Mist on the Water (James: your life is like a mist . . .")

As I was pondering James' words on the brevity and uncertainty of life this past weekend ("What is your life?  You're like a mist that blows away and is gone . . .") Jay was enjoying watching the mist rise from Townline Lake while on the Fall Men's Retreat.  See the photos of the lake--before and after shots of the same scene, about two hours apart.

In some devotional reading I was doing this week, I came across this quote from Evelyn Underhill, a 20th century Christian scholar and mystic that seems relevant to our study of James.  She too writes about humility - knowing our place as frail, beloved creatures.

"For a spiritual life is simply a life in which all that we do comes from the centre, where we are anchored in God:  a life soaked through and through by a sense of his reality and claim, and self-given to the great movement of his will." (E. Underhill, The Spiritual Life) 

This is the life that James is urging us toward in 4:13-17 - a life soaked in God, steeped in God's will.

peace,

Elizabeth

Fights, Quarrels and Conflict

A danger with the passage that we looked at on Sunday (“what causes fights and quarrels among you?”) is to think that all conflict is wrong. That James is saying that we should never disagree with each other.


That's not what James is saying at all. Indeed, conflict is inevitable when a diverse group of people come together in an intentional community like the church. At issue, instead, is how we handle that conflict, those disagreements.

If we let it tear us apart or tear us down, if we let it escalate quickly to the point where we're bickering and quarreling and choosing sides, if we let the disagreement quickly degrade to a point where we can't stand each other or talk to each other any more, then we're handling conflict the same way the world handles conflict. It's destructive and ugly and sinful.

If instead, however, we find a way to talk through our disagreements, if we are able to pray together about our passions, if we are able to see one another as children of God even in the midst of our different convictions, then we have begun to bring life into an otherwise dark world. Then we have begun to build the Kingdom of God through an undying, unconditional love for one another. Then we have been an example to all of another way, a higher way, a way of following Jesus.

Humility is beginning to play a large role in the book of James, and this week is no different. Approaching our differences with humility, with an awareness that we might not always be right, is a huge step in moving in the right direction. It's also a big step in being able to bring our differences before God and seek out God's will in them.

And hopefully, we'll find the disagreements become few and far between as we seek out God's purposes and God's will—and place God's will before our own.
Peace,

Pastor Jay

Interesting development of the week: We have reason to believe that the flying monkey, Bobo, who makes a yearly appearance at Vacation Bible School, has been abducted and is being held against his will by a Boston Square member. He has always abided peacefully and quite happily in the drawer in my office until suddenly he disappeared after VBS this past summer. We feared the worst until just last week we received a clearly coerced e-mail proclaiming his supposed happiness and world travels. If anyone has any information about the whereabouts of Bobo the flying monkey, please share them before it's too late!

Wise Words on Wisdom?

The sermon on Sunday was about wisdom--and specifically that wisdom in Scripture is almost always described in terms of how we live rather than what we think.  James picks up on this by saying that whoever thinks they are wise should show it by their good life, by their deeds.

If this is the case, then why do we as a society often assume that those who are more experienced in life are also wiser in life?  Is it because we think of wisdom as simply a matter of learning from our mistakes?

In James' view, though, unless learning from our mistakes teaches us more fully what God expects of us--more fully what it is to live our faith day to day--then those experiences are not gifting us with wisdom. 

In my own experience, the people I consider to be the wisest are also those who have learned what it means to live close to God.  To begin to know God's heart and to act out of that knowledge.  Most of those people are much older than I am, though certainly not all.  Age is not a prerequisite to wisdom, nor a guarantee of it, but hopefully if God works on us long enough, we begin to clue in.  And this is where age is an advantage.

May we all have the grace and humility to grow wiser even as we grow older.

Peace,
Pastor Jay

Misadventure of the week:  Overheard in our kitchen when faced with rock-hard dairy dessert..."Would it be a very bad idea to microwave this ice cream for just five seconds?"

Taming the Tongue

Two thoughts as we continue reflecting on the difficulties of "taming the tongue" from last week's sermon on James 3. 

First, it stirkes me that if the tongue is as wild as James claims--if it's so difficult to control that nobody can do it perfectly--then that's a call for all of us to live with a heightened awareness of the need for grace in our lives.  When we understand the difficulty others inherently have in saying the right thing (and even more so in saying the right thing at the right time in the right tone of voice...), then we need to be prepared to offer forgiveness when something is said that hurts us.  The tongue, after all, as James says, is set on fire by the flames of hell themselves...so maybe we can cut the other person some slack. 

I still remember things my parents said when I was growing up that hurt me.  In fact, I've held onto many more of those than the many, many things they said that encouraged me or built me up.  Perhaps it's time I let go of the ones that hurt.

Second, using our tongues in honor and praise and glory to God does not mean that every word out of our mouths has to be bright and perky and upbeat.  The Psalms in particular are filled with words of sorrow and pain and suffering, yet those words too still bring honor to our God.  They just do it in a way that also honors the current circumstances. 

This also sheds a new light on the way we approach the everyday, including our everyday words.  One of the great strengths of the Reformed tradition is that we emphasize that every moment of every day belongs to our God.  This means that even the mundane and common tasks--and even more so the mundane and common words we use--can be done/spoken to God's glory.  So, then--how would one say, "It's time for the bus!" in a way that glorifies God?

Peace,
Pastor Jay

Midadventures of the week:  (1) We returned from the Pastors' Conference/Retreat we were at on Monday and Tuesday and I emptied my pockets only to pull out the key for the room we stayed in while there.  Oops--needed to make an extra trip to the post office this week.  (2) We confused many of the members of the study of Islam small group as they came to our house for the first meeting and were greeted by two children--ages 11 and 8--and they wondered what had happened to Emma and Brianna.  We were simply watching the kids of some friends of ours.  (3) Elizabeth had the hardest time convincing the folks at the hardware store it was okay for her to charge something to the church's account.  Apparently she wasn't on the list of approved persons, so they called the manager, who responded, "Wait--you don't trust the pastor?!" 

Some further thoughts on being "called God's friend"

A couple of verses I read during my quiet time this morning struck me as relating to Sunday's passage (James 2: 14-26) and the idea of being God's friend and what that meant for Abraham.  The first is Psalm 86:11:

Teach me your way, Lord,
that I may rely on your faithfulness;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.

I mentioned in my sermon that Greek moral teaching talked about the unity of friends - seeing the world the same way and sharing everything in common.  Abraham certainly relied on God's faithfulness, though I'm a bit afraid of this prayer.  Because of course, relying on God's faithfulness often means being in situations where it feels like there's absolutely nothing to rely on.  Abraham is also, especially according to Kirkegaard, the supreme example of someone with an undivided heart - seeing the world as God saw it, or at least trusting God's vision of the world more than his own.  James too urges us toward having an undivided heart - devoted to God and not yanked around by our own evil desires and insidious doubts.  (This, by the way, is the idea behind having Pinnochio on our study books - the invitation to become real and not pulled and controlled and manipulated by sin but instead able to live for God in freedom.)

The second passage comes from Luke 12:21, right after the parable of the rich fool, who built bigger barns for himself and anticipated spending the rest of his time taking it easy and being merry, only to lose his life and face God. 

"This is how it will be with those who store up things for themselves but are not rich towards God."

One of the commentaries I studied last week mentioned how Abraham 'abandoned his life to God's plans and purposes'  - he was rich towards God . . . I think, I hope, there's something within us that longs to give ourselves to God with abandon - to be like the sinful woman lavishing perfume on Jesus feet, to be rich toward God and not anxious about protecting and providing for ourselves.

On a different note, I've also been remembering a story about Teresa of Avila, a remarkable woman of God and leader of the church who faced many challenges, including the scrutiny of the Inquisition.  She was traveling somewhere in the rain and fell face flat into the mud.  When she got up again, she reportedly exclaimed in frustration, "Lord, if this is how you treat your friends, it is no wonder you have so few of them!"

Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness, even when you let me fall face down in the mud . . .

Pastor Elizabeth

Forbidden Favoritism--more than simply seeing others as children of God

This past week we looked at James 2:1-13, where James, in very strong language, condemns any practice of showing favoritism to those with wealth at the expense of the poor.  Two thoughts have stayed with me.

The first is that wealth is by no means the only criteria by which we show favoritism.  Race, gender, age, occupation, and education-level are just a few others that creep in all too often in this world.  And though James does not directly address these like he does preferential treatment based on wealth, they are also just as much not a part of what it means to live like Christ.  It all goes back to viewing one another with Gospel eyes--no matter what our race, our income, our education level, gender, age, or occupation, we are all broken people in need of a savior...and no matter who we are, God loves each one of us more than we can ever comprehend.  Using this as the basis for how we interact with others means that so many of the social divides in the world around us are simply no longer meaningful and certainly not helpful.

The second thought is that the call not to show favoritism to the poor goes well beyond simply trying to be nice to others and treating them as God would have us treat them.  The reality, more than we might realize, is that the poor have at least as much to offer us in terms of how to live our faith as the rich.  Our tendency, what the world tells us, is that only the rich have anything to offer us so we must cater to their whims and their desires.  James, on the other hand, and Jesus himself, tell us the exact opposite.  It is the poor that God has chosen to be rich in faith.  It is in the poor that we see Jesus himself.  It is in the poor that we catch a glimpse of the kingdom of heaven.  So James says, "Why do you like the rich?  They are the ones oppressing you, not the ones showing you what faith is..."  It is the poor that have something to offer us.

This is what makes the writings of Shane Claiborne and his book Irresistible Revolution so powerful while reading James.  Shane seeks out the last, the least, the lost, and intentionally lives among them--why?  because he has something to offer them?  No--he does it because the poor have something to offer him.  They show him Jesus.  They reveal the Kingdom of heaven.  They express God's love.

One quick example: While I was interning at Crossroads Christian Reformed Church in San Marcos, California, a number of years ago, during every evening service a vanload of residents from a local drug and alcohol rehabilitation center arrived to join in the service.  Initially this made everyone uncomfortable, and the residents dramatically changed the tenor of the service...but it wasn't long before they clearly began shaping the expression of faith that was taking place during those worship times.  They were unavoidable expressions of both how broken each one of us is and also of how dependent we are upon God's love and redemption.  They brought all of us closer to Christ simply by their presence.

Well, thanks for reading sermon #2 on this text...
Pastor Jay

Misadventure of the week:  A recent exchange between Elizabeth and me:
Elizabeth, coming into my office in a rush:  "Help!  My computer is talking to me!"
Jay: "What do you mean, your computer's talking to you?"
Elizabeth:  "It's suddenly telling me everything I've done"
Jay, wondering if this might be an act of the Holy Spirit: "You mean like all your secrets and everything?"
Elizabeth: "No, no, no...not like that..."
Turns out that somehow the Audio Navigator had been turned on so that it spoke all of the actions that were taking place and read whatever was on the screen under the cursor.  We quickly resolved the problem, and are no longer turning to our computer for confessionals.

Faith and Works

One of the challenges of preaching the book of James, or just studying the book of James in general, is trying to make sense of the relationship of faith and works.  James has often been criticized for putting to much emphasis on living out our faith--to the point that it seems like we might earn our salvation or that our relationship with God is dependent upon our own actions.

I've been surprised, though, now that we're looking at James in more detail, just how much faith is built into the book, and how much that faith is a free gift of God.  We encountered it already in chapter 1--God is the giving God.  It's God's nature.  And then later, God has given birth to us in the word of truth.  And God has implanted that word of truth within us. It is clearly God's actions and God's initiative, and that brith we experience seems to be an ongoing process, leading us to maturity and completeness in our faith.

So what's the relationship between faith and works in James?  Between God's initiative and our response?  Perhaps it's something along these lines:  The word of truth is a free gift.  The newness of life is completely God's doing--but it is a gift, a new reality, that places a call on our lives.  That leads us forward toward that maturity and completeness.  A gift that slowly but surely changes who we are.  A gift, strangely enough, that if we don't put it into practice, if we don't utitlize it, if we don't "accept" it or "receive" it (as James describes it in 1:21) won't accomplish its purposes.  We won't become the "firstfruits of all creation" that God intends.  We won't live as examples to the rest of the world of what God's purposes for the world and for us are.

I've been thinking of it like this:  It's like winning a college scholarship randomly at some drawing you entered.  Completely unexpected and undeserved, and you can use it to go to any school you want.  But now you have a choice--do you actually use it?  Do you go to school?  If you do, it will change who you are.  You won't be the same.  It might not be easy, but it will certainly change you.  But the other option is simply to say, "Well, that's nice.  But I don't want to risk it.  I don't want to bother.  I'm really not interested." 

Unless you actually use the scholarship, it won't change who you are.  It won't transform your life.  But if   you put it into practice, you will never be the same.  A bit like faith:  we can hold onto it, or we can put it into practice and have it change us.  Obviously, this illustration has it's limits--for one, college isn't for all of us, and that's okay.  For another, sometimes college changes for the better, sometimes for the worse...but hopefully you get what I'm getting at.  May we all put our faith into practice and allow God to transform who we are.  Otherwise the gift God gives us won't be nearly as glorious as it might be.

Favorite quote of the week:  Elizabeth wore her robe to conduct the wedding of Jose' and Amber Cruz this past week, and when one of the ushers saw her, he was taken aback, and proclaimed, "You're wearing your Jedi for Jesus outfit!"  We then tried the ol' Jedi mind trick "You will come to church..."  We'll see if it works.

Consider it joy . . .

Dear friends,

We've decided to try to continue our pastors' blog now that we're back to the familiar routine at Boston Square.  This does fill us with some trepidation, as we are no longer visiting far away sights and having quite the same adventures, and - well - most of you see us every Sunday anyway- but we enjoyed the discipline of blogging and hope that it will continue to be a good way of communicating some of what we're doing and reflecting on each week.  Maybe we'll even find some fun photos to include in our next posting . . .

We've been thinking a lot about the James passage (1:1-18) Jay preached on Sunday.  We were both humbled on Sunday morning as we looked around the congregation and thought about how many of us at Boston Square have learned much through suffering. 

We've also been reflecting some more on our experience with community on Iona.  We'd been anticipating a peaceful week in a safe haven and instead God gave us a week of trials in living with people we would not have chosen to spend that much time with.  And it ended up being one of the best weeks of our whole sabbatical.

Our liturgy for James draws heavily on the worship experiences we had at Iona.  We used the service of confession in this liturgy every morning there as we began the day with worship, and we sang "We will take what you offer" during the evening communion service.  It stuck with us and struck us as summing up well the life of discipleship we are invited to through the book of James.

We continue to be grateful for our time away and glad to be back home with you all.  It is wonderful to have a community to come home to!

Pastor Elizabeth

Misadventure of the week:  The James Challenge is (to quote Emma) "not going so well' for some of us in our household.  Jay is going strong, Elizabeth may just have to skip ahead to James 1:19-27.  I hope these passages get shorter soon! 

Week 11 - Back to Michigan!

It is a bit hard to wrap our minds around the fact that we began the week in Edinburgh, Scotland and are concluding it in Ferrysberg, MI - modern travel is pretty amazing!

We had a lovely few days in Edinburgh, taking in some of the sights and worshipping at St. Giles Cathedral on Sunday.  Scottish Reformer John Knox was the pastor of St Giles for many years, and after the service we also went and toured the home where he lived the last years of his life.   The house/museum was full of various quotes from or about Knox, including his famous line railing against 'this monstrous regiment of women' and critics' complaints that his preaching was so influential it was like thunder heard for miles around.  Quite the interesting and complicated figure God used to lead the church.  We visited the National Museum of Scotland and got to see the Lewis Chessmen (mysterious Viking chess pieces found in nothern Scotland), various artifacts from the convent on Iona, and special leather satchels that monks designed especially for carrying sacred texts around Scotland and Ireland.  (Being a fan of both books and bags, I was much more impressed with that particular exhibit than Jay and the girls were - they were more into the hands-on build your own small catapult display.)

And then, it was time to fly home.   Once again we were so grateful for all of your prayers for our safety and for cheerful daughters, as the flight home was uneventful and the girls did really well on the 9 hour flight back. We had a short visit with my mom and dad on our way back across the state.  It was so good to be able to see and talk with them in person.  Mom is in good spirits and they (and we) are so grateful for all of your prayers on her behalf!

We're now in Ferrysberg, sorting through mail and trying get day and night straight again, and beginning to process all that we've seen and learned and been reading so far.  A few themes are emerging.  The first has to do with mission - that as believers individually and together we get to look for and participate in what God is already doing in the world - restoring relationships and reconciling people to God in Christ.  The second has to do with context - that each church is unique and that the work of the Spirit in each place is also in many ways in unique.  And the third has to do with the Holy Spirit - a growing awareness of the work of the Spirit in our lives and a growing expectancy about what the Spirit has begun at Boston Square.

We'll be spending next week with Jay's parents and siblings and are looking forward to reconnecting with them.  It will be a bit before we make another post because we won't have internet access. You all continue to be in our thoughts and prayers - especially the Huizingas, Howards, and Sinkes and Vacation Bible School this week.

peace,
Elizabeth

misadventures - so, we figured out why it was a bit hard to find acommodations in Edinburgh for this week - the end of the British Open!  the city was full of avid golf fans - an interesting crowd.  And, after travelling around all sorts of corners of the United Kingdom for eleven weeks, we realized somewhat sheepishly the one grave that we intentionally sought out was that of John Gray, the guy whose dog sat by his grave every day for fourteen years after his death.  Also, after one phone call in the U.S., our Islamic mobile phones have mysteriously reverted to Arabic, making text messages a challenge. 

Week 10 Iona (ahh . . . community)

We've just finished spending a week on the island of Iona as guests of the Iona Community.  And it's a bit hard to know how to begin describing it.  The island itself is small and remote (we took a 3 hour train journey followed by an hour long ferry ride followed by an hour and half bus ride followed by another brief ferry ride to get there) and incredibly peaceful and beautiful.  There are more sheep there than people, by quite a lot.  We woke to sounds of sheep and slept to the sounds of sheep - they can be rather loud!

There's a small village on the island and several bed and breakfasts, and a Benedictine Abbey that was restored throughout the 20th century, mostly through the vision of Rev George Macleod.  His idea was to employ unemployed tradesmen and train ministers at the same time, through the experience of community and the rebuilding of the abbey. Out of that vision the Iona Community evolved.  It's an ecumenical community committed to justice and renewal, with about 300 members worldwide.   Google them to learn more - it's a remarkable story.   The Community has various ministries, including the publication of worship resources, many of which we use, and hosting folks on Iona for a week.

It was a good and challenging week for us - living in intentional community, even for a week, is hard.  I quickly came to the conclusion I would not have made a good monk!  We rose to the sound of a bell, ate all our meals together, had various chores assigned to us, began and closed each day with worship.  In between meals, chores, and worship services there were various workshops to attend or outings to take advantage of - it was a full week.  The girls loved the routine of each day and listening for the bells.  Emma was assistant window cleaner for the week, while Brianna rode around on Jay's back emptying the trash bins each morning.  They sang heartily at the worship services, and Brianna's new word this week was 'aleyuda' (alleluia), which she would shout out periodically.  I was really challenged this week to reconsider how I think about work and vocation, the links between manual labor and prayer, and to be more mindful of God's presence and glory in routine tasks and in the people I encounter each day.

Challenging as life with others can be, the week was tremendously nourishing for us - lots of time outdoors in a beautiful setting, lots of opportunities to talk with folks who love Jesus deeply, and lots of space to sing and pray.  It was a wonderful conclusion to our trip.

One of the days we participated in a pilgrimage walk around parts of the island.  Emma was full of her usual questions, and as I tried to explain to her what a pilgrimage was, it struck me again that pilgrimage has been the rhythm of this whole trip.  "We walk for a while and then we stop and learn and listen and pray, and then we walk some more."   We travel and then stop for a bit and learn and listen and pray and then travel some more.  And it has been rich for us in encounters with new folks and places and in encounters with God.  And now we're glad that the time for travel is almost done and we'll be heading back to Michigan in a few days.

peace,
Elizabeth

misadventures of the week - Jay getting sprayed in the face with toilet bowl cleaner by an overeager young fellow guest during morning chores; Elizabeth realizing too late that a week with the Iona Community was going to be a lot like a week of summer camp - yes, there were bunk beds and we were given animal names and there were crafts - sadly, no capture the flag or archery.

Week 9--Northen Ireland (Politics, Peace, and Presbyterianism)

We drove up into Scotland this week and hopped a ferry across to Northern Ireland.  After landing in Belfast, we drove up the coast to Bushmills and Portstewart, at the very top of Ireland.  The scenery, with it's lush green fields and sharp cliffs falling into the sea, has been absolutely stunning. 

The purpose of traveling here has been mainly to reconnect with a good friend from seminary, Philip Wilson, and his wife, Hannah.  Philip pastors a Presbyterian church in Bushmills--our first real connection with the Calvinist tradition in Britain while on our travels--and has been a tremendous resource in helping us process our experiences so far.  He has a good understanding of both the church in America and in Britain, the challenges each faces, and has been able to validate and/or reshape some of our perceptions of the state of the church here in Britian.  Both he and Hannah have together made us feel very welcome here.

One thing we've realized on our travels is that the history and geography of each particular church greatly shape that church's ministry--and the same is true of each region as well. It's very clear here in Northern Ireland.  The politics and history are such a deep part of the culture here, and while peace between the Protestants and Catholics has taken hold for the last five years or so, the conflict is still something that affects everyone's lives every single day.  As Philip commented, "a significant part of my role is as peacemaker." 

It struck me when he said that his primary way of addressing this is not to take a public stand or to host a demonstration when violence or persecution erupt, but rather to begin asking how they as a church might reach out to those who are on the fringe of those participating in the persecution, and, in turn, how they might help these people see how destructive their behavior is.  The hope, then, would be that these people would be able to influence those participants who are even more hardened in their views.  I wondered what this might look like at Boston Square in Grand Rapids where racial and ethnic tensions continue to be present and immigration reform continues to be a pressing issue.  Please pray for Northern Ireland, that the peace may continue to take hold and that true reconciliation might be birthed between the Protestants and Catholics.

It was good to worship in a Calvinist setting again and the service reminded us of many in the Christian Reformed Church back home.   In general, it seems like the Presbyterian church in Scotland and Ireland has not experienced the same extreme secularization that the Anglican church in England has.  The Irish Presbyterian church, however, certainly faces its own challenges.  For one, because of the violence that has plagued this region for the last thirty-plus years, many of the younger generation have moved away and settled elsewhere.  In general, the Presbyterian church here is fairly conservative and has a deep history, and being able to connect with a quickly-changing culture is a on-going challenge.

On a lighter note, it's amazed us--we may finally have found a land where the weather changes even more quickly than in Michigan.

May God bless you richly this week and always,

Jay

Misadventures of the week:  (1) The "shortcut" Google maps found for us on the way to the ferry did not account for the fact that the roads were so narrow and windy that we could not possible travel the 60 mph speed limit they expected.  (2) We've been initiated into the world of car-sickness in kids.  (3) Jay thought he had saved dinner one night by stopping at the convenience store to buy express microwave rice on the way home from a walk, only to get home and discover that we have no microwave at this apartment.

York - Week 8 (moor sheep than we can count)

Highlights of this week in York included renting a car to explore some of the Yorkshire coast and North York Moors National Park.  Driving on the 'wrong' side of the road was incredibly disorienting at first, but Jay adapted quickly. After a few "Mama, why did you say 'Jay! Jay! Jay!'?" questions from Emma in the back seat, we settled in and enjoyed the freedom of car travel after our weeks of trains and buses.  One of the places we visited was Whitby Abbey, along the coast of the North Sea, where Caedmon, the famous early English hymn writer once lived.  One of Emma's favorite picture books is about Caedmon, so it was very special to get to show her where he'd lived.   The national park was glorious and full of sheep, much to our delight.  We were able to do a bit of hiking and explore several small rural villages as well as stopping frequently to take pictures of the steep moors and golden dales in between, and to pray our thanks to God for the beauty of creation.

On Sunday we attended two 'Family Services,' one in the morning at St Michael le Belfry and one in the afternoon with an alternative worship community called Visions.  Both services intentionally engaged the children in different ways, with varying success.  At St Mike's they had small ribbon/flags for the kids to wave and dance with during the songs, small activity bags (with a few age-appropriate toys and books in them) that they passed out to families on the way in, and a sermon with hand gestures preached from a stage with a large inflatable boat.  At Visions in the afternoon, they had art supplies out for the kids to use throughout the service and instruments for them to play, and plenty of room for them to wander.  There were a couple of stories followed by prayer activities for children and adults, and afterwards one of the leaders recommended some resources for us on multi-sensory prayer that we'll look into when we get back home.  It was a relief in both places not to have to try and keep the kids quiet, contained, and engaged!  We continue, as we visit various places, to be grateful for the wonderful hospitality and care Boston Square gives to our children.

We leave tomorrow for our trek to Northern Ireland, where we'll be visiting with a friend from seminary who pastors the Presbyterian church in Bushmills.  We're eager to see him and to learn more about the church in Northern Ireland.

Elizabeth

Misadventures of the week:  (1) Much of our time driving through the moors, most of it along winding road barely wider than our car, was in pursuit of "some of the best preserved stretch of ancient Roman Road in all of northern Europe".  We stumbled upon several quaint villages and an abundance of amazing views, but no Roman Road.  Signage seems to be a bit less thorough than that to which we are accustomed.  At one point, after having just forded a river with our car, we came across a side path with a sign saying, "Caution: Unexploded incendiary devices in this area.  No camping" (2) Along the way, Emma spotted a ginger-colored cow out the window and excitedly proclaimed, "I see a kangaroo!"  (3) It was biker week in the moors.  We've never seen so much leather in a tea room.

York--Week 7 (Transition)

We left London this past week and made our way up to York.  Along the way we spent a few days in Cambridge visiting the University.  Unfortunately, not much was open to visitors because the term had just ended and each of the colleges was hosting highly-exclusive, over the top parties for their students.  One we heard about included camel rides and we saw preparations for another that were unloading bumper cars from a big truck to set up in the college green.  Sadly, try as we might, we were not offered tickets and were unable to find a way to crash one of them.  Guess we don't look so much like students anymore.  On a positive note, however, if anyone needs a punting chauffeur, let Jay know--he's pretty good.

From Cambridge we took the train to York and settled in at the house Calvin College rents for the faculty who travel here on their semester in England program.  It's an ideal place for us to catch our breaths a bit--centrally located, plenty of space for the girls, and well-equipped.  York is a fascinating city with a long history, and we're enjoying soaking it up. 

On Sunday morning we worshiped at the York Minster, a cathedral that dominates the city.  It was a high Anglican service with lovely music in an extraordinary space.  We went home, took naps, and came back for the evening service at St. Michael's le Belfrey, right next door to the Minster.  St. Mike's (as locals fondly refer to it), is one of the largest Anglican churches in the UK (at least numbers-wise).  It had some striking parallels to Holy Trinity Brompton in London--especially in clearly assuming that the Holy Spirit is at work in the life and worship of the congregation and making room for that to be felt and heard.

We met with Vicar Matthew Porter on Monday afternoon, and he shared some of their vision of being a coordinating force for renewal throughout all of northern England.  They, too, are going through a number of significant changes and transitions, and are seeking God's will for what is next.  We appreciated their ability to communicate a clear evangelical message with also a call to act justly and love mercy.

I've just returned from hearing York University present Benjamin Britten's War Requiem in the York Minster.  A truly remarkable and humbling experiencing--an incredibly moving piece about the horrors of war and the mess that we as humans have made of the world in the midst of a building which unlike most any other communicates the grandness and power and sovereignty of God above all else.

We've also been reflecting on how intertwined church and state are here.  Most any church, especially the larger ones, has displayed a number of coats of arms from prominent families that helped past kings or queens in particular battles.  The York Minster here has carvings of the first sixteen or so kings of England as part of the choir screen that sits in front of the congregation.  It's something both the American and Christian Reformed contexts of Boston Square react strongly against, with the American emphasis on the separation of church and state and the Christian Reformed history of many of the founders of the denomination being suspicious of the state church in the Netherlands.   

We're excited to think of all the activity at Boston Square this week, including the youth and leaders who are in Cincinnati.  May God bless you all and your work.

Jay

Misadventures of the week:  (1).  After meeting with Matthew Porter at St. Mike's, we left our diaper changing pad in the meeting room.  When we next needed it back home, we couldn't find it anywhere.  It was past time the church was closed, so we retraced our steps back to the church, looking in all the garbage cans along the way, just in case it had fallen out of the bottom of the stroller on our meanderings after the meeting.  No luck--we made due overnight and then made the first stop the next morning St. Mike's.  Sure enough--there it was right on the table.  (2).  Emma is starting to embrace the traveler's lifestyle.  When we get back to our apartment after the day's adventures, she will often take Brianna on a walking tour of the home.  "This chair here is really old..."  "That's a really old painting..."  "Look, Brianna, here is where we do baptisms..."

London--Week 6 (Wrapping up London)

We took it a bit easier this past week, focusing on seeing a few of the last sights we wanted to see in London and making sure the girls weren't spending all of their time strapped into a stroller or on our back.  Our backs appreciated the break as well. 

Despite the "more relaxed approach" we did still manage to see a fair bit related to Britain's WWII experiences--the secret war rooms Churchill and his cabinet used for most of the war and the collection of equipment, weapons, airplanes and tanks in the Imperial War Museum.  Perhaps most sobering was the "Children at War" exhibit--a retelling of how the war affected the youngest of Britain's citizens and how virtually every family was affected and split one way or another.

Emma is starting to feel much better after a long week of unsettled-ness.  She finally slept well again last night for the first time in about two weeks.  A real blessing for her and for both Elizabeth and me.

With a more relaxed week comes more opportunity for reading.  I've been working through a book called "Young, Restless, and Reformed."  It's about a resurgence in Calvinism throughout the United States, especially among the younger generations.  Unfortunately, this resurgence is often played-off against the Calvinism that has been rooted in Grand Rapids for the last 150+ years--the Calvinism in which Boston Square is rooted.  The book makes the argument that this resurgence is a reaction against the uncertainty of post-modernism with its claim that there is no ultimate truth and that it's okay for different people to hold different beliefs.  What surprised me was that the Calvinism that is described is a very conservative Calvinism--one that might have described the Christian Reformed Church forty or fifty years ago.  It seems to me we have a more compassionate version to offer these days, and one that certainly should have much appeal in a world desperate for a transcendent, sovereign God who loves us deeply. 

We worshiped at Holy Trinity Brompton again this Sunday and were able to hear Pete Greig preach.  Pete is the organizer of a movement called "24/7 prayer" which encourages churches to set up a week where there is someone praying every moment of every day.  There have been remarkable stories of revitalization that takes root through this, and we've talked some about trying it at Boston Square (yes, we're a bit smaller than most who do this, but why should that stop us?  We can pray with the best of them!)  He had a powerful message about those times when prayer doesn't seem to work.  Perhaps his most meaningful point for me was that these are moments when the faith that is present in prayer is then matched with the faithfulness that is created by continuing to bring these requests before God, even when it doesn't seem like God is listening.  It is a church built on prayer, and the pray that takes place after the service, where those who would like someone to pray for them are matched with those willing to lead in prayer, is extremely powerful.

Our hearts were warmed this week with the psalm that was featured in our daily devotions:  Psalm 84.  One line reads, "blessed are those whose strength is in you,  Lord, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage."  We continue to seek God in our travels, reading, and prayers. We move to York this week, and will spend a few days in Cambridge on the way.

Peace and love,

Jay

Misadventures of the week:  (1) I bought ice cream treats at the mini-market.  They were buy 1 get 1 free, so I came home with quite the stash of assorted ice cream bars.  Only then did we discover that our fridge/freezer was not a fridge and a freezer, but a fridge or a freezer.  We decided it was more important to preserve the milk for the girls than to keep the ice cream frozen.  (2)  Emma is starting to really embrace the sacraments.  We have caught her several times attempting to baptize Brianna and also offering her Cheerios "in the name of the Father, Son, Amen."  Sign that girl up for seminary!  (3)  Jay wanted to watch the England-USA football/soccer match in true local company, especially to see how they would react if/when England scored.  Instead of heading to the pub, however, I went to the All Souls Church football watching party.  In good technology-at-church fashion, within two minutes of the start of the game, the picture went out.  Of course, by the time they got it up and running again, England had already scored.  It was their only goal of the match.

London--Week 5 (Visiting with Church Leaders)

This past week we spent mainly spreading Boston Square reuseable shopping bags throughout the city of London (see previous posts).  We met with leaders from the various churches that we've been visiting here in London, and as a thank-you gave each of them a Boston Square bag and some dried fruit from West Michigan (don't worry, we bought it already dried).

On Tuesday we met with Hugh Palmer, the rector of All Souls Church, and on Wednesday with Canons Bruce Saunders and Andrew Nunn of Southwark Cathedral.  Then on Sunday, we visited Holy Trinity Brompton and met with Curate Toby Flint after the service.  All of them were very gracious in letting us pepper them with questions and doing their best to give us answers.  They were also extremely encouraging, interested in what God is doing at Boston Square, and supportive of us in ministry.  They each send greetings back to Boston Square.

We asked them mainly about their perceptions of the culture and society in London and how they are able to thrive in the midst of what we perceive to be a very "post-Christian" setting.  We'll have more to share when we return, but we were struck by how similar many of their answers were despite the rather extreme differences in the styles of each church.  Southwark is quite liturgical, All Souls mostly contemporary, and Trinity Brompton charismatic, but they all emphasized reliance on the Holy Spirit--seeing what God is doing in their midst and then having the courage to follow along and be a part of it.  They talked about the importance of being true to who they are (that is, being authentic) and also being focused outward from themselves rather than just inward.  Toby, in particular, in hearing some of the story of Boston Square, praised some of the change in our mentality at Boston Square from that of being afraid of what the future holds to trusting that whatever the future holds, it is in God's hands.  They together mentioned that some of the challenges they faced as churches in London were extreme individualism, rampant materialism, and then simply the international nature of the city--the whole world is coming to their door, and they need to put Christianity in conversation with any and every other worldview.  And, too, it was somewhat comforting to hear that they each faced their own financial challenges.

For those of you who have been through the Alpha Program and are wondering if we met Nikki Gumbel at Holy Trinity Bromptom (the speaker in the series of Alpha videos), he did lead part of the service we were at.  We were disappointed, however, that he was not wearing a blue shirt.

One thing that has struck us repeatedly is how important it's been to us how each church welcomes our children and how clear they are in terms of communicating both that children are welcome in the church and worship and also what services they provide for children during worship should the need arise.  For those of you involved in the nursery at Boston Square--thank-you!  You are often the first line of hospitality for visitors.

We are all pretty tired this week, so the plan is to try to take things a bit easier in the days ahead.

Peace to you all,
Pastor Jay

Misadventures of the week: (1) Emma's been sick again, and it's been stressful for all of us.  The biggest challenge has been sleeping at night.  One of the crazier moments of the week was during the meeting with Bruce Saunders and Andrew Nunn at Southwark Cathedral when Emma promptly announced that she needed to throw up.  We scrambled for a plastic bag and then moments later Brianna filled her nappy and left quite the cloud of stink throughout the room.  We could only shake our heads and apologize.  (2) To celebrate our anniversary we traveled to Dover to see the white cliffs.  Towering over the city is a 12th-century castle that we decided to tour.  We struggled up the steep hill with Emma in the stroller and Brianna on our back and purchased our tickets with a stream of sweat pouring down our faces.  After the purchase, we turned around to see a shuttle bus from the village unload a bevy of passengers right at the gate.  Arrghh.

Canon Andrew Nunn and Canon Bruce Saunders, Southwark Cathedral, with Boston Square Church reuseable shopping bags

Hugh Palmer, Rector at All Souls, with a Boston Square reuseable shopping bag

London -- Week 4 (the museums)

This was a week of museums - the British Museum, the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery.  The weather was a bit cold and rainy, so we chose indoor adventures (ie introduce your toddlers to the world's ancient civilizations in less than a day!).  We also spent time in Hyde Park and Kew Gardens, and we're tired!  We need to balance a bit better the desire to take in as much as we can, with the need to rest.  Emma informed us one evening: "I don't like walking and walking and walking!"

I found the Assyrian section of the British museum particularly meaningful.  I think I'd never realized, or considered before, what powerful adversaries Israel was up against.  All these thousands of years later, I found their sculptures and carvings of their gods and their battles intimidating - imagine what it must have been like then - all that vast technology and military power versus little Israel, commanded by God not to have horses, but to rely on YHWH.  No wonder Israel's kings were so often fickle and tempted to make alliances with evil - their enemies were mighty! 

There was also a section of artifacts from Ninevah - carvings depicting various victories in gruesome detail.  It was no small exageration in Jonah to call it a wicked city.  I was struck anew by how Jonah is a truly outrageous story of God's mercy.

It is interesting (and a bit challenging) visiting musuems with small children.  I found that I saw things very differently, walking around, trying to engage Emma in what we were seeing.  She and Brianna were both tickled to recognize cats in the Egypt section at the British Museum, for example.  And that night our Bible story was the Exodus and Emma recognized the chariots and horses of the Egyptians in her book as being like all the ones we'd seen in the museum that day.  So fascinating to watch her making connections.

On Sunday we worshipped with All Souls Church, where John Stott preached for many years.  The service was very different from any of the others we've attended - more contemporary and in many ways more familiar.  We are looking forward to meeting with leaders from All Souls and Southwark Cathedral later this week.

I've begun reading No god but God:  the Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam by Reza Aslan.  I know very little about Islam and I'm finding it very helpful and engaging.  We see Muslims everywhere we go here, and I'm eager to learn more.  I've also continued to read The Celtic Way of Prayer by Esther De Waal, tonight a section on the presence of God, noticing how often Celtic prayers use the words encircle, encompass, uphold and surround and how Celtic Christians seemed to have a sense of God's presence with them in the everyday tasks and challenges of life.  We've been praying for you all this week, especially for Harry and his family, that you might feel God's love encircling and upholding you.

Pastor Elizabeth

p.s. The shoes - we spent a bit of time in various stores this week finding replacement shoes for Brianna, settling on a pair we thought would be harder for her to take off - and it took her less than an hour for them to start dropping again . . .

Week 3--London (and sidetrips)

This past week we've visited a variety of sites all related to England's spiritual heritage.

Perhaps the oldest of all, we visited the ancient site of Stonehenge.  It felt like there was a spiritual presence about the place, and it was sobering to wonder about the folks who had assembled the stones and who or what exactly they were worshipping.  Paul, in Romans, speaks of each of us having a sense of God ingrained in us, and we couldn't help thinking about this. There were also sheep near by, and Brianna was very taken with them, toddling around saying, 'baa, baa . . .' 

We also spent some time in Bath, visiting the ruins of the old Roman baths built around one of England's only hot springs.  Connected with the baths were ruins of the Roman temple to Minerva, the goddess to whom they attributed the hot waters.  A striking reminder of our tendency to make gods out of things we don't understand.

We also visited the small village of Lacock where they had a tithe barn from the 12th-century where farmers would bring in their tithe from their crops to give to the Abbey that was once there.  It made the history of the many monasteries, convents, and abbeys that once covered the countryside seem much more real.

And just today, we took a "pilgrimage" to Oxford, and it was a real joy to see the places where several of our favorite authors regularly spent their time.  C.S. Lewis, JRR Tolkien, and Dorothy Sayers all had direct ties to the University.  Interestingly, Lewis was by far the most prominently remembered.
This past Sunday, we worshiped at Southwark Cathedral again.  We had an unscheduled Sunday, and we enjoyed it so much last week that we went back for Pentecost.  They celebrated the baptisms of three children, and we were moved by several aspects of the service.  In the Anglican church, they often have the font in the back of church as part of the entrance into the worship space.  So when they came to the baptism, everyone moved to the back of the sanctuary.  When they were done, they wrapped each child in a beautiful blanket and spoke the words, "You have been clothed with Christ."

In the afternoon, we went to evensong at St Paul's Cathedral, another impressive worship space.  The girls were restless this time, however, and we needed to sneak out the side halfway through the service.

We have been blessed with wonderful weather this past week--very little rain and temperatures reaching the mid and upper 70's.

Jay's been reading The Reason for God by Tim Keller--a modern day apology for the Christian faith.  Though a bit of an intellectual approach to faith, it does an excellent job of addressing many modern-day dismissals of the Christian faith (like "It's not just arrogant but downright dangerous to think your religion is right and try to convert others to it" or "I can't believe in a God who allows such suffering...")

Peace to you all,
Jay and Elizabeth

Misadventures of the week:  (1) Jay was torn between leaving our two bags of luggage on the Tube or following the rest of the family as Elizabeth (and the girls) confidently started exiting the train a station early.  Thankfully, they heard the desperate cries of, "Elizabeth!  Elizabeth!" just in time and pushed their way back on the train. (2) We lost one of Brianna's shoes.  She's been entertaining herself by taking them off as she's in the stroller.  So far, we'd always been able to corral them just in time.  This time, however, after placing it under the stroller for safe keeping after she had taken it off, we came back home to our apartment only to discover it missing.  So now we're in search of shoes with a buckle.

Week 2 in London--Still going strong?

Surreal moment of the week:  I found myself last Thursday, May 13, standing under the William Shakespeare memorial statue in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey, rocking Brianna in my arms, listening to the Men and Boys Choir during an Ascension Day service where Desmund Tutu was preaching.  We had toured Westminster Abbey the day before and saw a flyer advertising the service.  We weren't sure if we could get in, or if the children would be welcome, but when we arrived about fifteen minutes before the service, we were warmly greeted and ushered in to a seat not far from the front.  It was an incredibly beautiful service--certainly the most remarkable Ascension Day service I've ever been a part of (it's hard to match the setting).  The main challenge was simply that a third of the people were there to worship, a third to see the Abbey for free, and a third just to hear the choir or Desmund Tutu.  Still, there were plenty of empty seats, and this suprised us since both Elizabeth and I remember having to wait for quite some time to hear Desmund Tutu when he came to the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids.

Another highlight of the week was worshiping on Sunday morning at Southwark Cathedral (pictured above).  Of the churches we hope to visit, we knew the least about this one, and we were truly blessed by our visit.  There was a clear sense of the Spirit at work.  The children were warmly embraced and the service was alive and uplifting.  There were many more younger families than we had seen at the other churches, and many more children as well.

We've somehow managed to do quite the tour of London's city parks so far.  The girls are enjoying the variety of play equipment, and it gives us a good opportunity to interact a bit with regular Londoners. 

The rain has held off for the most part, it's finally starting to warm up a bit, and the ash clouds are affecting everybody else's travels but ours so far.  The only hiccup is that Emma came down sick last night, so we're trying to wait that out.

I just finished a book called Introducing the Missional Church: What It Is, Why It Matters, How to Become One by Alan Roxburgh and Scott Boren.  One of the central ideas of the book is that the church in general has lost sight of it's true mission of transforming this world and instead has embraced a mission of attracting people to church.  This has resulted in impressive programs and slick marketing campaigns, but has mainly succeeded in simply shuffling believers from one church to another while ignoring the changing realities in the world around us.  Mission, instead, is not so much getting people into the church but transforming the world for good.  We now have some catching up to do to in order to be able to engage culture where it is truly at today and then to be a force of good in God's world. 

A helpful lesson was the reminder that the Spirit of God is indeed at work in the people of the church if we have the patience to see it.  Another was the need to be willing to take risks and even be willing to fail--the church, after all, as God created it, is made up of ordinary people and everything doesn't need to be perfect all the time.

Blessings,
Pastor Jay

London--Week 1 (We made it!)

Thanks to all who have been praying for us, especially those prayers for cheerful daughters.  We were amazed when the girls woke up happy after 3 short hours of uncomfortable sleep on the plane and continued to be in good spirits most of the day.  We've all had our moments, but are getting over jet lag and grateful to be here.

We've been struck these first few days by the diversity surrounding us, both ethnically and ecologically (palm trees seem to thrive in London!).  Our current lodging is in the East End (near Roman Road, for those familiar with the city) in what seems to be a largely Muslim community.  Well over half the women and girls we see coming and going on the street are wearing hijabs, and some have their faces entirely covered.  I keep wondering what I will say when Emma asks about it, but so far she doesn't seem to have noticed anything out of the ordinary.  There is something very elegant about the women's modesty.

On Sunday we worshipped at St.James Picadilly Church, which had been recommended to us by friends who liked their creative interpretations of the liturgy.  We were tickled by the diagrams on the church's website describing how communion was 'meant' to procede, appreciating the realism of that phrase.  We were welcomed warmly and the congregation there sends greetings to Boston Square.  They began communion by inviting everyone forward to make a circle several rows deep around the altar for the whole communion service, and it was interesting to see  the girls watching the priests' gestures intently.  It was a gift to be able to receive communion and to have the girls' blessed by the priest, and yet we were all rather homesick for Boston Square.

One of the books I've started reading is "The Celtic Way of Prayer" by Esther DeWaal and in it she highlights the theme of journey within the Celtic Christian tradition, and how being at home within ourselves frees us to journey outwardly.  Both fitting themes for us on what Emma calls 'our big trip' - she's been asking a lot about home these first few days and we've been trying to both put her at ease and explain that we won't be home in Michigan for quite awhile yet, but we'll all be together as we explore.

peace,
Pastor Elizabeth

Misadventures of the Week:  (1) Jay fried his electric razor the first time using it...so who knows how long his beard will be when we get home?  (2) We had heard of a special puppet show celebration happening on the grounds outside St Paul's Church...only Jay heard "St. Paul's Cathedral" and we ended up in the wrong place entirely.  After many additional attempts, we did indeed find the puppet show.

First ever blog post

In an attempt to transform the world while sitting in front of a computer, and possibly keep in touch with friends and church while far away at the same time, we hereby launch this blog.  May God be glorified in it and through it.