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Well, here we are on "Oculi", the Third Sunday of Lent, today being very sunny and bright. The word "Oculi" sounds like it has to do with SEEING, and indeed the Psalm for today (25:15) begins with, "My EYES are ever on the Lord.....".So that you can SEE that I attended church this morning, here is a photo of our church steeple. SEE the bright gold paint on the cross? That paint was applied by my husband......on June 13, 1998, to be exact! He rode up there with paint can and brush in hand, in the basket of a boom truck.......I was watching anxiously from down on the ground (and taking photos). The steeple is around 60 feet tall and the cross alone is 12 feet tall.
I was supposed to be a substitute Sunday School teacher today, for the youngest class. Well.....our Lutheran school kids were all away for the weekend at a basketball tournament and NO ONE at all showed up for Sunday School! We teachers chatted for awhile and then proceeded to the church basement to sit in on the adult Bible class.
There was a man speaking up in the front of the group......he was unfamiliar to me. He was talking about interpreting everything in the Bible in light of "covenants" and "inheritances", and he was discussing God's initial covenants with Abraham. The guy was definitely talking "at" us.......I think he enjoyed hearing himself talk, and his style was rather annoying for he talked at us as if we were grade school kids. I was trying to follow along in the Bible passages as he rattled on.......it seemed to me that he was adding and changing things here and there from what was in the Bible verses. Later I found out he has a "Dr." in front of his name, so he had the prerogative to talk the way he did, I guess. Certainly, I admire anyone who works hard and makes the effort to get a doctorate. "This is most certainly true".......(Sorry, only a Lutheran will understand this.......that something is true because a learned person says it is true.).
After this class, we marched upstairs for Divine Service (that's the formal Lutheran name of a church service). There weren't many people there and the cavernous sanctuary was chilly, as usual. Our old pipe organ is being refurbished, so the organist played the hymns and liturgy on a clavinova which is a weak, pale imitation of a pipe organ. And with so few of us there, the singing was rather pathetic. The hymns felt lonely and naked as their melodies swirled about us without the usual rich, full robing of the pipe organ's rumbling chords.
What I gleaned from the sermon is that my life is a mess, and even if I think its not a mess, it actually is, and the solution to that mess is found in the Sacraments. If I'm depressed, its because I don't trust in God enough, and trusting in God means partaking of Sacraments. Sorry for my griping......I'm a disgruntled Lutheran (raised in a church that didn't worship sacraments), but like so many of us in my congregation, I'm part of the local tribe here, and this church is where I'll stay, even if I grump about what the pastor preaches. He will oversee his share of the congregation's dwindling, then he'll move on to another church, leaving the local tribe behind. If things don't change for the better soon, our congregation will consist of just a skeleton crew of hangers-on.
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A blessed "Oculi" to you!!!
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8 comments:
I'm in the process of leaving the country church we've attended for 20 years. The pastor (ELCA) there is being blown around by every wind of doctrine.
I probably would have welcomed a sermon that mentioned the Sacraments, rather than the Jewish mysticism/kabbalah method of Bible interpretation that we heard yesterday.
There isn't an LCMS church close by me, though. I've been visiting a church that's a 40-minute drive, but it's worth it.
Church issues are a bummer.
NonnieM
I *LOVE* this post. I think the reason you found so much so disappointing and even unsatisfactory (chilly sanctuary, pale imitation of pipe organ, pathetic singing, dwindling congregation, sermon with emphasis on the sacraments instead of on the Lord of the sacraments) is precisely BECAUSE you exemplify that "Oculi" psalm you started with(My eyes are ever on the Lord). Compared to the wondrous, holy, welcoming, all-embracing love of the Jesus Christ, everything else certainly fails to measure up. Everything else is secondary. Heaven and earth will pass away, but His word (and Word) will never pass away. Keep on keeping on, Jeannelle, keep your eyes on your Lord!
Well, pooooooweeeeeee to you!! et hem--since my back is out and the pain isn't toooo horrible right this moment I can take the time for a long comment (if I decide to--Ha!!)
First of all, I was so surprised at the height of the cross--couldn't tell it was 12 feet!! Cool , however.
I hate to admit it to you, but I, along with that Dr. guy at your church have been reflecting on the covenants and in particular the one made with Ab-. I love the way the covenant of grace threads its way through the Old Testament and into the New--the beauty to me is astounding (hey forgive any spelling and typos---) I just am so thankful for His promises and covenants and His gracious way of dealing with us and our families.
As far as the coldness in your church, I am glad I don't have to deal with that---I think I would bring my blankie. It was 70 here the other day and my husband and I both had the fireplaces going when we realized it was 70 outside.!!! Our excuse was that we were both sick---but whoa!! I said , man, we must be crazy!! I thought of you !!! What would you have said!!! YIKES!!
The Germans that came to do the organ -violin concert thing at our church said they have no (none) heat in their cathedral where their church is---so I think I would have to have those seat pads that generate heat and handpocket warmers and tons of blankets and thermal undies, etc.
Not sure what all that sermon was about that you mentioned!! hhmmm, well life certainly has a messiness running through it because of sin. But it has a beauty running through it because of grace. Depression is too complicated---can be caused by too many sources. ie physical (hormonal stuff, nutritional stuff, sleep deprived stuff etc), psychological stuff (from all sorts of areas--childhood relationships, family, etc), sprititual stuff....so nothing is as simplistic as it seems. However I do feel that the controlling of ones thought life is important--not to let our thoughts spiral out of control in a continuing downword cycle. I think focusing on hope that comes from God is important and the Sacraments would be part of the beauty of our hope in God---the beauty of his covenant, his forgiveness, his love, etc. Hey see how I circled around to this --Ha---yup--I just feel like being kind of a argue/type /thinking/type thing today. Of course I was not there!!!! Well have a nice day today--!!
Oh if you want to hear some sermons from the "post-modern scene" go to http://www.marshillchurch.org/sermonseries/
this guy is quite interesting--terribly long--but interesting. My son visited his church this week.
ps the church I mentioned above is having a live conference with streamlining at http://theresurgence.com/live Piper will be there too--
ok ppppppps. Um the conference is different from the pre-conference. The conference starts at 2:00 Pacific Standard time. The pre-conference stuff is on stress and given by a scientest who is a Christian. The regualar conference is on a different subject--I think on preaching and the word of God--you can go to the site I mentioned for more detail or to my blog where I mention it today--- (I like a free conference) ;-)
Wow....many very good comments! Thanks!
To NonnieM: I have heard that some ELCA pastors are straying from true Christian teachings. Our rural community has four churches.....two LCMS and two ELCA!! Lots of Lutherans settled the land here years ago! I wish you the best in your search for a different church. Yes, LCMS tends to hold to traditional Christian teachings, and for that I'm thankful, BUT.....as your ELCA pastor is going to one extreme, some LCMS pastors go to the other extreme, of rigid orthodoxy. I always think there has to be happy medium in there somewhere. Best wishes, and stop by again (and think about starting a blog!).
rhymeswithplague: Thank you for your kind comments. Yes, I have trouble swallowing the emphasis on the sacraments (I grew up Baptist). Since I joined this Lutheran church 30 years ago the pastors have gotten progressively more orthodox because that's what the seminary is encouraging. On paper it may sound good, but in reality, the rigidness drives people away.....and the pastors don't seem to care!
nannykim: Thank you for commenting despite your back discomfort! Interesting that you've been studying the covenant thread in the Bible. The guy yesterday just threw alot at us, and I like to dig in and discuss things and that didn't happen, which is no big deal, of course, just me being critical. I agree that a life outside of Christ is messy.....but,like you say "there is beauty because of grace", which how I prefer to look at life. These pastors we've had lately seem to teach that "grace" occurs ONLY when you are hearing them speak the Word of God in your ear, and when they are giving you Communion. That's it......folks. Anything else good that happens in your life.....well, it might be from the devil, so don't even consider it good. The only time grace is present is when the pastor is present. I have a problem swallowing that. I liked what you wrote about depression because that is exactly how I feel about it and I have experienced it. I prefer to view life as good, that even when there is messy stuff going on.....God is at work!
God's blessings to all of you!
I think the reason why more and more people are not associated with a formalized church/faith is because the churches have failed us. People borrow from other faiths and end up finding deeper meaning in spirituality they have developed themselves. It can end up being better than anything else.
I am a hybrid of sorts. Catholic but fiercly angry at my Church on a whole host of issues. I love the Church for its rituals, and history, and not much else. The rest of my spirituality is largely eastern or new thought.
Nice post Jeannelle.
Thanks, Sherry, for your comment and insights. You speak of finding a deeper spirituality.....I can identify with that desire. But, in my church, there is no such thing acknowledged or allowed, even, and that has been frustrating to me. Martin Luther used Communion participation as the measuring stick for the Christian's life. He said that people who abstain and absent themselves from the sacrament over a long period of time are not to be considered Christians. That's it, folks.....make sure you are baptized and take Communion.....that keeps you saved.
If you read about the history of the Church way back through the centuries it seems apparent that the sacrament was used as a way to gain power over people. It was something they had to do to remain saved. I believe it is something a Christian should desire to participate in, but not viewed as a requirement.....then it is a work of man, in my opinion.
As far as eastern faiths and new thought. I won't disparage them.....mostly I think they are geared to changing the way a person thinks and maybe they shouldn't be viewed as a religion. Actually, there are things in the Bible that run parallel with eastern thought.....karma: look up "reap" and "reaps" in your Bible's concordance.....positive thinking: look up Philippians 4:8 (that's a verse depressives should keep in mind).
I think there's much about the workings of our world and our bodies that we don't yet understand. Our bodies run by electrical energy......thoughts are energy, I've read. And I can't totally discount the idea that thoughts, especially emotionally-charged thoughts, travel to others in some literal, physical way. I'm not talking about new-age, voodoo stuff here......I'm suggesting literal, physical attributes of our brains that we don't yet have an understanding of.
I think the Church marched in wherever it could and stomped native wisdom into the ground. Whatever truth there was in any of that wisdom will return eventually.
Sorry for this long-winded comment on your comment!
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