can’t understand why someone would give up their child. Darla points out to them that most mothers don’t want to give up their children, but they realize they can’t afford to raise them on their own, or that if they kept the child he or she wouldn’t be raised in a safe environment. There are many good reasons that women give up their children for adoption. What people need to realize is that adoptive children have a need to believe that their biological parents loved them. When a derogatory statement is made about a biological mother it is unsettling for the adopted child. Charlie spent three weeks in the hospital very sick when he was first born. I remember his biological mother called the hospital to check on him. I have shared that story with him and Jasmine to show them that they have always been loved.
As I sat and looked at Jasmine’s question in the engine search I thought about all these things. I wanted to go into her room and wrap her in a cocoon so that nothing else could hurt her, but I know I can’t protect her from these things. She is going to have to grow in her confidence and face these questions and deal with them. One way that Darla and I try to help her is by reminding her that we are all adopted by God. We are God’s children by faith, adopted through our baptism into Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. So we are all in the same boat. And it’s a good boat to be in. I put another question to the search engine tonight about adoption. As I searched through the responses I found a quote from an unknown source. It says, “Adoption means you grow in your mommy’s heart instead of her tummy.” I’ m going to give that Darla to share with Jasmine tonight.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
HANGING OUT AT THE GROCERY STORE
I like hanging out at the grocery store, it is one of my favorite places to be. I usually go there at least once a day. I do that because I like my ingredients as fresh as I can get them. I don’t necessarily spend a lot of money there, but I just like to shop and price things and plan. Yes I know that sounds strange. What is really strange is that in general I don’t like to shop. I make it to the mall maybe twice a year and I can’t stand to walk into a clothing store. When my wife does manage to drag me to the mall, I moan and groan the whole time we are looking at clothes. I hate shopping! I love walking around the grocery store though. All that food, all the possibilities of things that can be cooked with it! My love affair with grocery stores started in college at the University of Idaho. I did most of my own cooking in college and my roommates and I would go shopping at 2 a.m. in the morning. At that hour we had the whole place pretty much to ourselves. It was a fun place to hang out for a few hours before the donut shop opened at 3:30 in the morning. My friend knew the donut shop owner and she would let us in and we frost our own fresh donuts. There is nothing like a warm freshly frosted donut. Then we would all go home and finally sleep.
My love affair with the grocery story increased when I went to Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The seminary required that all unmarried students live on campus and eat at the cafeteria, something I had never done in college. The problem was the cafeteria food was awful. The building was officially called Katherine Lutheran Hall in memory of Martin Luther’s wife. The food was so bad though we called it Kitty Litter Hall. My friend and I detested the food so much that we usually ate out at one of the local restaurants instead. So I was paying money for board and then paying money to eat somewhere else, but at least I didn’t have to eat bad food. I have always believed that life is too short to eat bad food. Another thing my friend and I would do was to go to the grocery stores. We never bought anything mind you, we had no way to cook it, but we window shopped. We would walk down the meat aisle looking at the all the things we could be cooking if they would let us move off campus. The main two grocery stores we would go to were Cubs and Lions Foods, they were superstores. Superstores were new in those days, we liked them because they were huge and had tons of food. We sometimes wondered if we could buy some of this food and then break into the dining hall and cook it while everyone slept. We never did, but just dreaming about it made life a little easier.
I like visiting grocery stores and comparing them to each other. I know that certain stores carry this brand and other stores carry that brand and I am also pretty good at knowing what that brand costs and how it tastes compared to another brand. I always have my ears open to new stuff and new tastes. A good grocery shopper has to know their stuff. For instance with meat, different stores call the same grade or type of meat two different things. Sometimes an ingredient called for in a recipe has a different name at the store. I study to go shopping. It is almost like a sport. If I do it right and get the right ingredients and then I use the right techniques to cook it, well I have had a good day and everyone is happy.
Sometimes I think I am strange because I am fascinated by this stuff, but then I read in Scripture that this seems to be important to God as well. When God wants to point out that something is good, he uses food talk. He tells the Israelites that they are going to receive a land filled with milk and honey, he even gives them recipes. For the Passover they have to cook a lamb and they are given precise instructions on how to do this. When the Israelites are in the desert he sends manna and rains quail down upon them, you could say the grocery store came to them. In the New Testament Jesus is always eating with someone. When the disciples realize that they are in the middle of nowhere with five thousand people they tell Jesus, “Hey dismiss these people so that they can go to the grocery store and buy food.” Jesus instead, again, brings the grocery store them and feeds the people himself. The book of Revelation pictures heaven as a big banquet where God brings out of the storehouses, the grocery stores, the finest of meats and the finest of wines. Many people believe that when we get to heaven we will have jobs to do there. If that is so I call dibs on being the guy that gets to do the shopping, especially since it’s all free.
So is visiting the grocery store a little vision of heaven? Well I wouldn’t go that far, but is a wonderful relaxing place to be most of the time. So much food, so little time. What are you eating tonight?
Pastor Fred
My love affair with the grocery story increased when I went to Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The seminary required that all unmarried students live on campus and eat at the cafeteria, something I had never done in college. The problem was the cafeteria food was awful. The building was officially called Katherine Lutheran Hall in memory of Martin Luther’s wife. The food was so bad though we called it Kitty Litter Hall. My friend and I detested the food so much that we usually ate out at one of the local restaurants instead. So I was paying money for board and then paying money to eat somewhere else, but at least I didn’t have to eat bad food. I have always believed that life is too short to eat bad food. Another thing my friend and I would do was to go to the grocery stores. We never bought anything mind you, we had no way to cook it, but we window shopped. We would walk down the meat aisle looking at the all the things we could be cooking if they would let us move off campus. The main two grocery stores we would go to were Cubs and Lions Foods, they were superstores. Superstores were new in those days, we liked them because they were huge and had tons of food. We sometimes wondered if we could buy some of this food and then break into the dining hall and cook it while everyone slept. We never did, but just dreaming about it made life a little easier.
I like visiting grocery stores and comparing them to each other. I know that certain stores carry this brand and other stores carry that brand and I am also pretty good at knowing what that brand costs and how it tastes compared to another brand. I always have my ears open to new stuff and new tastes. A good grocery shopper has to know their stuff. For instance with meat, different stores call the same grade or type of meat two different things. Sometimes an ingredient called for in a recipe has a different name at the store. I study to go shopping. It is almost like a sport. If I do it right and get the right ingredients and then I use the right techniques to cook it, well I have had a good day and everyone is happy.
Sometimes I think I am strange because I am fascinated by this stuff, but then I read in Scripture that this seems to be important to God as well. When God wants to point out that something is good, he uses food talk. He tells the Israelites that they are going to receive a land filled with milk and honey, he even gives them recipes. For the Passover they have to cook a lamb and they are given precise instructions on how to do this. When the Israelites are in the desert he sends manna and rains quail down upon them, you could say the grocery store came to them. In the New Testament Jesus is always eating with someone. When the disciples realize that they are in the middle of nowhere with five thousand people they tell Jesus, “Hey dismiss these people so that they can go to the grocery store and buy food.” Jesus instead, again, brings the grocery store them and feeds the people himself. The book of Revelation pictures heaven as a big banquet where God brings out of the storehouses, the grocery stores, the finest of meats and the finest of wines. Many people believe that when we get to heaven we will have jobs to do there. If that is so I call dibs on being the guy that gets to do the shopping, especially since it’s all free.
So is visiting the grocery store a little vision of heaven? Well I wouldn’t go that far, but is a wonderful relaxing place to be most of the time. So much food, so little time. What are you eating tonight?
Pastor Fred
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Ho, Ho, Ho, and a Bottle of Rum?
Christmas is over! For some of us that is a statement of relief and for others it is a statement of sadness. For me it is a little bit of both. My favorite songs during Christmas include songs like Joy to the World, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, and White Christmas. I enjoy singing those songs and listening to them. They bring back many childhood memories and several of them are good ways to worship God and remember what Christmas is really all about, the birth of Jesus. My favorite song after Christmas though is Jimmy Buffet’s, “Ho Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum” with the tag line, “Santa’s run off to the Caribbean.” Jimmy Buffet came out with a Christmas album a number of years ago and that was one of the songs on the CD. In my office I even have a little figure of Santa wearing a swimsuit and riding the waves. I love to listen to that song in the car and sing along, but I change the words slightly to the, "Pastor’s run off to the Caribbean.” The Christmas season in the church is exhausting. There are programs, special services, and parties and then you add in family events, baking and shopping, and well as wonderful as it all is, thankful it finally ends. It all happens so fast too. It is like people are trying to shove a whole years worth of celebrating into a few weeks. It is many times too hard to control, in a sense Christmas happens to you and then it’s gone. One minute you find yourself at the fourth Christmas event in as many days and then next thing you know you are watching the ball drop and it’s a new year. That is when I get visions of playing in the sand in the Caribbean. I want a margarita and the sound of steel drums in the background. Although I have never went to Caribbean, I usually do take a few days after Christmas to come down from the chaos, relax, get my bearings and think about what I want to accomplish in the coming year. I need that time every year to get it all back together. We all do.
The time after Christmas is a good opportunity to refocus. Some do that by making New Year’s resolutions. They realize everything didn’t go as well as it could have gone last year and they want to make this next year better. I make resolutions as well. One of my big resolutions this year is to eat breakfast every morning. Now that doesn’t seem ground breaking but as a diabetic who chronically skips breakfast and just drinks coffee and maybe eats a donut, it is a significant one. I know that if I can keep this resolution it will go a long way to keeping my diabetes in check and will also help me eat healthier the rest of the day. It seems like a small thing, but over time I am confident it can lead to much better health. I also believe that this is a resolution I am actually capable of keeping. I like to cook so I plan to make it interesting and maybe during the year I will share some of the fast breakfast recipes I come up with. So resolutions are a good thing. Visions are better.
What do I mean be visions? Am I talking about prophetic visions? Am I talking about hallucinations? Since we just finished Christmas am I talking about visions of sugar plums? Am I just talking about seeing? No I am talking about focus, about what we are really looking at, what we are really concentrating on. I am talking about what is our central theme of life. What causes us to do what we do every day, the reason behind our actions, the object that our decisions are based upon. Resolutions though good tend to be short term and are aimed at fixing what is wrong with us. Visions are long term; they are aimed at how we can be all that God wants us to be. A resolution says I am fat so I need to lose weight. A vision sees an ideal that could be and focuses on the object that can make that ideal a reality. So where am I going with this? How did we get from playing steel drums in the Caribbean to talking about a vision for our life? Well because maybe it’s time to stop dealing with just the symptoms and deal with the problem itself. Instead of focusing on the symptom of being worn out, or being unhealthy or whatever it is that you are dealing with, why don’t we deal with problem behind it all, our disconnect with God. I put to you that if we make God our vision many of the issues we struggle with will be handled as well. That is not to say that everything will be perfect, we are sinners living in a sinful world so nothing is ever going to be perfect, but a strong relationship with God can put everything in its proper perspective so that we don’t end up getting wrung out all the time by the chaos that we live in.
During our worship service on New Year’s Day I based the sermon on an old Irish Poem composed by Dallan Forgaill in the 8th Century. The poem is Be Thou My Vision, and it was a part of the Irish Monastic tradition before it was put to song in 1912. The first few lines of the song say, “Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart, naught be all else to me, save that thou art; Thou my best thought by day or by night, Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.” I used the song because I thought it conveyed a good message for the start of the New Year. This is the type of vision that we need for 2012. We need to keep our eyes, our vision on Jesus this year. It won’t make the chaos go away but it will guide us through the chaos, it will keep us grounded and concentrating on what is really important, our relationship with God. If we put God first then all the other stuff will fall into place. When that happens then instead of being rung out by life, we can embrace life and live the way God wants us to live. So I challenge you to every day get up and let the first words of your prayer that day be, Lord be thou my vision today, and then let God take over. That doesn’t mean you can’t dream of the Caribbean, it just means you will already be focused when you get there.
Pastor Fred
The time after Christmas is a good opportunity to refocus. Some do that by making New Year’s resolutions. They realize everything didn’t go as well as it could have gone last year and they want to make this next year better. I make resolutions as well. One of my big resolutions this year is to eat breakfast every morning. Now that doesn’t seem ground breaking but as a diabetic who chronically skips breakfast and just drinks coffee and maybe eats a donut, it is a significant one. I know that if I can keep this resolution it will go a long way to keeping my diabetes in check and will also help me eat healthier the rest of the day. It seems like a small thing, but over time I am confident it can lead to much better health. I also believe that this is a resolution I am actually capable of keeping. I like to cook so I plan to make it interesting and maybe during the year I will share some of the fast breakfast recipes I come up with. So resolutions are a good thing. Visions are better.
What do I mean be visions? Am I talking about prophetic visions? Am I talking about hallucinations? Since we just finished Christmas am I talking about visions of sugar plums? Am I just talking about seeing? No I am talking about focus, about what we are really looking at, what we are really concentrating on. I am talking about what is our central theme of life. What causes us to do what we do every day, the reason behind our actions, the object that our decisions are based upon. Resolutions though good tend to be short term and are aimed at fixing what is wrong with us. Visions are long term; they are aimed at how we can be all that God wants us to be. A resolution says I am fat so I need to lose weight. A vision sees an ideal that could be and focuses on the object that can make that ideal a reality. So where am I going with this? How did we get from playing steel drums in the Caribbean to talking about a vision for our life? Well because maybe it’s time to stop dealing with just the symptoms and deal with the problem itself. Instead of focusing on the symptom of being worn out, or being unhealthy or whatever it is that you are dealing with, why don’t we deal with problem behind it all, our disconnect with God. I put to you that if we make God our vision many of the issues we struggle with will be handled as well. That is not to say that everything will be perfect, we are sinners living in a sinful world so nothing is ever going to be perfect, but a strong relationship with God can put everything in its proper perspective so that we don’t end up getting wrung out all the time by the chaos that we live in.
During our worship service on New Year’s Day I based the sermon on an old Irish Poem composed by Dallan Forgaill in the 8th Century. The poem is Be Thou My Vision, and it was a part of the Irish Monastic tradition before it was put to song in 1912. The first few lines of the song say, “Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart, naught be all else to me, save that thou art; Thou my best thought by day or by night, Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.” I used the song because I thought it conveyed a good message for the start of the New Year. This is the type of vision that we need for 2012. We need to keep our eyes, our vision on Jesus this year. It won’t make the chaos go away but it will guide us through the chaos, it will keep us grounded and concentrating on what is really important, our relationship with God. If we put God first then all the other stuff will fall into place. When that happens then instead of being rung out by life, we can embrace life and live the way God wants us to live. So I challenge you to every day get up and let the first words of your prayer that day be, Lord be thou my vision today, and then let God take over. That doesn’t mean you can’t dream of the Caribbean, it just means you will already be focused when you get there.
Pastor Fred
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
I Love You Like A Love Song Baby
My pre-teens, translate six year olds, are really into music. They have been listening to Christian music both hymns and contemporary since they were born and we try to expose them to as much Christian music as we can listening to the radio and playing CD’s in the car and at home. They also have grown up listening to a lot of secular music, my wife and I love 80’s rock and roll and yes even some country music. We for the most part are able to control what they listen to when we are around but we are not always around and so sometimes they get exposed to things that we are not really happy about. Unfortunately my son is gaga over Lady Gaga. There are a few other younger singers that we are not too pleased with either like Justine Bieber, sorry but I just don’t get how he is popular. One singer though that we kind of like because she was on Disney Channel for so long is Selena Gomez. She has now transitioned to making CDs and my kids are always listening to her songs. The latest and most popular of her songs is entitled “Love You Like A Love Song.” The main chorus in the song is “I, I love you like a long song, baby.” It is very catchy and I find myself walking around the house repeating the chorus.
When I stopped to think about it I realized I didn’t really know what that meant. So I went and looked up the lyrics on line. Most of the song is the chorus repeated over and over again, but there are two verses and a bridge that surround the chorus. So I thought well the lyrics will explain it right? Well, they do, but I am not so sure I like the explanation. I don’t have a problem with the lyrics I just think they are superficial, like I was supposed to expect anything else from a pop song. If you haven’t heard the lyrics, the first verse goes like this, “It’s been said and done Every beautiful thought’s been already sung And I guess right now here’s another one So your melody will play on and on, with the best of ‘em You are beautiful, like a dream come alive, incredible A centerfold miracle, lyrical You’ve saved my life again And I want you to know baby.” And then she transitions into the chorus.” Okay nothing offensive, which is a plus compared to some of them out there. Basically she is saying she looks upon him as a beautiful love song come alive in her life, heck I could even hear those lines included in wedding vows, not any wedding I would perform, but I could see it done.
So what’s my problem if they are not objectionable? Well my problem is not in what is there, but in what is not there. If the words of the lyrics are the basis for love, then that love is probably not going to last very long. Love songs come and go. In other words new ones are always replacing them. The lyrics even contain the line, “So your melody will play on and on, with the best of em.” So in other words there are other love songs and maybe other people as well. I know I am nit picking and for crying out loud it’s a pop song by a teenage girl. My goal is not to put down Selena Gomez, so far in my book she is a nice girl.
The problem is not Gomez and it’s not the song, it’s the fact that many people’s idea of love is as superficial as this song and most other pop songs about love. I run into the problem a lot when I sit down with young couples who are getting married. They are in love, he or she is perfect, they are that love song. And so I ask them how they met and what they like to do together and its’ always so wonderful. I usually let them go on for awhile about how wonderful it is and then I stop them and ask, so what are you going to do when it’s not so wonderful? What are you going to do when you realize that she or he is not perfect, matter of fact there are a lot of things about them that just flat irritate you? What are you going to do when the finances fall apart, when you can’t agree on how to raise the kids, when your mother-in-law drives you nuts? What are you going to do when the music stops?
Most of us who have been married for awhile realize that no matter how much we love our spouse, those things are going to happen. Every marriage that I have been around has gone through some sort of trial at some point and some have even been through the fire once or twice. So what are you going to do when that happens? Unfortunately we live in a society where too many people love their spouses like a love song by Selena Gomez. Those marriages usually fall apart. They have nothing to hold them together except some emotions, some good feelings. Loving someone like a love song is great when you are a teenage girl in love with a cute teenage boy, but it doesn’t work when you are an adult and married to a real person who has real faults just like you do. Very quickly that pop love song becomes a Mark Chesnutt country song with the words, “I’m going through the big D and I don’t mean Dallas.” I guess somewhere we need to find a balance between pop love songs where every relationship is perfect and country songs where every relationship ends in divorce.
As I said before my problem is not what is in the lyrics but what is not in the lyrics. What is not in the lyrics is the word commitment. Real love always involves commitment, because real love is more than an emotion it’s an action, it’s a way of living. When you love someone you don’t just feel good about them, you do things for them, you care for them, you support them, and you are there for them through thick and thin. Real love stays when the chips are down. Real love forgives, builds up and protects.
When I tell young couples that sometimes they look at me like I just took their CD out of the player and broke it in half. When I see that look I know I have done my job. I have introduced them to reality. If there is no C word there will no doubt be a D word somewhere in their future.
When I realize I have their attention and I sense they are a little worried I introduce them to another C word, Christ. Christ is the big C word because it is from him that we get the strength to be committed to each other. As sinners we humans had offended God in so many ways I don’t have time to name them. God had every right to just get rid of us, but in spite of all of our sin God continued to love us, he continued to be committed to us. The greatness of that commitment was demonstrated in his sending of his Son Jesus Christ to save us. Christ showed that commitment to us by going to the cross and dying for us, even suffering the pains of hell for us. Bottom line He saved us from eternal destruction because he loved us with real love, committed love. As believers in Christ we are now called to love others, especially our spouses, the same way. We love others because Christ first loved us. The chorus “I love you like a love song baby,” although not objectionable is so weak that it is pitiful and certainly not the basis for a real relationship. No real love, committed love that lasts says, “I love you like Christ loved me, baby.” Maybe it’s not as catchy but it’s the type of love you need in reality.
Pastor Fred
When I stopped to think about it I realized I didn’t really know what that meant. So I went and looked up the lyrics on line. Most of the song is the chorus repeated over and over again, but there are two verses and a bridge that surround the chorus. So I thought well the lyrics will explain it right? Well, they do, but I am not so sure I like the explanation. I don’t have a problem with the lyrics I just think they are superficial, like I was supposed to expect anything else from a pop song. If you haven’t heard the lyrics, the first verse goes like this, “It’s been said and done Every beautiful thought’s been already sung And I guess right now here’s another one So your melody will play on and on, with the best of ‘em You are beautiful, like a dream come alive, incredible A centerfold miracle, lyrical You’ve saved my life again And I want you to know baby.” And then she transitions into the chorus.” Okay nothing offensive, which is a plus compared to some of them out there. Basically she is saying she looks upon him as a beautiful love song come alive in her life, heck I could even hear those lines included in wedding vows, not any wedding I would perform, but I could see it done.
So what’s my problem if they are not objectionable? Well my problem is not in what is there, but in what is not there. If the words of the lyrics are the basis for love, then that love is probably not going to last very long. Love songs come and go. In other words new ones are always replacing them. The lyrics even contain the line, “So your melody will play on and on, with the best of em.” So in other words there are other love songs and maybe other people as well. I know I am nit picking and for crying out loud it’s a pop song by a teenage girl. My goal is not to put down Selena Gomez, so far in my book she is a nice girl.
The problem is not Gomez and it’s not the song, it’s the fact that many people’s idea of love is as superficial as this song and most other pop songs about love. I run into the problem a lot when I sit down with young couples who are getting married. They are in love, he or she is perfect, they are that love song. And so I ask them how they met and what they like to do together and its’ always so wonderful. I usually let them go on for awhile about how wonderful it is and then I stop them and ask, so what are you going to do when it’s not so wonderful? What are you going to do when you realize that she or he is not perfect, matter of fact there are a lot of things about them that just flat irritate you? What are you going to do when the finances fall apart, when you can’t agree on how to raise the kids, when your mother-in-law drives you nuts? What are you going to do when the music stops?
Most of us who have been married for awhile realize that no matter how much we love our spouse, those things are going to happen. Every marriage that I have been around has gone through some sort of trial at some point and some have even been through the fire once or twice. So what are you going to do when that happens? Unfortunately we live in a society where too many people love their spouses like a love song by Selena Gomez. Those marriages usually fall apart. They have nothing to hold them together except some emotions, some good feelings. Loving someone like a love song is great when you are a teenage girl in love with a cute teenage boy, but it doesn’t work when you are an adult and married to a real person who has real faults just like you do. Very quickly that pop love song becomes a Mark Chesnutt country song with the words, “I’m going through the big D and I don’t mean Dallas.” I guess somewhere we need to find a balance between pop love songs where every relationship is perfect and country songs where every relationship ends in divorce.
As I said before my problem is not what is in the lyrics but what is not in the lyrics. What is not in the lyrics is the word commitment. Real love always involves commitment, because real love is more than an emotion it’s an action, it’s a way of living. When you love someone you don’t just feel good about them, you do things for them, you care for them, you support them, and you are there for them through thick and thin. Real love stays when the chips are down. Real love forgives, builds up and protects.
When I tell young couples that sometimes they look at me like I just took their CD out of the player and broke it in half. When I see that look I know I have done my job. I have introduced them to reality. If there is no C word there will no doubt be a D word somewhere in their future.
When I realize I have their attention and I sense they are a little worried I introduce them to another C word, Christ. Christ is the big C word because it is from him that we get the strength to be committed to each other. As sinners we humans had offended God in so many ways I don’t have time to name them. God had every right to just get rid of us, but in spite of all of our sin God continued to love us, he continued to be committed to us. The greatness of that commitment was demonstrated in his sending of his Son Jesus Christ to save us. Christ showed that commitment to us by going to the cross and dying for us, even suffering the pains of hell for us. Bottom line He saved us from eternal destruction because he loved us with real love, committed love. As believers in Christ we are now called to love others, especially our spouses, the same way. We love others because Christ first loved us. The chorus “I love you like a love song baby,” although not objectionable is so weak that it is pitiful and certainly not the basis for a real relationship. No real love, committed love that lasts says, “I love you like Christ loved me, baby.” Maybe it’s not as catchy but it’s the type of love you need in reality.
Pastor Fred
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
What Are You Thankful For?
Next week we will be celebrating Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is not an official Christian holiday but we usually do hold special services to commemorate it. We will be doing that here at 7 p.m. on Wednesday the 23rd and then we are going to have a Pie Social afterward. So if you are in the area join us for worship and some pie. I will be conducting the worship service and I preaching on how thankful we are to be, that is usually what pastor’s do for Thanksgiving services. I am not staying for the Pie Social though because I have to be in San Diego for Thanksgiving with my extended family. So we will be leaving a few minutes after the benediction. I am actually looking forward to the drive because I know the kids will fall asleep quickly and I won’t have to stop for sixteen potty breaks between here and California. Plus I like to drive at night when everyone is asleep, it lets me think my own thoughts and not be disturbed. Our CD player and radio went out in the van awhile ago so there will be no music either. It will just be me, the headlights, the ribbon of road, some wildlife and maybe a few illegal aliens trying to sneak across I-8 in the middle of the night. I have never seen that yet on the drive, although I often look over into Mexico at times when we are near the border. Whenever I see the hills of Mexico off in the distance I am reminded of Clint Eastwood in all those spaghetti westerns, which were really filmed in Italy, hence the name spaghetti western, but always seemed to end up in some dusty little village in Mexico. But that’s another topic, back to Thanksgiving.
I am looking forward to Thanksgiving because I am going to spend it with a large part of my family this year. That hasn’t always been the case for me. I have spent a number of Thanksgivings in other places in the country without family. I always had friends mind you but family was thousands of miles away. Over the years I have spent Thanksgiving with close friends in Nebraska, with congregation members in Michigan, North Dakota, and Indiana, all of them nice but not the same as with family. I had three Thanksgivings that were to say the least strange. The strangest one was in Cambridge England when I was going to school there. It occurred to my friend and I that the Brit’s don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. We didn’t know what to do. The Brits somehow picked up on our confusion and threw a Thanksgiving dinner for us with all the trimmings. That was nice, I still remember that. I don’t remember much about the dinner but I do remember with great thankfulness their hospitality and what it meant to my friend and me. I spent another Thanksgiving in a restaurant in North Dakota. I was supposed to join a farmer and his family for Thanksgiving but the night before it snowed two feet and they shut everything down. North Dakotans are a resilient group though and someone talked to someone who talked to someone else who arranged for the entire town to eat Thanksgiving dinner at the local diner together. There were 250 people in the town so it was a little confusing but again, it was wonderful. I will never forget my Thanksgiving on the road though. It was also in North Dakota but several years before the one I just talked about and before I was a pastor. Another friend and I left Idaho together, he was headed for graduate school at North Dakota State in Fargo and I was headed to Seminary in Fort Wayne Indiana. He was going to start after Christmas break and I was going to start after Thanksgiving break and so we decided to drive out together in the bad weather. We got caught in a horrible snow storm right before Jamestown North Dakota, in which we came very close to getting killed, and so we ended up staying the night there. The next day was Thanksgiving. As we filled up at the gas station we both grabbed a frozen burrito and heated them in the station’s microwave. We nodded to each other and said, “Happy Thanksgiving.” In this case it was just good to be alive. As we left Jamestown and headed East we realized how blessed we were, the roadside was littered with overturned trucks and cars. Many people have similar Thanksgiving stories; many probably have stories of Thanksgivings in faraway places such Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, or a number of other places that have left indelible memories. I have been blessed for the past fourteen years to spend every Thanksgiving with my family, sometimes it was just me and my wife but we were family. For the past six years it has been at the very least the four of us and there has also been a lot of extended family and friends at times as well.
I am looking forward to Thanksgiving this year because the four of us are going over to join my mom and my nephew and niece for Thanksgiving north of San Diego in San Marcos. As the years go on and I attend more and more funerals of family and friends I realize how important and precious times like these are. The people you value the most aren’t always going to be there. You never know when you are spending your last Thanksgiving with them. We have a tradition at Family of Christ here in Phoenix. Right after the sermon we ask people to stand up and tell everyone what they are thankful for. If you understand anything about Lutherans you know that is pushing the envelope. We Lutherans don’t usually talk about our feelings, especially in front of groups of people. Therefore I am always amazed at the number of people who do stand up and express, sometimes very emotionally, what they are thankful for. Many times what is expressed is that they are thankful for their families and for each other. I know that is what I am thankful for. I am thankful for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the family he has given me both inside and outside the church. In fact I am thankful for so many things I have that I can’t begin to list them.
As I said before Thanksgiving is not a Christian holiday, at the same time thankfulness is a Christian virtue. We have so much to be thankful for. As Christians we have been adopted by Christ into his family. We have been saved from death and damnation through our faith in Jesus. If there was ever anything to be thankful that would be it. In addition to that he has given us so much more, namely our families and our friends that we share our lives with. He has also given us homes and jobs and health and food you name it. Too often we take those things for granted and we only think about them when they are gone. The holiday of Thanksgiving is a way of guarding against that. So this Thanksgiving wherever you are, gathered around the family dinner table with those you love, at a friend’s house, at a roadside gas station in the middle of nowhere, take the time to think about what you are thankful for, and also take the time to thank God for them, and then thank the people around you for being who they are in your life. Thanksgiving is not a Christian holiday, but maybe it should be.
Pastor Fred
I am looking forward to Thanksgiving because I am going to spend it with a large part of my family this year. That hasn’t always been the case for me. I have spent a number of Thanksgivings in other places in the country without family. I always had friends mind you but family was thousands of miles away. Over the years I have spent Thanksgiving with close friends in Nebraska, with congregation members in Michigan, North Dakota, and Indiana, all of them nice but not the same as with family. I had three Thanksgivings that were to say the least strange. The strangest one was in Cambridge England when I was going to school there. It occurred to my friend and I that the Brit’s don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. We didn’t know what to do. The Brits somehow picked up on our confusion and threw a Thanksgiving dinner for us with all the trimmings. That was nice, I still remember that. I don’t remember much about the dinner but I do remember with great thankfulness their hospitality and what it meant to my friend and me. I spent another Thanksgiving in a restaurant in North Dakota. I was supposed to join a farmer and his family for Thanksgiving but the night before it snowed two feet and they shut everything down. North Dakotans are a resilient group though and someone talked to someone who talked to someone else who arranged for the entire town to eat Thanksgiving dinner at the local diner together. There were 250 people in the town so it was a little confusing but again, it was wonderful. I will never forget my Thanksgiving on the road though. It was also in North Dakota but several years before the one I just talked about and before I was a pastor. Another friend and I left Idaho together, he was headed for graduate school at North Dakota State in Fargo and I was headed to Seminary in Fort Wayne Indiana. He was going to start after Christmas break and I was going to start after Thanksgiving break and so we decided to drive out together in the bad weather. We got caught in a horrible snow storm right before Jamestown North Dakota, in which we came very close to getting killed, and so we ended up staying the night there. The next day was Thanksgiving. As we filled up at the gas station we both grabbed a frozen burrito and heated them in the station’s microwave. We nodded to each other and said, “Happy Thanksgiving.” In this case it was just good to be alive. As we left Jamestown and headed East we realized how blessed we were, the roadside was littered with overturned trucks and cars. Many people have similar Thanksgiving stories; many probably have stories of Thanksgivings in faraway places such Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, or a number of other places that have left indelible memories. I have been blessed for the past fourteen years to spend every Thanksgiving with my family, sometimes it was just me and my wife but we were family. For the past six years it has been at the very least the four of us and there has also been a lot of extended family and friends at times as well.
I am looking forward to Thanksgiving this year because the four of us are going over to join my mom and my nephew and niece for Thanksgiving north of San Diego in San Marcos. As the years go on and I attend more and more funerals of family and friends I realize how important and precious times like these are. The people you value the most aren’t always going to be there. You never know when you are spending your last Thanksgiving with them. We have a tradition at Family of Christ here in Phoenix. Right after the sermon we ask people to stand up and tell everyone what they are thankful for. If you understand anything about Lutherans you know that is pushing the envelope. We Lutherans don’t usually talk about our feelings, especially in front of groups of people. Therefore I am always amazed at the number of people who do stand up and express, sometimes very emotionally, what they are thankful for. Many times what is expressed is that they are thankful for their families and for each other. I know that is what I am thankful for. I am thankful for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the family he has given me both inside and outside the church. In fact I am thankful for so many things I have that I can’t begin to list them.
As I said before Thanksgiving is not a Christian holiday, at the same time thankfulness is a Christian virtue. We have so much to be thankful for. As Christians we have been adopted by Christ into his family. We have been saved from death and damnation through our faith in Jesus. If there was ever anything to be thankful that would be it. In addition to that he has given us so much more, namely our families and our friends that we share our lives with. He has also given us homes and jobs and health and food you name it. Too often we take those things for granted and we only think about them when they are gone. The holiday of Thanksgiving is a way of guarding against that. So this Thanksgiving wherever you are, gathered around the family dinner table with those you love, at a friend’s house, at a roadside gas station in the middle of nowhere, take the time to think about what you are thankful for, and also take the time to thank God for them, and then thank the people around you for being who they are in your life. Thanksgiving is not a Christian holiday, but maybe it should be.
Pastor Fred
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
I Have Found The Sinner and He is Me!
One of my biggest pet peeves in life are people that go through the drive thru lane at a fast food restaurant or someplace like Starbucks and then order for a bunch of people. They take forever to order and then when they get to the window it seems like they are never going to move. You know the scene, the person inside hands them a cup of coffee, and you think okay, but they don’t move, then the person inside hands them another cup of coffee and a bag holding some pumpkin bread or something. Still the car doesn’t move. Slowly another cup of something is handed to them, then the person inside leans their head out the window and you know they are listening to some complaint, and sure enough there goes a cup of coffee back to the server and the car doesn’t move. Several more minutes go by and then another cup of something passes through the window to the person in the car, obviously the replacement for the wrong drink they had received before. The worst part is that you know it was probably the person in the car who messed up the order in the first place, Aunt May wanted caramel in that drink and they forgot to mention that. So now you think the car is going to move but no the server sticks her head out the window again and the person inside the car hands them a wad of cash. Don’t they know everyone uses credit cards these days! Now the server is going to have to count them and invariable will count them wrong and there will be more conversation between the car and the window. This is one of my biggest pet peeves as everyone in my family knows all too well.
When this is going on I am saying things like, “Oh for crying out loud people, if you are ordering for more than two go inside, that’s what inside is for. Those of us out here in cars are in our cars for a reason, we are in a hurry, you’re in a car, you should know that, but NO, you’re too important to go inside, who cares if the rest of us have to wait, we really don’t matter after all do we?” “I mean how rude and inconsiderate can you get, I bet his guy also brings a full cart to the 15 or less items line at the grocery store”, another pet peeve of mine. My wife is always saying, “Please stop, it’s not going to speed anything up, we just have to wait.” My response, “You’re right we have to wait because that guy decided to order for the whole office in his car!” My kids by this time are laying back in their seats staring out the window, hoping no one hears my ranting. Patience is not a virtue of mine when it comes to waiting behind people who order for half the community in the drive thru. Now I don’t go through the drive thru at Starbucks every day, not even most days, but it seems that when I do, I always get behind one of these horrible sinful people who should know better.
Saturday Charlie had baseball practice early in the morning. After practice I usually like to take him someplace for a treat, and that morning I decided that I would get the whole family a treat, so after practice Charlie and I drove to Starbucks. I asked Charlie what he wanted. He said that wanted some of those pink birthday donuts that Starbucks serves and that he also wanted a drink. I though well if I get that for him, I also have to get that for Jasmine as well, and then I also need to get something like for Darla and come to think of it that sounds pretty good for me too. As we were pulling up to Starbucks Charlie said he wanted to go inside, I said, “No, not this morning, mommy and Jasmine are waiting and we have a lot to get done today we will just go through the drive thru.” So when I got to box where you order I put in my order of a Venti Americano with cream, a Grande strawberries and cream and two Grande hot chocolates, plus I also wanted six of the birthday donuts and a brownie. The voice in the box said, “I don’t know if we have six birthday donuts, let me check”, so I sat there in line while she checked. She came back and said, “No I only have three of those.” Oh I said, “Well how about those pink birthday pops, how many of them do you have?” She said, “Wait a minute let me check”, so I waited there while she checked. She came back and informed me she had plenty of those and so I said “Give me three birthday donuts and also three of the birthday pops and drop the brownie.” “You don’t want the brownie sir”; “No” I said “I don’t want the brownie.” “Okay” she said and then proceeded to run through my order with me. After she did, I said “No I don’t want cream in that Americano, I want whole milk.” “Oh I thought you said cream?” “No whole milk”, actually I had said cream because that is the way that I order coffee at Dunkin Donuts. So finally we were done. A few minutes later I found myself at the window. The server opened the window and started to hand me a drink, but I stopped her, and asked if she could please put all the drinks in a cup holder, so she took the drink back and closed the window. The window opened again and she handed me the tray of drinks which I put on the seat beside me and before I did anything else I took the Americano out and tasted it to make sure it was whole milk and not cream. I turned back around and she was handing me the donuts and pops. I took them and made sure I looked in the package to see if they were all there. Then I reached for my Starbucks gift card, which I had forgot to put in my wallet so I had to start digging through my pockets. Finally I found it and handed it to her. The window closed and then opened back up again and she informed me that I still owed a little over seven dollars. Not wanting to use my credit card I started rummaging for dollar bills in my pockets again. I finally end up with a wad of cash in my hand and I figured there was at least seven dollars in there and so I just handed it to her. She started to straighten it out and count it and then window closed again. Finally she opened the window and said I need another dollar. I didn’t have another dollar so I asked for my money back and handed her my credit card. As I did I looked in the rearview mirror and it hit me. Opps!
When this is going on I am saying things like, “Oh for crying out loud people, if you are ordering for more than two go inside, that’s what inside is for. Those of us out here in cars are in our cars for a reason, we are in a hurry, you’re in a car, you should know that, but NO, you’re too important to go inside, who cares if the rest of us have to wait, we really don’t matter after all do we?” “I mean how rude and inconsiderate can you get, I bet his guy also brings a full cart to the 15 or less items line at the grocery store”, another pet peeve of mine. My wife is always saying, “Please stop, it’s not going to speed anything up, we just have to wait.” My response, “You’re right we have to wait because that guy decided to order for the whole office in his car!” My kids by this time are laying back in their seats staring out the window, hoping no one hears my ranting. Patience is not a virtue of mine when it comes to waiting behind people who order for half the community in the drive thru. Now I don’t go through the drive thru at Starbucks every day, not even most days, but it seems that when I do, I always get behind one of these horrible sinful people who should know better.
Saturday Charlie had baseball practice early in the morning. After practice I usually like to take him someplace for a treat, and that morning I decided that I would get the whole family a treat, so after practice Charlie and I drove to Starbucks. I asked Charlie what he wanted. He said that wanted some of those pink birthday donuts that Starbucks serves and that he also wanted a drink. I though well if I get that for him, I also have to get that for Jasmine as well, and then I also need to get something like for Darla and come to think of it that sounds pretty good for me too. As we were pulling up to Starbucks Charlie said he wanted to go inside, I said, “No, not this morning, mommy and Jasmine are waiting and we have a lot to get done today we will just go through the drive thru.” So when I got to box where you order I put in my order of a Venti Americano with cream, a Grande strawberries and cream and two Grande hot chocolates, plus I also wanted six of the birthday donuts and a brownie. The voice in the box said, “I don’t know if we have six birthday donuts, let me check”, so I sat there in line while she checked. She came back and said, “No I only have three of those.” Oh I said, “Well how about those pink birthday pops, how many of them do you have?” She said, “Wait a minute let me check”, so I waited there while she checked. She came back and informed me she had plenty of those and so I said “Give me three birthday donuts and also three of the birthday pops and drop the brownie.” “You don’t want the brownie sir”; “No” I said “I don’t want the brownie.” “Okay” she said and then proceeded to run through my order with me. After she did, I said “No I don’t want cream in that Americano, I want whole milk.” “Oh I thought you said cream?” “No whole milk”, actually I had said cream because that is the way that I order coffee at Dunkin Donuts. So finally we were done. A few minutes later I found myself at the window. The server opened the window and started to hand me a drink, but I stopped her, and asked if she could please put all the drinks in a cup holder, so she took the drink back and closed the window. The window opened again and she handed me the tray of drinks which I put on the seat beside me and before I did anything else I took the Americano out and tasted it to make sure it was whole milk and not cream. I turned back around and she was handing me the donuts and pops. I took them and made sure I looked in the package to see if they were all there. Then I reached for my Starbucks gift card, which I had forgot to put in my wallet so I had to start digging through my pockets. Finally I found it and handed it to her. The window closed and then opened back up again and she informed me that I still owed a little over seven dollars. Not wanting to use my credit card I started rummaging for dollar bills in my pockets again. I finally end up with a wad of cash in my hand and I figured there was at least seven dollars in there and so I just handed it to her. She started to straighten it out and count it and then window closed again. Finally she opened the window and said I need another dollar. I didn’t have another dollar so I asked for my money back and handed her my credit card. As I did I looked in the rearview mirror and it hit me. Opps!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
A Change in Seasons
A change in seasons has happened. Yes we even get changes in seasons in Arizona, although not quite as dramatic as in other parts of the country. In fact when you are new here you really don’t notice it that much. It is sunny pretty much every day in Arizona and it very seldom gets real cold. The first few years you are here all you really notice is that the heat finally goes away and it gets comfortable for several months before the heat gets turned back up again. After you have been here awhile though you start to notice the subtle differences in the seasons, in a sense you learn a new normal. Basically you learn to complain about different things and rejoice in other stuff that many people would think strange. For instance in the summer when the temperature drops to 99 you rejoice that finally you have a cool day. When it’s 109 you rejoice that after 18 days in a row it’s not above 110. When it drops below 32, which doesn’t happen often, panic and hysteria kick in because in Arizona most of the piping is outside and nothing is insulated from the cold so pipes start breaking throughout the community. I have lived in North Dakota, Indiana, Idaho, Montana, Michigan and even in Wyoming where it gets really cold and my pipes have never burst. So it was ironic that the day I arrived in Phoenix it dropped below 32 and my pipes broke in my house. I had lived through winters of weeks on end of 30 below without a problem, first day in Arizona with 32 above and I have a major disaster on my hands. But that’s Arizona, sunny, warm, hot, sometimes wonderful and always a little strange.
A change in seasons is about to happen in the church as well. In a little over a month we will be ending the season of Pentecost and entering the season of Advent and with that a whole new church year. For those us who follow a liturgical calendar we will be entering season B. It is a three year cycle of A, B, C and then we start the whole thing over again. As a pastor who went through his phase of trying to “be with it.” I used to make fun of the church year and all the colors and old traditions. At a certain point along the way I realized that I wasn’t “with it,” in fact I had probably lost it along the way but just can’t remember where, to loosely quote Johnny Carson. I know if you reading this and you are under 40 you are probably asking yourself, “Who is Johnny Carson?” More evidence I am no longer with it. I have relearned recently to deeply appreciate the change in seasons in the church. I know they are not in Scripture and they are certainly not points of doctrine, but that doesn’t make them unimportant. Right now we are in the season of Pentecost. This season starts with the Day of Pentecost which usually occurs somewhere in late May or early June, depending on when Easter is. It is day of red. Red represents the fire of the Holy Spirit coming down on the church. It is a color of power and strength. The Sunday after that is White because it is Trinity Sunday. White stands for purity, and sinlessness, perfect for a Sunday focusing on the three persons of the Godhead. The next Sunday the color turns to Green and remains Green for usually twenty some weeks. Green is the color of life and growth and the season of Pentecost focuses on the life of the Christian, it is also sometimes referred to as the non-festive half of the church year. There is one festival though that we as Lutherans celebrate and that is the usually the last Sunday in October when we celebrate the Reformation, where the color is Red again. The new Church years usually starts at the end of November with Advent. The color for Advent is Blue, which is a royal color and a color of anticipation. During Advent we celebrate the various comings of Christ. We celebrate his first coming at Christmas, we celebrate his coming into our hearts by faith and we celebrate his second coming which we are still waiting for. Advent is of course followed by the season of Christmas which is also White. The season of Christmas takes us into the New Year and is followed by the season of Epiphany which is Green. Epiphany means shining forth and during this time we celebrate the miracles of Jesus while he was here on earth. Jesus was both man and God but for the most part people just saw his humanity while he was here on earth, but at times he would perform a miracle and his divinity would shine forth out of his humanity. Epiphany is then followed by the season of Lent which is represented by the color Purple, which is a color of suffering. During Lent we walk with Jesus to the cross. We look at his coming suffering for us and it all leads up to Good Friday which is represented by the color Black, the color of sin and death. Thankfully two days later we celebrate Easter with the resurrection of Christ from the dead. The season of Easter is presented by the color of White. This season then leads us back to Pentecost where we started. Each of these seasons has a different color and a different focus. These seasons keep us on track and keep us in a rhythm. We also have special celebrations during all of this, unusual things happen in the church, sometimes some big event in the world will cause us to stop and take notice and related it to God in some way, but for the most part the seasons come and go and we continually get reminded of the law and the gospel. The law shows us our sins and the Gospel shows us our Savior. Each season looks at those two things differently but at the end of the day it all comes down to the fact that Jesus died for our sins and that he offers us his free forgiveness through faith in him.
I will admit that I miss the four seasons, I particularly miss the early fall. I believe there is even a Clint Black song that contains the line, “There is just something about the early fall.” Early fall in Arizona is not as different from summer as it is in other parts of the country. I make up for that by making pumpkin bread and drying pumpkin seeds. I also observe the seasons of the church which in fall begin to change as well. There is also something about the early fall in the church, the pace changes, the air changes, and I like that. A cold cloudy day wouldn’t hurt though. Just a special request.
Pastor Fred
A change in seasons is about to happen in the church as well. In a little over a month we will be ending the season of Pentecost and entering the season of Advent and with that a whole new church year. For those us who follow a liturgical calendar we will be entering season B. It is a three year cycle of A, B, C and then we start the whole thing over again. As a pastor who went through his phase of trying to “be with it.” I used to make fun of the church year and all the colors and old traditions. At a certain point along the way I realized that I wasn’t “with it,” in fact I had probably lost it along the way but just can’t remember where, to loosely quote Johnny Carson. I know if you reading this and you are under 40 you are probably asking yourself, “Who is Johnny Carson?” More evidence I am no longer with it. I have relearned recently to deeply appreciate the change in seasons in the church. I know they are not in Scripture and they are certainly not points of doctrine, but that doesn’t make them unimportant. Right now we are in the season of Pentecost. This season starts with the Day of Pentecost which usually occurs somewhere in late May or early June, depending on when Easter is. It is day of red. Red represents the fire of the Holy Spirit coming down on the church. It is a color of power and strength. The Sunday after that is White because it is Trinity Sunday. White stands for purity, and sinlessness, perfect for a Sunday focusing on the three persons of the Godhead. The next Sunday the color turns to Green and remains Green for usually twenty some weeks. Green is the color of life and growth and the season of Pentecost focuses on the life of the Christian, it is also sometimes referred to as the non-festive half of the church year. There is one festival though that we as Lutherans celebrate and that is the usually the last Sunday in October when we celebrate the Reformation, where the color is Red again. The new Church years usually starts at the end of November with Advent. The color for Advent is Blue, which is a royal color and a color of anticipation. During Advent we celebrate the various comings of Christ. We celebrate his first coming at Christmas, we celebrate his coming into our hearts by faith and we celebrate his second coming which we are still waiting for. Advent is of course followed by the season of Christmas which is also White. The season of Christmas takes us into the New Year and is followed by the season of Epiphany which is Green. Epiphany means shining forth and during this time we celebrate the miracles of Jesus while he was here on earth. Jesus was both man and God but for the most part people just saw his humanity while he was here on earth, but at times he would perform a miracle and his divinity would shine forth out of his humanity. Epiphany is then followed by the season of Lent which is represented by the color Purple, which is a color of suffering. During Lent we walk with Jesus to the cross. We look at his coming suffering for us and it all leads up to Good Friday which is represented by the color Black, the color of sin and death. Thankfully two days later we celebrate Easter with the resurrection of Christ from the dead. The season of Easter is presented by the color of White. This season then leads us back to Pentecost where we started. Each of these seasons has a different color and a different focus. These seasons keep us on track and keep us in a rhythm. We also have special celebrations during all of this, unusual things happen in the church, sometimes some big event in the world will cause us to stop and take notice and related it to God in some way, but for the most part the seasons come and go and we continually get reminded of the law and the gospel. The law shows us our sins and the Gospel shows us our Savior. Each season looks at those two things differently but at the end of the day it all comes down to the fact that Jesus died for our sins and that he offers us his free forgiveness through faith in him.
I will admit that I miss the four seasons, I particularly miss the early fall. I believe there is even a Clint Black song that contains the line, “There is just something about the early fall.” Early fall in Arizona is not as different from summer as it is in other parts of the country. I make up for that by making pumpkin bread and drying pumpkin seeds. I also observe the seasons of the church which in fall begin to change as well. There is also something about the early fall in the church, the pace changes, the air changes, and I like that. A cold cloudy day wouldn’t hurt though. Just a special request.
Pastor Fred
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
