New web site

Check out our new web page at www.zionakron.com, or click on the link on the right sidebar. Its in its infancy, bu we hope to have more content, including pictures of life at Zion, coming soon.
Also, the VIGIL is next Sunday, March 19, at 6:04 pm. Come and worship with us.
Peace,
PM

Lent 2 March 12, 2006
“Get behind me, Satan”
What have you done in your life to get ahead? Did you invest in a solid education? Did you marry someone with a better pedigree or financial security? Did you invest in the stock market or buy real estate? Did you work hard, really hard, extra hard—to get ahead? Did you get the feeling at a young age, as I did, that the deal in life was to lead, follow, or get out of the way? And that the followers didn’t amount to much. Leadership, being on top, excelling, succeeding, striving for greatness. That is what it is all about. And it is possible in America, yes? Some lower middle class schmuck makes a smart choice and the next thing you know he owns a fortune 500 company. Some computer geek strikes it rich with a search tool called GOOGLE. Anyone can play this game, right? Anyone can be the next American Idol, the next big thing. Just keep your eye on the prize. Get ahead of the next guy; no step on him. Put her in her place. That’ll get you ahead. “Everybody just get out of my way!!” Ever thought that?
“Get behind me, Satan.” You see, Peter had other plans for Jesus and himself. He thought that with Jesus, unlike John the Baptist, they had a guy who could rule the nation. A common man with mass appeal. JBAP was way too fringe to make it all the way. Peter had his man and was willing to sacrifice his own stuff to get him there. Like the campaign chief, Peter knew what it would take to get Jesus to the top—to Jerusalem, the temple, maybe even Rome itself! And any defeatist talk would not suffice. Suffering and death? At the hands of chief priests and scribes? No way. That’s not a get ahead attitude. That’s giving up. That’s giving in. That’s not fighting the good fight. Jesus was not the guy to take one for the team. Peter thought he would be that guy. No, Jesus was the leader of the team. Jesus was the one worth suffering for, so long as it gets him ahead where he belongs.
In how many ways, do we operate from a human motivation to get ahead or to succeed in our own terms? How do we encounter this Jesus, who is willing to surrender without a fight? Suffering is unacceptable. Self-sacrifice without tangible gains, is futility. Jesus is absurd. Peter won’t let him give up and give in. Not without a stern talk first.
“Get behind me, Satan.” Thing is, Jesus doesn’t have to get ahead. He is the head of all things. He is the Son of God. Everyone and everything else is less and must either follow or get out of the way. Satan throws up human intentions and human misunderstanding as roadblocks to God’s mission. But Satan fails. You can’t tell God what to do, no matter who you think you are. God knows we try. As if we know best.
Are you following the way or are you just in the way?
with love, PM

By CS Lewis

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Jesus: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God'. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said [referring to Jesus' forgiving the sins of those who had not directly offended him, like the paralytic, etc...] would not be a great moral teacher. He would be either a lunatic---on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg---or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."--From Mere Christianity

Christianity is a demanding and serious religion. When it is delivered easy and amusing, it is another kind of religion altogether. --Neil Postman.

"Human nature is like a drunk peasant. Lift him into the saddle on one side, over he topples on the other side." --Martin Luther.

Saint Patrick

God's might to direct me
God's power to protect me
God's wisdom for learning
God's eye for discerning
God's ear for my hearing
God's Word for my clearing

God's Word in Worship Lent 2

These are the Scripture texts for Sunday, March 12th.

Monday: Genesis 17:1-7;15-16
Tuesday: Psalm 22:23-31
Wednesday: Romans 4:13-25
Thursday: Mark 8:31-38
Friday: for courage to follow Jesus in the wilderness of sin.

LENT 1

“Immediately the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness.”
In the Season of Lent the Gospel of Mark will take us on an exploration of Jesus’ life, as he does battle with the forces of evil and darkness. Koinonia will follow and comment on the Gospel, so that I can preach on the Old Testament Scriptures. Today, Jesus is tested in the wilderness by Satan. It is his identity as the incarnate Son of God that Satan will test. Who does he think he is, the high and mighty one showing up in rags and poverty? Satan will test Jesus’ ability to persevere in the face of sin. In the weeks ahead, Satan will take the form of friends, like Peter, religious peddlers, “the world”, and death itself. How will Jesus, divine and human, respond to the satanic forces that surround him, plot against him, tempt him, attempt to control him, and work to kill him?
In Mark’s gospel the temptation in the wilderness is an ongoing experience of Jesus’ life on earth. Unlike the other Gospels, in which Jesus clearly outwits the devil and avoids temptation, Mark’s testing is open-ended. There is no clear conclusion to the test. Does Jesus defeat Satan in the wilderness or not? It is unclear at the conclusion of today’s gospel. Why?
Jesus’ life in the wilderness of sin only begins post-baptism and continues until He is raised from the dead. His entire adult ministry is wilderness ministry. Only in His death are sin, death, and the devil ultimately defeated.
Are you baptized? Welcome to the wilderness. If you ever feel like you’re in the wilderness---lost, without God’s clear and visible help or guidance---then you are with Jesus. If you ever feel like you’re unsure how the end will turn out, you are with Jesus. If you’re enduring suffering because of love for someone, you are with Jesus. If you are struggling to cope with the broad and deep realities of injustice that surround us, i.e., poverty, war, hunger, greed, lust for power; then you are with Jesus. If you are questioning the purpose of a religious institution that is more concerned about survival than Gospel mission, you are with Jesus. If you are concerned for people who are nameless, voiceless, weak, imprisoned, and/or cast out of healthy society, then you are with Jesus. If you have discovered that the only one in whom you can put your trust is God, you are with Jesus.
In Baptism, we are joined to Jesus. The Spirit casts us out into the world with His eyes and heart. Your home, your work, your school, your neighborhood are your wilderness. You’ve been driven out with a mission, too. Perhaps this Lent you will seek it and find it---or it will find you…
with love, PM

ashes, ashes

This week we enter Lent. So, I offer you the words of others. First, an ode to Mardis Gras:
“We shall have mead, we shall have wine, we shall have feast. We shall have sweetness and milk, honey and milk, wholesome ambrosia, abundance of that, abundance of that. We shall have harp, we shall have lute, we shall have horn. We shall have sweet psaltery of the melodious strings and the regal lyre, of the songs we shall have, of the songs we shall have. And the king of Kings, and Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of peace, and of grace be with us, of grace be with us.”—Celtic Blessing on Ash Eve.
“One will have to give account in the judgment day of every good thing which one might have enjoyed and did not.”--- the Talmud. “And let this feeble body fail, and let it faint and die; my souls shall quit this mournful vail, and soar to worlds on high. Give joy or grief, give ease or pain, take life or friends away; But let me find them all again, in that eternal day. And I’ll sing halleluiah, and you’ll sing halleluiah, and we’ll all sing halleluiah, when we arrive at home.”--- The Social Harp. And Ash Wednesday: “You thumbed grit into my furrowed brow, marking me with the sign of mortality, the dust of last year’s palms. The cross you traced seared, smudged skin, and I recalled other ashes etched in my heart by those who loved too little or not at all.” --- Elizabeth-Anne Vanek. “In some monastic communities, monks go up to receive the ashes barefoot. Going barefoot is a joyous thing. It is good to feel the floor or the earth under your feet. It is good when the whole church is silent, filled with the hush of people walking without shoes. One wonders why we wear such things as shoes anyway. Prayer is so much more meaningful without them. It would be good to take them off in church all the time. But perhaps this might appear quixotic to those who have forgotten such very elementary satisfaction. Someone might catch cold at the mere thought of it.”---Thomas Merton.
Prayer, fasting, and charitable giving. These are the outward signs of an inward truth. We are utterly and permanently dependent upon others for sustenance. In the beginning and the end, life depends on God.

The Vigil

Soft acoustic music, candlelight, incense, and friends. At Zion Lutheran, 435 Main St., Akron, a new worship fills the senses. Creating the right environment is important for this monthly service, called the Vigil. People encounter God through the body, with our senses, and in community. The gathering embraces ancient and modern Christian worship by employing some modern technologies and sound, with the ancient texts and familiar rites of the 2,000-year Christian tradition. Worship is interactive, encouraging high participation from those who come. Worship is the place where the relationship between God and His people is formed and built. Like a dance, we come to meet God in worship and to receive His gift of grace and love, even as we respond in thankful praise and joyful song.
A rite of remembrance of Baptism, long part of the Lutheran confessional tradition, includes an invitation to come to the font for a water blessing. Scripture reading and response is interactive between pastor and congregation. Last month, excerpts from the U2 song, “I Still haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” capped a message about the human quest for God, meaning, and faith. All are invited to pray in small group stations for healing, peace, families, and spiritual guidance. Familiar texts include the Kyrie, “Lord, have mercy”, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer. We chose to retain the ancient words that bind the Christian faithful together, transcending time and space. It’s not about us, but about Christ and His suffering love for all humanity. We celebrate the Lord’s Supper by passing the common loaf and chalice, a sign of unity with Christ shared in the sacred meal.
Music is diverse and may include an old spiritual or hymn, a new Scripture song or contemporary Christian song, and some music written for the Vigil. A more diverse music repertoire invites broader participation across generations. Zion Akron invites the community to attend the Vigil on February 19th at 6:04 p.m. Ample parking in the lot on Main Street. For more information call Pastor Matt Lenahan at 859-2100 or visit his Weblog at www.luthkoinonia.blogspot.com.

a poem from Mark R.

People Who Take Care

People who take care of people
get paid less than anybody
people who take care of people
are not worth much
except to people who are
sick, old, helpless, and poor
people who take care of people
are not important to most other people
are not respected by many other people
come and go without much fuss
unless they don’t show up
when needed
people who make more money
tell them what to do
never get shit on their hands
never mop vomit or wipe tears
don’t stand in danger
of having plates thrown at them
sharing every cold
observing agonies
they cannot tell at home
people who take care of people
have a secret
that sees them through the double shift
that moves with them from room to room
that keeps them on the floor
sometimes they fill a hollow
no one else can fill
sometimes through the shit
and blood and tears
they go to a beautiful place, somewhere
those clean important people
have never been.

a poem about coffee

my son pretends to serve it from his plastic kitchen. "daddy likes coffee," he says. i drink the invisible blend of aromatic flavor carefully from the tiny red, plastic cup he hands to me. i burn my damn tongue anyway, spilling some on my trousers before going off to another evening meeting. my wife laughs because i managed to avoid staining the new carpet, because there is no coffee. there is only imagination and memory to taste, burn, and stain. but that is enough. as i walk out the door jonah says, "mommy drinks tea."

Where I was

I have been busy.

Team Ministry

As I work here, I realize that a team ministry concept is good. So, I have helped establish two teams already. Worship and Music team is an ongoing and well functioning group with good leadership. That leadership may be changing since our chair resigned. We are also entering some new territory with the Vigil and with Sunday morning liturgy as we consider going to one service for the entire Easter Season!
We have developed a mutual ministry team and a stewardship team. Now we will redevelop ministry board and, finally, an outreach team. Mutual ministry, stewardship, and ministry board will look at the gaps in our mission and get us focused on some key tasks. hey will also help us discover and deploy our God-given gifts and assets. I hope that we can begin to engage every person in some part of the mission in 2006. We really need to get some resources into outreach. I would like us to expand service opportunities too. A mission trip is in order.
Also, there is the potential for cooperative ministry among Lutherans in the area; something I am very excited about, and also anxious about. Am I called to lead something bigger in Ephrata area? I don't know yet. We pray.

At a holy site outside of Mecca, Muslim pilgrims stampede toward a series of pillars at which they hurl stones, as a symbolic purging of sin. In 7 of the past 17 years, people have died in the mob. This week, it is reported that over 300 were killed in the scene. What a tragic outcome of peoples’ desperate religious ---and impossible--- attempts to approach the holiness of God. It seems that these pilgrimages always end in violence and death. Despite attempts by authorities to encourage order, chaos ensues and people die. Do not take this as a jab at Islam. I mean no disrespect toward people’s beliefs. I do, however, contrast these religious efforts with our own faith perspective in this season of Epiphany.
Sometimes I think American Christian apathy, lukewarm-ness, is worse than the passionate stampede. Its either that or we tend to get hot about foolish matters and end up beating each other up anyway. How many times have people stomped off from a congregation over this issue or that?
I, for one, am grateful everyday, that the only deadly journey that is pat of our faith, was the journey of Christ Jesus to the cross. He allowed the world to hurl their sins at him.
In Epiphany, we are hearing gospel stories about discipleship. What we discover there is that for us, the only one whose religion matters, is Jesus. His passionate mission to die for us is a gift to the world. Discipleship acknowledges this gift. We point beyond ourselves and our own religious practices, beyond our institutional habits and rituals. We point to the one whose coming makes us whole and holy. We share His journey from life to death to resurrection. We share His ministry as His people. But we needn’t sacrifice ourselves for the sake of attaining what was already bought for us.

Breathe, Holy Spirit, Breathe! Because I can't.

Where have you been? Where have you been? You ask me this, like you care!
If you've ever seen Val Kilmer's portrayal of Doc Holliday in "Tombstone", you know how I feel today. An hour ago, my left lung collapsed and exited my body. My right lung feels like its full of jello. I feel so lousy I considered renting Tom Cruise in "War of the Worlds" just to put myself out of my misery. (I'd rather drink liquid exlax until my stomach burst). At least my eye isn't infected like the last time. Rememebr that? I was at this Greek Orthodox monastery, in prayer, when my eye began to water and pus. Soon enough, my left eye was swollen shut, like Rocky after round three with Ivan Drago (Rocky IV, FYI). There was this steady stream of mucous draining from my eye! Yes, I said my eye. Nothing is supposed to come out of ones eye, except the occasional tear from hearing a classic "Air Supply" ditty ("Makin' love, out of nothin' at all" gets me every time.)Anyway, I got better.

So, I know I will get better. At least I hope so. After all, Christmas eve is only five days away. This year, my son will actully get it. he's 20 months old. Old enough to get it. Finally, I'm more excited to watch someone else get gifts than to receive them myself...almost.

Christmas Day Worship

Why should we worship again on Christmas Day, when we celebrated on Christmas eve? I am saddened by the independent decisions made by some Churches. You may have heard or read that some mega churches around the country (and in Lancaster County) have opted to cancel Christmas Day worship services because Christmas falls on a Sunday. Since they will celebrate Christ’s birth on Saturday night, they feel that they’ve earned a break on Sunday morning. Actually, they expect their attendance to be rather low on Christmas weekend. One such leader of the New life church in Colorado Springs argues that their younger people will likely worship in the stain-glass churches with their grandmothers on that day. I don’t know about you, but I take offense. The one holy catholic and apostolic church, of which he has chosen not to be a part, is certainly more diverse and vital than he thinks. I am 31. I love who we are as the body of Christ. I rejoice that I can actually know my congregation and you can know me, because I am not a celebrity who spends time on the phone with the President counseling about Lord knows what. If he has so much “Christian” influence with the Commander-in chief, why are we still at war?
So, I take this Gospel moment to remind us why we worship on Sunday.
“Very early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body. On their way they said to one another, “Who will roll the stone away for us, for it is very large?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe, sitting at the right side; and they were terrified. But he said to them, “Do not be afraid. You are looking or Jesus of Nazareth, who has been crucified. He was raised, he is not here. Look, there is the place where they laid him. But, go, and tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” EASTER! That is why we worship the Lord on Sunday. Every Sunday is Easter, the day of the Lord’s resurrection and of our new life. On that day, life begins again for us. We are a new creation with God as our Father and Jesus as our Savior and the Spirit as our friend and guide. So, even on Christmas Day (or should I say especially) we gather to celebrate His life, His death, His resurrection. Without Christmas there is no Easter, no Jesus to raise from the dead. Without Easter there is no Christmas---no good news of how God rescues us from sin and death and promises us new and everlasting life! Sunday is not our day to do with as we please! It is the Lord’s Day to please HIM!!! Merry Christmas. It is a real joy to celebrate our Lord Jesus with you.

The vigil

January 15 will mark a new chapter in worship at Zion. Once a month for six months we are going to live on the edge of Christian liturgy. With some new, old music, Word and Sacrament will transcend the culture wars. Candlelit, incense-burning, highly engaging through an interactive liturgy. Confession and kyrie will open worship, including a washing in the font for baptismal remembrance. Prayers of the people will be in 5 stations; for healing, for global peace, for families, in silence, with the Word. Communion will be loaf and common cup. Music will be led by a small band. I will be dressed in my black cassock robe. I will wear the stole and chasuble at eucharist.
Transcending the culture wars means that this liturgy is neither traditional nor contemporary. It is contemporary in its approach to ancient sacramental liturgy. Music transcends our culture and context, and also embraces it at the same time.
Why are we doing this? This is a quest to explore the post-modern sacred life. What does a gathering of 21st century Christians look like? How is it different than our immediate predecessors? Unlike previous generations, we are disenchanted by old categories. We want a more open communion. Table fellowship with baptized Christians is what its about, despite ethical and theological differences. God's grace frees us to engage in worship that is evangelical and catholic (Christ-centered, globally inclusive).
What will this mean for us as a congregation? I don't know. We're doing it once a month as an experiment. Tune in on January 16 for the rundown.

Christmas in the news?

I read two reports on Christmas today. The first was about why some conservative evangelicals and Catholics are disgusted with President Bush's White House Christmas Card. The card is sent to some 1.2 million Bush supporters. How intimnate! Again this year, it lacked the Christmas message. For some, it is too generic and apologetic to send a "holiday card". They want the President to send a Christian message on Christmas. Others say that a Christmas card lacks senistivity to other faith traditions represented by some porton of the 1.2 million recipients of the White House greeting. A holiday card includes non-Christian peoples.
One congressman is reported to have said that he cares more about putting Christ back into our war policy than into Bush's Christmas card. I couldn't agree more, especially if said war policy was self-effacing, sacrificial, and peace-keeping. Why is it the President's job to send a holiday greeting at all? If he wants to be a Christian and a President, he ought to realize that Christmas is not supposed to be a secular holiday, bastardized by the free market to drive up consumer spending. He ought to say nothing about Christmas or Kwaanza or Hannakuh. We are not a nation built with religious propensity. We are a nation built on secular humanist virtue and enlightenment philosophy. Christianity was not the forte of Jefferson or many of the framers. Jefferson did not believe in the resurrection of Christ, nor in His divinity. I think the President should remain politically neutral when it comes to matters of faith. (That does not entail ethical uncertanity or moral depravity, as some would believe). Christ is in Christmas, not the President.


The second report I saw concerned the decision of many megachurches to cancel worship on Christmas Sunday! Justified by their belief that Sunday is no more significant for worship than any other day and the expectation that fewer people will attend on Sunday, December 25th or January 1st (Some are cancelling worship on New year's day too). This is in stark contrast to Roman Catholics and mainline protestants who will worship on the Lord's day because that is what the evangelical, catholic and apostolic church does. The megachurch continues to cater to the culture's designs for Christianity. They continue to throw the baby out with the bath water. Doesn't anyone see how dangerous it is to simply disregard Sunday because Americans are more faithful to themselves than to the God of Jesus
Christ? Let them cancel worship. The culture will devour them eventually. How long before they cancel Easter worship or worship on the fourth of July (the truly American holy day)? It all begins with cancellation of Christmas day. How convenient. How wrong!

new life

My wife and I are expecting a new baby. Number 2. What will this new baby be like? Will he have her eyes or my smile? Will she enjoy music? Will she like to dance? Will he play basketball or golf? How will this new one differ from our son? What will make them clearly siblings? How much time will we spend together? Will he marry? Will she have kids? Will we go to Disney World and the beach for family vacations? Will they be faithful to God?
In the beginning, sleep is the price you pay for the promise that your newborn's life will someday provide answers to those questions...