A Prayer for Mother's Day

Eternal God, Creator and Lover and Sustainer of all things, we give you thanks and praise for you have given birth to our very lives; indeed, you have made us who we are—persons created in your own image — mysterious, beautiful, and wonderful.

We give you thanks for all the good gifts we have received. For the love of family and friends. For your good creation, for the good earth, for the rain and the sunshine, for the season of planting, of flowers, of new growth.

We praise and thank you for giving birth to us in the Spirit, and for adopting us in love to be sisters and brothers of our Lord Jesus Christ. Your love and care for us is beyond all our images. Like a mother’s womb you hold us and feed us and keep us safe. Like adoptive parents you have given to each of us a new name in Christ. Your mercies never end and never cease to amaze us!

God of unconditional and passionate love, even as we give thanks we confess that we don’t always said Thank You in the way we live. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves, and we have not loved you with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. We often find ourselves forgetting you and ignoring others; and, sometimes... sometimes we are afraid of you, afraid of others, afraid of ourselves. God, who so loved the world, you know our deepest needs and our innermost fears. Like the woman healed by touching your coat, we sometimes feel as though our lives — our very selves — have been bleeding away — we feel accused and inadequate — we feel unclean and alone. O Lord, in faith we reach out to touch the hem of your cloak! Speak to us with gentle words of assurance and restore us to wholeness and life.

Spirit of Christ, grant us the faith to believe what seems unbelievable: That in Jesus Christ we are made whole and restored to a living, vibrant love-relationship with you; and that as a mother comforts her child, so also, you have promised to comfort us.

Lord Jesus, you are the resurrection and the life! On this Mother’s Day we remember and give thanks for those mothers and grandmothers who have passed through death to their eternal home in your presence, in your embrace. You, O Christ—you were their rock, their refuge, and their strength; you, O Christ, their only comfort in life and in death.

And so we ask, dear Jesus, that you be a rock and refuge to all those grieving losses today. Remind us of the sure hope of the Resurrection; and give us strength as we continue our journey until that day when, once again, we will feast with sisters and brothers and fathers and mothers and children, who even now are clothed in white, who hunger no more, and thirst no more, and whose tears are wiped away by your tender touch.

On this Mother’s Day, we give you thanks for the witness and work of women of faith and courage...

For women at work in our congregation—
for young girls giving witness among their peers
and for women sharing teaching and leadership gifts;
for deacons and elders; worship leaders; and encouragers;
for sweet-bread-bakers and hot dish makers;
for those with gifts of hospitality and faithfulness in prayer,
with gifts of vision and healing and administration,
and those who serve in unacknowledged ministries—
quiet, simple service that changes lives!

God of mission, for your gifts and for your faithful disciples, we celebrate and give thanks. Grant, O God, that their witness may remind our daughters and each one of us, that by the Holy Spirit all who believe and are baptized receive a ministry to witness to Jesus as Savior and Lord!

God of justice and compassion,
We pray for all who suffer… for the poor and afflicted, for the sick and the dying, for prisoners and all who are lonely, for victims of war and injustice and inhumanity… for members of our congregation and for all those for whom we have been asked to pray.

God of righteousness and peace,
We pray for an end to violence and evil in the world… for an end to killing, an end to terrorism, an end to all war… for an end to emotional, physical, and sexual abuse… for an end to violent and abusive images in our culture…

God of faith, hope, and love,
Make your presence known to us this day in the proclamation of the Word.
Call forth more disciples to share in your mission
to heal the world through justice and mercy, truth and love.
And fill us anew with the Holy Spirit,
so that we may see the world through the eyes of our Savior.

Through the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Mother's Day

THE PINK ROSE: a gathering for celebration, hope, and wholeness

Mother's Day is a day of delight and joy for many women and their children. Yet, for many women (and men), Mother's Day can be a very difficult time... a time of great pain and scarring memories. For some, there are memories of mothers no longer alive on this earth. For others, memories of children lost through miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS, accident, injury, or illness. For others, the heartbreak of hoping for children while dealing with infertility. And still others, memories of children or mothers emotionally disconnected from them. And there are even more reasons why authentic worship must move beyond merely celebrating an idealized picture of "motherhood" and move towards celebration and hope in the context of suffering and pain, of healing and wholeness.

"The Pink Rose: A Gathering for Celebration, Hope, and Wholeness" strives to do just that.

Mother's Day 2009 at First Presbyterian-Lake Crystal will be a unique, contemporary-eclectic-liturgical, meaningful and poignant worship gathering built around the motif of "The Pink Rose," a sermon preached in 1997 and published in 1998 by Jeanne Stevenson Moessner.

First Presbyterian Church in Lake Crystal is a gathering of imperfect people transformed by the unconditional love and amazing grace of God. We strive to reflect the hospitality of God as "A House of Prayer for All Peoples."

Worship begins at 10:00am. A gathering for juice and donuts and Fair Trade Coffee and good conversation begins officially at 9:30, although many arrive as early as 9:00. Everyone is welcome.

Christ is always close by

Lent 2 – The Presence of Christ in the Sacrament

Old Testament Lesson: Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 (NASB)
New Testament Reading: Romans 4:13-25 (Message)

Gospel Reading: Mark 8:31-38 (NIV)
Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

Then [Jesus] began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it....

The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. May he be forever praised.

Sermon: Christ is Always Close By

Poor Peter. Not more than moments after he confesses that Jesus is the Messiah, he—like me so often—opens up his mouth and spits out something stupid. Jesus had asked, “Who do YOU say that I am?” And just after it seemed like Peter was the one who had the right answer… (Remember? Peter had said, “You are the Christ”) …and before you know it Jesus is hauling Peter over the coals, “Peter, Temptation with a capital T, get thee behind me! Your perspective isn’t God’s perspective but rather earth-bound and self-centered.” Yikes!

But, let’s think of this scene in a different way. I believe that, even at that moment in time when Peter must have felt very small and even belittled, even then, I believe Jesus was not so much outraged or even irritated with Peter, but—even in his rebuke—Jesus was abounding in steadfast love, merciful, and gracious. (See Psalm 103:8). Even at that moment, Jesus loved Peter, was closer than a brother to Peter, cared for Peter, and was faithful to his promise to never let him down and to never let him go.

Jesus is always close by.

God’s words to Jesus are God’s words to you and to me: You are my dearly loved child I am well-pleased with you. This promise of God which seems to evolve in the Old Testament and comes to its full perfection in the person and work of Jesus Christ—this promise of God is not dependent on having the right answers to God’s pop quiz or dependent on anything you have done or will do in the future. The promise of God arrives as pure gift.

There is nothing you must do to make God love you more. There is nothing you can do that could make God love you less.

One facet of the Sacrament is the presence of Christ. Communion is a celebration of our oneness with Christ. The Lord’s Supper—instituted on the night of Jesus’ arrest—ought to remind us of Jesus’ words of comfort and assurance spoken on that very night…

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.

I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

In the Lord’s Supper, the Holy Spirit takes us to the place where Jesus is. Christ is always near, but even more near as we partake of the bread and the cup. This holy meal—instituted by Christ on the night he was betrayed—reminds us that he will never betray us. No matter what, Jesus is always close by.

Don Postema, author of Space for God, tells a story of a lady with severe mental health problems and depression who thought, as she lay in a hospital bed, that she was in hell. Until one day she was somehow reminded and comprehended the presence of God. There was a miraculous change in her attitude and demeanor, even though she was still not what we might think of as altogether sane. She thought, “If God is here, this place cannot be hell. If God is here, there is hope.”

Jesus is here, at the Table. May this feast remind you, each and every day, and even through whatever hell you may be enduring, Christ is always close by.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Food and Faith: Nourishment for the Journey

First Sunday in Lent 2009
Psalm 25 & Mark 1:9-15

The psalmist proclaims, “All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness.”

We are beginning our Lenten journey… taking our first steps along the Way towards Holy Week and our remembrances of Christ’s suffering, Christ’s last meal with his disciples, Christ’s prayer for the Church, Christ’s death and resurrection. Along the way, we can be sure that God will feed us, God will nourish us, God will give us strength.

If you’re like me, it’s sometimes the food you remember most from a vacation, a journey, or even just an afternoon walk through the woods. I remember sandwiches with leftover Iowa Chops on the first leg of a family vacation to Nashville, Chattanooga, and the Great Smokey Mountains. I remember packing snacks for a hike in the woods with my oldest son John, years ago in Pella. I remember a trip to the Drake Relays in junior high, packing a whole loaf of sandwiches.

Whenever we travel, we need food along the way.
And God has given us food and drink for our journey of faith.

God has given us the Bible, the Scriptures. The psalmist wrote, “I hid your Word in my heart, so that I might not sin against you.” St. Augustine began a journey of transformation and renewal when he heard the words, “Take and read,” and knew, deep within himself, that this meant to take and read the Bible—to take and eat, to take the stories and the prayers, the teachings and the promises, to eat them, to ingest them, to digest them, to make them a part of himself.
“You are what you eat.” Food becomes part of you when we take it in and digest it. God has given us the Bible to be food along the way. Take and eat.

God has given us other good things to read and take in as spiritual food – Henri Nouwen, a friend and mentor I never had the chance to meet, but who I sometimes feel I know, wrote a book called, “Bread for the Journey.” The written words of others can be spiritual food for us. And so can spoken words: the kind words of others, the words of forgiveness from others, the instructive words of others, can feed us, nurture us, build us up, strengthen us.

God has given us the communion of the saints—the memories and words of wisdom and prayers of those who have gone before us; as well as the body of Christ in this place: Eating with each other, being with each other, worshiping with each other can all be nourishment along the Way.

Finally, God has given us the Feast, the meal, to be nourishment for our souls on our spiritual journeys. Communion has many facets. One of the meanings we too often overlook is that of Communion-as-Meal. We are, by faith, nourished and strengthened at the Table.

The body of Christ, the bread of heaven;
the blood of Christ, the cup of salvation.
Christ is our food and drink.
Christ is our strength for the journey.

The gospel lesson for today tells the story of Jesus’ baptism and temptation. Immediately after hearing the nourishing, affirming words of the Father – “you are my dearly loved child in whom I am well-pleased” – Jesus was driven by the Spirit into the desert of aloneness, of solitude, of testing and trials.

And so will you be, on your Lenten journey.

Trust me. The more you desire to follow Christ, the more you take to heart God’s affirmation of Christ as God’s affirmation of you yourself (“You are my child, you are my Beloved, I am well-pleased with you”), and the more you strive to pray and to turn towards God daily, and the more you breathe in the Holy Spirit with every breath… the more certain you can be that the Spirit will lead you into the desert of solitude and testing, just as Jesus was.
But you will not lose hope in the desert. No! You will not lose hope. Because just as you share in Christ’s baptism and in God’s affirmation and blessing of Christ, so you can know—without a doubt—that the angels will wait on you, too, in your times of aloneness and testing and solitude.
Christ is our food and drink.

Come to the Table and feast on him…
Here you will receive nourishment for your soul,
joy in the midst of sorrow,
and strength for the journey.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Speechless

Sermon for Transfiguration Sunday 2009
Mark 9:2-9

Have you ever been speechless?
Have you ever found yourself with absolutely nothing to say?

It can sometimes be embarrassing. If you’re in school and the teacher calls your name, and you haven’t been paying attention so you don’t even know what the question is… Omigosh! You’re speechless. And you feel yourself turning shades of red. If you’re going through the receiving line at a wedding, or through a line where you greet the grieving members of a family at a visitation—you might feel embarrassed if you find yourself speechless. But being speechless—even in those situations—can sometimes be a good thing. Certainly it’s better than saying something stupid—Lord knows, I’ve learned that in my life—and still, sometimes, seem to be learning the lesson.

Sometimes we’re speechless because of joy, sometimes because of grief and pain. Sometimes because we’re so angry we could scream—that’s a probably a good time just to remain speechless. Sometimes because we’re so elated that words… just… can’t… express! Like Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, when he saw a glimpse of the Pacific for the first time could only write, “O the joy!”

Sometimes being speechless is a reaction to something so grand, so big, so vast— Words can’t express.

Your first sight of the Rocky Mountains
The view from an airplane over the Boundary Waters
The Grand Canyon
The ocean

Two phrases hit home with me on two separate occasions as I read and reread and prayed with this passage. The first is the phrase about Peter, "He did not know what to say." This cracks me up! Because it's a parenthetical comment about what Peter has previously said which was pretty lame. It’s almost as if the gospel writing is explaining: If this sounds stupid, well, let me explain, you see, Peter—and you know how Peter is—Peter didn’t know what to say. So he just blurts out the first thing that comes to mind.
Like me? Omigosh, yes! Yes, that’s so JUST LIKE ME sometimes, when there is nothing to say, I just spit out something stupid to fill the empty space. And so I wonder if this parenthetical aside in this passage is just telling me to shut up a little more often.
To listen.
To be quiet.
And to just breathe in the vastness, the greatness of God.

And then, the second phrase which hit home—very much related to the first—the beautiful and familiar words,
"This is my Beloved Son, listen to him."

I hear God speaking loud and clear. “Randy, shut up and listen. Turn your eyes towards the face of my dearly loved Son, and listen to him.” Maybe you’re hearing something like that, too?

I've been reading bits and pieces of a new book by Ann Spangler called The Tender Words of God. In the last chapter she refers to Jesus as "the last, most tender word" of God. In the brightness and the “oh wow, baby, wow” of the Transfiguration, can we just not say anything… and just listen to Jesus tender words?

These are Jesus’ tender words.
These are words God wants you to hear.

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son… God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to rescue the world through him.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed my to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty..... and whoever comes to me I will NEVER drive away.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds.

I am the good shepherd....

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest....

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.

Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.

Get the idea?

Peter spoke because he didn't know what to say.
When he maybe should have simply dropped to his knees
In awe and amazement at the glory of God
Revealed in the face of Jesus Christ.

The transfiguration story—situated as it is between two teachings about Christ’s suffering and death on the cross, and his resurrection, and just before Christ’s teaching about discipleship—if anyone wants to be first he must become last, if anyone wants to lead the way she must become servant of all—the context of the transfiguration story reminds us that God is revealed not only in the transfigured, glorified face of Christ, but in the suffering of Christ who—even though he knew no sin, knew no shame, was made to be sin and shame on our behalf, so that in him we might be the Righteousness of God. And so an ancient Saint of the Church could say, “The Glory of God is the man or woman fully alive.”

The ultimate goal of the cross is more than the forgiveness of our sins, it is more than just the restoration of our relationship with God—the ultimate goal of the cross is oneness with God in and through Jesus Christ in whom our human nature is not only saved, healed, and renewed, but lifted up to participate in the very light, life and love of God the Father Son and Holy Spirit. That bright light, the “glory,” the strange and wonderful glow we see on the Mount of Transfiguration is the “Glory of God revealed in the Good News. And the good news is that God has loved us to the uttermost and has even entered the darkest, deepest depths of our sinful humanity within this fallen creation “in in order to make our misery, shame, sin, guilt, alienation, and godlessness his own, substituting himself for us, thwarting evil, redeeming and restoring us to union and communion with the Triune God who loves us more than he loves himself.”

(Torrence quoted by Colyer and paraphrases from Colyer/Torrence)

This is a mystery before which even the angels hide their faces.

It ought to render us speechless.

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me.
Underneath me, all around me
Is the current of his love;
Leading onward, leading homeward
To my glorious home above.

Peter spoke because he didn't know what to say.
And we all do that sometimes. I know I do.
But when, instead, I listen to the tender words of Jesus,
Then I am, like a young person who has fallen in love…
In total astonishment—even like being in shock—
In total awe at the great, great love of Jesus:
Speechless.
Lost in wonder, love, and praise!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen,