The Mainline Minister

The weather app on my phone reported a brisk 16 degrees this morning when Chip and I left for the school bus stop.  We wore hats and coats, but were still caught off guard by just how nippy it was.  Yes, Thanksgiving was behind us; yes, the church had just been decorated for Christmas; yes, December would begin tomorrow.  Still, deep in our hearts, we were not ready for the arrival of the kind of temperatures that are not a fluke but are seasonally appropriate.  In short, we were not ready for it to be, well, winter. Fortunately, the calendar tells us, winter won't be with us for another few weeks.  We have time to prepare.  This morning's chill weather was a sign, a signal, that the season is turning, that we should make ready.  Snow, and ice, and frigid spells are on their way.  But we can be ready.  We can lay in shovels and rock salt and fire wood and cocoa and all of the other things that will carry us through the winter. Ad...

What are we waiting for? That's the question before us as we start a new church year. What are we waiting for? Presents? Parties? If you're reading this, the odds are you're more focused on the spiritual side of life.  You want more than stuff and merriment.  Perhaps actual Christmas carols during church. But let's reflect on that desire for a moment.  Carols are wonderful.  Fun to sing.  Filled with meaning.  But they're about the birth of the Christ child.  And, frankly, we're not ready for him.  We need to prepare.  That's why we have a season of Advent.  It's a time when we can acknowledge that while each of us wants many things, we need a time to slow down and ask God to help us discern what we need . This Advent, be still, be prayerful, listen attentively.  I'm hopeful that our time of waiting, shaped by God, will not be in vain, that it will be rewarded with the things we need: joy, peace, grace, life.

Alleluia! Christ is risen.  Christ is risen indeed! We've arrived at our destination after our Lenten journey.  But there's no time to rest.  We need to spread the good news about the amazing God has done in and through Jesus on this Feast of the Resurrection.  Light has prevailed over darkness, hope over despair, life over death.  This is good news, great news, meant to be shared with and experienced by one and all! Christ is risen.  Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!

It's Saturday afternoon.  The sun is shining.  Good Friday seems far behind us.  Yet Easter is not yet here.  We wait.  We hold our breath.  We anticipate. Soon.  So soon. Yet not yet. We wait.  We hold vigil. He is coming.  Soon.

Jesus, from the cross, asked, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" echoing the lament of the Psalmist, by tradition none other than David.  On this Good Friday, we hold the words of Psalm 22 in prayer, recognizing the pain, the loss, the suffering in our lives, doing so in the knowledge that while God did not abandon Jesus, just as he does not abandon us, we are mean to share all, honestly and in faith, with God. Psalm 22 To the leader: according to The Deer of the Dawn. A Psalm of David. 1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?    Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;    and by night, but find no rest. 3 Yet you are holy,    enthroned on the praises of Israel. 4 In you our ancestors trusted;    they trusted, and you delivered them. 5 To you they cried, and were saved;    in you they trusted, and were no...

In many churches around the world a foot washing, inspired by the story in John's Gospel (chapter 13), will be a centerpiece of the Maundy Thursday service.  Participants are invited to wash the feet of others and to let others wash their feet.  Often times, this can be uncomfortable.  That's not surprising.  This moment of serving and being served is one in which one makes oneself vulnerable - just as Jesus did, just as Peter did.  Today, even if you don't participate in this ritual, consider how you might serve and be served.  It need not be anything major, just a toe in the water will do.  But even just a dip will help you experience the Kingdom of God.

Today is April Fool's Day, that calenderical delight of pranksters and jokesters everywhere.  Mischief makers will delight in making fools of their unsuspecting friends, colleagues, and family members.  During this Holy Week, though, we might ponder this truth: we are called to be fools for Christ, but often we don't respond.  Heeding this summons doesn't involve wearing a jester's hat or mastering the delivery of the snappy one-liner.  But it does require a willingness to abjure the standards of the world, to risk the mockery and condescension of those who claim to know better.  Tomorrow we'll begin to focus on Jesus' final hours and on Friday we'll watch as darkness rises.  Will we be ready to stand with Christ?  Will be ready to follow our Lord to the cross?  Will be fools for the Gospel?  Today, let's reflect on and pray over these important, life-defining questions.  The answers we offer will be no joke.