This summer I had the privilege of meeting with a small group of men as we studied the book of Acts.  As you may know, Acts is an account of the earliest Christians as they learned to live the Way of Jesus in a world that sought to mercilessly persecute them.  In the second chapter of Acts, we catch a glimpse of what their common life looked like: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42)” Pretty simple, eh?  Through those straightforward practices of teaching (and learning), fellowship (which includes taking care of the neediest among them), breaking bread (which was having meals together), and prayer, the earliest Christians faithfully lived and amazingly transformed the world.

Well, here at St. John’s, we are still doing pretty much those same practices.  The terms we use for our common life at St. John’s are: pray, grow, and serve.  It is our hope that by following those practices together, we at St. John’s, just like those earliest of Christian disciples, may be transformed and may play our part in transforming the world.  

We are living through a time of great challenge and transition.  Seemingly, institutions that we have long relied upon to see us through difficult days are declining in influence. And yet the real power of God has always manifested itself in the small and simple.  Perhaps it is time for we people of the Way to once again become radically disciplined in the traditional and faithful practices of praying and growing and serving.  My hunch is that when we do, God will come alongside and do amazing things through us. 

~Father Art  

This coming Sunday at St. John’s, we will be baptizing a little girl into the family of God.  Whenever we have a baptism, it is an opportunity for all of us to consider our own baptismal promises and commit ever anew to the work of God’s Kingdom.  One of the questions that we are asked when we renew our baptismal vows is, “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.” To that question, the people of God (you and I) respond, “I will with God’s help.” 

It’s important to note that when we answer the question, we do so as an individual.  It is not, “We will with God’s help,” but rather, “I will with God’s help.” Before answering, each of us should faithfully consider whether we really mean it.  Am I really committed to justice and peace and willing to do something about it?  Do I really respect the dignity of every human being, and am I willing to actually put my respect into action?

For the past several weeks, we have been collecting backpacks and school supplies for children who need them and cannot afford them.  Donations will be given to Casa Maria, a ministry based out of Saint Nicholas Church in Minneapolis.  While you may not have thought about it in this way, your donations are precisely what it means to respect the dignity of every human being. On account of your donations, children will be afforded the dignity they deserve as beloved children of God. I am so grateful for your generous and good hearts.

Of course, providing school supplies is just one small way that we fulfill our baptismal vows. There are countless other ways that we may bear witness to our commitment to walk in the Way of Jesus. To follow through on our baptismal promises consistently and sacrificially is hard work.  Truly, we can do it only with God’s help. May we be aware of the power of the Holy Spirit working in us to do God’s will. And when we are next asked, “Will you…,” may each of us heartily respond, “I will, with God’s help.”

~Father Art

On December 23, 1971, then President Richard Nixon declared “War on Cancer.” By signing into law the National Cancer Act, he apparently had confidence that cancer would be conquered in five years and hoped that this would be the landmark legislation of his administration. The National Cancer Act represented a critical turning point in cancer research as well as treatment. As a result of bipartisan enthusiasm in the US Congress for eradicating cancer, there was a remarkable increase in the budget of the National Cancer Institute, and huge strides were made in research to reduce the incidence, morbidity and mortality from cancer.

Well unfortunately, cancer wasn’t conquered in five years. Here we are over fifty years later, and as it turns out, there doesn’t seem to be a magic bullet to kill cancer.  The solution appears to lie in a balance of prevention and treatment. And so, in the ongoing war on cancer, it will be necessary for those in government to recommit themselves to the much less sexy, but just as important work of providing resources for the prevention of cancer rather than some universal cure. 

Complex challenges are like that: they often must be managed rather than solved. It’s most often a hard slog requiring patience, humility, perseverance, and cooperation. Most of the time, solutions to complex challenges are not fully realized under any one political administration. It often takes a decade or more for solutions to take effect. 

The story of the War on Cancer is but one of many examples of good government.  Elected officials identifying a challenge affecting folks, seeking understanding of the issues at stake, working together for solutions, compromising when necessary, and then taking action.  Good government: it can happen. It has happened. We have seen it. We have been beneficiaries of it.

In these days of heightened emotions regarding our national and even local politics, it’s tempting to just give up, check out, let the chips fall where they may. But on those days when I’m feeling like that, I recall stories like the War on Cancer whereby elected officials actually came together to do something good that none of us could do on our own. I remind myself that nearly all of us love this country and want the best for it and for those who live here. I take stock in the hope that most of our citizens understand that the United States has a unique place in the world as a beacon of freedom and liberty for all people.

As people of the Way of Jesus, you and I are called to be agents of grace and reconciliation.  We are to live our lives for the sake of the world, or, as the apostle Paul states it, as “living sacrifices.” One way we accomplish this is by doing our part to ensure that our government functions well. We vote; we hold our elected officials accountable; we tell stories of good government; we get involved. Being a good citizen really can and is an act of faith.

And so, as hard as it may be some days, I exhort you, my friends, not to give up.  As Christians, may we refrain from reducing our politics to good guys and bad guys.  May we be ones who vote, who write our elected leaders, and who tell stories of good government.  May we be ones who joyfully recount those times when elected officials worked together to address immense challenges.  May we be ones who give hope to those who may have given up on government and are sitting on the sidelines. The challenges facing our world are immense, and we need a return to good government where elected officials work patiently and cooperatively.  May we hold them to account, but may we do our part as well. 

~ Father Art 

I built a tiny house several years ago and trailered it up to Finland, Minnesota where I had previously purchased a small lot close to town. I use it as a basecamp from which to launch my many North Shore hiking and paddling adventures.  The tiny house is eight by sixteen feet. It has no electricity and no running water.  I use candles for light and plug into a big battery when I need to charge my phone or computer. It has no air conditioning, and heat is by way of a small woodstove.  My toilet in Finland is a five gallon bucket.  Clearly, this arrangement is not everybody’s cup of tea.  

There is no question that by modern, first world standards, my tiny house is inconvenient. I have to haul in my own water. I have to cut, split, and stack my own firewood. If I want light, I must strike a match. Instead of a vacuum, I use a broom and dustpan. I have come, however, not only to tolerate but actually to embrace the several inconveniences. I feel more connected to the rest of God’s creation and more human when I have to put more effort into my daily living.  Clean water feels more precious; light to read or work by is more valued; heat to stave off a cold winter’s night feels as a gift. Yes, I have come to embrace the inconvenience of it all… at least for a few days.  

Jesus’ world was so different from our own. His and others’ lives were filled with multiple inconveniences, at least as compared to ours. A middle class American has a set of conveniences in their life that the wealthiest of ancient kings and queens could only dream about. Could it be, however, that these same conveniences fail to bring us the abundance of life that Jesus dreams for us?  Could it be that these very conveniences of our lives threaten to disconnect us from God, from God’s creation, and from each other? 

Jesus says, “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin; yet I say unto you, Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” How much of our lives, I wonder, are consumed with acquiring and maintaining the many conveniences of our lives? I wonder whether the toll that our conveniences take on our lives and on God’s world is really worth it.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I’m not so sure I’m ready to live my tiny house life as my day to day existence. I’m not going out tomorrow and yanking the air conditioner from my house.  I’m not going to call up the city and disconnect from water and sewer. But I just wonder whether I need so many conveniences. I wonder whether doing without may actually help me to value what I have. I wonder whether I could handle a little more inconvenience in my everyday life if it meant that I was able to get in better touch with my humanity and the rest of God’s creation. I wonder whether, by embracing the inconvenient, I may become a more loving person and a more faithful walker in the Way of Jesus.

~Father Art

Like many of you, I spend time each day keeping abreast of the day’s news. I have been following the campaign of former President Trump as well as the campaign of President Biden and now, Vice President Harris.  I have done my best to understand and keep current with the wars in Ukraine and in Palestine. I try to be informed of issues facing our state and local community.  I still read portions of a daily newspaper each day, and as I drink my coffee each morning, I scroll through the news on my computer, stopping to read up on anything that seems extraordinarily interesting or important.  I do all of this because I believe that it’s important for citizens to stay informed.  And I do it because sometimes, I see ways that I, as a Christians, may engage and do my best to make a difference for the sake of love.  My hunch is that many of you do the same. It’s pretty much part of the DNA of faithful Christians, that is, to stay informed and, when possible, to become engaged.

But I’ve got to tell you… reading and listening to the news these days is exhausting.  Many days I feel emotionally, even spiritually, pooped before I even get going. And being involved in making a difference in the community can be pretty taxing as well.  I’m reminded that if we are to be of any use to our families and communities and world, we’ve got to find a way to stay refreshed and renewed.  Our lives are like a bucket of water… we don’t have anything to pour out unless we’re allowing God to first fill us up.  When speaking to some Pharisees that would have made the sabbath a burden rather than blessing, Jesus instructs “the sabbath was made for humans, not humans for the sabbath. (Mark 2:27) In other words, God wants us to be rested and renewed before we return to our work in the world. 

If you’re looking for a place of rest and renewal, it doesn’t get much better than Minnesota in the summer. We have amazing parks and wilderness areas.  I spend at least a couple of weeks each summer in the Boundary Waters, reconnecting with who I am and what is important. I know that many of you value spending time outside as well, perhaps in a garden or forest or meadow, on a lake or stream.  Of course, the value of the outside world is not defined or limited by how it benefits us humans, but there is no denying that if one is seeking sabbath, one need do little more than take a stroll outside.

We’re half way through our summer already! If it wasn’t already on your calendar or your list of things to do, I encourage you today to get outside and experience just how good God’s world really is. Take a walk, dip a paddle, raise a sail, sit under a tree, fly a kite, get outside.  For your own soul’s sake, and for the sake of the world, make it as much a priority to fill up the bucket of your life as it is to pour it out.

John Muir, the great naturalist and hero of the wilderness once said, “Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” So, my brothers and sisters, stay informed of the world events and keep pouring your lives out for the cause of love.  But for goodness sake, get outside and fill up your bucket too.

~Father Art

We are living in such interesting and difficult times! Enormous challenges envelop us: a changing climate necessitating deep adaptation; tensions among nation states, some of which possessing vast nuclear arsenals; pernicious economic inequalities; a democratic political system taken for granted by so many of us, now being attacked and undermined; even common decency and respect and civility, now seemingly elusive. 

If we humans are to survive and, indeed, thrive in and beyond these challenging days, we will need faithful, courageous leaders.

Over the past couple of months, a group of us here at St. John’s have been reading a book together.  The book, written by Bishop Marianne Budde, gives us some suggestions for how we can learn to be brave. Bishop Budde talks about such things as the courage to leave or to stay, the necessity, at times, to step up to the plate and do the hard or unpopular thing.  The book ends with a chapter on persistence. 

The author makes the point that persistence is not a matter of just hanging in there; rather, persistence is also about humbly and honestly looking at ourselves and assessing what skills we are lacking in order to do the brave thing. Persistence is a matter of day after day, year after year, coming alongside others who can teach us and help us be brave. And then persistence is about trying to do the good thing over and over and over again, often failing, but sometimes actually succeeding.

In a way, our parish family is a fellowship of folks who are learning to be brave. Week after week we come together to be reminded of who we are as God’s children, to be inspired by the Holy Spirit, to learn from each other and to serve alongside each other. What we do here is far from perfect, and when we position who we are and what we do against the vast challenges that our community and the world faces, the efforts of our parish seem such a paltry offering.

I am confident that the early band of Christians, when faced with the immense challenges of their day, felt similarly. How could such a small, ragtag bunch of Jesus followers make a difference on behalf of the Kingdom of God?

What happened then, however, and what continues to happen now is that God does amazing things through folks who choose to act bravely and faithfully.  What God did in the early church, and what is doing here at St. John’s is actually rather subversive. Indeed, in my estimation, if health and wholeness are to be restored on this earth, solutions will originate and be offered by plucky little groups such as our parish family.  By persisting in our gathering and our learning and our serving, we are learning to be brave. And when brave people make brave decisions and act bravely, seemingly insurmountable challenges are confronted and overcome.

So, here’s to our little parish family at St. John in the Wilderness. And here’s to all those other feisty, plucky bands of good hearted, brave folks that continue to gather and learn and serve. May our small but courageous actions bring truth and justice and peace and fairness and goodness to this beautiful but broken world.

~Father Art