Sermon: Set Free for Freedom, Gal 5
First Presbyterian Church Hallock, Minn.
June 27, 2010
Set Free for Freedom
Gal. 5:1, 13-25
Most of the time, I choose my texts for preaching based on the Revised Common Lectionary. The lectionary is a list of texts for each sunday that thousands of churches around the world use each week. I like the lectionary because it challenges (or forces) me to preach on different texts than I might otherwise. This is one of those sermons. I’ll be at our PC(USA) General Assembly next Sunday — July 4th — and I have to admit, I was perfectly fine getting out of the tricky business of preaching on a US holiday.
On Independence Day we celebrate our Americanness, our heritage and patriotism. It’s a messy Sunday on which to preach because the gospel of Christ isn’t really about our American identity at all. So I was perfectly happy that coincidentally my General Assembly assignment would call me away from the pulpit on July 4th. And then I read the lectionary passage today from Galatians and thought, “Geez, either God or those lectionary compilers really has a sense of humor — probably both.”
Were you listening? As we prepare for the July 4th celebration of our free country, we read from Galatians 5 that’s all about, well, freedom. Turns out I didn’t miss the tension July 4th brings at all.
Maybe this is because freedom isn’t really an American concept — well, it certainly is an American value, but it’s not solely an American one. The story of the Hebrew people in the Old Testament tells of a man named Moses whom God chose to lead the Israelites from their slavery to freedom. “Let my people go” Moses told Pharaoh, and eventually they were given liberty. … Continue Reading
What? My phone has an off button!
I’m not a huge multi-tasker, but my skills for doing one thing at a time are slipping fast.
Though I don’t tend to talk on the phone, chat online, listen to the radio, etc. at one time — mostly because I’m just not very good at it — I find my attention span shortening. I read for shorter spells. I check emails or facebook when I might be writing. I tend to value responding to an email quickly more than working hard while my inbox fills.
I am not alone. The solution, many are saying, it to get an iPad. Their clean interface and lack of ability to do more than one thing at once forces users to focus on one task. Just read. Just email. Just tweet rather than doing all at once.
I find the iPad solution wishful thinking, wishful both because, sure, I’d love an iPad and because of the certainty that the technology will allow multitasking in the future.
As I ponder this trend, I recall students who claim they “studied for four hours straight” but whose studying was constantly interrupted by text messages and phone calls. In truth, they studied maybe 3 hours total, and never more than 15 minutes consecutively.
This is all quite problematic, because every technology that interrupts my tasks has an easy way to be turned off. I can leave Twitter alone. I can close my email program. I can silence my phone and leave it in another room. The world would go on, I’m sure. And I, likely, would be more productive.
But it’s very hard to turn off. Extremely difficult. I’m of two minds about the reason for that. Either, I can’t turn off because of the alluring (even sinful) human tendency to be led away from what’s best for ourselves and the world. Call it pride, sin, stupidity, lack-of-focus, whatever but it certainly could be that simple: I should turn off and its just a poor decision, a moral misjudgment when I don’t. Or, perhaps I can’t turn off because of what those peeps and tweets and emails mean: human connection. Maybe what’s keeping me away from the “quit” button is that I don’t want to quit people and the connections made through technology.
Quit Facebook Day was supposed to occur recently. If you didn’t hear about it don’t feel bad. You didn’t miss much. It was a flop. Perhaps that’s because in a world where we long for human connections, quitting facebook would feel like dumping one’s friends, family, and community. People didn’t quit because ultimately they love what facebook does for them: connect them one to another.
Sure, it’s not as easy as that. Virtual connections are a bit different than others. Fine. But, at the end of the day, I think virtual communities are a net positive and that’s part of the reason they are so hard to turn off, even for an hour.
What do you think? How do you turn off your technological connections for a time? Surely I am not alone.
image by Jakub Krechowicz
Under Construction
Please bear with me. I’m nervously fiddling with the blog, transfering from WordPress.com to WordPress.org so that it all looks prettier one day. Surely there will be some snafus along the way. My apologies.
Update: this web design stuff is really HARD! First off, an enormous thanks goes out to my buddy, Adam Walker Cleaveland for his big help today getting me unstuck from some pretty impressive web hosting stuckness. Second, this design is a work in progress. I’m not sold on it, but I found out very quickly that I just don’t have the web skills for, really, any design beyond uploading a picture to a post. So, let’s live with it for a few days and I’ll see how it goes. Do let me know if you have some wise words of wisdom or something. I need all the help I can get.
image by Michaela Kobyakov
Sermon: Justification, Gal 2
First Presbyterian Church
Hallock, Minn.
June 13, 2010
Justification
Gal. 2
Sometimes there really is too much of a good thing. This week, for instance, I was in Louisville for a few days, meeting with the committee that is developing the next Presbyterian hymnal. I’m not exaggerating when I say we must have sung at least 500 hymns, maybe more. I’m really enjoying my work with the committee, but just like playing more than 36 holes of golf, or running a marathon, sometimes even good things get to be a little much.
But now I can say, with complete certainty, that there are many types of hymns and congregational songs out there these days. Some hymns are a simple paraphrases from verses in the Bible, others are a paraphrase with a final verse that’s a lesson or call to action. Other hymns paint beautiful images or express our deepest thoughts and fears. And, some hymns, I have to say, are absolutely ridiculously bad.
Singing all these different types of hymns has put me in a reflective mood lately, and Paul’s letter to the Galatians continued the theme. If Paul had written a hymn when he wrote this chapter of Galatians, it might have gone something like this:
We’re not like you holy Gentiles,
We are Jewish by our birth.
Yet we too are saved by Jesus,
we do not make our own worth.
We are saved, like you — all servants –
not through deeds, or through the law.
Justified by Christ, our savior,
we are saved by grace. What awe!
(Ok, Paul’s hymn would have been much better, but after reading so many rhyming couplets this week, I couldn’t help myself.) … Continue Reading
Sandal Showdown: Chaco or Keen?
Background update: I wrote this sandal review post last summer, but it’s still pertinent this summer and getting plenty of hits. So I’m bringing it back to the front page. Quite a feat, I know.
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I bought my go-to pair of Chaco sandals in 2003 when preparing for the Global Semester at St. Olaf College. I wasn’t the only one. Most of the students on the trip had Chacos so our matching footwear would cause quite the stir in Egyptian markets or Thai beaches. Some were even brave enough to sport their Chacos in winter with Smartwool socks. (Being from Florida and knowing sandals and socks is the ultimate faux pas, I remained pure.) But this is all to say: I literally traveled around the world in my Chacos and still wear them consistently six years later. Chaco makes some quality sandals.
But, after much hemming and hawing, I recently purchased not another pair of (brown) Chacos, but Keen Newport H2 sandals. And I have to say, I’m smitten. Though I have been a strong advocate for Chacos for many years, I may be switching my allegiance to Keen. Yes, I know. What will the world come to next!
I, though, am not a quick decision-maker. I am a thinker. An analyzer to the extreme. So, scroll down to check out my Chaco/Keen showdown.
Chaco Z2
Pros:
- very comfortable (high arch)
- feet feel secure but not claustrophobic
- washable (dishwasher and clothes washer)
- come in a fair variety of colors
- great for hiking (I even know folks who run in them)
- replaceable soles/treads (though I liked my lighter tread before I replaced it)
- no back heel bump to bother you
- rocks easily slip out
Cons:
- not the best for ugly feet (lots of foot showing)
- the new soles are too heavy
- they do get smelly quicker than they used to a few years back
- toes are vulnerable to mean rocks when hiking
- not good for rock-hopping in Montreat (toe banging issue)
- straps sometimes move a little
- dangerous on the beach (can get sand in the canvas straps)
- tan lines
Keen Newport H2
Pros:
- cushier than Chacos, more comfortable even
- snug secure feel
- washable/waterproof
- good (more) color choices than Chaco
- toe protection (this is huge)
- good for slightly uglier feet (mine included)
- easy to dress up a bit
Cons:
- feet feel a little hot sometimes
- rocks get stuck inside and must stop to pop them out
- more mainstream? everyone and their mother and law has Keens (I love you LouAnn)
- tread perhaps tracks more mud than Chacos
- smelly possiblities
- the elastic cords may wear out one day
- even crazier tan lines (not sure about this yet)
After hashing that out, I’m still not sure if I have a favorite. My Chacos will always have a special place in my heart, but I have to admit I’m wearing my Keens more this summer. If you’re looking to purchase a pair, you can’t go wrong, but maybe this is my advice: for free spirits with a variety of footwear needs and wants, the Chaco might fit your personality best. For those who like things a little more ordered and comfortable, perhaps the Keens are up your alley. Or…. just buy whatever is on sale.
Public Thoughts on Private Matters
There’s been a lot of talk lately about privacy, the internet, and Facebook. It’s very interesting and all that, but I fundamentally disagree with many of the privacy zealots. Most articles you read these days on the topic will have some person saying something to the effect, “I can’t believe Facebook would use my private information in a way I don’t approve of.” To that person I say: I’ve got some prime swampland in Florida I’d like to sell you. Let’s be real: Facebook is not your best friend, it’s a for-profit that uses your friends to make a buck.
Here’s my internet/Facebook rules these days:
- if it’s on Facebook, it’s public info. Period. Ever seen Facebook profile printed info in newspaper articles — I bet you have, it happens all the time. It’s also used as evidence in court. Unless you have under ten friends on Facebook and have your privacy settings juiced as high as they’ll go I say, the world being as it is, the internet being as it is, whatever you post will get out. There’s no privacy on Facebook. So let’s not pretend.
- Facebook is out to make money, not to make you happy. Sure, Facebook wants to keep you, it’s customer, mostly happy. So often they’ll announce and make a big switch — often to less privacy — and then, after public outcry, respond to the outcry and return (but only partway) in the direction to things were before. That way people stay happy, and Facebook gains more info to sell to advertisers.
- What’s wrong with targeted ads? My Facebook ads tend to be about technology, church, education, and sports. Sure, they’re using my profile to help, but I don’t mind getting ads directed at me — sometimes they are amazingly perceptive, like today’s re:form confirmation curriculum ad which I’m already considering.
- Facebook is a great tool, but it’s only that. Sometimes I think people think of a world without Facebook as a world without chocolate, or worse…beer. Facebook is only a few years old, and I doubt the next generation will use it in the same ways as we do, if at all. Let’s not lose our perspective.
image by kilokilo
Is Grand Forks the next Atlanta?
In the past ten years I’ve lived in a Florida town of 350,000 people, in the Atlanta area of 6 million plus, in a Scottish coastal town of 50,000, become quite familiar with the Twin Cities of 3 million, spent significant time in a Minnesota town of 1100, and now live in Grand Forks with about 50,000. In each place I’ve preferred neighborhoods that promote walking or biking, provide easy access to shopping and restaurants, and encourage relationships with my neighbors.
I enjoyed this video on suburban expansion versus the merits of in-town living. Sure, it’s PR, but it’s well done and points to an important issue, both environmental and social. Though it focused on Atlanta, I wonder now that I’m a Grand Forksian (is that right?), if Grand Forks can’t do more to address southward expansion. When I drive in the neighborhoods south of town I just feel, well, like I’m worshiping closed garages, viewing unsustainable expansion, and am more connected to pretty lawns than kind people. That’s probably not fair, as I haven’t actually lived out there, but my point is that Grand Forks would do better to improve downtown development than southward expansion.
If Grand Forks really wants to tackle North Dakota’s brain drain, leaders should fix downtown parking problems, fix up downtown living, address the loud and long trains, incentivize shops for groceries and every day products, and improve the bus system. This weekend’s arts festival was a great example of what Grand Forks can do and be. I hope leaders build on this success, emphasizing smart, sustainable, friendly community life.
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