Labor Day Picnic

Luke 14:1, 7-14

But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. . .


I guess with the third biggest picnic day of the summer coming up on Monday next week, the traditional end- of-summer picnic day, this scripture hit me in a gut-punch kind of way.  Like, at what point do we invest in our broken infrastructure and social/emotional structure in the church and in society, as much as we invest in what we do to plan for a big family gathering like a Labor Day Picnic?

I have been out-of-sorts lately and it isn't just because I took my only begotten son and laid him at the manger of Marymount Manhattan College. I have been a little off kilter because I can't seem to find meaning and purpose in the Christian movement sometimes. I can't seem to figure out why we are here doing what we are doing on any given day. I love everyone in my congregation and consider my work sacred and divinely-ordered, but I am seeking more than what is before me. And yet, I fall into the trap of not seeking it at all, myself.

I spent an enormous amount of energy and time lately planning and organizing Jake's going away New York, New York Party. I researched foods, party decorations, you name it. Pinterest was my best friend.  And now I wonder what would happen if I actually spent half that amount of time preparing a banquet to which I invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind, as Jesus mentions in this week's text? Would I then feel like I had discovered the Christian movement's purpose? Is that the real purpose after all? Is it not about buildings and all the niceties we call the 'church,' but actually about being God's helpers in the world of need?

And if that is the case, someone tell me how we take the next step.  

Email me  or comment below.

Connected to Our God, Our Earth, and Each Other

Jeremiah 1:4-10
Psalm 8

Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy." But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a boy'; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you, Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD." --from Jeremiah 1

When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
⁴ what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?-- from Psalm 8


One of my most pronounced camping memories is not of my camping at all. During the height of the Hayman Fire in 2002, Jake was scheduled to go to his first ever church camp. A two-night camp for kids ages 5-7 at Templed Hills near Woodland Park (and very near the fire). The camp had been evacuated at some point before that, but fire officials had given the all clear for campers to return and future camps to continue. I had secretly hoped his camp would be cancelled so I wouldn't have to worry about him being near the fire.

When we found out the camp was "on," we packed him up and headed west on I-70 then south on Highway 24 from our home in Stratton, CO. I stayed uneasy because you could still see the smoke and still smell it, even from far away.  As we approached the camp, I saw two signs. One said "Forest Fire... Danger... Do not enter."  The sign right beside of it said, "Welcome to camp!"

I will never forget that image. Danger and Welcome, side by side.

That is what camping is, a welcome respite from the frills of everyday life and a place to encounter nature up close in ways that can sometimes be dangerous... wildlife, weather, insect bites, the list goes on.

This Sunday, we worship outside, in the unpredictable space we call nature. Some of us will have camped out overnight in our church yard. Many of us will have enjoyed the all-church picnic and s'mores, skits and songs on Saturday evening.  Sunday, we will slow down and consider the space we find ourselves in.. God's space, given to us to protect and care for and love.

Some of our congregation will share their most significant camping stories with the rest of us. Perhaps you have one you might like to share, too.  Come join us for worship and join in a time of witness to the power of camping in our lives.  Comments? Email me or comment below.

DETAILS FOR ALL CHURCH PICNIC AND CAMPOUT

Aug 24^th Camp-Out Dinner: Ad Council & the Fun Committee will host our annual picnic this year as part of the All-Church Campout on August 24th. We welcome those of you who will not be spending the night to join us for a potluck dinner that night anyway. You may, of course, stay for the Campfire sing! The main dish will be brats and hot dogs. Hope to see all of you there!
Campout Schedule:
4:30 pm - Registration, Games, Activities
6:00 pm - All-Church Picnic/Potluck
7:00 pm - Skits and games
8:00 pm - S'mores and Songs around the campfire
9:00 pm - Stargazing
10:00 pm - Bed
Sunday 8:30 am - Breakfast
9:30 am - Worship Service
You are welcome to join us in ANY or ALL of these activities!

Campout Forecast

Luke 12:49-56

"I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!"

He also said to the crowds, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, 'It is going to rain'; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, 'There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

Tough talk time.  There is no turning back for the church. We can either change or die. We can either grab a vision or die. We can either find a passion for something besides ourselves and our projects or die.  And if we choose to die, we need to begin, like it or not, to plan what that death looks like.

Jesus is warning the people about what it means not to understand what is happening right under their noses. He is telling them that if they don't open their eyes and interpret the events happening around them, they will suffer.  He is laughing about how they understand the weather patterns, how they know exactly when it going to rain or when it is going to storm or when the sun will rise or set, but have no clue about what is really happening to them.

We have been in a decline as a denomination and as a church for a long time.  We have a great place, a great congregation and we love being together. I love coming to work. I never dread being here, always look forward to being with each of you, in good times and in bad ones. And yet, it isn't what is being asked of us, just to enjoy one another. What is being asked of us is to kindle our fire for long-lasting passion and burning for God. We have become complacent with how good it feels to be together and never developed a  passion for how good it might feel to connect, viscerally, literally to a world outside of here.

"I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!"

It is so hard to kindle the flame of passion, of exuberance for God, especially in a pretty non-religious community. And it is hard to do when you don't have the passion yourself.  And how do you get it? How does your leadership get it? How do *I* get it?

I know that life as we know it is changing in dramatic ways in the religious community. I know that we cannot continue just to come on Sundays and hope that things will stay the same. I know that, even though we are having a good year financially, we are not having a good year in attendance.  And I know that the fire must be kindled, or we need to figure out how to let it die for good.

I don't mean to sound harsh. I love the church and I love God. But I do see that we have to quit looking at the  actual weather forecast so much and start looking into our hearts and into the future at the life forecast for the church and its people.

It's like when you go camping and something unpredictable happens. When the snow comes overnight and you didn't expect it. When that happened to me one June in Estes, as I told you before,  I packed and ran home. How noble. How brave. Unexpected camping weather that wasn't forecast and I bail.  

I really don't want to continue in that tradition. I don't want to bail because it's cold and harsh out there. If you read the part of the scripture just before this text, you see these words, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."

THAT's a context for you to ponder.  We have been given so much, and yet so little has ever been demanded of us. Is it time to give much?...  or is it time to give up?

Questions, comments? Email me or comment below.

Destination-Free Camping Trip

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

Ever headed out on a road trip with no destination in mind? Remember the days of the Sunday afternoon drive?  I remember our family taking a few Sunday afternoon drives with no particular destination in mind, but just driving around looking at things.  Those are fun memories. I have also mentioned here before the road trip my family took when I was a kid with one place in mind (Dallas, to visit friends), but no other destination and how fun it was to roam all over Texas, and even into Laredo and all over the Gulf coast region before heading home two weeks later.

But destination-free camping? That's a little different.  Not knowing whether where you are headed is hot or cold, rainy or windy, dry or humid. How do you know what to pack? What sleeping bags to take? Whether you need rain gear or lots of sunscreen? Maybe some of you have done it, but it is hard for me to imagine myself going on a destination-free camping trip. Weathering the elements, I think I would like to know what to prepare for, who to prepare for, etc.

Abraham's story has a big destination-free camping element. The scripture from Hebrews 11 says: By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going.

We believe that Abraham believe God will fulfill God's promises and so he was willing to head out into the unknown, but imagine the faith and courage it must have taken to actually just set out with his spouse and his animals in search of a totally unknown tomorrow.

And yet, in many ways that is what all of us do everyday. We never know what is around the next bend, the next chapter of this book called life.  Think about how different some of our lives will be by the time we take another trip around the sun. By the time another year goes by, we will be different people in many respects. Some of us will have gotten healed from various ailments, some of us will have moved to far away cities, some of us will have been diagnosed with chronic conditions, some of us will add family members, or lose family members, or add or lose pets, and so on, and so on.

In a lot of ways we are always out on a destination unknown camping experience. In a lot of ways it is our own faith that allows us to go day by day and obey the call of God in our lives.  What happens in the in between days between yesterday and tomorrow are part of a destination that we can plan and plan and plan for, but in the end, still remains relatively unknown.  

Are we willing to step out in faith that our church community will be in a different place a year from now, or even six months from now than it is today? Not a physical move, but an emotional, spiritual and (dare I say, religious) move to something different, even though we, like Abraham, don't know where we are going?

 If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return.
But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

Thoughts? Email me or comment below.