Church of Jesus Christ, Reconciler

Sermon Ecumenical Sunday Week of Prayer for christian Unity

2012-01-22T23:00:00.002-06:00

Following Jesus: Ecumenism Crisis and Leaving Our Nets

Jonah 3:1-5, 10 •

There is a tone of urgency in all the Scriptures we have justread. Something looms, it obscures allother activity and even the sense of future it overturns the present. We all have moments like this in ourlives. The moments where we can’t seebeyond the present situation and what that situation will bring. In these moments we know that this moment of turmoiland conflict will change something and could possibly change everything,nothing will be the same after the moment has passed. Sometimes we may anticipate this as a good,most of the time it brings dread: fear of the unknown and of what lies beyondthe horizon. We know something is comingwe know it will be here soon, and we can’t think about anything else, and ourstomach is in knots, and yet life forces us to continue on. A term for this is crisis.

Crisis Theology was one of the names given to the theologiesof a group of early 20^th century German Theologians, Karl Barth, PaulTillich, Rudolf Bultmann, who sought to recapturesomething of this Biblical urgency for the modern period sot that modern peoplecould recapture this sense of urgency as they encounter the Word of God againin Scripture and in thier lives. They, and their followers, were unable to keepthis sense of urgency. Andunderstandably we can’t live in the constant state of crisis. Crisis must come to a resolve of one kind oranother.

Revivalist Christianity and its American heirs inEvangelicalism also emphasize the role of urgency in Christian spirituality.This crisis can be summed up by the questions “Are you saved!” and “ If you were to die tonightwould you go to heaven?” The crisis isresolved for the individual when she or he says the prayer of repentanceentrusting one’s soul to Christ. However, the urgency is also maintained because there are many otherindividuals in the world, probably several this particular individual knows, mayhave never said the prayer of repentance and been saved! Our Gospel text is one of those used to showthat this urgency is biblical. Therevivalists amongst the Swedish Lutheran Pietist of my childhood knew that wewere all to be fishers of people, or men as I learnt it as a child. There was even a song that I will notattempt to sing for you but you may know it yourself and want to sing out innostalgia for Sunday school.

What are we to make of all these takes on the need forSpiritual crisis and urgency on this Ecumenical Sunday in the midst of the Weekof prayer for Christian unity? There wasa time when there was great energy and sense of urgency and crisis around repairingand reuniting the fractured fragmented reality of Christianity. This urgency has borne fruit that some of usexperienced this past week. At theBibles study this past Wednesday as Catholics and various Protestants gatheredtogether to prayer and read and discuss Scripture together, we were remindedthat in the memory of many of those present the very thing we were doing wouldhave been possible and seen as undesirable. In some sense the lack of urgency is a good thing, it means thatfollowers of Jesus Christ have let down some of the walls that were between usand while we are still divided we can reach out to each other across dividinglines. And so there was no crisis for any of us in being there, or so itseemed.

This question was asked at the Bible Study: What kind ofchange would have to occur among denominations, church bodies, Christiancommunities to bring about the unity Jesus prayed for in John 17:10-11.” Ifound difficult to answer and I felt our group side stepped the question. We were too enamored by what the ecumenicalmovement over the past 100 years had achieved in bringing about more or lessgood will between many Christian Groups. We wouldn’t allow our continued differences and visible division to beor remain a crisis. Rather we said thatwe were one in Christ even if there were differences, and still divisions andseparate worship. Now I don’t want todeny a truth we were affirming that the unity and oneness of the church is not synonymouswith uniformity and sameness. Even so there is still a crisis. Our disunity isn't simply about differencebut that we value and prefer our particular difference over that of others anddon’t think much of the organization or theology of that other Christian group. We stay apart because its fine to briefly do things with those who are different as long as we don’t need to change anything aboutour group and we can continue to view aspects of some other Christian group(Fundamentalist, Roman Catholic) as less Christian than our way of being anddoing things. In other words ourdivision is in part symptomatic that as a group we retain the sense that ourways is better and retain the right to have a negative view of the differentfunctioning of the other groups.

Now you may be asking what does this have to do with Jonah’sproclamation and Nineveh’s response, Paul’s exhortation to live in crisis forthe time is far gone, and Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom of God being athand and calling on some men who fish to drop everything and follow him? I’ll get that in a moment. First I need topoint out that all three passages the crisis is in part the experience of beingconfronted with the need to turn away from something, needing to let go. It is this leaving of the nets, living as ifwe are not morning or having possessions or married that I find relevant to ourcurrent ecumenical and Christian situation. It is in being asked to leave andlet that gives us a clue as to what it means to be part of Christ as his Bodythe church.

A noteworthy thing about this letting go and turning away isthat, with the exception of Nineveh, what is turned away from isn’t bad or evilor sin. Paul even indicates that behaving as though we are not has anything to do with those things oractivities, rather the needing to let go has to do with the moment of crisis weare in. Jesus isn’t calling Peter AndrewJames and John from fishing because it’s a wrong for them to fish but becauseof the moment, and they can’t both be Jesus’ disciples and fish. It seems to me that the ecumenical questionis the question of faith in Christ and thus about our crisis. There is an historical moment to ourexperience of this crisis. Christianityno longer has the sway it has; all of our denominations were formed in or wereheavily influenced by a time where Christianity was an unquestioned force inculture and society. It is likely thatour current crisis has less to do about the truths of our faith and more to dowith the habits differing groups each formed depending on the position we hadtaken in those Christian societies, or Christendom. These Christian societies have passed on orare passing away.

The reality is that our differences have meaning; ourdifferences may even exist for good reasons. Our differences may even be good things. Even so we may be called to lay them aside to follow Christ and be theChurch! But here comes the rub in ourrelations to other Christians: who can tell us what we must leave being to of Christ and be members of the body of Christ the Church, and what of that which we already hold and dothat is essential to our following Jesus and being the Church? There are claimsand counter claims! For RomanCatholicism they aren’t a denomination but simply the Church, the Pope is thesuccessor of Peter, the First among the apostles on whom the church was builtand is established according to Jesus’ words in Matthew. For many Baptists and other free church typesit is the local body of believers that is properly the church, bishops, popes,priest, pastors may be all well and good but they are the nets that can andoften should be laid down in order to follow Jesus. Who is correct? And that is merely among the thornier andobvious issues. I could probably spendhours even days listing all the ways Christians would come to differingconclusions on what they could drop and walk away from in following Jesus andbeing the church, and those things that mustbe retained. Perhaps at this moment whatis asked of us to let go that I or my group has a clue. Perhaps we are asked to let go of theassertion that all we need to agree on is that Jesus is Lord as the basis ofour unity! After all if that assertionis to be anything more than an empty net full of holes it needs to give us away of being in the world, both personally and corporately? Surely Jesus is Lord has practical content andwill have consequences in the world: tell us how we should live, even speak toour ritual lives. “Jesus is Lord” shouldtell us about our way of being together as community even form of worship. Or at least that is possible. Just as it is possible that there is acertain variety of ways to live Jesus as Lord, but it would seem then thatthose ways should be recognizable upon examination.

So yes I think we are on the edge of something on the Sea ofGalilee, and were all attempting to mend the nets of Christendom. And Christ is wandering in our midst callingus back to following and being church, that is fishing for people.

But what is this that the church is about? It’s about gathering and proclaiming. Jesus tends to use the gathering metaphorsfor God’s activity in the world and the activity of God’s people. God harvests, God fishes, God Gahters. We asthe body of Christ harvest, we fish with nets, we are to gather. This might be painful to hear in a time whenin the US, we followers of Christ can barely keep the people we have let alonegather those outside our walls. But Idon’t think this is a church growth or evangelism passage, these fishers ofpeople. Or at least it isn’t about thembut us, and what we are willing to do?

We gather if and whenwe follow, if and when we accept that we are in a state of crisis, and then canrespond in trust. This is perhaps where CrisisTheology and Evangelicalism miss the point about the urgency of God: God’s urgencyabout coming to rest and gaining peace. Wetend to face crisis and the urgent with frantic activity; by contrast there isa detachment and attentiveness to Jesus actions and Paul’s exhortation. Toaccept the crisis and the urgency is to let go, to drop everything and trust,trust God with it all. Even that thingyou think is all important for being a follower of Christ, which ensures thatyou are in the right place.

As Christians as followers of Jesus surely there is only onething to cling to, and that is Christ. That one thing means much more than simplyone thing. The body of Christ issingular and multiple, as we as bodies are made up of many parts but one beingthat moves together and exist as unified parts for the whole the body.

Our anxiety about unity being uniformity, our anxiety aboutlosing our distinctive, our anxiety about loosing our identity in Christ showsus that we are still on the shore with our nets. We have returned to our nets uncertain whatto do, we return in our anxiety. Thegrace and the truth is God doesn’t tire of coming to the Sea of Galilee. So Godcalls out to each of us and to all Christian groups “Come follow me.” Will you let go of everything and trust andfollow? On ly then will you gatherpeople only then will you be on the way to knowing where you should be and whatit means to be the church, and a follower of Christ. Amen

Ecumenical Sunday

2012-01-22T10:07:00.002-06:00

As we are in the midst of the week of prayer for christian Unity, take a moment if you aren't already familiar with some ecumenical organizations, There is of course the World Council of Churches, but also the National Council of Churches in the United States. Also there are other Regional and local groups, such as the Illinois Conference of Churches.
Also, take a moment to read this sermon by Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos Associate General Secretary – Faith and Order and Interfaith Relations National Council of Churches

Week of Prayer For Christian Unity, 2012

2012-01-18T17:40:00.000-06:00

Today begins the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The theme for 2012 is "we will be changed by the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ" This Year an ecumenical group from churches in Poland bring us this theme and materials for reflection and prayer. You can find Scriptures Meditations and prayers for each day of the next eight days at the Graymoor Ecumenical Institute's website We will be sharing tonight in an Ecumenical Bible Study at North Shore Baptist Church and on Sunday using the Lima liturgy in our worship as we pray in communion with the prayer of Jesus “that they all may be one” (John 17:21).You may find more details at on our Facebook page and Google+ page. Our Sunday worship will be at our usual time of 5 pm and our usual place the chapel at Immanuel Lutheran Church 1500 W Elmdale.

Sermon Preached Christmas Day at Shared Service with Immanuel Lutheran Church

2011-12-25T13:26:00.000-06:00

Nativity of Our Lord YearB Proper III

Isaiah 52:7-10 • Psalm 98 • Hebrews 1:1-4, (5-12) • John 1:1-14

A ChristmasSermon: Beyond Speech

Today Godreturns to Zion in a most peculiar way, by becoming human. Today God joins God’s self to God’screation. In this God proclaims peace.In this God speaks to us in order that we may be freed from what burdensus. This word, this speech, is light indarkness. God comes that we may see, andnot stumble around. But the God of theentire universe, the source of it all, comes in a most peculiar way – likeevery other human being, as an infant.

There is amystery here. Mystery, meaning not justthat this is beyond comprehension or something we must attempt to puzzle out,but something upon which we are too contemplate. This is something that should arrest ourattention like a painting or work of art.

Think of theearth, with its forest and deserts, oceans plains, mountains, rivers and lakes.Think of all the animals and planets - the intricacy of the habitats. Think of the food you eat, what sustains youand gives you life. Just this planet andthe life here is amazing and beautiful. Think of the moon that affects thetides that lights up the night, and then think of the Sun its warmth and lightthat makes life possible on this planet that orbits the sun.

Think of theother planets that orbit this star we call the sun. Our solar system is simply one of many thatmake up the Galaxy in which we live, which we see in our night sky as the MilkyWay. Then think of all the Galaxies in the universe, the images our telescopesbring back to us of what is out there in this vast universe. Think of all that was spun into existence outof the big bang, as our universe began.

Think thenof the one beyond all that, the one before there could be a before, the Beginning.Think of this one who spoke all into being, the very reason for existence andlife. This one we call God who exertedno energy but created energy, the one who made all ages and things, the veryuniverse. This one wants to speak to us.This one has spoken. This one wants to enlighten us; this one wants to free usfrom our burdens, our sin. This onebeyond all time and being and existences, comes to our aid, in our darkness andconfusion and speaks softly with caring. This one doesn’t come to crush,doesn’t come in terror but comes with words of peace.

This onebeyond all things, source of all things, the one who is the speech that spokeall into being, comes and becomes what this one created, by becoming Jesus ofNazareth, joining God’s self to God’s creation, forever. This is the one who is source and sustainerof all things, joins what this one created and sustains.

Does thatarrest your attention, isn’t this something worthy of a life time ofcontemplation, and rapture. This should turn all our thinking on its head, thata baby 2000 year ago in a back water territory of the Roman Empire, was theincarnation of God. The one beyond allthought and being and power, the very source, the very life of all things, isjoined with matter. This one comes inthis way to be with us to enlighten us to lift our burdens, and say you are notalone, I Am. Come into my light, stepout of your confusion, you don’t need to stumble around and hurt yourself andothers. And yet we still do. We in various ways turn aside from this lightfrom this astounding thing that the God who spoke all things into being isjoined forever with matter, with human flesh.

Yet this changeseverything. God has become one of us in Jesus Christ. This one born of the Virgin Mary is laid in afeeding trough. This one was fromconception the Son of God, the Word, the light of light, the very intimate speechof God to God’s creation. Listen, attend here is the beginning and the entiretyof wisdom, our enlightenment and liberation.

Worship Service this Sunday

2011-07-27T15:59:00.000-05:00

There will be no worship service at 5 pm this Sunday July 31. Our services resume at their usual time of 5 pm on Sunday August 7th.

Pastor's Office Hours over the Summer

2011-06-24T12:47:00.000-05:00

from June 27 through September 9th Pastor Larry Kamphausen will not be keeping his regular Office Hours at Metropolis Coffee and the Coffee Studio. If you would like to or need to meet with Pastor Larry please contact him at the church's e-mail or by phone to set up an appointment.

Worship the next two Sundays

2011-06-23T14:38:00.000-05:00

This Sunday June 26th Our 5 pm worship is a service of Evening Prayer and Holy Eucharist. This is a more meditative service that includes a time of meditation and discussion together on the Scriptures read in place of a sermon.

The following Sunday July 3rd we will not be having our regular 5 pm service. We will resume with our regular worship on Sunday July 10th.

Summer Worship Schedule- June - August

2011-06-16T13:20:00.002-05:00

Sunday June 19 (Holy Trinity Sunday and Fathers Day) - 5 pm. Holy Eucharist (using adapted Lima Liturgy)

Sunday June 26- 5 pm, Evening Prayer with Holy Eucharist

Sunday July 3- no worship service.

Sunday July 10- 5 pm. Holy Eucharist (using adapted Lima Liturgy)

Sunday July 17- 5 pm. Holy Eucharist (using adapted Lima Liturgy)

Sunday July 24- 5 pm, Evening Prayer with Holy Eucharist

Sunday July 31- 5 pm. Holy Eucharist (using adapted Lima Liturgy)

Sunday August 7- 5 pm. Holy Eucharist (using adapted Lima Liturgy)

Sunday August 14- 5 pm, Holy Eucharist (using adapted Lima Liturgy)

Sunday August 21- 5 pm. Evening Prayer with Holy Eucharist

Sunday August 28- 5 pm. Holy Eucharist (using adapted Lima Liturgy)

Sunday September 4 (Labor Day Weekend) - 5 pm, Evening Prayer with Holy Eucharist

Sermon for the Fifth Sunday in Easter: In Two Worlds

2011-05-23T12:21:00.000-05:00

Acts 7:55-60 • Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16 • 1 Peter 2:2-10 • John 14:1-14

Another prediction of the Rapture and the world’s end has come and gone. And we read of Jesus promising to return, a proof text one can appeal to in bolstering a belief in the Rapture. Yet what we is there is Jesus’ promises to be present, to prepare a place for us, to bring us to the Father. We proclaim faith each week In Jesus’ return, and of continuing life in the World to come. In the face of such predictions and their failure to come true what are we to make of it all? This world and the world to come, God coming to us, our coming to God. The prediction of the Rapture had a very clear distinction between what is to come and what is now, the world to come and this world. Yet if we look at Jesus’ promise of Presence and coming are not clearly divided realities, that can be predicted, one age ends and at that very moment the next begins. Our texts this evening don’t use the world “world” and yet this is about “world”. For those who expect the rapture “worlds” are mutually exclusive, there is no overlap. Yet even our word “world” can be about perspective, a way of thinking and being: Thus we can speak about the “Medieval World” that existed in this same world, that is the earth, at a particular time. What our text suggests is that to realities, two worlds overlap, the world of the kingdom of God which is coming, and the world that is passing away and will come to an end.

The account of the stoning of Stephen the deacon the first martyr of the church shows us this. As he finishes his verbal witness and becomes a witness in death, he sees Jesus Christ on the right hand of God the Father. That is he sees the end of the age and has entered the age to come. For Stephen he is in two worlds and for him the one world will completely overtake the other even as those around him will live in one or the other or both. Saul (soon also to be known as Paul) stands and approves his death in the world that is passing away. The Church lives in one and both, facing people and rulers of this age, but having entered the world to come who now experience Christ’s promises spoken in John. The icon of Saint Stephen, the first martyr, shows him only as he is in heaven in worship, whose blood as martyr was a founding moment for the Church. St. Stephen serves (he is one of the first deacons, servants) at the throne and altar of God. In contemplating this icon we are lead to think little of his life in this age, and this world, and see Stephen as he stood being stoned already in the next age the World to come where The Kingdom of God is fully present, where Christ is at the right had of God, the Father.

Through the Spirit, in Baptism and at the Eucharist we are present now in the world and age to come. We stand with Stephen the first Martyr, in the age to come where Christ is at the Right hand of God the Father. We are promised that eventually, soon, this coming age where the world will see and know this about Jesus and God, and we will experience God’s presence with us at all times, will be the only world to exist, that the current world that is passing away, will cease to be. The place of ambiguity and death, and power struggles, and deception will fall away, and give way to the fullness of God in the world. And we how are in Christ will be caught up into this world and the presence of God on the Throne in the Heavens. And in some sense each Sunday we are already so caught up, we are ruptured into the presence of Christ as we offer our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving (Eucharist) offering bread and wine that and we eat of Christ’s body and blood as bread and wine.

In a sense for us and Stephen the world has ended. We already live in the age to come by the power of the Spirit, what we await is not the end but the full presence of what we already taste and the reality we have access to through Christ and the spirit through baptism and Eucharist. We are to live lives that witness to the presence of this new world where God’s Justice is the only justice, where God’s grace is experience by all and fills all things. We are all to be martyrs, to witness to the world that we have come from the presence of God and have seen Jesus Christ at the right hand of God the father.

We are in the world but are of the world to come. Amen.

Summary of the Study: Christ Haunted Soul- Bob Dylan and the American Religious experience pt 1

2011-05-05T16:07:00.000-05:00

Six of us gathered at Nathan's place around 6:30 for good food and drink and we hung out and talked and two more people eventually showed up.

Introduction: Opened with finding out how little or much those gathered knew about Bob Dylan and his music. Most were passingly familiar, a couple who were fans of his music, one or two not really familiar at all with Dylan. We began with talking about the difficulty of pinning Dylan down. Dylan is an artist adverse to giving explanation for his work and its meaning. He is Jewish and he did convert to some form of Christianity before the three albums Slow Train Coming, Saved, and Shot of Love, we surveyed. It is unclear whether he continued in some form of Christian faith, returned to Judaism, or something else. This ambiguity is part of what the title of the study distinguishing between Christianity and the American Religious Experience and yet the ways in which those to are also deeply related. Dylan also plays in a large variety of genres of American popular music. In the 1960's many of those engaged in protest saw him as a spokesperson for a generation and a prophetic voice. He has both denied this and affirmed this. The three overtly religious and Christian albums produced after he converted to Christianity give an excellent way of exploring both the ways in which Dylan plays with language of faith (Christian) and use of Scriptures both Jewish and Christian, as well as Dylan’s musical versatility. As we listen we should be aware that Bob Dylan is Jewish and the complexity and ambiguity of Dylan's "faith." His conversion is a issue but also illustrates both the way that American Religion can be distinguished from Christianity but is also closely linked to Christianity.

Lyrics are available, but in part I would argue it is these as songs, so the music style is key. Pay attention not only to the words but what you feel in the music and in the lyrics. We should perhaps pay equal attention to what we don’t hear as well as what we do. Questions that I find interesting here, is how Scripture is woven into his music. Also the question of what sort of Christianity is it we find in these three albums, is it the same. Lastly we should perhaps in this study be explicit we may ask the question of what Bob Dylan believes, but be open to the real possibility that Dylan’s music doesn’t give us Dylan’s faith even in these most explicit of albums. Dylan’s Judaism also should be kept in mind I think even in these albums that are produced after his conversion to Christianity. It is also worthy of note that it is somewhat uncertain what his current faith is.

Slow Train Coming (1979):
Track 1 -Gotta Serve Somebody- Focus on Rich and poor any station in life. Declares a chose "Devil or the lord" you will serve somebody, but leaves it opened as to how one knows or even which is better. Can be read as simply metaphor of serving the good verses serving evil systems. more Biblical allusion ("Can't server God and Mammon...") than direct citation or use.
Track 4,the Title Track,Slow Train Coming - Concern for social justice, much of the song seems very contemporary. Hard to find overt scriptural or Christian connotations. However, in terms of American popular Christianity modes of transportation are metaphors for Eschatology and the end either of the end of life or end of the world. Possible allusion to Wisdom (as a woman) as manifest in Martin Luther King Jr.

Saved (1980):
Track 2 Saved, title track- Shocking to some. Seems to be such a departure from Bob Dylan's Characteristic traits of layered meaning and ambiguity. Definitely Gospel. If listen to the full album it does seem to have the ark of a Gospel and/or Charismatic/Pentecostal worship service. This is a song of thanksgiving for what God has personally done for the worshiper. This is overtly religious. He does take up themes of being saved in ways consistent with his other work. But it is a Gospel song and a Gospel album, and is a bit of a departure.
Track 7, In the Garden,- Takes up the Passion of Life of Christ, through asking the question. Reminded a number of us of various hymns and the Spiritual Were You there When they Crucified my Lord." There is the element of inviting to identify with those who would have seen Jesus before his death and resurrection. We talked about why so identifying is important and how it can be a distraction from the meaning of our faith for our day to day life now.

Shot of Love (1981):
Track 1 Shot of Love, Title track- Feels more like Dylan. Gritty, and not always clear. Not overtly religious, or even clear references or even allusions to Scripture. Who is the doctor. Is this about romantic love or Divine Love. Could reference to doctor and health be allusions to God as physician, and Christ language of being a physician who comes to the sick?
Track 10 Every Grain of Sand - Seems a great contrast to Saved. Again feels more like Dylan that the album Saved. One maybe two Scriptural allusions/references, Story of Cain in the bible, and possibly an allusion to the parable and the Seed and the sower, Weeds choking out the seedlings and sun drying up the seedlings in rocky soil. Possibly an articulation of a maturation of the faith expressed in the previous two albums. Faith that sees God at work even in struggles. a letting go of an expectation of dramatic works of God in ones life, recognizing God maybe works more subtly as often as not.

Next Study and Gathering: A Christ-Haunted Soul

2011-04-27T15:57:00.000-05:00

Tuesday May 3rd, Potluck and Study:

A Christ-Haunted Soul: Bob Dylan and the American Religious Experience (Follow link for location and other details)

An Exploration Christian Faith and American religion through the music of Bob Dylan, using as a launching pad Dylan’s three “Christian Albums”: Slow Train Coming, Saved, and Shot of Love. This is an exploration of Christian Religious themes as interpreted by Dylan through out his work, and as expressed in the American experience. Teasing out how both Dylan’s interpretation fits with the American Religious experience and how both Dylan and American Christianity connect up and depart from a historic and catholic and orthodox Christian faith. No one here will be an expert come and listen, ask questions, give your answers. We’ll have a good time.

God Weeps: Sermon for the Fifth Sunday in Lent

2011-04-15T13:34:00.001-05:00

Readings:
Ezekiel 37:1-14 • Psalm 130 • Romans 8:6-11 • John 11:1-45

Sermon:

Desire, Thirst, and Living Water: Sermon for the Third Sunday in Lent

2011-03-29T22:36:00.000-05:00

Readings:
Exodus 17:1-7 • Psalm 95 • Romans 5:1-11 • John 4:5-42

Sermon:

Sermon for the First Sunday in Lent

2011-03-19T14:55:00.003-05:00

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami responce

2011-03-18T15:17:00.004-05:00

Bellow are a couple of links to Church agencies partnering with agencies relief agencies in Japan. If you are looking for a place to send money for aid in disaster relief these are reliable organizations:

Covenant World Relief

And

ELCA Disaster Relief

Schedule of Services

2011-03-18T15:01:00.002-05:00

Worship at Reconciler:

Sunday March 20 - Lent 2: Evening Prayer with Eucharist

Sunday March 27 - Lent 3: Eucharist - Adapted Lima Liturgy

Sunday April 3-Lent 4(Leatare): Eucharist -Adapted Lima Liturgy

Sunday April 10 Lent 5: Child inclusive service

Sunday April 17 Palm/Passion Sunday: Procession of the Palms and Reading of the Passion.

(For Holy Week and Easter follow this link)

May 1 2 Easter- Eucharist -Adapted Lima Liturgy

May 8 3 Easter- Evening Prayer with Eucharist

May 15 4 Easter - Eucharist -Adapted Lima Liturgy

May 22 5 Easter -Eucharist -Adapted Lima Liturgy

Holy Week and Easter Services

2011-03-18T15:00:00.000-05:00

Holy Week and Easter

Joint Services with Immanuel; St Elias; and St. Francis.

Holy Week

Holy Monday April 18:
Spoken Eucharist -passion according to Matthew, 7:30 pm

Holy Tuesday April 19:

Spoken Eucharist -the passion according to Luke, 7:30 pm

Holy Wednesday April 20:
Spoken Eucharist -the passion according to Mark

The Three Days
Maundy Thursday, April 21:
Maundy Thursday service 7:30 pm
Service of foot washing and Holy Communion

Good Friday, April 22:
Good Friday service 7:30
Adoration of the Cross

Easter Vigil, Saturday April 23:
Easter Vigil 8:30 pm* (Note: new time this year)
with Batisms and Affirmation of Baptism, champagne reception

Easter Sunday April 24:
Easter Sunday Service 10:30 am

Easter breakfast at 9:00 am
Easter Egg hunt at 9:45 am

*this is a correction from Previous announcement, which stated erroneously that the Easter Vigil would be at 7:30 p.m.

Lenten Series on Spiritual Pracitces

2011-03-16T17:29:00.002-05:00

This Lent together with Immanuel Lutheran Church, St. Elias Christian Church, and the Community of St. Francis we are having a series on Spiritual Practices on Wednesday evenings.

The evening starts at 6:00 p.m. with Lenten Soup supper, followed at 7:00 pm with Lectio Divina.

At 7:30 p.m. there will be presentations on 5 different Spiritual Practices appropriate to the season of Lent.

March 16th focus on Fasting

March 23rd focus on Lectio Divina

March 30th focus on Giving/Alms/Tithing

April 6th focus on Walking Meditation: Labyrinth

April 13th focus on Walking Meditation: Stations of the Cross.

Ash Wednesday Sermon: Tearing Open Our Hearts

2011-03-10T14:25:00.003-06:00

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 • Psalm 51:1-17 • 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 • Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Sermon:

Sermon for the Sunday of the Transfiguration

2011-03-06T21:33:00.000-06:00

Exodus 24:12-18 • Psalm 2 or Psalm 99 • 2 Peter 1:16-21 • Matthew 17:1-9

Sermon:

Reconciliation, Ecumenism, Missional, and Martyrdom

2010-12-28T13:26:00.000-06:00

In this season of Christmas I have been thinking a bit about the name of this worshiping community. As we started Church of Jesus Christ, Reconciler we chose the name for two reasons: First we wanted to be clear that in starting this ecumenical congregation we weren't reconciling our denominations,but we were lead to this because we ourselves had already through various ways, including the work of the World Council of Churches had found that Jesus Christ was already accomplishing this reconciliation. Second, was that we felt lead not only to be a place of reconciliation between denominations, but a place where people who had felt or were alienated from the church and God due to the devisions and actions of fellow Christians could hear again the message of reconciliation and be so reconciled.

As those of you who have been part of Reconciler know, the institutional and denominational aspects of our original vision never materialized: We were unable to recruit from congregations of our respective denominations, and our idea of affiliating as a congregation with the three denominations of the three original pastors hasn't come to fruition and for the past year we have been functioning with the understanding that this will probably never happen.

What did happen was that we became a place for a few who had been alienated from God and the church to find their way to us and find a place where they could find God and Christ and participate in the life of the church. This has meant that some people have been apart of our worshiping community for a time and moved on to other things.

I have come to see Reconciler as an outpost in our urban post-Christian, post-Christendom culture and society. A place of interchange and sending: sometimes sending people deeper into our emergent cultural reality and sometimes sending people back into the institutional realities of the Christian landscape. Those of us who remain seem to be moving back and forth between an ever shifting cultural landscape and the massive and firm institutions and identities of our denominations, that in fact make possible this little outpost on the edge, or in the midst of emergence.

What we didn't see six and seven years ago, was that most congregations of whatever denomination already bear the fruit of a century of ecumenical work, cooperation, dialog. What ever one may feel about the weakening of a strong sense of denominational loyalty and identity among laity, and however lamentable the lack of awareness of the work of the World Council of Churches and other ecumenical endeavors, I firmly believe that on some level this dissolution of impermeable membranes of denominations for the laity is largely due to ecumenism. Perhaps not what we heady ecumenists thought would be the fruit, but it is the fruit nonetheless. When our institutions stopped (for the most part) claiming to be the Truth, when we began to admit that those other believers in Jesus just might also know God and Christ (however imperfectly from our perspective) it perhaps was inevitable (in conjunction with other cultural factors such as our high degree of mobility), that many would find denominational distinction and loyalty unnecessary. In any case in talking to pastors from across denominational lines and a high proportion of pastors in my own denomination, a growing number parishes and congregations in Protestantism are ecumenical congregations. Institutionally and in name they may be from a particular denomination and call pastors only from that denomination but the backgrounds and even theology the laity bring with them is often not that of the denomination of the congregation. I think this is something to celebrate and not lament, though it is lamentable if we don't seize this opportunity and allow the situation to simply be a of watering down our theology so as to never reveal possible differences in our congregations.

That though is another post: What the above means is that we probably had our original idea of bringing members together from differing denominations because it was actually already happening: getting laity from differing protestant denominations to worship together really was a fairly tame idea, as Protestant laity were already choosing to do so, choosing a congregation based on other things than theology and denominational identity and loyalty.

However, does this mean we are all reconciled now! Hardly, there are other divisions some emerging others that have always been there, modernist/liberal vs. fundamentalist/conservative, racial and ethnic, class etc. I think to some degree the ignoring of denominational loyalty is in part due to various realignments in american religion.

What all this means for Reconciler and our vision is that what we are left with is being open to God's reconciling work in Jesus Christ. A place where some are willing to retain institutional connections while also fully engaging a culture society and Christian landscape in transition and emergence.

The common institutional form of the congregation as articulated in most denominational structures isn't isn't suited for this sort of space of inbetween, border and outpost (the experience of Reconciler seems to indicate). The American denomination and congregation is a worshiping community plus, as often as not with emphasis on the plus. Much good has come from this understanding and in certain contexts still is an important expression of the church. But what if Christian faith and the faith of the church and the work of the church is always already simply worship, and being sent from those gathered together as a doxological community. This too isn't new, the trendy term missional is attached to such an idea. but mission and missional are perhaps too freighted with colonial baggage, too activist oriented, too certain that we who are sent aren't the ones in need of reconciliation. Even missional is too tied to Christendom and has difficulty grasping that our sending, our suffering, our work is our reconciliation and our salvation. As protestants we forget that as important as God's declaration and accomplishment of our justification, salvation and reconciliation in the blood of Christ Cross is, it is in our own living out the work of Christ in the world that we bring to completion the work of Christ. This is martyrdom. We the gathered and sent people of God are the space the locus of God working out what God accomplished in Jesus Christ. Our very lives are to be the place of reconciling work of Christ. The Martyrs in their deaths and witness were completing and filling out the suffering of Christ, which is the means of our reconciliation with each other and to God.

Not all Christians even in the early church were called to martyrdom, not all are called to these boundary spaces in our current cultural landscape, but some of us are, some of us need these spaces to be able to encounter Christ again for the first time. Some of us need them for our own reconciliation, so that we may fulfill and fill out Christ's passion, that we may find our selves reconciled to God and our fellow human beings. This I believe is the charism that has emerged around this idea and Name Church of Jesus Christ, Reconciler. More on where this charism may lead us in the next month.

Christmas Day Sermon: A Dissonant Joy

2010-12-25T13:32:00.003-06:00

This is a season of joy! It is Christmas. Yet there is unhappiness all around, this nice story some certainly think is full of holes. A child in a manger, all this supposed hullabaloo about one particular baby. And if we attempt to make this event and Jesus Christ fit all of Isaiah’s prophesies it doesn’t quite seem to add up to this, the Christ, born of obscure parents, in a feeding trough. The child come, God come as a child, it resonates, and yet it is discordant with the anticipations. So what are we to do with this dissonance, this story that strains credibility? Part of what to do is to remember as our texts this morning remind us that on this the feast of the Nativity we aren’t simply at the stable in Bethlehem, we aren’t even at one point in history. What prophets and those who write about Christ’s coming after, leave us with is irresolution. It doesn’t fit; we may even cringe a bit, but this isn’t the whole of it, we are to go on from here to something else.

Such joy is expressed in Isaiah, such overwhelming awe in Hebrews and John. Yet there is dissonance and irresolution. I want to say that Christmas Joy is found in this dissonance. That the joy of Christmas is knowing that God comes in such an unlikely way in such an unlikely place that even as God’s prophets foretell they also shrink from what comes. This is great joy but it leaves us unsettled or at least it should. God’s coming is a great joy, but God’s coming doesn’t let us alone. God’s coming, walking in our midst, and being one of us means that we are unsettled, perhaps even a bit disappointed.

Christmas as a child was like this: my anticipation of what gifts I might have. Wrapping paper hiding what was underneath. Very rarely did the gift match my anticipation of it, even if it was something I wanted. Do I remember the particular gifts of all those Christmas’ now; do I remember the particular disappointments? No, what I do remember is the love, the celebration, the family and friends and church gathered to celebrate our salvation. This is what I remember. Christmas as a child was certainly focused on the gifts, but since they were given in celebration of God’s gift of becoming one of us, the disappointments, the frustrations, the contradictions of those celebrations dissolve and what I remember is joy and love.

As with the gifts of my childhood, what we have in this gift of God as one of us, in this gift foretold by the prophets and announced to us by the apostles isn’t ever exactly what we want or expect. Yet how could it be. We have God, the one who in the beginning created the Heavens and the earth. The light before there was light, the one who shines forth in darkness and from which we who are in darkness shrink, as our eyes are unaccustomed to the light, and its brightness.

We are God’s own because we are God’s creation, God came and we failed to receive God. But God knew this; this was not a surprise to God, though we think it surprising. For we sit here and we see an infant and think how delightful, how cute. But really how blinding, how terrifying, God, comes to us helpless, vulnerable, as one of us, now joined to God’s creation, joined to matter and human flesh. Better God come as Isaiah sees it obvious without ambiguity, without complexity, just the simplicity of God’s otherness that will shake us out of our sleep and stupor.

But God comes to us joyfully in the new life of an infant, in poverty and homeless. God comes even knowing our rejection, and God calls to us through all the pain and suffering and violence of life and calls us into Joy. God asks us to receive this horror with joy, asks us to be moved from ourselves, to come shielding our eyes into the light, to come out of ourselves, to be other, to receive this one who is both one of us and not like us at all!

Do not think the joy proclaimed today is the merely comfort and harmony already achieved, a joy of already being who we are. No today’s joy is the revelation of dissonance between what is and what should be, between our desires and what will be and what comes. The joy of this season is the joy of being sent on our way. It is the joy of true ecstasy, of being taken out of ourselves. For God became other than divine, became human a creation, other than God’s self, to be with us, so we are called out of ourselves, to be other than we are so that we may be truly ourselves.

Oh what joy that reveals such dissonance, that makes us aware of a harmony we have yet to reach. In Christmas Joy we are not only waiting but propelled forward in joy, a joy we must allow to well up in us in order to face what is still ahead. For this is just the beginning. We can’t stop here. If we think this is the point, if we think the birth of Jesus of Nazareth is what brings peace on earth, and good will, we will be disappointed. But like the trinkets of Christmas in my childhood this gift of an infant and a birth aren't the point, the cross and the tomb are already here, The holy innocents are just around the corner.

Our joy is not about resolution, but that God has come and sends us on our way that we are brought beyond ourselves that the Gospel creates in us longings for things other than what is, and other we are. God comes and says if you can accept this you are more than you think you are. Come journey grow with me. Come into the light and see that you are not who you think you are. What Joy, what joy of being freed from our imaginations, and anticipations, and invited into the actuality of a God who became human, that we may be other than ourselves that we may become divine! God becomes human, like us, that we may be come like God, divine. Alleluia, Christ is born. May Christ continually be born in us, alleluia!

Services during the Season of Christmas

2010-12-20T11:16:00.002-06:00

On December 26th we will be having our regular service at 5 p.m.

For First (December 26th and Second Sundays (January 2nd) of Christmas our services will be Evening Prayer with Holy Communion.

In place of a sermon there will be an opportunity to meditate and reflect together on the Scriptures.

Christmas

2010-12-20T11:14:00.001-06:00

We will be having joint services with the Immanuel campus congregations:

December 24th Christmas Eve. 6:00 p.m.

December 25th Christmas day 10:30 a.m.

Rejoice: Sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent

2010-12-12T23:18:00.002-06:00

Readings for the Third Sunday of Advent:

Sermon:

Posting Audio of sermons

2010-12-08T21:42:00.003-06:00

Some how ended up being over a month behind in posting the audio of sermons preached.

Here are two posted today: Sunday October 17th and Sunday October 24th. The rest to follow soon.

Christmas Services

2010-12-07T11:56:00.009-06:00

Christmas Eve Candle light service at 6:00 p.m.

Christmas Day 10:30 a.m.

Sermon on the First Sunday of Advent

2010-11-28T21:42:00.000-06:00

Readings:

Sermon:

Advent Photographic meditations

2010-11-27T10:02:00.003-06:00

The Covenant Church asked photographers in the denomination to submit photographic meditations on the lectionary texts for each Sunday of Advent. The passage chosen for the first Week of Advent starting this Sunday is Isaiah 2:1-5. You can find the meditations here.

this Friday and Sunday

2010-11-04T12:00:00.003-05:00

Friday November 5th:

Theology on Tap at Moody's pub, 5910 N. Broadway. We are meeting at 7:30 p.m. Topic Saints and Sainthood.

Sunday November 7th:

All Saints Sunday joint service with Immanuel Lutheran Church, St. Elias Christian Church, Community of St. Francis at 10:30 a.m.

There will be no service at 5 p.m. on Sunday November 7th. Our services at 5 p.m. resume on Sunday November 14 with Evening Prayer and Eucharist.

Technical Difficulties

2010-11-02T11:00:00.002-05:00

We apologize for the sermon's recently posted both of which started playing upon coming to the site. As is perhaps obvious we have fixed the problem.

Sermon for the Twenty Second Sunday after Pentecost

2010-10-24T21:20:00.000-05:00

Sermon for the Twenty First Sunday After Pentecost

2010-10-17T20:59:00.002-05:00

Series on the Church Year

2010-10-13T13:32:00.005-05:00

Starting this Saturday October 16th in preparation for Walking the Church Year our joint adult Christian formation with the Immanuel Campus congregations we are having a three part series on the Church Year.
3:30 p.m. Immanuel Lutheran Church 1500 W Eldale in the Olin Center/Library.

October 16: Sunday and Easter: Resurrection as center of church Calender

October 23: Advent and Lent: Waiting and Fasting

October 30: Christmas, Epiphany, Pentecost and ordinary Time: Incarnation and Discipleship.

Child care is provided for all three sessions.

A short Bibliography can be found here

Salvation in the Borderlands

2010-10-10T23:33:00.001-05:00

Scripture Readings:

Sermon:

All You Need to Have Faith:

2010-10-03T22:58:00.003-05:00

Scripture Readings: Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4:Psalm 37:1-9:2 Timothy 1:1-14:Luke 17:5-10
Sermon:

The Chasm Between Us: Sermon 18th Sunday After Pentecost

2010-09-27T22:37:00.007-05:00

Readings: Amos 6:1-7; Psalm 146; 1 Timothy 6:6-19 ; Luke 16:19-31

Sermon:

The Everlasting Dwelling: Sermon for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time after Pentecost

2010-09-20T21:04:00.004-05:00

Failed to record the sermon on Sunday. What follows is a manuscript based on the outline I used for the sermon.

Amos 8:4-7 ;Psalm 113; 1 Timothy 2:1-7; Luke 16:1-13

We generally identify with and are identified by those with whom we associate. This is how communities function and form. Are we, am I, part of this group or that? Who gets to say who is in and who is out? Who decides the boundaries? Currently before us is how do we create a pluralist society of tolerance? Is such a society even desirable? To create a homogeneous society or a pluralist one both require some control of association: Moderate Christian’s and Moslems are encouraged to distance themselves from what is labeled as the dangerous and fringe elements of their own religious communities. Diversity has its own limits and boundaries it would seem. What community do you belong to the Christian one or the progressive or conservative one? In response to such questions we hyphenate our selves to admit that we may have more than a singular identity. We become attached to these hyphenated identities and one side of the hyphenation will insist on dominance and so Christians as often as not try to assert their progressive credentials or their conservative credentials. Rarely is the question asked if such activity distorts our witness and Christian identity. Yet what is this Christian identity, should one even seek to identify with Christianity and the Church? Isn’t it better to modify that identity by other values and ideologies? I wonder are we too attached to our identities whether Christian, or American or conservative or progressive, or Queer, or straight, male or female, or androgynous? In becoming attached to our identities do we limit our ability to pray for all people and to make friends for ourselves universally? In being so attached to our identities are we not binding ourselves exclusively to certain economies of truth and ideology? We are seeking permanent homes for ourselves and in the midst of this search Jesus Says “Make Friends for yourselves by means of unjust wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the everlasting dwelling.” Jesus concludes the puzzling parable of the unjust manager. Do we as followers of Christ seek to make friends in the way the unjust manager has? Are we too? If we are to do so, what might that look like, and how may it change our engagement with the world?

Paul enjoins Pray for all people, especially for Emperors and those in positions of authority as a means of engagement with the world and those with whom we live in the world. This sort of prayer instills in us an attitude and mindset. In prayer I have friendship and commerce with the world through petitions addressed towards God. Prayer acknowledges that God is at work in the world and cares for what and whom we pray. Prayer says we care for what and whom we pray. Prayer is an attitude of friendship. Prayer affects the world through the acts of God and by creating in ourselves a mindset of Friendship towards those for whom we pray. Thus Paul enjoins us to pray for all people to not draw away from those who wield power and who can and do wish us harm. We are through this prayer for all, as a church, to dwell in the world in peace, quiet, piety and dignity. We are not to abase ourselves, nor war against the world, nor add to the chaos of the world, but in confidence engage the world without attachment to these powers and authorities. That is to love the world freely across all boundaries and walls.

Parable of the unjust manager is a story one who crosses all sorts of boundaries. Jesus’ parable is tricky and it refuses to be tied down to a singular meaning. We are thrown by this parable it upends our expectations and our sense of morality and ethics, it causes us to struggle with why Jesus tells this parable and what it tells us to do. It is helpful to remember that parables are not meant to map directly onto a desired action or ethical scenario. Parables are to encounter us and shake us up in order to move us into a place of transformation. So we have multiple possible meanings and are to look for the one thing we are to look for that holds the multiple meanings together. For this parable it is the shrewdness, or the mind set of the unjust manager. The shrewd and unethical behavior shakes us up, disables our ability to judge what we are to take from the parable. We are confronted with things we want to be, and which are disrupted by the story having dishonorable character as the exemplary character. The unjust manager is not loyal to his master or anyone but his own survival. He is unconcerned about wealth, or communities (households). He simply wants to be able to live without begging or back breaking work. He does so by ensuring that no matter his reputation he will have a place to live, because the other heads of households will be indebted to him for saving them money, by having forgiven part of their debt. The unjust manager is not seeking for someone to be loyal to, or to work for again but for a number of households and communities to be friendly towards him and take him in when he is in need, even if they know he is a cheat and a swindler. He has guaranteed that for a time at least in each household he will have a place to stay.

What then is the attitude of the unjust manager that we are to have ourselves as disciples of Jesus? The unjust manager has an attitude of non-attached engagement. Non-attached engagement is the mind set we are to adopt. This is the attitude of God towards the world that is shown in the incarnation. God becomes both human and divine and thus in some sense neither purely divine, nor purely human. God becomes disloyal to God’s own divinity, in order to make friends with God humanity and the whole of creation! We are to take seriously the world in which we live and others we meet and inhabit the world with, just as God did in incarnating in the person of Jesus Christ. Like an unjust manager who has no loyalty to his master but knows the value of things and relationships that can be formed through material things, so we are to value the world we live in but for the purpose of making relationships that are not bounded by any household, or community or economy monetary or ideological.

God in Jesus Christ embraces all things. God is the unjust manager, we too are called to have this carelessness about households and community loyalties, so that all may have dwellings into the ages of ages. The continued dwelling of all forever require this attitude, this shrewd dealing with ourselves and the whole world as non-attached engagement. To seek relationship with all to be at peace retaining our dignity as human beings requires us to transcend ourselves to be simultaneously spiritual and physical. This can be so because God is the unjust manager when God joined God’s self to the material world in Jesus Christ becoming human and divine and thus pure neither. God in order to embrace the whole world in love abandons God’s pure and singular identity, becomes disloyal to that which is spirit. The identity of the church then is a friendship with all that is truly catholic, i.e. embracing all universal and disrupt all loyalties but values persons and communities but in the valuing remains unattached to any particular community or economy. The goal of this is that all may come to know the truth of God love that lead God to care nothing for Gods own identity as God freely became one with humanity and all creation for eternity, dwelling in the love of God.

Reconciler and Parable of the Unjust Steward: Possibly a preview of Sunday's Sermon

2010-09-17T17:27:00.005-05:00

I am challenged by what Reconciler has become. Over the years we have had to shed a number of things we thought important and necessary for an ecumenical congregation to function. What I am challenged by is the realization that those things we have shed are those things that would have allowed a firm identity for Reconciler, but also created an ecumenism that was relatively self contained if also possibly reproducible. But such self containment would have also not been really ecumenical. What has been formed is something less easily defined and summarized, but also more open and porous. Caring for and being pastor at Reconciler may largely entail finding ways to nurture and establish relationships in all possible situations with those both who one might expect, like our host church and the other two churches who share space here from Immanuel, but also in less likely or even completely unlikely places.

This is a challenge because I am not sure what this all looks like or will look like. I am beginning conversations with some other pastors in the neighborhood and with whom I know from the inter-religious group of the Edgewater Community Religious Association. Though this also makes sense that it would be there and with pastors and other churches in the neighborhood that we'd begin to nurture relationships. But what that looks like is also a little uncertain for it blurs lines of identity and community. I have for sometime been experiencing this with some members of Immanuel Lutheran Church: by simply leading worship in joint worship services over these past few years I am in a sense a pastor to people who never attend Reconciler, but attend Immanuel. Yet this is also happening with those who don't go to church, or don't have a church home and also don't attend Reconciler. In the past year I have had a handful of people introduce me to family or friends as their pastor, they may have attend for awhile, or only once or twice but they have made a connection feel a relationship, that they describe as pastoral. It has puzzled me.

I find the position Reconciler is in and I am in as the pastor, to be simultaneously almost unremarkable and incredibly difficult to wrap my mind around. What is a congregation with porous boundaries in which its pastor, and maybe even, "congregants" have and are called to nurture relationships that aren't for the purpose of growth in the numbers of people who attend worship? What is the meaning of the gathered who come and worship together, what is the character of this ecclesia? Is this making friends through dishonest wealth? Is this a shrewed means to allow the Kingdom of God and the Gospel to be welcomed in places where by other means and some purity of being church could never accomplish? (Luke 16:1-13) I don't know. But to be ecumenical does require the nurture of relationships across what have been and still seem to be firm boundaries of identity, politics, and association. Boundaries that simply are being crossed even if in the crossing of them we act as though they are still firm and impenetrable. Perhaps it really is odd that in the midst of crisis about the future of Christianity and denominations and churches in the US, the nurture of relationships that have no means of increasing our own "wealth" that bring us no material benefit, no growth in numbers of people who flock to our cause is precisely what is continuing to be neglected, but what we have always already been called to do. I understand this neglect because to seek to make connections and to nurture relationships for the sake of making them without a firm sense of what this relationship will bring except a connection feels treacherous and useless.

It seems that I am a pastor to more than the 15 or so people who come around for Reconciler's weekly worship. It seems Reconciler has had an effect on its host church that can't quite be measured. It seems that counting and measuring may not tell us the whole story, and may even distort the story we are to be telling ourselves. Perhaps Reconciler invites people to an openness of relationship that rests on who God is and not on that there is a firm bounded singular identity for someone to join, other than to come into the people of God?

What I do know is that we tried to live into the bounded character of what our denominational institutions expect of congregations and parishes and Reconciler has been lead away from those rubrics of firm identity and bounded community, to something else...

Lost and Found: Sermon for the 16th Sunday After Pentecost, Ordinary Time

2010-09-16T15:39:00.005-05:00

Readings - Exodus 32:7-14 ; Psalm 51:1-10 ; 1 Timothy 1:12-17 ; Luke 15:1-10 :

Sermon:

Renounce All Your Possessions: Sermon 15th Sunday After Pentecost

2010-09-08T20:11:00.005-05:00

Lectionary Readings: Psalm 1; Philemon 1-21; Luke 14:25-33

Sermon:

Sermon 14th Sunday After Pentecost, August 29 2010

2010-08-30T23:26:00.012-05:00

Scripture Readings- Sirach 10:12-18; Psalm 112; Hebrews 13:1-8,15-16; Luke 14:1,7-14

Sermon:

Worship Sunday July 25th

2010-07-13T10:23:00.003-05:00

There will be no worship service at 5 pm on Sunday July 25th.
Reconciler will be joining the worship services of either Immanuel Lutheran Church Sunday Morning 10:30 am or the preceding Saturday evening, July 24, with the Community of St. Francis at 5 pm.

We will return to our regular Sunday Worship at 5 pm on Sunday August 1st.

Sunday Worship July 4th

2010-07-03T17:36:00.001-05:00

This Sunday our 5 pm worship will be Evening prayer with Eucharist and discussion/meditation on the Scripture texts. Join us.

Parish and Community Organizing workshops

2010-06-17T16:22:00.014-05:00

Immanuel and four other ELCA churches in the Edgewater neighborhood the past three Wednesday had a workshop on the parish and community organizing lead by the Rev. Stephen Bouman who is Executive Director of the ELCA's Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission unit. Reconciler was invited by Immanuel to take part in these workshops, I, the pastor was the only one to attend. In the end I found the three sessions inspiring. Reconciler as an ecumenical congregation was started as a way to engage our context in the way these churches are seeking to do through adopting tools from community organizing. Based on these three sessions I see that Reconciler could be enriched by what these four congregations seem to be seeking to do together in utilizing the techniques and tools of community organizing. I think our experience as a congregation that sees its worship as that which forms us and the place from which we are empowered to live as Christ’s disciples in the world and with our neighbors. If we allow ourselves to engage these congregations in this process I feel we may find the ability to build upon our strengths and share our experience of church as primarily a worshiping community that through worship is empowered to live with each other and engage what God is doing in the world. The spirit has moved and is moving I believe we are called to be apart of it, in fact we already are through relationship with Immanuel that can grow if we let it.

The first session was more or less “Community Organizing 101”. In that session Bouman sought to connect the principles of community organizing to Scripture and the reality of church as place of proclamation of the Gospel. He began by reading 2 Kings 4:1-7 and having us discuss the passage. What he helped us draw out of this passage was that God uses what we already have and may think to be useless (i.e. empty vessels) and that God works God's great and amazing works through community and our own being agents in the world. The power for change and provision in the story is from God but is accomplished through community and personal action. Bouman then talked about 16 traits of community organizing while telling stories of his first parish that was part of a community organizing group in Queens New York. The 16 characteristics are: 1) Sees diversity as strength 2) People oriented not project oriented 3) The goal is the release of power-every person is inherently powerful 4) Owned by the people 5)Listens to people 6) Expects accountability 7)Basic tool is the relational meeting 8) can focus on any issue 9) Institutionally based- institutions organize people, money, and values 10) Trusts the people 11) Never do something for somebody they can do for themselves 12) 11 is the iron rule that is always practiced 13) Leadership is a collective cadre of leaders 14) Action and reflection are the crucible 15) Knows the difference between problems and issues 16) Readily applied to parish ministry. As we concluded he stated that community organizing is a tool that a parish can use, not the only thing a parish may do or be.

In the second session we looked at the story of the Road to Emmaus and paid attention to Jesus' interaction with the two disciples in light of some of the principles of community organizing. The emphasis here was the tactic of one on one's in community organizing. What Bouman drew out and had us practice in this session was cultivation of curiosity of what was around us in our neighborhoods and culture (and cultures) . Jesus' ministry was relational; we too need to conduct ourselves in a relational way and seeking encounter. It is through this encounter, this all requires listening and thus asking certain questions and listening with certain questions in mind. Listen for someone’s passion and for issues that are forefront in the others mind. Bouman was leading us to first do this with ourselves, the group gathered, but then also in the churches and then with the larger community. This process within the churches and with the community then can lead to bring people together around what has been heard and expressed. We practiced one on one's or really three on three or four on fours, talking about how our church had been there for us, and what our dreams (no limits) were for our churches. I found that just this sort of conversation brought me closer to the two people I listened to and shared with one of whom I already knew somewhat and one who I met for the first time that night.

At the Third and final session, that was held this past Wednesday, things fell into place. Stephen Bouman brought in another pastor a colleague who works with new church starts and church revitalization. The scripture to set the tone for the evening was Ephesians 2:11 ff. Then Bouman asked some of us to share where we saw God this week. The point is to get us to think of how God might be at work in our neighborhoods and communities. Then we were to in groups of three or four ask ourselves first our dreams for the churches we were members of, and then our dreams for all four Lutheran churches taking part in this workshop. I through a bit of a monkey wrench into the conversation as I wasn't from one of the Lutheran churches. One of the people in my group suggested we begin by talking about where our churches were and what we thought we already had. In my group two of the four Lutheran churches were represented. Those members went pretty much directly to them talking about possible connections between the two churches around the issue of justice for the Palestinian people, and other justice issues. In that first conversation we never got to our dreams for our churches. Both conversations were more about how the churches including Reconciler could work together and be a witness together. Our group then talked about outreach to Middle Eastern and Arab refugees and immigrants, and about ways to meet and listen to young adults between 18 and 30, a demographic more represented at Reconciler and more or less absent in the Lutheran churches. I shared some of the experience of Reconciler. Also, one shared about how in the gay community people of that age range tend not to even consider Christianity or religion at all. As we were then brought back together to share our conversations, it turned none of the groups had talked about what they wanted for their individual churches but had talked almost exclusively about how the churches were already doing similar things and how to build on that. Then as I share about Reconciler and our relationship with Immanuel and St. Elias, it came out that the three congregations with buildings share their building with other congregations and except for Immanuel there is no relationship between the host and guest congregations. There was an expressed desire to change that. Also, this lead to the acknowledgement that the four Lutheran congregations don't really know much about the other Lutheran congregations and expression of a desire to change that and to work and dream together rather than separately. This to me was really incredible, and I think showed the power of this type of spending time asking and listening to one another. People who I think were probably caught up in somewhat insular cultures in this meeting were expressing not only a desire to cooperate but were truly turning towards the other. In so doing we discovered that God had indeed given us some great resources in possible connections between fellow Christians.

How might Reconciler fit in to this? One way is that we and Immanuel have experience of ways that a guest and host church can interact more than merely as landlord and renter. In sharing that experience we may also be pushed to broaden the existing relationship with Immanuel through listening to each other about how we’d like that relationship to grow if it were to grow beyond on occasion worshiping together. However, Reconciler’s experience should also communicate that our worshiping together is not a small or incidental thing but the very foundation of any continuing and growing relationship. Reconciler can remind all involved in these processes of revitalization and engagement in our communities that worship is a key and central reality in being church.

Another way is in sharing our experiences of listening and allowing that listening to change how we interact and even the way we organize ourselves. Our experience of stepping back from the constitution that did not serve our reality or provide a framework to support of faith life together, can show how the sort of listening that Bouman taught us and had us experience could very well have structural ramifications. Our experience can relate that this is not always easy and that at times one has to be willing to continue to speak until what is being expressed is understood. Sometimes those who are expression dissatisfaction don’t themselves know what they desire except in expression of dissatisfaction multiple times.

I also believe that our intentionally being ecumenical, which in practice means seeking a Christian identity that is broader and deeper than any one Protestant denominational tradition, is itself something we could offer to these congregations in this process. I believe this is so because in so being ecumenical we are attentive to more than what is immediately before us and taking into our identity things we may not completely understand. Thus what Reconciler offers isn’t a strong and distinct identity itself but a seeking to be conformed to an identity that is larger than itself, that is the identity Christ and the Church. I believe it is the experience of Reconciler that this stance allows for encounter that does not fall into a giving up of an identity but is an experience of being formed into something, larger greater and deeper than the present moment, or issues. This then lead us back to our worship that is the foundational act of all of our actions and interactions in the world. Sharing this sort of experience of being church I think could be very fruitful for the four Lutheran churches in what they are seeking to do and be and in encounter and participation in our neighborhood and culture.

Sermon Seventh Sunday of Easter: The Ascension of Christ, Observed

2010-05-16T15:23:00.005-05:00

(Note this is the text for a sermon for Reconciler's first worship service to include children throughout the service.)

Today we celebrate the ascension of Jesus Christ. Jesus goes up into heaven. How does Jesus go up? Like a balloon filled with Helium? (Give balloon(s) to one or two children and ask them to hold on to it. And tell them to wait that you will ask them to let them go in a few minutes.) Like a kite on the wind. And what does it meant that Jesus went up, ascended? Look at the various icons and drawings of Jesus’ ascension what is going on in those pictures? What is Jesus doing besides being in the air? Jesus is sitting, and there is a footstool. This is important. But Jesus also is blessing the disciples. Do you see different responses of the disciples?

In the two stories of Jesus’ ascension we heard today Jesus doesn’t just go up into the sky. Jesus also Promises that the Spirit will come after Jesus leaves. We are not left alone by Jesus’ leaving, God is still with us, and oddly enough more with us than when he lived and walked with the disciples in Galilee and Jerusalem. How do you feel when Parents leave for to go out with out you? What if your parents didn’t leave you with a baby sitter or someone you know a friend or other family member but left you with their presence but in a different form: that would be odd but nice wouldn’t it? Jesus has left but is still with us, so not like when parents leave and leave you with someone else. Jesus leaves goes up into the clouds; Yet Jesus is more with us. So then How are we to understand Jesus Going up and yet remaining with us perhaps more present and we more present to God through Jesus Christ, not just through the coming of the Holy Spirit, but because Jesus Christ ascended.

(Tell the Children to let the balloons go) How does it feel to let a balloon go? What if you were outside and let it go up into the sky. So Jesus goes up kind of like a balloon but Heaven isn't in the sky- (Angels in the ceiling) Metaphor of up. Up can mean other things than simply above our heads. We might say when we are feeling good that we are feeling up today. And when we feel sad we may say that we are feeling down. What does up and down say when we use them in this way. Up means we feel good happy joyful, like a balloon floating along easily in the air. When we feel down we feel like we are dragging along the floor like a balloon that has lost its air. There are other meanings of Up. I might say that something that was said was over my head. (Children when parents are talking about things you may not understand completely and are talking to each other they aren’t looking at you they are looking and speaking over your head), so it means I may not fully understand, there is more to what is said than I know or can understand.

So When Luke speaks of Jesus Christ going up and disappearing from view in the clouds, there is more than just that Jesus actually went up into the air. We know God and heaven isn't in space hovering just outside the air surrounding the earth. Up doesn't mean in space, and so the Russian Cosmonaut who went into space and radioed back that he didn't see anybody in space, was looking in the wrong place. So, then Why did Jesus go up?

Being up can literally mean being able to be seen and heard better by a group of people, so a preacher may go up into the pulpit. (Actually go up into the pulpit) If I go up into this old large pulpit I can see you all better but I am also more distant. However if we were in a much larger space Like in the sanctuary next to us, or if the chapel was filled with people, being up if you are in the back or in the front you can see me and hear me just as well. , where as if I am down with everyone those who are closest to me can hear me and see me. (Go down during this sentence) When we say God is up in heaven we mean not that God is in the clouds or in space but that God is in a place where God sees and is aware of everything and that God is able to know each and everyone of us. We also mean that God is both different than we are as human beings. God is above us above our heads; we can’t know everything about god or understand God completely. God speaks over our heads. And yet we can all hear God in heaven no matter who we are. Like being in a pulpit that is raised up so everyone can see and hear the preacher

Jesus Christ ascends, goes up, to God Jesus' Father in heaven like going up into a pulpit and not like helium filled balloons going up into the ceiling or sky. Jesus goes up because Jesus is God and human. Jesus goes up to teach us that God will always be with us and one of us in Jesus Christ who is God and human. In Jesus Christ we are already with God, because God in Jesus Christ is the same as God the father, yet different. We are already with God because Jesus Christ is human and Jesus’ humanity, our humanity in Jesus Christ is with God and is God. This is difficult to understand, it is over all our heads. God showed the first disciples and us that Jesus was both God and human by Jesus going up into the sky and withdrawing into heaven even though heaven isn't actually up.

Since heaven isn’t actually up but heaven is the place from which God is always present everywhere. So, we enter heaven here when we worship, and especially when we go up to the altar and pray over the bread and wine of communion and then receive Jesus Christ in the bread and wine.

So we don't look literally up, and so the angels question the disciples as they stand staring up into the sky. We don't wait to go up into the sky. We live in the world confident that Jesus Christ went to heaven and is with God the Father because Jesus Christ is God. Because of the ascension Jesus, now in heaven, is more present to each and every one of us than he was when he lived and walked in Galilee and Jerusalem. Through the Spirit and the bread and wine of communion Jesus is with us and hears us and we can see him at work in us. Don't look up, but wait and see how God shows God’s self to you in bread and wine and in the presence of the Spirit of Christ, the promised Holy Spirit, in yourself and in others. Heaven is not up in the sense of being somewhere in the sky, but as that place available to everyone. Heave is that place where God and Jesus Christi scan speak and be present to us all, aware of all that takes pace in the universe and still present to you and able to speak to you an be with you. Knowing this, seeing Christ ascend, then brings the joy of knowing that God is always with us and beyond our grasp.
Amen.

2010-05-13T18:09:00.003-05:00

This Sunday May 16th and Sunday May 23rd, Pentecost, we will begin having children inclusive services. Our intention is that we will have these services every few weeks

This means we will be having a service in which we will be seeking to have the children present and participating in our liturgy as they can. We are making a few small changes. There will be no children's Sunday School or childcare. All children who come will be in the service.

Come and explore this with us.

Our plan is to have this sort of service on a regular basis.

If your interested in the pastors thinking on inclusion of children in worship, you can find a reflection on the pastor's personal blog here

Study using Colossians Remixed

2010-04-26T19:29:00.004-05:00

This past Friday Reconciler completed its Bible study series on Colossians and Colosians Remixed. Our first session was in January where we read through the whole of Colosians together and then read the first "targum" in colossians remixed.

Reflection's on the Insruection Tour stop in Chicago

2010-04-09T17:54:00.003-05:00

Reconciler has some connections to the Emergent Church movement. And Peter Rollins and company of the Insurection tour are somewhere in the mix though to what degree they so self identify I am not sure. In any case I went to the tour stop at Trace bar last night. On my personal blog I wrote a post on the experience check it out if your interested.

Maundy Thursday Sermon

2010-04-01T21:49:00.004-05:00

Preached at the Joint Service with Immanuel Lutheran Church and St Elias Christian Church.

Exodus 12:1-14 * Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19 * 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 * John 13:1-17, 31b-35

[This was the text I took into the pulpit with me, but I did not really follow it after the second paragraph. I think I ended up focusing more on the connection between Jesus's washing of the feet as an example of divine love and the love commanded by Jesus.]

On this day of the command, Maundy from latin Maundatumfor command, we gather and begin the worship of the Three great days. We are here to celebrate the center of our faith. Tonight we hear two commands Do this in rememberance of me, a meal and a holy day reinterpreted, passover, and Love one another. Tonight we see love allegorically shown in the act of a servant or slave washing feet. Tonight We will have a chance to partake in this symbol of divine love in human flesh as you are invited to come forward or to the back to have your feet washed and/or to wash others feet. I and Pastor rimon begin by washing your feet, symbolizing that our ministry leadership greatness in the Kingdom of God and the Church is in service, but such act is for all not just for clergy. But before we get there I want to reflect on these three days: on Love, the Cross, and our Passover from death to Life.

This time is full of the symbolic, of the sacramental, the making present of realities central to our faith that we may be transformed renewed, born again, converted, forgiven, made new. We have journeyed trough a time of fasting and intensified discipline, of a spiritual journey through the desert. Awaiting this celebration of our deliverance from bondage. From this bondage were are called to love and the remembrance of that love shown in human being.
Love one another as I have loved you. Love as Christ has loved? Do we do this do we even know how? I’d like to believe that to some extent our three congregations joining together on these holy days of the church year means that in some sense we are doing so in some small way, overcoming the barriers that can exist, and come between us both as human beings and followers of Christ. Love as Christ loved. Do we Love as Christ loved, as God Loves? This is the command, this is what we remember tonight and these three days, this is what we come in the presence of, this astounding Love.
We are commanded to Love, but not as we naturally love. Think of this the creator of the universe of all the inumerable stars the far flung galexeys, not just earth the sun and this solar system,the one with no beginning and no end, become united with the material world and humand beings whom this one created. But it does not end there, this one doesn't only become a human person and eventually undergoe death on a cross, but lives the life of a mostly obscure poor skiled worker in a backwater town of an empire, and facing his immenent death does a job no one would do but slaves and lowly servants. I think we sometimes view this as Jesus being our waiter, no it is perhaps more like Jesus suddenly appearing at your restaurant as the bus boy to clear your dishes or replenish that glass of water. In the least. But not just that what this means what it means to wash the feet of the disciples, is that Jesus is saying that the God of the universe acts towards humanity as the those who invisibly serve the needs of others and who are ignored and invisible because of that service, and we are to emulate this act of service.
Yet We fail at all this. Even with Jesus' example we fail. I think it is important to admit this. This is why we seek to enter into these realities again and again, through ritual and sacrament. We need to come here again and again to remember the gap, and to seek to be transfigured and transformed again and again, to face the ugliness of the human condition and through passing through and over to face the overwhelming beauty of the divine world opened up to us. As we Passover it is key to remember the way in which it has been opened the way heaven and earth are rejoined, the way sin and evil are eradicated from creation. The way God chose to bridge the gap is itself the difference between the world and Heaven.
There's a great deal to hold together as we recall these saving acts. We can perhaps get stuck on one particular idea of Jesus's death that it asuaged God's wrath, through Christ becoming the sole object of that wrath. The cross can seem like the last thing that could show us Love, better to see it as an accident to move quickly past, to life and Resurrection. Or to simply see in it some way God indentifies with our suffering. Yet, the power of the Resurrection depends on the power of the Cross, what allows the us to Passover with Christ from death to life is, Jesus Christ’s death.
But it is perhaps helpful to hear the orthodox liturgy here: christ beat down death by death. sin and death are bound up togehter, and they are behind all oppression, failure, injustice. And like in many situations of oppression the oppressed can become complicit in their oppression, such that the whole system binds all to the oppresive situation, such that no one or practically no one in the system is able to resist the oppression, oppressor and oppressed.

This may not be because God’s wrath needs to be assuaged but it is here that we see God’s love, that God doesn’t simply undergo suffering, but undergoes for us as well as with us. God with us is accompanied with it being for us. God had to come and do for us what we could not do for ourselves, God becomes the slave of all.

God comes and lives and suffers under this regime of sin and death, and the oppressive systmes within it, and dies at their hands, at our hands. We see confront here both the result of our most private hatreds, and intolerances, the small resentments we cherish, as well as the large hatreds we know we should not. We also confront in these three days our liberation the liberation of all from these oppressions, through Christs death upon a cross and resurection from the dead that says our failures, the oppression, our small hidden sins, Sin and death do not have the final word but God does!

Holy Week and Easter Services

2010-03-29T16:26:00.002-05:00

Join us for our joint Holy Week and Easter worship services with Immanuel Lutheran Church and St Elias Christian Church.

Thursday April 1
Maundy Thursday Service: Foot Washing and Holy communion 7:30 pm

Friday April 2
Good Friday Service: Adoration of the Holy Life Giving Cross 7:30 pm

Saturday April 3
Easter Vigil 7:30 pm

Sunday April 4
Easter Potluck breakfast 9:00 am
Easter worship with Holy communion 10:30 am

We will not have a worship service at 5 pm on Easter Sunday April 4. Our regular 5 pm worship time returns Sunday April 11.

The Many Layers of Lent: Update Reflection

2010-02-17T10:10:00.001-06:00

Today is Ash Wednesday, and the beginning of the season of Lent. The 40 days of Lent remind us of Jesus' fasting and temptation in the desert, which in turn reminds us of Moses' 40 days on Mount Sinai receiving the Law from God, and the 40 years of wondering of the people of Israel in the desert before entering the promised land.

Lent then has many layers. Lent can be a time of pilgrimage and journey, as we move towards and through the Passion of Jesus Christ. Lent is also a time of preparation, of testing, and purification. Lent is also, a time of encounter and revelation. Now most likely each Lent is not all of these to all of us all at once. As we begin Lent I encourage us to think about what is God calling you towards in this season. Are you being called on a Journey that will lead you to the Cross? Are you being "driven" into the dessert by the Spirit to be prepares and be tested? Or are you being called to a new encounter with God? As we go and receive ashes this day and we enter this Holy Lent I encourage us to ask what are we called to this lent, where is the Spirit driving and leading us? What is God seeking for you in this season? Consider then how you are being lead to engage this season of penitence and reflection and intensified discipline: be open to the guidance of the Spirit.

Most of all I wish all a holy and grace filled Lent, as we contemplate the great mystery of the one who is truly the Lover of humankind.

Preparing for Lent: Update Reflection

2010-02-05T10:28:00.002-06:00

I hope this season of Ordinary Time after the Epiphany is one in which the light of Christ is shining into your life, providing you with light to see the way, and even exposing things in your life that have been hidden.
Lent is rapidly approaching. Ash Wednesday is February 17th. Lent is the time that church prepares to recieve again the mystery of salvation. the preparation for the church's greatest feast Easter, where we remember that Christ for our sake passed over from death to life.- That Christ "..beat down death by death." As the Orthodox liturgy of Easter proclaims.

In preparation to receive again this mystery the church fasts, and engages in other disciplines, that are contemplative and encourage self-reflection. In Lent the church also identifies with the suffering of Christ, his temptation and overcoming of temptation and sin in the dessert. So Lent is a time to allow God to come and meet us at the point of our sin. God comes not to condemn us but to further liberate us from those things in our lives that continue to bind us, that we still hold on to even though they are destructive and bring death into our lives, our work, our relationships. In the day to day bustle of life these things can at times seem to be small things, and yet they are contradictions within ourselves as followers of Christ. Lent then is a time of grace where we can return to God, in those very places where we have run or hid ourselves from God. It is a time of grace to discover through the illumination of the Spirit areas of our life still bound to Sin and Death, which we have possibly never noticed before.

Allow God this Lent through Lenten disciplines of fasting and contemplation, through pastoral conversation and confession, to prepare you for receiving again the great mystery of our Faith. In this season after the Epiphany we have celebrated Christ as the light that shines in darkness. Lent encourages us to let that light shine into those areas of our life where we still cling to darkness. May the Life, Suffering, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ sustain us and embolden us as we face again our deep and persistent need for God's liberating love.

In Christ,
Larry Kamphausen
Pastor
Church of Jesus Christ, Reconciler
For announcements follow this link:
'Church of Jesus Christ, Reconciler: Update'

Sermon 4th Sunday Ordinary Time, After Epiphany

2010-02-01T12:25:00.005-06:00

Bellow is the outline of the Sermon I preached January 31, 2010. It is not the sermon I preached, and perhaps represents as much what I was still wrestling with as I entered the pulpit. I think my sermon as preached had more or less had two foci: Moving our identifying with Jesus to identifying with the people of Nazareth, so we could hear Jesus' word's directed at us. 2) Reading Paul on Love in light of the story of Jesus at Nazareth, emphasizing in away not found in the outline that this Love that Paul talks about is God, and not something we can work up in ourselves or on our own. I think the conclusion was more or less the same, encouraging us to accept the liberation of being dispossessed, even of ourselves, by Love. This is the Gospel and liberation. LEK

Jeremiah 1:4-10 - Psalm 71:1-6 - 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 - Luke 4:21-30
Dispossessed by Love
I) Introduction coming home and coming out
a) What perhaps strikes us first about this story, what strikes me is, that this story (that spans these two weeks), is a story of the difficulty of coming home and asserting one’s identity. Even the pain of coming out to family and the rejection that can follow.
b) All of us probably have stories of leaving and then coming home changed and presenting this new self. The pain and the rejection may very from story to story but it is a common story in our culture. (Fish out of Water, and coming out in the midst of religious hostility against being gay, bisexual, transgender Queer) Though what is a stake also varies depending on the degree that self is acceptable or in conjunction with family societal expectations.
c) But what if this isn’t about Jesus coming home and asserting his identity as Messiah, or at least prophet. What if we aren’t standing with Jesus in this story but with the people of Nazareth?
d) What if this story isn’t about us, but about God who comes and disrupts what we think is our own - our own identity, our ownership? Even if that identity and what is proper to us was won with a great deal of pain and struggle for liberation. What if this story dispossesses not only those people of Nazareth but we who seek to own ourselves, our beliefs our identities? What if this dispossession is the Gospel, the Good news?
II) The story in its context
a) Lets back up- From the side of the people of Nazareth isn’t Jesus being just a little harsh?
b) Crossan and patronage in the ancient world, and the phrase “Is this not Joseph’s Son?”
c) It is likely there was an expectation that Jesus should stay in Nazareth as prophet and miracle worker and messiah, to the benefit and under the control of his village and clan.
d) Jesus is then saying that they do not and cannot own him or the work of God, this is proclamation and the kingdom of God is not for their benefit.
e) The anger of those of Nazareth is that Jesus words dispossesses them of what is rightfully theirs, and thus of himself and of the Kingdom of God.
f) They were Israelites, people of God, surely they had ownership of these good things, and the messiah was one of their own, surely this should come back to them. Jesus said no, the kingdom of God dispossess all of everything.
III) Jesus says God decides where and to whom a prophet goes, no one owns a prophet of God, except God.
a) The proclamation of the Day of the Lords favor, of release to the captives, sight to the blind, is an invitation to be dispossessed by love.
b) This day of the Lord’s favor is the Jubilee, the 50th year in which the economy is in retrograde; everything reverts: If your father or grandfather bought land, that land was to return to the family who originally owned it. Captives, those who were indentured because of debt were freed and released from their debts; it assumes that systems of economy even ones more or less ordered by God, would devolve into situations of injustice. Ownership is put into question, and it asserts God is the only one who owns.
c) Jesus confronts our attempts to possess even our own identities. So that we may be open to true freedom, to the liberation that comes not from knowing who we are and owning our identities but by accepting that we are loved and being possessed by that love that will set us free from all economies of ownership, even that of our identity.
IV Love as dispossession
a) Paul, moves from gifts and the nature of the body of Christ to the essence of it all –love. Not romantic love, but a love that is in fact quite beyond us.
b) Love is patient… does not seek its own way…. If we have love what else do we have – nothing.
c) Love the Love of God, asks us to hold nothing in remainder, to save nothing, to retain nothing of our own, but to surrender all to Love.
d) We own nothing not knowledge, not our faith, all we have is Love which is impossible to possess, who of us can claim to have hold of this Love Paul says that without it we are nothing. We could have everything, but we have nothing without Love. And if we have Love there is nothing else, we have let go of everything, even our own way, what is rightfully our identity, our way of being.
e) Love dispossesses us of all we seek to hold onto so tightly. Only in this dispossession is there true freedom, actual liberation.
IV) In accepting the love that liberates we find we own nothing.
a) Nazareth thought because they were the people of God and of Jesus’ clan that they had ownership of what God was doing, and that they should retain exclusive rights to the coming Kingdom.
b) Jesus says their identity is meaningless. The kingdom of God the Day of Jubilee of the Lords favor sets free and is good news because there is nothing to own, it disrupts any sense of ownership or identity. It Breaks the bonds, heals all blindness and lameness, and enriches the poor precisely because it is the activity of Love, this self-giving of God to alls. Here is liberation and distribution of goods.
c) Not because it takes from some and gives to others, but because it dispossesses everyone, that they may be possessed by Love, by God.
d) God is this love, God is patient, kind, God does not seek God’s own way, but the freedom of all, God endures all things…
e) And God did so most visibly and clearly in Jesus Christ.
f) We are not to identify with and own Christ, but we are to be possessed by this love and be released from all those things we grasp after, all our possessions, they are released in love to God, and God sends and distributes to whom and to where God wills. This is the freedom of love.
g) If we seek to posses ourselves, or all faith and knowledge, we will find that we have nothing unless we find that we in love possesses nothing not even ourselves or our faith: Through this dispossession we find we have in Christ all things through a love that is not our own, but which has taken hold of our hearts and minds and selves, so that all we may become in the life of the Spirit is this all encompassing self-giving love, that owns nothing and yet has everything.

Sunday school and childcare this Sunday

2010-01-29T11:17:00.000-06:00

There will be no children's Sunday School or childcare this Sunday Janaury 31, 2010.

Sermon Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Third Sunday after the Epiphany

2010-01-27T12:49:00.002-06:00

Jeremiah 1:4-10 * Psalm 71:1-6 * 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 * Luke 4:21-30

This week of prayer for Christian unity has been unsettling time of prayer for me. I do not know what has been stirred in you by God this week or if you . For me I was unsettled by having this years theme of this years Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, "You are witnesses of these things" came into conversation with Paul on the Spirit and the nature of the body of Christ. What follows is my own attempt to articulate how I have been unsettled, and hope to invite your own reflections and offerings of your own experiences of prayer for Christian unity to come in conversation with my own experience, the theme, and these text before us today.

The beginning of my discomfort is in the very fact of praying for Christian unity, for in so doing we admit that we remain in a state of disunion. Then In speaking of being witnesses, we speak of our desire and our sense that although we are divided as Christians we have something in common at our core, and that our witness to these things we hold together is compromised by this disunity. Paul uses the metaphor of the Body, to give us an understanding of the nature of the church, the nature of Christ. Through Baptism and the life of the Spirit we are one body, Christ’s body. Yet, this whole passage as an exhortation means that we can live in contradiction to the unity we are given through baptism and the Spirit. In the unity of baptism and the Spirit we are empowered to witness to the things of Christ: his life death and resurrection. And yet this week of prayer for Christian unity should give us pause, in terms of our own spiritual health, and our being formed by the nature of the Church Paul explicates for us in Corinthians. If we are willing to remain content with our own particular witness, whether of our own individual journeys of faith, or as journey tied to a particular denomination, are we not in a sense giving priority to our own “giftedness”? And doesn’t even the various schemes for seeking unity and understanding between Christians keep us divided, if it stops at merely seeking to understand each other and work together? In our attempt to find ways to work together across institutional barriers and barriers of belief, or to work towards convergence in the area of doctrine and belief, and even to work towards ecumenical congregation are we assuming the need to get along rather than assuming we need to be conformed to the Spirit and our Baptism. Yet this week isn’t the week of focus on the work of ecumenism but of prayer. In this we admit that the unity of being witnesses of the life death and Resurrection of Christ, of truly being the church is Spirit directed and Spirit gifted reality into which we must be formed by God. I want to suggest that this sort of prayer should open ourselves up to God showing us the ways in which we all uphold the state of disunity, and the ways we abandon the Church. For our disunity is a sign that we have walked away from the truth of our Baptism and our Spirit filled lives in the Church. This is the urgency of Paul’s address to the Corinthians. We must not remain in the sense of sufficiency of our separate witness and distinctive ways of proclaiming Christ, for to do so is to walk the path of schism. But the hope of this week and of our texts is that we don’t have to work harder Rather we must be opened up to the reality of the church as Spiritual institution and organism.

Our Corinthians passage challenges any notion that Christian unity is coexistence, or acceptance that we all truly believe in Jesus even though we differ and at times contradict one another in our beliefs and actions. What is imaged for us of Christ, the Church, is a great symmetry and an organism made up of parts that cannot survive or even exist apart from the whole. Thus our unity as Christians as based upon the preceding reality: the unity of the Body of Christ, the Church. Granted we could miss this mystical reading of the Body imagery and read Paul’s words as exhortation to just get along for one must not overlook that Paul’s teaching is also about diversity. However I think in following the diversity path we miss that the difference Paul speaks of is not of human origin but of divine origin, of the Spirit. Paul’s use of the metaphor of the Body challenges our current language of diversity that is for the most part a tolerance of separate coexistence. A body isn't a confederation of interrelated differentiated sovereignty's, but an organism that is dependent on the right functioning of every part and member of the organism that has no possible existence outside that organism. For a body to functioning fully and properly each and every member not only needs the others but an integration in the whole.. We aren't to view our giftedness as a reason to separate from others, rather we are to see that we all equally need the other.

I feel that the force of Paul’s indictment against us in his language of the body of Christ, is reinforced if we think along side this metaphor the reality of what is needed to truly be witness of Christ. When we receive gifts from the Spirit, whatever they may be, we are so gifted for a purpose of bearing witness to Christ. Thus in speaking of the Spiritual reality of the church as organism and institution we must not for get that we exist for and as Christ. Thus the unity of our witness is that we witness to the singular work of God through Christ in the world. My own denomination will often speak of our contribution to the building of the Kingdom of God which also goes on beyond our borders. Yet, this in practice means that we celebrate and witness to the ways we believe according to our denominational distinctive we are accomplishing the work of God in Jesus Christ. This way of speaking and thinking fails to question how our identity may stand in the way of the work of Christ and the Spirit and may impair the witness to the life Death and Resurrection of Christ as that which establishes the Kingdom of God in the world; bringing release to the captives, bringing sight, and hearing and healing to all in need. Are we in our separation whether based in denomination or personal identity, or race or class truly joined to the work of Christ and the coming Kingdom of God? It is one thing to claim this, it is another for it to actually be. The challenge of our being called to be witnesses when Christians are divided and content to remain in separation, is that it is very possible we aren't witnessing to the work of God in Christ in the world. In our current states of separation we are perhaps at best witnessing to our own pet projects within the larger work of God, and at worst witnessing to our own agenda with little or no relation the God’s reign and work. Given the force of the metaphor of the body and the need to not witness to our opinions or positions, I am challenged that we need make our hearts ready to receive and be formed into the church, the Body of Christ. Hopefully that is what this week of prayer of Christian unity is doing and has done in we who have so prayed. This is a challenge because I am unsure this is what I want.

I will admit that I am challenged by my own words, and it is a challenge to my self as an ecumenist and those of us here who are members of this ecumenical congregation as much to anyone here who identifies strongly or in part with a particular denomination. We are Christians but more important than our being of the same religion is that we are part of the Body of Christ, the Church. If we cling to a certain distinctive, or find ourselves separated by our opinions how then are we the Body of Christ? True we all may be baptized into Christ and able to claim some form of faith in Jesus Christ, faith and the sacrament of Baptism cannot be belittled, but are we in our current life and way of being Christian truly living into the fullness of our baptism and faith? Am I? In what ways do I resist the unifying work of the Spirit, and mistake what I have been given as the defining fact of my spiritual life? Am I, are we, living into our baptism or contradicting our baptism? And are we perhaps doing both at once? These are hard questions that this time of prayer set aside to seek God for Christian unity has brought up for me. I wonder if I, and we really desire to be the people of God, members of Christ's body or if in the end other identities prove more important in our day to day lives of faith? Are we going to truly allow the Spirit to bind us together to form us as the Body of Christ, or do we in fact in subtle ways resist? Does the fear of needing to get it right or the fear that we may have missed it keep us from truly seeking God in this matter? Are we praying for Christian unity in truth? Are we asking God to reveal to us our separation from Christ? Finally I can’t but see that all our separations (not just denominational or doctrinal) separate us not only from each other but from our head, Jesus Christ, and thus from the Church. This is why we seek God in prayer, for we must confess our known and unknown participation in divisions from the Body of Christ. Such division inevitably means that we have hidden from ourselves the fullness of Christ and the Spirit in our lives and the world. Even so the Spirit gives to us; Christ binds himself to us, and beckons us to live into the unity of our faith and baptism. We are continually invited by our baptism to allow the Spirit to form us into the Church, into Christ. Amen

Sermon Epiphany Sunday

2010-01-03T14:48:00.004-06:00

Isaiah 60:1-6
Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14
Ephesians 3:1-12
Matthew 2:1-12
All our Longings

As we enter a new year, what are your longings? What do you long for. One expression of our longings is New Years resolutions. In general they tell us about our longing for better selves and thus I think a better world. In particular if you mad New Years resolutions, how do they express your longings, do they somehow touch upon your deepest longing? On this Sunday of the Epiphany I wonder what sort of longing was there in these magi of our gospel that they'd leave on a journey of some cost and time, with the dangers of travel of the day, or wayside robbers, or border crossings, carrying considerable wealth with them, not for trade and further wealth creation but simply to offer them to a child whose birth was announced by a star. Are we like the Magi, have we gone in search of Christ out of a deep longing seeking Christ out at great cost? Who are these Magi and why do we remember them on a feast called epiphany, the manifestation?

The Magi are fascinating and mysterious characters who only appear in the Gospel of Matthew. We know relatively little about exactly who they were, Matthew simply says, Magi, wise men, from the east came to Jerusalem, having seen the star at its rising. We aren't even told how many there were, they are among the nameless faceless Characters of Scripture. They make an appearance and mysteriously slip away to avoid King Herod. They appear and melt away, and they witness to the appearing of god in Human flesh, and worship the Christ Child in Bethlehem and that is their story. Over time their story has been filled out, Melchior, Balthazar and Gaspar, sometimes to show that they are representatives of the nations they are seen as being of different nationalities or races.

Much has been written about these Magi, wise men, the story even captivates atheists and agnostics. The author and humanist atheist Isaac Assimov spends considerable time on this passage in his own commentary on Scripture. He examines the various explanations of who these Magi were and what phenomenon the star might have been. He even gives his preferred explanation before finally saying that it really doesn't matter, its all quite academic because the Magi and the star where all inventions of Matthew to show the fulfillment of this prophesy in Isaiah 60. And yet something in Asimov can't quite ignore these Magi, and these 12 simple verses of Scripture, he is captivated by them; Asimov had his longings, for a better humanity, the cessation of war, for the growth of goodness. There is something about the search of humanity and its longings in the story of the Magi coming to worship the Christ child.

Asimov is not entirely wrong, there is a purpose that fits with Matthews telling of the story of Christ and it is important to Matthew that Gentiles appear here. It is true that Gold Frankincense and Myrrh are all symbolic, and that what sort of astronomical phenomena this Star that appeared in the east, what these Magi from the east followed is of little importance; Or at least of little importance compared with the importance that these Magi are Gentile witnesses to the birth of Christ. The magi come, they are Gentiles, they represent the nations, and probably are seen in Matthew and certainly in the Tradition as the fulfillment of the prophesy in Isaiah 60 we have read. Gentiles come inquiring about the birth of the Messiah, and the religious leaders in Jerusalem scour their scrolls and give the answer but don't seem to think that these Gentiles really know anything.

One thing we long for in our culture is inclusion, and this story of the wise men and the understanding that this is seen as the beginning of the inclusion of the Gentiles and thus the precursor to Paul's gentile mission and proclamation that the people of God includes Jew and Gentile. We in our longings are tempted to make a principle of radical inclusion out of Paul's mission to the Gentiles and the story of the coming of the Magi. If the primary issue for the story of the coming of the Magi and Paul's mission is about inclusion, then the mystery Paul proclaims, the Gospel, is reduced to our own longing for acceptance and inclusion. We then become identified with the correct interpretation of the Gospel and the Gospel becomes a reflection of ourselves and our longings. And then we can ironically exclude those who we believe are not about radical inclusion. We in the end don't actually escape the distinction between whose in and whose out, even when we focus on inclusion. But the Gospel isn't about principles, it is about a story, it is about God and our response to what God has done. It is true that God includes all, the invitation is to all, but the lesson here is not that we need to be radically inclusive. Rather the message here is that we need to accept the invitation our selves. In the end the radical inclusion is that all are invited to come to Jesus Christ, the one who will turn no one away, but there is also the reality that one can refuse to come. Much of our culture longs for inclusion, longs for equality and no boundaries. Yet we don't stop and examine the source of our longing, the source of the boundary lines drawn, and of the ways we simply are limited and thus exclude others. We hide ourselves from the ways in which even our attempts at radical inclusion exclude those who do not agree with our sense of inclusion and exclusion. When we make the Gospel about this we make the Gospel about ourselves. And in all the grandeur and Mystery about these wise men, the story isn't about them at all, or the Scribes and Priests in Jerusalem or Herod. Rather this is the story of the appearing of God in a small helpless human being!

This we find reflected in the acts of these Magi from the east our own path to Christ. They see a sign in the sky most likely because they are astrologers, their culture and their faith tells them that the stars can tell them about things happening in the world and in the spiritual plain. A star appears and they interpret it to mean that a very special person has been born a king, who deserves their tribute though they are not from his nation, or people. He is but an infant, he has no real authority, no claim on them, they are not Jews, and yet they recognize something. I'd like to think something in their longings recognizes that what will satisfy is other than what they long for, is other than the particular things they long for. And so they go. They travel they follow this star, or rather they follow its meaning to Jerusalem and submit to the other. They have seen the star but they don't claim to know all there is to know, they consult those among whom God has already worked. These Wise men, these men of great wealth wisdom and supposedly power, they can demand audience with the leaders and the powerful; they have an audience with Herod. They simply offer what they know and ask for more wisdom from those who should know, who are already the chosen ones. And when these answer they go and they come to the Christ child and offer great wealth, gold frankincense and myrrh. Surely such a great travel and a great offering shows a deep longing and yet an admitting that their longing pointed here to this one, Jesus Christ. We are not told why, only that the magi came. We are to be the magi. We are not those who should seek to include but those who should seek to be included. Our longings should point us here. What is your star that have you followed it to Christ, and what is your gold Frankincense and myrrh that you are to lay at Jesus' feet. Have you accepted that you are fully included in God's people, that only in so being joined to Christ is their any satisfaction of your longings.
We are not asked by this story and Paul's Mission to the Gentiles to have unbounded expansive hearts, rather we are asked to have a heart that longs to come and worship the Christ, Jesus the Lord. Allowing that longing to expand our hearts and announce to all the invitation and that God has come in our midst and we are to worship. No one will be turned away but not every one will come. This is not about whose out or whose in, nor if we are including enough people, or have too close boundaries, or if we have a firm center but open boundaries. All those things are about us, we human beings, or our communities. Rather Epiphany is about the manifestation of God in human flesh to all. The Magi left their community to come into the community of the Christ Child, and it lead them home by another way. Our longings may be the beginning but they are not where we end up. We will come home but it is by another way.. We will find ourselves taken way from the path of our longings, away from ourselves to our true home in God. We are transformed but not by tearing down boundaries, but allowing the expansive love and invitation of God to so permeate our selves that we invite all to come and see and worship with the Magi.
The manifestation of Christ is the fulfillment of all our longings. This is why the Magi come bearing the most expensive of gifts. They lay themselves, and all human longings and fears at the feat of the Christ Child, God the word made flesh. Today, and everyday, we are invited to do the same as the Magi. We are, to lay our very selves at the feet of Christ, to give ourselves over to this manifestation of God that reveals both God and our true humanity. In this our lives our world is illuminated, all else is darkness, a great darkness. Come lay yourselves your longings before Christ as gifts. This is what we do , with bread and wine we offer all we have all that humanity has, all its longings and potentiality all the gifts of the world and they are transformed taken by God and given back to us as the life giving flesh and blood, of Jesus Christ. Let yourself long deeply, let your deepest longing and sorrow come to the surface before Christ and receive back the only thing that will satisfy and fulfill all your longings, Christ and God's own self. Amen.
(Following the sermon members of the congregation are invited to bring some token or symbol of their longings and place in a basket sitting with the gifts of bread and wine and will be carried to the altar in preparation for communion. paper is provided if that symbol or token is something drawn or written.)

Christmas Services

2009-12-24T11:31:00.003-06:00

Have announced this elsewhere but forgot to put it here.
We have joint services with Immanuel and St Elias.
Christmas eve Service:
5;45 p.m. Prelude music with viola, horn, trumpet, and organ.
6:00 p.m. Festive Holy Communion with candle-lighting.

Christmas Day:
10:30 a.m. Festive Holy Communion.

No Sunday School

2009-12-19T20:32:00.003-06:00

This Sunday December 20th and the following Sunday (The Sunday after Christmas) December 27th we will not have childrens Sunday School. Our Sunday School Will resume Sunday January 3rd, 2010.

Advent Reflection: The Gift of God's Self

2009-12-14T15:41:00.001-06:00

We are in the third week of Advent and winter weather has come to Chicago. Snow and cold don't slow us down, things keep going and there is the frantic preparations and gift buying for Christmas celebrations. This season perhaps demonstrates for us most starkly the ways in which we are a post-Christian culture. A Christian celebration that also borrowed from pre-Christian European and Mediterranean celebrations around the Winter Solstice, has morphed into at its best a hopeful celebration of family love and hope, attached to gift giving.

As Christians, we can at times find it difficult to connect with the original meanings of our Christian traditions when they are now put to different purposes and meanings. We can bemoan and attempt to challenge these changes or can accept them as fact and simply note the connections and disjunctions between the Christian celebration of Christmas and their cultural American appropriations and adaptations. Keeping the season of Advent is a way to do this. At the time when our culture is in the "holiday" season we are asked by the church year to slow down wait anticipate the coming holiday season of Christmas and the Epiphany. Another way to do this is to understand the meaning of gift giving associated with Christmas. As a Christian tradition gift giving is to be an expression of gratitude over what God gave us through the Son becoming human in Jesus of Nazareth. The gift of God's self was given to us and the whole cosmos. This of course challenges the way in which gifts are exchanged especially if they are only given to those we know and like; God's giving of God's self to that which was and is estranged from God asks us to be more expansive in our giving. If gift giving is an expression of gratitude and imitation at a time that we celebrate God's gift, our giving of gifts perhaps needs to move beyond familial and cultural expectations of who is a recipient of this act. But also we are reminded that while this particular ritual of gift giving marks a particular feast of the church year the posture of self donation is one, as those Baptized into Christ that is to exemplify our own daily life. As such it is something we grow into ever more as we are continually filled with Spirit and grow in Grace and Truth. The ritual of gift giving to family and friends is then a small gesture and a token sign of the divine posture of self donation that we are called to emulate in our daily lives as members of the body of Christ.

In Christ

Pastor Larry
Church of Jesus Christ Reconciler

Reconciler Update

2009-11-25T16:44:00.000-06:00

Follow this link to Reconciler Update for November 25th Hope all have a happy Thanksgiving.

pastor Larry's Office Hours

2009-11-18T11:10:00.002-06:00

Due to change in closing time at Ennui Cafe and some other scheduling conflicts Pastor Larry is not keeping regular "office Hours". He plans to begin to have "office hours again once he figures out a new schedule and places to hold them. If you'd like to meet with Larry please e-mail or call to schedule an appointment.

Giving and the Poor Widow

2009-11-11T10:23:00.005-06:00

This past Sunday the Gospel reading was of Jesus teaching in the Temple condemning the practices of the Scribes and lifting up the example of a widow whom he observed give two small coins which was all she had to live on. I did not preach this Sunday, the Community of the Holy Trinity had it's annual community retreat at St Gregory's Abbey. I had been able to arrange for Rev. Dave Hedges to come out to preach and preside. So I heard his take on this story as well as Abbot Andrew's take on this story. Both Abbot Andrew and Father Dave questioned our use of the story of the widow as an example of sacrificial giving. Abbot Andrew was careful not to completely throw out the widow as exemplar, but qualified this interpretation with calling on us to look at the larger context of the story including Jesus' saying in condemnation of the Scribes who live of taking advantage of the generosity of widows. What I took away from Abbot Andrew's sermon was that the widow's exemplary generosity is tragic in that it was not necessary but occured because of injustices in the system, and the practices of some religious leaders. This should lead us to examine our wealth and incomes to see if and how we benefit from the poverty of others. Jesus call's attention to a person who would be otherwise ignored to show disparity and reorient our thinking about not only what we give but how we have gained what we have.

Father Dave, turned our attention away from the widow as exemplar of sacrificial giving: he was retooling the sermon from his stewardship sermon he gave in the morning to his parish. So his sermon was still concerned for what this passage might have to say to us about giving, and was less concerned with Abbot Andrew's emphasis on letting the reason for the Widow's poverty and exemplary generosity teach us something about the Gospel and our responsibility in the world. Father Dave directed us to see how Jesus turns our attention to the proportions and not the amounts. The proportions are disproportionate: The wealthy give large amounts but hardly notice the offering and are praised for their generosity, and the widow gives her whole living, and because it is such a small amount goes unnoticed except that Jesus points it out. The point is the great disparity, the proportions are unjust, it should not be looking at the amount but the proportion and a widow should not have to give all that she has to live on.

What I take from these two interpretations of the Gospel text is that in giving we are to be mindful. Mindful not only of what we give and in what proportion but of how we come to have what we have live on and to give. We are not only to give proportionately (not all of what we have to live on nor an unnoticeable proportion of what we have, even if it is a large amount) unconcerned about the amount, but also with the awareness of how we have attained what we have to give. Thus giving has to do with how we live, how we make money, how we develop our abilities and what we do with both our money and abilities. We can be and are called to not live as those Scribes who impoverished Widows by making a living off their disproportionate giving. This is certainly a challenge when it is not always clear where what we have comes from and who may have been impoverished so that we may have our way of life. The Fair Trade movement is one way that we can seek to not only be aware of injustices behind things we have or purchase but also seek share in more just economic processes and avoid economic processes that in the very least at their origin keep people in poverty. However, there is also the challenge of the reality of Slavery in our time where slaves are often used to cultivate cocoa, that is then purchased by Chocolate manufacturers. This slavery is hidden partially at least because until recently people were not asking questions, and is coming to our awareness as we realize that slavery is alive and well around the world though not in the exact form we are most aware of from our courses in history. Jesus calls us to awareness of disparity and injustice, and to seek ways of living that do not require the life of others and their impoverishment. The point though is not to necessarily be aware of all the twists and turns of everything one buys or has, but to be mindful of how one lives and its effects on others, and to give not out of a wealth based on injustice but to live our live proportionately within bounds and with an eye to others and awareness of the poor.

Announcements

2009-10-23T12:05:00.001-05:00

Larry will be out of town from October 23rd through November 1st. He will of course not be at his office hours until November 2nd.

This Sunday October 25, we will have our service at our regular time of 5pm, Rev. Monte Johnson will be preaching and presiding.

November 1 we will have a joint service with Immanuel Lutheran for the feast of All Saints, 10:30 am. We will not have a service at 5 pm in the chapel.
Also remember that Daylight Saving Time ends November 1, be sure to turn your clocks back 1 hour before going to bed on Saturday October 31.

November 8 we will return to our usual worship time at 5pm and Rev. Dave Hedges will be preaching and presiding.

Vacation and office hours

2009-08-26T13:42:00.004-05:00

I am currently on vacation and will not be at my office hours this week.
Upon my return times and locations will be moved around.
Starting August 31st I will be at Ennui Cafe Tuesday evenings 7:30 to 9:30 pm.
I will be at Metropolis coffee Thursday Afternoons 3:30-5:30 pm.
And Friday early afternoons at the Coffee Studio on Clark at Hollywood, starting September 18th.

Health Care Reform

2009-08-21T11:24:00.005-05:00

I have also posted my current thoughts on health care reform on my Priestly Goth Blog. Those are my personal opinions and they inform what I would say pastorally but they are not intended as that on my blog.

As a pastor and minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ I remind all that for the Church and as disciples of Christ we must begin our thinking with Jesus' and God's concern for the "least of these", and the poor. Given this it seems that the staggering numbers of those who are without insurance and that among those are people working two perhaps more jobs to support their families and who cannot afford basic health care nor the insurance that would enable them to afford basic health care, is unacceptable given this need to care for the least of these. We as Christians should be concerned about this situation. A public option is one way to address this issue. The Gospel and any moral mandate does not though demand a public option, what is demanded is that we make choices not out of our own self preservation but out of a sense of justice and righteousness and a care for the outcast stranger, poor and other. Those who are Christian and oppose a public option then need to offer ways in which such an opposition is more than simply passing by on the other side of the road convinced that there is nothing we can do to help, and being self-satisfied in our private and personal charity. In part this is so because still a majority of people claim to be Christian in this country, which means that there is a good chance that Christians are among those who profit off a system that in the least is as concerned with making a profit as it is for peoples health. This also means that Christians are also among those who cannot afford health care and are without insurance. If we simply oppose health care reform based on some sense that the church and personal charity should fill in the gaps of our for profit system, it is clear that this is not happening, that we are not providing care for those who do not have access to it. Show how the churches and their institutions and members are stepping in and providing the care for those our system does not care for and I will listen.

Yet for those who support health care reform, I urge caution. We should ask from a Christian POV how much power should we give the government. Even well meaning politicians and rulers can make selfish and power appropriating decisions in the name of the Good. In the Revised Common Lectionary in year B we have been following the story of the Kings of Israel starting with Saul and now reading about Solomon, all duly appointed and anointed of God, all in varying degrees failed to act in true justice and righteousness, and found the temptations of power to be too great to resist. I do not think we as Christians can ignore the dangers of increasing the ways in which a government can have a say in our day to day lives. Justice and the Gospel do not call us to accept whatever a legislature may give us as possible reform. Our scriptures give us a healthy dose skepticism even of good government.

So as we as followers of Christ seek to wade through this current morass two things we need to keep in mind: that we are called away from self preservation and moved to seek to help and care for the least of these and the poor, and government and the power to do something does not make it necessarily just, even if it is well intentioned and done by a legitimate power structure.

For us at Reconciler I suggest that perhaps we use this current legislation as a case study for our fall study on Biblical and Christian perspectives on government and justice, and take the time to examine the ins and outs and the justice of the proposed legislation.

Glennwood Ave. Arts Fest

2009-08-14T17:49:00.002-05:00

We have a booth at the 8th annual Glennwood Arts Fest. Arists Clove, Kate Setzer Kamphausen and Larry Kamphausen will be showing their work. Members of the congregation are staffing the booth with the artists. Come out and see us and enjoy the festival, Saturday August 22 and Sunday August 23rd noon to 8pm.

This is our second time at the festival. In 2007 it was a fun time, and there are always great artists.

Sermon Tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, August 9 2009

2009-08-13T20:55:00.002-05:00

2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
Psalm 130
Ephesians 4:25-5:2
John 6:35, 41-51

The tragedy of the story of David and Absalom is palpable, choices of both David and Absalom lead to Absalom’s death. This past week we remembered the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the horrific end to a horrific war. A whole slew of human choices lead us to that point. So often our choices as human beings collectively and individually lead to tragedy. In history, whether of Israel or our own we are confronted with the tragedy of so much of human existence. I say this at the top because neither the story in Samuel nor the memorial of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the numerous horrors of WWII, not the least being the concentration camps, should be passed over in silence, yet this is not where I want to linger. So, acknowledging that much in this world as it has always been and is not as they should be I direct us to contemplate living in faith, a faith that should satisfy all our longings a faith that leads us to be as children towards God.
This is perhaps challenging view of faith; faith is in this view is neither simply holding certain comforting beliefs about the supernatural world and being, nor is it ones own fundamental belief about the nature of the world. This view of faith challenges us by this exhortation to be like children. What might this mean: As we grow up one of the things we desire is independence. This is especially so for us within our culture that emphasizes individuality, self-sufficiency, and independence. We want to be different from our parents, be on our own, blaze our own trail. Yet in growing up our ability to become self-sufficient and independent is a dependent process. It depends on not only one’s parents but an entire functioning system that is the adult world, which even as one grows up one both wants to enter into and rebel against. Our emphasis on independence and individuality, at times hides from us the ways in which becoming our own person depend on what we push against in this process of individuation. Our ability to become different and move out on our own from our parents depends on the care nurture, and teaching of our parents and other adults. Dependence on others never really ceases, and who we are is due to who others are and how we have been raised, and the options we have been shown. But we often hide ourselves from these webs of dependence, or downplay connection and debt of those who have gone before. This tendency to not see the web of dependence may hide from us a radical notion in our Epistle and Gospel. According to Paul and Jesus we are not meant to become independent of God. Our flowering and fulfillment as human persons depends on God and being in true relationship with God.

This sort of faith is what we reflected on last week, as that faith brings us to the waters of baptism and from the waters of baptism that our faith is sustained. Paul directs our attention to this faith as a calling as Christians members of the body of Christ. In speaking of calling I am not necessarily talking about a specific call from God to do a certain thing with your life or a period of your life, but that call which is shared by all Christians as members of the church. Paul describes what that should look like, and that this way of being is known in seeking to be imitators of God, the way children imitate adults.

Jesus in Johns Gospel pushes further on what is perhaps objectionable about Christianity: the claim that there is only one who gives life to us and the world. There is only one who gives life to the world and as such we are only to have hunger for that one. This assertion of Christ’s reveals to us one of the things that is most difficult to keep attuned to in Christian faith: our responsibility and our dependence. God is the source of all life and existence; Christ is God, the Word who sustains everything. Yet, Ephesians reminds us that all in all of Christ does not negate the importance of our actions. While it is true that God in Jesus Christ is the one who gives life to the world, if we live in death, this life not only doesn't come to us there is that potential that those who we know and the world and the world around us continues to taste death.

According to the Apostle Paul, once we understand all God has done in Jesus Christ once we have received God in Jesus Christ in faith and baptism and recognize that we are part of the people of God, the bodiy of Christ the Temple of the Holy Spirit, we then are to act in ways consistent with this reality, with life. As children we learned from adults around us what it meant to be human and human acculturated into a particular culture, we learned what it meant to be a man or a woman, how to treat people. In fact even as we wanted to be independent we also wanted to act like the adults around us. This is a complex process and there is choosing and sometimes this imitation is not of parents or a blood relative. Imitation can also be something asked up us. Someone gives us a piece of candy or bread and we are instructed to say "Thank you." We want something and the parent will tell the child "say, please may I have some candy." or we tell our children say good buy. Imitation takes on the both subtle things that a parent or another adult may not even be aware of, those things that very from culture to culture but aren't at the front of the mind, and the child imitates, and we take on delight when we see a child mimic some subtleties of someone’s personality. It is through imitation that we learn what it is to be human and what our culture understands to be appropriate human behavior. Paul's instruction here is about imitation, not of human beings but of God. God is the adult world we are to be acculturated to as Christians. We are to become like God, this is the point of faith and Baptism.

We may struggle with the reality that becoming like God is a childlike activity. Accepting this journey of faith accepts our dependence upon a reality outside ourselves, which we can not wholly grasp, comprehend, or control. The language of both our Epistle and Gospel tells us that our relation to God is always like being a child in the adult world. These passages also reminds us that our actions matter although the source of our ability to act in these ways is dependent on another reality, another person, God. When Jesus says that the one who will eat of his flesh, which is the bread of heaven, will no longer hunger is to point to the centrality of this dependence, and also that only God in Jesus Christ satisfies us allows us to be who we truly are to be. Just as children cannot become who they are to be without the nurture support and example of adults around them.

Paul's instruction is what we are to look like Christ as we are sustained by Christ. As we are given life, even as we still find that we are hungering after other things than God, We are to seek only after God to satisfy all we are and desire. Perhaps this feels limiting and constricting? Perhaps this is too much? We want our passions and hungers, they seem to give us life, but they exhaust us and never ultimately satisfy. The one of whom we are to eat and let satisfy our hunger sustains us, and is the creator of the entire universe, all that we see, of our very beings, thus is only what can ultimately satisfy our desires. The truth that in comparison to God we are like infants and toddlers all of humanity: we don't know anything about how to be, or what to eat, or how to live. Only in Christ only by allowing Jesus Christ to satisfy us completely, only by focusing on who God is, seeking to imitate and be sustained by God, can we know what true desire is, and what it means to be truly human. At times certainly this restrains, but like a parent who keeps a child from chasing their favorite ball out into a busy street this sense of restriction is safety and life. In some fashion our culture sees all this when we focus on righting injustices and seek after justice. Yet as a society as a whole in seeking for justice we aren't looking beyond ourselves but solely relying on our human understanding, as if children could know how to be adult without first imitating adult behavior. Our desire for justice is true but we do not want to look to the one who in Jesus Christ’s life death and resurrection showed us the meaning and source of the only justice that deserves the name. The Christian claim the claim of Jesus Christ and his Apostle Paul is that we cannot know life and justice without first learning of them from God, and being sustained by the very flesh of God. Or we have no ability to truly change ourselves and the world, unless, as some mystics have put it, we suckle on the very breasts of God. Amen.

Revisting Sharing our Faith

2009-07-29T16:45:00.003-05:00

A month ago I reflected outreach as sharing our faith. At our last council meeting I asked us to reflect on events that we could have that would allow us to share with others our faith. Thinking more on this I have been wondering how best to keep anything we plan to do as natural and organic to our life together as a congregation. This line of thought is trying to think through why our one Beer Bread and the Bible was something we as a congregation found enriching to our faith and community life and a place where our friends Christian and non-christian felt welcome to come and participate. There are couple things that I think were important for the Beer Bread and the Bible: we were interested in reading James and the in the themes of James, it was a moment of outreach but it was not for the purpose of getting members for Reconciler.

As I push us to think more about outreach, I feel we can begin feel pressure of something in addition to our Bible studies and fellowship as a congregation. Thus another thing we need to add to our busy schedules. Yet, I am hopping that our approach can be more integrated and integral when it comes to outreach. So,I keep coming back to the one Beer Bread and the Bible is not because I think we have to replicate exactly what Jeremy and Charity did in hosting and having it, but it emerged organically from both Jeremy and Charity's desires but also the character of the congregation at the time. It was something people who did not attend Reconciler came to and felt comfortable attending without any push to be part of the congregation. Also the reading of James and then discussing was a Bible study that it allowed people with differing levels of experience with and understanding of the Bible to enter in and come away with something. Lastly it was a time of fellowship for our congregation but also with friends who were either Christian or not Christian. These three things tell me that it wasn't something we added on but something that came from who we were, and we wanted to share it with others, without expectation or strings.

What I feel we can learn from this is that anything we do for outreach first should be something that we want to do and are interested in. Second it should be an opportunity for us as a congregation to connect with each other. Third it needs to be open to others participation even if they never attend Reconciler. If we keep these three things in mind perhaps some of the pressure is off of "creating" an outreach event.

I am thinking that as we plan to gather in September to talk about Christian faith and Baptism as Chrissy and Will prepare to be baptized, and as we (0r I) solidify what we want to study for the fall and as we have potlucks, that we see at least some of these as places to invite our friends and acquaintances as well as times for us to gather as a congregation. This is also how our presence at the Glennwood Arts Festival came about we have had visual artists as members of Reconciler, I am a painter, so it made sense to be there, as our congregations changes and grows perhaps there are other ways we can integrate members talents and involvement with Reconciler's visible presence in the community.

Outreach: Sharing our Faith

2009-06-29T16:35:00.000-05:00

There are numerous voices out there telling congregations what churches should be about. Terms fly about: emergent, missional, outreach, justice ministry, relevant, etc. Recently some members of Reconciler have spoken about wanting others to experience what they have found at Reconciler, yet how to share this in a situation and culture in which gathering together as a community for worship is hardly a priority at times even for many religious or spiritual people. There is a challenge for Reconciler in that our Sunday worship isn't' necessarily the best way to first encounter our faith community or Christianity, unless one is the type to be comfortable participating in something one might not fully understand. Yet since we have considered Eucharistic centered worship essential to Reconciler's work and for the support of Christians in their various callings, we have not been willing to make our main service "seeker" sensitive, or more accessible. This means that there needs to be some other way for people to be introduced to the congregation and even introduced to our worship life. We have attempted somethings like keeping a booth at some of the sumer neighborhood festivals here in Chicago, as well as events intended for people to get to know us and what Christians might do with the Bible, with a potluck themed as Beer, Bread and the Bible. This was somewhat successful in that it was well attended but only had one. We also had a panel discussion on Fair Trade and had planned to have more but the attendance was small and organizing something like that takes a large amount of time and energy.

Church is a complex thing, for although there is certainly something to the claim that congregations don't exist for the members it is also true that a church community is for those who are part of the church community. We gather to worship to be formed into the body of Christ to be spiritually empowered to live out our callings as followers of Christ, we are both gathered and sent, both under care and caring, ministered to and ministers. To be out in the world to let people know about Reconciler both things need to be kept in mind. Also, we need to keep in mind what is our faith? Why would we feel the need or have the desire to invite people into our Community, why is Jesus Christ important? Why, do we seek to make a difference in the world? In this sense any outreach needs to be willing to say that Christ makes a difference, that in some sense what Christianity offers is true in ways that other paths aren't. This truth should be in the life offered in and through the community of the Body of Christ, thus the ways in which knowing Christ brings truth into our own lives and transforms us, both our failings and our successes. In outreach we are telling our own stories of encounter with the truth who is Jesus Christ. If we are not sharing this and offering this opportunity of encounter with others than all our attempts to be relevant or to seek after justice, or be place of healing etc, will seem abstract and lack authenticity. In a world of choices if we believe people should be interested in Christianity and spend there time on church, then what we bring to the conversation should have some weight that other attachments and communities can't or don't bring people. We can offer something beyond relevance, we can offer the spiritual root and stamina to work for justice, we can offer a path of transformation in and through Jesus Christ both personally and corporately.

This requires a willingness to be vulnerable about how Christ has made us truer, how encounter with God in Jesus Christ transforms us and gives us a vision and the spiritual resources to look at a world of injustice and work for justice. It means finding ways to introduce a worship that should support all these things and lead us to encounter God in these ways, so that a complex symbol system can be entered into once someone does actually come to worship.

We need to stop seeing our worship as the place of initial invitation and see ourselves about proclaiming inviting and explaining before someone ever enters into worship with us. Events like Bread Beer and the Bible or sponsoring panel discussions from a Christian POV on current issues of justice and politics and culture I think are good places both for Reconciler and other churches to start, but we also probably need to think of ways to introduce people to the symbol system of the church a sort of pre-catechumenate mystagogy, I suppose.

I am beginning to wonder if the various types of alternative worship services liturgies, coming from variety of denominations and groups,shouldn't be viewed or offered as the worship of the church, but ways to introduce or re-introduce people to the symbol system of Christians worship. In other words are there ways to give people some sense of the meaning of Baptism artistically and symbolically before they undergo baptism or as they are investigating Christianity, the same for Eucharist and other things.

Eat Well Food Tour

2009-06-23T21:52:00.004-05:00

This Sunday, June 28th, Many Peoples Church in Rogers Park is hosting the Chicago stop of the Eat Well Food Tour: What do food and faith have to do with one another? Is it enough to pray before our meals? Giving thanks to God is certainly important, but there are also many other ways Christian values can influence our food-related habits. This is a free workshop on how to put faithfulness into practice around the table and beyond. The Eat Well Food Tour is co-sponsored by the Christian Reformed Office of Social Justice and *culture is not optional.

Time: Sunday June 28th
6:00 pm, potluck, 7 pm workshop
Place: Many Peoples Church
1507 W. Morse Ave. Chicago, IL 60626

For more information about the tour, visit them on the web.

Reconciler Update

2009-05-20T17:28:00.000-05:00

We are coming to the end of the Season of Easter, summer is nearly upon us, and a week from this Sunday we will celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost, the birthday of the church, the feast that reminds us that the Spirit of God came and filled the church and continues to fill us and empowers us as members of Christ's body. As such Pentecost seems to be a fitting place to begin to see how things have gone and see where the Spirit may be leading us, and is doing in our midst. When Tripp Hudgins and David Gortner gathered people including myself to see if God was in the idea of an ecumenical church start one of the questions was is the Spirit of God in this and how is the Spirit moving. We set out to start Reconciler because the consensus of all those gathered was that the vision was of the Spirit. One of the areas of learning for us early on was being attentive to the ways in which the Spirit moved with and in and around circumstances. We are at another stage where discernment of this is necessary.

Here is some of my reflections on direction the Spirit may be moving us in light of our circumstances. I still feel that some form of team ministry with pastors of other denominations is still part of what God is about at Reconciler. Especially since it seems that denominational structures and identities are currently not flexible enough, perhaps for good reason, to accommodate full affiliation in all three denominations at once. So, any connection to structures outside ourselves may continue to need to happen through the clergy. However, it may also mean re-conceiving how such a team works and may not mean having all three pastors equally involved in the day to day pastoring of the church. Also, we have kind of kept the Community of the Holy Trinity as a somewhat silent partner in the work of Reconciler. However, Holy Trinity is what has allowed Kate and I to continue to be part of Reconciler, and the community has provided space for meetings and potlucks and worship space. Currently, Holy Trinity and Reconciler pray in the same space. as we move forward it seems that it is time to in the least describe to ourselves and others what the relationship between community and congregation exist. In part it seems that the community provides the support and continuity that at least right now the congregation on its own could not provide. I am considering presenting to my denomination that it seek to acknowledge my work as Prior of the Community of the Holy Trinity that includes being pastor of Church of Jesus Christ, Reconciler. A closer and more explicit relationship has advantages for Reconciler as the community may take more ownership of what is happening at Reconciler and we at Reconciler can also take some ownership of what is happening with the community. These are some of my current thoughts on how God may be leading, but like when we began and and each juncture in our short life as a congregation discerning the movement of the Spirit is prayerfully considering and planning together and seeing how these things play out as we seek to faithfully follow Christ.

Ascension Vespers with Holy Communion

2009-05-20T10:47:00.003-05:00

We are invited to join the the Community of the Holy Trinity in worship for the Feast of the Ascension Vespers with Holy Communion. Thursday, May 21st at 7 PM in Immanuel's Chapel.

Visit this Sunday by Associate Superintendent of the Central Confernece of the ECC‏

2009-05-12T10:20:00.002-05:00

A Reminder that this Sunday May 17th Rev. Jolene Bergstrom Carlson, Associate Superintendent of the Central Conference (for you Episcopal types kind of like an associate bishop, but not) will be with us and presiding at Table. A reception will be held following the service for us to meet Jolene. Since being sent to take part in starting Reconciler by then Conference Superintendent Rev. Herb Freedholm, Jolene has been our regular connection to the Covenant and Conference support to me as we have tried to figure out how to keep connections with the three denominations and as we have watched what God has done at Reconciler often very different from what we had planned or thought. Jolene also when we started Reconciler came and installed me as the Covenant Pastor of Reconciler.
So come and worship with us this Sunday and meet Jolenne.

Explorations in the Liturgy

2009-05-07T14:07:00.004-05:00

As I found myself the only pastor at Reconciler this past January, one of the challenges I felt we faced was how we would authentically keep an ecumenical witness to our liturgy. To some degree this has always been a challenge. The way we faced this chalenge originally was in creating a liturgy (the form of which coincides with most church's liturgy of word and table) in which each of the three pastors when they lead that portion of the service did so from within their tradition. The clearest way this happened was at the table each of the three pastors followed their tradition. However, attempting to duplicate either the Baptist or Episcopal way of celebrating communion wasn't really an option for me, and I didn't want this to simply become a "high church" Covenant worship service. It was clear early on that this was in our worship the place of challenge to the ecumenical vision.

As I reflected on this I remembered that our liturgy itself was an adaptation of the BCP Eucharist service and the Lima Liturgy of the WCC, along with some Baptist elements (a form of altar call) and what might be called emergent elements (like discussion after the sermon). So, during the Octave of Prayer for Christian unity I used the Lima liturgy unchanged, and it seemed to fit us more or less and the feedback I received on the liturgy was positive (though only a few gave feedback). The challenge of our current situation turned into an opportunity to explore making some changes to our liturgy that may bring about an adaptation of the Lima liturgy to a congregational and weekly used order of worship. Also, on other Sundays I have been adapting the Eucharistic prayer from the Apostolic Constitutions of Hypolotus of Rome. In the past couple of weeks I have been playing in our liturgy and the Lima liturgy, seeing how our liturgy may be more informed by this ecumenical liturgy designed for ecumenical worship and how the Lima liturgy may be adapted to our context.

Our context includes the space we worship in. This has lead me more and more to play with the idea of simply using the "east facing" altar in the chapel, which would mean facing the same direction as the congregation during the Eucharistic liturgy and not facing the congregation. Of course such a posture could communicate many different things, including exclusion and distance. However, the original idea of all including the priest facing towards the altar and not facing the people is that we are all praying together, rather than one person performing for everyone else: priest and people have a singular action which the priest does on behalf of all. Most importantly though we are all praying together facing God as a community. An altar against a wall is called "east facing" because it was the practice to build churches such that the sanctuary of the church where the altar is was on the east side of the building. This all has lead me to think about having our congregation move in our space so that at the liturgy of the word we sit around lectern at the rear of the chapel and then move and stand at the front near the altar all facing the same direction at the Eucharist, maybe even at some point having all process in together at the beginning of the service from outside the chaple.

All of this thought of getting us moving more, with the liturgy becoming something we do with our whole selves and together, presents a difficulty if we are all carrying books and papers, not impossible but certainly more difficult. Which has me rethinking the role of projectors and screens in worship and the liturgy. I am beginning to wonder if we have been thinking too piecemeal when it comes to the use of "media arts" and projections. Liturgical books were to be "media" aids towards the right and orderly performance of the liturgy, and then a means like with the Book of Common Prayer that all could know and understand what the liturgy was and what was going on, but still as a "media" aid to prayer and the work of the people. But now as we look at the liturgy and attempt to delve the depths of Christian worship we are rediscovering that worship and liturgy are more than words, it is an act and action we do with our bodies. There are varieties of way of attempting to live into this: some of which abandons much or all of whatever might be viewed as "tradition" or "traditional", or we attempt to add things and integrate thing into a "traditional" liturgy. But what if "media art" is like books have been? What if we use them to communicate and direct the congregation in the act of worship; that is what if what is projected on the screen using various technologies isn't there to augment or create ambiance but is itself giving direction to the congregation in the way our bulletins and hymnals and worship books do now? Reconciler is a long way from possibly getting rid of paper and books, or so it seems right now, and whether projection would work in the chapel at Immanuel is another question as well. However, the challenges of January have at least for me, your pastor, lead into an opportunity to play with the liturgy and explore how we can both be more ecumenical in our worship but also engage our whole selves in this ecumenical worship.

No Office hours this week

2009-05-05T12:44:00.002-05:00

Pastor Larry Kamphausen will not be at his office hours either today at Metropolis coffee or Thursday at Ennui Cafe.

Reconciler Update

2009-05-05T10:47:00.001-05:00

We continue to be in a time of transition and change that we began last year when we began to question the necessity of the committee structure as a means to be church together. This has lead to a streamlining of our council and the creation of more fluid forms of being together and working together as a church community. As we have made these changes and have found other challenges to our original vision conversation with the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago and the Central Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church has picked up again. We find ourselves in a good place to continue the conversation of continued relationship with the three denominations even as we are without an Episcopal Priest and have put on hold our search for an American Baptist pastor.
A week ago today I met with the Rev. Cannon Scott Hayashi, Canon to the Ordinary of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago (A Canon is a person who may be lay or ordained who serves on a Bishop’s staff or a cathedral. The Canon to the Ordinary is a person whose ministry is directly answerable to the bishop and who can function as a sort of chief of staff). We had a lively and helpful discussion about Reconciler and the possibilities of a continuing relationship with the Diocese. In the coming months as we reflect together on who we are as a congregation and how we wish to continue to be an ecumenical congregation Rev. Canon Hayashi's thoughts and reflections will be helpful. Though in our conversation it was made very clear that the way I and the founding pastors had conceived of affiliation with the three denominations a little over four years ago is not a possibility. So, as we live into some of the changes of the past year and decide how we want to move forward these changes I think our in line with what the three denominations we have been in conversation with about affiliation will be able to accept and may lead us to a more creative way of connection with Christians of various traditions outside our small congregation.
Also, Rev. Jolene Bergstorm Calrson is planning to visit us and Preside at Table on May 17th. Jolene has attempted to visit us several times in the past year and a half and has ended up have various scheduling conflicts that prevented the visit. The Central Conference remains supportive of Reconciler and we will have an opportunity to meet Jolene and let her get to know us a little better in a couple of weeks.
So in this season of Easter there is life but like when the disciples encountered the living Risen Jesus of Nazareth it is also life that at least I was not expecting. But then Resurrection life is like that, I suppose.
Announcements:
Rev. Jolene Bergstrom Carlson, Associate Superintendent of the Central Conference of the ECC will be visiting us and presiding at Table Sunday May 17th.

This Wednesday May 6th members of Reconciler are providing the meal for the Community meal with Immanuel Lutheran Church. Come and join us at 6 pm.
Following the meal The Community of the Holy Trinity* is leading a Vespers service using Taize music at 7 PM. Holy Trinity will lead the 7 pm Evening prayer service at Immanuel service the months of May and June.

You are invited by The Community of the Holy Trinity*to an Ascension Vespers with Holy Communion on Thursday, May 21st at 7 pm in the side Chapel of Immanuel Lutheran Church.

Our Next Council meeting will be a week from this Thursday, May 14th. 7:30 pm, all are encouraged to attend. Remember if you show up you are a member of council.

* The Community of the Holy Trinity is an intentional community that was founded by Rev. Larry Kamphausen and Kate Setzer Kamphausen in 1993 and another couple. Larry is both the Prior of the community as well as Pastor of Reconciler. While currently only Kate and Larry are both members of Reconciler and of Holy Trinity, over the past 4 years Reconciler and Holy Trinity have shared members from time to time. Holy Trinity has been a partner in ministry with Reconciler in various ways including providing space for our meetings and early on, before Reconciler and Holy Trinity moved to the Immanuel church campus, Reconciler used the community's chapel for its worship space. Currently both Holy Trinity and Reconciler use Immanuel's chapel for their worship space.

The Season of Easter

2009-04-15T16:08:00.005-05:00

"Alleluia, Christ is Risen. The Lord is Risen indeed, Alleluia."

It is now the Season of Easter. In the Church year we have 40 days of fasting in Lent, as we prepare for and contemplate the way of the Cross, followed by 50 days of celebrating and contemplating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We may not all be at this place of rejoicing and experiencing resurrection during this particular season of Easter, but we celebrate not based on our circumstances but based on what God has done. And we celebrate in hope that we will all know and can know now the power of Resurrection in our lives, even in the midst of grief and death and continued struggle. The reality of Easter, of Christ's Resurrection from the Dead, is our hope when things continue to seem dark. So, it is also important in this festive season of Easter to remember our passage through the three Days, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. We need to keep together the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. One is not more crucial than the other. We don't get at the truth by emphasizing one and ignoring the other. The death and Resurrection of Christ is one act of God, to transform the world and bring an end to sin death and all injustice and unrighteousness. The death and Resurrection of Jesus then aren't primarily about human experience, but about God's acts to return all things to God, that all may be found in the source of all life and who is life and light itself.

May this season of Easter be full of God's joy and peace.

Holy Week and Easter Services

2009-04-07T16:11:00.002-05:00

Our Holy Week and Easter joint services with Immanuel St. Elias and the new congregation worshiping at the Immanuel Campus, the Community of St Francis:

Maundy Thursday, 7:30pm, Service of Feet Washing and Holy Communion.

Good Friday, 7:30pm

Holy Saturday, 7:30 pm, Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday 10:30 am
Easter Breakfast 9 am in Founders Hall

On Easter Sunday we are not worshiping at our normal time of 5 pm. We return to our 5 pm worship time on April 19th.

Sermon Third Sunday in Lent-

2009-03-16T23:39:00.008-05:00

Exodus 20:1-17 •
Psalm 19 •
I Corinthians 1:18-25 •
John 2:13-22 •
There is something confounding about Jesus, and his actions in our Gospel today. As I prepared this sermon I felt that these passages are in some way about faith. However, as I pursued this idea that the Ten Commandments, God's foolishness being more wise than all human wisdom and Jesus driving money changers out of the Temple all point us to the nature of faith, giving expression to this thought has eluded me. I wonder if this experience of pursuing yet never catching hold is an aspect of the experience of faith. I do not mean that this experience is faith, but part of what it means to be a person of faith. I wonder if at times we are drawn into that which will elude us and be on the edge of our understanding and comprehension, and thus eludes a certain type of articulation.

I recently saw the movie "No Country for Old Men", at the end of the film I did not know what to think. I was at a loss, It was clearly an excellent film, not being familiar with the book upon which it is based I had not expected, the story line, nor the violence nor the ending and the lack of resolution. The movie ended and it had told its story and yet nothing was resolved. Things had happened, and things were different, things had come to a conclusion but nothing resolved. At the end of the movie I simply felt adrift at sea.   The movie, its images and its story have stuck with me like few movies I have seen.

No Country for Old Men is many things, a horror film, a hunt and hunted film, but it is also a movie about a sheriff Tom Bell struggling to comprehend a world he thinks he knows turning more violent and incomprehensible: the unrelenting and at times seemingly random violence of a mob hit man is part of this changing world that Sheriff Bell can't comprehend. This inability to comprehend and control leads him to retire. The hit man believes in fate and that anyone who crosses his path is fated to die unless chance or fate says otherwise when he decides to flip a coin. Anton Chighur believes in fate and necessity and leaves a path strewn with dead bodies. Only one person in the movie refuses his sense of necessity and fate and throws his violence on him and his own choices, Mary Jean, Llewelyn Moss' wife. Bell can't comprehend such a criminal, at one point he is talking with a sheriff in El Paso about this. The Sheriff talks about how he would have never believed it if someone told him someday he'd see teenagers walking the streets in green hair, to which Ed Tom Bell responds "Signs and wonders!"   Bell is looking for something, some sign that will allow this all to make sense somehow, and also refuses to fully enter the events to understand them because he does not want to be pulled into this new world of which he is also part, whether he wants to or likes it or not.

I want to sit with this feeling of speechlessness of confusion puzzlement and incomprehension.   One way to interpret Paul is saying that what God did in Jesus Christ doesn't make sense. It leaves everyone dumbfounded that a crucified man could be the savior of the world and God in human flesh. And the stories of Jesus don't always make sense either, like the story of Jesus chasing out merchants and money changers from the temple, with a whip he made of cords. Neither the disciples nor Jewish leaders of the time understood Jesus actions, and left them scratching their heads and asking for explanations and proofs.

Jesus' actions are not always understood. Jesus becomes violent here, and it isn't in response to the Roman occupation and its injustices but in response to a practice that had grown up around the temple because many no longer own flocks or other animals for sacrifice, and even if they did many Jews came from lands very distant from Jerusalem and could not bring their sacrificial animals with them even if they had them. The practice Jesus objects to is one of acculturation and cultural and historical adaptation. But it is an adaptation that has negative consequences, sacrifice and worship has now become at least in part a commercial transaction, one in which one can surmise that some are making a profit off the worship of and sacrifice to the God of the universe.   Jesus responds in a premeditated and measured violence against this affront to God and the worship of God, this adaptation to the times.   The response of the leaders is one of bewilderment: How are people to offer the appointed sacrifices if they can't get the appropriate animals. Jesus' actions don't make sense and so they ask for a sign. Jesus, in a saying misunderstood and used at his trial to condemn him of blasphemy, says The sign he offers is his crucifixion and resurrection.

What Jesus offers as a sign Paul says is foolishness to everyone.   What God did in Jesus Christ makes no sense.   God's actions in history in the life death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, leave us with a quizzical uncomprehending feeling based on human evaluations, whether cultural, political, or interpersonal. These logics run up against a wall in Jesus Christ. Faith makes connections beyond these. Faith does not demand signs. Faith works on a different logic than the wisdom of the world. What is the logic of our faith this way of the cross, this being open to God and God's ways? The sign Jesus offers is the sign of God's wisdom and action in the world, the logic of the cross and resurrection. That overcoming the world and death, means passing through death.   Life comes only in its seeming loss. Why does the selling of animals for sacrifice and money changers in the temple contradict this logic and wisdom of God? This is not clear to those who observe Jesus' action, the cross and Jesus death as truly what saves and brings an end to evil and injustice, can baffle us especially when all these things did not cease to be. God's actions and wisdom don't always make sense to us.

However, this does not deny that there is a real, true and good human desire for things to make sense. It is the pursuit of truth, but it can also be, and usually accompanies this pursuit, the desire to be in control and thus to be able to predict. This is part of how the pursuit of knowledge in the hard sciences is to proceed ideally. In life , in faith, in following Christ this can be a barrier to truth and can lead to destruction, largely because the Truth we are ultimately seeking is God who is totally other. Yet it is also because control does not lead to understanding nor provide the resources needed to sustain oneself in life. This is part of what I am taking away from No Country for Old Men. The three main male characters all believe that in some way they are in control and in the course of the movie this unravels for them (thus the feeling of no resolution and being at loss at the end of the film), but in very different ways for each. Sheriff Bell control is having a world that makes sense, dealing with criminals he knows, terrain he can interpret actions that are predictable. For Llewelyn Moss Tom Bell understands his actions and motivations, but Anton Chighur and to a lesser degree the drug runners, actions do not make any sense and seem to have no reason behind them. Moss sees himself as someone in control through expertise of the hunt and his tenacity. Moss is in control through action ingenuity and perseverance. He is capable and resourceful and this will get him through any difficulty or challenge. Anton Chighur controls the world and comprehends it by being a simple force of fate, necessity and nature. As far as he is concerned his actions and every death simply follow the logic of consequence and necessity. Mary Jean Moss rejects this sense of control and in the face o her death becomes the strongest charter in the movie. Ed Tom Bell is offered through two dreams another world , an acceptance of limitations and of an offer of grace- but he must give up trying to make sense of it all and accept he isn't and never was in control, nor ever comprehended the world.

Reconciler Update

2009-03-11T22:30:00.001-05:00

My hope for all of us this Lent is that we may find our faith renewed and find ourselves growing in the love of God. Yet, I am aware that even in my own spiritual life that Lent can have an opposite effect. I can feel burdened by a fast or other discipline I have undertaken. If I break the fast or am inconsistent in keeping to a discipline I can feel like Lent was awash. This is a temptation of Lent and of the spiritual disciplines in general. An other temptation can be to be quite proud of our being able to keep our fast or other discipline through out Lent. I think there are in these temptations a positive and negative impulses. In the positive both can be born out of a desire to follow in the way of Christ perfectly, For we know as our closing hymn on Sunday says "Forty Days and forty night thou was fasting in the wild; forty day and forty nights tempted, and yet undefiled." (#150 Hymnal 1982, Episcopal Church). We want to be "undefiled", yet this desire turns into a work that we feel we must do. We then become burdened and either stumble under this burden or become prideful that we have carried this burden.

So Lent can become quite distressing and especially so, as our Lenten discipline brings to light sins or failings we have and we then encounter them in stark relief, which is suited to a time of repentance and self-examination. However, if we have succumbed thus seeing Lent as a time of Spiritual accomplishment and perfection, finding our dark selves rising to the surface can lead to confusion and distress. The closing hymn from this past Sunday offers us the solution to these attitudes: "Then if Satan on us press, Jesus, Savior, hear our call! Victor in the wilderness, grant we may not faint or fall!" We are not the victors in this wilderness, nor is it upon our own resources that we are to rely in Lent or the Spiritual life, but upon Christ who is the Victor and who has fulfilled the Law and all the requirements of the Spiritual life. If we are to find ourselves perfected it is in reliance on and faith in Christ. We are to rely on Christs strength having faith that Christ has already overcome and is victorious.

So in a sense Lent is nothing special, in our life of faith. What applies to Lent always applies. We keep Lent because it can help us refocus and return to our call and to that reliance on Christ, which is our faith. We undertake these disciplines and we fast, we take this time to focus intently on our Spiritual life and our selves so that we may open ourselves ever more to the tranforming power of the Resurrection. We enter a desert and intensify our struggles with ourselves and sin and temptation, not to make ourselves perfect but to be perfected by God, as we are formed ever more into the image of Christ. A subtle distinction but one essential for a Holy Lent and for our entire spiritual journey in this life.

Sermon Second Sunday In Lent- Acts of Faith

2009-03-09T22:23:00.001-05:00

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 •
Psalm 22:23-31 •
Romans 4:13-25 •
Mark 8:31-38 •

Acts of Faith

What is Faith and are their acts of faith that are not works? Tonight I proclaim to you that it is by faith alone and not by works that we are righteous. This may seem to be a contradictory proclamation to that of last week. Last week I spoke of "faith" in terms of what you or I posses consistently over time of our own belief and trust in God that comes of our own accord. So then what is the faith that produces righteousness? Last week I attempted to put forward that this true faith was not devoid of acts. Today I must say that this faith cannot be by works. However this faith is not about simple beliefs held or a trust that comes from my own resources that makes one righteous or saves. In this distinguishing of faith from faith, the faith I spoke of last week, the faith that is as often as not the faith of Protestant forms of Christianity, is a work as much as trusting and living according to the Law. On the other hand the faith that Paul is talking about is that which is connected to the reality of loss of self and identity in Jesus Christ. Paul's use of Abraham as the father of faith or our father in the faith, shows us that he does not see faith as something we do or hold over a lifetime but is a faithfulness that in doubt in confusion in lack of belief continues to hold one self open to God and God's faithfulness, and receives faith as a gift, and not a possession of one's own. Last Sunday I was attempting to say that according to catholic faith and practice baptism, fasting lent, liturgy etc. are not works but acts that open us to Gods grace, thus properly understood these things are acts of faith. There are many acts of faith, following Christ demands acts of faith, which are not works. To understand this we must explore the nature of faith that is not bound to works of the Law and which does not become a work and Law of its own.

The fulcrum here is Paul. As Protestants we know well Paul as that teacher of the nature of faith, the very place we have gone to for the doctrine of "alone by grace through faith." This sumary of the Gospel has had all sorts of misunderstandings to lifting from simple belief completely seperated from any form of life reflecting the Gospel, such that to encourage people to live out their faith it was feard that this was to introduce works into faith. On the other end faith becomes this thing that one manufactures that must be without doubt or question and is shown in a life a near moral perfection or at least keeping to a strict outward moral and ethical code, which can include such things as no smoking, drinking or veiwing or participating in entertainements of varius kinds. At this end of the pedulum swing one must constantly prove ones faith based on various external standards of belief and behavior. The passage before us tonight in Romans is one of the prooftexts of the assertion that it is by faith alone that we are righteous, or to use the theological term Justified. Paul argues that the promise of Abraham was not according to the works of the Law but the righteousness of faith. A key peice of his argument is the assertion that Abraham exhibited great faith. However, in Pauls argument the point isn't simply Abrahams faith, but that Abraham and the promise of God comes before the Law. Paul's claim then is that Abraham lived according to faith and not according to the works of the Law. In faith not his works of the Law was the basis for God reckoning Abraham righteous. To rehetorically drive his point Paul use a seriese of intensifieres concerning the greatness of Abraham's faith, which may give us the impression that the faith he speaks about has no room for doubt, no place for our own individual belief to falter. yet Paul should be read in light of Genesis and Genesis in light of Paul. Let us accpet as true that Abraham was a person of great faith and that God declares him a righteous person not based on his works but upon his faith. Accepting these things as true let us see what such a person full of faith is like. To do so we must turn to Genesis and the stories of Abraham in Genesis speicifically our text in chapter 17.

How does the story of Abraham's life in Genesis match up with Pauls praise of Abraham as the father of faith? We are getting toward the end of the overal story of Abraham. It has been a long time since Abram and Sarai left their home in Ur and travled to canaan based on the word and promise of God. They have endured much and prospered some, but remain semi-nomadic herders of sheep and cattel. God on several occasions after the first call promises Abram that he and Sarai will be the beginning line of a great nation. Yet through it all and despite the repetition of the promise Sarah her self does not bear a child. In their desperatin to have a child (and help God along with the promise, or in an atempt to live into the promise on their own) Hagai becomes suragate to Sarai and Abram has the son Ishmael by Hagar. This brings us to our story today, and again God reiterates God's promise to Abraham. This great person of faith how has he been unwavaring and without doubt? In our passage we see Abraham in responce to Gods promise bring to God his solution, Ishmael. But God's plan includes Sarah who has taken part and walked in faith as well as Abraham. God does not accept Abrahams feeble attempt to live into God's promise. From the first of Abraham's travels from Ur, in responce to God's call, this story of faith includes lying about his relationship to Sarah to save his own life, having a son by Hagar his wife's maidservant as a means to fulfill God's promise, arguing with God about the destruction of Sodom and Gemorah which occurs after this theophany in Genesis 17. Abraham and Sarah struggle with Hagar and Ishmael after Isaac is born. Fear and jealosy drive Abraham and Sarah to send Hagar and Ishmael away to an almost certain death except that God intervenes. The unwavering faith and hoping against hope and steady belief in God was part of a life that included all these false starts, attempts at self preservation and attempting to help God out with God's promise. Faith that Paul is talking about must be something more than always believeing and never doubting and always acting out of belief in God.

What if our fiath, the faith that Paul is talking about has as much to do with God's character as with ourselves? What if faith isn't something we own or posses of ourselves as something earned or naturally posessing? What if faith is a gift recieved through certain acts? Reading Paul and Genesis together suggests to me that faith is larger than our consistency, larger than any presentation of ourselves to the others or to God. In the midst of all Abrahams false starts, failure to trust God and attempts to help God along with God's plans, there is one consistent thread, Abraham is always open to God as God, as the totally other and the very substance of life. This is one side of the faith that leads to the accounting as righteous. This is such a faith because it allows God to work it trust that no matter what God is the faithful one. We like Abraham are inconsistent and faithless, we try to keep up a good image but we are inconsistent, but Abraham trusted God's unfailing love and unwavering faithfulness. God is full of faith and so as Abraham remains open to this faithfulness never claiming any right before God, he becomes a person of great faith through God's faithfulness. Abrahams faith, which God reckons as righteousness is a gift of God's faithfulness to Abraham, not what Abraham earns because of his faithfulness to God. So that the source of Abraham's faith is God, not Abrahams own works.

What then does this life of openness to God look like? How do we know if we are open to God? Jesus tells us: " If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 8:35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it." "Mark 8:34-35) Taking up the cross is an act of faith that is not a work of the Law. This loosing of oneself and taking up the cross is an act of faith but not a work. The act of letting oneself and identity go and taking up the cross is an ongoing activity that perfects. But it doesn't necesarily mean having it all figured out, the disciples and Peter in the text certainly don't! The Life of Abraham and Sarah are examples of taking up the cross and letting go of the self. They travel from their home and become nomads, never settling down after taking up the call of God. In the midst they have their failings, they fail to understand what God is doing and they try to help God out. Their selves still raise their heads and at times they continue to act out of selfishness and mere self-preservation. But in the end when the entire story is told they perservered and they no matter the moments of self, or of doubt or failure of nerve they never gave up on God, they alwasy were open to God's appearing and God's word to them, they never settled down. God had sent them on a journey that lasted their entire life time. They are examples of deing to ourselves letting go of what people tell us should be done when we know God has called us to other things. They lost their selves and found new names, that were more themselves given to them by God.

Faith is not something you drumb up in yourself. Faith is not banishing all doubt and never asking a question. Rather faith is the letting down of ones defenses and the walls of human identity and opening oneself up in trust to the faithfulness of God. This faith does require or should have resultant acts things that could be described metaphorically as taking up ones cross and dying. But the act itself does not make one perfect or righteous. God is not asking that we live perfect lives, but in the messiness of our lives, and even when we know we have sinned and messed up that we do not let those things close us to God, that we in faith await the presence of God in our lives. This is much easier now that Christ has come and fulfilled all righteousness and perfectly fulfilled the Law of God, so that we now can do this in assurance that we are Christs.

Sermon First Sunday in Lent

2009-03-02T20:15:00.003-06:00

Genesis 9:8-17
Psalm 25:1-10
1 Peter 3:18-22
Mark 1:9-15

Recently when cleaning I came accross an old airline boarding pass stub on the back it said "get the 411 on your 737". At first I thought nothing of it. I knew more or less what it was saying, though I did not know how one was supposed to get the information on the airplane. but then I was struck at how strange this sentence was: being told to get a large number on a much larger number" What would four hundred and eleven have to do with seven hundred and thirty seven. If I didn't know the context that one dials 411 to get informatin and thus the number four hundred and eleven especially if one says "four, one one" communicates "information" and that the number seven hundred and Thirtyseven again when said as "seven, thirtyseven" indicates a type of aircraft, then the message on the back of the boarding pass is either nonsense or cryptic. If for some reason this stub of a boarding pass was passed down from generatin to generation until a time when airplanes and telephone service as we know it had faded completely from memory, the sense of this message that I redily understood would be lost and seen as either non-sense or perhaps some mysterious message in which 411 and 737 would have some mystical meaning. In a sense they do. Only the initiated into phone service and airplanes attach any particular singinficance to those numbers beyond numerical value such that they make sense of the above sentence. When it comes to Lent and Baptism, the liturgy, sacraments in general we as Protestants are often like those in my thought experiment to whom this boarding pass stub has been passed down but for whom the necesary assumptions and context have been lost. For me the work of ecumenism and the vision of this ecumenical congregation is to regain the context of the entire faith of the church. Thus the conjunction today of passages on baptism with the first Sunday in Lent may seem unintelgible to many of us.

On this the first Sunday in Lent we have very similar texts to the Baptism of the Lord. We return to Jesus' Baptism. But now we follow Jesus into the desert and then on to Jesus' proclamation to repent and believe the good-news of the fulfillment and the presence of the Kingdom of God. Peter talks of a baptism that now saves us prefigured by the flood, and we read that God made a Covenant not to destroy the earth in a flood again. Reflecting on baptism at the beginig of Lent places Baptism as a key to the life of discipleship. This suggests that Baptism is a place of beginning of faith. Yet, this is a difficult thing to assert here at Reconciler we have differing emphases on baptism and differing experiences. Some of us have been simply baptized as infants, others as children or adolescents, others as adults. Some of us have not been baptized at all coming from traditions that emphasize the interior experience of faith in Christ over the external sacramental sign. Some of us have been baptized several times. In the season after Epiphany as began our reflections on discipleship I attempted to talk about baptism and its place in Christian faith. We are here again and I feel the need to both assert the centrality of baptism and admit this is adifficult thing to assert in our context. We have a variety of approaches and various understandings of baptism in part are due to perceived and real abuses and misunderstandings concerning baptism and its spiritual reality. Christians have often made the sacraments a magical rite. For Protestants this misunderstanding was often attributed to accretions to the basics of the faith and so Protestants attempted to scrape away the unduly mysterious elements, and at times to the point of finding little or no meaning in the rites, rituals and sacraments of the Church. These external things may be nice but they do not make us Christians, so those who have come before us have said with differing emphases. However, Baptism, the liturgy, communion, Lent, spiritual disciplines are not and were never intended to be things to mark off that one has done to assure one has got the spiritual life under ones own control, rather the forgotten meaning is that all offer us the support of grace and produce in us an openness to God being at work in our lives. They are to use the theological terminology "means of Grace". We are physical creatures what supports our spiritual life is aspects of our physical world infused with spiritual power truth and meaning. This is why Baptism is central to the life of discipleship according to the catholic faith of the Church.

The story of the flood causes us difficulty. We have difficulty assimilating its message. On the face of it God in furry unleashes a great and worldwide devastation. All life except what life can fit on the ark, is destroyed, and then God promises not to do that again. Yet, the story can be read as being about the human capacity to ignore God and life, and the consequences of this and God, seeking to both bring an end to violence and evil and to preserve life. I see such a reading as fitting into our current debate about Global warming. We have an awareness of pollution and debates over how we raise our food, and I think can appreciate that human actions and carelessness can have physical destructive consequences that effect more than just those most directly responsible. However, the overall story of the flood is also about how God has held back the full consequences of humanities collective actions, by preserving a few. Also God puts a reminder in the physical cosmos not only to us but to God's self regarding God's promise not to bring such destruction upon the whole earth. Peter also points out that from the point of view after Jesus Christ we see that God has moved from simply holding back the ultimately destructive consequences of our fallenness and propensity to be forgetful and careless and has offered a solution, and we enter into that solution in faith and Baptism.

So, Peter says that Baptism now saves. Does this not sound strange to us? Have we not lost the ability to hear Peter on this point. I know that I am prone to read that and say Peter didn't really mean what is plainly there before us. And it is easy to do so because Peter does not dwell on this for long the original readers shared Peter's assumptions. Though he does need to explain that "baptism now saves" Peter does need to offer a a corrective: this is not merely an external act of bathing, but of something deeper, and bringing us in connection with the death and resurrection of Christ. Paul in a few of the epistles speaks of it more deliberately and clearly, saying that in baptism we are buried with Christ and raised with him. We are identified with the one who from his own Baptism he was sent into the desert for 40 days to struggle with the devil. so this Baptism is also a place from which we are sent by the Spirit, who is given to us in Baptism, who descends upon us like Jesus Christ. While Baptism is to be something that happens to us once, we are to our remember and return to our baptism recalling its grace and power our entire lives. Once we are Baptized it is a great spiritual resource for us. Baptism is our salvation because it is the vehicle through wihc God unites us with Christ. Due to the presence of the Spirit in the waters of baptism and that through the Spirit we are identified with Christ out of baptism we live out the life of discipleship.

Faith alone is not enough! My faith, all by itself, in as much as it comes from me is weak. My own ability to trust God is poor. Thankfully God does not expect us to drum up continually faith in God and Jesus Christ, rather through the Church we have been given supports of our faith, reminders, spiritual resources of Grace. Holy Communion is where we receive the body and blood of Christ as the spiritual food and the medicine of immortality that gives us the strength to live out the calling of our discipleship and the medicine that heals us of the wound of sin, and thus give us life. Baptism does not replace faith but is the source and foundation of faith. Baptism is the support of faith because it is that which unwaveringly connects us to the objects of our faith, the life death and resurrection of Christ. In baptism we are fully brought into the solution God has provided for human tendency towards destructiveness. In baptism we are made one with Christ and thus can hear the voice that speaks of our deep and abiding connection with God. In baptism the recreation of the world begins, not through destruction, but through rebirth. All that we have in faith in Christ, begins and is grounded in baptism and is gift as the Spirit marks us as Christ's own. And so the waters of baptism now save us.

Lent recalls to us the full impact and reality of our faith, those parts of the faith we individually or corporately have forgotten. In response to this confrontation we can try to focus on the externals, or we can try to force ourselves to be conformed to the image of Christ. We can see Lent as a time of wilderness where we on our own power imitate Christ. And certainly Christians at times have chosen to so see Lent as such: a time to get themselves cleaned up for God. Ironically those who rejected these outward and purely fleshly interpretations of religious observance and sacraments, rejected baptism or that baptism was anything more than a thing we did in obedience to Christ. In rejecting this outward form of faith and the place of physicality as a site of the Grace we failed to see that faith, at least Christian faith, is faith in the creator of all things seen and unseen, material and immaterial, physical and spiritual, and thus we are not caleld to live beyond the physical. Being the creator of the physical world God never intended faith to be internal and "purely spiritual". God never intended that we reject the salvific path found in the stuff of the earth. God puts a visible physical reminder in the sky, not only to remind humans but to remind God's self. God is not disconnected from Creation, never was, and certainly is not now after the coming of the Son in human flesh in Jesus Christ. Our Protestant forbearers were right if our faith is merely external and we think that walking through the correct rituals, saying the right things, getting doused with water, smeared in ash, lighting enough incense, and eating or not eating the right foods means God must accept us, then our faith is empty and idolatrous. However, what many of our protestant forbears failed to realize is that our faith is equally powerless if we turn our struggle into a merely internal and disembodied one. If we make our faith and belief into the key without any physical expression or support then we lock ourselves into the grand swings of faith and doubt, and a life unremitting and merciless self-examination. In such a state for most of us then the freedom and joy of the faith is rarely ours. My sisters and brothers the catholic faith of the Church has always been that mere faith that refuses the physical world is without power and trust in the mere externals of religious ritual is foolishness and an empty shell. The catholic faith has always affirmed that true faith begins in acknowledging that God is creator of all, and as creator brings about our salvation through physical things and by becoming eternaly connected with the physical in joining divinity and humanity in the person and body of Jesus Christ. Baptism and communion, incense and fasting, are not just nice things they are the way God gives us God's grace and the way we remove ourselves from having to do it ourselves. In partaking in the rites, sacraments and spiritual disciplines we allow God to transform us. This is the meaning of these things we Christians often forget and we Protestants especially. Faith is not something we drum up in ourselves or something that comes divorced from our bodies and our physicality. Such a divorced faith has little staying power in the face of doubts, and only in the most fastidious produces a righteousness able to counter sin. However, we in water, in eating blessed bread and wine, in being anointed with holy oil, in hearing words spoken of forgiveness receive from God the gift our our selves being renewed in a world being reborn.

This Lent, remember none of what we do is about getting cleaned up. We can't clean ourselves up. We can't make ourselves right. We cannot image Christ by our own effort. There is no work or ritual any of us can perform no word I can say based in my own wisdom that will cause you and us to reflect Christ and be Christ to the world. But God in baptism makes us new, upholds our faith and gives us Grace. We come to Lent to remind ourselves that we can't do it by our own striving. In whatever we do in Lent, in fasting, in giving alms in returning, to disciplines we let drop, in taking up new ones, we remind ourselves that we are weak and in need of God at all times and in all ways and that without God's grace our own efforts amount to nothing. So, I encourage you if you still have questions about your baptism whether you were baptized as an infant or baptized more than once or never been baptized, maybe this Lent and Easter is time to accept the gift of grace in baptism and find yourself afloat in the waters of new birth. After all we are on the journey to Easter. Perhaps this year Easter will not be about believing in the Risen one but about the Risen one bearing you up and transfiguring you with the uncreated light of God. And may we all remember that what we do, we do so that we may be born up in our life of discipleship by the grace of God offered to us in and through our physicality. Amen

Lent

2009-02-26T09:37:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. In my sermons in the season after the Epiphany I have been encouraging us to reflect on the meaning of being disciples of Jesus Christ. The accounts of the apostles and disciples in the Gospels I believe are encouraging. The Apostles, who eventually would go out proclaiming that in Jesus Christ God had come and lived in our midst and had begun the transformation of the world and died for this message, in Gospels aren't so bold, and not so sure of themselves. They don't always understand Jesus and often misunderstand very direct things Jesus tells them. At times we all are very much like the disciples in the Gospels. We are on a journey from Glory to Glory, we have encountered Christ and have felt the transformation of that encounter but we aren't always sure we are living into that work of transformation nor are we always sure how to go about it.
Lent in part exists because we need a time to be reminded of certain things. So we come to Ash Wednesday and we repent. We acknowledge the ways we have not lived up to the call of discipleship. We acknowledge that we have been here before and are forgetful. We come to Ash Wednesday and we walk in the desert of Lent with Jesus to be reminded, and to grown in our understanding of the life of faith. We come again to learn what it means to be a Christian, and to meet God and be renewed and refreshed. This is the strange logic of Christian faith in passing through the desert one is refreshed and renewed, passing through death we find life, in letting go of our hard fought and won identities we find our true selves in Christ. None of this is simply a one time thing and then done. We begin at first faith and baptism and we return to this place again and again, hopefully always going deeper finding that our grip on ourselves is less tight, that our sins (no less great) are smaller hidden things we had never noticed before. This is sanctification the realm in which we open ourselves up to grace fully confident of our relationship to God in Jesus Christ. As we journey together this Lent towards the Cross and Resurrection, my hope is that we can begin to share with each other our experiences, struggles and triumphs in this life of discipleship. This it the stuff of our faith, in Lent a time of repentance, desert, fasting, and self-denial we find the power of the Gospel.

Preparing for Lent

2009-02-18T14:48:00.003-06:00

Lent is approaching. As we prepare to enter Lent this Sunday we reflect on the Transfiguration of Christ in the midst of his earthly ministry. This lent we will have the opportunity to come together and share with each other each week Lent about our spiritual life what helps us in our relationship with God and following Jesus, but also our struggles. Christian faith is not meant to be a solo activity. Also, these are times to reflect on why we take time to fast (give things up) or take on certain spiritual disciplines for Lent. Many of us do not come from traditions that keep Lent, some of us do. What about Lent makes sense? What questions do you have about the keeping of Lent.
To prime the pump let me briefly put forward some thoughts about Lent: Lent is a time of preparation and self-examination. Lent is a Journey to the Cross and then to the Resurrection. The church year brings us back again and again to this central and crucial aspect of our faith that Jesus died upon a cross, was buried and rose again. Our actions as followers of Christ should be motivated from this center of our faith. Our sense of justice, our works of mercy and advocacy, what we do from day to day all should be informed by this great mystery of our faith. Yet, we are also continually learning what this means for ourselves and for the church as a whole, we will never stop being able to appropriate in new ways this great mystery, Lent offers us a time to return and re-appropriate this mystery of our faith into our lives both as individuals but also as a body of believers. What ever you decide to do for lent or not do, may this Lent allow you a time to re-appropriate the central mystery of our faith: Christ has died, Christ is Risen Christ will come again.
In Christ,
Larry

Bishop Jeffrey Lee's Visit

2009-02-18T09:19:00.004-06:00

Bishop Jeffrey Lee of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, visited Reconciler on Sunday. For us it was a great encouragement to have the Bishop come and preside at table with us joining in our worship. We had a reception following where we all had a chance to speak with him. This is a significant moment in the life of this congregation, even as we are rethinking some elements of our original vision and what in it may not be sustainable for us, this visit though shows us the potential of the positive sides of our seeking to be connected through some form of affiliation. I think though that we may have an active conversation partner as we move forward as a congregation and seek to discover what God has for us in this time of transition. Bellow are some pictures of the visit.

Reflection on Midwinter Covenant Ministers Conference 2009

2009-02-07T21:30:00.006-06:00

It has been two years since I last made it to the Covenant Minsters conference Midwinter. The conference was out at the Hyatte O'hare where it has been held for many years until recently. For any unfamiliar with Midwinter, the conference is a denomination wide gathering of Covenant ministers and church staff: pastors, youth ministers, missionaries etc. We gather for a time to worship have continuing education opportunities in the form of workshops, reconnecting, networking and meeting with conference Superintendents.

The conference began with a worship service on Monday evening that I was unable to attend because I was attending an editorial meeting of the Goth Magazine Kilter for which I am submitting an article for the spring issue on Goth Eucharists. The mornings started with a Bible Study with one of the New Testament professors from North Park Theological Seminary Kline Snodgrass, which I did not attend because they were at 8:30 and I did not feel up to getting up early enough to get out to Rosemont by 8:30 each morning. I however, was looking forward to the workshops I had chosen to take and was looking forward to hearing Phyllis Tickle speak at the Tuesday evening worship service.

Tuesday was a sort of surreal day, for a variety of reasons. On one hand I ended up seeing people upon arriving at the Hyatt before my morning workshop who I had not seen in several years. Also, being in one place with alot of pastors is just something I get use to, maybe some day but I find it a little odd even if good. The the two workshops I had were Global Slavery: presented by Dr. Boaz Johnson from North Park University, and then Bridging the communications Gap by Steve Luce Heidi Grieppe and Don Meyer of the department of communications of the covenant. From an evil in the world in part fueled by poverty and deep levels of inequality to talk about internet and electronic forms of communication that requires a certain amount of wealth to have access to this technology. Both were excellent workshops and were relavant to concerns and situations of our congregation. This blog post is partially coming out of the "Communications Gap" workshop as I felt encouraged to post to our blog something more than just sermons and the Reconciler update. Dr. Johnson not only brought awareness to the issue of slavery in our contemporary world but gave me somethings to think about in terms of how Christians might approach issues of injustice in the world, and how to engage a suffering world in ways that face the reality's and are ready for action but also can move beyond paralysis to constructive engagement through what Dr. Johnson called "virtue ethics." Tuesday evening Phyllis Tickle outlined her sense that we are in the midst of a periodic "emergence" where things get shuffled and the foundations of Christianity are reshuffled and rethought. The last such "emergence" was the Reformation 500 years ago. She spoke of some of the ways Scriptures as the world of God are being reconcieved and retrieved both from Modernism both in its secularist and fundamentalist forms. So the first day of the conference was a full day with much I will be reflecting on for sometime.
Wednesday I had one full day workshop, and then Wednesday evening was free time no planed worship or event. The workshop I attended was Spiritual Direction and Pastoral ministry. This workshop was a time to reflect with the presenters some of the main qualities of Spiritual Direction and how they relate and also are indicative of pastoral ministry. We explored together the ways in which spiritual direction overlapped, informed and differed from pastoral ministry. I met a few other pastors who in addition to being pastors also have a spiritual direction ministry. This was a very helpful workshop to clarify my own ministry as spiritual director pastor and prior, and the workshop leaders encouraged seeing more connections and overlap than discontinuity and difference between pastoral ministry and spiritual direction. At lunch on Wednesday I met with a friend and Covenant pastor with whom I have a very long familial connection both our Grandparents were German missionaries sent out by the same mission organization, my Grandparrents in China and his in Japan. After the war both his family and mine were refuges and found their way to the states and when both families came to the states ended up living on the same farm owned by an American sister mission organization who took both families in. Yet beyond our familial connection we have found our own friendship that only solidified as we have entered pastoral ministry and meet up each Midwinter we both are there. Our midwinter conversations over lunch or supper are one of the main things I look forward to in coming to the conference.

Thursday was another all day workshop: Evangelism in the Smaller Church. I will admit that I chose this workshop with some skepticism. I was intrigued by the targeting a workshop on evangelism for small churches and none of the other workshops offered interested me. I was actually pleasantly surprised. The presenter was definitely from a much more conservative and Evangelical place than I am and he was pretty confident in his use of the categories of "saved" and "unsaved", so I felt like a solid universalist by comparison. However, he was aware of the Covenant's theological diversity and was sensitive to the potential differences between he and his audience. Also, basically his sense of evangelism was telling the story and ones own story of Christian faith. I had to do much translating into my own theological stance and language but I was pleasantly surprised very little of substance that I took issue with and I think I might have learned the most from this workshop of the four I attended.

The conference is closed with a breakfast and a final speaker. I sat at a table with my friend Jonathan Wilson, and a number of people I had never met before so had a few tell me about your self exchanges that took most of the breakfast. The speaker was Gary Haugen president and founder of International Justice Mission (IJM). This organization works on fighting slavery and other forms of oppression through providing legal council as well as doing investigative work to provide evidence to aid local law enforcement to enforce laws against slavery etc. and thus involved in rescuing slaves and other oppressed people. The organization also helps support those brought out of slavery or other oppression to get back on their feet and re-enter society being able to support themselves. His message was one of encouraging us as pastors and our churches to become involved in the fullness of witnessing to the Gospel and the Kingdom of God through advocacy and working actively against injustice (specifically slavery). But he also admitted that this can be overwhelming and he used the story of the feeding of the five thousand to remind us that one God just asks that we bring what we have and that God will take care of the miracle. The solution to our paralysis in the face of great evil and injustice is to remember that we are simply called to bring what we have to these situations and God multiplies what we have and works through our small, seemingly insignificant offerings.

It was a good week, book ended by issues of injutice in our world specifically slavery. I was encouraged in my ministry as a pastor and specifically with this congregation and our ecumenical vision and character. In the coming months I hope to share with you all a bit more of some things I learned or became aware of again. I think this time at Midwinter should be able enrich our life together as a congregation. This I think is largely the point of this conference to encourage pastors and provide a place to connect and have friendships with pastors from across the country and to provide pastors with resources to bring back to their congregations for the continued growth of all in the spiritual life.

Larry's "office Hours" This Week

2009-02-02T12:40:00.002-06:00

I am at the Evangeical Covenant MidWinter Conference for the pastors my denomination. So I will not be at Metropolis on Tuesday Afternoon nor at Ennui Thursday evening.
Also, while I will have the church's cell phone with me sine I will be in meetings and workshops most of the day I will be only able to check for voicemails and texts messages at breaks.

Update

2009-01-29T15:57:00.003-06:00

In the past few weeks we have been looking at call and discipleship and observed the Week of prayer for Christian Unity. We began an ended the week with additions to our usual liturgy and adapting the Lima liturgy to our regular Reconciler liturgy. I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the connection between our worship of the last few weeks, ecumenism and discipleship. Our liturgical worship and especially the liturgies we have been using the past few weeks, subordinate individual expression of faith and worship to something else. This subordination of individual response or expression can run counter to many images of discipleship and living faith as usually found in American contexts. In general in American Christianity tends to see discipleship as an individual endeavor. Discipleship is primarily about my relationship to Jesus, and only secondarily about the kingdom of God or being a member of the body of Christ. I see our lectionary texts for the Season after Epiphany as challenging this American conception of discipleship. Or at least the confluence of these texts asks us to make a major corrective in our understanding of the relationship between our life of faith and our individuality.

Implicit in the Gospel's sense of being a follower of Jesus, a disciple, is that while our individuality is respected it is not the primary focus of a life of discipleship. Discipleship forms our individuality into something better and it does it by emphasizing community, and by calling us to be conformed to the Mind of Christ. If we move our sense of being a Christian and following Christ away from a focus on our individual beliefs, feelings, doubts etc., and realize that the life of faith is seeing all of our individuality being formed by God in Christ into Christ and being built into the the temple of God the Church then ecumenism simply takes on the tinge of discipleship. Also, our worship on Sundays becomes less about whether or not I can come and feel certain feelings or express certain things about myself and my faith and more about being formed and molded and built into something as the person I am. All of this is meant to happen with others who also are also followers and disciples of Jesus.

This formation is not only supposed to happen to us individually but corporately and across space and time. In some sense we might say this is what Church is the site where this happens. If we are cut off from those who are disciples of Jesus either in space or time we then lack something in our discipleship and following of Jesus. This is the place of ecumenism in our lives of discipleship and following Jesus. So, our worship our actions, our vision as a congregation, our lives in the world with friends family and coworkers are also a piece, not because I can individually make it all fit together but because I with others am seeking after Christ and we together can be formed by our worship and fellowship together, which then allows us to go out into the world and witness to the presence and absence of the Kingdom of God in the world. But we are hindered in this ability to witness as long as we are separated from other disciples who can help us be formed together as the Body of Christ.

Announcements:
We are continuing to meet together as a congregation to share and reflect and plan as we take stock of various changes and seek to move into this coming year together. Our next gathering will be February 9 6:30 PM at Beth, Jorge and Hank's house 5419 North Glenwood Ave, Apt. 3. A light supper will be provided. If you would like to augment the soup and bread feel free to bring something to share. Please RSVP to Beth Wetmore by friday February 6th. E-mail her at emwetmore@yahoo.com or call her at 773-275-1918.

Sunday February 15th Bishop Jeffrey Lee of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago will be visiting us for worship. There will be a time to meet him after the service.

Wednesday Evenings on the Immanuel Campus:
Community meal 6 pm. Following the meal at 7 pm there is a prayer service. For January and February it will be a service of Lectio Devina (prayerful reading and discussion of Scripture for the coming Sunday) During Lent there will be a sung Vespers service.

Sermon, Second Sunday after Epiphany, Year B

2009-01-20T20:56:00.001-06:00

Tuning Our Souls
Jorge Sanchez
18 January 2008

In September of 2008, I went to Saint Gregory's Abbey for the first time. I was picked up at the train station in Kalamazoo in the midst of a bunch of errands. Father William, one of the monks, had to go to a bunch of different places before returning to the monastery. The recycling center, a grocery store, an office supply store, even a wholesale food store. Suffice it to say I became very familiar with many and various Kalamazoo institutions that day. It was no-one's fault, but the errands just took longer than anticipated, and we didn't get to the Abbey until after four.

I was hungry for quiet and a respite from busy-ness, but at first I didn't get it. The whole time I kept thinking, “You're the guest, Jorge; be gracious, don't get impatient. This guy's a monk, he probably feels bad already that we're still driving around out here.” The first psalm appointed for Vesper that night was Psalm 139. The knitting metaphor hit me hard, and something about it pulled me deep into the quiet I needed. It was as if I was in a state of hyper-readiness and this psalm struck just the right chord to thrust me into what that retreat was all about.

And so it as the psalm that hit me first when I looked over these lessons. And the knitting metaphor, as always, stuck out to me. Whether I preach or not, I am always tempted to try to understand the weave, the knit, that the various threads of the lectionary present to us.

Tonight, we have the psalm, the calling of Samuel, the call of Nathanael, and Paul's exhortations to the Corinthians.

The readings from First Samuel and John both seem to set vocation within a quiet or at least non-sensational context.

I don't hear voices in the middle of the night nor did Philip ever tell me to come and see, but what strikes me here is the seeming ordinariness of vocation. When Samuel is called, it is by a voice unremarkable enough to make him this it was Eli's. Nathanael balks at the hometown of the Messiah. It couldn't be God; it's all too ordinary.

Vocation here is simultaneously extraordinary and ordinary. To us, meeting Jesus in the flesh, face-to-face, would be unbelievable, but to the disciples, he was just some dude, amongst many, preaching and teaching at the time.

Important too, is that both of these callings are not to one specific thing, at least not in the context of these passages.

Too often, we think of calln as an either/or, as a series of discernments that have in hone in on a particular mission that excludes all others. The calling Samuel seems to be a call that helps others see who he is. The call of Nathanael seems to be a calling that helps Nathanael recognize a truth about himself.

God is bigger and more complicated, God's will is bigger and more complicated, than a single particular mission. We are called, like Samuel, to listen. Like Nathanael, we are called to be open to God coming from dinky ol' Nazareth.

It is safe to say that none of us here is called to be a prophet and judge like Samuel, and almost as safe that none of us is called to be a capital-A Apostle like Nathanael, but we are called through our Christian profession to lives of discipleship.

Last week, we celebrated the Baptism of our Lord, which prefigured every Christian baptism that followed. Now we are called to living out that baptism —our baptisms, our professions of faith— in lives of faithful discipleship.

Discipleship can mean many different things, but le me suggest that Paul's letter to the Corinthians established a very particular way of understanding discipleship.

Many of us struggle with sexual discipline and chastity. Whether it is a lack of control over how we look at others or a difficulty with other aspects of our sexuality, most of us struggle with this kind of intergrity at some point.

The passage, however, is taken out of context somewhat, and let me read the three verses which precede it:
Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Suddenly, I seems that Paul is really picking a particular sin and using it to stand in for this whole list. Honor God in your whole person, by living with the kind of integrity you are called to.

Christian holiness is about respect for the proper uses of all creation. We are called to this very kind of holy discipleship, a vocation of holiness.

And yet, that's really scary. Really unattractive. This is fear rooted in a misconception that holiness will destroy who we are.

“I don't want to be a saint,” a friend said to me recently, which I understood to mean, “I don't want to lose my personality, who I am.” And yet we —my friend, you, me— we are called to holiness.

Xunzi, a Confucian philosopher of the Third Century, makes the unsettling assertion that human nature is uh or evil. And when he describes how to fix human nature he resorts to a great number of carpentry metaphors to describe what must be done to the soul. “A warped soul must await the press frame,” “a soul may be carved as craftsman carves a vessel,” and so on, but he never uses one familiar image from carpentry: the saw. Xunzi describes many ways to shape, bend, carve, and craft the human character, but never advocates we saw any of it off.

Lately, I've been using the metaphor of tuning to describe the effects of my spiritual disciplines. When I achieve a healthy, productive rhythm in my spiritual practice, I feel as if I am better tuned tobe who I am.

As we leave Christmas behind, move further into Epiphanytide, and gradually approach Lent, we need to ask ourselves what form shall our discipleship take.

What tunes you? What tunes us, as a church, as a neighborhood, as a nation, as a world to better play the melody which is the Will of God.

Paul's exhortations, which make us justifiably uncomfortable as we identify those disfiguring, distorting, disordered accretions that we deal with, are essentially a call to be properly tuned, properly knit, properly ready to answer the call to holiness.

Hear the Psalmist's words: “God formed my inward parts; God knit me together in my mother's womb.” How is God knitting us still? What is God casting onto the weave that is our life, the work that is our soul?

Holiness —discipleship— is not an end state, but a state of readiness, a state of internal and external harmony, or proper relationship that allows us to answer God's call.

We are not all called to be tuned in the same way. Some tunings, some spiritual practices will leave us useless, strings snapped, unable to sound a single note. But we are all called to this kind of spiritual self-examination and work.

What tunes us? How do we need to be tuned? What figure or metaphor helps you understand how God is continuing to sanctify you with grace? How can you help prepare yourself for the great work God has in mind for you?

Today the begins the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity. I think it is safe to say that many Christians are out of tune with each other. In a few minutes we will pray a special litany for Christian unity together. Please keep the intentions of Christian unity in your prayers this week, either by incorporating this litany, or some other resource, or by simply holding the Universal Church in prayer.

We are each members of the Mystical Body of Christ, instruments in a huge orchestra; may the Communion we share tonight prepare us —tune us— to play the powerful majestic melody which is the Will of God and create the profound harmony which is the Kingdom of God. Amen.

2009-01-14T17:00:00.003-06:00

Next week is the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity, or the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The week of prayer begins this Sunday January 18th The feast of St. Peter and ends on Sunday the 25th the Feast of St Paul. The theme for this years observance is from Ezekiel 37:15-19, 22-24a “That they may become one in your hand”. I encourage us to take the time to pray for Christian Unity in our daily prayers and to meditate on the Ezekiel passage over the course of the week. As a congregation with an ecumenical vision and actuality although in the past we have failed to give a great deal of emphasis to this but I believe that this could be an important aspect of living out our vision. A way to remind ourselves why we gather each Sunday as those from a variety of denominational backgrounds and journeys. Reminding ourselves why we join in regular worship with Immanuel Lutheran Church and St Elias Christian Church. We do these things because we are seeking and praying for the unity of the Church

This years theme and resource materials were prepared by Christians in Korea, who not only face the divisions between Christians but the division between North and South Korea, and the loss and hostility on both sides that has remained since the Korean War. Christians in Korea see the prayer for Christian unity to not stop only at creed or denominational divisions but the political and ideological divisions as well as of wealth and class. I encourage each of us during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity to also take time to reflect how Reconciler can deepen its ecumenical calling and reflect on what Christian unity may mean for us. We too in this country and this city of Chicago face various divisions that are also divisions between Christians: race, ethnicity, class etc. In this week we are praying for reconciliation and seeking to repent of all ways we praying for forgiveness for the scandal of our disunity and our inability to be ambassadors of reconciliation in the world. What paths of personal and ecclesial conversion must we take to arrive at full communion in Christ?

If you would like a guide for your prayers and mediation over the week the Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute has resources that can be going here . The Graymoor Institutes website also has an explanation of the theme of this years Week of Prayer for Christian Unity as well as a brief history of the Week of Payer. Do take the time to read some of this.

Announcements:
Tomorrow, Thursday January 15 we have a congregational meeting at the Nidge, 7:30 pm. If you consider Reconciler your church home or attend Reconciler on a some what regular basis, you are encouraged to come and join in reflecting on how God is at work and leading Reconciler.

This Sunday, January 18th begins the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

We now have childcare and a Children's Sunday School program during our 5 pm service. Spread the word!

Wednesday Evenings on the Immanuel Campus:
Community meal 6 pm members of Immanuel, the Community of the Holy Trinity and Reconciler join with the youth who take part in Immanuel's after school program for a meal together.
Following the meal at 7 pm there is a prayer service. For January and February it will be a service of Lectio Devina (prayerful reading and discussion of Scripture for the coming Sunday) During Lent there will be a sung Vespers service.

Reconciler Update

2009-01-07T17:49:00.001-06:00

Tuesday January 6th, was the feast of the Epiphany. Epiphany means "manifestation" or "appearance" as we celebrate the manifestation of God in Jesus Christ to the world. This celebration began at some point in the second century. Epiphany was associated with the wise men, the baptism of Christ, and Jesus' first miracle at Cana. All stories of the shining forth of God's love into the whole world. As we move from Christmas to Ordinary Time after the Epiphany our lectionary texts lead us to reflect on Jesus' ministry and the calling of his disciples. Now that we have proclaimed God in our midst in the birth of Jesus Christ and the confirmation of this presence at Jesus Christ's Baptism, we are lead to ask what does this mean for the World, for us, and for the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ.
What does it mean to be a follower of the one who is God incarnate? How might we manifest the truth of the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ, in our daily lives, in a world in turmoil? How do we as one small congregation let this manifestation, this Epiphany transfigure us and transform us, that others may see God?

In this time of transition for Reconciler these are perhaps pertinent questions for our community to ask. The Church and any congregation exists because of this coming of God in Jesus Christ. If Jesus Christ was not God, is not the Word made flesh then our gathering as we do does not make a whole lot of sense. And if this truth does not penetrate ourselves and the world then the Epiphany of God in Jesus Christ is hid from view. We at Reconciler desire that this not be hid, that the divisions and failures of Christians not obscure this truth. So, we have sought to come together as Christians from various denominational backgrounds, for whom this truth has been and is sometimes hid from view, in connection with some of these denominational institutions to show forth the love of God manifest in Jesus Christ.

Announcements:
This Sunday January 11th we begin our nursery and children's program during our 5 pm Sunday worship service Lead by Ryan Brown and Laura Blatterman.

Next Thursday January 15th there will be a meeting of council and congregation at 7:30 pm at the 'Nidge. This meeting and subsequent meetings to be announced in the next few weeks are taking place of our annual congregational meeting. So, you are encouraged if you consider Reconciler your church or one of your church homes please make an effort to take part in these meetings so that we can reflect and share together on where We are being lead together and how we may grow together as a congregation. Your participation in this process is important so that we may have the insight and input of all of us who make up Reconciler.

Sermon: Holy Innocents

2009-01-03T21:21:00.007-06:00

The Feast of the Holy Innocents
Sermon: The Rev. Laura Gottardi-Littell
December 28, 2008
Texts: Jeremiah 31:15-17, Psalm 124, Revelation 21:1-7, Matthew 2:13-18
++++

Merry Christmas! Yes, it’s still Christmas, day four of 12, to be exact.

A month ago, when I agreed to preach today at both Immanuel and Reconciler, I thought I would be preaching on the lessons appointed for the first Sunday of Christmas. I envisioned talking with you about traditional Christmas themes: the manger, angels, joy to the world. And I liked that idea, lingering a bit longer in the mood of Christmas, a season I love.

But Monte let me know he and Scott were planning to mark today as the feast of the Holy Innocents, which falls on December 29th this year. He asked if that was OK with me, and I said sure. I realized there were some rich possibilities given the lessons appointed for the day and Scott’s musical choices. But my heart sunk a bit, because this is a very solemn feast, one that puts the glad tidings of Jesus’s birth into the background for the time being, or at least puts them in different perspective.

The feast of the Holy Innocents remembers the children killed by King Herod the Great. As you recall from today’s gospel, the wise men tell Herod about a special child born in Bethlehem, a boy destined to be king of the Jews. So Herod swiftly makes plans to wipe out this possible usurper of his throne.

Herod orders his henchmen to kill all boy babies in and around Bethlehem. Joseph, being warned in a dream, escapes into Egypt with Mary and Jesus.

Did this slaughter of the innocents really happen? It appears only in Matthew’s gospel, not the other three. The historian Josephus, who wrote about that period of israel’s history, and wrote about Herod, doesn’t mention this event. Most recent biographers of Herod don’t think the massacre was historical. They do agree that Herod killed two of his own sons and his beloved wife because he believed they posed a threat to him.

It’s possible the slaughter of the infants did occur, but since Herod’s standard response to anyone he considered a threat was to wipe them out, it didn’t seem noteworthy to historians at the time. It may also have been a relatively small massacre – if limited to children in and around Bethlehem, age two and under, it might have involved a dozen or so children. Still horrific, but on a smaller scale, and thus might have escaped the historians’ records.

In short, there’s considerable controversy over whether or not it actually took place.

If Herod didn’t order this slaughter, why does it appear in Matthew’s gospel?

Mathtew may be making a theological rather than a historical point. He says the massacre of the innocents fulfills an earlier prophecy by the prophet Jeremiah. Matthew quotes Jeremiah: “A voice is heard in Ramah…Rachel weeping for her children. She refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more... “

Matthew wants to show that Jesus was the Messiah foretold by prophets like Jeremiah. Matthew may also be making a link between Jesus and Moses with this story, comparing Jesus’s birth to Moses’s birth. Comparing Herod’s murder of the innocents to Pharoah’s killing of the Hebrew firstborn. Matthew’s Jewish audiences would have easily recognized these parallels, and recognized that Jesus was someone very special, someone in line with Moses and the prophets.

Whether or not it is historical, this story has meaning for us. Stories can point to truth without being factual. As one Native American storyteller said, before he began one of his own stories: “I don’t know if it really happened this way, but I KNOW this is a true story.”

What truths does today’s gospel story offer you and me ? And why in the world does this somber feast occur so close to Christmas?

Sam Portaro, a former chaplain at the University of Chicago, says: “Our ancestors are to be commended for their unflinching juxtaposition of this story with the feast of Jesus’ nativity. It is hard to think of the grim murder of children so close to the manger. The tragedy of this story is that it continues unchanged, that even as the redemptive act of God in Jesus lives, so too does our deep need of that redemption.” (Sam Portaro, Brightest and Best, Cambridge: Cowley Publications, 1998).

Death and sin did not cease when Jesus was born, though our faith tells us one day they will, and that Jesus has ultimately overcome them. Today’s passage from Revelation tells us one day death and sorrow will be no more, and God will wipe away every tear. But right now we live in an in between time, between the already here and the not yet.

This story reminds us of our ongoing need for redemption. It reminds us that God came to us as a child, and asked us to receive him as a child. And we humans, like Herod, have some real trouble with that. We think about ourselves, our own needs. We have trouble receiving, protecting and valuing children, despite our protestations to the contrary.

The massacre of children continues today. Just a few examples from my own lifetime: the Holocaust, the genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and present-day Darfur. In these massacres, children, along with other innocents, have been intentional targets.

Children are very often casualities of war, even if they are not specifically targeted. And those children who survive wars are often deeply damaged, physically and psychically. They are wounded, orphaned, displaced. And yet we humans continue to wage war.

And children die daily from causes other than war. Disease, famine, street violence, domestic abuse. In our own city, Chicago, 60 children died from violence last year.

How deep is humanity’s need for ongoing redemption. We claim to love and protect children. Yet our actions do not always support our claims. We allow war, violence, hunger and disease to ravage our children.

The massacre of the innocents continues. What can we, as Christians, do about it?

William Butler Yeats, in his poem “The Second Coming” writes: “The blood-dimmed tide is loosed; and everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned.”

What does Yeats mean by the ceremony of innocence? Another preacher suggests that a ceremony of innocence is any ritual that reminds us of what is good and noble in the human spirit. It can be anything, large or small. Holding a hand, having dinner with a friend. Coming to church is a ceremony of innocence: we greet one another in a friendly way, sing stirring music and read sacred texts, remind ourselves of our values and commitments. Such simple rituals are especially important when things are not going well, when life is challenging, when our faith is being tested. (Galen Guengerich, sermon entitled "Ceremony of Innocence," September 19, 2004.)

The Christmas pageant here last Sunday was a ceremony of innocence. How beautiful and cherubic the children looked in their costumes, carrying their sheep or star or bell…how stirring their voices…how moving and innocent they were.

Today’s gospel, the slaughter of the innocents, is here smack dab in the middle of Christmas, to remind us that God came to us as child, and that we are called t o care about all children, not just our own.

In a world where there is plenty of trouble, and plenty of people, like Herod, who through their actions or inactions cause children to die, we need to continue to create ceremonies of innocence. To stand up for what is good and true and pure, while knowing full well that evil exists.

We can create ceremonies of innocence in many ways, including finding opportunities to work and speak out against neglect and abuse of the innocent. What can each of us do? We can pray and lobby and act. In addition to our liturgies, our Sunday ceremonies, this church can offer high-quality educational programs for children. Such programs are much needed and much appreciated in this urban environment, in any environment. Clearly children are not the only ones we can or should care about, but caring about children is something that churches need to do well.

There are many things each of us can do locally and globally on behalf of innocents.

One simple thing we are doing at Reconciler is collecting money for malaria nets. Malaria is a preventable disease that, in Africa, kills children at a rate of two per minute. It costs $12 to put a life-saving net over a child’s bed. See Kate after the service if you would like to buy a malaria net.

Little by little our kind deeds and prayers, along with those of our sisters and brothers throughout the world, will add up. We can ease the suffering of innocent ones in the here and now. And the book of Revelation tells us that one day our world will have completed the transformation begun by the one born in Bethlehem. Death and sorrow will be no more. And every tear – including those of the innocents and those who weep for them– will be wiped away.
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Reconciler Update -- December 14, 2008

2008-12-24T01:53:00.004-06:00

Dear Reconciler Friends, and Friends of Reconciler,

I enclose a very brief Advent meditation I wrote some years ago, while working as a hospital chaplain. I was asked to write the Christmas message from the Pastoral Care department to staff and patients. I was keenly aware that not everyone staying at the hospital was looking forward to the holidays.

No matter our situation, we may have mixed feelings about the season. There were years I dreaded or felt disappointed by it. As an adult, I learned to enjoy it in a realistic way, and to recapture on a different level the magic Christmas held for me as a child. One thing that helped me do so was learning to live into the spirituality of Advent.

Advent is a wonderfully "dense and multi-layered season," as a colleague writes. Its twin themes are joy and repentance. We remember the first coming of Christ and await his future coming, while attuning our senses to signs of Christ already in our midst. We celebrate a three-fold Advent: past, future, and present. This incarnational focus on a Christ at work in the the world, though unseen, is one I am repeatedly drawn to. It helps me feel more grounded in a season that can frenetically pull us in many directions. It is also very Anglican.

I wish you the deep peace of the prince of peace during this season of hope. Prepare him room to be born anew in your hearts.

Here's the meditation I wrote at the hospital:

Opening the Present

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” the carol says. And so it is!

The human race seems at its best. Whether we celebrate Christmas, Hannukah, or winter solstice, we rejoice in the light that breaks through the darkness.

Yet holidays can be difficult. Sun and shadow intertwine in every life. Sometimes we wonder where on earth peace is. We experience loss or illness. We struggle with an uncertain future or a painful past.

Life is a present. But sometimes we don’t get the gift we were expecting.

Few of us are prepared for how our lives unfold. God’s grace moves through our days, abundant but sometimes strange. Who knew the oil would last eight days? Who foresaw the Messiah would come to us in a manger?

As we encounter life’s joys and adversities, we can be open to the present. The openness of a woman giving birth. The openness of a shepherd who has come a long way to see a baby born in poverty. A child with nothing but the whole world in his hands.

“Emmanuel” means God is with us. Perhaps our lives are not unfolding as we’d thought. But God is present. And we find God by being in the present. May these holidays remind us of God’s great gifts to us: unfailing love and unfathomable grace.

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Love,
Laura+
The Rev. Laura Gottardi-Littell
for The Pastoral Team
312-316-9697 The Church of Jesus Christ, Reconciler

Announcements:

Church Council meets Thursday December 18th at 7:30 PM in the "Nidge. All are welcome. This meeting will be more of a congregational meeting than a Council meeting. We are looking at how we want to function as church in the new year and beyond. If you have been attending Reconciler, consider it your church home, and want to have input, please come and have your voice heard.

Mark your calendars now! We will be having a joint service with Immanuel and St. Elias on December 21, the fourth Sunday of Advent. A potluck dinner will begin at 4:00 p.m., and the service begins at 6:00 p.m. in the Immanuel sanctuary. We need people to bring food to the potluck, and to help set up and clean up. If you can do so, let someone on the pastoral team know. Thanks!

Also, Christmas eve and Christmas Day are joint services with Immanuel. The Christmas eve service begins at 6:00 p.m.and the Christmas Day service begins at 10:30 a.m. Both services will be held in the Immanuel sanctuary.

Mark your calendars for a Reconciler Party for Laura and Melissa. Laura, Reconciler's Episcopal priest, and Mellssa, Reconciler's interim Baptist pastor, will both be departing the pastoral team on Sunday January 4th. There will be a farewell party for them on Jan 4th following our usual 5:00 service. Stay tuned for more details.

Malaria Nets Challenge- Malaria is a terrible disease which has been eliminated inmost of North America, but kills the children of Africa at the rate of two per minute. The Episcopal Diocese of Chicago can put a medically treated net over the bed of a child for just $12. Kate will be collecting the funds and passing them on to the diocese. Let her know to direct your cash, or check made out to church of Jesus Christ, Reconciler (write "malaria nets" on the memo line) Malaria Nets Challenge, or drop it in the offering pot with a note; you can also mail it to her c/o Reconciler at 1510 W. Elmdale Ave., Chicago IL 60660.

Opportunities for service! If you would like to help out at Reconciler, we need you! We are currently in need of greeters each Sunday (to arrive 15 minutes before the service begins). We also need volunteers as nursery workers, and perhaps someone to help with the bulletin each week. If you want to volunteer, contact the pastoral team.christreconciler@hotmail.com

Reconciler now has a phone- You can reach the pastoral team at 312-316-9697

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10 tips from Laura for making the most of this time of year (and you can share yours with me):

1) Tune out the excess materialism. Ignore the constant reminders that Christmas is all about things. But enjoy the giving and receiving. At heart, these are spiritual disciplines.

2) Give gifts of time and attention.

3) Support charitable organizations, as your time and finances permit. Give fairly-traded gifts.

4) Take time for your spiritual life. Listen to and sing carols, the Messiah, pray the Magnificat, light candles. Reflect. Go to church.

5) Create or continue holiday rituals that are meaningful and enjoyable for you.

6) Don't over-do. This from a pastor and a parent of young children! Remind me to take my own advice. :-)

7) Open your senses to simple joys: the taste of a snowflake, a smile shared with a stranger on the street. In what quiet ways and unexpected places can you find glimpses of the real spirit of Christmas?

8) Keep your expectations realistic. The season presents us with challenges as well as reasons for joy. Just knowing that can ease the stress associated with having overly high hopes.

9) Watch good Christmas movies!

10) Allow yourself to enjoy the corny and fun aspects of Christmas. Don't worry too much about whether Santa and other not-necessarily-Christian stuff detracts from the real meaning of Christmas. You can always celebrate St. Nicholas, the 4th century bishop from Myra (now Turkey). As long as you're clear about what Christmas is about, a little synchretism and commercialism won't kill you. It's OK to sing "Frosty the Snowman."

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