Rules for Christmas, Part 2

   Welcome to the next installment of Rules for Christmas. See my last post for the first five.  If this is your first visit, I'm giving credit to Sean McEvoy for the original idea. I'm re-writing some of his points with personal examples or ways I've done the same thing. I hope this becomes a way for you to experience the real reason for the season, and I hope it helps to enhance your celebration of the birth of Jesus into our world.

   6. Leaving Work after dark is not fun, but coming home after dark is.  We weren't big on putting lights on the house when I was a kid. My mother was into Williamsburg  decor, and so we did flood lights on the house to show the wreaths and window decor. But when we had children, they wanted lights, it's a joy to see them driving up to the house and seeing other houses lit up as well. One of our family things now is to go out and see the best lit houses, that friends and neighbors have recommended. Or to go to a lighted garden or park together. My grandson loves the lights.

   7. A Christmas Carol is the reset button I press to remember who I want to be as a Christian.  I'm not afraid of the doom Scrooge faced if he stayed a miser, or because I think I'm good enough to earn my way, which I am not, but because there is no better depiction of what it looks like to replace greed/self with giving/others. I had a lot of fun preparing to do Ebenezer in costume for Christmas Eve, last year, to tell the story of transformation and to invite others to take hold of the Christmas spirit all year.

   8. Make your Christmas movie or movies your Mount Rushmore. My favorites include most versions of the Christmas Carol, male or female lead versions. The Road to Christmas, Santa Claus, A Christmas Card, A Christmas Visitor, Christmas Shepherd, (New on Hallmark Channel this year). My wife loves Family Man for many reasons. Watching movies is family time and a special way to get into the season. I love watching them after Christmas too.

   9. The older I get, the less I want. I have a really hard time giving people ideas. I love shopping for others, wrapping the presents, watching them open them, but I don't need too much. I enjoy surprises, but I usually manage to get what I want when it's on a really good sale, or through my Amazon account and clothes when I actually need them. So you might want to funnel your buying to support the charity or ministry of your choice. It will really make a difference in those places, and that's what Christmas is all about.

   10. Christmas is family time. It should be a priority. If there is some dysfunction, try to get it out and over with and offer forgiveness.  Healing is a marvelous thing, and part of the real reason for the season is healing our relationship to God, which often pours out to our relationship to others. Get help, talk it out, but not in the parking lot before Christmas Eve services. See if you can get past the elephant in the room so the rest of the time can be healthier.

   I have several more, but I'll share them later, there are a few more days until Christmas, after all. I want to encourage you to get the most out of the meaning of Christmas and to experience the depth and love that is available  from God for us. Enjoy.

   Blessings on your preparations and your festivities.

Pastor Jeff

Rules for a Good Christmas

   Hello Travelers. I've found a great article at Crosswalk.com that got me thinking. I'm borrowing some of Sean McEvoy's rules and modifying them to fit us. Credit goes, where credit is due.

   Rules for a Good Christmas

1. If you don't like something about Americanized Christmas, like it anyway... your way. You might consider this like the Keeping the Grinch away. I got really motivated when I heard the "Thanks-getting" commercial. It's not about getting but about giving, from God's giving us forgiveness and a fresh start in the birth of the Savior, to our sharing God's love with others. I enjoy the Hallmark Christmas movies, I enjoy shopping and buying for others, I love wrapping presents, the anticipation of "wait till they see this", moments. I love Christmas craft shows, Christmas concerts, and the people who come to church because they feel drawn or called or out of some sense of remembering. I love driving my grandson around the neighborhood to find beautiful lights. Make something about the season special for you and enjoy it. Control the parts you don't, as best you can.

2. Go easy on the snacks. I always have a problem with this, because there are so many good cookies out there, and people share them. I'll try on this one, wish me luck, and good luck to you too. We have a tendency to party and eat this time of year, try some self restraint, or make it a goal to step away from the table, before it gets to you.

3. Every year is someone's last Christmas. So go all out. Rent the cabin in the mountains. Make up with that long-lost friend. Pray with that parent who may not have as many years left as you think. I'm always remembering that my Mom was killed in a car accident and had done some of her Christmas shopping in the summer. We found gifts from her for Christmas after she was gone. That was tough. I've been divorced too, and Christmases after that are never the same either. Pay attention, keep your focus on the moment, enjoy special times, you just never know what might change by next year.

4. Santa rocks. And Santa stinks. You might feel either way, and that's okay. You may be keeping that child like spirit and enjoy wonder and mystery and that's good. You may think it stinks because Madison Ave. and commercialism have so blown it out of proportion. And he shows up way too early in the malls. But you can reflect on St. Nicholas of Myra, ancient Turkey. A real person, pastor, and eventually bishop, who was respected and honored for his secret giving in the spirit of Jesus who said we should not let our left hand know what our right hand is doing, is such giving opportunities. St. Nicholas is being rediscovered and there are some good books, especially for children, that you might want to explore. I read one of them to the children in church Sunday, to encourage a way to keep Christ in Christmas and enjoy the origin of nighttime secret giving, for real. A lot of Santa is really God like, whether we like it our not. He knows if we've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake. And then take the mercy and grace and forgiveness God offers, for when you've been bad.

5. One present at a time.  This should be a strict rule, as hard as it is. If you can't watch someone else opening his or her gift with nearly as much anticipation as you have opening your own, you need a cheer adjustment. Besides it makes Christmas last a lot longer. Our family has always had this rule, even when the kids were little, even when I was little. Youngest to oldest one at a time, and go around the circle a couple of times. Rejoice with those who rejoice, St. Paul would admonish us.

   I have a few more, I'll write them up later, this should get you started and maybe find a new Christmas experience or purpose or blessing in the midst of them.

   Speaking of new traditions. We are having a Traveler's Christmas Eve Candlelight service on Dec. 18 at 7:30 pm. This Traveler's Christmas Eve is for those who have to work on Christmas Eve, or who will be traveling over Christmas Eve and miss their service. At North Bethesda UMC, it will include singing favorite Christmas Carols, special music, a Bethlehem Character visit to tell the story of the first Christmas, and we end the service with singing Silent Night and lighting the candles. It's a beautiful service and one you might really like to invite neighbors to come with you for this.

   Blessings on your Journey from Bedlam to Bethlehem.

Pastor Jeff

Happy Thanksgiving

   I look forward to Thanksgiving every year, for a variety of reasons. It comes up too quickly and goes away in an instant, I would love to find a way to put it into slow motion, so I could enjoy it more.

   I enjoy becoming William Bradford, second Governor of Massachusetts in character for worship and for school programs, because it forces me to review and re-read the story of our pilgrims first Thanksgiving. They went through so much to get here and we general don't reflect too much on that story. So allow me to reflect a moment.

    William Bradford was born in 1590 in England. As a teenager, he had a serious falling out with his parents, no surprise there, but it was over religious freedom. He was influenced by the Separatists who felt that the way King James was leading the church wasn't good. They read the Bible for themselves and saw a lot of things they didn't like. so William was willing to leave home over the rights of proper worship and faithful life. It made it very difficult for him. Scrooby, love that name, was the town where they had their church. The post master, William Brewster, was like a leader of the community. Bradford was arrested a couple of times in sweeps to get rid of the separatists.

   As a result they decided to move to Holland, where religious freedom was available. But Amsterdam, proved to be too sinful and fancy a city to their licking, and ended up in Leiden, a small town with a University where several of them found work. All was well for a few years, until the older members where getting sick and dying. The children lost their English ways trying to become like little dutch boys and girls. And the King of Spain, threatened war for the Netherlands. Thus, the conversation started about going to the new world.

   Every new idea comes with some excitement and some or maybe a lot, of fear. The voyage to the new world was treacherous. The natives on the other side might be savages. The weather was going to be hard, the ground hard to plant in, no one to welcome them into a comfortable inn when they got there. There was a lot of discussion, according to William Bradford's journal. But they began to think that if God were with them, some of this wouldn't happen, because they relied on the Lord, just as Moses and the Israelites relied on God to get them to the promised land. Not all of their worst fears could all happen. Some trouble could be covered by good planning and preparation, and so they began to move forward with the idea.

   They gathered their money and purchased the Speedwell. A not so sea worthy ship. They connected with merchants in London, who helped arrange for the cost of passage if they paid them back over the next seven years as indentured servants. They began their adventure to cross the Atlantic in Aug of 1620. They had to turn back twice before giving up on the Speedwell. So they put two ships worth of people into the Mayflower. A wine and merchant ship, 102 passengers and a crew of 26. Sailing in September, it took 65 days to get across the Atlantic and the storms had blown them so far off course, they weren't any where near Virginia. Plan B, lets head for the Hudson River and New York. Too far off course for that too.

   They spotted Cape Cod Bay, and dropped anchor near what is now Provincetown. Dorothy Bradford fell overboard and drowned. First casualty of the voyage. During the winter as they were trying to build houses on an old abandoned Indian village, one half of them died. By Spring only 8 men, 20 women and 27 kids were still alive. The Mayflower went back to England in April, promising to return with more people.

   That should give you some things to think about and find some reasons for thanksgiving for not having to face those issues. I'll write more real soon.

Blessings and Happy Thanksgiving. Tell God how grateful you are for all those who have helped you to be where you are today.

Pastor Jeff

Duel in the Sun, or Trial by Fire

   Has your spiritual life hit a drought where you don't feel the touch of God on your life at the moment? Do you feel like you have been limping along and bouncing back and forth between a working relationship to God and one that doesn't seem to be going anywhere? This is not the first time nor will it be the last. But there is a great story that relates to this dilemma found in 1 Kings 18 with Elijah the prophet.

   The nation of Israel was split in two. The two smaller tribes remained faithful to the King in Jerusalem the 10 northern tribes went off and formed their own nation and appointed their own king. Around 875 BC God warned the ten northern tribes that they were drifting away from the right attitudes and worship and to help them realize they were following the wrong deity, God would keep rain from falling on their land until they saw their mistake.

   This was in part to see if they would discover that the Baal they were worshipping, who was a god known for weather and crops and fertility, could over come the God who created the world, and the rain and the crops. They went three years without a drop. the Baal god was not doing so well.

   Elijah heard from God and was told he should help fix the problem by getting King Ahab of the northern kingdom to gather all the priests of Baal at Mt. Carmel for a show down, God to god. Ahab managed to get 450 priests to gather with Elijah.

   Elijah challenged them to a duel of sorts, a test to see who the real God was. The opportunity to prove once and for all who should be worshipped and followed. Elijah proposed that two bulls be prepared for sacrifice. The 450 could choose their bull and prepare it for the altar. And Elijah would take the other bull and prepare it for sacrifice as well. The first God who responded with fire for the altar would be the one true God. The Baal priests gladly accepted.

   All morning long and into the early afternoon they danced and sang and called out to Baal to come and bring fire on the altar. By noon Elijah was beginning to challenge them, maybe even taunt them a little. Where is he? Maybe you should scream a little louder, maybe he is away, maybe he is occupied and needs a reminder? The Baal priests began to dance and shout even louder and some began to cut themselves ceremonially to prove their urgency to Baal. But by 2 there was still no fire.

   Elijah saw that the regular hour for the sacrifice, 3 pm, was coming, so he rebuilt the fallen altar. He took 12 large stones, to represent the 12 tribes of Israel, the united kingdom, and built an altar to the God who delivered them from slavery and gave them the land. He put fire wood on the altar, he cut up the bull and placed it on the altar as well. Then he asked for water to douse the wood and the altar. He even dug a channel around the altar to catch the water which they poured on the sacrifice three times in total.

   At 3 pm, the official time for the evening sacrifice, Elijah called out to God, and fire descended from heaven, consumed the bull, the wet wood and soaked up all the water, even in the trench around the altar. God was God. The people who witnessed this shouted their allegiance to the one true God.

   Then Elijah had the 450 false priests killed for misguiding the people with their false worship. And lo and behold a cloud came up from the west, and eventually it poured, ending the draught, and restoring the land for crops to grow. God is God.

   Now we may not get to see such a challenge for ourselves. But we can be blessed that God has done that before and we should stop vacillating from one spiritual idea to another, and put our allegiance in the one true God. We will be so much better for it, and won't find ourselves in a draught of doubt, or unanswered prayers. God is giving us a new chance to see that God is God and can do what needs to be done, when we put our allegiance in the one true God.

   Don't limp along between ideas of godliness or qualifications to get God's attention. Come and worship the one who is able to supply your needs, and give thanks.

Blessings

Pastor Jeff

The Rush to Hallow Thank Mas

   In reading the gospels again, I am struck by how many times Jesus encourages us to see things differently than the world around us does. Reformation, transformation, renewal of our faith is all wrapped up in that seeing how to live in this world differently, so that we can be more like Christ.

   Martin Luther in 1519 had an idea about renewing the church by reconnecting us to the Bible as the source of life. His tacking 95 Thesis (complaints and fixes) about the church started the Reformation. We are protestants because of that. His major contribution  was translating the Latin, Greek and Hebrew scriptures into everyday German, so that his church participants could read it for themselves and live a life following the teachings of Jesus and learn it for themselves, and not be depended upon the priests teaching alone.

   All my efforts as the pastor of this church and all my efforts for my whole ministry of 38 years, was to help people hear from God directly by helping to make the scriptures clearer and more available to each individual. We end up slipping back into just what the priest says if we are not digging into the Bible for ourselves. It might not be a bad idea to look for and buy The Story  and read it for a fresh perspective.  The Story is a readers' Digest like version, where the most important parts of the Bible are left in, so you can read it with all the helpful components available. You might also want to get into a small group where you can ask questions and learn from others just like you, who may be further along the road than you are spiritually.

   We have many ways to nurture your knowing and connecting to God through the regular reading of the Bible. There are many daily Bibles to choose from, there are many online reading lists. There are many email programs you can sign up for and have a message and a devotional sent into your inbox, that you can read whenever during the day.

   We are losing a battle of faith by not having a clear impression in our own minds about what living with and like Jesus should be. Eighty percent of Christians say they do NOT read their Bibles on a regular basis.We are bombarded by political adds on issues that twist the truth. We see movies and watch television where the decisions that the characters make in the story are so off from a follower of Jesus would do that sometimes I am truly embarrassed to be watching them. It fuels my desire to spend more time with God in study.

   Speaking of reading the Bible, I had a conversation the other day about preaching and it stirred up an idea for me. You might like to know how I decide what to preach on and what shapes the sermons. It’s a journey for sure. I'm using a book by Thomas Bandy, called The Uncommon Lectionary, a book that highlights for pastors, the 52 most important stories about the Bible for those who don't know a whole lot. And 52 important stories followers of Jesus need to have in their system.

   My sermon preparation usually starts during the summer in trying to decide what the upcoming Sundays during the season of September to May are going to look like. If I can plan out a nine to ten month outline schedule, and I begin to collect articles or stories and illustrations that might come in handy when I get to that week's message. I make the list available for people, because I could always use some research assistants. If that's something you would like to do, let me know.

   I pick up the most important Sundays first, like Labor Day and World Wide Communion Sunday and All Saints Day and begin to prepare for them. The HallowThankMas rush (Halloween,Thanksgiving, Christmas) has a power and set of messages all it’s own.  So the message is based on how we can understand what God is doing to help us to feel God's love, God's grace, God's mercy, and how we can demonstrate those qualities in our own lives. St. Paul said, "Have this mind in you that was in Christ Jesus."  (Eph. 2: 5)

  We continually look to know God and share God’s love with one another. Blessings on your faith journey this month.

Pastor Jeff

I Just Want to Celebrate

   Allow me to share what a wonderful day this past Sunday was for us. We joined together in remembering that it's world wide communion Sunday. So we had a great variety of music, the Anthem came from South Africa, and the gathering for communion by standing around the outside wall of the sanctuary to make one big circle was very symbolic of our congregation's origins and the nature of the church of Jesus Christ in the whole world. As brothers and sisters of faith, we form one big circle. We sang the Lord's Prayer together in the circle holding hands and were reminded that this is God's will being done on earth as it is in heaven.

   Not only that, but we left the worship to go to an International Pot Luck Supper. Our diverse congregation brought food to share, from all over the world. Each dish was named for where it came from. It was an awesome feast. We sat down together and shared a heavenly banquet. Just like the kingdom of God is going to be. A chance for all of us to get to know one another and to share what God has done for us and with us. It was a fantastic moment, and I am so glad we had this chance to do so. I am extremely thankful for the chance to do this, and grateful for the many hands that made this work. Our fabulous kitchen crew made the gift of hospitality very obvious for this. THANK YOU all.

   The message that started this off, was the feeding of the five thousand by Jesus. It was fitting that there were twelve baskets full of leftovers, all coming from the lunch of a little boy, who was willing to share it. Put in Jesus hands, miracles are possible. The pot luck dinner had leftovers as well, just let us know that God does provide. Jesus also had a chance to encourage his disciples to get involved in this effort to feed others. We need to know we are going to be asked to share and work with Jesus on lots of challenges. This feeding the 5,000 was another sign that with God's help, all things are possible.

   The miracle is also a part of the work that Jesus does in spite of his own challenges. He was apart from the crowd to grieve the recent death of his cousin, John the Baptist. John was just beheaded by Herod, because Herod was angry at him for teaching the truth about his lifestyle choices and decisions. Jesus went out into the wilderness to pray and recover from this loss. His own disciples had just come back from a major missions trip into the surrounding villages and needed a break to recover from their work. It was supposed to be a time for rest for all of them.

   But Jesus was discovered to be nearby, so a huge crowd gathered around him. And he had compassion on them, and healed their sick, and taught them about the kingdom of God. He saw their loneliness, their pain, their uncertainty and helped them to see God in the middle of all of this. It's only natural that when the day ran out, it was time to get something to eat. Jesus wanted to help them with that problem too. The disciples are more like us, why don't you send the people away, so they can get their own meals and leave us alone for a while.

   No, Jesus said, you give them something to eat. The lesson is that we are in a world where people need help and Jesus is asking us to do something about it. And just when we think we don't have the tools or resources to respond, he challenges us to trust him. So look around and see people who need help, and offer to comfort, to listen, to heal, to provide for them, knowing that God will fill the need and you need not worry about how. Miracles are possible when we begin to do what Jesus asks of us.

   May you see miracles with Jesus encouraging you to do something for others.

Blessings on your journey of faith.

Pastor Jeff

Can These Bones Live? Only God Knows!

   One of the best stories in the Old Testament is the story of Ezekiel and the Valley of Dry Bones. We have songs and stories related to the bones rattling back to life. Shake Rattle and Roll!

   Ezekiel is a priest in exile, dragged away from Jerusalem and living in Babylon, far away from home and has experienced the loss of his lively hood, and his comfort zone, and the relationship to God that was so much a part of the Temple in Jerusalem. But God is awesome and even in exile, God speaks to Ezekiel and begins to reassure him. The visions, the experiences, the moments with God help all who have felt loss, to be strengthened.

   So where have you felt like a dry valley full of sun bleached bones? When have you felt like all is lost, there is no point to going on? When have you sensed that your prayers aren't going anywhere? Are there times you feel exhausted to the point you can't move and you feel like this valley is about your life? Ezekiel is invited to speak God's word to those bones.

   And the toe bone is connected to the foot bone, and the foot bone is connected to the ankle bone, and the ankle bone is connected to the leg bone, and the leg bone is connected to the knee bone, and the sound of rattling and snapping together fills the valley. Muscle and sinews appear, and then they are covered with skin, until the whole person is reassembled, like a mighty army asleep in the valley, Ezekiel discovers.

   Then God asks him if they will live? And Ezekiel is wise enough to know he should answer with another opening for God to work,  "Eternal Lord, certainly You know the answer better than I do" (The Voice) And God answers, and tells Ezekiel to speak the word of the Lord to them. To call for the wind (rauch-breath, spirit, wind) and they come to life. The Spirit of God inhabits them and they are alive. See God says, this is the people of Israel, their hope and life will be restored.

   So, can you let the Word of God spread over you to help you come alive? Can you let the Spirit of God come in and bring you back from the dead? Jesus did the same thing with Lazarus, when he ordered the stone rolled away and he shouted, "Lazarus, Come Forth." God has the power to bring back to life that which was dead. Are you ready to come back to life?

   The vision of Ezekiel tells us that God's word, like the story of Creation when God said, "Let There Be...." and it was, is going on still. God's word put into motion by the Holy Spirit brings us to life. God can restore, resurrect, redirect, renew, revitalize, refresh each of us. The Word comes to give us life. Jesus even said he had come so that we might have abundant life. God desires to bless and restore us. His Word will direct us and help us. This is pretty exciting stuff, don't you think?

   The latest Pew Research poll tells us that 72% of the USA population believes that faith is loosing it's influence. It's as if we have been counted out as a valley of dry bones. But the Message proclaims that God is in the renewal, resurrection and transformation business. God wants to bring us to fully alive in God.

   May your prayer life be revived. May your study of God's word bring you a fresh perspective. May the Word in Jesus' life bring you a new sense of hope and joy and abundance of grace and mercy.

Blessings

Pastor Jeff