Love overflowing

Earth SundayPhilippians 1

“I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.”

This week, I visited again with Ken and Zylphia Nosbusch. Just about 10 days ago, their family decided together that Ken would move into hospice. This was just after they had moved to their new apartment and one week later, Ken was invited to take his WWII Veteran Honor Flight—a once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience. So, it has been a whirlwind of emotions and events… but as I met with them, I couldn’t help but think how they embody for this faith community this kind of feeling—“I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you…”

It’s because of Ken’s faithful wearing of the replica of our Ethiopian processional cross and his stories about wearing it out and about and saying, “You should come and see the BIG one!” (as a no-pressure way to invite people to church… sharing his faith with neighbor and stranger alike…)

In fact, that’s something that I knew about Ken (how he proudly wears his cross everywhere) before I was even called here as your pastor.

“I thank my God every time I remember you…” It’s because of Ken’s giving out of quarters that many of our children know how joyful it is to immediately give what they have received, passing on the quarters into the offering jar or to another child to drop in the jar with joy. And I think there are probably some of you taking up this tradition, even now, because of how much it means to you to see children’s joy in giving.

“I thank my God every time I remember you…” It’s because of Ken’s example and his own long-time faithful service to Christ’s Foundation, that a new generation of leaders have taken up service in this long-view kind of ministry, faithfully stewarding investments for the future.

We thank God for Ken and not because he was or is perfect! He and Zylphia shared with me at this last visit about a time when he had to tell Pastor Sandness to “sit down” at an Annual Meeting—(where maybe, just maybe, that wonderful pastor got just a little bit out of line)… and they shared that story even now, years later, with a little horror. It took a long time to mend that broken relationship between beloved pastor and beloved member… but it was mended… and these are the kinds of stories, about making mistakes yet moving forward together, with mercy and love and forgiveness… these are the kinds of stories that personalize these words from Paul and Timothy to the church they love.

“I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.” When we move into hospice, we can talk more openly about how the good work of life is coming to completion… but for those of us still very much on our way, how do we keep this hope and this calling in mind, even we face challenges that seem overwhelming?

In the forum today, I’ll share the story that Tod Bolsinger uses as a metaphor for where he thinks we are in church and life today in his book, Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory. It’s the story of Lewis and Clark and their expedition to find a water route to the Pacific Ocean. From far off, they could see the Rocky Mountains. Their expertise was in canoeing but they knew mountains, too, after all they had the Appalachian mountain range… no problem! Then, they got into the Rockies. There could not have been more different mountains. When our family was driving into just the edge of the Rockies last month, I tried to imagine how they must have looked to these travelers, gazing at them for the first time (when there were no switchbacks cut into the sides, no roads, no path). When they realized there was no water route, and they had to leave behind their canoes, the way to travel that they knew best, and find horses… and finally become hikers, following the one guide who knew this territory… a young Shoshone woman named Sacagawea.

We have all heard and maybe experienced that the only certainty in life is change, but the level of change required sometimes stops us in our tracks. This image of the Rockies, peak after peak with no end in sight, and having to lay down the ways we are most familiar with did not (remarkably) stop them. Instead, in the Rockies, they had to look to every member of the team, especially the one for whom this territory was not foreign territory but home territory, and they had to collaborate to go forward in new ways…

Often, when we heard the writings of Paul—we think of them as written from a singularly remarkable apostle (Paul)—but Paul never did his work alone. He always traveled with one or two others, and it seems like this was not because he was necessarily easy to get along with… but because this model of working together was modeled after how Jesus invites people to do work together in the reign of God. We are not solo artists—we are continuously called into collaborations. If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.

On this Earth Sunday, I’m reminded about the record snow fall we had last weekend—19 inches--unprecedented among April storms! It’s no wonder we had to make decisions (like should we cancel worship?) and try to communicate them in ways that we have never had to do before.

In Confirmation, we are in the middle of a curriculum called “A Cosmic Adventure Through Science and Faith.” Whereas some generations and some Christians have required Christian kids to choose between the answers in science and holding onto deep faith, this curriculum asks, “Can’t these different angles on truth inform and inspire each other, can’t we both wonder and believe?”

A friend of mine wrote this week:

When the ideas you have about God, existence, and the way the world [church] works start to crack and break open in a way that shows they aren't total truth, you have two options.

First: you can glue. Glue and glue and glue it all together with cliches and half-baked proofs and internet-assembled philosophies [or pieced together Bible passages...] Then pretend it all fits together and never examine it again.

Or second: realize those ideas weren't complete. They are vintage. Antiques. Valuable, but not as useful anymore. And then learn and grow toward something that works better now. You don't try to glue it all back together, but rather use its shape and form to work on something new.  One leads to growth. One prevents it.

We are never too old for growth… along the way, as change comes to us, things will crack and break open. In those moments, it takes deep courage to be open to what is unfolding, and that’s courage that is best found together.

Gratitude is a powerful (and maybe the only) antidote to fear… and so Paul demonstrates that too—  “This is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.” 

Hear his deep confidence in the people of God to determine what is best? Hear this hopeful word that even though all we have now is melting winter snow and some seeds or seedlings, ready to plant, Paul is already imagining the harvest?

But that’s what we know happens when love is overflowing in community and leading us forward—all we can think of, whether we are at the beginning or the end, is “I thank my God for you… for all we share… and for all that is still unfolding!”