love – Salvaged Faith

Thanks!

Posted on June 18, 2023Leave a comment

Text: Isaiah 12:1-6, Philippians 4:4-9

Holy God, speak into our midst this morning. Fill us with hope, grace, and peace. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts and minds honor You this morning. May they be worthy of your calling and accomplish your faithful work in our midst. Amen.

I thank God for you.

I do. I really do.

I thank God for you, the people of Immanuel United Methodist Church.

I thank God for how the love you all have for each other and the world is increasing.

Robert Dunham wrote that “common struggle often forges an uncommon unity and love for one another. Like the peace that holds the community fast in turmoil, love for one another and congregational unity are best received and celebrated as gifts.”

And as we gather today, I cannot help but reflect upon some of the common struggles that we have shared over these last nine years of ministry together.

Some of them were challenges that we set before ourselves: raising money through a concert for DMARC, a gigantic garage sale for Joppa, or purchasing five brand new books for every student at Hillis Elementary.

But we have also been held together through turmoil.

Some of them are simply the realities of human life:

the illnesses, the injuries, the loss of treasured members of our community.

We have prayed and grieved and supported one another – offering God’s strength and peace.

And then there were the realities that we didn’t see coming.

Truly adaptive challenges we faced as the world changed… and is changing… and we’ve had to figure out how to reach new people in new ways.

We have gone through a pandemic… learning how to move worship online and connect with one another in new ways.

We have navigated conflict and conversation about human sexuality and racism and how to welcome immigrants and what kind of church we want to be for the future.

A changing economy impacts not just our church finances, but also demands more of us as we reach out to care for the hungry and the homeless on our doorstep.

When I think about our scripture from Isaiah today, I remember that much of this text was written in a time of great difficulty.

The first half tells of the judgment of the people, who weren’t following God’s will.

And the second half is full of hope and promise… but written from exile, having lived through destruction and removal.

And yet, in all of it, Isaiah keeps an eye on what God has done.

On the grace and mercy of God.

Joy and praise and thanksgiving ring out…

not because everything is hunky dory… but because it is not.

And in our own situations… we didn’t always know what we were doing, or how to do it, but by the grace of God, we’ve found ways to love, serve, and pray together.

Not because we had the answers… or because the work was easy…

but because we knew that God was with us and would help us through.

It is the challenge of Paul and Timothy as they write to the people of Philippi. This is from the Message translation:

“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”

Although you have every reason to be anxious… and you have needs and requests to share with God… there is also reason to give thanks.

Or… as Anne Lamott so honestly puts it in her book about the three essential prayers: Help, Thanks, and WOW! :

“…at some point, we cast our eyes to the beautiful skies, above all the crap we’re

wallowing in, and we whisper, ‘Thank you.’

Thank you, God.

And in so many of those kinds of situations, there were moments when we got a little grumpy with one another.

We are human after all, and we are still learning and growing and figuring these things out…

but we are doing it together…

And we’ve taken the time to share when things weren’t working out and have reached out when feelings were hurt and have tried to find a way forward.

Anne Lamott describes the prayer of thanks as a tool to move from “rashy and clenched to grateful.”

I just love that imagery… and I can actually sense it in my body.

There are those moments when we are frustrated or in conflict and we truly are clenched.

It is a posture of being on high alert, always ready to fight or flee or even freeze.

In a world that is so divisive, we see that all around us.

But I think that God has used us and shaped us through gratitude, love, and grace to be God’s people and demonstrate a different path.

We have tried to live out the advice from Paul and Timothy to be gentle with one another and to seek the peace of God.

We’ve stayed in conversation. We’ve taken the time to listen.

And we have found ways to give thanks and celebrate the people who have come into our lives…

All of which takes that posture of abrasive and clenched living and turns it into a posture of openness and grace.

The love we have for one another is a gift…

the bonds formed in the midst of common struggle are a blessing…

and they should be celebrated as such.

Thank you, God.

Anne Lamott writes that “Gratitude begins in our hearts and then dovetails into behavior. It almost always makes you willing to be of service, which is where the joy resides.”

And friends, as we have been grateful for the love of God… we have also let those prayers of thanksgiving turn into joyful service.

[the numbers represent images of ministry projected during the worship service]

[1] Thank you God for the deeper relationships we formed with our neighborhood elementary school, Hillis, as we brought books for so many children and we have more and more people taking just an hour a week to read with those who need some extra help.

[2] And thank you for helping us to continue efforts like Donuts for Dudes and Muffins for Moms where we can be present in our neighborhood and share God’s love with breakfast.

[3] Thank you God for the ways that young people and their mentors here at the church bonded through hard work, study, and recreation at things like confirmation.

[4] Thank you God for the impact you had on children in our church and community as we worked to help them learn more about your powerful and never-ending love.

[5] Thank you God, for calling us to have hard conversations about your calling for our church in this world.

[6] Thank you God, for bringing us together in fellowship and for new relationships formed over barbeque and basketball.

[7] Thank you for challenging us to stretch beyond our own teams and ministries to build new partnerships with others, like the Interfaith Green Team Coalition.

[8] Thank you God, for those who give so faithfully of their time and energy behind the scenes to make ministry here possible.

[9] Thank you God for the faithfulness of our predecessors like Mrs. Simser and the bibles we give our children and the faithfulness of third grade bible partners and teachers.

[10] Thank you God for a seven year partnership and relationship with Imani church…

[11] … and for our new relationship with Immanuel Gospel Fellowship.

[12] Thank you God for the opportunity to go into the world to serve you through Volunteers in Mission, in our neighborhood, but also as far away as Omaha and Memphis.

[13] and thank you for challenging us to do hard things to raise funds and give time for ministries like Joppa and DMARC.

[14] and for the deep connections that are created when we labor together for a common good.

[15] Thank you God for those who not only prepare meals for us every week, but who care for and minister to one another in good times and in bad.

[16] Thank you God for those who knit and crochet blankets, for folks who feed and care and support, so that we can extend the love of Immanuel to those who need it the most.

[17] Thank you God for our staff and their faithfulness and willingness to serve.

[18] Thank you for the youth and volunteers and chaperones who go out and represent us so well in the community.

[19] Thank you, God.

Thank you.

You know, I started out just trying to find a few highlights of the amazing work God has been doing here among us and the list just kept going on and on and on.

As Paul writes to the church at Philippi, there really is so much to brag about.

He praises their generosity, their support for his ministry.

He encourages them for the work that is still to come.

But really… that’s the outline of all of Paul’s letters.

And I can’t help but borrow Paul’s words… or rather, Eugene Peterson’s translation of Paul’s words.

“My dear, dear friends! I love you so much. I do want the very best for you. You make me feel such joy, fill me with such pride. Don’t waver. Stay on track, steady in God.” (Philippians 4:1, MSG)

Over these past nine years, you’ve made some tough decisions and have stretched in new ways.

I thank God for how you’ve been willing to answer God’s call.

And as you continue to implement some of these changes…

And live out a new kind of welcome…

There will be bumps in the road.

It won’t all be easy.

But in the midst of the muck and the hard stuff, keep your heart full of gratitude and your eyes on Jesus.

As people of faith, God is continually calling us to do hard things.

God is calling us to leave our comfort zones go and be in ministry with the least and the last and the lost.

God is calling us to welcome the little ones and the stranger and whomever else shows up.

God is calling us to give up our preferences for the sake of the mission.

And maybe the hardest of them all…

God is calling us to be honest and real about our own vulnerabilities, our own brokenness, struggle, and pain, so that this community can walk with us, can love us, can remind us over and over again about the love of God in Jesus Christ that can transform even our broken souls.

That’s what church is all about.

Growing in love for each other and in love for God.

Giving thanks in every circumstance.

Singing and shouting to the Lord for the excellent things God has done among us.

May you continue to do hard things.

May you continue to hear and be faithful to God’s call.

May you continue to be formed in love born of our common struggle to truly be disciples of Jesus Christ in this world.

And through it all… may you continue to give thanks… keeping that attitude of gratitude that keeps your eyes above the muck on the one who gives us strength. Amen.

Help!

Posted on June 11, 2023Leave a comment

Text: Psalm 40:11-17; Matthew 26:36-39;

Good morning friends!

We find ourselves in the season of Pentecost.

The season of the Holy Spirit.

Those first disciples of Jesus were transformed into apostles…

leaders of a community of people that tapped into the power of God for good in the world.

You know, as much as we think about that phrase from the gospel of John…

that the world will know you are my disciples… they will know you are Christians… by how you love one another (John 13:35)…

I think this early Christian community was known by its prayer life.

Just after the ascension of Jesus, there were about 120 folks that were part of the Jesus movement who all gathered together.

Luke tells us that “all were united in their devotion to prayer.” (Acts 1:14)

And when Pentecost came ten days later… where were they?

Gathered together in prayer!

On that day, as their community grew by leaps and bounds, we are told that these thousands of new believers “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the community, to their shared meals, and to their prayers.” (2:42)

And everyone around them was amazed by what they saw.

Prayer is powerful.

Prayer is power.

It is one of the key ways that we stay connected with God.

It is how we allow the Holy Spirit into our lives: our minds, hearts, and souls.

And as I thought about what I wanted to say to you in these last few weeks…

As I thought about what might be the most important thing I could leave you with…

I kept thinking about how important it is that we are a people of prayer.

It is part of our vision after all – isn’t it?

In Christ, we live a live of love, service, and prayer.

And I know you to be a praying people.

We knit and perl and crochet together prayers for others.

We add our neighbors and friends and family to our prayer list.

But I’ve noticed something else about this church…

We are great about praying for others…

but we sometimes struggle with lifting up prayers for ourselves.

Maybe it is because we don’t want to admit that we don’t have it all together…

Or because we don’t want to be seen as bragging about the good in our lives…

Or maybe we aren’t sure if it is something we need or deserve.

The writer Anne Lamott describes prayer as:

“…taking a chance that against all odds and past history, we are loved and chosen, and do not have to get it together before we show up. The opposite may be true: We may not be able to get it together until after we show up in such miserable shape.”

Did you hear that?

We might not be able to get it together… until AFTER we show up in such miserable shape.

You don’t have to have all the right words, or have it all figured out.

You just need to start.

Over these next three weeks, we are going to talk about what Anne Lamott describes as the essential prayers for our lives:

Help.

Thanks.

Wow.

When I think about those three prayers, but especially the first one, “Help!” I realize that God already knows what we need.

God already knows what is happening in our lives.

Really the question is… are we aware?

Can we be honest with ourselves?

Are we willing to admit that we are not in control?

Perhaps this kind of prayer is easy in moments of true desperation.

In 1815, the playwright Hannah More, described how, “under circumstances of distress, indeed, prayer is adopted with comparatively little reluctance; the mind, which knows not where to fly, flies to God. In agony, nature is no Atheist.”[i]

Later in World War I, people would talk about how there were no atheists in the trenches and foxholes.

In those moments when we truly have run out of options, and nothing is left, we cry out, “Help!”

In our scriptures for this morning, we hear two variations on this prayer.

The Psalmist finds themselves surrounded by evil and sin.

Troubles are piling up, counting more than the hairs on their head.

They cannot see a way out.

Their heart… their hope… fails them.

“O Lord, make haste to help me!”

As The Voice translation concludes this psalm:

“I am empty and need so much, but I know the Lord is thinking of me. You are my help; only You can save me, my True God. Please hurry.”

In the Gospel reading, Jesus himself is described as grieved and agitated.

He knows that betrayal and death are just around the corner and it is more than his soul can bear.

And so first, he cries out to his friends for help… “remain here, and stay awake with me.”

But then he cries out to God:

“My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me…”

Save me… rescue me… from what I am about to go through.

There are those moments of true and utter desperation that show up in our lives.

Life and death moments…

Rock bottom moments…

When there is literally nothing else that we can do besides ask for help and prayer from those around us.

But I’m far more aware of those more everyday situations where we might need help and prayer, but we hesitate to speak up.

We hate the feeling of vulnerability and think that we should be stronger than we are.

I can do this on my own, we say.

We don’t want to bother others with what we are going through.

Or we worry about what they might think of us if they knew that we were having a hard time.

Most of you don’t know my spouse, Brandon, because he’s not a “churchy” guy.

Deeper than that, he has some experiences that have put him off from religion and we’ve established some good boundaries to help respect one another’s beliefs and needs.

I so appreciate all of you in this church for also doing so and allowing him to be who he is.

Just over two years ago, we found ourselves going through a rough patch.

I have preached on mental health, talked about suicide and depression, walked with many of you through those moments… but suddenly, there it was on my own doorstep.

Brandon was experiencing feelings of hopelessness and depression and anxiety… and we were able to reach out and get him connected with the resources and therapies that he needed.

But there were some incredibly difficult moments along the way, including a 9-1-1 call in the middle of the night when he had a poor reaction to a change in one of his medications.

And as much as Brandon needed help in those moments, so did I.

I knew I couldn’t fix it… but that doesn’t mean I didn’t feel shame or guilt for not being able to do so.

I needed help and strength to walk that journey with him.

And I’m so grateful for a group of friends and colleagues who answered midnight texts and kept checking in on us and allowing me to vent when I needed to do so.

I’m so grateful for members of this staff and SPRC committee that created a safe space for me to share and talk about what was going on and who kept Brandon and I in your prayers.

But as I was thinking about this sermon, I also keep asking myself why I didn’t share all of this with all of you while it was happening.

Part of the reason is that Brandon himself was not ready to talk about it in a bigger way… and with worship being online, I didn’t want to share more of his story in such a public space…

It is one of the reasons why we aren’t sharing more intimate details and names of prayer requests in worship… because we are now livestreaming worship every week, we hold those more personal details for our internal prayer lists.

But I also think my own hesitation to share in a bigger way reflects why it is difficult for all of us.

We don’t want to bother others.

Or we don’t want it to change our relationship with them… worried that they will only see our weakness.

Or you know what… maybe we simply want a space in our lives where we can pretend that everything is okay.

As your pastor, I think I worried about it impacting my ability to show up in the way you needed me to… even though, it was impacting my ability to show up in the ways you needed me to.

And what I needed, but maybe was unable to communicate, was some extra grace as I spent a bit more time at home and when I couldn’t be as available as I wanted to be.

I just kept doing what I could, hoping that things would be okay.

I fumbled along… rather than asking for your prayers.

Rather than crying out, “Help!”

Lamott describes this as the hardest prayer, because we are admitting defeat:

“You have to surrender, which is the hardest thing any of us do, ever.”

It is not easy to say, “I can’t fix this.”

We struggle with admitting that things are not okay… sometimes even to ourselves.

But then Lamott goes on to say: “a lot of the time we don’t know when we’re surrendering that we’re actually, at the same time… establishing connection… to a power greater than ourselves.”[ii]

We “open ourselves to being helped by something, some force, some friends, some something.”

When we turn to God and when we turn to our fellow disciples with a prayer of “help!” we don’t just find answers… we find community.

We find people who are not just willing, but eager, to walk alongside us.

We find a God who has always been faithful and good and who will never stop loving and caring for us.

It is why the Psalmist is able to not just cry out for help, but to acknowledge the joy that comes to those who seek him.

And it is why Jesus, in his great prayer of desperation can reconnect with his Father, placing his life in God’s hands… Not my will, but yours.

In saying, I trust you with this… we are also saying, I am in relationship with you.

Friends, when we share our own prayers for help with each other, we are saying to one another:

I believe that you care for me.

I trust that you are in this with me.

And I know the power of God that is with us will continue to give us strength not just for this, but for anything that might come our way.

In asking for help, we are creating the opportunity for us to be blessed by one another.

That doesn’t mean that you need to feel pressure to air all your struggles with the whole body.

It is perfectly okay to have a smaller group of friends and disciples that you trust to walk with you… a friend or two that you know you can be honest and vulnerable with.

Even Jesus chose to take along just a few disciples for his intimate time of prayer in the garden.

I needed that during my struggles… and was so grateful I had it.

But I also want you to remember and to know that this is a praying church.

That if you ask for help and are willing to be vulnerable and share those needs with us, we will be here for you.

We will be united in our prayers, quick and eager to help and respond and show up with whatever might be needed.

Like that early Christian community, we are people who love one another, want what is best for one another, and are willing to share and surround each other with the love and grace and mercy of God.

And I think that when we have the courage to be vulnerable and surrender, we will find that God will simply pour out even more power and strength upon us.

May it be so.

Amen.

[i] 1815, An Essay on the Character and Practical Writings of Saint Paul by Hannah More, Volume 2 of 2, Fourth Edition, Chapter 19, Quote Page 232, Printed for T. Cadell and W. Davies, London.

[ii] https://www.npr.org/2012/11/19/164814269/anne-lamott-distills-prayer-into-help-thanks-wowMusic:

The Center of the Universe

Posted on May 8, 2022Leave a comment

Text: Revelation 5: 11-14

Last week as we gathered for worship, we focused on the basic message at the core of the Book of Revelation:

“Jesus is coming and he will sit on the throne… and the world and all its powers will not. Our work is to allow God to make us into a kingdom, to serve as priests, and give God praise.”

As John of Patmos receives this vision, this revelation, he also receives a word for seven churches.

The number “seven” we talked about last week can also mean completion, or totality, or all that is heaven and earth.

So in many ways, this is a message for all the churches.

There are some who started faithfully, but as they faced trials, they got tired and worn out.

Some who are going to be facing intense persecution.

Some who are torn apart by false teaching or who have a wishy-washy lukewarm faith.

Some who are on the brink of death and need to be resuscitated and others who are holding on even though they have nothing left.

And we are invited to see ourselves somewhere among this lot.

In the midst of the powers of the world that are competing for our attention are we serving God… or have we given in?

Are we as faithful and energized as we were at the start… or have we given up?

Are we sharing the love and message of God with the world… or have we embraced some other kind of message?

This opportunity to reflect and to hear a word of truth about our ministry is followed by a vision of what God ultimately desires for us.

https://www.fullofeyes.com/project/revelation-4

And so chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation give us glimpse of heaven itself in all of its weird and wonderful splendor.

We are shown the throne of God and the scroll that will show us how everything will come to pass.

It is a vision of what Craig Koester calls “a rightly ordered universe in which God is at the center.” [1]

Four creatures, full of eyes and wings represent all of creation and the elders represent the community of the faithful.

But not just these representative figures… the text goes on to talk about all living creatures.

Magrey DeVega describes, “dogs, elephants, hyenas, praying mantises, muskrats, and turtles… all of them… also human beings… regular, ordinary, common Joes and Janes. Not just one or two, but a legion of them… what John is painting here is a picture of concentric circles… and it all centers on a focal point.”[2]

And all of them join their voices in worship…

They understand that God is at the center of the universe… and they are not.

They relinquish power and turn it into praise… or as the familiar hymn reminds us:

Holy, Holy, Holy, All the saints adore thee, casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea.

In our scripture for this morning, all of creation fixes its attention the throne and the one who sits on it.

All of creation erupts in praise.

God is the center, the source, the creative force of all life in this universe.

And that means that you are not.

That might be an obvious kind of statement, but how often do we act as if the world does revolve around us?

How often do we trample on the needs of others for our own comfort?

How often have we used and abused this creation, plundering its resources, rather than seeing it as a gift we are called to steward?

How often have we rallied around our own positions and policies – lifting them up as gospel truth?

How often has our nation declared itself a savior, the light of the world, the beacon of liberty?

How often have we claimed that our economic system is the only one that can truly bring happiness and wealth?

How often have I turned inward and focused on my own selfish desires rather than think about what I could do to bless my neighbor?

In the message to the seven churches, we are called to take account of our place in this world.

Are we serving ourselves? Or are we faithful to the kingdom of God?

Have we turned our gaze towards the powers of this world? Or are we focused on the one on the throne at the center of all creation?

This isn’t just about the ultimate end of the world as we know it… it is about the attitude and attention that we embody right here and right now.

There is only one who sits on the throne… and it isn’t you or me.

All throughout the season of Lent, we focused on the words of the Lord’s Prayer… the prayer that Jesus taught us.

We prayed for God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.

We prayed for God’s will to be done.

And within these chapters of Revelation, not only do we see the throne, but we also catch a glimpse of God’s will.

There is a scroll, closed up with seven seals, that represents the message, the story, of how we are going to get from the world as we know it… full of disease, disaster, and death… to this reality.

An angel cries out – “who is worthy to open the scroll?”

I don’t know about you, but I have this image of the sword in the stone, or Thor’s hammer… everyone is waiting and anxious and worried that no one will come, that none will be worthy.

But the faithful elders remember the promises of God.

One of them leans over to John and whispers – “Don’t weep. Look! The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has emerged victorious so that he can open the scroll…” (5:5)

So… John looks!

And what John sees is not a powerful lion, not a victorious king… but a lamb.

A lamb that has been slaughtered.

A lamb with seven eyes and seven horns.

A lamb who takes his place with God on the throne.

Worthy is the lamb.

Eugene Boring calls this “one of the most mind-wrenching reversals of imagery in all of literature… the one who has conquered did so not through violence, but by sacrificing his own life. This is the power that enables him to take the scroll from God’s hand and execute its contents, the divine plan for bringing history to a worthy conclusion and establishing God’s justice.”[3]

The one who comes to save us, to unite us with heaven…

He does not come with violence or power, but with mercy and sacrifice and love, poured out for others.

Only the Lamb that was Slain can answer the prayer “Thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.”

Now, I mentioned to you that we aren’t going to really dive into all of the difficult, weird, messy, complicated details of the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls.

But in many ways, the echo the chorus of the new song that all of creation is singing in Revelation chapter 5:

Only Jesus is worthy to take the scroll and open its seals.

Jesus is worthy because he was slain and by his blood he bought us all.

By his love and sacrifice he ransomed us all, redeemed us all.

And he made us into a kingdom so that we might serve and worship God on earth.

What we find repeated in the message of the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls is actually the story of how sacrificial love and mercy is what will transform the world.

It is not the four horsemen who unleash disaster and death…

It is not the plagues and locusts…

As the story of God’s people in the Old and New Testment show us – judgment and destruction do not lead people to repentance. They harden their hearts and continue to follow the powers of the world.

They are caught and tempted by the spiritual forces of evil and simply cannot escape.

God wins, empires fall, evil is defeated, not by the sword but by love.

Sacrificial love.

Jesus dies for his enemies.

And God’s army, the faithful ones, the witnesses, they are the ones who imitate the sacrificial love of the lamb and show God’s mercy to others.

They will know we are Christians by our love.

It is the power of God’s love that helps us withstand disaster and famine and overcome violence and war.

It is the power of God’s love that helps us hold on to hope in the face of threats and destruction and terrible news in the doctors office.

It is the power of God’s love that helps us focus on the Lamb, rather than the beastly forces of this world.

And it is the power of God’s love that will ultimately usher in the new creation – the new heaven and the new earth.

And the good news is, we don’t have to wait until the end of the world in order to live in the power of God’s love.

It is here, right now, all around us.

As Easter people, Jesus believe Jesus is coming and he will sit on the throne… and the world and all its powers will not.

Our work… right now… today as the church… is to allow God to make us into a kingdom, answer the call to serve, and to pour out love into this world.

May it be so. Amen.

[1] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/preaching-series-on-revelation-2/commentary-on-revelation-41-11

[2] A Precher’s Guide to Lectionary Sermon Series Vol 2, p. 199

[3] The New Interpreters Study Bible, p. 2221

UMC 101: We are ALL Ministers

Posted on February 13, 2022Leave a comment

Text: Ephesians 4:4-16, Book of Discipline P126-139

Last week, I offered a very brief summary of scripture: God forgives us. God loves us. God has a job for us.

And we see this message at work in our scripture for this morning. We are forgiven by the ONE lord, through our ONE faith and in our ONE baptism. We experience God’s love through the ONE body. And empowered by the ONE spirit, we are called to live out ONE common hope.

But this oneness of God is not the sort that drowns out difference.

We are called to make disciples of all people, but we are not called to make all people look, act, worship, or practice the same way.

As our Book of Discipline describes it, the church “demonstrates a common life of gratitude and devotion, witness and service, celebration and discipleship… the forms of this ministry are diverse in locale, in interest, and in denominational accent, yet always catholic in spirit and outreach.” (P126, p.97)

It makes me think about the interplay of color.

In lighting, color has an additive effect.

White light is actually made up of many different wavelengths and like in these spotlights on a stage floor, there is an additive effect.

Conversely, you could take what appears to be a beam of white light and refract it into its many components and see a rainbow.

Color in pigments, however have a subtractive effect.

If you were to blend together various hues you would end up with a muddled black tone.

But if you allow them to be in relationship, complimenting one another, our pictures and our world become more vivid and full of life.

God’s Word – rather than being black and white words on a page that never change – is alive and varied and moving among us.

We understand how it has been shared and blended and shaped through the legacy of our ancestors and we also come to see how God’s Word is refracted in the everyday experiences of people of faith.

As Christians, the Holy Spirit calls us to travel on the same road, in the same direction, sticking together (as the Message translation puts it)… “but that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same.”

Because each of us are different people.

We are each called and gifted and blessed in different ways.

We each have unique and beautiful life experiences to share.

Some of us have spent our whole lives working independently and others have always been part of a team.

Some of us are young and have fresh eyes with which to look at the world and some of us have experienced profound pain in our lives.

Some of us work with machines, and others of us work with our minds.

And in all of those very different experiences, we have each felt the love and grace of God, although none of us in quite the same way.

Because of our difference – we are all a part of the Body of Christ.

Because of our difference – we all have a seat at God’s table.

Because of our difference – we all have a unique ability to proclaim the Word of God.

It might be with our actions… or with our words… or with our attitudes.

But Christian faithfulness demands that “the people of God, who are the church made visible in the world, must convince the world of the reality of the gospel or leave it unconvinced… the church is either faithful as a witnessing and serving community, or it loses its vitality and its impact on an unbelieving world.” (P.130, p. 98).

A week or two ago in one of our UMC 101 small group studies, we talked about the declining influence of the church in the world.

We lamented for a bit about folks who are no longer attending worship on a Sunday morning and all of the other things like sports or travel or events that have taken its place.

It feels like we have lost our vitality.

And our Discipline would call us to reflect upon whether or not we, as individual Christians, have been faithful to this call to witness and serve.

For a while, the church had followed a sort of “if you build it, they will come” attractional model.

The church was established and seemed like the norm and we all got comfortable with showing up to connect with our family and participate in the programs.

But what folks on the outside of the walls of our church saw was a fortress being established.

They didn’t know how to get in or they didn’t think they were welcome.

Or perhaps more importantly, they were out there in the world living their lives and we were so busy in the fortress that we lost track of how the world had shifted around us.

Whether we realized it or not, we built walls around our ministries, and they were only accessible on certain hours on certain days.

Many of us stopped actively inviting neighbors and friends to even join us.

We stopped seeking to meet people where they were and when they were available and how they were able to gather.

But as two of my colleagues, Michael Slaughter and Jason Moore remind us, instead of building a fortress, God invites us to be a force in this world.

We are called to be the living body of Christ, adapting and moving and going wherever the Holy Spirit might send us.

The church is called to be the community that “stretches out to human needs wherever love and service may convey God’s love and ours… the outreach of such ministries knows no limits… all Christians are called to minister wherever Christ would have them serve and witness in deeds and words that heal and free.” (P. 128, p. 97)

Can you just sense and feel the difference in those attitudes?

What would it look like for every single one of us to claim our gifts and our task of ministry and not just hole up in the fortress that is the church, but to go out as a force for God in this world?

That is what the Apostle Paul did.

And God sent him not just to those who were already “in”, but to the outsiders and the Gentiles.

In fact, that is the group of folks he is writing to in our scripture for today: the gentile community in Ephesus.

But he knows that the good news of God is meant for them as well and he puts his life on the line so that they might be able to hear and respond to the mystery of Christ.

He writes in chapter 3 of this letter that he was the least qualified person to do so, but God equipped him to proclaim that good news.

And truth be told, it wasn’t easy.

It landed him in prison.

But through the power of the Holy Spirit, he continued to share and spread words of encouragement to this faith community.

“When we trust in [God],” Paul writes to them, “we’re free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go. So don’t let my present trouble on your behalf get you down.” (Ephesians 3:11-13, MSG)

And then, he goes on to pray that they would be filled up that that same spirit and challenges them to be a force for God’s message in this world.

“Get out there and walk – better yet, run! – on the road God has called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes no where… Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given [their] own gift… God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love.” (Ephesians 4, selected verses, MSG)

What I notice about the list of gifts Paul mentions in his letter to the people of Ephesus is that none of these gifts are passive or silent.

Some of us are tasked with being apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers… but NONE of us are benchwarmers.

NONE of us get to sit in the pews or stay home and watch.

ALL of us have something to share in ministry, all of us must build up one another up, all of us are needed.

We are caretakers of an incredible message that the world is hungry to not just hear, but to experience.

If we look at the journey of those first disciples, they allowed the Holy Spirit to turn them into the hands and feet of God in the world.

They directed their eyes and their hearts outward.

They traveled the world with the message and faced controversy and conflict.

Some were killed and persecuted along the way.

But with the Holy Spirit at their backs, they were a force that utterly transformed this world.

You don’t have to become a missionary to a far-flung place.

You don’t have to put yourself in danger.

But the mission of God needs you to reach out in love.

As we proclaim in the Book of Discipline, it is “the witness of the laity, their Christ-like examples of everyday living as well as the sharing of their own faith experiences of the gospel,” that will be “the primary evangelistic ministry through which all people will come to know Christ and the United Methodist Church will fulfill its mission.” (P127, p. 97)

The truth is, I can preach a thousand sermons, but the only people who will hear them are the folks that YOU bring to this church.

My role as an ordained pastor is to keep reminding you of all of the people out there… and their needs and concerns and hopes.

It is to equip and encourage you to be that force for Jesus Christ in this world.

For we are all ministers of the gospel.

We all have unique experiences and gifts that will allow us to spread the light and love of God to different people and places and in varying ways.

Maybe it is the meal you take to a friend…

Or the encouragement you offer on social media…

Or how you invite someone to pray or worship with you…

Wherever you are, in your everyday life, in your own way, you matter.

You represent Christ and God’s love to this world.

And you are vital to God’s mission and this body of Christ.

Thank you for being you.

UMC 101: Our Theological Task and the Quadrilateral

Posted on January 30, 2022Leave a comment

Text: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Over the last several weeks, we have been exploring what it means to be United Methodist.

We’ve talked about some of the core beliefs we affirm, how we came to get our distinctive United Methodist flavor by emphasizing faith and love in action, and both standards for teaching those core beliefs… but also the love, grace, and humility that leaves room for opinions and difference around practices and positions.

After all, as our scripture for this morning reminds us – we could have all the right answers, and do all the right things but if we don’t love – we are nothing.

As long as we seek to love God and love our neighbors, we can join hands for God’s work in the world.

Does that mean that anything else goes?

Absolutely not.

I shared with you last week from a portion of John Wesley’s sermon, “Catholic Spirit,” in which we talked about those core essential things and how love gives us guidance for how we relate to others who disagree.

But he is very clear at the end of that sermon that holding such a charitable spirit that leaves room for others does not mean you are indifferent to other’s opinions.

And, it doesn’t mean that you are unclear in your own thoughts, practices, or community, “driven to and fro, and tossed about with every wind of doctrine.” (“Catholic Spirit”, John Wesley’s Sermons: An Anthology, p. 307)

In fact, he says if you have a sort of “muddy understanding” with “no settled, consistent principles” that “you have quite missed your way…” (p. 308).

In other words, do your work.

Take responsibility for what you believe, how you act, and the community to which you belong.

Don’t simply parrot what someone before you has taught, or change your perspective when a new pastor comes along.

You are responsible for diving into the gospel of Jesus and figuring out what impact it has on the world.

This is the work of theological reflection.

A theologian is anyone who studies God.

Now, I am a theologian. I have a Masters of Divinity from Vanderbilt University and spent three and a half years studying scripture and ancient texts and history and the thoughts of other theologians.

But YOU are a theologian, too.

A theologian is anyone who “reflects upon God’s gracious action in our lives.” (BoD, p.80)

And United Methodists believe that every single one of us is called to this work.

Every generation has to wrestle with what it means to be faithful in a changing world.

We have to figure out how to communicate the good news of our faith to people who are hurting and lost and broken.

But we also need to figure out how to see the problems and challenges around us like the climate crisis or sexual abuse or global migration and ask what our response should be.

And to do that, we need more than just the basic teachings of our faith, or doctrines.

Doctrine is important, because it helps us remember the core of Christian truth in ever-changing contexts… But our task is to test, renew, elaborate, and apply those teachings in the world.

You see, we take the love of Christ for this world and we figure out how to share and live out that love right here and right now.

There are a couple of important things that the United Methodist Church believes are important to remember, and I think that we can think about these through the description of love that the Apostle Paul offers to us in his letter to the Corinthians.

First, as we do this, we should be willing both take apart and put together our understanding of faith in love. In other words, don’t strut around with a big head forcing your beliefs on others, but ask if this position is still true, credible, and based in love. At the same time, we should always be looking forward for where new truth is flowering and helping to creatively put together a message for tomorrow.

Second, the work of theology is both your responsibility and our responsibility. It is about “plain truth for plain people” – every Christian… young and old alike, is called to grow and learn about how to follow God into this world. But we also believe that it is in our conversation and sharing and work together that all of our individual reflections are strengthened. This is why we come together at our church conferences, and annual, jurisdictional and general conferences to make decisions. Like a love that isn’t always “me first” and that cares for others more than self, we believe everyone has something to contribute and we should be aware of how everyone is impacted.

Third, this work of reflection has to be grounded in what God is doing in the world. We believe that God so loved this world that Jesus came to make a home among us… in a particular time and in a particular place. And we believe that God is still present in our time and in all of our diverse places. Paul tells us that love should not be envious or boastful… and I think about how important it is for us not to force a practice from one culture onto another, or for a culture to give up their own practices to be more like another.

Last year, some of us read together, “I’m Black. I’m Christian. I’m Methodist.” and were surprised by stories of how many of these black leaders felt as if they had to become more white in order to be faithful and found great strength as they reclaimed their own identity.

Finally, if we are going to connect the love of Jesus with the world, then we have to focus on what we do. We can say all the right words and have endless conversations, but as Paul would say, if we aren’t dealing with love – then we are just noisy gongs and clanging cymbals. We know what is true when we see the impact in real lives. United Methodists are all about practical divinity.

The Apostle Paul describes how our understanding of the truth changes through time as we mature and grow and put aside childish thoughts. We are continually doing our best to comprehend – knowing that today we can capture the fullness of God’s truth and love only partially.

But still we try. And we keep trying to do our best in faith, in hope, and in love.

As Paul wrote to the Philippians, we can focus our thoughts on what is excellent and true, holy and just. We can practice what we have learned and received from our mentors and teachers in the faith.

Our job as a theologian is simple: What can I say and do that is faithful to scripture as it has been passed down through tradition, and that makes sense in light of human experience and reason? (Book of Discipline, p.81)

Chalkboard with a drawing of four quadrants for scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. — From https://joshuanhook.com/2018/10/24/how-the-wesleyan-quadrilateral-helps-us-understand-god/

These four theological tools we refer to as the Wesleyan Quadrilateral.

All four are important lenses to help us see how God is working and moving in the world.

As we explored a few years ago with our Bible 101 series, scripture is at the center and is the foundation of all that we do so, we had better be reading and pouring over scripture in our lives.

But… and… scripture itself is always being interpreted.

First, scripture is interpreted by other scripture.

You cannot take a single verse out of context but need to look at the fullness of the entire passage and story.

And, we come to see as we read the bible that there is an overarching story within the scripture itself… a story of creation and redemption, a story of mistakes and forgiveness, a story that ends in the restoration of all things.

In the gospels, religious leaders ask Jesus to interpret scripture for them and his response gives us a general guide for our own interpretation: how does this verse lead us to love God and love our neighbor? (Matthew 22:34-40)

Next, we have the witness of how people have interpreted that scripture through time. Tradition shows us the “consensus of faith” that has grown out of a particular community’s experience. (p. 85-86)

Not all contexts and communities are the same. The experience of Czech immigrants in the Midwest was very different than that of African slaves in the Deep South. Each community passed on the gospel and created practices of faith that show us how the scripture made sense in their lives. We also connect tradition with the theology of previous generations that have been passed down to us in creeds and writings.

Tradition shows us how communities have understood God, but we also each have or own unique experiences.

Who you are and what you have been through is always with you when you open up the Bible – tragedies and joys, gender, economic reality…

It is why you can read the same passage of scripture repeatedly over time and discover something new with each reading.

But Wesley also talked about how God continues to be revealed through our experiences and the fruit that we are bearing in the world.

One example is how he relented to license women as preachers in the circuits after he saw the call of God bearing fruit in their ministry.

Our final tool for theology is reason. As the Book of Proverbs reminds us, each person is called to “turn your ear toward wisdom, and stretch your mind toward understanding. Call out for insight, and cry aloud for understanding. ” (Proverbs 2:2-3)

We believe God reveals truth in many places, not only in scripture, and that we should pursue such knowledge and truth with our whole selves. Science, philosophy, nature: these are all places that help us to gain understanding and sometimes reveal even deeper truths within the written word.

Why does this matter?

Because as our Book of Discipline reminds us, every day, there are new concerns “that challenge our proclamation of God’s reign over all of human existence.” (p. 88)

A black man is murdered in public on a city street by a law enforcement officer.

A derecho destroys the infrastructure of a community.

A virus takes the lives of 8,501 of our neighbors in this state.

Where is God’s justice, protection, and healing?

What does it mean to love our neighbor in light of these realities?

That is the work of theology… seeking an authentic Christian response to these realities so that the healing and redeeming love of God might be present in our words and deeds. (p.89)

As we affirm in the Book of Discipline:

“United Methodists as a diverse people continue to strive for consensus in understanding the gospel… while exercising patience and forbearance with one another. Such patience stems neither from indifference toward truth nor from an indulgent tolerance of error but from an awareness that we know only in part and that none of us is able to search the mysteries of God except by the Spirit of God. We proceed with our theological task, trusting that the Spirit will grant us wisdom…”
Book of Discipline p. 89

May it be so. Amen.

UMC 101: Doctrine and Discipline in Real Life

Posted on January 16, 2022Leave a comment

Text: Luke 3:7-14; Book of Discipline (p. 55-56, 77-80, 105-146)

We continue today by the banks of the Jordan River with John the Baptist and a piece of scripture that we briefly touched during the Advent season.

He has been calling people to repentance, asking them to change their hearts and their lives, and suddenly there is a growing number of folks on the riverbank.

I love how the Message translation puts it: “Crowds of people came out for baptism because it was the popular thing to do.” (Luke 3:7-9)

John the Baptist went viral.

And yet… instead of celebrating all these folks who were ready to dive in, he explodes at them!

He calls them children of snakes and then has the audacity to ask them, “who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”

That’s exactly the kind of welcome you’d want to hear when you step into a faith community for the first time, isn’t it?

“The axe is at the base of the tree,” John cries out, “and trees that aren’t producing fruit will be thrown into the fire.”

Nothing like some good old fire and brimstone preaching to wake us up on a Sunday morning.

I’m ready for John to bust out the Sinner’s Prayer and have everyone fall to their knees to repeat the words after him in an altar call.

But when the people start to ask what they should do, John the Baptist surprises us…

“If you have two coats, give one away.”

He tells them to do something that will make a difference for their neighbors.

It sounds like a good works response… rather than a faith response.

And that is because he is calling them to change not just their heart, but their lives.

Last week, we touched on the idea that for United Methodists, faith and good works are like two sides of the same coin. You can’t love God without loving your neighbor. And likewise, acts of love towards our neighbors are an outpouring of our love of God.

Or as our Book of Discipline puts it:

“Our struggles for human dignity and social reform have been a response to God’s demand for love, mercy, and justice in the light of the Kingdom. We proclaim no personal gospel that fails to express itself in relevant social concerns; we proclaim no social gospel that does not include the personal transformation of sinners.”
BOD, p. 55

This is that “practical divinity” that we talked about. It is the good news of Jesus Christ realized in the lives of Christian people.

Food for the hungry.

Clothing for the naked.

Health for the sick.

Freedom for the oppressed.

So let’s talk about that other John… John Wesley.

He looked around at faith and life in England in his day and like John the Baptist saw a similar disconnect. Religious leaders were ignoring the real problems of every day folks and every day folks had no room in their lives for religion.

So he got out of the pulpit and went out to where the people were… the coal mines, the streets.

He started to preach about changing our hearts and our lives and crowds of folks began to take notice and show up and want to know more.

Our Book of Discipline tells the story of how our Methodist United Societies got started:

“In the latter end of the year 1739 eight or ten persons came to Mr. Wesley, in London, who appeared to be deeply convinced of sin, and earnestly groaning for redemption. They desired… that he would spend some time with them in prayer, and advise them how to flee from the wrath to come… he appointed a day when they might all come together, which from thenceforward they did every week.”
Book of Discipline, p. 77

Each society, or larger gathering, was also made up for small groups, or classes of about 12 folks.

By the time Wesley died, there were 72,000 members of these United Societies across the British Isles.

And there was only one condition to be part of the society: you had to want to flee from the wrath to come and be saved from your sin. They called this “working out your salvation” and whenever someone was focused on these things, they expected there to be evidence of fruit.

Sounds a whole lot like what was happening on the bank of the Jordan River… doesn’t it?

But I also must mention a key thing that Wesley includes… something that is vitally important to what it means to be United Methodist.

Wesley never thought people could or should do this on their own.

He grouped people together into classes and larger societies so that there would be support and accountability as together we help one another within the Body of Christ to transform the world.

That support and accountability is also like two sides of the same coin.

John the Baptist sounded awfully harsh there on the banks of the Jordan River. And we think as United Methodists that we should never be people who rush to punishment – because that doesn’t demonstrate God’s mercy…

But at the same time, a church that lacks the courage to speak and act on behalf of our neighbors loses any claim to moral authority.

So they’d get together every week to pray, to encourage each other, and to ask about how faith and love were put into action in their lives.

If someone wasn’t living up to their commitments, they would give them time… even put them in a remedial group, if necessary. And sometimes, they had to have an honest conversation and ask that person to leave.

These societies had what we call General Rules… rules that we have talked a lot about over the last couple of years in our own pandemic response.

The members of the classes and societies were expected to show evidence of their desire for salvation by:

First – doing no harm and avoiding evil of every kind – especially that which was commonly practiced.

Wesley included examples of what that looked like in his day…

profaning the day of the Lord by buying or selling…

drunkenness…

buying or selling slaves…

taking your brother to court…

buying black market goods…

putting on gold or costly apparel…

and singing songs or reading books that don’t help you grow in your love of God.

But it wasn’t just about what we shouldn’t do.

The second rule of the Societies was to do good; by being merciful and doing as much good as you could as far as you possibly could to as many people as you could:

This rule lists examples like being diligent and frugal…

Living out the commands of Matthew 25 to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those in prison…

Being patient…

Teaching and sharing the word of God with others…

And things like buying from and employing other Christians.

The third rule was to keep practicing those things that were vehicles of God’s grace and mercy and power in our own lives – what Wesley called the “ordinances of God.”

These included things like public worship, studying the Bible, prayer, fasting, and communion.

Just as John the Baptist had some practical, real life examples of what it look like to produce the fruit of salvation in the world, the General Rules of the United Societies show us what John Wesley thought it looked like to bear the evidence of salvation in his day.

And so, as a denomination, we have continued to wrestle with how to exercise our “responsibility for the moral and spiritual quality of society.” (p. 55).

Every time our General Conference meets, we update what we now call our Social Principles that help to guide us as we live out our faith on a daily basis, as well as Resolutions that provide detailed positions on current issues.

According to our Book of Resolutions, these positions:

“give us evidence that that Church means for God’s love to reach into situations faced each day, not just on Sunday mornings… The United Methodist Church believes God’s love for the word is an active and engaged love… we care enough about people’s lives to risk interpreting God’s love, to take a stand, to call each of us into a response, no matter how controversial or complex.”
Book of Resolutions, p. 22-23

The Social Principles and Book of Resolutions guide how we should engage the natural world, what it means to nurture human beings in community, our responsibilities towards one another in society, and how we engage in economic and political systems across the globe.

They cover topics from suicide to abortion, public education to investments, the rights of farm workers to nuclear testing and stem cell research. All with compassion, nuance, and care.

And… I think this is vitally important… we believe that we are constantly being reformed by God’s love and so these positions are not written in stone: “Faithfulness requires favoring what best demonstrates God’s love and being willing to change when new perspectives or data emerge.” (p. 24)

On the banks of the Jordan River, John the Baptist called those who were serious about repentance to bear fruit in practical ways: Give away your extra coat. Don’t overcollect taxes. Don’t falsely accuse others. Be content.

As United Methodists, we continue to hear that call as we strive to do no harm, do good, and stay in love with God.

Like a Shepherd

Posted on April 25, 2021Leave a comment

Text: John 10: 11-18; 1 John 3:16-24

Last week in our time of worship we remembered that WE are EASTER people.

We are the living proof of the resurrection.

We are the body of Christ, alive, serving, sharing the good news with the world.

That’s all well and good…

But what does it actually look like to live it out?

What does it mean to practice resurrection in our daily lives?

Pastor Katie, you might be asking… what am I supposed to do?

In the assigned lectionary readings for this season after Easter, we go back and we remember how Jesus taught us to live.

And today, we find a very familiar piece of scripture…

Jesus proclaims, “I am the good shepherd.”

I am the one who lays down my life for you.

I know you…

I really know you…

And I am willing to give up my life to make sure that you are okay.

And not just you.

All of the sheep.

The ones right here…

And all of the ones out there, too.

These words are so comforting.

It is a reminder that my God will not abandon me.

That my Lord will not leave me in my struggle, but wants to lead me to still waters and green pastures.

In fact… there is this video that has been going around this week that I think perfectly exemplifies how the Good Shepherd loves us…

Let’s watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_4S5yBkSpU

How many of you are that sheep?

Just me?

No? Of course not… it’s all of us.

And no matter how many times we get stuck, or fall in the crack, or screw it all up, Jesus doesn’t abandon us.

Jesus, our good shepherd, was willing to go through the valley of the shadow of death in spite of our failures, and mistakes, and sins.

My Savior loves me so much that even his own life is put on the line for me.

Or as Debie Thomas reminds us, “As the Good Shepherd, Jesus loves the obstinate and the lost… he’s in it for the long haul, he not only frolics with lambs, but wrestles with wolves. He not only tends the wounds of his beloved rams and ewes; he buries them when their time comes.” (https://www.journeywithjesus.net/essays/2990-a-shepherd-who-is-good)

Oh, what wondrous love is this.

As Christians and people of faith, we are so eager and ready to claim this message.

It feels good to be loved like that.

It is amazing to have this kind of assurance, right?

Someone else gave up everything so that I might be saved.

And our hearts are all warm and fuzzy and we are held in the hands of our God and everything is right with the world.

We read this story in the season after Easter not because it makes us feel good, but because it is a reminder of how we are now supposed to live.

How we are supposed to act.

How we are supposed to embody the power of the resurrection in the world today.

You see, if we are now the body of Christ, alive and present in the world, then we are called to carry on the love of The Good Shepherd.

Or as we read in 1 John 3:16-20:

This is how we know love: Jesus laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our [siblings]. But if someone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but refuses to help – how can the love of God dwell in a person like that? Little children, let’s not love with words or speech but with action and truth.

Or as we’ll read next week from John 15:12:

This is my commandment: love each other just as I have loved you.

We are not supposed to simply rest in the arms of the Good Shepherd.

We are called to embody what it means to be a shepherd.

I think about Peter on the seashore, eating breakfast with Jesus after the resurrection.

Jesus told him to feed his sheep. To tend his sheep.

We are called to walk in the footsteps of the Good Shepherd.

We are commanded to love like Jesus loved.

What does that mean?

Well, let’s take this Good Shepherd scripture apart and see what it has to teach us.

First: we are called to relationship.

Jesus says throughout this parable, “I know my own sheep and they know me.”

The good shepherd is not a thief, or a stranger, or even a hired hand.

A thief seeks to harm others.

A stranger shows up and the sheep will scatter because they don’t know their voice.

And a hired hand, well, they are in it for the paycheck and the sheep don’t matter.

But the good shepherd has built a relationship with the flock.

And we are called to build relationships with the people around us.

We are called to get to know one another, to share our joys and concerns and life together.

As a church, we can do this through our prayers, but also through the times of fellowship and how we show up in one another’s lives.

One of the primary ways we do this at Immanuel is through some of our small group ministries… whether it is choir or a bible study or the mission trip.

Because the truth is, it takes time to get to know someone.

And when you get to spend time together each week or all at once on a trip, we learn an awful lot about what people are excited about, what is important to them, and how they struggle.

And all of those things then allow us to show up and stand beside one another and remind each other that they matter.

We care about what happens to them.

Second: we are called to look beyond this flock.

Jesus says that he has other sheep and I think that this is a call to look beyond our circles of friends and colleagues and loved ones.

It is a call to share the love of God far and wide.

We don’t get to determine who is in and who is out and who is worthy.

We are simply called to love.

We are called to recognize that every life we come into contact with matters.

Not because of how we benefit or gain from the relationship, but simply because they matter.

And goodness that’s hard to live out.

Because there are some people in this world who try our patience.

Who just can’t seem to get it together.

Who we have been willing to write off or diminish or ignore.

In fact… I want you to picture in your mind right now someone like that.

Someone that you have a hard time loving.

Do you see their face?

Okay… now I want to invite you to watch that video again, and I want you to imagine that they are the person stuck in that ditch.

We are called to love our enemies.

To pray for those who persecute us.

To forgive over and over and over again.

And to keep showing up in the lives of people who keep making mistakes… because they matter, too.

Finally: we are called to love sacrificially.

To lay down our lives for other people.

Sometimes that looks like giving from our own abundance and blessing to make sure the basic needs of others are met… like folks from Immanuel will do this afternoon as we reach out in love to our homeless neighbors through Joppa.

Sometimes it is standing up, protecting, and grieving with people around us who are vulnerable… like so many neighbors gathered together this week to stand at a vigil in support of the central Iowa Black community.

Sometimes it is setting aside our own desires or comfort to take on actions that benefit the common good… like we have all done by wearing masks and social distancing to flatten the curve.

And sometimes, we are called to give everything. In the line of duty, or service, or love, we put our lives at risk so that others might live. From law enforcement officers to hospital workers to missionaries who serve in dangerous places, and more…

We are not asked to love just when it is safe or easy, but in the midst of wolves and powers and forces beyond our control as well.

We are called to speak truth and work for change in the fierce and powerful spirit of love.

What does it mean to practice the resurrection?

It means to build relationships and make sure people know that they matter.

It means to stretch our love beyond those of our tribe so that all might know the good news.

And it means that we carry that love into situations that are broken and hurting and we show up with our full selves and work towards God’s promised future.

There is only on Good Shepherd… but as disciples of Christ, we are called to love like him more and more every single day.

May it be so. Amen.

Again & Again, God Loves First

Posted on March 14, 20211 Comment

Text: John 3:14-21

One of my favorite books is “Hope for the Flowers.”

It tells the story of a little caterpillar named Stripe who is looking for something… he just isn’t sure what it is.

He just knows, deep within, that there is something more out there.

One day, he comes across this mound… this heap… this mountain of other caterpillars, all climbing on top of one another trying to get as high as they possibly can.

There are rumors of something wonderful at the top of the pile.

So Stripe joins them. He wants to see and understand and know what is up there, even though he has no idea what it is.

Along the way, he makes some terrible choices. He hurts others. He pushes them out of the way.

He has to stop looking other caterpillars in their eyes so he doesn’t feel so bad about what he is doing.

He was looking for life among things that were sucking the life right out of him.

The story reminds me of my good friend, John.

For years, he worked in the corporate world and successfully built his own company.

He climbed to the top, seeking success and power and telling himself when he got to the top, he could finally enjoy life.

But when he got there, he still had this longing that he just couldn’t fulfill and he couldn’t be sure that anything he had done was worth it.

It also reminds me of Nicodemus.

He was part of the ruling class in Jerusalem and had done everything right.

He was the epitome of power and privilege.

And yet, deep within, he knew that there was something he was missing… a longing he couldn’t quite put his finger on. An empty space in his soul and answers he couldn’t grasp.

Have you ever felt like that?

Have you ever been stumbling your way through life, doing what you thought you were supposed to be doing, and woke up and wondered… what am I missing?

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes that we all do this.

It is the life of sin.

“[we] let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell [us] how to live. [We] fill our lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhale disobedience. We all did it… all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose God’s temper and do away with the whole lot of us… “ (Ephesians 2:1-6 MSG, selected)

Actually, pause here for a moment, because if we remember from the first Sunday of Lent, God sure does have the capacity to wipe away humanity and start from scratch…

Only God has chosen not to do it.

God set the bow in the clouds as a reminder of the promise to keep meeting us where we are.

Paul goes on to say, “instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, God embraced us. God took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ…. with no help from us!” (Ephesians 2:1-6 MSG, selected)

It is an echo of those words of Christ we read in the gospel this morning.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16, NRSV)

Salvation, life, wholeness… this is what God wants for us.

This is God’s gift to us.

This is God’s plan for our lives.

Our God wants nothing more than to hold us in love and grace and mercy, like we might hold a newborn infant.

Before we can understand it…

Before we deserve it…

God loves first.

In our United Methodist tradition, it is what we call prevenient grace.

From the latin: pre-venient, “before” “to go”

God’s grace, God’s love, comes first.

This week, I learned about some experiments done in the 1970’s by Dr. Benjamin Libet. He was a neuroscientist who wanted to understand what was happening in our brains as we make decisions.

We think that we make a decision… say to flex our fingers… then, our brain initiates the electrical impulses, and then our muscles respond, right?

What he actually discovered is that before we consciously make a decision to do something, our brain has already started the process!

FIRST our brain activity begins.

THEN we make a decision.

Finally, our body responds and our fingers flex.

So, it kind of seems like our decision wasn’t actually the CAUSE of the action.

But he kept working and discovered that we CAN consciously make a decision to stop an action that our brain has already initiated.

He asked people to resist the urge to flex their fingers as soon as they become aware of it.

When we become aware of an urge to act, we can choose to stop.

Libet called this ‘free won’t.”

We can’t choose to DO something… but we can choose to stop.

What does this have to do with grace?

Well, let’s change the outcome we are seeking.

Instead of trying to flex our fingers, what if we are trying to be saved?

Scripture tells us over and over again that there is nothing we can do to earn God’s grace.

There is nothing we can do get salvation for ourselves.

No matter how much we want it, or strive for it, or choose it.

And that is because our conscious decision to love God is like our conscious decision to wiggle our fingers… it is always secondary.

What comes first is God’s love.

God’s prevenient grace.

The very way that God built us for relationship and salvation.

God laid the foundation and the groundwork for us to receive salvation before we could even conceive of the idea to love God back.

We love… because God loves first.

Now… we can consciously reject that love.

We can resist it.

We can try to do our own thing.

Like my friend John… or Stripe the caterpillar… or Nicodemus…

But God’s love and grace is always there, sending out signals and nudges and glimpses of the possibility that awaits us if we stop resisting.

In the book, “Hope for the Flowers,” one day Stripe sees something that makes his heart stop.

He catches a glimpse, a possibility of something he can’t quite comprehend. He sees a butterfly.

He stops climbing, curls up on a branch, and builds a cocoon.

He doesn’t know how he knows to do it, but he does.

That’s what happened to my friend, John.

One Sunday, the Holy Spirit showed up at church and he caught a glimpse of another life that was possible for him.

He went home and put his business up for sale and enrolled in seminary.

John had no clue what was waiting for him, except that everything was about to change.

And Nicodemus?

He may have come to Jesus in the middle of the night, unsure of those nudges with his soul and afraid of what others might think.

But, he, too, is forever changed by the grace of God.

The next time Nicodemus appears in the gospel of John, he has stepped into public view after the crucifixion to ask for the body of Jesus.

It is when Jesus is lifted up on the cross that he fully understands the life that God intended for him.

God loves first.

God holds us and shows us what life, real life, is all about.

And that longing deep within us…?

We want to hold God back.

We want to curl our tiny fingers around God’s and cling to what is possible.

We can get ourselves distracted.

We can resist.

We can say we don’t deserve it because of the things we have done.

But none of that changes the fact that we are held.

That we have always been held.

And that if we just let go of trying to do it all ourselves…

If we stopped saying no…

We would discover that God has already given us the life of salvation we long for.

Amen.