Prayers for victims of tornados in Oklahoma

A Prayer for victims of tornadoes

God of Creation,

Your ways are mysterious to us.  We know that we were created by You out of love, as part of the whole of creation, called into being by Your voice, and You pronounced “It is good.”

The earthquake long ago broke open the tomb; earthquakes still ravage the earth and cause enormous destruction.  You spoke to Job out of the whirlwind; but the whirling winds have blown across the Midwest and especially Oklahoma over the past few days.  The floods subsided and allowed the ark to land, for life to re-enter the earth; though flood waters continue to rise from monsoons and hurricanes, and other storms.

God, Your Creative power is still at work, in the calming winds, in the receding waters, in the settling earth.  When the chaos of earthquakes, floods and tornadoes shatters our lives, Loving God, You are at work in our brothers and sisters who come to our aid, who bring healing and hope.  When the violence of the world drives in a wedge, Loving God, You are at work in the peacemakers, in the caregivers, in our neighbors who love us, even when we are strangers.

Mighty God, You call us into action to be Living Hope for the world.  You have called us to love our neighbor as ourselves, to lift up those in need, through prayer and the sharing of our time, talents, finances, and our very selves.  Guide us in the best ways to be Living Hope for those who are heartbroken, for those who are mourning, for those who have lost everything.  Help us to be Your servants, to be the Living Hope this world needs.  Through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Friend, who gave His life for us and calls us to be the Hope for the World, we pray always.  Amen. –source: rev-o-lution.org

A Prayer in time of Natural Disaster
O God, you divided the waters of chaos at creation.
In Christ you stilled storms, raised the dead,
and vanquished demonic powers.
Tame the earthquake, wind, and fire,
and all the forces that defy control or shock us by their fury.
Keep us from calling disaster your justice.
Help us, in good times and in distress,
to trust your mercy and yield to your power, this day and for ever.
- United Methodist Book of Worship, 509, Andy Langford, USA, 20^th Century.

A Prayer for First Responders

Blessed are you, Lord, God of mercy, who through your Son gave us a marvelous example of charity and the great commandment of love for one another. Send down your blessings on these your servants, who so generously devote themselves to helping others. Grant them courage when they are afraid, wisdom when they must make quick decisions, strength when they are weary, and compassion in all their work. When the alarm sounds and they are called to aid both friend and stranger, let them faithfully serve you in their neighbor. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. - adapted from the Book of Blessings, #587, by Diana Macalintal

 

Future Church: Food trucks and Revolving Doors

Tomorrow evening, I will be meeting with the Executive Council of the Diocese of Milwaukee to discuss with them the results of the diocesan strategic planning process which I served as co-convenor. I’m also thinking a great deal about the future shape of ministry and mission at Grace as we continue to discuss our master plan process and begin to take the first steps toward implementing the architects’ plans.

Two pieces I read (and watched) today have helped to clarify my thinking, or raise new questions as I prepare for tomorrow’s meeting. The first is from Day1.org, a brief video on “Food Truck Faith” or what churches can learn from the success of food trucks. Rev. Lori Birkholz says that food trucks do one thing very well and that churches should seek to emulate them, rather than megachurches which seek to be all things to all people:

One of the characteristics of food trucks is that they go where the people are, out on to the streets and public squares of the city where people congregate. In many cities, they are tightly regulated because of fierce opposition from traditional restaurants (sound familiar). They rely on low overhead and high demand to succeed. But they are by definition transitory and may not develop long-term relationships with their clientele (although I’ve got my favorites in Madison).

But church membership is itself becoming more transitory. A piece today lays out some of the implications of a mobile society for churches. Cynthia Weems writes about “The Church’s Revolving Door:“

My initial assessments draw some conclusions about how the current church operating system must change. First, we can no longer anticipate that people with long years of church membership will be the only ones in leadership positions. If the current model continues, there may be no one left who qualifies!

In a new model, leaders will constantly be lifted up, rather than joining committees that remain intact for several years. Projects may be managed by a more mobile group of people who are willing to meet, problem-solve and strategize for the time they have to give to that task.

Both pieces describe the changing relationships with churches, raise important questions, and offer intriguing possibilities for further exploration. For example, what might a ministry that takes food trucks as its model look like? Birkholz points out that often food trucks congregate together–they do in Madison on the Capitol Square, the Library Mall, and on specific evenings in other neighborhoods. Food truck ministry would be ministry that takes the gospel to the people, rather than expecting people to come in, but it would also be narrowly focused on what it does well, whether that be worship, or bible study, or outreach, and leave much of the rest for others to do. It would also be very closely attuned to the needs and desires of its target audience.

Are there drawbacks to this model? Sure, but over and over again as I read congregational development materials, one of the central pieces of advice is to focus on the few things a congregation does well and passionately, and leave the rest aside.

The transitory nature of church membership is a reality here in downtown Madison and I could list as many or more individuals or families who have come and gone in my four years at Grace. We do need to think carefully about how this reality changes leadership patterns and leadership development. At the same time, I’m mindful of recent studies that suggest Americans are less mobile now than they have been in the recent past. I often wonder whether we contribute to that mobility by failing to provide nurturing soil in which people can begin to grow deeper roots. Certainly approaching members or potential members as if they were in line at a food truck is probably not the best way to develop deep, long-term relationships.

Where is the Spirit leading? A sermon for the Feast of Pentecost, 2013

Today marks the Feast of Pentecost, the day when we remember the coming of the Holy Spirit to the disciples in Jerusalem, to the church, and to us. It also is the end of the Easter Season, the 50 days during which we celebrate Christ’s resurrection. Today, the liturgical color is red, the color of the flames of fire that rested above the disciples head in our reading. We are marking a turning point in the liturgical year, the end of the long cycle that begin last December with Advent. We begin the liturgical year looking forward to the birth of Christ. In the intervening months we acknowledged several moments in his life, and then we commemorated his death and resurrection. Next Sunday, or the Sunday after, depending on which liturgical scholar you read, begins the long season of Ordinary Time that will continue right through November and the very end of the church’s year.

Free the Mind: Meditation and PTSD

I saw the documentary Free the Mind this evening. It’s a profile of Richard Davidson’s research into “contemplative neuroscience.” I heard Davidson speak last fall on many of the topics addressed by the film. In that talk, Davidson claimed that even relatively brief training in meditation can help to change the brain in positive ways. Although I am convinced of the benefits of meditation (whether or not I practice myself) I found that particular claim a bit farfetched.

The documentary profiles a study of vets with PTSD. Working intensively over a seven-day period, the researchers were able to quantify the benefits. Several of the participants in the study were at the showing tonight and answered questions from the audience. For example, one participant said that while participating in the study, he didn’t need sleep medication and all of them continued to see benefits in their lives from meditation.

In 2011 and 2012, Grace provided space for a related study that sought to use meditation to help stop smoking.

For more on the movie: http://danishdocumentary.com/site/freethemind/

The organization welcomehomevets.org is also involved in these efforts to deal with PTSD.

The film is showing at Sundance and is well worth seeing.

Seeing and hearing the Spirit: Lectionary Reflections for the Feast of Pentecost, 2013

This week’s readings are here.

On the Feast of Pentecost, our attention turns to the Holy Spirit, whose coming to the disciples we remember this day. Each of the three readings offers its own distinctive perspective on the Holy Spirit. With our focus on the drama of tongues of fire and the miraculous speaking in tongues, we tend to overlook the readings from Paul and John.

While Luke and John offer significantly different understandings of the Holy Spirit, there is one way in which they converge. In today’s gospel reading, we hear “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.” (Jn 14:25). Later Jesus will say, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.” (Jn 16:26).

We see that very thing happening in the Book of Acts, as the Holy Spirit repeatedly leads the disciples to make new discoveries about the Spirit’s power and about the meaning and extent of God’s grace in Jesus Christ. There are moments when we see the radical action of the Spirit, when Philip baptizes the Ethiopian eunuch; when Peter baptizes Cornelius and his family, and in Paul’s mission to the Gentiles. We see the Spirit working both on a cosmic scale and on a personal level, as with Paul’s conversion. But we also see the Spirit working as Luke writes. When Peter quotes from the prophet Joel in today’s reading, there are two significant alterations from the original text, which reads:

Then afterwards
I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female slaves,
in those days, I will pour out my spirit.

Peter (or Luke) changes the introducton from “then afterwards” to “In the last days” providing an urgency, an eschatalogical focus to the events of the day. Second, where the verses in Joel end with “I will pour out my spirit;” Peter (or Luke) adds “and they shall prophesy.”

There is a significant interpretation and adaptation of the passage from Joel to fit this new context. It’s evidence of early Christians re-reading and appropriating for new uses the familiar texts of the Hebrew Bible. It’s also evidence of the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit to, as Jesus puts it in John, “guide you into all truth.”

There’s a danger here, of course. There’s a tendency among many (progressive) Christians to appeal to the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit (“The Spirit is doing a new thing”) whenever they seek to introduce innovation in doctrine or practice. The lesson in Acts (and John) is that the Holy Spirit can’t be controlled: “The Spirit blows where it wills” (Jn 3:8). The Holy Spirit may certainly be doing a new thing, but that new thing may not be something we are comfortable with, just as many of the disciples weren’t comfortable with Peter’s actions regarding Cornelius. I’ve often thought that it’s best to declare the Holy Spirit’s working only from the benefit of hindsight, when we can look back on events in which participants couldn’t necessarily see clearly, but were certain they were heeding the Spirit’s call.

Paul offers us a glimpse of an appropriate caution. In Romans 8, there’s a sense that the Spirit sometimes speaks on our behalf, or speaks with us; and that when it does so, we are incorporated in Christ (a spirit of adoption making us children of God and joint heirs with Christ). At first glance that might seem to lead to an even more self-interested understanding of the Holy Spirit. But Paul adds, ‘if in fact we suffer with him.” So he brings it back to the cross, to power made perfect in weakness.

 

 

What must we do to be saved? A Sermon for the 7th Sunday of Easter, 2013

I saw one of those eye-popping headlines on the internet this past week. Like most such things, it was designed to get you to click on it—“School cancels graduation because of prayer controversy.” I couldn’t resist because I immediately thought: what high school would cancel its commencement because of a conflict over someone praying at it? So I clicked. Of course, it wasn’t a high school graduation—it was a sixth-grade graduation, which is an outrage of another kind, but I won’t go into that.

Grief and Anger are appropriate, but we can also do something

When I blogged about Dave’s death earlier today, I didn’t realize there was an article on Madison.com about the homeless man’s death yesterday. It captured some of the grief and anger of those who had helped him during his last days.

I doubt very much whether there will be a follow-up article but here are the questions that I would ask if I were writing one.  They are questions we all should demand answers to.

1. What was the cause of death? Was it related either to his recent hospitalization or to the medications he was taking?
2. What are the arrangements for his funeral and burial?
3. Did the Janesville hospital know (or care) whether he was homeless when they released him after surgery? Did they provide transportation for him to Madison?
4. Do other hospitals in the region send discharged patients to Madison’s shelters? (It wouldn’t surprise me; I know jails and prisons do).
5. How many patients are released from Madison hospitals directly to the homeless shelters? (They must know; mail is regularly sent from the hospitals to shelter guests).
6. How many more people will die before we come up with a solution to this long-term problem?

Feeding the State Street Family’s facebook feed tells the story of the heroic efforts to help Dave.