Think of it:  The man (who-is-God) was crucified and has risen from the grave!  Is this not the most astonishing idea/reality in the entire world?  Could anything possibly be as mind-boggling as this?  And yet we often say “Christ is Risen” with no more surprise in our voices than if we were announcing that dinner is on the table.  That is not to say that we are bad Christians or people of little faith.  Not at all.  But, perhaps, we need to sit in silence a little longer, pray a bit more deeply, open ourselves more fully to what God is doing in our lives and in our world.

          Wendell Berry – a name you’ve heard from me before – is a farmer, poet, novelist and ecologist.  He is revered by many for his intelligence and sensitivity.  One of my favorite Berry poems is about Christ’s rising:

I dearly love one line above all:  “Surprising the merely dead, graves fill with light.” Yes – surprising the merely dead: that captures something essential about the Easter moment. 

Perhaps Easter might also surprise the merely alive, you, me.

Christ is Risen!

-Pastor Mark

        We probably do these things almost without a second thought – and that is the point precisely:  During Lent – if we wish to walk closely in the presence of Christ – we will pay careful attention to the sacrifices we make on behalf of Christ and His people.  That is:

We will make space for careful, unhurried prayer, remembering the needs great and small of a suffering world.  Whatever our prayer, we remind ourselves that we are in God’s
holy presence.

We will daily reflect upon our shortcomings, remembering that we have let God and our neighbor down – but never losing confidence in God’s mercy.

We will consume with care our daily bread.  Fasting, after all, is not really about food. Rather, it is about the spirit in which we receive God’s gifts.  Are we greedy? Selfish?  Thoughtless?  During Lent, we intentionally model our behavior after Christ Jesus.

Lent is one of God’s most gracious gifts to His people.  Could you walk in Jesus’ footsteps for 40 days?   Of course you could!  Will you walk in Jesus’ footsteps for 40 days?

-Pastor Mark

It is a charming story, both because of a child’s naiveté and the “old folks” willingness to be surprised by a story they’d known for a lifetime.   Beyond being charmed, we may take from this a deeply important lesson:  If we find ourselves incapable of a child’s innocence at Christmas, we can at least be willing to allow that innocence to speak to our hearts once again. 

          We adults too often take our life “cues” from CNN, Fox News and the Wall Street Journal which, likely as not, reflect the world view of political philosopher Thomas Hobbes (d. 1679), who wrote that life is “ugly and brutish.”  And who can argue that there is no truth to this assessment?  Count the wars and civil wars currently being fought across the globe.  Read about the disparity which exists between the obscenely rich and the poorest of the poor.  Note the rising lack of interest in religion and sacrificial living in this nation.  Oh yes, there is much darkness in the world.  Yet.  .  .

 

         .  .  . it is to this world that a child is given.  It is upon people like us, surrounded by darkness, “that a great light has shone.”  “And,” as St. John the Evangelist reminds us in the first chapter of his Gospel, “the darkness has not overcome it.”

          A little child would understand this – not with her mind perhaps but deeply, I think, in her heart.  Are we, who have lost the innocence of childhood, prepared to receive again our great hope, the Word made Flesh?

          God bless us all in this season of preparation and joy!       

         -Pastor Mark-

(1)  greatest obstacle to generous giving is fear.  Many people – even Christians – are afraid that they will not have enough if they tithe to their church.  Hamilton acknowledges, and I agree, that some of us are burdened with so much debt that we may not yet be able to tithe.  Yet for many of us, fear of scarcity keeps us from being as generous as we are truly able.

(2)   Our fear can be overcome by faith, specifically faith that remembers to be grateful. Hamilton reminds his congregation (which is encouraged to tithe) that God is a God of abundance and that they have been greatly blessed.

     A couple of years back, my wife, Margaret, pointed out to me the experience of an author she’d come to appreciate:  Every night before going to sleep, she (the author) lists the blessings of the day.  At first she could think of only a few but as she continued the practice, she found that the list grew longer and longer every night.  She discovered that she was being abundantly blessed every day in ways she had simply failed to notice.

     What a difference there is between people who count their blessings and those who are focused on the negative.  Truly, this is no small thing.  I believe, in fact, that the secret of happiness is gratitude. I have seen this to be true in the lives of affluent Christians and those of more modest means:  Gratitude for God’s gifts is the key to happiness – and the reason for the desire to give generously in return.  As a brother Christian once said to me, “This is the best time of the year; we get to decide what we’re going to give away!”  Now that’s a grateful Christian!

     I challenge you, friends, to start counting your blessings.  Give God thanks and praise for all you’ve been given.  Do this every day, every chance you have.  I know it will change your life.

     Wishing you the gift of gratitude, happiness, and the joy of generous giving,

--Pastor Mark  

     John Lennon wrote:  “Life is what happens to you while you’re making other plans.”  Pretty good line, I think.  But more accurate, I believe, would be:  “Life is what happens while you’re looking the other way.”

     That is not to say that the tasks which occupy my time are not real or important.  Much of what I do is well worth doing and all of it is certainly real.  But sometimes – and don’t tell me I’m having senior moments! – you find yourself lifting your eyes from whatever has preoccupied your time and think:  Where did the day, the week, the month go?  How did it get to be the beginning of fall – when it was just the end of August? 

     Now, before you get to thinking that I am whining about being too busy, I want to tell you that’s not what I’m on about here.  No, not at all.  I am reminding myself – and anybody who cares to read this – of the pleasure and yes, Christian duty, of paying attention to the wonderful life – in this wonderful world – that God has given us.  I sometimes think that all of God’s creation conspires to wake us up.  Priest and poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote these famous words of praise (excerpted from The Grandeur of God):

     The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
           It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
           It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
           Crushed.  .  .  .

         And for all this, nature is never spent;
           There lives the dearest freshness deep down things.  .  

        Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
            World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

     I hope Father Hopkins will forgive me for mangling his wonderful poem (I suggest taking the time to read the full text) – but you get the point, I hope: 

Life is precious
God’s creation is beautiful
Every day is a gift to be lived
God bless this day to you – and you to the day. 

                           --Pastor Mark     

   
All they ever talk about in church is money.

What I give is just between me and God.

The church spends too much.

My little offering doesn’t make any difference.

Nobody tithes anymore.

          Each of the above is demonstrably false.  Think about it for a moment.  Can you spot the mistakes? 

          Here are my responses (in agreement, by the way, with some very wise stewardship gurus):

All they ever talk about in church is money.

 (No we don’t – except for some TV ministries.  Ministers are very timid about money talk – unlike Jesus who talked about money much of the time.  Check it out in the Gospels.)

What I give is just between me and God.

(No it isn’t.  The matter is certainly a very personal one.  However, what you give to the mission and ministry of the church is between you, God, your fellow members, and every person served by your gifts. 

The church spends too much.

(No we don’t.  In fact, our church needs to spend more because there is so much more that we need to accomplish in the name of Jesus Christ.  We do probably spend more than we have – but this is a giving problem rather than a spending one.)

My little offering doesn’t make any difference.

(Your offering, large or small, matters a great deal!  Most stewardship gifts are on the smaller side.  Many small gifts – plus some larger ones – accomplish the church’s mission.)

Nobody tithes anymore.

(Yes, many Christians do tithe – give 10% of their income.  And in growing, passionate-for-mission churches, a majority of members are tithing.)

          That’s a lot of “money talk” – but as I said before, it is not really money we are talking about but faithfulness; we are thinking about being faithful with all that we have and all that we are.  Christ our Savior deserves that kind of faithfulness from you and from me.

          Fisk Memorial is a wonderful church with wonderful members.  I admire your enthusiasm, your love for one another and passion for the mission of Christ’s church.  You have treated me with great kindness.  But I have noticed that there are two things our church is particularly shy of:  Presence and resources for ministry.  Our pews should be – could be full.  .  . and likewise our offering plates.   What’s stopping us?

          I am praying, in the name of Christ Jesus our Lord, for great things at Fisk Memorial.

                        Peace and joy,

                            Pastor Mark