Blog Archives

KEEPING IN STEP WITH THE SPIRIT - for Pentecost Sunday, May 31, 2020

5/30/2020

What does Pentecost mean? How does the Spirit empower disciples? The Spirit didn't just show up at Pentecost. We look at Numbers 11 (yes, Numbers) to find the Spirit at work and at Galatians 5 as Paul teaches what being Spirit-led is all about.

Yes, you'll recall the Spirit is right there in the beginning. I mean "In the beginning ...." like Genesis 1. The Spirit didn't appear unknown to God's people at Pentecost.

In Numbers 11, a despairing Moses begs for God's intervention with these impossible people for whom God has made him the responsible leader. They are never content and always complaining. Moses can't take it any longer.

God has an answer, but Moses doubts its efficacy. God's reply is a keeper: "Is the Lord's arm too short?"

Gathering 70 elders in the tabernacle, Moses is somehow able to share out the Spirit in/with him with those gathered, and even with two who didn't get the memo and missed the meeting. The Spirit took care of business, empowering the elders to begin taking on some of the leadership role.

The role of the Spirit is something Paul teaches to the Galatians. After a burning hot start to his letter, by chapter 5 he has settled down and teaches wonderfully about the effect of the Spirit's leadership and how it should be manifested by faithful disciples. Get the rest in the service video below.

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05-31-20-keeping_in_step_with_the_spirit.pdf
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NAVIGATING TWO WORLDS - for Sunday, May 24, 2020

5/23/2020

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The resurrection faith leaves the faithful caught between two worlds, needing to navigate them both, but with the purpose and the promise of Jesus with them. This isn't easy. The ascension passage in Acts 1 and Jesus' final prayer lead us to consider the task.

When we think in personal terms of "our" world, we may discover how small "our" world is. We can make it bigger, but we run the risk of "our" small, familiar world colliding with the a world unknown, never experienced in our lives. It's daunting, for sure.

The disciples of Jesus faced the same problem, but on a much bigger scale. They had always counted on Jesus to help them navigate the new directions that a Kingdom faith led. His ascension meant that they would be on their own in the future. It would be a fast and difficult lesson in leading a Kingdom life. They had been prepared, but, like driving alone for the first time, you knew the safety net was gone - you were on your own to figure it out, to navigate the situation.

Jesus knew that the disciples faced a difficult transition and painful experiences in encountering the worldly powers when he would be taken and removed from them. He addresses these concerns in his final prayer given in John 17. Although certainly not Jesus' words, they reflect the situation faced by late first century Christians, straddling and negotiating two worlds: one sacred and just, the other sinful and corrupt.

They remind us of the task we face as faithful disciples today. Find out more in the service video below.

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05-24-20-navigating_two_worlds.pdf
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A JOURNEY COMPANION - for Sunday, May 17, 2020

5/16/2020

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Are you alone? Is it only about you? Are you and what you want all that really matter? Hopefully, you can affirm your place within a community of faith, a community of fellow travelers who are never alone. Paul and Jesus teach how God is present, our journey companion, as we embody Jesus' love in our lives.

There are too many times lately when it seems like people believe that their own interests and desires are paramount over everything else. Blogger Umair Haque sees the drift to such extremes as sociopathic. There is plenty of evidence to show that people have lost any sense of a shared journey, that we are companions together.

This becomes a matter of direct interest to our congregation as we look to resume in-person worship services on June 7. We need to realize how dependent we are on each other to create as safe an environment as we can. If folks took the same degree of responsibility for others as we must do, then things might be quite different from what we have seen happening.

Paul and Jesus tells us how we are never alone, not left abandoned on our journey.

Paul's speech to the Greek philosophers in the Areopagus in Acts 17 has many noteworthy points. There was a most important one that may have caused a few of the Greeks to take Jesus' gospel seriously. Paul describes how God is close so that God may be sought and discovered, reminding his listeners that "[God] is not far from any one of us." (Acts 17:27)

Jesus continues his Final Discourse as resume where we left off last week.

Here, Jesus describes how the disciples will not be abandoned when Jesus departs. They will receive the Paraclete, the Counselor, who will be with them always.

Jesus goes on to describe the close relationship of Jesus with his Father and his close relationship with us. Indeed we are never alone!

Learn more in the service video below.

05-17-20-ff-answers.pdf
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05-17-20-our_journey_companion.pdf
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RESUMING IN-PERSON WORSHIP - May 15, 2020

5/15/2020

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Yesterday, May 14, the Session approved the resumption of in-person services starting with Sunday, June 7. There are particular conditions for those attending and there will be changes in the manner in which we conduct worship. Please read the whole post. (The post is also available as a PDF - scroll to the download link at the end.)

COVID-19 is here to stay; it will not be possible to presume normalcy until/unless a vaccine is developed which is (nearly) universally administered. Between development, mass production, and mass distribution, that will easily be a year or more away. The safe practices that we have been learning to adopt lately in our daily lives must be continued until that time. These are not options if we are to offer faithful witness to the health and safety of all.

COVID-19 is highly communicable. Its primary modes of transmission are in the air and from contact with solid surfaces. It can hang in the air for hours, available to be breathed in by someone unprotected. It can survive on hard surfaces for several days and on porous surfaces for many hours. Avoiding unprotected breathing, particularly in closed spaces, and avoiding contact with surfaces must be priorities.

COVID-19 is remarkably insidious and difficult to detect. There is an astonishing percentage of people who have contracted COVID-19 and show no symptoms - they are asymptomatic. Although they show no symptoms, they can communicate the virus to others. This means that a person who is virus-free one Sunday could be carrying the virus the next Sunday and not even know it, exposing everyone in the closed area of the sanctuary. The procedure of temperature testing simply screens for the most obvious person who does have symptoms (we will not do this); it cannot detect the asymptomatic person. Even testing is merely a snapshot; a person could be tested one day, contract the virus the next day, and get a negative test result the next day, believing they are virus-free when they are not. In short, vigilance is critical and nothing should be assumed. I could be a carrier. You could, too. And we may have no idea that we are carriers. (If you doubt this, please email me and I will link you to a bunch of articles documenting this.)

Our congregation is in the unique position of having a tiny number of worship attendees (around 15 typically) and a sanctuary that seats over 80. It is possible for us to practice 6 foot social distancing in our sanctuary space. However, remember that our air conditioning and heating ventilation system is nothing remarkable; the air is relatively trapped for the time when we are present in the sanctuary.

The seating model will use every third row of pews with ‘household seats’ along either wall and the center aisle - three positions. We should be able to seat two dozen or so, depending on household size. Obviously, if 5 people in one household should sit in one pew, that removes the center aisle availability for that pew, allowing seating only along the other wall. Here is a graphic as an example > > > > > >

Masks are required. Unlined cloth masks provide little protection, but a lining or a blocking material - napkin, paper towel, or the like - between the mask and face is superior. Ideally, you should not be able to move the flame of a lit match by blowing through your mask. Otherwise, you are creating aerosols that can spread the virus, and you are susceptible to receiving the virus as well. Masks are mandatory. We trust that you will ensure that your mask is effective, not a flimsy, ineffective covering that could expose yourself and the rest of us to the virus. Masks are not comfortable, but if you do not wear one, you cannot worship with us in-person. You are welcome to listen to the service over the speakers outside in your car or view the sermon video online on Monday if this mask requirement is a problem. Our health as a community of faith depends on your cooperation.

I will be wearing a mask from the moment I leave my car until I enter it again after the service. You must do the same. Yes, I will conduct the service and preach with a mask on.

Minimal contacts with surfaces will be another strategy. This means no bulletins, no inserts, no hymnals, and no pew bibles. I will figure out how to arrange a screen and projector to provide viewing of the order of worship and its components, the music, and the scripture texts. You can always bring your own bible.

The Fairfielder will be available for viewing and/or download and printing by you so that you can bring your own copy with you - a link will be blast emailed late on Saturday. We will stick with familiar hymns. Those who are musically inclined and require musical notation will also have a link in that blast email to scans of the music for viewing and/or download and printing by you so that you can bring your own copy with you. Most folks probably don’t require this if the tune is familiar.

The collection will feature one usher (having two was pretty unnecessary, right?). If you raise your hand, the usher will come to you. You are strongly encouraged to use the ‘bill pay’ system provided by your bank so that your bank sends a check directly to the church’s P.O. Box. (The only thing I use checks for is the church and the dog groomer; I have been paying dozens of items each month electronically for years without issue.) The expectation of “putting something in the collection plate” is now finished, over, done with, kaput. (Hallelujah!) The best expectation is that your donation is sent directly by your bank (you save the postage stamp!) to the church. If you cannot access that service which your bank provides, then place your check or cash in the plate before the worship service, using the usher only if you forgot. In other words, it is best if the usher is making no contact either with you or with your handheld donation.

Hymn singing is discouraged in most guidelines for re-opening. However we trust that you will wear an effective protective mask that passes the ‘match test’ as described earlier and we will have hymn singing. You should be aware that an effective mask may restrict breathing patterns and folks should not be surprised if they need to stop singing to catch their breath, or will find it difficult to sing with a mask at all. Sorry, safety comes first.

Our next occasion for communion will not occur until Worldwide Communion Sunday, the first Sunday in October. Pentecost is Sunday, May 31 and we will have a remembrance of the Lord’s Supper in the service video online as we did at Easter. The Session has not decided how we will conduct communion in our new situation, so stay tuned - surely, it will be different. (Or how to blow out candles on Christmas Eve … hmmm.)

The words “church” and “change” are not welcome in the same sentence. Our church will need to experience a whole lot of change in order to resume worship safely. Your patience and cooperation as we negotiate the new terms of our faithful worship will be appreciated. Indeed, we are all in this together. Let’s be faithful and be safe.

Bruce

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THE AUTHORITY CHALLENGE - for Sunday, May 10, 2020

5/9/2020

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Authority matters. We should be checking it routinely. But what about authority on matters of faith and religion? What about Jesus' authority? First martyr Stephen upsets the authorities while Jesus tries to convince his own disciples of his authority.

Our media world brings us information, lots of it and very fast. It comes from any and all kinds of sources. We look to see if it is credible, if it is authoritative, if it can be believed. Each person likely has their own methodology. But it gets tricky when a respected someone-we-know brings us something startling.

How about telling 1st century religious authorities in Jerusalem that they are corrupt, no-good weenies who have become frauds and fail to serve the God of their faith. That's what Stephen did and it gained him a summary execution by stoning. He definitely ticked them off, but there was one special phrase that he uses which underscores how he understood Jesus' authority as opposed to the authority of the Temple leadership in the Sanhedrin.

We can imagine that convincing people of Jesus' authority in matters of faith and spirituality was pretty challenging. However, we should also realize that Jesus had a difficult time convincing his own dimwit disciples of his sacred authority.

The exchange that begins Jesus final discourse comes in the beginning of John 14. Jesus has to pick his face off the floor a few times, but he ends up revealing some powerful insights to his disciples, then and now.

Get the full scoop in the service video below.

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05-10-20-the_authority_challenge.pdf
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THE VOICE WE LISTEN TO - for Sunday, May 3, 2020

5/2/2020

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The shepherd's voice should the one that we recognize and follow. However, there is a constant clamor that requires us to be attentive to many that would seize our attention. Isaiah tells us that God hears while Jesus contrasts his ways with the religious leaders - the thieves and robbers.

In current times, we would do well to listen to the voices of scientists and experts in the field of epidemiology. The politicians? Not so much.

Listening for the voice that truly matters is shown in Isaiah when God's people are instructed to "cry out." It is an act of faith in their God who indeed listens while the world ignores such noise with indifference. This instruction comes despite knowing that God's people are like 'withering grass and fading flowers' before the expectations of their God. The promise abides.

Jesus has just finished bashing the Pharisees in the preceding (long) story of the blind man. He isn't finished. He provides the vision of himself as the shepherd for the sheep while portraying the pretenders - the Pharisees and religious-political leaders - as thieves and robbers when it comes to caring for the sheep, seeking only their own benefit.

In the new reality of a resurrection faith, how does this shape the role and work of disciples who follow Jesus' voice, who serve in his name? Find out in the service video below.