Preparation, Repentance, Self-discovery

Many people think of Lent as a time of fasting and giving up something, like chocolate, or red meat on Fridays. Lent, however, is not about being miserable; it's about entering into a time of preparation, repentance and self-discovery leading up to Easter.

The Presbyterian Church's Office of Spiritual Formation offers two Lenten devotionals this year:

• The Shorter Catechism (PDF) daily devotional is designed for adults and is based upon the Westminster Shorter Catechism.
• The daily devotional designed for families and children is Belonging to God (PDF).
  

Bill Hassler on Presbyterian Amnesia

Bill Hassler and Shirley Smith visit after church

On Sunday, 06 February 2005, the Rev. William Hassler filled the pulpit to discuss "Presbyterian Amnesia." We Presbyterians, he said, suffer from theological amnesia, and that's too bad, because our denomination has a rich tradition and history.

When one becomes an officer for the church, for instance, one responds to this question: "Do you sincerely receive and adopt the essential tenets of the Reformed faith as expressed in the confessions of our church as authentic and reliable expositions of what Scripture leads us to believe and do, and will you be instructed and led by those confessions as you lead the people of God?" What are those essential tenets? They are the statements of faith expressed in our Confessions, and they are as fundamental as affirming the sovereignty of God or the belief that scripture is the word of God.

To illustrate his point about amnesia, Mr. Hassler talked about the Heidelberg Catechism. The Catechism represents our rich, contentious, reformation history and contains beautifully thought out, inspired sentiments. The first question of the Heidelberg Catechism says

Q. 1. What is your only comfort, in life and in death?
A. That I belong--body and soul, in life and in death--not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

The Heidelberg Catechism came about because of a dramatic conflict between Lutheran and Reformed thought in Heidelberg (especially regarding the nature of the Lord's Supper: consubstantiation vs. spiritual feeding). At the behest of Frederick the Elector, two young men wrote the Catechism, completing it in 1562.

This Catechism came to America via Dutch Reformed protestants during their 17th c. settlement of New Netherlands (New York), and eventually became part of the Presbyterian Church (USA) Book of Confessions.

Mr. Hassler urged us to avoid amnesia by learning where we come from.

Psalm 2
2 Peter 1:16-21

For more on the essential tenets of our faith, I suggest these online resources:

• Q & A from Presbyterians Today
• The Book of Order, "Confessional Nature of the Church Report," pages xxv-xxvi, point III.D.1.c. (PDF document)
  
• On the "Essential Tenets," from Eugene TeSelle of the Witherspoon Society
  
• A summary of 10 Essential Tenets, according to Providence Presbyterian Church (Alabama)
• Called to Serve: The Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith (20 of them, with subpoints), from VOX (Voices of Orthodox Women)
  

Brad Murphy Visits Home

Home from the Iraqi War to recover from a shattered ankle, Brad Murphy talks at Coffee Time about his experiences at Walter Reed Hospital, as his mother looks on.

Brad says that the young amputees he encountered at the hospital showed amazing physical recuperative powers, mental resiliency, and emotional strength.

Souper Bowl Sunday :: 06 February 2005

On Sunday, 06 February 2005, the Senior High Youth Fellowship is sponsoring our congregation's Souper Bowl of Caring. The Senior Highs ask each person to bring a can of food or a $1 donation to help fight hunger, which the youth will then contribute to our local Loaves and Fishes program.

The first Souper Bowl started in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1990, and the idea quickly spread. In 2004, 12,761 groups raised $4,260,531 for soup kitchens, food banks, and other charities in all 50 states, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Puerto Rico and the Marshall Islands. This year, the Executive Director of the Souper Bowl of Caring expects youth from over 15,000 congregations to participate. All food and donations go directly to local efforts; none of the funds go to the non-profit Souper Bowl organization.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) supports Souper Bowl of Caring as part of its Hunger Program. Visit the PC's web site for an excellent online video called Tour Poverty USA and an interactive Poverty Map.

UPDATE: The Senior High Youth Fellowship collected $126.51 (and even more food). Thank you!

The Courage to Cut

Deuteronomy 30:11-20
Matthew 5:17-30

In Mr. Hunter's previous sermon--Hard or Soft? (PDF)-- he discussed a dichotomy facing the contemporary church between hard faith and soft faith:

Within the context of the Church, Hard Faith people place an emphasis on the obligations of the religious life, the demands of discipleship, and the need for moral clarity. They prefer those passages in the Bible that are clear in defining what is right and what is wrong to help them achieve righteous living. If your faith is hard, you’re focused on knowing God’s truth, keeping the Ten Commandments, and living a disciplined life.

The Soft Faith people are more likely to view religion as a relationship of grace. They tend to stress God’s love for the oppressed and view righteousness as fulfilling our Lord’s call to heal the sick, liberate the prisoner, and offer a cup of water to the least of God’s children. If your faith is soft, you are more likely to focus on keeping the command of Jesus to love God and neighbor, than religious rules written long ago. For Soft Faith people living a life of love and acceptance is the key to righteousness and scriptures that would limit their ability to extend God’s love and grace to the marginalized are subject to reinterpretation.

To be vital, he explained, "we [must] keep our hard faith and soft faith in a tension that is guided by the Holy Spirit."

On Sunday, 30 January 2005, Mr. Hunter continued this line of thought by focusing upon the hard demands of Jesus. The hard teachings of Christ are that we must control our actions, attitudes, thoughts, intents, feelings--all aspects of our lives--if we are to meet the original intent of God's law, the law which Jesus came to fulfill. Today's Gospel reading illustrates Christ's hard demand:

If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. (Matthew 5:29-30 RSV)

Reformed commentators since John Calvin have agreed that Christ does not mean us to hack away at our bodies. Christ's lesson is figurative, showing us the extremes to which we must go to avoid sin. Who among us, Mr. Hunter asked, would not accept the extreme measure of sacrificing a limb, tissue, or an organ in order to live? One man he knew, for instance, agreed to the amputation of his cancerous right arm in order to save his life--a decision he did not regret.

Jesus's hard demands warn us of spiritual cancers which would threaten our relationship with God, but often these cancers are not immediately apparent to us. These threats include anything which we set up as a false god: drugs, alcohol, gluttony, sex, gossip, and so on.

Recognizing the danger these threats present to our spiritual life is only half the problem; the other half is to act upon our knowledge. God will help us if we have the courage to cut.