Advent is our time of waiting.  We wait in line at the store.  We wait for cookies to be done baking.  We wait for family gatherings.  We wait for vacation to come.  Teachers really wait for vacation to come!   We wait to open presents.  We wait as one candle, two candles, three, and four are lit around the Advent wreath.  We wait for the coming of the Christ child.

Putting up Christmas lights is the perfect metaphor for the time of waiting in Advent.  It doesn’t happen quickly, it can’t be rushed, and if you try to rush, the lights become a big tangled mess and/or don’t look quite right.  It’s the same with all that Advent entails.  The more we rush, the bigger the tangled mess we seem to end up in.  That is the beauty of the message of Advent–it is a time to gather the pieces one by one, getting ready step by step.  The irony of the time of Advent, though, is most people DO rush.  The feeling starts the day after Thanksgiving where we rush out to the stores well before dawn to get the best deal or price on that special item.  Then there always seems to be so much to do with decorating, baking, buying, and wrapping that the to-do list gets longer and longer as we try to multi-task.  Our calendars become full of parties and gatherings, all which are fun and festive but fill in the places where we once perhaps had a moment of down time to sit back and rest.

And yet, there are times when we don’t rush.  One person told me about sitting in the living room at the end of the night, a glass of wine in hand, Christmas music softly playing in the background, and the overhead lights turned out as the tree softly lights the room with color.  A look of peace and serenity came over his face as he told me about this evening ritual.  There are also times when we can’t rush.  I had a few friends this December give birth.  Their families have been waiting for 9 months in anticipation of the addition to their family.  But no matter how much they have prepared and how ready they are, that baby only came when it was good and ready.  No sooner, no later.   The baby room was ready, diapers were stacked, and clothes folded but that didn’t rush the baby.

Soon, very soon, we will welcome our Lord Jesus Christ, who was born to save a broken and fallen world.  The waiting will soon be over and hopefully you will have some time to un-rush yourself.  May this be a time of celebration and joyous occasions as you hold dear the gift given to us by God because P.S. there’s more to celebrate each day we live.

Mark 13:24-37                                                                                                                       (See below for the passage)

This weekend marks the beginning of Advent and thus the first week of the new church year.  As we begin Advent, we enter with anticipation for the Christmas season.  For many young children (or young children at heart) that means looking forward to decorating the tree, the giving and receiving of presents, and Santa and his reindeer.  Of course there is also the anticipation of the Sunday School Christmas program, special concerts, lighting of the advent wreath, and singing the well loved hymns and carols.  The gospel reading for this first Sunday of Advent pulls that anticipation together to help us focus on what the next four weeks holds for us.  It does this by telling us of the apocalypse.  Advent and the apocalypse?  Really?  Yes.  It is our reminder to keep awake and alert to God’s activity in this world beyond our human expectations or abilities to understand.  It was unexpected and hard to understand why God would come to us in human form, in the form of a baby.  And not only a baby, but a baby born in a barn.  God continues to exceed our expectations and fill us with wonder.  God brings encouragement and hope through a baby born in a stable, through a baby that will grow up to die on a cross and who will rise to new life in order that we may have life everlasting.  Unexpected and exceeding expectation.  This week, keep awake and alert to God’s activity in the world.  As you keep alert, please snap photographs on your cameras or phones and email them to Pastor Shannyn: pastorshannyn@saintjohnelca.org  These photos will be shared on this blog because a picture is worth a thousand words.  It is worth sharing because P.S. there is a lot for which to stay awake and alert in these days of Advent.

Mark 13:24-37

24 ”But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 Then they will see “the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory.

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This past Sunday Saint John Lutheran held our first Cross+Generational Sunday School gathering.  It was so joyful!  Gathered together with the purpose of faith formation were kids less than one year of age all the way through people in their 90’s.  Sitting at tables were mixed ages and relationships.  Some tables held multiple generations from one family.  Other tables held generations of people that were not related by blood or marriage but are family through faith.  Caring Conversation was held as we started with FaithTalk cards to break the ice and share stories and thoughts.  Devotion came into play as we learned about Martin Luther and the Reformation (a great continuation of the fabulous Katy Luther presentation on Saturday by Alvina Hjortsvang).  Service happened through assisting one another in creating Luther’s rose, along with helping each other blindfold, spin, and provide protection from falling during the “Pin the 95 Theses on the Door” game.  Rituals and Traditions were engaged through prayer and singing as we sang some old and new favorite songs: “Jesus Loves Me” and the “Hippo Song”, led by the Sunday School kids.  They did a great job teaching the older folks the actions!  It was a good day, a day of faith formation with our brothers and sisters in Christ.  A day to which we say, “Praise the Lord!”  Take a moment to share your “Praise the Lord!” moments, because P.S. there’s more than one way to praise the Lord!

The following is Pastor Shannyn’s piece written for the collection of devotions during the October stewardship focus.  The devotion book titled “Thus Far By Faith” can be picked up in the church office for you to read, because P.S. there’s more for us to share about our experiences.

Matthew 11:28-30

28 ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

On July 2 & 3, 2011 I preached this text with a heavy heart and in a different manner than my ‘normal’ preaching style.  This text came about in the lectionary cycle sixteen days after the death of my dad.  As I read through the texts for the week I felt pulled towards this passage, thinking about the burdens that were hanging heavy, not only over myself, but over our community.

For two months we had been living in a state of tension and fear over flooding issues.  People were moving the items that had sentimental meaning such as scrapbooks along with the other items that told the stories of their lives.  Some moved a few things out of their homes while others moved almost everything they owned.  Those that lived at higher ground generously opened their garages and basements for storage.  It was a stewardship of the space and kindness they held.  I, myself, had planned on moving the items in my office but suddenly that became little concern as I headed to Wisconsin unexpectedly for an unexpected funeral.  Yet, even as I left town my thought was, “Well, if it floods all it will take is a phone call and I know others will move my things if need be.”  What a blessing to know that we as a community were there to shoulder the burdens together.

This passage reminds us that our burdens are not meant to be shouldered alone.  Oxen are often yoked in pairs in order that one is not over taxed.  If an oxen is yoked alone, it is still connected to the driver so the path may stay straight.  This is our reminder that we are not alone on our journey of faith and that we need each other for our faith lives to prosper and grow.  We are yoked together with one another and with Christ so that the yoke is easier and the burden lighter.  Together, we live by faith and together, we walk in faith.

The following is a portion of lyrics from a song shared with me reminding us that together we have come this far–120 years–together by sharing our lives of faith both in burdens and in joys.  Because of one another, our burdens are able to become joys as we reach out to each other in the name of Christ.

                         Come to me, you are weary, I will hold you and softly speak.                                                I know this day seems unending, so I’m sending a little peace.                                I will cradle you close to my chest.  I will take up your burdens and give you rest,       you who are weary if you can hear me, come to me.

Recently I had a conversation with a woman from church (let’s call her Jane) where I was told a story about a person (we’ll call her Alice) who had passed away a number of years ago.  Jane told me about the hardships Alice had dealt with in life, the strength in living, how Alice lost love, found love and then received a blood transfusion in the 1970‘s that carried a disease that would eventually end her life prematurely.  Jane shared how she sat with Alice one Christmas Eve, quietly, sharing the last few precious moments of life.  As Alice’s life was ending many were celebrating the birth of Christ.  In this moment Alice softly, peacefully began to sing in German, “Silent night, holy night.”  Alice peacefully passed away the next morning, Christmas Day, the day our Lord was born.  It is a remembrance of the resurrection that out of death, comes life.

As she spoke Jane placed her hand to her heart and said with with closed eyes, “She left an imprint on my heart.”

Throughout our lives people leave their imprint on our hearts and our souls.  Take a moment to think about who these people are and why they made an impression.  Now take a moment to think about the imprint you leave on others.  I’ve found that it is generally not the big ostentatious moments that leave the deepest prints.  Often it is in the quietness of a hug, a smile, sitting in silence without having to talk, or listening to a German rendition of Silent Night, Holy Night on a death bed.

Jesus reminds us that, “Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”  –Matthew 25:40

Please, share your stories, comments, thoughts, and experiences of how someone has left their imprint on you or how you have imprinted someone else.  Because, P.S. There’s More to share.

Philippians 2:1-13                         (See below for the passage)

My second year of seminary I took a class called Reading the Audiences.  The main point of the class was to gain an understanding of how to enter into different faith communities and learn the background, structure, history, struggles, and joys of that community.  At the beginning of each class we began with scripture and a prayer, not unusual at Luther Seminary.  However, in this class we spent all ten weeks with this particular passage as our devotion.  We read different translations, such as the NRSV, Message, etc.  We read it out loud, silently, and with different emphasis on various words.  We read it in pieces, as a whole, and more.  Who knew there were so many different ways to read the same scripture passage!  Even more, who knew there was so much to hear and learn from the same scripture passage!  Each week that we pondered this passage, we heard God speak to us in a different voice.  Sometimes a specific word or phrase caught our attention.  Sometimes we felt challenged and at other times comforted.  At some points confused or even frustrated.  And yet, it was the same scripture passage.  It came to show how much depth there is in scripture and how God speaks to us when we listen.

Often called the “Christ Hymn” we are told by Paul in this passage to have the same mind, same love, and to be in full accordance with Christ Jesus.  Whoa Paul!  Easier said that done!   How can I, a broken and tattered human, be in the same mind as Jesus–the one who has no sin?  How can I, a broken and tattered human, sacrifice the way Christ sacrificed for me?  How can I, a broken and tattered human be humble, obedient, and lay everything out for God?  And then I remember, it is not about “I”, it’s about the work God is doing. Continue reading →