A Missive From Vacation

I must say, the busy-ness and demands of Christmas in the parish really caught me off guard. Having grown up in and around the church, and having worked in churches for field education and internship, I thought I knew what to expect. But, being a solo pastor at Christmas is much more hectic than I was prepared for. I didn't realize how much so until I got on vacation and got myself rested up. Definitely a reminder for the need to observe sabbath time and to make personal care a priority.

But, as I noted, this first holiday in the parish was a great deal of fun, a resounding success, and very worshipful and uplifting. My personal successes this holiday season (as well as my continued sanity) are due in large part to my beautiful wife -- with whom I celebrated the anniversery of our wedding on the feast of Saint John. What a blessing to have a spouse who takes pleasure in supporting my ministry in every way that she can. What a wonderful Christmas gift.

One of the many books inherited from my Dad's library when he retired was Gary McIntosh's One Size Doesn't Fit All. I have started reading it over the holidays, and am finding many helpful tidbits throughout. Some are common sense, some are helpful ways of wording what we all know, and some are important lessons for every church leader to learn. Thanks Pop for another Christmas gift.

There is more to reflect on and observe this Christmas season .... but for now it is back to rest, relaxation, and time with family. God bless as we continue to celebrate the miracle of our Lord's birth.

(Everywhere I've gone in Washington County, Silent Night is sung not only in English, but in German. Here is the German of the first verse, for those of you who live in slightly less Germanic parts of the country)

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Alles schläft, einsam wacht
Nur das traute, hochheilige Paar,
Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh'!
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh'!

Merry Christmas

I'm sure you've noticed, but I have been taking a little break from blogging while preparing for the Christmas holiday. Please bear with me, I expect to be back at full speed once the first of the year arrives.

I have one more "first" to check off the list: my first Christmas as a pastor. We had a wonderful celebration here in Prairie Hill, with services Sunday Morning, Sunday Evening, and Monday morning. In addition to being my first Christmas as an ordained pastor, it was the first Christmas out here in the country for Julia and me. It was a wonderful time, and we couldn't be happier. More info to follow after the obligatory post-Christmas vacation.

In the meantime, Merry Christmas to all of you. May God bless you, and enter into your lives in unexpected ways in this holiday season.

Sunday Special (Dec 17)

The weeks just get busier and busier as Christmas approaches. As we celebrate Guadete Sunday, make time to check out this week's Blogging Lutherans Sunday Special. This week, the featured site comes from an LC-MS blogger.

Saint Charles Place has just moved over to Blogger Beta at the start of this Advent season. Thus far, the site is mostly excellent posts about hymnody, and the beginning of a celebration of the Christmas tree.

Stop on by and encourage St Charles in his new layout, and perhaps he will keep giving us his great tidbits about hyms. Leave a note and let him know the Blogging Lutherans sent you.

Update to Lutheranism 101

Lutheranism 101 has been updated. In addition to the previous post with links to the works of Martin Luther, there is now a post with links to online articles (not blogs) about Lutheranism.

In addition, please note the call for links for blog postings about Lutheranism, whether they are new blog entries, or posts from your archives. Please respond by leaving a comment at Lutheranism 101.

Here we go again

Well, it came in the mail this weekend. The ELCA has released yet another in the Journey Together Faithfully series. For those of you not familiar with these, they are the ELCA's studies / congregational discussion guides on human sexuality. This latest, part 3 in the series, is entitled Free in Christ to Serve the Neighbor: Lutherans talk about Human Sexuality.

Part 1 in the series (2002) looked at the current ELCA statements about sexuality, in particular the ELCA message "Sexuality: Some Common Convictions." Part 2 was the controversial study on homosexuality.

I have not delved into this one yet. It appears to look at (1) foundational issues for a theology of sexuality, (2) the relationship of sexuality to issues of power, money, and abuse.

As I said, I have not read this yet. But as soon as I opened the mail and saw it, I was anxious. Will this be so far left that I would never actually use it in a congregation? Is this just another divisive discussion about sexuality - or is there actually a chance that there could be some common ground? Part of me wishes we could just leave this topic alone for a while -- it has not gotten us anywhere productive in our conversations to date; all we've been able to do as a church is say "Yup, we disagree." Oh well. I will read through it, and post my reactions to the study here on this blog.

Go Titans!

I usually refrain from things like this on this blog, but this is just too good to pass up.

On Sunday, the Houston Texans were defeated in overtime by the Tennessee Titans (the team formerly known as the Houston Oilers -- whose corporate offices are still in Houston). This makes the Titans record against the new Houston team 8-2.

Key to the Titans victory? Vince Young, the rookie who attended the University of Texas. And oh yeah, he also has out played former University of Tennessee star quarterback Payton Manning (now with the Colts) and his Brother Eli Manning (Now with the Giants) during this rookie year.

It's not been a great year for the Titans, but some victories are sweeter than others -- and there's nothing wrong with a four-game winning streak.

Sunday Special (Dec 10)

For this week's Sunday Special, I am once again featuring a WELS blogger. Random Intolerance is the blog of newly married bloggers Random Dan and Intolerant Elle. Random Intolerance is a relatively new blog, but if you peruse the archives of Random Dan and Intolerant Elle (at least for now their individual sites remain up), you will find a wealth of reading material. Dan & Elle also help to run the Lutheran Carnival (which I have been remiss in not sending in my submissions to). Random Intolerance is also the 30th blog to join the Blogging Lutherans WebRing.

Stop by and see this week's Sunday Special, Random Intolerance, the union of blogger Random Dan and Intolerant Elle. Let them know the Blogging Lutherans sent you.

Funeral Sermons

I think that, to people who are not clergy, this might sound a little morbid: I love to preach funeral sermons. I get excited about writing funeral sermons, and I stay excited about them long after sermons.

Why?

At a funeral, I have the opportunity to proclaim the heart of our faith: the resurrection of Christ, and the resurrection we have been promised. At Funerals, it is all about pure Gospel proclamation.

Just as Christ has been raised, we will be raised. God's Kingdom is coming, and God will reign victorious over the power of sin, death, and the devil.

I guess I just love to proclaim the Gospel, and at a funeral we do that in a more direct way than we do in most other services.

Prayer for the Festival of St Nicholas

The following is the prayer of the Day (or collect) for the Festival of Saint Nicholas, bishop of Myra, from the Episcopal book Lesser Feasts and Fasts (2000). Today it is a part of my prayers.

Almighty God, in your love you gave your servant Nicholas a perpetual name for deeds of kindness on both land and sea: Grant, we pray, that your Church may never cease to work for the happiness of children, the safety of sailors, the relief of the poor, and the help of those tossed by tempests of doubt or grief; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Feast of Saint Nicholas

The image of Santa Claus seems almost ubiquitous. The jolly cartoon-esque figure, with the round belly, the white beard, and red suit is everywhere this time of year. Of course we all know about Santa Claus: he lives at the North Pole with his elves, he flies through the air on his sleigh pulled by the reindeer, and he comes into your house through the chimney.

This fictional character of Santa Claus has become so real to us, that it is difficult to remember the real man on whom Santa Claus is based. However, today - December 6th - is the feast of the real Saint Nicholas.

Nicholas, bishop of Myra (modern-day Turkey), was born in the second century. He was a priest in the church through some of the worst persecutions of Christians, and was probably imprisoned at one point. Some ancient records - though not all - have Nicholas attending the first ecumenical council at Nicea (which gave us the Nicene Creed). Indeed, one myth has him slapping the arch-heretic Arius in the face.

Nicholas was beloved in his home of Myra. Over the years, many stories have built up around him. Some are probably not true - but some had to have been for Nicholas to be remembered so well for so long, even after the Christians were kicked out of Myra. One legend - the most common and the most likely to be true - tells of a man who was preparing to sell his three daughters into prostitution, because he could not afford their doweries. In the middle of the night, Nicholas threw three small bags of gold into the man's house, thus sparing the girls.

Another tradition tells of three young boys who were murdered, with their corpses hidden in barrels. Nicholas cam and resurrected the three boys. Yet another tells of Nicholas on a ship when a storm arose, and Nicholas calming the storm.

Within 200 years, Nicholas was legendary. During the reign of Justinian (d. 565), the emperor had a church built in Constantinople and dedicated to Nicholas. In the 900's, one author wrote of Nicholas, "The West as well as the East acclaims and glorifies him. Wherever there are people, in the country and the town, in the villages, in the isles, in the farthest parts of the earth, his name is revered and churches are erected in his honor."

When Asia Minor was conqueror by Muslims, the bones of Saint Nicholas were taken to Italy, where they still reside. Nicholas was known as the "gift-giver" and also the "wonder-worker," and was the patron saint of children and sailors.

Blogging Advent

At times, I find it helpful to point you toward what others are saying on a particular topic. The fact is, I only have so much to say on any given topic -- or at least only so much that people will listen to. So, this is what some other bloggers are saying about Advent (if you haven't yet, you can also read my own Advent posts).

Jorge at Winged Man reminds us about the need to use Advent as a time of preparation, using the example of the Orthodox. Along similar lines, Clint at Lutheran Confessions writes about Advent as a "Little Lent," and what that means for his personal devotions.

The Sarcastic Lutheran talks about the disappointment that can come when we make Advent nothing more than a time of "pre-Christmas."

David at Here I stand balances all this Advent seriousness, by reminding us of the excitement and joy of Advent.

LutherPunk started a lively discussion about how our celebrations of Advent shape what we think about Advent.

My patient webmaster is in the process of posting my first Advent sermon. Preachrboy posted his Sermon from the First Sunday of Advent. For a non-Lutheran sermon, you can read Tripp's sermon -- which uses the U2 song "Peace on Earth" as a teaching tool.

Finally, Pr. McCain of Cyberbrethren offers an Advent Blessing.

Sunday Special

This week's Blogging Lutherans Sunday Special comes from a fellow ELCA pastor. LutherPunk is from my old stomping grounds, the North Georgia / East Tennessee area, in the ELCA's Southeastern Synod. He runs his blog semi-anonymously, giving him the freedom to post his thoughts uncensored, without worrying about who is watching him.

LutherPunk describes himself as being "Like Ward Cleaver, with tatoos." On his blog -- Idle Ramblings -- he covers a variety of topics, including liturgical issues, church politics, current events, the Florida Gators (or was it the Seminoles?), and the current events of his life and ministry. Currently, in addition to his usual posting, LutherPunk is listing through his 100 favorite bands of all time. Idle Ramblings gets a new post about once a day.

Idle Ramblings of the LutherPunk is this week's Sunday Special. Stop by and support LutherPunk, and let him know the Blogging Lutherans sent you.

The Holiday Season?

In this country, we often get caught up in the celebrations around festive occassions. One of the things I have noticed is the gradual blurring of the line between secular holidays and sacred Holy Days. What do I mean by those two terms? Well, holidays are often determined by the state, and tend to have either a nationalistic or commercial themes. Holy Days are determined by the church, and usually only have meaning for people of faith.

Some examples of what I mean:
Holidays: 4th of July, Memorial Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Labor Day, etc.
Holy Days: Easter, Commemoration of Saints, Palm Sunday, Christmas Day, etc.

Why does the distinction matter? Because there is often some movement between the two categories; that is, a secular holiday taking on religious themes, or a religious Holy Day being secularized.

The question of nationalism and its role in the church is a topic for another day. More important for me around this time of year is people using faith as a marketing gimmick.

There are two seperate celebrations around this time of year, and I think it would be helpful to keep them seperate. (1) The first is the secular holiday of Christmas. This holiday begins around Halloween, and is primarily focused on commercialism - the boost to the bottom line that retailers get at the end of the year. Christmas carols (both sacred and secular) are sung starting around Thanksgiving, office holiday parties are thrown, and everyone wishes you "Seasons Greetings." There is nothing inherently wrong with this holiday, except for when it is confused with:
(2) the sacred Holy Day of Christmas. The Holy Day of Christmas is December 25th, celebrated only as early as sundown on the 24th. The sacred "Christmas season" begins on the 25th and extends through January 6th. This season is focused not on selling or on gifts, but on the miracle of God made flesh in the person of Jesus. It is preceded not by "the holiday season" but by the season of Advent -- a time designated for quieting down, and watching and listening for the action of God and the arrival of God on earth.

Do your holiday shopping, take part in the holiday festivals and celebrations. But please remember to also quiet down this Advent: watch and prepare for the unexpected miracles of God.

And a blessed Advent to all of you.