practice – Salvaged Faith

Your Greater Purpose

Posted on July 23, 2018Leave a comment

Text: Isaiah 1:10-20

This morning’s scripture… wow.
These are the words God speaks to the prophet Isaiah as he is called into service. This is the message that Isaiah is called to shared with the kings and rulers of Israel, the children of God.
God, who created them…
God, who rescued them from slavery in Egypt…
God, who formed them into a people…
God, who loves them now is filled with anger and frustration and heartache.
The children God raised have rebelled.
They have abandoned God’s ways and have turned against one another.
And yet in their worship, they pretend as if everything is okay.

Isaiah is sent to these rulers to point out that there is a disconnect between their practices and their praises of God.
They claim to be faithful.
They go through all of the motions.
But their actions inside the sanctuary have no impact on what they do when they leave the temple. The poor, the needy, the strangers in their midst are suffering… sometimes in the name of God.
All of that worship… and there is nothing different in their daily lives, or in the lives of their neighbors, because they have spent that time with God.

Des Moines University reports that nearly 30% of Polk County households were food insecure at some time during 2017. 30% of households couldn’t put enough food on the table.
The median income for African American households in Polk County is $26,725. That number is less than half of the median income for all households in the county.
86% of households earning less than $15,000 annually live in housing they cannot afford. That number of $15,000/year is a full-time job at minimum wage. The Polk County Housing Trust Fund estimates that 8,350 affordable units are needed in central Iowa to meet current needs. Based on fair-market rent for a two bedroom apartment, Des Moines/West Des Moines employees must make at least $16.83 an hour.
The impacts of these numbers:
Homeless children are 2x more likely to have a learning disability, repeat a grade, or be suspended from school.
Low-income students are 4x more likely to be chronically absent, often for reasons beyond their control due to unstable housing, unreliable transportation, or lack of health care.
Of third-grade students who qualify for free and reduced lunches, less than 60% read proficiently.

These are realities of our community.
These numbers reflect choices we have made as participants within it.
They reflect who we as employers hire and how much we choose to pay them.
They reflect the investments we’ve made in public education – how we support teachers, taxes, our giving of volunteer hours.
They reflect decisions about zoning, real estate investment, infrastructure, health care and who we have elected to make decisions about those policies.
They reflect the vast need for organizations like Hawthorn Hill and Bidwell Riverside.

And so God speaks:
I hate your worship.
Your prayers make me nauseous.
Organ or electric guitar… who cares? – I loathe your music.
You focus on the color of the carpet and what you sit on and I’ve had enough.
Your sermons offend me.
Who asked for the offering plate to be passed around?
That sweet smell of King’s Hawaiian bread at communion stinks.
Do you know why?
Because even though you hear my words and sing my praises, you live your lives as if none of it matters.
Stop.
Listen again to my words.
Pay attention to what I have called you to do.
Work for justice.
Help the down-and out.
Stand up for the homeless.
Go to bat for the defenseless.

God is inviting us to not simply worship, but to go out and be in ministry with the most vulnerable people in our midst. As our call to worship reminded us – we are not here to tell God how awesome we are… we are here to remember how our awesome God hears the cries of the needy, hears OUR cries, and then responds through the hands and feet of every day people like you and me.

There is so much in this world that can distract us from that core purpose.
We find ourselves in competition with other churches to offer the best programs and attract the most people.
We get sucked in by the temptation we discussed in this week’s chapter of “Defying Gravity” to cling to the gifts and abundance in our lives, rather than holding them loosely and sharing them with others.
I personally find myself overwhelmed with the desire to keep the peace, to hear all of your various points of view and find the happy medium in decisions we make… that sometimes I forget to go back to the basics and ask what God wants us to do.
And so, we all need to hear these words from Isaiah.
We need to shake loose the cobwebs of our memory.
We need to allow these words jolt us back into alignment with God’s greater purpose for our work and worship together.

The good news is that we are already responding to this call in so many ways.
Our gifts to the DMARC Food Pantry Network put healthy food on the shelves at Bidwell-Riverside.
Our contributions in various special offerings have provided couches for the common space at Hawthorn Hill and playground equipment for their kids.
On a weekly basis, volunteers from Immanuel take milk and juice to the shelter for families to use over the weekend.
Through time, through prayers, through money, we are making an impact on those statistics I named earlier.

A young woman named Amie arrived at the New Directions Shelter, one of the ministries of Hawthorn Hill in October of 2014. She was a brand new mother and walked in off of the street with her newborn after Child Protective Services deemed their home environment was unsuitable. Amie and her daughter were able to stay at New Directions for about a month while she worked to make the adjustments and fill requirements from CPS. She was soon able to find an apartment and a job that would help her get back on her feet.
In her exit survey, Amie wrote:
“I just want to say thank you to everyone for helping me achieve my goals during my stay. I’m so blessed I found you all! I feel that New Directions has helped me become a better mother to my daughter!! There isn’t enough room on this paper to describe how grateful I am to you all! I would so love to give back one day and become a volunteer. Thank you so much!”
Since then, Amie has moved to a new job with Bidwell Riverside and was promoted to a Shift Supervisor. She is using her gifts and her compassion to help families experiencing food insecurity. She’s going back to school at DMAAC to work on an Associates in Human Services. And, she has gone back to New Directions to do volunteer work – helping to organize an Easter Egg for families who are there over the holidays.

This is what happens when we allow God’s greater purpose to lead us.
This is what happens when we create opportunities for vulnerable neighbors to be transformed… when we work with them, listen to them, and empower them to thrive.

When we don’t just sing about getting to heaven, but actively work to help our neighbors experience heaven right here.
When our worship and our witness stand up for the defenseless…
When our offerings are used not to build up our egos, but to build the Kingdom…
When we allow God’s word to shape and form not only this hour, but every hour of every day…
When we leave this sanctuary and head out into the world, still crying out – Here I am, Lord, send me…

Then we will have been transformed into the people we were meant to be by God.
Rich or poor, young or old, sinner or saint… we are all God’s children.
And God has a purpose for us.

Fruit that Won’t Spoil

Posted on October 9, 2016Leave a comment

Since we are continuing this morning with the gospel of John this week and Jesus’ imagery of the vine, I thought I’d share with you another story about my own garden.

It has been a very busy couple of weeks, and although I have had time to glance at the pumpkins, I pretty much have ignored the rest of the garden.

I gathered all of the tomatoes I could weeks ago and I have jars of marinara and frozen stewed tomatoes packed away in the freezer. The peppers never really grew and the lettuce was chewed away by the rabbits before we got to eat it.

This weekend however, I had the chance to do some yard work and clear out the garden, plant some perennials, and prepare for the changing seasons.

And I discovered tomatoes on the vines again!

There are probably 100 little cherry tomatoes currently ripening on the vines, and a few romas as well.

But here is the thing. Some of those tomatoes have been there a while. I reached out to grab one that looked red and juicy and… well… it was juicy all right. And rotten to the core. As soon as I touched it, the tomato burst open with a foul smelling mess.

Sometimes, fruit stays on the vine too long.

The entire purpose of being a part of the vine… being a branch connected to the source is to bear fruit. And as we learned last week, the closer to the core of the vine you are, the sweeter and more abundant the fruit will be.

But that fruit is meant for a purpose!

The grapes on the vine are meant for eating and juice making, sustenance and community. They are meant to be dried into raisins or pickled and preserved. The fruit is not for the sake of the vine. The fruit is for the sake of the world!

As Jesus says in verse 16 – I chose you… YOU… and I appointed you so that you could GO and produce fruit and so that your fruit would last. Or as the Message translation puts it… “I put you in the world to bear fruit… that won’t spoil.”

If we take a step back from these few verses, we find that the vine and the branches are part of a larger speech Jesus is sharing with the disciples at the last supper. They have broken bread together, and share the cup, and Judas has left the table to betray him.

As Jesus looks around at each of the disciples… those people who have been with him, learning from him, walking in his footsteps, closely connected to God in thought, word, and deed, he wants to prepare them for what comes next.

Yes, Jesus will be handed over to the authorities. Yes, Jesus will die. Jesus will be resurrected, but will no longer be physically present with this rag tag bunch of followers in the same way.

What are they supposed to do then? What are WE supposed to do… those of us today who have never met Jesus, never seen his face or heard his voice?

We are to love.

A new command I give to you, Jesus says, Love one another.

Remain in my love. Abide in my love. Live in my love.

Love each other just as I have loved you.

Last week, we talked about many of the ways we can stay connected to Jesus and remain part of the vine. We can read the scriptures, we can pray, we can study and learn from others on the journey.

But at some point, we have to take what we read and put it into practice.

If we simply learn the words of Jesus… if we spend all of our time reading the bible or in prayer and we don’t go out into the world to share the fruit that has been formed in us… then we are just like those tomatoes on my vines. We are going to rot in place.

Every time we pray…

Every time we read the scriptures…

Every time we gather in a small group to learn from each other…

Every time you sit in this sanctuary and listen to a sermon here is what I want you to do…

Something!

Do something!

And friends, there are two questions that will get you started:

First, how does this apply to my life?

Second, what am I being asked to do?

At some point, we have to take what we read and put it into practice.

At some point, being connected to the vine means we have to bear fruit… and that fruit has to go out into the world.

At some point, God’s love in us needs to spill out into love for others.

“I give you these commandments so that you can love each other.”

And that means that what we read in the bible about how we should treat strangers and refugees we need to put into practice.

It means that when we read in the bible that the church should visit the sick and pray with them, we need to do it.

When we read in the bible the call to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God, we need to ask – how does this apply to my life? What should I do?

“I chose you and appointed you so that you could go and produce fruit and so that your fruit could last.”

You and I are called to bear fruit… fruit of love, grace, and mercy… fruit that will transform this world.

This fruit is not meant for us to hoard… it is meant for the widow and orphan. It is meant for the rich and the powerful. It is meant for the stubborn and addicted. It is meant for people of every color and ability. It is meant for friend and for foe. It is meant for all.

I’ve been thinking a lot about our responsibility as Christians to bear fruit that will last during this election cycle.

Politics might seem like a dirty word, but the truth is that it comes from the Greek words that mean the citizen or the city. Politics at is core are simply the relations between people who live in a society. Politics are the political opinions or sympathies of a person. (Mirriam-Webster)

And as Christians who live in this society, as people who follow in the footsteps of Jesus and bear the fruit of the gospel to the world, we have political opinions and sympathies.

I cannot, and will not every tell you who to vote for or which party, if any, to align yourselves.

But I do firmly believe that as citizens of a nation in which every person has a voice and a vote that one of the ways we bear fruit that lasts… fruit that doesn’t spoil… is by participating in the democratic process. And I believe the votes you cast should be a reflection of the faith that has been formed by these scriptures.

Every vote matters, and every race, from city council to the highest office in the land matters.

The people we elect will influence the economic lives of our neighbors, the institutions of education that form our children, the health care systems that care for the least among us. They will uphold or create laws that govern life and death. They will impact if we have sidewalks next to our streets, whether or not mental health care is provided, and our relationship with other nations.

One of the realities is that our faith does not fit neatly into one political party or platform over and above others. And so the hard work for people of faith this time of year is to spend time in prayer and discernment before casting our votes.

But perhaps as our scripture reminds us today there is really only one word that we need to remember… only one command that Jesus says will shape every facet of our life together.

Love.

We are called to love.

Not to hoard love, but to share it.

May this world reflect the love of Christ because we have been fruit bearers.

Amen.

every piece of the pie

Posted on September 11, 2016Leave a comment

I’ve always liked playing Trivial Pursuit. The questions were always so difficult, but I like that the game aims to help you be well-rounded in your knowledge. The goal is to get every single different piece of the pie filled in… only then do you win the game.

Maybe that’s because I’ve always been somewhat of a generalist instead of a specialist… I like to try a little bit of everything, learn a little here and there, get involved in as many different ways as I can.

Today in worship and in celebration, that’s how we talked about our life of discipleship. God doesn’t want us to just do one thing – like prayer or one activity like music. I firmly believe that God wants us to dive in – to take our ordinary, every day lives, and to let every part of it be part of God’s work in the world. Our volunteering, our resources, our love for people, all of it. It all belongs to God.

God wants us to love with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

God wants us to experience every single piece of a life of discipleship: worship, hospitality, spiritual formation, practicing our faith, service, and generosity. God wants us to be well-rounded as we follow Jesus into the world.

And so today at Immanuel, we had pie… lots of pie! And we heard testimonies from many different people in the church about how they have been called to serve in all these different areas and what difference they make in their lives. And we had opportunities for people to sign up for over 80 different activities, ministries, and groups as part of the ministry of our church. We worshipped with songs that were traditional and contemporary (sometimes in the same song!), we gave bibles to our kindergarten and third graders and paused for a time of remembrance of 9/11. We sang and prayed and explored the building – every nook and cranny.

I am constantly amazed by the talent and love and devotion of the people at my church. They are passionate about what they do and willing to grow and try something new. They have skills beyond measure. Their hearts overflow.

And I can’t wait to see what God is going to do when we all challenge each other to continue growing as disciples… to share the gifts we have with others and stretch ourselves in new ways and new areas by letting others teach us.

Practicing Our Religion in Public

Posted on February 11, 2016Leave a comment

By some accounts, yesterday morning I did exactly the opposite of what Jesus tells us in Matthew.

Some of us gathered at a local coffee shop, a public place, to pray and impose ashes and remember we are merely human.

We were out there, practicing our religion in public.

I always find this passage from the gospel of Matthew such a very strange text to be assigned for Ash Wednesday, but there it is. Every year, on this day, these are the words that are proclaimed.

When you pray, shut the door and pray in secret.

When you give, don’t look for praise.

When you fast, don’t let it show.

All of these seem to speak against exactly the kind of public activity of gathering in a coffee shop to impose ashes.

Or the rather public display of walking outside of the church after worship with a big black cross on your forehead.

We are starting a series in worship here at church called, Renegade Gospel, and are reminded that Jesus didn’t come to start a religion. Jesus didn’t come to hand out new rituals for us to follow.

But you know what, Jesus did come to start a revolution.

Jesus did come to re-instigate a relationship.

Jesus came because of the simple fact we remember today. We are nothing but dust and to dust we shall return.

When we look deeper and contextually at our gospel reading in Matthew today, we come to understand that Jesus isn’t warning against being religious people in public.

No, he is asking us to stop pretending to be religious just because we are in public.

Jesus is calling us back into relationship… with God, with ourselves, with one another.

He is calling us back to the reality of our sin, our failures, our outward trappings of religion that demonstrate little or no faith on the inside.

As the Message translation sums up this passage: When you come before God, don’t turn that into a theatrical production… Do you think God sits in a box seat? Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace. (Matthew 6:5-6)

That sentiment is echoed in the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:13. He is reaching out to them and asking that they listen, that they heed his words, because of what they have seen and heard about his faith.

He hasn’t hidden it. He has lived it. Fully. And living his faith has gotten him into lots of trouble.

The kindness and holiness of spirit, the genuine love and truthful speech… all of it has brought dishonor, ill repute, punishment… and yet he and the other disciples persist. They are not afraid to live out their faith publically for all to see and directly in the face of the religion of the day.

We might think of religion as the rituals and rules, the culture and conditions of faith. It is the box we put our faith in.

But Jesus comes to break the box apart and pull us out into the world.

Jesus comes to help us understand that our relationship with him is about far more than prayerful words and pious actions.

The gospel is yearning for us to be so caught up in its mercy, love and goodness that we can’t help but live into its revolutionary reality.

We are called to stop pretending to be religious and start living faithfully.

Whether this morning, gathered in a public space, or right here, tonight, in this community of worship, we are proclaiming the revolutionary message of the gospel.

We are dust.

We are nothing.

We are sinful.

We need help.

And those words are anathema to our culture. In a world where we try to show how strong and powerful and successful they are – they are tantamount to treason.

But we stand on the street corner and say them anyways… because they are true.

And because Jesus has come.

The one who created us out of dust will re-create us from the dust of death.

There is mercy and forgiveness in this place.

There is life, even in the midst of death.

And that, we should proclaim from every place we find ourselves.

We should invite every friend and stranger alike into that revolutionary truth.

I Am dust and ashes

Posted on February 13, 2013Leave a comment

Landon Whitsitt had a thoughtful post about how we engage with Lenten disciplines today: Giving up chocolate and beer for Lent is not what Jesus had in mind. In it, he reminds us about the basics of spiritual practices surrounding Lent: prayer, fasting, almsgiving. He reminds us that it is not about us at all.

I have realized that most of the times I have given something up for Lent or taken something on, it was for my own benefit. It was so I could do something for God – sacrifice something I cared about so God would be more pleased with me. The practices were hoops I jumped through. Sometimes they were rigorous disciplines, sometimes they were difficult, and they have helped me to focus on God… but it all revolved around me. What I could do, what I would gain, how I was living out my faith.

If Lent is truly about dependence on God, if it is about our time in the wilderness, our discovery of who we are and whose we are… then Lent is about letting go of “me.”

In the anthology, Speaking of Silence: Christans and Buddhists in Dialogue, there is an interesting discussion about what it means to be “me.” What is the self? What is its relationship to the divine? To briefly summarize the conversation, Lodrö Dorje begins:

The Buddhist path is therefore primarily concerned with the question of how to see through ego, how to tame it, and how to let it go. (pg. 157)

Father George Timko responds with an analogy:

When you put it [a sugar cube] into a cup of tea or coffee, the sugar dissolves, and yet it is still there. It is there in a completely different way, in a different dimension: it is no longer there as a cube. So, as Gregory of Nyssa would say, “We have to be dissoved and to be in Christ.” You are no logner there as an “I,” as an individualized center or self. There is no “you.” You are dead, as Saint Paul experienced…

We just simply don’t want to completely let go of that self, so we say, my true self is there. There is no such thing as a true self or a false self. There is only the self or the no-self. And as Saint John Chrysostom said, “He alone truly knows himself, who knows himself as nothing.” (pg. 158-9)

As the conversation continues Joseph Goldstein adds:

I could play the Zen role here a little bit, and ask whether it really is a question of dissolving anything, or whether it is just that in a moment we see that the self never was. I think we could speak from both perspectives. Really there is nothing to dissolve, because the self was never there in the first place. (pg. 164)

to which David Steindl-Rast responds:

But how so many Christians have been stuck in this imaginary projection! How they have clung tenaciously, thinking that the Christina way is based on promoting the ego from the level on which it is now, to some super-level in heaven!

Goldstein:

Well, it is an appealing idea, Brother David!

It is an appealing idea. We want to please God and be faithful and follow the rules and reap the rewards. We want to hear the call and respond. And it is SO difficult to not focus on that individual achievement and to instead let go.

As the Israelites wandered for forty years in the desert, they were forced to lay aside their past, to stop forging gods with their own hands, and to embrace a life of dependence upon the one who is the creator of all. They were shaped not as they desired, but as God desired.

As Jesus wandered for forty days in the wilderness, he let go of what he could be, denied the temptation to achieve all the amazing things he could have, in order to accept the call to die to self and live in God.

And as I enter this time of Lent, I am challenged to stop focusing on myself and what will benefit me spiritually and what I can do to please the Lord and instead place my life into those hands.

Lent is a time to die to oneself… or maybe to realize that your “self” never was.

I am nothing.

I am a dissolved sugar cube in a cup of coffee.

I am dead and in the tomb.

It is Christ who lives in me. It is the Spirit who has given me breath. It is God who has enabled me to love.

Ashes to Ashes… Dust to Dust.

Words and Deeds

Posted on September 2, 2012Leave a comment

How many of you have facebook?

How many of you have no clue what facebook is?

One of the great things about facebook is that you can connect with people from various parts of your life all at once. And my friends span the spectrum from extreme liberals to die hard conservatives.

I don’t have to watch one second of campaign coverage and I can tell you who was speaking, where and when and what lots of different types of people thought about it.

Today, we find ourselves on the Sunday between our two major political party conventions.

And on facebook and in person, I have seen people laugh and cry, jest and jeer, shout praises and mutter criticisms… folks have been angry or excited and rarely anything in between. Some are accused of lying. Others of ignorance. Some people are called stupid. Wealthy has become a bad word – as has the term poor. We point fingers. We refuse to accept blame. We pass around the buck. And rarely are we making these arguments in logical, coherent, calm conversations.

Politics sure brings out the worst in us… doesn’t it?

Or is it just that politics takes all of those pent up feelings we carry around with us every day and it crystallizes our differences, our frustrations, our anxieties?

I started out by asking about how many of you have facebook, because the nasty behavior I see in politics is an every day occurrence in social media.

But it’s also an everyday occurrence in our school hallways.

And in our bars and restaurants.

And around our dinner tables.

And in our private conversations with other people.

The truth of the matter is… we have forgotten how to talk to one another.

This isn’t simply a secular problem. The same thing is seen in our churches as well.

I had more than my share of church politicking this year, as I had the honor of representing our conference of the UnitedMethodistChurch at our quadrennial global gathering.

One thousand United Methodists from all across the globe gathered in Tampa to make decisions about the future of our church and our mission… and a lot of what we did was stand up and make speeches and refuse to listen… which in turn led to a failure to act. We talked our problems to death and in the end have little to show for it.

Each of our denominations has similar meetings – from session and presbytery meetings, to district events and conferences. And it doesn’t matter if you are Methodist or Nazarene or Congregationalist or answer to a pastor or a pope – we don’t always agree and it isn’t always a pretty conversation.

I wonder if that kind of contentious debate about what it means to “be the church” is what led James to write his letter to the people of God.

I think he looked around at the arguments, and the infighting, and the trials people were going through and he felt called to say something… to refocus our attention on what really matters: the word of God that transforms us all.

The passage that Morrie read for us this morning comes from the first chapter of this letter.

A huge problem James discerns is favoritism and conflict between different classes of people in the church… so he starts out by leveling the playing field: we all have tests and trials.

What separates us, James writes, is that some of us stand firm in our faith in the midst of those trials… and some of us are tossed about with every fad and sea change. It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor…those who stand firm are the ones who are blessed.

Now – this matters, because James goes on to describe how every good and perfect gift comes from God.

What doesn’t come from God are our own cravings, our desires, the things that we hold on to more tightly than we hold on to God.

I want to do a quick thought experiment with you… think of one thing that you hold onto tightly in your life: maybe it is an addiction… or your schedule…maybe it is a way of doing something in the church… or an everyday object like your cell phone.

Imagine that one thing… that thing that you can’t live without…

Now, ask yourself – and be truthful now – how many times in the past year has that “thing” caused conflict?

How many times did it lead you to yell at someone?

How many times did it cause you to act out of character?

How many times did you miss the opportunity to grow in your faith or your relationships because you were too stubborn to let go of it?

James writes his letter to the people of God because they are so focused on what they want and what they think and what they believe that he no longer sees the true word of God in their midst.

They have deceived themselves into thinking that they had the truth – when all they have done is distort God’s word into something dirty and foul to suit their own needs.

And then… they argued about it. They argued about who was more important and who was right. They argued about who was included and who should be forgotten. They argued about how much time they had to put in and why they didn’t need to get their hands dirty any more.

And in doing so, they exchanged the gift of life and peace and love of God for the cares and desires and sin of this world.

You know what? We have, too.

If we were to be truly honest with ourselves, we encourage our youth to use their fists more than words… and teach them to use words that pack a punch that could hurt the toughest soul.

We teach our children they deserve to have everything without regards to the cost.

We as adults are quick to judge when we encounter someone with different political view points. We make assumptions.

We close our doors to the neediest around us and put a check in the mail to make ourselves feel better.

We spend our days working hard so that we can have the finer things in life and then are too tired to enjoy them.

We use and abuse one another so that we can get ahead.

We ask the question, “how will this help me?” more than “how can I help others?”

No wonder the spirit of discourse around us has crumbled. Internally focused, afraid of one another, distrusting of the systems that are supposed to help and support us, wary about the future….

Those words do not describe a people, a community, a nation that has the saving word of God planted within.

The question is what do we have to clear out so that the good and perfect word of God can take root in our souls again?

James has a few solutions for us.

First of all, we need to recapture a spirit of humility. We need to recognize that we are not God’s gift to this earth – but imperfect vessels that the word of God can transform.

Humility means that we treat the word of God as a gift, and not something that we deserve.

Humility means that we make ourselves low so that others might be raised up.

Humility means that we put another before ourselves.

Humility means that we are quick to truly listen to what another person has to say before we butt in with our own thoughts and feelings.

Second, we need to practice every day the words that we hear at bible study or in prayer group or in worship.

David Lose, who writes for Working Preacher, says: “Sunday is not the most important day of the Christian week.” It is every other day, the in-between days that truly show whether or not that saving word of God is taking root.

James tells us that too often we hear the word of God and do not do it. We listen to the sermon on Sunday morning and then go out and forget everything that we heard.

We need to study the word and put it into practice. On Monday morning, we need to let kindness rule our actions. On Tuesday evening, we need to let God’s patience rule our heart. On Thursday afternoon around the water cooler, we need to let the gift of God’s love rule our conversations. In every small act of every single day, we need to let that heavenly gift of God shine through our lives.

Lastly, we need to be careful about our words.

James calls us to listen… but when we do finally speak, we need to ask whether our words are rooted in anger or in love.

Do the words we use come from the word of God planted within? Or from the desires of our imperfect selves?

Are our conversations pleasing to our Lord? Or are we trying to impress others?

In verse 26 of our passage for this morning, James writes, “If those who claim devotion to God don’t control what they say, they mislead themselves.”

Our words matter. They can be used to hurt or to heal. They can be used to encourage or to tear down. They can be used to expand God’s kingdom or to erect barriers for the Holy Spirit.

We who are gathered here represent the people of God in Marengo, Iowa. And our words and our deeds matter. They represent to the world who God is and how he desires us to live.

In your conversations on facebook and in real life… in your actions towards strangers and your best friends… do people see the good and perfect gift of God in your life?

We often cling so tightly to our stuff, our issues, and our solutions that we can’t open our hands to receive the amazing and beautiful gifts of God.

Let go. Open your hearts and your hands to welcome the word of God. And then live it out in every moment of your days to everyone you meet.

Say yes to compassion. Say yes to forgiveness. Say yes to patience. Say yes to kindness and joy and love and peace. Let them take root in your soul and flourish in your life.

If we do… this world truly will be transformed.

Amen.

self-awareness, faith, repentance and the Lord's Supper

Posted on May 31, 2012Leave a comment

In the past two weeks, I have had a number of conversations with colleagues and family about the Lord’s Table… not necessarily about who is welcome, but about what MAKES that person welcome.

My friends in the LCMS church have been discussing what kind of understanding of faith is required for a first communion experience. I am not completely versed in their traditions, but from what I was told (and then understood) current practice is for children to have to be old enough to express the faith for themselves before participating in the sacrament. But as the practice of infant baptism and baptism of younger children has increased, they wonder if a) communion should also be extended to young children or b) both sacraments need to remain as practices reserved for those who understand and have claimed their faith personally. I think it is a wonderful conversation for them to be having, as we should always make sure that our theology is consistent with our practices and that those practices are then consistent in and of themselves.

One of the important factors in their conversation is that the sacrament of communion (in particular) is a gift for believers of the faith and that there is some danger in coming to the table unprepared, with wrong intention, or misusing the sacraments. The primary place in scripture they (and other Christians) draw upon regarding this issue is 1 Corinthians 11:26-29:

Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you broadcast the death of the Lord until he comes. This is why those who eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord inappropriately will be guilty of the Lord’s body and blood. Each individual should test himself or herself, and eat from the bread and drink from the cup in that way. Those who eat and drink without correctly understanding the body are eating and drinking their own judgment. (CEB)

If we are not old enough or developed enough to test and examine ourselves, to be self-reflective, then there is a danger present there.

In the United Methodist tradition, one of the ways that the Lord’s Table is emphasized is as a means of grace. In fact, communion is not necessarily reserved for only the baptized, as John Wesley believed it could bestow even prevenient grace… grace that goes before us… and that partaking of communion could be a converting act. As the Holy Spirit transforms us through the ritual, we might let go of our old life and finally become ready to accept the faith for ourselves.

George Lyons has modernized John Wesley’s sermon “The Means of Grace” and shares these words on the duty of constant communion:

“all who desire an increase of the grace of God are to wait for it in partaking of the Lord’s supper.” By meditating upon his saving death, by expecting his personal presence, by anticipating his coming again in glory, we prepare ourselves to receive his grace. Those who are already filled with peace and joy in believing, or anyone who longs for the grace of true repentance may, No, must eat and drink to their souls’ content. “Is not the eating of that bread, and the drinking of that cup, the outward, visible means, whereby God conveys into our souls all that spiritual grace, that righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, which were purchased by the body of Christ once broken and the blood of Christ once shed for us Let all, therefore, who truly desire the grace of God, eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.”

Wesley was convinced that communion was not only a confirming, but also a converting ordinance.

In some ways, our tradition in the United Methodist Church has taken 1 Cor 11:26-29 with a grain of salt… Yes, we believe that one needs to be of the right heart and mind before you come… BUT, we see so much grace in the ritual that it not merely confirms the faith we have, but can even overcome our lack of belief and faith and repentance.

This is possibly why my mom recently became a little angry at the dinner table. She had attended worship with my brother and sister-in-law at their non-denominational church. I have never been to their church, so I can only relate her experience as she shared it. In their tradition, communion is open to those who have faith in Jesus Christ, but the pastor made a special plea right before the time of communion that those who were not right with God and their neighbor should not participate.

As my mom exclaimed to us later, “If they mean everyone is welcome, then EVERYONE SHOULD BE WELCOME!”

The conversation continued and as I heard the experience recounted, my sister-in-law talked about how the service was running long and the pastor skipped some of the more “pastoral” instructions that typically go with that plea. To my parents and brother who were guests that day and were unfamiliar with their traditions (and also from the United Methodist tradition), the words sounded cold and off-putting.

And yet, I gently reminded my mom, even in our tradition do we speak similar words. In every service of Word and Table, we have a time of not only confession, but also of reconciliation where we have the opportunity to pass the peace with one another and seek forgiveness with our neighbors. And our invitation clearly states:

Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him, who earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another.

Therefore, let us confess our sin before God and one another.

As I think about it more and more, the United Methodist tradition tries to hold in tension both the particularity of scripture (1 Cor 11) and the depth and breadth of scripture and our theological understanding of God’s grace.

In his article “Admission to the Table and Recent United Methodist Debate” Hoyt Hickman lays out the history of how we came to our current understanding of who is welcome to participate at the table and points to these words (which I can’t remember having ever read before) in our Book of Worship:

All who intend to lead a Christian life, together with their children, are invited to receive the bread and cup. We have no tradition of refusing any who present themselves desiring to receive… Every effort should be made to make each person, and especially children, welcome at the table. It is particularly effective to look directly at the person being addressed, touch each person’s hand while giving the bread and cup, and if possible call each person by name.

We don’t talk about baptism being a prerequisite. We welcome children, even young children who have no full concept of what this meal means, as a part of the covenant and care that their parents make on their behalf (Acts 2:39 – This promise is for you, your children, and for all who are far away—as many as the Lord our God invites. – CEB). And while we encourage personal confession, make opportunity for doing so available, and invite people to be earnestly repentant before they come, we will not refuse someone who comes. We believe that God just might act in their lives anyways… in spite of where there heart is at the moment.

Or as George Lyons puts it, ” It is not only for those who already believe and long to deepen their relationship with the Lord, but for those who truly want to believe, but seem to lack the grace to do so.”

I am not sure where my LCMS brothers and sisters will end up in their conversations. And I don’t know fully the practice of my brother’s church. But with all of its nuance and tension, I love where my own United Methodist tradition lands….

So come to the table if you seek to love God. Come to the table confessing the truth of your heart. Come to the table and bring with you your children and grandchildren and your friend who is hurting and the stranger who needs to be loved. Come to the table where God’s grace is ready to meet you and to welcome you home.

You Are the Body

Posted on March 11, 2012Leave a comment

Description of my Christmas tree: White lights, built into the tree. Part of a strand wasn’t working. Had to go through and replace every single light down the row to find the right one that was loose or had burned out. Scratched face and arms. A lot of work! But when it is finished and the hard work is done and everything is untangled, that tree looks amazing!

I got to thinking about how a strand of Christmas tree lights is like the body of Christ. Every single one of those bulbs is important. They might be small. They might shine with different colors and brightness. Some might twinkle and others might not. But if you take one light out – the strand stops working.

Each one of us is an important member of the body of Christ. We may be simple, ordinary people, but we are necessary. We shine with different colors and brightness. Some of us twinkle and others do not. But if you take just one of us out – our strand stops working.

As we continue deeper into the twelfth chapter of Romans today, Paul tells us what happens when we not only hand over our ordinary lives to God, but also let God’s will transform our hearts. We find our place in the Body of Christ. We find that we are individuals in community. We find that God not only has a purpose for us – but that God has already given us everything we need to fulfill that purpose.

I keep all of our Christmas stuff in a large trunk that we store underneath the stairs at our house. And in the bottom of that trunk (which is why I didn’t get a chance to drag it out and bring it this morning) is a small box. And in that box are replacement light bulbs. They are just ordinary little bulbs – much like the ones here. Some of them are twinkle bulbs and cause the whole strand to blink on and off. Some of them are twinklers themselves. Some of them are clear and others have color to them. But you know what – inside that box, not plugged in or connected to anything, they are really good for nothing.

I got to thinking about those spare light bulbs when I read our gospel reading for this morning: Jesus spoke to Philip and Andrew and said:

Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Unless a light bulb is connected to the strand of lights, it remains simply a spare bulb; But if it dies – it if is connected – it if gives up its role as a spare part, a simple individual bulb – then it gives forth light. And not just its own individual light… it becomes a part of a greater light that shines forth and brings joy to the world.

Who knew you could learn so much from light bulbs?!

In many ways, we are like those spare parts. We might have great color or potential for twinkling or steadfast shining… we might have the ability to bring joy and warmth into the world… but unless we recognize who we truly are – and whose we truly are… unless we let go of our individual lives and give ourselves over to God… we might not ever discover the beauty and the power of walking in the light.

As Jesus goes on in this gospel passage from John, we are reminded that discovering our gift and our role does not mean that everything will be easy. Jesus recognizes that his journey takes him straight to the cross. But he also knows that this is why he is here. This is why his light shines. He understands his purpose in the larger picture of God’s will and in gratitude he is able to say – Father, I do this to glorify your name.

Every one of us has the opportunity to glorify his name – to serve him, to follow him, to honor him. And we do that when we are aligned with God’s will and connected to the Body of Christ.

When we become connected to God’s will and the body of Christ we:

A. understand our individual role – an essential and yet same part of one Body

each of us has different gifts… sharing of the results from our spiritual gifts inventory.
The church needs you… your particular gift was given so that you would help this strand of lights to shine.
But you also need need the church – we need to understand our part in the bigger story.. we need the gifts of others to encourage us, teach us, pray for us, serve us. We need to church to connect us with the power of god… even when we are broken and our individual lights don’t work. One of the amazing things that I discovered with these strands of Christmas lights is that even when a light is broken, it is still necessary. The power still flows through it, even if it will not light up. But take it out – then the whole strand suffers. In the Christian faith, we talk about how sometimes the community of faith carries our faith for us. When we baptize a little child, we are committing to hold the faith for them, to raise them up in the faith, until one day they are ready to claim that faith for themselves. In the same way, when we are burn out spiritually – the last thing we need is to leave the church. We need to surround ourselves with those who can love and care for us and continue to help the Holy Spirit flow through our life until we are ready for transformation and new life and faith.

B. understand our communal role

in many ways our church is like one light bulb as a part of the worldwide body of Christ – so we ask a similar question – what is our church’s gift? What do we uniquely offer this community? How can we manifest God’s will and glorify his name?
In our church, we have discerned that our unique offering is to help reflect the light of Christ in three ways: Care, Grow, Send
In looking at the spiritual gifts of people in this church, the top gifts that God has blessed us with are healing and miracles… so how does that translate into our Prayer/Healing ministry: sharing the good news, bringing hope, walking with people… being a beacon and reflecting the light of God to this community
Soon, our new prayer site will go live

C. Practice needs to be consistent with our gifts. We need to honor them. We need to care for them. We need to serve in ways that glorify God.

John Westerhoff: As stewards of God, we are invited to join God’s action, God’s mission in the world. We are Christ’s body, God’s sacrament, so that God can be present in human life and history. It is for this purpose that God calls us into the church.”
Our witness is our witness – we can serve all we want, but if we do not do so with gentle hearts, it comes across as cold. If we tell the good news but we do it shouting from the street corner, we seem to be better than others. If we tell the truth about God but neglect the truth of our own lives, then we come across as hypocrites.
We are Christ’s body. Sometimes we are the only Christ that this world ever sees… in the gospel of John we are reminded that when we spent time in the light – when we spend time with Jesus – when we believe in him and follow him and serve him – then we ourselves become children of the light.
As the familiar hymn goes: I want to walk as a child of the light. I want to follow Jesus. God set the starts to give light to the world. The star of my life is Jesus. In him there is no darkness at all. The night and the day are both alike. The lamb is the light of the city of God.

Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus. Shine in our hearts, Lord Jesus. Lead us deeper into this community. Connect us with one another so that we might share these amazing gifts that you have given us. Transform us into children of the light so that we might share your love and grace with this community and this world and truly glorify your name. Amen.