When the Light Goes On ...

It’s happening again.

I’ve seen it happen ten thousand times … well, not that many times, but maybe a hundred times in my 39 years of ministry.

When a light goes on.

It happens in Bible study … not at first, and not all at once.

It’s like starting a cold car (I know; folks in SoCal don’t know about that!) – the engine cranks slowly, groaning and coughing, and then, it catches – the engine begins to turn and generate some heat.

So it is with the soul and the Bible.

A lot of groaning at first – who are these strange people about whom we read? All their odd names and weird goings on? Grace on one page and blood splattered on the next. Lambs slaughtered and the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

And then a cough or two; a spark of understanding flares for just a moment, and then it’s gone again.

But then, another spark … and another, and the soul’s engine turns over and begins to generate some heat.

The frown of consternation eases over into a smile of recognition – this is the God who created us and loves us dearly.

The light goes on. They student moves closer to God, or shall I say, the God who is always close to us, the presence of grace, is recognized - “Ah, so you’re the one who’s been stirring my soul.”

That’s a lot of fun for me as a teacher – I love to see it happen.

Forget Our Debtors

While saying the LORD's Prayer a few days ago in my morning prayer-time, my mind wandered for a moment (which happens now and then), and I heard myself saying, “forgive us our debts as we forget our debtors.”

A fortuitous slip of the tongue!

Like a New Yorker, “forget about it” – not a bad idea.

And to forget about “our debtors,” those who owe us something – and maybe they do – but it’s unlikely they’re ever going to pay up, and then the realization sets in, some debts can’t be paid – they’re too big, and even if someone tried, maybe it wouldn’t satisfy us! Maybe our need is too big.

“Forget about it” - good spiritual advice.

In other words, get on with life and count our blessings.

Maybe that’s what forgiveness is all about … letting something go and getting on with our life … thoughts and feelings no longer revolving around the recollections of being wronged by someone, or driven by an emotional need that can never be meet.

Forget about it!

Because life is so much bigger and better than all of that, and everyone of us deserves to be free from those nagging thoughts and irritating memories of what others said or did, or failed to say or do. Forget about it.

Forget about our debtors … and think a whole lot more about God!

Happy New Year

What follows is the January 1 reading from Frederick Buechner’s Listening to Your Life … may it set the pace for the year ahead …

I discovered that if you really keep your eye peeled to it and your ears open, if you really pay attention to it, even such a limited and limiting life as the one I was living on Rupert Mountain opened up onto extraordinary vistas. Taking your children to school and kissing your wife goodbye. Eating lunch with a friend. Trying to do a decent day’s work. Hearing the rain patter against the window. There is no event so commonplace but that God is present within it, always hiddenly, always leaving you room to recognize him or not to recognize him, but all the more fascinatingly because of that, all the more compellingly and hauntingly…. If I were called upon to state in a few words the essence of everything I was trying to say both as a novelist and as a preacher, it would be something like this: Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.

Happy New Year to all of you … life itself is grace!

Eyewitnesses of His Majesty

Good Morning Covenant on the Corner.

We’re in the flow of Advent … we’ve pondered things with Mary, we’ve wondered how it’s going to work out with Joseph; we heard from the Innkeeper last week, and this coming Sunday, we’ll be surprised with the Shepherds – surprised that the highest of angels would come to them, the lowest on the rung of human status, to announce good news to them, neither to prince nor in palace, but in the hill country, to no-accounts …

This morning, in the daily lection, this remarkable piece from 2 Peter, chapter 1:

Therefore I intend to keep on reminding you of these things, though you know them already and are established in the truth that has come to you. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to refresh your memory, since I know that my death will come soon, as indeed our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.

This is my 64th Christmas, and professionally, my 38th … I’ve never grown weary of the story, and every Advent and Christmas, there always something new, something clear and crisp in the air, some fresh idea, some energizing image that grips the mind and compels my spirit to praise and wonder.

I wish to all of you the joy and wonder of the season … as we all cut back a bit on our spending, let’s go full hog with our praise, for this is a remarkable story, and the Jesus to whom it points remains the power and the glory of human history.

His love and his work are for all the world, and wherever women and men of faith turn heavenward, he’s there. Wherever a tear is shed in sorrow for the untoward ways of humankind, he’s there. Wherever justice fails, he’s there beside the injured and the lost. Wherever justice is done, he’s in the doing of the deed.

I celebrate with you the joy of Christmas – a gift for all the world! Through the telling of the story all over again, we are, like Peter, “eyewitnesses of his majesty.”

Advent week 3, 2008

Advent 1

By the Rev. Robert C. Orr ...

Cast of characters Luke 1 and 2 -- Advent I

Luke, Theophilus, Herod, Zachariah, Elizabeth, Angel, Gabriel, Joseph, Mary, Caesar Augustus, sheep herders, baby Jesus, angelic choir, Simeon, Anna, teachers (in the Temple) and Jesus (age 12).

Is this a list of the usual suspects
or is this the most improbable
mix of humanity and divinity
ever to be mixed up?
a bit of this, a bit of that--
a touch of sheep, a taste of hay
an angel startling with a greeting
a prince with throne encountering--
a power greater than all thrones
a helpless baby
a helpless humanity
all searching
all looking
do we look East?
do we look West?
ahead?
behind?
or
in our heart of hearts?
is there room?
are we able to open the door
to let Him in?
wait and see
wait and try
wait

© The Rev. Robert C. Orr

Thanksgiving

A simple exercise for Thanksgiving …

A slip of paper, a pen … maybe a computer … write the word Blessings on top of the page, and then begin your list …

Take your time … let it flow … if there’s a pause, wait a moment or two … more things will come …

The list doesn’t need to exceed 20 items … a dozen will do for the time being …

And for the next few days, read the list daily, and say at the end, “Jesus my LORD.”

Read slowly … like eating good food … slowly … to savor each bite, discerning the complex layers of flavor and texture.

It takes but a few moments of our time, but time taken for gratitude slows our pace and creates a small space of peace. There is soul-healing power in gratitude.

As the hymn puts it, Count your blessings, name them one by one; you’ll be surprised by what the LORD has done.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Interim Pastor Tom Eggebeen

Changing Our Minds

Stay the course, but be prepared for the unexpected discovery.

Years ago, the Christian Century magazine published a series of articles entitled, “How I Changed My Mind” – written by a variety of top-notch scholars, preachers and church leaders.

For all of them, those critical moments when new data entered the stream of thought, when the unexpected discovery could not be ignored – so, they changed their minds.

Emerson noted: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds.”

What’s “foolish consistency”? A refusal to let new data enter the stream of thought. A consistent disregard for the unexpected discovery – as if Columbus might have sailed into the new world and said, “Nope. Doesn’t exist! The world as I knew it last week is still the world as it is.”

Life is a quest … a constant journey … and God is constantly introducing new data into the stream of thought, and as we walk with Jesus, we will see things never seen before, or we’ll see what we saw thousand times before in a brand new light.

It takes courage, I think to change the mind, and some humility as well – to admit that our former take on things can go in a new direction. “I used to think thus and so, but now I see it differently.”

It’s good to change … do it slowly, do it carefully - keep the windows of your mind open to new data and the unexpected discovery.