summer!

Greetings friends! Its been too long………hope this finds you well.  Henry James, the well known English novelist whose father was a theologian, once said; “ ‘Summer afternoon’; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language”.  I like those words and enjoy summer for so many reasons – not the least of which is the fact that it remains light well into the evening.  I find these late afternoon and early evening hours to be uniquely enriching whether walking down to our neighbors, working in our yard or watching our daughters compete on the soccer field.  Like many Minnesotans I take summer pretty serious due the shortness of the season………so I am hoping that you find ways this summer to both enjoy it and invest in those around you because of the “extended light”.  Jesus referred to himself as “the light of the world” according to John’s gospel - a reference I believe pointing to quality and revelation of the love of God for those literally and spiritually in the dark.  There is warmth in the light of summer and my image of Jesus centers around the warmth of his interaction with real people and the heat of his anger toward the religious and political leadership whom he felt did not have the regard of the people in their interests. Don’t you know some people who just don’t seem to care and others who just seem to radiate God’s warmth and light?  This call is extended to all the disciples in Jesus’ sermon on the mount when he refers to his followers as the “light of the world”.  A transfer of “nature” and invitation to maturity was being handed down in my opinion.  Last night at our first Wadi Eschol (meetings in neighborhood restaurants) Sarah Wehrenberg did just that – radiated the light of God’s grace in her life as did Steve Kramka and Jon Bergstrom at our men’s retreat and as do so many of you that I have the pleasure of interacting with.  I write to simply encourage you to keep at it!!  You make a difference!

 

I also think of summer as a season not just of the year but of life and want to think and believe it the season of my own life right now.  But truth be told we really never know.  I had lunch today with my old college roommate and he told me that in February he had 3 heart attacks!  And today I also received a phone call from our former minister of music LC Stevenson informing me that our old drummer –Robert Cox died this week of cancer.  Age wise both of these friends are and were in the summer of their lives.  Sooooo I remind you that tomorrow is promised to none of us.  Therefore remember what E.E. Cummings said; “Unbeing dead is not being alive!” So get out there! Let your light shine to the glory of God and for heavens sake (and your own) enjoy the extended hours of light!!

 

I am one on the journey with you,

Pastor Jeff

The Center

This is the continuation of the series through Matthew. The sermon is available through download, rss feed (podcast), or you can click here to stream it off the web.

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OUR Father

This is the continuation of the series through Matthew. The sermon is available through download, rss feed (podcast), or you can click here to stream it off the web.

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Mother's Day

This is Jodie Sellers preaching on Mother's Day. The sermon is available through download, rss feed (podcast), or you can click here to stream it off the web.

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Mother's Day!

Greetings friends on a beautiful Spring afternoon.  As you know this weekend we will recognize Mother’s Day on Sunday. I am certain that the card shops and florists are very busy!  It’s a wonderful time of course to reflect on our own mother’s and perhaps more importantly on the qualities of our own lives and maybe even how the Scriptures refer to God as one like a mother who “comforts her child”.  There sure is need for God’s comfort to be shared and experienced in this world…… and that reminds me that the Apostle Paul encourages us to “seek and pursue” opportunities to speak words of comfort. (I Cor. 14)

 

“Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of Children”.  This quote is from English novelist William Thackeray.  I find it to be a beautiful and warm statement.  The other day I was at my youngest daughter’s softball game.  Her team destroyed their opponents.  After the game however both teams exchanged cheers for the other and made those “locked hands tunnels” that the other team runs through. I said to a nearby parent; “The world would be a better place if it were run by 8^th grade girls”. He agreed.  Maybe they know something of God that adults too often forget….

 

One of the things I speak often about here at Calvary is the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders of his day.  He calls them actors and a whole lot worse.  It appears as though they were full of themselves often and thought more highly of themselves than the common folk who they thought should serve them and their systems.  Well there is an old Spanish proverb that states; “An ounce of mother is worth a ton of priests”.  I think that Spanish Proverb person understood something!!  I know where I stand in the economy of God…..!

 

Being a mother of course is more than biology.  “A mother is a person who seeing there are only 4 pieces of pie for 5 people, promptly announces she never did care for pie”. (Tenneva Jordon) Mothers make everyday sacrifices in a mosaic of ways for their children.  I remember my generous mother, my children’s wonderful mother and all those of you who are mothers with deep gratitude today.  I cheer you on!  Yours is a uniquely holy calling.

 

Some of course did not receive the gift of a loving mother for whatever reason.  We do not judge but recognize the realities of our world.  To you especially but certainly to all of us I want to encourage you with this last word that comes from Psalm 27; “If my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up!”   There is only one perfect parent!  “Your face, Lord, do I seek”….. one on the journey with you!

Pastor Jeff

 

 

125 Years of Righteous Deeds

This is the continuation of the series through Matthew. The sermon is available through download, rss feed (podcast), or you can click here to stream it off the web.

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Holocaust Remembrance Day & National Day of Prayer

Greetings friends.  Today is both The national Day of Prayer here in our country and a day of remembrance around the world – Yom HaShoah. (Holocaust Remembrance Day)  These two occasions do not typically fall together.  I just came from a pastor’s luncheon where a presentation was made about the church in America.  A lot of statistics were shared and we prayed together but no mention was made of the 1.5 million children burned in the fires of places like Auschwitz. I left saddened by this oversight and wondered if there was a correlation between the decline in church attendance in the United States and our theology.  Theologian J.B. Metz has declared that after Auschwitz, any Christian theology that proceeds as if Auschwitz didn’t happen and didn’t implicate Christians and Christianity in its wake needs to be rethought.  And on Sunday I quoted Orthodox Rabbi Irving Greenberg: “No statement, theological or otherwise, should be uttered that would not be credible in the presence of the burning children”.  The slaughter of the 6 million was clearly industrialized, organized and bureaucratized.  The drama of human brutality stagers the mind…….and I remind you that at the core of the prophetic tradition of scripture is mourning for the brokenness in our world.

 

The theme of our National Day of Prayer this year is; “Prayer! America’s Strength and Shield”  This is taken from Psalm 28:7 which reads “The Lord is my strength and shield, in whom my heart trusted and found help.”  Maybe its just me but something seems to be a drift here….something like Constantinian Christianity where state power and faith are married….  And the text declares that the Lord is our strength and shield not prayer.  And if we believed that in our country could the church standby largely quiet about the 1.7billion a day we spend as a nation on shields of defense?  Maybe I am missing something.

 

Teresa of Avila, a sixteenth century Carmelite nun said this; “I would not want any prayer that would not make the virtues grow within me.”  This Spaniard was the first female to be proclaimed Doctor of the Church – a title for outstanding theological teachers.  She was given this title in 1970 by Pope Paul VI.  Sometimes value comes recognized rather long after the fact!  But you and I, let us use this day, to speak to his “Majesty” (her reference for Jesus).  Let us find some time today to remember, to actually listen to the children – those burning in Auschwitz – and those living under our own roof or next door,  Let us prayer for our nation and our world for they are surely connected as are their destinies.  Let us pray that never again will children be sacrificed in the wars of bigotry and hatred for the “other”.  Let us prayer for the virtues to grow deep in the soil of our souls.  And let us pray that the Lord be our strength and shield.  I am but one on the journey with you --- Pastor Jeff