St. Mark's EvangeLion
from Pastor Thomas S. Hanson
Every now and then, the Sunday bulletin has an empty page or large unused section. Rather than leave it empty and encourage people to doodle during the sermon, I have written these short articles to share some ideas I've been thinking about or issues and concerns I have for our congregation. I'll try to keep them brief, to the point, and mostly light-hearted. The newest ones are on top.
The name “EvangeLion” is a mixture of the Greek word evangel, meaning “good news,” and lion, the symbol of St. Mark, the evangelist, our patron saint.
posted: 22 NOV 2011
Building blocks
Last Sunday (10/30) we had a feedback session after worship. It was great to see so many people there and interested in what was happening in our congregation. I want to address two things that were discussed at the meeting.
I. Where are we going?
I started our conversation by asking for any questions the congregation had of me now that you have called me as your pastor. We had a good discussion about youth ministry and pastoral visitation — what pastor and people expect of this important ministry. Near the end of the discussion, I was asked what my near-term goals are for St. Mark's Lutheran Church.
I have three such goals for the next year or two:
- Building trust and cohesiveness within the congregation;
- Building a strong financial foundation of generous stewardship on which to expand and enhance our ministries;
- Building the congregation by the addition of at least 35 new members (approx. 10% of membership) in 2012.
These are my goals but I cannot accomplish them without you. This is our ministry and it will take the commitment and sacrifice of all to grow as a vibrant and caring congregation.
II. One Sunday worship service
I am opposed having only a single worship service on Sundays, except during summer. I gave three reasons at the meeting: choice, space, and lower attendance, but I have one more. I refuse to surrender that we are a dying congregation. That is what such a retreat will signal. If we like full worship services, then it is the responsibility of all of us to invite people and to welcome and support those who come to worship with us.
posted: 09 OCT 2011
Now what have we done?
I’ve been an intentional interim pastor since September 2001 and now for the first time in those ten years, I have a church home. Now I can be Pastor Tom without any adjective before that noble title. Just “pastor” is fine with me. For that, I thank the Holy Spirit who brought me to Florida three years ago — but to the wrong St. Mark’s (Palm Coast). Now, I’m home in the right one.
Hired or called?
Ours is now a changed relationship. A year ago, you hired me as your intentional interim pastor, now you have called me as your pastor. “Hired” and “called” are not two words for the same thing. There’s a difference.
“Called” means we believe the Holy Spirit is always in the middle of this relationship guiding both the congregation and the pastor. “Called” means people and pastor concentrate on hearing, preaching, and living the gospel together. “Called” shapes a deep commitment to one another; the pastor is not a hireling and the people are not clients. “Called” is a mar-riage, not an employment contract. Neither the pastor nor congregation is “the boss.” We are pastor and people and there is no better definition and no better relationship.
Now what?
Much of what we have done and shared together so far will not change much, but you will notice a shift from “now” to “long-term.” In the inter-view with the call committee and at several official and unofficial gather-ings, I’ve talked about what I see as the needs and direction of St. Mark’s. Over the next few Sundays, I’ll use “EvangeLion” to explain those ideas and I hope you understand these short articles as discussion-starters.
- I know the need to rebuild trust and confidence in all relation-ships — one-to-one and group-to-group;
- I understand the necessity to rededicate ourselves to support the ministries we are called to undertake;
- I recognize the will of the Holy Spirit to lead us in new ways.
posted: 22 SEP 2011
Listening to Mandy
I have a Global Position System (GPS) in my car. Appropriately, it's a "Tom Tom" brand. My wife Sue and I used it in our recent drive from St. Paul to Jacksonville. We've started referring to this little device as "Mandy," the name of the voice that tells us where we are and when to turn.
I have been using Mandy in Jacksonville since last winter and one thing I learned is: Trust her.
On several occasions I thought I knew a better way to go and took off on my own. Sooner or later, I found that I was lost.
At first on our trip, we didn't have to pay much attention to Mandy because we were going through familiar territory — southern Minnesota and Iowa, but then we got into Illinois and Indiana and needed her direction through the maze of highways.
I kept reminding Sue, "Just trust Mandy." When the roads got confusing, we took our eyes off the map and just listened to Mandy. When we were turned around in a city after stopping for a meal and gas, we listened to Mandy and she got us out of complicated parking lots and frontage roads. Only once did we find ourselves at a dead end and that was because we ignored the "Local Traffic Only" sign that had just gone up. It wasn't Mandy's fault
No, I'm not going to compare Mandy to God, but there is one thing I was reminded about how God works. Our GPS worked best when we trusted it. That's a hard thing to do: to look at the small screen and the tiny pit of road it shows and follow its directions. It takes giving up full control. It means just following, even if you can't see the whole map. Soon it became a comfortable thing to do.
What if you tried that—just letting go of control and following where God directs? What if we trusted God fully and not the maps and charts we have made for ourselves?
posted: 22 JUL 2011
Seeing the hand of God
While I was home in Minnesota, I took walks along Lake Johanna. It is a small lake just one block from my home. The morning walks were great. All along the path, the huge cottonwoods, their massive branches arching over water, were accented by the darker greens of the spruce and pine trees. Together, they painted the shoreline all around. Two small boats with rainbow sails moved effortlessly across the water. Kids stood on the shore with their fishing rods, stared intently at white and red bobbers hoping for a fish to bite. There is no mistaking when Minnesota changes seasons — from winter to summer or summer to winter.
From what I've experienced in Florida, that transition is not always clear. At what point do we mark the transition from winter to spring to summer to fall? Some years we just glide from one season to the next and it's only as we look back can we see the transition.
Some of the changes and transitions in my own life were easy to see — graduation, marriage, the birth of our children. Sometimes those changes were tough ones, such as when our doctor told my wife, “You have multiple sclerosis. ” Or when my wife called and told me my father had died. When events like those happen, everything changes and when they happen, we know life will never be the same again — for good or ill.
It is often in looking back over months or even years that we can begin to see that we have moved from spring to summer or fall to winter. That we have experienced change is true, but the questions remains: When did it happen? When did you get old enough? When did you see the hand of God in the changes of your seasons? Tough questions.
It is only in looking back that we realize we are different now than we were before.
In the aftermath of hurricanes, economic meltdown, and the continuing storms of war, people ask, Where is God in all this? Many feel alone or abandoned because they cannot see the hand of God pulling people from swirling waters, holding up crashing bank accounts, or stopping flying shrapnel. Often, God's hand is not clearly visible in those times, just as it is not clearly visible in the clinic examination room, or even in a congregation.
Often, it takes time and distance to see that God truly was present, even when we thought him absent. We may not have wanted the outcome, but we can see God's hand in the hand of others.
A long time ago, God made a decision. God decided that the best way to care for us was not by remaining a god in heaven. God became human in Jesus. And Jesus turned our eyes from the heavens to the earth, from god-things to human-things. He is our down-to-earth savior. Jesus said to us, “This is my body, this is my blood.” And the apostle Paul said, “Now you are the body of Christ. ” That presence of Christ continues with us as we are present for one another.
We are present with each other as we move through life's seasons and transitions. We are the presence of God in this world for each other. And whether life's transitions are evident or take a long time to see and understand, we know that we do not move through the seasons of our lives blind and alone. We are always and forever in the hands of God.
posted: 19 JUN 2011
The “usual”
A gyro hero
On Tuesday, I was invited by a friend to meet him for lunch at Athens Café on St. Augustine Road. As we entered, we were warmly welcomed and ushered to a table. As soon as we were seated, we were asked what we wanted for a beverage, then a basket of crusty bread appeared with a bowl of and olive oil. I asked my friend what some of the dishes with unfamiliar names were and he was able to tell me. When the waitress came my friend said, "The usual." I wasn't quite sure, so both the waitress and my friend offered some suggestions. I went safe: I ordered the pita gyro and a bowl of lemon chicken soup. I now have a new favorite restaurant!
I tell you this, not as a restaurant review but as an illustration of how to invite someone to a new experience and then help them to enjoy that experience. Clearly, my friend had been there before, because "the usual" was not an item on my menu. Because of his familiarity with the restaurant and the menu, I felt comfortable in ordering what he recommended. But more than that, I was made to feel welcomed and at easy by the waitress and my friend.
Welcome
I wonder … Try the same techniques my friend used and invite your friend to church. You could be their host and help them through the "menu," gently explaining things they are not familiar with. You may find you've introduced them to a new experience.
The fact that it was a Greek restaurant was also significant. It was not the sort of restaurant I would go to without someone inviting me. Like many, I'm not that thrilled with things I don't know about. But now I've learned: when I step outside of the ordinary, I soon discover the extraordinary. Don't you find that true, too?
Posted: 12 JUN 2011
Giving, serving & receiving
Take away take-away and take off
About a month ago, I stood before this congregation and said that in light of St. Mark's troubled finances, I was pledging an extra Sunday's offering each month this year. I invited you to join me in making additional contributions as you are able — additional days, weeks, or months make a big difference.
I make my additional pledge by cutting back on my restaurant and coffee shop expenses. There are hundreds of ways you can find ways to share yourself. So, how are you doing in supporting our mission to St. Mark's, Jacksonville, and around the world?
Wait-staff needed
No, we're not opening a restaurant—although I have thought about renting Fellowship Hall to Panera Bread …
Seriously, what we need are more people to become assisting ministers and lectors for our worship services. You know how important good worship is to St. Mark's. You also know that good worship doesn't just happen. It is the community working together for the sake of the community. Worship is our work and witness.
Serving as an assisting minister or lector is not difficult; frankly, it is fun once you get over the early nervousness. (The secret is, just act like you know what you are doing.) I will provide you with all the training and cheerleading you need. If you are interested, talk to me. Serve with the wait-staff at St. Mark's!
Refreshing summer salads for the spirit
Join us for Bible study Wednesday mornings at 10:30 in the library. We're relishing Mark's gospel. For those new to Lutheranism and for old-timers, the refreshing "Being Lutheran" class meets Thursdays, June 16, 23, and 30 at 7:00 pm in the library.
posted: 29 MAY 2011
I was just thinking
Rapture redo
There has been much press coverage about the end of the world, which we apparently missed on May 21. The so-called "theology" behind discerning a date for the end comes from 19th century American dispensationalism. It is based on one verse from 1 Peter, I think, about believers being taken up into the sky. From that, it's nothing but a cut-and-paste job of phrases and half-verses snatched from all over the Bible and served up as "proof." Those who promote this foolishness have forgotten Jesus who said, "Only the Father knows the times and seasons for the end." The best response to this crazy talk comes from Charles Schultz, the creator of the "Peanuts" cartoon: "Don't worry about the world ending today. It's already tomorrow in Australia."
Memorial Day thanks
Memorial Day was first established to honor the dead of the Civil War. Since then, it has grown into a day of remembrance of all who gave "their last full measure" in defense of our country. Be sure to honor those brave men and women who gave so much that we might have so much. Remember also our own ancestors. Remember them for all the sacrifices they made — the churches, the schools, the hospitals, the communities, and all they built and willed to us. We are the beneficiaries of those who went before us. Let us so give to others who follow.
posted: 11 OCT 2010
Being right
In his great little book, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff… and It's All Small Stuff, the psychiatrist Richard Carlson observed, "How many times have you criticized someone and had them respond by saying, "Thank you so much for pointing out my flaws. I really appreciate it'?" (p. 123) And after we criticize, it is we who often feel deflated or ashamed, as if we were the one under attack, for we know we are really not that certain of ourselves.
In the same strain, Lutheran theologian and teacher Craig Nessan, writes in his book, Many Members Yet One Body, "Being right is not the most important thing in the world. Being charitable is. At least this is the wisdom of the apostle Paul as he wrote to the deeply conflicted congregation at Corinth" (p. 51). He urges us in the church to move beyond the rhetoric of polarization to abide by a rhetoric of charity. Both Carlson and Nessan have and understanding that there is something that should lead our life together beyond merely being right or comfortable.
That "something" is the realization that none of us are without fault, without sin; none of us hold all wisdom and knowledge; none of us know what it is to be the other. In various ways, psychiatrists, theologians, and teachers of various religions and disciplines have tried to name this center. For we who call ourselves Lutheran, we look to our faith-foundation — justification by grace through faith.
We know in our bones, as the apostle Paul did, that what we want to do is often what we do not do and what we do not want to do is what we often do. It is God who makes us right with him, not we making ourselves right with God. Martin Luther said, "We are at the same time sinners and saved." Saved by Jesus dying on the cross of all our criticism, of all our division, of all our rhetoric of polarization.
At this time in the life of your congregation, you might feel tempted to criticize, to belittle the thoughts of another person. As conflict arises, remember that your salvation does not depend on being right, Christ has already saved you. As Paul wrote in Romans 5:
"For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly… God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God" (vs. 6-9).
The center of the Gospel is that we are justified by grace through faith for the sake of Jesus Christ. This alone is the ultimate reason and guide for the church's existence. While difficult social issues and community issues are important, they remain only secondary concerns to be discussed by people who all "fall short of the glory of God."
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page created: 12 JUN 2011
page updated: 07 NOV 2011
