Cookies, Kool-Aid and Jesus

It's Vacation Bible School week at the Edgerton United Methodist Church and we're having a Beach Party! Kids are coming to sing, dance, play and pray as they learn more about Jesus.

We begin each evening with a kid-friendly meal. It takes extra energy and effort to provide a meal each night, but I'm glad we do. There's something that breaks down barriers between people when they sit together and eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Jesus would often gather people around a meal as a way to bring them together. He used our common hunger as a way to speak to our deeper hunger for truth and purpose.

A lot of things about VBS have changed since I attended forty years ago:
*Anyone else old enough to remember "back in the day," when VBS snacks were homemade chocolate chip cookies and red kool-aid?!? Now they serve healthy snacks like carrots, celery and fruit.
*During the opening worship, we sang "Kum Ba Yah" and "Pass It On" with a song leader and pianist. Now they have cool music videos with kids dancing and singing.
*Our craft projects were done with construction paper, glue and old buttons. Now they order craft projects from "Oriental Trading" and the kids make cute stuff you actually want to take home and keep.

But one thing hasn't changed--the story that we tell at VBS. It's still that old, old story of Jesus and his love.

Jeff

A picture is worth a thousand words...enjoy the read!

James Taylor and the Kingdom of God

I spent Monday night listening to James Taylor as he performed at Starlight Theater. It was--in a word--amazing. June 9th in Kansas--and there was no wind--temperature was in the 70's--the stars and moon were bright and beautiful. I love Kansas, but we rarely have those kinds of nights. So when we do, we rejoice.

I hear the gospel when James Taylor sings. It's good news to hear "You've Got a Friend." I feel not far off from the Kingdom of God when he sings "Shower the people you love with love." I remember the prophet's call for justice in "Shed a Little Light." Most the time, I just felt fully alive as he sang--my heart full, my feet tapping-my body and spirit moving. If the early church father, Irenaeus is right that "The glory of God is a human being fully alive," then I felt God's glory on that beautiful night.

The crowd gathered to hear James sing was also a glimpse of God's kingdom as I imagine it. What a beautiful variety of humanity...I especially loved that there were people of all ages and stages of life. It troubles me that some people in the church think there is music that old people like and music that young people like and the type of music used in worship depends on who's in control. I think the church could learn a thing or two from James Taylor--like it's OK to rock out one minute and then to have a quiet solo with an acoustic guitar. It's good to sing gospel music AND it's also perfectly fine to sing something from a Broadway musical. When we focus on the style of music, we miss the point. Music is about spirit--about moving us in a way that connects us with God. It's about moving us to tears, moving us to laughter and moving us to move!

Thanks, James Taylor, for the glimpse of God's reign...

Jesus Was Made Known to Them In the Breaking of Bread...

About a month ago, three different people from the church and community where I serve came to me and told me they felt called to feed hungry kids this summer. The first time someone tells you they feel "called to feed kids this summer" it's easy to say something nice and religous like, "Well God bless you. That sounds like a wonderful idea," while fully expecting them to go home and forget about it. The next time another person tells you the exact same thing, a seed of faith gets planted in your heart and you begin to wonder, "Maybe this is something God is calling our church to do." When it happens a third time (and this time it's some person from the community whom you've never met!) you get this feeling that is both mysterious and creepy and you realize that God sometimes has to creep you out to make you get the point.

So after all these mysterious and creepy "calls" from God, we fed 36 kids lunch today here at the church. The "Summertime Lunch Bunch" is what we are calling this program. Monday through Friday, all summer long, kids can just show up at noon and we'll feed them a free lunch. Today I stepped outside a couple minutes before noon and saw no one. I wondered (honestly, I doubted...) if anyone would show up. But about 5 minutes later a parade of kids on bikes came down the street headed towards the church. And red-faced, sweaty kids, covered with the grime of summertime fun came streaming through the doors. They got their food, sat down and began to eat, talk, laugh and make plans for the rest of their afternoon.

As I witnessed these 36 kids share this meal together, it came clear to me what the scriptures meant when it said, (Jesus) was made known to them in the breaking of bread...