A-B-C, easy as one-two-three …
It was a crowd favorite every Saturday afternoon at Skateland in 1970. Round and round the rink we rolled to favorites like the Jackson 5. It was, I can say without fear, a different time. Now my children roll their eyes to such silly, sweet music. They guffaw at the rhinestones and the wide lapels and the platform heels for guys. And rightly so. Sigh.
The recent passing of favored icons compels our nostalgia. Ed McMahon was more than a TV star, he was a time-keeper. Bedtime was always marked with the familiar theme music and the ubiquitous “Heeeeere’s Johny!” Farah’s red swim suit did not just propel us into puberty, it made us a generation, an age, a time. We were the first to consider it plausible that private detectives could look like supermodels, that bikinis and guns could go together, and we changed both men and women because of it.
And Michael. They will say that his greatest album came in the 80's, and will speak endlessly of the strange creature he became in his later years, but I will always remember the Jackson 5 dream I wanted to live.
And now they are gone from us, these and many more, reminding us that nothing is forever, everything passes, nothing lasts. Will we?
“For everything,” says the Teacher, “there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.”
An important verse, even a great song, not just because it is of that generation, but because it is of all of them, the eternal and universal truth made for these times and for the next ones that will also surely come. All that is exists only for its time, until the next comes and what was is only memory. He is the God of ADD, never satisfied with what is, restlessly passing from season to season, from age to age, from the joy that is unto the joy yet to come.
Shall we fear this impetuous creator? By no means! Let us rather match his impatient love with our own, grateful for the moments that we are given and keen to share the next adventure. Having done great things, he is eager for the next. And rightly so. Aren’t we? For his journey is ours, marked with the signposts of our treasured memories but winding ever forward to new and wonderful places we cannot imagine.
Yes, our children will never have it as good as we did. Thanks be to God for that!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
become the student, part II
Some more wonderful thoughts from our confirmation class! Today, we first spent time reading Psalms of Confession, and then tried our hand and writing some of our own. Here are their thoughts:
We try to be perfect, God, we try to hide our flaws,
but no matter what we do we cannot stop sinning.
We try and fail.
Lord, I have done wrong,
please forgive my doing.
I plead for your help - please forgive me.
It was I, Lord,
I know what I have done
and I am begging for mercy
and standing on my knees.
Then we turned our attention to the books of wisdom, Ecclesiastes and Proverbs. I challenged them to formulate some proverbs of their own, and this is what they came up with:
The greedy puts on extra sugar,
but the wise chooses the naturally sweet.
Many people think that they can't make a difference,
but the wise man knows that every can counts.
(this was originally a proverb about recycling, but there is greater wisdom here I think!)
God gives dreams to fill us with hope,
but the fool throws them away.
The wise man rejoices when dark clouds gather,
but the fool shuns the rain.
A friend's words bring joy and comfort,
but a stranger's greeting is unusual.
Hope you enjoy these words as much as I have. This is a pretty amazing group of young people.
Pastor Glen
We try to be perfect, God, we try to hide our flaws,
but no matter what we do we cannot stop sinning.
We try and fail.
Lord, I have done wrong,
please forgive my doing.
I plead for your help - please forgive me.
It was I, Lord,
I know what I have done
and I am begging for mercy
and standing on my knees.
Then we turned our attention to the books of wisdom, Ecclesiastes and Proverbs. I challenged them to formulate some proverbs of their own, and this is what they came up with:
The greedy puts on extra sugar,
but the wise chooses the naturally sweet.
Many people think that they can't make a difference,
but the wise man knows that every can counts.
(this was originally a proverb about recycling, but there is greater wisdom here I think!)
God gives dreams to fill us with hope,
but the fool throws them away.
The wise man rejoices when dark clouds gather,
but the fool shuns the rain.
A friend's words bring joy and comfort,
but a stranger's greeting is unusual.
Hope you enjoy these words as much as I have. This is a pretty amazing group of young people.
Pastor Glen
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
The teacher becomes the student
This week at confirmation camp, I've invited our students to try their hand at writing. Today, we've been looking at lament psalms, and this is what they've written today:
Our world is dying,
people are not helping.
People are becoming poor
and no one puts a penny in their cup.
People should have the same rights!
Why separate someone becomes of their color or clique?
Fighting is not the answer.
Let the Lord help you!
The Lord will take you,
live your life well.
Stop the wars, O God, there is too much fighting in the world.
And some words of comfort:
The Lord will let you be with your loved ones,
you will be raised to heaven in time.
Be strong and don't give up,
let God take the lead.
He will always be there in the time of need,
never forsake or turn away from the Lord.
The Lord protects us,
we are his children.
And one more:
Do I do well, O Lord,
am I doing it right?
Talk to me and tell me yes,
your words are tried and true.
Tomorrow - Words of Wisdom! I can hardly wait.
Our world is dying,
people are not helping.
People are becoming poor
and no one puts a penny in their cup.
People should have the same rights!
Why separate someone becomes of their color or clique?
Fighting is not the answer.
Let the Lord help you!
The Lord will take you,
live your life well.
Stop the wars, O God, there is too much fighting in the world.
And some words of comfort:
The Lord will let you be with your loved ones,
you will be raised to heaven in time.
Be strong and don't give up,
let God take the lead.
He will always be there in the time of need,
never forsake or turn away from the Lord.
The Lord protects us,
we are his children.
And one more:
Do I do well, O Lord,
am I doing it right?
Talk to me and tell me yes,
your words are tried and true.
Tomorrow - Words of Wisdom! I can hardly wait.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
a forgotten word
John 3:17 is the poor country cousin of Bible verses.
Everybody knows John 3:16. We’ve seen the crazy guy with the multi-colored wig at the football games with his big sign often enough to know that John 3:16 is important. Even Luther called it the gospel within the gospel. ““For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” It’s all there, everything that’s important to faith: the love of God, the sending of the Son, the end of death and the wide open door to heaven. A simple saying.
But the implications, oh, the implications. They’ll get your every time.
Which is where poor old 3:17 comes in. It is one thing to speak the tender and pleasant word of grace. It is whole other thing to be confronted directly with the full outcome of grace, to face what it really means, to be called to preach it boldly and live it wholly and allow it to change your beliefs and your actions. It seems well enough to say that God loves the world, that he gave us Jesus. But what if that actually meant something?
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” After the warm and fuzzy thoughts of verse 16, it seems that this grace stuff may not be as good a deal as we had originally hoped. No condemning? None at all? Because we need judgment. Judgment gives the world order, allows it to make sense. Please, we hope, we plead, at least a little judgment, at least a little punishment, at least a little wrath. For who will hold in check the forces of evil that surround us if we take condemnation completely off of the table!
Such need for judgment surely underlies the recent events in Wichita. For what else would oblige a man to enter a church (of all places) and boldly and take a gun and end a life? Because it was deserved, one would say. Because it was just. Because it was necessary to end the other wrong, the greater wrong. Let us consider that an argument could be made for such judgment, such condemnation. Dr. Tiller was an abortion doctor, even a late-term abortion doctor. Shall we just stand idly by as such acts are committed? Are we just spectators in God’s world, or is our calling to discipleship serious?
We need judgment, do we not? Shall evil reign freely?
But it is, of course, that same zeal which turns our condemnation back upon us. If not always as dramatically, we encounter our own destruction in the judgment of others. Judgment is our festering swamp, the quicksand that oozes us toward the oblivion of our own end. We are judgment addicts, living from one condemnation fix to another. But the joke is on us, for this is the painful truth of John 3:16 – there is no judgment which can redeem this world. There is only one path to freedom, the product of grace which is the Son. It is not just a nice thing. It is the death of condemnation, and, as such, of us.
The true tragedy of Wichita sleeps beneath the horror of a cold-blooded killing in the house of God. It is the death of faith, the repudiation of grace, the denial of the consequence of salvation. Yes, there is an end to the atrocity that is abortion in our world. But it must be God’s end, it must be an end found in the same grace that brought us Christ. For God has sent us this new day, not for our condemnation, but that we might all be saved.
It says so in John 3:17. Give it a read sometime.
Everybody knows John 3:16. We’ve seen the crazy guy with the multi-colored wig at the football games with his big sign often enough to know that John 3:16 is important. Even Luther called it the gospel within the gospel. ““For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” It’s all there, everything that’s important to faith: the love of God, the sending of the Son, the end of death and the wide open door to heaven. A simple saying.
But the implications, oh, the implications. They’ll get your every time.
Which is where poor old 3:17 comes in. It is one thing to speak the tender and pleasant word of grace. It is whole other thing to be confronted directly with the full outcome of grace, to face what it really means, to be called to preach it boldly and live it wholly and allow it to change your beliefs and your actions. It seems well enough to say that God loves the world, that he gave us Jesus. But what if that actually meant something?
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” After the warm and fuzzy thoughts of verse 16, it seems that this grace stuff may not be as good a deal as we had originally hoped. No condemning? None at all? Because we need judgment. Judgment gives the world order, allows it to make sense. Please, we hope, we plead, at least a little judgment, at least a little punishment, at least a little wrath. For who will hold in check the forces of evil that surround us if we take condemnation completely off of the table!
Such need for judgment surely underlies the recent events in Wichita. For what else would oblige a man to enter a church (of all places) and boldly and take a gun and end a life? Because it was deserved, one would say. Because it was just. Because it was necessary to end the other wrong, the greater wrong. Let us consider that an argument could be made for such judgment, such condemnation. Dr. Tiller was an abortion doctor, even a late-term abortion doctor. Shall we just stand idly by as such acts are committed? Are we just spectators in God’s world, or is our calling to discipleship serious?
We need judgment, do we not? Shall evil reign freely?
But it is, of course, that same zeal which turns our condemnation back upon us. If not always as dramatically, we encounter our own destruction in the judgment of others. Judgment is our festering swamp, the quicksand that oozes us toward the oblivion of our own end. We are judgment addicts, living from one condemnation fix to another. But the joke is on us, for this is the painful truth of John 3:16 – there is no judgment which can redeem this world. There is only one path to freedom, the product of grace which is the Son. It is not just a nice thing. It is the death of condemnation, and, as such, of us.
The true tragedy of Wichita sleeps beneath the horror of a cold-blooded killing in the house of God. It is the death of faith, the repudiation of grace, the denial of the consequence of salvation. Yes, there is an end to the atrocity that is abortion in our world. But it must be God’s end, it must be an end found in the same grace that brought us Christ. For God has sent us this new day, not for our condemnation, but that we might all be saved.
It says so in John 3:17. Give it a read sometime.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Everything I know about Evangelism I learned from from teenage girls in love on Facebook!
Enough of seminars and specialists and books. Find a teenager in love and see what Evangelism aspires to be.
Their status update is a constant litany of sameness. Waiting for a date with their boyfriend. Getting ready for a date with their boyfriend. On a date with their boyfriend. Just home from a date with their boyfriend. Planning the next date with their boyfriend. Their perfect, sweet, wonderful, cute, can-do-no-wrong heaven-sent angel who rules their every thought and dream.
They can hardly believe love happened to them. And they must tell you all about it.
It is as if they had invented love. As if no one had ever loved before. As if, in the entire history of humankind, there had never been such a perfect union of souls, as if God had invented this whole love thing just for them. As if each day dawned new simply because of their love. As if, by the sheer virtue of their presence on the planet, birds knew to sing and flowers learned to bloom.
And as a wise and grizzled veteran of love, you want to help them. You want to warn them that teen love is fleeting and insubstantial. You say that it will not last. You say things like grow up, go out and find a job, get serious about your life, you should play the field a little before you throw your future away over some boy.
They will not listen. Would you?
Teenage girls in love do not judge you. They barely notice you, and then only as a beneficiary over whom to gush about the perfection which is their love. They have a certain amount of pity for you, not enjoying such love, but if you’re interested, they know a certain cute boy, very sweet, and they could set you up with him, yeah, we should double date …
Teenage girls do not explain love. They do not knock on your door or hand you a pamphlet. They do not write treatises about love – they write poems and songs. They see their love in everything around them. They ruin bookcovers with hearts and flowers and practiced signatures. They do not care that they are using up their cell phone minutes or missing their favorite TV show. They are in love.
And if the slightest misspoken word or misdeed should endanger their relationship, then all life must come to a halt until amends are made, for they could never go on without their love.
You look at them with great scorn and deep jealousy. You are old and tired and you wish with every fiber of your being that you could feel that way again. But you’ve discovered life, and you have no time for fantasies and dreams like love and hope. But imagine if, even for a second, the church could be at least a little in teenage love with its perfect savior. What a different world it would be.
Like totally!
Their status update is a constant litany of sameness. Waiting for a date with their boyfriend. Getting ready for a date with their boyfriend. On a date with their boyfriend. Just home from a date with their boyfriend. Planning the next date with their boyfriend. Their perfect, sweet, wonderful, cute, can-do-no-wrong heaven-sent angel who rules their every thought and dream.
They can hardly believe love happened to them. And they must tell you all about it.
It is as if they had invented love. As if no one had ever loved before. As if, in the entire history of humankind, there had never been such a perfect union of souls, as if God had invented this whole love thing just for them. As if each day dawned new simply because of their love. As if, by the sheer virtue of their presence on the planet, birds knew to sing and flowers learned to bloom.
And as a wise and grizzled veteran of love, you want to help them. You want to warn them that teen love is fleeting and insubstantial. You say that it will not last. You say things like grow up, go out and find a job, get serious about your life, you should play the field a little before you throw your future away over some boy.
They will not listen. Would you?
Teenage girls in love do not judge you. They barely notice you, and then only as a beneficiary over whom to gush about the perfection which is their love. They have a certain amount of pity for you, not enjoying such love, but if you’re interested, they know a certain cute boy, very sweet, and they could set you up with him, yeah, we should double date …
Teenage girls do not explain love. They do not knock on your door or hand you a pamphlet. They do not write treatises about love – they write poems and songs. They see their love in everything around them. They ruin bookcovers with hearts and flowers and practiced signatures. They do not care that they are using up their cell phone minutes or missing their favorite TV show. They are in love.
And if the slightest misspoken word or misdeed should endanger their relationship, then all life must come to a halt until amends are made, for they could never go on without their love.
You look at them with great scorn and deep jealousy. You are old and tired and you wish with every fiber of your being that you could feel that way again. But you’ve discovered life, and you have no time for fantasies and dreams like love and hope. But imagine if, even for a second, the church could be at least a little in teenage love with its perfect savior. What a different world it would be.
Like totally!
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