ps from ps: Who has shaped you? Who has molded you? Who has touched your heart?
As we approach All Saints Sunday this weekend, I invite you to take time to reflect on the lives of those who came to and departed this life before us. It may bring tears. It may bring laughter. It may bring memories. The emotions surrounding those saints have in part made us who we are today. They were blessings from God. Take some time of reflection with me from the memorial garden at St. Paul’s by clicking HERE.
Lord, for all the saints who from their labors rest, I give you thanks. Amen
ps from ps: What would you put on the church door? And…what should be posted on yours?
What am I referring to? Why Martin Luther of course!
Quick recap: Marty was part of the Catholic Church – the Holy Spirit opened the Scriptures for him in a new and incredible way revealing grace, forgiveness and love like he hadn’t been hearing through the church’s doctrines – he decides to do something about it – comes up with 95 things (theses) he’d like to see changed in the church – then he posts it on the church doors in the center of town for all to see.
He wrote out 95 things that seemed important to change and posted on the church doors! Holy Gutsy! What a risk this was. Turns out, after a bunch of discussions and debates, it got him kicked out of the Catholic Church and also started the protestant reformation.
But his re-centering on the grace and love of God, the gift of faith for us and the importance of God’s Word…525 years later…is the reason I want to be a pastor in the Lutheran Church. It’s the reason I’m part of the Lutheran tribe. It’s the reason I try my best each day to be less of a jerk than the day before. It’s the reason I want the church to be better today than yesterday.
So that was then. This is now.
What needs to be posted on our church doors today? As we see our culture slowly but steadily drift away from church life and churches (in general) continue to the same thing over and over and expect different results?
If Luther was luthering (made up word, but I really like it) today, what would he post on our church doors?
And what would he post on us?
Jesus told his followers, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples.” Are we continuing? Have we taken an early exit from the Word-of-God Highway and our GPS is asking us to “recalculate?” And maybe Jesus is too?
I hope Luther doesn’t nail these theses to me, and you, but maybe it’s worth some introspection today.
What sort of Reformation does our church need? And what Reformation do I need?
Lord, help me to continue in your word and get on with reformationing. Amen
ps from ps: I’m a “top of the pile guy.” This term is not in a Dictionary or Wikipedia so let me share some insight. (Disclaimer: for those newer to “ps from ps”, Steve often just makes up his own words. And many times, his own grammar rules as well. If you’re an English major, hang onto your hats!)
Being a TotPG (Steve also invents his own abbreviations) means that, upon getting ready for work/stuff/life in the beginning of the day, it’s a lot easier just to grab a t-shirt or socks or whatever off the top of the clean clothes pile in the wash basket than to look through all the drawers and closets for some outfit. If I’ve worn these clean clothes before, then they must be able to fit together into some sort of coherent outfit again. Right? (Although my daughter Lauren would disagree that the outfit was coherent the first time around.)
But what happens here is that I end up wearing the same five t-shirts. Over and over and over.
I have a lot of other great t-shirts! I just never dive deep enough. Don’t take the time. Don’t make the effort. But when I do, I’m always thrilled with the “new” shirt that reminds me of something great or a place I’ve been or a fire company I work with or a Buffalo sports team.
The same thing happens with my faith life. I gut stuck in ruts. I often take the easy route and least effort. I forget to dive deeper. I become a STotPG (Spiritual Top of the Pile Guy)
But every time I do make the effort – in deeper worship, additional Bible reading, more space for prayer, singing some Jesus-songs in the car instead of sports radio, and more….I’m always blessed by it. Thrilled even.
Take some time to reflect on the same old clothes you are wearing, and by clothes you are wearing I mean spiritual practices and routines you may be stuck in. If you need suggestions for new t-shirts (and by t-shirts I don’t mean t-shirts), let me know or talk to your pastor or other spiritual mentors.
The top of the pile is fine…but maybe there is something deeper to rediscover as well.
ps from ps: Nice brand new floor in the kitchen eh?
That’s the kitchen floor at St. Paul’s! Many of you Daily Bread or St. Paul’s vets might be saying: “wow, beauty, really nice new floor!”
But it’s not a new floor. It just had a deep cleaning. And it’s seemingly now a NEW FLOOR!!
If you had been in there recently, there were approximately 3.2 inches of church meals, meal shares, burrito remnants and other stuff ground into those nice tiles to make them dull, slippery and a tad ugh. It doesn’t mean they weren’t cleaned each time we used the kitchen. It just means that the quick sweeps and mops that get rushed at the end of the night or a shift, sometimes leave some things behind.
See, ministry is messy. Ministry gets us dirty. Ministry (especially the food prep kind…but the other types too) leaves things behind, gets greasy and dirties us up.
Monday – Saturday can get us worn down, less shiny, a little grimy and a tad dirty. But that means the space is being used. That means WE are being used. If a church kitchen was too clean, I’d ask some questions. If a church building was empty during the week, I’d ask some questions. If a church sanctuary has too many empty seats and yet super pretty gold and silver things up front, I’d ask some questions.
This floor is super clean now. But in a few short weeks, we’ll get ‘er nice a dirty again. Feeding people. Loving people. Nourishing lives. Connecting one another.
So I ask you this today: 1. Have you taken the time for some deep cleaning? Is your Saturday night at Amherst or your Sunday morning at St. Paul’s (or wherever you worship on the weekend) a time to wash fully clean with peace, grace, song, Word, meal, forgiveness and fellowship? 2. And once that shine is buffed up, are you ready to get dirty again? Are you ready to be in the “floor messing up” kinda ministry that God needs from each of us?
Shine ’em up. Get them ready to get dirty again. That’s the life of a church kitchen floor….and discipleship.
Lord, help me to take time for deep cleaning to get me ready for deeper ministry. Amen
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