Life In Greencastle

You know how these days are. The cold, low clouds creep in and cover the land; the rain falls in small showers like stinging nettles. On these days grace even in small doses is warmly received, like a hot cup of tea placed in open hands. So, when my cell phone rang today and I saw the screen display the name “Tebbe” on it, I gladly parked my truck on Franklin Street and pressed the “receive call” button. Tebbe, you see, stands for Matthew Tebbe, an old college buddy that I had not talked to in over five years, which meant we had a lot of catching up to do. Over the course of about thirty minutes, Matt and I shared with each other the highlights. We talked about being dads; we found out what had happened ever since I went off to Los Angeles and he to Chicago. We laughed; we listened. Then, after asking each other what we were doing for Thanksgiving, we paused … and we prayed. We thanked God for the way He has been at work in our lives. And you know by the time we ...

Every once in a while I find myself talking with a stranger or catching up with an old friend. Such an occasion came this last weekend as I reunited with several old college buddies. And, as often happens at reunions, the conversation quickly turned to twenty questions: Am I married? Do I have kids? Where do I live? Eventually, I had to tell my friends what I now do to feed myself and my family. And with some hesitancy, I told them that I now serve as a pastor. Why the hesitancy? What could keep me from freely proclaiming myself as a servant of the Lord? Simply: I know what the follow up question is going to be. It is almost inevitable: "So, how big is your church?" It is amazing how often people ask me this. And let me just say this: I hate this question. I think it is a horrible, God-awful question. The people who ask the question aren't bad people. It's like my old college buddies. I have nothing against them; in fact, I appreciate and love them. But...

This past Sunday, I sat down after the first reading from Scripture. I had just lifted up Jesus’ own proclamation: He had come to speak good news to the poor, to bring help and healing to those down and out. Then, the choir rose to proclaim their own word for us through song. It was exactly what I wanted to say. Many of you felt the power of this anthem and heard the truth of those sung words. But, I know not all of us had the occasion. For those of you who were not able to join us, I pass on to you the lyrics. It will hardly do justice to what happened this past Sunday. In fact, I encourage you to track down a copy of the service on tape and to give it a listen. But, for now … this will do. Let these words serve as a seed and a creed, a reminder of all God desires and a projector of all that we hope to be. And let us always be gathered in to be sent out. Wes Within These Walls words and music by Pepper Choplin For the celebration of the twenty-fifth anni...

“Liturgy.” You may know this word. You may not. It is a fairly “churchy” word. We use it to talk about our time of worship on Sunday mornings. When we use the word “liturgy” we are talking about certain parts of our worship: the call to worship, the prayer of confession, the Gloria Patri, the Lord’s Prayer. The word may not seem all that interesting. But, I wonder. Do you know where we get the word “liturgy?” It actually comes from a Greek word – leitourgia. Maybe that makes it a bit more intriguing. Leitourgia: sounds pretty fancy, eh? But don’t get your hopes up too high because leitourgia simply is a Greek word that originally meant “the work of the people.” The work of the people. That is what true liturgy is. True liturgy is letting all of our time and energy be devoted to God. True liturgy is not confined to printed bulletins and words spoken on Sunday morning. True liturgy is when you and I allow our work today to be done in God’s name for God’s world. The work o...