Mid-Week Meet-Up: Book of James (from June 30)

Hi First Presbyterian Church,

I want to remind you that this Sunday we will be going down to one worship service at 9:30 am. Whether you will worship with us in-person or online, please plan to adjust to the new start time. This Sunday we will also be observing Communion. At the in-person service, Communion will revert back to our pre-COVID practice, which means we will be passing the Communion elements on plates. Those of you worshiping from home should prepare to take the Sacrament as you have been doing.

My Wednesday Night Bible Study is beginning a study of the Book of James tonight. (All are welcome to attend!) The Book of James represents an interesting example of the struggle to find unity between the early Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. The book also helps us to answer the question: what does it mean to be Christian? A hallmark of Christian theology, especially Reformed Presbyterian theology, is the doctrine of grace. The doctrine of grace says that God gives us salvation as a free gift, because God is loving, not because we earned salvation. We encounter the doctrine of grace in the New Testament primarily through the writings of Paul. He says in Galatians 2:16-17, “A person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ… because no one will be justified by the works of the law.” In other words, we don’t earn salvation; we receive it (through faith) as a gift of God’s grace. We encounter a different idea in the Book of James. In James 2:17, it says, “Faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” You can see that both Paul and James are talking about “faith” and “works,” but they each talk about them differently. So… which is it? Is our faith in God’s grace enough? Or do our works also matter? I like to think of the interaction of faith and works kind of like my relationship to my kids. I can say I love my kids, but if I never do anything that demonstrates my love for them, I think it’s safe to call my “love” into question. That’s essentially what James is saying about the relationship between faith and works. But it’s also more nuanced than that, too. If you want to find out more, I encourage you to join us tonight for Bible Study online or in-person at the church!

Walk the walk today, my friends, and show the authenticity of your faith to the world.

Peace to you,

Pastor Neff

Worship Update (from June 24)

Hi First Presbyterian,

This has been a busy week of deliberation and decision-making for the leadership of the church. Many of you have undoubtedly been wondering about our plans for the summer as it relates to the worship services: will we have one or two worship services? There have been many changing factors that delayed the decision-making process, including the recent changes from NY State lifting its mandatory COVID-19 safety guidelines. Yesterday, the Session approved the following recommendation from the Worship and Music Committee:

• There will be one summer service at 9:30 am starting July 4 through September 5.

This means worship will occur this Sunday at 8:30 am and 10:00 am, but the following Sunday (July 4) will only have one worship service at 9:30 am. Importantly, the 9:30 am service will be livestreamed, so please take note of the earlier start time and adjust accordingly. Sunday School will continue to be offered during the 9:30 am worship service throughout the summer.

I look forward to worshiping (in-person and online) with you this weekend and over the summer!

Peace to you,

Pastor Neff

Mid-Week Meet-Up: COVID Update (from June 23)

Hi First Presbyterian Church,

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up, and today I’d like to share an update from the Session about re-opening. Following the state’s action lifting its mandatory COVID-19 safety guidelines last week, the Session approved the following recommendations from the Re-opening Task Force.

As it relates to worship:

We will be returning to normal worship practices, subject to the following:

• Unvaccinated congregants are encouraged to maintain social distance and sit socially distanced from others, allowing six feet of space between themselves and others if they wish to remove their mask. If they do not maintain that distance, they must wear masks until and unless this requirement is removed by applicable governmental agencies.

• Celebrating Communion and taking the offering will return to our normal practice.

As it relates to church groups and outside groups:

Groups gathering in the church building are no longer limited in number, subject to the following requirements:

• Unvaccinated people are encouraged to maintain social distance and sit socially distanced from others, allowing six feet of space between themselves and others if they wish to remove their mask. If they do not maintain that distance, they must wear masks until and unless this requirement is removed by applicable governmental agencies.

Of course, we should all continue being respectful and welcoming to everyone who wears a mask, either by choice or in compliance with the state. May we all follow Christ’s example of self-sacrificial love for one another.

I know that this news will come as a great relief and with great joy for many of you. I also know that many of you will be disappointed about the lifting of these safety guidelines, because you are immunocompromised or unable to receive the vaccine. The church remains committed to a hybrid approach to gatherings. Worship will continue to be livestreamed, and church meetings will have a videoconferencing option for people who are not present in-person. Speaking personally, my Wednesday night Bible study has been meeting for the past few weeks with half of the participants in-person and the other half on Zoom. It’s been really fun and seems to be working well. Let’s continue to move forward as one church, with one purpose, and with one Lord and Savior!

Peace to you,

Pastor Neff

Mid-Week Meet-Up: Outdoor Worship

Hi First Presbyterian,

This Sunday will be our first outdoor worship service of the summer. There will be no 8:30 am service. The 10:00 am service will occur as usual, followed by the outdoor strawberry social at 11:00 am and the outdoor service at 11:30 am. I will be delivering the same sermon at both services, but they will be structured very differently. The outdoor service will be led in the spirit of American folk worship services, with special instrumentalists and American folk hymns. The service has been inspired by Charles Finney and the Second Great Awakening. Throughout the service, “prayer stations” will be utilized. Each of these prayer stations will have a different activity to help you pray. I will be located at one station for you to ask me for prayer and/or anointing oil. There will be a station to help you remember your baptism. There will be another station to have you write down a prayer request to be shared with another church member. One station will have meditative coloring pages with scripture passages on them for you to color during a time of prayer. You will also be able to use a prayer journal throughout the service. I am truly hopeful that this will be a meaningful time of worship.

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It occurs to me that you might not know about Rev. Charles Finney and the Second Great Awakening. Here is a little bit of context. Finney was a Presbyterian minister in the 19th century during a time of fierce disagreement between what were known as “Old School Presbyterians” and “New School Presbyterians.” The disagreement between the two groups was centered on a few issues, including church polity, theology, and slavery. Old School Presbyterians firmly rejected welcoming New England Congregationalists into the Presbyterian Church (as they believed it was compromising a strict adherence to the Westminster Confession of Faith) and felt that the issue of slavery was “too political” and fell outside the scope of the Church’s spiritually-focused mission. New School Presbyterians welcomed the union with New England Congregationalists into the Presbyterian Church, felt that scripture could be interpreted faithfully without strict adherence to the Westminster Confession of Faith, and saw advocating for abolition as falling within the scope of the Church’s spiritual mission, regardless of its political nature.

Charles Finney was a New School Presbyterian active in Upstate New York, and his ministry represented one additional point of disagreement between the Schools: revivalism. Finney is known as the “Father of Modern Revivalism.” He led revival services to inspire people to a commitment to faith in Jesus Christ. At the time, Finney’s revivals were popular and effective and also very controversial. He often had women lead public prayers, frequently denounced slavery (calling it a “great national sin” and “a sin of the church”), and denied Communion to slaveowners. His preaching emphasized the work of the Holy Spirit of empowering believers to overcome sinfulness and live like Jesus. He invented a preaching tool called the “anxious bench,” a place in the sanctuary reserved for those who wished to receive prayer because they had been so affected by the preaching. This “anxious bench” was the beginning of the modern-day “altar call.”

Finney led a revival at Third Presbyterian Church in Rochester from September 1830 to March 1831. As a result of the Rochester Revival, people in the city and surrounding areas were deeply affected. People attended church services more regularly, and there was an almost instant social reform.

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This period of Presbyterian history is important and inspiring. While I won’t be offering any altar calls (or utilizing an “anxious bench”) on Sunday at the outdoor service, there will be multiple opportunities for us to engage in personal prayer. If you are comfortable attending the outdoor service, I sincerely hope to see you there.

Peace to you,

Pastor Neff

Mid-Week Meet-Up: COVID Update (from June 9)

Hi First Presbyterian,

Our re-opening is rapidly progressing, so I have another update for you about that in today’s Mid-Week Meet-Up. Last night the Session met and approved the following motions:

• Fellowship Hour will be re-introduced outdoors, with food and drink, beginning on June 20 with a strawberry social for Dads & Grads and thereafter as the Deacons find feasible.

• Registering in advance of coming to worship will no longer be required, effective immediately.

All other protocols, including social distancing during worship (via the designated sitting areas) and required mask-wearing for those who are unvaccinated, are still in effect. There is lots of space available at both services, and I hope to see more of you who are comfortable coming to in-person worship. I also look forward to worshiping with those of you participating online from home.

Because of the 11:30 am outdoor service on June 20, there will be no 8:30 am service that day. Whether you are participating in the 10:00 am service or the 11:30 am service (or both!) that day, I hope you will come for the strawberry social between the two services.  It will be a safe environment outdoors to see some of your friends you might not have seen in a long time and to celebrate our graduates and our fathers.

Let’s give thanks to God for the unfailing and unconditional grace we are shown through Jesus Christ and for the hope we have for the future!

Peace to you,

Pastor Neff

Mid-Week Meet-Up: COVID Update (from June 2)

Hi First Presbyterian,

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! The weather is warm and the rain has become less frequent, which means we have some great opportunities to have outdoor worship! The Worship and Music Committee and the staff have been planning outdoor services that will be special and different from our normal worship services. These outdoor services are intended to supplement our regular worship, not necessarily replace it. We hope that many of you who have not felt comfortable coming to an indoor worship service will feel comfortable coming to a worship service outside. We want this experience to be one that most of you will find meaningful and refreshing.

In addition to our regular worship, on June 20, July 18, and August 15 we will be having outdoor worship services at 11:30 am on our church lawn. Each of these services will have a thematic focus. On June 20, the outdoor service will be led in the spirit of American folk worship services, with special instrumentalists and American folk hymns. Instead of the “altar calls” that Charles Finney was known for during the Second Great Awakening in Upstate New York, there will be “prayer stations” for people to utilize throughout the service. The thematic focus for July 18 and for August 15 will be different.

The outdoors are God’s original sanctuary! I am looking forward to worshiping with you this summer, and I hope to see you outside on June 20!

Peace to you,

Pastor Neff

Mid-Week Meet-Up: COVID Update (from May 26)

Hi First Presbyterian,

For our Mid-Week Meet-Up today, I want to remind you that memorial services in the sanctuary are available to schedule. This has been a difficult year to lose a loved one. Many of you have been waiting until a better time to memorialize your dearly departed. As the restrictions for worship in our sanctuary have loosened, now might be the right time for you to consider scheduling a service. The same limited restrictions that apply for our Sunday worship also apply to memorial services. That means: 26 spots are available for seating with up to 5 adults in each spot; vaccinated people may remove their masks once seated in the sanctuary; and singing is permitted. While receptions are not permitted at this time, these other recent changes may meet your hopes for planning a memorial service. If you have been waiting for the right time to schedule a service and would like to do that now, please reach out to the church office at (585) 586-5688 or connect@pittsfordpres.org.

After worshiping with many of you in-person this past Sunday, I must say that I feel very safe with our new protocols. I trust the guidance on COVID from our health and government officials and the decisions of our Session. I am also very encouraged by everyone’s compliance with our protocols. As a result, people looking to memorialize loved ones may now feel able or comfortable to do so.

If you’re comfortable but on the fence about attending in-person Sunday worship, I encourage you to come some Sunday soon. I look forward to worshiping with you in-person or online.

Peace to you,

Pastor Neff

Mid-Week Meet-Up: Ascension of the Lord (from May 12)

Hi First Presbyterian,

I wrote our Mid-Week Meet-Up before I left for study leave and scheduled it to be sent to you while I am away. I hope it finds you in peace.

One of my favorite New Testament theologians is University of St. Andrews professor N. T. Wright. I once heard him give a lecture at Princeton University after which someone in the audience asked him a question along the lines of: “In addition to studying Jesus of Nazareth from an academic perspective, you obviously believe in him personally. What would it take for you to recant your belief in him?” N. T. Wright thought for about 3 seconds before responding: “The bones of Jesus.” In other words, N. T. Wright’s faith in Jesus is founded in the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus. As long as there is reason to believe that Jesus actually rose from the dead, then having faith in him is reliable and life-changing. If you heard my Easter sermon, you know I couldn’t agree with N. T. Wright more.

If I were to rank Christian beliefs by order of theological importance, I would put the resurrection of Jesus at number one. In my opinion, the ascension of Jesus must be number two. Think about it. If Jesus actually did rise from the dead, then where is he now? As far as I can see, there are only three options for answering that question. 1) After his resurrection, Jesus lived a while longer and then died again, let’s say, of natural causes. In that case, Jesus was not actually “resurrected” but was “resuscitated,” because resurrection means being raised to life without end. If Jesus was merely resuscitated, then he is not who Christians profess him to be. 2) Jesus continued to remain on the earth after his resurrection and is still alive somewhere on the earth right now. Maybe he’s on the same island where some people believe Elvis is hiding out! 3) Jesus actually physically rose from the dead, and then, as the book of Acts tells us, “he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight” (Acts 2:9).

Christians obviously choose option #3.

I’m not sure what happened to Jesus once he was out of the sight of the disciples. The book of Acts tells us he was taken “into heaven.” Where exactly is heaven? I’m not sure how to locate it physically. Up above the clouds is more of the Earth’s atmosphere, and continuing to follow in that direction will take you farther into an ever-expanding and seemingly endless universe. Is heaven outside the universe? Maybe. Heaven is wherever God is, and, since God is everywhere, I prefer to think of heaven as an unseen world all around us. When you think of heaven that way, the ascension of Jesus takes on a slightly different meaning, at least it does for me. What if the resurrected Jesus didn’t go away to some far away location but, instead, simply slipped out of sight to the unseen realm where God is? If that’s true then the physically embodied, yet unseen, Jesus of Nazareth is as close to you as anyone.

Tomorrow is Ascension Day. I encourage you to spend some time tomorrow reflecting on the resurrected and ascended Jesus. Maybe you can talk with a friend about it, and reflect on the fact that Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them” (Matthew 18:20). Do you feel his presence nearby? I assure you he is there.

Peace to you,

Pastor Neff

Mid-Week Meet-Up: Not Safe, but Good

Hi First Presbyterian Church,

Last week during my study leave at Skaneateles Lake, I had the opportunity to retreat, pray, and read. I enjoyed watching the sunsets over the lake, kayaking, and hiking upstream to a 50-foot waterfall. I did a lot of reading and writing, mostly about the Psalms. I was surrounded by water and couldn’t help but think of some of the language used in the Psalms about water. Psalm 65:9 describes God: “You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide the people with grain, for so you have prepared it.” Water is a source of nourishment and life. God gives us water as a way to care for and nurture us and the earth. It’s no wonder, then, that the psalmist imagines God as one who “leads me beside still waters” (Psalm 23:2). Water is a helpful image for contemplating the peace and tranquility that comes from knowing God. Yet, at the same time, the Psalms also describe God in relation to the immense power and strength of water. Psalm 89:9 describes God: “You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.” Water is also a helpful image for contemplating the might and power of God.

While at Skaneateles Lake, I felt as though I had encounters with both of these aspects of water. Watching the sun set over the stillness of the lake made me feel at peace. Hiking up through the waters of the stream to find a hard-to-reach waterfall made me feel nervous and uneasy at times, since the cascading waters made the steep and slippery terrain difficult to traverse. These two aspects of water, these two aspects of God, reminded me of a moment from C.S. Lewis’ children’s story The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In the story, some children find themselves in a world of fantasy called Narnia. In Narnia, the Christ-figure is a lion named Aslan. As a talking beaver is leading the children to meet Aslan, they discover that Aslan is a lion. One the children responds to this news: "Ooh… I'd thought he was a man. Is he - quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.” The beaver responded to her: “Safe?... Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good.”

That description of Aslan has always stuck with me: not safe, but good. Of course, C.S. Lewis always wants us to understand Jesus in that same way: not safe, but good. What does that mean? God is big and powerful enough to be quite dangerous. That’s the result of being omnipotent. To be all-powerful is to be capable of being very unsafe, especially to someone who is less powerful. Yet, because God is also perfectly good, God would never use power to harm us. God uses the immense power God possesses to help, benefit, and love us. I often contemplate these aspects of God together, and I find great comfort in it. I found great comfort in it as I contemplated it last week beside the calm and raging waters. I hope you find great comfort it in today. May you discover God’s great power… to love.

Peace to you,

Pastor Neff

Mid-Week Meet-Up: Prayer

Hi First Presbyterian,

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! In the Wednesday night Bible study, we’ve been reading and talking about the Lord’s Prayer from Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4. I wanted to share some thoughts with you that we’ve discussed in Bible study. In the 2014 Religious Landscape Study, one of the questions that the Pew Research Center asked respondents was: Outside of attending religious services, do you pray several times a day, once a day, a few times a week, once a week, a few times a month, seldom, or never? Of the respondents who identified as Protestant, 54% said they prayed at least daily, 23% said they prayed weekly, 7% said they prayed monthly, and 15% said they seldom or never prayed. (You can see those results here.) I have often sat with this data and pondered how to interpret it. However, I cannot help feeling a little discouraged that only 54% of Protestants say they pray daily and 15% say they seldom or never pray.

Think about someone in your life that you love dearly. It could be anyone – a spouse or significant other, another relative, or a friend. I assume you talk to that person every day, or, if you don’t talk to them on a certain day, you are aware of that fact and you miss talking to them. If this dearly loved one I’m asking you to think about is no longer living, I’m sure there isn’t a day that goes by that you wish you could talk with them. We long to be with the people with whom we have our most important relationships. It should be no different in our relationship to God.

The point of our salvation is to be reconciled to one another and to God. Being reconciled to God means we are able to have a relationship with God. You can be with God, talk to God, and listen for God. Prayer is the lifeblood of our relationship to God. When Jesus is approached by his disciples with the request: “Teach us to pray,” his response begins with, “When you pray…” (Luke 11:1-2). He didn’t say, “If you pray….” He said “when,” because he assumed that prayer would be a regular rhythm of our faith practice.

If we claim to love someone, yet rarely spend any time with them, rarely talk to them, and rarely listen to them, I think onlookers would be scratching their heads, wondering if our love is true or not. It is through prayer that we learn what God’s voice sounds like. It is through prayer that we are able to share our joy and grief with God. It is through prayer that we receive comfort and strength from the Holy Spirit. It is through prayer that our status as God’s beloved children is confirmed to us. It is through prayer that we discern God’s calling to send us out into the world.

I wish 100% of Protestants said they prayed at least daily. But here’s some good news: increasing the frequency and faithfulness of our communication with God can happen at any moment. As far as I can see, now is as good a time as any. Do you have 5 minutes to tell God what’s in your heart or to stop and listen for that still, small voice? I promise the Lord will be waiting to greet you with love.

Peace to you,

Pastor Neff

Mid-Week Meet-Up: Snow in April

Hi First Presbyterian,

I’m staring out my window as the snow is falling today. I’m sure many of you are shrugging your shoulders and saying to yourselves, “This is what springtime in Rochester is like.” For me, I can’t help but recall a line I read as a child from C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, where one of the characters describes an evil spell placed on the land of Narnia that makes it “always winter but never Christmas.”

Here we are in the middle of Spring, and it’s snowing. The scene outside my window looks a lot like when it was Winter. The image of the snow falling is trying to trick my brain into thinking it’s actually Winter, instead of Spring. The rational part of my brain knows that it’s April 21 and that it’ll feel like Spring again in just a few days. But another part of my brain is thinking it’s Winter, which is probably why I’m craving a cup of hot chocolate right now!

Stress in life can feel like that sometimes. We could be in a very good season in life, in good health, in good relationships with those we love, and finding fulfillment in our work or hobbies. Then along comes some external stress or other disruption and our brain immediately forgets about all of the good things happening and amplifies the bad thing. Even if it’s not true, all we can hear inside our heads is the voice shouting, “Everything is falling apart!”

In my own life, I’m trying to learn this lesson, and one thing I find helpful is gratitude. If I consciously bring to mind all the good things happening to me, then it starts to put the stress of life into perspective until it doesn’t seem so big. Sometimes I even write down on a piece of paper all the things happening, whether good or bad, so that I can see a total picture of my life. Then I give thanks to God for all that is good in my life.

One of my favorite passages of scripture is Philippians 4:8: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Whether you’re experiencing stress or anxiety in your life today or just noticing the snow falling outside, take a deep breath and remember: it is still Spring, and soon you’ll know that that’s true. Until then, remind yourself that those beautiful daffodils are still blossoming under all that snow. The same is true of life.

Peace be with you,

Pastor Neff

Mid-Week Meet-Up: COVID Update

Hi First Presbyterian,

If you remember my Mid-Week Meet-Up from last week, you know that the Session met last night and, among their other business, discussed re-opening our sanctuary for worship. I’m sure many of you are anxiously waiting to hear an update of what they decided.

Based on a recommendation from the Re-opening Task Force, the Session approved returning to indoor, in-person worship services at 8:30 am and 10:00 am, beginning this Sunday, April 18. Each in-person service will observe social distancing, will require mask-wearing, and will not include gathering indoors before or after the service. There are some differences between the services, so please take careful note of the following details:

• The 8:30 am service will be without singing

• The 10:00 am service will include some masked singing

• The 10:00 am service will also be live-streamed for people to participate from home

Each in-person service will allow for there to be up to 20 spots in attendance. A “spot” may be an individual, or a household or group of friends who are comfortable sitting together. A “spot” may have up to five adults. If you are comfortable attending an in-person service, please feel welcome to attend even if your “spot” has only one person in it. In order to ensure that we don’t overfill the sanctuary, registering in advance to attend in-person services will be necessary. A link to sign up will follow in a separate email tomorrow. As the weather continues to improve, there will also be occasional outdoor worship services.

The design of these services allows for everyone’s risk tolerance. The 8:30 am service is available for those who want to worship in-person but are not comfortable with singing. The 10:00 am in-person service is available for those who want to worship in-person and are comfortable with masked singing. The 10:00 am live-streamed service is available for those who are not comfortable worshiping in-person at all. In order for these services to continue happening, it is vital for everyone to comply with the health and safety guidelines.

As we begin to emerge from the past year of COVID, I encourage you to be thinking about the theme of my sermons during Eastertide. I said in a sermon recently that I believe if our desire is to become the same church as we were before the pandemic, then we will have failed to take advantage of the pandemic’s opportunity to reevaluate our priorities and goals as a community of faith. We are a people of the Resurrection! Let’s imagine together what new life God is calling out of us over the next weeks and months.

Whether you will be continuing to view our services online or attending an in-person service, I look forward to worshiping together with you!

Peace to you,

Pastor Neff

Mid-Week Meet-Up: Re-opening Update

Hi First Presbyterian,

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! After a week of rapidly changing plans, I was delighted by the quick turn-around that resulted in three lovely services on Easter morning that went off without a hitch (with the exception of some glitches on the live-stream that the Livestream Task Force is aware of and working on). I hope you were filled with hope and joy because Jesus is alive!

I’m sure, after celebrating Easter in-person, many of you are wondering: what’s next? I wanted to take the opportunity in this week’s Mid-Week Meet-Up to let you know. The Session’s decision to have Easter services outside came as the result of an urgent motion from the Re-opening Task Force. Having an outdoor service fell within the guidelines that the Session had previously set. The Re-opening Task Force will be presenting a motion to the Session at their regular meeting next week to adopt a new set of guidelines for in-person worship. If adopted, these new guidelines would lead to more in-person services with some loosened restrictions, in addition to our continued live-streamed service. This Sunday (which has rain in the forecast) will involve only a live-streamed service at 10:00 am. You can expect an update next week after the Session meeting about the status of re-opening our sanctuary for worship.

This morning I read Song of Songs 6:10: “Who is this that looks forth like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army with banners?” This book of the Bible has long been interpreted by Christians as a metaphor for Christ and his beloved church. May you feel the warmth of the sun shining on you today. May you also feel yourself transformed, alive, and radiant, because of the glory that Christ’s resurrection shines on you.

Peace to you,

Pastor Neff

Mid-Week Meet-Up: Holy Wednesday

Hi First Presbyterian Church,

For this Mid-Week Meet-Up, when many of you are feeling disappointment, I’d like to offer you some encouragement for your spiritual journey.

Today is Holy Wednesday, which is sometimes called Good Wednesday or Spy Wednesday. The name “Spy” is given to it, because, on this day of Holy Week, Christians remember that it was also the day of the week on which Judas betrayed Jesus, agreeing to be a spy for the chief priests in exchange for money (cf. Mark 14:10-11).

On this day of that first Holy Week, Jesus also ate with a group of people at the home of someone called “Simon the Leper.” During their meal, a wealthy woman came uninvited and anointed Jesus’ head with expensive perfumed oil. Some people at the dinner were angry with her and accused her of wasting the oil, when it could have been sold and its proceeds given to the poor. Jesus rebuked them and, then, responded with something that has always confused me. He said: “You always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me” (Mark 14:7). For a long time, it seemed to me that Jesus was advocating for not helping the poor. However, that is NOT what he was doing.

In fact, he seems to be alluding to another passage of scripture from Deuteronomy 15:11, which says, “There will never cease to be some in need on the earth.” If Jesus indeed is alluding to this verse, then he almost certainly has its context in mind, too. The surrounding verses clearly indicate a proactive and generous attitude to helping the poor: “Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land’” (Deut. 15:10-11). So, if Jesus is not advocating to refrain from helping the poor, what is he saying?

I think to understand the answer to that question, we must understand that the ethics of Jesus are based on two principles: love of God and love of neighbor. We cannot and should not have one without the other. If we only love God, but neglect our neighbors (especially those in need), then our love for God is in question (cf. 1 John 4:20-21). More to the point Jesus is making here: if we only love our neighbors but neglect to love God, our love for our neighbors is bound to veer off course. We can only love our neighbors the we ought to love them, when our love for and commitment to God is in order. Our love for God puts out neighbor into proper perspective. Our love for God puts everything into perspective.

On this Holy Wednesday, I encourage you to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, the same God who was betrayed by his close friend for you, who was arrested, tried, and punished for you, who was crucified for you, and who has risen from the grave for you. Thanks be to God.

Peace to you,

Pastor Neff

Mid-Week Meet-Up: Approaching Palm Sunday

Hi First Presbyterian,

Palm Sunday is this weekend, the day in the liturgical calendar when we remember Jesus’ “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem. Transport yourself back over 2,000 years ago and to ancient Judea. Today, Wednesday, Jesus would be continuing his journey from Galilee to the big city. In fact, about this time of the week, he may have been on the Jericho Road, one of the main routes into Jerusalem named as such because it connected Jerusalem to the city of Jericho. The Gospels tell us about an interaction Jesus had in the city of Jericho on his way to Jerusalem: he healed someone who was sitting by the road begging. In Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospels, the person is simply called “a blind man.” However, in Mark’s Gospel, he is given a name. He is called “Bartimaeus.” This is peculiar for a couple reasons. First, it is very rare that we are ever told anyone’s name in the Bible who is not a main character. The fact that this person is given a name should catch our attention. Second, look at how Mark tells us his name in 10:46: “Bartimaeus son of Timaeus.” In Aramaic (the language that most Jews spoke in the first century), the prefix “bar-“ means “son of.” In other words, Mark is introducing this person by calling him, “Son of Timaeus, son of Timaeus.” This is not an accident. Mark is not being redundant here. In fact, I think he’s trying to tell us something significant.

Without getting too much into the weeds with my explanation of what’s happening, Mark seems to be using a wordplay. He’s combining Aramaic and Greek to tell us something about what’s happening with this man in Jericho. “Bartimaeus” (in Aramaic) means something like “son of the unclean.” “Son of Timaeus” (in Greek) means something like “son of the highly prized.” I think what Mark is trying to show us is that this person who was considered “unclean” by his society, has instead become “highly prized” because of his encounter with Jesus. This is the heart of the Gospel!

Blindness was wrongfully considered punishment for sin and, out of fear, societies ostracized people with blindness and kept them at a distance. This person, who spent his days begging at the roadside, had been pushed to the edges of society because of a condition he had no control over. In the eyes of people, he was “unclean.” In the eyes of Jesus, however, he was “highly prized.” As he called out to Jesus to have mercy on him, people were actively trying to silence him. Jesus pushed past their condescension, their pride, and their fear and sought to meet Bartimaeus, whom he considered to be a beloved child of God. Jesus healed him, and the man followed him the rest of the way to Jerusalem.

Thank God that Jesus looks past what others think and say about us and sees us for who we truly are: beloved children of God. You are highly prized and valued by God. You are not what people think or say about you. You are not even necessarily what you think and say about yourself. You are a beloved child of God. Those who are forgiven much, ought to love much (cf. Luke 7:47). Since we have been forgiven by God and loved so greatly, let us go out and be generous with our love to others, especially those like Bartimaeus, who are pushed to the margins and thought of as unclean.

As we prepare to welcome Jesus triumphantly this Sunday, let us do so with joy and humility, knowing how greatly God loves us all.

Peace to you,
Pastor Neff

Mid-Week Meet-Up: St. Patrick's Day

Hi First Presbyterian,

Today is March 17. Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! While St. Patrick’s Day doesn’t have the personal connection for me that St. David’s Day does, I enjoy thinking about Patrick of Ireland and his contribution to the spread of Christianity. I am particularly intrigued by the distinct trinitarianism of ancient Celtic Christianity. The Trinity was important not only for how they understood God but also how they lived out their faith. Most people are aware of Patrick’s use of the shamrock to introduce the concept of the Trinity to the people of Ireland.

I’ve attached an image of something called the triquetra (from Latin meaning “three-corners.”) The triquetra is often connected to the “Celtic knot,” because of its distinctly trinitarian appearance. In other words, the triquetra is uniquely three-in-one. It has three distinct corners, which you can draw without ever lifting your pen from paper. The trinitarian nature of the triquetra was noticed by Celtic Christians as early as the middle ages, when it appears in many illustrated manuscripts of the Bible from Ireland.

I’m going to include below the text of a well-known prayer attributed to Patrick of Ireland. I encourage you to print off the attached image and pray this prayer while you trace your finger along the shape of the triquetra. Or, maybe you just want to trace the triquetra while you contemplate the mystery of the Trinity. My hope is that today, on St. Patrick’s Day, you will think about the mystery of God’s nature, that God can be both far beyond our ability to understand and deeply familiar and knowable.

I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity,

by invocation of the same, the Three in One, the One in Three.

I bind this day to me forever, by power of faith, Christ’s incarnation,
his baptism in the Jordan river, his death on the cross for my salvation.
His bursting from the spiced tomb, his riding up the heavenly way,
his coming at the day of doom I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself today the virtues of the star-lit heaven, the glorious sun’s life-giving ray, the whiteness of the moon at even, the flashing of the lightning free, the whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks, the stable earth, the deep salt sea around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today the power of God to hold and lead,
God’s eye to watch, God’s might to stay, God’s ear to harken to my need,
the wisdom of my God to teach, God’s hand to guide, God’s shield to ward,
the word of God to give me speech, God’s heavenly host to be my guard.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me;
Christ to comfort and restore me;
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the name, the strong name of the Trinity,
by invocation of the same, the Three in One, and One in Three,
of whom all nature hath creation, eternal Father, Spirit, Word;
praise to the God of my salvation, salvation is of Christ the Lord!

Peace to you,

Pastor Neff

Mid-Week Meet-Up: Ash Wednesday

Hi First Presbyterian,

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! I want to remind you that tonight is our Ash Wednesday live-streamed service at 7:00 pm. You can find the live-stream just like you find our Sunday morning live-stream. The imposition of ashes is not going to be part of the live-streamed service, but, if you would like to receive the imposition of ashes today, there will be an opportunity for you to do so this afternoon. From 4:30 – 5:30 pm, Pastor Jacobson and I will be in the Locust Street parking lot to give out ashes. Drive through the parking lot at any point during that time window, and, while you are in your car, we will offer that familiar refrain, “You are dust, and to dust you will return,” and impose ashes on your heads (using COVID safety). This drive-thru is intended to supplement the evening service, not replace it. I hope to see some of you!

Someone once said to me, “Why do we celebrate Ash Wednesday? It seems very Catholic.” I think I understood what they meant by ‘Catholic’ (i.e., not very Presbyterian), and I tried to answer them in light of that. The truth is: God’s people have been putting ashes on their heads for thousands of years. Throughout the Old Testament, you can read about people putting ashes on their heads as a sign of grief, mourning, or repentance. Not even 100 years after the apostle Paul lived, historical records show that Christians were also using ashes on their foreheads as a sign of repentance during their worship. Today, the imposition of ashes is practiced by Christians all over the world to begin the season of Lent. It is true of all rituals, including the ritual of imposing ashes, that the ritual serves to point to a greater reality.

What reality is the imposition of ashes pointing to? Here’s how I like to think of it. Most people don’t leave their homes without making a little effort at improving their appearance. People sometimes comb their hair, check their teeth in the mirror, tuck their shirt in, or put on some make-up. We do those things to show a little respect to the people we’ll see while we’re out. We also do it for our own sake. It can be embarrassing when we realize after we’ve been with other people that we had some spinach in our teeth the whole time. We might look in the mirror after being out and look at our teeth and think, “That’s been there the whole time?! How did that happen!?” 

The reason we put ashes on our forehead is similar. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been getting ready for bed on Ash Wednesday, look at myself in the bathroom mirror, and have a split-second thought, “How’d that dirt get on my forehead!?” Then I’ll quickly recall, “Oh, that’s right! I had someone put it there on purpose.” We dirty our appearances on Ash Wednesday to help us to think less about fleeting, temporal things, like how we look, so that we will replace those thoughts with deeper and more meaningful ones like, “What is the purpose of life?” “Why am I so broken?” “Why do I sometimes hurt the people in my life that I love most?” Ash Wednesday is a time to contemplate not just any questions about life, but questions having to do with our own brokenness. Contemplating those questions helps lead us to remember that God has provided us the way to repair our brokenness. God, who is full of love, looked down on our broken lives and considered them precious, precious enough to come to us, to live a life like ours, to die a death like ours, and to raise back to life in order to share that life with us. Our broken lives are precious to God. That is the meaning of Ash Wednesday.

Peace to you all,

Pastor Neff

Mid-Week Meet-Up: Checking in about COVID

Hi First Presbyterian,

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up. The situation with COVID-19 in Monroe County has been improving over recent weeks, and I’m sure many of you are wondering about what that means for in-person church activities. I want to take this opportunity to remind you about the protocols Session adopted back in November in relation to opening the church building. Here are those protocols:

• In-person worship will be suspended if Monroe County reaches either 15/100K daily new cases OR a 3% positivity rate. In the event this happens, in-person worship may resume after these numbers reduce to less than 14/100K daily new cases and less than a 3% positivity rate.

• The building closes to church groups and programs (Sunday School, Confirmation, LOGOS, yoga, etc.) if Monroe County reaches either 20/100K daily new cases OR a 5% positivity rate. In the event this happens, the building will re-open to these groups/programs after these numbers reduce to less than 18/100K daily new cases and less than a 5% positivity rate.

As of yesterday, Monroe County was at 27.6/100K daily new cases and a positivity rate of 6.4%. Considering that over a month ago the daily new cases number was closer to 80/100K, the County is heading in the right direction and we’re getting closer to the point where we can begin to open up the building to programming again.

In the meantime, I encourage you to continue to worship with us over live-stream every Sunday at 10:00 am and to participate in the many virtual gatherings we do during the week, whether it’s Bible study, prayer group, Sunday School, youth group, game night, and many more. I encourage you to wait with hope and trust in God’s abiding love, like the apostle Paul who experienced many trials in his ministry yet never gave up. As he once wrote: “But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Cor. 4:7-9). Despite these challenges, God’s promise endures, which gives us reason to hope.

Peace to you,
Pastor Neff

Mid-Week Meet-Up: Four Gospels

Hi First Presbyterian,

We started a new series in Wednesday Night Bible Study looking at the unique characteristics of each of the four New Testament Gospels. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John each tell us about the one and only Jesus Christ, but each of them tells us about him from their own perspectives and with their own rhetorical goals in mind. In their differences, the Gospels teach us important lessons about Jesus.

What do Matthew and Luke tell us about the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem but Mark and John do not? Why does Matthew tell us about the visit of the magi, but Luke tells us about the visit of the shepherds? Why does Luke include Jesus’ parable of the lost coin but not the other Gospels? Why are there no parables in John’s Gospel, yet there are incredible miracle stories found only in the Gospel of John? There are answers to each of these questions which give us insight into the unique portrayal of Jesus that the Gospel writers were seeking to create. While the Gospels are slightly different from one another, we need each of them to get a more complete understanding of who Jesus truly is. Can you imagine if we only had the Gospel of John and never knew anything about the Sermon on the Mount, one of the most important teachings on ethics and morality? Can you imagine if we only had the Gospel of Mark and knew nothing of the seven “I am…” statements of Jesus found in the Gospel of John?

The fact that we have four Gospels demonstrates how important it is to listen to multiple voices. When it comes to the church, I think we need each other’s voices. We need to hear from one another about what God is doing in our lives. Your experience of God’s love, justice, grace, and mercy may be different than my experience, and I need to hear from you to help me expand my knowledge of God.  Paul says in Colossians 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom.” If Christ is speaking to you today, thank the Lord! But don’t keep it to yourself; share it with someone else to encourage them and to help them see a more complete picture of the one and only Jesus Christ.

Peace to you,

Pastor Neff

Mid-Week Meet-Up: Epiphany Begins

Hi First Presbyterian,

“On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: twelve drummers drumming, eleven pipers piping…” and you know the rest. Do you know the meaning of that song? It’s not a surprise if you don’t, because no one is really certain of its origin or its meaning. Some people think it may have been a song with a secret code for Roman Catholics in England to use to secretly teach children about Catholic faith during a time in English history when Anglicans were persecuting Catholics. Some other people think it may have been a fun memory game for children to play during Twelfth Night parties. But that brings up another question - what’s Twelfth Night? Well, it’s the evening of January 5.

Retail stores would have you believe that the Christmas season begins the day after Halloween and ends after Christmas Day. But for hundreds of years now, Western Christians have observed the Christmas season for 12 days. The first day of Christmas is Christmas Day (December 25), which means, counting forward 12 days would take you to January 5. When Laura and I lived in Springville years ago, a friend of ours from the Presbyterian church used to host Twelfth Night parties, where everyone would bring their used Christmas trees and throw them in a big bonfire to light up the night. It was great fun.

As I think back on those Twelfth Night parties, I see a bit of symbolism that I hadn’t noticed before. While Christmastide was coming to an end, those Christmas trees (literally) were providing the fuel to burn an enormously bright and hot fire. Can we use those burning Christmas trees as a metaphor for how we should enter the season of Epiphany which starts today? The hope, peace, joy, and love we were reminded of during Advent and Christmastide can provide us energy to face the next leg of our journey of faith. Epiphany is a season about making the good news of Jesus Christ known to the world. Does your faith in Christ bring you hope? Our world needs hope right now. In all the ways that you know how, strive to show the world that Christ is the answer to our deepest longing.

Peace to you,

Pastor Neff