“At the center of God’s personality is a profound generosity. When it comes to blessing and loving the human family, God holds nothing back.” – Broderick Greer

Reading: Colossians 1:11-14 "May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

Reflection: Recently I have been trying a lot of different kinds of exercise just to stay active and keep moving. I love running, but sometimes I need a change. So the other day I went back to something I haven't done in years, but remember with great fondness: ballet.

I joined the State Ballet of Missouri (now The Kansas City Ballet) when I was in 3rd grade and danced through my middle school years, sometimes six days a week. (My parents were saints and drove me to downtown KC ALL the time!) I remember a lot of the terminology from my time there, lots of technique and have many great memories, but I haven't put it into use in about 15 years.

My work-out was ROUGH. I knew all the right places my feet SHOULD be, but they didn't always go there at first. I knew what my posture was supposed to do, but I have no idea how I did that 15 years ago.

Recently you may have heard that Thanksgiving is “dead.” Many retailers that formerly would not have dared open on Thanksgiving are now opening at 6am to sell, sell, sell as the official Christmas shopping season gets underway. Some people are saying that this, specifically Macy's opening its doors, is the death of Thanksgiving.

 Colossians 1 reminds us that Christ has given us strength to endure (sometimes a lot) with patience as we give thanks to God in all we do. It's not that we give thanks after we have endured something difficult, it's that it is second nature to give thanks while we endure with patience. It may take some practice, and the practice might be difficult or rough. We may even forget a few steps in the process, but the exercise of giving thanks is always there, deep inside us, and difficult to forget.

Society may take a hiatus from the Thanksgiving holiday while they open their doors for “Christmas” shopping, the way I took a 15 year break from ballet. But we know that the Thanksgiving federal holiday on the 4th Thursday in November is not the only thing that prompts thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is such a part of us; it is so ingrained in us that it will never "die." We too may take a break, and our muscles may ache as we step into that first position as we remember back. But our muscles do remember, and we remember, because it is second nature.

You are invited to come worship with us this Sunday as we continue to think about both thanksgiving and Thanksgiving.

We also invite you to come participate in our “Better Than Black Friday” event on Friday, November 29.  As an alternative to the rush and spending of Black Friday, we will celebrate the season with a FREE community meal.  You are invited to volunteer, to bring a pot of soup, or to come join us if you are looking for community.

No matter where you are, you are invited here.  Won’t you join us?

"Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God, but only he who sees takes off his shoes; the rest sit round it and pluck blackberries." - Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Reading: Luke 20:27-38
Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, ‘Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die any more, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.’

Reflection: The law about which Jesus squabbles with the Sadducees in this passage referred to Levirate Marriage, and was intended to answer a significant cultural question; how to preserve the legacy of those we love; in this case a brother who died childless. Of course this is not the way they approach it on this occasion. This passage represents a common place debate between conservative and progressive Jews about resurrection life. The Sadducees hold that since resurrection life is not mentioned in what they consider the word of God (inscribed in Genesis through Deuteronomy) it surely doesn’t exist; while Jesus sides with the Pharisees in affirming its existence on the basis of God’s continued speaking (let those with ears to hear do so!). Nevertheless, this passage offers a useful reminder for us so soon after we honored the lives of our deceased loved ones on All Saints. We have honored them; yes. We have acknowledged the impact they have made on our lives; yes. But how will we preserve their legacy?

This is an especially important question for us as a faith community as we begin a time of discernment of God’s vision for a revitalized life and ministry. We stand on the shoulders of many who have gone before us, who have given much, and who are watching from that great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, rooting for us in our spiritual efforts. Yet the question remains, how will we honor their legacy? I have seen far too many churches whose idea of honoring legacy was to wrap it carefully in sentiment, store it away and keep it forever unchanged. That way it would always be available for a pleasant stroll down memory lane. Others don’t recognize past as past; but continue to live out the patterns others have laid down without regard to their effectiveness in new settings. In this instance it’s not so much a matter of honoring legacy as mindless repetition of its patterns.

In my estimation, neither of these options honors legacy, because they treat it as dead, lifeless. Their value lies only in intimidating us with memories of the glory days long gone by. But consider what Jesus says of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Are they dead? Is their legacy powerless? No, because God is God not of the dead, but of the living. Thus, as they live, so their legacy is powerful, and can inspire great things. So it is with the legacy of our loved ones.They are like that burning bush Moses stood before in awe and humility. They are common bushes, every one; and yet every one burns with holiness, every one is afire with God. If we will only open our eyes we will see that earth’s crammed with heaven; we will see that the legacy left us by our loved ones is living and powerful, and that it can and will inspire great things in us – in our ministry – in the years ahead. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to take off my shoes and walk bare footed!

ALL SAINTS SUNDAY

God came to my house and asked for charity.
And I fell on my knees and
cried, “Beloved,
what may I give?”
“Just love,” He said.
“Just love.”     
- Daniel Ladinsky

 Reading: Luke 18:1-8 (Common English Bible)
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through town.  A man there named Zacchaeus, a ruler among tax collectors, was rich.  He was trying to see who Jesus was, but, being a short man, he couldn’t because of the crowd.  So he ran ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus, who was about to pass that way.  When Jesus came to that spot, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down at once.  I must stay in your home today.”  So Zacchaeus came down at once, happy to welcome Jesus. 
Everyone who saw this grumbled, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”  Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my possessions to the poor.  And if I have cheated anyone, I repay them four times as much.”
Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this household because he too is a son of Abraham.  The Human One came to seek and save the lost.”

Reflection: Recently I have been working on cooking a lot of things from scratch, trying to make sure I know what goes into my food, and understand more about how things work inside the food I’m eating, like yeast – how does it make the bread so fluffy good?  I’ve discovered that I’m good at baking, because I get to follow an exact recipe and then you set it in the oven and have to wait.  I’m not as good at “cooking” in the sense of adding things to a pot or a skillet, and then maybe adding a dash of this, or a dash of that.  I want a recipe to follow!

Is there a recipe to follow when planning or hoping for an encounter with God?  Many times we would like to say “yes,” and we might be right.  We plan to come to worship, to engage in Bible Study and to participate in service events, and we are probably more likely to encounter God in these events than just watching television on our couch.  But so often we encounter God in Christ in all the weird places we haven’t planned for, that aren’t on our recipe. 

At Sunday morning worship we’ll talk about “recipes” to encounter God and the final outcome of Zacchaeus’ plan or recipe to encounter God in Christ.  We will remember many of the saints who have gone before us, that are an integral part of the “recipe” to encounter God, celebrating the ways they help us to experience God in Christ. 

We will also celebrate parts of that recipe to experience the Divine that some may not always remember.  We will have an Animal Blessing at 2:00pm, in the central courtyard weather permitting, or in the Fellowship Hall.  ALL animals and their humans are invited to be blessed and celebrated.

DON’T FORGET TO FALL BACK!  Set your clocks back one hour before you go to bed so that you don’t miss out on these opportunities to worship and celebrate with our faith community here at Overland Park Christian Church.  See you soon!