Going on a Prayer Walk

When I was a girl scout, we liked to sing the song, Going on a Bear Hunt. It was silly and fun, incredibly interactive and energizing!

Prayer is like that.  It can be serious, but also silly and fun, interactive and energizing.

Ridge has begun our debt reduction campaign, Thrive@Ridge.  All of what we do and who we are needs to be rooted, grounded, and filled with prayer.  We do that because tackling a huge goal like $719,000 of debt on our mortgage is a serious business and we need serious help.  Yet, we also pray together because prayer, just like any other conversation, is interactive and energizing.

I have been praying at 7:19am and 7:19pm each day since Sunday April 23rd.  How neat to notice all the different places and situations I am when my "pray for Ridge" alarm rings.

This coming Sunday, April 30, we have an unusual prayer opportunity in which we will take our prayer to the streets of Munster.  Just as I have been appointed to a faith community and the community which surrounds it so too, are all disciples of Jesus sent out into the world to share Jesus' love.

Put the kiddos in a stroller or wagon.  Grab your dog's leash.  And let's walk and pray!  Put our feet where are prayers are.  Or put our prayers where are feet are.

We will be using an interactive prayer guide to pray for our school system, town leaders, police department, local businesses, fire department, hospital, local faith communities, and neighborhoods of Munster!

Unless you have something better to do on a Sunday evening than prayer- I will see you at 5pm in the Ridge parking lot.

See you at the praying place,

Pastor Michelle

All Roads of Forgiveness Lead to the Cross of Christ

Everything about this week leads to the cross of Christ.

• The Palm Sunday parade as people are filled with great hope!  
• The washing of one another's feet/hands as a commitment to serve as Christ serves us.  
• The sharing of the bread and cup as a foretaste of forgiveness.  
• The betrayal and arrest in a garden of prayer.  
• The trial and conviction of Jesus.

All of these events of Christ's Passion lead us to the cross of Christ.  Outstretched to embrace all of humanity, Christ died for our forgiveness with God, one another, and ourselves.  He died that we may live fully in this life (unencumbered by regret) and the life to come.

And then the waiting happens.. just as it does in our human relationships.  We wait for the dawn of Easter when we recognize that God can be trusted to forgive and receive us again.  A cross and an empty tomb reconcile us to God.

But, in our human relationships reconcilation may or may not happen.  You and I know from our own experience that forgiveness does not, however, always lead to reconcilation.  We are complex creatures, full of illusions and/or inward resistance to what could bring new life.

I heard someone say that just as forgiveness is a journey so too is reconcilation.  Reconcilation may be the larger goal, but it may not be possible for us to achieve with others in this life.  God makes it possible for us to be reconciled to Godself, but human beings are another matter.

When reconcilation seems impossible with another person, we are left with a choice about whether or not to move forward with forgiveness on our side.  Forgiving can be, and often is, a one-way street with fellow human beings.

Thank God that God is God!  God is love.  Love aims to restore us to a new kind of life!  God creates a two way street so that we are welcomed home into Love's Eternal Arms.  The magnitude of God's undeserved gift of forgiveness for each of us opens us up to respond with heartfelt repentance and gratitude.  This is why the woman who annointed Jesus' feet cried.

Writes Gregory Jones, "it is not because the woman has shown repentance with tears that Jesus forgives her; rather, she shows repentance with tears beause she has already known forgiveness and thus has great love for Jesus.  It is her faith in his gift of pardon that saves her."

Again, it is the Unstoppable Love of Jesus that saves the woman, and you, and me.  May our response be one of great love in return.

See you in the forgiving place,

Pastor Michelle

Forgiving: Embracing Freedom

This past Sunday morning I stood in the pulpit at our traditional service to deliver a message on the power of forgiveness.  I lacked sleep because we had been aware of my father's acute medical crisis in Indianapolis.  More than being aware of my fatigue, I was acutely aware of how forgiveness has been a major theme in my relationship with my Dad.

Our Christian faith informs us that we are bidden to forgive one another, as God in Christ, has forgiven us.  Over and over in the Gospels, Jesus calls us into forgiving one another and ourselves.  There I was preaching a message to myself more than giving a message to and for my people.  Trust me- when a preacher preaches to herself- it stings!

Forgiving others is imperative, not optional.  Jesus does not merely suggest forgiveness- but rather models, equips and challenges us to embrace the path of forgiveness throughout our lives. Forgiveness is the way of Christ.  Thus, it is the path of a believer and follower of Jesus.  And I am mightily glad that Jesus helps us because forgiving can be and is a very difficult thing to do.  I know this to be especially true with my dad.

Often our resistance to forgiveness can be summed up into two emotional responses: 1) "I should, but I don't want to" because our ego gets in our way; and 2) "I can't yet" which can be an healthy response to severe abuse or an invitation for more healing so that we can get over our own egos.

Preaching and teaching about forgiveness is very different from practicing forgiveness.  I can easily describe to you how 1) to ask for forgiveness or 2) to let go whatever you hold against a person. But doing it- being humble and letting go - those are moments when faith is lived.

Sunday afternoon through Tuesday morning my uncle and I were faced with critical decisions regarding my father's health care.  Fortunately, we were guided by an understanding of his wishes and our faith.  Knowing our time was short I whispered in my Daddy's ear, "I love you.  I forgive you. I know you love me.  And I ask that you forgive me for all the ways and times in which I failed to be the best daughter I could have been."

I had done much of my forgiving over the years, but the clarity of that moment of asking for forgiveness from him- was more freeing than I expected!  And it was a moment in which I prayed that my Dad would be launched with great freedom and joy into the world to come.  Indeed choosing to forgive is one of the most freeing and healing choices we can make in life.

I can attest that my burden is lighter!  I pray you will choose to forgive and embrace freedom.

See you in the forgiving place,

Pastor Michelle