EMerge: The Blog

March 8 Stated Meeting Materials Online

Documents for the March 8 Presbytery meeting at Valley Community Presbyterian Church in Golden Valley are now available.  Please check back for added documents over the coming days.

Stations of Life: A Lenten Journey- February 28, 2008

February 28, 2008

Passage: John 6:51-71

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.

When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.” Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.” He was speaking of Judas son of Simon Iscariot, for he, though one of the twelve, was going to betray him. 

Jesus could be quite a downer at times, huh?

Stations of Life: A Lenten Journey- February 26, 2008

February 26, 2008

Passage: John 6:41-51

Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

I love the Simpsons. It's probably one of the best shows out there that comments on modern society.   

The Stations of Life: A Lenten Journey- February 25, 2008

February 25, 2008

Passage: John 6:27-40

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.’ Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’ So they said to him, ‘What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” ’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’

Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.’

Recently, I was chatting with a Lutheran pastor who has started a new church in the Southern Twin Cities Suburbs.  She talked about church planting not being about precise planning, but simply about trusting how God works. 

Stations of Life: A Lenten Journey- February 24, 2008

February 24, 2008
Passage:John 4:5-42
So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.

A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’. (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’ (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink”, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?’ Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.’

Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come back.’ The woman answered him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you^* say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’ The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.’  Jesus said to her, ‘I am he, the one who is speaking to you.’

Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, ‘What do you want?’ or, ‘Why are you speaking with her?’ Then the woman left her water-jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?’ They left the city and were on their way to him.

Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’ But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ So the disciples said to one another, ‘Surely no one has brought him something to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, “Four months more, then comes the harvest”? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving^* wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. ³⁷For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labour. Others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour.’

Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I have ever done.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there for two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Saviour of the world.’

Editor's Note: The following is a sermon preached at Lake Harriet Christian Church in Minneapolis on February 24.

Stations of Life: A Lenten Journey- February 22, 2008

February 22, 2008
Passage:John 6:1-15
"After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick.  Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples.  Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near.  When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?’  He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, ‘Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.’ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?’ Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’ Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.’ So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.’

When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself. "

Several  years ago, I and several others performed a skit at my college fellowship group.  In it, there was a person sitting at a desk.  You find out over the skit that the person at the desk is God.  A number of people come to the desk.  The first one is a frantic woman who asks for this and that and the other, never letting God get a word in edgewise.  The second visitor is a man who "talks" to God is bombastic tones with lots of "thees" and "thous."  Again, God is never allowed to speak to the person.  It was as if God wasn't there.

Caring for the Vulerable During the Winter Months

Minnesota has long been called the "nation's icebox."  While we prepare for the bone-chilling temps by dressing warmly, many of us only have to hop from our cars to our places of work and homes there are many who have to brave the elements without a place to call home. 

The Office of National Health Ministries has put together a valuable list for individuals and congregations to help those during the Winter Months.  For more information, please go to: http://www.pcusa.org/nationalhealth/careteams/vulnerable-people-cold-weather.htm

Performance @ First, Stillwater by Local Pastor

JULIAN will be brought to life at First Presbyterian Church of Stillwater, as Linda C. Loving performs the one woman drama  portraying the life and times and wisdom of the 14^th century English mystic Julian of Norwich. Rev. Loving has performed “Julian” around the country for over 19 years. The drama is especially relevant in the season of Lent and will be featured in the

Stillwater

sanctuary on Sunday March 9 at 7 p.m. Admission is $10 and tickets are available at the door or in advance at the church office, 6201 Osgood Ave N. The play lasts one hour and fifteen minutes; for more background go to www.JulianOfNorwich.com.

The Stations of Life: A Lenten Journey- February 21, 2008

February 21, 2008

Passage:Matthew 11:16-30

‘But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market-places and calling to one another,
“We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.”
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon”; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!” Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.’ Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done, because they did not repent. ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, on the day of judgement it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum,
will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades.
For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that on the day of judgement it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you.’ At that time Jesus said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

I recently watched the movie, Persepolis.  Based on a graphic novel, it tells the true story of Marjane Satrapi, an Iranian woman who grew up during the latter days of the Shah, the Iranian Revolution and the Islamic Republic.  As you watch the film, you see how the women went from wearing whatever they wanted to headscarves.  Parties were banned, as was alcohol.  One of the more comicly abusurd scenes is when Marjane is in college studying art.  She along with her classmates are painting a portrait.  Normally, you would expect the student painting a nude, but because this was Iran under the Islamic Republic, the woman was wearing a full chador, which covered her entire body. 

"Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens..." In an essay entitled "The Yoke of Religion," theologian Paul Tillich explains that Jesus statement was that he would bring us easy lives, but that he would bring freedom from the heavy burdens of religion.  He writes:

The religious law demands that he accept ideas and dogmas, that he believe in doctrines and traditions, the acceptance of which is the condition of his salvation from anxiety, despair and death. So he tries to accept them, although they may have become strange or doubtful to him. He labors and toils under the religious demand to believe things he cannot believe. Finally he tries to escape the law of religion. He tries to cast away the heavy yoke of the doctrinal law imposed on him by Church authorities, orthodox teachers, pious parents, and fixed traditions. He becomes critical and skeptical. He casts away the yoke; but none can live in the emptiness of mere skepticism, and so he returns to the old yoke in a kind of self-torturing fanaticism and tries to impose it on other people, on his children or pupils. He is driven by an unconscious desire for revenge, because of the burden he has taken upon himself. Many families are disrupted by painful tragedies and many minds are broken by this attitude of parents, teachers and priests. Others, unable to stand the emptiness of skepticism, find new yokes outside the Church, new doctrinal laws under which they begin to labor: political ideologies which they propagate with religious fanaticism; scientific theories which they defend with religious dogmatism; and utopian expectations they pronounce as the condition of salvation for the world, forcing whole nations under the yoke of their creeds which are religions, even while they pretend to destroy religion. We are all laboring under the yoke of religion; we all, sometimes, try to throw away old or new doctrines or dogmas, but after a little while we return, again enslaving ourselves and others in their servitude.

The same is true of the practical laws of religion. They demand ritual activities, the participation in religious enterprises, and the study of religious traditions, prayer, sacraments and meditations. They demand moral obedience, inhuman self-control and asceticism, devotion to man and things beyond our possibilities, surrender to ideas and duties beyond our power, unlimited self-negation, and unlimited self-perfection: the religious law demands the perfect in all respects. And our conscience agrees with this demand. But the split in our being is derived from just this: that the perfect, although it is the truth, is beyond us, against us, judging and condemning us. So we try to throw away the ritual and moral demands. We neglect them, we hate them, we criticize them; some of us display a cynical indifference toward the religious and moral law. But since mere cynicism is as impossible as mere skepticism, we return to old or new laws, becoming more fanatic than ever before, and take a yoke of the law upon us, which is more self-defying, more cruel against ourselves, and more willing to coerce other people under the same yoke in the name of the perfect. Jesus Himself becomes for these perfectionists, puritans and moralists a teacher of the religious law putting upon us the heaviest of all burdens, the burden of His law. But that is the greatest possible distortion of the mind of Jesus. This distortion can be found in the minds of those who crucified Him because He broke the religious law, not by fleeing from it like the cynical Sadducees, but by overcoming it.

Religion, any religion, can become a burden to us.  Iranian society, as depicted in Persepolis, was incredibly burdensome, shakling the people to conform and stripping away any freedom.  Many people have made Christianity into something that is more about following rules than about freedom. 

In Jesus' day, people were living under the law.  Clean people here, unclean people there.  The law was given as a way to show to the world a people living under God, but instead it became a burden that crushed people.  When Jesus comes, he starts disobeying the law.  He reaches out to the unclean and heals them.  He raises the dead.  He speaks with Samaritan women.  He shows a life "above the law" one where people, not dogmas, matter.

Christ comes to bring us freedom, freedom from the bondage of sin and the bondage of the law.  In Christ, there is freedom. 

May it be so.

God in Christ, it is so easy to lose sight of what is important.  We place our faith in rules when you ask us to love one another.  We try to make others toe the line when you ask us to care for the poor.  Forgive us, and help us to remember to live in freedom and not fear. Amen.

Dennis Sanders is the IT/Communications Specialist for the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area. He is also an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Stations of Life: A Lenten Journey- February 20, 2008

February 20, 2008

Passage:Matthew 11:1-15

"‘Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and proclaim his message in their cities. When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.’ As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.”
Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John came; and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. Let anyone with ears listen! "

"Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" That was the question John the Baptist had while he is sitting in prison. Here is John, facing execution and he is starting to have doubts about his cousin. He has questions and he wants answers. A friend who is also a pastor was planning on preaching this sermon in a missional way. When people enter the doors of a church, they are asking this very question that John asked of Jesus so long ago. "Are you the One?" For three years, I was involved in a church plant. The church never really got off the ground, but I did learn a lot of things during that time. One is that the church has a lot of work to do. Many of the people I met, many whom I would consider friends, had stopped going to church for various reasons. For them, the answer to John the Baptist's question was flat out "no."

The people we meet in our daily life continue to ask this question. Are we the community of faith we profess to be? Do we represent Christ? How do we answer that question? Jesus answers it by saying that the blind can see, the deaf can hear, the dead have come back to life and the poor have good news brough to them. The answer is that the proof is in the pudding. Are we sharing the Good News of Christ? Are we healing the sick, bringing hope to the poor? If so, then are actions are a sign that we are following the One who is to come.

Ghandi once said, "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

There are many who are seeking. When they encounter us as a professed follower of Christ, will they see us as followers of the One: caring for sick, tending to the poor, or will they echo Ghandi's sentiments?

God in Christ, we know you are the One who is to come. There are no others. Give us the stregnth and courage to live a life in your footsteps.Amen.

Dennis Sanders is the IT/Communications Specialist for the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area. He is also an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).