All Are Welcome in This Place? Really?

²⁷ After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, ²⁸ and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.

²⁹ Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. ³⁰ But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

³¹ Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ³² I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Matthew 5:27-32

Philip Yancey, in his book What’s So Amazing About Grace, tells the story of a friend of his who worked with the down-and out in Chicago.  A prostitute who had been driven to do unspeakable things came to him and poured out her story.

At last I asked if she had ever thought of going to a church for help.  I will never forget the look of pure, naïve shock that crossed her face.  “Church!” she cried.  “Why would I ever go there?  I was already feeling terrible about myself.  They’d just make me feel worse.”

Ironic, isn’t it?  A person who desperately needed to hear a word of love and grace in her life feels repulsed by the very institution that proclaims that love and grace.  How quickly we turn into Pharisees!

What would it look like for God’s church to actually welcome people as Jesus welcomed them…to love them as children of God?  It’s easy ‘in theory’ to say that God welcomes all people…but what does that look like when someone high on meth walks into a church building…or when the man on the sex offender list stops in to pray.  How easily we justify keeping ‘those’ people out!

Custer Lutheran Fellowship in Custer, SD has this note of welcome posted on their wall.  It’s a radical welcome: one that Jesus just might agree with!

Who Is Welcome Here?

·         We want it to be of public record that those of different colored skin and heritage are welcome here.

·         We want it to be known that those who suffer from addiction to drugs and alcohol (whether recovering or not), and their families are welcome here.

·         We want it to be known that women and children are welcome here and that they will not be harassed or abused here.

·         We want it to be public record that in this congregation you can bring children to worship and even if they cry during the entire service, they are welcome.

·         We want it to be known that those who are single by choice, by divorce, or through death of a spouse, are welcome here.

·         We want it to be known that if you are promiscuous, have had an abortion, or have fathered children and taken no responsibility for them, you are welcome here.

·         We want it to be known that gossips, cheats, liars, and their families are welcome here.

·         We want it to be known that those who are disobedient to their parents and who have family problems are welcome here.

·         We want it to be of public record that gays and lesbians and members of their families are welcome here.

·         Let it be public knowledge that we at Custer Lutheran Fellowship take seriously that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The young and old, the rich, the poor, all of the broken are welcome here.

·         We want it to be public knowledge that we are justified by the grace of Lord, which is a gift through the redemption, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

·         We offer welcome here because we believe that while we were yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly. That's us. Christ did not die for us after we showed signs of "getting it all together." Christ loved and still shows love to us while we are yet sinners.

·         Sinners are welcome here; sinners like you and me, and like our neighbors. Let us not condemn the world, but let us proclaim to a broken and hurting world, God's forgiveness and grace.

·         We want it to be of public record that since we are a sinful people, we will not always be as quick to welcome as we should. Let us be quick to admit our sin and seek forgiveness.

·         May God give us the grace to welcome and forgive one another as Christ has welcomed and forgiven us.

Written by Pastor Chuck Hazlett, who served Custer Lutheran Fellowship from 1978 - 1998 

Remember that you are dust...

One of my earliest memories from my childhood is a bit choppy, since I was probably somewhere around 4 years old at the time. I remember that I’d been playing at the park near my home in the innocent, happy way that kids do.  When I got home my mom broke some terrible news: my goldfish had died.  I ran and saw it floating upside down in its small goldfish bowl.  To this day I can still feel those 4 year old emotions.  I loved that fish!  I can vividly remember watching my dad taking a shovel to the earth under the lilac tree.  We put the fish in a small cardboard box, placed it in the ground, and covered it with the dry earth.  I’d had my first experience of death.  Were I to go to that lilac tree today I probably wouldn’t find a trace of that little fish.  Ashes to ashes…dust to dust.

I’ve experienced a lot more death in the years following that fish.  Time after time I’ve stood at gravesides, watching caskets get lowered into the ground…or vault…or urn.  Sometimes it was family: my mother Edee Reuss, my grandfather Jim Bantz, my grandpa and grandma Dave & Esther Meier, my grandpa George Reuss.  Sometimes it’s been members of congregations I’ve served: Marianne Morton, 10 year old Lichahan Kennell, Roaland White, Max Cliff.  These beloved people would not live on earth forever.  While gravestones mark many of their final resting places, the bodies that we buried slowly decompose.  Ashes to ashes…dust to dust.

Welcome to Ash Wednesday, the day when God’s people all over the world receive a blunt message, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return.”  Tonight we will gather at Peace to receive the mark of dust on our foreheads.  God created us from dust (as he did with Adam in Genesis, chapter 2).  When we die we will return to the dust (no matter how much embalming we receive).

Ash Wednesday is no mere morbid fascination with death!  It comes as a reality check in our lives.  We often try to pretend that death will ever come to us…we act like we will live on this earth forever.  We won’t.  We are dust…and we will return to the dust.  We can live a healthy lifestyle…we can eat the right foods…we can be good people…we can love our neighbors…we can worship every Sunday…and we will still die. 

Ash Wednesday reminds us of our utter dependence on God.  That fish that I buried cannot rise from the grave on its own.  My mother and grandparents cannot rise from their graves on their own.  Life beyond death is God’s work, not ours.  Ash Wednesday begins the long walk with Jesus as he heads to the cross and the tomb. 

I cannot save myself.  This body that I know and love will die and return to the dust.  My only hope is in the God who comes to raise the dust to life once again.  Death could not hold Jesus.  Death will not hold me.  I can do nothing to earn that salvation.  It comes as a free gift from the God who created and claimed me.  I need not fear death because Jesus has conquered it!

Remember that you are dust…and to dust you will return.

Who's invited to the party?

There’s no night like Super Bowl night.  As the game kicked off, people all over this great nation huddled around televisions to catch the ‘Big Game.’  Many parties made it quite clear who was invited…and who was not!

·         Some parties were all about the commercials.  The Super Bowl has a reputation of spawning very clever ads and people didn’t want to miss out.  This isn’t a party where you can just get up and head to the restroom once a time-out is called.  You’d get in the way of the screen and might get tossed from the party!

·         Other parties endured the football game to see Madonna (and all those other famous folks) at the halftime show.  People might have been milling about during the game, but once the music started all eyes focused on the screen.  This wouldn’t be the party to start a monologue about the “Peyton vs. Eli Manning debate: who is the more elite quarterback?”  Nobody would listen…or care.  It’s also not the party to ask ‘ignorant questions’ like, “Who is that guy singing with Madonna?”  Really, you SHOULD know these things!

·         Many parties use the Super Bowl as an excuse to get together, but people really have no interest in turning the TV on.  They just enjoy a night of food, friends, and conversation.  They might even break into a game of cards!  If you insisted on sitting alone in front of the TV, people would find you to be a party-pooper.

·         Surprisingly, some Super Bowl parties actually have people who want to watch football!  These are people with high ‘football IQs’ who discuss the finer points of the game.  This isn’t the crowd to ask, “Refresh my memory, what is a first down??”

·         New York Giants fans gathered in parties surrounded by other Giants fans.  I’ve known enough New Yorkers over the years to know that ANYONE rooting against the Giants would get instantly booted from the room!

·         Some parties (like the one I was at on Sunday) include a variety of people who come for many different reasons, but nobody is made to feel guilty for not being just like everyone else in the room.

Over the years I’ve found myself at Super Bowl parties where I knew I didn’t really belong…because I’m a football guy!  I’ve been that party-pooper who wouldn’t play cards during the game.  I’ve ignored the halftime show…when everyone else raved about it.  I’ve talked during commercials, only to be ‘shushed.’  I watched the Super Bowl with some Giants fans back in 1991..ugh!

How do your Super Bowl parties include…or exclude…people?

Every Sunday Christian churches around this great nation gather for worship…a weekly ‘party.’  Many of these parties make it clear who is invited…and who is not!

·         Churches often have unwritten ‘rules’ regarding when people stand…what they say in worship…where they go for communion.  Someone who doesn’t know these ‘rules’ will stand out like a sore thumb and feel like an unwelcome idiot.

·         Churches in this nation tend to gather along racial and socio-economic lines.  People with ‘light skin’ can be made to feel uncomfortable in a church of ‘dark skinned’ people…and vice versa.  People ask, “What are they doing here?  Don’t they have their own church to go to?”

·         Some churches frown on any ‘kid noise’ upsetting the atmosphere of the worship service.  At the first peep people start turning around and staring.

·         Some churches hold to a strong sense of morality and shun those who have made poor choices in their lives.

·         When churches gather to study the Bible, people often assume a deep knowledge of Scripture.  The person who struggles to even find the right page can feel like an idiot.

When Jesus walked this earth he spent his time with the ‘outsiders’: prostitutes, tax collectors, lepers, fishermen, and terrorists.  Jesus didn’t exclude anyone…Jesus’ church doesn’t have that same track record!  One one point or another, most of us have felt like that 'poor schmuck' who didn't really fit in.

How have the congregations in your life worked to include…or exclude…people?

The Unreality of our Reality

Last month I was a happy man: McDonald’s McRib had returned to the menu.   I’m not usually a big McDonald’s fan (though don’t get me started on their chocolate shakes), but the McRib is a perfect combination of BBQ sauce, pickles, and ‘rib.’ 

Unfortunately I just did a bit of quick research.  McDonalds packs 70 ingredients into my beloved McRib…and one of them isn’t rib meat (it’s actually restructured meat product, including pig bits like tripe, heart, and scalded stomach - YUM)!  McDonalds did their market research…took some random flavors and chemicals (my favorite is azodicarbonamide)…and packaged it all into a meal engineered just for my taste buds!  Even though I’m a good cook, I know that I couldn’t possibly recreate the McRib at home in my kitchen. 

McDonalds has done their homework…they know what I want!  They work to find ways of giving it to me, and are not averse to ‘tweaking’ what God has created a bit to make it happen.

The beauty/fashion/advertising world shares that belief!  Everywhere we look we see ‘perfect’ bodies.  Magazine ads…Sports Illustrated and the swimsuit issue…TV shows…movies…perfection abounds.  We see people with perfect skin, perfect hair, and perfect teeth.  The men look suave and have muscles that bulge.  Women have bodies that would make Barbie turn green with envy. 

McDonalds uses chemicals and random ingredients to give us what we want.  Modeling uses the wonders of make-up, lighting, and (most importantly), Photoshop! 

Take this image of Jessica Alba.  The one on the left is the original – she’s a very pretty woman!  The one on the right has been ‘tweaked’ to give us what we want to see.  Some of the changes are subtle.  Her hair is more vibrant…her eyes sparkle…her lips a deeper red.  No big deal.  But look a little closer.   Her waist has been trimmed down…her hips changed shape…her legs slimmed …her bust grew. Ah, the wonders of the computer.  The end result is not Jessica Alba…it’s a body that even she could only dream of.

From the time that we were little children we saw these images and thought, “I could never look like that.”  Do you want to know the truth?  Nobody does.  Corporate America is giving us what we want to see, not what God created.  Even the most beautiful women and handsome men don’t look like they do on TV or in magazine.  Someone behind the scenes changed their bodies to become more ‘desirable.’

Supermodel Cindy Crawford said it well a few years back when she commented, “I wish I looked like Cindy Crawford.”  She knew what she looked like when she looked in the mirror every morning.  She knew what she looked like on the cover of a magazine.  They did not look the same!  Isn’t it ironic: God looks at Cindy Crawford (one of God’s good creations) and God says, “It is good.”  Someone with a computer and a pile of marketing research looks at Cindy Crawford and says, “It’s not good enough.  We need to change a few things.”

How can we be content with the body that God has given us when we’re constantly faced with such unrealistic expectations?  It forces us to do whatever we can to ‘fudge’ the truth about ourselves (make-up, push-up bras, slimming girdles, hair coloring, hair implants, etc).  God looks at you (and me) and says, “I made that.  It is good.”   Do you look in the mirror and think, “It’s not good enough.  I need to change a few things?”

When it comes to your view of your own body, who do you believe: God ... or some corporate executive armed with market research? 

Addictions come in many shapes and sizes

This past weekend I came to the sad realization: I am an addict…and I blame it on Steve Szuberski!

I just returned from Peace’s annual Ice Fishing weekend.  We had a weekend abounding in fish…good beverages…wind…more wind…and even more wind.  On Saturday we had a hard time keeping one of the ice houses in place – it kept wanting to blow across the ice!  We cleaned (and ate) piles of perch and sunnies.  We even hauled in about a 17 inch bass (caught on a piece of chicken wing…go figure).

As the crew arrived at the cabin and started unloading, I knew I was in for a rough time.  First came the chips and salsa.  Then came the cookies.  Then the jalapeno cheese curls.  At last Steve walked in with the final straw: trail mix.  My mouth watered as he mixed together the peanuts, raisins, and M&M’s. 

Over the Christmas season I knew that I ate way too much.  I started to become what my friend Kevin Woestehoff calls a ‘fat skinny man,’ a thin guy with a gut.  I entered the new year vowing to cut back and take care of myself.  As I saw the delicious piles of snacks on the counter at the cabin, I feared that the vow would get set aside for a while.  It did.

Every time I walked past an open bag I’d stick in my hand.  At first I ate because I was hungry.  Later I ate because it tasted wonderful.  Finally I ate…because it was there.   Trail mix provides the perfect combination of sweet and salt.  I can only eat so many sweet things before it gets to be too much.  I can only handle so much salt at one sitting.  But…put the two together and the munching becomes endless. 

The first night I lay in bed, feeling like a bowling ball had been plopped on top of me.  My stomach ached.  The mountains of salt dehydrated me.  I felt gross.

I’m a smart guy…I should have learned from that experience.  I didn’t.  Sadly, the next day was worse.  I told myself to stop munching, but I repeatedly found myself at the counter full of snacks, grabbing ‘just one more.’  I couldn’t control my actions.  That sounds like addiction to me.  

I returned home with a small jar of trail mix. I told Shannon, “I don’t want to eat any more – it’s yours.”  A couple hours I found the jar in my hand.  What could be wrong with one more little bit?  Shannon held me to my word and took it away.  The next morning I thought a quick bite would be great before heading to work.  Again, Shannon reminded me, “You said you were done eating this!”  

I didn’t quit until I had someone to help me quit.  I couldn’t do it alone.  That’s why God gave me such a loving wife!

Addictions come in many shapes and sizes.  Alcohol … pornography … food … TV … Facebook… e-mail…texting… the list can go on and on.  We all have things we can’t control.  They overwhelm our willpower and cause us to do the very things we want to avoid.     

Addictions without accountability can crush us.  We need not suffer alone!  Who has God put into your life to help you control the addictions that threaten to overwhelm you?   

Public & Accountable...I Need That!

This morning my alarm went off at 5:30.  I groggily reached over to shut it off, and then lay quietly in the dark.  What kind of crazy person willingly gets up at 5:30?  I lay under the warm blankets, quite tempted to just stay put.  I had a zillion reasons to just go back to sleep.  Temptation surrounded me.  It took every ounce of energy to throw aside the sheets and meet the cold air.

What motivated me to actually move?  Wednesday morning is basketball morning here in Eyota.  I join a group of guys who hit the gym at 6:00 and play for an hour.  It keeps me in shape, but that’s not what got me out of bed.  I love the game, but could easily talk myself out of it in the darkness of 5:30.  I got up because people expected me to.  I’ve committed to get myself on the court by 6:00.  It’s not that anyone forces me to do anything that I don’t want to do.  I’m publically accountable for my actions.  Those expectations supported my decision to do what I knew I wanted to do: get up!  At 5:30 in the morning, with excuses swirling, I needed those expectations.

Last January I committed to reading through the entire Bible in 2011.  I’d made the attempt before and failed. It’s easy to get behind and find 1001 excuses why it’s not worth the effort.  Reading through the Bible in a year takes serious commitment.

I’m pleased to report that I made it!  I got into a routine of getting up a few minutes early and heading right for the Bible.  At times I lacked the motivation to keep charging along, but every time that happened I remembered my public promise to finish it.  If I quit I wouldn’t just let myself down…I’d have to admit to others that I didn’t do what I wanted to do.   The excuses faded away.  I kept going and finished what I started.

Now, as the calendar has flipped over to 2012, I find myself in a bit of a bind.  I had plans of continuing with morning devotions…but the excuses have found their way back into my life.  I haven’t had that public accountability…and I’ve slacked.  It’s not that I need others to force me to do something I hate…I need others to support me to do what I want to do!  I can work through all kinds of excuses on my own, but those excuses sound pretty lame when I try to explain them to someone else.

So it looks like I need to be public and accountable again!  Starting tomorrow morning, I plan to take 5 to 10 minutes each morning in Bible reading and prayer.  It won’t be a ‘through the year’ kind of thing.  I want to be able to focus on smaller passages and ponder them more deeply.  I will begin with the Gospel of Matthew, reading a portion, imagining what it would be like to be in the story, and asking God what it might mean for my life.  It’s something I enjoy, but apparently I need the support of others to get it done.

For me, this is the church at its best…supporting each other as we grow in faith.  As God’s people we can help each other in so many ways: devotions, prayer, diet, exercise, getting enough sleep, cutting back on work, putting in enough work, keeping the house clean, quitting smoking, cutting back (or stopping) drinking…the list can go on and on.  The Holy Spirit works through others to support us.  In what areas might some sort of public accountability help in your life?  You are not alone!  Let God work through others to help you do what you know you want (or need) to do!

Learning to be Still

Be still and know that I am God.

Be still and know that I AM.

Be still and know.

Be still.

Be. 

I’m not an expert in being still.  It’s not how I’m made. 

Back in my seminary days I received a challenging assignment for one of my classes: spend an hour silently and prayerfully meditating on a few verses of Scripture.  Many of my classmates reveled the in the opportunity to be still with God.  I went nuts.  It took all my energy to sit still long enough and keep focused. 

Some people find joy and contentment when they have an opportunity to be alone.  They crave those moments when they can quietly reflect on life and faith.   They prefer to spend time with God with reading and contemplating.  That's not me!

I find joy and contentment when I’m with people…when I’m where the action is.  I crave those moments when I can creatively run ideas past other people.  I prefer to spend time with God in groups: discussing and talking things through.   I love it when there’s a lot going on.  In fact, when there’s not a lot going on I tend to come up with NEW things!

Sometimes, though, I hit my limit.  As the calendar rolled into 2012 even I felt overwhelmed.  With all the building issues of 2011, a lot of things got put off until ‘after the New Year.’  Not surprisingly, as I sat in the office on January 3^rd I looked at all the activities that needed to be planned and I thought, “How in the WORLD will this ever get done?!”  Budgets…classes…council planning…family ministry planning…confirmation….first communion…end of year reports…ufdah!  Add in all the annual reports that I need to do in my role as Synod Mission director and a slight sense of panic set in.  I flitted from one task to the next, never really getting much of anything done.  I struggled to focus.  It takes a lot to overwhelm me…but in that moment I felt overwhelmed.

People like me still need to hear the words of Psalm 46, “Be still and know that I am God.”  I needed to set aside the to-do list for a moment and talk to God.  I needed to take a deep breath and recognize that God didn’t call me to be the savior of the world…Jesus had that covered!  I simply needed to be a faithful servant. 

Once I got my mind to slow down a bit I jumped into the many tasks with relish.  It’s awesome to be a part of a congregation where so many exciting things are happening.

In the midst of the crazy life that I crave, Jesus still calls me to moments of stillness.  I’ll never be one to meditate for hours on end, but a few moments a day with my savior help me keep life in perspective.  For me, 5 minutes of calm prayer at the beginning of the day goes a long way towards helping me focus on the God who gives me strength. 

How does God call you to be still in your life?