The Burr in the Burbs

With the New Year just around the bend, we’re doing a lot of planning and projecting here at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Elmhurst.  One of the things I want to focus on is our youth group(s) for middle school and high school kids.  Very early in January, I’ll have a meeting with all interested parents to think through 2011.  But before we start planning a bunch of activities, it is important to review a couple things.  Firstly, why does the church need to have a youth group at all?  Aren’t our kids busy enough already?  The goal is not just to give them more things to do.  So here are a few thoughts.

GOALS

• To strengthen their relationship with Christ.  This is done by:
  • teaching them God’s Word in Bible studies and devotions and applying it to the issues in their lives
  • involving them in the worshiping community
  • acts of service for others
  • and most of all, emphasizing the centrality of Christ in their lives

• To strengthen their relationships with each other and God’s family, the church, by:
  • organizing fun social activities that offer wholesome ways to spend their time and
  • incorporating them into the larger circle of believers by attending conferences (i.e. Higher Things) and events with other churches

• To have fun and grow as human beings

“If the devil is real, God, also, must be real.”  So says the narrator of Devil , the latest addition to the body of work of M. Night Shyamalan.  Shyamalan is the auteur behind Sixth Sense, The Village, and Signs, among others.  In this case, he neither wrote nor directed the film.  Instead, he came up with the idea and then produced it.  According to reports, Devil is the first in a series of films under the heading of The Night Chronicles.

One of the film’s promotional posters shows the outside of an elevator door.  A red light seeps through the cracks in the door in the shape of an inverted cross.  The image comes with this tagline: “Five strangers trapped.  One of them is not what they seem.” The red upside-down cross along with the title of the movie implies that one of the strangers trapped in the elevator is Old Scratch himself.  That is, indeed, the premise of this film.

Five people, each with something to hide, are stuck together in an elevator.  The mood darkens as the authorities attempt their rescue.  One at a time, the passengers get mysteriously injured (and worse) during intermittent light outages.  Building security officers notify the police when it appears a homicide has occurred.  The officers can watch on security cameras but the communication only goes one direction.

It’s a horror film with a whodunit twist.  Others have remarked on the similarity to the 1939 Agatha Christie book, And Then There Were None in which a group of people with guilty pasts are stuck in an isolated location and begin to die one by one.

According to a survey of the Pew Research Center dated September 28, 2010, Americans score poorly on general knowledge about religion.  While people seem to have less and less understanding of religious teaching, some basic religiosity still underlies our culture.  What can we make of it when one of Hollywood’s top filmmakers uses a verse from the New Testament to open his much anticipated latest release?  Before the first credits appear on the screen, the audience is given this passage to ponder: Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Is this just a prop to effective storytelling?  Or it could also be that, in spite of other evidence, Americans remain a God haunted people?

With the verse from 1^st Peter in mind, the story follows the notion that the Devil comes into our midst, clothed in the garb of humanity, in order to torment those who have done evil.  Significantly, the one character who is able to see things clearly is the man of faith.  Not the man of science.  Not the man of evidence.  Science and reason can take you a long way, but only so far.  The man of faith was mocked and laughed at for his outdated superstitions.  But when the evidence was missing or misleading, it was the man of faith who could still connect the dots.  Like The Last Exorcism, another recent horror film, Devil also makes the claim that the reality of the devil is proof of the existence of God.  Looking into the darkness becomes an occasion to consider the light.

At the film’s promotion at this year’s ComicCon in San Diego, audience members giggled when the screen said, “From the mind of M. Night Shyamalan.”  Not the intended reaction, I’m sure.  When Sixth Sense came out in 1999, fans and critics were excited by this new creative talent, a stylish horror director who created stories with twists to baffle Alfred Hitchcock.  As Shyamalan wrote and directed new tales, audiences had mixed reactions.  Some appreciated his trademark plot turns and his soft pedal approach to spirituality.  Others complained that he lost his horror edge and still others were just confused.  The question for many people has been whether Devil would mark Shyamalan’s return to chiller cinema or be just another misguided bait-n-switch attempt to appeal to large audiences while appearing to throw the horror fans a bone.

Personally, I have liked most of Shyamalan’s movies.  The exceptions being Lady in the Water and The Happening. Lady was just bad and wrong.  Happening had some cool moments but was dreadfully cast and fizzled miserably by the end.  I loved Unbreakable and have enjoyed all his other major pictures.  So I still get excited when I hear about his upcoming projects.  Devil was a good horror film.  It was contrived, but most things are.  And it was formulaic but I’m still open enough to be surprised by Shyamalan’s formulas.

“If you believe in God, you have to believe in the Devil.”  Or so said the reverend Cotton Marcus in Eli Roth’s new movie, The Last Exorcism.  That’s even the tagline on some of the move posters.  Actually, I think he’s got it wrong.  It should be the other way around: “if you believe in the Devil, then you must believe in God.”  And this is the point the movie ends up making.

What should we make of the movie poster to the left with a crucifix and the words, “Believe in Him” above it?  The girl in the poster is bowing in submission, though contorted into a grotesque version of a believer paying devotion before the symbol of the Lord.  Pictures mean things.  And I’m still wondering what this one means.

Cotton Marcus is the magnetic pastor of a pentecostal-ish congregation in the deep South.  He started preaching in his dad’s pulpit when he was 8 years old.  He’s a born performer.  Doing exorcisms has been a family ministry, passed from father to son, for generations.  However, during a family crisis, Cotton discovers that his faith is lost.  He continued the charade of his ministry, even the exorcisms, because. . . well, it’s a living.  And besides, he figured he was basically helping people.  Things change again when he learns of an episode where a child is accidentally killed during an exorcism.  This is his turning point.  Cotton decides to blow his own cover by performing one last exorcism with a documentary film crew recording his spiritual warfare sleight of hand.  The minister randomly chooses one of the frequent letters he receives from troubled souls requesting his services and off they go.

They arrive at the Sweetzer farm in poor rural Louisiana where they meet Nell, an angelically innocent girl whose father is convinced she is inhabited by the Devil.  Cotton employs his usual tricks, allowing the camera to see how he does things behind the scenes.  Things get interesting when the counterfeit demon slayer comes up against something real.

To say more about the plot would be to give too much away.  The central question is whether the devil is real and, if so, what implications should this have on one’s belief in God.

When I heard that Eli Roth was producing The Last Exorcism, I expected more than I got, which is not necessarily a bad thing.  Actually, I appreciate the comparative restraint this movie exercises.  Too many occult themed movies feel the need to top the last in terms of shock and awe, leading many into the realm of the absurd.  A general rule of thumb for storytellers is to show, not to tell.  But one can show too much.  Sometimes, especially for horror stories, it’s better to neither show nor tell, but to suggest.  A great director is a great editor.

Many people I’ve talked to say they disliked the ending.  The director definitely took a risk.  In my opinion, the ending is not entirely satisfying, but it wasn’t  a total miss.  I needed just a little bit more.  The film is good, not great.  It takes the increasingly popular found footage approach, which still works for me.

Take a little bit Rosemary’s Baby, a little bit The Exorcist, a little bit Blair Witch Project and more than a smidge of The Exorcism of Emily Rose.  Stir them on a low heat and you get this new film.  The Last Exorcism is not nearly as good as any of the above mentioned projects, but is still probably better than most occult-themed films.

Someone asked me recently what advice I would give to a new pastor.  My first thought was that there is no vice worse than ad-vice.  I was ordained in 1996 and I am now six months into serving my second congregation.  I have been the recipient and beneficiary of good counsel many times over.  So here’s a few thoughts for the fellow newbies out there.

• Listen.  I really think that you should spend your first six months doing a lot of listening.  Listen to the stories, the anecdotes, the complaints, the dreams of your folks.  Go to their homes.  Eat meals with them.  Ask them to tell you about themselves and their congregation.  Pastors naturally do a lot of talking.  It’s not so natural to for us to listen.  When you are new, getting to know your people has got to be a top priority.  There will be times when you will really need them to listen to you.  They’ll return the favor if you invest in listening to them from the start.

• Get out of your office.  Most likely you will want to keep certain office hours at the church so that people know when they can find you there.  But I have found huge advantages in taking my show on the town.  I love to take my books and computer to a local coffee shop and work there.  Wear your collar so everyone knows you are a pastor.  I go regularly to three or four coffee shops in my town and have gotten to know quite a few of the locals.  I see more of my parishoners at Starbucks than I would if I just stayed at the church office all day.  Let people know where they can find you, but get out and about.

• Join a service club.  I joined Rotary, but you could try the Lions or Kiwanis.  The advantages are manifold.  First of all, you immediately make a bunch of friends and have a rewarding social circle outside of your congregation.  This keeps you grounded.  You can network and connect with community leaders in a mutually beneficial way.  Plus, these organizations do great work, both locally and around the world.

• Read widely.  For the last four to ten years, as a student, you’ve been assigned mountains of things to read, some of it worthwhile.  Now that school is over, you can begin your education.  Get a library card and walk to the new book shelf and select something there.  Then go to the newpapers and find out what the best-sellers are and check out one or two of them.  It doesn’t matter what they’re about or whether you think you’ll like them.  Read them anyway.  Make sure that at all times you are reading a current popular novel.  Certainly, you will want to keep current in theology but take the time to read in other areas as well.  Read current events, psychology, pop culture, history, sociology and whatnot.  Read for several hours every day.  It’s work, not leisure.  Being well-read will make you a more interesting person.  And NEVER underestimate the importance of being interesting.

• Maintain a sense of humor.

• Work hard on your sermons but not too hard.  If your sermon sounds like poetry, re-write it.  I’m not saying you can’t be poetic, just make sure the average listener will actually know what the blazes you are talking about.  You are no longer writing for professors, unless you happen to serve a congregation full of professors.  Don’t try to impress.  Try to communicate.  Many pastors, accustomed to years of classroom work, write for the eyeball, not the ear hole.  Next to being faithful to the text of Scripture, being clearly understood is your top priority.  Just because your parishoners are tolerant of bad preaching doesn’t mean you should be.  Learn from other preachers but never imitate them.  Preach like you talk.  If people don’t follow your sermon, it literally doesn’t matter what you say.

Not exhaustive.  But it’s a start.

What really cool thing did you do this Memorial Day weekend?  We went last night to see The Million Dollar Quartet at the intimate Apollo Theater in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago.  It was a roaring great time and you must go see it right now today.

On a December day in 1956, four young musical geniuses met at Sun studios in Memphis for a jam session.  Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley were gathered by legendary producer, Sam Philips.  True story.  The photo to the left is a record of the occasion.

The musical is a showcase of many of the early hits of these four incomparable artists.  Each of the actors/musicians were spot on, for the most part.  David Lago didn’t look a whole lot like Der Koenig, but then, who does?  He did, however, capture Elvis’s sound with crazy accuracy.  Lance Lipinsky was more Jerry Lee Lewis than Jerry Lee Lewis.  Sean Sullivan had Johnny Cash’s look and signature style of movement down pat, but the vocals were maybe only about 85%.  Still really good.  I think Joaquin Phoenix spoiled me for any other Johnny Cash impersonators.  And I’m sad to say that I cannot judge how well Gabe Bowling covered the real Carl Perkins because I’m just not that familiar with the original.  But my loss.  The stage performer was fantastic.  I’m sure Mr. Perkins would be proud.  The supporting parts were also very solid.

Favorite songs of the night included: Hound Dog, Great Balls of Fire, and Folsom Prison Blues. There were many others, all of them crowd-pleasers.  I’d say my favorite piece was the opener, Blue Suede Shoes, with all four performers filling the Apollo with sound and presence.  Today, I just want to go to my iTunes account and load up on these golden hits.

Image via Wikipedia

A while back, my wife bought some Coca-Cola from the local Mexican grocery and some from the “regular” grocery store.  We did a taste test and BOTH of us were able to identify which one came from the Mexican store.  Do you know why?  Because the Coke in the Mexican store is made with sugar and the other stuff uses high fructose corn syrup.  The one that tasted better to us was the one made with sugar.  It tasted like the Coca-Cola from my childhood.

At some point, the U.S. Coke manufacturers started using HFCS for a sweetener, presumably because it is cheaper.  Corn subsidies and all that.  But in Mexico, the government subsidizes sugar growers.  So… if you want better tasting Coke and potentially, less fattening, buy it from your local Mexican grocer.

Another way to get the sugary stuff is to stock up on it when Passover rolls around.  Apparently, HFCS is not Kosher.

I know this observation is a couple of weeks overdue, but I figured I’d go ahead and put this out there.  Did you happen to notice that there were some changes in this year’s Academy Awards show on television?  For one thing, even though they doubled the number of Best Picture nominees from five to ten, it ended at a reasonable time.  Yippeee!  Most of the program is usually pretty boring.   It’s nice when they end on time.

But even more significant, I’d say, is the new way they announced the winners.  In year’s past, at least in recent memory, they would open the envelope and say, “The Oscar goes to . . . .” But this year, they said, “The winner is . . . .” This stuff is scripted.  Someone told the presenters to say it that way.  This isn’t exactly a stop-the-presses moment, but it does strike me as a little bit meaningful considering that Hollywood is the Holy Land of political correctness.

My assumption is that saying, “the Oscar goes to” was supposed to be a gentler way to make the announcement and not hurt the feelings of the people the Oscar did not go to.  They wanted to honor all of the nominees and not focus on so-called winners and losers.  But let’s be real.  It’s an awards ceremony.  People vote for their favorites.  Some people win and others lose.  It’s a good thing to award achievement.

Below is the message I just wrote to be included in our new upcoming church directory.

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. – 2 Corinthians 4:6

This is our congregation’s pictorial directory for 2010.  It’s got all of our names with our contact information.  But more importantly, it’s got pictures of our faces.  Sometimes, directories like this one are even called “face books.”

Faces are interesting things.  Your face reveals a great deal about you.  If I am perceptive, I can look at your face and tell if you’ve had enough sleep recently, whether you’ve spent a lot of time outdoors, if your cheek’s been kissed, whether you’ve been crying, maybe even clues about where you are from, and so forth.

Our faces communicate a lot of data.  Aside from the relatively superficial information mentioned above, I can look at you, looking at me, and tell how you feel toward me.  If you are angry with me, there will be daggers in your eyes.  If you are pleased with me, you will be smiling.

Certainly, some people’s faces are more expressive than others and poker players train their faces to conceal their thoughts from their companions.  But that’s not typical.  Nor is my face-reading infallible.  I might totally misread your expression at times.  Nevertheless, faces are designed to convey on the outside what is going on within.

We often describe a person’s facial expression in terms of light and dark.  “Her face lit up when she saw him walking toward her.”  Or “We knew Tommy had lost the game when we saw his dark expression as he entered the room.”

The Bible talks about God’s face.  Many passages talk about God’s face shining on us as a sign of His approval of us.  Psalm 4:6 says: “Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD.” God’s most majestic expression of His glory comes not in scowls of judgment, but a smile of acceptance.  And we are acceptable to God, not in and of ourselves, but in Christ.

God is alive and active in Elmhurst and our neighboring communities.  He is pulling desperate people back from the edge.  Human beings everywhere get up everyday to face sickness, loneliness, and sorrow.  But the light of God’s love will put a smile in your heart, if not your face.

Redeemer Lutheran Church is a place where we bask in the radiance of Jesus Christ, His mercy and everlasting kindness received through His Word and Sacraments.  And by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are committed to presenting a face of Divine compassion to all.

Yours truly,

Pastor Scott Stiegemeyer

A lot has changed of late.  The Stiegemeyer family moved to Elmhurst, IL, a suburb of Chicago, in January 2010.  I was installed as the pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church on January 24^th.  Their pastor for the last 8 years or so is Rev. Robert Fitzpatrick.  Though he is retiring this year, I’m very blessed to have a period of overlap for a few months.  For an incoming pastor, this is a dream situation, at least for me.  It means that Redeemer experiences no period of pastoral vacancy.  It also means that the new guy (me) has a chance to relocate his family and begin adjusting to the new community and the new congregation without having the full burden of responsibility right away.

I determined that I wanted to spend the first couple of months getting to know people, asking questions, listening to congregational stories, and begin establishing myself into the community.

God has blessed us abundantly.  We were able to purchase a home in Elmhurst a short distance from the church and close to Jacob’s new school.  Elmhurst is a fabulous town with about 43,000 people, not far from the highlights of Chicago, conveniently located near O’Hare, with great shopping, restaurants, culture, you name it.  We’re very pleased to be here.

More importantly, Redeemer is a wonderful congregation of about 450 members.  We have a beautiful building with some of the most glorious stained glass windows anywhere.  Our organ is excellent and our Music Director, Mr. Michael Waal, is top shelf.  We have a strong music program for the kids lead by Mrs. Heather Knight.  Our facility includes lots of classrooms, meeting space, and a full sized gymnasium.  The people are warm and friendly and fun to get to know.  I am extremely grateful for the gracious welcome we have received.

My joy overflows at being a pastor once more.  Presiding or assisting with weekly Eucharist, preaching on a regular basis, teaching bible classes, visiting members and developing plans for mission and ministry, etc.

I believe that it is imperative for a pastor to do what he can to be visible, accessible and engaged in his community.  Last Thursday, I was inducted as a member of the local Rotary Club, an organization devoted to community service.  It is incidentally a terrific way to network and get to know business and community leaders in the area where we live and our church ministers.

Mission and evangelization are, and have always been, driving priorities.  Given the many unchurched or under-churched people in our society, I think it is generally unwise to simply wait for new people to show up on our stoop.  It’s important to do things to draw people and be hospitable when they visit.  Certainly, we do not water down our proclamation of God’s Word.  Nor do we jettison our traditional worship practices.  Those things enhance and define our outreach, and do not impede it.

My goal is for everyone in the community to know me as the pastor at Redeemer and, as much as possible, have a positive impression of our church.  And this is not about me, as a person.  Anyone who knows me well, knows that I naturally tend toward being an introvert.  Part of me wishes I could just go and read books all day.  I want to make as many friends in the community, firstly, because I do like people.  And I want to be a positive contributing member of my community.  But it also occurs to me that when an unchurched or seeking person thinks of contacting a church, they might be more likely to give me a ring if they get to know me at Caribou Coffee or the Elmhurst Newcomer’s & Neighbors Club with my wife or from a Rotary luncheon.  Doesn’t it just make sense that people in need are more likely to visit a church if they already know the pastor socially?

Here is our church website.  Visit our Facebook Page: Redeemer of Elmhurst.  Our Sunday services are at 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. on Sunday morning.  Nursery childcare is available at 8:30.  Pay us a visit.

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

Text: Luke 4:21-30

There’s a story of an evangelist at the turn of the century who was visiting a town as the guest preacher.  In the course of delivering his message, the preacher talked about graft and corruption in the town council.  After the service, some of the church elders sent the preacher a note saying, “Please just focus on spiritual matters.  Don’t delve into our earthly affairs.  You have rubbed the fur the wrong way.”  After getting the note, the preacher returned a note that said, “If I have rubbed the fur the wrong way, tell the cat to turn around.”

I get the distinct impression that Jesus Christ rubbed people the wrong way from time to time.  Take for example today’s reading which tells of the time when He preached His inaugural sermon in Nazareth.  Some of His hearers were so upset by His message that they tried to throw Him off a cliff.  That’s what you call a hostile audience.  I’ve heard of people throwing tomatoes at speakers, but I have never heard of a crowd trying to murder the preacher.

Why were they offended?  What was so irritating about Jesus’ message that day?

A bit earlier in chapter 4, Jesus declares that the time had come for the blind to see, the oppressed to be given freedom and the captives to be released.

What’s wrong with that?  In general, that stuff sounds OK.  What made it sticky is when Jesus pointed to Himself and identified Himself as the fulfillment of the old promises.  He said, “Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

When the gospel was vague generalities, it was inoffensive, innocuous, unproblematic.  It required nothing of us.  It made no change and had no impact in our lives.  It’s the same way today.  The world is content to hear about peace and love and joy and goodness, as long as it can be left vague, left vague enough to be open to wide interpretation.  It’s not until we get to specifics that we risk stepping on toes.

It’s like the way the secular elements in American society view Christmas.  They approve of Christmas when it’s just a seasonal holiday, full of cheer and general feelings of fraternal good will.  But when the Church reminds the world that Jesus is the reason for the season, that He is the source of all that cheer and good will, then we get the cold shoulder.

Let’s talk about giving sight to the blind and freedom to the oppressed.  No one can really stand in opposition to that.  But Jesus goes further.  The Kingdom of God was no longer to be seen as some hypothetical cloudy possibility that might arrive someday, maybe.

The Jews knew full well that this piece of scripture in Isaiah was referring to the reign of the Messiah.  And it’s a lovely passage.  We can all agree.  But when Jesus made the preposterous claim that He Himself is the fulfillment of the promises, that He Himself is the Messiah among them in the flesh, that was a problem.  That’s what made this occasion so radical.

The text says that they were amazed that Jesus would be so cheeky.  “Isn’t this boy who grew up around here, whose family we know,” they said.  As the old saying goes, “Familiarity breeds contempt.”

To top it off, Jesus knows what they’re thinking, and He cites two Old Testament examples of God’s grace being extended to foreigners.  The Jews understood themselves to be God’s chosen people.  To them were given the law, the Temple, the covenant.  Jesus is saying that the He comes today with salvation and if pious citizens of Nazareth weren’t going to accept Him, then He’ll bring salvation to those who would.  To say that the people in Luke 4 took God for granted would be an understatement.  When we take God for granted, He will remove His Spirit from us and go to another place.

It’s very interesting when you look through history at the advancement of the Christian Church.  In the early years, Christianity was strong in Israel, the Middle East, Turkey and North Africa.  Nowadays, the churches there are few and weak.  Next the Church grew and become influential in Europe.  But in most of Europe, the Church now is little more than a museum.  Then the center of gravity of Christianity appeared to move from there to North America.  But nowadays, we can observe a decline in the Church’s vitality in our land.  Where is the Spirit of God most active today?  Some observers would say that South America, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia are the places where Christianity is thriving the most.  Our Lord despises lukewarm-ness.  When people fail to recognize God’s work, He tends to go to people who will appreciate Him.

The people of Nazareth had grown complacent.  They’d begun to take pride in their rich heritage and their culture while losing track of what it all meant.

Charlie Chaplin once entered a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest.  And lost.  How does something like that happen?  It happens because people get an image in their mind of what Charlie Chaplin is supposed to look like and then they don’t recognize the real man when he stands in front of them.

I think something similar happens with Jesus.  People develop a mental picture of the Messiah or they have a very particular idea of what God should be like and then they are frustrated when He turns out to be something else.

The Scriptures reveal Jesus as a suffering servant.  And if you want to get a crystal clear picture of who God is, you don’t look within, you don’t look to the heavens, you look to the cross, particularly a crucifix.  For it is Jesus hanging, bleeding, suffering, dying on the cross that shows us the true heart of God.  He is One who lays down His life for sinners.

This passage reveals Jesus to be rather revolutionary.  He is coming to upset the establishment and declare solidarity with people who have been kept to the margins.  But He is not a revolutionary in the sense of Che Guevara or the Bolsheviks who talked about social upheaval, and creating a worldly Utopia.  Jesus is revolutionary but He did not come to re-arrange our economic and political systems.  He came to liberate us from the tyranny of death.

Woody Allen once commented, “I’m not afraid of death.  I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”  Well, guess what Woody, we can’t avoid the subject so easily.  Sometimes, as a coping mechanism, people make jokes about what scares them.  Jesus Christ rose from the dead.  He is alive and He is the ruler of the cosmos.  You who eat His body and drink His blood, know this.  Christ is in you and you are in Him.  His life is within you and you will live forever.

There is no question that Jesus can be an irritant.  The Word of God is, at times, intrusive.  It is disruptive.  It interferes.  It can be inconvenient, unwelcome, even unwanted.  But the next time God’s Word rubs you the wrong way, consider if perhaps you are the one who needs to turn around.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.