Decluttering-My Tea Drawer!

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Everywhere I look, I see stories of people cleaning and decluttering. So, I thought I would join in the fun by cleaning out my tea drawer.

Step 1-Make a cup of tea. I went with peppermint as that was on top of the overflowing drawer!

Step 2-Take everything out! This is the step where you find that you didn’t need to buy your husband more of his favorite green tea as he still had an unopened bag. And you’ll probably discover five of your own things you didn’t remember or haven’t enjoyed recently.

Step 3-Get rid of anything you didn’t love. I added a few not favorites to my compost bin.

Step 4-Put everything away and enjoy how good it looks!

Step 5-Reward yourself with another cup of tea!

Teas, hot chocolate, and a few other drinks that snuck in!

Keep These Words-a Sermon on Deuteronomy 6:1-9

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It was brought to my attention that the last time I preached here (in March), I preached on the 10 commandments and today I am preaching on the chapter after the 10 commandments. It seems I am preaching a very long and drawn-out sermon series.   

If you find yourself thinking, didn’t I just hear about the 10 commandments recently. Then, you were probably here last week enjoying the amazing play presented by our youth-Away from a Manger. I would love to share with you these lines about the 10 commandments from the play. For those who missed the most amazing play ever last week, let me set it up for you-in the midst of the dress rehearsal for the Christmas play, the baby Jesus doll goes missing and all the actors are suspects in mystery. The part about the 10 commandments comes as Stage Manager 1 is questioning the Lamb.

Stage M:

You seem to know a lot about your Bible. Can you tell me the Ten Commandments?  

Lamb:

Number 1, you shall have no other Gods before me. Number 2-  

Stage M:

Okay, skip to, oh, let’s say Number 7.  

Lamb:

Seven, you shall not commit adulterness. A-dult-err- something that means don’t be an adult. Or at least a mean adult. Right?  

Stage M:

You know what? I think I meant to say Number 8.  

Lamb:

Eight, you shall not steal.  

Stage M:  

Aha! Do you know it means to steal?  

Lamb:

Taking someone else’s things.  

Stage M:

That’s right. (Speaking slowly and deliberately) So you must know that it makes God very sad when we take things that belong to someone else.  

Lamb:

Like when I took my brother’s bike and crashed it into a tree?  

Stage M:

Lamb nods. 

Exactly. And you want the magic doll, don’t you?  

 Stage M:

Have you ever thought about taking it for yourself?  

Lamb:  

No. I didn’t take it.  

Stage M:  

(After a pause) Okay, keep going with the commandments. Number 9?  

Lamb:

You shall not bear false testimony.  

Stage M:

Aha! And that means don’t lie about not stealing!  

Lamb:

I thought it meant don’t lie about anything.  

Stage M:

It does. What I meant to say was that whenever we’ve done something wrong, lied or stolen something, we just need to apologize and ask for forgiveness.  

(This script came from skitguys.com)

I love this exchange about the 10 commandments. It reminds us that some of the subjects covered in the Bible are challenging topics and when we teach them to those who are younger-our words matter. I think translating the seventh commandment as don’t be a mean adult is fabulous even if a little different from the original translation.  

Back to our Scripture for this morning from Deuteronomy, Moses has just delivered the 10 commandments to the Israelites who at this time have been wandering around in the wilderness for the past forty years. The time is coming for God to fulfill the promise made-the Israelites will be entering the land promised to them. We only have to watch the news to see that this promise of being given land already inhabited remains an issue. You may have noticed that our Scripture for today does not include any information about the people there in Biblical or current times living in the land flowing with milk and honey. And if you’d like to talk more at another time about the many challenges throughout the centuries with this land, I would be glad to have that conversation with you. Let me summarize it by saying-it is and has been very complicated. 

Moses is giving the people one more reminder that God has set forth the ways to live well in relationship with God and in relationship with each other. If the people can remember the way God wants them to live, they will “multiply greatly” and “things will go well with” them. How do we think it goes? 

The story of God’s beloved children down through the ages (spoiler alert-this is cliff notes version of the Bible) goes like this. God loves us. God gives instructions for our well-being, our ability to live together in community and in relationship with God. And we listen for a bit and then we start to drift off thinking we know better. So, God sends judges like Deborah to show people the way. And good news, it works for a bit and then nope. We want our own way again, thinking we know better than God. The people want a king (which God says will be a bad idea) and so they have a king. And God sends prophets to get the king and the people back on the right track. And each time the people forget, God reminds them. 
Finally, God thought if I send my son, they will listen and remember. You know, Jesus was born into this world to show us the way. To be the truth. To give us life. And friends, just like our ancestors in the faith, we forget and need reminders. This is the beauty of celebrating Christmas every year. It is another reminder to write these words of God’s love and faithfulness on our hearts so we may pass them along to the next generation. What good news this is! 

So, I’m wondering, people of faith- what are those stories, lessons, verses that are so dear to you that you have written them on your hearts? What hymns and songs do you love so much that you sing them to your children (or the children of the church) and you sing them when you are at home and when you are away? What memories of people of faith are so special to you that you think about them when you go to bed and when you rise? I want you to think on these questions. I also wonder if anyone is feeling brave enough to say something out loud today. What words are written on your heart? What do you want to ensure we together pass along to the next generation here? 

While you are pondering your answer or answers, I’d like to share one. Many of you met my Dad when he visited last year. You haven’t had the opportunity to know my Mom because she died almost four years ago. She was a woman of deep faith who lived out her faith with her actions. I could share countless stories of how she inspired me and encouraged me to live out my faith. Instead I’ll share the words to the song that always make me think of her that we used as the final hymn at her funeral. It is called Hymn of Promise by Natalie Sleeth. 

In the bulb, there is a flower 
In the seed, an apple tree 
In cocoons, a hidden promise 
Butterflies will soon be free 

In the cold and snow of winter 
There’s a spring that waits to be 
Unrevealed until its season 
Something God alone can see 

There’s a song in every silence 
Seeking word and melody 
There’s a dawn in every darkness 
Bringing hope to you and me 

From the past will come the future 
What it holds, a mystery 
Unrevealed until its season 
Something God alone can see 

In our end is our beginning 
In our time, infinity 
In our doubt, there is believing 
In our life, eternity 
In our death, a resurrection 
At the last, a victory 

Unrevealed until its season 
Something God alone can see 

Now that I got us started, does anyone have verses, stories, songs, etc that shaped your life that you know God is calling you to share with this faith community and future generations of the faithful?

I think you know what we have to do. God has entrusted us with these stories. Just because passing on the stories doesn’t make the big 10 (commandments) doesn’t mean we aren’t commanded/required/expected/encouraged by God to tell these stories. We must tell the stories and live out God’s love with our words and actions. We do this because God is relying on us to keep these words and not keep them hidden (under a bushel No!)…keep them in our hearts and share them with our words/actions/lives. It is important work we have been given to do. And the good news is that God doesn’t send us out to this work alone. Instead, God invites us to find a community like this one, where we can be fed with God’s word and supported by our faith family as the seeds of faith planted within us continue to grow as we pass it on by singing the old, old story in our new way. Amen.  

A Prayer for Planners when the Plans Go Off-Track

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I love a plan and a to do list. It is Christmas week and I am preaching Sunday. We had company last weekend and have new company coming this weekend. (Neither company cares what the house looks like. I am using their arrivals as encouragement to sort, organize, and clean).

And in the middle of all this, we take my computer to the fix it store to get it working properly. This throws a big wrench into my plans. And I am being flexible and hopeful and positive.

While you might not have encountered this exact list of off-track items, I do know you have had weeks like this. And this prayer is for all of us when our week hits a couple of speed bumps along with a few traffic cones and a detour.

Loving God, you know I had a great plan. You know I love to follow a plan. And you know how poorly my plan is going this week. Give me strength and creativity to enact a new plan knowing that you are at the center of all my plans and working all things together for good. Thank you for showing me that pivoting to a new plan is a great idea when things go off track. And thank you for supporting us when it becomes too much and overwhelming. Thank you for plans A, B, and C! Amen.

Hope and Quiet in Advent

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On Sunday when I led the children’s moment at church, we lit the hope candle and talked about being quiet. I shared with them how my sister and I were asked to play the quiet game on long road trips when our parents had reached their limits on our sisterly bickering. And I asked them to share how they find moments of quiet in our busy lives especially this busy season!

I hope while you are preparing for the birth of Jesus that you find moments of quiet this season. You know I would recommend you make a cup of tea, sitting by the tree, and have a prayerful quiet moment. And if that is too much for you this season, simply pause and give thanks for a moment of silence while waiting for the return of our Prince of Peace.

Originator of Hope, This season of preparing is filled with so much noise. Much of it is joyful noises-carols, laughter, conversations. And yet sometimes it is just too much. We long for quiet. We long to feel hope. We long for your return as the Prince of Peace in our lives and in this world. So, quiet our hearts and our minds and focus them on you. Renew our hope. And guide us back into a close relationship with the One who inspires our hopeful silence. Amen.

20 Years of Ordained Ministry!

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20 years! What an amazing journey this has been. I have served in four different church positions and been a hospice chaplain. If you had told me 20 years ago, that this is where I would be today…I probably would have answered like Sarah with laughter (Genesis 18:12).

As I read over the words of the service of Ordination to Ministry from the UCC’s Book of Worship, these words caught and held my attention.

“Will you seek to regard all people with equal love and concern and undertake to minister impartially to the needs of all?”

And I answered, “I will, relying on God’s grace.”

It has been a joy and a privilege and a challenge to answer and live into the call to ordained ministry these past twenty years. I give thanks to God regularly for those who nurtured my call when I was young, those who stretched and molded my faith, those who welcomed me into their lives as their pastor and chaplain, and those who supported and those who continue to support me on this journey.

I love that I was ordained on Reformation Day as it reminds me of the many that have gone before in the faith. And the Scripture that was read and preached that day continues to bring me hope and strength and challenge, Luke 24:13-35. It is the story of the road to Emmaus. I’ll sum it up for you. It is the day of the resurrection and Jesus walks with two of the faithful. They do not recognize him. He tells the story of faith and still they do not recognize him. When do they finally know it is Jesus? When he breaks the bread at the table with them, they finally know this is Jesus. I love the beauty and simplicity of this story. Where is Jesus among us and I don’t recognize him? When I gather at Christ’s table are my eyes and heart open to see who is standing beside me?

These last 20 years have been full of every single emotions. As I look back at where I have been I will not even try to guess where I will be 20 years from now. I am thankful that God keeps me guessing and always keeps the journey interesting.

For All the Saints

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November 1 or the Sunday closest to it is the day that we remember and give thanks for the saints in faith who have lived and shared God’s love with us. We would not know of God’s goodness unless we had been told by those who have gone before. I love this special, holy day when we say thank you for their lives and remember those who names we know and treasure as well as those who we never knew.

I invite you to light a candle or multiple candles for the saints who have supported you in your faith.

God of All Ages, We give thanks for your saints today who are now with you.

For the saints who loudly proclaimed your word, so we might know you better, we give you thanks!

For the saints who sang your praises and taught us the songs of faith, we give you thanks!

For the saints who showed up each time the church door was open and volunteered by making snacks and counting the offering and mowing the lawn and cleaning the bathrooms, we give you thanks!

For the saints who held babies in the nursery, made crafts with the toddlers, read stories to the children, attended lock ins with the youth, and ensured that no matter the age that everyone knew they were safe and loved at church, we give you thanks!

For the saints who loved you quietly and worked behind the scenes to see that the church was beautiful and ready each Sunday, we give you thanks!

For every single person of faith who preserved in keeping their faith even when times were hard, we give you thanks!

Thank you, God, for all of your saints. Give us strength to be the saints of today who are sharing your love with all those in our lives. Amen.

Jonah Chapters 3 and 4 (for youth)

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My goal for this final time with Jonah was to share the end of the story and include time for a recap of the whole story. I decided today to do this by sending the youth to stations set up around the space.

Here’s how we did it. We divided up into two groups. Each group went to the stations in any order and did what was stated on the information sheet at the station. Then, they took their station information sheet and went to the next station. The stations can be competed in any order. This is because the final step is assembling the story in order using the information sheets from each station.

Station 1-Call from God!

I would have loved to have a telephone with a prerecorded message when they picked up the phone with God’s call to Jonah. What I had was a picture of a telephone and one person was asked to be the voice of God and call Jonah!

Station 2-Build a Boat!

If Jonah is going to flee on a boat, he needs you to build him one. Make a boat using the materials on this table. The boat must float for 10 seconds.

For this station, I sent out a big bowl of water and a random assortment of items from the craft closet (popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, small cups, glue, etc).

Station 3- Rock, Paper, Scissors

While on the boat, the sailors cast lots which could be something like rock, paper, scissors to see who was causing the problem on the boat. Play rock, paper, scissors until someone is the winner-this person is your Jonah and needs to be thrown overboard.

Station 4-Jonah into the Fish

This station requires a cup, string, tape, a tiny figure to be Jonah. I borrowed this idea from somewhere online that I cannot find again to give them credit. The goal is to catch Jonah in the cup, so you need to tie the string around Jonah and then attach the string to the cup. Each person takes a turn being the fish who swallows Jonah.

Station 5-Write a Prayer in the Fish

Working together as a group, talk about how Jonah might have been feeling inside the big fish for three days and three nights. He didn’t know God was going to save him. Pretend you are Jonah and write a prayer to God together.

Station 6-Go to Nineveh!

God called to Jonah a second time. Be like Jonah and walk all around the city (or this room) yelling, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.”

Station 7-Repent with the People of Nineveh!

Instead of sitting in ashes, we sat in scraps of paper. And in place of sackcloth, we used old painting shirts from the craft closet.

Have someone read out loud-The people heard Jonah and changed their ways. They promised not to eat (fast). They put on sackcloth (old, not fancy clothes) and sat in ashes. They hoped God would see the changes they made in their lives and forgive them. And guess what? It worked. God saw their changed behavior, and God forgave the people of Nineveh.

Station 8-Sit Under a Tree

You might think Jonah would be happy that God was kind and forgave the people of Nineveh. Nope! He got mad. Jonah said, “God, I know you are merciful. I didn’t even want to come here because I knew you would forgive them.”

Take turns sitting in this chair under the tree being grumpy like Jonah was. Remember that God forgives us and loves us just like God forgave the people of Nineveh and grumpy Jonah too.

Once all eight stations have been completed, it is time to put the story in order and tell it to the awesome adults waiting to hear the story.

Jonah Chapter 2 (for youth)

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So, friends for chapter 2 of Jonah we need to get ourselves into the belly of a big fish (some people still say whale and I think there are better things to argue about than fish vs whale).

You can search online and find great plans for huge tarps that you inflate with a fan. This sounds like a bunch of fun. I didn’t have the time, energy, or budget to make this happen.

My cheaper option required 18 blue plastic table cloths, blue duct tape, painters tape or masking tape, a ladder and a hallway at church!

Step 1-Hang up your table cloths!
Keep on hanging them until your whole space is blue.

Next, you need a mouth, so you can get swallowed by the big fish.

I was told it looked like a monster at this point.
Finished fish!

The hard work is done. Now on to the lesson for the youth. Begin by reviewing what happened in Chapter 1. Last time we left Jonah floating in the sea, and now he gets swallowed by a big fish.

Everyone into the fish. You can sit or stand for this part. Ask wondering questions. I wonder what Jonah was thinking? I wonder what you are thinking since you are now in the belly of a fish? I wonder what Jonah did to pass the time? I wonder how you would spend your time in here? I wonder what it smells like in the belly of a fish? (It was suggested that I place open cans of tuna fish around the room to help create the ambiance. I didn’t. You can if you would like).

Read Chapter 2 of Jonah out loud. You can divide it up and have different youth read. Stop before Jonah gets out.

Ask the youth what they would have said or prayed in this situation?

And then together, get vomited out of the fish back onto dry land like Jonah. Give thanks to God for caring for us and sharing Jonah’s story with us. Encourage the youth to come back next week to hear the rest of the story!

Jonah Chapter 1 (for youth)

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My youth asked for ways they could be Jonah, so for three weeks we are making Jonah’s story come to life.

Week 1 was chapter 1 (except the last verse). We left Jonah floating in the water with a to be continued and come back next week.

So for chapter 1, my friend and I built a boat.

We used cardboard and paper and tape from church. We used empty boxes from church as the cargo to be thrown overboard.

And then I rewrote the chapter into a youth friendly play. One of their favorite things they took from the lesson was that casting lots was something like rock, paper, scissors. We are doing more rock, paper, scissors now since they see the connection to the Bible.

We had a great time enacting the story and learning more about God through Jonah’s story.

A Prayer for the Lollygaggers

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A friend sent me a card in the mail recently where she talked about the joy of lollygagging. This is a word I love to use in a positive way. I think we need more time to lollygag! (Also, I just learned that it is sometimes spelled lallygag. I am sticking with the way I have always heard it).

On some recent time away from my normal routine, I took time to lollygag! It was glorious. I read in the morning instead of jumping out of bed and hurrying to the shower. I drove down a two lane road even though a four lane highway was near by and would have had me at my destination faster. I sat in a comfy chair at a bookstore and read part of a book that I then purchased. I played board games with my husband! It turns out that I am good at lollygagging when I let myself do it.

So give yourself permission to lollygag, whatever that might look like for you! Move slower. Look around at creation. Linger over a cup of tea (or coffee, if you prefer).

God! You taught us to rest and we are often not good at it! Slow us down. Help us to make time to lollygag. Remind us that life is to be enjoyed and not just hustled through from one task to the next. Show us that we are enough as we are. It is okay to put our work down at the end of the day. It is good to laugh with loved ones. It is necessary to spend time in conversation with you. Bless us as we lollygag, Gracious God. Amen.