Stories

Job 1: 1-5

Acts 20: 7-12

Matthew 20: 29-34

Stories

When you were a child, how many times did you beg your mom or dad “Please give me another list of rules and regulations.”  Right. I thought so. Never. But how often did you try to put off bedtime by begging to hear “Just one more story. Please!?”

What do we do at family reunions and holiday celebrations? We trot out the same old stories, initiating each new generation in the stories of the ancestors. In their telling and re-telling, we make them living history, not just dead facts.

Stories are how we learn who we are, where we’ve come from, and where we are going. A mature human being lives a well-storied life. There are stories that teach us about our identity as Americans — George Washington stories, covered wagon pioneer stories, North and South Civil War stories, Great Depression stories, December 7, 1941 stories, hippy-dippy sixties stories, 9-11 stories, Katrina stories, 1978 snow stories, 1998 Southeast Ohio flood stories.

There are still other stories that teach us about our family identity. Ellis Island stories, proud moment stories, scandalous secret stories, celebration stories, triumph and tragedy stories, new love stories, old grudge stories.

Christians are more than just our country’s stories. Christians are more than our family’s stories. Christians have the “greatest story ever told.” We have the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We have the story of Jesus. That is our most basic identity as Christians: the story of Jesus. We tell the story of Jesus to the world. But do you know—really know-- the living story of your faith?

The truth is that we Christians are woefully under-storied. Not long ago a Pew study of religious knowledge (http://religions.pewforum.org/reports) found that our knowledge of the Bible, world religions and what the Constitution says about religion in public life is embarrassingly low. How low?

Atheists and agnostics scored better than evangelicals or Catholics. Bible‑belt Southerners scored the worst. Those who believe the Bible is the literal word of God did slightly worse than average, while those who say it is not at all the word of God scored slightly better. A lot—far too many--Americans think Deuteronomy is a rock group. More Christians than you would care to imagine think Joan of Arc was married to Noah. Seriously—none of this is a joke. 

Among Americans ages 18-29, one-in-four, 25%, say they are not affiliated with any particular religion.. They have no bible background at all, no understanding of any church, any denomination. Is it any wonder they do not know, let alone understand any of the stories we think we know well and may take for granted?

The bible is full of stories. Jesus often teaches through stories, called parables. Those are stories that on the surface have one simple meaning, but upon study have deeper meanings, often uncomfortable, but always ones that provoke thought. But then there are short little stories about Jesus that are easily passed over, such as the one we read this morning from Matthew. A little story tucked into the larger narrative, about two quick miracles. Easily overlooked. But it tells a lot about Jesus.

The importance of this story is found in one word:  compassion. Jesus and his followers were busy. They were on their way from Jericho headed to Jerusalem, on foot, a distance of 15 miles uphill with an increase of about 3400 feet in elevation. A tough climb. It would have taken them about 8 hours of steady walking. No time to waste. These two blind men yelled at Jesus to stop and help them. In the eyes of all the followers of Jesus, they were outcasts, worthless, beggars leaching off of others to stay alive. You see, in Jesus day, people with an infirmity were looked down on—in fact, they may have become that way because they were cursed by God for some offense. People then, and too often now, were very judgmental about people who could not take care of themselves.

So, the crowd wanted them to shut up and get out of the way. But Jesus had compassion, and healed them. Notice, he did not ask them for anything. He didn’t judge them, preach to them, tell them to do anything in return for his gift of sight. They had a need, he filled it.

If you read the gospels carefully, you will see that in all the stories of Jesus’ miracles for people, he served them without strings attached-- all were out of compassion, simply because there was a need.  Two of the most important themes of the gospels are compassion, and hypocrisy. Those who truly love God will be compassionate as Jesus was.  Those who only make a show of their religion, such as many Pharisees, are hypocrites.

If you had met Job in the middle of his crisis, and not known the start of his story that we read earlier, you would have met a man who was totally down and out. Dirty, penniless, homeless, a street person from whom many of us would likely shy away.  

In 2008 21% of the population of Morgan County were below the poverty line.  That is 1 out of every 5.  It is likely higher now.  Most of those are the working poor, those who have jobs, but who face challenges every day for rent, heating in winter, food enough each week, health care, transportation, clothing.

The working poor are people such as 52-year-old Maryann Lahr of Colorado Springs, who struggles to help take care of eight grandchildren and bring in a little money with her home-cleaning business. Lahr said she feels stable for now, but worries that she can’t afford medical insurance. “Thank God I’m in good health, but you just never know,” she said. “Anything can happen.”

The $600 or $700 monthly income Lahr gets from the cleaning business is a long fall from the roughly $1,600 she made monthly as a 25-year employee with Schlage Lock Co. until 2004. The job had benefits, including medical insurance and six weeks of vacation, but she lost her job in a downsizing. Lahr got money from a pension benefit for a while, she said, but now that’s gone.

Meanwhile, the lot rent for Lahr’s mobile home is $400 per month, and the mortgage payment is $173. Those expenses take up most of her regular monthly income. To pay for utilities and other bills, Lahr gets creative. She said she holds yard sales and sells her belongings at flea markets. Occasionally, Lahr’s son gives her a little money, she said. Lahr regularly volunteers, handing out goods at a local food bank, and can take home supplies for herself. That’s how she holds her monthly grocery expenses to about $20.

That may be a story in Colorado, but that story is repeated in one way or another in Morgan County all the time. It is like the story of many of the 1 in 5 of us who live below the poverty line. Most of us do not know those stories. We may not hear the stories, we may not want to hear them, but they are there. We have no idea how they got into the situation they are in, but too often we make assumptions. Like those who were with Jesus that day on the way to Jericho, we may be quickly judgmental.

During the visitations before, and after, a funeral we hear the family stories, as we share the memories. In the funeral service we try to weave together a bit of the story of the life of the deceased.  It has to be a Readers Digest condensed version of the person’s life, touching upon the most memorable, the most important, the most significant parts.

Each of us must ask ourselves, what is our story? What will be the stories others will tell about us when we pass on? Will they be stories of our compassion? More importantly, what is the story God knows about us, and how well does it match the story he had in mind for us?

Mothers

Proverbs 1:8  “Listen my son to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.”

Proverbs 10:1 “A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.”

1 Thessalonians 2:  6-8 “We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else.
As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.”

John 19:25-27

Mothers

In an old Peanuts strip, Peppermint Patty and Violet are reflecting on being a grandmother. After Patty declares that she would like to be a grandmother, Violet agrees and says it would be nice because all they have to do is “sit and rock” (not quite the case, is it?) The girls then decide that the trouble with being a grandmother is that first you have to be a wife and then a mother…and Violet sighs, “I know it…it’s all those preliminaries that get me!”

Mother's Day was declared an annual National Holiday in 1914 by President Woodrow Wilson. He directed the Congress to designate the second Sunday of May as a special day for public expression of love and reverence for the mothers of America. Since that time there has been a "Mother's Day," and, I must say that even in 1914, it was long overdue.

The idea of Mother’s Day as we now know it is attributed to Anna Jarvis who suggested an annual day for mothers should be kept. Anna Jarvis loved her mother so much that she arranged a special Sunday worship service to honor her mother on May 10, 1908, the third anniversary of her mother's death, at Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia. She presented all who attended a white carnation. Her Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, is called "the Mother's Day Church." Her home is now a national landmark.

Her own mother, Anna Reeves Jarvis, had organized “Mothers’ Work Day Clubs” in the 1850s. These clubs provided medicines and nursing for the poor, inspected milk and established shelters for children with tuberculosis.  When the Civil War broke out, Anna’s mother called together her clubs from both sides of the Mason Dixon line, imploring members to pledge that friendship and good will would not be a casualty of the war. Her women from both sides worked together to nurse soldiers and save many lives. Following the war, Mrs. Jarvis organized "Mothers' Friendship Days" to bring families together that had been torn apart by the war.

Anna Jarvis, the daughter, was born in 1850, and was an impressionable teenager when her mother was at the peak of her courageous work. Mother’s Day was her way of honoring the powerful influence her mother had on her life, and her way of carrying on the work her mother and Julia Ward Howe had begun.

So the primary concerns of the original Mothers’ Day were civil liberties, international peace, overcoming poverty and ministering to the poor and sick and injured. From the beginning this was a day not simply to remember our own mothers, but to express the deepest form of human love, extending outward to family, friend, acquaintance, stranger, foreigner, enemy.  In the truest sense, Mothers’ Day personifies Jesus’ command to love friend and enemy alike.

On Mother’s Day it is easy to become overly sentimental. We get an idealized picture of “mothers”, but of course that ideal picture isn’t always the way it is in the real world. It isn’t an Ozzie and Harriet, “Leave It To Beaver”, “Family Ties” world out there.

There are far too many children who have lost loving mothers due to war, or famine, or lack of health care. There are far too many children who do not have loving mothers.  There are far too many mothers who love their children dearly but who are single parents and struggling to put food on the table, and feeling the pain of guilt for not being able to provide better for their children or spend more time with them.

There are times when it is easy for some children to appreciate our mothers - their virtues, their hard work, their care, and their love are vivid--- and their children know they are living examples of God's love.

But for others it can be more difficult to appreciate and honor their mothers, more difficult to love them - like in times when it seems their mothers have chosen their own course - their own way in life - and left their children behind. At such times it is hard to celebrate a day like today - hard because anger and pain and hurt get in our way; hard because we do not understand how it is that someone who is supposed to love us has left us behind.

This Mother’s Day take a moment to think of all the mothers in the world who are in need. There are millions of women in the world living on less than a dollar a day. There are women in this country who are wondering how they are going to feed or diaper their children from day to day. There are children who need medical attention that their parents may not be able to afford. Anyone who has ever had to worry about such things can deeply sympathize. For those of us who have escaped such worries, we can only imagine the level of instinctive stress that uncertainty can provoke.

What we should carry away with us on this Mothers Day morning is not a sentimental image of motherhood, but a remembrance of what the first Mothers Days in this country were really all about: honoring women who have given Christ’s love through themselves to others.

To love others - to love our parents, or our brothers and sisters, or our neighbors for that matter - can be very hard at times. As all of you know who are familiar with the crucifixion story, it cost Jesus his life; But he gave that love - he gave his life - willingly because it was what love demanded.

What we should be reminded of today is God's parenting love, which is no false TV image, but the real thing- the parenting we need for our survival, and crave because deep inside we sense its importance.  God's arms are the ones that embrace all of us, holding us all in those loving arms, mopping all our tears and setting us on our feet again. We hear of a terrible, tragic situation of heartache redeemed by God’s parenting love  in today’s Gospel reading..

We don't have to pretend with God that there aren't any troubles, or that we're managing very nicely, thank you. God knows what family life is about - and single life. He knows the heartaches and the conflicts. He knows that loving makes us vulnerable.

That's why God is so well able to comfort us within our real situations, and enable us to cope with the ordinary troubles of life without being overwhelmed by them; he provides the resources we need available and his arms are always outstretched in welcome. God’s love is the perfect mother, and grandmother—it is always there if we ask for it. Amen

Why No Youth In Our Churches?

The Red Bull Gospel

Drew Dyck | posted 5/09/2011

Last year I interviewed dozens of twentysomethings who had walked away from the Christian faith of their childhood. Unsurprisingly, most had negative things to report about their Christian upbringing. They complained that Christians were hypocritical, ignorant, or even outright abusive.

But on one topic, the majority of these "ex-Christians" were surprisingly positive—youth group.

They recalled participating in youth group with great fondness. Many gushed about how great their youth pastors had been.

I was confused. How could the teenagers who had so enjoyed youth group morph into the jaded young adults with whom I spoke?

In this week's article, "The Red Bull Gospel," I take a stab at answering the question. Read about why I believe it's high time that we take a hard look at the way we do youth ministry if we hope to stem the exodus of young people from our churches.

A few years ago I volunteered at an event put on by a national youth ministry.

The evening was fun but grueling. We bobbed for apples, captured flags, and raced eggs across the floor using only our noses. The games culminated with a frigid indignity: I laid on my back and let three giggling teenagers make an ice cream sundae on my face.

As I toweled chocolate syrup from my chin, a leader ordered the teens into a semicircle. It was time for the devotional, which included a gospel presentation—but it was a gospel presentation that made me want to stand up and scream.

"Being a Christian isn't hard," he told the group. "You won't lose your friends or be unpopular at school. Nothing will change. Your life will be the same, just better."

Maybe his words would have slipped by me if they hadn't been such blatant reversals of Jesus' own warnings about the offensiveness of his message or the inevitable hardships of following him.

I glanced at the teens. One was flicking Doritos chips at a friend. Others whispered to each other or stared at the floor. None of them seemed to be listening. And why should they? I wondered. Who cares about something that involves no adventure, no sacrifice, and no risk?

Unfortunately what I witnessed that night is hardly unique. Often ministries, especially youth ministries, are heavy on fun and light on faith. It's fired up entertainment and watered down gospel.

Amused to death

The entertainment emphasis can be traced at least a generation, and perhaps nowhere was the impact felt more profoundly than in youth programs. Instead of stressing confirmation of faith—youth ministry's original raison d'être—the focus shifted to attracting more and more kids to the ministry (which inevitably involved entertaining them). Not necessarily bad goals, but there were some ugly unintended consequences.

Today some youth ministries are almost devoid of religious education. They are "holding tanks with pizza," as church researcher Ed Stetzer has called them. Some use violent video game parties to attract students through the church doors on Friday nights.

Over the past year I've conducted dozens of interviews with 20-somethings who have walked away from their Christian faith. Among the most surprising findings was this: nearly all of these "leavers" reported having positive experiences in youth group. I recall my conversation with one young man who described his journey from evangelical to atheist. He had nothing but vitriol for the Christian beliefs of his childhood, but when I asked him about youth group, his voice lifted. "Oh, youth group was a blast! My youth pastor was a great guy."

I was confused. I asked Josh Riebock, a former youth pastor and author of mY Generation, to solve the riddle: if these young people had such a good time in youth group, why did they ditch their faith shortly after heading to college?

His response was simple. "Let's face it," he said. "There are a lot more fun things to do at college than eat pizza."

Good point. If our strategy is to win young people's allegiance to church by offering better entertainment than the world, then we've picked a losing battle. Entertainment might get kids to church in their teens, but it certainly won't keep them there through their twenties.

And recent studies confirm that they're leaving in droves. The Barna Group estimates that 80 percent of those reared in the church will be "disengaged" by the time they are 29. Barna Group president David Kinnaman describes the reality in stark terms:

"Imagine a group photo of all the students who come to your church in a typical year. Take a big fat marker and cross out three out of every four faces. That's the probable toll of spiritual disengagement as students navigate the next two decades."

Most of us don't need a "big fat marker" to see this phenomenon play out. We've had a front row seat to the exodus.

Failure to form

In his book UnChristian, Kinnaman reports that 65 percent of all American young people report making a commitment to Jesus Christ at some point in their lives. Yet based on his surveys, Kinnaman concludes that only about 3 percent of these young adults have a biblical worldview.

Whether or not we accept Kinnaman's definition of what constitutes a biblical worldview, few would argue that anywhere near 65 percent of young adults in the U.S. could be described as active followers of Jesus. We may have done a good job of getting young people to sign a pledge or mutter a prayer, but a poor job of forming them into devoted disciples.

Perhaps we've settled for entertaining rather than developing followers of Jesus.

Of course there's nothing wrong with pizza and video games. The real problem is when they displace spiritual formation and teaching the Bible. And ultimately that's the greatest danger of being overly reliant on an entertainment model. It's not just that we can't compete with the world's amusements. It's not only that we get locked into a cycle of serving up ever-increasing measures of fun. Rather it's that we're distracted from doing the real work of youth ministry—fostering robust faith.

Jim Rayburn, the founder of Young Life, liked to say, "It's a sin to bore a kid with the gospel." A generation later, that philosophy morphed into an entertainment based gospel that has actually produced entertainment numbness and an avoidance of the gospel's harder teachings. Somehow we thought we could sweeten the gospel message for young people to make it easier for them to swallow, but it turns out that they're choking on our concoction.

In the end, pizza and video games don't transform lives. Young people are transformed by truth clearly presented. They're drawn to a cause to live and die for. In other words, they want the unvarnished gospel. When we present that gospel, with all its hard demands and radical implications, we'll be speaking the language they long to, and need to, hear.

Signs of life

I don't want to be too hard on youth pastors. I was one. I know how tough it is. Teenage attention spans are short. Pressure to get numbers up is constant. But it's possible to instill a more dynamic faith if we change our focus, even if that decision comes at the expense of our conventional metrics of "success."

Thankfully there are youth ministries trying to turn the tide. Faithbridge church in Houston, Texas, is one example. "We don't pour much effort into planning big hoorah events," says lead student pastor Dylan Lucas. "We're really focused on the Word and leadership training."

 

The ministry pairs small groups of five to seven teens with adult leaders, and then provides those leaders with intensive training. "We equip these leaders to teach. The youth pastor can't do it all," says Lucas.

Follow-up is another focus. "Our job doesn't end at graduation," Lucas says. "We call that 'Day One.'" Each graduate leaving for college receives a $10 Starbucks gift card with the following instructions: go find a spiritual mentor on campus to take out for coffee.

"We keep tabs on them," Lucas says. "We have relationships with their families, and we bring them back to help lead the next generation."

Of course not all graduates stay on the straight and narrow. "When we see someone go off, we don't ignore it," Lucas says. "You have to pick up the phone and make that awkward call."

Drew Dyck is managing editor of Leadership Journal and author of Generation Ex-Christian.

Bin Laden’s death challenges pastors

by  Kathy Noble

Following Jesus’ admonition to “pray for your enemies and those who persecute you” is one way United Methodist pastors are dealing with a range of emotions following the killing of Osama bin Laden.

  

Within minutes of learning that Osama Bin Laden was dead, the Rev. Andy James knew he would address the killing in worship this Sunday.Late on May 1, his Facebook pforgivenessost said, “President announces that OBL is killed one week before I start a sermon series on . A poignant, unexpected turn.”

In the days since, James, pastor of Tuttle United Methodist Church in Oklahoma, has struggled with what he will say. He may simply acknowledge the tension between being “an American citizen who, as the news unfolded Sunday night, just exhaled … (and) being a citizen in the Kingdom and having a sense that this was not an occasion that God was rejoicing.“

“I can’t address fully the topic to the degree that I intend without going there somehow,” he says. “I start and keep coming back (to that idea) that I’m in need of forgiveness, and that’s what I’ve got to work out before I start making statements about Osama Bin Laden or anyone else for that matter.” 

Prayer for Bin Laden’s family

The Rev. Marjorie Nunes serves Summerfield United Methodist Church in Bridgeport, Conn. “Most of my congregation is happy that he is dead,” she says. “There are a lot of folks from Connecticut that died in 9/11, so the sentiment is that he was an evil man and, as one person said to me, ‘You live by the sword, and you die by the sword.’”

She will discuss the killing with a Bible study group and use a prayer or litany printed on a worship bulletin insert, asking for God’s grace to surround survivors who lost loved ones in 9/11. It will also lift up “the family left behind of the man who has been executed,” she says. “He has done terrible things in the world, but he has wives and children.” Lifting Bin Laden’s family in prayer is “tricky, but as Christians we are to be bold when talking about love.”

At Minnetonka (Minn.) United Methodist Church, the Rev. Ken Ehrman is considering how to follow up a May 2 gathering of 21 people who met to talk about the killing. The group used the circle process in which only the person holding the “talking object” speaks. Ehrman selected a small world globe “so we would be mindful that what we are talking about has implications far beyond ourselves.”

 

“A common theme was relief, but also concern, a lot of dualism,” he said. “I don’t think anybody suggested there should be this celebration. People were struggling a lot with what does mean to take a human life balanced against what they do, what Osama Bin Laden had been involved in and the lives lost, especially in 9/11 and other instances.”

The closing prayer asked “for a sense of God’s presence in the midst of a confusing situation, that we could find a sense of what it means to be people of reconciliation, justice and forgiveness as opposed to people of hatred or vindictiveness.”

Reactions illustrate tension

Midweek, other United Methodist clergy across the United States were still considering whether to mention the killing.Some have special Mother’s Day services planned. Some have been reading about just war. They see and hear parishioners struggle with the tension between relief, even joy,  that the leader of al-Qaida is dead and what it means to be Christians who are to love their enemies and “not rejoice when your enemies fall, and do not let your heart be glad when they stumble.” (Proverbs 24:17) 

Some may use hymns, prayers and other worship resources produced this week by the United Methodist Board of Discipleship. “I’ve talked with people who say ‘I’m happy about this, but I’m distressed in myself that I’m so happy.’ It’s not knowing what to do with the emotions they are feeling,” said the Rev. Jason Radmacher, senior pastor at John Street United Methodist Church, which sits next to Ground Zero in New York City. 

In coming weeks, he says, “My response as a pastor will be to name that tension we feel and then continue with our worship life, our liturgy, continue to pray for our enemies, continue to pray for those in harm’s way and let God through the Holy Spirit continue to work with us and shape us.”  

At Galt United Methodist Church in California, the Rev. Helen Mansfield says, “I deal with it almost every Sunday in the sense of being a disciple of Christ is not an easy path to walk in this culture that is focused on revenge. I know that people will think I’m not remembering the folks that lost their lives on 9/11. That’s the last thing I’d do, I would not want to add hurt. Still the death of any human being is nothing to celebrate. Scripture is clear on that.”

No time for celebration

As they talked and counseled, several of the pastors experienced the mixed emotions they saw in their parishioners. Distressing to all were scenes of celebration.

In Denver, the Rev. Kerry Greenhill, associate pastor at Highlands United Methodist Church, says, “I certainly understand the value from a political perspective of finding and killing him. My heart was greatly saddened by images of people celebrating, that people would respond that way. I have to think that God was grieved that God’s children were rejoicing over the death of someone,” says James. “I’ve been stuck in that tension all week, the ironies, the timing of one week."

“A week before we were celebrating the Resurrection of one who was dead, and a week later, the rejoicing over the killing of one who was alive.”

*Noble is editor of Interpreter and Interpreter OnLine.

News media contact: Kathy Noble, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.