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.

The Baptism of Christ

"Baptism of Christ," Gerard David (Netherlands), c. 1502-07

I found a terrific page of links to classical art representations of Christ's baptism from The Text This Week, a website dedicated to lectionary resources. The index covers art works from the 500s AD up to contemporary art. Clicking through the images (and through the ages) is inspirational.

From the Department of Mixed Feelings

According to the Chicago Tribune, "A Presbyterian minister collapsed and died in mid-sentence of a sermon after saying 'And when I go to heaven.'"

The Rev. Jack Arnold was nearing the end of his sermon and had just finished quoting John Wesley--"Until my work on this earth is done, I am immortal. But when my work for Christ is done . . . I go to be with Jesus"--when he apparently suffered cardiac arrest.

My sincere condolences go to the family and congregation on the traumatic loss of their pastor. But at the same time, I can't help but think, "What a way to go!"

A couple of years ago, I happened to be visiting a Presbyterian church in South Carolina on All Saints' Day. During the sermon, the pastor remembered his mother, a minister's wife who lived a good and long life. He recounted how, after her funeral, the congregation recessed behind her coffin, singing "For All the Saints," and the pastor turned to his family and said, "It doesn't get any better than this." What a way to go!

Baptism :: Submission, Service, and Solidarity

Acts 10:34-48
Matthew 3:13-17

This Sunday is the traditional day for observing the baptism of Christ, so Rev. Hunter explored the meaning of our baptism into the church. He started by identifying the two things baptism is not: it's not a guarantee of automatic salvation and it's not a social event. We are saved through faith and grace. Christ did not get baptized in order to be saved or because it was a popular thing to do. Instead, there are three reasons Jesus asked John to baptize him: to demonstrate submission, service, and solidarity.

We know that Jesus got baptized "to fulfill all righteousness," which we understand to mean obedience to God's command . . . submission. When Jesus got baptized, he demonstrated his obedience and submission to God's will. Baptism symbolizes our death to the old life and beginning a new life in Christ. In our denomination, infant baptism indicates the parents' desire to dedicate the child to God, a dedication which the child later affirms when he/she chooses to join the church, thus confirming the parents' vows.

Jesus's baptism also represents His commissioning for the work ahead. God acknowledged His son in three ways--through shining light, a descending dove, and His voice. Once commissioned for a life of service to God's will, Jesus went in the wilderness and experienced the temptation. Service didn't come easily to Jesus or to us, but when we submit ourselves to a life of service to others, our baptism symbolizes that decision.

Finally, baptism provides further evidence of Jesus's determination to identify with us humans fully. His ultimate act of solidarity--becoming human through the incarnation--is a model for the solidarity we need to demonstrate. Some of the most admirable saint-like behavior shows just this kind of solidarity, such as Mother Teresa's compassionate work among the untouchables of India. We can best serve God by reaching out to others in solidarity and service.

Update: Tsunami Relief

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) is hoping to raise $2.5 million to help the survivors of the tsunamis in south and southeast Asia. PDA says that 95% of the raised money will go directly as aid, with only 5% being used for administrative costs.

To donate online or get information on how to phone or mail a donation, please see the PDA webpage on the Presbyterian Church (USA) web site (click on the "Give" button). The webpage includes links to information and resources about the disaster.


AP Photo/David Longstreath

Murray Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

(This week, I'm blogging down memory lane since I visited my home church in Nebraska over the holidays. When you worship at another church, I'd love to have a picture to post in a weblog.)

On 02 January 2005--Epiphany Sunday--I visited my childhood church of Murray Presbyterian Church in Murray, Nebraska. The church has existed since 1860 and six generations of my family have worshiped there, so the building you see to the left is naturally dear to my heart. As many of you know, no building is more comfortable to walk into than the place where you were baptized, hissed at during the sermons to be quiet, taught about parables in Sunday School, progressed from a squirming angel to the Virgin Mary through years of Christmas pageants, joined the church, taught Bible School, and were married. I guess its because the people there who still know you have no illusions about you but love you anyway, which isn't a bad way to think about our life in the church in general.

My mother, Virginia Spangler, has been organist at the church for over 40 years. During that time, she's gotten smaller but her electric organ has gotten bigger (with bigger speakers) so she still celebrates worship with music each Sunday. She told me she always likes to play French carols as the prelude on Epiphany Sundays and that's what she's doing in the picture at right.

The sanctuary of the church features a stained glass window of Christ as the good shepherd. For anyone who grew up in our church, this is what Jesus will always look like. I remember identifying powerfully with the little lamb on Christ's arm and linked it in my child's mind to the parable of the lost sheep. My Great-aunt Margaret Todd told me that during World War II, she organized a small group of volunteers to take a night picture of the illuminated window. She arranged folks with lanterns outside on ladders and perched on an inside ladder to snap the picture. Then she had multiple copies made and sent them to our church's boys who were fighting overseas. She's gone now, as are most of those "boys," but the window remains a dear landmark in our hearts.
Each of the other stained glass windows in the church features a gothic arch and a decorative medallion, which children ponder during the sermon. On this Sunday--Epiphany Sunday--Rev. Martin C. McDaniel linked the star the Magi followed to the hopeful light of Epiphany. The magi worshiped Christ because they recognized his divinity as the light and hope of the world. So the window with the medallion that says "The Lord is my light" seems most appropriate for pondering. Faith in Jesus, Mr. McDaniel said, gives us the strength to persevere in the face of current problems, whatever they may be.