This week Advent began. I used an Advent calendar with the children’s time. They had fun opening the little windows, although most of them were too young to understand the Bible verses inside. Of course, it is best done one each day, but we had to cover the whole week. The first few Bible verses are
Day 1 “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” (Isaiah 9.2)
Day 2 “But you, O Bethlehem, from you shall come forth a ruler.” (Micah 5.2-4)
Day 3 “Gabriel was sent from God to a virgin named Mary.” (Luke 1.28-33)
Day 4 “The Holy Spirit will come upon you.” (Luke 1.35)
Day 5 “Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord.’” (Luke 1.46-48)
Day 6 “Mary went with haste into the hill country to Elizabeth.” (Luke 1.39-45)
Day 7 “Come into his presence with singing!” (Psalm 100)
They are Bible verses that help follow how Christ’s birth was promised and foreshadowed in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New.
Following the reading I was doing last week, the basic idea for Sunday was that this time of the year is the time for telling the story of Jesus. Children’s time matched the sermon “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” In it, I compared the way we celebrate holidays nowadays to their original and true meaning. It always strikes me as interesting how outrageous we make the holidays. I also think it is interesting that Advent usually begins with the reminder that Christ will return. It places our whole history between a beginning and an end, a promise and a fulfillment. This is true of our lives as well. One of my parishioners showed me a short article a few years ago that said that what happens in the dash matters. It is the sum of your whole life, referring to the dates on both sides of the dash on a cemetery marker. It is also amazing that we live our lives fully only when we believe that what we do each day matters and that the big picture is many times completely out of our control. So Christ’s disciples to wait for him and do not get bogged down in distractions (Luke 21.34) and seek to live lives of greater holiness (1 Thessalonians 3.13).

Be good, Tim

Luke's Story of Jesus

Tomorrow, Advent begins, the season of the church year in which we look forward to celebrating Christ’s coming at Christmas, and with it the new year of lectionary readings begins. These are the readings to be used in worship and this is the start of Year C. It focuses on many parts of Luke’s Gospel, and I thought this would be a good year to read and study the whole Gospel while I also preach on the assigned passages. The first section, Luke 1.1-4, is called the prologue, and in it the author, traditionally called Luke, sets out his reason for writing:

1 Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, 3 I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed. (New Revised Standard Version)

There are some things worth noting about the passage, but first of all of them is that Luke writes to add his story of Jesus to the other ones. It is a carefully researched and accurate story, but this reminds us that we each have our own story of Jesus to tell others. It is the account of what Jesus has done in our lives. The church, you might say, is the community of those whose lives have been touched by Christ. Some people’s stories will talk about Christ as healer, others of his love, still others of the forgiveness found in Christ. Mine begins with how Jesus led me from knowing about the Christian faith to having my own faith in him. What is your story of Jesus?
We gather each week in worship to share these stories of Jesus. We will also gather on Christmas Eve, at 5:00 p.m. in Lewiston and 7:30 p.m. at the Chatfield church, where we will retell the story in words and song of how God loved the world so much that God sent the Son into it to show us who God is and bring us back to God. You are invited to share in this special time. Until then, we prepare our hearts in Advent.

Wishing you all a blessed and joyous Christmas,
Pastor Tim

Last Saturday we held the Fall Festival in Lewiston. The weather for it was gorgeous and it was good to see familiar faces as well as some new ones. It was a time of good food and fellowship. This Sunday (Nov. 15) in Utica will be the Utica Area Cancer Research Fundraising Group’s chili and soup supper, 3-7 p.m. at the Utica School. A freewill offering will be taken to support cancer research.

In my reading of James, I have been looking at the word “light”, since it says that God is the Father of lights (James 1.17). The New Testament uses “light” in a number of different ways. One of those, according to the Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, is “light” used for the proclamation of salvation, centered on Christ’s person, words, and works. So the nations will look for that light (Isaiah 42.6; 49.6; Luke 2.32) and find their hope fulfilled in Jesus. We disciples are to be that light (Matthew 5.14) so that others can see the gospel and turn from their present lives to a new life in Christ (1 Peter 2.9). It is good to remember as our time of daylight is getting shorter that Christ is the light of our lives and the gospel is the message of that light.
The verse, as I mentioned last time, also points to the gifts of God. That is something to keep in mind as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday. We have much to be thankful for and perhaps this would be a good time to name them.

In reading I have come across this verse: “Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1.17) It is a reminder of how we live our lives as recipients of God’s blessing. That is a whole different attitude from the one in which prevails in our world, in which we expect to be rewarded generously for what we do (even if it is very little). The first finds or discovers God’s goodness, the second attitude demands it. The first is based on who God is, the second on what we want. True gratitude is based on God; greed is based on us. The verse from James reminds us that the good things in our lives come from God. That is something we can rediscover as we think about those things that God has given us.

This morning I went to the YMCA and as I was getting ready to run I noticed a slight odor. It was from me, as I still smelled like chili from last night. It was good chili, though. When I started with the Parish it took me a little while to appreciate the annual fundraising events of small churches. I was used to big church ways of doing things. But fairly soon I saw that they are important to the survival of small churches, sometimes providing as much as 20% of the church’s income. It is also a reminder that yesterday’s event, like the church, could not take place without the participation of many people. Thanks go to those who planned it, called for volunteers, provided publicity, set up, cooked, served, sold tickets, provided items for sale upstairs, and cleaned up. Behind each of these events is much work, generously given.
But these events are also important for gathering. I think they go back to the days when there were no TVs or microwave ovens at home and so people got together both for the food and the company. Bonds were made and strengthened this way. I enjoy working in the kitchen. The key is a dark shirt. (The first year I did not know this and had to get a few red spots out of a white shirt.) I get to spend time with those working there and there are usually more than a few laughs to go around. Often the event is, in itself, a tradition. They remind us of days long ago. Sometimes this can be a bit of a distraction when we compare one year to the others or worry about whether it was exactly the same year to year. When we do that we forget why we are doing it. The better question is: Was it fun?

I use the Revised Common Lectionary when preaching. For each Sunday there are four previously assigned Bible passages to work with in a repeating three-year cycle. So the first part of preparation is understanding what the Bible is saying. Often this involves some study to find what those passages said to their first recipients long ago. The second part is finding what the passage has to say to this group of folks I am preaching to in their place and time and with their specific needs. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is from the branch of Protestant Reformation (which will be recognized in many churches this Sunday) called the Reformed Tradition. The Reformed Tradition takes the Bible seriously as God’s Word to us written down and as preached so that we hear God speaking to us again.
For yesterday (the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B), the passage from Hebrews grabbed me. Hebrews is a book that is hard to preach. It has much convoluted logic and argumentation and draws on numerous Old Testament references. It is not a book that we understand on a quick first reading. But the phrase that Jesus “learned obedience through what he suffered” caught my attention. It led to my thinking about how and what we learn. To recap the sermon’s main points:
Life is better with learning than without.
Learning requires effort (the “suffering”) on our part.
The life the gospel calls us to is not an easy life.
Learning involves doing to make it real.
In the experience of life we can learn who we are.
The concern behind the sermon is that, as I look at the country’s religious landscape, education as a purpose of the church is being replaced by superficial fads and distractions and entertainment. The real goal is to respond to the gospel with our lives, and that involves growing spiritually. Robert Schnase pointed out that fruitful congregations make faith formation intentional. This means that we put forth that effort behind spiritual growth.

Have a good week, Tim

Recently the Revised Common Lectionary used passages from the Letter of James for the preaching texts for some Sundays. That has renewed my interest in it and I would like to share some of the ideas from the letter. It begins: "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, ..." (NRSV). Who is this James? It is most likely that it is the brother of Jesus who came to believe in him gradually from what sounds like lack of faith (John 7.5) to becoming a leader in the Early Church (Acts 12.17). The question for reflection is: How has your faith grown over the years? What were the influences (such as a brother) who helped you grow in faith?

This coming week I will be attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison Professional Development & Applied Studies program "Visioning and Planning: Holy Conversations About Your Congregation's Future" and attending a family wedding.

Have a good week, Tim

It has been a while since I started this blog. I knew that it would take a while to get going on it regularly but I was surprised at how busy the spring and summer were. I am still thinking about the layout for the blog but did at least want to mention that this Sunday we are having the Annual Halloween Chili Supper at the Utica church. It promises to continue the tradition of good food and a fun time. There are crafts and baked goods upstairs and dinner in the fellowship hall downstairs. It will be 4-7 p.m. on Oct. 18 at the Presbyterian Church in Utica.

First Post

Last week I attended the Synod of Lakes and Prairies (Presbyterian Church [USA]) training event for Committees on Ministry and Committees on Preparation for Ministry at which the changing environment for churches was discussed. This blog is an effort to expand the ways we communicate in Trinity Presbyterian Parish (Pioneer Presbyterian Church, Chatfield, First Presbyterian Church, Utica, and First Presbyterian Church, Lewiston, Minnnesota). I will update this as time permits.