Pastor Judy's Blog

Water

This morning at 10:30 we will celebrate our last chapel of the yearand we would be delighted if you would join us for worship one more time with this group of students. We will have opportunity to hear testimonies about what God has done this year, we will come to the Lord’s table as a community and we will together offer prayers for our students. At the end of the service we would like to invite the faculty and staff to gather around the outside of the room to form a circle of prayer around our students. We invite you to come and gather around them at the end of this year just as you did in the beginning.

I offer one other invitation. As we approach the end of this school year and are facing many difficult financial decisions both individually and as an institution, we thought it good that our community gather in prayer. Tomorrow from 9-4 the University Ministries conference room will be open for this purpose. If you would like to fast from lunch, I will be leading a time of prayer from 12-1. Please feel free to join us at any time and if you are unable to come I challenge you to take a few moments to pray for wisdom for our leaders and provision from our God. I leave you this year with one final word of encouragement in the hopes that this summer you will find the refreshing that you seek.

Water is the major constituent of all living matter. It covers ¾ of the surface of the earth and humans, while they can live without food for 40 days, can only live for four days without water. Water is also a powerful force in nature and a little water over a long period of time can cut through rock and a lot of water can wipe out in seconds what it takes humans years to build. Water is a habitat for embryos, an agent of cleansing and a source of energy. It transforms deserts, satisfies thirst and supplies recreation. Water is essential for survival.

God saved Noah from it and through it the Israelites passed in deliverance from slavery. God healed Namaan from leprosy by having him dip in it and we use water in baptism as evidence that we are being washed cleaned from our sin and claimed by God. Water is a crucial part of our lives and we must be connected to it or we will die.

The Colorado River is one of the mightiest rivers in our country. It has its origins in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and weaves its way through the South Western United States until it crosses the border into Mexico and eventually empties into the Gulf of California. Two Countries and seven states have water rights to this great river which annually directs seven trillion gallons of water down its banks. Thirty million people are serviced by it and the Colorado River irrigates one million acres of farmland.

While it is one of the mightiest rivers in the United States it is also the most damned up, diverted, depleted and contaminated. Along its route the Colorado River claims over 40 dams, reservoirs, and diversions. On most days not a single drop of pure Colorado River water ever reaches the Gulf of California. In a place where seven trillion gallons of fresh water used to meet the sea, now not a single drop. In fact, all water that eventually reaches the gulf comes from agricultural drainage and consequently carries with it salt, pesticides and toxins.

Ninety percent of the Delta, once 1.9 million acres has disappeared. Four out of eight of the native mainstream fish are endangered and much of the ecosystem has been destroyed. The Cucapa Indians, called “the river people”, who once thrived in the Delta, sustained by the abundance of the river, now number just a handful, eeking out a living on the devastated delta.  What once flowed freely has been damned up, diverted, depleted and contaminated. Where there was once life there is now only existence. Without the free flow of water life is just not sustainable.

And the people along its banks know there will be no life without it and so it has earned its reputation as the most legislated, litigated, and debated river in the world as people take each other to court to vie for their portion of the seven trillion gallons. As you can imagine, people get ornery about their supply. There is desperation when one begins to feel the effects of dehydration. Someone must be to blame for the parched feeling in our mouths. Dehydration breeds desperation. Can you identify?

As a culture, even a Christian culture we often feel the effects of chronic dehydration. We work hard to keep the river of faith flowing but our doubts damn it up a bit. Just living this crazy life diverts a lot of it and our fear of the future tries to suck it dry and what we’re left with is so contaminated by both little and big sins you can’t really live off of it. And so all to often we find ourselves living on a devastated delta eeking out an existence where there used to be abundance.

But hear this, this is not how God designed it to be. God did not design us to be a devastated delta robbed of its river. God designed us to have access to all seven trillion gallons of life.

In Ezekiel 47 God gives the prophet Ezekiel a vision of a river that flows from the temple. Along it’s route this river brings healing to stagnant places and life along its banks. There is enough supply for everyone and there is much fruit in every season. This is a vision of the type of abundant life that God has in store for his people and this abundant life is only possible because it is connected to the Source.

And so this is my prayer for us and for us together. That we would seek the Source and let God lead us into the deep waters. That the river of life would flow over us and bring healing and that because of the abundant supply that we have received that we would then generously flow into the world around us. May you know more than existence this summer, may you know life and life abundantly.

With gratitude for a great year together,
Pastor Judy

Trees

Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1:19-20

As a small child I learned to love trees. My family lived in Borneo until I was five years old and so palm trees were my first love. When we moved to Minneapolis I turned my affections toward red maples, pine trees and poplars. The red maple was planted in the front yard of my grandparents’ home and it had one branch that hung low enough that even a grade school child could hoist themselves up. I spent hours hanging from the limbs of that tree. The pine trees lined the forest paths in Maine, the paths where I would walk with my father during our summer visits. To this day the smell of pine still brings back memories of a slow pace, a carefree life and my father. The poplar tree stood tall behind our apartment complex in Apple Valley, Minnesota. As a teenager when I was stressed out or lonely I would go and lie on the grass under the tree and ask God to make it dance. As the wind would pass through its leaves turning them every which way I was assured that God heard my prayers and that maybe he wasn’t as far off as I had thought.

Today we have the opportunity to come together to worship this God who is not far off. We gather to sing songs of praise for what God has made, to hear a message about God’s creation and our call to care for it and to pray for the wisdom and courage to be stewards of all that we have been given. Brain McLaren, author, speaker, pastor and activist will bring the message to us this morning. Author of 11 books, including A Generous Orthodoxy, A New kind of Christian, Everything Must Change, and most recently, Finding Our Way Again, Time magazine lists Brian as one of American's 25 most influential evangelicals. Money back guarantee you’ll be both blessed and challenged by your time in chapel this morning.

Following chapel today we will join together in a Tree Planting Ceremony to honor God’s creation and our commitment to care for it. This ceremony will take place at 11:30 just east of Old Main and all are welcome to join us. I am including the liturgy and prayer that will be spoken as we gather today and invite you to join us in spirit.

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We have come together as partners in the joyful and sacred work of creation—the planting of trees. In our Bible, the tree is a metaphor for the righteous who trust in God and delight in God’s ways. We rejoice today in this planting, offering thanks that this opportunity is ours.

There is an order to this, God’s universe, that is beyond our comprehension. Intricate, delicate, embracing, exquisite—an organic whole more complex than the computer, more profound than the highest tower, more lasting than the mightiest weapon. Only when we stand inside that order can we connect with it, belong to it.

The world of nature was given to us to join with, not to conquer. We enter that world as its caretakers, not as its owners. It is our privilege to be entrusted with its care, with its safekeeping. And only when we keep it safe, are we kept in safety, for we are part of the plan, a link in the connectedness of all its seamless parts.

When God created the first human beings, God led them around the Garden of Eden and said: Look at my works! See how beautiful they are, how excellent! It is your job to care for the animals and plants and waters and earth. Do not destroy it. Do not permit oil to spill into the rivers and oceans, do not destroy the forests, do not poison the groundwater. And do not wound your neighbors, for they, too, are part of the interdependent whole.

Today we have gathered to plant a tree. Each tree absorbs a bit of our pollution, and then transforms it into oxygen, a source of life. Each tree is truly a “tree of life.” We plant in order to give life. We plant in order to sustain life. We plant for the sake of Shalom, seeking the benefit of God’s order, God’s universe, our city, our home.

Each time we plant a tree, it is a reminder of our responsibility. We did not make this world; we are its product, not its producers. But it is ours to enjoy, to explore, and most of all, to protect. We protect it by planting and by remembering, and by connecting, from generation to generation. We plant in order to remember, in order to remind, in order to keep and connect with God’s Creation, our home.

Prayer

God of all creation,
Source of all that is true and lovely and beautiful,
You created the world and all life,
And you said it was good.
You created us in your image,
And gave us the privilege to care for this world.
Forgive us when we have not stewarded this responsibility:
When we have depleted rather than nurtured,
When we have consumed rather than sustained,
When we have destroyed rather than protected.
May we learn to love and protect your universe and our home.
May we learn to join you in the redemption of all creation.
Remind us, each time we pass this tree on campus,
Of our responsibility as stewards of your creation.

Amen.

May you see God clearly today through all that he has made and may you hear him whisper through the wind in the trees that He is not far off.

Pastor Judy

Happy Resurrection

There are several stories in the Bible that I have always found unsettling. I have never figured out how Noah gathered two of every animal for certainly the polar bears and penguins did not live in the Middle East. I’ve always struggled with a loving God calling Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac and for the life of me I cannot figure out how Jonah survived in the belly of a whale. But as a child there was only one story that caused me to raise my hand in Sunday School every single year. “How come Mary, Jesus’ mother didn’t recognize him after he was resurrected? Did she not know her own son? Why did she think he was the gardener?”

I never received a satisfactory answer. Some teachers just told me to put by hand down thinking I was being my ordinary precocious self. Others told me it was her grief and tears that made her mistake Jesus for the gardener, but that was never very convincing because even when I cried I recognized the people around me. And so I kept raising my hand and asking the question because I am someone who like to makes sense of things.

Just about a year ago I found myself reading that text in John 20:14 again. “At this she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.” As I read it I believe I had an epiphany. I am always cautious about saying such things because how does one know if they have truly had a revelation from God. But now a year later I am willing to say that it is possible that God revealed something to me. I am claiming my epiphany because this post-resurrection week, for the first time in my life, I have not felt led to raise my hand when I have read the stories of Mary and the disciples failing to recognize the resurrected Christ

So here’s my revelation. I think it’s possible that Jesus was unrecognizable because a resurrected body, a body with no death in it, must look so radically different from anything we’ve ever seen. As far as I can tell every body that is walking on this earth right now, mine, yours and everyone else we know, has death in it. Every physical part in us is moving towards an end and every cell contains decay. Not since Adam and Eve have there been people who walked this earth who knew bodies that would not die. Our flesh and blood is visibly marked by death and so was Jesus’ earthly body.

But something amazing happened to Jesus… He was resurrected from the dead. His cells were all made whole and his body was given a life that would never move towards an end. I think that a body with no death in it must look remarkably different, perhaps even unrecognizable even to those who knew it most intimately. Would you consider with me this morning that the resurrection holds within it the promise that those who have the resurrected Christ within them can change so radically that people would find it difficult to recognize them? Would you consider with me that the resurrection holds such great power for change that every cell within the church could be made whole and that the body of Christ could live in such a way that the world would find it difficult to recognize us?

Is it possible that because of the resurrection that our radical judgments could be so transformed that the world would only see a people of grace? Is it possible that our financial lives could be so transformed that the world would find it difficult to recognize us because all they see is generosity? Is it possible that our desire to define some people as “out” and others as “in” could be so transformed by the resurrection that the world would barely recognize us because our arms are stretched so wide?

Identity Theft

I shred all my documents. I rarely purchase things over the Internet because I don’t like all my personal information floating out there in space. I look over my shoulder when I’m at an ATM or when I am inputting my pin number on the pad at the grocery store. I do all of this because I’m afraid someone is going to steal my identity. You can laugh at my neurotic behavior but the fear is grounded. Almost 10 million people have had their identities stolen from them. Some have had their computers hacked into, some have had their social security cards stolen, others forgot to shred some important documents and dumpster divers found them and adopted them as their own. And it’s no little thing…people’s credit ratings have been destroyed, their good name is no longer good, and they have had to deal with debt they had nothing to do with.

My advice to you is to avoid identity theft at all costs and not only in the world of social security numbers and credit cards but with your true identity as well. There are people in this world, and forces operating in it that would like to steal the real you. Forces that would like to hack into your life and steal the things that are your birthright. There are forces that would like to drag your good name through the dirt and burden you with a debt you can’t get out from under.

As a child I knew who I was. I remember feeling confident that I was beloved, chosen, and beautiful and important. But I had my identity stolen…not all at once…but bit by bit. The first bit of that identity was stolen when my parents divorced. The thief came in and stole the part of me that knew I was the beloved by my father. The thief stole the part of me that knew it was chosen sometime in late grade school or early junior high when the kids around me teased me for my weight, my glasses, and clothes. The advertising world stole the part of my identity that thought I was beautiful. All it had to do was show me a few size two models and I let the thief carry off any confidence that I was made in God’s image and crafted together in my mother’s womb. I’m not sure if the next part of my identity was stolen or if it’s more honest to say that I gave it away but sometime around college I let alcohol steal my reputation. And the call upon my life, the understanding that my life was important, I know who tried to steal that…the devil himself…. he took my call, wrapped it in shame and condemnation and told me that people who had sinned like me weren’t likely to be used by God.

What parts of your identity have been stolen? Let’s do a quick test. So you can see if any of your identity has been hacked into or tampered with. I want you to notice how you feel when you read through the following list. Do you feel like your heart rises up and say “Amen” or do you find it difficult to identify with particular phrases.

You are accepted. You have been chosen by God and adopted as his child. You are united with God and one with him in Spirit. You have been bought with a price and you belong to God. You are a member of Christ’s body. You have been redeemed and forgiven. You are complete in Christ Jesus. You are secure. You are free from all condemnation. You are assured that God will complete in you the good work he began. You cannot be separated from the love of God. You are a citizen of heaven. You do not have a spirit of fear but one of power, love and a sound mind. You are a branch of the true vine and a channel for his life. You have been chosen to bear good fruit. You are God’s temple and his workmanship. You are an ambassador for God’s work .You can approach God with freedom and confidence. You can do all things through Christ who gives you strength.

How did it go? Is your true identity intact or are there pieces missing? If there are pieces missing then I urge you not to settle for the loss of your true identity anymore than you would settle for someone stealing your financial identity.

The Bible assures us that the desire of God is that our identity would be intact As we approach the Easter Weekend I invite you to enter into the promise that this weekend holds. Enter into the promise that anything that has been taken from you by sin, death, or the devil, has been reclaimed for you with the blood of Jesus Christ, his overpowering of the evil one and his resurrection from dead. Guard this identity…your true identity

Just a Suit

Not too long ago I went shopping for a new suit. “Just a suit,” that’s what I told myself as I entered the store. “Stay focused Judy, don’t look to the left or to the right, go directly to the suits.” I made a good run at it for the first thirty minutes. Initially I was able to stay in the suit department but after I had selected a suit I told myself that I needed a new shirt to go with it. I also convinced myself that I didn’t own a pair of shoes that coordinated well with the color of my new suit and so I needed to head to the shoe department. Forgetting my focus entirely I purchased some great earrings and a necklace and then I decided it wouldn’t hurt to have my hair colored because a new suit deserves a completed look

I walked up to the register and the clerk began to scan my items. I felt a bit of a glitch as I remembered my words to myself, “Just a suit.” As the clerk continued to ring up my purchases and as the total approached an amount I knew that I couldn’t afford I felt that glitch again and again ignored its caution. I pulled out my credit card and let her swipe it. She returned my card and I signed on the dotted line and received a bag full of things that I wanted but would never have purchased if I had had to count out that many twenty-dollar bills. I would never have spent that much money if I had paid in cash.

Have you ever wondered why it is so much easier to spend money with a credit card versus cash? In his new book How We Decide, Jonah Lehrer reveals the answer. Our brains are hard wired to avoid loss and will send us powerful signals that direct us to avoid “anything that smacks of loss.” If we are holding a stack of cash and we come to register and have to physically hand over half of the stack of bills our brains send us a signal that it is not a wise idea. Our brain reminds us what we forgot while we were shopping for accessories, “If you purchase this you will have less money than you did before. Stop and think about whether or not you want to have less.” Our brain works with us when we use cash. However, when we use a credit card our brain doesn’t recognize the purchase as a loss. You hand over the credit card and you get the same card in return. Thus the brain is not triggered to send a message to stop, instead it is tricked into thinking that it has lost nothing and so it moves ahead with the process.

Our brains don’t like loss and are hard wired to avoid it at all costs. The technical term for this brain process is loss aversion. Knowing how our brains are wired makes last weeks’ offering even more amazing. Two weeks ago we challenged the chapel congregation to consider what it would look like to move into a life of generosity. We invited the congregation to prepare to give an offering the following week, an offering that would go to start a women’s bank in Oaxaca, Mexico. We had hoped that we could raise the $5000 dollars necessary to open one bank. Last week as we passed the offering plates around the congregation I watched in amazement as students, faculty, and staff placed stacks of cash into the plates. Overriding their brain’s natural hardwiring, they made a decision to have less so that others could have more, a truly supernatural act. This week additional offerings have come in and to date we have raised $10,004.00, enough to start two banks. But wait, there’s more, with the added $5000 matching grant from the Hinsdale Covenant Church we will now be able to openthree banks.

Just a month ago a group of North Park students returned from Oaxaca, Mexico. Their hearts had been moved to help the impoverished women that are served by our partner Fuentes Libre. They brought the need, we used our networks, and God did a supernatural work in and through this community so that we could embrace loss for someone else’s gain. Come and join us this morning as we continue to hear the testimonies of those who are learning to override their brains hard wiring so that they might give in the supernatural way that God first gave to them.