The Constancy of Change

          “Slaves obey your masters” – the words are right there in Scripture, in Paul’s letter to the Colossians. “Obey your masters”, Paul wrote, “to please them”. Today the very word “slavery” horrifies and repulses us, but two thousand years ago slavery was so common that Paul saw no problem with it.

         “Women should be silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate.” Once again, we find these words in Scripture, again in Paul’s writings, this time in his first letter to the Corinthians. In the 21^st century there are still many churches adhering to these words, with women in decidedly subordinate roles, but this is not true for us within the Presbyterian Church (USA). Our Brief Statement of Faith, one of our Confessional statements, reminds us that God “makes everyone equally in God’s image, male and female, of every race and people.” Fifty years ago the PCUSA did not allow women to be ordained to the office of deacon, elder or minister, but this year 19 of the 33 ordained officers serving on our boards here at MPC are women.

         The Holy Spirit leads us to change and transformation over time, opening our eyes, our ears, our hearts, and our minds to perspectives that we had not been able to see before. For more than 30 years we have debated, often bitterly, Scriptural passages which some have argued should exclude a class of men and women from serving as ordained officers of the church. Others have argued that the passages in question are being read in a way that lacks God’s grace, love, and acceptance revealed to us in Jesus, and, as a result, creates barriers in a place where our Lord teaches us to remove barriers.

         The recent vote to change the language of an amendment in our Book of Order removes barriers and eliminates language that excluded otherwise faithful, qualified men and women from serving as deacons, elders, or ministers. This is a welcome change, as is any change which removes hindrances to service in the name of Jesus Christ. Conversely anything that creates boundaries, barriers or hindrances goes against our Lord’s teachings.

         I look back at how the Holy Spirit has worked within me over the past 30 years as my thinking has changed. I was once very supportive of exclusion but am now very supportive of inclusion.  I read, I studied, I prayed; I thought I knew. But God helped me to see in a new way, a different way, a way that is grounded in the grace that was lacking in how I once thought.
         You can find more information about the change on the PCUSA website (www.pcusa.org). As the new language puts it so well, we submit “joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of our lives”, lives that begin with grace and acceptance, and end with love given all, without exclusion.

         Grace & peace

         Pastor Skip

Happy Birthday KJV!

         “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.”

         These are the familiar words from the Twenty-third Psalm as they come to us from the King James Version of the Bible. The psalmist comforts us with words of such profound faith, and the translation sings in its poetry and its lyricism.

          The Bible I use in the pulpit each Sunday is a New Revised Standard Version, the most accurate translation of the original Hebrew and Greek currently available. But, for as accurate as the NRSV is, it lacks the poetry of the KJV. The NRSV’s translation of Psalm 23 is correct, but dry:

         “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.”

         The KJV is celebrating its 400^th anniversary this year, and with the celebration has come renewed interest in the text. It was England’s King James I who decreed in 1604 that the Bible should be available in the English language and then assembled a team of scholars who worked the next seven years preparing what we now know as the King James Bible.

         The work was fraught with challenges. There was the difficult task of going through ancient texts and translating from the original Hebrew and Greek. Even more challenging was overcoming the conviction that Latin was the only appropriate language for the Bible since Latin was the language of the church. William Tyndale had tried to translate the Bible into English a century before and was burned at the stake for heresy.

         It isn’t surprising that the KJV sounds so wonderfully Shakespearean — it was produced when Shakespeare was in his glory. The translators worked to make the KJV lyrical and elegant, powerful and yet musical. In his engaging history of how the KJV came to be, God’s Secretaries, Adam Nicolson observed, “the Bible was appointed to be read in churches… and so its meaning had to be carried on a heard rhythm, it had to appeal to what T. S. Eliot later called the ‘auditory imagination’, and that ‘feeling for syllable and rhythm, penetrating far below the conscious levels of thought and feeling, invigorating every word.’”

         For as glorious as the language is, the weakness of the KJV is the translation itself. The group that produced the Bible worked from manuscripts that were often not at all accurate, and their knowledge of the languages was well short of mastery. As Nicolson put it, “this is clearly a translation done by people who didn’t really understand what they were translating.”

         Masterful, lyrical language is wonderful and certainly has its place, and so we should sing out Happy Birthday to the KJV. But the greater legacy of the KJV beyond its language is its attempt, even with its flaws, to discern as accurately as possible the word of God. Scholars continue this work today so that you and I can know more completely the word of God to help us understand more fully the will of God.

Grace & peace,

Pastor Skip 

"The Sunday following the paschal full moon..."

            “The Sunday following the paschal full moon, which is the moon that falls on or after the spring equinox”. This is how we determine Easter Sunday each year and it’s why Easter is so late this year, while just three years ago Easter fell on March 23. The Council of Nicaea decreed the formula back in the year 325 and for almost 1700 years this is the cycle we’ve followed even as the calculation confounds us as we juggle different schedules each year. Even pastors would love consistency: “Can’t we just settle on the Second Sunday of April?” as one colleague wistfully suggests.

            This year we will gather to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord on the last Sunday in April, as late in the cycle as possible. The date on which Easter falls may change from year to year, but our joy and enthusiasm never wane. Even in late spring, with Mother’s Day, graduations, and Father’s Day straight ahead, we will still “lift high the Cross” as we celebrate Easter.

            The late date this year does have an advantage: it provides us with the opportunity for a slow, steady, purposeful and prayerful walk through the remaining weeks of Lent. We may be at the beginning of April, but we’re still only half-way through Lent.

            We’ll begin the month on Saturday April 2 with a celebration of the Seder, the Passover meal, the meal Jesus shared with his disciples on the night of his arrest and betrayal. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to enjoy an evening of fellowship as we learn why faithful Jews had been gathering to remember the Passover for more than a thousand years even before Jesus and his disciples took their places in the Upper Room.

            On Sunday April 3 we will celebrate both Sacraments as we Reaffirm our Baptismal Covenant and partake in the Lord’s Supper – our Sacrament grounded in the Passover. We’ll focus on the word “shalom” on Sunday April 10 as we learn that the word means so much more than “peace”; it means a deep peace that comes from a wholeness and completeness that can come only from our faith in God and walking with Christ.

            Holy Week begins with our joyful Palm Sunday service on the 17th, all our voices singing out, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” as we wave our palms, just as the people of Jerusalem did two thousand years ago as Jesus entered the city. Then on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings the men of our church will present the powerful drama, “The Living Last Supper,” recreating Jesus’ final evening as he and his disciples gathered to observe the Passover.

            On Maundy Thursday we’ll have what I consider our most emotional and moving worship service of the year as we walk with our Lord through his betrayal, his arrest, and his crucifixion. We will leave the service in silence remembering that for three long days the world walked in utter darkness.

            But then on the 24th, we’ll recall with glad hearts the words from the first chapter of the Gospel of John, “the light shines in the dark, and the darkness did not overcome it,” as we conclude Lent and bring April to a close with our glorious Easter service celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

            We have a wonderful opportunity with our late Easter this year to immerse ourselves fully and completely in a truly Holy Lent. I invite you to take full advantage of this year’s unique lunar cycle.

Grace & peace,

Pastor Skip  

Fauré’s Requiem

        Our Jerusalem Choir will offer an extraordinary gift to God and all of us during worship at the end of the month when they perform Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem. Mozart, Brahms, Verdi and many other composers have written Requiems, but Fauré’s is, in my opinion, matchless for its ethereal beauty and its visceral evocation of the promise of life eternal that is ours in Jesus Christ. It is music that doesn’t weigh the listener down with the somberness of death as much as it lifts the listener heavenward in the hope of eternal rest, eternal joy, and eternal love in the Kingdom of God.

         Fauré wrote his Requiem in response to the loss of his father, and even as he worked on the composition his mother died; he knew well the powerful grief that washes over us and fills us when a loved one dies. Still, his composition doesn’t focus on death, nor does it focus, as traditional Requiems do, on the Day of Judgment. Rather, his celestial music turns our focus upward to heaven, our ears attuned to the sound of the heavenly choir.

         Most Requiems are built on the Roman Catholic liturgy of the Mass for the Dead, and Fauré follows that path, though loosely.  He begins with the traditional Introit and Kyrie: “Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy”. He then moves to the Offertoire, in which the singer lifts up prayers of praise to the Lord God.

         The third movement is the traditional Sanctus, similar to what we sing each time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper: “Holy, Holy Holy, Lord God of Hosts; Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the Highest”.

         Then comes the Agnus Die: “Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant them rest. Let eternal light shine on them O Lord throughout eternity.” The fifth movement, the Libera Me, speaks to the traditional focus on the day of wrath: “Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death on the day of Judgment.”

         And last comes the shortest movement, the In Paradisum, which fills the listener with hope and peace. Even without the words, Fauré’s music will lift your eyes, mind, and heart heavenward: “May angels lead you into Paradise…May a choir of Angels receive you...”

         Fauré’s Requiem is the perfect piece of music for us to hear as we walk through Lent, for it reminds us that in our Lord’s Resurrection death has been vanquished, utterly defeated. We have the sure and certain promise of life eternal in our Lord Jesus Christ: “Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live” (John 11:25).

         Our Choir will perform the Requiem at both services on Sunday March 27^th. Coincidentally, the Requiem will also be performed by the Christ Church Choir at the National Cathedral on Friday April 1 at 7:30 pm. Don’t miss this extraordinary piece of sacred music.

Grace & peace

Pastor Skip

        

Sailing Together

     Watch a crew on a large sailboat in a competitive race and you’ll see teamwork at its best. Everyone works together, each person with a specific task, yet all committed to working with one another to keep the boat moving forward trim, taught, and fast. Everyone does his or her assigned task, yet each also supports teammates, everyone on the crew working together to assure that every breath of wind is captured to keep the boat moving forward.

     A few weeks back I spoke of our calling to be a Sailboat Church, the Holy Spirit the wind in our sails, powering us, guiding us, moving us forward. We are to work together like the crew of a boat, each of us called to different work within the church by the Holy Spirit, each of us empowered by the Spirit, yet all of us working together as together we capture the power of the Spirit leading us into God’s future.

     I concluded that sermon with the words “All hands on deck”, about as close to an altar call as you might find in a Presbyterian Church! But it is a truism that a church depends on volunteers to run. The staff of our church is much too small to sail the boat we call MPC. We need everyone involved and active, working together. 

     As we start a new year, it’s the ideal time for you to get involved in a new, or perhaps more committed way in our church. We do much of our work through our Ministry Teams: Christian Education, Early Learning Center, Finance & Administration, Membership, Mission, Personnel, Property, Stewardship, and Worship & Music. Each of these Teams is always happy to have new folks help out. If you’ve been thinking about getting involved with one of our Teams, there’s no better time than right now!

     We need to create a new Team this year, one that helps us with our website and other ways of communicating with one another and visitors. We created a new look for our website a couple of years ago and Ann Curtis does a wonderful job keeping it up-to-date, but it is too big a job for one person. We have found that most visitors first learn about us through our website, so we need to keep our site current, and expand the information we provide. Are you comfortable with technology? Are you creative? Then perhaps this new Team is the place for you! Speak with me and I will be happy to tell you more.

     Another Team I think we need is a “Green Team”, a group focused on two goals: helping us as a church operate as good stewards of God’s earth, and helping all of us in the congregation learn how to walk lightly on God’s creation. 

     Don’t wait to be asked – step up and get involved. The Spirit is calling you even now – all hands on deck!

Grace & peace

Pastor Skip

"Jolly ol' St. Nicholas"

“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” Those are the famous words of Frances Church, the editor of the New York Sun, writing in 1897 in response to an anxious letter from an 8-year-old girl who had reached that age when we all begin to lose a bit of the wonder. Santa Claus is as much a part of Christmas as evergreens, lights, Jingle Bells, and presents. As the editor wrote, “Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus.”

Santa has his roots in a fourth century Greek bishop named Nicholas, who, according to legend, secretly passed out gifts to the poor and needy, and, as one wonderful story goes, tossed a small bag of coins down the chimney of a home of a family who had no food. Over time stories became more myth and legend than fact, and by the early years of the 19^th century Saint Nicholas had morphed into the person we know as Santa Claus.

It was the Clement Clark Moore poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” written in 1823, that gave us the Santa we all love: a jolly fellow with reindeer pulling his sleigh across the night sky as he brings presents to all the girls and boys. But Santa isn’t just for boys and girls; even we adults are eager to sing, “Jolly ol’ St. Nicholas, lean your ear this way! Don’t you tell a single soul what I’m going to say. Christmas Eve is coming soon; now, you dear old man, whisper what you’ll bring to me; tell me if you can.”

Santa is a wonderful part of Christmas, reminding us of the joy of giving, the joy of sharing, the joy of wonder and enchantment. It is Jesus Christ’s birth that we celebrate, of course, but the very idea of Santa blends with our faith: charity, giving, peace, reconciliation, and more than a little mystery, appealing to the child in all of us. And, of course, the model for Santa Claus was a man of the church who was known for his goodness, his kindness, and his generous heart.

Children of all ages: treasure Santa Claus! Leave a plate of cookies and a glass of milk for him. Marvel at his ability to visit homes all over the world in the span of one night. But remember that Saint Nicholas kept Christmas in his heart all year round as he lived his faith. “For to us is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” 

Or, as one of John Rutter’s beautiful carols puts it:

Find him at Bethlehem laid in a manger

Christ our Redeemer asleep in the hay

Godhead incarnate and hope of salvation

A child with his mother, that first Christmas Day.

Blessings for a joyous Christmas!

Pastor Skip

Living in Gratitude

“Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” The apostle Paul wrote these words to the people of Philippi in a letter that was filled with words of warm praise. While Paul found much to criticize among the people of Corinth and the people scattered throughout the Galatian region, Paul was delighted with how the Philippians had embraced the gospel and were living their faith.

What adds zest to these words is the fact that Paul wrote them while he languished in prison. Locked up, possibly even chained to a wall, Paul still managed to write “Don’t worry! Be thankful!” Despite his situation, the words reflect how Paul lived his faith: filled with trust, confidence, and hope. 

Paul knew the inside of a cell all too well. He had a least three stays in prison, possibly as many as seven. He spent the last two years of his life imprisoned in Rome before he was executed. He probably wrote his letter to the Philippians during an earlier imprisonment, mostly likely during a two-year incarceration in Caesarea. Still, “Don’t worry; be thankful; lift up your concerns and requests to God.”

Paul lived in gratitude and thanksgiving even as he endured an arduous life. In addition to his numerous times in jail, he was beaten for his faith, shipwrecked, and was often mocked and laughed at. He had no permanent home from the time the scales fell from his eyes, living out of a suitcase as he traveled constantly to share the good news.

He saw every setting as an opportunity to share the gospel, even the inside of a prison cell. His calling was not to convert, but rather simply to share the good news of God’s grace and love revealed in Jesus Christ with any who would listen, including his jailers. Indeed, he told the Philippians, “I want you to know that what has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel, so that is has become known…that my imprisonment is for Christ.”

Paul helps us to learn to live our lives in gratitude to God for blessings small and large. And this life of gratitude and thanksgiving is not limited to the month of November, of course, but one we are called to live year-round. A 16^th century prayer reminds us “not to be thankful when it pleaseth me, as if thy blessings, O Lord, had spare days.” For in Jesus Christ, we know that God does indeed “bless us and keep us” -- always and always.

Grace & peace

Pastor Skip