…wealth and cleverness were nothing to God — no one is too unimportant to be His friend.
Dorothy Sayers from The Man Born to be King

No one can celebrate a genuine Christmas without being truly poor. The self-sufficient, the proud, those who, because they have everything, look down on others, those who have no need even of God – for them there will be no Christmas. 
Only the poor, the hungry, those who need someone to come on their behalf, will have that someone. That someone is God, Emmanuel, God-with-us. Without poverty of spirit there can be no abundance of God.
Oscar Romero
 
No one wants to admit to being needy.  It is, after all, allowing someone else to have strength and power to deliver what one is desperate for. 

Relinquishing that control is painful but it is more painful to be so poor that one is hungry without food, thirsty without drink, ill without medicine, cold without shelter, alone without God.
When we are well fed and hydrated, healed, clothed and safe in our homes, it is difficult to be considered “needy”.  Yet most of us are ultimately bereft and spiritually impoverished; we need God even when we can’t admit our emptiness, or we turn away when He offers Himself up to us.
Despite the wealth with which we surround ourselves every day, our need is still overwhelmingly great; in Advent, we stand empty and ready to be filled with his abundant and lavish gift of Himself. 
 
Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation

Advent historically splits our vision into two focal points in time: the first coming of Christ in the manger and His second coming in glory. For some reason, this dual vision unsettles me. And, it’s probably supposed to, in the wisdom of our forbearers who established the liturgical calendar for the church. We are not allowed to only rejoice in the tiny baby in the manger, but we must grapple with the reality that this is also the one who died and rose again and will come again to judge both the quick and the dead. Here are some implications I’ve been thinking of for our daily life:
 
– Focusing on both comings of Christ makes everything significant.
– Focusing on both comings of Christ means that humility and glory are held tightly together.
– Lastly, focusing on both comings of Christ gives hope in our waiting.
 
As we wait in between the times, during this Advent, may we feel the pressure of Christ’s humility at our backs, crushing our resistance to washing feet, serving others, loving when we are exhausted. And here, too, as we face forward, we believe in the glory of Christ to come and we believe that imitating Christ in his suffering will be worth it in view of an “eternal weight of glory.” We are hemmed in by humility and glory.
 
Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation

This week, the Christian Church celebrates "Christ the King" or "Reign of Christ" Sunday.  It's a hinge week between the liturgical seasons of Ordinary Time and Advent, when we pause to reflect on the meaning of Christ's kingship before we delve into the mysteries of light and darkness, hope and lament, prophecy and Incarnation. Our king is a crucified God, a broken man on a cross who gave up all power and glory to live among us and die an inglorious, undeserved death. A king who brought the reign of the kingdom of God to earth. Forever.

We remember that over every hope, larger than every fear, underneath each true desire is Jesus, the true king of our heart, the true king of the world. May we joyfully surrender to God's rule over us. 
 
A POEM FOR THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING
See how this infant boy
lifted himself down
into his humble crèche
and laid his tender glove of skin
against splintered wood—
found refuge in a rack
of straw—home
that chilly dawn,
in sweetest silage,
those shriven stalks.
This outcast king lifted
himself high upon his savage cross,
extended the regal banner
of his bones, draping himself
upon his throne—his battered feet,
his wounded hands not fastened
there by nails but sewn
by the strictest thorn of love.
Pamela Cranston © 2019. Searching for Nova Albion
 
Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation

Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what's best --
As above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
You're in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You're ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.
(The Message)
 
Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation

I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. The only God I believe in is the One Nietzsche ridiculed as 'God on the cross.' In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of the Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But each time after a while I have had to turn away. And in imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in Godforsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in the light of his. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross that symbolizes divine suffering.       John Stott

"All world religions are not 'basically alike.' Only we worship a God with scars of love."--Fulton J. Sheen

Thanks be to God for being this kind of God!

 Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation 

Today, November 1st is All Saints Day, the day set aside in the church calendar to remember all the faithful followers of Jesus (saints) who have died. In English, the traditional name for All Saints’ Day was All Hallows Day. The vigil or eve of the feast, October 31, is still commonly known as All Hallows Eve, or Halloween
 
The testimony of the faith of those who are now in heaven is an encouragement to us and spurs us on! The day was established originally to honor the many martyrs who died for their faith but has also come to be an opportunity to call to mind the heroes of Christian history, those whose example has been inspiring, who form our “internal chorus” or “cloud of witnesses” whose lives, or teachings or example has influenced our faith.

Which beloved ones can you give thanks for today? Whose lives told of God’s unfailing love and grace? These saints speak from the past and are whispering at this moment…

"God is faithful."
"The Lord is good. Trust Him."
"His grace was sufficient for me in my trials and is sufficient for you today."

So many beautiful friends of Jesus have formed my faith and influenced my life with God. I say their names to God today in gratitude for their obedience, sincerity and authenticity of faith: Randy, Beth, Phil, Doug, Mike, Julie, Robert, Pete, Steve, Erik, Allene and Elmer, Nancy and Warren, Ellen, Roland…

 Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation

We keep company with Jesus by making space for him through a spiritual discipline. Our part is to offer ourselves lovingly and obediently to God. God then works within us doing what he alone can do. Our desires don't obligate the holy One. God is free to come to us in spiritual disciplines as he wills, not as we demand. But unless we open ourselves to him through spiritual practices, we may miss his coming altogether. —Adele Ahlberg Calhoun
 
Anyone who wants to go deeper in their life with Jesus, or find renewal, or healing, or fresh insight is encouraged to practice the variety of ways that God grows our lives, from prayer (Lord’s Prayer this sermon series), worship, meditation and Scripture study.  We are all on an individual and communal journey to be transformed by Christ! 
 
I came across Calhoun’s Spiritual Disciplines Handbook several years ago and after reading through the disciplines that most interested me--contemplation, meditation, rest, silence, solitude--I began to branch out into some I was not as keen to read on---submission, compassion, humility, surrender, sacrifice. These disciplines/practices take us ‘further up and further in’ to intimacy with God, and as we lean in, we are transformed by the Spirit. There are also many more contemporary disciplines such as mentoring, journaling, unplugging, attentiveness and becoming accountability partners. 
 
There are MANY ways to draw close to God, to know His heart, His mission and participate in His Kingdom. You may have loved the Lord for many years and long to find new ways to pursue Him, alone or with spiritual friends. Perhaps you are ready for a Growth Group that will encourage your faithfulness, or want to learn more about how to pray or just need someone else to listen to your spiritual story of faith. Share your longings with someone in your life, make an appointment with any one of the pastors at PasCov, or invite someone else to join with you in a fresh commitment to offer yourselves lovingly and obediently to God. 
 
And watch to see how He shows up.
 
 Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation 

For you, the Eternal’s Word is your happiness. It is your focus—from dusk to dawn. You are like a tree, planted by flowing, cool streams of water that never run dry. Your fruit ripens in its time; your leaves never fade or curl in the summer sun. No matter what you do, you prosper. - Psalm 1:2-3
 
“Give us this day our daily bread.”
 
We are taught to utter this prayer in the same manner that Jesus uttered it to His Father: You are my God and your ways are not my ways. Your Word is my happiness, my focus from dawn to dusk! I root myself deeply in your springs that never run dry. You never fail to nourish and care for me, to bring growth and fruit in its time. It is your Kingdom that I dwell in and you are a gracious and good God who is making Your Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. (How can I possibly ever grasp the magnificence of this thought!) All that you bring to me is bread, I am completely trusting you to meet my needs this day and every day, to bring bread in whatever manner you choose. 
 
The prayer of abandonment of Charles de Foucauld is one of the most beautiful prayers of faith trust and surrender in the Christian spiritual tradition. Memorize it, pray it often and share it with others:

Father,
I abandon myself into your hands; do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you:
I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only your will be done in me, and in all your creatures.
I wish no more than this, O Lord.
Into your hands I commend my soul;
I offer it to you
with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord,
and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands,
without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father.
 
Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation 

. . . you have brought us out to a spacious place.

—Psalm 66:12 RSV

I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul. You have not given me into the hands of the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.

—Psalm 31:7–8 NIV

God has brought us out to “a spacious place,” the psalmist says in Psalm 66—also translated as “a wealthy place,” “a watered place,” “a wide open place,” or “a place of abundance.” I love that phrase, “a spacious place.” In our English Bibles, it’s used also in Psalm 31 (though the Hebrew words are different).

This word, merchâb—“spacious place” or “large room”—is also found in 2 Samuel 22:20, Psalm 18:19, Psalm 118:5, and Hosea 4:16, where it denotes a place of openness, safety, and freedom.

Whenever I feel like crying out "Enough!", whenever I feel pressed down by circumstances, I picture in my mind a wide-open space and myself standing smack-dab in the middle of it, to remind myself that in Christ, there is freedom, there is freshness, there is an infinitely wide ground to stand on. However constricted we might feel in the moment, we must remember, as our spiritual forebears have testified in scripture, that our huge God leads us out of constriction and into a spacious place. Our circumstances might not change, but our spirits, through the Spirit, can know rest and relief.

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson

Pastor for Spiritual Formation

“Therefore pray in this way: ‘Our Father who are in Heaven, hallowed be your name, let your Kingdom come, let your will be done also in the earth, just as it is in Heaven.” (Matthew 6:9-10)

The Lord’s Prayer is well known as the way that Jesus taught his disciples to pray, but what does it mean? Some Christians take Jesus’ teaching of the prayer to be literal and believe it is to be memorized and repeated in a rote manner. Others believe he meant it merely as an example of how to pray, taking into account its structure, flow of subject matter and emphases. Suppose for a minute that there is a deeper meaning within the text that Jesus was trying to get across to his disciples. 

One of the customs that was around during Jesus’ time was the recitation of a Jewish prayer called the Kaddish. What is particularly interesting about the Kaddish is that it bears a striking resemblance to the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer. The language between the two prayers is similar with parallels between the reverence of God’s name, the kingdom, and his will being highlighted. It is said that both the Kaddish and the Lord’s Prayer “spring from the same source,” and so the “essence” of both prayers is the same. The similarities are more than linguistic and support the theory that the Lord’s Prayer begins as an adaptation of the Kaddishthat the disciples were familiar with, but has been modified to deal with current issues.

Here is the text of the Half-Kaddish for comparison with the text of the Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6:9-10) above: “May his great name be magnified and made holy (amen) in the eternity which he created in his will. And may he establish his kingdom in your lifetime and during your days and in the lifetime of all of the House of Israel, swiftly and soon. Now say Amen. And may His great name be blessed for ever and ever. May He be blessed, praised, beautified, exalted, lifted up, adorned, raised up on high, and worshiped, Blessed be He. Over all blessings, songs, and praises and sorrows declared on earth. Now say Amen.”

Why use the Kaddish when teaching the disciples a new way to pray? For hundreds of years the Jews had been petitioning God, in this prayer, to establish the coming kingdom during their lifetime, but it wasn’t until Jesus introduced the Lord’s Prayer that the coming kingdom took on a new meaning.

In teaching the disciples a new way to pray, Jesus revised the Kaddish they were familiar with to show the Jews that the kingdom was indeed coming soon and it was going to happen in their lifetime. He not only gave us an example to follow, but he showed them the answer to the prayer the Jews had been praying for hundreds of years.

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation