Pastor's Note

Greeting Church,

As many of you may have heard Stan Bronzyk passed away on Monday afternoon. There will be probably be a service next week, I will send out a general email to let you all know the details of when as soon as we are able. 

Going back to youth work has been a bit of a stretch for me, but I have really enjoyed digging into Scripture with the youth. Last Sunday we looked at the Parable of the Sower, Luke 8:4-15. Jesus tells the story of a Farmer (the sower) that spills seed on a hardened path, rocky ground, thorny ground, and tilled soil. Of course, the tilled soil is where the seeds find purchase and grow to a mature crop, which of course produces more seeds. Jesus explains to the seed is the God's word (note that the farmer is lavish with his seed). The seed that lands on the path, is never able to take root and is soon carried away by birds (Satan). The seed that lands on rocky ground, may grow for a while, but because the roots do not sink in deep withers in hardships of life. The seed that falls among the thorns may grow but the thorns, the worries, pleasures, and distractions of this world choke the life out of it. And of course the seed that falls on good soil, flourishes and spreads more seeds.

I am bringing this up because I have been thinking of the seeds that land among the thorns. The ones that grow, but are choked by distractions: the worries AND pleasures of life. I am officiating a funeral tomorrow and the little diagram above was found amongst the deceased's things. A little doodle that outlines the most important things in her life. If I can paraphrase her notes they are: Faith in God, her family, serving others, maintaining cultural ties, and self care. That is a good list. Church, I have been really convicted that we are too much like seed thrown amongst the thorns. All of the worries and pleasures of life are crowding out our faith. It seems like we try to live by the priorities of the world AND follow Jesus too. But can we really?

This world is a beautiful wonderful place that we can enjoy endlessly. And this world is a profoundly broken place where we can become overwhelmed and overworked with all the ugliness and injustice. Both are true. But an even deeper truth is that Christ invites us to enter into his kingdom and into his life. In his kingdom we recognize that fallenness of the world without losing sight that he has overcome the powers of this world-- and that though we are called to work for justice, it is ultimately his work not ours. We join in what he has done and so we cannot lose sight of him in our work or else we become lost in the hugeness of the struggle. And we enjoy the beauty and the joy of the things of this world, recognizing that it is all a gift but the true beauty lies within the giver, not the gifts. And so we prioritize the giver OVER the gifts (otherwise we are just like the world lost in our own self indulgence).

The priority in this world is Jesus and his beloved community. We can't do everything that the world, society, culture, asks of us-- there just isn't enough time or space in this life. We have to prioritize. This woman, who I am burying tomorrow, did that. It took most of her life to get to that point. But in the end, she could tell the world, the thorns, these are my priorities. Jesus is my priority. My family is my priority. Loving other is my priority. Honoring the traditions of my culture is my priority. Maintaining a healthy life so I can do all these priorities is a priority. And everything else, has to take a back seat to those priorities. Talking this week to Karen, it seems as Stan Bronzyk lived similarly. He knew that he would have to say no to things of this world, good things, fun things, in order to prioritize what really mattered. 

Church we can learn from their witness. We have some thorns that we have to clean out. I have some. Some of my family priorities need adjusting. Some of my personal priorities need to adjusting. How about you? What are the thorns, the worries and pleasures, that choke the life of your faith?
 
As always, I would love to talk to you and pray with you about your faith journey and eternal life in Christ.

Christ is King,

Pastor Criss