Hope Lutheran Church

Want to see what we’ve been up to for the past two days, here are two more photo albums, one for each day.

As the Gathering is very fast paced and we don’t often get down time, I will have to post captions later.  But please enjoy the pictures while you wait.

Jesus, Justice, Jazz – Day One

Jesus, Justice, Jazz – Day Two

After almost 27 hours on the train from Union Station to New Orleans, we have finally arrived for the National Youth Gathering!

It’s now the first morning of the gathering and I’m looking forward to what this day and the next four bring.  I’m sure they promise new experiences, hard work, worship and encounters with God, as well as new friends and the opportunity to see old ones.

So here’s to the start of a great experience!  Amanda and I hope you follow us on our journey through these next couple of days.  We’ll write a few things and put them up here (click on the “blog” link above for more soon) and put pictures up for you to see.

Speaking of pictures, here are a few from the train ride down here:

Jesus Justice Jazz 2009 – Train

Jesus, Justice, Jazz – here we come!

New: If you want to see photos from the first two days of the Gathering, head on over here: http://www.hopeclinton.org/events/jesus-justice-jazz-days-one-and-two-pictures/

And for pictures and a reflection from the third day, check this page out: http://www.hopeclinton.org/events/jesus-justice-jazz-day-three/

Pastor Kate

There is a story in which a young minister is sitting in her house one day when she hears a banging on the door. When she opens the door she discovers one of the church members standing before her. It is obvious that he is exhausted from running to her house and is barely holding back some tears.

“What’s wrong” asks the minister, seeing that this man is obviously in distress

“Please can you help”, replied the man, “A kind and considerate family in the area are in great trouble. The husband recently lost his job and the wife cannot work due to health problems. They have three young children to look after and on top of all that the man’s mother lives with them as she is unwell and needs constant care. They have no money at the moment and if they don’t pay the rent by tomorrow morning the landlord is going to kick them all onto the street, even though its winter”.

“That’s terrible”, said the minister, “Of course we will help. Anyway how do you know them”?

“I’m the landlord” replied the man.

The above parable is courtesy of Peter Rollins and is taken directly from his blog post on Irony and Fetishism.  What I most appreciate about Pete’s parables is his way of transforming the way we think about our faith and religious activity.  It makes me pause and think a bit.

I told the congregation in worship yesterday that when I first heard this parable, I imagined myself as the minister.  I was upset and outraged how this man could make such a decision, ignoring his responsibility to the family.  But the more that I’ve thought about it, I’m really the landlord in that story.

I’m the one who has the means to help others, the ability to make decisions regarding the use of the resources God has blessed me with.  And yet, I squander them.  Last week alone I spent $25 on coffee at Starbucks.  25 dollars!

What if I only spent $5 – instead choosing to use the rest of my money in a different way?

$8 can buy me two Venti, Caramel Macchiatos, or it can buy 25 fruit trees for farmers in Honduras to grow and sell fruit at their local market.

$25 can buy me five Grande, Mocha Frappacinos, or it can help feed a family of four who has lost their only source of income for two days.

Or the $75 I’m likely to have spent on coffee this month could be invested in a Kiva microfinance loan that will help women in Uganda start their own business – allowing them to feed their families and repay the loans.

I am the landlord telling the family they can no longer live here because I’ve got to buy coffee – really expensive coffee.

And I suspect I’m not the only landlord among us either.

So I have made a public commitment to reduce the amount of money I spend at Starbucks to once a week (so $5).  Instead, the rest of the money I may have otherwise spent there (at least $10 but at much as $20) I commit to investing in the work of the kingdom of God.  I will give that much more to the church, or to the Oxon Hill Food Pantry, or to Lutheran World Hunger.

And I asked those in worship yesterday morning to consider what resources God has blessed them with and how they could reorder their resources, investing some in other places.  Then I asked them to fill out a sheet of paper committing to God what that action will look like and place it on the altar as a sacrifice.

I was moved by the number of people who chose to make such commitments.  Many have committed to reordering their lives as I have, by eating out less and giving that extra money back to the church or another service organization.  But some others are choosing to walk and reorder their health/fitness so that they can be of more service to the church and the world.

While the Apostle Paul used financial language in the 2 Corinthians text yesterday (quoted below), I also wonder how many of us sacrifice our time – choosing to turn off the TV and invest that time in our families or friends.  How many of us are willing to invest in new relationships or those that are on shaky ground.  As I write this I’m beginning to think that will be my next sacrifice – investing in strong relationships, new relationships, and those with my neighbors.

Finally, I also asked the congregation to hold me accountable; to ask me from time to time how my commitment to spend less at Starbucks is going, how I’m investing more of my financial resources back into kingdom work.  I also encouraged them to each find somebody who is willing to do that for them as well.

As people left the worship space yesterday, many told me what it is that they are sacrificing, how they are reordering things.  I’m excited!  God is up to amazing things here and I look forward to how this will unfold into more in the future!

So what are you willing to sacrifice?  What commitment are you going to make?  If you’d like some accountability, then I encourage you to comment on the post and we can hold each other mutually accountable.

Now as you excel in everything– in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you– so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.  8 I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others.  9 For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.  10 And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something–  11 now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means.  12 For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has– not according to what one does not have.  13 I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between  14 your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance.  15 As it is written, “The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.”  2 Corinthians 8:7-15

Photo courtesy of Steve Webel

About a month ago I was in a conversation and one of the people responded to something I had said with, “That’s life.”

Now, while I do agree that there are some things which we must accept as part of life (i.e. the very fact that change is a certainty), but there are many other things that we do accept as part of life when they should not be.

So I’m stating that I do not accept that this is the way it is.

I don’t accept that in Prince George’s County, at least 8.1% of all residents live below the poverty line.

I do not accept that some have access to affordable health care while others do not.

I do not accept that 186 people were murdered in DC last year nor that at least 125 people were murdered in Prince George’s County last year.

I do not accept that in the District, 1 in 2 children is at risk for hunger nor that 1 in 5 children is at risk in Prince George’s.

I do not accept that more than 12,500 people die every day from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria and that we have the resources to help lower this number dramatically yet don’t give access. (http://www.one.org/us/issues/)

I do not accept that 884 million people across the world do not have access to clean water or that 2.5 billion (that’s right, billion with a ‘b’) do not have access to adequate sanitation. (http://www.one.org/us/issues/)

I do not accept that this is just life or that it is the way that it is.  I do not accept it and instead feel that it is an obligation for me to help my brothers and sisters just as I expect they will help me.

This is not the way it is meant to be – this is not how God imagined creation to be.

And it is not the way it has to be either.  We have the resources and together we can change the world.

It does not have to be like this – instead we can do something about it.

What will you do?

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?  38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing?  39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’  40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’” (Matthew 25:37-40)

Photo courtesy of tombothetominator (rights)

It is likely that over 13,000 people will die of hunger today.  963 million people across the world are hungry. Every day, almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes, that’s one child every five seconds. (Statistics provided by Bread - http://www.bread.org/learn/hunger-basics/hunger-facts-international.html)

With all this in mind and the ever growing need for hunger awareness and action due to the current economic crisis – we continue to have conversation about how we may alievate some of the hunger in our area.

Over the past few months we have had two potlucks which raised hunger awareness and fueled some action in this regard.  We also collected almost 1300 cans of food for the Oxon Hill Food Pantry in January and people from the congregation walked and donated money for the Oxon Hill Walk-a-thon on May 16.  The congregation also continues to collect food on a continual basis which is then donated to the food pantry.

If you’d like to get involved in addressing this issue or begin conversation about another, please send an email to kmurray@hopeclinton.org.  Otherwise, check out ELCA World Hunger (http://www.elca.org/Our-Faith-In-Action/Responding-to-the-World/ELCA-World-Hunger/Our-Work.aspx). 

The two potlucks were done in conjunction with A Month of Potlucks Project: http://amonthofpotlucks.blogspot.com.

Photo courtesy of Hamed Parham

Update: Thank you so much to all who volunteered and donated.  We exceeded our goal of 1000 cans and collected 1291 cans of food for the Oxon Hill Food Bank!  Because of you, there is more food available for people in our community.

If you wish to donate again or for the first time, we continually support the Oxon Hill Food Pantry and make regular donations.  Just bring the food by the church.  During the week we’re here Tuesday through Friday, 10 AM to 2 PM and on Sunday, 9 AM to 12 PM.

As part of the National Day of Service on MLK Jr. Day (Monday, January 19), we will be collecting food for the Oxon Hill Food Pantry.

The church building will be a drop off point for food from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM and volunteers will be walking the streets of the neighborhood going door-to-door asking for cans.

Help us reach our goal of 1000 cans for hunger by signing up to staff the drop off location or go door-to-door with us: http://www.usaservice.org/page/event/detail/4jwbd

Welcome to Hope Lutheran Church, Clinton, Maryland.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.   John 14:6a

When Thomas asked Jesus how they would know where to go, Jesus answered with the rather cryptic phrase, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  Sometimes it seems as if the way is just that, a cryptic puzzle to figure out.  But Jesus promises he will be there to walk with us through the journey.  In fact, he is the way – it is only through him that we know the Father.

Through Jesus, we know a God of love.  A God who wants us to feel whole, complete, and perfect.  A God who desires us to be comfortable in our own skins.  A God who calls us into service in the world – rejoicing with those who rejoice and suffering with those who suffer.  A God who wants the entire world to know its worth and value – worthy enough for God to send a Son to suffer and die on a cross.

At Hope Lutheran Church, this is the God who has claimed us.  We are God’s and strive each day to live into this claiming – to listen as God teaches us and leads us through life’s perilous ways.  This is the God we worship and whose ways we place first in our lives.

We are a caring community of believers who seek to live out our faith in the world.  We wrestle with our faith, living into the questions we have in our lives.  We gather together to hear the Word of God and experience God’s grace in that Word.  As God’s hands and feet, we at Hope understand ourselves to be “God’s loving presence in a hurting world.”

So if you are looking for a place where you can ask questions about your faith, looking for people to walk with you on the journey, or looking for a way to be in service to God and the world, we invite you to join us at Hope.  There is always more room for others on the journey.

Photo courtesy of: dalonian