Being SMART

I am a list maker, planner, goal setting kind of guy. Becky is not. She is much more seat of the pants, it will all work out, don’t worry about it kind of person. We are good for each other. Although my goal setting and plan making can drive her crazy.

It is the last week of the year, so my mind is already down the road into 2012. What do I want to accomplish? What resolutions should I make?

I heard a commentator say the other day that we shouldn’t bother, we never keep them anyway. It was interesting because on the same show they featured people who had lost half their body weight without surgery. It all began with some kind of resolution to get smaller.

The reason most of us don’t keep our resolutions is because they are too vague. That’s why we all need to set S.M.A.R.T. goals. Smart Goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.

“Get in shape” is too general. “Join a health club and work out three days a week” is more specific.

If I want to read more, how many books would that be...one a week, two a month? When would I read them? Monday and Thursday evenings? Specific and Measurable.

I must keep the goal Attainable. Is one a week attainable? Two a month might be more attainable.

Is two a month Realistic? I must set the goal high, but also be reasonable.

The Time frame is two a month, twenty four by the end of the year.

As a faithful follower of Jesus, one of my goals for 2012 should be to become more like Christ. However, that is a little vague. What will I do to be more like Jesus? In the first century if someone was a disciple of a particular rabbi, they wanted to follow that rabbi so closely that the dust kicked up while the rabbi walked would land on the disciple’s clothing. You would be embracing the dust of the rabbi.

How can I collect some Jesus dust in 2012?

Research indicates that the two greatest catalysts for spiritual growth are scripture reading and service. If I want to be more like Jesus in 2012, I need to engage in some kind of intentional, disciplined, scripture reading program and find places to serve.

I have a bible app on my phone that offers literally hundreds of bible reading plans, from topical, to chronological, to historical and in increments from reading the entire bible in 90 days to a one year plan.

There are literally hundreds of ways to serve by using the gifts, talents, abilities and passions God has given me. I just need to make a decision on where, when and how. The tricky part for a pastor is that I can’t count anything in my job description as serving!

If you are a faithful follower of Jesus, my guess is that you would like to wear “the dust of the rabbi”. But like any other goal, it requires us to be SMART. We need to be intentional about becoming more like Jesus.

If we all would become more like Jesus, a resolution would become a revolution!

What is your plan?

Happy New Year!

Things Get Lost

The date was chosen for pragmatic reasons. It fit our schedule. I was a first year teacher coaching football and basketball in Eaton Rapids, Michigan (a small town about 20 minutes South of East Lansing). Becky was finishing her senior year at Hope. We had planned to get married in the summer after Becky graduated, but decided to move the date up to December.

The window for our wedding was small. It had to be soon after the first semester finished at Hope so our friends could attend without having to go home and then come to Chicago. It had to fit around my schedule which included teaching and coaching until December 20 and returning for basketball practice and games by December 26. It had to be on a Saturday. Thus we were married on December 22, 1973. That’s right 38 years ago! It is really hard to believe that it has been that long.

One of the things we didn’t anticipate when we chose our date was how easily our wedding anniversary could get lost in the craziness of Christmas festivities. Working in full-time ministry only added to that likelihood. There have been many years where the acknowledgement of out anniversary has been an afterthought, or a “drive-by” acknowledgement as we moved on to another event or responsibility.

This is the time of year when things can get lost. The joy of the season can be drowned out by personal pain and difficulty brought on by financial crises, struggles with illness, or a personal tragedy. The peace that is supposed to be central to Christmas can get lost in family dysfunction and turmoil. The mystery of Christmas can be distorted by all of the events, programs, and functions we have to attend that leave us more filled with weariness than wonder. The central event of Christmas, the gift of God becoming man, is often overshadowed by the demands of gift buying and present giving. It is easy for Christ to get lost in the chaos that is Christmas.

Becky and I will take time out from Christmas festivities to have a quiet dinner together to acknowledge and celebrate the gift of marriage. We will reflect on the great adventure that God designed for us with all the ups and downs that 38 years can bring. We will thank God for His provision on that adventure and ask Him to bless us with many more years of friendship and love.

Sometime later in the week we will take time to thank God for the unbelievable gift of His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, whose birth is central to this season of the year. We won’t let Him get lost!

We will also thank God for the gift of ministry in a new place, with new people, who have been wonderfully warm, accepting and encouraging in our brief time at Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church.

It is also easy for some of the more pragmatic aspects of ministry to get lost during the Christmas season. One of those pragmatic things is our church budget which runs through December 31. We have a receipts deficit of $200,000 that we need to receive to meet our budget for 2011. It is imperative that we meet this receipts target to put ourselves in an acceptable position relative to financing opportunities that may be available to us and that we must pursue in 2012. Please consider how you might help us achieve this year end goal.

May God bless all of you as you celebrate Christ’s birth in the many and various ways that will take place. Thank you for the gift of allowing me to be your Lead Pastor.

                              

May God bless us, everyone!

                                                                                 

Rev.

God is Odd

As I have been preparing for this week’s message, I have been reflecting on the events that make up the Christmas story. My text for this Sunday is the story of the angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary (Luke 1:26-38). Gabriel lays out the whole plan for Mary. She is going to become pregnant, through the Holy Spirit, and be the earthly mother of God’s own Son, the long awaited Messiah.

This leaves Mary with a lot of questions. And it makes me wonder. I wonder what I would think if one of our junior high girls came to me with this story. I am pretty sure my reaction would be filled with cynicism and skepticism. I would wonder about her mental stability. I might suspect drug use. I would think she was delusional.

I would spend time with her parents, who would corroborate that she had told them the same story and they had many of the same reactions. That’s why they sent her to the pastor! She had never demonstrated this kind of thinking or dreaming previously.

Can you imagine how this must have unfolded for Mary? What does a teenager tell her friends about this pregnancy? The whole situation was embarrassing and unbelievable. No doubt her friends would abandon her. She would be the talk of the town, but not in a good way.

And her fiance, Joseph, how would he react? He was a super nice guy, but no guy would take this news well.

My guess is that people her at church would whisper about her, wonder, shake their head in dismay, disgust and disbelief.

We have romanticized, sanitized and commercialized the story and in doing so it has lost its scandalous nature.  If this happened today, we wouldn’t do so well with this story, I am afraid. People don’t get visits from angels. Young girls can’t be impregnated by the Holy Spirit. God wouldn’t become a human being. Certainly if Jesus would be born today it would take place in New York, Chicago or Los Angeles, not Hull, Iowa.

There is so much surrounding this Christmas story that is incredible and incredulous. It is hard to believe, which is what makes the story so powerful. It is a story that requires faith; faith that our God is the God of unlikely choices, of unpredictable activity, of unusual means. God doesn’t play by our rules. God is subversive and counter-cultural. Part of what this story teaches us is that God wants to use ordinary people, like you and me, to do extraordinary things. His choices might not seem logical, or fit our idea of how things should work, or be in our plan for how life should go, but “His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts”.

The stories of Christmas remind us of God’s unusual way of going about His business and call us to be alert to what He may be saying to us and asking us to do today.

Are we watching, listening, and open to the unexpected and usual?

Romantic Notions

When we lived in Downers Grove 20+ years ago, we lived close enough to walk downtown to Main Street. We loved to walk there with our young family and shop locally. I had a favorite store I would visit frequently. I loved that store. It was quaint, cozy and had merchandize that met my tastes. It wasn’t a national chain. It was local.

           

Feeling nostalgic recently I visited that store again. I am not sure what happened. It didn’t seem as cool or quaint or interesting as I had remembered. The store felt cramped and claustrophobic. The lighting was harsh. The décor was dated. The carpet and rugs, well, the carpet and rugs were gross. As a matter of fact I thought they could have been the same carpet and rugs that were there 20 years ago. What happened to my store?

           

Nothing. In a literal sense not much had happened to my store. It was pretty much the same, but didn’t seem as quaint or cozy. I loved the merchandise in this store and therefore had fallen in love with the store itself. I think that over time I had romanticized how cool that store was and now reality set in. Or, 20+ years later my ideas of quaint and cozy have changed significantly.

           

We have a tendency to do that. As time goes by we romanticize the “good old days”. Anything that was bad, or average seems to fade away and we make whatever was good, great.

           

We’ve done that with Christmas. We’ve taken that original Christmas night outside of Jerusalem in Bethlehem and we’ve painted a Norman Rockwell painting. A beautiful, glowing young mother, her sturdy husband by her side; a sanctified barn with golden straw; a well groomed cattle and sheep stand nearby; a star looms overhead; well groomed shepherds kneel before a carefully constructed manger. It is so beautiful, it brings a sentimental tear to our eye.

           

I don’t mean to be “Rev”eneezer Scrooge, but the picture that we paint on Christmas cards and in church pageants isn’t very accurate.

           

Mary was a very young, unmarried teenager, who was no doubt an outcaste, if not the talk of the town, because of her presumed immorality, from a backwater town in Northern Israel. She had been accompanied by her humble carpenter fiancé to the home of his ancestors outside Jerusalem to pay still yet another Roman tax. The trip had been arduous. She had bounced along on a donkey over uneven terrain while nine months pregnant for 3 or 4 days. Dirty, dead tired and in labor, this illegitimate mother and her fiancé couldn’t find a place to stay and finally collapsed in a lean-to, or perhaps a cave, where animals were protected from the elements at night. The straw was no doubt urine soaked and dung infested; the animals scrawny and scraggly. Joseph, understandably, struggled to stay awake. When the baby was born someone had to cut the umbilical cord and clean the new born up. When shepherds arrived, they must have startled the parents and probably smelled worse than the animals.

           

Not very romantic. But that non-sanitized version of the story is much more meaningful for me than the romanticized version. God loved us so much that he was willing to endure that kind of beginning to become one of us. It was a foreshadowing of His life and ministry of mingling with the marginalized, living humbly, often being lonely and alone, not forcing his way into lives with fanfare and bright lights, but understated and lovingly simple. God used ordinary, common, down to earth, “real” circumstances to give us His greatest gift! He can, and is, still doing that today.

           

I understand why we romanticize the story. The real story is kind of gross, messy, and perhaps not as attractive. Which is often God’s way.    

Wearing Your Colors

Part of my Thanksgiving weekend festivities included attending the Michigan State vs. Northwestern football game. My son, Jesse, is an MSU grad, and he had gotten tickets through the principal of the school where he teaches. She is also an MSU grad.

The weather wasn’t the greatest...a steady drizzle all day which made it seem colder than it really was. We arrived early and walked around the stadium. I was shocked at the number of MSU supporters at the game. They were easy to spot. All decked out in their green and white Spartan gear. Once we were in the stadium it seemed as if there were almost as many Spartan supporters as there were Northwestern fans.

Our seats were in the middle of the Northwestern cheering section. The Northwestern band and students were one section over from us and the people around us all were sporting their purple Northwestern colors. It was clear we were in enemy territory. However, we were not to be deterred. We stood and cheered every MSU touchdown with great enthusiasm. We were not concerned at all about what those around us might think or say.

As I thought about that this past week, I wondered whether I would be as bold in obviously hostile situations to my faith. When you are a pastor, the majority of your time is spent with people who are on your side; people who believe in Jesus and who are anxious to discuss faith issues. In fact, I have had to be purposeful in engaging people who do not share my faith views. I actively try to engage in situations and with people who are not believers. It takes more effort for those of us who serve as full-time Christian professionals than those who do not. But I have rarely found myself in hostile situations.

Would I have the courage of Daniel who maintained his faith and his faith habits in spite of threats of persecution?

Would I have the confidence of the Apostle Paul who entered into situations where people were obviously hostile toward Christianity?

There are thousands of Christians around the world who deal with persecution every day because of their faith.

Persecution doesn’t just happen in foreign countries. Chris has not been raised in a home where Christianity was practiced. She became a Christian in college and after college felt called to some kind of mission work. Her biggest obstacle was her family. Her father couldn’t understand why she would throw away such a promising future to pursue mission work. He considered Christianity to be laughable and only something that weak people would embrace. For Chris to pursue her calling, it would cost her a relationship with her parents. Chris followed God’s call.

In the same situation, would I?

I would like to think so, but I wonder. I wonder because, thankfully, it has never been necessary for me to do so. Certainly I have had conversations with doubters, and I have been in situations where faith was in the minority, but I never felt like I was threatened or that important relationships were in jeopardy.

I pray that I will wear my Christian colors boldly, in all situations.

Oh yeah, by the way, MSU won!

Ants Marching

I suppose this week I should write about Thanksgiving, or maybe the beginning of the Christmas Season (Advent, as we call it in the church world). But that would be a bit too predictable. I didn’t want to write about giving thanks or celebrating gifts.

             

I was in the coffee shop the other day relaxing over hot, black, rich and bold coffee. I was reading a book, reflecting on what the author was challenging me to think about, and I was also engaging in one of my favorite pastimes; people watching.

             

A coffee shop is a great place to people watch. Every location attracts a different group of people. There is one in downtown Elmhurst within walking distance of Elmhurst College that attracts lots of college students, as well as people who work nearby, or business people meeting clients or associates in the area. Late in the morning, stay at home moms will show up, some with babies in strollers, others meeting friends for conversation. I have been to enough of the coffee shops in our area now to notice that many of them have their regulars; people who are there every time I go in, sitting in the same place, solving the world’s problems with the same group of people every day.

             

You see some odd things in coffee shops. The other day I saw a guy in full Michigan State gear, hat, sweatshirt, and jacket, sitting with a guy who had on a Michigan sweatshirt and cap…bitter rivals sharing a cup of joe.

             

I also notice that we are, like singer/song writer, Dave Matthews says, Ants Marching. We want to fit in, we like to look alike, “we all do it the same.”

             

Many of the men who come into the coffee shop are wearing jeans with a sport coat and dress shirt. A huge majority of the women have on boots with their pants tucked inside. We adapt to the latest fashion trends to fit in, become a part of the crowd, to make sure people know we are “with it”. It really is quite amazing how many of us dress in slight variations of the same thing.

             

Then in came a man who wasn’t trying to fit in at all. He was older than me (believe it or not!). His long gray hair was pulled into a ponytail. His beard was fashionably scraggly. He had on a black knit beret that had red, green and yellow stripes around it. His striped shirt stood out against his plaid sport coat. He had on khaki slacks and royal blue patent leather-like basketball sneakers that had optic orange laces! He was making a statement. He seemingly knew a lot of people in the shop, stopping to talk to many, flashing a quick and ready smile as he greeted them.

             

Refreshing, I thought. Isn’t that the way God created us? Each of us is a unique individual, no two alike. We were not created to be like “Ants Marching” in lock step with one another. Somehow, early on, we learn the herd instinct; “fitting in” becomes more important than expressing ourselves individually.  So we put on our sport coat with our jeans and tuck our pants inside our boots and hope that people will notice that we are part of the latest fashion trend.

             

Unfortunately the same thing can happen with the way we think, the way we express ourselves, the causes we support, the things that we are “against”, the way we worship, and the way we decide that God works and doesn’t work in our world.

             

If there is anything we should celebrate during the Christmas season, it is that God has created us as unique individuals and that is a wonderful gift for which we should all give thanks.

             

Oops, I guess I did write about Thanksgiving and Christmas!  

The Journey

Today is our middle child’s birthday. I don’t know about you, but my kids birthdays cause me to reflect on their lives. Often, I get flashbacks to particular events that remain significant and serve as a way of shaping me into the person I am today. For instance, I remember the day Jesse was born. Actually, not the day, but the experience of his birth.

Conceiving a child and carrying babies to full term had been a challenge for us. It wasn’t something we had ever considered and we certainly weren’t prepared for the pain; emotional, physical and spiritual, that accompanied the numerous miscarriages that took place. There were at least four or five miscarriages before we moved down the road to adoption.

We joyfully adopted our oldest child, Ben, when he was three years old. It was a year later that we moved from Holland, Mi. to Downers Grove. The next year Jesse was conceived and we, along with family and friends, prayed that we would be able to carry him full term. Our prayers were answered, and late on November 17, we went to Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove.

We had taken the birthing classes, read the books and heard the stories of our friends’ birth experiences. In keeping with our over-educated selves, we were well prepared...so we thought. Like so many other things in life, we knew about giving birth, but we didn’t have a clue what the birthing experience would actually be like.

It was a bit of an odd position. We had a four year old child, but had never given birth. Our birthing story isn’t necessarily that unique; the sterile room, the gentle nurses, the waiting; the doctor...appearing, measuring, looking, announcing progress, and then leaving; the waiting; the doctor reappearing; the pushing, the failed attempts on my part to help bring comfort and peace; the waiting; the screaming; the anxiety. But for us, seeds of doubt, concern and fear lingered; the unspoken question: we had lost babies before, would this go well for us?

There may be nothing more intense than the last few minutes of drama during a child’s birth as a mother pushes, doctors and nurses and husbands encourage, machines beep and hiss, and strangers walk in and out assisting.

Finally, Jesse was born! Tears flowed, tight embraces were shared, our eyes were wide with the wonder of a child born. The umbilical cord was cut and the doctor quickly took Jesse to a table in the room. Nurses rushed around the table as well. They worked quickly and spoke in hushed tones.

“What’s going on?” Becky shouted. No answer. We were in a panic. Seconds ticked away, they seemed like hours. Finally, screaming and crying from Jesse...a beautiful and joyful sound.

“He was having a little trouble breathing,” the doctor said, “nothing serious”.

Really, nothing serious? Are you kidding me? All the history of lost babies had been racing through our minds; doubt, fear, panic. They were all erased as he was returned to us. Finally we had done it! Successful conception, full term pregnancy, and healthy birth. God’s gift to us.

         

Four years later, God did it again and Libby was born!

Three children, all given to us in very different ways. Who knew that something we take for granted, which seems so natural, would be such a journey?

         

No one has an easy life journey. We all have ups and downs, twists and turns, barricades and barriers. The good news is: we are not alone on this journey. In the dark moments, as we grieved our miscarriages, God surrounded us with caring, loving and supportive friends and family members, as well as the healing presence of the Holy Spirit. In that birthing room there were nurses, technicians and a doctor, but most importantly the Great Physician, Jesus Christ, was present. Through that experience, God taught us lessons about faith, trust and the power of prayer, which have served us well in other dark moments of our life journey. Like so many of you, we have been confronted in life with things that don’t make sense, that are painful, and that seem unfair. When that happens, we can reflect on God’s faithfulness and how He has seen us through all pain and difficulty living life can bring.

         

And for that, I am thankful!

Time

Time. That’s what was on my mind last week. The whole nation had to think about time Saturday night. We acknowledged daylight savings time by setting our clocks to “fall back” an hour. As far as time changes go, it is my favorite. The night we change we get to sleep an extra hour. The sun is up earlier. People seem to have more energy; that is until it gets dark at 5 p.m. Then the night seems to drag on longer.

It just so happened that last Sunday also began our Stewardship series and the subject was time and talent. Time is the gift that doesn’t discriminate. We all have different talents and levels of ability. We all have different amounts of treasure (financial resources), but we all have the same amount of time: 24 hours a day, 168 hours a week, 8,736 hours a year.

Time is a big deal for us. 

          We have to set aside time, find time, and use time.

          It is about time, time flies, and we run out of time.

          Is this a good time? We had a good time!

          The intervention was timely. Will we have time? Timing is everything.

          We need to set a time, make sure we don’t waste time, and keep track of time.

          We have plenty of time. Our time is running out.

          What time is it? Game time!

         

Then we throw God in the mix. Things happen in God’s time, which completely frustrates us because we are much less patient than God and can’t figure out why He won’t work in our time frame.

John tells us that Jesus denied a request from his mother because, “My time has not yet come.” (John 2:4) But 15 chapters later (3 years), Jesus prayed, “Father, the time has come.” (John 17:1)

         

Jesus had perfect timing.

         

God reminds us:

          “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:

          a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,

          a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build up,

          a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

          a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

          a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

          a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,

          a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,

          a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.”

                                                                                                                 (Ecc. 3:1-8)

Most importantly, “...it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.” (Hosea 10:12)

         

Because of all that, this week I took some time to reflect on my use of time, and in good time, I am going to adjust how I use my time.

         

Looking forward to to seeing you in worship Sunday. What time will you be there?

Security

You never know. You just never know.

It began like any other week day. Your family gets up, each at their own time and own pace. You eat breakfast, get ready for work or school, you talk about your schedule to make sure your kids aren’t stranded at school without a ride home, or your wife isn’t waiting at the restaurant to meet you for dinner, and you completely forgot. It is like any other day.

Your daughter gives you a peck on the cheek and says goodbye as she leaves for school with her backpack over her shoulder, her tennis racquet in one hand, and her cell phone in the other. The classic look for a high school freshman. It is such a familiar scene, it barely registers with you.

As you back out of your driveway and head down the street on your way to work, you can’t help but notice the beauty of your neighborhood. It is full of trees displaying the glory of their fall colors. The houses all seem peaceful. One neighbor is taking his garbage can out the street and waves. You return their wave and think, “It is so great to live here in the suburbs. It is safe, serene, secure.”

Why would you think that in only a few hours that would all be blown to pieces? How could anyone imagine that when you returned home that night from work, you would find the girl you kissed goodbye on her way out the door that morning, layng in a pool of blood in your home, apparently stabbed to death when she interrupted an intruder? How horrible? How unimaginable? What a nightmare!

But that is exactly what happened to the mother of Kelli O’Laughlin. She drove down the safe, serene, secure streets of Indian Head Park last Thursday after work and entered into a living nightmare. Like many of you, I can’t even begin to imagine what that would be like. Periodically I find myself fighting back tears when I think about it, even though I didn’t know the people personally.

This is the kind of thing we expect to avoid by living in the suburbs of Chicago. Our villages aren’t like the city. They are safe, secure and serene.

Our lives are surrounded by things that are supposed to provide security. Security cameras, security gates, security guards, and security codes. Passwords provide security for our electronic devices. Banks and investment companies provide security for our money. Cars have seat belts and air bags to make us secure from injury. OSHA agencies secure the work place so people aren’t endangered. When we travel on airplanes we go through security scanners as does our luggage.

There are all sorts of precautions taken in our lives that are supposed to provide security and protect us.

And yet, suicide bombers get on planes. Hackers get into our online bank accounts. Our identities are stolen. Accidents occur in the work place. Seat belts and air bags fail. Our safe, secure and serene suburbs are disrupted by crime and violence.  

Ultimately nothing can really protect us, keep us secure, or guarantee safety.

So, I fall back on an old document. One that was written more than 400 hundred years ago as a way to summarize what “reformed” Christians believe; the Heidelberg Catechism.

Question 1: “What is your only comfort, in life and death?”

Answer: “That I belong--body and soul, in life and in death--not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.”

“...that he protects me so well...” obviously does not mean that nothing bad will happen to me/us in life. It means that when the evils of life are at work, God knows and ultimately protects me.

If my seatbelt or airbag fails to protect me; if I am a victim of a violent crime; if I am attacked by a deadly disease, I am assured of the fact that I am in God’s hands and I will graduate to eternal life with Him.

We never know. We just never know. But God always knows.

Rev.

Love Your Enemies

Last week’s message touched a chord with many people.  I have had conversations with several people from our congregation who mentioned how life provided them with opportunities this week to “love their enemies.”  That didn’t happen because the message was powerful and poignant.  It happens because we are involved in relationships daily where we are tempted to seek retaliation and revenge, even if only mentally, rather than to “love people in spite of themselves.”  Take Kevin Wilkins for instance.  His story was reported in Wednesday’s issue of the Chicago Tribune.  

The article began:  “For more than five years, Kevin Wilkins waited for the opportunity to look the man who killed his teenage daughter in the eye and tell him about all the hate he felt for him.”  

Wilkins’ daughter, Antoinette Means, was 19 years old, had been the valedictorian of her high school class and had earned a four year full ride academic scholarship to college.  She was working at Kentucky Fried Chicken and managed many employees older than her.  One night a man entered the restaurant and asked for the cash...$130...someone said something to him, he was angered and fired a shot, killing Antoinette.  Senseless, tragic, and maddening...those are my reactions and I am not her dad.

This week Antoinette’s dad faced her killer.  “...when Wilkins started to speak, it wasn’t about hate or anger.  It was about something he felt was far more powerful.  ‘Antoinette would have forgiven you and so have I,’ Wilkins said calmly, ‘May God have mercy on your soul.’”

Wow...that is more powerful than anything I might have said in my sermon.  I can always rationalize why I can’t, or shouldn’t “love my enemies.”  “Certainly Jesus couldn’t mean in every situation.”  “This particular person makes it impossible.”  “Under these circumstances, I am sure Jesus would understand if I didn’t follow His command.”

Loving our enemies is like so many other of God’s expectations for us.  They seem impossible, or impractical, until we simply try obedience.  If we overcome our doubts and our rationalizations and simply act in obedience, we may be surprised at how God empowers us to behave in ways we never imagined were possible.  Obedience is the great equalizer.  It doesn’t have to make sense.  It doesn’t have to be practical.  It doesn’t require that I want to do it.  And it certainly isn’t predicated on whether or not I feel like being obedient.  

Acting in obedience can change all of that.  If you don’t think so, listen one more time to the great “preacher”, Kevin Wilkins:

“It’s been hard.  It has taken a long time, but I’ve finally been able to forgive him because that is what God says to do.  I’d have never been able to move on if I continued to hate him for what he did.”

Amen, Kevin, Amen.

This Sunday in worship at ECRC we will continue our journey through the Sermon on the Mount.  Pastor Gregg will be preaching on Matthew 5:31-32. His message title is “The Real Marriage Ref.”  Maybe he’ll wear a striped shirt and a whistle?

           

Looking forward to seeing you all in worship.

                                                                                            

“Rev”

God is Colorful!

Rev’s Reflections

10-21-11

I am sitting in my office as I write my reflections today. I have big windows that face both North and West. My desk is situated in such a way that I can look in either direction. As I look out my window this morning, the sky is dark gray, the trees are blowing in the wind (supposedly gusting to 40 or 50 miles per hour) and the rain is falling...sideways. When I walked in from the parking lot this morning it was cold and damp. The raindrops felt like pellets when they struck my face. My technical word for a day like this is: “Yuuuuuuch”.

 

This weather stands in stark contrast to last week’s. On Saturday I drove back from Michigan in near blinding sunlight. It was windy and the temperature was only in the 50s, but it was fine inside my car, and God was putting on quite a show outside. Trees were turning color. The various hues of red, yellow, and orange and all shades in between, created a beautiful tapestry that was breathtaking. I found myself gaping on several occasions and not really paying attention to my driving, which may be how my speedometer inched closer to 80 than 70!

There are few man-made creations that can match the splendor of leaves turning in the fall. When people ask what I miss about Northern Michigan, fall would be one of my answers. Of course there was always a downside to fall. In Northern Michigan the turning of leaves was followed immediately by long, harsh, and snowy winters. That I won’t miss.

The beauty of creation and all it’s splendor are examples of what we call God’s common grace; God’s gifts that are available for all people to enjoy and benefit from regardless of their spiritual state. The splendor of fall colors seems to be God’s response to the Psalmists words: “Shout for joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious.” (Psalm 66:1-2) Clearly the earth is shouting and singing to God’s glory and everyone, regardless of their faith perspective is taking notice.

It is harder for me to acknowledge God’s grace on a day like today. Cloudy, rainy, windy and dark days don’t inspire me. But God’s grace abounds.

I am surrounded by gifted, committed and highly motivated teammates at work who are energized by their opportunity to serve God and his people.

I am meeting new congregants daily who are encouraging and supportive of my initial efforts in ministry at ECRC.

I am part of a congregation that is making an impact for God on people of all ages. 

The Holy Spirit never fails to guide, direct and correct my life. (I just need to be a bit more attentive.)

 

Eternity is secured for me through my faith in Jesus Christ, which allows me to live boldly for him every day.

It may be cloudy, dark, rainy and windy outside, but I have every reason to celebrate God’s grace, mercy and love. I refuse to let the weather impact my attitude and my outlook on life. Yuuuuuuch be gone!

This week in worship we will continue our focus on The Sermon on the Mount. Jesus presents a huge challenge: “Love your enemies.” He really can’t mean that I have to root for the Packers can he?

Friends

Rev’s Reflections

10-14-2011

C.J. Wickersham looked into the camera with a big smile on his face and said, “He’s my friend. He saved my life” C.J. and a group of six friends had been out in a boat spear fishing near Tampa Bay, Florida. C.J. was in the water and suddenly yelled out, “I’ve been bitten by a shark.” Within seconds blood was in the water. His friends got him out of the water and rushed him to shore. By the time he got to the hospital he had lost over 6 pints of blood. But the quick action of his friends saved his life. Thus, the big smile into the camera.

I am going to see my long time friend Ray Smith tomorrow (Friday) afternoon. Our friendship has endured 40 years. It is has had some odd twists. My sophomore year of college, Ray became the head football coach at Hope. Ray made me a better player. Ray made me a better person. Most importantly, Ray made me take being a Christ follower more seriously. God used Ray to change my life.

When I returned to Holland to attend seminary after a year of teaching high school, Ray asked me to join his coaching staff at Hope. We spent countless hours together. I also worked in the Chaplain’s office at Hope and continued to do so for seven years. Ray and I were colleagues. His faith and his family were his number one priorities. He and his wife deeply cared about students and were instrumental in bringing others closer to Jesus as they had done for me.

In one of God’s great ironic twists, when I joined Hope’s Board of Trustees over 20 years ago, I, technically, became Ray’s boss! My trips to Holland for Board meetings always provide an excuse for us to get together. When the weather permits, we play golf together. He has visited every church I have ever served and we can expect to see he and his wife at ECRC some day.

Like C.J. Wickersham, I can smile and say that in some way, Ray Smith is my friend and he saved my life.

When we were created God declared that it was not good for us to be alone. We are not meant to do life alone. We need companions, friends, for the journey.

Jesus is our savior, Lord, rock, messiah, redeemer, defender, destroyer, and so much more. But in John 15, Jesus tells us that we are His friends. Jesus is our friend and He has saved our lives.

I am lucky to have a friend like Ray Smith. I could write a book of stories about the way he has demonstrated that he is my friend. I hope you have some really good friends. Not just people who laugh with you, support you and encourage you, but friends who also challenge you to be a better person and hold you accountable to live up to your declared identity.

But most importantly, remember that Jesus is our friend and He saved our life.

This week in worship at ECRC we will continue to make our way through Jesus’ Upside Down Thinking in the Sermon on the Mount. This week Jesus recommends a radical step for us to live into being one of His followers.

God bless,

Rev

Peter Semeyn

Michigan Drivers Cannot Be Trusted

Michigan drivers cannot be trusted!  

At least that’s the way we felt when Becky and I found out we were required to take a written test to get an Illinois Driver’s License. 

“Come on, I’ve been driving for over 40 years.  I’ve only lived in Michigan for 9 years…trust me, the driving laws aren’t that different.”  (One major difference,  however is that in the Chicago area you are dodging pedestrian traffic.  In Northern Michigan you are constantly dodging wildlife of all kinds!)  Jesse White’s employees were not very sympathetic.  We had to take a written test.

             
We didn’t have all the proper paperwork with us on our first visit, so we had to come back another day.  We took two of the Illinois Rules of the Road booklets with us. 

             
 I will confess that regardless how unnecessary I thought this test was for me, the requirement to take it planted seeds of doubt and uncertainty.  Studying the book didn’t boost my confidence.  Pages and pages of rules and regulations, many of them dealing with procedures at the scene of an accident, the number of people under age 18 a new driver can have as passengers, the penalty for driving while intoxicated.  In my mind, none of this was relevant for me. 

            
 How many feet before making a turn are you required to turn on your turn signal?  100 feet, 300 feet, or 500 feet?

            
 If your front tire goes off the road what should you do?  Stop, grip the wheel tightly, reduce speed and return to the road?  Close your eyes and pray?  (In Northern Michigan you just keep going off road and create a two track shortcut with  your four wheel drive vehicle!)

           
As a 40 year driving veteran, I feel like I know what I am doing behind he wheel.  I have had no accidents and no tickets.  But in reading the book, I found that my “common knowledge” and “common sense” didn’t always match the “Rules of the Road”.  The book recommended things that I don’t practice, and I thought were unnecessary.   In a few instances I do what makes sense to me and what I have always done, regardless of the book.

           
That’s not the only place that happens in life.  Many of the decisions we make, the values we adopt, the priorities we set, are our own adaptations from our guidebook (the Bible).  We have adopted practices and principles that seem to work for us,  and that appear to be harming no one else, but when we study the word and come to grips with what God really says, we find that we have been mistaken, and off course. 

             
My driving would be better and safer for everyone if I went by the book.  Our lives are more fulfilling, meaningful and productive, when we follow The Book!

            
This week in worship we will continue our journey in the Sermon on the Mount.  My lesson will be from Matthew 5:17-20.  Jesus came not to do away with the law, but to fulfill the law.

             
Looking forward to seeing you in worship.

            
 God bless,

 Rev

Traffic, Detours and Life Journeys

Rev’s Reflections

            It only takes between 10 and 15 minutes to get to church from our townhouse.  At least that is what it took for the first couple of weeks.  Then, apparently as a way to welcome the Semeyn’s to the Western suburbs, they began multiple road construction projects.  I would head to church in one direction and they would have that route shut down to one lane.  It would back up for miles.  Knowing this is a fact of life here, I simply resolved to take an alternate route.  I made great progress until I found more construction and delays…another detour.

The next day I tried another route. It worked great, until…you guessed it, more road construction.  There is a reason they call me “Rev” and not “Pastor Patience”. 

            I know this probably sounds like whining.  You are probably saying, “get used to it”.  The point isn’t to whine.  Remember, we lived here for 22 years prior to our stint in Michigan.  We know what is “normal” here for traffic and travel. 

            My experience with traffic is a metaphor for our life journey.  We set out on a path, we are headed in a direction, and suddenly hit an unexpected detour, a roadblock, or something that re-routes us.  I started out in college as a business major, and detoured to education.  I began my career as a teacher and took a detour to ministry.  I began ministry as a college chaplain and later was re-routed to congregational ministry. 

            Sometimes the things that re-route our lives are illnesses, or unexpected events, either tragic and joyful, or a situation completely out of our control, like an economic downturn, or a “chance” meeting of a person who ends up having a powerful influence on our lives. 

            Most often we don’t understand the barrier, or detours, that show up.  They can be frustrating, painful, difficult, and some can last way too long.  But later, they make more sense, we can find benefit in them, even “blessing”.  The Apostle Paul describes them as being productive. “… we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. “ (Romans 5:3-5)

            In the rear view mirror of life, we can see how productive the detours have been on our journey.  Changing majors, altering career paths, and moving into new ministry venues, were all difficult and brought with them some kind of pain and difficulty.  But later, looking back, I can see God’s loving hand in them, in spite of how it felt at the time.

            Detours and roadblocks can be frustrating in the moment, but with every change God points us in a new direction and brings us hope.  (Although the Apostle Paul never drove in Chicagoland!)

            This Sunday, I will begin my preaching ministry at Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church.  We are going to follow up Dr. Michael Quicke’s series on The Beatitudes by continuing to move through the Sermon on the Mount in a series we are calling “Upside Down Thinking”.  This week’s text is Matthew 5:13-16.  We will also celebrate the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.  I encourage you to prepare yourselves to meet God in worship on Sunday. 

It was my custom in Traverse City to write a weekly communication to people where I would share some of the things that were on my heart and mind.  Borrowing a concept from Frederick Buechner entitled “Listening to Your Life”, I would use events, observations, situations, and circumstances, as a jumping off point for reflection.  People felt it gave them some more insight into who I am as a person, and how we might reflect on the world from a Christian perspective. 

          I plan to continue this practice here, but it may take a different format.  I am exploring a variety of options with people from Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church, who are communications gurus.

          This Sunday, September 25, I will be installed as Lead Pastor at Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church.  For some it may seem like a formality, something that has ecclesiastical significance, but really doesn’t mean much.  However, the installation of a pastor in a church is very significant.

          In this case, it will be the first time in 27 years that a new Lead Pastor will be installed at Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church.  In this congregation, the installation of a pastor is a rare occurrence. This is a significant event.

          In keeping with our reformed tradition, the installation of a pastor embraces a covenantal concept.  I will make promises to God and to this congregation as to how I will serve as pastor.  In the same way, the congregation will make promises to me and to God as to how you will support, encourage and hold me accountable to be your pastor.  Over all of this God, promises to guide, protect, encourage and support all of us.  This covenant means that we will be partners in ministry, seeking together God’s will and direction.

          This installation will also incorporate some signposts on my ministry journey.  People who have been a part of my ministry in Oak Brook and Palos Heights will be participating as well as one of my children.  Their participation will remind me of God’s faithfulness in my life and ministry in the past, and encourage me to trust Him for the future.

          Being installed as the new Lead Pastor at Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church is a momentous occasion.  I am reminded of Joshua who became the leader of Israel following the long tenure of Moses.  Like Joshua, I have my doubts, my fears, and my concerns.  To which God replies, “...as I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you or forsake you.  Be strong and courageous...” (Joshua 1:5,6)

          New situations cause all of us to deal with doubt, fear, and a sense of inadequacy.  At the same time, there is also excitement and anticipation.  Are you facing something new in your life?  God says, “Be strong and courageous...I will never leave you or forsake you.” 

          I am truly excited to begin this new season of ministry with you with the knowledge that God will always be present with us, guiding, directing, encouraging and supporting us in all that we do.

"Rev"

Peter Semeyn