If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

1 Corinthians 13:1

Beloved of God,

What a gift these days of light at the beginning of 2016 have been!  After December’s record rains and weeks on end of gray skies the return of the Sun’s brilliant light has lifted my soul upwards.  Our family spend much of January 1st at Lincoln Park as Kai and Naomi tried out inline skates—gifts from the grandparents who know how important it is for young bodies to be in motion.  The sun’s light is a fitting accompaniment to this Season of Light, when we mark how the Starchild Jesus, now grown, begins in his public ministry to shine the light and love of God on our dark and weary world. The plea of a favorite hymn springs to mind:

Christ, be our light! Shine in our hearts!  Shine through the darkness.

Christ, be our light! Shine in your church gathered today!

This month a series of special worship services help to focus that light for us: The Baptism of our Lord (1/10); the annual commemoration of the life and witness of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1/17); Reconciling in Christ (RIC) Sunday (1/23); and our Annual Meeting Sunday (1/31). Each occasion focuses the light of Christ in specific ways, and we’ll be hearing some new voices as well as familiar ones.  (Read more about them under OUR WORSHIP LIFE below.)

In this season after Epiphany we’ll be hearing a series of readings from Paul’s first letter to the Christians at Corinth.  In his first letter to this troubled community—so gifted and yet so competitive that they’ve forgotten what their gifts are for—Paul moves point by point through each conflict they face, calling them to unity of purpose and commitment. By the time he reaches the 12th chapter, he’s ready to propose a powerful new analogy for who the people of God are—diverse members of the one body of Christ.  “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” (1 Cor. 12:12-13)

The whole letter leads up to chapter 13—the love chapter.  When couples choose a reading from chapter 13 for their wedding, I often remind them that while Paul says much about love in this chapter, never does he say “love is blind.”  God does not turn a blind eye to our faults and thus is able to love us.  No.  In Christ God sees us clearly—through and through—and in spite of all our faults and failings, loves us nonetheless. This is the heart of the gospel—unmerited grace!  We can’t do a single thing to earn it—it simply IS.  And because we are claimed by this love that “will not let us go” this assurance frees us to stop counting up points (it’s not a competition!) and instead to focus our response on practicing love. For no matter how gifted we are—as individuals or as a community—those gifts won’t mean anything if we fail to communicate the unconditional love of God.

Perhaps you know someone who is particularly gifted at loving.  Have you ever wondered how they do it?  How they show it?  What you can learn from them?  This is a season for turning our thoughts toward the light and toward those whom we recognize as light-bringers.  I’m reading a book right now that follows a family in Warsaw during World War 2.  The book, The Zookeeper’s Wife, by Diane Ackerman, is based on the journals of Antonina Zabinski who, with her husband Jan, was a caretaker of the world class Warsaw Zoo when the war began.  It follows their harrowing journey through the loss of the zoo’s rare animals during the initial German blitzkrieg, their care for surviving animals of the two-legged as well as four-legged kind, their efforts to feed and harbor friends and strangers, Jew and non-Jew alike, and their connection to the Polish Underground resistance—all while raising their young son Rys and bearing a second child, daughter Teresa.  It’s a remarkable story, and one in which, time and time again, I have been struck by how big Antonina’s heart is—how ripe to take risks for others in spite of her fear—how large her capacity to love.  In the end, around 300 people survived the Nazi occupation of Warsaw due to the Zabinski’s advocacy and provision of safe haven.

As we begin a new year, there’s plenty of evidence in the world that hate is alive and well.  But Paul’s testimony is that the love with which God loves us, “bearing all things, believing all things, hoping all things, enduring all things,” will never end.  As we see such love bursting forth and refracting in Jesus’s life and ministry, how can we resist following?

Pastor Erik

“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel!”

To all who await God’s visitation,

We’re here once more crossing the threshold into Advent—the season of longing, waiting, and watching for signs of God’s presence among us.  It’s a favorite season in our household for a number of reasons; special sights, sounds, and smells, the candle ritual with devotions at the dinner table, and the built in countdown to Christmas, to name a few. This year a new marker was added—the Advent Service of Lessons and Carols hosted by St. Mark’s Cathedral.

We arrived with our friend early enough to procure front row seats for the packed service and we were not disappointed. Attending a worship service with my family where someone else is in charge is always special. We had many opportunities to do so during my sabbatical and the experience at St. Mark’s on November 29th reminded me of this. As the choir intoned the first notes of the liturgy, their voices rising with incense to envelop the cavernous space, I felt emotion rise within me. I was being transported to St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, where we had found refuge one sodden afternoon, arriving in time for the 5pm Eucharist.  Many times throughout our travels we found it was liturgies such as this—and evensong in particular—that anchored us, providing us with the sense that by touching the Sacred we were touching Home. Now that feeling, too rich and subtle for words, came over me once more.

The core of St. Mark’s Advent Service was built upon the O Antiphons, those ancient stanzas by which the church has invoked the Divine Presence for centuries in the weeks leading up to the Feast of the Incarnation.  Each of the seven stanzas addresses the Messiah by one of his titles; each praises the coming of the Savior by a different name:

O Wisdom, you came forth from the mouth of the Most High, and reach from one end of the Earth to the other,

mightily and sweetly ordering all things: Come teach us the way of prudence!

O Adonai, ruler of the house of Israel, you appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush,

on Mount Sinai you gave him your law: with outstretched arm, come and redeem us!

O Root of Jesse, you stand as an ensign to the people; before you kings shall keep silence,

all nations bow in worship: Come and save us , and do not delay!

O Key of David, and scepter of the house of Israel; you open and no one closes; you close and no one opens:

come and deliver us from the chains of prison, we who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death!

O Rising Dawn, brightness of the light eternal, sun of righteousness:

come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death!

O King of Nations, and their desire, you are the cornerstone that binds two into one:

come and save the creature whom you have fashioned from clay!

O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, the Desire of all nations and their Salvation:

come and save us, O Lord our God!

These antiphons date back at least to the reign of Charlemagne (771-814), and one source suggests they were in use in some form as early as the 6th century.  Through the wondrous and complex choral setting written by Peter Hallock and beautifully executed by the choirs of St. Marks, the Antiphons soared, carrying our spirits with them.

These antiphons of Advent remind me where I need to keep my attention focused this season.  The health, healing, safety, and wholeness I seek—the Bible’s word is salvation—cannot be ordered from Amazon or procured from any source but God alone.  The wonder of the season is that, when it finally does come, it’s in a form that neither I nor the world can recognize by the packaging.  Yet, it—or rather he— still comes, as a babe in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

Homeless families seek shelter where they can remain together; communities of color struggle for equal treatment under the law; refugees long for new places to call home; world leaders discuss scenarios for limiting climate breakdown; another enraged shooter claims the lives of innocent victims.  This is the world we live in; a world where shattered lives raise their voices in hope of deliverance.  We need a Savior!  The miracle of Christmas is that he is already “God with us.”  God grant us the eyes to recognize Emmanuel and the hearts to embrace him however, whenever, and wherever he comes among us.

Living in hope,

Pastor Erik

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us…run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat the right hand of the throne of God.”

– Hebrews 12:1-2

Beloved of God,

Recognize any of these names—Gladys Peterson, Neale Nelson, Larry Carlson, Doris Cory, Carl Hjortsvang, Luther Anderson?  All these people played leading roles in the first years of our congregation’s unfolding life and mission.  70+ years after the fact, many of them have joined the Saints in glory, but this congregation they helped to found remains a vibrant, living community of faith thanks to the contributions each of them made as part of the founding generation.

As we mark All Saints Sunday this month, we call to mind all the dear ones through the generations—those we know and those known only to God—who have helped to give shape to our lives of faith.  November 2015 is the 71st anniversary month of Peace’s founding.  That means that our 75th Diamond Jubilee Anniversary is a mere four years away.  In the coming months, we’ll begin the process of thinking together about how we want to prepare together for that 75th celebration.  I, for one, am looking forward to seeing where our vision takes us!  I hope you are too.

November is one of the pivot months in the church year.  Beginning with All Saints, our recognition of sisters and brothers who have finished their life journey reminds us that we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us.  Later, on the final Sunday of the Pentecost Season, we welcome new people into our fellowship—this time two young ones through the sacrament of Baptism.  Thanksgiving Day follows closely after, reminding us that gratitude is the only fitting response to the God “from whom all blessings flow.”  Finally, as November ends, a new Advent season begins, reminding us how God is present in all the seasons of our lives, coming among us in Jesus to make all things new.

For all these reasons, and many more, November is a fitting month for talking about our stewardship of what God has given us.   I hope you’ll make a special effort to be in worship these first three weeks of November as we celebrate the SPIRIT OF COMMUNITY here at Peace through the themes of LOVE, GIVING, and PROMISE.  Something that Parker Palmer wrote about the nature of ABUNDANCE left a deep impression on me recently and I want to share it with you.

“Abundance does not happen automatically. It is created when we have the sense to choose community, to come together to celebrate and share our common store. Whether the scarce resource is money or love or power or words, the true law of life is that we generate more of whatever seems scarce by trusting its supply and passing it around. Authentic abundance does not lie in secured stockpiles of food or cash or influence or affection but in belonging to a community where we can give those goods to others who need them—and receive them from others when we are in need.” – Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak

God has richly blessed this community of which we are part. The Spirit of Community lives at Peace, and is still unfolding.  In a world that sees fear and mayhem around every corner, we proclaim and embody an alternative vision.  The God of grace and generosity abides with us, and because this is true, we can sing:

“O God of blessings all praise to you! Your love surround us our whole life through. You are the freedom of those oppressed, you are the comfort of all distress. Come now, O holy and welcome guest: Soli Deo Gloria!” [1]

Pastor Erik

[1] Text by Marty Haugen, Soli Deo Gloria (To God alone be the glory), from hymn number 878 in Evangelical Lutheran Worship.

The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would spout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle because the harvest has come. – Mark 4:26-29

Dearly Beloved,

As October begins I’m struck by the number of events and engagements that come with it. When it comes to our life of worship, education, and service October is chock-full! While trees in the northern hemisphere give up their fruit and leaves, grains are harvested, and fields turn fallow, we gear up for opportunities to learn, participate, celebrate and serve. There are reasons for this. The good news that God is with us for good in Jesus compels us to plumb this truth, and to faithfully embody it in lives of service. Events this month like WEAVING OUR STRENGTHS, the hosting of MARY’S PLACE FAMILIES, BLESSING QUILTS, WRITING LETTERS, FOOD BANK AUCTIONS, and RAINGARDEN projects provide specific opportunities for us to love neighbors (and Earth) in tangible ways. Educational opportunities bring us closer to God’s word and the application of this word to the contexts in which we live.

All this is important—all this is good! And yet, Jesus says, God is afoot via mystery. God’s work through the Spirit happens without our knowledge or consent; indeed, it is the nature of the kingdom to grow and flourish, we know not how. This seems to be another way of saying, we’re not in charge of the growth, but we get to participate in it; we’re not responsible for the kingdom, but we are included in it. Sometimes, we experience our “not-in-charge-ness” in ways that challenge and reshape our understanding.

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. – 1 Peter 4:12-13

The wildland fires that dominated the news here in Washington, quickening our prayers during recent months, have slid to the back pages. But even though the largest fires are now mostly contained, the consequences of these fires will exert themselves for years to come. Some of you had family near one or more of these blazes or other attachments to these areas that burned out of control for weeks on end. Many of us were glued to news about the Wolverine Fire that surrounded Holden Village. Thankfully, the Village came through the fire largely unscathed. In a recent blogpost, Holden co-directors Peg and Chuck Carpenter wrote:

The Forest Service is concerned about surrounding risks, mostly involving the road—they speak of “hazards known and unknown.” Some immediate risks will be abated by the removal of burned trees and rocks that could (and sometimes do) fall from the slopes above. That constitutes “the hazards known.” What remains to be seen are “the hazards unknown,” which will only be revealed by the autumn winds and rains, the winter snows, and the spring runoff. In the coming months, the forest will reveal its strengths and its weaknesses. It will speak to us in new ways, in new growth, soil movement, and avalanches. It will tell us what it needs and show us how to best deal with its new form.

For millions of years nature has practiced the way of renewing forests we call the forest fire. This path of renewal is not without risk. Hazards, known and unknown, and human heartache accompany this process of renewal. But there is a tenacity of spirit built into the natural cycle of life in forest and grasslands which allows new life to emerge from ground that looks for all the world to be burned out and barren. Some seed cones, in fact, germinate only after fire has released the growth potential they harbor within.

There is a tenacity of spirit built into the people of God, too, that enables us to keep on rebuilding, to keep on trying new forms of engagement, new ways of scattering seed, so that the Good News can take root. This, too, is mystery. Yet we’re not called to be casual observers; we’re called to participate in it.

One of my favorite authors died recently—Phyllis Tickle.[1] Tickle had a long career as a scholar in the publishing business, focusing on religion in America. Her pithy observations, the books she authored and the talks she gave made her one of our nation’s leading public intellectuals on all things religious.  Her book THE GREAT EMERGENCE sets our rapidly evolving Christian faith into a larger frame, allowing us to get a balcony view of where this river of faith might be running.[2]

“Christianity isn’t going to die!” she exclaimed recently, “It just birthed out a new tributary to the river.  Christianity is reconfiguring, it’s almost going through another adolescence. And it’s going to come out a better, more mature adult. There’s no question about that.”[3]

When we next visit Holden, what may stand out is what the Wolverine fire took away, we must keep our eyes peeled for what the fire gave as well—both to the human community which inhabits Railroad Creek Valley and the natural community there. God is ever at work within, among, and between us. It’s risky business—but business that God was willing to enter into without reservation in Jesus. And work God continues, through the Spirit, to be about today. And we are participants. Thanks be to God!

Pastor Erik

[1] You can read more about Phyllis Tickle in a wonderful article by David Gibson written four months before her death: http://www.religionnews.com/2015/09/22/author-phyllis-tickle-faces-death-just-enjoyed-life-dying-next-career/ Some of the material here comes from this article.

[2] Phyllis Tickle, The Great Emergence. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2008.)

[3] Ibid. David Gibson article.

You are not alone…no one is alone.”

– Into the Woods, Stephen Sondheim & James Lapine

Beloved of God,

None in our family had ever seen the musical Into the Woods,* so when I learned last spring that 12th Night Productions had chosen it for their summer theatre offering I was intrigued. My interest steadily grew as I sat through a number of church meetings at Peace while rehearsals took place downstairs. The voices from below were engaging; the energy of the players high. When we returned from vacation a single performance remained—the Sunday matinee—and Chris acquired the tickets. Now I’ve tried Sunday theater matinees before and they usually don’t work for me. On Sunday afternoons a nap is a more appealing activity than a performance. But we’d really been looking forward to this show, and so Sunday afternoon the four of us piled into the car and went.

What we experienced there in the West Seattle High Theater was absolutely transporting. From the first line of the opening song we were hooked. Hooked not only by the incredible voices from the large and uniformly talented cast, but by the level of artistry they achieved together, and most of all by the message at the heart of the show. There would be no napping through this production!

On the surface, the show is a clever and entertaining interweaving of well-known fairy tales—Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, and others. With music and verse, Sondheim and Lapine masterfully link the stories and their characters to the fundamental human experience of running up against limits, making choices whose consequences linger, and confronting loss while longing for redemption and fulfillment—the “happily ever after” that beckons to us from the other side of the woods. But we have to go “into the woods” in order to get there, and therein lies the tale. Act 1 ends with a note of joyous relief that wishes have been granted, goals have been attained and predicaments solved. Then comes Act 2, and complications ensue. What seemed black and white turns gray.

In her Director’s Note for the show, Mary Opland Springer writes:

In Act 2 we take this journey with [the characters] and realize that a journey into the woods brings as many questions as it answers. In one of the most poignant moments, Cinderella and the Baker share the wisdom they have realized as they sing No One Is Alone

Sometimes people leave you halfway through the wood.

Others may deceive you. You decide what’s good.

You decide alone. But no one is alone.

Mary goes on:

Sondheim so aptly said, “No One is Alone…is what the show has been about. No one is alone: we are all connected in some way and we are all responsible for each other’s actions.”

The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said something similar in a letter he wrote from a Birmingham jail cell:  “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”[1]

Our family of four—kids as well as adults—were entranced by the artistry of the cast and musicians in their portrayal of this masterful show. Kai and Naomi quickly pronounced it “the best play ever,” and Chris and I found ourselves profoundly moved as we recognized in the drama on stage some of our own experiences of being stuck “in the woods.” The show reminded us that this is what the journey we’re on together—all of us—is about: we are not alone. We experienced this as gospel. We have one another. And more than that, we are companioned by One who enters “the woods” by our side; who will do whatever it takes to get us through to the other side.

As the season turns and the launch of a new school year begins, we need this reminder. And the good news is, we get to hear, touch, and taste it each Sunday we come together. We need each other. We are not alone.

See you at the Table,

Pastor Erik

___________________________

* Music by Stephen Sondheim, libretto by James Lapine

[1] Find the full text of King’s letter here: http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html