"Us and Them ... TOGETHER!"

There are churches where both congregation and clergy feel a weariness where there should be excitement and worship and purpose ... churches who sense partitions, distancing one from another ... churches who speak and hear the words "Us" (clergy) and "Them" (parishioners) and "goats and sheep" (who both seem to stinketh at times but all are beloved by God?!).  This morning, my words are not only a "View From the Pew" as one of "Them" but a "Prayer From the Pew" for all who are "Us" and all who are "Them" and for all who truly desire to seek the Lord and live out God's will.  I pray for partitions to come down and praise, prayer and purpose to rise up together instead.

I am one of “them”
but not one of “those”
(you know, those stinky goats
and bleating sheep)
so I’m not sure
if there is a word
for the likes of me
other than
“beloved”
or “disciple”
or yes, at times
“wandering lamb.”

Neither am I one some call “us”
although I have been convinced
that we are all “us” in some way.

So, I’m looking for words
other than “them” or “us”
and looking for ways that
encourage “together” instead …
moving “them” and “us”
always forward,
ever yearning,
and forever God-ward.

O God, hear my (our) prayer.

"Baptized and Renamed"

He came from Nazareth in Galilee to the river Jordan.  The hem of his robe was dusty  and dirty from the journey.  He came to stand among them, not apart from them.  It is written that “the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem” had come to hear the words spoken by his cousin, John. The baptizing began.  He shuffled along with the pressing crowds.  Nothing set this man apart from those who were waiting to step into the murky waters of the river Jordan on that day.  He was one among the multitude of people.

He entered the cool, muddy waters, wading out to where his cousin stood.  Their eyes met.  John hesitated in quiet protest.  Perhaps Jesus leaned closer to him and whispered “Baptize me.  Let it be so now.”   He was baptized as were the others.  There was a peace and quietness under the water that would last for only a few moments … a quietness that was interrupted only by the water-muffled sounds of the throngs of people standing along the river’s edge.  Jesus came to the surface of the water and saw the heavens rip apart.  The Spirit of God descended like a dove and rested upon him and a voice from the heaven proclaimed, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

This moment of affirmation for Jesus at his baptism brought to light this belovedness and the holy delight in him that parted the heavens with breathtaking power yet settled upon him with the same gentleness of a dove.  This moment branded the name “Beloved” on his heart just as he would soon find himself walking among those who would shout other names at him and about him.  And this very moment placed the name “beloved child” on his lips as he shared ‘a new name’ with those
and for those he had come to walk among.

They shall call him “Immanuel”, which means “God with us.”  We have heard these very words during Advent.  THIS is the moment of clarity for us when the birth announcement of the Christ-child and the affirmation of Jesus’ baptism merge into one great Truth.  God IS with us.

And so, this morning I say to you … REMEMBER.  Remember your baptism on this day.  Hear these words and hold them as the dear treasures that they are.  You, too, have been renamed.  You are called “beloved child” by our God who loves us with a love that is beyond our greatest hopes.  Know this as a precious truth that flows over you like the waters of baptism and makes you gasp for air just a little at the thoughts of such unimaginable Love.   Remember, beloved child, remember!

(Prayer):

GOD of the torn heavens and of gentlenesses, of communal waters and of new names … through Jesus, you have washed us with the waters of your Love and said, “It is good.”  You have renamed each of us “beloved child.”  With the assurance of this name that we carry and in your soaking Love, give us hearts that want to share your Love with others. Give us opportunities this day and every day to walk alongside others and offer hope, saying, “And you shall be called beloved.”

Amen.

"A Prayer in the Newness of 2015 for a Clumsy Tuesday's Child"

There is always that moment when I must put the first word into my journal.  It is rarely on January 1st (that would be a bit of a forced word for me).  I recognize the word when it refuses to leave my thoughts and heart.  The first word, scribbled in my 2015 journal is GRACE.  Hours after the word "Grace" found a home in my journal, a prayer followed.

“Tuesday’s child is full of grace …
(sigh) God of Grace, you know
that this Tuesday’s child of yours
is not a very graceful one.
I am clumsy ... lacking grace,
clumsy in the giving of grace,
and even clumsy in recognizing
your moments of grace for me.
My family laughs at the thoughts of
‘full of grace’ and ‘anna’ woven
into the same sing-song saying.
Tuesday’s child is full of grace …
it is a family joke (sigh again).

Why, oh why, have you burned
this word GRACE
into my clumsy heart
in this new year?
Why is this small word the first
to be scribbled into a fresh journal?
Did you notice that my hand shook
as the letters formed the word?

God of Grace,
you who offer Grace
to me and for me,
help me bring closure
to the past year
in a grace-filled way,
giving to you
what I need not carry
into the new year.

God of Grace,
you who offer Grace
to me and for me,
help me to live into
this new year
not only as ‘Tuesday’s child’
but as your beloved child …
full of Grace …
no longer clumsy of heart.

God of Grace,
you who offer Grace
to me and for me,
teach me to live,
fully and completely, as
Tuesday's child, full of YOUR Grace.

Amen.

"A Fresh New Journal"

I love the freshness of a new year. Even at my age, the first days continue to be much like how excited I was as a school kid, buying fresh new notebooks. I've upgraded from the notebooks of my school years to a fresh new journal each year. It isn't a diary, by any means, but a place to scribble words, ponderings, thoughts, God-sightings in the ordinary hours of my day and scriptures that soak into my heart. It is a place where perhaps the goodness of your own caring words, as they touch my life, might find a home. Maybe my journal is a glorified "catch-all"! As different as my year has been and as unknown as the new year is, my journal always begins with the same words of reminder that were offered to me by a Cuban-refugee-turned-United Methodist pastor. Alberto Rodriguez gave me these words just a few years before his death:

"There is a mysterious connection
between the hand that writes,
the mind that thinks 
and the heart that sees. "

At the beginning of the new year, I place Rev. Rodriguez' words on the inside cover of my fresh new journal along with scripture,  Deuteronomy 30:14 "... the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe."

Each year, I begin the page on the day after Ash Wednesday, as a fresh page, symbolizing my prayers to God from the night before (Ash Wed) to move me forward in a new way, to "create within me a clean heart" by the removal of the ashes on my forehead, placing them as a cross on the fresh page of the journal.

The freshness of a new journal always reminds me of the wonderful new start, this clean heart, that comes with God's unfathomable love, grace and mercy. Now do you see why I am excited?