A Crock-pot full of brass fixtures 9.23.2021

       Next to the front door of the Parsonage on the Hill is an old coat hanger/bench/thing. It is likely an antique. At some point, my dad or Mom or both recovered part of it. It had been blue and was most recently painted yellow. I don’t know exactly how or when it made its way to our house. As a hat wearer, I am grateful to have a place to hang my collection of hats. We are supposed to get new floors soon, so Mrs. Beckman has been preparing. One item on her list is to repaint and recover that hall old coat hanger/bench/thing. She began the process by taking off the parts which had been repaired and recovered by my parents and removing the fixtures, has begun to clean them.

         Here is where it gets interesting. Last week I returned home from work for lunch one day. I walked into the kitchen and was struck by the aroma of something in the crock-pot. I walked over, lifted the lid, and peeked inside. And I was met with a crock-pot full of those brass fixtures from the coat hanger/bench/thing. Mrs. Beckman had read somewhere that if you had an old, disposable crock-pot you could put your fixtures (or whatever other item you were looking to clean) therein, fill with water and just cook the ever-loving crap out of them until they were clean. We fed water into that crock-pot for almost a week. After a few days, we were making jokes about how tasty it smelled and how the fixtures appeared to be getting more tender.

         I thought there might be some interesting conclusion or comparison to be drawn from this experience. I reflected, scribbled a few notes, played a game of solitaire, and thought to myself “Maybe not.” Then I considered it again and thought perhaps I might cast about for a couple of insights about restoring what is worn out and the process of refreshing something which is passing away. Then I thought of the story in the book of 1 Samuel where Eli's sons got in trouble for demanding meat from those sacrificing at the tabernacle when they insisted that they be able to take fresh meat when the prevailing custom was to “stick a fork in a pot of boiling water,” to draw out the priest's portion. Having thought that strategy through I considered that I was pressing too hard and that maybe the crock-pot full of brass fixtures was not as revelatory as I initially thought. Rather than find something else to write about, I took a walk and reconsidered.

         During my walk, I reflected upon two reasons that the coat hanger/bench thing is significant. The first is the idea of connection. The second is the idea of utility. Let’s think about those two ideas for a few moments.

         As I mentioned before, the coat hanger/bench/thing stood beside the back door at my parents’ house 330 E. Clark Street for what now seems to be hundreds of years. For a significant part of its history, I would not have been able to tell you what color it was because it was wholly obscured by the coats which were hanging there. There were seven in the Beckman household of my youth. The coats, jackets, rain-slickers, vests, parkas, and ponchos of 2 adults and 5 children. The items hung four or five deep on each one of those brass hangers so recently simmering in their own paint-gravy in the crock-pot there at the Parsonage on the Hill. Mom and Dad have joined the great majority, the siblings are scattered, yet we still have connections to that old coat hanger/bench/thing and the garments that hung there.

         Beyond that, there were grandparents arriving for Thanksgiving. Grandpa Clevenger flinging his Master Mix quilted vest on the top of a stack, perhaps 8 or 9 inches from actually being “on a hook.” Friends would come in, “hang up” their jacket and play, or do homework, or read, or just visit. Maybe the evangelist for the Revival meeting would put his trench coat on top of the others already there. Occasionally when someone called Dad with a need, or to pass on the need of another, a garment would disappear from the coat hanger/bench/thing to be relocated in someone else’s closet. We don’t always get to choose the connections we remember or how they came into our lives. We do get to savor them. We get to prepare them for the next generation. So, I don’t know if Katy will read this or Kyleigh. At some point, someone is going to need to come to Grayville and take possession of this old coat hanger/bench/thing so that the connections bound thereupon can continue.

         Now a few words about utility. If I still had long, flowing locks there is a pretty good chance that the coat hanger/bench/thing would not have any sentimental value, or even a location adjacent to my front door. I’ve mostly lost my hair and what I have is kept buzzed. Hats are more than fashion to me. Hats are essential. I have 5 or 6 fedoras and always keep a brown one and a gray one hanging by the door along with a ball cap and a stocking cap. In this instance utility is the handmaiden to connection. If I did not need a place to hang my hats I would not be in a reflective, sentimental mood about what is otherwise an unexceptional piece of furniture.

            That says much about life. The intersection of utility and connection is not always easy to define. Life can be messy. People and circumstances are mixed in our hearts. Life is complicated. I don’t recall ever having seen that coat hanger/bench/thing with unpainted hardware. None of the memories I associate with it envision it that way. Most of the time I was growing up you could not even see it. You only knew it was there because the coats were clearly hanging on something. Because of its continuing utility and through my wife’s creativity, a simple piece of furniture is renewed and will facilitate an entire new range of connections. Maybe I will have a group of young ministers over to encourage them in their preaching and they will park their parkas there. Maybe during the holidays one of the grandkids will put on Papa’s Minnesota Vikings sock-hat. Maybe someone will say “wasn’t this at Grandma and Grandpa Beckman’s house?” The future will touch the past and a connection of the heart will occur which is only possible because of the shared memory of necessary stuff.

Three to Pray For 9.16.2021

Ministry produces great joy and plunges us into deep sorrow. One of the strengths of the Church is that not every individual will process the same experiences at the same time. In congregational life, there are instances where our sharing is deeper and more complex. There are times when we are bearing the same burdens and focusing on the same issues. 

This happens when a local Church is called to minister during times of crisis such as extreme illness or death. These contexts can be both exhilarating and exhausting. We can experience both the depth of sadness and the height of solidarity. I am blessed to serve a wonderful congregation. We have seasoned, capable leaders. We have many committed servants. No one jockeys for the limelight. There is no pecking order, outsized egos, or inflated sense of importance. Jesus demonstrates that servant's attitude in washing His disciple's feet. For us it may be washing dishes, wiping down tables, or wiping away tears. Sometimes, given the complexities of the real world, all of those things are done in the same room, simultaneously, by whoever is next in line. As a pastor, I would like to think that this is the result of long years of patient teaching by Godly men. That may have contributed, but clearly, this is more about following the Master’s example than my teaching.

In processing a busy day yesterday and a busy first half of the week I reflected upon this intersection of the needs of ministry and the heart of ministry. This is not what I had intended to write about this week but it did seem appropriate. Those who minister and who benefit from it are people. We are Fallible creatures with great promise. Made in the image of God yet flawed by the fall. We try our best to be our best and often fail. In response to Jesus, we learn to live by faith in such a way that we decreasingly rely upon our own strength and increasingly rely on His. Even this process is not easy. He or she who ministers today will tomorrow be the object of ministry. The one who serves today with humility will tomorrow benefit from service with tears of joy. 

At its best, the Church is an interconnected structure through which the life of Christ flows. What analogy should we use? Perhaps an arboreal comparison? 

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5 ESV)

On the other hand perhaps an anatomical analogy better fits

“If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:26–27 ESV)

As we abide in Jesus we partake in His life. As we abide in and with one another we empower one another to grow as fully as possible into His image. That is discipleship. That is body-life. It is organic, organizational, obligatory. It is not always easy but it is worth it. 

Throughout this week of ministry while laboring in both the Word and in the kitchen, while making difficult pastoral calls and officiating a funeral I made the following observations about the people we encounter during the process of serving. We encounter individuals who are Christian but who do not attend our own congregation. With them, we share the bond of Christ but not always the same structure of accountability. Others are individuals whose faith we cannot vouch for. We meet them in passing in a time of great duress when faith is a comfort even for those who do not regularly worship nor participate in the ongoing life of a local congregation. The true pleasure comes when we serve in trying times with those we know we will meet around the Lord's Table this Sunday. With those who will join us in gathering around the Word of God for the sake of worship. Every time you or I engage in ministry we will share the burden with all of the following categories of people. Sometimes individuals will display characteristics of each.

Hurting

You will meet people whose lives are shattered, whose will is tested, and whose hearts are broken. Death, disease, discomfort, and displeasure are cultural epidemics. It has always been that way and always will in a fallen world. Because I have spent this week with those encountering grief this has been driven home in the most abrupt manner. 

Some of those doing the ministering are hurting as well. When preachers preach the funerals of members of their own flock they are not only reaching out to the hurting they do so with an injured heart of their own. During this second season of the pandemic, this is continuing to unfold not only for those we lead to the grave of a loved one but it is impressed upon us every day as we consider those who are sick and those who are in solitude. 

Pain is a result of the fall. Each of us bears injuries which will only find full healing in the presence of the resurrected Christ. Until that day we cling to Him as both teacher and example of how to walk the way of the cross. 

Helping

The second category of people is those who are helping. When some limp others will need to lend a steady arm and clear vision. The help we give as believers springs from the love which Christ has made real to us in His own suffering. Though we relish the promise of eternal life it has begun with our lives embedded in mortality. Until the day of our own passing, we are called upon to salt the wounds of the hurting and bring the light into darkened hearts. 

There are many ways to help. A kind word or nearly forgotten memory lovingly recalled can bring refreshment to those who are beaten down by the spiritual, mental, and physical toll of pain. 

A nice meal after the graveside service might seem inconsequential but to those who have survived on adrenaline and aspirin it can bring refreshment that is unthreatening and “normal.” After the meal? Dishes must be done, the hall set in order, and life must begin to return to normal. 

Weeks and months after the formal gatherings of funeral, visitation, and dinner there will be opportunities in worship and in passing for us to continue to extend kindness. This work of ministry fulfills our obligation for each and every part of the body to nurture the whole body in its sundry parts. 

Hardened

It gives me no pleasure to mention that the presence of the hurting and the process of helping has an entirely different impact on others. There are some who, despite their faithfulness to Jesus, become hardened to the needs of others. Not hardened in the sense of being jaded or apathetic but hardened in the sense that the pain does not seem to penetrate their hearts and the process of helping does not seem to lead to healing. Some have concluded that the nourishment of the Body of Christ should always only flow to them and never from them. They do not see ministry as a broad tapestry to which they contribute only a part but see all ministry through the limited perspective of their own concerns.  

For the hardened, excellence in ministry is narrowed to the field of their own vision. Their own hurts are magnified and the pain of those who surround them is always usurped as an explanation for their own. When ministry becomes transactional and selfish it undermines the message of hope that we have in Jesus. When I am not myself hurt but insist on acting like it my behavior signifies that I have blinded my eyes and hardened my heart to the actual needs of others. 

I pray and recommend that we all pray for the softness of our own hearts. Sometimes this means that we say difficult words to those who are avoiding the consequences of their own decisions. Other times that means we remain a silent witness to the love of Jesus and hug the hurting who cannot hear words of comfort. Softness in ministry means that every individual deserves the appropriate touch of Christ. When it is my turn to give it I need to step aside and let the Master use my faculties (body and mind) as the Spirit softens my heart.

Loving the Church

I will never tire of speaking or writing of the glorious nature of the local Church. Though Christ’s kingdom is universal the presence of that Kingdom is always particularized. Always local. Always present. Always incarnational. When your congregation ministers in its local community you are the Church, the whole Church, and nothing but the Church for those touched by Jesus through your efforts.

Join me in praying for the three faces of service I have seen in my life and ministry and which I have beheld this week. Each of us has or may find ourselves acting in one of these capacities sooner than we imagine. In a fallen world it would seem that the next disaster is right around the corner. 

    Love the God who called you in Christ. Serve those who are wounded. Do not let the overwhelming flood of misery fill your lungs with the debilitating fluid of apathy or harden your heart to those who are drowning in their sorrow, pain, or suffering.  We take our life from Jesus, not to hoard it but to hasten the comfort that only His life can bring. 

Rekindling the Fire

9.9.2021 

Labor Day is behind us. We have had a couple of really nice temperate days. I’m a little bit behind for the middle of the week. A long holiday weekend resulted in 1/2 days of work Saturday and Monday, with very little beyond worship on Sunday. As we move into the last portion of the year, as we contemplate the Fall and consider the plans, programming, parties and gatherings and flings, and whatever Holiday celebration your church will have for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas you might be experiencing a flame-out.

At the beginning of Jet aviation, a flame-out was just what it sounds like. The engine went out. If the pilot could not restart the engine he had to bail out of the aircraft. As first turbojets and then turbofan propulsion systems improved along with the overall quality of engineering and purity of jet fuel, flame-outs became less and less frequent. Sometimes the concept is a worthy analogy for what goes on in other areas of life. My specific concern, as always, is ministry, with a focus on preaching and teaching the Word of God. 

The transition to Fall is a strange creature because Summer is supposed to be the time for rest, recuperation, and resourcing. It does not always happen that way. Often we reduce one set of obligations and replace it with another. For example, I was done with camp the first week of July. Having two weeks of camp during June completely restructured my work time before, after, and during those weeks of Camp. When I got to July there was the increased workload of preparing the final draft of my book for the publisher and detailed background study for my next sermon series. Both projects were due September 1, that is, 1 week ago today. Needless to say, I was a little winded. I had been working three-shift days for about a week and a half  (Mrs. Beckman was at Katy’s baby-sitting. So it was just me and our Elite Feline Strike Force at home) the tank was getting low and the conditions for flame-out were present. What can we do during those times to get our “mojo’” back? What can we do to rekindle the fire so that the engine is running crisply and performing at the highest level possible? Here are three suggestions which I think will keep us motivated, lubricated, and fascinated.

Read

It is always one of the first things to go. We get tired. We get behind. We neglect to feed the curiosity which keeps ministering in the Post Modern world fascinating. If you don’t read broadly you are trying to apply the Bible in contexts that you have not fully investigated nor properly understood. If you don’t do the deep background reading for preaching you only skim the surface of the passages of Scripture you are preaching from. If you are not accessing fresh information in Biblical studies, Biblical languages, Biblical theology, Biblical application you will begin to lose freshness. You will get yourself into a situation where you need to make a high-performance maneuver and the aircraft will lose velocity, you will enter a stall, and the alarm klaxon will sound “flame out.” 

There is no substitute for reading. Read books of all kinds. Cultivate your interests and deepen them into areas of expertise. Be systematic. Keep notes. Annotate what you read (unless it is a library book). When you study for preaching read not only commentaries but other detailed literature which will help you understand the passage in question. 

Review

When the engine is not performing well that is a good time to remind yourself of when it was performing well. Rekindle the fire by reviewing your recent work. Compare what you have done this year with last year. Go back and look at the videos. Have you been trying to eliminate a distracting gesture or streamline your movement in the pulpit? Cue the tape and see what is happening.

Compare the sermon calendar you prepared for the year to the one you have actually been preaching. For me, 2021 was a year that pretty much stayed on Calendar. Last year, of course, was a little different because of the dislocation caused by the first phase of the pandemic. Reviewing the planning process as well as the execution phase helps with next year’s planning. Was I too ambitious? Did I underestimate the amount of time needed for the preliminary study? Was the theme just wrong? Was the plan unable to absorb events as they unfolded? 

No review is perfect and not every question can be answered. A thorough review helps to lubricate the machinery and get things tuned up for what is next. You should be thinking already about next year. You should be pre-planning your sermon calendar. You need to get that engine ready to function at maximum horsepower. Reading widely will keep you fascinated, intrigued and passionate about ministry. A good review will help keep the engine lubricated, tuned, and calibrated Now, for motivation.

Revise

I can always do better. All of us can improve. Real improvement comes from self-examination with a ruthless critique of past performance. Beyond regular reviews, I think it is productive to go even further back and revise work from many years ago. I’ve been preaching a long time. I have lots of old sermons. If you have preached for a while you likewise have files, notebooks, and hard drives of past work. Here is what I like to do. 

There are very few Biblical books that I have not preached. When I am preparing a new series I pull the analog or digital sermon files for that book. I print out a couple of those old sermons (paper is important here), get out a red pencil, and revise it. Relentlessly mark it up. Cut, add, reduce, move, eliminate. This is not revision to reuse the sermon this is a revision designed to make you a better, more motivated writer. No one else is going to see this work. You can be absolutely honest with yourself and commit to being a better student of scripture and writer of sermons.

Kick the tires and light the Fires…

The best way to rekindle the fire is to give it attention before it goes out. Every day your study is like the flight-line for a squadron of fighter jets. You are by yourself in the study but you are a part of a much larger group of preachers committed to doing good work in proclaiming the Word of God. You get up, leave your family, and go to work. As they say in the business when you sit down to work: “Let’s kick the tires and light the fires!” Salute your Master, encourage your colleagues, continue with the Mission. 

9.1.2021 Being the Best You

    I’ve never been a Rolling Stones fan. As a late baby-boomer, I recognize their contributions. What would “Classic Rock” radio be without their enormous output? Charlie Watts died last week. He was the unlikeliest rock star in the quintessential rock-n-roll band. I admired his sense of style and individuality. I prefer the tailored look. So did he, albeit in a completely different price range. 

Charlie was an outlier in many ways. He did not particularly participate in the over-the-top rock star scene. He married the only wife he ever had in 1964 and was married to her till the day he died. You don’t have to conform to the expectations of excess to be excellent at something. That’s a good, learnable lesson even for those of us who are in ministry. 

Consider this. If you were to look at a group picture of the Stones, Charlie was always the one who seemed out of place. This became even more evident as they aged. In that picture the other four would likely be wearing fairly expensive designer clothes. Because they were rich and the Rolling Stones, design consultants, and costumers would have been consulted and their directions followed. In the photo they looked like the successful rock stars they were. For that same photo Charlie likely wore what he would have worn had there been no photo shoot. He always dressed impeccably in a bespoke suit and shoes. The others were in costume. Charlie was simply himself. Here is a second lesson for us. You don’t have to try and stand out to be outstanding.

Of all the advice for young preachers this is perhaps the most important. Be who God created you to be. Listen to good teachers and follow good models but take those lessons and paradigms and use them to mold your unique approach to preaching. The two phrases emphasized above clarify temptations which are alluring not only to the rock stars of our culture but to the preachers in our churches. We are always tempted to “turn things up to 11” thinking that superhuman effort will make us more than we are. 

To begin with, anyone who associates excess with the pulpit has already missed the point. You want to be the best preacher you can be. You want to consistently preach excellent messages which are Biblical and practical. Too often, in the search for excellence we give in to the temptations of excess. To do more than is necessary, say more than is prudent, discover more than is actually present in the text. Don’t do that. The text says what it says. We must balance truthful honesty with compassion and kindness. We all called to communicate clearly and we achieve that clarity, more often than not, through simplicity. 

Every single congregation deserves and should expect excellent preaching. You don’t have to have a fancy degree. You don’t have to have the latest tools. The music in your worship may be new, old, impassioned, or flat. You may minister in a small rural congregation or a rising mega-church. You don’t have be Mick Jagger before a photo shoot. You don’t have to line up consultants, google the latest designer, push the boundaries, or try and stand out from the crowd. Just show up like Charlie Watts. Be comfortable in your skin. Be the best version of you possible. Understand what kind of preacher God made you, in this place where He has placed you. If you do that, you will be outstanding.