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Sermon: The Traveler’s Psalm

Posted on March 20, 2011 by Adam J. Copeland

First Presbyterian Church of Hallock, Minn.

March 20, 2011

The Traveler’s Psalm

Psalm 121

Three or four years ago, when I was serving as seminary intern, I went with a pastor supervisor to meet with a family to plan a funeral. It was the first funeral I helped lead as any type of pastor. Even though I knew the family a little through some previous connections, it was a big deal going on my first funeral planning visit, so I paid very close attention to my supervisor.

We arrived at the house and drank coffee for a few minutes, then we pulled out our legal pads and, with the family, planned what the funeral service would look like. What hymns might you want to sing, we asked. How about the scripture lesson? Does a certain reading come to mind?

Well, the woman who had died was a lifelong choir member so the family had plenty of hymn suggestions. And, beyond that, they also knew what scripture reading they wanted. “The Traveler’s Psalm” they said.

My supervisor nodded. “Oh that’s nice,” he said. “Is there a special meaning to that psalm for you?” And the family went on to explain that, before they ever went on a family trip, or when they were on vacation together, or before someone in the family made a big transition — like to go college or get married — they’d gather together as a family and read The Traveler’s Psalm.

I have to admit, at that time I didn’t know that psalm 121 was known as the Traveler’s Psalm, but I haven’t forgotten it since. That image, of reading God’s word with one’s family before going on a family trip or transition still strikes me as profoundly moving. A few days later when I read psalm 121 at her funeral, it with a new and lasting appreciation.

So it’s particularly powerful for me, that today — my last official Sunday in Hallock — Psalm 121 is the suggested psalm for this, the second Sunday in Lent.

… Continue Reading

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MPR crosspost: The art of the public invocation

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Adam J. Copeland

Originally posted as a Commentary here on MPR News

To Whom it may concern: the art of the public invocation

I think it was in my second week as the new Presbyterian pastor in a rural northwest Minnesota town that I was asked to pray at a public gathering. I received — and promptly accepted — an invitation to give the invocation at a community Veterans’ Day event held at the local school.

Initially, at least, the invitation struck me as a great way to become known in the community. But as the day of the event neared, I began to dread it. Praying aloud was no problem — I’m a pastor, after all. But praying in a secular public setting was something altogether different.

This week, Sen. Terri Bonoff, DFL-Minnetonka, announced that she was “highly uncomfortable” during a prayer on the floor of the state Senate. After the prayer, Bonoff publicly raised an objection and asked that the pastor not be invited back. In the prayer, the Rev. Dennis Campbell, pastor of Granite City Baptist Church in St. Cloud, reportedly invoked the name of Jesus Christ multiple times. That alone would not make me uncomfortable, but Campbell’s history certainly does — including his anti-Islam newspaper ad, his support of anti-gay marriage groups, and his penchant for fear-mongering.

Religious leaders who agree to pray at public gatherings face an obvious challenge: Not everyone believes as they do. On the one hand, we pastors are asked to pray exactly because we hold particular beliefs and lead communities of faith. On the other hand, emphasizing the particularities of our faith can exclude others. So in public settings pastors must find a balance between prayers so particular they alienate and prayers so general there’s really no point.

There are a few ways to make this happen.

One pastor I know, when offering such a prayer at a public gathering, introduces it by saying: “I stand before you as a Christian, and cannot pretend otherwise. However, I invite you to join me in prayer as your tradition allows.” He then proceeds to pray, but does not invoke the name of Jesus specifically.

Other Christian pastors take another approach. They keep the whole business more general, neither mentioning their religious tradition nor Jesus Christ, intentionally referring to God using expansive and inclusive language.

It seems as if Sen. Bonoff prefers this latter approach, calling for “nondenominational” prayer.” Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, who is also Jewish, said that prayers invoking the name of Jesus Christ make him feel as if he doesn’t belong on the Senate floor.

Religious leaders invited to open the Senate in prayer are given a letter by the secretary of the Senate that states, “In an effort to be respectful of the religious diversity of our membership (Christian, Jewish and possibly others among them), we request that your prayer be interfaith and nonsectarian.” Bishop Gene Robinson famously strove toward the same goal at one of President Obama’s inauguration events by beginning his prayer, “O God of our many understandings.” Robinson later explained this was to acknowledge “that no one Christian denomination nor no one faith tradition knows all there is to know about God.”

The problem with this inclusive, so-called “interfaith” prayer is that it will never be inclusive enough. After Robinson’s prayer, one commenter complained that she believed in a Goddess, not God, so even Robinson’s “God of our many understandings” snubbed her faith. It is a disservice to all faiths to pretend they are the same or capable of being boiled down to a common denominator.

And what of those legislators who are not people of faith? In our search for inclusivity, might we soon be addressing prayers, “O God of our many understandings, and/or Goddess of our few understandings, and/or to the god many foolishly believe in”?

Earlier this year, the Hawaii Senate removed a rule requiring that its meetings open with an invocation. Facing a threatened lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union about the prayers’ constitutionality, the Senate opted to do away with the requirement entirely.

Has God’s power and love left Hawaii? In my understanding, absolutely not — but, then again, that’s just one understanding among many.

 

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What would Jesus wear to prom?

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Adam J. Copeland

Originally posted at Gathering Voices: Faith Conversations from TheThoughtfulChristian.com

When I was in high school, I used to hate it when older people spoke to me using phrases like, “Well, when you get to the real world…” Um, last time I checked, high school students do indeed live in the real world, and for many it’s a rather challenging world at that. So, when I wrote The Thoughtful Christianstudy, “Faithful Budgeting: Connecting Our Spending Habits to Our Beliefs” I wanted to make sure the study didn’t come across as condescending. Youth today, perhaps more than many adults, are in the real world when it comes to spending money.

Price of gas? Most youth with a car know that. Price of the new iPod? Youth know that too. Discussions on the values of buying name brands versus imitations? That’s a daily issue for many a young person. The tricky issues of money, spending, and values aren’t somehow hidden from youth culture — they’re part and parcel of growing up.

Coin-towersThink back to when you were in high school. What was the cool thing? Do you remember your biggest purchase as a young person? Before I drove, my biggest purchase was a Trek bicycle (my parents paid the orthodontist themselves!). After I drove, I bought a tool box for my pickup (bought by my parents) and slowly bettered my golf clubs. Thank goodness these were the days before iPads and MacBook Pros — things could have gotten ugly.

In high school, my friends approached money from several different perspectives. Some had wealthy parents who paid for practically anything they wanted. Others didn’t receive much money from their parents, but had well-paying after school and summer jobs. I worked as a soccer referee most every Saturday for most of high school, but my parents also gave me an allowance. My allowance didn’t depend on whether my room was clean or I mowed the lawn. Some of my friends, though, could earn more from their parents by helping out around the house. And the neighbors wondered why their parents’ cars were always so clean!

For better or for worse, the Bible does not tell us how many songs Jesus wants on our iPods (or other music-playing device), or whether to buy Chacos or Crocs. But, the Bible does give us resources to approach questions of money and stewardship. Jesus, after all, lived in the real world. God, very much, cares how we use our resources.

The “Faithful Budgeting” study is designed to enable discussion on how youth spend their money, but also about how the broader culture approaches money. Check it out, and with youth and adults, ask (and maybe answer) questions like: Do you know how much the average U.S. family spends each year and on what? If you were a single mom with a young child, how would you prioritize among your child’s nutritional needs, rent, and vehicle costs? Is that expensive prom dress really essential?

High school, after all, is as real as real can be.

image by sanja gjenero

Additional Resources from www.TheThoughtfulChristian.com

Check out all of Adam’s studies on The Thoughtful Christian.

 

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Practice this

Posted on March 12, 2011 by Adam J. Copeland

Last Wednesday night, my partner Megan went to yoga. She gathered with other like-minded folk to follow a leader who led them through a weekly ritual. While doing so, she pushed her body to a new place and gained an appreciation for its abilities. At the end of the practice, her leader said, “Thank you for discovering your greatness. I saw lots of minor miracles tonight. You are so special! Thank you for coming and for living into your greatness.”

Down the road, others attended Ash Wednesday worship services during which they received the imposition of ashes. Someone looked worshipers in the eye and said, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

Ash Wednesday can be a bit of a Debbie-downer for some, but it’s also a powerful message our culture needs to hear. Sometimes – often, I think — we get so praiseful and peachy and positive that we forget to acknowledge our brokenness as a society. The season of Lent isn’t a call to “live into our greatness” but instead to “never forget our brokenness.”

A few months ago at a regional church meeting when a group of churchy folks were editing a common document, someone objected to a line that read something like, “because we are a sinful broken people….” Someone objected to the sentence. After a bit of explanation it became clear that this person did not want to acknowledge our corporate flaws at all. A public document pointing out our participation in a broken system was too much for her. This was not yoga practice, but a gathering of leaders in the Presbyterian church (a denomination which could be said as emphasizing sin, at least historically).

This all reminds me of the political faux pas of our day: never say anything that challenges American exceptionalism, never suggest that one’s own party or policies might be to blame for any problem, never compromise because it shows a willingness to accept you may not have all the answers yourself.

Last week on MPR’s Midmorning, Kerri Miller interviewed advice columnist Amy Dickinson. Near the end of the hour Kerri said, “And you know what Amy, there’s one think we haven’t mentioned yet, but it’s a trait that makes you truly good at what you do. It helps your readers take you seriously. You admit when you’re wrong. You print corrections, and you’re willing to report the flaws of advice you’ve given in the past.”

Preach it, Kerri.

I know wallowing in our sin is no good. I understand, for some, even emphasizing one’s brokenness can be damaging. But for most of us — and especially for me, today — a refresher course on our sin and failure and imperfection could be powerfully good news. Happy Lent.

 

image by Miguel Saavedra

 

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Feminists go to the movies

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Adam J. Copeland

Originally posted at Gathering Voices: Faith Conversations from TheThoughtfulChristian.com

I love how blogs make me think.

Last week, teacher/writer/friend Ellie Roscher posted here about the sexism present at the Academy Awards. Ellie said that her high school students, when asked what female figures they look up to in life give personal examples like mothers, grandmothers, family members. But, when the boys give examples of folks they look up to, they tend to give examples from public life — musicians, athletes, politicians. Ellie then traces this thread of sexism through last weekend’s Oscars.

Ellie says,

Colin Firth, a brilliant man of integrity who I have been deeply in love with since he played Mr. Darcy in the five hour long BBC version of Pride and Prejudice, rightfully won best male actor in a lead role for playing a man who overcame a stammer to become a powerful king. That is a story I would want my young men to know.

But Natalie Portman, while perhaps deserving of the Oscar for her performance in Black Swan,

plays an anorexic ballerina who is a victim of sexual and emotional abuse, achieving perfection by simultaneously embodying virgin and whore only to commit suicide after physically harming herself along the way.  What is more, the film perpetuates our society’s tendency to blame the victim.

Who do you want your child to look up to, the king who overcame adversity to lead his people through war or the masochist with an eating disorder?

Ellie’s post reminded me how my worldview is shaped by the films I enjoy, even well-made award-winning ones. Then, a few days later, Melissa Wiginton posted “The King’s Speech” and Feminism, exploring how the feminist notion of “finding one’s voice” is portrayed in helpful ways by men in The King’s Speech.In fact, Melissa argues that The King’s Speech even has a new masculinity about it:

To see it as a story of men dealing with difficulty through mutual vulnerability that brings transformation begins to suggest something other than patriarchy. It points to the possibility of new archetypes, metaphors, models and ways of being through which men of all colors can flourish, for their own souls and for the vitality of our common life.

Now my turn. Several other Oscar-nominated films for Best Picture are ripe for feminist pondering, at least three in largely positive ways.

The Kids Are All Right tells the story of a lesbian couple’s challenge to keep their relationship strong amidst pressures of work, raising children, and questions of the anonymity (or not) of their sperm donor. The main conflict of the movie is infidelity and the pain it causes the couple’s relationship and the family in general. But, in the main, it’s the story of a relationship persevering even though the partners have hurt each other deeply. It’s sensitive, thoughtful women trying to live out forgiveness.

True Grit, a Coen brothers remake of Charles Portis’ novel of the same name, showcases the wittiest fearless 14 year-old you’ll ever see on film. Mattie Ross is hellbent on finding her father’s murderer, and she goes to extreme lengths to do so, employing a Deputy US Marshall Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to get the job done. Mattie’s peculiarities may stop some women from wanting to emulate her — though her vocabulary is tremendous — but she’s a female character that breaks barriers and finds her way in a broken male-dominated world.

Finally, my favorite female from this year’s Oscars is surely 17 year-old Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) in Winter’s Bone. Again, Ree shows courage beyond anything I could ever muster, but also wisdom, insight, and perseverance. She is an every woman’s woman, loving as a mother, kind and gentle, ruthless and pugnacious when necessary.

But. But, there’s still a problem. Each of the three films The Kids Are All Right,True Grit, Winter’s Bone, have leading women who shine because of their ability to navigate society’s brokenness. Responding to Ellie’s opening query: I’d love for high school girls to emulate the positive attributes of any of these women and I wish they didn’t have to.

Additional Resources from www.TheThoughtfulChristian.com

  • “Juno,” by Gina Yeager-Buckley (Youth Movie Study)
  • There has been much debate over the role women play in the books and movies in the Twilight saga. Click here to see a list of Adult, Youth, and Parenting studies on Twilight and New Moon.

 

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Sermon: Holding It Together

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Adam J. Copeland

First Presbyterian Church of Hallock, Minn.

March 6, 2011

 

Holding it Together

Matthew 17:1-9

There’s some stories in the Bible that pretty much everyone seems to know irregardless whether they’re Christian or attend church. Of course: there’s Christmas — the story of little baby Jesus in a manger. There’s the story of Noah and the ark. And Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection are pretty much universally know. But, today’s stories from Matthew and it’s companion from Exodus wouldn’t quite make the top ten list of commonly-known Bible stories.

If Matthew were alive to day, he’d be sorry to hear that. The story of Jesus’ transfiguration in Matthew 17 holds the whole story together, it connects the faith and makes following Jesus so much more than just Christmas and Easter. … Continue Reading

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Turning Lutheran

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Adam J. Copeland

From http://oldlutheran.com/

In 26 days I become a Lutheran. It could be quite painful. They might try to flush out my tartan Knox/Calvinist blood with a steady stream of lutefisk, lefse, and German beer (well, come to think of it, two out of three of those ain’t too bad). In truth, I only jest. I’m not really becoming a Lutheran — they’re just going to pay my health insurance and pension. What a deal!

Actually, come April I will be employed by several partnership bodies of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as Mission Developer for The Project F-M, but I don’t have to change my denominational colors. The PC(USA) is in full communion with the ELCA. We’re best of buds, and ministers from one denomination can easily serve a ministry of the other upon invitation. So I’ll still be Presbyterian, I’ll just have a double dose of meetings to attend.

I’m curious, though, Lutherans out there on the interwebs: What do you see as the important distinguishing characteristics of the ELCA (as compared to the PC(USA) or other denominations)? What does being Lutheran mean to you?

Here’s the obvious differences I’ve noticed over the years:

  • Lutherans use paradox often as a means to describe tricky theological concerns. In fact, I challenge you to get a group of Lutheran pastors in a room talking theology and not mention paradox in the first hour.
  • Lutherans speak of a law and gospel dichotomy dialectic fairly often. For instance, in my text study group for sermons, ELCA folks will describe the “law” of the text and the “gospel” of the text. (For various reasons, this wouldn’t happen in PC(USA) circles, but interestingly, rarely do any Presbyterians actually explain why.)
  • Lutherans have much more of a respect for liturgy than your average Presbyterian.

I’m very grateful for these differences. I’m thrilled to be called to serve in a partner denomination. I have a lot to learn from Lutheran colleagues (and goodness knows, Presbyterians are no angels). To add a wrinkle to the move, I’ll be serving in a position which may not emphasize any denominational brand very loudly at all. Up to now, at least, that hasn’t been the point at all. Fine by me. In fact, my dual-citizenship could be a real asset.

But, oh wise blog readers, I’m curious: If you were to turn me Lutheran what would you suggest? Norwegian sweaters (or buying that shirt above)? Memorizing Luther’s Small Catechism? Reading Bonhoeffer? What resources should I contemplate to better understand my Lutheran partners in faith and ministry?

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