Advent Musings

One of my friends is a pastor in Tellico Village in Tennessee. Marty recently won an award for a sermon he preached on the book of Ruth. It was later published in the International Council of Community Churches newsletter. You can read the sermon by following this link to the hompage of the Community Church of Tellico Village: http://www.tellicochurch.com/lectionary-sermons/Sermons/091108.html

I think this is an important sermon for me to remember as I approach the advent season. It is important because it reminds me that my story is so much bigger than the myopic lense that I use to look at my world. According to the time period where Ruth was written, Moabites were the illegitimate offspring of incest - not to be associated with by those interested in ritualistic purity. Deut. 23 makes clear that these Moabite folks were forbidden to enter the assembly of the Lord. It seems that the sign "No Mobites Allowed" was the sign posted over the lunch counter of the temple.

And yet, Ruth, a Moabite woman, finds a way. I have read this four chapter book on several different occasions and find it filled with tenderness and redemption. One of the key themes of the book is how the stranger and poor should be treated. Using the same book that prevents Moabites from entering the assembly of God, the writer of Ruth was able to present a story that shows how gleaning and kinsmen redeemer laws and just plain common sense call into question the plain meaning of Deut. 23.

I think that I need Ruth to blow apart my definitions of who is acceptible and unacceptable to God. Then I need this book to reorder my priorities of what it means to live a righteous life. Along with Boaz I need to set aside the margins of my fields to allow giving and generosity to flourish. Along with Naomi who is made bitter from her circumstances in life, I need to allow grace and generosity to move me back into my right mind. Further, as I sit and wait through Advent, I need to be reminded that the Jesus in the manger had a very human family, filled with skeletons and scandals, but that God had a way of using these aparent failures for grace-filled ends.

Thanks Marty for writing such a provocative sermon.

Peace and Towels...

Christ the King

One of the questions I routinely get relates to the signature line when I sign correspondence. Unless it's a business letter or an email, I usually put Peace and Towels as the closing remark to a letter.

In John 17 just before Jesus is crucified, he gathers his followers into the upper room for one last meal. At the beginning of the meal he gives them some instruction and tells them that he is offering them a peace that the world cannot offer them and then he puts a towel around himself and washes the disciples feet. Peace and towels then is a way of saying that there will not be any peace until we fundamentally restructure how we think about power and service. There will not be a lasting peace until we follow the example of Christ and become servants and wash feet.

This past Sunday many churches celebrated the festival of Christ the King. Most kings get servants to do their dirty work and to do as they are commanded. But not the King of the Church - instead he lays himself down, offering us a different type of king to follow. One who gets dirty and leads by example, becoming a servant.

This week I ask you to follow this kind of King who would become a servant and find in his example an upside down idea of power. Maybe as we trip along behind him, trying to out serve each other, we will make the world a more peaceful place, filled with tenderness, mercy, justice and light.

Peace and Towels,

Joe Sellepack

New Beginnings

2011 will mark the 70th anniversary of the Broome County Council of Churches. Seventy years ago we began as the United Churches of Broome County with a total membership of twenty-six churches. CHOW, FIAV, Jail Ministry, RAMP IT UP, CHOW Farm, Hospital Chaplaincy were all just faint dreams of those original members. They merely were exploring ways to work together and to make cooperative decisions that impacted the life of our community.

Today we have grown to encompasse many more congregations than those original twenty-six. We have hundreds of volunteers who make a difference in the lives of the hungry, the poor, elderly and chronically ill. We have more volunteers and partners who work with the prisoners and pray with the sick and their families. I wonder if those original members who began this work seventy years ago would have ever imagined what we have been able to accomplish?

This website, our twitter, facebook and blog accounts are all attempts of living up to their legacy of involvement. Seventy years ago no one would have dreamt that diverse congregations would be able to come together to create something as profound and meaningful as what we have in the Broome County Council of Churches.

Today we are trying to do a better job of communicating what we do in our community and we're hoping that you will find something in this web site that will spark your own dream or vision for what is possible. Then like those original folks who gathered seventy years ago to talk about how they could share ministries and do some profound things in our community, we would like to know how we might partner with you to make these dreams a living and breathing reality.

We're excited about Broome County. We love living here and doing ministry for the diverse populatins that live here. We've been here seventy years and we're not going away anytime soon.

Peace and towels,
Joe Sellepack