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He continued, “Does our congregation sound like an old, durable lawn mower that, with some TLC, will rumble to life at the appointed time of year to mow for another season? Or do we sound like a Harley? You know, that unique sound you can hear in the distance, getting closer, and then once past leaves a trail of sound and smells unique to the brand.” One can be comfortable with both sounds, I guess, but they represent different visions of what Church and Christianity are to be, and be about, in this world.

Our denomination’s tradition for serving communion (eucharist or Lord’s Supper) involves parishioners. We serve one another the elements with trays passed through the pews. Someone holds the bread for me. That same person holds the cup for me. I hold the bread for you. I hold the cup for you. We serve the elements to each other and put into practice the priesthood of all believers. It is one way we embrace a table open to all, no matter where one worships or may have been baptized. Community is experienced in the sharing of communion as a kind of original potluck dinner.  Sometimes, we borrow the priestly ritual of intinction for special days of worship.  Rather than serve on another in the pews, worshippers move down an aisle to a person or two from whom they receive communion.

Not long ago, I sat in the sanctuary of a congregation that, five years ago, was a whisper in their community.  In remembrance of Jesus, worshippers were invited to come forward to receive communion by intinction. It is a large sanctuary built for a time when Sunday was theological and social for most of America. That day, the floor squeaked, a little mouse sound, as the thirty or so of us made our way to the chancel to receive communion. I remember worshipping in this congregation three and a half years ago when we installed their new minister. On that day, the same thirty or so made their way down the aisle in remembrance for communion. The floor squeaked a slight bit of hope with a new vision for being Church and practicing Christian faith.

I worshipped with this congregation as they bid farewell to their minister who was called to another congregation. I was sitting in the second pew. After partaking of communion at the chancel steps by intinction I returned to my seat. The sound of dozens of feet and a chair or two passed by me. So many stories of life. Beneath the well-worn carpet, wood popped, rumbled, and groaned, not unhappily, but as if strong memories were awakened. You could hear the floor give a bit as it was designed to take the weight. It was a welcomed workout. It went on and on. One elder looked concerned for a moment that there may not be enough for everyone. You could see the memory of potluck dinners wash over him. There was plenty. More than enough. There were leftovers. One hundred and fifty plus people shared “do this in remembrance of me”. It is a congregation that decided what they want church to sound like.  Its list of weekly ministries provide ways to practice Christian faith: serving at the food pantry, or serving one of their free community meals, or helping with the after-school program, or Agape Meal and Study, or Clothing Closet, or . . . Maybe practicing Christian faith can mean inviting someone to serve alongside you, and to worship with your congregation.

I grew up in a time when children were taught to read by “sounding it out.”. If you came upon a word you didn’t know how to pronounce, don’t worry. You can do it. Use your knowledge of the alphabet, and the sounds of the letters, and your memory to sound it out. Do you know the word “Christian”?   It may take more than one try, but you will get it. Will you pronounce it perfectly? No, not the first time and maybe not even the fourth time. But you will. And what does that word mean? You may not know, but the sentence can give clues, or the context of the paragraph may help determine a basic meaning. You know, like a contestant in a spelling bee might ask to hear a word used in a sentence to help determine the spelling. It is not always just stalling for more time. Christian.

Here in the early 21st century, it seems like this is what many mainline Christian denominations are doing in their communities where they once dominated Sunday or Wednesday or both. Many are having to sound it out. There are always new words and the meaning of words can change. What sound does your church make? And, could I ask a personal question?

“What does a Christian sound like?” You can do it. Sound it out.

During Season 1 of my sabbatical I finished work on resources for children’s ministry. Specifically, the resources are designed to help the persons, lay or clergy, that are crafting the children’s sermon each week.  The resources, Sacred Steps, follow the Lectionary and offer ideas for ways one could craft a children’s sermon on the texts each week.

Sacred Steps provides a starting point for your imagination and thinking about the Lectionary texts as they pertain to the lives of children.  Sacred Steps treats each text as its own work, trusting that each text, blended with your community’s experience and your life experience of the week, can inform your work to make the biblical story alive in the mind’s eye of a child.

I’ve made these resources, and others found at Sacred Steps, free for Oklahoma Disciples congregations and clergy.  I have a limited number of codes I can provide to use as check-out on iBooks.  Please email me to receive a code OR you can choose to purchase one or more of the books.  The proceeds from the sales through June 1 will benefit our Mission Camp Road Show trip, July 7-13.

And it is that time of year when congregations are selecting VBS curriculum.  Click here to download a review of the major titles this year from the folks at buildfaith.org

I created this acrostic prayer for one of my books, Scared Steps: Lectionary Year B. I didn’t do the full on acrostic style, like Psalm 119, where each stanza and each new sentence in that stanza begins with the same letter of the alphabet. As you can see, I decided to complete a thought or sentence with a different letter of the English alphabet. Yes, that is cheating a bit.  I’ll be back to my responsibilities on February 2 as the first Season 1 of my sabbatical this year comes to a close.

A Sabbatical Acrostic Prayer

At this hour I pause, O God
before the sun fully rises on the day.
Creation wakes to the majesty of possibility that you embed
daily; and into me, my friends, family, and neighbors.
Enable me today to be more:
faithful in my discipleship;
generous with my time, talent, and tolerance;
humble in my presumptions;
informed and just.

Judge me by my actions today.
Kindness, let me give more than I receive.
Look upon me as worthy of Your image,
magnifying the lessons of being known by You.
Nuance guides my journey in faith that claims
openness to ideas, people, vision, experiences, and You.

Protect humanity from ourselves.
Quarantine our violent nature, for a day, a week, a year; and
reprise in humanity, in me, the goodness we knew as children.
Supplant my need to win with the knowledge of
trust, of right and wrong, so justice may be done.

Uncovering the universal Truth that Jesus lived is the
verb that resets the compass of my discipleship.
When, O God, I fail, when humanity fails, trust enough to
xerox Your spirit, Your vision, Your willfulness, and Your
zest for creation into me and all humanity.

Rev. Michael Davison (27 January 2019)

Go find a ladder.

While it might be fun (or appear expedient, or brave, or heroic) to try to scale a cliff with no tools, it turns out that ladders are a more effective way to level up.

When it’s time to drive a nail, a hammer is a lot more useful than a rock. Even if you have to invest in obtaining one.

Often, we spend most of our time throwing ourselves at the wall instead of investing the time to find a useful ladder instead.

Perhaps, instead of restating our audacious goals, we can spend more time finding useful tools–insights, skills, trust, attention, access–instead.

It’s worth the search.(1)

Seth Godin is a marketing guy whose daily ideas I follow.  He has an interesting worldview and way of seeing projects.  When I read the post about ladders, I thought about sabbatical time.  You may remember I announced a couple of months ago that I am gifted sabbatical time this year.  I am grateful to the Regional Board and our staff for these three segments of time, when I will pause and unplug from Regional responsibilities.

One of the things I’ll be doing is searching for useful tools to help me be a better minister.

Sometimes, ministers do this kind of thing as part of their routine each week or during a year, but the pace of life in the 21st century can blur one’s best intentions.  That seems true for all humans.

As we wander into a new year I encourage you to spend more time finding useful tools — if possible ones that require little re-engineering to make them fit your context or theological perspective.  That doesn’t mean we should cease learning, exploring, or trying new ideas.  The Internet and sharing-economy make it easy to borrow these days.  That is good and bad.  You can copy the latest filter on Instagram, Snapchat, or Facebook banner, and join that social community or movement for a while.  But, I don’t think Christian syncretism is the same thing as Christian unity.  Maybe it is better to use the 3-D printer in our minds, spirit, and faith to learn from the past — to invent more and copy less.  It seems to me that is how generations of disciples before us, (little d and big D), impacted their time.  Maybe, that is what we are called to do as well.

My first sabbatical segment is January 7 – February 1.  I will finish self-publishing an eBook.  It is a resource to help the process of creating the children’s sermon.  It follows the weekly Lectionary reading and it will be free for Oklahoma Disciples.

May God continue to bless you with ministry to do and Gospel to be in 2019.

——–
Note
1. Seth’s Blog, “Go find a ladder.” December 28, 2018.

What is on your Christmas watch list or play list?

I’m one of those people that doesn’t want to see Christmas ads or hear Christmas music before Thanksgiving.  Growing up, we didn’t do Christmas kinds of things until you saw Santa appear in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and finished the Thanksgiving feast.  Then, let the Christmas ritual and routine begin.  I won’t go into those details here.  And, to be liturgically accurate, Advent, not Christmas, begins this Sunday, December 2.  We are weeks away from Christmas day and Christmastide.

The last few years Lisa and I have focused on the Twelve Days of Christmas, not in any religious sense as our Catholic, Lutheran, and Episcopalian siblings do, but as a way of remembering that there was a time that commercial Christmas didn’t exist the way we know it now.  We are getting better at packages after Christmas during the twelve days and our tree stays up until Epiphany.  I guess you could say we try not to do Christmas before Christmas.  We have been less successful than we want.

Nonetheless, Lisa loves Christmas music and we both have some favorite films, feature length and shorts, we watch this time of year.  I don’t know if watching these films or hearing familiar melodies is meant to curate memory or induce confession?  Maybe, like much of scripture it is a both/and.

Here is some of my watchlist and playlist for Advent and Christmas.

My Watchlist Includes

• A Christmas Story, 1983
• National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, 1989
• The Little Drummer Boy, 1968
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas, 1966
• It’s a Wonderful Life, 1946
• The Santa Clause, 1994

My Playlist Includes

• “Christmas in Hollis” Run DMC, 1987
• “Christmas is the Time of Year” Ray Charles, 1985
• “Christmas in the Caribbean” Jimmy Buffet, 1985
• “I Saw Three Ships” Sting, 1997
• “Do They Know It’s Christmas” Band Aid, 1984
• “Christmas Pipes” Celtic Women, 2006
• “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” John Lennon, 1971
• “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” 1979
• “Santa Clause is Coming to Town” Bruce Springsteen, 1975

However you journey, wander, or bounce through Advent be sure to go and see what God has made know to you, again, or for the first time, or like the Grinch, with his feet ice cold in the snow, puzzle till your puzzler is sore.  Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means something more.