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It turns out that this late Lenten Season is making for a very busy time of the year – and busy can mean a lot of excitement. This year we are definitely living up to that billing, and I want to take a moment to fill you in on what’s going on.

Aside from our Lenten outreach campaign to raise money for our local ministry partners (a campaign that is right on track, by the way – we’ll be giving you a full update this coming Sunday!), we are also moving forward in partnership with Project Osiyo and the existing Tahlequah Community Gardening initiative to put in our own garden plot right here on our property. Things are still in the early stages of growth (Ok, so I did intend the pun), so there’s plenty of time to jump in and help. If you’re interested in becoming part of the leadership team that will help us get this project off the ground, please get in touch with me so we can this work moving!

In addition to our outreach campaign, I will be joining with Help-In-Crisis to raise awareness of domestic violence and help support their efforts financially by participating in their “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event on April 16. I, along with other men from the community (maybe including a couple other members of our congregation) will be looking for folks to sponsor us for our attempt to literally walk a mile in heels. I’ll be bringing a sponsor sign-up sheet with me to worship if you’d like to pitch in, but I’d also love to see people out at the event, which will take place at Norris Park, to cheer us on as we work to walk our mile!

And while I’m toting around my sponsor sheet for Help-In-Crisis in the coming weeks, I’ll also be carrying tickets for Tahlequah Area Habitat for Humanity’s annual Spaghetti Luncheon that will take place on Thursday, April 28 at the Community Building in town. Advance tickets are $5 (it’s $6 at the door), and all proceeds will go to help build house #18 for our local chapter. This event will also feature the Habitat birdhouse auction, so drop in to take a look at the beautifully constructed and decorated birdhouses and maybe even make a bid!

Of course, I’ll be reminding you of all of this in the weeks to come, but feel free to seek me out if you’d like to know more!

Walking the Lenten journey of justice,
Clint

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It’s not quite yet the Lenten season, but it’s close! Next week, on Wednesday, March 9, we will being the season of Lent with our Ash Wednesday service at 7:00 p.m. We will gather to share a contemplative service of ashes and begin our Lenten journey toward Jerusalem and the cross. I hope that you will join us for this!

This year we will also continue our focus on mission. As you may remember, during the previous Lenten season, we took on the H2O challenge and raised money for water in drought-ridden areas around the globe. Through your generosity of grace and gifts, we were able to send over $2,000 to support safe water efforts through Church World Service and Global Ministries. This year, we will be inviting you to turn your eyes a little closer to home as we embark on what we might call a Cherokee County Challenge.

Instead of trying to raise $1,000 for the installation of a small well and tap, this year we’d like to raise $1,000 to engage the great need we experience very close to home. During the six weeks of Lent, we will be hearing from our partner ministries here in Tahlequah: CARE Food Pantry, Help-In-Crisis, Hope House, Project Osiyo, Humane Society of Cherokee County, & Habitat for Humanity. They will share with us the work that they are doing, and help us to visualize the true need for justice just outside our doors. Our challenge this year will be to raise an additional $1,000 above and beyond what we normally send in support of these ministries to help alleviate the needs in our own town.

I’ll be offering more information in my column in future newsletters, but for the time being, I would invite you to pray for the ministries that are working right next door. The need for justice and change remains great, and this year we’re inviting the community to remember how great it is right here at home. I’ll hope you’ll join me in this time of prayer, and that you will be led to join me in this challenge to further the work of the gospel in Tahlequah.

Seeking God’s justice in a new year,
Clint

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In case you missed it in worship this past Sunday, we challenged each and every one of you to save a life – and it’s not as difficult as it sounds. In just 14 days, you can make a difference by helping provide a lifetime of clean water for a person who would otherwise take his or her chances with contaminated mud holes and unsafe streams.

Throughout the season of Lent, we are encouraging everyone to get involved in the H20 Project Challenge. It’s a simple challenge: drink only water for the next two weeks. And for every drink you give up, take the money you would have spent and donate it to the cause of clean water. To help you out, you’ll find a collection of scorecards to keep track of your consumption. It’s really that simple.

The original idea is designed to run only two weeks, but we’re going to open up the entire season of Lent. You can take the challenge for two weeks and be done, or you can really brave the season and give up drinks for the entire 46 day journey! For the more adventurous, you can take your two week challenge a step further and recognize how privileged we are in this country by donating double the amount for every drink you decide not to give up and drink anyway. Ultimately, how you participate is up to you, but I invite you to keep in mind that we have a goal. The Outreach Committee has decided that we as a congregation have it in us to raise enough money to provide a community water pump through Church World Services. In order to meet this goal, we need to raise $1,000. I’ve seen the generosity of this congregation in action before, and I know that we can reach this goal and more.

However, before you reach for your checkbook to make a gift, I really want to encourage you to take on the challenge. Try going without anything but tap water for at least one week. Keep track of your money and bring it to participate that following Sunday during our special offering time in the service. Don’t just send your money, but take some time to imagine what it might be like to live without all of the privileges we know here in the U.S. You might find that living differently is every bit as rewarding as the giving itself – and maybe even more!

Walking the journey of Lent,

Clint

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Devotion for 8 April 2009

Mark 11:12-19

He was teaching and saying, ‘Is it not written,
“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”?
But you have made it a den of robbers.’

- Mark 11:17

Jesus angrily overturning tables in the temple makes for a great action movie, but what does Mark’s short clip really show us as travelers on a Lenten journey?  Jesus’ words point us back to the scripts of Isaiah and Jeremiah. Isaiah 56:1-8 portrays God’s community as welcoming foreigners, gathering in outcasts, creating a house of prayer for all people.  Jeremiah 7:1-15 paints a dark picture for those who deal unjustly with their neighbors.

On this Wednesday before the dark night of Gethsemane, it is easy for us to fast forward and condemn the fickle Jewish crowds or curse the brutal Roman executioners.  Sometimes we even skip straight to “the good part” where we become righteous participants in the death of Christ – inheriting the hope of resurrection – forgetting the rest of the film altogether.

In our haste to create a blockbuster, we just might miss the message: create welcoming places for all people, or as we Disciples might say, “We really are ‘Better Together.’”  Scene by scene, like an acclaimed director, God crafts that vision of wholeness across the ages.  Isaiah called on the people to create a welcoming house of prayer.  Jeremiah warned against becoming self-righteous bouncers at the door.  Jesus brought that vision into the temple. From one generation to the next, God calls God’s beloved children to continue the story.

These final days of Lent give us a chance to pause, overturn some tables, rewrite the script, and live out our call as the stewards of God’s house of prayer.

Prayer:

Ancient God, Ever New,

Open us to risk, seeing as Jesus sees.

Transform our lives into houses of prayer.

In the name of the living Christ,

Amen.