Here's the Church....

"Here's the church; here's the steeple; open the doors..." I am certain that I heard those words early in life. In fact, I can remember saying the words and doing the actions in the church where I was first raised in the Christian faith.

From time to time, I've thought about this rhyme; most recently, my daughter has been picking it up from somewhere. All three children seem to know it; I don't know if they learned it in Ghana, or if they have picked it up since living here. I have seen them struggle with getting the hands and fingers in the right places, but they've also struggled with knowing the words.

The words came flooding back: "Here's the church, and here's the steeple. Open the doors, and see all the people. Close the doors, and hear them pray. Open the doors, and they all run away." When I was young, I never really thought about the words. Now, when those words run through my head, I think "Is this really what people think the church is?" Do people really think that it's all about a building? Do people really only pray in church? Where do the people run when "church" is finished?

Those questions may seem ridiculous, but if this rhyme has been taught, and is still being taught to children, then we may be teaching them bad theology and practice. Many churches today are not driven by mission and ministry, but by keeping lights on, doors open, and aging monstrosities of buildings standing. We practice faith by "going to church" on Sunday mornings, but not all of us actually live our faith beyond the walls of the church building. And what do we do when we leave the church - run back to the world and leave our faith behind us?

A cute little rhyme really causes the church damage, because it presents an unclear and unhealthy model of church life. There is very little here that is missional, other than the fact that the church gathers together for worship and prayer. There is nothing in the rhyme that suggests that people live their faith on a moment-by-moment basis, or that they take the faith with them into the world. It suggests, at least to me, the opposite. Let the mission drive the church, not the church driving the mission. Let the people pray without ceasing. Let the people be equipped to share their faith when the enter their homes, economies, and workplaces. When those things happen, THERE's the church!

Prophetic Speech

One of my colleagues encouraged me to read an "Advent Blog Tour." The new Common English Bible is promoted through the devotions, which are listed at http://adventblogtour.com/. My colleague is actually writing one of the blogs; from December 1 - December 25, a different blogger writes every day. I have been amazed by the breadth of thinking and delving into Scripture that's been shown. People have shared from their own experiences, and most have wrestled deeply with the text. I have an appreciation for people who wrestle with the Biblical text, and who raise more questions, and have fewer answers.

Today's post was particularly provocative - talking about Simeon's prophecy. If you recall Simeon's conversation with Mary, he talks about what Jesus will cause (rising and falling of nations), and that a sword will pierce her own heart, too. What honesty the prophet brings!

When we preach, we should do what the blogger for the day (December 18) raises as a point. We challenge the comfortable, and comfort the challenged. I believe that statement is true. When people are used to being in their comfort zone, or are complacent, we must challenge them to enact the Gospel in their lives. For those who regularly are challenged because they live Gospeled lives, there is often a need to provide comfort, concern, and compassion.

For preaching to embody both ends of the spectrum, I believe that there is a need for the church to hear a third word: call. Each person who gathers, whether they come to worship complacent or weary from Gospel living, has a call from God for their lives. I believe that a prophetic word always points people back to their calls from God to be in ministry. God's call is both comforting and challenging, so if people are reminded of their calls, they will receive the word of challenge or compassion that they need. The prophetic word brings to the people of God a message that they need, but it starts with call.

Engagement

Today, we celebrated worship by having lessons and carols (Advent, mostly, but with a few Christmas carols mixed in). Over the past three years, we've developed six different music ensembles (adult/youth choir; adult/youth handbells; children's chimes; children's choir; praise band; and our newest - brass quartet). It's a lot of ministry opportunities for a small church. Some don't participate; others participate in only one; some participate in many.

When worship was over, someone came up to me and told me how great worship was, and shared awe at how many people participated. That's not a surprise to me, but it certainly can be. Worship is a verb. It's something we do - with hearts and hands and voices. We cannot sit back and observe worship happening. We do not worship unless we are engaged. This morning, well over 2/3 of the congregation participating in LEADING worship by singing, playing, reading Scripture, lighting candles, greeting, or ushering. Worship means something to us when we participate; that's why we don't simply "attend" worship - we "participate" in worship. We get out of any worship experience what we bring to it.

During this season of Advent, as we continue to wait and watch, when we gather for worship, we gather to prepare our hearts; to open them. Maybe we need to have that Advent experience each Sunday - to open ourselves up to encounter God in worship, to engage with the Almighty, to offer our best to Jehovah. We must engage ourselves and be fully present to the Christ who was born, lived among us, died, and rose again.

Footsteps

Yesterday was the first substantial snowfall of the winter season. Earlier in the week, we saw flurries, but this was the kind of snow the kids had been waiting for - it fell steadily for hours. They watched out the window throughout dinner, and I made them take a break and watch The Polar Express, just so they could see the difference in the amount of snow. It snowed much of the night, and flurried for much of the day.

In anticipation, I got out the snowpants that people had given us for the kids. Patience's pant & coat set were a little big, but worked fine. Gideon's pants were WAY too small. Eema didn't even have any, so I knew we were going to have to head out to the store today to get some. The kids were all told that they could not go outside and be in the snow until they had the proper clothing.

Long story short: Gideon couldn't wait - so he went outside before breakfast and wandered around in the snow on our deck. He has been sick for two days, so that wasn't really a good choice. He did not get to go outside and play after our shopping trip (which included two new pairs of gloves because the boys already had holes in their other gloves after two weeks, two pairs of snowpants, and three pairs of boots). Patience and Eema went outside, and had snowball fights, made snow angels, are in the midst of building a snowman, and shoveled some snow.

At one point, Patience and I decided to take a break from the snowman-building action, and we walked over to one of the places where the snowplow had piled the snow from the parking lot. I picked her up and put her on top, and held her (she was scared to be so high up). After a couple of minutes, we walked across the parking lot and back to the fun. When we reached the edge of the parking lot, I looked down. We had returned to the path we'd made in the snow before. In it, I saw two sets of footprints right next to each other, because we had been holding hands. These large footprints contrasted with tiny bootprints; in that moment, I was newly aware of the awesome task of raising up a child in faith. These footprints that trust enough to hold my hand also expect me to lead. I am humbled, and I am blessed.

Water-Washed

Several weeks ago, we made the decision to baptize our three children. Not long after we returned to the United States, the boys witnessed a baptism, and expressed their desire to be baptized. We had been looking on the calendars for dates when we would both be available, and the first Sunday in Advent fit our schedules (since we serve different churches).

I've done baptisms before - enough that I'm on the second page in my journal record. I've baptized two people this year, and I know I will baptize more next year. For the weeks leading up to this past Sunday, it wasn't a big deal - in terms of being a pastor. Sunday came, and as I got to the part in the service where I was going to invite my family to come up, it hit me: This was a once-in-a lifetime ministry for them. Baptisms happen frequently, and I perform them frequently, but I would only perform them once for my own children.

Sarah's pastor asked us questions for our daughter, who could not answer for herself. I asked questions of the boys, in ways that they could understand. We poured water in the font and prayed over it. When it came time for the baptism, there were three pastors baptizing - so there were three handfuls of water, times 3 (one for each person of the Trinity). Turns out, that's a lot of water. Their heads were very wet; their clothes were wet; the carpet was wet.

Later, during communion, someone whispered to me, asking why I used so much water. I never really think about it, because I am a firm believer that we need an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. The water reminds us of the sin from which we have been cleansed - we need to see it and feel it; otherwise, it doesn't have the same impact. We are Spirit-born in baptism, but we are also water-washed. We need that sense that we are washed in God's Spirit, and to feel and experience water allows us to do that - it represents the Spirit at work in us, cleansing us and making us right with God.

We ought to take every opportunity to remember our baptism. Each time we get wet, we can sense God's presence through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us. When you swim, take a shower, wash dishes, run through a sprinkler or stroll through the mist, you can remember your baptism, and be thankful for God's amazing unconditional love. We who are baptized are children of God, and when we feel water, we remember who we are, and whose we are.