September 2023 Pastor’s Corner — Restructure, Recast, Release
“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
— Is. 43:19
If you weren’t able to join us for the Rally Day & Pancake Breakfast on Sunday, August 27, I wanted to share with you what God has been doing in and through the Session over the past several months. At the Annual Meeting in February, we looked at the challenges we are facing as a church and anticipated some of what we thought God might be leading us toward in the months to come. That work is ongoing, but the picture is beginning to come into better focus. While there is concern about the future of Northminster, God is making a way for us to follow as He continues to use Northminster to “experience and share the love of God in order to transform our homes, our community, and our world.” As we said in February, that work involves Restructuring, Recasting, and Releasing.
Restructuring
As a church, we are facing a very pragmatic problem: As a congregation whose worship attendance currently averages in the low- to mid-30s, we are not able to find enough people willing and qualified to serve as Ruling Elders on the Session. This has led the Session to ask, just what is an Elder supposed to be and do? Does the way our Elders currently function match what Scripture says and what the EPC Book of Order describes? With the help of the leadership of the New River Presbytery, we have worked hard to answer those questions. We’ve learned that the primary work of an elder is that of “under-shepherd” (1 Peter 5:1-5), but our elders have more often functioned as committee chairs. The duties and responsibilities of managing committees prevents our elders from being shepherds (see Acts 6:1-6 for how the early church addressed this same problem) — and that has only been compounded as we’ve combined committees due to the lack of willing and qualified elder candidates over the years.
In order to address these issues, we are going to reduce the number of elders seated on Session to three. This means that the elders will no longer be able to serve as chairs of the various committees, which will free them to serve as shepherds. While we have extensive examples and descriptions of what this might look like, there’s a lot of it we’re going to figure out as we go along. But the only way this works is if we recast the work of the various committees.
Recasting
Our “committees” will be recasted as “ministry teams.” While initially this might sound like a new name for the same thing, it actually represents a culture shift. A committee is a group of people who are responsible for taking action on a particular matter; it “does the work” on behalf of the organization. A ministry team, however, is committed to take action on the vision entrusted to it through the experience of Christian Fellowship, and the discipleship of its members. Ministry teams are exceptionally flexible, dynamic means of aligning people for effective ministry, while providing ongoing encouragement to each person. A ministry team invites the congregation to join and participate in the work of the Kingdom of God. Instead of having “chairs,” we will have team leaders, which do not have to be (and will not be able to be) the seated elders on Session. The elders will exist to resource and support (shepherd) the ministry teams. The ministry teams will help equip and release the church for mission and ministry.
Releasing
In the Great Commission, Jesus says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matt. 28:18-20) He has released his disciples to do the work of the Kingdom of God. It is a work every believer is called and released to do, and it doesn’t require a committee approving it beforehand. We want to be a church that is equipping, releasing and sending disciples into our homes, community and world in order to transform them through experiencing and sharing God’s love. We believe that the Holy Spirit is already at work in and around us, and is inviting us to join Him in that work today. For Northminster to continue to impact our community for the Kingdom of God, we need to embrace our calling as disciples of Jesus to “go.”
I imagine you’re feeling something similar to what I’m feeling right now: a little bit of excitement, and a little bit of anxiety as well. This is a pretty big shift in how we understand ourselves as a church as well as how to go about the work of the church. I imagine it’s not too different from what the early explorers felt when they set out from the “old world” to discover the “new.” They knew where they were headed, had a pretty good idea of what they were looking for, but also knew they’d be figuring out most of it as they went along. God has given us a strong vision for the future of Northminster, and we have a pretty good idea of what it’s going to look like, but we also know we’re going to be figuring out much of it as we go along. As we head into both the known and unknown of our future, we can step out boldly, trusting fully in the very last words Jesus spoke in the book of Matthew:
“Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” — Matt. 28:18-20
Blessings,
Rev. David Garrison
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August 2023 Pastor’s Corner — Faith & Prayer
Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” — Matt. 17:19–20
And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” — Mark 9:28–29
Sometimes you come across something in the Bible that seems small and innocuous at first, but over time you realize what you thought was little is actually a lot bigger. Jesus is really good at doing that when he is teaching us things. In this case, the little thing I came across was a small difference in how Matthew and Mark relate the healing of an epileptic, demon-possessed boy. This scene takes places immediately after the transfiguration of Jesus. The disciples were not able to cast the demon out, and the Pharisees mocked them for it. Jesus, of course, was able. After Jesus and the disciples entered the privacy of the house they were staying in, they asked Jesus why they weren’t able to drive the demon out. That’s where the difference in the stories comes in, as well as the revelation the Holy Spirit impressed upon me.
As you can see above, Jesus gives a different answer in Matthew compared to Mark. But it’s not actually a different answer, and that’s the part that’s stuck with me for the past few days. What did the disciples need to drive the demon out, more faith or more prayer? Yes. You see, faith and prayer are intrinsically linked together. As William Hendriksen writes, “Where there is little faith, there is little prayer. Conversely, where there is an abundance of genuine, persevering faith, there is also fervent, unrelenting prayer.” When our faith lags, our trust in God erodes. If we aren’t trusting in God, then why would we pray, for is not prayer itself an act and expression of trust? The more deeply I trust in God, the stronger my faith will be, the more constant will then be my prayers.
It is hard, sometimes, to know how our walk with the Lord is going. If someone were to ask you, “how strong is your faith today?” how would you know what to say? It’s such a subjective question. We can often think our faith in God is strong, when we aren’t actually trusting in Him very much at all. However, being asked, “how is your prayer life going?” is much more concrete and objective. As the Holy Spirit has needled at me about this, I’ve come to see a strong and direct correlation between my prayer life and my trust in God. I encourage you to look at your prayer life as well. Are you trusting in the Lord as much as you say or think you are? Does your prayer life reflect that trust and faith? There’s no time like right now to pray!
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. — 1 Th. 5:16–19
Blessings,
Rev. David Garrison
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July 2023 Pastor’s Corner – Priceless
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
— Matt. 13:44–46
Much like a pearl inside an oyster, sometimes the greatest and most profound truths come in the pithiest of sayings. These two sayings of Jesus are definitely fantastic examples of that. They are very simple parables that are easy to grasp and understand. And yet, just like the point they are making, there is so much more within once we slow down and enter the story.
Imagine yourself as the man or the merchant. Smell the soil of the field or the salty water where the oysters are. Visualize coming across the treasure in the field — did you have to dig to find it, or was it poking out of the ground? What was it about the pearl that caught your eye as it sat under the water? What could possibly be found in that treasure, how large must that pearl have been, to motivate you to (don’t miss this) sell everything you have in order to purchase the field or the treasure? Not just doing that, but doing it with great joy and excitement? Take a moment more — when was the last time you felt that kind of joy about, well, anything? Honestly, this is a ridiculous story, almost ludicrous. No one in their right mind would actually do anything like that, right? Which is exactly the point, but not the entire point.
Now consider what Jesus says is the treasure hidden in a field and the pearl of great value. Jesus is talking about the kingdom of Heaven. Often, we think the treasure being spoken of is salvation, which it is. But it’s also so much more. The treasure that’s worth more than anything else in our lives is more than just accepting Jesus Christ as your savior, it’s embracing the way of life that Jesus introduced to us and the world. Walking in the way of Jesus — loving God with all our being (Matt. 22:37-38), loving our neighbors as ourselves (Matt. 22:39), loving even our enemies and praying for those who persecute us (Matt 5:43-48), living a life of Christ-like service to the rejected and hurting (James 1:27), resting in the grace of Christ (Matt 11:28-30) — that is the treasure beyond all value. That is worth more than all of our earthly possessions or dreams.
The apostles and countless saints throughout the centuries have experienced the truth of these parables. Paul experienced this so viscerally he proclaims, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” (Phil. 3:8) Most of us, though, are scared off by that idea. As Brennan Manning once said, “We want to draw close enough to the blazing inferno of the love of God that we stay warm, but not so close that we might get burned.” It makes you wonder if we’re missing something, doesn’t it?
As we continue through this summer, be intentional in reflecting on your walk with the Lord. Have you found your relationship with Jesus to be a treasure worth selling everything you have to gain? What is holding you back from knowing Jesus so well that everything else becomes “rubbish”? How would it actually feel to let yourself be burned by the blazing inferno of the love of God? There’s more to this life than just living and dying, waking and sleeping. Jesus didn’t die on the cross so you could merely be forgiven of your sins and receive the promise of eternal life, He meant for you to have more and better life than you’ve ever dreamed of (John 10:10), and that life is best found and pursued together (Hebrews 10:24-25).
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
— Psa. 51:12
Blessings,
Rev. David Garrison
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June 2023 Pastor’s Corner – Always Only Jesus
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. — Hebrews 1:1–4
I had a conversation with a friend a few weeks ago about faith and spirituality. He was sharing with me the story of his own faith journey and how he’d come to believe in the divine spirit, that sense of love, peace and acceptance that is so essential to human existence. It was an impersonal spirit that accepts no matter who we are, loves no matter what we’ve done, is always present no matter how far we run. It was an interesting conversation because it was so full of half truths, while missing some of the most important truths of all. It’s actually kind of marvelous, because you get all the benefits of a personal relationship with God, without any of the pesky things that come along with a God that is actually intimately, personally present in our lives and actually expects anything of us.
We live in a time where “spirituality” is perhaps more important to people now than ever before. It’s a somewhat unexpected development, given modernity’s efforts to eradicate the spiritual from all areas of life. Where many feared what postmodernism might do to matters of faith, it turns out that the door has been opened in many unexpected ways. The door hasn’t just been opened, it’s actually been flung wide, so that it’s almost an “anything goes” spirituality. When people talk about their faith and spiritual journey, like my friend above, it’s almost always a belief in a non-specific, impersonal “deity” that only loves and never rebukes, always accepts and never holds accountable. If we’re honest, many of us have allowed these kinds of ideas to get woven into the fabric of our faith as well. While we say it’s “always only Jesus,” in practice our faith is a lot of “Jesus and…”
That’s why the Letter to the Hebrews was written. As Eugene Peterson writes,
In the letter, it is Jesus and angels, or Jesus and Moses, or Jesus and priesthood. In our time it is more likely to be Jesus and politics, or Jesus and education, or even Jesus and Buddha. This letter deletes the hyphens, the add-ons. The focus becomes clear and sharp again. God’s action in Jesus. And we are free once more for the acts of faith, the one human action in which we don’t get in the way but on the Way.
This summer, we’re going to get back to Always Only Jesus, with the book of Hebrews as our guide. We’ve all added on to our faith, probably without even realizing it. Let’s shed the extra baggage and get back to living the free and light life of faith Jesus died to bring us. We look forward to worshipping with you.
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
— Hebrews 13:20-21
Blessings,
Rev. David Garrison
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May 2023 Pastor’s Corner — The Valley of Death
Even though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
— Psalm 23:4
The last week of April was bookended with memorial services. I officiated a funeral on Monday, and attended my uncle’s memorial service on Saturday. Not surprisingly, I’ve been thinking about “the valley of the shadow of death” quite a bit. Pictured to the right is the Wadi Qelt on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, which is likely the inspiration for the Psalm. Notice the depth of the gorge and the dark shadows toward the bottom. It is a visceral experience of “the valley of the shadow of death.”
Often we think of “walking through the valley of the shadow of death” during seasons of grief and loss, such as when a family member or dear friend passes away. That is certainly a time when we are in that valley. In addition to the inevitable sadness, the loss of a loved one is a reminder of our own mortality. As Psalm 103 declares, “As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.” (Psa. 103:15–16) Knowing that God is present with us in our grief, actively and proactively comforting us, is a great assurance during these seasons.
There’s more to the valley of the shadow of death. As many of you know, my uncle took his own life a month ago. For many, including my uncle, to “walk through the valley of the shadow of death” is to wrestle through seasons of depression and sorrow, where the shadow of death whispers our fears of inadequacy, unworthiness, failures, and brokenness. It offers seemingly sweet promises of relief and peace, the tender lie that one’s family and friends would be better off without you. When we are in this valley, it feels as if the darkness of the shadow of death is our only friend; all we can see and hear are our fears. But the Psalm reminds us that even in this valley we are not alone in the shadows. Even when the whispers of the shadow of death speak louder than anything else, we are not alone; we need not be afraid because God is with us.
Of course sometimes the valley of the shadow of death comes during seasons of trial and tribulation, when it feels like every one and every thing is attacking us. In Psalm 18, David says, “I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me.” (Psa. 18:3–4) The shepherd uses his rod and staff not just to guide the sheep along safe paths, but also to beat off wild animals that attack the flock. Even then, God is present with us, protecting us from that which would bring us harm, saving us from our enemies.
The thing, though, is that God’s presence with us in “the shadow of the valley of death” does not necessarily mean that we won’t die while in the valley. That might not seem like much comfort, but that’s only because our faith is so small. We forget where we started, that our bodies are mortal and temporary things. What’s ultimately at stake isn’t our physical bodies, but our eternal souls. God will be present with us, up to and beyond the point of our physical death. This should not fill us with fear or dread either, because of what we talked about last month. Since Christ has been raised from the dead, the power of death is broken. We can rest assured that we too shall be raised with Christ! After we shed our mortal coil, we will then see God face-to-face and He shall wipe every tear from our eye. Death does not, and can not, have the final victory. Praise be to God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
— 1 Peter 1:3–5
Blessings,
Rev. David Garrison
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April 2023 Pastor’s Corner — The Only Difference That Matters
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.— 1 Cor. 15:12–19
When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.— 1 Cor. 15:54–57
Rev. David Garrison
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March 2023 Pastor’s Corner — Stay Thirsty
“As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?”
— Psalm 42:1–2
As many of you know, I am an avid coffee drinker. While medical tests have never proved it, there have been times I’ve been pretty sure there’s more coffee running through my veins than blood. It’s not so much about the caffeine (caffeine doesn’t really wake me up, it just keeps me from going to sleep), I just simply love the taste and the smell.
For no particular reason a couple of weeks ago, I didn’t drink any coffee for three or four days and instead drank several glasses of water. Just water, with nothing added. A few days later, I noticed that my quality of sleep had significantly improved and that some of the aches and pains that come with middle age had lessened. The only thing I had changed was decreasing the amount of coffee consumed each day. It’s not that I had been dehydrated; I was definitely getting plenty of fluids. There’s simply no substitute for a nice, cool glass of perfectly mixed dihydrogen monoxide.
I’ve often said that going to church for Christians is the air we breathe. I think that was the wrong analogy, because you can only go without air for a few minutes. However, one can live and exist just fine without water. As long as you’re still getting fluids (coffee, tea, your carbonated beverage of choice, so on and so forth), your body will continue to function, and probably fairly decently. But if you want your body to be at its best, then we need water. You don’t need water in order to be human (most any fluid will suffice), but the human body can’t be at its best without water. For the Christian, going to church isn’t the air we breathe, it’s the water we drink. Going to church won’t make you a Christian, but I don’t know how to be a Christian without going to church.
In the Psalm at the beginning, the psalmist is in exile in a far off land. He is unable to worship at the Temple in Jerusalem; he hasn’t been able to go to church for a very, very long time. As a result, his soul is drying up. Three times in the Psalm he says his soul is “cast down within me.” In addition to sleeping better and the aches and pains lessening as I drank more water, my mind also seems a bit sharper and clearer. Who knew that sometimes depression can be eased by drinking water? The same is true spiritually. We were created to worship God, together, with the other saints, on a regular basis. We need water daily. Our spirit needs corporate worship at least weekly.
If your spiritual life seems a bit dry lately or if you’ve found your soul “thirsting for the living God,” maybe it’s because you’ve “neglected meeting together” (Hebrews 10:25) with the saints in worship, prayer and Bible study. I didn’t realize how much my body was craving pure water until I started drinking more. Sometimes, we don’t even realize how thirsty our soul is until we gather together with other believers to worship the Lord and pray together. We drink best from the well of living water when we do so together with other believers.
Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” — John 4:13–14
Blessings,
Rev. David Garrison
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February 2023 Pastor’s Corner — Winter Growth
And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” — Mark 4:26–29
It’s usually right about this time of year that most of us are getting tired of winter. I say “usually” because we haven’t really had much of “winter” this year. Other than the cold snap in late December, we’ve pretty much just had a long, protracted fall. But whether it’s snowed or not, or if it’s been as cold as we expect, everything else is pretty much the same. The ground is a bland brown, the trees are bare, and even on sunny days everything just looks kind of dead.
However, underneath that bland brown ground, inside those bare, grey trees, there are a lot of things happening. What seems dead on the surface is full of life underneath. Roots are spreading, seeds are sprouting, water is being absorbed, nutrients are being processed, new life is preparing to burst forth. It looks like very little is happening right now, but in a few months our yards, gardens and trees will burst forth with new life.
Sometimes we feel like there’s nothing happening in our lives, our souls or in our community. We might feel as dead or bland as the trees and ground in late January and early February. In the midst of the cold days and long nights, we wonder if God has given up on us. We look for evidence of spiritual growth in or around us, but can’t find anything at all.
Just like the flowers and grass in the winter time, just because you can’t see any evidence of God at work in your life, doesn’t mean He isn’t at work. Sometimes, the work the Holy Spirit is doing is happening under the surface, behind the scenes of our heart and soul. It’s necessary work that has to happen in order for the new spiritual growth to spring forth in the next season of life.
I think something very similar is happening in the life of Northminster right now. Sometimes we look around and struggle to see evidence that God is still at work. It’s easier to find things that look like death rather than life. But just because we can’t see what’s going on doesn’t mean nothing is happening. God is moving and working behind the scenes, working under the surface to prepare each of us individually and us as a community of faith for a new season of growth and life.
Each spring, we take time to prepare our yards for the new growth that’s about to come. We should be intentional about doing the same thing spiritually. If God is in fact preparing a new season of spiritual growth and life, we should be preparing ourselves for it — as individuals and as a community of faith. Let’s intentionally spend time in prayer and in God’s word, asking the Holy Spirit to prepare us for the work He is already doing in and around us.
I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. — 1 Cor. 3:6–9
Blessings,
Rev. David Garrison
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January 2023 Pastor’s Corner — Liminal Spaces
…but [Jesus] holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. — Hebrews 7:24–25
Liminal is from the Latin word limen, which means threshold. A liminal space is the time between ‘what was’ and ‘next.’ We see and experience liminal spaces in all sorts of ways, some more obvious than others. Examples of liminal spaces include turning the calendar to a new month or year, the solstices and equinoxes, sunsets and sunrises, the shore (being the threshold between sea and land). The picture above captures several liminal spaces at once — the beach at the transition from low to high tide at sunset. Many religions, such as the druidic religions of medieval England, make a big deal about these liminal spaces, believing that they are places and times where the veil between heaven and earth is particularly thin, thus allowing better access to the gods and the afterlife.
The idea of liminal spaces is something that we recognize intuitively, if not consciously. We are drawn to liminal spaces like the beach, because something about it makes us feel closer to God. We make new years resolutions each year because we see the start of the year as an opportunity for a “new beginning.” We try to take advantage of these times and spaces because we hope they will enable us to reconnect with, draw near to, or simply grow deeper in our relationship with God. But what we learn from Jesus Christ and Scripture takes the idea of liminal spaces and simultaneously transforms it and deconstructs it.
Jesus Christ has transformed liminal spaces by making our entire faith, at least at this time, a prolonged spiritual liminal space. When Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, He inaugurated the Kingdom of God. However, the Kingdom of God will not be fully consummated until Christ returns at the end of the age. Until then, we live on the “threshold” of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is already here, but it is not yet here. Martin Luther speaks of our walk with God as a liminal space when he says that we are at once justified and yet still sinful; we are both sinner and saint. Paul describes this tension so well in Romans 7:7-25. The life of faith itself is a liminal space, between what was and what is next.
However, Jesus Christ has also deconstructed liminal spaces and times. We don’t need to find liminal spaces and times in order to draw near to God. When Jesus died on the cross, “the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.” (Matt. 27:51) The curtain in the temple separated the Holy of Holies, the place where heaven touched earth and the high priest would commune with God. It was a liminal space. Because of Jesus Christ, the barrier between us and God has been removed. Thanks to the presence of the Holy Spirit, we don’t need liminal spaces or times in order to draw near to God because God is always near to us and with us. That is the promise of Emmanuel, “God with us.”
This year is a little bit unique. On January 1, we not only start a new year and a new month, but also a new week. It’s quite natural to want to take advantage of this particular liminal time to commit to some changes. There’s certainly nothing wrong with making new years resolutions. However, don’t forget that, as our Scripture above reminds us, we do not need liminal times and spaces in order to draw near to God, because Jesus Christ has already done everything needed for us to do so. We are able to draw near to God any time, any where, because He has already drawn near to us.
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. — James 4:7–8
Blessings,
Rev. David Garrison
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December 2022 Pastor’s Corner — Christmas Tradition
“The tradition I handed on to you in the first place, a tradition which I had myself received…”
— 1 Cor. 15:3
Of all of the seasons of our lives, the one most rooted and grounded in tradition is Christmastime. Every family does the Christmas season differently, and every family is convinced their way is the right way! There’s the right time to put the tree up, the right way to do the decorations, the right way to hang the lights, the proper time for Christmas dinner, and, of course, the correct way to open the stockings and the presents. For many of us, it just doesn’t feel like Christmas unless the traditions are maintained and practiced correctly. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that!
In fact, “tradition” plays an important role in our lives, beyond just Christmas. Traditions help ground us in our lives; they provide a way to make sense of how the world works and where we fit into the world. Sociologists call this a metanarrative, a “big story.” That “big story” becomes explicit during the holidays, but is always there, whether we’re intentionally thinking about it or not. In fact, the Bible is very clear that the traditions of our faith are very important tools for helping us understand our faith, how to live out our faith, and how to pass our faith to others. The traditions aren’t the end in and of themselves. They are there to help us see the deeper life of faith to which Christ is inviting and calling us, signposts that remind us of what God has done in the past, is doing in the present and what He has yet to do in the future.
Over the course of Advent this year, we’ll be looking at the various parts of our Christmas Tradition. While the details are different for everyone, in general we all have particular traditions to help us prepare for the season, to get into the spirit of the season, lights that brighten the season for us, songs that carry the season into our hearts, ways of celebrating and rejoicing in the season, and the joy of presents given and received. All of these traditions help us delight in all that Christmas offers, but are also meant to point us past the holiday itself in order to remind us that, just as Jesus Christ took on human flesh 2,000 years ago in his First Advent, He will just as surely return for his Second. Celebrate how the world and history changed 2,000 years ago. But don’t lose sight of that for which we all deeply long: His imminent and certain return.
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. — Rev. 22:16–17
Blessings,
Rev. David Garrison
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