f2:19 aftermath

Baptism is the application of water to the head of a person who understands something about God in Jesus Christ. And, man, I think: what a boring description of God's revelation in Jesus Christ. Even the somewhat catchy motto about baptism being "a visible sign of an invisible grace." That does not even reallly capture the intimacy of God. Everyone get out your bibles and read Psalm 139! It is a very touching way to understand how God knits us together in the womb with an intentional and repetitive motion. Piece by piece and cell by cell. God's desire exceeds our sinfulness or worng doing or wrong thinking and drags us into the waiting room of God. A place where we patiently wait to understand where God will place our next step. Baptism shows us that before we could ever make a conscious decision to know God, God chose us.

The power of last night's worship service in our intimacy with God and with other congregants. Many other church members there to take seriously the vow to support and nurture these two newly baptized little guys and declare publicly that these boys have died to the world so that they might be made into new creations in Christ. I found that I had many questions that erupted from waiting for the arrival of this worship service. The questions came out James 3:1-12. Verses discussing how our tongues can get us into a whole heap of troublem. We say things that are hurtful and mena and then want to take those words back. But after you squeeze toothpast out of a toothpast tube, you can't get it back in. "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me." I think that if we pause for a moment, we know all too well how words can shape our egos and our beliefs about ourselves. When we speak, we can hurt. When God speaks, creation is brought into being and the foundation of the world is rattled. The moral of that story: When God speaks, life is transformed- so ask yourself this: has God spoken his Word in your life?

September 17- The way of the cross

Worship on this evening was either trapped in one direction or let go to be freed in the only direction that the Spirit could take it. I BELIEVE IT WAS THE LATTER. There are times when I an others who are a part of the worship plannin team believe that something that we are doing may be too challenging for many people who are either saplings in their walk with Christ or are either so steadfast in their traditions that something something different like art, hard sayings, and imagination are not welcomed. Yet, this evening, conveyed that the disciples who grace the church with their presence, who yearn to be connected with the Living Christ, will take the hard stuff and say give me more. The music sang to How great is our God in the light of Jesus Christ who calls us to die to ourselves- not really that popular for the American culture that defines much of who we are. Then one of our most dedicated members who does our set up boldly got up, even though she hates publiicly speaking, and spoke from the heart about her experience in working with mentally disabled children. And all of this pointed to the way of the cross from Mark 9:30-37. No one person on the worship planning is trying to be the greatest- each of us is striving to be faithful and I think that was the upshot of what God wanted us to understand this evening. Throughout the Mark passage Jesus tries to explain that when we follow the way of the cross we are approaching death in order to have life; that in order to be first we consider ourselves last; that in order to be like Jesus we become a servant not a ruler. This Christian spirituality is peculiar and bizarre because, again, it is a call to buck the prevailing cultural norms of self-obsession. We are called to serve the least no to cater to the greatest. A hard sell indeed. Make no mistake- Jesus was no marketing guru. He is Lord and Savior who demands faithfulness that is never seen as popular or self- centered.

f2:19 aftermath: Song of Solomon

If I were God, I think I would have to give up my title as Almighty Creator and become Asst. Administrative Paper Pusher to the Almighty. That way I would not have to deal with the frustration of realizing that though the disciples nod their heads in understanding what I have told them about how to follow Jesus, they do exactly the opposite and lift their hands up and say "What...you mean...I'm sorry Jesus, could you write it on a post-it next time. I think what you meant was lost in translation."

Tonight, I am pleased to say that I was one of those disciples absently nodding as if I understood what it meant. Sometimes I do. Sometimes I do not. Tonight I did not. I began to feel a little uptight about how worship would unfold. Clearly beginning with the assumption that someone needs to control what is happening in our community encounter with God. The worship was very loose. The Scripture passage was a little longer than I wanted. And to top it all off- there was no grape juice in the communion cup out of which all would dip the bread representing Christ's body into the the cup with the juice representing his blood and his death that forgives sins. Just before this ritual of communion, I realize there is no juice in the cup, usually red grape juice, and calmly tell the congregation that before we partake of communion, we will pause for a moment of prayer. As soon as heads bowed, I walked up the aisle and out of the worship space to search for what could be used for Christ's blood. Couldn't find the usual red grape juice in the usual places like the sacristy, the refrigerators-nearly seven and at long last, I find in the refrigerator the only available juice to be the blood of Jesus Christ- Apple Juice. Filled up the cup. Return to worship space. Invite people to come forward to take communion. Everyone had realized what had happened. I could see that people's heads were bobbling with suppressed laughter about the idea of having no grape juice and then taking communion with apple juice, something well beyond protocol.

Worshipful still? Certainly! I think back to the time in Scripture when Jesus accuses the Pharisees of caring more about empty ritual than the intent that makes the ritual meaningful.
I believe that the F2:19 band and congregation laughed at this moment because it is what it is: A moment where something is out of order. I can imagine that this event would demoralize or derail those who are unaware that in the chaos, God is mischeivously weaving grace. In all honesty, I think I started worship in that soulset.

In the laughter that we all shared in that worship service, we saw truly what it is to be gracious. We do not depend on rituals or music or speech that is perfect. We depend on worship that speaks to God and says thank you Lord. It is about God. Not me. Not you. Tonight's worship was about celebrating life and love together in the name of Jesus Christ- the one who cares more about our hearts than our performances.