Churchlady went to the Twin Cities for a daughter’s volleyball tourney over the weekend. Had nearby church services scouted out ahead of time, but nothing fit around the game schedule. Disappointing, because not only do I enjoy having an opportunity to worship at other churches, I like to see how they do their bulletins. I know, it’s weird, but that’s what I do.
I especially like to fill out the communion cards, because they mail them back to my home church, presumably so I get the credit. The card, of course, ends up on my desk. No one pays much attention to how often you partake of the Lord’s Supper around here, but I make sure that little card gets passed on in my pastor’s mail pile just to get a reaction out of her.
Just one example of how we have some fun in the church office every once in a while.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Trimming the Ham
I love the lectures from The Teaching Company. When I hear the theme music play at the introduction to each one, I feel like one of Pavlov’s dogs. OK, maybe I don’t drool, but certainly get a little rush of anticipation. I’m a nerdy church lady, that’s for sure.
The last one I listened to covered the debate between Zwingli and Luther over the meaning of The Lord’s Supper. Fascinating stuff. No, really. Not only the content of what they were arguing over, but just the fact that anyone cared enough to get into such an intense discussion about it. This was a really big deal to them.
I suspect that when our churches were founded, stuff like that really mattered. But I wonder how many of our members today have any idea what is contained in our constitution, in the Augsburg Confession, Book of Concord or even the Small Catechism? Has the knowledge of what our faith is based on been lost? Does anyone even give a rip anymore what it means to be Lutheran?
It brings to mind that story of the newlywed who served ham for her first Sunday dinner. The husband noticed the ends of the ham had been cut off and he asked why. "That's the way my mother always did it," the bride replied with a shrug. He asked his wife's mother the same question and got the same answer, "That's the way my mother did it." Finally he asked the grandma, who replied, "That's the only way I could get it into the pan."
How much of what we do in church now is done because that’s what we’ve always done?
Friday, February 5, 2010
Anticipation
Remember the old Heinz ketchup commercials that featured Carly Simon singing, “Anticipation”? Crazy church lady that I am, that is what has been running through my head today as I anticipate not the Super Bowl, but Holy Communion. It’s not a weekly occurrence here, so I’ve been waiting a while.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq_5QZDpY1Y
I have sometimes wondered why everyone doesn’t seem to get as excited about Communion. Maybe it’s because we’re Lutheran that we can’t show it. Imagine if we expressed ourselves the way new contestants do on “The Price is Right” when they are invited to “come on down!” What if Johnny Olson called people by name to the altar to receive “the body of Christ, given for YOU!” and “the blood of Christ, shed for YOU!” Would that generate as much excitement as the prospect of winning a prize on a game show? Why not?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0MQewbx52U&feature=related
The fabulous prizes displayed on the set of “The Price is Right” certainly are more tangible rewards for most of us. Shouldn’t Christ’s real presence and His promise of forgiveness be just as compelling?
Granted, the idea of Communion did not always have the attraction for me that it does now. When you live under the impression that receiving it while you’re carrying around unconfessed sin only serves to compound the sin, as I did in my pre-Lutheran days, you don’t experience that desire. In fact, you are more inclined to want to avoid it, but can’t without looking obviously guilty, so you just pray that you aren’t struck dead suddenly and try not to think about how deep the hole is that you’re digging yourself into.
Thanks be to God that is all in the past and I’m tickled to death to be down in that front pew now. It means not having to wait as long as the folks who hang out in the back. I’ll contain myself out of respect for the traditional solemnity of the occasion, but in my heart, I’ll be skipping up the aisle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq_5QZDpY1Y
I have sometimes wondered why everyone doesn’t seem to get as excited about Communion. Maybe it’s because we’re Lutheran that we can’t show it. Imagine if we expressed ourselves the way new contestants do on “The Price is Right” when they are invited to “come on down!” What if Johnny Olson called people by name to the altar to receive “the body of Christ, given for YOU!” and “the blood of Christ, shed for YOU!” Would that generate as much excitement as the prospect of winning a prize on a game show? Why not?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0MQewbx52U&feature=related
The fabulous prizes displayed on the set of “The Price is Right” certainly are more tangible rewards for most of us. Shouldn’t Christ’s real presence and His promise of forgiveness be just as compelling?
Granted, the idea of Communion did not always have the attraction for me that it does now. When you live under the impression that receiving it while you’re carrying around unconfessed sin only serves to compound the sin, as I did in my pre-Lutheran days, you don’t experience that desire. In fact, you are more inclined to want to avoid it, but can’t without looking obviously guilty, so you just pray that you aren’t struck dead suddenly and try not to think about how deep the hole is that you’re digging yourself into.
Thanks be to God that is all in the past and I’m tickled to death to be down in that front pew now. It means not having to wait as long as the folks who hang out in the back. I’ll contain myself out of respect for the traditional solemnity of the occasion, but in my heart, I’ll be skipping up the aisle.
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