Butterflies and Hot Tea

This article first appeared in the May 2012 issue of HHPC’s The Connecting Link.

“O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 107:1, NRSV)

Praying our thanks is a lot like praying our praise. In fact, the two can be almost indistinguishable from each other. Praise recognizes who God is and what God has done. Thanksgiving recognizes who God is and what God has done for us. Praise and thanksgiving come so close to being the same thing, especially when we realize that all that God has done has benefited us in some way.

From the beginning of creation – indeed, in the act of creation itself – God has been taking care of us in amazing ways. The sun warms us, the night cools us and offers us the chance to rest; the plants feed us, the water refreshes us and makes the plants grow. Even these “everyday” occurrences are truly miracles, worthy of our praise and adoration – and worthy of our thanks, since these everyday miracles enable us to live and grow and thrive.

And throughout human history, God has been delivering us, time and again. Even when we are in the deepest need. Even when we are in the deepest denial of our need for God. Even when we turn our back on God, God never turns away from us. God delivered a son for Abraham and Sarah, though they both laughed at the prospect. God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt – across the Red Sea, across the desert, and into the Promised Land – even as they complained most of the way. God delivered the Israelites from enemy after enemy, even when the enemy was their own stubborn sinfulness. God delivered the Israelites from exile in Babylon, the exile that God warned would happen as a consequence of disobedience to God’s law. God delivered Jonah from the belly of a fish – the fish that swallowed Jonah when he was running away from God. And through Jesus Christ, God delivers us from the power of sin and death. For all the times when we forsake God, God does not forsake us.

And then there are the ways God works in our lives, blessing them every day. We have friends who encourage us. We have family who loves us. We have food on the table. We have a table to put food on. We have a roof over our heads. We have strength and health. We have gifts, talents, and passions, that we can use to enrich our lives and the lives of others, that we can use in service to God and neighbor.

There are people, however, who don’t have those things. Some people don’t have all of them. Some don’t have any of them. But however little you may have, not one of us is without God’s grace, mercy, and love. Not one of is us without God’s presence. Not one of us is without the promise of salvation through the saving grace of our risen Lord Jesus Christ. Even in the midst of the most dire circumstances, each one of us can give thanks to God – if for nothing else, then for the mind and the heart and the voice to pray to the God who gives mind and heart and voice to us.

And the knowledge that there are many without the gifts and blessings so many of us take for granted as “everyday” blessings, challenges us who have so much to be grateful for. We are challenged not only to spoken prayers of thanksgiving, but enacted prayers of thanksgiving, as we share what we have with others in overflowing gratitude for what we have.

It is a Thanksgiving tradition to count one’s blessings. But God’s blessings flow each and every day, in so many ways, filling our lives with reasons to thank God. Let us pray. See you in church Sunday!

In Joyful Anticipation,
Pastor Lara

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I just returned from a week in Montreat, North Carolina, spending time, learning, and laughing with a group of colleagues and friends from Peaks Presbytery in Southwest Virginia.  We’ve been doing this for almost five years now – learning, laughing, and spending time.  We are more than colleagues – more than friends, even – we are family.

Part of the magic of this past week for me was spending time at Montreat, visiting the mountains of North Carolina, and being in the south once again.  I love this country.  I don’t mean this nation – I mean this country.  I’ve been blessed to be able to see quite a lot of it, and the varied glories of God’s creation always astound me.  And I always associate the moving around that I’ve done with my ministry, even though lots of it was done before I was actually a minister, because it’s always been related to my journey as a follower of Christ in the Presbtyerian tradition.  I’ve been Presbyterian all over this great land.  And I wish everyone could see what I have seen.

I wish everyone could be from the Southeast, so they would know about Montreat.  I wish everyone could be from the Northwest, so they might have heard of Zephyr Point.  I wish everyone could know what it’s like to worship at the Chapel on the Hill at Mo-Ranch.  I wish everyone could experience the beauty of Lake Michigan at the Presbyterian Camps in Saugatuck, Michigan.

God has created something so beautiful.  My prayer is that you can see, appreciate, and love, as much of God’s creation as possible.  Peace.

“God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31a, NRSV)

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I just returned from the yearly conference of the International Society for Christian Apologetics (ISCA).  This is a society I had no knowledge of before I met my husband, Kirk MacGregor, a founding member of the society who has presented a paper at this conference every year since its founding in 2006.

Apologetics has nothing to do with apologizing.  Apologetics is simply a defense of the Christian faith.  The word comes from a Greek word, apologia, found in 1 Peter 3:15-16: “Always be ready to make your defense (apologia) to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence.”  Someone practicing apologetics is simply explaining what he or she believes and why he or she believes it.  This is a worthwhile practice for all Christians to learn.  Although apologetics is sometimes associated with more conservative and evangelical branches of Christianity, such that a female Presbyterian (USA) pastor can sometimes stick out like a sore thumb in the field, being able to explain to someone why you believe what you believe using reason and evidence would seem like an ideal and effective form of evangelism for all who profess faith in Jesus Christ.

Having been married to Kirk for over three years, I have had the pleasure of accompanying him to several of these conferences, learning a great deal in the process.  But this year something stood out.  I thoroughly enjoyed all of the papers and presentations I attended.  It was not my enjoyment that stood out, however, so much as the fact that I found myself thoroughly enjoying listening to the presentations of people I did not agree with.  That is, they had some opinions that I agreed with and some I did not.  But everyone there was agreeable.  Everyone there was faithful, and worshipful, and kind, and friendly, and eager to share information and dialogue.  The presentations were well-researched, thought out, and presented faithfully, with the intention of sharing the reasons for their faith in Christ.  It was a pleasure to learn from them and to share what I know.

What a wonderful reminder of our brotherhood and sisterhood in Christ, of our diversity of gifts and talents, and of the charge we have from Christ to love one another as we have been loved.  I look forward to next year.

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Our first service starts in thirty minutes. The sounds of handbells and piano and trumpet drift back from the sanctuary as we prepare for worship. The smell of bacon and eggs wafts up from the basement, reminding us to join in fellowship for the breakfast which will be served at 9:30.

Happy Easter, everyone.

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This article first appeared in the April 2012 issue of HHPC’s The Connecting Link.

“Praise the Lord! Praise God in the sanctuary; praise God in the mighty firmament! Praise God for his mighty deeds; praise God according to God’s surpassing greatness! Praise God with trumpet sound; praise God with lute and harp! Praise God with tambourine and dance; praise God with strings and pipe! Praise God with clanging cymbals; praise God with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 150).

If it is only appropriate to talk about prayers of confession and prayers for forgiveness as we walk together through Lent, it is certainly only appropriate to speak of prayers of praise as we get ever nearer to Easter, to the celebration of Christ’s resurrection. The Westminster Shorter Catechism, one of the foundational confessions of the Presbyterian Church, begins with this question: “What is the chief end [‘end’ meaning ‘purpose’] of man [humanity, women and men]?” The answer is this: “The chief end of man [men and women] is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”

We are created to praise our Lord and God. When we consider all of the wonders of creation, when we consider that we ourselves are created in God’s image and likeness – when we consider all that God is and has done and does in our world and in our lives, praise is truly the first response that should come naturally to our lips. God is pretty amazing! And our lives are pretty amazing because of who God is, and because God loves us.

When you voice prayers of praise in worship or in your devotional and prayer life, what does that accomplish? And what is the motivation for prayers of praise – what do you hope to accomplish? Does God need to be reminded of all God has done? Does God need to be reminded of God’s own omnipotence? Surely not. God is who God is apart from our prayers. In other words, God will be God no matter what we say in prayer. If we never prayed, never sang God’s praise, God would still be Creator of all that was, and is, and is to come. We would still have been created in God’s image and likeness. And we would still be dependent on God for all that we are and all that we have.

When you praise God in prayer, is this a way of complimenting God in order to get what we want out of prayer and out of God? In other words, if we are asking for something in prayer, are we more likely to get it if our prayers have included God’s praise? Are we trying to get on God’s “good side”?

Again, God is God no matter what – sometimes despite – our actions and words. The purpose of praising God is not to make it more likely that our prayers of intercession will be effective. Nor does God need our compliments or affirmations. If anything, it is the other way around. Praising God, in spoken word or in song, silently or shouted from the rooftops, reminds us of who God is and what God has done for us. We are reminded of our dependence upon God, of God’s presence with us no matter what we go through, and of God’s amazing grace and love for us. And then, when you consider the works of God’s hands (of which each and every one of us is one), what else is there to do but praise the Lord? Let us pray. I’ll see you in church on Sunday!

In Joyful Anticipation,

Pastor Lara

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Yesterday I began to plan worship for the Sundays between Easter Sunday and Pentecost Sunday. As is my usual habit, I listed all the passages for each Sunday and began to read them. Easter is actually a season comprising seven Sundays, not just Easter Sunday (or Resurrection Sunday). And I like to plan worship a “season” at a time, rather than just a Sunday at a time. Not only does this help me stay ahead of the game (or at least even with it), it helps me to see worship as a cohesive whole, instead of just a series of unrelated Sundays dotting the year at regular intervals, separated from the rest of our hours and days and weeks.

But while doing this planning yesterday, I had a rather odd reaction to a story from Scripture which I was reading. Now, I have been a pastor for almost ten years, preaching every week for at least half of those years, and preaching at least once a month for the rest of them. I have worked my way through the three-year cycle of the Revised Common Lectionary a couple of times now. Even so, while there are many passages in Scripture I can recognize and cite chapter and verse (i.e., give me a few lines and I can tell you where it is in Scripture, or give me a Scripture reference and I can recite or at least paraphrase it), there is much of Scripture that I don’t know by heart. So when I am preparing worship, and looking up the passages for particular weeks, I am often pleasantly reminded of which books, chapters, and verses tell which stories.

Even so, even I wasn’t quite prepared for my gut reaction to being reminded that Acts 8:26-40 is the story of Philip’s evangelism to the Ethiopian eunuch. “The Ethiopian eunuch! Oh, I love that story! I had forgotten that that’s where it is in Acts!”

I do love the story of Philip’s evangelism to the Ethiopian eunuch. Philip is guided by God to find and join a particular chariot, where a man was reading from the prophet Isaiah. In answer to Philip’s question, “Do you understand what you are reading?”, the eunuch asks three very important questions of his own, interspersed with the reading aloud of Isaiah, and explanation by Philip. “How can I, unless someone guides me?” “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” And finally, “What is to prevent me from being baptized?”

This episode in the spread of the Gospel highlights not only how indispensable the reading and understanding of Scripture is to knowing and understanding and accepting the truth of the story of our God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; but how vital it is for us to study, learn, and know, so that we may teach others and answer their questions, helping to bring them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

And as you read and know and become familiar with Scripture, something else amazing happens. You become better equipped to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength, to be sure, because it is so much easier to live by a truth that you know to be true. But also, as you become more and more familiar with Scripture, it becomes that much easier to know the story of God’s people as your own story. Then, you not only get to know Jesus better, you get to know everyone in the history of faith as your own brothers and sisters. Philip, the Ethiopian eunuch, Mary, Joseph, Paul, Peter, James, John, Lydia, Deborah, Hannah, Abraham, Sarah – they become people you know. Friends and family. It’s even better than ancestry.com.

Enjoy.

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Yesterday, I had the privilege of speaking at the regular gathering of the Retired Clergy Group of Chicago Presbytery. My topic was “A Theology of Food: Thinking about Food Creationally and Relationally”. It was appropriate, then, that the context for this meeting was a wonderful meal that was prepared for the group by volunteers from the host church, Ravenswood Presbyterian Church. Table fellowship is a perfect setting for a theological reflection on food. I knew that my presentation would be preceded by a meal.

What I did not realize was that part of our introduction to Ravenswood would be information about their garden, growing food for the church and the community, providing a vital ministry. And another vital way that we are able to talk and think about food theologically, as we remember and celebrate God the Creator of all that is, including our food. And as we remember the source of our ability and our charge to feed one another.

“Then God said, ‘Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.’ And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:11-12)

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This past weekend, something pretty amazing happened at Hickory Hills Presbyterian Church. We had the privilege of hosting a choir, Voices of Appalachia, from Alice Lloyd College in Pippa Passes, Kentucky. It was a wonderful night of music, and a wonderful way to support this choir in their endeavors. But it turned into so much more than that, so much more than we could have anticipated.

The weekend actually started about a month ago, when I was contacted by a staff person at Alice Lloyd College to say that they had had a cancellation in their spring tour schedule in the Chicago area, and needed somewhere to sing on March 11, and host homes, if they were available. While a student at Austin College, I sang in a choir, so I have been on spring tours. I know how important the support of the community is to the success of a tour, and I value the music that college choirs bring. Session approved the endeavor, and the process began of finding host homes for the students and planning a couple of meals for the choir.

As plans were being made, and as I found out more about Alice Lloyd College and Pippa Passes, Kentucky, I realized that the college was not too far from an area of Kentucky where several Hickory Hills members go regularly on mission trips, as well as members of other churches in this area. As the choir arrived and conversations started between the choir and Hickory Hills members and guests at the concert, many close connections were discovered. The distance between Hickory Hills and Kentucky turns out to be shorter than one might think.

The experience of hosting the students in our homes was, I think, a bit of a life-changing one – or at least, a church-changing one. That level of hospitality is a reminder of the radical hospitality we are charged by Christ to show one another – friends, family, and strangers all, opening our lives to those in need. And in the process of hosting, more bonds were formed – pictures were taken, addresses and promises to keep in touch were exchanged – and I had to watch closely to make sure that there were no Hickory Hills stow-aways on the bus!

Music, hospitality, and breaking bread together. All very important means of discovering our common life together as followers of Christ. Thank you, Voices of Appalachia, for sharing your voices, your music, and your lives. Thank you, members and friends of Hickory Hills, for sharing your time, your table, and your homes. Thank you, Jesus, for showing us the way.

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So just when I’m thinking that this discipline of posting every day is beginning to lose it’s disciplined flavor – just when I’m trying desperately to think of something witty to post – I get a call about our church sign. Seems it says something rather unseemly, something unbecoming of a church. Really, unbecoming. Period. Not a hard problem to fix, and less than thirty minutes after I get the call, our church sign is once again as becoming as ever.

The sign on the front lawn of Hickory Hills Presbyterian Church is one that can be changed from week to week, or whenever there is a need. It’s pretty easily manipulated, and we have a good store of letters to choose from. And the sign itself is not locked in any way, which means that the letters are easily accessed by anyone who happens to walk by and want to make a change. It’s a chance you take with that kind of signboard. The upside is that it’s easy to change. The downside – well, that it’s easy to change.

I guess it is to be expected that once in a while, someone will come by and switch some letters around on the sign, just to goof off. Kids walking by on their way home from the bus stop, or just a passerby with too much time on his or her hands. This is not a country road in rural southwest Virginia. This is a main road in the suburbs of Chicago. More people around may just mean a greater likelihood that someone will have mischief on their agenda. Maybe it’s just a little too tempting, with all those letters that can be moved around to say different things. Like those word scrambles in the paper, or a giant public Scrabble board.

But for all of you who have ever been tempted by an easily changed signboard on the front lawn of a neigborhood establishment, just think for a second about what you would like to have advertised on your front lawn. And have some respect. Please. Just sayin’.

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The speed limit on the streets of Hickory Hills is 20 mph unless otherwise posted. Mostly, in the neighborhoods, it is 20 mph. I found out something intereseting about going that slow – it is too slow for cruise control. You must control that speed yourself. Not to mention going 15 mph, or 10, or 5. It’s actually not as easy as it sounds. It takes – well, it takes control.

Next time you have a stretch of road to yourself and can do so without getting run over, drive an entire mile at the constant speed of 20 mph. Then slow down. Then slow down some more. Keep as constant a slow speed as you possibly can.

This is tai chi. It actually takes strength and balance and control to move with that much intention. It’s a wonderful practice in a world where speed is automatically equated with efficiency and economy. Sometimes slow accomplishes more.

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