Stewardship 3 (October 21, 2012) Romans 12: 1-8

                  For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, 
                  so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 
                  We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 
                  ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; 
                  the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.                                       Romans 12:4-8


Have you ever heard of the '80/20 rule'? The 80/20 rule or the law of the vital few' or the Pareto Principle states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes (Bunkley, Nick (March 3, 2008), "Joseph Juran, 103, Pioneer in Quality Control, Dies", New York Times).  In basic terms, it is the natural reason why you wear 20% of your clothes 80% of the time, use 20% of your yard tools or cooking utensils 80% of the time .... you get the idea.

Unfortunately the 80/20 rule also plays out in businesses and organizations: usually about 20% of the people generate about 80% of the results. In a church the size of the one I serve, that means everyone on the session and board of deacons plus another handful of folks are doing most of the work. Unless Paul is right and we take it to heart.

Because Paul also tells everyone not to think more highly of themselves than they ought to think, but to know each and every one gains their meaning from life from their being connected to and part of the whole ---the whole which is the body of Christ as it is still incarnate and at work on earth right now in the world. Because we all have one piece of the puzzle of gifts needed to just begin to add up to a portion of who and what Christ is and does.

       + what are your greatest 2 or 3 spiritual gifts and how are you using them to serve God in and through your faith community?

       +  how are you using those spiritual gifts in and through your family? community? school? workplace? organizations you belong to and participate actively in?

       +  what are your greatest 2 or 3 spiritual weaknesses and who do you know that you are able to team up with to 'make up' for your deficit? What deficit does s/he have that you might be able to 'make up' for?

    

The ability to get children to play an Easter song on tone chimes so that it is actually recognizable with only a handful of short rehearsals --- now that's a gift!

These may have grown up the railings of the manse front porch, but I did not 'grow' them! God and a custodian named Sandy did that all by themselves (and good thing , too -- I have a deadly thumb!)

but some have a true gift

 

Anyone who has ever done a major renovation knows that most of us muddle along to do it,

 

 

 

To do these jobs well requires both
 a calling and the gifts to be a crew 
together to help people in distress or  trouble

 

 

At Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, New Mexico (see what I see on the mesa?)

"HEART AND ROOTS" by Sarah Caldwell of Morgantown, WV, a budding young artist and granddaughter of a late parishioner (used by permission)

Self-portrait at district pastor's picnic lunch after a rainfall

     

STEWARDSHIP WEEK 2 : (Sept. 30, 2012) 2 Cor 8: 1-7

            We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to 
            the churches of Macedonia; ²for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy 
            and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.³For, as I 
            can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, ⁴
               begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints— 2 Cor. 8:1-4


I zeroed right in on v.3 last week to help bring home the fact that there is a difference between 'tithes' and 'offerings'. That what we pledge and give intentionally, regularly, and proportionally to our income is our tithe, and it is what we give 'according to our means' (biblical tithing ranges from 4-20%; we have adopted 10% because it is the most common and has nice symbolism!). This is what we give to pay the expenses of the church and its tithe (benevolence) on to the broader layers of the national church. 

It i the giving that is 'even beyond our means' that is the sacrificial giving, that digs into the money we had earmarked for .... something quite different. This is what we put into the special offerings, the sacrificial giving that is 'above and beyond'. 

        +do you practice the spiritual discipline of tithing? why or why not?

        +what was the last thing you 'gave up' getting in order to give to an 'extra commitment opportunity'? how did it make you feel?

Giving an intentional and regular amount in proportion to my income for the basic expenses, maintenance, and benevolence of the church is my TITHE .... 'OTHER' giving is extra commitment giving, sacrificial offerings, 'BEYOND my means' giving

Next Sunday we come to the Lord's Table with Christians all around the world. We will receive and dedicate our Peacemaking Offering --- an 'OTHER' kind of offering More examples: Feed the Flock Ministry, Gifts and Memorials, Deacons Fund/ Enchanted Tree, buying a Lily in honor of N., the Organ Fund, and so on.(photo of 2012 PCUSA Peacemaking Offering worship materials).

 

Ord 21B (Aug. 26, 2012) Ephesians 6:10-20 

            Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 
            Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand 
            against the wiles of the devil....... As shoes for your feet

            put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel 
            of peace.......Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer 
            and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere
            in supplication for all the saints. Pray also for me, so that      
           when I speak,a message may be given to me to make known with 
           boldness the mystery of the gospel,.. Eph. 6:10-11, 15, 18-19   

What struck me immediately about this passage is the 'offensive militaristic' imagery of the battle armor and weapons vs. the 'defensive posture' called for by the writer, making use of the actual defensive weapons named: truth, righteousness, proclamation of the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, the Spirit, the word of God. THAT is the 'whole armor' of God we are to wear. And with that armor we will be as successful --or more so!-- than Michael Oher at defending his quarterback's blind side.

Which of these necessary Christian defensive points do you have a strong, firm grasp on? And which do you have not so much of? Doesn't this give us an automatic 'to do' list, to be working on those traits which we are a bit 'thin' on so as to build them up, to 'thicken' their ability to act as armor. 

              +How do you discern which are the 'weak links' in  your chain mail?   
              +And once you've determined that, how do you set about fortifying those links?
              +In other words, what is the foundation of all our knowledge and action? 

TRUTH

Short-lived Vice-Moderator Tara Spuhler McCabe, Moderator Neal Pressa, and current Vice Moderator Tom Trinidad, all Teaching Elders,  answer questions and also hear some offer their own stories, at least one speaking the truth of her congregation publicly for the first time, at a Town Hall meeting. 

RIGHTEOUSNESS    

The last of the early morning worship services, on Wednesday we again celebrated Communion in the Ecumenical service.

  
PREACHING THE GOSPEL OF PEACE

Preacher at the Ecumenical Worship Service Wednesday morning.....he did preach the gospel of peace!

Shoes of a person who is not just ready and waiting to preach the gospel of peace, but who does it day in and day out in every aspect of her life.

FAITH

A simple wall banner painted on plain brown wrapping paper -- like paper grocery bags -- in the interactive Prayer Room at GA.

SALVATION

The communion table in the sanctuary of First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh.We prayed through 9 pages of typed prayer requests turned in on Sunday morning, mostly by folks visiting for the General Assembly. At one point the sunlight shifted through the clerestory windows and bathed it beautiful stone with a luminous quality.  

SPIRIT (WORD OF GOD)

Peace doves beckon you to enter the interactive Prayer Room.

Fireworks from our hotel room on the Fourth of July -- no gentle dove here, pure raucous Wild Goose  (and most definitely on the loose!)

A bit before sunset: pure illumination.

PRAYER

If the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace are beautiful, how much more lovely are the hands of those who pray for peace?

Ordinary 19B (August 12, 2012) Ephesians 4:25-5:2
     My apologies for being 'AWOL' the last 2 Sundays -- I was on vacation!

                 26 Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,  
                 27and do not make room for the devil....29 Let no evil talk come out 
                 of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is 
                 need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. 30 And 
                 do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked 
                 with a seal for the day of redemption.         Ephesians 4:26-27, 29-30

Paul (or one of his students) gives us a pretty fair blueprint of how to live the Christian life in this passage, ending with the call to be imitators of God and live in love as did Christ. And it's not anything new or ridiculous, like if he told us to purify our hearts by holding our breath for 5 minutes, or to eat and sleep with pigs as penance for lying to your neighbor!

No, we are simply instructed to tell the truth, told it's alright to get angry (just not to let it fester so as to create an opening for the evil one), stop stealing, no more evil talk, only speak what is edifying and grace-filled (and take care not to cause the Holy Spirit of God any grief!), Don't be bitter, wrathful, don't even think about malice or slander.  No, just be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving of one another. Simple things, right?  

HAH!

     + is there any real hope that a family can exist with little or no 
       gossiping, back-biting, complaining? what about a company?
       a church?
    + can we ever hope to see a positive political campaign again?
    + why are we humans so good at remembering when it comes to
       having been wronged ..... and find it just about impossible to
       truly forgive?

The book that started a whole series of events into motion....

One little psalter and we have both the basis of copyright law that still stands today AND (to my knowledge) the cause of the very first HYMNAL WAR!!!      (A.D. 6th Century)

Watchtower on the wall built to separate the Catholic neighborhood of Boggtown from Protestant Derry. It was here that Columba (Colm Cille) was serving when he  self-imposed  banishment from his beloved Ireland as penance for the lives of those who died in battle over 'his' psalter.

Empty police barracks in Belfast once used for British troops

The River Coe flowing down a few kilometers to what was, in 1692, the highland community of Glencoe, of the clan MacDonald. A surprise attack in the night by lowland soldiers enjoying the clan's hospitality forced the men to attempt escape up along the river. In 'The Massacre of Glencoe' as it is still called, 38 men were murdered, and 40 women and children were left to die of exposure when their homes were burned in the mid-February winter..

 

A colleague touches the marker of paving stones laid out in a W over a G next to a parked car in St. Andrew's, Scotland. At that place George Wishart was burnt at the stake as one of the first Protestant martyrs in Scotland.

The infamous Field of Flodden, where the fairest of Scotland's future were all killed in 1513.

  

Seen in the first half hour after we landed in Dublin, Ireland. Perhaps one day we will listen  just a bit better to Paul or Jesus or at least God! and put a stop to senseless killing -- and just learn to 'get along'.

 

 

Ordinary 16B   (July 22, 2012)   Mark 6:30-34 (53-56)

            [Jesus] said to them, "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while." 

            For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.            Mark 6:31

How frustrating! To be at work doing good deeds, mitzvahs, and then when you try to take a much needed break just to catch your breath and eat a meal .... the crowds find you and the circus begins all over again. There must have been times when Jesus felt more than a bit like the Hebrew slaves in Egypt, working 12 and 14 hour days, 7 days a week, trying to meet quotas that were not just unreasonable but downright impossible. All those thousands of people needing to be healed, needing food, needing guidance, direction, hope.

And are we not slaves ourselves? Slaves to the 24/7 ability to be contacted by 'the job'; slaves to the fact that we can go online and shop or pay bills or make banking transfers at any point, slaves to the media campaigns that have convinced us we never have 'enough' or our children never 'do' or 'experience' enough. We hike and bike and camp and  take classes and garden and bake bread from scratch and make all the ornaments for the Christmas Tree ourselves and make ourselves crazy over turning 1 day in our life some magical  fairyland experience and only end up costing ourselves the  down payment  on a house  or buy a car outright.  And when they get to the end of the day, the newlyweds are too exhausted to go anywhere and have any memory of it. 

And if we would only obey the 3rd commandment? What then?  "Remember the  sabbath day, and keep it holy."  does not mean "Go to your hour of worship every Sunday and forget  it all the rest of the week! It means: REST and be REFRESHED one day each week (because you cannot GIVE to others what you are totally OUT OF STOCK on yourself! To those slaves in Egypt who worked unceasingly, this was JOYOUS GOOD NEWS!!!! What about us? 
  
     + what 1 thing can you choose NOT to do this week in order to rest and refresh instead?

       + what 1 thing can you choose to DO for yourself this week that you probably would not have 
          done, something that will be restful and refreshing and life-giving for you? 

       + what effect does it have on a person if they consistently ignore the command to observe sabbath?  

For me, looking at the world through my 'lens eyes'. is always Sabbath time. Early one Sunday morning I was in the church and this sight took my breath away. Out came the Blackberry ... frustrated with the inability to get a clear, focused photo with it held high I returned in a moment with my Sony  to capture this. 

Sandcastles are an art form in some families .... or you can admire the ones other people have made!

Catching a sandpiper in a clean shot is no mean feat; managing the reflection took patience and the investment of nearly half and hour!

Seeing the dolphins is enough.... getting them in frame is a gift!

 

the best nap I've had on the beach in years.... helping fussy Meghan have hers

keeping cool closer to home at Ohiopyle with Daughter-in-law's cousins Kelly + Cait

Besides my sister and me, my cousin Nancy also inherited Aunt Lou's photo gene

but I come back to my idea of permanent sabbath --- my shoulders 'untense' at the keyboard just looking at Merle in the sandchair with the water over her ankles... and no worries