A Positively Poetic Priest

Sometimes I think humanity has the shortest short term memory ever. Case and point: God is constantly turning over the way of the world: raising up leaders from messed-up sinners setting people free from different kinds of evil working miracles of love even through the stoniest hearted people who start welcoming former enemies into their lives... And every time it happens we are surprised by it. we are surprised by something that happens over and over and over again... So often God's something new... is actually really really old. This is part of the reason we share the stories of the Bible over and over and over again. Even the boring bits. The passage from Deuteronomy today shares the story of the transition from Moses as leader of the Israelites to Joshua, son of Nun. On the surface, it is not that interesting... kind of boring, maybe a little sad. God shows Moses the whole Promised Land, but God tells him he has to die first. So...

All things are God's.  Period.  We like to think of certain things as OURS. We are wrong. Each week we stand together and say the words of the Nicene Creed. In the Creed we speak about a very specific type of God. We affirm our faith in a God who created all things and for whom all things were made.  The whole of creation. All the things. Including, but not limited to: This church, the Tiffany Windows, the organ, these vestments, the Parish Hall, the tables, the chairs, the clothing we are wearing, our cars, our houses, our books, our food, our plants, our newspapers, our  knickknacks , our computers, our phones, our televisions, our comfy Lazy Boy chairs, our  toilet  paper, our money, our emotions, our dreams, our goals, our souls, our bodies. All things are God's.  All things are God's. (Have them repeat it.) The Gospel story this morning from Matthew is kind of a joke.  Did you listen to it? The Pharisees have d...

Where does the money from our "seasonal outreach" envelopes go? The money from our “Seasonal Outreach” envelopes goes to support the outreach missions of the Church during that time period of the year. During the Christmas season, the money goes to support our Christmas outreach projects, Adopt A Family and the Thanks-Giving Tree. At other times of the year, the money supports the Shepherd’s Green Community Food Pantry and the Joyful Noise Offering. If we don't give enough to cover our budget, what will we cut? We hope that we do not have to cut anything from our budget. Unfortunately in the event of major income issues, certain aspects of our life together do not get the support they deserve. The Finance Ministry makes such discernment carefully and prayerfully in order to continue the core mission of the Church. What if we don't agree with the church on some issues? You are more than welcome to disagree with the church on some issues. Hopefully, this...

"Out of love for the truth and from desire to elucidate it, the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology, and ordinary lecturer therein at Wittenberg, intends to defend the following statements and to dispute on them in that place. Therefore he asks that those who cannot be present and dispute with him orally shall do so in their absence by letter. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen." - Martin Luther, The 95 Theses So Martin Luther opened his 95 Theses which he sent to members of the church hierarchy in order to start some conversation about issues he saw in the theological and ecclesiastical workings of his day. The Reformation, born 500 years ago, was born in the search for truth. It was that thirst for truth which inspired the early English Reformers. While much of the English Reformation was more political than strictly religious in nature, there were those who had been reading and following along with the reformation ideas and...

What can we give to the church in addition to money? The church is always in need of volunteers throughout the year. Giving of your time and talent are welcome additions to gifts of money. Talking to the priest is one way to find a suitable way your time and talents can gifts to St. John’s. Does tithing include giving to all charities, or only to the church? Traditionally, a tithe is specifically money given to the church. Giving to other charities is commendable and important; however it does not count as part of a tithe. Does it count toward our giving if we give to non-church groups (secular or religious)? Giving to other organizations counts as giving back to the community and to God. However, it does not count as giving to the church. It is a distinction made for financial reasons only. What is storehouse tithing? Storehouse tithing is a reference to the Old Testament idea of bringing the first ten percent of your crop to the storehouse (the temple/priest). (...

  "If what's loosed on earth will be loosed on high/it's a hell of a heaven we must go to when we die." - Josh Ritter, Thin Blue Flame In Rachel Held Evans' book, Searching for Sunday, which is being read in Adult Formation, there is a chapter entitled "What We Have Done" which is written as a litany. In the first half of the litany, she goes through terrible things done by the church over thousands of years of history, followed by the response, "Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy." In the second half of the litany, she gives thanks for men and women throughout the thousands of years of Christianity who stood up to violence and injustice in the name of Christ, who were pioneers for the Gospel, with the response, "We give thanks." We probably have all heard the proverb, "Confession is good for the soul." Confession is also good for the community and the Church. At St. John's we practice open confession on a ...

I first met Robin Murray in April of last year. I was here for my interview visit and she and I and Kaycee and Kathy Rogers went to breakfast at Amazing Foods together. I remember that breakfast fondly for many reasons, pretty much all of which had to do with the company I found myself in and the conversation we had (and of course, partially because of the delicious food). What Robin told me that day was that she was a golf widow, which was also my first experience with that term. Kim, Bear to his friends, was seriously fond of golf. From what I have heard, he golfed three days a week, eleven months of the year. I have also heard that he only talked about two subjects, golf and Robin, for he had found himself a wonderful wife and friend in Robin. Kim was also a member here at St. John's and a participant in our weekly Wednesday night bible study group, a missionary representative on our Honduras mission trip and loved delivering Christmas presents with the Daughters of the ...

Martin Luther once said that sometimes you have to squeeze a biblical passage until it leaks the gospel. Sometimes it is simply harder to find the good news than other times. Some passages practically preach themselves and its almost an effort to find something to say without simply repeating the passage, while on the other hand, some passages need squeezing to figure out. In order to work through the gospel passage from Matthew today, I am going to look at each of the characters of the parable Jesus tells the crowds, including the chief priests and Pharisees.  We are going to start by looking at the tenants, then the servants, then the son, and lastly the landowner. The tenants.  In thinking about the tenants, I can understand how they probably had a connection to the land and the work of tending the crops and watching them grow. Working with the land brings a connection which still many farmers and gardeners know very well. Watching plants grow and become something...

What happens if I pledge and cannot keep my pledge? We realize due to circumstances outside of anyone’s control, people are not always able to keep their pledge. We ask that if you find yourself in such a situation that you tell the priest so that we know for budgeting purposes. How many people do pledge to our church? The last pledge campaign at St. John’s was in 2014. We had 32 participants in the pledge in 2014. We are hoping that our participation rate will exceed that of 2014 this year! What is the tithe? The tithe is a scripturally based understanding of giving back to God through the church. Tithing is the practice of giving the first 10% of all your income to the church. Who decides how much we should give? You do! We ask that you take some time to pray and look at your own budget to discern how much you can give to the church. How can we support our church without money? There are many ways you can support the church without giving money. Other wa...

Will you go and work in the fields of the Kingdom? My parents have had this scene happen to them many times. I remember such instances with my brothers... they would ask one to make dinner and he would immediately say, No! Of course, after a couple of minutes he would realize that if he didn't make dinner, we weren't going to be eating dinner and he would get up and make dinner. While on the other hand, my youngest brother used to say yes to pretty much anything you asked him. Whether or not he was actually do what he agreed to do was very much up in the air. (He has gotten better about this... sometimes now he actually says no. He used to play the game where he would say yes and then procrastinate as long as he could to see if someone else would do it for him.) Naturally when Jesus asks the chief priests and elder who is doing the will of the father, they have to answer honestly and say the first son, because he actually did what the father asked. He said no at first, bu...

  How much should we give? There is not a magic number for how much anyone should give. Traditionally, the tithe is set at 10% of total income. However, any amount which stretches you to know that you are giving without sending you into (more) debt is acceptable. How can we help our church have more money? Naturally, giving to the church is one way people can help the church have more money. Other ways include doing fundraisers for the church, inviting people to visit and join the church, finding grants and scholarships for different ministries of the church, and praying for the financial stability of the church. How can children tithe? It is a great idea to involve your children in giving back to the church! Children can tithe or give back in many ways alongside adults. If they have an allowance, they can save 10% of their allowance to give back to God. If they don’t, they participate in volunteering to work fundraisers, volunteering for appropriate service proje...