The Great Truths: love, sin, grace, God, and yes, fly fishing.

Study.

I am a terrible student. A very successful one, when it came to grades, but not one who
likes to read. I'm a good reader, I just do not like to read. Actually, what I don't like is
getting started reading, and sticking with it.

My big problem is that I lose interest pretty easily, and I am a snob. Writing needs to be
not only the right subject (religion often bores me to tears), but the writing itself needs to
be good -- better yet, artful.

The last time I studied, I mean really studied a subject, was when I was teaching a
biology course at Winona State: "The Science And Art of Fly Fishing." Entomology,
ichthyology, limnology, geology, books by Isaac Walton, Lefty Kreh, John Giergach, and
many others simply absorbed my consciousness. My favorite was, and is still, A River
Runs Through It, by Norman MacLean.

If you tell me that you saw the movie, I will smack you. This very short novella is one of
the best bits of American writing, ever, and it has the great added bonus of being about
fly fishing. Sort of. Like all good writing, the story is merely a vehicle for conveying
greater truth, and in this case, The Great Truths: love, sin, grace, God, and yes, fly
fishing.




So my study habits are undisciplined and unconventional. I don't really want to turn my
faith practice into a chore. My pursuit of Joy in the presence of God seldom comes
through study. More often it comes in action. I am what they call a kinetic learner. I
study most effectively not by seeing, but by doing.

Kids in school who can complete reading assignments with ease and with joy are
blessed with success. Those of us who must engage in something in order to
understand it, are not so esoteric.

John C.
(Reverend, Unemployed and On Leave From Call)

Exploring Your Faith, Rooted in the Spirit

I confess I have an inquisitive mind. Whether this is a guirk or gift, I've been inquisitive for as long as I can remember. This inner nudge to explore, discover, learn and ask questions also lures me to embrace life. Sometimes I even uncover an 'Aha'.

Two or three times a month, I come together with our Women of Faith small group. Our gatherings are continuously filled with stories, bible studies, questions, challenges, laughter, ‘Ahas’, more questions.  It seems the more we learn, the more we want to study and learn. I love our inquisitions and how we learn from one another.  This year we are studying the Acts of the Apostles as we travel back in time, exploring the culture of our roots. 

Our gatherings sometimes reminds of my Jewish heritage, and how students and rabbis of both ancient and modern times congregate to study and learn. More often than not, if you enter a room where students are involved in spiritual study (or any educational learning), the air will be filled with cross-person chatter and questions  The life of Jewish spiritual study focuses not only on the simple absorption of material, but on varying dialogue between students and texts and teacher.

Generally, the focused-on text - possibly the Talmud (first 5 books of the Bible plus student and rabbinical analysis) and/or the Bible -  is surrounded by two or more commentaries: centered on the text with others focused on the commentaries. Traditionally, Jewish students will gather with others to learn from the texts through dialogue, questions and debates.

The Gospel stories tell of Jesus gathering his Disciples for the purpose of teaching and learning.  Their studies took place through observation, discussion, questions, and parables (storytelling). Later on, the Disciples would take what they had learned and begin to instruct others. What does it mean today for you and I to be disciples….to learn and grow and pass on what we know?  My invitation to you is to gather with others as you watch this ½ hour video, travel back in time in Israel, and learn about the early disciples.   In the Dust of the Rabbi   

Several years ago, a friend asked what led me, after I was baptized, into the Lutheran Church. I will tell you making this decision took about ten years. I went from non-denominational to Episcopal and finally to Lutheran, during which time I was reading up, asking questions, learning about other denominations.  Eventually, my journey in the Lutheran faith led me on to being confirmed.  One day, on the way home from work, I found myself thinking…I am Jewish and I am Lutheran and I have come home.  Not because I had found the answers.  Not at all.   But because I found myself in a church body where I could practice my faith, learn about forgiveness, ask the questions, engage in debate, and then explore my faith further.

I found while the Lutheran faith is deep in tradition and ritual, it embraces education, learning, recognizing God as the Merciful and Grace-filed Creator and thus the church is open to the world ecumenically. While there is so much I don’t know, my faith exploration can and does continue on through fellowship, readings, the arts, through prayer and actions, through feeling, sensing and thinking, and by just being.  The God who created the universe is all-encompassing.   

I would encourage you, whether you are searching for your own spiritual path, following one known and familiar to you, experiencing doubts or stuck, feeling at peace, or finding your days so crowded you’re thinking ‘I don’t have time to contemplate my spiritual path’…..to make time for yourself to explore, to read, to listen to a tape or watch a film, talk with a faith friend.  Take time, whether it’s 5 minutes a day or 1 hour a week.  Just start somewhere…..and ask your questions. 

Prayer can help open our mind.  If you’re not sure where to start or what say, “God help me” is a good beginning.  Still unsure, check out Psalm 139 .  There’s no such thing as a silly question.  It’s the ‘not asking’ and ‘not learning or seeking’ that can keep us stuck.

Last week at the public library, I noticed a showing of elaborate, beautiful quilts. Having the gift of sight (we all have different gifts), it was hard for me not to notice.  Many of the quilts were fashioned from intricately designed squares or shapes of some sort, in a wide variation of colors and textures, with scrolls running through them.  In their individuality they were somehow bound together into beautiful art forms.  Can you see how life is like this?  Could you look at one square or shape form and not want to know how it was formed and what it was connected to?  Quilting may not be your thing, yet I think you can get the picture.

                                       

We are all students in life. Opening our minds and senses to learn means we are willing to broaden our perspective, or to learn why we believe what we do; learn about other cultures and beliefs, and in the process embrace the mystery of life and within our own faith.  There will always be questions and challenges and unknowns.  Yet is helps to have a firm grasp and educated understanding of why you believe what you believe.  My experience has been that in exploring my faith, I am able to embrace and to welcome the mysteries of my faith and of life.

This weekend, Lutherans around the world will celebrate the Reformation. I've included two videos on the why and how of our Celebration, and encourage you to watch one or both with family and/or friends….and then follow up with discussions, debate, questions…..and see where this process leads you. 

 Bishop Hanson on Why Lutheran?

Lutherans in America

In your own journey, I encourage you to explore and study the mysteries of your faith  and the world in which we live. You will be that much richer for doing so….even if this leads to more questions.  God’s Word, God's Creation and Your Spirit are worth exploring.

Shalom,

Susan

Rooted in the Word

Finally! This month I get to write about something truly near and dear to my heart. Something I think I’m half way good at. Not that prayer and inviting aren’t important. They are, and I won’t go into that again. But ‘study,’more specifically, Bible study. Ah. For me, that is where it is at.

It is in Bible study where I find my deepest fellowship. Every week I get to gather with the Seekers, those people I love so very dearly, and we sit around our square round table - it’s 4 long banquet tables set in a square – and we read The Word, and we talk, - over, around and with each other. We debate and share and laugh and cry. And we question: “Why wouldn’t Jesus let that poor man bury his father?” “Why does Jesus use yeast to represent evil in one chapter and then turn right around and use it to represent good in the next? It’s very confusing.” "Is there such a thing as an unforgivable sin?”

A couple of years ago I was asked to give a Lay Bible study at the Synod assembly. My first thought was: what in the heck can an old broad like me who hasn’t had a lick of theological training teach a bunch of pastors and really smart lay people? What can they possibly learn from me?  I had no idea. So, my first question was,

            “Why me?”

            “Because” she said, “you have a passion for Bible Study.”

Well... that’s true. I do. I love it. I really do. I love this stuff. These Scriptures, this word  of God, this Book of Faith. I love growing in the language of faith.

So, I said to the assembly, and I’m saying to you, let’s turn to Scripture, open our Bibles, our Books of Faith, and have some fun! – Bible study is supposed to be fun, you know. . . If you don’t, you should. Even if you are Lutheran, and maybe even, Gosh! Scandinavian. (I actually said this. But that’s neither here nor there.)

The theme of the Assembly was: Rooted in the Word. The Bible passage: Psalm 1:1-3. Since we aren’t sitting around that square round table reading the Scripture lesson together a verse at a time, and since I can’t quite picture you running to get and open your Bible to follow along with what I’m going to say, I’m including it from three different interpretations/translations:

Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers;

            but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night.

They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper. NRSV

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

            But his delight is in the law of the Lord, an on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. NIV

How well God must like you – you don’t hang out at Sin Saloon, you don’t slink along Dead-End Road, you don’t go to Smart-Mouth College.

            Instead you thrill to God’s Word, you chew on Scripture day and night.

You’re a tree replanted in Eden, bearing fruit every month. Never dropping a leaf, always in blossom. MESSAGE

What we have here is a Sage passing on a bit of Wisdom - this is after all, a Wisdom Psalm.

Verse 1 says: Here’s how life is.

Verse 2: Here’s how to live it.

Verse 3: Here’s how it will be for you if you do.

The key word here is the first word. Not only is it the key word of Psalm 1, my Rabbi friend, Simcha, tells me that it is the key word for the entire Book of Psalms.

            Your Bible may read:  Blessed

            Or: Happy 

                                   

In the Hebrew Bible, the first word is AWHSH RAY, (that’s the phonetic spelling!) which means, Fortunate. Fortunate is he or she. Or they. What does it mean to consider someone fortunate? It would have to be someone substantial in a way we respect, or at least admire. Right? Someone with status, recognized in the community, a role model.

Someone who has been there, done that and has the scars to show for it. Who can say with authority:

            In this world there are wrong-doers, don’t take advice from those guys.

            Some people are just downright evil, don’t throw in with them.

            And some people get their greatest kicks from making fun of you, putting you down and making you  

            feel like – a loser, stupid, dumb, ugly, clumsy, inept, inadequate, that people won’t like you, you 

            won’t ever be part of the crowd. Don’t listen to them.

That last may seem like the most innocuous of the temptations, but it’s really the most insidious. It strikes at who we are. Who we want to be.

Some of the most frequent words out of my 15-year-old granddaughter’s mouth are: “Justin made me do it," or ‘Mackensie made me do it.’ And I keep saying, “Sweetie, nobody can make you do something you don’t want to do, or know is wrong. You can say ‘no.’ You can say, ‘that’s not how I want to act.' You can walk away. Or, if none of these work for you, you can always fall back on the greatest of earthly scapegoats - parents. Dad and Mom!” And of course her response is, “Like duh, no, then they won’t want to be friends with me.”

We smile and we laugh and take some smug and maybe perverse satisfaction in the fact that we’re no longer that age and therefore no longer susceptible to such pressures.

But we are, aren’t we? We all make similar choices, rationalize in similar ways, in large and small situations. I mean, what if I speak up about what I believe and people didn’t agree with me, or get uncomfortable, or upset, or worse, are offended, then what?

Among the Seekers is a life-battered, faith sustained saint with a crooked and tarnished halo and a salty vocabulary who’d say, “Yeah, and Jesus said, you stand up for me, I’ll stand up for you. So what if people think you’re looney tunes.” (I cleaned that up for your tender eyes/ears.)

The point is: We all crave approval and acceptance. I do. And if you’re honest, with yourself, you’ll admit that you do, too. Much as we like to think we do, could, would, want to and will, we all hesitate and too often fail to take risks for and with the Word,-- in our prayer life, our personal lives, our public lives, and yes, even from the pulpit.

I think this fortunate man or woman of Psalm 1 failed, too, and paid the price so they’re able to say:

            Don’t make the same mistakes I did, you’ll have plenty of time and opportunity to make your own..

            Hold fast to, and find joy in what you know, what has stood you in good stead to this point,

            Pick up this Book of Faith, grow ever more fluent in this language of faith, faith that has and does and 

            will sustain you.

            Open it up everyday, read, underline, highlight, make margin notes, dog-ear it, have fourteen  or twenty book marks or however many you need to mark the passages that speak most 

profoundly to you.

"Read, underline, highlight, make margin notes..."  Our 3rd grade Sunday School class received
their Bibles yesterday at worship and this was the same message given to them.

Keep reading this Law, this Gospel, the Psalmist is saying, keep learning. Keep in mind and practice what you learn and life will go well with you. You will be dug up from a life without God in it, and transplanted into a life in and with God, where all you need will be yours for the asking and in all the ways that matter, you will thrive and flourish, and because you do, others will, too.

I love that image of being transplanted, of being re-Rooted in the Word. If you’re a gardener, you know that when you transplant a tree, you dig a million$ hole for a $10 tree. You fertilize it, water it, mulch it and then you wait, eagerly, anxiously, with hope. The first year it sleeps, the second year it creeps, and finally the third year it leaps. It takes time to settle roots in new soil and to learn how to draw water from those ever-flowing streams.

What does it mean to delight in the word, to meditate and  gnaw day and night on the Law, the Word, God’s Not So Little Instruction Book? For me, alone, but especially when I open this Book of Faith with others is when I most often feel that I’m in God’s presence. Somehow, by the grace of God, week by week, year by year, I feel myself becoming more firmly rooted in the word, and my heart growing closer to the heart of God. I figure if I ever get to the point when I think I know it all and understand exactly what everything means, chapter and verse, I’ll be in real trouble. Somebody once said, when you get to that point, you definitely need a second opinion.

May your life’s walk through this Book of Faith be a sacred journey. And at each step along the way may you grow more deeply and fully Rooted in the Word.

Blessings as you continue to walk in the mystery.

Janet M

STUDY

Confession: I’m an intellectual omnivore. I read widely and deeply. I read for ideas that can be tested against other ideas because as Albert Einstein said, “I want to know God’s thoughts, the rest are details.”

Martin Luther was not only a reformer of religion; he was a reformer of education as well [if this was a scholarly paper I’d put in a footnote here referring you, gentle reader, to some letters he published – but that’s what Google is for]. The two went hand in hand for him. He was convicted that the knowledge of the liberal arts provided the best context for the study of scripture. Not only would ministers who were educated in this manner better serve the church, the members of the church would better know God and His work in this world by means of such learning.

 

Einstein again --"All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom."

The Bible is interwoven with and is seminal to Western history and culture. From the majority of the visual arts, to music [from Bach to Leonard Cohen], and to literature, philosophy, and law -- the Bible is an undercurrent that flows inexorably from our past to our future.

I have the opportunity to acquire wisdom, the wisdom of those who have gone before when I dip into that undercurrent. Others have faced the same struggles that I have about God, life and its meaning, why bad things happen to good people. When I have studied, I began to see the ways the current flows in, under and through our culture, our institutions, our communities and our lives.

There was a time when I thought of myself as spiritual but not religious. I didn’t need to study much if at all. Then I discovered that that is like picking up a musical instrument for a few minutes each week and expecting to become a virtuoso. Study is practice. I had to create time to learn. Like any document that has its roots in another age, I needed to understand the context in which the Bible was written. Adult Education classes, reading commentaries – these are formal ways of learning, but it was the informal ways; conversations with friends, hearing a speaker make a reference I wanted to understand more deeply, listening to music that captured my imagination and seeing a story played out that resonated with me.

God’s thoughts still elude me, but I sometimes get a glimmer of the breadth, depth and majesty of them when I see His work in this world through the hands and words of those who have studied before me.

Paul S.

We Invite You to Come and See

Invited into Community…

You and ……..

This month two excellent blogs have been written about what inhibits us from inviting people to church and how we can extend an invite.  Reflecting on these messages, I’ve been thinking about the meaning behind inviting someone to church or worship.   

This past Sunday, during worship, we sang ‘All Are Welcome in This Place’.  A few days before we had a wonderful Facebook insert, inviting everyone and anyone to come to our church. Both the song and words are quite meaningful.  Still I ponder, what do these words really mean to you and to me?

The Gospel stories tell of Jesus walking the countryside, calling out to a group of assorted men of  different backgrounds who did not know each other, to follow him.  So….who did he invite to walk with him?  Men who looked like they had something to offer socially, politically or economically?  I don’t think so.  Nope….Jesus invited some pretty grubby and quite possibly smelly fishermen, a tax collector, a doubter, and least (or most) of all a betrayer to walk with him, and alongside one another.  A lot of adjustments here in this new ‘community’ of invitees.  I call this a ‘community’ because after one day, Jesus did not say ‘glad you joined me today, hope you’ll come back sometime’.  Instead he invited them to stay with him as he worshipped, taught, prayed, ate, and journeyed onward.

This past September, during my drive to our Sunday Riverside Service, I passed three homeless people walking nearby. I thought about stopping the car and calling out to them to join us for worship and good food; and to my regret I didn’t follow through.  I know I missed a great opportunity, and I believe our church did too.

So what is this Invitation we are asked, and seek to extend to others?  I believe it goes further than asking someone to come and check us out for a day.  I believe it means we are inviting others to consider being a part of a community of folks, who gather to explore their individual and communal faiths through worship, prayer, study, discussions, laughter and tears; encouraging one another in our daily walks. 

I recall several years ago, driving up to my new La Crosse home, tired from packing and loading the night before, as I stared at this group of church folk waiting for me, standing outside at 8pm, ready to help me unload my belongings and arrange my furniture. They had brought coffee and breakfast for me for the next morning. Strangers to me, they had extended an invite,‘Welcome to our community’.

I share this experience only to emphasize that our invitations are not about us. They are merely an open door, asking others to check out our community of ordinary and extraordinary people like you and me.  And, they say I/we will be in community with you for as long as you wish. 

I believe this changes the emphasis of our invitation.  It also allows us to be perhaps a little vulnerable, because we are also sharing ourselves.  Yes, it may challenge us to grow as our community becomes more diverse, and to receive in ways we might not have anticipated.  

The person you invite; and I would challenge you to invite someone with different experiences, is also part of God’s community, even if s/he is not yet part of yours. To say we are part of a growing community, is to say ‘we are inviting more of God’s community into ours’.  Something to reflect on.

Each week during Worship our pastors invite all to take part in the Communion Feast, as ‘Christ is The Host”.  Next Saturday or Sunday, I invite you to say “Hello” to someone you do not know, helping those who are new or old time invitees to feel Welcome.  God is calling you and I to live out the words we sang last week, ‘All are Welcome (and Invited) in This Place'.

Shalom,

Susan 

Invitations... FREE SAMPLES!!!

The discomfort that can come with inviting a person to church is normal for many people, including me. One of my children loves to invite people to church and asked me why I don’t invite people to church much. I told him it made me uncomfortable.  He said to me, “Mom, you said that when you strip life down to its bare core, what you have left is God. So, don’t you think we should share that with others? ...if it is the MOST important thing ever?” I love kids. It is humbling to have them. 

Inviting is important. Think of the times you are invited to anything. Doesn’t it feel good to get an invitation? Now think of why you don’t invite. Most likely it is discomfort in how others may look at you for asking.  The invite is for them and about strengthening their relationship with God, not us. That is a worthy cause to put our discomforts aside and invite people to church. 

So, in order to help us all be more comfortable inviting people to church, I am going to list some sample one liners, many of which I got from my son. You can use one of these, or let these inspire you to come up with your own. Practice it, then when the opportunity comes up, you will be ready and confident to invite someone to church. 

Sample Invitations:

Hey! We have a great band at church playing this weekend that I think you would really enjoy, would you like to join us for church?

You mentioned that you all haven’t gone to church in years and we are doing an interesting study on the prophets (or whatever series we may be in) that I think you would like. We would love to have you join us. 

I have really been enjoying worship and fellowship at church and think you may like it too. Would you like to join us then we could all go out to lunch afterwards?

I am in an adult bible study at church that I think you would like. Would you like to go with me, then we could go to church afterwards? 

We go to church at 10:45 on Sundays (fill in your time you go), would you like to come with us? 

Would you like to come to church with me this weekend? I could pick you up at 9:30. 

We have been welcomed into the nicest community of people at our church. I really think you would enjoy it too. Would you like to join us for church this weekend? 

The music at our church has really reached me in a surprising way, I think you would enjoy it too. Would you like to join me for church this weekend. 

Hey kids (your own if you have them), why don’t each of you invite a friend over for church this weekend, then they can all come over for lunch afterwards. 

Okay, you get the idea. Basically, get your elevator invitation ready, practice it like you do your elevator speech for your work, and you will be impressed with how much easier it is to invite people to church.

I can’t wait to meet the people you bring! I will be looking for all of these new faces... and I will invite a neighbor I have been meaning to invite for 3 years. (I am going with one of the music lines because they love music - which one works for you?)

-Eva Marie

INVITE

The tune

Inviting. Something we do almost every day.

 “ Let’s go have lunch”.

“ Would you like to get a coffee?”

“ I’m having a little get-together this weekend”.

“ Wanna grab a beer after work?”

It’s easy – we do it all the time.

So why is it so hard to invite someone to church? Or why do we shy away from this spiritual practice?

There are likely as many reasons as there are members of our congregation. I’m going to hazard a guess here and wager that most of them boil down to fear of some sort. Fear that we’ll say the wrong thing. Fear that the offer will be rejected. Fear that we’ll damage a friendship or work relationship by taking it into another realm. Fear that we’ll come off sounding like a two-bit judgmental TV preacher “ Have you asked JEEE-sus into your heart?”

But mostly it may be because we haven’t done our homework.

By inviting, we’re not selling something. Just like our daily casual invitations, we are opening up the opportunity for a deeper relationship because you enjoy the person’s company. An invitation to church is an invitation to that person to share something that you find enriching to your life.

We earn the right to invite. In order to do that we must invest in people first. Listen and learn their stories. Learn their passions, their longings and share with them the same. Then suggest something or talk about something to help you connect on a spiritual level. If the person gets to know you and wants to know more about why you live your life the way you do, they’ll make a point to find out. Once your conversation turns to things spiritual, the invitation will flow naturally.  You don’t need to answer their questions about God, evil, bad things that have been done in the name of religion, you are just inviting them to a place where they can explore those questions in the company of others with similar concerns.

Inviting is not about talking people into beliefs, it’s being ready to give an explanation for the hope you have and admit the doubts you have.  And that you have found a place that lets you do both and more!

Lord,  replace our fears with joy so that we may be hospitable members of your church, inviting and welcoming all.

Amen.

Paul S.