July 2010 Archives

Shaped by Prayer

Luke 11-1-13

July 25, 2010

Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf

I have never been all that excited by exercise. I know some people find it exhilarating and well worth the effort. Not me! But, over the last five months I have discovered something about exercise. In February I started seeing a Chiropractor who believes that in addition to adjusting what might be out of place, it is important to build muscle strength and tone so that the adjustments hold. So at each visit a physical therapist takes each client through an exercise regime. My discovery? With regular consistent exercise I have begun to develop core strength. I have muscles that work and when I engage those muscles I experience less pain and more physical endurance. In short, regular exercise has begun to shape my muscles and my body in ways that are more life-giving and life-enhancing.

Jesus and his disciples are on the way to Jerusalem. Along the way the disciples have been learning many lessons about life and what it means to be a disciple of this Rabbi, Jesus. They have begun to recognize that Jesus is a person of prayer. They have begun to suspect that it is through prayer that he draws the wisdom, the strength and the power of divine love into his being and becomes a channel for that love as it heals the sick, opens the eyes of the blind and sets free those who are oppressed. More than likely prayer is not a new concept for these disciples. They had no doubt learned the prayers of the torah, and they might have even practiced some of them. But they see something in Jesus that they have yet to experience for themselves. So one day, when Jesus finishes his time of prayer one of his disciples asks him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his followers to pray." [Luke 11:1]

Now it's not that these disciples want to be like John the Baptist, it's that they want to be like Jesus and they know that it is the practice of most rabbis to give their disciples a distinctive prayer, one that will help them to grow more and more like the rabbi. In fact it was true that you would be known by the prayer that was distinctive to your group, gathered around the teacher you followed.  So Jesus says to them:

"Pray in this way:  

`Father, help us to honor your name.

Come and set up your kingdom.

³Give us each day the food we need.

⁴Forgive our sins, as we forgive everyone who has done wrong to us.

And keep us from being tempted.'" [Luke 11:2-4]

You might recognize this prayer as a shortened version of what has come to be called The Lord's Prayer. The longer more familiar version being found in Matthew 6:9-13. In one version or another it has most certainly become a prayer that is distinctive to Christian communities wherever they gather and whatever language they speak. And if this prayer is more than just words we have memorized it does indeed have the power to shape us and transform us into the fullness of all it means to be a disciple of Jesus, a follower of Christ, a Christian. Like exercises build our physical muscles, this prayer can help us build our spiritual ones. Let's take a closer look in the hopes that both Luke's shorter version and some fresh translations might awaken us in new ways to the power of the prayer Jesus gave his disciples.

First, as Kate Huey reminds us: "It is not a prayer of private piety, although we can say it alone, in our room.  It is a "we" and "us" prayer, and it gives voice to our human longings for bread, forgiveness, and escape from the time of trials we cannot bear."[1]

But it begins where all prayer must begin with taking time and making room. To pray the words most often translated as "hallowed be Thy name" and here rendered "help us to honor your name," in the original Aramaic was to acknowledge our need to create space and clean out the clutter within our lives so that the light of the Holy One shines through us.

Then once there is space, emptiness, openness, to say "come and set up you kingdom" is to pray a prayer of surrender; it is allowing God's will to become our will, asking that God's way becomes our way and not the other way around.

 To pray "Give us our daily bread" reminds us to pray not for everything we want but for what we truly need. In Jesus' time having enough food to sustain life was no small matter. Today, hunger is still no small matter."[2] What does it mean to pray not just for my daily bread, but for our daily bread -in other words to ask that all our sisters and brothers will have enough food to sustain life? But the word translated "bread" goes far beyond just food. It also means wisdom, insight or understanding. So in truth this line calls us to trust that whatever we need will be provided in each sacred moment.

Open to the Spirit and trusting God's goodness we encounter the need for forgiveness -both receiving it and offering it. For most of us these words about forgiveness are perhaps the most difficult ones in the prayer. It calls for honesty with ourselves and with God -facing our mistakes and failures and trusting that God's mercy and forgiveness will erase all of them. But it is so hard for us to forgive others, isn't it? That little word as frightens us. We hope God is more forgiving than we are. We hope God's forgiveness is not conditional on our forgiveness of others. So how do we understand this line of the prayer? Again in Aramaic this petition has to do with letting go of what keeps us tied up in knots and accepting, really accepting, God's forgiveness. Knowing that when we truly let go of all the stuff we have done or failed to do, when we stop beating ourselves us and accept God's unconditional love, we are empowered, little by little to let go of blaming others for what they have done and allowing the spirit to heal the hurt and the pain of living.

Finally we come to the words about being tempted which in Aramaic really point to forgetfulness. Don't let us forget the Source of Life. Don't let us get so busy with life that we forget to live. Keep us awake and aware, open and in tune with the rhythms of grace and the heartbeat of Love.

It's not that there is magic in these particular words. Yet when we learn them by heart and take them to heart, when we don't just say them, but honestly pray them, they become a doorway into a relationship with God that leads to LIFE, TRUE LIFE!

I think that's why Jesus goes on to add a curious little parable about an annoyingly persistent neighbor and the reluctant householder who relents, not out of kindness or friendship, but simply for the sake of a good night's sleep. Jesus then concludes this teaching about prayer with a brief comment about parents who know how to give good gifts to their children and the promise that God "is even more ready to give the Holy Spirit to anyone who asks."[Luke 11:13] 

Between the two we find those incredible promises, "...ask and you will receive, search and you will find, knock and the door will be opened for you. Everyone who asks will receive, everyone who searches will find, and the door will be opened for everyone who knocks." [Luke 11:9-10]

Jesus seems to be saying that when we pray persistently and without ceasing we do we can count on the fact that we will indeed be shaped by our prayers into the very people God has created us to be. I believe Jesus is inviting us to trust that it is God's deepest desire to lead us into the fullness of life. So let us ask and keep on asking, search and keep on searching, knock and know that doors will open to a life more amazing than all we could ever hope for or imagine. May it be so. Amen.

Worship and Work

Luke 10:38-42 (MSG)

July 18, 2010

Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf

Martha and Mary! Can you get the picture? Martha invites Jesus and his disciples (and there were considerably more than twelve of them) to her home. Luke says she "welcomed him and made him feel quite at home." In other words Martha had the gift of hospitality. She probably loved having people in her home, feeding them and tending to their needs. But on this particular occasion she is feeling just a bit overwhelmed. There is so much to do and she seems to be the only one doing it! She might even be able to hear what's going on, listen to bits and pieces of what Jesus is saying. She probably wishes she could take the time to just sit and listen, but, Luke says, she is "pulled away by all she had to do in the kitchen."

Boy, can I relate! Whether it's hosting parties at my home or getting ready for some function at church there have been times when I've felt swamped, overwhelmed, distracted and pulled away by all that had to be accomplished. It's even worse on those occasions where I feel like I'm doing it all alone. There's something about having companions to share the load that makes it all seem easier somehow. But Martha was stuck doing it all herself!

Meanwhile Mary is sitting in rapt attention, hanging on every word that Jesus is saying, filled with wonder and perhaps even joy, because she seems to be just as welcome to receive the teachings of this rabbi as any of the men. Mary might even be aware that she should be in the kitchen helping her sister, after all that's where women belonged, but she just can't tear herself away.

I've been there too, and I know some of you have as well. Needing so much to be fed, filled, nurtured, cared for that we don't have anything to give. I've heard some of you say that you hear the call to help teach kid's quest, assist in the nursery, serve as liturgist or some other job that needs doing, but you really want or need to be in worship.

Yes, if we're honest I think we can relate to both Mary and Martha, although we may feel more kinship with one or the other. But the tension between these two sisters is familiar ground for most of us.   

Finally, when Martha is at the end of her rope, she barges into the room where Jesus and the others are gathered and says, "Master, don't you care that my sister has abandoned the kitchen to me? Tell her to lend me a hand." Now I have to give Martha a lot of credit here. Me, I'd probably just fuss and fume and bang cupboard doors, hoping that Mary would catch my irritation by all the noise and get herself out to the kitchen where she belonged. I know for sure that if I had risked saying anything it would have been directly to Mary, not to Jesus. But Martha took her concern, her irritation, her need to Jesus. Isn't that what we're supposed to do? And I can well imagine that she was more than just a little put off by his response; at least I know that I would be. It seems uncharacteristically harsh and uncaring.

"Martha, dear Martha, you're fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it--it's the main course, and won't be taken from her."

Mary and Martha; what are we to make of this story? What is Jesus saying here? What had Martha missed that Mary got? And most importantly, what wisdom might we glean for our own lives?

This story, it seems to me, points to an age old tension in the church. Are disciples called to piety or service, prayer or action, worship or work? And, on the surface of this story, it would seem that Jesus would have his followers choose piety, prayer and worship over service, work and action. However, if we read the gospel of Luke from beginning to end, we would see that just before this story of Mary and Martha is the story of the encounter of Jesus and a lawyer and what we call the Parable of the Good Samaritan -a parable that is all about serving. In fact, it was the priest and the Levi who put worship ahead of responding to one in need that seem to fall short. And Jesus last words to the lawyer were "go and do likewise." Then, immediately following today's story, we find the disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray. Whereupon he shares with them the prayer we have come to call the Lord's Prayer -which, as we will see next week, is a prayer that deals with both worship and work.

By his positioning of these stories, Luke seems to point to his understanding that those who seek to follow Jesus must balance piety and service, prayer and action, worship and work! But balance is a tenuous thing isn't it? We can be balanced at one moment and then all too easily out of balance in the next. Yet Jesus says what Mary has chosen will not be taken from her. So perhaps there is something more than just balance that we need to understand.

As I was thinking about this I thought of Jesus' instructions to his disciples to "seek first the kingdom of God and God's righteousness..." Then I thought of the definition of "righteousness" as "doing the right thing at the right time for the right reason."

This past week I spent two days at an Interplay retreat called Praying the Body: Interplay as Soulwork and Deepening Our Body Wisdom. Cynthia Winton-Henry, one of the co-founders of Interplay, was our retreat leader. We danced and played and talked and sang. We listened and moved to the rhythms of beautiful music and the rhythms of our hearts.  We talked a lot about noticing -one of the core elements of Interplay: noticing our body data; noticing the things that give life and energy, joy and ease; noticing, paying attention, being aware of the deep movements of the spirit in the movements of our life. At one point Cynthia gave each of us a card that said something about one of the core elements of Interplay. Then she invited us to reflect on what it might have to say to us. My card had the element known as leading and following. As I listened to the wisdom pulsing up from my deepest self, I began to think about my need to move back and forth between the two -sometimes being a courageous, insightful leader and sometimes being an ecstatic and joyful follower. Then I began thinking about Mary and Martha, and the Spirit seemed to be saying to me that the one thing that Mary had chosen was to listen to her own deepest, truest wisdom -that part of herself that danced in partnership with the Divine Dancer; to pay attention to what she needed in that moment; to trust that her deepest wisdom was life-giving and then to act on that wisdom. So despite her duty to help her sister in the kitchen, Mary chose to sit at Jesus' feet and learn. In another moment her choice might have led her into some act of caring, compassionate serving. Martha, on the other hand was distracted, pulled away from her deepest knowing, so caught up in "shoulds" and "oughts" that she missed the joy that could have been hers.

Worship and work, it seems to me, are part and parcel of the divine dance of life. Like Mary we are invited to listen deeply to the music of our soul and move with the rhythms of grace, ready to respond to the nudges of the Spirit with the right action at the right time and for the right reason. Amen.

Special Presentation            Baobab Blast!

 Pastor Nancy & Volunteers and Youth from Vacation Bible School

Song:                                Baobab Blast

(Pastor Nancy) During our week of Vacation Bible School we gathered each day around the Baobab Tree. We learned some amazing things about this tree. But one of the most important things we learned was that this tree is the gathering place for people. They come together to share their stories and oftentimes to listen to the village story teller who has a way of putting things so that God's truth shines through. Today some of the 61 youth and their leaders who were part of VBS will join me to tell you some stories. And hopefully you will see God's truth and love shinning through all we do and say.

Day 1: (Paul) On the first day our theme was Trust. We heard the story of how God called Abraham and Sarah to go to a new place and become a great nation.

        (Paul) Our Bible verse was from Psalm 37:5. It was

All:   ⁵Let the LORD lead you and trust him to help.

(Paul) But we sometimes shortened it to

All:   "Trust in God"

(Pastor Nancy) I was in my office getting the bulletin ready for the upcoming Sunday when the phone rang. It was a woman calling for help. Her name was Michelle and she said she had just been released from prison and needed help, not for her self so much as for her daughter. She needed diapers and food and someone to talk to. I guess she was just going down the list of churches, trying to find someone to respond and she got to me. She didn't have a car. She had no way of getting from where she lived to the church, but she needed help. She was living on the far east side of Milwaukee -in an area that some people called the ghetto. I was in one of the far western suburbs. I had a lot of work to get done and I really wanted to just say to her that there was nothing I could do to help her; but something deep inside, something that I've come to know as God's spirit pushed me to respond. So I told her that I would gather some things together and bring them to her the next morning.

Song:                                From East to West

Day 2 (John) On the second day our theme was Love. We heard the story of how God's love helped Joseph love and forgive his brothers. We also leaned that even though the brothers meant to hurt Joseph, God used what they did for something good.

(John) Our Bible verse was from 1 Corinthians 13:8a It was

 ⁸Love never fails!

(Pastor Nancy) So the next morning I set out driving east toward Michelle's apartment. As I drove along this street that runs between the city of Milwaukee and the suburbs, I couldn't help but notice the changes that were taking place as I drove. It wasn't long until I was out of my comfortable suburban neighborhood and heading into places where the buildings were more shabby. And I began to wonder what in the world I was doing, going all by myself into the heart of the ghetto to meet a woman who had been in prison and I didn't even know what her crime had been.

As I drove, I felt my heart begin to constrict as fear began to fill my mind. The people on the street suddenly looked menacing -gang bangers and druggies I thought. I dreaded having to stop at red lights for fear they would jump off the curb and attack me. Just then, of course I came to a red light and as I sat there God spoke into my anxious heart and said, "Nancy these are people just like you. They are my children too. Pray for them."

Now when I'm in stressful or difficult situations I have a couple of breath prayers that I use. One of them is called the Metta. It consists of four lines: May I be filled with loving-kindness; May I be well; May I be peaceful and at ease; May I be happy and filled with joy. Each phrase is spoken silently as you breath, one phrase for each breath. You begin praying it for yourself and then changing the "I" to "you" you send the prayer out for others.

So I began, 2-3 times for myself and then once for each person I saw as I drove -the people walking down the street, the people hanging out in front of stores, the people in line at the welfare office. As I drove and as I prayed for each of these strangers a miraculous thing happened; the people who moments before had seemed scary now looked like my sisters and brothers. As my heart opened I saw each of them surrounded and filled with God's light and love.

Song:                                Love Never Fails

Day 3 (Emily) On the third day our theme was: Follow. We heard the story of how Jesus called ordinary men and women to follow him and learn from him. They were called disciples and so are we.

(Emily) Our Bible verse was from Psalm 119:15 It was

All:   ¹⁵I will study your teachings and follow your footsteps."

(Emily) But we sometimes shortened it to

All:   "I'll follow Jesus"

(Pastor Nancy) When I arrived at Michelle's place the neighborhood was worse than anything I had ever seen and fear tried to grip my heart again. So I began my other favorite breath prayer: I am the light, the light is within me; the light flows through me; the light surrounds me; the light protects me; I am the light. After a couple of times through, I knew that God's light and love were surrounding and protecting me, so I got out of the car and headed to her door.

When she answered my knock I was greeted by a beautiful smile, a warm gracious heart and a precious little one. "Come in," Michelle said, "and please sit down if you can. I'd love to talk with you if you have the time.

As we talked she told me some of her life story. I actually can't remember most of the details, but I do remember the little jump in my stomach when she told me that she had been in prison because she had been convicted of second degree murder. Then she asked me to pray for her and her child that they would find their way. After I finished praying she said that I had brought her such peace that she wondered if she could stay in touch with me. I said yes, of course she could call me.

Every couple of weeks she would call, sometimes because she just wanted to talk and have me pray for her, sometimes because she needed something for her daughter. As time passed she talked about her fear of her boyfriend and wishing she could get away from him. Most of the time I just listened. If I said anything at all it was to remind her how much God loved her and what a beautiful person she was.

Song:                                We Have Heard the Call

Day 4: (Dustyn) On the fourth day our theme was Care: We heard the story of the Samaritan that helped the man who was hurt.

(Dustyn) Our Bible verse was from Jeremiah 17:16a It was

All:   "O LORD, you chose me to care for your people"

But we sometimes shortened it to

All: "Care for others"

(Pastor Nancy) The next time I visited Michelle, she was living in a place even worse than the first place. She had left her boyfriend and this was all she could afford. She needed furniture and lots of help, so I got several people from the congregation. We collected a number of things and took them to her.

After that each time she would call, she seemed stronger and more confident. Finally one day she asked if she could come to church because she wanted to thank the people of our little congregation and share with them some of her story. We were eventually able to make that happen and what a blessing it was. Not only did we see the way that God had loved Michelle though our willing hands and hearts, but we recognized the way God had loved us by sending Michelle into our lives.

Day 5 (John) On the last day our theme was: Share: We heard the story of a guy named Philip who shared his faith with a man riding in a chariot.

(Paul) Our Bible verse was from Philemon 1:6a It was

All:   "Share your faith with others"

(Emily) Although that's pretty short we also shortened it to

All:   Share your faith

(Pastor Nancy) Some time after that Michelle connected with some of her aunts who invited her and her daughter to move in with them. The last time I saw her she was living in a safer neighborhood in a clean well-furnished apartment -not luxurious by suburban standards but a palace compared to where she had been. As I arrived the apartment was full of women who were talking and laughing. Michelle introduced me and then asked me to come into her room so we could talk. She had found a job and had these wonderful women to help her. She was so grateful for everything we had done to help her. Now she hoped she could help others. She also hoped she wouldn't have to call to ask me for help again.

We hugged and prayed together and then went back into the living room where the women had put on some music and were dancing. "Do you dance?" Michelle asked me.

"I sure do" I replied as I joined in.

"Hey a preacher who dances," one of her friends said.

When the song was over and I was preparing to leave Michelle said, "Pastor Nancy, you got some jive; you don't dance like no white chick." We all laughed and hugged again. As I left I thought "God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good."

Song:                                Share Your Faith 

Freedom to Love

Galatians 5:1, 13-18

July 4, 2010

Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf

Freedom! On this day that marks the 234^th birthday of our country, which our national anthem rightly calls "the land of the free and the home of the brave," we have freedom on our minds. But like most words in our language freedom means different things to different people at different times and in different contexts. The Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary defines freedom as:

· the quality or state of being free

· the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action

· liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another

While Answers.com points to some of the many nuances of freedom, listing several different ways to use the word freedom:

1. freedom of assembly or freedom of speech
2. freedom from want.
3. We have the freedom to do as we please all afternoon.
4. loose sports clothing, giving the wearer freedom.
5. she was given the freedom of their research facilities.
6. he was given the freedom of the city.

Freedom!

o  According to Abraham Lincoln "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves."

o  While Robert J. McCracken believes "We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls."

o  Moshe Dayan asserts that "Freedom is the oxygen of the soul."

o  Benjamin Franklin warns us that, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

o  Nelson Mandela cautions that, "to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."

Freedom! But as we gather in the midst of our reflections on freedom if we listen carefully we will catch the echo of an even deeper freedom from the Apostle Paul: ^"It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows. ... Love others as you love yourself. That's an act of true freedom."

To understand Paul's wisdom for our lives, we need to look at the situation that evoked his words. For Paul Christ came to proclaim God's unconditional love and set us free from trying to assure our own salvation by slavishly following the whole of the Jewish law. Bondage to the law, according to Paul, created a climate of anxious self-protectiveness where good deeds -if they were done at all- where self-centered and self-serving; done to assure one's own place in God's coming realm. This was how Paul lived until his encounter with the risen Christ on the Damascus Road, where he found the freedom and joy he had never experienced living under the law. Embraced and empowered by God's love, Paul was moved from the inside out to do what, living under the law, he had not been able to do -that is to truly love and serve others.

But some had a very different idea about the law. They believed that all the practices of the Jewish law were binding on everyone who sought to follow Jesus. By their impassioned speeches these troublemakers, called the Judaizers, stirred up fear in the hearts of the believers. Were they really saved? Or would their failure to follow the whole Jewish law keep them from experiencing God's grace? Where there had been peace and love, now there was doubt and fear. Where there had been trust and growth, now there was uncertainty and stagnation. Where there had been community and cooperation, now there was alienation and competition. It was to these troubled and anxious believers that Paul wrote.

Paul had grasped the truth that in Christ we are given freedom from fear. It is freedom from trying to secure our own way and make our own future. But even more than that, he understood that in Christ we were given freedom to live in love. And in fact, living in love is part and parcel of what keeps us free. When we live in fear our world is limited, for fear contracts, it causes us to pull in, to build barriers, erect fortresses, sharpen our defenses, seeking only to provide for our own safety, our own security, our own life. But when we live in love our world knows no limits, no borders, no boundaries; love expands our view, opens our hearts, awakens our creativity and moves us to reach out in ever-widening circles.

When talking about our freedom as a nation we often point with gratitude to the sacrifices made by those who have fought to defend our freedom. We know that freedom isn't free. We know that freedom depends on our willingness to sacrifice ourselves for the good of others. But all too often we believe that such sacrifice is what the men and women who serve in the various branches of the military do. Or if we are really thoughtful, we know that the families of these brave citizens also make sacrifices. But we fail, I think, to understand that to truly be free, we must all be willing to "use our freedom to serve one another in love," even when it means sacrificing some of our comfort, our wealth, our ease.

As I was thinking about this I thought of the Great Law of the Iroquois Nation- which says "In every deliberation, we must consider the impact on the seventh generation; that is whether the decisions we make today would benefit our children seven generations into the future."  It is, of course impossible to know that for sure. But to live with such "other-directed" thinking causes us to at least consider whether our actions benefit others. For example, I can't simply think of what is best for me and my family -in any sphere of life- without taking into account what is best for all my sisters and brothers.

But this is not just one more law to follow. It comes about naturally, Paul says, when we are "animated and motivated by God's Spirit." [Galatians 5:16]  It happens when we allow God's love to set the agenda. In the section following our reading for today Paul describes what life looks like when we live in the freedom of love and what it looks like when we give in to our anxious self-serving fear. Listen to what Paul writes:

 ^19-21It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community.

 ^22-23But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard--things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

²⁵Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.

So my friends breathe deeply, ... feel God's love flow into every fiber of your being ... let all you do and say be "animated and motivated by God's Spirit" and claim God's freedom!  Amen.