My, How I love this Church! Part 3

If you noticed the times I posted my blogs, you noticed the later one was around 1:30in the morning. I'm not normally (any more) a person who stays up late. I serve a congregation near The Villages (retirement community) and the streets roll-up at 9pm. (It took me awhile to get used to Publix and many restaurants closing at 9. I used to get excited when I found a restaurant open until 10pm). I don't go to bed extremely early but the only time I'm usually awake at 1:30 in the morning is if I'm preparing a sermon (and I don't even try to do that that often anymore). I vigorously took over 20 pages of notes on the Assembly (it helped keep my attention and kept me more involved as well) – good thing Omni and Thrivent kept giving out the notepads because I was continuously needing more paper. So on Friday night as I was working through my notes and what I wanted to use in my blog, my eyes started to glaze over as it was getting later or earlier however you want to look it. I called it a night. As I was getting ready in the morning, I remembered a few things that I had forgotten to mention.

One of the funny moments for me was when we started singing “Jesus Loves Me” when we needed to take a short break between reports. I started hearing the song and singing and I had this compulsion to start doing the hand motions that go along with it that I learned in Elementary Sunday School Music Class. I was literally taken back to my home congregation church basement when I learned the hand motions for the first time. I felt kind of funny. My eyes were closed and I tried to fight the urge. For some reason I opened my eyes, and everyone around me was doing the hand motions kind of trying to hide it but smirking. I looked around a little more and others who were doing the hand motions were kind of smirking as well. I think they wanted to be doing them too but just couldn't bring themselves to do them. So I jumped in with the hand motions, song book in one hand (because like many others I only know the first by heart and need to look at the words for the rest of the song), and at least nodding along with “Yes” and trying to do the rest of them as well.

I believe in my Friday blog, I didn't even mention the Bishop's report, oops, not intentional. Bishop Benoway spoke passionately about all that the Florida-Bahamas Synod is doing especially being the church in the world as we continue to care and connect with Haiti, Japan, Southeast United States, through their times of trouble. It is a joy to be a part of a church like ours. We are immediate responders to disasters and one of the last to leave. Our Together in Mission initiative is another way to see glimpses of God at work and witness to God's mighty acts. He asked us to turn to someone near us and talk about Jesus in our lives. How do we stay connected with Jesus? What is our favorite hymn? Just simple ways to get us talking (and then wanted us to come back to order very quickly). I heard one person say, “It's like speed dating” in how quick we had to answer the questions. It was pretty comical. Speaking about what Jesus means in our lives isn't necessarily easy for everyone. Before I left for Assembly, I had a person come up to me and say how as a Lutheran she was never taught growing up that speaking about Jesus in her life was something she should be doing. With our theme of “With All Boldness” we could see each person's reports interacted with other's reports. Pr. Ruben mentioned that the Lutheran church unwritten mission statement was “Called, Gathered, and Nourished.” With this mission statement, there is no emphasis to go out and tell others. Our mission statement now needs to read, “Claimed, Gathered, and Sent.” This may be a new thing for many folks who have grown up in the Lutheran church and never heard this emphasis before. A missional church. It's a different way of thinking about the church.

I would be remiss to not mention Pr. Ruben's comments about diversity. We continually need to see who is at the table and who is not. Diversity is a good thing, not a curse. He told the story of when he was in seminary practicing being at the altar. He would start in the middle but by the end, unknowingly he would make his way to the side. He would never be in the middle. He needed to be confident enough to stay in the middle for that's where he belonged. It reminded me of my internship experience. I did the same thing, but I had another reason. In the middle of the altar was a huge cross that I couldn't see around, so I always stepped to the side. My internship supervisor kept trying to get me back in the middle but I refused. I should have just gotten a step-stool or something to make him happy. Pr. Ruben's message was clear though that we are all equal at the foot of the cross.

I couldn't help but smile when Pr. Ruben used the Book of Esther as one of the themes for his messages. Esther was empowered by Mordecai to lead her people and she did. St. John Lutheran Church (where I serve) had a member donate her property and house upon her death to the church in the early 1990s. Her house became the parsonage, our church building was dedicated on her property in 1997. This woman's name is Esther Anderson. The parsonage became vacant as both of us pastors bought our own houses and we didn't know what to do with the parsonage. After much prayer and discernment, the need for a food pantry in our area was brought to our attention. Almost a year ago, the parsonage has now become “The House of Esther” a food pantry, run by volunteers, with the help of the local non-profit, Love In The Name of Christ (LoveINC). We named it not only after Esther Anderson but also Biblical Esther who was empowered to lead her people and change their lives. That is what we hope will happen for folks at the food pantry as well. They will not only come in and receive food, but will know that they are beloved people, no matter their situation, and that with each bag of food, Jesus goes with them. In boldness (or as the joke became, in baldness as well – referring to our new DEM's lack of hair), we pray for their empowerment to live as children of God.