Opening Worship at #GA222

It’s the hymns that always get to me.  The opening worship of this year’s General Assembly was no exception.  Imagine joining with hundreds of voices in worship and praise and prayer… accompanied by local musicians who made up the vocal choir, the handbell and chime choir, all accompanied by piano and organ.  Imagine standing in line, reverently waiting to be nourished by bread and cup as we remembered the presence of the Risen Christ in our midst.

As the worship began, water, cup, bread, and candle were processed in.  During the call to worship all present prayed: “We praise you, the three-in-one God. Without you we will not make it through the week.  You are ‘The Hope in Our Calling’ in the cascading waters of baptism.”  In other parts of the liturgy, we were called to remember our baptism in the words, “Be people of the water! Travel wet!”

Orlando and Charleston were mentioned at the very beginning of Moderator Heath Rada’s sermon as he reflected upon the biblical stories of Joseph and brothers and of the Prodigal Son.  So many of his words resonated deeply in me and in the hearts of those around me, as evidenced by moist eyes, quiet “amens,” heads nodding in agreement and affirmation.  Some of his words that so touched me:

·      “The Father in the story of the Prodigal Son was not open to negotiation.  Unconditional love and welcome were his choices.”

·      “The question for us all is, ‘Do we want to be found?’”

·      “We’re called to be a renewed family. That takes courage. Will you embrace it?”

·      “Go into the world as a work in progress… The world will be better because you are in it!”

The person sitting next to me, teaching elder commissioner Nancy Young from Newton Presbytery, reflected on the why this opening worship service was so important to her.  “The Presbyterian Church is a small church.  We come here from big churches and small.  But here we are in a worship service that is over-the-top expansive…. This is my family.  And we get to worship God together, as the Body of Christ.”

We were reminded that people from around the world – literally – were joining us in worship.  I know people in my own Presbytery in Central New York were gathered around computer screens, live-streaming the worship, able to participate through the online worship bulletin that was available from GA.  I was so aware of that as we celebrated Communion, remembering the words, “People will come from north and south, from east and west, and sit at Table in the realm of God.”

Working in the Church can sometimes be a lonely venture.  Today, once again, I was powerfully reminded that I am not alone.  Not ever.  Around me was my church family – most of whom I had not met – but they were family nonetheless.  And God embraced us all.  As Heath reminded us: “You are loved so much.  It’s as if God has nothing else to do!”

"How long, O Lord?"

The Psalms of our Hebrew Scriptures always have constituted the Prayer Book of the
people of God. In the Christian tradition, psalms have been read and prayed during
services of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer for centuries. Monks and nuns read and
pray the psalms several times each day, working through all 150 Psalms every two weeks.
Billy Graham once suggested that everyone read through the Psalms every month,
reading five each day.

As I have read and prayed the psalms for years, sometimes I find that it almost seems to
be a non-thinking routine. Other times, each psalm seems to be alive and filled with power
and wonder and meaning. Other times, a psalm seems to be just utterly detestable... take,
for example, the last verse of Psalm 137!

Author, pastor, and theologian, Eugene Peterson, reminds us that the psalms are there to
help us pray in ways we otherwise might not, to give voice to negative emotions we might
be tempted to deny, to give us words to pray when we have no words of our own.
Ever since the events in Orlando of last Sunday morning, when so many innocent people
were systematically gunned down, I have tried to find words to pray. When the horror of
such a blatant attack on members and allies of the LGBTQ community - especially during
Pride Month - began to force its way past my initial disbelief that something like this could
happen, I have tried to find words to pray. As I have reached out to friends far and wide
who are a part of the LGBTQ community, and as I have heard their pain, their grief, their
fear, I have tried to find words to pray.

At times, my prayers seemed to just tumble out of my mouth and heart in a torrent of
compassion and love and pain and heartache and anger. At times, I simply sat in silence,
trying to hold those in pain within the embrace of God's love and light. At times, words
completely failed me.

Consistently, though, these words from Psalm 13, have echoed within me:

"How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long?"

Usually, these words have been abbreviated to this two-word, piercing question and
prayer: "How long?"

I want God to DO something! I want God to take away pain and fear from those who are
suffering! I want God to beat some sense into our lawmakers! I want God to stop people
from perpetrating this mind-boggling violence! I just want God to STOP IT ALL!

"How long, O Lord," I cry! How long until justice is realized? How long until love reigns
supreme? How long until "the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our Lord, who
shall reign forever and ever?" "How long, O Lord?"

And then I realize that God has not abandoned us. God has not left us solely to our own
devices. God has not ceased to love and care and stand with us. God carries our pain,
and shares in it. God holds our tears, and sheds divine tears right with us. God wraps us
in grace and compassion, even when/if we're not aware of that.

And then I realize something else. "How long" is not just a question that I am asking of God.
"How long" also is a question that I must ask of myself...that we all must ask of ourselves.
"How long" will WE put up with conditions that lead to this kind of horror and tragedy?

I don't know the answers to much of this. But I do know that I have to continue to ask this
question to the Lord: "How long?" And I know that we have to ask ourselves that very same
question.

Praying for you to experience anew love, grace, comfort... and even hope.

Thoughts on disagreement...as Christians, as Presbyterians

I am angered, and hurt, and sad...but mostly sad, I suppose.

A colleague Stated Clerk, whom I have known for decades, and who I respect and value as
a colleague and friend, shared some comments about a committee of the General
Assembly, of which I am a member, not only questioning our written statements about
some of the issues coming to this year's Assembly, but using terms that were dismissive at
best, derisive at worst, of the careful, deliberative work of the committee. I have responded
to this individual in writing, and asked that we make some time soon to talk together
directly, either in person (perhaps even at the Assembly in Portland) or at least by phone.
Our relationship is such that I trust such a conversation will be able to take place.

All of this got me wondering, however. If a close and valued colleague in the Church of
Jesus Christ can write things that sting like that...well, I suppose this is indicative of the kinds
of things we see more and more frequently in our broader society.

Disagreeing with someone's opinion about an issue rarely can seem to take place without
viewing that other person as "stupid," "uninformed," "ignorant." One can scarcely express
a different viewpoint from someone without being attacked, shamed, or ridiculed. We see it
in national political discourse. We see it in our communities. Sadly - and shamefully, I
believe - we sometimes see it within the Body of Christ, the Church.

In the powerful and helpful document of our Church from the 204th General Assembly
(1992) of the Presbyterian Church, "Seeking to be Faithful Together: Guidelines for
Presbyterians During Times of Disagreement," the Church calls us to:

• "Treat each other respectfully so as to build trust, believing that we all desire to be faithful to Jesus the Christ;" and
• "Focus on ideas and suggestions instead of questioning people's motives, intelligence or integrity."

The entire document is well worth your read. I've posted it on our Presbytery's website, and you can read it here.

How might our congregations, our Presbytery, the Church, even our society, be different if
we adopted simply the above two bullet points? I sometimes confess to being naive about
human nature - even though I am a confirmed Calvinist! - yet I don't believe that many
people get out of bed in the morning, thinking, "Who can I vilify today? Who can I make look
really stupid today?" We can do better. We are called to be better. We simply must act
better!

Christ calls us to disagree more compassionately and more faithfully with each other. And
the Church extends that invitation to each of us... to all of us.