Pondering Pastor

Prior to Pope Benedict’s visit to the United States last week, I jumped over to the Westboro Baptist Church web site to look at their plans for his visit.  Sure enough, they planned to picket at every stop along his route, and then some.

Pope Benedict’s U.S. visit is over, and Westboro Baptist Church is gloating.

“Here’s the picture: The CEO of the largest pedophile machine in the history of the world came to this country – a man who bears the responsibility for literally hundreds of thousands of child molestations on his watch – at the hands of people who are looked upon as moral and spiritual leaders. They are set up in such a way that, not only do they get PAID to do unspeakable things to children, but their organization is set up to produce a new, fertile crop of rapees every year – having schools and daycares attached to every major parish the world over. So, when he gets to this country and walks off the plane IN A DRESS (Ugh!), does the law enforcement of this evil nation drop him like a Chris Hanson interviewee on the front lawn of a bait house? Do they throw him, and all of his leadership, in the penitentiary for the remainder of their natural lives? NO!”

I especially noticed the “dress” part.  In another post, they also comment on his red shoes!  Silly!

All this came after a long rant quoting scripture and identifying the Pope with the antichrist in The Revelation of John.

They claim then that despite police (they refer to the police as “thousands of Officer Johnny Donuts”) attempts to keep them away from the Pope’s motorcade, God arranged it so that the Pope saw their signs.

“In a stroke of divine power, He confused the counsel of the thousands of Officer Johnny Donuts that thought to hide off His servants blocks away from any of the putrid Pope’s procession route to the hellish St. Joseph’s seminary in Yonkers, NY, where he was scheduled to back-slap and glad-hand hundreds of pedophiles and belch forth lies to deluded masses of idolatrous freaks (all in a day’s work). While the power of the dog (Psa. 22:20) conspired to tuck God’s servants in between a ‘Dodge dealah’ and the back of a mom-and-pop restaurant, well off the pedophile parade route, the Lord had arranged things perfectly, so that the hundred or so feet between those two buildings looked straight down a hill toward the off-ramp of the highway exit that the molester mob boss’ entourage took to come into town. Before the law enforcement could realize their blunder, the pope’s peepers got a ‘full eye of loveliness’ (one servant reported) of all of our signs BEFORE he even made it off the highway, and here’s what he saw:   PRIESTS RAPE BOYS, PERVERT POPE, FAGS DOMINATE THE CLERGY, PEDOPHILE RAPE PIMP, FAG PRIEST, FAG PIMP POPE, POPE IN HELL, MOLESTER MAFIA BOSS,  THE GODFATHER OF PEDOPHILES, CATHOLIC PRIESTS ARE LIARS, And… GODS HATES THE POPE”

Apparently, confession & repentance mean nothing to the folks of Westboro Baptist Church, even though they call for confession and repentance all the time.  They wouldn’t know it if they saw it.

Actually, I’m disappointed that they didn’t mention the earthquakes in the Midwest!

Pondering Pastor

A fleeting thought has morphed into an interesting list.

(In no particular order.)

Because I’m a pastor …

• I’ve been present at the death of more people than I can recall, from age 1 to 95.
• I’ve been on the international space station (now that’s a long story).
• I’ve lived in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Alabama, Vermont, and New Hampshire. All of them have been interesting and have a fond place in my memory.
• I get paid to drink beer (that’s another story!).
• I’ve been privy to the private lives of others and live as though I don’t know the stories.
• I’ve had strangers approach me in grocery stores, airplanes, and other public places with stories of woe and with vehement disgust or disapproval for something others might have done.
• I’ve lived in a fishbowl where the smallest gesture or fleeting facial response has been wildly misinterpreted by people looking for my approval.
• Young children have thought that I was Jesus. (My own children never made that mistake.)
• I’ve been honored to share in family joys and sorrows, like baptisms, weddings, and funerals.
• I’ve been treated like a functionary who is supposed to be at the beck and call of those demanding attention.
• I work long hours, many days a week. An 8 hour day is a luxury.
• I don’t travel for most holidays.
• I’ve observed an autopsy and open heart surgery.
• I’ve been present when the bodies of a family have been removed from their home after being shot to death, and then breaking the news to a mother.
• I’ve sat through thousands of meetings, most of which are not as interesting to me as they are to the other participants.
• I have the distinct pleasure of announcing the forgiveness of God and distributing the body and blood of Christ.
• I’ve learned to play the bass and to sing.
• I’ve met thousands of interesting people, and a very few that I wish I had not met.
• My wardrobe is pretty simple.
• Some people are willing to be my friend, some can’t get past what I do.
• I’m able to teach and to challenge and to explore some of the deeper themes of scripture and life.
• Some people automatically think I’m a Republican.
• Some people automatically think I’m a Democrat.
• Most people think they automatically know what I believe and how I think.
• You know where I will be on Christmas Eve, Holy Week, Easter, and Sunday mornings. (But you would be surprised how many people still ask if I’m going away for Christmas!)
• I learned to read Hebrew and Greek, and still retain more than I thought I would.
• Most people think I make too much money. Don’t all pastors take vows of poverty?
• People apologize for swearing in my presence.
• I talk a lot and hope that it right.
• I listen a lot, and hear more than I let on.
• I’ve left people I care a great deal about because there was a sense that God was calling me somewhere else. It had nothing to do with the people I left, although many of them think so.
• I know people talk about me behind my back … and it’s not all favorable.
• I’ve learned a great deal about many different careers and the challenges inherent in those careers.
• While people think that pastors still get perks … I don’t.
• I park far away from the church doors on Sunday morning to make it easier for others to park close to the front doors.
• I’m often exhausted on Sunday afternoons.
• I pray less often than I should.
• There are stretches of time when I just can’t seem to get motivated to do much at all. I attribute it to weariness. I still press on.
• I live with a great deal of hope and promise.
• There is so much more that I could add … but I set a time limit for my list.

Note: I recognize that most of these are not unique to the office of pastor … but they are true for me because I am a pastor.

Pondering Pastor

I’m just coming out of an intriguing lecture (part of the Spring Convocation at Gettysburg Theological Seminary) by Dr. Terence Fretheim, Professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary where he presented Pentateuch Law as “dynamic”.  I left thinking, “That made a lot of sense!”

Fretheim emphasized that the Law we find in the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy) must be understood in it’s context, that of the wilderness experience.  The Law and narrative are interrelated so the law is not so much a “code” as it is a story.  He believes that the contingencies that come with wandering in the wilderness keeps the Law flexible as it serves the best interests of the people, providing the best life for as many as possible.  A God who is involved in genuine relationships has to be on the move as the people are on the move.  He therefore does not see this Pentateuch Law as immutable, timeless law, but rather dynamic for the sake of the best life possible.  He notes there are 21-22 changes in the Law between Exodus and Deuteronomy which may reflect that dynamism.

These perspectives certainly offer some challenges to those who understand Pentateuch Law as static or a fixed reality, but certainly, Christians recognize some of the challenges and changes in the Pentateuch Law from Jesus and in the book of Acts.

What is static, Fretheim suggests, is the concern of God which undergirds the laws.  We can’t abandon those.

Pondering Pastor