Preaching is such a strange thing...such an odd art.
Last weekend I felt nearly dead. Had been without a voice for most of the week.
When it's time for worship, though, it's time for worship. So I gathered up my notes (the manuscript is left in the office and I place a small card with some handwritten notes in my Bible), and headed across the street to preach. I wasn't sure I would get through all four weekend services.
But I did.
And, strangely enough, more than a few people told me it was the best sermon they have heard me preach in the last 12 1/2 years. One of the best parts of the message turned out to be a story I told about my youngest coming home from New York City on a Friday afternoon to ski with me. Being right outside the lake cottage when I was wondering where he was. It was a story I had not even thought of including in the sermon...didn't have it written down. A last- minute thing.
Just goes to show.
As I worked on the message for this weekend, I found myself feeling the pressure to match or top whatever God did in our worship last weekend. That kind of feeling is not a good feeling, let me tell you.
I think preaching is like prayer: it's the way a lifetime of it shapes you. Shapes others. Preaching is not a series of "talks" disconnected or isolated from one another.
That is what people miss when they are in worship only now and then. We have occasional attenders. They're sort of like someone who shows up at a restaurant every Thursday when the special is meatloaf and then they complain because of the lack of variety on the menu. They miss the All-U-Can-Eat Fish on Friday and the Pasta Night on Tuesday. They aren't there. And then they complain because the only special is meatloaf.
Sermons to a congregation are a conversation over the long haul. One message building on the other. Continuing a dialogue.
I don't know what this weekend is going to be like. Long ago I gave up predicting how a message would work...well or not. There is an unpredictable, Holy Spirit part of all this. Sometimes the preacher has worked hard, the pieces seem to be in place for a powerful moment, and things are flat. Other weekends you come exhausted, with a voice that has been reduced to a whisper, not sure if you'll make it...and God shows up in a convincing, powerful, soulful way. You never know.
Sermons are a dialogue...a continuing conversation as the congregation, the preacher and God travel together.
They are also a gift the preacher makes to Jesus. Like the rather crudely made clay bowls made by children in a kindergarten class, the sermon is my weekly gift to the Savior who loves me and died for me on the cross...who lives and reigns. "See what I have made for you this week, Lord" I say. Holding out what I have worked to make...
Saturday, October 17, 2009
The Gap.
Is the Great Recession over?
That's the question business writers have been asking this week as the Dow Jones has tip-toed up over the 10,000 mark. Experts say the indicators show the economy is moving into the plus side of the ledger. Officially out of recession territory.
The word is that folks in the financial industry, especially around Wall Street, are paying stunning bonuses -again.
Yesterday I opened my quarterly pension report, and because of the rise in the stock market I'm doing much, much better than I was a year ago. As I smiled at this good news, I realized that younger folks -who have not yet had a chance to contribute to a pension system over a working life of 20 or more years- aren't in such good shape.
There is a growing gap between those who have and those who do not. That's not just true in our country. The New York Times this morning carried a column about the growing gap in Russia between the affluent world of Moscow and the crumbling economies of old, Soviet-era company towns out in the far regions of the country. People in some places are eating grass to stay alive.
The growing gap between haves and have nots is seen in other areas. Bob Herbert's most recent column recalls the days when a family of four could reasonably afford to attend an NFL or Major League Baseball game. He remembers going to NY Jets games with his Dad and watching Joe Namath throw passes to Don Maynard and George Sauer. Now, we have athletic palaces like the new Dallas Cowboys' stadium where ordinary people have been priced out of the game.
I don't think the growing gap between rich and poor, the employed and unemployed, is a good thing. I wouldn't even pretend to have the answer since our nation appears -to a layman- to be near broke and heading towards really broke every day.
Can a country be strong and healthy and whole if a few prosper and many are left behind?
Paul talks, in the New Testament, about how we are all connected. Like a body. Hands and legs and arms and hands and eyes and ears - all a part of one body. So what one part of the body experiences has an impact on the rest of the body.
I don't know exactly what that says to a nation and world economy where the gap seems to be growing, but I believe it means we are all in this together. And that somehow even when my pension numbers are jumping up each month, shoving cash in my pocket, things aren't good if the families down the street are still distressed and hopeless. When I was in high school our civics teachers reminded us that the strength of America was a strong and broad middle class. Where ordinary people could afford to buy a home, a new car, and send their children to college.
What will we do to close the gap?
That's the question business writers have been asking this week as the Dow Jones has tip-toed up over the 10,000 mark. Experts say the indicators show the economy is moving into the plus side of the ledger. Officially out of recession territory.
The word is that folks in the financial industry, especially around Wall Street, are paying stunning bonuses -again.
Yesterday I opened my quarterly pension report, and because of the rise in the stock market I'm doing much, much better than I was a year ago. As I smiled at this good news, I realized that younger folks -who have not yet had a chance to contribute to a pension system over a working life of 20 or more years- aren't in such good shape.
There is a growing gap between those who have and those who do not. That's not just true in our country. The New York Times this morning carried a column about the growing gap in Russia between the affluent world of Moscow and the crumbling economies of old, Soviet-era company towns out in the far regions of the country. People in some places are eating grass to stay alive.
The growing gap between haves and have nots is seen in other areas. Bob Herbert's most recent column recalls the days when a family of four could reasonably afford to attend an NFL or Major League Baseball game. He remembers going to NY Jets games with his Dad and watching Joe Namath throw passes to Don Maynard and George Sauer. Now, we have athletic palaces like the new Dallas Cowboys' stadium where ordinary people have been priced out of the game.
I don't think the growing gap between rich and poor, the employed and unemployed, is a good thing. I wouldn't even pretend to have the answer since our nation appears -to a layman- to be near broke and heading towards really broke every day.
Can a country be strong and healthy and whole if a few prosper and many are left behind?
Paul talks, in the New Testament, about how we are all connected. Like a body. Hands and legs and arms and hands and eyes and ears - all a part of one body. So what one part of the body experiences has an impact on the rest of the body.
I don't know exactly what that says to a nation and world economy where the gap seems to be growing, but I believe it means we are all in this together. And that somehow even when my pension numbers are jumping up each month, shoving cash in my pocket, things aren't good if the families down the street are still distressed and hopeless. When I was in high school our civics teachers reminded us that the strength of America was a strong and broad middle class. Where ordinary people could afford to buy a home, a new car, and send their children to college.
What will we do to close the gap?
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
A Hand Worth More Than $750,000.
A week ago Sharon and I did something very atypical: we took off and drove to Washington D.C. At the center of the trip was a Tuesday night concert by U-2 at FedEx Field just outside D.C. Along with that we got to hang out with Nathan and Westra, our kids in DC, and ride along with Bryan, Joleen, beautiful Ella, and lovely Olivia.
Bryan, our oldest, and his wife, Joleen, rented a van in their hometown of Columbus, Ohio. We drove over there, loaded everyone in the van, and headed for DC.
Mom and Dad rode in the front of the van. Grandpa rode in one of the middle seats with Ella in her carseat to his right, in the other seat. Grandma and Olivia were in the back.
Rolling Stone magazine says the U-2 concert is the biggest ever. The massive stage filled most of the football field at FedEx Field. RS says it takes $750,000 to keep the touring going each day!
As cool and as impressive as all that is, as spectacular as the light show and music was, the best parts of the journey were just hanging out. I won't tell you about all the cool little moments, but I will tell you one.
Ella and I were riding along. Chatting. Handing toys back and forth. She would sleep. Then, Grandpa would doze off. Late in the evening, someplace near Cumberland, Maryland, she reached out and -without a word- took the index finger of my right hand in her left hand. Slept on while holding my finger. I guess it felt reassuring to this 2-year old to hold onto the hand of someone she knew who loved her...especially since we were driving through the dark and around mountains.
I sat there and smiled.
It was worth the trip.
Bryan, our oldest, and his wife, Joleen, rented a van in their hometown of Columbus, Ohio. We drove over there, loaded everyone in the van, and headed for DC.
Mom and Dad rode in the front of the van. Grandpa rode in one of the middle seats with Ella in her carseat to his right, in the other seat. Grandma and Olivia were in the back.
Rolling Stone magazine says the U-2 concert is the biggest ever. The massive stage filled most of the football field at FedEx Field. RS says it takes $750,000 to keep the touring going each day!
As cool and as impressive as all that is, as spectacular as the light show and music was, the best parts of the journey were just hanging out. I won't tell you about all the cool little moments, but I will tell you one.
Ella and I were riding along. Chatting. Handing toys back and forth. She would sleep. Then, Grandpa would doze off. Late in the evening, someplace near Cumberland, Maryland, she reached out and -without a word- took the index finger of my right hand in her left hand. Slept on while holding my finger. I guess it felt reassuring to this 2-year old to hold onto the hand of someone she knew who loved her...especially since we were driving through the dark and around mountains.
I sat there and smiled.
It was worth the trip.
Half-Empty or Half-Full (It's a Sabbath Thing)?
People, when they are sorting through life, looking over a situation, will sometimes use the phrase, "Do you see the cup as half-full or half-empty?" The point being, of course, that some of us see things in the worst possible light...and others see a situation from a more positive perspective.
I've been silent for awhile. No blogging. And that has been because the cup hasn't been half empty or half full but overflowing! Overflowing with lots of good stuff...great things going on in the church, trips back and forth to Columbus, Ohio to visit Olivia and Ella, quick trips to ski or to catch a film. And life has been overflowing with some things that are challenging. I won't go into detail about those but let's just say pastoring a large church, which is passionate about reaching and serving a region for Christ, that is in the middle of big changes...well, that can get kind of crazy!
So the cup has been overflowing.
Even a recent, super cool trip out to Washington D.C. was a part of this overflowing thing. Preached Saturday night, packed my stuff before heading to bed late, preached three more times on Sunday morning, jumped in the car for Columbus...hung out...re-packed a van and headed for D.C....a U-2 concert that was awesome but kept me out until 1:30 in the morning... granddaughters to play with first thing the next morning...all delightful....a drive home that ended at 3:30 in the morning.
Non-stop. Pretty much non-stop.
Not much time to write on the blog.
You understand, right?
I've been home about a week, since that DC trip, and have been very sick most of the week. I'm getting better but this is going to be slow.
Our bodies have a way of encouraging us to observe Sabbath, don't they? For five days I have been unable to speak...so I thought I would take this chance to write.
Too much can be too much -even if it is too much good.
Stopping is a good thing.
So here I am...stopping...forced to the side of the road...weak as a kitten...and discovering the world seems to do okay without me making sure everything is just fine.
God has this simple idea. He shares it with Moses and the Hebrew ex-slaves in Exodus 20:8-10: "Remember the Sabbath. Every seven days you need to stop. Every member of the family. Even your dogs and cats and cattle. Let everybody have time to breathe!" (Okay... well, I've taken a few liberties with the text but you get the point, right?)
Too much can still be too much.
I've been silent for awhile. No blogging. And that has been because the cup hasn't been half empty or half full but overflowing! Overflowing with lots of good stuff...great things going on in the church, trips back and forth to Columbus, Ohio to visit Olivia and Ella, quick trips to ski or to catch a film. And life has been overflowing with some things that are challenging. I won't go into detail about those but let's just say pastoring a large church, which is passionate about reaching and serving a region for Christ, that is in the middle of big changes...well, that can get kind of crazy!
So the cup has been overflowing.
Even a recent, super cool trip out to Washington D.C. was a part of this overflowing thing. Preached Saturday night, packed my stuff before heading to bed late, preached three more times on Sunday morning, jumped in the car for Columbus...hung out...re-packed a van and headed for D.C....a U-2 concert that was awesome but kept me out until 1:30 in the morning... granddaughters to play with first thing the next morning...all delightful....a drive home that ended at 3:30 in the morning.
Non-stop. Pretty much non-stop.
Not much time to write on the blog.
You understand, right?
I've been home about a week, since that DC trip, and have been very sick most of the week. I'm getting better but this is going to be slow.
Our bodies have a way of encouraging us to observe Sabbath, don't they? For five days I have been unable to speak...so I thought I would take this chance to write.
Too much can be too much -even if it is too much good.
Stopping is a good thing.
So here I am...stopping...forced to the side of the road...weak as a kitten...and discovering the world seems to do okay without me making sure everything is just fine.
God has this simple idea. He shares it with Moses and the Hebrew ex-slaves in Exodus 20:8-10: "Remember the Sabbath. Every seven days you need to stop. Every member of the family. Even your dogs and cats and cattle. Let everybody have time to breathe!" (Okay... well, I've taken a few liberties with the text but you get the point, right?)
Too much can still be too much.
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