Saying Goodbye

One of the customs that my wife and I have begun is the strenuous task of watching TV shows. I didn't really watch much TV when I was growing up because my siblings were too busy bothering me all of the time. But Claire and I spend time together relaxing and watching TV shows and talking about them.

Most of the TV shows we watch are on DVD so I can watch them whenever I want (The West Wing, Friends, etc.). But we've been watching Downton Abbey and we've caught up so that I now have to wait before I know what happens.

I have been engrossed by the plot lines of this particular show, and the episode we watched this past Sunday particularly drew my attention. I'm going to try not to post any spoilers, but be aware that I'm pretty bad about spoiling TV shows. In the episode one of the characters falls sick and dies. After the person dies one of the main characters is shown saying goodbye. She takes a special moment to kiss the deceased person on the forehead and say "goodbye".

As I watched this scene I was reminded of the times in my own life when I have said goodbye to a loved one, whether it was a permanent goodbye or a temporary one.

I have been blessed to have had a chance to, in one way or another, say goodbye to three of my four grandparents. All of the moments in my life when I had the chance to say goodbyes to the ones I loved were painful at the time, but they are moments that I now treasure. Having the chance to look into the face of someone for whom we truly care and say a meaningful goodbye, even if they cannot return the gaze, is something that far too few people have. I believe that saying goodbye is an important part of our relationships with one another.

There was a patient who came into the emergency room while I was working in Richmond. This man had fallen from a high place and was not identified. As he was being cared for in the emergency room his condition worsened and he passed away. As I was standing there watching a man I did not know depart this life I noticed that he had a wedding ring on his finger. Because we were not able to identify this man we had no way to contact any loved ones. I remember offering up a prayer at that moment for this man's loved ones who did not have the chance to say goodbye.

The last goodbyes are not the only ones we say. We use this word so often in our lives that it becomes one that is mundane. Every time we part company, we find ourselves saying goodbye. I think that this is a great thing because this word can feel so casual, yet it can also be very meaningful. I have to think that these is a reason that the word "good" is part of our process of departing. It is a wish that the person we are leaving will be kept well and cared for, but I think it is also a little hint of the value we give one another. When I say goodbye, I can't help but think that the time we have had together has been good, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in this world. There is something "good" about "goodbye" - it says that we have had a chance to share our moments with someone who has helped us make them precious.

Called - Sermon from 1/13/2013

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Does this man make you want to jump right in?

I'm going to say it right at the get go: John the Baptist is scary. Every time John the Baptist comes into a narrative in the Gospels, he seems to be condemning people left and right, calling people broods of vipers, and making scary threats. Not to mention the fact that he's usually described as eating next to nothing and wearing an odd assortment of clothes. I don't know about you, but he's just not the reassuring picture of someone who was sent to preach good news.

John's purpose in this story, and in general, is to prepare the way for the Messiah. That is John's calling. How does he do this? He tells the people that they must repent of their sins and be ready for Jesus. As scary as John seems, the verses right before our passage today are ones of hope. When asked what the people must do to repent, John's requirement is basic: share with one another and treat each other with the respect that is due to you. Does this sound familiar, maybe like something Christ would say? John fulfills his calling by preaching the good news that Christ would continue. Enter Jesus for his baptism.

The passage says that the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form as a dove and God spoke directly to Jesus. Now, if that is not a sign from above, I do not know what is! This is where we get to see the calling of Jesus, and how appropriate that it happens right after his baptism. As Jesus prays, God says, "You are my Son. You are beloved, with you I am well pleased." This is God's way of calling Jesus. This is God's way of affirming that Jesus is, in fact, the Messiah and that he will be the salvation of all.

But this was not just a gentle affirmation. This was a calling. This was going to be the toughest thing CHrist had ever done. Jesus left from this baptism to be tempted in the wilderness, to be rejected by his community, and, eventually, to his death on a cross. Being claimed as the Son of God meant that Jesus was being led to his ministry, and the Holy Spirit was evidence of God’s presence in the midst of all of this.

A call is as true for us as it was for Jesus. Our baptism may not have looked the same, but in our baptism we are also claimed by God. God says to us, "You are my beloved, with you I am well pleased." When we are claimed as children of God, this in itself is a kind of calling. We are called to live lives that witness to this gift of grace. I guess the big question, and the one that it seems like we all ask ourselves is “How do we figure out what God is calling us to be?”

Jesus demonstrates one way in this passage. After his baptism, he prays to God. He takes time to consider his heavenly Father. This is when God speaks to him in Luke. It is through prayer that Jesus hears God’s call and it is during prayer that the Holy Spirit becomes a force in his life.

I truly believe that prayer is a way for us to discern God’s call for our lives. Just this last week I emailed someone to ask them to participate in an activity because I believed she was well suited for it. Her response was, “I’m not really sure that I’m well suited for this. I really need to pray about it.” I thought that was such an incredible answer. She took the time to turn to God and ask God, “Is this really something you are calling me to do? Is this how you want me to share your love?”

She really struggled with the situation. But she described it as a sense of peace that settled over her when she decided to follow this call.

Another way that I think we follow God’s call for our lives is described by theologian and Presbyterian pastor Frederick Buechner. He describes answering a call as taking up our vocation. He says that the place that God calls us to is where our deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet. I would describe our deep gladness as our passions, the things we find important, the things in which we find true meaning and enjoyment.

This is how we follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit calls to us and creates within us deep passions which fuel and motivate us. By following these things which make us truly happy, we find fulfillment in the things that we do which have an impact on those around us. This is how we follow God’s call. And it all starts with baptism.

Scripture gives us a neat image to think of the Spirit’s guidance in our lives. John the Baptist talks about the winnowing fork and the wheat and the chaff. All of this seems somewhat foreign to us, but it is a cool image. A winnowing fork was basically like a pitch fork. The farmer wanted to separate useful wheat from the useless husks and straw. So the farmer would toss all of the grain up in the air, and the wind would blow the lighter chaff separate from the heavier grain. This way, the useful wheat could be separated and stored.

This reminds me of the movement of the Spirit in our lives. It is the Spirit’s movement in our lives that separates our calling, or deep passion. It is only through the blowing of the Spirit that we are able to discern what is most important to us. And this movement starts with baptism.

As I have been thinking and reading about baptism, I came across a story. I don’t remember who told the story, but we will call her Delpha. Delpha tells the story of her baptism in a pond near their church. Being a Baptist, this particular baptism involved full immersion when she was a teenager. She and the others who were being baptized went down to the river with white robes on symbolizing being washed clean of sin in the waters of baptism, the cleansing power of God’s grace. Well the pastors were in the pond dipping people as they came into the water and then sending them back out. And Delpha started to notice something about the people as they came out. People went in with white robes on, and came out covered in mud, stinking to high heavens. Turns out the pond that this church used happened to also be a pond with a pleasant mixture of mud and manure as it was frequented by livestock. This seems like an unfortunate location for a baptism.

So the people would go in all white, the pastor would say, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” and dip them under the water. They would emerge sputtering and covered in mud. When it was Delpha’s turn she wadded into the pond making that squelching sound your feet make when they sink down in the mud and you have to pull real hard to pry them out. The pastor said the words and dipped her under the water, she came out sputtering with her white robe covered in nasty, smelly mud.

I can just imagine all of these newly baptized people walking out of this little pond covered in mud thinking, “This does not look the way I thought it was going to! What did I sign up for?”

But I think this is such a cool image for baptism. The people baptized in that pond that day were being (fingers) “washed clean” from sin. Yet when they came out of the waters, they were anything but clean. When Jesus emerged from his baptism, he emerged into a world that would condemn and kill him. When we emerge from our baptism, the call that we hear is not to a world that is bleached and starched and pearly white. It is not to a world that is perfect. We emerge from baptism and we are called to service for the Lord in a world that is covered in mud. A world that is filled with brokenness, mistrust, sadness and sorrow. We are  called into a world where the hurts seem endless and the pain can feel even worse.

But, we are called.

None of these things are a surprise to us. We are not surprised that there is so much wrong with the world, and the hope that we find is that God’s Spirit descends. God calls us beloved and issues our call. In fact, I think we know that God has called us, in part, because the world is such a broken place. God has called us because the broken world needs us.

I have a confession: I am a Lord of The Rings fan. It is a wonderful fantasy series written by J.R.R. Tolkien. I remember a quote by Gandalf, a character of wisdom in the book, in response to the despair of a broken world. Another character says to him, “I wish that none of this had happened.” Gandalf says, “So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”

This is how we answer God’s call, by deciding to follow the guidance of the Spirit and by working for change in the world.

And so I ask you, what are your deepest passions? Where do they meet the deepest hunger, the deepest needs of this world? Where are you called to do God’s work?

May we encounter God in our prayer and in our lives. May God’s Spirit descend upon us as a dove creating within us a deep passion to live out God’s love. And may we go from this place, a people hearing and following God’s call in every way. Amen.

Out with the old, in with the new.

As it is the new year now with many exciting new things, I began to reflect on new things. What is new, and what value we give these new things? I'm sure that it is no surprise that our culture seems fascinated by new things. We are excited by new developments, we want to here the "new" news, and we want the newest products, sometimes simply for the fact that they are new. Many large corporations are able to capitalize on this desire for new things.

I have found myself using the "new" word quite a bit the last few weeks. I catch myself in many an introduction saying, "I'm the new associate pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Albemarle." While this is an accurate description, at some point I will no longer be the "new" associate pastor. This is not part of my permanent identity.

While our culture seems to be excited and enthused about new things, the opposite is often true about old things. We are hesitant to rely upon things that are old rather than on things that are new. We see old things as in need of replacement by new things.


As I think about the push and pull of old and new, a sermon from one of my mentors comes to mind. His name is Andrew Taylor-Troutman and he published an excellent book called Take My Hand: A Theological Memoir. The book highlights sermons from his first year of ministry at New Dublin Presbyterian Church (here is a link to his blog). In his first sermon in his new church, Andrew describes the intricate balance between the old and the new that is essential to church life. The past and its traditions are important for the present and should be respected. However, the past should also not be worshiped at the cost of losing our hopes for a changing future.

This balance of tradition and innovation is an important part of our church. We have an extensive and rich tradition which needs to play a part of our lives as people of the great cloud of witnesses that is the church. Yet, especially for people of the Reformed tradition, we feel the need to remain applicable to the changing world around us. This is a balance that defines us and informs our worship, celebration, and faithfulness.

While I am primarily concerned with this balance in my daily planning of worship and church life, this balance has taken on new life for me recently. It has also been fresh in my mind as I have experienced the debates regarding the second amendment over the last days and weeks. In particular, I have heard various camps arguing about what the founding fathers meant or what they didn't mean when they wrote those 27 words. To me, this issue, especially in light of the many recent shootings in our country, can be considered in light of our balance between the old and the new. It is important for us to recognize the tradition of this second amendment while at the same time considering the time and place in which we find ourselves today.

If we allow ourselves the luxury and challenge of this balance between the old and the new, I believe we will be able to honor the tradition which we love and respect while at the same time accepting the challenges that modern life presents. I do not claim to know what this looks like, but it is a challenge that I believe requires thoughtfulness and respect. As Andrew says in the close of his sermon, "Let us pray to strike a balance between the old and the new. Let us pray for the Holy Spirit to bring new life and maintain tradition." Amen.