Pastor's Pen: Yes, Virginia. There is a St. Nicholas

Last December, Thomas and I caught the end of a Christmas animation special on television. When I think of animation and Christmas, I usually think of islands of misfit toys and boys with blankets quoting the gospel of Luke. However, this cartoon was different. Santa Claus rode a rocket sleigh propelled at dizzying speed by eight robot reindeer. Although there was no discernible plot, there were plenty of explosions and battle scenes. It’s as if the Power Rangers were given the opportunity to rewrite "A Visit from St. Nick." What a long strange trip it has been.

Long before being a pop culture icon, before being a huckster for rampant commercialism, before being "a jolly old elf," Santa Claus was simply Nicholas. The boy grew up in the third century in Patara, a small village in what is now modern Turkey. Born and baptized into the Church, his parents raised him to be a devoted follower of Jesus Christ. While still young, his parents died during an epidemic, and left him a small fortune. Moved by his faith, Nicholas used his entire inheritance in a ministry of compassion. In the name of Jesus Christ, he helped the needy, the sick, and the suffering. While still young, he became a leader in the church and was made Bishop of Myra. He was a leader of steady convictions which drew him into conflict with Roman authorities. Under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, Nicholas was exiled and imprisoned for his faith. In better times, Nicholas attended the Council at Nicaea in 325. There he and the other bishops hammered out a statement of faith accepted universally by the Church that Jesus Christ is fully human, fully divine.

Over the years, Nicholas’ story has become encrusted with fantasy, hype and cultural baggage. Much of it is harmless fun, like stories of giants and beanstalks. In the process, however, we lost a great man of compassion, faith and conviction. Nicholas belongs to the Church, he belongs to us, and his example is a witness to Jesus Christ. Tell Nicholas’ story. Share it with your children and grandchildren. Receive this Christmas season a visit from old St. Nick.

Grace & Peace,

James

Pastor's Pen: The Forgotten Spiritual Discipline

The market for books on spirituality has grown considerably in the last twenty years.  Even bookstores which are not particularly religious carry growing sections devoted to titles on prayer or meditation.  Mysticism is big.  Growing interest in Kabbalah or Sufism or even the Eastern faiths suggest a spiritual hunger.  People want to tune into something beyond themselves. 

In the Christian Church, we too see a longing for the spiritual.  People are sampling from a variety of traditions.  Even Protestants are considering the iconography of the Eastern Orthodox.  Others are walking labyrinths supposedly born from Medieval Roman Catholicism.  It is helpful to be reminded that the world is much bigger than we experience.  However, our spiritual practices are too often treated as an escape from the ordinary.  We get caught up in the moment, but then we still have a job we don’t like or some bad habit which continues to bother us. 

The Christian faith is unique.  Instead of us reaching new spiritual heights, God comes to dwell with us in our everyday life.  Jesus Christ does not provide an escape from our lives, but he achieves victory over it.  We are transformed in such a way that our daily efforts are understood as part of God’s realm.  A spiritual practice which is truly Christian must remind us of God’s gift and then send us back into the world to serve. 

In Matthew 6, Jesus discusses spiritual practices.  Two are familiar, even if we don’t practice them, prayer and fasting.  However, he mentions a third--our gifts.  The giving of our money, our time, and our talents are spiritual disciplines.  Our checkbooks may unfortunately speak more about our spiritual lives than our prayer journals. 

Stewardship is not something that occurs once a year at a budget drive.  Instead, our giving to church, to neighbors, and to the least among us reminds us of God’s giving.  Moreover, God uses our giving to transform us and the world around us. 

Christ is Lord of everything…including our hard-earned resources.  I have always been amazed at the generosity of the members of the Ardmore Presbyterian Church.  May God use that generosity to draw us closer to him. 

Grace & Peace,

James

Pastor's Pen: Homecoming 2012

“When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around.   But when I got to twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he’d learned in seven years.”  --Mark Twain

In this famous quote by Mark Twain, we learn one of the problems of coming home.  Home changes while we are gone, or more likely, we change.  There is great comfort coming home.  The familiar sights, sounds and even the smells can evoke feelings of security and refuge.  Nonetheless, like a college student coming home for the first time, we realize that we no longer satisfied with the way things were.  We can’t simply go back to the old curfews and old rules. 

In the journey of faith, there is something similar.  As much as we might long for an idyllic moment in our past, our relationship to God won’t exactly be the same as before.  We change.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing.  In the Scriptures, God doesn’t plant us naked back in the old Eden.  Instead, there is a new heaven and a new earth.  Coming home means taking part in a new reality.  We are transformed. 

After a summer of vacations and trips, Homecoming at Ardmore Presbyterian Church signals the start of our fall programs.  We ease back into our familiar pews and into the usual routines.  However, I wonder if we should be satisfied with what has happened in the past.  Perhaps, we should treat Homecoming as an invitation.  We can participate in a deeper faith, a stronger community, and a more vibrant witness. 

Some might mistake this invitation as an expanding encroachment on your time.  They believe that the church wants you to be busier like school activities and your favorite non-profit want you to be busier.  Instead, the church invites us to maturity.  If your relationship to God hasn’t shown signs of growth in the past few years, it is time for a reexamination.  Maybe, it is time for a change.

Homecoming is an exciting time in the life of the church.  I pray that coming home will be an opportunity for spiritual growth for you and your family. 

Grace & Peace,

James Hodsden

Pastor's Pen: The Lampost at Montgomery and Mill Creek

As long as the Ardmore Presbyterian Church has had a physical presence on the corner of Montgomery and Mill Creek Avenue there has been lamppost.  In the evenings as people walk and cars pass by the chapel entrance, a light shines forth.  In days past, that chapel was the sanctuary, and the lamppost had a much more prominent place in the life of the congregation.  You could see it every time you came to worship.  The first pastor of the church, Rev. Edmund Rawson wrote to the children of the church about our lamppost in 1914,

This is our lamp-post.  By day the sign tells strangers where our Church is.  By night the lamp helps us to see the path.  Every Sunday it is there, rain or shine, waiting to show you the way to Bible School and Church. Will you come to both as often as you can?

Our congregation began as a light to our neighborhood.  Ardmore Presbyterian Church was there to show that life was more than getting on the train and going to work.  In doing so, we were being faithful to the words of Jesus Christ, "…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

Over a hundred years later, the neighborhood looks a little different.  The world of 2012 seems far removed from the early days of the twentieth century.  There have been incredible changes, both technological and social.  Many of the changes have been for the better, but they have also given us new challenges and anxieties. 

That lamppost in front of the chapel entrance stands as a needed reminder of who we are.  No matter the generation, we stumble when we walk in the darkness.  Although it may look a little different in various places and ages, the loving light of Jesus Christ is the answer to our needs.  The people of the Ardmore Presbyterian Church bring that light to today’s concerns.  We are transformed by God’s grace, and by extension, the world is a little brighter because of our presence. 

General Assembly 2012 Background

On June 30 - July 7, 2012 the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA will be meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Over the years, our denomination has faced the incredible challenges of a changing culture and declining numbers.  In the past several years, General Assemblies have created lots of controversy over decisions that they have made.  I have no doubt that this year will be same. 

I would encourage everyone to pray for the commissioners to the General Assembly.  Please ask that they would be guided by God's wisdom.  Also pray for peace.  Ask that the decisions that they make would not be made in haste or hate.

Today, I received an e-mail from Dr. James Goodloe.  He is the executive director of an organization called the Foundation for Reformed Theology.  It is a great organization, and this year I was able to attend a seminar sponsored by the Foundation at Princeton.  Dr. Goodloe shared some helpful background on the General Assembly.  I thought that some of you might appreciate it.

Grace & Peace,
James Hodsden

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the national level governing body of the denomination, will be meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from Saturday, June 30. 

We will certainly be watching the General Assembly with great interest. What happens there has the potential to have a tremendous impact upon the congregations of the church. I hope and pray that we can look for great and wonderful things from the Assembly. , through Saturday, July 7, 2012.At the same time, I am aware that sometimes things happen which have the potential to be upsetting. So, I am writing to try to provide a little help for all of us who will be watching the General Assembly. 

First of all, please realize that in addition to the several hundred official and voting commissioners from the various presbyteries, there are usually several thousand other people in attendance. Some of these are staff. Some are volunteers. Some are visitors. Some are reporters. And some are members of various advocacy groups that are always swirling around the Assembly. Some of these groups are from the so-called "right wing" of the church, for lack of a better term, and some are from the "left wing," again for lack of a better term. Please understand that these people and organizations will be there to speak to the church. They do not speak for the church. They are seeking to influence the church to change something, one way or the other. But they do not represent the church. We may or may not like what they say, but they are not speaking on behalf the church, anyway. 

Second, sometimes the General Assembly might adopt a position statement on some issue. This could be theological, political, economic, or social. Please realize that such statements represent only that particular Assembly. Such statements intend to speak to the church. They do not speak for the church. If any such statements are made, we may receive them, read them, study them, and determine for ourselves whether or not they seem to be helpful to us. If they are, we may use them. If they are not, we do not have to use them. They are not binding on the congregations or members of the denomination.

Third, the General Assembly may take actions that are intended to initiate amendments (changes) to the Book of Order, which is part of the constitution of the denomination. These are much more important than position statements, in that they may have long term effects on the faith and life of the church. However, even if this General Assembly does give such initial approval to some amendments, they would still have to be sent out to all the presbyteries for consideration over the course of the next two years. A majority of the presbyteries would have to approve any amendments, which then would not go into effect until the following General Assembly, which will be in 2014. The point is, the presbyteries have a history of turning down some of the amendments sent to them. So, even if an amendment is initiated this year, it very well may not become part  of the policy of the church.

Fourth, the General Assembly may make what is called an authoritative interpretation. This may be a little trickier. By definition, an authoritative interpretation is not a change in the constitution. It is, instead, an official declaration by the Assembly of what some part of the constitution means. It can be approved by a simple majority vote of the commissioners at the Assembly, and therefore it is not sent out to the presbyteries for their consideration. Such an interpretation does become binding upon the governing bodies of the church, including sessions, unless and until it is overturned by some subsequent authoritative interpretation.

Fifth, please realize that any coverage we receive in the news media is very likely to be plagued by gross misunderstanding if not outright error. It seems to be very rare that the news media gets things right about the church. So, if something bizarre is reported, please withhold judgment at least until we can look into the matter and see what is really going on. Many will be watching the General Assembly closely, through all the information sources available. Come what may, we are grateful to be officers in and for the church, and we look forward to continuing to serve together in faithfulness to Jesus Christ.

UPDATE:  Apparently amendments to the Book of Order, if approved by a majority of the presbyteries, go into effect one year after the close of the 2012 Assembly.

Pastor's Pen: Looking for a Hero

In 1938, two high school students from Cleveland had a vision for a comic hero.  He had super strength, super speed, and super senses.  The character resonated with the public, and Superman was born.  Since that time, a thousand heroes in tights have bloomed.  Whether they are women or men, aliens or mutants, or even wizards or robots, they all have one thing in common.  Each has powers and abilities far beyond us mortals.

In the early days, the assumption was that superheroes used their powers for “truth, justice, and the American way.”  However, since then we have grown cynical.  Power, we realize, has its own temptations.  This isn’t a new revelation.  In fact, it is as old as the tempting of Adam and Eve.  The serpent whispers, “You will be like God” (Genesis 3:5).

In 1962, Stan Lee created a comic character struggling to make the transition between adolescence to adulthood.  Due to a bite from a radioactive spider, the awkward teenager must deal with incredible powers thrust upon him.  “With great power,” we are told, “comes great responsibility.”  Jesus himself will similarly declare two thousand years earlier, “To whom much is given, much will be expected” (Luke 12:48).

We don’t have x-ray vision or the ability to sling webs, but we are blessed.  Our talents and abilities are formidable.  How do we avoid temptation?  How do we reject exploitation or the abuse of power?  How can we be gifted yet humble?

The model for us is Jesus.  Jesus came and walked with us.  He listened to God, trusting in God’s word.  He spoke out against injustice.  He faced danger with courage.  Jesus continues to love us with a sacrificial love.  Moreover, Jesus offers these gifts to us.  “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these” (John 14:12).  If we are looking to be a hero, we need to look to Jesus.

From 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on June 18-22, our children will be exploring what it means to be a hero at Ardmore Presbyterian Church’s Vacation Bible School.  Exploring the stories of the Old and New Testament, we will be looking for Jesus.  Through games, crafts, and lessons, we learn what it means to follow him.  Check out www.ardmorepres.org for more information. 

Grace & Peace,

James Hodsden

REGISTER ON-LINE FOR VBS HERE.

Pastor's Pen: God and the Luddite

The irony of the 21^st Century is that we are more connected than ever, yet we remain more and more isolated.  We can look at a smart phone and catch the news from the other side of the planet, yet the relationship with our neighbor consists only of a nod on the way to work.  At the grocery store, I appreciate the convenience of the automated check-out, but listening to the mechanical voice, I wonder if I’m missing something.  While living in the fifth largest city in the U.S., we can actually make it through the day without talking to an actual human being. 

An interesting exercise for the modern family is to count screens.  If I count everything from televisions, laptops, or even hand-held games, there are many more screens than people in my home.  Each one beckons me away from interacting with the people with whom I live and love.  Even the promise of social media is fleeting.  It can certainly enhance existing relationships.  However, the same Facebook page which shares baby pictures with a grandparent can also speed up a marital break-up. 

In the 19^th Century, textile artisans in England protested against the technical changes of the industrial revolution by destroying mechanized looms.  The Luddites feared that a way of life was passing away.  They had legitimate fears, but their actions were violent and ineffectual.  For the modern Luddite, there are plenty of fears in our brave new world.  We live in a media bubble of our own design.  We listen only to the voices that we want.  This isolation can lead to loneliness or even the inability to interact with someone who disagrees.  I don’t suspect that there will be pickets outside the Apple Store any time soon, and frankly, I like this age of communication and instantaneous information.  How then do we respond?

God has already given a response:  Pentecost.  After the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus, the disciples were gathered together.  Suddenly, a violent wind blew through the place.  The Holy Spirit settled upon them making the disciples one body of believers.  By God’s action, the Church became a reality.  However, the Church was never meant to be another interest group isolated from the rest of the world.  Pilgrims visiting Jerusalem from all over the known world noticed the commotion.  From the disciples of Jesus Christ, they suddenly heard God’s praises each one in his or her own language. 

Pentecost affirmed God’s observation back in Genesis, “It is not good for man (or woman) to be alone.”  Jesus’ life and ministry demand that the Church must be focused outward.  We are called to love God and to love neighbor.  As society or technology attempts to pull people apart, we are ministers of reconciliation.  That might mean using an e-mail to encourage a friend, or it might mean turning off the computer to care physically for another.  We reject the loneliness, and take interest in the people around us.  Together, we might hear God’s praises in our own language.

Grace & Peace,

James