Preparing the House

Today’s reading : Exodus 40:1-15

Over the past few years, my husband and I have moved quiet a few times – we have lived in 4 different homes during the last 3 1/2 years of marriage.  Every time we have moved I think about how nice our new place will be, where various furniture will go and when we will have our first guest.  For me a house is not a home until it has been christened with it’s first guest.

Before we even moved into our current home, the church parsonage, I was already thinking about the dessert party that we would have as a house warming and what food I would make.  And at the house warming, as we showed people around and laughter and conversation filled the rooms, the house was anointed to be our new home.  With the welcoming of guest our house became not just an ordinary house but a sacred place, a home.

God commanded the tabernacle, the place of worship for the Israelites, to be anointed.  This symbolized that the tabernacle was a holy place, along with the altar of burnt offering , the basin, and Aaron and his sons.

In much the same way, a few weeks before my house warming, I was anointed during ordination.  But more importantly, we were all anointed at our baptisms.  We were marked with the cross of Christ forever.  We have been anointed, we have been marked as holy.

Each one of us have been marked to be not just people but children of God.

Let us pray, God of life, thank you for anointing us, for making us holy.  Help us remember that we are sacred, marked with your cross and claimed as daughters and sons of your eternal promise.  Amen

Day of Atonement

Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement – Leviticus 23:27

Full reading: Leviticus 23:26-41

I went to Atonement Lutheran Elementary School from preschool through fourth grade.  There I learned at a fairly young age how to spell Atonement (at-one-ment), but in many ways I’m still learning what atonement means.

The dictionary definition of atonement is:

1.

satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; amends.

2.

(sometimes initial capital letter) Theology. the doctrine concerning the reconciliation of God and humankind, esp. as accomplished through the life, suffering, and death of Christ.

Atonement is often equated with forgiveness, but it is also so much deeper than that.  Atonement is not just the store owner forgiving the robber, but for the store owner to be willing to serve the robbers jail sentence in order to set the robber free.

Not only are our sins forgiven through Jesus’ death on the cross, but any and all debts, transgression, or sins have been covered, reconciled, payed off, and time has been served.  We are not only forgiven, we are also free from any sentence, grounding, punishment, or time in hell that would have been needed had it not been for Jesus dying on the cross.

This can be sticky theological ground, one of those places where by saying somethings slightly different people may call you a heretic.  But I also think that this is densely packed theological ground and sometimes it is best in such situations to keep things simple.

So I’ll leave you with a simple example.  Imagine you are a child who just broke your neighbor’s window.  Which is better: having your parents forgive you but they make you work off the debt to repay the window, or having your parents forgive you and but they pay off the window and take the blame as your parents?

The second is Atonement.

Gracious Lord, thank you for the forgiveness we have received from you.  We know we are sinners and are incapable of freeing ourselves from the debts caused by our sins.  So thank you, for forgiveness, for reconciliation, and for the undeserved atonement we have received through your son Jesus Christ.  Amen.

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Proclaim it From the Steet Corner

“Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: Hear the words of this covenant and do them.”  – Jeremiah 11:6

Today’s reading:  Jeremiah 11:1-17

People have varying opinions about people who preach on street corners and wander the cities proclaiming God’s message.  A few people think that these proclaimers of the good news are brave souls who are fulfilling God’s commandment to preach to all people.  But many people, in fact probably the majority of the people, think that these preachers/proclaimers are just crazy.

At least once a semester, itinerant preachers would show up on my college campus.  Sometimes they would gather crowds, other times people would avoid them, either quickly passing them or go out of their way in order to not go near them.  Unfortunately, at least in my opinion, these preachers did more harm than good, heckling female students for wearing skirts that showed more than their ankle or berating students who they claimed were going immediately to hell.  Often the crowds they gathered were hecklers who would hope to upset the preachers and not people who truly were interested in the word of God.

These extreme preachers are probably who many of us have in when we hear God’s commandment to “proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem.”  And most of us do not want to be like those preachers.

So instead of proclaiming God’s word, we keep silent, not wanting to offend, not wanting to make a fool of ourselves.

But we can proclaim God’s love and Christ’s saving grace though our thoughts, words, and deeds.  We don’t have to preach from the mountains in order for everyone to hear God’s words.  Are we showing God’s love to others through the care we give our neighbors?  Are we caring for the sick, clothing the naked and feeding the hungry?   Are you thinking highly of those around or secretly, or not so secretly, wishing them ill and gossiping about the.

Actions do speak louder than words.  And we can all proclaim God’s word throughout the world through by what we say, think and do each and every day.  And we don’t have to have a single person think that we are crazy to do it.

Gracious God, help us to proclaim your love and grace to all people.  Amen.

Go, Leave

The Lord said to Moses, “Go, leave this place, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt”  Exodus 33:1

Reading: Exodus 33:1-6

People leave places, jobs, schools, etc, for a variety of reasons.  Sometimes it is to move on to bigger and better things – a better job, a new career, a bigger home.  Sometimes they are forced to leave due to a foreclosed home or a lay-off.  Sometimes leaving is difficult, sometimes they are joyful, sometime people never look back and other times people are constantly looking back with tears in their eyes.

And occasionally we need to listen to God about when it is time to leave.  Is God calling you to change careers?  To find a different job?  To move half way across the country or the world in order to do God’s work in the world?

And regardless of why you leave or when you leave, leaving takes trust.  It takes trust in the Lord that things will work out.  Trust that the bigger and better things you are hoping for will come to pass.  Trust that you will be provided for after a lay-off or foreclosure.  Trust that God is calling you to do something of purpose. Trust that there will be a future.
Let us pray:  Lord of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob, Rachel and Leah, be with us in our leaving and our arriving.  Allow us to trust in you so that we may do your work in this world.  Allow us to trust in you for our future.  In your holy name we pray. Amen.

Follow the Leader

Whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk just as he walked – 1 John 2:6

1 John 2:1-6

It has been quiet a few years since I last played follow the leader.  I can’t quiet remember the exact rules, if there were any exact rules other than you tried to imitate doing what the leader did.  I do remember one school yard playmate who would call you out if you did not do the exact same thing, and I do mean the exact same thing.  If you walked slightly too fast or did not jump to the same height or if your step was too long or too short, she would call you out and either make you go to the end of the line or stop following.  You would lose at playing follow the leader, therefore I learned fairly quickly that I did not like playing follow the leader when she was the leader. No matter how hard you tried, no matter how much attention you paid to her feats and then your own it was never the same.

The same can be said about following Jesus.  We can never exactly follow Jesus.  We will always fall short of walking as he walked.

But we can try!

And Jesus will not call us out when we fail to live up to his standards, he will not get mad that we can not do things as he did.  Instead he loves us as we try to obey his commandments, as we try to try to listen to his words, as we try to follow his teachings.  He loves us as followers.

Loving Lord, thank you for leading us.  Guide us in all that we do and help keep us in your footsteps, trying to follow where ever you lead.  Amen

All the Skillful Women

All the skillful women spun with their hands, and brought what they had spun in blue and purple and crimson yarns and fine linen; all the women whose hearts moved them to use their skill spun the goats’ hair. (Exodus 35:25-26)

Today passage Exodus 35:1-29

One of my non-ministry joys is to attend a weekly gathering of Stitch and Bitch (sorry if anyone is offend by that word).  Weekly at a local Panera, a group of women ranging in age from early 20′s to, well, there are a few women who are retired, gather to knit, crochet, needlepoint and converse.  Hence the name.

We all came originally to stitch together, to spend time with other people who share our hobby or a similar hobby but we keep coming back because of the friendships.  When we sit around the table and stitch, whether with yarn or thread, those stitches become hats, sweaters, gloves, artwork, and much more.  And each week you see the progress on large projects like sweaters and blankets and when the stitcher is done there is always a time of passing the finished object around for people to touch, feel, ohh and ahh over.  It is amazing the finery that can be made with simple thread/yarn and needles.

After some regular attendees experienced great sorrow in their personal lives, the group created blankets of knitted and crochet squares along with embroidered labels.  Each woman brought what they had using the skills that they had in order to create a beautiful blanket that those in need could wrap themselves in and feel loved in even during times of grief.  It was in the sharing of what we each had that we were able to create something beautiful.

It was when the Israelites shared what they had that they were able to create a beautiful tabernacle.  And it is in sharing what we each have, whether physical gifts or spiritual gifts that we are able to come together as a Christian community to worship and serve the Lord.

Who are the skillful women and men in your lives? And how do you use your gifts and skills to worship and serve the Lord?

Lord, we give you thanks for the skillful women and men in our lives, who create with their hands works of great beauty.  Move our hearts to use our skills and our possessions in order to worship and serve you.  Amen

Getting to Know You – Becca

So who am I?  That answer is kind of simple and I think I enjoy that question much more than the question “where are you from?” which has a much more complicated answer.

Professionally and spiritually I am a pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran Church a small church in Georgetown, CT which is is Fairfield County.  I have been serving here since this last June and was officially ordained on September 20, 2009.  This Lent will be my first Lent as a pastor and in all honesty while I’m super excited about what it will bring, I’m also freaking out a little at the thought of how busy my schedule will be.

Personally, I have a wonderful husband who is a Master’s student in Assyriology (the study of what is now Iraq & Iran 3-5 thousand years ago) at Yale.  This Lent will hopefully bring out the completion of his thesis and acceptance into a PhD program.  I am also a daughter, a sister, a godparent, an aunt, and a friend to many people I consider my family.  During this Lent, my husband and I will have a new nephew.

I also love to bake and needlepoint (hopefully this Lent I will finish the project I have been working on since October).

But most importantly I am a child of God who has been marked with the cross of Christ forever.  And I’m looking forward to where this Lenten journey will lead all of us.

And since I’m sure you are all wondering the answer to the “where are you from?” question in a nutshell:  St. Louis, MO, Twin Cities of MN, Western Wisconsin, Philadelphia and now Connecticut.