ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
December 21, 2023 Guest Writer: Chip Bettis, Elder I was in the US Navy and stationed in Pearl Harbor sub base, and it was my first Christmas away from home. I received a care package from family and that made all the difference in the world. My family sent me a care package that had the things in it that reminded me of Christmas at home. When I think of the time I served away from home for Christmas during my service to my country I am reminded of my favorite Bible verse which enabled me to carry on while away from family and friends during Christmas and during my military service, Philippians 4:13,”I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” This bible verse continues to remind me of my enhanced capacity through Christ. Dear Lord Jesus, I praise you for your limitless and unconditional love. Thank you for strengthening me to continue every good work and for the faith to believe that I shall fulfill my goals if I don’t give up, and then at last may I enjoy the happiness which you have prepared for those who love you. In Jesus name I pray, amen.
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ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
December 20, 2023 Guest Writer: James Seymour, Incoming Elder Chair “For We Need a Little Christmas” From Mame “For I've grown a little leaner, Grown a little colder, Grown a little sadder, Grown a little older, And I need a little angel Sitting on my shoulder, Need a little Christmas now.” By my reckoning, pretty much every verse from the Bible that involves the Christmas story has become a Christmas carol. We will sing most of them throughout the Advent and Christmas seasons, to celebrate those themes. But this Broadway ditty from the musical Mame tells me about the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas is a feeling, a place of comfort, a sense of joy and wonder, that takes place despite the world being meaner, colder, sadder, and older. The song recognizes the negative parts, as the events are set during the early years of the Great Depression. And yet, the lyrics celebrate the positivity of the holly, the tree, the lights, and the stocking. Let that little angel sit on our shoulder as we need a little Christmas right now. “For we need a little music, Need a little laughter, Need a little singing Ringing through the rafter, And we need a little snappy "Happy ever after," Need a little Christmas now. Need a little Christmas now.” ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
December 19, 2023 Some of our church Elders agreed to write Etchings for this week, and they were to begin today. But I pushed them back one day because I needed to tell you a story—a sort of Christmas Story. Yesterday, I went by the grocery store to grab a few items and a couple of gift cards (each worth $50) for stocking stuffers. Yes, I am pinch-hitting for Santa on this one. Please don’t say anything. I waited in line to check out, paid for my groceries, and then headed home, looking forward to dinner with my family. I got home with two small bags of groceries, only to discover I did not have my gift cards. I immediately jumped back in the car with my receipt, including the specific gift card receipt. I went to the cashier who checked me out, and initially she looked a little confused, and then I could tell that she was trying to remember what had occurred. The cards were nowhere to be found. The manager got involved, and he wanted to pull up the security camera, so I stood there for about 30 minutes. The young woman at customer service who was helping me had to move on to other customers while we were waiting, but then I noticed that she had received a phone call. She hung up and said that might have been a solution to our problem, but she wasn’t absolutely sure. About 20 minutes later, the man who had checked out behind me walked into the store. I remember noticing that he was with his young boy, who was sort of into everything, as we were waiting in line. The father looked a little frazzled, as most of us do at this time of the year. After I had checked out, I guess the cashier, who still had my gift cards, handed them to him. He didn’t pay much attention, thinking they were just some kind of promotion. It wasn’t until he got home and looked at them more closely that he realized what they were. He had $100 in gift cards that were technically his. But he brought them back to the store and immediately recognized me as the customer ahead of him. His name is Matt, and though I’m not too sure if I’ll ever meet Matt again, his act of kindness announced the essence of Christmas for me. I would have hated to lose the $100, but for my family, we would have still paid all of our bills. I thanked Matt numerous times, but as I walked to my car, I felt as if I did not do enough. I am pretty sure that Matt was just doing the right thing and not expecting anything in return, but I sort of feel the need to share that same kindness with someone else. I’m not too sure where or when, but I hope I’m not too flustered with all that is happening right now to miss an opportunity to do the right thing, to show the same kindness, that helped remind a minister that this world is still overwhelmingly good and kind. Not that I had lost hope, but the Matt’s of this world help to reinforce that the essence of Christmas is still very much alive. Thanks, Matt! Lord God, for all the good people in this world who may not think of their little gesture as all that significant, I offer my gratitude and pray that I might do the same for someone else. Amen. ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
December 18, 2023 Prayer for the Week: With the candles of hope, peace, and joy already burning in this Advent journey, we turn to the final two candles—the candle of love and the Christ candle. Bring our attention, Merciful God, to the beckoning glow of hope; to the illuminating brilliance of peace; to the dazzling radiance of joy. Through such gifts, our lives are made ready to receive the light of love that will flood the manger of our hearts, creating a true place of welcome for the light of Christ to rest and reside. It is through this intentional preparation that Christmas will become more than a day on the calendar; it will also change the way we approach the life we choose to live. May our lives be so immersed in the glory of the season that there is no place our feet can meander or our minds wander that your light will not guide our journey. This is our prayer offered in the name of the one born in Bethlehem, Jesus Christ. Amen. ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
December 17, 2023 I came across these words from the great theologian Paul Tillich: “One cannot be strong without love. For love is not an irrelevant emotion; it is the blood of life.” Love is strong, but I guess the inverse is true. Strength is found in and through love. I think about the relationships of love that I have, from my spouse to my family to my church family. There are days that go by when I do appreciate what I have, but then a sacred nudge reminds me of all I receive through those relationships. There is strength found in the love people share. You love me beyond anything I can imagine, Lord God. In that gift, I find strength for this day. I am also thankful for those around me whose love blesses me beyond measure. It is their love as well that provides me with strength for whatever comes my way. Amen. ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
December 16, 2023 Once again, Advent is moving way too quickly, though I will admit to having some very special moments these last three weeks. The study that I completed on Thursday, based on the book An Unlikely Advent, was a good read for me, providing some really helpful reflections on the stories associated with this season. It got me out of some of my interpretative ruts around some very well-known passages. And I really came to appreciate the word “unlikely” that the author, Rachel Billups, used in such a insightful way. This is how I concluded the study: The title of the book implies we meet “unlikely” voices, characters, and messengers in God’s story of redemption and healing. As followers of Jesus, shouldn’t we be able to drop the word “unlikely,” as it sort of appears as if the unlikely are the likely in God’s story? It would ONLY be unlikely if God used the likely. So next time you are thinking to yourself, “I am the least likely person that God would call upon in this moment,” think again. Unlikely and least likely are the words people use right before God says, “Perfect! That’s exactly who I was looking for.” Too often, O God of the unlikely, I convince myself that you would never call upon me for your good work in this world. Yet it doesn’t take too long in the scriptures before I realize that the more I discount the possibility, the more likely I will make it to the top of your list. And if, by chance, I am the next one you plan to invite into this work, please give me a little extra encouragement. I’ll need it! Amen. ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
December 15, 2023 I ran to grab some lunch yesterday, and of course, the radio was blasting some Christmas music so that I could sing along with equal enthusiasm. The hymn, Hark! the Herald Angels Sing, was playing, and a certain section caught my attention: …mild he lays his glory by, born that we no more may die, born to raise us from the earth, born to give us second birth.” I have only sung that verse close to 100,000 times, but as I drove up Stuebner, it struck me in a way it never had before. The laying aside of divine glory, an act of breath-taking humility, became the initial act and model by which rebirth was brought to the world. Or, as the Apostle Paul described it, “if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him” (Romans 6:8). For Paul, the act of humbly setting aside our old lives (arrogance and selfishness) is the beginning point for a new life with Christ. God did not simply tell us, but embodied it (incarnation) in the birth of the Christ Child. The way to true life is the way of self-giving, the relinquishing of what is not of God so that we can align ourselves with God. That is a true rebirth. O Child of Grace, the one whom the angels announced, we are awe-struck before the great act of humility by which all glory was set aside and divine love took on flesh. Amen. ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
December 14, 2023 Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was an Indian poet, philosopher, and all-around gifted human being. At age 16, he released his first book of poetry under a pseudonym, and it immediately gained great attention. Some believed it was a collection of ancient poems that had been lost for centuries. One of Tagore's great quotes that I am continually drawn to is: “I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” This coming Sunday is the Third Sunday of Advent, Joy Sunday (don’t forget to wear pink), yet once again, it is essential for us as followers of Jesus to make the distinction between happiness and joy. A basic dictionary definition of happiness is the state of being happy, but joy is not simply the state of being joyous. It is the state of being deeply connected to the God of unconditional and unrelenting love. Happiness comes and goes, while joy resides no matter what our emotional temperature might be. Now some of you might be wondering how that all relates back to the quote from Tagore. Great question! In I John 4, we read: “…since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us…” Loving others is not simply an internal feeling but an action. We love one another, in part, by serving one another. And as John suggests, when we love (serve) one another, God lives in us. Actually, I think God always resides within us, but loving others helps us to connect with and embrace that divine presence. And the human response to that realization is joy. As I serve you, Merciful God, through tangible acts of self-giving love in the world, I believe our relationship will grow as you are love. Just praying those words and naming the power of love brings me joy. Amen. ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
December 13, 2023 Do not fear! Those words are found frequently in scripture, often coming to us through divine messengers whose very presence causes some anxiousness, for as we learn, wherever angelic voices speak, the expectations of faithfulness will be intensified. Something is going to be expected of us, and we are not always certain whether we are ready to take the leap. Yet fear is more a product of insecurity and uncertainty, very common experiences for most of us. Ultimately, at least for me, it is about grounding myself in the immeasurable love and unceasing mercy of God made real in the Christ Child. Though the fear can occasionally creep in when something triggers a little insecurity or uncertainty, the hope is to recenter myself in a love that will not let me go, in this life or the life to come. Thank you, O Little Child of Bethlehem, for embodying the sacred message of unyielding and unconditional love. Amen. ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
December 12, 2023 In Sunday’s sermon, I talked about the language of Isaiah the Prophet, specifically the Prince of Peace. In the original Hebrew, the word for Prince could also be translated as ruler, magistrate, or captain. It describes a position of authority, holding sway over a group or geographic area. What if the Prince of Peace seeks to have whatever area under his authority be a place of peace? If that’s the case, and we claim to be residents of God’s Realm in the here and now, then wouldn’t it be reasonable to assume that peace would be both the reality of that realm and the way of existing within that realm? It sort of makes me wonder how often people choose to dance around the edges of God’s Kin(g)dom, stepping in when it is beneficial and stepping out when it demands something. I wonder how my life might look different if I fully resided in that Realm of Peace under the leadership of the Prince of Peace. Maybe the journey of faith is finding what true citizenship might look like in that Peaceable Realm. I know my citizenship in your Kin(g)dom, Merciful God, has been given full approval by you, yet I too often dabble in exploring those kingdoms that do not seek to represent you and your values. As you are patient, I seek to build my full-time residence in the Kin(g)dom of Heaven that has come to earth in a child whose birth we will soon celebrate. Amen. |
AuthorRev. Bruce Frogge Archives
May 2024
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