Seeds

Isaiah 55:10-13

1 Corinthians 3: 1-9

Matthew 13:1-9,18-23

Seeds

I grew up on a farm in NW Ohio which was neighbored by the farms of uncles. My uncles and other neighbors planted corn, beans, wheat, oats, and such other things as sugar beets, pickles, and tomatoes. Sugar beets went to Findlay where they were converted into table sugar.  The left over fiber was used for livestock feed, or to make insulation panels used in ceilings of commercial buildings. Tomatoes went to Campbell’s soup. All of those plants were started as seed, after careful soil preparation.  Pickles and sugar beets and tomatoes had to be cultivated several times during the growing season, and as the plants grew and spread out that cultivation was done by hand hoeing. One of the earliest jobs I had.  Hot sweaty summer work, in fields that were usually about a mile long – everything in NW Ohio is on the mile square, and many farmer fields take up nearly the entire 640 acres of a square mile.

Jesus spoke a lot about farming. In that day, everyone was very familiar with what it took to grow food, even those who lived in towns.  So Jesus used farming stories or parables to teach many things. Today, such a small percentage of our nation’s population farms, or has any direct relationship with farmers, that such stories might hold little meaning.

There are a lot of lessons that can be learned from this parable, and from farming itself, that are applicable to being a Christian and a church.  Some lessons are obvious and we have talked about them before. Obviously, if you aren’t careful about where your seed goes, a lot will be wasted. So a good farmer wants good soil to begin with.  However, good farmers will work to develop their soil, to make it better and more fertile so it will be productive.

Unless a farmer plants, there is no harvest. Unless a farmer prepares well ahead of time, and works hard, the harvest may not be worth the effort.  As hard as a farmer works and as skilled and careful as he or she might be, there are many things beyond his or her control that affect the outcome. Farming takes commitment. It is a continuous job. You cannot prepare well, plant carefully, work hard, gain one good harvest one year, and then sit back from then on and do nothing. The more you plant, the more opportunity you have for a large harvest. The next year you have to do it all over again. Famers have to be open to change, and try new things. The yield is directly related to the amount of learning, preparation, commitment that a farmer puts in. Farming is a risky business, but unless you try there is no harvest.

Now you might think that one of the lessons for us as Christians and as a church is to not waste our time on the rocks or the weedy areas. And maybe we shouldn’t waste our time on the well worn areas that have been trodden down. After all, we can judge who out there would make a good Christian can’t we? There are people we just don’t want to waste our time on, right?  Some are just too rock hard against the church and God. Some live such undesirable weedy lives that we just don’t want to be among them. Some we have talked to before, and tried to bring in before, with no productivity. Some actually have shown up to church once or twice but then not again. All a waste of time right?  Especially when we already have good soil right here in our sanctuary and membership that needs to be taken care of. So let’s take care of ourselves first, and foremost. The problem with that is, old plants eventually die. Without new seeds being planted, there is no future harvest, and unless the new plants are cared for, they wither and fade away.

Every soil scientist will tell you that the best soils are made up of tiny particles of rock, worn down over time.  Then it is mixed with dead stuff, that once was growing. And it is full of creepy crawly things, bacteria, tiny bugs, fungi, worms.  Kind of like our communities around our churches. Out of that mix, properly cultivated, can come a wonderful harvest. We must remember, that God provides soil everywhere, and can bring a harvest from everywhere sooner or later. But unless we are willing to plant there is no harvest at all. And to keep that harvest up, we have to be committed, and plant every year.

There is another lesson though in Jesus’ parable. In that story the seeds are scattered indiscriminately. It sounds foolish and wasteful, but Jesus taught and ministered and served indiscriminately. Some grew on his teachings, some didn’t.  At the end his work may have been seen as a failure. He was left with 11 of the chosen ones out of 12. One had betrayed him. Of all the thousands he preached to, and served, only about 500 were there at the ascension, and some of those doubted, even after seeing him after the resurrection. But he was faithful to his calling to the end. He did God’s will, though his harvest of a few fearful, though faithful, followers may not have seemed worth the effort and certainly not worth his death. But now look at the harvest over the centuries. You see, God begins the soil preparation—we call it prevenient grace, and sometimes he prepares it where our judgment would say “forget it”.

His call upon us is to faithfully plant seeds. Prepare well, work hard, remain committed, but scatter seed everywhere. When seed does grow, care for it, nurture it. When we baptize someone, or when someone new comes into our midst we are called upon to nurture them so they do not wither away. Jesus said, go, make disciples everywhere, and teach them. God provides us soil all around us. Our job is do the planting and cultivating, and to keep trying new ideas, risky as that may seem. If we are faithful the Holy Spirit will bring a harvest. Too often we quit sowing seeds because we don’t see the crop fast enough in our judgment.

Clarence Jordan was a man of unusual abilities and commitment. He had two Ph.D.s, one in agriculture and one in Greek and Hebrew. So gifted was he, he could have chosen to do anything he wanted. He chose to serve the poor. In the 1940’s, he founded a farm in Americus Georgia, and called it Koinonia Farm. It was a community for poor whites and poor blacks. As you might guess, such an idea did not go over well in the Deep South of the ’40’s. Ironically, much of the resistance came from good church people who followed the laws of segregation as much as the other folks in town. The town people tried everything to stop Clarence. They tried boycotting him, and slashing worker’s tires when they came to town. Over and over, for fourteen years, they tried to stop him.

Finally, in 1954, the Ku Klux Klan had had enough of Clarence Jordan, so they decided to get rid of him once and for all. They came one night with guns and torches and set fire to every building on Koinonia farm, except Clarence’s house, which they riddled with bullets. And they chased off all the families except one black family, which refused to leave. Clarence recognized the voices of many of the Klansmen, and, as you might guess, some of them were church people. Another was the local newspaper’s reporter. The next day the reporter came out to see what remained of the farm. The rubble still smoldered and the land was scorched, but he found Clarence in the field, hoeing and planting.

"I heard the awful news," he called to Clarence, "and I came out to do a story on the tragedy of your farm closing." Clarence just kept hoeing and planting. The reporter kept prodding, kept poking, trying to get a rise from this quietly determined man who seemed to be planting instead of packing his bags. So, finally, the reporter said in a haughty voice, "Well, Dr. Jordan, you got two of them Ph.D.s and you’ve put fourteen years into this farm, and there’s nothing left of it at all. Just how successful do you think you’ve been?"
Clarence stopped hoeing, turning toward the reporter with his penetrating blue eyes, and said quietly but firmly, "About as successful as the cross. Sir, I don’t think you understand us. What we’re about is not success, but faithfulness. We’re staying. Good day."

Beginning that day, Clarence and his companions rebuilt Koinonia and the farm is still going strong today. They continued to plant seed, even in what seemed terrible soil of prejudice and hatred. God is reaping the harvest.

Amen

Evil

Proverbs 28: 4-8

Hebrews 4: 12-13

Mark 6:14-29

Evil

This summer has seen the “resurrection” of an old tale of family rivalry and betrayal. The show that started an industry of prime time “soap operas” is back on the air. It was so popular that some organizations had to schedule evening meetings around its night on the air. Do you know show I’m talking about? . . . . Dallas.

The ever-evil “J.R.” Ewing and all his battling, back-biting, embittered family have returned, with new generations, all of whom are admirably carrying on the family tradition of unabated greed and hatred. Added to yet another season of “Kardashians” and the History channel’s presentation of “The Hatfields and the McCoys,” “family life” is looking pretty grim. That is not even to mention the recent scientific study that put a question mark over the value of nightly meals together as a family. It found that eating together on a regular basis could be bad, not good for teenagers, if the family is dysfunctional. The family routine of eating together is very good for you if the family dynamics are good, very bad for you if the family dynamics are dysfunctional. Dysfunction too often leads to evil.

Herod’s actions were evil. There is no question. He really did not expect that he would be asked for John The Baptist’s head. He could have said no, but he made a promise, and to save face he ordered John’s execution.   

Yes, there are times that we wonder about God. It is true there is horrible evil out there. There are evil people - the sociopaths, the mass murders, the vicious child and spouse abusers. There are evil moments when otherwise good people are drawn in - that scene played over and over on TV several years ago of a dozen police officers beating and kicking a wounded suspect.

There are evil systems in which, unfortunately, we all participate - people going without food and shelter in a nation of abundance, people not getting medical care because of no other reason than lack of money (and greedy insurance companies). There are even evils born of sheer stupidity, like the stupid promise Herod made to Salome.

Do you remember the novelist William Burroughs? He wrote a lot of short stories and several off -beat novels. Burroughs died in 1997 at age 83. During a drunken party in Mexico one night in 1951, he undertook to play William Tell - he used a pistol to shoot a glass off his wife's head. He missed...and put a bullet in her brain instead. How stupid. How evil.  Unintentional, but the result was evil. Yes, it often seems that the evil wins.

Not all evil is huge, like Hitler, or what we see in Syria, or the streets of Chicago. Evil often begins with what seem to be innocent decisions or events, that result in things happening against God’s will. It is just as often the result of sins of omission as commission. There are two kinds of evil: Physical and moral.

Physical evil includes all that causes harm to persons, whether by bodily injury, or by preventing the full development of his God given capacity, or through the various social conditions. Some evils are ones over which we do not have full control, such as accidents, or death itself. Poverty, oppression, and some forms of disease are instances of evil arising from imperfect social organization. Mental suffering, such as anxiety, disappointment, and remorse, and the limitation of intelligence which prevents humans beings from attaining all God wishes for them are forms of evil.

Moral evil results from failure to live according to Christ’s teachings and commandments, to love God with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul, all our strength, love others as he loves us, and to make and mature disciples in his name.  Moral evil too often causes, or perpetuates, physical evil.   

But the message of our faith says that evil does not have the last word. God does, and the word is "love."

One real lesson of John The Baptist’s life is that doing good and right things cannot protect you from being badly hurt. There is real danger in identifying what is wrong in the world and trying to change it.

Why is this awful story even mentioned in the Bible? Well, it just might be that some of us who try to follow Christ have been following too safe a course, sitting in mighty comfortable seats at the banquet, so much so that we need this awful story to help us ask if we are following the One whose way was full of danger and whose final destination was a cross. How willing are we to follow Christ wherever he leads regardless of what in means to us in inconvenience or even danger?

John loses his head but gains the kingdom. Herod saved his face but lost his soul. Here there is another triumph in the midst of suffering. John's martyrdom is not a defeat. Twelve more preachers are sent in his place. Ironically even Herod suspected that John would ultimately triumph when he said, "John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead."

When we attempt to live a life worthy of the Gospel it is because our understanding of "worth" is far different from the world's. John the Baptist was not beheaded because he went along with the status quo. John gave his life because of his commitment to truth as he understood it, much like Reverend Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his struggles with Nazism and Hitler during World War II. As a pastor in the German Lutheran Church, Bonhoeffer was forced to choose between his loyalty to God or loyalty to an insane ruler. He was executed in 1945 for the opposition he voiced to the satanic rule of Hitler.

Few of us will ever face any challenge to our faith like Bonhoeffer.  But loyalty to Christ is challenged every day, and the decisions we make have an impact on the lives of others, most who we do not know, and in ways we do not suspect. But if we are loyal to Christ and his commands God will guide our decisions to keep our actions from doing harm, and instead result in good.

Life has many roads to travel. However, as Christians we choose the road on which the shadow of the cross falls. It always leads to freedom and to victory when the final lap of the race is run. Some 2000 years later, we speak of the reigns of the Herods and Caesars with pity and disdain, but the names of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ live on as those for whom life was lived with devotion and courage.

As  the religious writer and philosopher G.K. Chesterton so concisely wrote: "It is not that Christianity has been tried and found wanting, but tried and found difficult."  Amen

Storms

Psalm 34: 4-7, 17-18

2 Corinthians 4: 8-9

Mark 4: 35-41

Storms

 Chippie was a happy parakeet who loved to sing. But, poor Chippie the parakeet never saw it coming. One second he was peacefully perched in his cage. The next he was sucked in, washed up, and blown over. The problems began when Chippie’s owner decided to clean Chippie’s cage with a vacuum cleaner. She removed the attachment from the end of the hose and stuck it in the cage. The phone rang, and she turned to pick it up. She’d barely said "hello" when "ssssopp!" Chippie got sucked in.

The bird owner gasped, put down the phone, turned off the vacuum, and opened the bag. There was Chippie -- still alive, but stunned. Since the bird was covered with dust and soot, she grabbed him and raced to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and held Chippie under the running water. Then, realizing that Chippie was soaked and shivering, she did what any compassionate bird owner would do . . . she reached for the hair dryer and blasted Chippie with hot air.

Yep, Chippie never knew what hit him. A few days after the trauma, a good friend contacted Chippie’s owner to see how the bird was recovering. "Well," she replied, "Chippie doesn’t sing anymore -- he just sits and stares."

Every felt that way? Sucked in, washed up and blown over? I suspect all of you have at some time.  Like the disciples you’ve been on stormy seas, and if by some strange chance you haven’t - you will.

Storms came in the life of Jesus as well. He and the disciples found themselves in the middle of a ferocious squall out on the lake known as the Sea of Galilee. This was nothing unusual there. It is in a basin surrounded by mountains and notorious for furious storms. Rising just to the North over the lake is beautiful Mount Hermon. Mount Hermon is capped with snow, and sometimes the cold air from the top of Hermon rushes down the mountain and blows across the lake. The force of the cold air meeting the hot moist air around Galilee can be explosive, as it was on the day in our story. Jesus and his friends are in the middle of the lake when the squall hits. It is terrifying and it looks as though they will not survive the storm.

I was watching the fireworks from Washington D.C. the other night, and they started to play the William Tell Overture, with the cannons firing as the fireworks exploded. If there were a soundtrack to the story of the disciples and Jesus out on the lake that night, the William Tell Overture would fit well. As the story begins, in the background you’d hear the wind blowing and the waves rising. Then wind hits in full force, the waves crash against the hull, the disciples are screaming, the tension mounts, all hope is gone, and then, the climax music. Here comes the hero--- Jesus. What happens next is something for which the disciples are not prepared.

Like these men, maybe your boat has been thrown around. Perhaps you’ve been plunged into the eye of the storm, and if that hasn’t happened yet, just wait - it’s coming. Maybe it was a family disaster. Death, or disease, or divorce. Maybe it was a financial storm. You lost your job or got heavily in debt. Maybe your tempest came in the form of depression, whose gale force winds can rip down your sails and leave you dead in the water, feeling overwhelmed and underpowered. I don’t know what it has been, or what it will be in your life, but I know this: storms come to everyone. That is the first lesson from this story. Storms will come.

The second lesson of this story is, Jesus is with us in the storm. It you are going to be in a storm, the one person you want your boat is Jesus. Jesus could have stayed on the shore and let them take all the chances by themselves, but he did not do that. Where they went, he was there. However, notice that Jesus is asleep. In the middle of this storm, when the disciples are frightened for their lives, Jesus was asleep.

We have all been there, haven’t we? You are in the middle of a crisis and it seems like God is off somewhere taking a nap. You can almost hear him snoring. He doesn’t seem very responsive to your need. At least we know that we are in the same boat as the disciples. But what is Jesus’ response when he is awakened? After he rebukes the storm, he rebukes his disciples. He asks them two questions: “Why are you so afraid?”, and “Do you still have no faith?”.

Here is the third lesson: Jesus will calm the storm. At the perfect time during the perfect storm he exercises his power over the storms of life. God is never in a hurry, and the reason he is never in a hurry is because he knows exactly what to do at exactly the right time. He does not go by our time. At just the right time, not the right time as far as the disciples were concerned, but just at right time, Jesus stood up and calmed the storm. Don’t worry, God has you in mind. He knows and understand you and your situation. He cares for you. His timing is perfect.

Here is a fourth lesson from this story. It is what a storm in your life does NOT mean. It does not mean that God does not love you. It does not mean that God is angry with you, or that he is paying you back for something. God is not toying with you. Sometimes the storms that happen in our lives are self-made. But many times it is just that storms happen, and trying to analyze what happened or assign blame is a fruitless activity. As Jesus once said, “God causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45). In other words, good and bad happen to all. What  is important  is whether or not we are prepared for them, and trust God’s promise that he will be with us through it all.

Jesus rebuked the disciples because he was hoping that what they had seen him do in the past would provide a stronger faith in the future, but that was not the case. So first Jesus had to calm the storm, and then he had to calm his disciples. Has God ever done anything for you in the past? Has he solved any problems or answered any prayers? He is hoping that his faithfulness in the past will cause you to trust him in the future.

And a final lesson we can take from this story is, it is only in the storms that we can come to truly understand who Jesus is. It is in those crisis moments, at times when we no longer have control, that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, we really understand who Jesus is and how true God’s promises are. If you place your complete faith and trust in Jesus, you will have a greater understanding of him, a deeper relationship with him, and a new love for him when the storm is over. You will see his power over darkness and the depth of his love for you. Jesus is telling us to live by faith, not by fear.

God uses storms. I do not believe he causes every storm. God loves each of us, and I know God does not afflict anyone with pain, or harm. But I know God uses every storm. We bring many storms upon ourselves, sometimes we suffer from storms caused by others. And some storms just happen.  But storms become God’s best tools, because they make us humble, and they give us the opportunity to think about what is really most important in our lives.

I hope you’re ready for the next storm when it comes. Not, "If it comes", but "when it comes."  Ask God to deliver you from the storm, and then believe that God will fulfill his promise.  He will deliver you from the storm.

Amen

"The Cross and the Flag"

 United Methodist Bishop Mike Coyner

I always have some mixed emotions around the 4^th of July. I love our country, and I am proud to be an American. But some of the 4^th of July rhetoric is really over the top. I do not espouse the rather simplistic thinking which says, “My country – love it or leave it.” I do believe that one of the most important characteristics of patriotism is loyalty, but it is also important to love my country enough to want it to be better. So simply waving the flag and overlooking the failures of our nation is not a sign of patriotism. True patriots love their country enough to offer criticism, hope for a better future, and willingness to work for change.

Likewise true patriots give credit to the worthiness and positive characteristics of other nations. Just because we love the USA that does not mean we have to impugn the value of other nations. In my travels to over 25 countries, I have found much to appreciate in other nations. I am always glad to come home and be greeted by US Customs saying, “Welcome home,” but that does not negate the positives that other countries have to offer.

I have also run into some of the typical “flag controversies” that have plagued some congregations. I remember one church I served where the sanctuary remodeling resulted in our moving the American flag and the Christian flag to a new placement – off to the side of the chancel and with a nice spotlight on the flags. Most people in that church saw the new placement as an improvement to having the flags on each side of the altar table, but some seriously objected and wanted the flag (mostly the American flag) back in the center of the chancel. We survived that disagreement, and in fact it provided a good opportunity to discuss the centrality of the Cross, rather than the centrality of the Flag in worship.

All of which leads me to affirm this week that I am so glad to live in a country where both the Cross and the Flag are important. The Flag reminds us of our loyalty to our USA, and that loyalty is something which the Scriptures affirm. We are urged by the Apostle Paul in Romans to pray for our nation’s leaders, to submit to the government, to pay our taxes, and to be good citizens. That is important to remember as we celebrate the 4^th of July. The Flag deserves our pledge of allegiance for what it symbolizes.

As Christians we have another loyalty – to the Cross – which calls us to another allegiance. We are not just citizens of the USA, we are also citizens of the reign of God. Most of the time those two loyalties are complementary, or at least not contradictory. Sometimes even here in America, those loyalties do conflict – and that calls us to remember our higher allegiance as Christians. Sadly, many Christians today live in places where simply to be a Christian puts them into direct conflict with their government.

Living in the USA we can take for granted the wonderful blessing we have: we can pledge allegiance to both the Cross and the Flag.

Happy 4^th of July

A Huge Wow

West Ohio Conference Rides the Crest of the Missional Wave

By Melissa Hinnen
"God has got to be super happy," Bishop Bruce Ough emotionally declared after a miracle offering at the West Ohio Annual Conference. The goal was to raise $500,000 "following the lead of our missional partner in Africa, the North Katanga Conference, to purchase a Cessna Caravan plane," Bishop Ough wrote in a pre-conference letter. By the close of the meeting, the West Ohio Conference had raised more than $1 million for the Wings of the Morning aviation ministry.

"To raise over $1 million through an annual conference miracle offering is astounding. No one in their right mind would have predicted that. We thought our $500,000 goal was audacious," said The Reverend Dee Stickley-Miner, who leads the Conference's connection mission and justice office. She continued: "What we experienced, however, was the Biblical truth that nothing is impossible with God. We participated in a current-day miracle--one of extravagant love and generosity that is not possible except through the power of God's spirit."
Responding to the miracle offering, Thomas Kemper, the top executive at the General Board of Global Ministries, said: "The West Ohio Conference goes beyond financial giving. They develop sustainable and personal partnerships in the four corners of the world--creatively connecting with Global Ministries as a resource to facilitate mission." Kemper spoke at the gathering and thanked the Conference for their missional spirit. He presented them with an award from The Advance for the highest financial contribution in The United Methodist Church. For five of the last six years, the Conference has led the denomination in designated giving, supporting ministries around the world.

In his episcopal address, Ough commented on the Conference's "recession-proof mission," describing them as "riding the crest of the missional wave." He continued, "The Cessna Caravan [made] possible through your extravagant generosity will literally allow medicine, doctors, nurses, malaria nets, Bibles, and evangelists to go to villages in the Congo where the roads do not go."

With the density of rainforests, scarcity of resources, and lack of infrastructure, aviation is the only means of accessing hundreds of remote villages. Gaston Ntambo, one of three missionary pilots in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), expressed the importance of aviation ministry. "Every medical flight has a life-saving moment. But at the same time, it also has a spiritual saving moment. You are never the same once you have flown on Wings of the Morning."

In his message to the Conference, Bishop Ntambo Nkulu Ntanda, who leads the North Katanga episcopal area, thanked the West Ohio Conference for their offering: "Every pregnant woman will not have to be afraid to give birth because of Wings of the Morning. Any village can call for Gaston to come and bring them to get healthcare. It is a blessing for Gaston and a blessing for all of North Katanga. It is a blessing to all of us."

Campaign of Hope

Following the Conference, Gaston wrote a letter of thanks: "You have just opened the biggest door for mission work and for a country, maybe even countries, to come to know and seek the face of our Lord Jesus, and thank-you is not the word I am looking for. It is not enough!"
In addition to the cost of purchasing a new plane, the maintenance and fuel require additional funding. The United Methodist Church has come together to raise support for Wings of the Morning, laying a sustainable foundation for the North Katanga Conference to continue this vital and transformational ministry.

 In a letter asking for support, Thomas Kemper wrote that in the DRC, "An airplane can make the difference between life and death. United Methodist missionary pilots provide a link to people living in remote villages--in fact they provide hope--hope with wings."
The Greater New Jersey Annual Conference has committed nearly $300,000, and other conferences have also made significant commitments. $25,000 has been raised within the North Katanga Conference--a region of the world where the average income is less than $10.00 a month. To support the North Katanga Wings of the Morning, please make a donation to UMCOR Advance #08597A.

Photos: (Top) Jacques Umembudi Akasa, a United Methodist missionary pilot for Wings of Caring Aviation. (Bottom) Stephen Quigg (left), a United Methodist missionary assigned to Mission Safety International, consults with pilot Jacques Umembudi Akasa (right), a United Methodist missionary assigned to Wings of Caring. Credits: Paul Jeffrey

Joy

Jeremiah 9:23-24

1 John 1: 1-4., Philippians 2: 1-4

John 16:19-24

JOY

According to Scriptures, God has certain attributes:  Love, Peace, and Joy are the three most sited.

Think for a moment about what gives you real joy. Not what makes you feel good, or even what makes us happy, but what kinds of things give you that deeper down feeling that just fills your heart to overflowing?

I bet you have been to parties like I have where people have been "happy". Lots of laughter and fun.  And of course there are the "happy hours" at bars.  A passing grade on a school test, a merciful State Patrolman who doesn't give us a ticket when he has reason to,  or a well cooked meal--all reasons for being happy.  5 pm on Friday can be a cause for happiness for many working people..

Many things can make us unhappy too.  An argument, a failing grade on a school test,  a speeding ticket,  burning the lima beans. Unhappiness, or a series of unhappy events, can lead to serious consequences.  Higher insurance rates for too many speeding tickets, ineligibility for sports because of too many poor grades.  Or perhaps divorce because of too many arguments and burned lima beans.

Happiness is something we sometimes devote lots of energy to finding, only too often to have it slip through our fingers rather easily almost as soon it is experienced. 

The Declaration of Independence and our Constitution declare our human rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. But the pursuit of happiness can be a wild roller coaster ride, and in the ride some people wind up going up and down between feelings of great highs, and the depths of despair.   In the process of riding the highs and lows, sometimes people hit lows they cant climb out of. Or the lows lead to disaster. 

There is a huge difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is often confused with joy, and the two words are too often used interchangeably. Happiness is elusive, here today, gone tomorrow.

A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the Doctor walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. Still groggy from surgery, her husband, David, held her hand as they braced themselves for the latest news. That afternoon of March 10, 1991, complications had forced Diana, only 24-weeks pregnant, to undergo an emergency caesarean to deliver the couple's new daughter, Danae Lu Blessing.

At 12 inches long and weighing only one pound and nine ounces, they already knew she was perilously premature. Still, the doctor's soft words dropped like bombs. "I don't think she's going to make it", he said, as kindly as he could. "There's only a 10-percent chance she will live through the night, and even then, if by some slim chance she does make it, her future could be a very cruel one". Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor described the devastating problems Danae would likely face if she survived. She would never walk, she would never talk, she would probably be blind, and she would certainly be prone to other catastrophic conditions from cerebral palsy to complete mental retardation, and on and on.

"No! No!" was all Diana could say. She and David, with their 5-year-old son Dustin, had long dreamed of the day they would have a daughter to become a family of four. Now, within a matter of hours, that dream was slipping away. Through the dark hours of morning as Danae held onto life by the thinnest thread, Diana slipped in and out of sleep, growing more and more determined that their tiny daughter would  live - and live to be a healthy, happy young girl. But David, fully awake and listening to additional dire details of their daughter's chances of ever leaving the hospital alive, much less healthy, knew he must confront his  wife with the inevitable.

David walked in and said that we needed to talk about making funeral arrangements. Diana remembers. "I felt so bad for him because he was doing everything trying to include me in what was going on, but I just wouldn't listen, I couldn't listen." I said, "No, that is not  going to happen, no way! I don't care what the doctors say; Danae is not going to die! One day she will be just fine, and she will be coming home with us!"

 As if willed to live by Diana's determination, Danae clung to life hour after hour, with the help of every medical machine and marvel her miniature body could endure. But as those first days passed, a new agony set in for David and Diana. Because Danae's underdeveloped nervous system was essentially 'raw,' the lightest kiss or caress only intensified her discomfort, so they couldn't even cradle their tiny baby girl against their chests to offer the strength of their love. All they could do, as Danae struggled alone beneath the ultraviolet light in the tangle of tubes and wires, was to pray that God would stay close to their precious little girl. There was never a moment when Danae suddenly grew stronger.

But as the weeks went by, she did slowly gain an ounce of weight here and an ounce of strength there. At last, when Danae turned two months old, her parents were able to hold  her in their arms for the very first time.  And two months later - though doctors continued to gently but grimly warn that her chances of surviving, much less living any kind of normal life, were next to zero - Danae went home from the hospital, just as her mother had predicted.

Five years later, Danae was a petite but feisty young girl with glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for life. She showed no signs, whatsoever, of any mental or physical impairment. Today, at age 21, she is everything a young woman can be and more. She is bright and feisty and making her way well in the world.

But that happy ending is far from the end of her story. One blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996 near her home in Irving, Texas, 5 year old  Danae was sitting in her mother's lap in the bleachers of a local ballpark where her brother, Dustin's, baseball team was practicing. As always, Danae was chattering nonstop with her mother and several other adults sitting nearby when she suddenly fell silent. Hugging her arms across her chest, Danae asked, "Do you smell that?" Smelling the air and detecting the approach of a thunderstorm, Diana replied, "Yes, it smells like rain." Danae closed her eyes and again asked, "Do you smell that?" Once again, her mother replied, "Yes, I think we're about to get wet; it smells like rain.

Still caught in the moment, Danae shook her head, patted her thin shoulders with her small hands and loudly announced, "No, it smells like him. It smells like God when you lay your head on his chest."  Tears blurred Diana's eyes as Danae then happily hopped down to play with the other children. Before the rains came, in that moment her daughter's words confirmed what Diana and all the members of the extended family had known, at least in their hearts, all along. During those long days and nights of her first two months of her life, when her nerves were too sensitive for them to touch her, God was holding Danae on his chest and it is his loving scent that she remembers so well.

There is joy in knowing God no matter what the circumstances. How wonderful is God's healing!  But, it is still more wonderful when healing is no longer the vital issue.  The really important issue is this matter of our having taken in "the fellowship with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ."  It is in trusting in the love of God as he is concerned with every slightest detail in our lives. It is in trusting God and doing as he wishes that brings us much more than happiness..... it brings us lasting joy

 The difference between happiness and joy is:

Happiness is a feeling that comes out of circumstances around us that are momentary, and from circumstances over which we often have no control.  Outside influences can change our happy feelings to unhappy or depressed, or anger or bitterness all too easily.

But Joy is an attribute of God's presence within us that we can come to experience continuously once we accept God and choose to follow his wishes.  Joy comes despite circumstances. Joy transcends circumstances and fills us with the peace of knowing that we are truly loved by God.

With Joy we can see the sunrise and know God's awesome beauty. With Joy we can see the stars and moon at night and realize that even though each of us is a tiny speck on this tiny earth, God is present within us always. With Joy we can become true and lasting friends with someone, and share a friendship that will be there despite all kinds of troubles. With Joy we can find a 50th wedding anniversary to be more wonderful than the day of the wedding.  With Joy we can hold a baby and see God in her giggles and bright efforts to learn.

Yielding to God gives us Joy despite circumstances. Yielding to God gives us the power to overcome all circumstances and find lasting peace.

"Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be made complete."

Amen

Birth Control Issues and the United Methodist Church

Religious liberty, the church and the pill

A UMNS Report
By Heather Hahn*

4:30 P.M. ET June 4, 2012

The debate over birth-control insurance coverage has traveled from the presidential campaign trail to the church pews. And now it’s heading to the courts. The Obama administration mandate that employers provide workers with contraception coverage is not a United Methodist issue per se. But church members often speak up when issues of religious liberty enter the national conversation.

For many, the debate boils down to this: Does the mandate violate religious freedom, or is it expanding access to an important aspect of women’s health care? Not surprisingly, individual United Methodists answer that question in varied ways.

The U.S. Constitution “guarantees religious expression in all aspects of life, so it’s broad enough to encompass religious institutions and religious-sponsored institutions in the exercise of their religious beliefs,” said the Rev. Keith Boyette, founding pastor of Wilderness Community Church in Spotsylvania County, Va. He is an attorney and the chairperson of the board of Good News, an unofficial evangelical caucus in the denomination. Boyette is also a former member of the United Methodist Judicial Council, the denomination’s equivalent of the Supreme Court. Boyette and some other United Methodists said they think the plaintiffs — including 43 Catholic groups in the U.S. — have a good case that the federal government is infringing on their First Amendment rights. 

Still, others in the denomination disagree. 

“I don’t think that this is a religious liberty issue at all,” said the Rev. Cheryl B. Anderson, a former practicing attorney, a United Methodist elder and an Old Testament professor at United Methodist-related Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill. Her research has focused on women and biblical laws.

“The government is not requiring that all women use contraception,” she said. “The provision simply means that, under the circumstances specified, if a woman does use contraception, the expense will be covered by an insurance company.... It seems to me that, by filing lawsuits, these conservative denominations are attempting to impose restrictions on the use of contraception by any and all women.”

How the dispute reached this point

The Obama administration announced in January 2012 that most health insurance plans must cover contraceptives for women free as part of preventive care. The mandate, part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, covers birth-control drugs and procedures approved by the Food and Drug Administration including emergency contraception, which some Americans view as inducing abortions.

The rule, from the beginning, has exempted religious employers such as houses of worship but not religiously affiliated employers that do not primarily employ or serve people who share their religious tenets, which includes educational institutions and hospitals. After a public outcry, President Obama announced in February what he termed an “accommodation” for religiously affiliated employers with moral objections to artificial contraception. For such employers, he said, the insurers would cover the costs rather than the employers themselves. 

Within hours, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops rejected the revised rule. Weeks later, Sandra Fluke — a United Methodist and third-year law student at Georgetown University, a Jesuit institution — caused a stir when she testified in support of the compromise, focusing on the medical uses of contraception beyond pregnancy prevention. 

At least 55 individual plaintiffs have filed 23 suits in U.S. federal court to block the Obama administration action. Roman Catholic and evangelical Protestant organizations are among the litigants. Those suing on religious-liberty grounds include seven states, religiously affiliated hospitals, universities, schools, businesses and 13 of the 195 Catholic dioceses in the United States. 

The suits could prove moot if the U.S. Supreme overturns in entirety the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The high court’s ruling in that case is expected this month. For now, the new federal regulation is scheduled to take effect in August 2013 for most religiously affiliated employers.

Birth control and theology

The Roman Catholic Church and The United Methodist Church have different views of where birth control fits in God’s plan.

Catholic teaching, reaffirmed by Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, rejects artificial contraception as an obstruction to the divinely willed life-giving power of marital relations. In short, the church teaches that a couple’s intimacy should always carry the potential for procreation unless God’s design prevents that possibility, such as a wife no longer being of childbearing years. Because of this emphasis on natural law, the Catholic Church has moral objections not just to the use of birth-control pills and sterilization procedures but also to in vitro fertilization.

The Social Principles of the United Methodist Book of Discipline, the denomination’s law book, discuss family planning in the context of “The Right to Health Care.” It affirms “the right of men and women to have access to comprehensive reproductive health/family planning information and services that will serve as a means to prevent unplanned pregnancies, reduce abortions, and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.” The passage cites John 10:10b, which quotes Jesus: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

The United Methodist Church diverges from Roman Catholic thinking in “the importance it gives to individual conscience as well as its recognition of the complexities involved,” said the Rev. Gary B. MacDonald, the director of Advanced Ministerial Studies at Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology in Dallas. He leads workshops on the Social Principles. He also is completing a doctoral dissertation on the church’s social function.

“The Principles’ view of sexuality as a gift is also at work here,” he said. “It seems to leave open an understanding of the sexual act as related to human fulfillment and dignity, putting such values on par with procreation.” 

Another Social Principle specifically prohibits using abortion as a means of contraception or gender selection.

As a practical matter, this means United Methodist-affiliated clinics and hospitals around the globe offer contraception to patients and most United Methodist institutions provide insurance for artificial birth control. Linda Bales Todd, director for the Louise and Hugh Moore Population Project for the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, said the denomination’s stance also affects advocacy work by her agency and annual (regional) conferences. 

“Because we have a position that advocates strongly and, historically, family planning, we are able to take grant money to advocate on Capitol Hill (on this issue),” she said. 

Birth control and ethics

 

Even if they personally support the use of contraception, some United Methodists still view the adjusted mandate as too intrusive on faith. Boyette, the Virginia pastor, said the regulation would set a troubling precedent that might one day lead to government interference in United Methodist teaching. He said he sees Obama’s proposed compromise “as a shell game.” Insurance companies, he said, likely will raise their premiums for the institutions to cover employees’ birth-control costs. 

“It’s not materially different from saying this religious institution itself should provide the benefit directly,” he said. Boyette pointed out that the new rule also does not address the many religiously affiliated institutions that self-insure — that is, provide health insurance directly to employees and pay the health care claims of their workers. 

What The United Methodist Church teaches:

• The Social Principle on health care and family planning
• The Social Principle on church and state relations
• A resolution “Maternal Health: The Church’s Response” approved at the 2012 General Conference for the United Methodist Book of Resolutions

Administration officials told the New York Times in March that final rules for “self-insured employers” would be issued after the November elections. 

Jim Winkler, the top executive of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, and others contend the health benefits of birth control should outweigh consideration of objections of religious leaders.

The nonpartisan U.S. Institute of Medicine recommended the new federal mandate in July 2011 after multiple studies showing that unplanned pregnancies are more likely to lead to low-birth-weight babies, higher mortality rates for children under 5 and more maternal death.

Winkler also pointed to studies, such as a 2009 report by the nonprofit Guttmacher Institute and the United Nations Population Fund, which found contraception use reduces abortions. 

When religious groups reject contraception in their related institutions, they “in essence, neglect the protection of women and children’s health,” Winkler said, “and this results in unnecessary death and illness.

“Every 90 seconds, a woman dies of birth-related complications,” he added, citing the United Nations Foundation. 

The legal arguments

Michael J. Perry, Robert W. Woodruff professor of law at United Methodist-affiliated Emory University in Atlanta, said he thinks the plaintiffs will face a tough legal battle. Perry specializes in U.S. constitutional law and the role of religiously based morality in the law. Oral contraception should not be confused with abortion, says a United Methodist physician.

Much will depend on how courts interpret the 1993 federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Perry said. The act says religious institutions can challenge federal laws that would put a “substantial burden” on their ability to exercise a religious belief. He said he thinks the Obama administration’s accommodation for religiously affiliated employers would make it hard for institutions to argue that their religious beliefs are being impeded since they will not be paying for it directly. 

Courts also would face the question of whether providing more access to birth-control coverage is a compelling government interest, and, if it is, whether it can be accomplished in a way less intrusive on faith. However, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a nonprofit firm representing at least four of the plaintiffs in the lawsuits, argues that its case is persuasive.

“The question is: Who is being coerced in this situation?” said Emily Hardman, an attorney and communications director with the Becket Fund. “And, the only entity being coerced to violate its conscience is the religious entity. A woman working at those institutions is free to get birth control. No one is blocking anyone’s access to birth control. All we’re saying is we’re not going to pay for it.”

*Hahn is a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist News Service.

News media contact: Heather Hahn, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 and newsdesk@umcom.org