Fw:Fw:Schlock

Dear Family and Friends,

Please, Please, PLEASE! For the love of my sanity, do not forward me any more emails which contain the following line: "If you love Jesus, forward this to every heathen in your address book. If you loathe Jesus, please sit on your rear and do nothing or delete this immediately." I sincerely doubt that on the Last Day Jesus will ask me and all other believers, "Did you forward every single email about me?" I'm guessing that the separation between the sheep and the goats is not contingent upon such.

If you feel compelled to forward me such items, then at least delete the last line so that my pietistic works-righteous side (which feels compelled to forward every such email) can stay thoroughly squelched.

If you must foward me items rather than tell me information about what's going on in your life or inquiring about mine, please forward me funny things. I'll pass on the motherhood-and-apple-pie bandwith devourers.

I hope I have been forward with my requests. Lastly, do not, I repeat, DO NOT send me the story about the atheist professor and the chalk. I average it about twice a year and I've sent it to everyone. Thank you.

Orianna

P.S. Send this to every person in your address book, or I will send you the Amish virus.

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

In proper Lutheran fashion I ask, "What does this mean?"

School Chapel

I offered to lead school chapel today. The 5-8th graders were gone on a field trip, so I had K-4 and talked to them about Transfiguration. (Our church is on the 3-year lectionary series, so they will observe Transfiguration on Sunday.) I also learned a couple of things along the way. They sing loudly when they know the song or hymn, but they don't seem to know too many. It seems as though we have become a society of music consumers, even in church, which is too bad. I found that the students were good listeners, or maybe they were good sit-quieters. I guess the teachers have trained them pretty well as to how to behave in church.

Here is what I said about Transfiguration:
Lent begins next Wednesday, but our first stop is on Sunday at the mountain of Transfiguration.

Peter, James, and John are led up a mountain by Jesus. Now remember, Jesus does some amazing things on mountains--makes a few fish and some loaves of bread feed 5,000 people--so Peter, James, and John expect to see something amazing; and they are not disappointed. Jesus is transfigured in front of their eyes. A big word, transfigured. It means changed. Jesus looks different. Brighter. More like the disciples expect the Son of God to look.

Then even more amazing than Jesus' looks is that Moses and Elijah are there, talking to Jesus. We know Moses and Elijah from our Bible stories. They saw some amazing things God does on mountains too. Moses--God gave the commandments to him on a mountain--he represents the Law. Elijah was a prophet. He stood up against the false teachers and won--on a mountain. He represents the prophets. When Moses (the Law) and Elijah (the prophets) are there, you get the whole Old Testament! Peter, James, and John are amazed.

In fact, Peter wants to stay. Let's build a tent--a tabernacle, just like in the Old Testament! Let's stay on our mountain top together. Peter says for the disciples and us what we'd say if we were there. We're having a blast. Let's party here for a long time.

Uh oh. Now we have a problem. When we foret about Jesus and focus on ourselves, that's a problem. When we forget who Jesus is and why He is here, we have a problem. God the Father's voice reminds Peter: "This is My Beloved Son with Whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!" Peter, James, and John knew they were in trouble. Not because they interrupted Jesus' conversation. Not because they wanted to be with Jesus. They were in trouble because they put themselves before Jesus. They, and we, are sinners who want to put the focus on ourselves. We sinners cannot stand before Almighty God and not remember we are sinners. So Peter, James, and John fall to the ground, scared.

Then the cloud and voice pass, they look up, and they see only Jesus. Only Jesus is now their focus. Only Jesus saves. Jesus' death and resurrection are what the disciples have to look forward to. It is not a mountain where Jesus becomes bright as light, but a mountain where Jesus becomes the sacrifice. The cross is on the mountain where Jesus does the most amazing thing ever. He takes our sins, He takes our place, He takes our punishment. He takes our eyes off ourselves and turns us to look at Him. Our Savior.

Looking from this mountain of Transfiguration, the mountain of the cross looks a long ways away. Look harder. It is right here. Water changed into baptism by His Word. Jesus' forgiveness is here. Bread and wine changed into the Lord's Supper by His Word. You and me changed by His Word.

Whom We Worship

Why does modern Christianity like to talk around the cross? We allude to it with nice-sounding phrases and talk in peachy platitudes. The “pop” Christian songs, when they do talk of Jesus’ work (as opposed to how much WE love Him) talk about His power and majesty, and maybe they’ll reference His crucifixion with a vague salvation phrase. If I were a seeker at a “seeker-sensitive service,” I might wonder why Jesus is so wonderful and worthy of praise and why should I love Him?
Why should we worship what we are reluctant to directly address, namely a Messiah who came to suffer and die and take our place on the cross? When humans extract Christ from Christianity, what’s left? “I”-anity.

My (ahem) Brilliant Blog

I had a great idea for a blog—really! I thought of it during the prayer during devotions this morning. Unfortunately, multiple aspects of my job stymied me before I could return to my desk to jot my idea down. It was later when I remembered that I forgot to remember it that I couldn’t remember what it was. I do know that it was quite witty and profound.
I did have what I thought was a good blog idea, and I did forget it; however, forgetting it made me realize that sometimes I get so wrapped up in my trying to make the world look more like I want it to look that I forget about the reality of where I am now. The contacts I had today with people will likely make more of an impact than the words I post tonight.
Too often it is easy to get involved in ourselves that we forget that it is not about us. Our human nature (aka original sin) makes us so utterly egocentric that we don’t realize we are focusing only on ourselves. We justify ourselves with nice-sounding phrases, but lose our real focus. Our real focus is on Christ. His life, His death, His resurrection; and then we turn that focus towards others and help them keep their focus on Christ. Yet human nature keeps popping up and turning us back onto ourselves. Lord, have mercy on us! We can’t even keep the first commandment, let alone the other ten!
I still wish I could remember the other blog idea—I know it wasn’t nearly so rambling. . .

Musings from the Week Past

If you stop by regularly (or not), you may notice that I update sporadically. I read some blogs where the author posts daily or even multiple posts daily. The must have more important things to say than I. A friend of mine back in college used to say very little. When he did speak, it was rather profound. I, on the other hand, talk constantly yet often stay within the realm of superficial. Maybe this explains the lags between posts. I am waiting for the profoundness to strike; however, it is rather elusive.
In lieu of anything profound, I offer a few reflections from the week:
February 2 was Groundhog Day. It was also the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of our Lord in the Temple. The masses wait for a marmot to determine the short-term future weather. Do the masses wait, as Simeon and Anna, for a Messiah to determine the future of humanity? We anticipate the onset of spring, but do we anticipate the onset of Lent? Do we look forward as anxiously to following the Christ to Calvary where He accomplishes salvation for the whole world as we do to finding out the future of meteorology? Do we echo the words of Simeon who said, “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace according to your word; for mine eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the sight of all people”? Do we as eagerly as Anna to tell all those around about Immanuel, God with us? Or do we hunker down in the cold, waiting for a rodent to determine the coming of light and warmth?
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We often get textbook ads at our school. This week it was for 7-8 grade religion curriculum (“relevant program for teens”) entitled Finding God. To quote Forrest Gump, “I didn’t know I was supposed to be looking for Him.” The advertisement touted the book’s “culturally relevant material” which will “engage young people on their faith journey” and its “attention-grabbing format” which “appeals to adolescents who are tired of ordinary textbooks.” It encouraged educators to preview the textbooks online with the line: “Help us preserve God’s environment!” The whole ad struck me as quite catch phrase heavy for Roman Catholic textbooks. I guess postmodernism is stealthily infiltrating all denominations.
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To wrap up: I gave a friend a ride from a local church to the airport. Some of the campus’s buildings were marked as follows: Student Center, Worship Center, and Community Lobby. I wonder--why is the building which looks the least permanent the Worship Center, and what is a Community Lobby?