My script is below, but (judging from the number of comments) this was a time that the Spirit was connecting us in the moment. Perhaps the videotape (or even the audio) will catch more of the message.
--Jack Lohr, Interim Pastor
"Living in the Now"
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:
Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce.
Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.
But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
2 Timothy 2:8-15
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David--that is my gospel, for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained.
Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
The saying is sure:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he will also deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful--
for he cannot deny himself.
Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening.Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by [God] him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.
Were you here for the baptism? Of course you were in the room, but where was your head?
Life involves suffering, but we compound it when we anguish ourselves wishing for what we don’t have. …
I’ve been away all week in Chicago studying conflict mediation. What can I tell you about conflict that you don’t know? You’ve been there. If you didn’t live through the “upheavals” as they are known around here, you’ve heard the stories. And the way the stories are told teaches you the meaning and the resolution of conflicts.
Part of what I am bringing back is a way to reframe conflict. To learn new ways to talk about what happened and thereby to envision new possibilities for the future. For healing, for moving on, and for handling the future, inevitable conflicts as they arise. The Interim Pastor Nominating Committee had it right when they wrote: "We are ready to heal, move forward and identify our mission for the future." What has impressed me most is the difficulty of healing work, and the tremendous power that is released when reconciliation happens. All this is from God, and not the result of human effort. At the same time, each one of us can play a part in helping or hindering the process of reconciliation by the way we look at our own lives and acknowledge our part in past hurts.
Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles is a word that can give us hope for today and a strategy for the future. Writing from Jerusalem to the exiles in Babylon, Jeremiah sent a message that says in effect, “Bloom where you are planted.”
Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:
Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce.
Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.
But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
Don’t become depressed or discouraged because you’re not living in the place and time you might have wished you were. Living in exile means being away from the home your heart yearns for, but you can be faithful Living in the Now.
The Letter to Timothy tells how to get along in the church:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he will also deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful--
for he cannot deny himself.
With Timothy, I remind you of this, and warn you before God that you are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. “Avoid wrangling over words." Don’t fight with your neighbors in Christ over definitions or theologies. What matters is living in the Now.
Some people like to fight. Others avoid conflict. But everybody has to deal with differences. What we studied in Chicago was a strategy for mediating disagreements by discovering what people’s interests are, and creating win-win strategies that a large majority of the community can live with. It doesn’t mean that everyone will be happy all the time. But we can always make the most of a situation.
All this implies not being lost in regrets about the past, nor worries about the future. Of course, it isn't forgetting the past or failing to plan for the future.
The word of the prophet is not always critical. It can also speak a message of encouragement and hope. May the words of Jeremiah and 2 Timothy bring us comfort and peace by touching our hurts with the nectar of God's compassion. May we be able to pray with the words of Reinhold Niebuhr (join me if you know it!):
God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference. Amen.
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