Harvest and Sustainability Festival Invite!

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Harvest-and-Sustainability-Festival-at-Z-Tree-.html?soid=1103081187919&aid=XJ3qRm-KY04

Cool Video about Zacchaeus' Story!

Thanks to MrDanOfTheChapel on YouTube for his creativity!

Where you are loved

As I walked over to my friend Christie's office at the Downey Moravian Church in Downey California I noticed a little blue paper, it is from a publication of the Moravian Church in North America in the 1980s, and says "The Moravian Church...where you are loved."  Wow!  There is no regulation, expectation, or judgment in that statement.  What does it look like when congregations are places where people are loved? Have you seen congregations that you believe characterize this statement?  As I follow God's call to begin a new congregation on the south side of Indianapolis, it is my hope that this will be true of us.  That before we get into the details of doctrine, practice, or worship style we are a community where people are loved.

It is funny, I grew up in the Moravian Church and the message on that publication characterizes my experience.  I was loved.  Even when I was an annoying teenager or disrespectful kid or a questioning pastor in training I have known without a doubt that I am loved here.  There is something of being loved when you are known, even at your worst.  I don't know that this is everyone's experience, I doubt it is which makes me sad.  But the freedom we have when we are loved first and known through that love is amazing.  Love changes our perspective, allows for us to see things that are overlooked without love and it helps us to look past the things that the world would pick out to separate us from one another.  Love may give us rose colored glasses but not to ignore the reality of pain, struggle, or disappointment.  We are given the rose color that allows for those things to come in on our list of priorities where they belong.

If we find ourselves loving first I believe that we will experience more depth of relationship, transformation and hope.  Jesus said lots of wonderful things but he began with LOVE.  I will pray and strive to create a congregation whose witness and life will affirm that Zacchaeus' Tree is a place where you are loved!

Happy Birthday Elie Wiesel!

Today I found a quote, for my facebook page, by Elie Wiesel. I love quotes because I feel like they catch us off-guard and make us think and consider in ways that a whole speech, conversation, or book does not. I guess this, for me, is an example of less is more. This particular quote (which I will share here...later) speaks of indifference which is interesting because today I heard people talking about apathy and how it can cause problems because we simply do nothing, essentially we have no opinion, and make no difference through our actions. As I think about Jesus, I cannot think of a time in the Gospels when Jesus is indifferent. He is always engaged in the action of compassion, or seeing to the needs of those around him!


In Revelation 3:14-22, John writes that the church in Laodicea is neither hot nor cold.  They do not stand for the Gospel or against it.  While many people take this a sign of judgement, maybe so but that is really for God to decide, I think it is like a litmus test for our lives.  If our lives are filled with indifference we may see that even our "values" don't appear to be part of our actions.  I make lots of decisions through indecision; letting a deadline go by, just not offering my opinion, or simply by forgetting to decide.  I realize too late sometimes that I had an opportunity to say something or show something important and because I wasn't really paying attention I missed that chance.  The Good News is that the world never has nor will it ever depend on me...I would be an inadequate savior that's for sure.  However, the more I endeavor to intentionally make decisions in light of the God of Love who guides me, the more I will be able to demonstrate the love that God has shared with me and that God shares with the world.  
There are lots of protesters in our world, some I agree with and many I don't.  I can't see Jesus going out of his way to demonstrate hate.  But Jesus was always on the forefront of demonstrating love, speaking out in the face of injustice, and challenging the world order when it missed the point.  As Christ(ians), people who strive to live in Jesus' way, we are not called to an indifferent witness.  We are called to choose; to cry out for justice, peace and in all things love!


So whether you take opportunities to protest with signs and pickets or with words in a blog, or through the daily living in community, I pray that we all consider our own areas of luke warmness...how would Jesus react?  Where can we grow in our living out of the Good News?  What do people see in my life that tells them about God's love for them?  I would guess that this conversation is better had with friends and people you can trust, so they can mirror back to you their experience and understanding of you as you move closer to the image of God who calls you to follow.  


As I work in my own life to follow Jesus better I hope I keep these words in my mind, 

“The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference. --Elie Wiesel

We Need Your Opinion

I never knew how to worship until I knew how to love.

Henry Ward Beecher

At Z Tree we are looking forward to beginning regular worship again soon! As we prepare to worship together we are discerning a good time. In many ways Sunday morning is the obvious choice, but we aren't an obvious church and are looking into other options. We have tried a few services on Saturday evenings at 5pm. It seems to give people the opportunity to make plans during the day and have the ability to sleep or get things going on Sunday Morning. I don't think that the day of worship is as important as the quality of worship. If we gather, whenever we gather and worship the Lord we are called to respond in kind to God's love for us and the world. So take the poll, leave a comment and share with us your thoughts on the best time to worship for you and your life! Thanks for you thoughts!

There's nothing you can do about it!

Last week I had a great time with Sister and Brother Moravian Clergy! As we heard encouragement from our bishops, speakers, and colleagues to find time to connect to God and one another, we heard from Rev. Peg Chamberlain, executive director of the Minnesota Council of Churches and a Moravian colleague. Peg spoke to us about her experience with the larger church in ecumenical settings. And what is like to be an ambassador of our gifts as Moravians that we share with other denominations. As she shared with us that she sees our gifts as relational theology, focusing on the importance of connecting in personal relationships with God and one another, community, and our Moravian motto, "In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Love," it was encouraging to think of how our emerging community also shares these gifts in a smaller venue, Indianapolis, IN.

Over the last 550 years Moravians have been active participants in the life of the communities where they lived by educating children, both girls and boys, finding ways to support the local population through farming and spiritual reflection, and simply building relationships of compassion and accountability for Jesus' sake. Throughout the world, communities have been served by missionaries, local believers and followers of Christ who have come from the Moravian tradition. It is because of our vibrant and dynamic heritage that I have found my own call to engage in building relationships in the community, planting a garden, and praying for the ability to follow God where ever God leads me.

As a Moravian it sometimes seems difficult to explain the things that make us distinct. As Peg spoke she shared something that I believe offers a good picture of who we are not only with one another but in our witness to the world. She spoke to us with these words, "I love you, God loves you and there's nothing you can do about it!" Relationships are full, live giving and sometimes really hard but it is the love of God and the model of Christ that motivates us to love unconditionally and with conviction...all the time.

So here we were, a gathering of Moravian clergy, celebrating the aforementioned gifts with one another so that we might live and lead in ways that show others the love of God. There are so many wonderful and amazing things happening as we follow God’s direction, finding meaning in the old and new, finding hope in hearts to live into God’s Mission in the World, and learning what it means and how it will look to be Moravian Christians as we journey together into the future!

A Window to the Sky

Sitting in my window seat on my flight back to Indy...I can see so much: houses, roads, clouds, farms, trees, cars, with the right binoculars I could probably see people. It is amazing when you think about it...here we are in a country and a world where we are able to see so much. We can see tiny atomic particles, moons and planets in far reaches of the universe, germs and their cures, books, gardens, friends, enemies--well I think you get my point. We see so much and have the opportunity to see many possibilities that could not have been dreamed of in the past.

Remember the story of Icarus? The boy who flew too close to the sun with wings that his father made for him and he fell from the sky. People have been dreaming for a very long time to see further, to get closer to the things we don't understand, to grasp knowledge that has not been available to us before. The curiosity of human kind has always been around and it continues to motivate us to seek new endeavors, to try ideas that are not sure things, to appreciate the past, and to hope for the new world promised through the Love of God in Christ.

As I sat on the plane considering the reality that I, in my "ordinary" travel, was living someone else's impossible dream. Wondering if our seeing so much keeps us from seeing what is most important? With our heads in the clouds I think we may miss the opportunities to dig deeper into the relationships we share with one another and with God. How often do we spend time really trying to see someone else...not just looking at them but working to understand and care for them in the things they say and the things they don't. How often do we let someone really see us? The practice of building deep relationships is not a lost art but sometimes it is taken for granted as we follow other ideas and hopes. I wonder if we have gotten so caught up in seeing the expanse OUT there that we miss the expanse within and through relationships...

So it seems that we need to find some balance. A few weeks ago are Dinner and Conversation with Z Tree we talked about what we felt the church was called to be. One of our conversations offered that the church should be a place when people are helped to find balance. Between hopes and fears, the possibilities and the relationships, balance in life so that we are able to find and offer God's goodness to others.

So from way up in the sky I began to think about the ground...how can Zacchaeus' Tree be a place where people find and share ways to find balance? We are working to create opportunities to grow in faith through studying the scriptures, sharing our thoughts and experiences, serving in our community, honoring God's creations, and sharing life together. There is so much room for everyone to participate in creating this place and other spaces where the fullness of love and life in Christ is celebrated, embraced and sought out. I pray for the people who will become part of this community and the gifts, passion and vision they will bring to my life and the life of our neighborhood!

Zacchaeus was a "wee little man" who climbed up into a tree to see Jesus but it wasn't until he accepted Jesus' invitation to come back down to earth that Zacchaeus knew the transformation of God's love! So are we look out to the possibilities let us not miss the invitations to come down to the earth and build from there into the dream of God for the whole world!