Earthquakes and Installations ... Oh My!

This past Sunday afternoon, November 6, 2011 at 4:30 p.m., I was installed as the Teaching Elder (Pastor) of the United Presbyterian Church of Shawnee, Oklahoma. It was a beautiful service filled with wonderful music, inspiring words and a lot of love.

My husband, Matt, gave a rousing charge to the congregation, reminding them about the importance of vision and reaching out.  My daughter, Phoebe, not only sang in the choir, she had a solo!  I couldn't believe that grown up young woman was my little girl.  My son, Zach, was the acolyte, lighting and extinguishing the candles with great care and dedication, even willing to don an acolyte's robe for the occasion.

I was honored to have two dear friends participate.  My friend, Jim Hawley -- whose blog inspired me to give blogging a try, and one that many of you have read thanks to Facebook -- preached a sermon based on the story of Ruth and the importance of relationship and community.  It was so powerful that members of my church told him if I didn't work out, he'd always have a place in Shawnee.  And trust me, it was indeed that good! I'm proud he's my friend.

And my dear friend, Ellen Brantley, who preached at her own church then drove four-and-a-half hours to be at my service, gave me the charge in the form of a poem she wrote just for me.  She also designed and created the stole which I wore (and will continue to wear) with pride. Her willingness to do both of these things was not only a tribute to me, but to the friendship we've built over the years.

My congregation went all out for the occasion.  The service was beautiful.  The music was beyond words, complete with guest musicians.  Members of the Achena Presbyterian Church, a nearby Seminole congregation came and sang and led the Lord's Prayer in Seminole.  And my church folks gave me the best gift of all -- my parents.  They brought my mom and dad down for the weekend.

I am also grateful for the members of Indian Nations Presbytery, and the women and men who served on my Administrative Commission.  For those of you not familiar with Presbyterian polity, these are the folks who actually made up the committee (Presbyterians LOVE committees!) that installed me on behalf of the presbytery.  Still don't fully understand?  I'll explain later.

It's been over a decade since I've been installed in a church, and I wanted this service to be as amazing as possible.  I got my wish and more.

I even got an earthquake.

It's true.  Actually we've had at least two earthquakes plus significant aftershocks over the last few days.  Are you paging up to the top of the blog, checking to make sure I wrote Shawnee, Oklahoma and not California?  You read it correctly.  We've been having earthquakes in Oklahoma.

I can honestly say that's not what I expected when I moved here.  Tornadoes -- sure.  (And in fact, western Oklahoma had a few of those on Monday.)  Wind -- absolutely.  Dust -- why not?  But earthquakes?

At about 2:30 Saturday morning Zach, Matt and I felt the first one rumble through.  Felt is an understatement.  The house shook.  The bed shook.  We shook, moving back and forth like we were on a ride at Disney World. Phoebe slept peacefully through the whole thing.

That night, at about 11:00 p.m., Phoebe experienced a quake in full force because we had another, stronger quake.  It was 5.6 on the Richter scale according to the news and the U.S. geological site.  I was proud of myself that while the second one was happening, I was wearing the heels I'd bought for the installation the next day (anyone whose ever worn heels knows that you have to break them in) and I managed to remain upright. 

But in spite of my ability to remain standing, I was unnerved by the whole event.  I've never experienced earthquakes before.  I don't think I want to experience anymore of them. And even though I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, I was worried that two earthquakes in 24 hours the day before my installation was an omen.  A bad omen.

But my sister who lives in Greece and has survived a number of earthquakes over the years reassured me.  The earthquakes, when looked at from a non-scientific perspective, might well be an omen, but not a bad one.  A good one.

People discern God's call in a number of ways.  Maybe they hear a voice in dreams or visions.  Perhaps they are presented with an opportunity they never thought of before.  I discerned God's call to do this new thing in this new place in an unceasing restlessness.  I needed to shake things up.  I needed to be shaken up.  I just didn't know how literal that shaking would be.

So, according to my sister, the earthquake signified the fact that I will shake things up around these parts.  That is great, but I also know that I will be shaken.  Shaken by the great need of the people in this community.  In the days following my installation, I've seen the hunger in a little boy's eyes to be read to, just read to.  I've been approached by one of the homeless men who comes to our community dinner.  He didn't want money, he just wanted a place for he and his wife to stay for the night.  It was cold and he was tired of sleeping in the park and being hungry, always hungry.  There is another homeless person sleeping on a semi-enclosed side porch of our church.  I don't begrudge this child of God the shelter, but I worry that the ceiling above him or her will come crashing down.  This is an old building that needs a lot of love ... and repair.

I am being shaken -- up, down and sideways.  The need is great, and I don't pretend to be a super pastor or a super woman with all the answers.  Far from it.  But I trust one thing, and that's the belief that I was called here by God for a reason.  The installation may be over, but the ministry has just begun.  Let's get shaking!

The One Foundation

“The One Foundation”

Matthew 23:1-12

October 30, 2011

Reformation Sunday/All Saint’s Day

            “The church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord.  She is His new creation by water and the word; from heaven He came and sought her to be His holy bride; with His own blood he bought her, and for her life He died.”[1]

            This is a hymn that I grew up singing.  The tune was written by Samuel Sebastian Wesley, grandson of Charles Wesley, one of the leaders of the Methodist movement in England. 

            Although this isn’t one we would consider a typical example of a Reformation hymn, I do think it represents the underlying purpose of the Reformation which was to get back to what really mattered in faith, our one and true foundation – Jesus Christ. 

            Isn’t that what Martin Luther wanted to make clear when he nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenburg Castle?  He wanted the church to address the ways that it had gone astray from the teachings of Christ.  He wanted the church to acknowledge that it had forgotten its foundation.  Luther wanted reform, not for the sake of reform alone, and certainly not to start a new church in his name, but to get back to what was the true foundation, the one foundation – Jesus the Christ.

            John Calvin, the spiritual father of Presbyterians, also took up that battle cry.  What is the true foundation of the church?  Is it church doctrine?  Rules?  Regulations?  Church law?  Or is it God in Jesus Christ?  And if it is Jesus Christ, then what is the first and foremost source of our knowledge?

            The answer to that question was scripture. Sola Scriptura.  Scripture alone. Not doctrine or teachings created by the church, but scripture.

            In an article on the Reformation and the purpose of celebrating Reformation Sunday, writer Lukas Vischer reminds us that the time of the Reformation was not as idealized or as romanticized as we sometimes make it out to be.  The Reformation was a time of struggle and conflict, often violent conflict. 

            Luther carried a price on his head, and it’s actually amazing that he was able to live out a relatively normal life span.  Many of the reformers were persecuted for their willingness to defy the traditions and teachings of the church. 

            John Calvin was originally banished from Geneva by the very people who had asked him to come there and to bring reform to the entire city.    

            And I’ll never forget my first Presbyterian minister, Al Tisdale, telling us in officer training that John Knox didn’t come to this country just because he was eager to bring the principles of Reformation to America.  He came because he had to get the heck out of Scotland. 

            The days of the reformation were often dark ones.  As Vischer wrote, “The Reformation was a turbulent period.  It was characterized by harsh debates and struggles.  It led to a deep rift in Western Christianity, and even to violence and military conflicts.” [2]

            But at the heart of the Reformation was the realization that the true source of the church was nothing that it could create itself.  It was only Christ.  Christ was the true source.  Christ was the one foundation. 

            And what was true for the reformers is true for the church today.  What is the true source of our very being?  It’s not our traditions, although we love them dearly and tradition itself is not inherently bad or wrong.  It’s not our structures or our polity – and trust me, I may not have grown up Presbyterian, but I am a good one.  I resonate with our church governance as much if not more than some people I know who come from generations of Presbyterians. 

            The source of our being as Presbyterians, as Reformed Christians, as Christians in general, is Christ. 

            Christ is our one foundation.

            I contemplated seriously just ignoring the gospel passage this morning, although when I started off the week I was determined to preach from it.  It’s another challenging passage from Matthew’s gospel, and we’ve had so many challenging passages in these last weeks that, frankly, I’m just worn out from them. 

            And I know I’m not alone in this, because even on the sermon podcast that I listen to, the biblical scholars and professors were eager to move on as quickly as possible from these verses in Matthew and talk about the other scripture passages for today.  So we were all in the same boat as it were when it comes to preaching this passage.

            What’s really daunting about taking on these opening verses from Matthew 23 is that Jesus is talking to the religious teachers and leaders, you know, people like me, rather than just the folks in the crowds around him. 

            So if I were preaching this passage before a gathering of my minister colleagues, it might be more appropriate.  It would call all of us to task for what we do and say.  It would call us on the carpet as to whether we practice what we teach or if we just like the attention that we get because we’re in positions of authority.    

            Yet even as I say that, I think this passage has particular meaning in what we observe and celebrate today on Reformation Sunday. 

            As I understand it, Jesus is challenging the religious teachers and leaders for caring more about the external trappings of the faith than for what faith is really about.  He’s saying, “Listen, you ask the people who put their trust in you to carry burdens that you won’t carry.  You care more about showing off how faithful you are, than you do about actually being faithful.  You love the benefits of your position more than you love God.” 

            Isn’t that what the Reformers asked of the church?  Isn’t that what we have to ask of ourselves?

            Luther was driven not only by his own feeling of never being worthy enough for God, but also by the burdens the church laid on the common people.  In essence the church asked them to buy their way to heaven by buying indulgences, a way of buying their way or a loved one’s way out of purgatory into heaven.  These indulgences supported the cost of being the church.  Luther could not abide by that.  So he questioned that practice and others.  And his willingness to question, to challenge began a process of change, of reform. 

            Calvin believed our whole lives should reflect the glory of God.  For him it wasn’t just about the reform of the church.  He wanted reform to be widespread, in our actions, our teachings, our living. 

            Both of these men and so many others wanted the church to find again its one foundation.

            Perhaps that’s what our celebration of this day really needs to be about.  It’s not about celebrating the Reformers themselves.  As Lukas Vischer made clear in his article, John Calvin would not have wanted to be celebrated for himself.  None of the reformers would have wanted that.  Luther, Calvin, and the rest of the reformers were not trying to point to themselves, they were pointing to Christ. 

            So when we celebrate this day, we also have to figure out if we’re pointing solely to our structures and traditions or to Christ.  It seems to me that that’s what the Reformation was all about.  It was a reorienting back to the true source of the church. 

            And even though the historical Reformation happened centuries ago, we can never stop asking the same questions that the original reformers asked.  Have we forgotten our true source?  Have we gotten so caught up in the external trappings of our faith, that we forget why we’re here at all?

            What reformation needs to happen today? 

            That’s a loaded question, because I guarantee that each one of us would answer that question differently and use scripture to justify our response.  But to me that just proves that the Spirit which guided the Reformers is alive and well and breathing new life in the church today. 

            That’s the one factor that we can’t forget.  The Holy Spirit.  I have no doubt that the power of the Holy Spirit was moving during the Reformation, calling new life into old ways.  And I give thanks everyday for later reformers who were also guided by the Holy Spirit to challenge old ways.  Without them, without their courage and conviction, a woman would not be standing in the pulpit before you this morning. 

            So on this day of remembering, of reformers and saints, let us remember that our one foundation, the only foundation is Christ.  We are the church because of Christ.  We are here because of Christ.  The Spirit of Christ guides us, calls us, pushes us, moves us.  Our past is in Christ.  Our present is in Christ.  Our future is in Christ.  God in Christ calls us to be reformed and ever reforming.

            “Yet she on earth has union with God the Three in One, and mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won:  O happy ones and holy!  Lord, give us grace that we, like them, the meek and lowly, may live eternally.”  [3]

            Alleluia!  Amen.

---

[1] The Church’s One Foundation by Samuel Sebastian Wesley and Samuel John Stone; The Presbyterian Hymnal, Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, KY, 1990.

[2] Vischer, Lukas, “The Significance of the Reformation in Our World Today”.

[3] The Church’s One Foundation by Samuel Sebastian Wesley and Samuel John Stone; The Presbyterian Hymnal, Westminster/John Knox Press, 1990.

1 in 7 Billion

Today is the birthday of the 7th billion person.  Experts (I have no idea who these experts are or how they become experts in predicting the birthday of the 7th billion person.  But if they are touted as experts then we are obligated to listen to them, are we not?)  believe that this person was born today, sometime around 1:49 p.m. Eastern time.

Experts and talking heads and political pundits have been discussing what 7 billion people will do to our planet.  Certainly the earth is showing the wear and tear of this many people already.  Basic resources are becoming more and more limited, but the greater issue is equitable access to resources.  One of the experts interviewed on the news show where I first heard about Baby 7B (that's my nickname for the little tike) claimed that the earth can support 7 billion people.  It's really just a matter of how well we share what we have. 

The Occupy Wall Street movement has demonstrated in sharp relief that we don't know how to share very well.  And with that thought in mind, I decided I wasn't in the mood to write a few words to Baby 7B about what I thought of the state of the world today on the first website I found about this.  Yes, there are websites about this latest increase in the global population.  A diatribe on sharing or the lack thereof seemed like a lot to burden a baby with. I know.  I know.  Pessimism about the world doesn't help anything or anyone, and it certainly doesn't inspire hope when a pastor expresses it, but I'm human too.

                                                                 

But I found the next website intriguing and much more inspiring.  7 Billion Actions/7 Billion People is a website created by the United Nations Population Fund.  It's not focused solely on Baby 7B, but on every person who wants to share their story.  The idea behind the website is that if there are 7 billion people, than each one of us is a unique individual with gifts and talents that can help change the world.  That means that I am 1 in 7 billion and so are you.  So is Baby 7B and so are we all.

People from all over the world are contributing their stories to this website.  That's 7 billion stories that need to be told.  Because, in one way or another, we all matter.  Not because of what we do, but because we are.  No one should be invisible or go unheard.  Every one has a story to share.

I still wrestle with my pessimism about the state of our world.  I know that we don't share very well.  I worry about the future my kids are growing up into.  And I worry about the future for other kids as well.  But it's good to know that there are 6,999,999,999 other unique people out there, and between us, I think we can make a difference.