Pastor's Notes

For whatever reason(s) God seems to connect me with often highly educated congregations. Perhaps God may get some kind of enjoyment watching me be intimidated.  Me, who never learned how to do chemical equations in high school began my ministry serving as in intern in Los Alamos, New Mexico! Yes, that Los Alamos! The highest concentration of PhD’s in the world and most of those doctorates in one scientific field or another.

Having said this, I have thoroughly enjoyed these communities. I have learned a lot. Often students invite me to their defense of an honor thesis or a graduate thesis. As a result I can talk at length about the brain of the American bullfrog or a better way to test blood for diabetics. And just ask me someday what happens to a baked potato after it cools. 

I have noticed a few things about such faith communities. One thing is the commitment level seems a bit stronger. I am not saying they have been more faithful; it is just that the faith community seems a larger part of life. I have also noticed that while many non- scientists frequently reject a belief in God “because of science”, I have found many very faithful scientists in my congregations. The chair of each major science department at Colorado State was a member of my congregation. In fact a recent study discovered scientists are more likely to be church members than professors of liberal arts subjects, many of whom, presumably, reject faith because of science. 

However, one difficulty I have observed in such communities is that we tend to want to explain Christ instead of proclaim Christ. What do I mean here? I mean that we are not good at expressing what Christ has done for us and what our faith in this Christ means to us. We might mumble something about faith helping us put an emphasis on others and the needs of others, but we are not very good at saying how this might connect personally to how Christ touches and affects me. 

Looking back I don’t ever remember any kind of class or forum on this in a congregation I served. Of course, as leader of these congregations that falls squarely on me. I did teach a class titled, “Word and Witness” from our own Fortress Press. In this class participants studied the Bible in depth and then had to share their faith with people whom they knew and with strangers. You can guess it was a small class. Yet our participants learned what those young white-shirted Mormon missionaries discover. Such sharing may or may not have an impact on others, but it has a great impact on the growth and faith of those who share their faith. It also never seemed to matter what color shirt they wore. 

My point in this is not to encourage you to go out and knock on doors with your personal faith story. You probably wouldn’t find many at home anyway. My point is to encourage you to be more comfortable with your story of faith. Perhaps we don’t share our stories because we are unsure about them. Perhaps also the way to have a better comfort level with our faith story could be found in such sharing and a willingness to listen to the stories of others. People often want to know who we are. Can they know who we are without knowing something about our faith story?

I share this because I just received a lengthy email from a fairly recent graduate. You would know this very bright former student as they were quite active in our ministry. They are currently in a new relationship and this alum shared how the two of them are now engaged in this very exchange of faith stories. Our alum has such a story while their new dating partner does not but seems very willing to listen, to ask, and to respond. It seems in such sharing our alum has been able to identify and better understand better how faith in Christ fits into and helps to mold whom they are becoming. 

You know that clichéd, “It is better to give than to receive?” With faith it just might be “In sharing we can receive.”  Next time you find yourself explaining Christ, ask yourself if this might be a time that would be better to share your Christ. 

Some years ago one of our members, an engineer, would give of her time during summer, to travel to the Central America country Honduras with “Engineers Without Borders” to work on a needed engineering project.  Most, if not all of those projects, as I recall, had to do with water. Bringing clean water from the mountains to places without it was a very challenging and much needed work. 

During a forum presentation here on her work, she showed us photos of discarded trash lining ditches and along streets. This was due partly to being a country where 66% of its people lived in poverty and could not afford trash pickup, but part of it was also somewhat cultural as she explained. With most people in Honduras at the bottom of the class and economic structures, many people needed to think and feel there was someone below them and that they were not the bottom strata of their society. So, they tossed their trash so someone else would have to pick it up. Those others, then, became, in the minds of many impoverished people, the very bottom. 

Of course we can find fault with such a practice and with this assumption. Yet, it often appears to me we all seem to need someone who is below us to bolster our own ego and sense of importance. We all need someone, it seems, upon whom we can look down to somehow build ourselves up. 

City folk sometimes look down upon rural citizens, Americans and economically strong nations look down upon the developing world and so on. Those on both ends, and the middle, of the political spectrum too often look down upon those not in their camp. These days many who once were our strongest allies and often aspired to be like us, now look down on us instead of looking up to us.

Yes, it would seem we all need someone to upon whom we can look down. After all, most of us certainly do so. What about Christians? Are there any upon whom we can look down?  I have been known to call such downward gaze “I” contact.

As I think of Jesus in our four gospels, I am not sure Jesus looks down upon any. Perhaps Herod whom he calls a fox. There are many instances of Jesus being critical of some. Jesus, certainly wasn’t a fan of hypocrisy particularly when it was displayed by religious leaders and authorities. The authorities should have known better. This should give warning to today’s religious leaders, clergy, and others who lead in the church. That means me as well as colleagues whom I respect and consider friends. We try to justify our downward glances by thinking we might be guilty of hypocrisy and self-righteousness, but we are not as bad as “those people.”  “Look at the effect of what “those people” say and do. Look at how their words and actions don’t hold up to the light of Jesus.”

We may be right in some of our judgements regarding words and deeds. But we are not right in somehow seeing ourselves as above those saying and doing such things. Having some attitude of superiority…if only thinking we are sinners, but somehow “better’ sinners is not at all helpful in the deep and wide gulf that currently separates us.  Breaching that gulf, which if it happens will no doubt take a long time, requires us seeing part of ourselves in those whom we think below us.

It is hard to trust those who spew hate, bigotry, and venom in the name of Jesus. We are not those called to trust them. It is hard to even trust ourselves….how might we behave….what might we say and do that can cause further division?  We are not called to trust “them” nor “us.” We are those called to trust Jesus and follow Jesus. It is not that everything will work out just fine if we do this. It is that over time we and our successors as well as “those others” and their successors might learn the healing value of commonality and love. 

Almost immediately after 9-11 one of my Lutheran colleagues called the Tempe mosque to talk to the Imam. The pastor admitted he knew almost nothing about Islam and wanted to learn. They met many times and a great affection and respect developed between them. In fact, shortly after this, the mosque became a part of the Interfaith (now called CORA, Council of Religious Advisors) group of all campus ministries at ASU where they have been an active participant since. A few years ago the same Imam came here to speak and then hosted us at the mosque for lunch. Our student group hosted a newer, much  younger Imam last year for dinner and discussion. Was it begun by one phone call of outreach? 

Who can you reach out to? Are you willing to risk failure? Do we see the peace which we long for as worthy of risking failure and rejection? Do not see failure and rejection as fodder for further feeling somehow superior. We need to see it as just a time to stomp the dust off our feet and reach out somewhere else. There is no time to start like our present. We could all use eye contact, not  “I” contact.

Capitol Offense

Discouraged, heartsick, disappointed, frustrated, angry, in a state of disbelief. These and many more are some words that come to mind following the events in Washington and the capitol January 6. These and other words I could have added all seem to lack the ability to describe and express what I, and perhaps you, and others, were feeling as we watched these events unfold and have thought about this since. 

There has been and will be an autopsy on all aspects of that fateful day. Perhaps now the larger question is this: What needs to happen now? One party needs to repent of the words and deeds that incited the violence. Another party needs to refrain from seeing itself in some self-righteous fashion.  This can only be repaired by all working together.  Sound idealistic? Maybe.

In many years of working with highly dysfunctional families I have noticed a few things. When a leader in the family is sick and acting unhealthily, the family becomes infected with the sickness and likewise acts in an unhealthy fashion.  Yet in many such families one member may remain well or, at least, healthier than the rest.  One of the ways for healing to occur in the family is to focus on the healthy one and support them in any way possible so they can guide and lead the rest of the family to a healthier place. Who are those leaders now? How might they be reached out to so they can bring health and wholeness back to the entire family?

Will such a thing work? I don’t know. I do know we most likely have a long struggle ahead and we have not heard the end of this. Will we simply exchange one form of domination for another, however more gentle we might view it?  Velvet glove tyranny is still tyranny. Will we be a nation and parties working together, or will we strive for power that leads to dangerous domination?

Of course prayer is needed and can be helpful. But prayer is where our Christianity and any response called Christian begins. Prayer is not an end all. In recent weeks we have been given quite a civics lesson regarding how our government works or at least is supposed to work. So schooled we now have a responsibility to be both more aware and more involved. When is the last time your representatives and leaders knew what you thought about an issue? Your neighbors and family know, why don’t your leaders know? 

Filling out a ballot is only part of the responsibility of citizens in a democracy. If a democracy is to be led by the people, the people must lead. You know the old saying: “In democracy we get the government we deserve.” Don’t think for a moment the fact that you voted for someone else lets you off responsibilities’ hook.  If three million more voted for the losing candidate in 2016, why did they not use their pens, their computers, their phones and their voices to let all their leaders know?

So pray. And it is not too late to make a New Year’s resolution to be more a part of the democratic experience American style. Blaming is not very useful. Let the authorities do their forensics, but let them know where you stand. Prevention and healing are now our role. If we the people are in charge, we need to act like we are in charge. We may have a right to our feelings, but we have a responsibility for involvement and action.