Pastor’s Notes in the Key of D
The Hardest Thing - January, 2020
If you had to name the most difficult task you face in your everyday world, what would it be? Meeting the demands of a difficult job? Learning how to get along with a diverse set of co-workers? Maintaining healthy balance in relationships with family and friends? Standing and speaking up for what’s most important?
Every month or two I preach on the topic of forgiveness. And invariably, a few people in the post-worship greeting line will say to me: “I really needed to hear that today. But forgiving someone is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
I think honest comments like this are right on target. And the truth is, forgiveness gets even more difficult when the one we need to pardon is someone we care for deeply. George Ross remarks on what forgiveness does, “When forgiveness occurs, a community is assembled. They assemble to celebrate. The neighbors are called in. Surely one of the most terrible consequences of sin is the loneliness of guilt. Forgiveness gives people back their friends and neighbors.”
Continually practicing forgiveness gives us the opportunity to remember the disarming gift of God’s mercy for all of us., and it gives us a chance to reconnect with the human community. When we immerse ourselves in a forgiving community, we discover our lives changed, our dreams reenergized, and our hopes empowered.
Lewis Smedes gets right to the point when he writes, “With a little time, and a little more insight, we begin to see both ourselves and our enemies in humbler profiles. We are not really as innocent as we felt when we were first hurt. And we don’t usually have a gigantic monster to forgive; we have a weak, needy, and somewhat stupid human being. When you see your enemy and yourself in the weakness and silliness of the humanity you share, you will make the miracle of forgiving a little easier.”
Maybe that’s why Jesus instructs us to love our enemies. When we find the courage to do that, we might also find the ability to forgive the worst within ourselves. As we enter 2020, may we all embody the hard and worthwhile work of forgiveness.
In faith and love,
Pastor Dan
“Are You Ready for Christmas?” - December, 2019
Each December there comes a point where somebody asks me, “So, are you ready for Christmas?” And they usually mean it one of two ways:
1. Have you done all your shopping and completed all your plans to be ready for the big day? Or else,
2. Have you gotten all your sermons written and extra services prepared and are you still able to feel extra spiritual despite the fullness of these days?
Now, most of the time my answer to either of these questions is, “Nope. Keep dreaming.” But this year, my reply will be different. When someone asks if I’m ready for Christmas, I will reply with a passionate, “YES!”
Here’s what I mean. Have I written all my sermons, or done all the work necessary to prepare the worship services (especially those on Christmas Eve)? Nope. Am I done shopping? Keep dreaming.
I am ready for Christmas, though. I am ready for the carols and the messages of hope that will fill the air. I’m ready for the Parade of Lights, and the joy of ushering in the season. I am ready for the reminders that Jesus came into the world with songs of peace and justice echoing across the skies. I am ready to see my parents, who will be visiting for Christmas, and to see the looks on my boys’ faces when magic and wonder set them alight. I am ready to take a sweet Christmas Eve walk with my wife, enjoying the beauty of the luminary walk in our neighborhood. I am ready, in the midst of the constant noise of the 24-hour news cycle, for a silent night, a calm and sacred pause to recall the great promise of peace on earth.
Am I ready for Christmas? Well, there are sermons yet to write, services to be created, and gifts to be purchased, but, yes, you bet I am ready for Christmas.
In faith and love,
Pastor Dan
If you had to name the most difficult task you face in your everyday world, what would it be? Meeting the demands of a difficult job? Learning how to get along with a diverse set of co-workers? Maintaining healthy balance in relationships with family and friends? Standing and speaking up for what’s most important?
Every month or two I preach on the topic of forgiveness. And invariably, a few people in the post-worship greeting line will say to me: “I really needed to hear that today. But forgiving someone is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
I think honest comments like this are right on target. And the truth is, forgiveness gets even more difficult when the one we need to pardon is someone we care for deeply. George Ross remarks on what forgiveness does, “When forgiveness occurs, a community is assembled. They assemble to celebrate. The neighbors are called in. Surely one of the most terrible consequences of sin is the loneliness of guilt. Forgiveness gives people back their friends and neighbors.”
Continually practicing forgiveness gives us the opportunity to remember the disarming gift of God’s mercy for all of us., and it gives us a chance to reconnect with the human community. When we immerse ourselves in a forgiving community, we discover our lives changed, our dreams reenergized, and our hopes empowered.
Lewis Smedes gets right to the point when he writes, “With a little time, and a little more insight, we begin to see both ourselves and our enemies in humbler profiles. We are not really as innocent as we felt when we were first hurt. And we don’t usually have a gigantic monster to forgive; we have a weak, needy, and somewhat stupid human being. When you see your enemy and yourself in the weakness and silliness of the humanity you share, you will make the miracle of forgiving a little easier.”
Maybe that’s why Jesus instructs us to love our enemies. When we find the courage to do that, we might also find the ability to forgive the worst within ourselves. As we enter 2020, may we all embody the hard and worthwhile work of forgiveness.
In faith and love,
Pastor Dan
“Are You Ready for Christmas?” - December, 2019
Each December there comes a point where somebody asks me, “So, are you ready for Christmas?” And they usually mean it one of two ways:
1. Have you done all your shopping and completed all your plans to be ready for the big day? Or else,
2. Have you gotten all your sermons written and extra services prepared and are you still able to feel extra spiritual despite the fullness of these days?
Now, most of the time my answer to either of these questions is, “Nope. Keep dreaming.” But this year, my reply will be different. When someone asks if I’m ready for Christmas, I will reply with a passionate, “YES!”
Here’s what I mean. Have I written all my sermons, or done all the work necessary to prepare the worship services (especially those on Christmas Eve)? Nope. Am I done shopping? Keep dreaming.
I am ready for Christmas, though. I am ready for the carols and the messages of hope that will fill the air. I’m ready for the Parade of Lights, and the joy of ushering in the season. I am ready for the reminders that Jesus came into the world with songs of peace and justice echoing across the skies. I am ready to see my parents, who will be visiting for Christmas, and to see the looks on my boys’ faces when magic and wonder set them alight. I am ready to take a sweet Christmas Eve walk with my wife, enjoying the beauty of the luminary walk in our neighborhood. I am ready, in the midst of the constant noise of the 24-hour news cycle, for a silent night, a calm and sacred pause to recall the great promise of peace on earth.
Am I ready for Christmas? Well, there are sermons yet to write, services to be created, and gifts to be purchased, but, yes, you bet I am ready for Christmas.
In faith and love,
Pastor Dan