Holy Week Thoughts

Being Holy Week, I am more focused and aware of spiritual issues and dynamics that perhaps at any time except Advent and Christmas.

As such, a couple of thoughts from others have prompted my thinking and writing today about the God I believe loves us and cares for us dearly and deeply and, because of His painful and deadly sacrifice, done in love, makes the offer of forgiveness and second changes possible.

One is a ‘question’ quote from one of my favorite writers, Eugene Peterson, that fellow blogger Doug Robertson over at dougrobertson.blogspot.com, recently posted. The pastor’s question is, “Who are these particular people, and how can I be with them in such a way that they can become what God is making them?” (Eugene Peterson in The Contemplative Pastor.)

I think of Jesus and the disciples in the upper room as John later states the conversation that took place. In those challenging and I think, tense moments, I believe that Jesus was summing up what He had been trying to make them in their nearly 3 year journey.

Sometime back, I read a blog comment in which the writer was responding to some issue of church programming and the like. He made a comment that I really resonated with. It was something to the effect of Peterson’s quote about living with one’s congregation for a very long time. (If I remember correctly, Peterson pastored one church for 30 years.)

I am continuing to read Rural Ministry: The Shape of Things to Come, edited by Shannon Jung. (Abingdon Press) As I read, I am again reminded of the great capacity and ability of rural and small town communities to ‘live together’ for a long, long time and that the church plays a very key role in making that happen.

I must be honest at this point and say that when I came to my present church in September 2000, I was very tired of being a church program manager and developer. We need them, but so many persons get burned out after a while. (I also think that too many programs and not enough community has contribute to the lack of 20 year olds leaving the church. This is partly developmental in that it is a time of establishing one’s identity. Yet, it is also spiritual in that when the program ends, and no significant amount of relationship (read: community) has taken place, no on-going commitment continues.)

Speaking of relationship, this brings me to some other information from Sam Rainer at samrainer.wordpress.com Sam’s post, “Baptism as an Evangelistic Opportunity” reminds me of the times when I have done baptisms and have had family members come to this important Christian experience. You can find the post here, http://samrainer.wordpress.com/2009/03/16/baptism-as-an-evangelistic-opportunity/

Now what he says in this post ties in with what he says in another post entitled “Faith and Family.” (Which can be found at http://samrainer.wordpress.com/2009/03/22/faith-and-family/ ) What he says, in my opinion, is that basically it is the human touch, the human connection, the human invitation to ‘come and see’ that is still the most valid kind of connection beyond all of the electronic and social media presentations that really help people to be connected. Family and friends still matter. (Remember what I wrote in my previous post about “off line” connections for youth and young adults still being very important.

So, I invite you to Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday services at a church near you! And you can come to mine here in Kendallville, The First Church of God, if would like. 7 PM Thursday, 7 PM Friday, and 9:30 AM on Sunday.

(And by the way, our kids and teens are doing the sermon on Easter Sunday in the form of 3 one act plays. Plus my oldest wrote this moving Easter poem that I will post here on Sunday afternoon and one of our kids created the bulletin cover that I hope to get permission to publish here as well.)

Which brings me to my final thought for this post…”So what?”

Fellow blogger and fellow tweeter, Julia Rocchi (www.juliarocchi.com) has written a wonderful post “Does your writing pass the SO WHAT test?’ This is something that I am glad that you wrote Julia as it reminds me to think about my sermon as something that should move people to action, in the name of Christ, and not just a bunch of random thoughts.

Her advice is good no matter if you preach or teach or do motivational presentations. Here is her point: “ One, take off your writer hat and put on your editing one. Two, pretend you are a member of your intended audience. And three, ask out loud as you read the piece, “SO WHAT?” (Or its cousin WHY SHOULD I CARE.)” Thanks Julia!

So I ask this question to conclude. “SO WHAT difference will/does Easter Sunday make in your life?” Blessings!