[Tidings] The Road Less Travelled

Dear Trinity Church, 

“What new thing is the Spirit trying to teach . . . ?”

Last Sunday at Pilgrimage Church, Jesus named a fork in the road. 

In Luke 10:21, Jesus joyfully praises his Father for the fork dividing two paths. 

One path leads to discovery.  To learning new things.  This is the path of revelation– the path of letting God teach me what I still need to learn.  The path of revelation is travelled by anyone who, like a child is curious, wants to learn, and even delights in discovering things we didn’t know – about God, our neighbors, and ourselves.

The other path is travelled by anyone who thinks we know enough.  With a twinkle in his eye, Jesus says this path is for “the wise and learned” – the experts who think we know better.  Or as one child blurted out at drive-through church, “Oh, you mean the path of the know-it-all!”  Yes, that is precisely what Jesus meant.

Which path did you choose this week?

Depending on the day, time, and emotions I was feeling, I have chosen both paths.  And because I sometimes chose to think of myself as “wise and learned," I have had to apologize for my pride to people I love. Thank you friends, and family, for not letting me get away with thinking I know better than you.  Thank you for helping me realize I am actually upset, that I need to own my emotions, and listen to yours.

Many of you have told me about your own struggles, and the questions you have about what to do, what to say, and what not  to say in these troubled times.  I believe the answers will come according to the particular thing God is trying to do your life.  Given who you are, the circles you run in, and the ways God wants you to grow, ask yourself:

“What new thing is the Spirit trying to teach me in particular?”

Whatever your political beliefs, (and I praise God that Trinity Church has different kinds!) keep resisting the temptation to think yourself “wise and learned.”  Keep choosing the road less travelled.  And may this pilgrimage we’re taking make us more aware, and more in awe of God, our neighbors, and ourselves in Christ.

Walking with you,

Pastor Matt

PS  Your first stop at Pilgrimage Church this Sunday will be listening to Psalm 13, which asks: “How long, O Lord . . .”  Please listen to it HERE to get familiar with the new tune for this ancient lament.

PPS  Also please read Psalm 133 below in preparation for drive-thru church. 

Pastor Carson and I will ask each car what they notice about this Pilgrimage Psalm, which families once sang together as they walked to Jerusalem for worship!

PSALM 133 How good and pleasant and surprising it is when brothers and sisters live together in harmony. For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil POURED OUT over Aaron’s head, that ran down his beard and into his robe Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon that’s POURED OUT on Mount Zion and there the LORD has CALLED DOWN his blessing – even life everlasting!

[Tidings] Growing Separation & Trinity Sunday

Christianity Today:

George Floyd Protests Mark a Turning Point for Minneapolis Evangelicals

Dear Trinity Church,

This Sunday is Trinity Sunday.  It couldn’t come at a better time.

Trinity Sunday is a time to remember and to praise both the Source of our unity,

and Origin of our diversity: Three different persons united as 1 community:

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

This week many of you have spoken to me about your hopes, and your fears for our country. Some of you have encouraged me to “steer clear” of the week’s events. Others of you have encouraged me to “take action” showing that our church is not silent in the face of injustice.  In each conversation, when I feel my emotions rising, I am tempted to teach or defend what I believe.  But the Spirit keeps inviting me to become a student who can learn.

One couple at Trinity I am learning from is Chris & Amanda Millheisler.  Before moving to Wenatchee, the Millheislers worked in Seattle with Campus Crusade at “Cru Inner City” headquartered in Minneapolis.  George Floyd’s friend and partner in ministry in Houston, Pastor PT Ngwolo, stayed in the Millheislers Seattle home one summer to help launch a summer camp for urban youth.  Last week on Pentecost, the Millheislers pulled into drive-thru church with prayerful tears for their friends and partners in the Gospel on the front lines of our nation’s cities.  I asked the Millheislers to write a 1-page letter reflecting on the roots of our nation’s racial crisis, and our need for a common memory to shape a better future. Please scroll down to read it or click this link.

Last week I wrote that I was discouraged.  This week I have been relieved, even excited by the many discussions I hear people having about racism, peace, and justice.  I am relieved because I am seeing in our church family what I am not seeing online – people with differing opinions growing in 2 ways:

           growing in humility themselves, &

           growing in empathy toward others. 

Whatever your political background, keep this two-fold growth your focus.

Keep asking the Holy Spirit:

How do I stay connected with others -

when there is so much trying to separate us?

So, so much!  Six feet of separation, political differences, and racism are not the only things trying to separate.  Charlie Atkinson was in hospital yesterday, unable to be visited by Brenda, waiting alone for test results about his heart. The Hunter family and Mott family are daily waiting for their police officer Dads to come home from work.  Marc & Julia Barger are in Baltimore with their son Joel recovering from surgery.  And early Wednesday morning Greg Callsvik died peacefully at home surrounded by Joyce and their children.  Fear, sin, suffering and death itself are trying to separate us from each other, and from the love of God that is ours in Christ.  But I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else that is in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Repent.

And believe.

With growing humility and empathy,

Pastor Matt

PS - Owen Dillman sent this video to remind us how much he misses the church!

[Tidings] Discouragement & Pentecost

“I will pour out my Spirit

       on all people . . .

and they shall prophesy.”

Dear Trinity Family,

I have been discouraged this week. Planning a youth group is proving tricky.  Celebrating Pentecost Sunday in a parking lot has limits.  And Greg Callsvik heading to the hospital made me grieve for him, for Joyce, and proved a stark reminder of where all our pilgrimages are headed. So what should I write for this week’s Pilgrimage Church letter?

I was about to begin writing when Carson gently encouraged me to first go for a walk. I took a quick loop from the church to Methow Park. Strolling down Spokane, I saw a woman I recognized standing in someone’s front yard.  It was Kristy, who I met four years ago at a bible study in a women’s shelter called “Haven of Hope.” I could tell by the way Kristy waved her hand that she was excited to show me something. With a smile of purest joy, Kristy said this was her house, which she just bought!  It would be her pride and joy – except for 2 things she’s even more proud of and thankful for. The first one you can guess from the above picture: Kristy’s backyard, which when first sold was a solid square of dry dirt. But with her housemate Addy’s help, Kristy & Addy have been turning the desert into a garden. 

The green patch they’re standing on is from a $100 strip of sod Kristy purchased and replanted. What you can’t see in the corners are the fresh vegetables, lettuce, fruit trees, fire pit, and fresh water pond. Nor can you see the thing Kristy is most proud of – the additional backyard door leading to a basement apartment. “I don’t need the extra room,” Kristy explained, “and I want to make room in my life for people who can’t find affordable housing.” Kristy is proud of her home, proud of her garden, but most proud that she is making room for those with less. It made me ask myself, “What am I proud of?”

In the Bible being a prophet is less about predicting the future, and more about speaking to the present, exposing pride, and living sacrificial lives of joy.  I think Kristy is a prophet. What do you think? 

This Pentecost, let’s ask the question in Revelation 2:29,

“What is the Spirit saying to the churches?”

Trying to listen,

Pastor Matt