Focus Can Help Christmas Mission Giving by Tom Berlin
Tom Berlin
Many churches confront a question of missional focus, especially as the holiday season approaches. One group proposes an angel tree project. Another wants to do a coat drive. Someone else is collecting toiletries for the homeless, grocery cards for the hungry, toys for needy children. Needs are great everywhere. So shouldn’t your church offer many opportunities for people to help?
While the “more is better” philosophy is appealing, there are equally compelling arguments for cutting the clutter and staying focused on a narrower range of clearly identified priorities. As the church I serve has grown, it has worked to bring consistency and alignment to its missional efforts. Our focus has coalesced around work with children in poverty. We give away the entire Christmas Eve offering, which supports our core efforts in this area. This is a big celebration for the church each year. The results of the offering are posted on our website on Christmas morning, and many have told me that celebrating the generosity of the church is how they begin Christmas Day.
But we have also found that providing certain types of special giving opportunities at the beginning of Advent can help church members respond to the pressures of materialism and consumerism at Christmas. Members have asked for our help in making their Christmas more holy. They want opportunities to focus their family on others, and share gifts with family and friends that might bless people in need while honoring those they love.
In late November and early December, we offer members the opportunity to support our missions or any of our community partners, providing an appropriate card that can be presented in lieu of a gift to those on their Christmas list. This “alternate giving opportunity” helps members respond creatively and generously to their desire to give gifts without purchasing yet another unneeded item for people who have so much already. We also provide an “advent giving tree” for families. They are encouraged to take a tag that specifies gifts of diapers, clothing, or toys for children connected with our outreach ministries.
These gifts are purchased and brought to church in early December. A family devotional is included that explains who is receiving the gift and why it will make a difference to others. The experience of selecting the gift and using the devotional resource is a tangible way to experience and teach children about the love of Christ. The goal here is not to get money from church members in a veiled manner, but to assist them in making their Christmas celebration less materialistic. We do not set goals or push people to participate.
We clearly announce these opportunities, but emphasize that they are available because people have asked for the help of the church to bless others. An added benefit is that this approach educates people, both within and beyond the church, about the needs of others and how the church responds. Offering these carefully framed giving opportunities is a “both/and” approach that honors people’s desire to help others in a way consistent with the church’s broader priorities. Some members and families have been so touched by these efforts that they have taken steps to reduce their giving to each other so that they can do more in their community.
By the time we get to Christmas Day, the church is able to have a real celebration of generosity and the calling of Christ to bless others as we celebrate the gift of the incarnation.
Tom Berlin is lead pastor of Floris United Methodist Church in Herndon, Virginia, and coauthor with Lovett H. Weems, Jr., of Bearing Fruit: Ministry with Real Results. (Abingdon Press, 2011). A new book on this topic is A Different Kind of Christmas by Mike Slaughter, available from Cokesbury and Amazon . Slaughter’s previous book, Christmas is Not Your Birthday is also available at Cokesbury and Amazon.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Personal Samaria
1 Chronicles 16-23-25
2 Corinthians 5: 12-21
Matthew 28: 18; Acts 1: 7-8
Personal Samaria
A good many years ago, the first Star Wars movie came out. Our oldest son was totally fascinated by all the advertising for the movie, and wanted to see it so much he could hardly contain himself. He was about 10 or 11 years old. I think it was the second or third weekend when it was in a theater in the town a few miles away that we decided to see it. By then the crowds had settled down to a roar and there was actually room to get into the theater without having to stand in long lines. My mother was out visiting then—we lived in New Jersey—and she liked movies a lot, so she decided to go with us. As we sat there in the dark, with our oldest son riveted on the screen, and as the plot developed with all its fascinating characters, Grandma found the whole thing funny, and started to giggle at characters and dialogue. Then laugh out loud. Our son got disgusted, got up and moved about 6 rows down to be alone and away from his Grandma who was making fun of what he thought of as a very serious movie.
Out of that movie came a famous line. “May the force be with you”. That is the intent of the words of Jesus this morning. May the force be with you as you go about your work.
In both Matthew and Luke, in their recordings of Jesus’ last words before his ascension, he is telling his followers that God’s force will be with them. The Holy Spirit. And in both gospels he is giving directions to his followers—all of us—as to what we are to do with the help of that force, the Holy Spirit.
In Matthew it is to go into all the world and baptize, and make and teach disciples.
In Luke his directions are a little different, more detailed, and perhaps a lot more challenging. He tells them “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Now I am going to show you a map of the area we know of as the Holy Land, and give you some idea of what made this challenge so difficult for his followers. And, for you and I, today. This little area known as Samaria was a huge “oh oh” for Jesus’ followers. Many years before 587 BC, the Northern Kingdom, the part called Israel in the Hebrew Bible but that we read about as Galilee in the New Testament, had fallen to the Assyrians. The Northern Kingdom included the area of Samaria. This area came under Babylonian rule in the 600’s BC. Although it was invaded twice before, the Southern Kingdom of Judah, or Judea, remained under the control of the Jews, until 587 BC. Then Babylonia took over completely.
When Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed in 587 BC, most of the people were taken into exile. However, both when Assyria had taken over the Northern Kingdom, and when Babylon took it all over, some were left behind, and although not free, they lived where they had always lived. This was especially true in that area known as Samaria.
The Jewish people in exile were kept out of their homeland for 40 years. Then they were allowed to return, although still not free. When they did return, they had no love for the Jews who had stayed behind and blended somewhat into the culture of their rulers. This was especially true for the Samaritans, who practiced all the traditions of the Hebrew people, but were not considered “pure”. So, no good Jew (and that included Jesus, and all his followers) who wanted to go between Galilee and Judea would pass through Samaria.
Kinda like Woody Hayes and the state of Michigan. Woody refused to buy gas or food in Michigan.
Samaritans were despised, both by the Galileans and by the Judeans.
Jesus did go through Samaria in his ministry, he did stop there at a well, and talk to a Samaritan woman who was living with a man who was not her husband, and he did preach and teach the people there for 3 days. But this still did not sit well with the disciples. So when told to go to Samaria…. Well….. Wow…. That is a boundary they did not want to cross at all. This is a time to ask yourself some very probing, and possibly uncomfortable questions. Such as: Who, or what is your personal Samaria? Where is your Samaritan boundary that you do not want to cross in taking God’s message out to someone else?
It is a whole lot easier to take God’s message to our Jerusalem. Jerusalem for us is our family. We are comfortable there, and can speak more fully and with less fear there. And it isn’t quite as hard to take God’s message to our Judea. Judea for us is our closest friends, including our friends here in the congregation.
But what about beyond our comfort zone, the area and the people with whom we are already comfortable? The passage in Acts makes it clear that when the Holy Spirit enters us, when we accept Jesus as Christ, Lord, Savior, we become his witnesses, and we are to go into our Samaria. We have to cross that boundary and enter where we are not comfortable at all, because God’s message has to go there.
There is a land out there waiting for us. We are called to witness there for Jesus. It isn’t an option for those who claim him as Savior. It is a commission, a command. As we approach Advent, it is good to look upon our personal Samarias and ask God for the courage to go there. He will give that courage, and the power you need to be the witness we are all called to be. Amen
2 Corinthians 5: 12-21
Matthew 28: 18; Acts 1: 7-8
Personal Samaria
A good many years ago, the first Star Wars movie came out. Our oldest son was totally fascinated by all the advertising for the movie, and wanted to see it so much he could hardly contain himself. He was about 10 or 11 years old. I think it was the second or third weekend when it was in a theater in the town a few miles away that we decided to see it. By then the crowds had settled down to a roar and there was actually room to get into the theater without having to stand in long lines. My mother was out visiting then—we lived in New Jersey—and she liked movies a lot, so she decided to go with us. As we sat there in the dark, with our oldest son riveted on the screen, and as the plot developed with all its fascinating characters, Grandma found the whole thing funny, and started to giggle at characters and dialogue. Then laugh out loud. Our son got disgusted, got up and moved about 6 rows down to be alone and away from his Grandma who was making fun of what he thought of as a very serious movie.
Out of that movie came a famous line. “May the force be with you”. That is the intent of the words of Jesus this morning. May the force be with you as you go about your work.
In both Matthew and Luke, in their recordings of Jesus’ last words before his ascension, he is telling his followers that God’s force will be with them. The Holy Spirit. And in both gospels he is giving directions to his followers—all of us—as to what we are to do with the help of that force, the Holy Spirit.
In Matthew it is to go into all the world and baptize, and make and teach disciples.
In Luke his directions are a little different, more detailed, and perhaps a lot more challenging. He tells them “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Now I am going to show you a map of the area we know of as the Holy Land, and give you some idea of what made this challenge so difficult for his followers. And, for you and I, today. This little area known as Samaria was a huge “oh oh” for Jesus’ followers. Many years before 587 BC, the Northern Kingdom, the part called Israel in the Hebrew Bible but that we read about as Galilee in the New Testament, had fallen to the Assyrians. The Northern Kingdom included the area of Samaria. This area came under Babylonian rule in the 600’s BC. Although it was invaded twice before, the Southern Kingdom of Judah, or Judea, remained under the control of the Jews, until 587 BC. Then Babylonia took over completely.
When Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed in 587 BC, most of the people were taken into exile. However, both when Assyria had taken over the Northern Kingdom, and when Babylon took it all over, some were left behind, and although not free, they lived where they had always lived. This was especially true in that area known as Samaria.
The Jewish people in exile were kept out of their homeland for 40 years. Then they were allowed to return, although still not free. When they did return, they had no love for the Jews who had stayed behind and blended somewhat into the culture of their rulers. This was especially true for the Samaritans, who practiced all the traditions of the Hebrew people, but were not considered “pure”. So, no good Jew (and that included Jesus, and all his followers) who wanted to go between Galilee and Judea would pass through Samaria.
Kinda like Woody Hayes and the state of Michigan. Woody refused to buy gas or food in Michigan.
Samaritans were despised, both by the Galileans and by the Judeans.
Jesus did go through Samaria in his ministry, he did stop there at a well, and talk to a Samaritan woman who was living with a man who was not her husband, and he did preach and teach the people there for 3 days. But this still did not sit well with the disciples. So when told to go to Samaria…. Well….. Wow…. That is a boundary they did not want to cross at all. This is a time to ask yourself some very probing, and possibly uncomfortable questions. Such as: Who, or what is your personal Samaria? Where is your Samaritan boundary that you do not want to cross in taking God’s message out to someone else?
It is a whole lot easier to take God’s message to our Jerusalem. Jerusalem for us is our family. We are comfortable there, and can speak more fully and with less fear there. And it isn’t quite as hard to take God’s message to our Judea. Judea for us is our closest friends, including our friends here in the congregation.
But what about beyond our comfort zone, the area and the people with whom we are already comfortable? The passage in Acts makes it clear that when the Holy Spirit enters us, when we accept Jesus as Christ, Lord, Savior, we become his witnesses, and we are to go into our Samaria. We have to cross that boundary and enter where we are not comfortable at all, because God’s message has to go there.
There is a land out there waiting for us. We are called to witness there for Jesus. It isn’t an option for those who claim him as Savior. It is a commission, a command. As we approach Advent, it is good to look upon our personal Samarias and ask God for the courage to go there. He will give that courage, and the power you need to be the witness we are all called to be. Amen
One Room Sunday School
The One Room (Church) School House by Lewis A. Parks
My mother attended a one room schoolhouse for all but the last two years of her public education. As a Baby Boomer, I grew up riding the wave of school growth and consolidation and the several accommodations that went with the territory: school buses, area rather than local sports, and, above all, specialization in curriculum with division of the student population. The churches I attended as a teenager and young adult emulated the best practices of the public school system: dedicated spaces, quality and colorful curriculum supported with the latest innovations in audio-video equipment, and credentialed experts to model and train teachers.
If this were the only script for doing Christian education and formation in a community of faith, small churches would seem to have been left behind — again.
It’s the same familiar story: the needs are too great, the resources are too small. But those who are familiar with small churches know otherwise. The biblical portrait of transmitting the faith from one generation to the next in the context of everyday life continues to thrive in small congregations. The best teaching begins in the character of the teacher (put these words of mine in your heart and soul), capitalizes on teachable moments (when your children ask), and is achieved regardless of setting (when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise). (Deut 6:20-21; 11:18-20).
This is good news for small churches struggling with self-worth but also for the many formerly larger congregations today faced with the upkeep of empty Christian Education buildings, the loss of Sunday School as a primary port of entry (see Mission as the Emerging Entry Point for New People, Leading Ideas, April 6, 2011), and the need to consolidate classes or even grade levels. There is something to be said for the one room schoolhouse model of Christian formation and education, a model that capitalizes on the energy of the intergenerational experience with gentle regard for real differences in cognitive development and literacy.
There are one room schoolhouse examples of Christian education and formation that look like the last desperate efforts of a dying institution. There are others that flourish. The difference seems to be in the element of intentionality.
Someone has to care enough to carry the vision of a dynamic community of learners across age and skill levels, together developing faith foundations. Outside help is available, even a curriculum specifically targeting the one room schoolhouse model (see “One Room Sunday School” at www.Cokesbury.com), but someone has to take the lead in that wonderful small church alchemy of turning necessity into opportunity.
Dr.Lew Parks is professor of theology, ministry, and congregational development and director of the Doctor of Ministry Program at Wesley Theological Seminary. His most recent book is Preaching in the Small Membership Church (Abingdon, 2009). It can be purchased at Amazon or Cokesbury.
My mother attended a one room schoolhouse for all but the last two years of her public education. As a Baby Boomer, I grew up riding the wave of school growth and consolidation and the several accommodations that went with the territory: school buses, area rather than local sports, and, above all, specialization in curriculum with division of the student population. The churches I attended as a teenager and young adult emulated the best practices of the public school system: dedicated spaces, quality and colorful curriculum supported with the latest innovations in audio-video equipment, and credentialed experts to model and train teachers.
If this were the only script for doing Christian education and formation in a community of faith, small churches would seem to have been left behind — again.
It’s the same familiar story: the needs are too great, the resources are too small. But those who are familiar with small churches know otherwise. The biblical portrait of transmitting the faith from one generation to the next in the context of everyday life continues to thrive in small congregations. The best teaching begins in the character of the teacher (put these words of mine in your heart and soul), capitalizes on teachable moments (when your children ask), and is achieved regardless of setting (when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise). (Deut 6:20-21; 11:18-20).
This is good news for small churches struggling with self-worth but also for the many formerly larger congregations today faced with the upkeep of empty Christian Education buildings, the loss of Sunday School as a primary port of entry (see Mission as the Emerging Entry Point for New People, Leading Ideas, April 6, 2011), and the need to consolidate classes or even grade levels. There is something to be said for the one room schoolhouse model of Christian formation and education, a model that capitalizes on the energy of the intergenerational experience with gentle regard for real differences in cognitive development and literacy.
There are one room schoolhouse examples of Christian education and formation that look like the last desperate efforts of a dying institution. There are others that flourish. The difference seems to be in the element of intentionality.
Someone has to care enough to carry the vision of a dynamic community of learners across age and skill levels, together developing faith foundations. Outside help is available, even a curriculum specifically targeting the one room schoolhouse model (see “One Room Sunday School” at www.Cokesbury.com), but someone has to take the lead in that wonderful small church alchemy of turning necessity into opportunity.
Dr.Lew Parks is professor of theology, ministry, and congregational development and director of the Doctor of Ministry Program at Wesley Theological Seminary. His most recent book is Preaching in the Small Membership Church (Abingdon, 2009). It can be purchased at Amazon or Cokesbury.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Bible Study Won't Necessarily Change Your Life
Bible Study Won’t (Necessarily) Change Your Life
Trevin Wax is an editor, author and blogger at "Kingdom People."
Okay, I admit to indulging in a bit of overstatement to shock you into recognizing what should be obvious: just because you know the Bible doesn’t mean the Word will bear fruit in your life. It is possible to know the Scriptures, read the Scriptures, revere the Scriptures, and study the Scriptures and miss the point entirely. Take the liberal scholar who knows the Greek New Testament better than most orthodox pastors. He can quote whole sections of the Bible in its original languages.
Definitions of biblical words tumble out of his mouth as he effortlessly places everything in historical context. And yet he does not believe in the Jesus he reads about in the pages of the Bible. Sure, he is endlessly fascinated by the communities that gave us such an interesting artifact of study. But to him, his job is to immerse himself into a world of fables and dreams. The Bible is an epic story with no bearing on reality today.
Or take the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day who were steeped in the rich traditions of their people’s history. The leaders knew the Scriptures backwards and forwards, yet they had missed the signs pointing to the most important chapter in the Story that God was writing – the chapter that had been foreshadowed by the prophets and Bible writers for thousands of years. That’s why Jesus could say: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me that you may have life!” (John 5:39-40). He doesn’t condemn them for their meticulous knowledge of the Old Testament. He mourns the fact that they’ve missed the point of it all.
Even today, it’s possible to get so wrapped up in searching the Scriptures that we miss what God is trying to teach us. Consider would-be prophets who scour over the prophecies of Revelation trying to pull out clues and codes about the European Union or the next major ecological catastrophe. Caught up in the thrill, the writers lose sight of Revelation’s main purpose: to unveil Jesus! Others get bogged down in theological discussions (Calvinism vs. Arminianism, anyone?) until they eventually start coming to the Scriptures to look for more ammunition for their next debate.
The Bible quietly gets twisted into a divine reference book designed to uphold a beloved system of theology instead of God’s divine revelation designed to shine light on a glorious Savior. And then there’s the common type of Bible study that begins with us at the center and brings God into our world to address our already-defined needs and problems. We look at the Bible as a book of divine instruction, a manual for succeeding in life, or a map for making sure we get to heaven when we die. These ways of studying the Scripture will not result in life transformation. Why? Because they’re missing something. Better put, they’re missing Someone.
Bible study alone is not what transforms your life. Jesus transforms your life. Of course, He does this through His written Word to us. So we must affirm that life change doesn’t happen apart from God’s Word. But the reason God’s Word changes our life is not because of our personal study but because in the Scriptures we are introduced to Jesus, the Author. That’s why every page ought to be written in red, as every section is breathed out by our King and points us to Him. It’s possible to amass great amounts of biblical knowledge, to impress people with your mastery of Bible trivia, to creatively apply the Bible in ways that seem so down to earth and practical, to dot your theological i’s and cross your exegetical t’s – and still miss Jesus. Scary, isn’t it?
That’s why it’s not enough to be “Bible-believing” or “Word-centered,” because, after all, the Bible we believe and the Word we proclaim is itself Christ-centered. The purpose of our Bible study is to know God and make Him known. The Bible unveils Jesus Christ as the focal point of human history. All creation exists by Him, through Him, to Him, and for Him. Our Bible study should exist for Him too. That’s the only kind of Bible study that will change your life
Trevin Wax is an editor, author and blogger at "Kingdom People."
Okay, I admit to indulging in a bit of overstatement to shock you into recognizing what should be obvious: just because you know the Bible doesn’t mean the Word will bear fruit in your life. It is possible to know the Scriptures, read the Scriptures, revere the Scriptures, and study the Scriptures and miss the point entirely. Take the liberal scholar who knows the Greek New Testament better than most orthodox pastors. He can quote whole sections of the Bible in its original languages.
Definitions of biblical words tumble out of his mouth as he effortlessly places everything in historical context. And yet he does not believe in the Jesus he reads about in the pages of the Bible. Sure, he is endlessly fascinated by the communities that gave us such an interesting artifact of study. But to him, his job is to immerse himself into a world of fables and dreams. The Bible is an epic story with no bearing on reality today.
Or take the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day who were steeped in the rich traditions of their people’s history. The leaders knew the Scriptures backwards and forwards, yet they had missed the signs pointing to the most important chapter in the Story that God was writing – the chapter that had been foreshadowed by the prophets and Bible writers for thousands of years. That’s why Jesus could say: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me that you may have life!” (John 5:39-40). He doesn’t condemn them for their meticulous knowledge of the Old Testament. He mourns the fact that they’ve missed the point of it all.
Even today, it’s possible to get so wrapped up in searching the Scriptures that we miss what God is trying to teach us. Consider would-be prophets who scour over the prophecies of Revelation trying to pull out clues and codes about the European Union or the next major ecological catastrophe. Caught up in the thrill, the writers lose sight of Revelation’s main purpose: to unveil Jesus! Others get bogged down in theological discussions (Calvinism vs. Arminianism, anyone?) until they eventually start coming to the Scriptures to look for more ammunition for their next debate.
The Bible quietly gets twisted into a divine reference book designed to uphold a beloved system of theology instead of God’s divine revelation designed to shine light on a glorious Savior. And then there’s the common type of Bible study that begins with us at the center and brings God into our world to address our already-defined needs and problems. We look at the Bible as a book of divine instruction, a manual for succeeding in life, or a map for making sure we get to heaven when we die. These ways of studying the Scripture will not result in life transformation. Why? Because they’re missing something. Better put, they’re missing Someone.
Bible study alone is not what transforms your life. Jesus transforms your life. Of course, He does this through His written Word to us. So we must affirm that life change doesn’t happen apart from God’s Word. But the reason God’s Word changes our life is not because of our personal study but because in the Scriptures we are introduced to Jesus, the Author. That’s why every page ought to be written in red, as every section is breathed out by our King and points us to Him. It’s possible to amass great amounts of biblical knowledge, to impress people with your mastery of Bible trivia, to creatively apply the Bible in ways that seem so down to earth and practical, to dot your theological i’s and cross your exegetical t’s – and still miss Jesus. Scary, isn’t it?
That’s why it’s not enough to be “Bible-believing” or “Word-centered,” because, after all, the Bible we believe and the Word we proclaim is itself Christ-centered. The purpose of our Bible study is to know God and make Him known. The Bible unveils Jesus Christ as the focal point of human history. All creation exists by Him, through Him, to Him, and for Him. Our Bible study should exist for Him too. That’s the only kind of Bible study that will change your life
Suppers Ready
A Potter's Perspective on Life, the Church, and Culture Supper’s Ready!
by Tim McClendon, United Methodist clergy for over thirty years in the South Carolina Conference
October 1, 2012
This is that time of year when I ponder what World Communion really means. I can say that I love everybody, but if I harbor ill will when I come to the Table then it doesn’t do much good. If I’ve been a jerk to someone, I have prevented them from knowing grace, too. I very much like what someone said, “The three phrases we most often desire to hear are: “I love you!” “I forgive you!” and “Supper’s ready!” In the sacrament of Holy Communion we hear all three from Jesus. It’s His Table, and all are invited. It’s up to us to come!
When I was a youngster in my home church we went to Sunday School and afterwards made our way into the sanctuary. The educational building was behind the sanctuary so that if you went from one to the other you usually entered through the back door that opened into the sanctuary right beside the pulpit and altar. If we saw the communion elements and the white cloth spread out we immediately pressed our parents into leaving early.
Communion services were so long and were as somber as a funeral service. We used the old ritual; where what we said reversed our efforts at the Protestant Reformation’s focus on grace. We went back to something that resembled a large confessional booth. We used words like, “We bewail our manifold sins and wickedness which we from time to time have most grievously committed in thought, word, and deed…” I felt sinful enough already. Our communion service added to my sense of guilt. The words of pardon were miniscule in comparison to the confession. I usually left feeling worse.
This is one reason that today when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper; we attempt to focus more on Christ’s marvelous work of grace than on our power to reform ourselves. We, more often than not, now refer to Communion as the Eucharist. Eucharist means Thanksgiving. The most important thing that we do when we come to the Communion Table is say, “Thanks!” to Christ for his gift of mercy. Rather than focus overly on our sinfulness, we thank God for God’s graciousness. What a better perspective!
World Communion Sunday is an event that bridges denominations and spotlights our commonality in the Body of Christ. This world would be so much better off if we looked for that which we hold in common rather than our differences. Holy Communion, rightly observed, reunites the Church. This is the pastor’s hope when he or she holds up the loaf of bread and says, “Because there is one loaf, we who are many, are one body in Christ.”
Therefore, our focus this week is in how to get over our differences and find common power to live in Christ. The Eucharist is a time of positive celebration, reunion, prayer for healing, and a sacred time to put others before ourselves. In my first parish I had three churches. I remember how shocked I was as I went to my first communion service at the smallest church of eight members. When I arrived there was a loaf of sliced “Wonder” bread still in its wrapper on the altar and a bottle of Welch’s grape juice and some small paper cups. They had not had communion in years. I was soon to find out why.
I went through the ritual and opened the altar for people to partake and NOBODY came forward. The reason they hadn’t had communion in years is that they were afraid. They knew full well that they were not living as consistent Christians. They felt too unworthy to come to the Table. I quickly switched sermons and preached on grace. Still nobody came up, but by the time I left there five years later, many did. Those few moved from guilt to grace, judging to acceptance. They found real communion with Jesus, a sacrament indeed.
Dentist Thomas Welch found himself in a somewhat similar situation back in 1869. Communion was problematic for a number of reasons. The alcoholic content of the wine was one of them. Dr. Welch was the Communion Steward for the congregation of First Methodist Church of Vineland, New Jersey. To his dismay, more often than not, communion either set some of the participants off on an alcoholic binge or on a rush to judgment by the abstention crowd. He and his family did experiment after experiment to come up with a solution and they did. He created unfermented grape juice, dubbed it “unfermented wine,” and soon churches all around wanted the product. By 1890 “Dr. Welch’s Grape Juice” had become a staple on communion tables, where it remains so today, all because someone saw communion as a sacrament that brought Christians together, not divided them!
by Tim McClendon, United Methodist clergy for over thirty years in the South Carolina Conference
October 1, 2012
This is that time of year when I ponder what World Communion really means. I can say that I love everybody, but if I harbor ill will when I come to the Table then it doesn’t do much good. If I’ve been a jerk to someone, I have prevented them from knowing grace, too. I very much like what someone said, “The three phrases we most often desire to hear are: “I love you!” “I forgive you!” and “Supper’s ready!” In the sacrament of Holy Communion we hear all three from Jesus. It’s His Table, and all are invited. It’s up to us to come!
When I was a youngster in my home church we went to Sunday School and afterwards made our way into the sanctuary. The educational building was behind the sanctuary so that if you went from one to the other you usually entered through the back door that opened into the sanctuary right beside the pulpit and altar. If we saw the communion elements and the white cloth spread out we immediately pressed our parents into leaving early.
Communion services were so long and were as somber as a funeral service. We used the old ritual; where what we said reversed our efforts at the Protestant Reformation’s focus on grace. We went back to something that resembled a large confessional booth. We used words like, “We bewail our manifold sins and wickedness which we from time to time have most grievously committed in thought, word, and deed…” I felt sinful enough already. Our communion service added to my sense of guilt. The words of pardon were miniscule in comparison to the confession. I usually left feeling worse.
This is one reason that today when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper; we attempt to focus more on Christ’s marvelous work of grace than on our power to reform ourselves. We, more often than not, now refer to Communion as the Eucharist. Eucharist means Thanksgiving. The most important thing that we do when we come to the Communion Table is say, “Thanks!” to Christ for his gift of mercy. Rather than focus overly on our sinfulness, we thank God for God’s graciousness. What a better perspective!
World Communion Sunday is an event that bridges denominations and spotlights our commonality in the Body of Christ. This world would be so much better off if we looked for that which we hold in common rather than our differences. Holy Communion, rightly observed, reunites the Church. This is the pastor’s hope when he or she holds up the loaf of bread and says, “Because there is one loaf, we who are many, are one body in Christ.”
Therefore, our focus this week is in how to get over our differences and find common power to live in Christ. The Eucharist is a time of positive celebration, reunion, prayer for healing, and a sacred time to put others before ourselves. In my first parish I had three churches. I remember how shocked I was as I went to my first communion service at the smallest church of eight members. When I arrived there was a loaf of sliced “Wonder” bread still in its wrapper on the altar and a bottle of Welch’s grape juice and some small paper cups. They had not had communion in years. I was soon to find out why.
I went through the ritual and opened the altar for people to partake and NOBODY came forward. The reason they hadn’t had communion in years is that they were afraid. They knew full well that they were not living as consistent Christians. They felt too unworthy to come to the Table. I quickly switched sermons and preached on grace. Still nobody came up, but by the time I left there five years later, many did. Those few moved from guilt to grace, judging to acceptance. They found real communion with Jesus, a sacrament indeed.
Dentist Thomas Welch found himself in a somewhat similar situation back in 1869. Communion was problematic for a number of reasons. The alcoholic content of the wine was one of them. Dr. Welch was the Communion Steward for the congregation of First Methodist Church of Vineland, New Jersey. To his dismay, more often than not, communion either set some of the participants off on an alcoholic binge or on a rush to judgment by the abstention crowd. He and his family did experiment after experiment to come up with a solution and they did. He created unfermented grape juice, dubbed it “unfermented wine,” and soon churches all around wanted the product. By 1890 “Dr. Welch’s Grape Juice” had become a staple on communion tables, where it remains so today, all because someone saw communion as a sacrament that brought Christians together, not divided them!
Jesus
Jeremiah 18: 1-6
Romans 12: 1-2
John 1: 1-14
Jesus
We used to do a lot of camping when our kids were young. We started with a tent, and spent a lot of nights with that tent, and lots of campfires. Nowadays campers often have motor homes. A motor home allows campers to put all the conveniences of home on wheels. A camper no longer needs to contend with sleeping in a sleeping bag, cooking over a fire, or hauling water from a stream. Now he can park a fully equipped home on a cement slab in the midst of a few pine trees and hook up to a water line, a sewer line and electricity. Most motor homes even have a satellite dish attached on top. No more bother with dirt, no more smoke from the fire, no more drudgery of walking to the stream. Now it is possible to go camping and never have to go outside. People buy a motor home with the hope of seeing new places, of getting out into the world of nature. Yet they deck it out with the same furnishings as in their living room back home. They may drive to a new place, set themselves in new surrounding, but the newness goes unnoticed, because they only carried along their old setting. Nothing really changes.
If we accept the love God offers us, things do change—we change. But God does not change, nor does Jesus and his message. That message is timeless, and applies to us as it did to those who heard him 2000 years ago.
If Jesus is to be anything more than just another name, another historical mythic figure for us; if he is to become in any sense "Christ," "Savior," "Lord"; if his name and his story are to arouse in us anything like "faith," then we have to encounter him and not merely some ideas about him. Before there were ideas about Jesus there was Jesus. There was the Jesus who was experienced as a real person by those to whom he preached, those he healed, those with whom he lived, and those whom he angered.
We all have images of Jesus. We see artists’ renditions of him from the time we are small children, and it is our human nature to have an image of Jesus in our minds when we think or speak of him—just as we have an image of another person in our minds when we think or speak of that person. When you talk about a friend or a family member, you “see” that person in your mind. As children, or as new Christians, to the pictures—the visual images--we have of Jesus we attach what we learn about his personality, what we come to believe and feel about him. Just as we do about people around us.
Our faith needs more than reading or ideas about Jesus. And our faith needs more than artist’s renderings of their ideas about Jesus. We need in a real sense to experience him as a real presence in our lives. Our minds want to—need to—“see” the person about whom we are thinking or talking. There are four images of the Christ at work these days which seem to me to cause problems, or at least detract from the good that might come from seeking more closely an experience of Jesus as he truly is.
The first is the “Divine Jesus”. In this image the primary feature of the Christ is his absolute distinction from us: We are finite; Jesus is infinite. We are sinful; Jesus was sinless. We are mortal; Jesus, though he assumed mortality, was really always immortal. This image sees Jesus as one who stoops down momentarily from his throne to deliver us from our sinful condition: In this image the world is a sinful place, a place from which we should try to separate ourselves. In this image we must rise above the rest of the world. For too many, this Jesus is too perfect, and too removed from their lives for them to see him as their friend. This image fails to see Jesus’ very real, recognizable humanity. Jesus did not separate himself or his disciples from the world. He became immersed in the world, sat down and ate with all kinds of people whom the church leaders of his day despised. Jesus lived as we do. He felt heat and cold, fear and sorrow and happiness, confusion and doubt, hunger and thirst and pain just as intensely as any of us have or ever will. He did not come merely to rescue us from our humanness, he came to share it with us and with us change the world.
The second image that causes problems is “the conquering Jesus”. While he was alive, many people, including some of his own disciples, wanted Jesus to be a conqueror, to overthrow Roman rule. Over the years many more have created a picture of Jesus as conqueror who would overthrow the Roman powerful oppressors. There is the title King of Kings. This image forgets the Jesus who said “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God”, and the Jesus who commanded us to love our enemies, and to love one another “as I have loved you.” If conquering can ever be associated legitimately with Jesus Christ, then we had better be clear that at the top of the list of what must be conquered is our own tendency to rebel against God, and our tendency to want to create him in OUR image.
The third image I think we need to be careful of is the image of “ the judgmental Jesus.” Somehow, the old hellfire and brimstone theology of our puritan past has never quite disappeared, and today the picture of Christ as an impartial or even a vindictive judge has again found its way amongst impressive numbers of Christians. Individuals have frequently suffered under the impossible moral demands of those whose "Jesus" is all law and no gospel. No one familiar with the Scriptures can dispense with the thought of divine judgment. But when religious speakers determine that judgment is its own end and not a means to something else, they have altogether forgotten the Jesus who came, not to destroy, but to give life more abundantly. John 3:17 says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
The fourth image of Jesus that can cause problems is that of the “accepting Jesus”. God’s love cares about the real condition of each of us; and if we are in fact a distortion of the person that we could be, then the only role that true love can have in our lives is the role of bringing truth and the intention to change. Yes, God first accepts us as we are. We do not earn his love. As soon as we turn to him—every time we turn to him in repentance-- he accepts us as we are at that moment. But that does not mean that Jesus likes me, accepts me, and then makes no great demands upon me. If I accept his love I am going to find myself changing, and God is going to use me to change the world around me.
But God doesn’t just love us as individuals. God loves his whole world—his creation. Jesus is God’s pledge of love not just for us as individuals, but for the whole world. Jesus who accepts us just as we are is not ready to keep us that way. Nor is he ready to accept the world, our world, and keep it this way. If we can trust any of the illustrations of God’s love for the world we must conclude that this love, far from accepting the status quo, wills to alter it drastically.
I believe the real image we should have of Jesus is as “the transforming Christ”. The image we should have of Jesus is of someone who accepts us but through his love wants to continue God’s creativity by changing us and then the world around us.
Instead of the divine Jesus who would keep us away from the world, we should see a Jesus who wants us very much involved with the world, just as he was. Instead of the conquering Jesus, the transforming Jesus doesn’t ask us to take over the world but to befriend it, person by person. Look at how friendless the world is today--how much in need the world around us is of transformation through God’s love.
Instead of the judging Jesus, we should see Christ as one who recruits reconcilers and stewards and poets of creation. Instead of simply “the accepting Jesus we should see a Jesus who calls us to responsibilities we would never dream of undertaking otherwise. Through his acceptance of us we are not to accept the violence, injustice, inequality, and degradation of the world around us: that is discipleship today. Through our acceptance of him, we become God’s hands and mouths in the world to bring God’s creative changes.
There is only one thing the church has to offer the world that no other organization can offer: Christ It is Jesus the Christ who transforms us. Jesus the Christ who loves us. Jesus the Christ who accepts us as we are when we repent of our past. But if we accept and love Jesus he will transform us, so that through us God’s love can work to transform the world. Amen
Romans 12: 1-2
John 1: 1-14
Jesus
We used to do a lot of camping when our kids were young. We started with a tent, and spent a lot of nights with that tent, and lots of campfires. Nowadays campers often have motor homes. A motor home allows campers to put all the conveniences of home on wheels. A camper no longer needs to contend with sleeping in a sleeping bag, cooking over a fire, or hauling water from a stream. Now he can park a fully equipped home on a cement slab in the midst of a few pine trees and hook up to a water line, a sewer line and electricity. Most motor homes even have a satellite dish attached on top. No more bother with dirt, no more smoke from the fire, no more drudgery of walking to the stream. Now it is possible to go camping and never have to go outside. People buy a motor home with the hope of seeing new places, of getting out into the world of nature. Yet they deck it out with the same furnishings as in their living room back home. They may drive to a new place, set themselves in new surrounding, but the newness goes unnoticed, because they only carried along their old setting. Nothing really changes.
If we accept the love God offers us, things do change—we change. But God does not change, nor does Jesus and his message. That message is timeless, and applies to us as it did to those who heard him 2000 years ago.
If Jesus is to be anything more than just another name, another historical mythic figure for us; if he is to become in any sense "Christ," "Savior," "Lord"; if his name and his story are to arouse in us anything like "faith," then we have to encounter him and not merely some ideas about him. Before there were ideas about Jesus there was Jesus. There was the Jesus who was experienced as a real person by those to whom he preached, those he healed, those with whom he lived, and those whom he angered.
We all have images of Jesus. We see artists’ renditions of him from the time we are small children, and it is our human nature to have an image of Jesus in our minds when we think or speak of him—just as we have an image of another person in our minds when we think or speak of that person. When you talk about a friend or a family member, you “see” that person in your mind. As children, or as new Christians, to the pictures—the visual images--we have of Jesus we attach what we learn about his personality, what we come to believe and feel about him. Just as we do about people around us.
Our faith needs more than reading or ideas about Jesus. And our faith needs more than artist’s renderings of their ideas about Jesus. We need in a real sense to experience him as a real presence in our lives. Our minds want to—need to—“see” the person about whom we are thinking or talking. There are four images of the Christ at work these days which seem to me to cause problems, or at least detract from the good that might come from seeking more closely an experience of Jesus as he truly is.
The first is the “Divine Jesus”. In this image the primary feature of the Christ is his absolute distinction from us: We are finite; Jesus is infinite. We are sinful; Jesus was sinless. We are mortal; Jesus, though he assumed mortality, was really always immortal. This image sees Jesus as one who stoops down momentarily from his throne to deliver us from our sinful condition: In this image the world is a sinful place, a place from which we should try to separate ourselves. In this image we must rise above the rest of the world. For too many, this Jesus is too perfect, and too removed from their lives for them to see him as their friend. This image fails to see Jesus’ very real, recognizable humanity. Jesus did not separate himself or his disciples from the world. He became immersed in the world, sat down and ate with all kinds of people whom the church leaders of his day despised. Jesus lived as we do. He felt heat and cold, fear and sorrow and happiness, confusion and doubt, hunger and thirst and pain just as intensely as any of us have or ever will. He did not come merely to rescue us from our humanness, he came to share it with us and with us change the world.
The second image that causes problems is “the conquering Jesus”. While he was alive, many people, including some of his own disciples, wanted Jesus to be a conqueror, to overthrow Roman rule. Over the years many more have created a picture of Jesus as conqueror who would overthrow the Roman powerful oppressors. There is the title King of Kings. This image forgets the Jesus who said “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God”, and the Jesus who commanded us to love our enemies, and to love one another “as I have loved you.” If conquering can ever be associated legitimately with Jesus Christ, then we had better be clear that at the top of the list of what must be conquered is our own tendency to rebel against God, and our tendency to want to create him in OUR image.
The third image I think we need to be careful of is the image of “ the judgmental Jesus.” Somehow, the old hellfire and brimstone theology of our puritan past has never quite disappeared, and today the picture of Christ as an impartial or even a vindictive judge has again found its way amongst impressive numbers of Christians. Individuals have frequently suffered under the impossible moral demands of those whose "Jesus" is all law and no gospel. No one familiar with the Scriptures can dispense with the thought of divine judgment. But when religious speakers determine that judgment is its own end and not a means to something else, they have altogether forgotten the Jesus who came, not to destroy, but to give life more abundantly. John 3:17 says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
The fourth image of Jesus that can cause problems is that of the “accepting Jesus”. God’s love cares about the real condition of each of us; and if we are in fact a distortion of the person that we could be, then the only role that true love can have in our lives is the role of bringing truth and the intention to change. Yes, God first accepts us as we are. We do not earn his love. As soon as we turn to him—every time we turn to him in repentance-- he accepts us as we are at that moment. But that does not mean that Jesus likes me, accepts me, and then makes no great demands upon me. If I accept his love I am going to find myself changing, and God is going to use me to change the world around me.
But God doesn’t just love us as individuals. God loves his whole world—his creation. Jesus is God’s pledge of love not just for us as individuals, but for the whole world. Jesus who accepts us just as we are is not ready to keep us that way. Nor is he ready to accept the world, our world, and keep it this way. If we can trust any of the illustrations of God’s love for the world we must conclude that this love, far from accepting the status quo, wills to alter it drastically.
I believe the real image we should have of Jesus is as “the transforming Christ”. The image we should have of Jesus is of someone who accepts us but through his love wants to continue God’s creativity by changing us and then the world around us.
Instead of the divine Jesus who would keep us away from the world, we should see a Jesus who wants us very much involved with the world, just as he was. Instead of the conquering Jesus, the transforming Jesus doesn’t ask us to take over the world but to befriend it, person by person. Look at how friendless the world is today--how much in need the world around us is of transformation through God’s love.
Instead of the judging Jesus, we should see Christ as one who recruits reconcilers and stewards and poets of creation. Instead of simply “the accepting Jesus we should see a Jesus who calls us to responsibilities we would never dream of undertaking otherwise. Through his acceptance of us we are not to accept the violence, injustice, inequality, and degradation of the world around us: that is discipleship today. Through our acceptance of him, we become God’s hands and mouths in the world to bring God’s creative changes.
There is only one thing the church has to offer the world that no other organization can offer: Christ It is Jesus the Christ who transforms us. Jesus the Christ who loves us. Jesus the Christ who accepts us as we are when we repent of our past. But if we accept and love Jesus he will transform us, so that through us God’s love can work to transform the world. Amen
Grace
Jeremiah 1: 4-9
Romans 5: 6-11
Matthew 18: 1-6; 19: 13-15
Grace
During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating various possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods appearing in human form. Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of return from death.
The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room. "What is the rumpus all about?", he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity’s unique contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, "Oh, that is easy. It is grace." It is all about grace.
A story is told about Fiorello LaGuardia, who was mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of World War II. He was a colorful character who used to ride the New Your City fire trucks, raid speakeasies with the police department, take entire orphanages to baseball games, and whenever the New York newspapers were on strike, he would go on the radio and read the Sunday funnies to the kids. One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court in an area that served the poorest ward in the city. LaGuardia had dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself. Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread.
She told LaGuardia that her daughter’s husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges. The shopkeeper told the mayor that it was a real bad neighborhood. She had to be punished to teach others around there a lesson.
LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said,”I have got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions. Ten dollars or ten days in jail.” But even as he pronounced sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket. He extracted a bill and tossed it into his hat saying, “Here is the ten dollar fine which I now remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant.”
A total of $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered old lady who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren. Fifty cents of that amount was contributed by the red-faced grocery store owner.
Did the elderly lady in the story get what she deserved? Clearly the answer is, of course not. She had stolen a loaf of bread. Yes, she may have had a reason, but stealing is stealing and regardless of the reason, punishment would seem to be the order of the day. To us, seeing it as the grocery man saw it, it isn’t fair.
What we see in the story is called grace. Grace is when someone in superior power shows kindness or mercy to someone in a lesser position. Mayor LaGuardia, with all his power, showed mercy and rather than demanding punishment of the woman herself, paid the fine and then further helped her cause by the collection of the fifty-cent fines and giving the money to her. It was more than she deserved. It was grace. It is all about grace.
Children are very accepting and trusting. Unless they have been taught differently, or have been hurt or abused, children accept others openly and non-judgmentally. The disciples wanted to know who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. It was a judgmental question. It was a question of who is better than others. It is the kind of thinking we are too often guilty of. Jesus’ reply was not just about accepting children, it was to tell us that unless we are childlike, considering ourselves no better than anyone else in God’s sight, we will find ourselves in deep trouble. Today and everyday God wants a relationship with everyone, including those we too often choose to avoid, or judge to be somehow inferior to us.
Jesus put his finger on this when he urged the adults of his day to have a simple, childlike faith. In fact, he made it clear that unless we become as little children, with the transparency of trust that marks the life of a child, we cannot see the Kingdom of Heaven. We cannot understand the Gospel. This is the Good News of God's gift to us. His grace is the story of his unmerited favor. The Gospel is as simple as that—it is childishly simple.. God is love, and we are to love others as he loves us.
Every person is a child of God. Every person has worth in God’s eyes, and God wants each and every person in his kingdom. Every person has a God given purpose. We are called to try our best to help people see God’s love so they can accept God’s grace and fulfill God’s purpose. We are not to judge, and we are not to hinder anyone from coming into God’s presence because we are judgmental. Grace is received, not deserved.
For all of us who are people of faith, we know that we do not deserve God’s grace. Nothing that we can do will put us in a position of deserving God’s grace. All we can do is receive the gift that God offers to us freely. God loves us and mercifully gives us more than we deserve. Grace is received, not deserved.
God’s grace is about mercy, not fairness. God’s grace is there for the last, the lost, the least, including us. God’s grace is given to those who accept it with childlike faith. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” That is what Grace is all about.
Geese
Joshua 1: 6-9
Hebrews 3:12-15
Luke 18: 27
Geese
My earlier education was as an ecologist, specializing in natural resource management and wildlife biology. For 15 years my family and I lived in New Jersey at the edge of the Great Swamp. The Great Swamp is a 15,000 acre gravy-bowl-shaped natural area that 10,000 years ago was a deep glacial lake surrounded by high granite ridges. The lake drained over what is now a high waterfall in the Millington Gorge, but every time there are heavy rains the basin tends to flood and overflow into the Passaic River. So, when that area was settled, most people knew enough not to build in what became known as the Great Swamp. In the late 1960’s the area was protected from the New York Port Authority which wanted to create another huge airport there for the metropolitan region.
Instead 11,000 acres of it became a Federal Wildlife Refuge, and other major portions became regional natural area parks. I was responsible for the planning and development of one of those parks, on about 1000 acres of wet, wet land. One of my first projects was to design and create a series of permanent deep ponds, for wildlife and for added protection to the spot where we built an 18,000 square foot solar heated and cooled visitor center and Environmental Education Center, the nation’s first solar heated and cooled public building. Those ponds became home for a lot of Canada geese. After a couple of years, several hundred geese would gather in the fall in those ponds, and one of the most beautiful sights, and sounds, was when the geese flew in in the evening at sunset to spend the night on the open water.
Canada geese were once very low in numbers. Now they are so abundant that in some places, like golf courses that have a lot of ponds, people think of them as pests. They love to eat grass, and grain. And each goose dumps a pound and a half of fecal material per day. So they can be a pain in the neck, and a lot of poop on the ground. I enjoy watching and hearing geese, since they are not eating my crops or fertilizing my yard. I have noticed that geese seem to be able to do something that we in the Church should want to do. For one thing, their flocks seem to get larger. Geese do this partly by reproduction, but they also invite other geese to come join them. They will actually go out and bring new geese, especially young geese, to their flock.
What are some lessons that the church can learn from the world of a Canada goose? One lesson is that Canada geese illustrate the concept of fellowship. Fellowship means “to have in common”, “to share”, “to participate for a common cause”. Why do the geese get together in large flocks before they head south for the winter? The geese get together, not just because they like each other’s company, but because they share a common cause, and together their journey is easier. That is part of why we as Christians meet together, to make our journey with Christ easier.
People in fellowship, who share a common direction and sense of community, achieve their goals more quickly and easily because they are traveling on one another’s thrust. Part of being in fellowship with one another in church is making sure that we are going in the same direction and that we are flying in formation. Have you ever seen a flock of geese take off and scatter in all different directions? They don’t.
Another lesson Canada geese can teach us is the concept of sharing the workload. When you see geese heading south for the winter flying along in a "V" formation, research has revealed that as each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately behind it. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds at least 71 percent greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own. When the lead goose gets tired, he rotates back in the "V" and another goose flies the point. (It pays to take turns doing hard jobs.)
Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone. It quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front. When we fall out of formation with God, the resistance will pull us down away from our goal of growing closer to Jesus. The geese get together for their survival. It is the same for us as Christians. If we embark on our spiritual journey together, the journey becomes easier. Lone geese do not survive long.
Unfortunately, it seems as a general rule regarding getting work done in the church that 80% of the work gets done by 20% of the people. That applies to churches who are not growing. Growing churches are active churches-- the more people involved in the work of the church, the more work for God that gets done. What would happen to the geese if only 20% of them would take the lead? The flock would not survive. What happens when 80% of the work gets done by 20% of the people? The people who are doing the work become discouraged and burned out.
The work of the church is important; we are the body of Christ building the kingdom of God. God works through us. We are his hands and feet, and only by our actions can others come to know Him. Each and every one of you has various talents that could enhance the ministry of this church. We need to bring them into our flock and make sure we all use our talents. If one person does not share his or her gifts in service, the church is weakened. By instinct, geese share the work load among all the geese in the flock. As a church, we should do the same thing.
A third lesson Canada geese can teach us is, they show us the value of encouragement. Have you ever heard a flock of geese flying high overhead? They make all kinds of noise, they honk at each other as they fly. Why do geese honk as they fly? Researchers tell us geese honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.
We read in Hebrews 3:13 “But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today,’ lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” When we honk what is the message we are sending? How many times is the noise that we hear behind people who are working the voice of encouragement? Or is it too often the voice of criticism? Just as the geese are trying to encourage one another as they are on their long journey south, as Christians we should do the same thing. We are on a long journey to Jesus and we need encourager’s.
Finally, Canada geese can teach us the concept of sharing our burdens with one another. This last concept is one that is desperately needed in the church, and not just the burdens of those already part of our flock. When a goose gets sick, or is wounded by gun-fire and falls out, one or two other geese fall out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with the goose until it is either able to fly again or dead, and then they launch out to catch up with their group.
Galatians 6:2… “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.” Romans 15:1… “Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.”
Our community is full of people who are hurting, who have no flock to give them care. Jesus came for the least, the lost, the lonely. He commands us to reach out to them too, whoever they are and wherever they may be, and bring them in. The concepts we can learn from watching geese are concepts that can help make the church stronger.
I pray that as a church we will fly together in formati on, that we will reach out to bring others into our fellowship, that each of us will share the kingdom work of the church, that when we are honking at each other it is to encourage, and that we will share one another’s burdens. If the community around us sees and knows that is the way this church operates, people will flock to us. Amen
Hebrews 3:12-15
Luke 18: 27
Geese
My earlier education was as an ecologist, specializing in natural resource management and wildlife biology. For 15 years my family and I lived in New Jersey at the edge of the Great Swamp. The Great Swamp is a 15,000 acre gravy-bowl-shaped natural area that 10,000 years ago was a deep glacial lake surrounded by high granite ridges. The lake drained over what is now a high waterfall in the Millington Gorge, but every time there are heavy rains the basin tends to flood and overflow into the Passaic River. So, when that area was settled, most people knew enough not to build in what became known as the Great Swamp. In the late 1960’s the area was protected from the New York Port Authority which wanted to create another huge airport there for the metropolitan region.
Instead 11,000 acres of it became a Federal Wildlife Refuge, and other major portions became regional natural area parks. I was responsible for the planning and development of one of those parks, on about 1000 acres of wet, wet land. One of my first projects was to design and create a series of permanent deep ponds, for wildlife and for added protection to the spot where we built an 18,000 square foot solar heated and cooled visitor center and Environmental Education Center, the nation’s first solar heated and cooled public building. Those ponds became home for a lot of Canada geese. After a couple of years, several hundred geese would gather in the fall in those ponds, and one of the most beautiful sights, and sounds, was when the geese flew in in the evening at sunset to spend the night on the open water.
Canada geese were once very low in numbers. Now they are so abundant that in some places, like golf courses that have a lot of ponds, people think of them as pests. They love to eat grass, and grain. And each goose dumps a pound and a half of fecal material per day. So they can be a pain in the neck, and a lot of poop on the ground. I enjoy watching and hearing geese, since they are not eating my crops or fertilizing my yard. I have noticed that geese seem to be able to do something that we in the Church should want to do. For one thing, their flocks seem to get larger. Geese do this partly by reproduction, but they also invite other geese to come join them. They will actually go out and bring new geese, especially young geese, to their flock.
What are some lessons that the church can learn from the world of a Canada goose? One lesson is that Canada geese illustrate the concept of fellowship. Fellowship means “to have in common”, “to share”, “to participate for a common cause”. Why do the geese get together in large flocks before they head south for the winter? The geese get together, not just because they like each other’s company, but because they share a common cause, and together their journey is easier. That is part of why we as Christians meet together, to make our journey with Christ easier.
People in fellowship, who share a common direction and sense of community, achieve their goals more quickly and easily because they are traveling on one another’s thrust. Part of being in fellowship with one another in church is making sure that we are going in the same direction and that we are flying in formation. Have you ever seen a flock of geese take off and scatter in all different directions? They don’t.
Another lesson Canada geese can teach us is the concept of sharing the workload. When you see geese heading south for the winter flying along in a "V" formation, research has revealed that as each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately behind it. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds at least 71 percent greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own. When the lead goose gets tired, he rotates back in the "V" and another goose flies the point. (It pays to take turns doing hard jobs.)
Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone. It quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front. When we fall out of formation with God, the resistance will pull us down away from our goal of growing closer to Jesus. The geese get together for their survival. It is the same for us as Christians. If we embark on our spiritual journey together, the journey becomes easier. Lone geese do not survive long.
Unfortunately, it seems as a general rule regarding getting work done in the church that 80% of the work gets done by 20% of the people. That applies to churches who are not growing. Growing churches are active churches-- the more people involved in the work of the church, the more work for God that gets done. What would happen to the geese if only 20% of them would take the lead? The flock would not survive. What happens when 80% of the work gets done by 20% of the people? The people who are doing the work become discouraged and burned out.
The work of the church is important; we are the body of Christ building the kingdom of God. God works through us. We are his hands and feet, and only by our actions can others come to know Him. Each and every one of you has various talents that could enhance the ministry of this church. We need to bring them into our flock and make sure we all use our talents. If one person does not share his or her gifts in service, the church is weakened. By instinct, geese share the work load among all the geese in the flock. As a church, we should do the same thing.
A third lesson Canada geese can teach us is, they show us the value of encouragement. Have you ever heard a flock of geese flying high overhead? They make all kinds of noise, they honk at each other as they fly. Why do geese honk as they fly? Researchers tell us geese honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.
We read in Hebrews 3:13 “But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today,’ lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” When we honk what is the message we are sending? How many times is the noise that we hear behind people who are working the voice of encouragement? Or is it too often the voice of criticism? Just as the geese are trying to encourage one another as they are on their long journey south, as Christians we should do the same thing. We are on a long journey to Jesus and we need encourager’s.
Finally, Canada geese can teach us the concept of sharing our burdens with one another. This last concept is one that is desperately needed in the church, and not just the burdens of those already part of our flock. When a goose gets sick, or is wounded by gun-fire and falls out, one or two other geese fall out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with the goose until it is either able to fly again or dead, and then they launch out to catch up with their group.
Galatians 6:2… “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.” Romans 15:1… “Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.”
Our community is full of people who are hurting, who have no flock to give them care. Jesus came for the least, the lost, the lonely. He commands us to reach out to them too, whoever they are and wherever they may be, and bring them in. The concepts we can learn from watching geese are concepts that can help make the church stronger.
I pray that as a church we will fly together in formati on, that we will reach out to bring others into our fellowship, that each of us will share the kingdom work of the church, that when we are honking at each other it is to encourage, and that we will share one another’s burdens. If the community around us sees and knows that is the way this church operates, people will flock to us. Amen
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Re-membering
Exodus 32: 11-14
I Corinthians 12:12-20
1 Corinthians 11: 17-19, 28-29
Luke 22:14-20
Re-membering
There was a study recently done by two physiologists on how members of the various sections of 11 major symphony orchestra perceived each other. The percussionists were viewed as insensitive, unintelligent, and hard-of-hearing, yet fun-loving. String players were seen as arrogant, stuffy, and un-athletic. The orchestra members overwhelmingly chose "loud" as the primary adjective to describe the brass players. Woodwind players seemed to be held in the highest esteem, described as quiet and meticulous, though a bit egotistical. Interesting findings, to say the least. With such widely divergent personalities and perceptions, how could an orchestra ever come together to make such wonderful music? The answer is simple: regardless of how those musicians view each other, they subordinate their feelings and biases to the leadership of the conductor. Under his guidance, they play beautiful music.
Memories. Remembering. Re-membering. What makes a memory? When we remember something or someone, in a way it is like fitting the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle together to form a whole picture again. We put together images, and sounds, and even smells, and of course emotions so we can make it all whole again and hold it in our minds for awhile.
All of us have memories, some fond and others far from fond, of persons, places, and events that have been significant in our lives. Memories are so significant that we could actually say that individuals are the sums of their memories. Even when someone ends up dredging up painful memories, the recognition and the sharing can be both therapeutic and community building.
What is true of individuals is certainly true of families. There is a continuing interest in researching genealogy, as evidenced by the various 'how-to' books, classes, and even web-sites on the internet. Part of why we do that is so we feel more connected, more a part of our past, and can pass on those connections to our children and grandchildren. We want to remember who our past relatives were, even if we never knew them. And, we want to be remembered. Sometimes we may think and act in accord with the way we've been formed by our families, and sometimes precisely the opposite. Ever have someone say, “You remind me of your Dad”? Or, “You remind me of your Mother.”? Close your eyes for a moment . . . now recall a family gathering with me. Who is there? How are you involved? If you think hard enough it's almost like we're there again with those people we love, isn't it? Such is the power of memory.
To be fully human is to remember. The Greek word for memory is “anammeis”—the recalling of history. Very close to the word we are familiar with, “amnesia”, which is a loss of memory. Loss of memory is a terrible thing. Losing our memory dis-members us. We remember so we are better equipped to face the future. We remember so we can remain whole. We remember so we can remain connected, to the people we know and the world around us.
Nations and regions and communities have a collective memory as well. The people of the nation called Israel were told by God that they were to be a people of memory. They were to remember where and what they had been and how they had been delivered from them by God's gracious action. This recalling of history is in itself a profession of faith in God. However, it's not just something that's located in the past and not to be forgotten. Rather, this re-membering makes us contemporaries with the events that are recalled; that history is also our history. To remember what God has done for Israel is to be part of the action because it encompasses the past, speaks to our own liberation today, and assumes the future. Why? Because God who is "the same yesterday, today, and forever," is the One who acts.
What we heard in I Corinthians 12 is, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though al the parts are many, they form one body….. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” Without you the body cannot be whole. Without you, Christ is not complete. Without you, Christ is not fully alive in this world yet. For the body of Christ to be whole each of you has to re-member Jesus. You have to put him back together by becoming one with him.
Jesus did not save us just by shedding his blood and dying as a broken body on the cross. Jesus saved us by being made whole through the resurrection, becoming whole again, and living and being alive today. Through salvation and sanctification, we are made whole by God’s grace.
If we call ourselves Christians we become part of Jesus’ body. The church is to be the body of Christ. As a church we are to become like the orchestra, with Jesus as our conductor. The conductor with his wand is silent. It takes the orchestra to make the music he wants played, and to play it the way he wants to hear it. The notes we are to follow are the commands of Christ.
Each time we celebrate Communion, we are remembering God's gracious action toward us, we are re-membering the Body of Christ. That is, we are being brought more and more into wholeness with the living Lord. That's why I believe that the best definition of Christian worship is, "gather the folks, tell the story, break the bread." In those simple actions we re-member the Body of Christ.
Re-membering the Body of Christ means that we are constantly putting ourselves back into God's active, living memory. When we come to church to worship together we are coming to re-member the Body of Christ. When we go our separate ways, the Body of Christ goes forth into the world through you and through me. God's love, God's care reaches out to the world through you and through me. God's love, God's care reaches out to the world through our words, our actions, and our touch. For Christians, this is how memories are made: gather the folks, tell the story, break the bread.
The Church into which the Christian is called is not a collective but a body. If anyone comes to church with the idea that the Church is simply a gathering together of persons to worship as if they were a crowd at a movie, that person is dis-membered. Christ’s presence, the interaction between him and us, must always be the overwhelmingly dominant factor in the life we are to lead within the body; and any idea of Christian fellowship which does not make fellowship with Jesus the primary reason to gather, so as to do his work in the world, is out of order.
Maybe you remember sometime in the past, when you put your face above a headless frame painted to represent a muscle man, a clown, or even a bathing beauty? At the Columbus Zoo your face can become the head of an animal. Many of us have had our pictures taken this way, and the photos are humorous because the head doesn't fit the body.
If we could picture Christ as the head of this church would the world laugh at the misfit? Or would they stand in awe of a human body so closely related to a divine head?
Where do you fit as part of the Body of Christ? Come to the table this morning and re-member the Body of Christ for your family, for your friends, for your community.
Amen.
I Corinthians 12:12-20
1 Corinthians 11: 17-19, 28-29
Luke 22:14-20
Re-membering
There was a study recently done by two physiologists on how members of the various sections of 11 major symphony orchestra perceived each other. The percussionists were viewed as insensitive, unintelligent, and hard-of-hearing, yet fun-loving. String players were seen as arrogant, stuffy, and un-athletic. The orchestra members overwhelmingly chose "loud" as the primary adjective to describe the brass players. Woodwind players seemed to be held in the highest esteem, described as quiet and meticulous, though a bit egotistical. Interesting findings, to say the least. With such widely divergent personalities and perceptions, how could an orchestra ever come together to make such wonderful music? The answer is simple: regardless of how those musicians view each other, they subordinate their feelings and biases to the leadership of the conductor. Under his guidance, they play beautiful music.
Memories. Remembering. Re-membering. What makes a memory? When we remember something or someone, in a way it is like fitting the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle together to form a whole picture again. We put together images, and sounds, and even smells, and of course emotions so we can make it all whole again and hold it in our minds for awhile.
All of us have memories, some fond and others far from fond, of persons, places, and events that have been significant in our lives. Memories are so significant that we could actually say that individuals are the sums of their memories. Even when someone ends up dredging up painful memories, the recognition and the sharing can be both therapeutic and community building.
What is true of individuals is certainly true of families. There is a continuing interest in researching genealogy, as evidenced by the various 'how-to' books, classes, and even web-sites on the internet. Part of why we do that is so we feel more connected, more a part of our past, and can pass on those connections to our children and grandchildren. We want to remember who our past relatives were, even if we never knew them. And, we want to be remembered. Sometimes we may think and act in accord with the way we've been formed by our families, and sometimes precisely the opposite. Ever have someone say, “You remind me of your Dad”? Or, “You remind me of your Mother.”? Close your eyes for a moment . . . now recall a family gathering with me. Who is there? How are you involved? If you think hard enough it's almost like we're there again with those people we love, isn't it? Such is the power of memory.
To be fully human is to remember. The Greek word for memory is “anammeis”—the recalling of history. Very close to the word we are familiar with, “amnesia”, which is a loss of memory. Loss of memory is a terrible thing. Losing our memory dis-members us. We remember so we are better equipped to face the future. We remember so we can remain whole. We remember so we can remain connected, to the people we know and the world around us.
Nations and regions and communities have a collective memory as well. The people of the nation called Israel were told by God that they were to be a people of memory. They were to remember where and what they had been and how they had been delivered from them by God's gracious action. This recalling of history is in itself a profession of faith in God. However, it's not just something that's located in the past and not to be forgotten. Rather, this re-membering makes us contemporaries with the events that are recalled; that history is also our history. To remember what God has done for Israel is to be part of the action because it encompasses the past, speaks to our own liberation today, and assumes the future. Why? Because God who is "the same yesterday, today, and forever," is the One who acts.
What we heard in I Corinthians 12 is, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though al the parts are many, they form one body….. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” Without you the body cannot be whole. Without you, Christ is not complete. Without you, Christ is not fully alive in this world yet. For the body of Christ to be whole each of you has to re-member Jesus. You have to put him back together by becoming one with him.
Jesus did not save us just by shedding his blood and dying as a broken body on the cross. Jesus saved us by being made whole through the resurrection, becoming whole again, and living and being alive today. Through salvation and sanctification, we are made whole by God’s grace.
If we call ourselves Christians we become part of Jesus’ body. The church is to be the body of Christ. As a church we are to become like the orchestra, with Jesus as our conductor. The conductor with his wand is silent. It takes the orchestra to make the music he wants played, and to play it the way he wants to hear it. The notes we are to follow are the commands of Christ.
Each time we celebrate Communion, we are remembering God's gracious action toward us, we are re-membering the Body of Christ. That is, we are being brought more and more into wholeness with the living Lord. That's why I believe that the best definition of Christian worship is, "gather the folks, tell the story, break the bread." In those simple actions we re-member the Body of Christ.
Re-membering the Body of Christ means that we are constantly putting ourselves back into God's active, living memory. When we come to church to worship together we are coming to re-member the Body of Christ. When we go our separate ways, the Body of Christ goes forth into the world through you and through me. God's love, God's care reaches out to the world through you and through me. God's love, God's care reaches out to the world through our words, our actions, and our touch. For Christians, this is how memories are made: gather the folks, tell the story, break the bread.
The Church into which the Christian is called is not a collective but a body. If anyone comes to church with the idea that the Church is simply a gathering together of persons to worship as if they were a crowd at a movie, that person is dis-membered. Christ’s presence, the interaction between him and us, must always be the overwhelmingly dominant factor in the life we are to lead within the body; and any idea of Christian fellowship which does not make fellowship with Jesus the primary reason to gather, so as to do his work in the world, is out of order.
Maybe you remember sometime in the past, when you put your face above a headless frame painted to represent a muscle man, a clown, or even a bathing beauty? At the Columbus Zoo your face can become the head of an animal. Many of us have had our pictures taken this way, and the photos are humorous because the head doesn't fit the body.
If we could picture Christ as the head of this church would the world laugh at the misfit? Or would they stand in awe of a human body so closely related to a divine head?
Where do you fit as part of the Body of Christ? Come to the table this morning and re-member the Body of Christ for your family, for your friends, for your community.
Amen.
Hope
Psalm 31: 21-24
1 Peter 1: 3
John 14:1-4, John 20: 19-22
Hope
When the explorer Shackleton was on his quest for the South Pole in 1914-15, his ship the Endeavor was trapped in ice and he was compelled to leave some of his men on Elephant Island. As his ship was crushed and sinking he knew he had to try to find help. He promised that he would return for them. He took the best boat they had, strengthened it with materials salvaged from the ship Endeavor, and went on a 500 mile journey to find help at a base station further north. But when he tried to get back, he found a sea of ice between him and the island.
What should he do? He had promised, and he felt he had to keep his word. He tried to reach them, but failed. He tried again and again, but without success. Beyond the ice were his trusting companions, who had every confidence in him. They had only a few supplies with them. At that time of the year it seemed stupid to hope for any favorable change in the weather, and he was told that there was absolutely no hope of getting his little boat through the great ice barrier to Elephant Island.
He could not stop trying. He must reach his men; so at the risk of losing his boat and the lives of his crew, he pushed in nearer to the island; and unexpectedly there came an opening in the ice. He hurried in, rescued his men, and in an hour was back again with all on board. Had they been delayed only a few minutes, their frail vessel would have been destroyed by the crashing of the ice as it closed in.
When they were sure they were beyond danger and the nervous tension was over, Shackleton said to one of the rescued companions, "Well, you were packed and ready, weren't you?" "Yes," came back the reply, "we never lost hope. We believed you would come for us, even though circumstances were unfavorable. You had promised, and we expected you; so each morning we rolled up our sleeping bags and packed all our equipment, that we might be ready." And now they were all safe and homeward bound, happy that they had been prepared daily.
Before Jesus departed from this world, He left a definite promise in John 14:1-4. The Lord does not go back on his promises.
Hope. Webster’s dictionary defines hope as “the feeling that what is desired is also possible, or that events may turn out for the best; to look forward to with desire and with reasonable confidence.”
When Jesus was crucified, the disciples were completely without hope. They felt the last 3 years had been for nothing, and they were afraid. Even after Peter and John had looked into the empty tomb, and saw for themselves what Mary Magdalene had said about the tomb being empty, they still did not understand that Jesus had risen. They went back to their homes. Then Mary saw Jesus in the garden, and went to the disciples and told them about it but still they were so afraid they stayed locked away together. They had no reasonable confidence. Jesus had to appear to them directly in that locked room, before they understood and before their hope was restored. That the disciples saw happen on that day we know as Good Friday was a terrible thing, so terrible it would leave anyone who saw it without hope. They were crushed. Their hopes for a bright future for the Israelites were crushed.
The God we know in Scripture is a God deeply, personally, involved in our lives. A God who feels deeply the loss of every life, and the suffering of a nation. "Since my people are crushed, I am crushed," says the Lord. "I mourn, and horror grips me." There was nothing “good” about Good Friday. Not for the disciples, not for Jesus, not for God. It was not something our loving God wanted to happen to his Son.
The message of our Christian heritage is hope within redemption. Yes there's good, and yes,
there's evil; but good is never pure, and evil is never irredeemable. So the gospel offers us hope, a reason to believe with confidence. Neither earthly good nor evil is absolute. And the thrust of history is toward the heavenly good, toward the will of God. But we arrive there not by perfection, but by a continual process of healing, of death and resurrection, of conversion.
For Christians, the central hope of our faith remains the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Christ's death was at the hands of both human good and human evil. In the hindsight of history, we look back on the events between Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and the crucifixion as culmination of evil. However, most everyone who helped get Jesus hung on the cross thought they were doing it for a good reason. Rome wasn't bad as Empires go. They were pretty tolerant. But it couldn't tolerate a person like Jesus—especially the local officials who were afraid he might start an uprising when the city was full of Jews wanting out from under the Romans. Judas thought he was doing the right thing by identifying Jesus to the guards who came in the night. When he realized what he had done, he committed suicide in remorse. The High Priest Caiaphas had good reasons for believing it was better for one man to die for the sake of many and maintaining the peace. Pontius Pilate thought he had made a good decision by giving the Priests and people a choice. But that didn't make him right. Jesus' disciples were frightened for their lives. That didn't justify their cowardice. Humanity couldn't tolerate God in human form, so we killed him. It was a terrible evil.
But God redeemed that evil act by raising Jesus from the dead. Jesus asked for forgiveness for those who put him on the cross, and God extended forgiveness to Jesus' murderers by raising Jesus from the dead. God offers hope for humanity in raising Jesus from the dead.
This is not good defeating evil. It is God taking evil and transforming it into good. We too, as Christians, have an obligation to work to transform evil into good. Each of us is called as a Christian to do what we can to counter the bad things that happen around us. We are called on to carry God’s love to others, not just through our gifts in the offering plate, and not just to our friends or people we know and like. We are called upon to give and to forgive, as Jesus gave and forgave.
Sometimes what we can do may seem very small and unimportant in the larger scheme of things, but we never know just how important a little act of kindness may be, how some small thing we do might bring hope to someone else.
In 1994, daily the city of Sarajevo was under siege. Mortars and artillery fire instantly transformed once beautiful buildings into rubble. Sarajevo's citizens were frightened, weary and increasingly despondent. Then, one February day, a mortar shell exploded in the market killing 68 civilians. Many more were wounded and maimed from the blast.
A cellist with the Sarajevo symphony could no longer stand the killing. He took his cello to the market, sat down amidst the rubble and played a concert. When he finished, he simply took up his instrument and left.
Every day, for 67 days, until the shelling stopped, he came to the market. Every day he played a concert. It was his gift of love to the city. He did it because he felt his community needed hope.
Because of the hope given us by the Resurrection, we are called upon to give others hope. We are called upon to play music in the midst of turmoil, draw a cross in the dirt, wipe the tears of a stranger. Jesus said, “As you have done it to the least of these……….”
Hope is music in the heart. It is a gift given to each of us to see us through the night. Once you have lost hope, you have nothing left to lose. Utter hopelessness kills everything it touches. But hope gives us strength to continue, whether it be a marriage that is worth saving, a life that is worth living or a situation that is worth salvaging.
In the end, hope is a spiritual thing. When all is in chaos and ruin, hope is the knowledge that the music still goes on. In this vast and infinite universe, we are not alone. There is a God, and he loves us. He loves us so much he gave his only begotten Son.
During those times when all may seem to be crumbling down around you, can you hear the music in your heart -- the song of hope? Listen carefully. It is there, playing for you. Amen
1 Peter 1: 3
John 14:1-4, John 20: 19-22
Hope
When the explorer Shackleton was on his quest for the South Pole in 1914-15, his ship the Endeavor was trapped in ice and he was compelled to leave some of his men on Elephant Island. As his ship was crushed and sinking he knew he had to try to find help. He promised that he would return for them. He took the best boat they had, strengthened it with materials salvaged from the ship Endeavor, and went on a 500 mile journey to find help at a base station further north. But when he tried to get back, he found a sea of ice between him and the island.
What should he do? He had promised, and he felt he had to keep his word. He tried to reach them, but failed. He tried again and again, but without success. Beyond the ice were his trusting companions, who had every confidence in him. They had only a few supplies with them. At that time of the year it seemed stupid to hope for any favorable change in the weather, and he was told that there was absolutely no hope of getting his little boat through the great ice barrier to Elephant Island.
He could not stop trying. He must reach his men; so at the risk of losing his boat and the lives of his crew, he pushed in nearer to the island; and unexpectedly there came an opening in the ice. He hurried in, rescued his men, and in an hour was back again with all on board. Had they been delayed only a few minutes, their frail vessel would have been destroyed by the crashing of the ice as it closed in.
When they were sure they were beyond danger and the nervous tension was over, Shackleton said to one of the rescued companions, "Well, you were packed and ready, weren't you?" "Yes," came back the reply, "we never lost hope. We believed you would come for us, even though circumstances were unfavorable. You had promised, and we expected you; so each morning we rolled up our sleeping bags and packed all our equipment, that we might be ready." And now they were all safe and homeward bound, happy that they had been prepared daily.
Before Jesus departed from this world, He left a definite promise in John 14:1-4. The Lord does not go back on his promises.
Hope. Webster’s dictionary defines hope as “the feeling that what is desired is also possible, or that events may turn out for the best; to look forward to with desire and with reasonable confidence.”
When Jesus was crucified, the disciples were completely without hope. They felt the last 3 years had been for nothing, and they were afraid. Even after Peter and John had looked into the empty tomb, and saw for themselves what Mary Magdalene had said about the tomb being empty, they still did not understand that Jesus had risen. They went back to their homes. Then Mary saw Jesus in the garden, and went to the disciples and told them about it but still they were so afraid they stayed locked away together. They had no reasonable confidence. Jesus had to appear to them directly in that locked room, before they understood and before their hope was restored. That the disciples saw happen on that day we know as Good Friday was a terrible thing, so terrible it would leave anyone who saw it without hope. They were crushed. Their hopes for a bright future for the Israelites were crushed.
The God we know in Scripture is a God deeply, personally, involved in our lives. A God who feels deeply the loss of every life, and the suffering of a nation. "Since my people are crushed, I am crushed," says the Lord. "I mourn, and horror grips me." There was nothing “good” about Good Friday. Not for the disciples, not for Jesus, not for God. It was not something our loving God wanted to happen to his Son.
The message of our Christian heritage is hope within redemption. Yes there's good, and yes,
there's evil; but good is never pure, and evil is never irredeemable. So the gospel offers us hope, a reason to believe with confidence. Neither earthly good nor evil is absolute. And the thrust of history is toward the heavenly good, toward the will of God. But we arrive there not by perfection, but by a continual process of healing, of death and resurrection, of conversion.
For Christians, the central hope of our faith remains the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Christ's death was at the hands of both human good and human evil. In the hindsight of history, we look back on the events between Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and the crucifixion as culmination of evil. However, most everyone who helped get Jesus hung on the cross thought they were doing it for a good reason. Rome wasn't bad as Empires go. They were pretty tolerant. But it couldn't tolerate a person like Jesus—especially the local officials who were afraid he might start an uprising when the city was full of Jews wanting out from under the Romans. Judas thought he was doing the right thing by identifying Jesus to the guards who came in the night. When he realized what he had done, he committed suicide in remorse. The High Priest Caiaphas had good reasons for believing it was better for one man to die for the sake of many and maintaining the peace. Pontius Pilate thought he had made a good decision by giving the Priests and people a choice. But that didn't make him right. Jesus' disciples were frightened for their lives. That didn't justify their cowardice. Humanity couldn't tolerate God in human form, so we killed him. It was a terrible evil.
But God redeemed that evil act by raising Jesus from the dead. Jesus asked for forgiveness for those who put him on the cross, and God extended forgiveness to Jesus' murderers by raising Jesus from the dead. God offers hope for humanity in raising Jesus from the dead.
This is not good defeating evil. It is God taking evil and transforming it into good. We too, as Christians, have an obligation to work to transform evil into good. Each of us is called as a Christian to do what we can to counter the bad things that happen around us. We are called on to carry God’s love to others, not just through our gifts in the offering plate, and not just to our friends or people we know and like. We are called upon to give and to forgive, as Jesus gave and forgave.
Sometimes what we can do may seem very small and unimportant in the larger scheme of things, but we never know just how important a little act of kindness may be, how some small thing we do might bring hope to someone else.
In 1994, daily the city of Sarajevo was under siege. Mortars and artillery fire instantly transformed once beautiful buildings into rubble. Sarajevo's citizens were frightened, weary and increasingly despondent. Then, one February day, a mortar shell exploded in the market killing 68 civilians. Many more were wounded and maimed from the blast.
A cellist with the Sarajevo symphony could no longer stand the killing. He took his cello to the market, sat down amidst the rubble and played a concert. When he finished, he simply took up his instrument and left.
Every day, for 67 days, until the shelling stopped, he came to the market. Every day he played a concert. It was his gift of love to the city. He did it because he felt his community needed hope.
Because of the hope given us by the Resurrection, we are called upon to give others hope. We are called upon to play music in the midst of turmoil, draw a cross in the dirt, wipe the tears of a stranger. Jesus said, “As you have done it to the least of these……….”
Hope is music in the heart. It is a gift given to each of us to see us through the night. Once you have lost hope, you have nothing left to lose. Utter hopelessness kills everything it touches. But hope gives us strength to continue, whether it be a marriage that is worth saving, a life that is worth living or a situation that is worth salvaging.
In the end, hope is a spiritual thing. When all is in chaos and ruin, hope is the knowledge that the music still goes on. In this vast and infinite universe, we are not alone. There is a God, and he loves us. He loves us so much he gave his only begotten Son.
During those times when all may seem to be crumbling down around you, can you hear the music in your heart -- the song of hope? Listen carefully. It is there, playing for you. Amen
Aromas
Leviticus 2: 4-9
2 Corinthians 2:14-16
Matthew 26: 1-13
Aromas
Have you ever been assaulted by a smell? Long time ago, in New Jersey on a dock as friends and I prepared to go fishing for blue fish out off the coast, I saw a sign that said, “Old fishermen never die. They just smell that way.”
Now I do not have a sense of odor. Almost none. I lost it working with formalin in a biology lab as one of my jobs to pay my way through college. But I do remember that walking down the street, creeping out of a vent in the sidewalk; or strolling along the mid-way of a carnival or fair, wafting its way from a kiosk - sometimes an odor will "hit you". Sometimes that odor will even thrust your psyche back into another time and place.
Maybe it's the sweet smell of caramel apples. Maybe it's the pungent punch of garlic and onion. Maybe it's moldy and murky smell of a basement. Maybe it's the sea-weedy smell of the beach.
Whatever the odor, it is officious - meaning, it is "large and in charge." It teleports you back to a particular place and a particular time. I suspect each of you has memory smells. Our sense of smell is the physical sense most associated with memory. Smells, more than sounds, more than sights, more than touches, transport our minds and bodies back in time to an imprinted memory. Rising yeast might bring you back to your grandmother's kitchen. A wet sock smell brings you back to the locker room-or to the terror of the day you fell in a frozen creek up to your waist and almost froze. Roasting chicken smells like every Sunday dinner. Gasoline chokes you with memories of a car crash. Nothing evokes strong emotions, strong memories, strong longings, like the sense of smell. It is a powerful communicator to our inner being.
In the days of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, burnt offerings were the norm - small birds, little lambs, calves, great grains - all were sacrificed and burned. Burnt sacrifice was offered to appease God's righteous anger over the sins and transgressions the people of Israel had committed. In fact, burnt sacrifices were commonplace in several cultures during the time of Jesus. The Romans offered burnt sacrifices to their gods, especially when a Roman General came home to Rome after a great victory.
Jesus’ world was full of strong odors. Cooking was often done out in the open, over wood fires. There were no sanitary sewers in the towns he walked through. At the time of Jesus, the bathroom in most homes was a dung hill at the back of the house and even though they did not know what germs were or how it worked salt was used on the pile as a disinfectant to stop infection from spreading. There were no garbage men to make regular rounds. Garbage often simply rotted in heaps on the outskirts, or was burned with trash. Incense was burned in homes and meeting places, to help overpower the odor of unwashed people and all the other smells that surrounded the places. It must have been wonderful to Jesus to walk in the open countryside with a clean breeze between visits to the towns and villages.
Jesus also encountered strong odors among the people with whom he spent much time. Not just because even people who were well off didn’t wash as much as we do now—Jesus spent time with those who had even less access for personal hygiene. He also encountered awful odors in his ministry. There was the odor of rotting flesh from the lepers he met and healed. And there was the odor of his friend Lazarus who had been dead for four days by the time he arrived. We read in the Gospel of John 11, “…He was warned not to open the tomb because it would stink.” But he opened the tomb anyway.
Incense and perfumes, such as Mary used that day to anoint Jesus, were valued, and the perfume she used was especially valued. Not the way we use it today, but to mask odors. However, good perfumes were hard to get then.
So it is no wonder scriptures speak of odors so much, and how they refer to sin as a stench in God’s nostrils. The rank odors were common place, but no matter how common they were, they would have been repulsive. The writers of the scriptures wanted their readers to see sin, while common, as just as repulsive as the most awful smelling garbage that could be experienced. Scripture also likened sin and injustice to the stench of death. When sin dominates our lives it creates a stench about us that’s hard to overlook. God hates sin because it corrupts people, and separates us from him. It eventually destroys us. Because of that he has no intention of rewarding us for bad behavior.
A lot of people make the mistake of trying to cover up that smell, by doing good deeds, being kind to strangers, giving lots of money to good causes. They convince themselves that the fragrance of their good behavior will cover up the smell of their past. But they’re kidding themselves. That becomes hypocrisy, which Jesus considered the most repugnant smell of all.
On the other hand, service to God was said to be a sweet smell. Sacrificial giving of time and resources and self and a willingness to take risks, even risks to one’s life, to spread the Gospel was the counter to sin. It still is.
Paul’s letter to the Philippians in chapter 4:18 says, "But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God." Those churches had supported him generously in his mission ministry, and he was referring to their gifts and service to him, given out of love of God.
There is an odor to a spirit of love. The Lord looks at the thoughts and intents of the heart. The Lord looks at what motivates what we do. What we do is not half as important as what motivates us to do it. Our hearts, our attitudes, are what the Lord is looking to.
Jesus called upon his followers, and us, to be the salt of the earth. He wasn’t just thinking about what salt does for food. We are to help disinfect the world of sin, and give our surroundings. Similarly, the Church today is to be the antidote to the evil and depravity rampant in society.
When we serve God whole heartedly, because we love him with all our heart and mind and strength and soul, scripture says we will have the fragrance of Jesus. May your aroma bring God closer to those you meet this week.
Amen
Thursday, August 16, 2012
What Is A Pulpit
Preaching from the Pulpit
by Todd Elder
There can be much disagreement within groups when the issue of the pulpit because the pulpit connotes authority. When dealing with this situation, it would be better to start by asking if there should even be a pulpit.
The Form of the Pulpit
Within a modern church, the pulpit tends to be the area of focus during a worship service and is primarily used for a message or sermon. Sometimes the pulpit is placed front and center. Other times, the pulpit shares the front with a lectern used by the laity for the reading of Scripture or for announcements. A couple of centuries ago, the pulpits often had three levels with the lowest level for announcements, the middle level for reading of Scripture, and the top level for the main message or sermon. Before the Protestant Reformation, the pulpit was usually a single elevated level.
History of the Pulpit
During the first couple of centuries AD, believers would often meet in homes. The first reference to a pulpit does not appear until a letter in the third century AD. During the Middle Ages, pulpits became commonplace, but were not typically used much for sermons because the sacraments were more important to the Catholic Church. The preaching of the Word at the pulpit became more important with denominations after the Protestant Reformation. Since then, the authority of Scripture, the church, and the preacher became closely connected with the pulpit.
The Authority of the Preacher
The pulpit is generally considered the place where one has authority over a congregation. To have authority over a person or a group is a form of covenant and there are bonds, both physically and spiritually, within a covenant. For one person to have authority over a large or mixed group of people is inappropriate. One of the great problems associated with a regular preacher (whether a priest, pastor, reverend, or minister) is that the position lends itself to the idea of a spiritual superman. This person is expected to have a special relationship with the Almighty and then dispense what he has to offer to the entire group. Preaching of this type stifles the growth of everyone involved and only helps a few in any given message. It is much better if each individual in the group is learning the techniques for studying Scripture and developing the disciplines of worship so that each person can have that relationship with the Almighty. This enables each person to become mature in the Messiah and allows each to pass that on to their children and to other people as well.
Ultimately, the pulpit form of worship lends itself to placing one person in charge of a group rather than letting each individual grow in maturity and ability to help others. This type of authority, from either man or woman, should not exist and instead should be replaced by letting those who are mature in faith be examples to the others. By following the appropriate boundaries, everyone can benefit.
Additional notes:
In the eighteenth century triple-decker pulpits were often introduced in English speaking countries. The three levels of lecterns were intended to show the relative importance of the readings delivered there. The bottom tier was for community announcements, the middle for the gospel, and the top tier was reserved for the delivery of the sermon. This tended to elevate the authority of the message as given by the preacher over the authority of the scripture. However, some thought this represented the message as having the scripture as its foundation.
In churches where there is only one speaker's stand in the center of the front of the church, it serves the functions of both lectern and pulpit and is properly called the ambo. In common usage, however, ambos are incorrectly called pulpits.
In addition to the ambo, many major churches in Greece and Cyprus also have a raised pulpit on the left side of the nave, usually attached to a column and raised several feet high. This is reached by a narrow flight of stairs. It is considered an architectural element that is symmetrical to the bishop's throne, which is located on an equivalent position on the right. Pulpit and throne are usually similar in construction, usually made of either sculpted stone or sculpted wood.
How People Come Into The Church
Shifting Entry Points
by Susan Beaumont
Traditionally, worship has been regarded as the primary venue through which individuals enter the life of a congregation. In The Inviting Church (Alban, 1987, 74-75), Roy Oswald and Speed Leas linked new-member assimilation with spiritual growth. They named six levels of incorporation into the spiritual life of the church that progressed in this order: joining, belonging, participating, searching, journeying inward, and journeying outward. Oswald and Leas were careful to explain that individuals might not progress through the six stages in linear fashion. In fact, they argued that the first three steps may be disassociated from the last three. But they nevertheless assumed that people begin their engagement with the church through worship and then move through deeper levels of involvement from there.
A lot has changed in congregational and mainstream culture since Oswald and Leas wrote about assimilation. People have shifted the way that they integrate into congregations. Joining is rarely the first step and may not even enter into the equation. Some would argue that the first three steps today are actually a reversal of the process described above, particularly among the millennial generation. People’s involvement is more likely to follow this path: participating, belonging, and then joining.
Some new arrivals at the church begin by participating in the outreach or service opportunities the congregation sponsors. They move from participation into a quest for deeper belonging, where they test out small group involvement or worship, and finally they move toward joining, taking orientation and membership classes much later in their church experience.
This reversal in assimilation patterns is particularly evident in the large church. While many continue to treat weekend worship as the center of church life, others do not. The large church offers so many programming options that Sunday morning worship is no longer the only feeder system. People who are attached to the church school, a fine arts program, or a recovery program or support group may not be particularly drawn to weekend worship. They may not be formal members of the church, but they often describe the church as their own.
This phenomenon introduces a number of interesting challenges into the congregation’s acculturation process. In the 1980s, our best guess for how to assimilate new members centered almost entirely on Sunday morning worship. We obsessed over the availability of parking and the training of our greeters, ushers, and welcome-table hosts. We tracked participation in worship services and mailed a carefully conceived series of follow-up letters that drew people ever more deeply into the life of the congregation.
For many newcomers, worship remains the primary entry point, and so all those things we worried about back in the ’80s are still relevant. However, if people are not regularly attending Sunday worship, then we need to have integration systems in place that will gather in those who are participating less traditionally. Every ministry of the church needs to have its own method for drawing people more deeply into the life of the congregation. Critical incidents or trigger points need to be identified for flagging people who are expressing an interest in the life of the congregation outside of worship.
Susan Beaumont is a senior consultant with the Alban Institute. This article is adapted from her book Inside the Large Congregation, with permission from the Alban Institute. Copyright © 2011 by The Alban Institute, Inc. Herndon, VA. All rights reserved. For more information, visit: http://www.alban.org/insidethelargecongregation.aspx. This book is also available from Amazon
and Cokesbury.
and Cokesbury.Passwords
Zechariah 3: 8-9
Hebrews 12: 1-3
Mark 8: 27-30
Passwords
"I want to change my password," said the man who for two years had a secure savings account that required a password to access.”
Very well," replied the man in charge. "What is the old one?"
"Gladys."
"And what do you wish the new one to be?"
"Mabel. Gladys has gone to Vegas."
I know a lot of you are on Facebook. Facebook was created to help you connect and share with the people in your life. There are several ways that it can help you connect, but there can be a problem of connecting with people if you cannot get onto your Facebook account. That happens when you forget your password. But if you forget your password you just click on the "forgot your password" link and Facebook will help you reset your password so you can get back into your account.
I had not really thought much about it, but we live in a password happy world don’t we? At least if you use technology there are many passwords out there that you need to remember. You may have passwords at work to get onto computers or access certain files. We have passwords or pin numbers for our debit cards. Your social security number is a password. I have passwords for both my cell phone and home phone accounts. If you buy things on-line you have passwords for those accounts. I have ones for Amazon, email, and several others. All of that is for good reason, it is for security, but it still can be tough to remember everything. You are warned to not use the same one for everything, because if you do and someone manages to steal one, they have access to all the others, and you could be a victim of identity theft.
And the fun part is not just remembering the passwords, but the user names as well. Some accounts use my email address, which is nice. But other accounts I am known by other user names, but not my own real name. It can be hard to keep it all straight and online places realize that and this is why most, if not all, accounts have a "forgot your password" button.
There are applications you can install on your computer that give you a place to store all your passwords securely. But then, you have to remember the password to the password vault.
Of course, you don’t need a password if you don’t have an account and don’t care to open one.
By now you may be wondering what in the world does all of this have to do with our faith as Christians. Some organizations have secret passwords, some have secret codes. I was in a college fraternity once, and there was a secret handshake. Well, let me first say there are no secret passwords in Christianity. There are no secret codes, and God already knows your name. Nothing in our faith is meant to be kept secret from others.
However, if there is one password in Christianity, it is the name of Jesus, but that name should be made known to all. It should not be a secret. There is power in the name of Jesus.
So I am not going to share a password with you today or ask you to come up with one. What I want us to do is work on remembering. See, if you are a Christian that means you are already signed up. You made your profession of faith, accepted the terms that Jesus is both your Savior and your Lord. You have been there, done that, but perhaps you have forgotten something. This is what happened to the church in Ephesus according to the book of Revelation. Ephesus is a town in modern day Turkey. Let me read from Revelation 2.
The passage started out by saying some positive things about this church. It said that this church was hard working and persevered in the midst of hardships. When there was persecution this church stood its ground and pulled through. It also said this church tested the teachings of people that came along to see if their teaching matched the Scriptures and Jesus. They did not want to be led astray. They held true to the Gospel and were not distracted.
But then it goes on to say, even with the good going on, there was one thing missing. It was said they had forsaken their first love. They were going through the motions, but were an empty shell no longer filled with the love for Christ.
You see this church was doing good things. They endured hard times and pressed on, but they had forgotten something. They had forgotten their first love. They had forgotten the reason they endured hardships. It seems to me that they were doing many of the right things on the outside, but were missing the internal passion and reason for their actions. They had forgotten that Jesus is the password to vitality.
Too many churches today have forgotten their reason for existence. They do good things, but they have forgotten the only reason a church exists is to make disciples for Christ, teach them all he taught, and to serve others as he served. Jesus did not preach from a pulpit, or build a building, or create an institution—he created a movement, to take his message to all people. Too many churches have turned inward, becoming institutions rather than missionary movements, Sunday morning clubs of fellowship rather than bases for outreach. They have forgotten their password, Jesus.
As individuals we sometimes get that way as well. Do you remember when you first realized God’s presence with you? As Christians, we sometimes forget why we believe in God or we forget that God has a purpose for us. We too often take it for granted and just keep doing what we have always done. But this is not what God wants for our lives. God wants more than just the action or outward appearance of faith. God wants that internal passion to be living and the Holy Spirit our guide. So we need to reconnect. We need a reminder. We need to relearn that Jesus is our password to understanding God’s purpose for our lives.
And that is the message for today. Remember why you first fell in love with God. We dare not forget. We dare not forget why we first started to follow Christ. We dare not forget those times God has really touched us and changed us. We dare not forget that God has set us free from sin to live our lives. We need reminders of God’s love and purpose for us, and that Jesus as Savior and Lord is our password to everlasting life.
Amen
Repentance
2 Samuel 12:7-10, 13
2 Corinthians 7:9-11
Luke 24: 46-47, Acts 26: 19-20
Repentance
Reverend Alan Tison tells a story about a country church that was having their annual revival meeting. On the first night the preacher preached a message about repentance and the need to return to the Lord. At the altar call, a man came down the aisle saying "Fill me Lord, fill me".
The next night the preacher challenged the congregation with the need to totally surrender their lives to Christ in complete obedience. Again the altar call was extended; like the night before the same man came down the aisle saying "Fill me Lord, fill me".
The third night of the revival preacher warned his congregation of the evils of sin and urged the congregation to live lives of holiness. Again at the invitation was made to give one's life to Christ, the same man came up the aisle saying "Fill me Lord, fill me".
To which someone in the back of the church yelled; "Don't do it Lord, He leaks!"
The truth of the matter is we all leak from time to time. We all lose our way, there are times we tend to lose our fire for Christ, or we wade in the pool of the lukewarm.
The next night the preacher challenged the congregation with the need to totally surrender their lives to Christ in complete obedience. Again the altar call was extended; like the night before the same man came down the aisle saying "Fill me Lord, fill me".
The third night of the revival preacher warned his congregation of the evils of sin and urged the congregation to live lives of holiness. Again at the invitation was made to give one's life to Christ, the same man came up the aisle saying "Fill me Lord, fill me".
To which someone in the back of the church yelled; "Don't do it Lord, He leaks!"
The truth of the matter is we all leak from time to time. We all lose our way, there are times we tend to lose our fire for Christ, or we wade in the pool of the lukewarm.
Wabash, a town in a remote portion of Labrador, Canada, was completely isolated for some time. But recently a road was cut through the wilderness to reach it. Wabush now has one road leading into it, and thus, only one road leading out. If someone would travel the unpaved road for six to eight hours to get into Wabush, there is only way he or she could leave---by turning around.
Each of us is a sinner. Each of us, no matter how hard we try, at times falls off the path God intends for us, and get lost. A recent nationwide Gallup poll by shows there is little difference in ethical behavior between the churched and the un-churched. It turns out there is as much pilferage and dishonesty among the churched as the un-churched. And I'm afraid that applies pretty much across the board: religion, per se, is not really life changing. Faith is life changing, truly accepting, following, and serving Christ is, but religion as such is not—religion doesn't have primacy in determining behavior. Many people are caught up in religion,--they go to church regularly, do lots of work in the church, maybe even read their bibles regularly-- but unfortunately far fewer live a life of true faith, and as a result too often find themselves sorry for decisions they have made.
As in Wabush, there is only one way out--a road built by God himself. But to take that road, one must first turn around. That complete about face is what the Bible calls repentance, and without it, there's no way out of town.
Now repenting is not being sorry for what we do that we wish we didn’t. Too often people will say they are sorry for something, but then go ahead and do the same thing again at some point—or they say they are sorry, and do not really mean it. So repentance is not sorrow. In fact, repentance is an outcome of true sorrow—it follows sorrow.
And, repentance is not conversion. Repentance alone does not mean a changed life. There have been millions who have come forward at alter calls to say they are sorry for their sins, but that does not mean they have had a conversion or have salvation. Peter makes this very clear in scripture in the book of Acts chapter 3, verse 19, when he says “Repent and then become converted…”
So what is repentance? It is a change of mind, a decision to turn away from sin followed by a decision to turn to God.
The steps then are, first true sorrow for wrong behavior—sin. Second, a decision to turn away from the past behavior and change to a life lived for God. And then, at some point, actual conversion which means a changed life and living in God’s will.
Think of a husband and wife in a car, the wife tells her husband to turn right at the next junction and by mistake, he turns left. When he realizes what he has done, he says to his wife “I’m sorry love, I went the wrong way.” But if that is all he does, it isn’t enough. His saying sorry isn’t getting them any closer to where they want to be; it isn’t even stopping them getting further away. To get where they want to be, he needs to stop the car, turn it around and go back on to the correct road that his wife told him to take in the first place. That is repentance.
What leads us to repentance? We find the answer in what was read in 2 Corinthians. It is being made sorry in a Godly manner, that leads to salvation. Many people—most of us—experience worldly sorrow, where we regret something because we got caught, or it makes us look bad in front of others—we are sorry mostly because we are suffering. But being sorry in a Godly manner means we recognize that we done something against God, and he and his purpose suffer.
What are the signs of true repentance? First, working to stop doing what has brought the deep sorrow, and accepting God’s forgiveness. Then an eagerness to be obedient to Christ’s command to love God with all our mind, heart, soul and strength, and love others as he loves us, and then an eagerness to obey his Great Commission to work to make disciples.
That is followed by a desire to serve God, by serving others as Christ did. Repentance is not seen in apathy or half-hearted service. Instead, it is seen in a longing, and a readiness to, as we read in Acts, see justice done and prove our repentance by our deeds. If we have not made a decision to live as Christ has commanded, to loving others as he loves us, and if we are not yet ready to serve others eagerly we have not yet repented.
The question before each of us as we come to the table for Holy Communion is, can we look at our lives and see signs that we have really had "a change of mind", to truly make "a decision to turn from sin and to turn to God"?
Josh Billings….It is much easier to repent of sins that we have committed than to repent of those we intend to commit.
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