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Brothers and sisters,

Two weeks ago, I wrote to you all about some of what we’ve been discussing in our Wednesday Night Bible Study meetings. We’ve been reading through the book Worship Come to Its Senses by Don E. Saliers and we’ve been thinking about some of the “senses” that Saliers says worship may be missing. Last night, we talked about some of what Saliers has written about the sense of delight that we can find in worship. And there was one phrase he used that sticks with me today. He talked about a Christian way of living into “the marriage of duty and delight.” And that can seem like a strange phrase, but I’ll give you an example that may seem a little weird at first, but bear with me.

Right now, I’m replaying one of my favorite games. It’s a cozy farming simulator called Stardew Valley. The plot is simple enough: your character was working a thankless job in the city when they learn that, in his will, their grandfather left them his old farm in Stardew Valley. As the player, you then go about the business of reviving your grandfather’s farm. It’s a really easy, relaxing game (so relaxing, in fact, that I sometimes fall asleep while playing it, dooming my character to run into the side of a mountain until I wake up). And there are so many amazing things you can do in the game! You can fight monsters and clear out old mines. You can restore the local community center and help revive not just your farm, but your whole community. You can build structures and plant your crops in such a way that you create a farm that not only produce lots of crops, but looks beautiful. And all that is wonderful—I take great delight in playing the game! But to get to all that, you have to do the basic things. Crops have to be watered. Weeds need to be cut away. Animals need to be fed. Resources have to be gathered. There is a certain sense of duty that goes along with Stardew Valley. Certain things have to be done on certain days. But if you master those basic things, you can see opportunities to do delightful things within the game. But is starts with your regular duties.

In a similar way, when we come to worship each week, even on those days we don’t necessarily feel like coming, we begin to see opportunities for delight. We become more familiar with the structure of worship and we can begin to see moments that bring us joy. When we come to worship regularly, we learn our favorite hymns and get to sense the joy that comes from hearing them sung by a room full of people. When we come to worship dutifully, we can hear the communion liturgy and internalize it, remembering the traditions of the church — the ones that teach us of God’s love — have been passed down for generations dating all the way back to the disciples themselves. When we come to worship regularly, we can learn about the things happening in each other’s lives and we can see the ways that God may be calling us to love our brothers and sisters, to reach out to our community, or to grow in our faith. And in doing all of that, we experience the joy and delight of a God who loves us deeply. The “marriage of duty and delight” is that understanding that God is with us in everything and because of that, we can take joy in everything.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Brothers and sisters,

As we start this new year, one of the things that has been on my mind a lot has been worship. Why do we worship? Why do we do the things we do in worship? What does our worship say about our relationship with God? As part of that process of thinking and wondering, I made my way back to an old favorite book of mine, Worship Come to Its Senses by Don Saliers. The book is short, but it asks a lot of good questions and offers a lot of meaningful insights into what it means to worship.

In fact, the book is so interesting, we are reading through it and talking about it during our Wednesday night meetings (you’re welcome to join us!). Last week, January 4th, we took a look at the introduction to the book and pondered this double question that Saliers offers, “What makes Chris-tian worship true and relevant, and how can our liturgical gatherings shape and express authentic Christian faith and life in the world of everyday?” (p. 13-14). And so, I wanted to offer you all some of my own opinion on those two questions. First, what makes Christian worship true and relevant comes down to the fact that we believe that God is present with us in worship. We cling to Christ’s promise that whenever Christians gather together, God is with them. And so the truth of any worship service comes from God. The service must be rooted in God or it can never begin to approach truth. The relevance of worship, then, has to come from us understanding that the God we encounter in worship is the same God we meet in our everyday lives. Worship is not something we do from 11:00-12:00 on Sun-day morning. The actions, the attitudes, the affirmations have to make their way out the door and into the world. Otherwise, worship is irrelevant at best.

That answer bleeds over into my opinion on the second part of Saliers’ double question—how can our liturgical gatherings shape and express authentic Christian faith and life in the world of everyday? I think the best way to answer this question is with an illustration. On Communion Sundays, we ask folks to grab a communion cup as they are coming into worship. The ushers don’t force anyone to take a cup, but they also don’t “verify” that a person “should” get a communion cup or not. They simply offer the cup. Because communion isn’t about making sure we’re worshiping with the “right” people. It’s about worshiping with everyone. As part of the liturgy on Communion Sundays, you’ll usu-ally hear me say something like, “The invitation to this table does not come from me or Hope Valley; it comes from Christ himself.” And that’s the truth. Christ calls us to share a meal with each other when we come to worship, regardless of who has come to worship. We fellowship together without asking questions. In other words, communion teaches us to love our neighbors regardless of who they are. It teaches us that grace is available to everyone because grace comes from God, not from us. It reminds us that Jesus understands the importance of fellowship and pushes us to create spaces of community together. That aspect of worship can genuinely affect our daily living in such a way that others see God through us—if we let worship shape our lives.

So, I offer Saliers’ double question to you all—what makes Christian worship true and relevant, and how can our liturgical gatherings shape and express authentic Christian faith and life in the world of everyday?

Grace and peace,

Pastor Ben

Brothers and sisters,

You know the old saying, “You learn something new every day”? Well, over the last few weeks, I’ve learned a lot of new things about various Christmas traditions from around the world. Obviously, there are some pretty universal traditions associated with Christmas here in the United States. Families will also typically have specific Christmas traditions. But I recently learned of two Christmas traditions and, believe it or not, they both have to do with vegetables.

Now, how did I stumble upon these Christmas vegetables, you might ask. A few weeks ago, I was researching the origins of some of the Advent decorations in our sanctuary to help prepare for the Hanging of the Greens. As part of that, I went to the Wikipedia article for “Poinsettia” and noticed a suggested link for “Christmas plants.” I thought, “Wait. How many Christmas plants are there? Poinsettias, Christmas trees, and evergreens, right?” Wrong! I clicked the link and was transported to a page that informed me about various and sundry plants used around the world in Christmas celebrations. But there was one that caught my eye.

In Oaxaca City, Mexico, December 23rd is known as “The Night of the Radishes.” Every year, people will carve elaborate scenes and figures out of radishes to create competitive displays in the city’s Christmas Market. The competition dates back to December 23, 1897, but the night itself predates that. According to legend, there was a year in the mid-18th century when the radish crop was so huge, large swathes of land were covered in unharvested radishes. That December, two friars pulled up some of the radishes and were amused by their sizes and shapes. They brought them to the Christmas Market on the 23rd and, after the radishes garnered attention, the friars carved them into shapes and figures. And so, The Night of the Radishes was born!

The other tradition I recently learned of is known as “The Christmas Pickle.” I was texting with my friends the other day and we were talking about our family’s Christmas traditions. One of my best friends from back home in Goldsboro informed all of us that every year, his grandmother would, “hide a pickle in the Christmas tree.” Curious, I texted back, “Wait, what?” After assuring me it was an ornament and not a real pickle, one of our other friends, who is not from Goldsboro, chimed in and said, “Oh yeah! My family does that too!” Again, I responded, “Wait, what?” She then informed me that one of her housemates, who is from Sampson County, also hid a pickle in her Christmas tree. To which I finally responded, “Well, it sounds like the Mount Olive Pickle Company’s marketing arm has been working overtime!” (Mount Olive Pickles are made just one town over from where I grew up).

However, apparently, “The Christmas Pickle,” is a real thing! It is believed to have been started in the United States in the 1890s. Though typically attributed to German immigrants, it is probably actually related to the importation of glass ornaments from Germany by Woolworths. Vegetable ornaments became popular in France in 1892 and were then also imported to the United States. Regardless of where it came from, The Christmas Pickle comes with a little game attached to it. Parents will hide the pickle deep in the Christmas tree and then, on Christmas Eve, they will ask their children to find the pickle. The first child that does either receives an extra present from Santa Claus or good fortune for the rest of the year. All thanks to a pickle!

Why tell these two stories? First, cause they’re fun! And isn’t Christmas supposed to be fun? But second, because it is amazing to me to see the creativity of people all over the world as we find ways to bring joy into the Christmas season. What a wonderful time of year!

Grace and peace,

Pastor Ben