When an elementary school teacher in Denver gave an assignment asking students to write a statement responding to the query, “I wish my teacher knew” many of us were surprised by the responses. Her student’s answers reveal what life can be like outside the classroom environment. Some of the responses are hard to read. They challenge certain ideas we might have about life – especially the lives of children. Some of the responses will make you smile. I encourage you to read those that have been shared by teachers and others on Twitter using the hashtag, #IWishMyTeacherKnew.
Since I’m the new pastor at the church I serve, I have a curiosity about people and the way things are. I get to ask questions and right now the question for my new congregation and you, the reader is,
How would you respond to the statement, “I wish my pastor knew…?”
Pastors have ideas about what church members are like. We get to know people when we encounter them in sanctuaries and meeting places and classrooms. We come to know people from our interactions at the hospital. But what do you really wish your pastor knew…?
In a similar fashion, I’d invite pastors to share their responses too. Tell us, what do you wish your congregation knew…?
Are you willing to share your thoughts? If so, share them in a response to this post or send them out via Twitter using the hashtag #IWishMyPastorKnew.
It’s almost official. There are some final details to complete but I have some news to share; some good news…I am returning to congregational ministry! Continue reading →
Here are some reflections/thoughts in a sermon I preached at Geneva Presbyterian Church in Canton, Michigan. The texts were Jonah 3:1-5,10 and Mark 1:14-20. Sometimes I wish I could get it right or say it better the first time…Continue reading →
I’m a word guy. I like sharing my thoughts in the printed word. I never considered myself suitable for video but it occurs to me that social media is moving in the direction of video. You can now add “moving pictures” to your posts on many social media sites. So in keeping with the times I’m going to share something new – a video sermon from November 9.
You, dear reader (and possibly viewer), have options: you could watch and listen; you could turn off the picture and listen or turn off the sound and make up your own words to the action; or you can ignore this post altogether.
So this is attempt number three at the beginning of this post. I’ve drafted two other beginnings but neither one felt right. Witty and humorous doesn’t always cut it when you have news to share, even when its news that is already widely known. So instead,I’m using the direct, to-the-point method: Continue reading →
Yes, I know the title of this entry is a song lyric but I just can’t figure out what else to title what I experienced yesterday and the strange question and twist on love. To say that I have a definitive answer to the question would be misleading. To mis-characterize a person or entity would be wrong. I’m ultimately sharing my thoughts about God’s love for us – even those we consider the very worst of us. I share some thoughts on this crazy little thing called love.
Yesterday following worship and a congregational forum I was asked “Would Jesus welcome Judas back to the table?”
To set the context this forum was conducted with a church that is trying to discern its future and yes, dismissal is a serious and significant reason for this congregation’s discernment. Following the meeting at which some good questions about process and options were asked, I was approached by two individuals who, interestingly, began their separate conversation by saying they are not Presbyterian but have been attending this particular church. Each of them made it clear that they do not agree with the direction of the Presbyterian Church and wanted me to know that our denomination was wrong.
Sometimes the pastoral thing to do is to listen and respond sparingly: this became one of those occasions. I can’t however, let go of the question one of these persons asked, “Would Jesus welcome Judas back to the table?”
I was surprised that this individual would ask a question about Judas in the context of such a meeting as this one and do not believe he was attempting to mischaracterize anyone 0r any entity. Instead I am amazed at his question as a theological question that he believed is important for the discernment process.
Back to the question of the day; the sparing response I gave was “yes” and could not share much more than that, for my conversation partner immediately disagreed with my answer and soon thereafter brought our conversation to an end.
I answered yes because I believe that Jesus’ love for us is so great and expansive that he would welcome Judas back to the table. Jesus was always inviting and welcoming people who were considered unlovely and sinful to the table. He welcomed Peter time and again to the table even when Peter rebukes, argues, and at the time when Jesus could have used his support denied Jesus. He ate with tax collectors and sinners. He touched the untouchables in society. He offered a place in Paradise to a criminal who hung beside him on Calvary. Jesus joined Pharisees and religious authorities at table. He welcomed Nicodemus into a conversation in which Jesus says, “For God so loved the world…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.” He made no distinction about who was invited to the table.
My conversation partner, the one who asked the question would not agree with me, cutting short my response. He made it clear that the Jesus he encounters in the Bible would not have welcomed Judas at the table once he left.
I am sad for my conversation partner whose idea of grace appears to be narrow and restricted. I grieve for him in his relationships with others. If he believes that Jesus has a ‘line-in-the-sand’ then what specific actions come before and after that line? Does heterosexual divorce lie on the safe side of the line while homosexual marriage falls on the unsafe side? What other lines has he drawn to regulate his relationship with family, friends, neighbors, and the world? I worry that his introductory comment about not belonging to this particular church is a reflection that he does not belong to any church because he has found too many people like Judas there or that no church can measure to the rigid standard of perfection that he expects.
We know that Judas left the table and did not return. But we also know that Judas had some type of change of heart, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” (Matthew 27:4) and that he went out and hanged himself. I insert my own interpretation at this point: I would argue that Jesus’ words “This is my body…this is my blood…” might have been among Judas’ last thoughts as the noose tightened around his neck. It was at that point that I want to believe Jesus, the one who loved far better than I ever can, could and did indeed welcome him back to the table.
Love makes us do some crazy things. God, out of an abundance of love for sinners – people like me, my conversation partner, and Judas – did the craziest thing of all in dying on a cross and rising from the tomb that we – me, my conversation partner, and yes, even Judas might have everlasting life.
Yet I cannot abandon the directness of his question and therefore I pose it to you my reader. I’ve shared my thoughts and ask that if you are so inclined, please click on your response to the poll I’ve created. I will not judge you by your response and it will be kept private showing only the percentages for each answer.
I’ve been thinking about the future quite often these days. A visit with my oldest child to Stanford University and a deluge of college admissions mail will get a dad thinking about the future. I’ve re-engaged a question that I was asked in seminary… Continue reading →
I have worn a bracelet with the words Justice, Kindness and Humility stamped on it since 2008’s General Assembly meeting in San Jose, CA. It is one of those gimmicky elastic bracelets that although still around today, were more popular that year. Continue reading →
One of the childhood rituals of my family was Sunday lunch. Each Sunday we’d gather for lunch at my grandparent’s following church. There were two tables: the kitchen table where the kids sat and the dining table where our parents, aunts and uncles and grandparents would sit. One of the rites of passage came with the move from the kitchen table to the dining table. Over time the faces at the table would change yet for years the feast went on. Continue reading →
Edward says... 