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FriarTucker

Friar's Reflections

Come here for weekly reflections on life in the church through various lenses. This is where you'll find me in some of my most immediate reactions to things we face. It's not all beautiful, but it's authentic.
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Fasting, Coke Zero, and Eucharist in the COVID-19 Lent

3/27/2020

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 Joel 2:12 Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. 

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To be clear from the start, this is not an article arguing you shouldn't utilize digital Eucharistic practices. Nor is it a piece contending you should provide digital Eucharistic opportunities. Rather, it's a reflection on what I've learned thus far in a Lent almost entirely without Eucharist.

And without Coke Zero. 


When this Lent began, I thought the most difficult fast I would be undertaking was my discipline of forgoing all diet soda during the 40 days of preparation for Easter. That was before the coronavirus news fully set in to the psyche of the U.S. Since then, I've fasted from most physical contact and in-person social engagements. I've fasted from the gym, from dining in restaurants, from the freedom to go wherever I want, whenever I want. I've fasted from my normal routine. 

And so have you. Due to the deadly potential of the COVID-19 pandemic, we've been forced to fast from so much. 

It's surreal to think that, when my diet soda fast began on Ash Wednesday, I was with a number of Capital University preseminary students in Florida for a ministry immersion trip. How s
trange to consider that, just a few weeks ago, interstate travel was a given. Now, we're restricted from traveling anywhere beyond the bounds of absolute necessity (though, admittedly, we have incredibly loose definitions of "essential" work and activities). What a difference a few weeks can make when the lives and livelihoods of billions of people are at stake.

One of my favorite Lenten nuggets of knowledge is that Sundays are not properly part of Lent. That's why, between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday, there are forty-six calendar days, even as the season of Lent only has forty days. The difference between the two numbers is each Sunday, which is a little celebration of Easter. The fasts of Lent are not required during the Sundays that interrupt the season. 

That's why, each Sunday, I've been fortunate to suck down the sweet nectar of Coke Zero, Diet Vernor's, Fresca, and others. It's a delicious reprieve amidst what has become the simplest fast of the season. My daily soda consumption during the rest of the year is, well, significant. So kicking it entirely out of my life six days a week has been rough. An incredibly first world kind of rough, but rough nonetheless. Each Monday, my taste buds still carry a hint of sucralose sweetness, so my yearning is strong but full of reminiscent thanks. By Wednesday, I'm grumpy, reminding my wife that sparkling water "tastes like butt." When Friday rolls in, I can see the caramel-tinted light at the end of the weekend's tunnel, so I hydrate expectantly in the hopes of Sunday's return to Coke Zero nirvana. 

I've learned a surprising amount about Eucharist, and about the God who is present in that holy meal, from this time of unexpected fasts. Yet, it's not the words of Jesus that ring in my ear, nor Paul's recollection of the eucharistic feast. It's Joel, the prophet through whom God beckons to the people, "
return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning." No, God does not rejoice in our tears, but God does delight in our authenticity. My time away from diet sodas doesn't make me weep, and to call my yearning for the fizzy sweetness "mourning " would be hyperbole to the max. In the obvious sense, a desire from Coke Zero is nothing like our desire for God.

Indeed, in this Lenten fast, I've noticed something deeper than in years past. While I want diet soda worse and worse as the week rolls on, each Sunday, my Coke Zero swig is sublime. Yet, I notice I've loved diet soda less and less. I no longer relish in its taste. I no longer feel the need to have constant access to the ice and fizz. My time away from diet soda makes me want it more, until the reality comes, and then its true value is revealed. It's good, but it's not that good. 

What Lenten fasts intend to teach us is a shadow of God's holy fast. Our preparation for God, this time when we see in a mirror dimly, will not end with similar disappointment. Rather, the first deep drink from the well of everlasting life will fill us to the brim. It will be no less sweet to commune at Christ's eternal feast, to sip from the river that runs through God's holy city, to eat from the tree at the center of that city. We await God's ultimate return, and what we find will not leave us wanting or unimpressed.

This, I feel, is what I'm learning from the unintended eucharistic fast so many of us are on. It's not just the texture of the wheat grains, the smoothness of the fermented grapes, that will one day cross these lips again. It's the promise of union with God and with all the saints who partake of the eternal feast, that signifies this meal. Without the COVID-19 "stay at home" order in Ohio, I might not realize how I can yearn even more for eucharist than I do for modern extravagances. I might not comprehend the powerful draw of the sacrament, one which reminds me of my full humanity and brings the fullness of divinity deep into me.

It's possible to yearn for something quite mundane in ways that are similar to yearning for something holy. 
What's different is the experience of satisfaction. Time without Coke Zero - and all other diet pops - has taught me that they are, in fact, unnecessary. Time without the Eucharist has taught me how essential it is. I am not myself if I am not united with God and God's people. Our communion is only a foretaste of the feast to come, but that is more taste than our worldly foods could ever conceive.

Even Coke Zero pales in comparison to the tastes of eternity, bread of heaven, cup of salvation, feast of God's victory. That's what I've learned from this Lenten fast. It's a healthy reminder that our Lenten disciplines do matter because, with reflection, they point us beyond the mundane and into the sacred. 

And so I wait, in great expectancy, first for the Eucharist, and then for the everlasting feast. 

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5 Ways for Congregants to Prepare for Digital Worship

3/25/2020

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​So you, and many others, are now worshipping digitally because of an order from your state to Shelter in Place, Stay at Home, Quarantine, or my personal favorite, Hoosier Hunker Down. Well done, Indiana. Probably not just worship, either. Small group meetings and Bible studies. Council meetings and youth group activities. Much, perhaps most, of this life is digital right now.

Soon, though, the novelty may wear off.

Now that you've been doing it for a few weeks, there's a danger of both losing connectivity to one another as well as the commitment to continuing this practice in these limited ways. How can you foster feelings of connection with God, with your community, and with the worship experience? How can worship remain a priority for you not just in theory, but in practice?

​Preparation here now matters more than ever. Many congregations, when they gather, hear a leader say "Prepare your hearts and minds for worship." Now, though, we're called beyond hearts and minds. We're called to prepare hearths and selves, the physical spaces of our homes and the bodies we bring to digital worship. Below are 5 suggestions for preparation to magnify your experience of digital worship. 

First, though, a disclaimer: This isn't advice for how to create the best technological experience. There's value in the right sound settings, turning your microphone off, and the like; this, rather, is about the space in which your technology is set and how to more fully engage worship in that place. 
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  1. Set (and Choose) the Space. If you're having trouble feeling like you're at worship, take a look around yo​u. Is there dirty laundry strewn across the couch? Dirty dishes on the table? Garbage bags waiting to be taken out? Don't get me wrong. Those are all realities in my house! But they can often be distracting elements when I'm trying to engage in reflective and attentive worship. So we've set aside our guest bedroom as a space where we don't leave messes, where we clean and organize regularly, where we try to align the feeling of the space with the purpose of worship. Not that God needs a tidy space, but removing the normal distractions instead helps us to focus ourselves more on holy purposes. If you don't have a bedroom to spare, prioritize a corner of the kitchen table, a section of the family room, to set in order and prioritize worship for at least the time that you're planning to worship.
  2. Utilize Images. Art is a vital element of worship. Since the earliest Christian gatherings, words, images, and artifacts played central roles. Of course, the words of scriptures, both the Hebrew Bible and New Testament, exemplified various kinds of linguistic art: poetry and narrative, song and prose and advice. Soon, other images, like paintings, drawings, and eventually icons, became central parts of the church's worship. Many elements like the altar and candlesticks, as well as the cup and plate (also known as a chalice and paten) of communion, contain types of decorating, from quite simple to ornate extravagance. For your own space, consider projecting or printing your favorite religious image that features community, like an icon of Jesus and the disciples, to help focus you on Christ and Christ's community. Consider hanging a cross and displaying your favorite Bible, open to your favorite passage. 
  3. Remember Your Baptism. Once you've chosen and prepared a space, as well as decorated with imagery that inspires faith, one of the ways to mark an entrance into worship is to smash yourself with holy water. Many churches have the baptismal font at the main entrance, to signify baptism's role as the traditional entrance into Christian community. Whenever I pass a font in the church, I dip my finger in the water and mark a sign of the cross on my head. Consider, then, as you prepare for digital worship events, to go to the bathroom, wet your hand, and mark your forehead with the cross of Christ. Do you have a favorite decorative bowl? Consider fusing the art and the baptismal remembrance by filling the bowl and bringing it into the space you've set aside. 
  4. Light Up Your World. Most churches utilize candles in some way. Originally, this was the only way you could light a home at night. Eventually, candles lit large temples and then catacombs for worship. With the advent of electricity, candles became more theologically useful. The lighting of candles signified God's presence, particularly around the places where the holiest things happened: around altars, pulpits, and the font. One candle, the Christ Candle, is lit only during the liturgical seasons where Christ is understood as presence. In your home-based worship space, light a candle to signify the presence of God with you, in your home. The warmth of the flame may remind you of God's comfort, and the flickering light of God's constant movement.
  5. Sing It Loud, Say It Proud! Once worship begins, whether you're by yourself or with a group of family, it can feel a bit awkward to join in litanies, to pray aloud, or to sing along the way you would in the sanctuary with your church. Remember, though, that worship is inherently participatory. So when you pray, pray with fervor. Let the words resonate from deep within you. When you sing, do it as John Wesley said: "lustily, and with good courage!" Yes, he really said that, and I agree! Shout to the Lord with joy and passion. There's no shame in passionate worship, no matter if you're surrounded by hundreds, gathered with dozens, or alone behind a screen, connected to the community through the internet. 

​Do you have other ideas for how to best prepare for digital worship? Share them here in the comments or on social media. Be sure to tag @FriarTuckTweets on Twitter, @LutheranFriarTucker on Instagram, and @Drew Tucker on Facebook. 

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A Sermon for a Trying Time

3/11/2020

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As you're probably aware, colleges and universities across the country are moving to "online delivery" of education. In other words, classes will temporarily meet via software like Zoom or Skype for Business until the time comes that COVID-19, aka coronavirus, is no longer at a pandemic level. Most times, this also includes the cancellation of all events on campus, and in some extreme cases, closure of residence halls as well. At Capital, we're keeping dining and housing up and running to ensure all students have access to food and shelter; however, we've cancelled all official gatherings scheduled to happen on our campus, whether hosted by student organizations, university offices, and outside organizations. We just announced this decision over 24 hours ago, and already I've had dozens of conversations with people who feel increasingly isolated by this necessary move to isolation. 

So, rather than simply suspend worship until further notice, we've decided to host online versions of worship during our regularly scheduled times. Though we might feel like we're all alone in our worship, like the tiny chapel built for one above, one of the blessings of the digital age is that this restriction on gathering mustn't include absolute isolation. We can, and should, connect with our siblings in Christ to worship. We can, and should, continue our Lenten journeys. We can, and should, provide vital precautions to prevent infecting the most vulnerable people in our communities, as well as the very vulnerable neighbors we've never met but will come across in the grocery store, on the bus, or at work. So, we worship in this way temporarily, with the grand hope of returning to worship together in the same room. Until then, our small worship spaces are bound together by the Holy Spirit and the World Wide Web, raising a chorus to God of faith, hope, and love. 

I'm thankful to Capital junior Nicky Gutierrez, who was planning to preach this sermon at Candlelight, our Thursday night worship service, and instead worked ahead to record it so we can place it here and share it during worship on Facebook Live at 9:09PM on March 12th. If you've come across this page, you've come to the right place. Give it a listen. 


Nicky Gutierrez - Sermon on Isaiah 53
File Size: 5278 kb
File Type: m4a
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