by John Wilkinson
The Third Church annual report, available this week, lists all of our members who have died in the past year. They, along with loved ones we all have lost, constitute the great cloud of witnesses testified to in the book of Hebrews.
Our funeral liturgy includes a prayer adapted from the Church of England’s Book of Common Prayer. It includes these concluding words. “Especially we thank you for your servant _____, whose baptism is complete in death…” Whose baptism is complete in death.
We do not know how we will live. We certainly do not know how we will die. But we know this. In life and in death we belong to God, and baptism, any baptism, every baptism, is not the exchange where that belonging is established, but it is the moment when that belonging is signed and sealed.
So perhaps the water we are considering during Lent can be for us a symbol of baptism. A baptismal font, perhaps, or the river in which Jesus, and millions since, have been baptized.
In Romans, Paul writes that “when we were baptized in Christ Jesus, we were baptized into his death. We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised…we too might live a new life. For if we have been united with Christ in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”
That is our faith. This is our hope. Remember your baptism, and be grateful.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Monday, March 8
by Rod Frohman
The rationale is this, "When it comes to spiritual growth, human beings are much like creeping vines and rambling roses. Without support they collapse into a heap on the ground. We need structure in order to give us freedom to grow as we are meant to. What we need is a rule of life. This is a pattern of spiritual disciplines that provide structure and direction for growth."
Marjorie cites several examples of personal rules such as: taking time to pray, read, meditate, advocate, engage in service, exercise, or sacrifice personal desires in order that others might be free. All of these involve choices. Lent can be a time to create a structure on which the fruits of our lives can grow.
Holy God may our own lives be a school for your service for preserving justice and correcting faults. May we not fear a rule of faith for our life but rather find therein freedom and salvation.
For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal. II Corinthians 4:17-18My cousin through marriage is Marjorie Thompson author of Soul Feast. Her book is a good read for Lent. In it she suggests that the way the spiritual life is put together by, "developing a rule of life."
The rationale is this, "When it comes to spiritual growth, human beings are much like creeping vines and rambling roses. Without support they collapse into a heap on the ground. We need structure in order to give us freedom to grow as we are meant to. What we need is a rule of life. This is a pattern of spiritual disciplines that provide structure and direction for growth."
Marjorie cites several examples of personal rules such as: taking time to pray, read, meditate, advocate, engage in service, exercise, or sacrifice personal desires in order that others might be free. All of these involve choices. Lent can be a time to create a structure on which the fruits of our lives can grow.
Holy God may our own lives be a school for your service for preserving justice and correcting faults. May we not fear a rule of faith for our life but rather find therein freedom and salvation.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Friday, March 5
by Karen Pryor
As I’ve been pondering plans for Third churchers to move out into various locations in the community during our construction period, it occurred to me that our Lenten theme of water is quite relevant. If not tightly contained, water has a way of seeping out, dampening whatever it finds in its path. Sometimes the effect is nourishing; sometimes destructive. I wonder—as we Third Churchers leave our building for other meeting places in the community—what will be our impact on those we encounter in those spaces? Will they notice us? Will they see the Spirit within us? Will we reach out in any way and will they respond? Any chance that the connections we make will be real enough that some may want to return with us to the shelter of our own four walls?
Lord, let us be cognizant that this time away from our usual church spaces may provide opportunities for evangelism that we should not overlook
As I’ve been pondering plans for Third churchers to move out into various locations in the community during our construction period, it occurred to me that our Lenten theme of water is quite relevant. If not tightly contained, water has a way of seeping out, dampening whatever it finds in its path. Sometimes the effect is nourishing; sometimes destructive. I wonder—as we Third Churchers leave our building for other meeting places in the community—what will be our impact on those we encounter in those spaces? Will they notice us? Will they see the Spirit within us? Will we reach out in any way and will they respond? Any chance that the connections we make will be real enough that some may want to return with us to the shelter of our own four walls?
Lord, let us be cognizant that this time away from our usual church spaces may provide opportunities for evangelism that we should not overlook
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Thursday, March 4
From “Social Justice Committee Water Sermon” by Toni Wing, et al
Life originally emerged from water, and water nourishes all living things. You can do without sex, books, movies, cell phones, even food, for quite a long time. But—go waterless for a mere 72 hours, and you’re dead. Water is essential to life. It is life. Without doubt, water is the sacred birthright of every living creature.An excerpt from today’s sermon for the LENTEN VOICES SERMON SERIES led by Rod Frohman. Bring your lunch and join the discussion at 12:00 NOON in Room 103 of the Education Wing (ground floor).
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Wednesday, March 3
by Dale Maddock
As a young man, soon out of high school I joined the Navy. After boot camp and Navy photographer’s school, my first assignment was to be part of an aircraft squadron. It certainly seemed to be a long way from the ocean.
Soon enough though, we were deployed for service onto the USS Independence, a mighty ship indeed. Fully 100 feet from the waterline up to the flight deck, and over 1000 feet long—it was quite awesome to me. Once underway, the sight of the ocean was even more spectacular. As far as the eye could see there was nothing but water. No signs of life other than my fellow sailors and the occasional schools of flying fish. Too much water to comprehend.
Our first port of call was Singapore which back then was a less than pristine, orderly urban environment. It was a cacophony of colors, sounds and textures. I most remember seeing up close a sampan . . . just like in the movies. Small, less than 20 feet, it was the home for an entire family of at least six people. There may have been more but I could not tell. I remember thinking how amazing it was that they could spend their lives on such a boat; that they could eat, talk, sleep, and play in a space so small. What a miracle—all on the water of a small river. It seemed incomprehensible that it could be a home.
The second port of call was Hong Kong. This was back in the time of its British ownership. Mainline China. . . close and forbidding. I took a bus tour to the countryside. Along the way, as the guide spoke, we observed tiny spots in the distance on a brown plain. Many, many spots. As we drew nearer, the spots grew larger and eventually resolved into a village of sampans on a sea of mud. Most confusing. The answer to our questions of how these boats came to be so isolated so far inland was that a typhoon had recently blown through and the sampans were carried into the bay by the winds. Then when the winds subsided, so did the water.
The sampans remained, waiting, waiting for the next rise of water to carry them from the mud. I thought then and now, how do they survive, these people of the small boats? I knew from Singapore that the boats actually represent families and that without water they were stuck. Their lives were, and are, dependent on God’s water for life itself. It is a visceral image of God’s grace. I had not imagined a sampan without water to ride upon, or families so dependent on the tide and rains.
I came to see then that my mighty aircraft carrier, home to over 5000 people, was as reliant upon God’s good graces as those small sampans. Water is God’s gift of life. Its abundance makes it easy to take for granted. At least until it is gone. Then life becomes very fragile indeed. It is God’s grace that keeps our boat afloat.
As a young man, soon out of high school I joined the Navy. After boot camp and Navy photographer’s school, my first assignment was to be part of an aircraft squadron. It certainly seemed to be a long way from the ocean.
Soon enough though, we were deployed for service onto the USS Independence, a mighty ship indeed. Fully 100 feet from the waterline up to the flight deck, and over 1000 feet long—it was quite awesome to me. Once underway, the sight of the ocean was even more spectacular. As far as the eye could see there was nothing but water. No signs of life other than my fellow sailors and the occasional schools of flying fish. Too much water to comprehend.
Our first port of call was Singapore which back then was a less than pristine, orderly urban environment. It was a cacophony of colors, sounds and textures. I most remember seeing up close a sampan . . . just like in the movies. Small, less than 20 feet, it was the home for an entire family of at least six people. There may have been more but I could not tell. I remember thinking how amazing it was that they could spend their lives on such a boat; that they could eat, talk, sleep, and play in a space so small. What a miracle—all on the water of a small river. It seemed incomprehensible that it could be a home.
The second port of call was Hong Kong. This was back in the time of its British ownership. Mainline China. . . close and forbidding. I took a bus tour to the countryside. Along the way, as the guide spoke, we observed tiny spots in the distance on a brown plain. Many, many spots. As we drew nearer, the spots grew larger and eventually resolved into a village of sampans on a sea of mud. Most confusing. The answer to our questions of how these boats came to be so isolated so far inland was that a typhoon had recently blown through and the sampans were carried into the bay by the winds. Then when the winds subsided, so did the water.
The sampans remained, waiting, waiting for the next rise of water to carry them from the mud. I thought then and now, how do they survive, these people of the small boats? I knew from Singapore that the boats actually represent families and that without water they were stuck. Their lives were, and are, dependent on God’s water for life itself. It is a visceral image of God’s grace. I had not imagined a sampan without water to ride upon, or families so dependent on the tide and rains.
I came to see then that my mighty aircraft carrier, home to over 5000 people, was as reliant upon God’s good graces as those small sampans. Water is God’s gift of life. Its abundance makes it easy to take for granted. At least until it is gone. Then life becomes very fragile indeed. It is God’s grace that keeps our boat afloat.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Monday, March 1
by Chris Lenti
Loving God, Teach us to live in patience, searching to find the good in every moment, and joyfully giving thanks to you for every day. Amen.
May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from God’s glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father. Colossians 1: 11-12Patience is certainly a virtue we all need in our daily living. There seem to be so many things that we have no control over such as the weather, a returned phone call, the arrival of a bus, getting over an illness, the resolution of a conflict. But patience is really not about waiting until someone does something about the problem. True patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to taste the here and now. Sometimes we behave as if the good things we hope for will happen tomorrow, or later and somewhere else. Let us learn to be patient and trust that what we are truly looking for maybe hidden somewhere close by or even right where we are now.
Loving God, Teach us to live in patience, searching to find the good in every moment, and joyfully giving thanks to you for every day. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
