Dear Church:

What do you want for Christmas this year?

As we move into a season of decompression from the difficult decisions we have recently faced in the national government and in our denominational relationships, and as we make the pivot to the holiday season, it seems to be a time for us all to begin to breathe a little. Regardless of our individual views on the American presidency or the Mosaic pathways, now is a time of anticipation – something, something else, is coming.

That’s the whole point of Advent – to yearn for the coming – of our redemption, of the glory of God incarnate, and of God’s invitation to holiness. It is this yearning that properly forms the days of hope before Christmas. But too often, as the author Tish Harrison Warren puts it, we see the season from Thanksgiving to Christmas as a time of “compulsory jollification.” But Advent is not meant to be a time of “saccharine escapism.” Advent is meant to be a season where we sense our continuing need for deliverance.

So, what do you yearn for this Christmas?

In our current California stay, between grilled shrimp and blackened salmon dinners with my son and his family, and a quick trip to San Francisco to be with our Mosaic sisters and brothers for their 44th church anniversary, I have had some time for quietness, contemplation, and a deeper level of prayerfulness than might be the norm. And I have heard this message: God isn’t calling Blooming Glen Mennonite Church to fill up the sanctuary seats on Sunday morning. Living into our principal mission, to be on the journey together with Jesus, means that what truly matters is how we send one another into our neighborhoods with a message of hope. Not dread. Not “jollification.” Not “escapism.” Hope. And that hope is discovered as we yearn for God’s work in and through and in spite of us.

What do I want for Christmas this year? Less burden about filling seating capacity, and more heartfelt focus on creating sending capacity.

Lord willing, see y’all next Sunday…

Let’s go, church (and send one another with God’s hope to our neighbors near and far)!

Pastor Jeff

jeff@bgmc.net

PS: Monday listening breakfasts resume, December 2, 7:30am-8:45am, at the A&N Diner. Friday afternoon listening coffee (and tea, I suppose, if you’re into that) resume, December 6, 3:30pm-4:45pm, at the Broad Street Grind.

ONE MORE THING…

Dear Church:

It seems like preaching against the wind to talk about unity these days. We seem to be in a season where we find ourselves triggered by almost anything. I find myself triggered about denominational issues frequently. I know some of us in the congregation are triggered by the results of the national election. While there are potions a plenty to numb our pain when triggered, that really doesn’t help much. I wish I had access to some elixir that helped us overcome and eliminate the pain that we feel and encounter.

What we have, instead of a wonder drug, or the blunt instrument of the ballot box, is our tenacity to hold to that which we value. At Blooming Glen, we are committing to be the Church Together by holding fast to three essential values: 1) By relying on the Bible as the true story of God’s quest to redeem us from our self-inflicted brokenness. 2) By practicing spiritual habits of peacemaking, beginning with the foundational practice of caring deeply for one another and challenging one another directly. 3) By generously offering our gifts, skills, and resources to our neighbors near and far in the Name of Christ.

By the time you read this, Debbie and I will, Lord willing, be in Southern California. It will be a 17-day trip to: 1) take a spiritual retreat and reflect on what God is saying to me these days. 2) reach out to the Mosaic-related congregations in California that I serve as a Leadership Minister. 3) spend time with Jordan, Celina, and their boys: Jake, Jackson, John, and Jonah. Lord willing, we are back to Pennsylvania on November 29, and I look forward to preaching on the first Sunday in Advent, December 1.

As I retreat into time with God, reach out to friends and California co-laborers, and reunite with grandsons (and their parents), my goals are to continue to practice a way of life centered on remaining reliant on the scriptures for my hope, speaking the truth in love, and to being generous with all that God has given me. May these values unite us on the journey together with Jesus and keep us from being triggered by the traumas of past experiences of thoughtless words and heartless deeds.

Let’s go, church (and embrace our values as disciples of Jesus)!

Pastor Jeff

jeff@bgmc.net

P.S. | Since I’m in California, November 12-29, I won’t be at the A&N Diner on the 18th or the 25th nor will I be at the Broad Street Grind on the 15th, 22nd, or 29th. Y’all should feel free to meet up on those days as you desire to talk with and listen to one another. I’ll be back at the A&N on December 2nd and at the Broad Street Grind on December 6th.