Sunday
As
we prepare to celebrate Reformation Sunday at First Presbyterian Church this
coming Sunday, I wanted to share a list of my top 10 reasons why I love being
Presbyterian. But before that, here is a one sentence description of what
Reformation Sunday is all about: The tradition of Reformation Sunday offers
an opportunity to celebrate our heritage and history, to affirm our central
theological convictions and to consider God’s ongoing reformation of the
church.
The
Presbyterian Church (USA) has a rich tradition and much to celebrate. So without
any further ado, here are my 10 reasons why I love being Presbyterian:
- I love being Presbyterian because
of the emphasis we place on God’s Goodness. God is not a distant god, who
created the world and stepped away. Rather, God is one who out of selfless
love created and continues to create with this same selfless love. Perhaps
though, the most important aspect about our theology as Presbyterians is
the comfort and hope that can be found in the very good news that God
chooses us and has gifted us with faith in God!
- I love being Presbyterian because,
well, we are a thankful people. We know that everything we have comes from
God. We understand that we are God’s stewards or caretakers–of the
environment, of one another, of children, of everything. We participate in
being good stewards by tutoring children at a local grade school,
contributing money to local organizations that are about the building up
of community, and we make every opportunity to make sure everybody has a
way to share their unique gifts!
- I love being Presbyterian because
we don’t forget to love God with all hearts, souls, strength, and minds. We value education and the
importance of spiritual formation in the community. We endorse the study
of God’s entire world and we are willing to ask questions, hard questions.
We are willing to debate. We are “a thinking,” as well as “a feeling,”
people.
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| The short list of why I really love being Presbyterian: 1. We have the best potlucks! 2. It is easy to scare people when we to talk about Book of Order...or to use the acronym: BoO! 3. I'm not a good dancer, so I'm grateful we have 2 movements in worship: sit & stand 4. Presbyterians drink coffee as if it is our 3rd sacrament. 5. There is a 'renewal' movement in our denomination titled: Presbyterians For Bow Tie Renewal 6. We have the best block party in the area: our annual Pork Bar-B-Cue! 7. This joke: how many Presbyterians does it take to change a light bulb? Wait, who said anything about change :) |
- I love being Presbyterian because
we are not afraid to engage the Bible critically. We believe that the
Bible is authoritative and God’s word to us, meant to be taken very
seriously. We understand that it was written by humans. We realize that
the Bible contains different types of literature--poetry, commandments,
apocalyptic writings, for example–which requires study and sensitivity in
interpreting. More importantly, we know that our story is a part of God’s
story, which has, is, and will continue to mold us into who God longs for
us to be!
- I love being Presbyterian because
we understand the importance of diversity and the wideness of God’s love. At
the heart of who we are is the spirit of hospitality. We welcome and
affirm the gifts of all God’s children, recognizing that as a body, we are
incomplete when one person is left out! God revels in diversity. After
all, what a diverse world God thought up.
- I love being Presbyterian because
we love all our neighbors: we are ecumenical! Some of us are life
long Presby’s, while some of us have dabbled with the Methodist and
Baptists, Roman Catholics and Lutherans. Regardless of where we come from,
we affirm every Sunday that we believe in the holy catholic church, that
is the holy universal church. We are but one patch in the crazy quilt of
Christ’s church. While we love our Presbyterian way, ours is not the only
way to serve God.
- I love being Presbyterian because
we don’t do ministry alone. Okay, okay—I’ll admit, sometimes committee
work can be frustrating. But there is so much potential when decisions of
the church are spread out between clergy and laity.
What I value most is that the use of committees allows for many
participants and cultivates a community of our shared ministry in God’s
mission.
- I love being Presbyterian because
we care about God’s world. While our hope lies in the coming resurrection
of Christ, we are aware of God’s call here
and now to bring heaven on
earth. We do this by our efforts in the blood drive, providing food for
children in local schools on weekends, and visiting people when they are
sick and homebound. As Presbyterians we believe that God has called us,
God has elected us, not for privilege, but for service.
- I love being Presbyterian because
we live by the slogan, “Reformed, always being reformed according to the
Word of God.” The first “Reformed” in the slogan is spelled with a capital
referring to our Reformed heritage that is the Protestant tradition that
dates back to John Calvin, John Knox, and other reformers. It means we
stand in a great theological tradition. We didn’t make everything up
yesterday. We have as a part of our constitution eleven creeds and
confessions dating from the fourth century through the twentieth century, we
stand on the shoulders of giants.
- And last and maybe most important, I love being Presbyterian because some of the finest people I know are Presbyterians. My story begins at Bethel Presbyterian Church in Peoria, Illinois where I was baptized as an infant in the fall of 1985. These fine people have remained faithful to their covenant promise made to my family and me in a variety of ways throughout my life. Some of my dearest friends are Presbyterians, who have taught me more about grace than Calvin’s institutes ever could. And the folks of First Presbyterian Church have demonstrated God’s love to me in new ways. I could go on. But if I start naming any of you, I would be writing for years! Suffice it to say Presbyterians are wonderful people. And that’s probably why I most love being a Presbyterian.
So there you
have it. An expansive top 10 List why I love being Presbyterian. I hope to see
many of you this Sunday as we celebrate our rich heritage with bagpipes and
singing, scripture reading and preaching! Feel free to wear your plaid…and
a kilt if you have one. We don’t want only 1 person to show up in his…
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