A Busy Ten Days

It is Wednesday evening. Tomorrow in the USA, it is Thanksgiving Day. I miss Thanksgiving Day. It's a special day that has many memories associated with it. I will not experience anything like that special day tomorrow here in Scotland, but that's ok. I enjoy being minister at St Fergus Parish Church and being involved with Presbytery of Buchan. 

I have had my hands full since Tuesday, and things get pretty hectic through the weekend and into the following week. Monday was my Sabbath, my seventh day of resting in the Lord. How good it was. It is a holy habit I need in order to survive the wear and tear of pastoral ministry, wherever I am. The next day, Tuesday, I had planned to prepare for a teaching time I do on Fridays, the Sunday morning service at St Fergus Parish Church, and a Sunday evening service at another church in the area. I was not looking forward to the weekend because of those three engagements I had. I planned for a con-siderable amount of time for preparation for a teaching, one service, and two sermons.    

But early Tuesday afternoon, I received a call from a funeral home to do a funeral. I was covering for a fellow minister who was on vacation for a few days. Before I knew it, I was agreeing to a funeral service the following Monday in a nearby town. The family couldn't do it later and the funeral home could't do it earlier. I dropped my preparation, made necessary arrangements, and went and visited the family. A 39-year-old father of two young children had died from cancer the day before. I came back home and received a call from another funeral home for a funeral on Tuesday. Again, I was cov-ering for another pastor while he was on vacation. The family is coming to town soon and I will meet with them tomorrow. Fortunately one minister returned home earlier than expected and assumed the duties for the Monday funeral. That will give me some breathing room for my Sabbath rest on Mon-day. 

There's always things to do. Yesterday I met with three members of a Presbytery committee to dis-cuss certain matters. This afternoon I took communion to five people at a nearby nursing home. I was assisted by one of my elders who has become a close friend. He is able to converse with me in proper English and then interact with the persons in the Doric Tongue. He has a real gift of ministering to people. I enjoyed the flirtatious attention of a late eighty-something resident as she received com-munion. We served a ninety-eight year old and a one hundred-year old. It is amazing how they joined with me in reciting Psalm 23 and the Lord's Prayer. Tonight I visited a village man in the hospital down the road. He hasn't been to any church in years, but I sense that God is doing something in his life. That excites me. They were involved in a serious car accident ten weeks ago. Both of them were near death, but have survived. The wife got out of the hospital several weeks ago. They are talking about coming to church when they are able. 

I teaching a Bible Survey course on Friday evenings at a Church of Scotland congregation in Peter-head. Tomorrow I tackle Deuteronomy and Joshua. This is the sixth in the series that I expect to take into February of the new year. I enjoy the students who come from a variety of churches in the area, including one from St Fergus. It is a small class of fifteen to twenty people each Friday. They express a deep hunger to know about God and Scripture. I put in a lot of time in preparing for the class. It is fun for me to do. Saturday mornings I help lead a prayer meeting that attracts people from churches in the area, including two of us from St Fergus. This Saturday I will also be attending an area wide prayer meeting that comes together every two months. We enter into the Advent Season at St Fergus Parish Church on Sunday, the first Sunday in Advent. The Gospel reading for the first Sunday of the new Christian year is Matthew 24:36-44. We always recite the Apostles' Creed on the first Sunday of the month. I will preach on the Second Coming of Christ, the theme of the first Sunday of Advent. I haven't decided what I will preach on at the evening service of another church. I will probably work on that tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday. I will seek every moment to prepare for the teaching and preaching. It is amazing how ideas develop and click together as I am forced to use my time wisely. I look forward to resting on Monday for most of the day. Then there is the funeral noontime Tuesday. 

That's my week, although most weeks aren't always so full of things to do. When things get hectic, I have to rely on the Lord more and more in order to get things done. As always, I ask for your prayers. 

Blessings to you and yours, 

The Lord's Supper, Godianity, and the Godian Faith

The Pulpit and Communion Table, St Fergus ParishChurch.
The Bread Plates had not yet been brought out. 

One thing that annoys me greatly is that many people I encounter affirm that the Christian religion is about God in general, but neglect the centrality of Jesus Christ in the Christian faith. Cer-tainly, they acknowledge Christmas as Jesus' birthday and Easter as his death. In reality, they see Christmas as more about gift giving and family get-togethers than about anything that has to do with Jesus and His love. As I lis-ten to and talk with people, I am sad-dened by the absence of Jesus Christ in their religious views. For many people with whom I have talked, Jesus is off on the margins of their lives, neglected and not worthy of consider-ation. But now in these days, even God is seen as distant and remote, not having any interest in the affairs of this world. Yet any time something tragic happens, there are those who lash out at God, condemning God for allowing something bad to happen to innocent people such as themselves or a loved one. Many are focused upon God in general to the neglect of the specifics of God's Son Jesus Christ. He plays no part in their world. The Christian faith is no more than occasional thoughts about a general concept of the Divine.

Last month I was travelling with a friend to a service on the other side of North East Scotland. We were talking about this issue that both of us are concerned about. He referred to it as Godianity. Boy, did that make sense to me. It struck a chord in me. The use of Godianity plays off of the term Christianity. For people of the Godian faith, the focus is on God to the almost complete neglect of Jesus Christ. God is not the Triune God of the Bible, but somewhat of a fulfilment of the desire many people have for a God who is there, but not too close to cause any discomfort. This God is rather abstract, tame, and safe to call upon in time of need. As I talk to other ministers, I hear about people who are on church membership rolls, but only show up in church at Christmas, Easter, or Communion, if they ever show up at all. God appears to have no place in their lives except at certain times of the year or for certain times of rites of passage in life such as a baptism, a wed-ding, or a funeral. Yet they call themselves Christian. This is the God of Godianity. 

There are other expressions of Godianity that I have encountered among Christians here in the UK as well as in North America. There are Christian Godians who put their trust in God and have sensed in some way divine guidance and provision. They offer testimonies of how God has heard their prayers and led them in the right way. That they testify to what God has done for them is not what concerns me; it is what they do not testify to that concerns me. What is missing is any refer-ence to the Crucified and Risen Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. I have no doubt that the people who share of God's presence in their lives are active Christians. The problem is that they do not base their testimony or theology on the Cross and the Empty Tomb of Jesus. Such believers have a general view of the God of the Bible, but lack the basic fundamentals of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, the Apostle Paul writes: For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures and then he appeared ... and the text continues. The Apostle considered as of first importance, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Cross and the Empty Tomb. In 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, the same Apostle Paul wrote that he had 'decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.' He preached the Gospel 'in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.' Paul considered it his primary duty to proclaim what God had done for us through the Crucified and Risen Jesus Christ.

When I came to St Fergus Parish Church in June, 2012, I endeavoured to proclaim the Cross and the Empty Tomb in my preaching to the congregation Sunday by Sunday. I follow the lectionary readings for the gospels each Sunday. The lectionary followed the Gospel of Mark until the end of November last year, and Luke after that. It was remarkable the way that the Gospel of the Crucified and Risen Lord Jesus came through the lectionary texts. For the past three months or so the gospel lectionary selections have been looking at Jesus' parables in the Gospel of Luke. Rather than forcing the Gospel of Jesus Christ onto the parables, the parables powerfully presented the Gospel. This is my primary task in preaching at St Fergus Parish Church: to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ's death on the Cross for the the forgiveness of sins according to the Scriptures and His resurrection from death to life, also according to the Scriptures. Everything else works out from there in my ministry with the people of the congregation.

And so I feel great joy when we celebrate the Lord's Supper at St Fergus Parish Church. Unfor-tunately it is only twice a year. I had grown accustomed to celebrating it the first Sunday of every month. As a result, at times I feel a hunger to be fed at the Lord's Table. But the time is not right to make any changes in the frequency of taking Communion. I am thrilled, even giddy, when we take  the Bread and the Cup at church. If done properly, the focus is on the death of Jesus for the for-giveness of our sins. All of our senses are involved: we see the Bread and the Cup; we hear the Gospel proclaimed; we smell the Bread and the Wine; we feel the bread, Christ's Body broken for us; we taste both the Wine, Christ's Blood shed for us, and the Bread. We taste and see that the LORD is good. It does not get any better than that, except to be in the Crucified and Risen Jesus' presence when we feast with Him at last at the Marriage Banquet at the End of Time. The Lord's Supper is celebrated in anticipation of that great  meal in the future. That's why I have fun when we celebrate Communion.  

As always, I covet your prayers on my behalf as a preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ at St Fergus Parish Church.

Blessings to you and yours,  

A Doric Tongue Update

This is me trying to look
reverential and ministerial
in my study  

I do not know whether it is true or not, but I sense that local people are no longer dropping off using the Doric Tongue when they are speaking to me. They used to do that a lot, but not as much now. I feel more comfortable with the language when I am around local people. I have found that the key things to do are to relax and not try too hard to understand all that is said word for word, but to get the sense of what is being said. I think some people are surprised at how much I understand. 

The big challenge for me right now is to be able to speak more in the Doric. It is important that I do this naturally rather than thinking about it. I have noticed that when I use a Doric word it comes out flat and it doesn't sound right. It drops with a dull thud on the floor. I want Doric words and phrases to come out naturally and unconsciously. I have all these Doric words and phrases swirling around in my mind, waiting to pop out in conversation. I have been expecting situations when they would naturally make their appearance known. 

I have had several situations when I could have used the Doric phrase nay bother. I hear it all the time. I often use the phrase no bother or no problem. I use those phrases often, but no where as much as I hear people say to me nay bother. Often I find myself telling someone no problem when I could have and should have said nay bother.  The problem was, I was thinking about it and it would not have come out naturally. I missed the opportunity.

Several months ago I was heading down to St Andrews by train. I was fortunate enough to get one of four seats at a table. The guy next to me kindly asked if he could get out into the aisle. Before I knew it I uttered nay bother. It just came out of me so unconsciously from deep down within me. It was totally me. It was a good sign that the culture here in the land of Buchan is starting to seep down into me. This is the way it has to be now: that Doric words and phrases come from within me, from my heart, rather than consciously through my mind. Don't think about it, just blurt it out. This means learning like a child again, not thinking about what I say or how I should say it. That means I have to be less self-conscious and open to making mistakes and being corrected. That is very hard for me to do. There have been other cases since then when I have spoken Doric words and phrases that came from my heart without thinking through first what I was to say.

I am in the process of going through what happens to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The proclamation that Jesus died on the Cross for the forgiveness of sin and was resurrected from the Tomb three days later is not an abstract notion left in the air, but a reality that is translated into history of flesh and blood people in communities throughout the world. A long time ago God the Father, in love, sent the Son through the power of God the Spirit. The Word of God took on human flesh and spoke Aramaic words with a strong Galilean accent. Jesus was a Jewish man who dwelt in the Hebrew society of ancient Israel. In these days I sense that the Spirit is fleshing out the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a Doric accent. The Spirit has certainly done that before in the North East, but I sense the Spirit of Jesus is on the move again in the Land of Buchan. Please join me in praying that the Gospel will again take on flesh for revival and renewal among the people of Buchan.

Blessings to you and yours,