"ADORATION"

[ THIS IS TUESDAY'S BLOG ENTRY POSTED A LITTLE BIT EARLY!  :-)  ]

“If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.”  (John 13:14)

This past Sunday afternoon and evening , my 20th anniversary at First Assembly of God of Framingham was observed.  As I recall, I moved into Framingham on January 3, 1987 and my first Sunday was January 4, 1987.  Interestingly enough, this past Sunday’s date was January 7.  It was on January 7, 1977, THIRTY years ago, that I arrived at Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri to begin my training for full-time ministry.  So, Sunday was a significant event.

We mailed out around fifty invitations to people outside of the Framingham church family, and the event was heavily promoted within the Framingham church.  There was a potential maximum attendance of around 130.  About a week ago, I began receiving notices of people who were declining to attend.  Several had very valid reasons.  Some had previously scheduled events to attend.  Some were ill.  Some just had no reasonable way of getting to Framingham.  Others seemed frivolous about not attending and did not give the reason.  It was very hard to determine how much food to plan for and how many seats to set up.  There were also two very difficult developments within the church.  A couple of weeks ago, a prominent and very much loved woman in the congregation abruptly left the church.  This caused some confusion and hurt feelings in the congregation.  And, just this past week, a couple who has been very loyal to me and very faithful went on an angry rampage and announced they were leaving the church.  Throughout the years, that kind of thing has been the most difficult that I have faced in pastoring.  I know a lot of these matters are (frankly) spiritual warfare.  We also had gang graffiti sprayed on our church building twice in the very recent past (which I’ve cleaned off).  Despite this “stuff” I tried to be positive about the anniversary day.  We had a total of about 60 people in attendance.  Some came for just the reception at 5 p.m., but most stayed for the 6:30 service.

I was very blessed by those who did come.  Pastor Rich Hurst of the Framingham Lutheran Church attended the reception.  He praised my involvement with the clergy as well as my commitment to the greater Framingham community.  I was quite humbled by his compliments.  I was honored that Chuck and Gretchen Pierce, who for many years pastored Village Bible Chapel in Framingham, attended.  In recent years, Chuck has pastored a medium-sized Baptist church in southern Rhode Island.  He has just retired.  Chuck mentored me during my early years in Framingham.  Several other clergy friends were in attendance.  It was great that our friends John and Kathy Ventresco came down from New Hampshire, and Duff and Barbara Kirklewski, who were active at our church for many years, made a special effort to be present.

My kids ministered in music and were FABULOUS.  They sang songs that were both funny and serious.  The entire worship service was great.  I think I scared some people by preaching a 20 Point Sermon- but actually it only lasted for forty minutes!  We had Communion, and during the Communion service, my son played a 25-year-old recording of a flute solo by Alice Lund who often played her flute at services at Christian Life Center-Walpole in the early 1980s.  That was a nice touch.  Incidentally, the title of the flute solo was “Adoration” and that’s what I’ve chosen to entitle this blog entry.

Most of us ate too much food, and we had a good time.

On Monday, it was not just me who had mixed feelings.  I talked to several key people from the church who loved the service but were deeply disappointed in the actions of several individuals which they felt kind of tarnished the day.  I guess we have to put all that stuff in perspective.

Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, including Judas’ feet.  Sometimes we are called to do the same.