Daily Devotional 3-21-20

Jesus said, “Come and follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” ~Matthew 4:19

Always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks of you about your hope. 1 Peter 3:15

This is the time of year I usually start thinking about fishing. I pull out my fly tying box and assess how many Coho flies I need to tie up, wondering all the while why we call them Coho flies when we use them for Sockeye, (insert best Rose McLean impersonation here) but I di-gress...

Last summer, David Donaldson (a regular 9:15am worshipper and mean French Horn player – actually he's about the kindest man I can think of without a mean bone in his body, but I di-gress...) and I had the most spectacular day fishing. We were dip-netting the mouth of the Kenai, and after netting a couple dozen fish for our families we said, “that's probably enough, we should quit.” Nah!

The fact is, we had SO much fun together, harvesting food for our families and friends, we just didn't want to quit. And we kept fishing. All. Day. Long. It was So. Much. Fun!

Sometime back I preached about this passage, Jesus instructing us to fish for people, and I said that perhaps fishing for people (the Christianese word here is WITNESS), when we witness to others about our faith, perhaps it's more like dip-netting than flipping a single Coho hook over and over and over again.

Covid-19 has given us quite an opportunity for dip-netting my friends. I can think of no better time than now to invite your friends, your family, your coworkers to church, and they don't even have to leave the comfort of their La-Z Boy(TM) recliner! They don't have to live in Alaska, all they need is an internet connection and a web browser and our Livestream Link.

So let's use the virus outbreak for good, witnessing to others, inviting them to be a part of this community of faith called St John, sharing the source of the hope that is within you. The fishing is good right now my friends. The world is in great need of the hope of Jesus Christ, and fishing really is So. Much. Fun! Who are you inviting to church tomorrow?

Our Lord Jesus, give us the courage and grace to share your Good News of hope, love, and light even amidst the fear that surrounds us. Help us to be fishers of people, inviting others into the goodness of your community. Help us to experience the thrill and excitement of inviting others into this way of life centered in forgiveness, grace, and love. We ask this in Your precious name, Amen.

Daily Devotional 3-20-20

O Lord Our God, how majestic is your name in all the earth... When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; it occurs to me, what are human beings in comparison? Why do you care for us so?  ~Andy's interpretation of Psalm 8:1, 3-4

This has been quite a week. So far, I've had the blessing of talking to over 90% of our South Africa Team members via ZOOM or Face-time. I've visited with clergy colleagues in the same manner. I've visited with St John members far and wide, also electronically. I've heard amazing stories of God at work in transforming ways, and I've heard heart-breaking stories as well.

And while I am so very grateful for the gifts of technology that allow us to keep connected and social despite the limitations of our physical-distancing, I've also found myself feeling disconnected, which for me usually means one thing. I've been on my computer too long and I must.. Get Outside.

Today, I took my fat bike out on the trails for a ride. There is no coronavirus free floating in the woods. And the people I did pass (keeping a distance of ten feet or better), were so very friendly, waving and sharing well wishes of good health. Real human connection experienced in a safe manner.

And then I arrived here, my new favorite “outdoor sanctuary.” 

Bike Sanctuary.png

O Lord my God, how majestic is your name as I see it carved in the Chugach, and painted with glistening snow upon the black spruce, and shining brightly in the warm (WARM!!) sun! In all this vast beautiful creation, who are we tiny humans that you care about us? And yet you do? Thank you dear Lord, for your care and love of us. In the days, weeks, and months ahead, remind us of your love, fill us with your love, and may your love flow through us to others on this trail of life.  Amen.

My friends, keep observing good hand-washing and physical-distancing, but do your soul a favor, go outside today. Even if it’s on your front step or back yard. Step outside and experience God's presence in the miraculous creation around us and be reminded, even amidst this beauty God thinks you are ESPECIALLY beautiful, and God loves you deeply.

Daily Devotional 3-19-20

Jesus said, “Come away with me to a quiet place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.”  Mark 6:31-32

Many of us are squirreled away in our homes, figuring out internet connectivity for work and school, glued to the TV or our favorite web news sites, and trying to understand this unprecedented reality of social-distancing we are experiencing.

But if you are like me, it feels like anything BUT quiet, and so I'd like to encourage you to try something. Make some space for quiet today, and every day this week. Turn off the electronics. Turn off the media. For one whole hour, embrace some quiet, alone or together as a family. Take a break from the induced stress of the news media. Cook a meal together. Read a book (or the Bible!?) Try your hand at writing a poem or prayer.

Interestingly, in the Scripture above, it is only in instructing the disciples to first take a break and get some rest, that their eyes are clearly opened to the needs of others around them. If you take some time alone or as a family, in the quiet, to rest in God's grace, you may be surprised at what God reveals to you in that time of rest. I guarantee - your heart, your mind, and your soul will be better for it.

Lord God, in this time of uncertainty, help us to turn off the extraneous noise each day. Help us to set time apart to focus on rest, to focus on love of family, and to just be in your quietness. Reveal to us the ways you are calling to us to grow in love of You and neighbor, this we ask in Jesus name. Amen.

All grace and peace,

Pastor Andy

Jesus is the reason for the season... Or something like that

A Special Christmas Message from Pastor Emily

Jesus is the reason for the season... Or something like that

As I drove home from work the day before Thanksgiving listening to the Christian radio station, the host came on rejoicing that the next day they would be playing Christmas music. I smiled, already feeling my body wanting to proclaim “Joy to the World!” Yet then that radio host continued, proudly asserted that they would be playing CHRISTMAS music, not **holiday music** (insert enough pejorative and snarky attitude to sink the Titanic). My heart sank. What is it about the birth of Jesus that some people feel is under enough threat to mock those who believe different things about God?  

I pondered what it meant to be inclusive, and YET affirm the good news of Jesus in a world so badly in need of the light that Jesus brings. Can we not be comfortable enough in our faith to celebrate the particularities while ALSO being respectful of others? In the words of John Wesley, “Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike?” If I lived in Bethlehem today, I might walk out into the street this evening and hear the Adhan, the Muslim call to prayer, floating down the bustling streets from the local mosque. I’ve stood on the streets of Bethlehem and heard that music inviting and drawing me in. My faith wasn’t threatened as I received this gift of another’s faith. Nor did feel the need to obnoxiously break into Jingle Bells. 

While I want to live in a world where each can share their faith openly and honestly, I do realize that Christians have a preferred place in the mainstream of society. And I think this place in the mainstream imparts on us a certain responsibility to our neighbors of other faiths, particularly as we share the good news of Jesus’ birth. It’s “cool” to be Christian. It means you can drive around town with a little Jesus fish (also called an Ichthus) on the back of your truck as a statement of pride. In reality, the place of Christianity in society today is vastly different than its place in society when Jesus lived and when Paul and others wrote. In moving Christianity from the fringe of society to the center, our relationship to the sacred text, and I think to God, changed. It’s this shift that “justified” the Crusades and the Inquisitions, and even played a role in the Holocaust. No longer are we on the outside looking in and wondering how to belong to God. We are now on the inside, the center, the mainstream. And looking out, we didn’t always invite others in to belong.  

Belonging continues to ring true for me this Christmas season. In Jesus’ birth, God invites us to belong. That baby in a manger, no room for him in the inn, came as a King not with power and dominion, but with mercy and grace. How quick are we to forget that? That Jesus would go out on to the streets and invite the tax collectors and the sinners and the Jewish elite to all gather at a table together, to all belong to one another just as they belong to God. This Christmas, I think about those to whom I belong. To my parents, who we’ve had the joy of living near and visiting often year. To Aidan’s parents, who so frequently send us their love from afar. To Aunt Karen and Rachel and countless others, all of whom would drive hours to come see us at the drop of a hat. To Noah, Andrija, Nadia, and Zach, who bring so much joy and adventure to our lives. To St. John, the church that has welcomed us in and supported us in ministry. To the families I’ve met who seek rest and warmth at the cold weather shelters around Anchorage. Even to my neighbors who don’t celebrate Christmas, who have their own “holiday” music, or who don’t have any music at all. Yes, I belong to each of them too. 

And friend, I belong to you. Whether you are with me in proclaiming Joy to the World! Or you are having a really hard time this Christmas remembering loss and grief, remember that you too, belong. To me, to God, to one another. We rejoice together and we weep together. We are who we are because of one another. We are who we are because of a God who casts the net wide and invites us in to belong. So let Jesus be the reason for the season. Not in a way that mocks our experience of this holiday, but in a way that makes Christmas real, that centers us in that Holy Night, that tenderly embraces a world where all belong, in the goodness and grace of Jesus. May it be so. Amen. 

Merry Christmas from all of us at St. John!  We are so blessed to belong to you!