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| Pastor Jim |
From the Pastor’s Study . . .(December & January 2009)
Are you looking for light in the midst of darkness?
The older I get the more aware I am of the shortening days
and the loss of light.
I miss the sunshine, the long days.
The darkness and the cold force us inside and I miss
the days when it doesn’t get dark until ten at night.
For some the loss of light can cause a low grade depression.
As our bodies adapt to the darkness some suffer a
physiological change that results in a condition diagnosed
as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
People with SAD experience a change in the way in
which they eat and sleep, the way they feel about
themselves, and the way they think about things.
Our bodies, responding to the darkness outside,
experience a change that creates a kind of darkness in the
soul.
I sometimes wonder if the loss of light drives some of our
shopping frenzy during this season.
As the days get shorter, what do we do?
We drive ourselves to the florescence cathedrals of
our culture. We
take up shopping to spend time in the places where
artificial light abounds.
The danger here is that we are trying to fight off
the darkness with a “shopper’s high.”
Unfortunately the exhilaration of a purchase is far
too fleeting to solve the problem of darkness and
unrestrained, unconscious shopping can result in an even
greater darkness due to financial woes.
The up-side of this season may be that our culture gets
strongly focused on generosity.
Acts of giving really do help us have a better sense
of well-being and self-worth.
Thinking about others is a far more effective
antidote to the darkness of our souls.
I wonder if we also seek to fight off the darkness with
amazing light displays.
Whether someone is Christian or not, the lights go up
on the house and the lighted Christmas trees fill every
family room. In
some ways the darkness becomes the canvas to paint the joy
of light. Yes,
lights are a testimony to the human spirit that seeks to
make the best of a hard situation, but there are still
limits to the ability of human beings to redeem the
darkness. Our
labors alone will not win the battle against darkness.
We need help.
The proclamation of the Advent, Christmas, Epiphany seasons
is that Jesus is the Light of the World.
As the gospel writer says,
5
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not
overcome it.
(John 1:5)
We celebrate the birth of Christ in the deepest part of the
darkness.
December 21 is the winter solstice which marks the shortest
day due to the tilt of the earth away from the sun.
We gather three days later on Christmas Eve to
proclaim the victory of light over darkness with carols and
candlelight.
The darkness is pierced by the light of Christ.
Jesus provides the illumination we need to survive
and overcome the darkness in our souls.
In the midst of the darkness, Kate and I wish you a blessed
and holy season celebrating the victory of light over
darkness. Do
not grow weary, but rejoice in the truth that was born in a
manger. Jesus,
the Light of the World, has come.
We do not stand alone against the darkness.
We stand with the one whose glory shines and no
darkness can overcome it.
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From the Pastor’s Study . . .(November 2009)
I’d like to enter into the health care debate.
I am indebted to Gordon Ruggles who put me on to an
article in Newsweek, [November 21, 2009, pp 42-45] which
clarified a lot of the issues and terminology for me.
I stand with our United Methodist Social Principles when
they say,
“We affirm all persons as equally valuable in the sight of
God. We
therefore work toward societies in which each person’s value
is recognized, maintained, and strengthened.
We support the basic rights of all persons to equal
access to housing, education, communication, employment,
medical care, legal redress for grievances, and physical
protection.”
Perhaps I had blinders on or just never really considered
the implications of what is going on.
I generally feel pretty proud of our nation and our
society, but there were a number of statements in the
Newsweek article that disturbed me.
When it comes to the morality of our health care, it
seems we don’t stand as tall among the other advanced
nations.
· “The
USA, the world’s richest and most powerful nation, is the
only advanced country that has never made a commitment to
provide medical care to everyone who needs it.”
· “According
to government and private studies, about 22,000 of our
fellow Americans die each year of treatable diseases because
they lack insurance and can’t afford a doctor.”
· “The
US is the only developed country where medical bankruptcies
can happen.”
Does America lack the moral conviction to provide access to
basic health care for all our citizens?
Have we really made the moral decision that it is
okay for people to be denied access to health care?
Do we really believe that it is okay for people to go
bankrupt should they happen to get sick?
Even with our Social Principles statement, I guess I hadn’t
really thought of health care as a moral decision of our
society. But
here it is:
apparently our economic and special interests have kept this
great society from providing access to something my theology
considers a basic human right.
I’m disturbed by this.
Change is hard.
Changing a system that is so entrenched in our day to day
dealings is even harder.
When facing a change, we can expect the fear mongers.
They are people who will create and disseminate
polarizing rhetoric because it plays to our fears.
When we are afraid, we resist change.
Do you remember the Israelites who suggested they
return to the slavery in Egypt because they were afraid of
surviving in the desert?
In the debate a number of terms are tossed around, I think,
to create fear and misunderstanding.
“Socialized medicine” and “universal coverage” are
not the same thing.
Socialized medicine means the government owns the
hospitals, employs the doctors, and pays the bills.
Universal coverage means a system of private doctors,
private hospitals, and private or government insurance
plans. One or
the other or a mixture of both are the techniques for making
good on the moral conviction to provide universal access to
health care.
In our society, everyone over 65 already participates in a
universal government run coverage (Medicare).
The leap here is not the idea of universal coverage,
but rather to provide that coverage from “cradle to grave.”
“Rationing of health care” has been a part of the debate and
used to create fear.
But let’s not deceive ourselves, rationing already
occurs. We are
perhaps blind to the way it is being rationed because we are
used to it. We
currently ration health care by wealth.
Those who can afford it, have it.
Those who can’t afford it are denied.
Who among us speaks for the poor and the
marginalized?
Who expresses their fear?
Many will raise concerns about the economic cost.
I pray for smart people to lead us to good answers to
these tough questions, because I believe that we also have
to consider the moral and ethical costs.
I really don’t want the America I love to be taking
the position of Mr. Scrooge who said, “If they’re going to
die, let them and decrease the surplus population.”
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From the Pastor’s Study . . .(October 2009)
The United Methodist understanding of our membership
covenant is rooted in our Baptismal covenant.
Through baptism we are incorporated into God’s mighty
acts of salvation.
We are claimed by God’s grace.
The Baptismal Covenant is God’s word to us,
proclaiming our adoption by grace, and it is our word to
God, promising a response of faith and love.
Those within the covenant constitute the community we
call the church, therefore our membership covenant begins
with this sacramental act of being incorporated into Christ
Jesus our Lord.
Covenant is the Biblical word for agreement between two
parties. In
particular, we are talking about the agreement between God
and humanity.
As the rainbow is the sign of God’s promise to never again
destroy the earth by a flood, Jesus Christ is the covenant
which God makes for the redemption of our souls and the
victory of life over death.
On God’s side of the covenant, Jesus is the
fulfillment of God’s promises and the invitation to eternal
life. On our
side of the covenant, we accept what God has done for us in
Jesus Christ, we trust in his grace, and we promise to live
a life of love as citizens of God’s victorious kingdom.
The sacrament of baptism is a celebration of our covenant
with God and has a past, present and future reality.
It is an act that looks back with gratitude on what
God’s grace has already accomplished, it is and act of God’s
grace in the present here and now, and it looks forward to
what God’s grace will accomplish in the future. While
baptism signifies the whole working of God’s grace, much
that it signifies, from the washing away of sin to the
pouring out of the Holy Spirit, will need to happen during
the course of a lifetime.
Baptism also anticipates the working of the Holy
Spirit in our lives drawing us to a fuller relationship with
Jesus Christ.
As we are incorporated into Jesus Christ, we are united to
one another as Christ’s body in the world.
In the Sacrament of Baptism, the Church pledges to
the one baptized: “Your joy, your pain, your gain, your
loss, are ours, for you are one of us.”
Church membership is built upon this basic commitment
we have with one another because of our covenant with God.
It is no wonder that we feel such pain when one to
whom we have made this commitment chooses to withdraw from
our fellowship.
As members of Christ Jesus, we commit to three levels of
identification.
We first identify ourselves as a Christian, a follower of
Christ. Then we
identify ourselves with a style of Christian discipleship
reflected by the various Christian denominations (i.e.
Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, etc.).
Finally, we identify ourselves with a particular
place where our day-to-day discipleship is carried out, the
local congregation.
The local congregation is where the rubber meets the road.
It is where we strive to live out our Christian
faith, to love and forgive one another, to embrace our
spiritual gifts for ministry and to work toward the building
of God’s kingdom in the world.
It is in our local church that we weekly worship God
and participate in ministries that transform the world.
The membership covenant that we make with God in our local
church is that we will support it with our prayers, our
presence, our gifts, our service, and our witness.
Most recently our General Conference has added the words
“our witness” to our local church covenant.
I believe this reflects the growing awareness of how
the church and Christians must be about the work of sharing
Christ in the world.
Worship and action must be part of the same movement
that lifts Jesus up as Lord and Savior.
We are tied together by our membership covenant and it is in
these bonds that we seek to grow spiritually for the glory
of God and the transformation of the world.
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From the Pastor’s Study . . .(September 2009)
Out of our Growing in Christ Task
Group has come a vision and call for spiritual renewal and
ministry with young families.
One of our strategies for spiritual renewal is to
have a six week all church worship and study focus.
This means that we will have a sermon series followed
by small group (Church School Class) discussions on the same
material.
I have chosen the Social Principles of the United Methodist
Church as our first “all-church” focus.
We have purchased a booklet which includes the text
of the social principles and teaching exercises/aids.
I would like most of our membership to receive a copy
so that you can read it at your leisure.
The Sermon series will begin on Sept. 13th
and end on October 18th.
You can find a sermon topic plan in the worship section of
this newsletter.
I expect two things.
First, timely discussions from a biblical and
theological perspective on relevant issues we are facing in
our country today.
Secondly, I expect that not everyone will agree on
everything -- And that’s okay.
Just because we can agree and affirm that Jesus
Christ is our Lord, does not mean that we will agree with
every position on social issues.
Social issues by their very nature are complex life
issues involving real people with different experiences.
It would be unrealistic to agree at all times.
The area of love in which we are stretched is our capacity
to love, stay connected with and tolerate persons with
different opinions.
This means finding and building up the areas we have
in common and allowing people, as our founder, John Wesley,
said, to think and let think.
The thing about the social principles which has its roots in
the biblical narrative is this:
Since we are God’s chosen people--claimed, redeemed,
sustained by God, are there marks or signs of that
relationship which appear in the way we live our lives and
function in community?
How are God’s people supposed to act and live?
The ten commandments in Exodus 20 and much of the legal code
in the Hebrew Bible was an expression of this.
Given our unique relationship with God, what does it
mean to be a community of justice and mercy?
Believing that God truly does care about us, we ask
the question, What is God’s vision for social justice?
Quoting from the preface of the social Principles:
The United Methodist Church has a long history of concern
for social justice. Its members have often taken forthright
positions on controversial issues involving Christian
principles. Early Methodists expressed their opposition to
the slave trade, to smuggling, and to the cruel treatment of
prisoners.
A social creed was adopted by The Methodist Episcopal Church
(North) in 1908. Within the next decade similar statements
were adopted by The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and
by The Methodist Protestant Church. The Evangelical United
Brethren Church adopted a statement of social principles in
1946 at the time of the uniting of the United Brethren and
The Evangelical Church. In 1972, four years after the
uniting in 1968 of The Methodist Church and The Evangelical
United Brethren Church, the General Conference of The United
Methodist Church adopted a new statement of Social
Principles, which was revised in 1976 (and by each
successive General Conference).
The Social Principles are a prayerful and thoughtful effort
on the part of the General Conference to speak to the human
issues in the contemporary world from a sound biblical and
theological foundation as historically demonstrated in
United Methodist traditions. They are a call to faithfulness
and are intended to be instructive and persuasive in the
best of the prophetic spirit; however, they are not church
law. The Social Principles are a call to all members of The
United Methodist Church to a prayerful, studied dialogue of
faith and practice.
In Wesleyan circles we talk about four guidelines for
doctrinal and ethical discussions: Scripture, Tradition,
Experience and Reason.
Given a particular issue, we ask four questions: What
does the Bible say?
What does Christian Tradition say?
What does my experience say?
What does my reasoning say?
The Social Principles represent Christian Tradition
from a United Methodist perspective.
I invite you to join me in exploring what the UM tradition
has to say about current and relevant issues we are facing
in the world today.
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From the Pastor’s Study . . .(August 2009)
Our core mission as Christ United Methodist Church is to
“Love God, love others, and bring people to Christ.”
An expression of our commitment to this mission is
the current renovations and new look of our foyer area
outside the elevator.
We have transformed this space which is now furnished with
café tables and chairs.
We also have two coffee carts and on most Sundays
plan to make coffee available before and after worship.
The current plan is to begin this on August 9th.
The task group considers this transformation a work in
progress and I believe they are aware of other things they
would like to do to make the space more inviting and
friendly.
The vision is to provide a comfortable informal space for
fellowship and the work of loving others through the
building of relationships.
Facilities have a way of communicating our core
values and what we believe.
I see the café setting communicating that just as we
feel the importance of loving God through worship, we also
feel the importance of loving others through fellowship.
I am so aware of how the culture is continually changing.
The church must find its ways to proclaim the old,
old story in ever new and relevant ways.
Adam Hamilton of the UM Church of the Resurrection
says, “Congregations are either getting better or they are
dying; remaining the same is not an option.”
The world is changing so fast as is illustrated in
the way music is sold.
You may remember the progression from record albums,
to eight track tapes, to cassette tapes, to CD’s and now MP3
players. Stores
that once sold all the previous ways of getting your music
are now out of business.
It truly is a case of either keeping up with the
changes in technology or find yourself left behind and
disconnected from the very people you long to serve.
The same challenge is facing the church.
While the need for Christian fellowship, a sense of
family, and essential loving relationships remain the same,
the ways that people connect are changing.
While it may be the same thing that we want and need,
the reality is that people do it differently than they did
it fifty years ago.
The realization of this is why café settings are appearing
in more and more churches.
It represents an acknowledgement that the
environments in which people like to connect with others has
changed. The
“Coffee Café” has become a symbol of connection with others.
It communicates an invitation to build a
relationship.
So, how can we afford to make this environment available?
While we continue to be challenged to meet our budget
through current giving, our congregation has been blessed
with some investment monies.
Some are permanent endowments and others portions are
available as a need arises.
We have five investment Funds:
The Building and Maintenance Fund ($169,252), The
General Fund ($20,068), the Pastoral Housing Fund ($35,494),
the Memorial Fund ($48,788), and the Scholarship Fund
($82,725). The
café was paid for through the General Fund which is
controlled by our Trustees to be used at their discretion.
Again, the vision is to communicate that the heart of our
congregation is to love God, love others and bring people to
Christ. As people come into the building the café is a sign
and an invitation to build loving relationships.
My prayer is that through the outward transformation of the
foyer area, we might discover the blessings of an inward
transformation, which brings us closer to our Christian
brothers and sisters as well as providing opportunities to
invite new believers to a deeper faith in Christ.
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From the Pastor’s Study . . .(June & July 2009)
Our core
mission as Christ United Methodist Church is to “love God,
love others, and bring people to Christ.”
This is our congregation’s purpose and identity lived
out under the umbrella of the United Methodist movement
which sees the mission of the church as “Making disciples of
Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”
A key
element of these missional visions is to experience God, not
just for the experience, but for the transformation of the
world. It is
not enough to know God, we are also called to share God.
Our faith calls us to have a concern for our
neighbors and the world, and to use our influence in ways
that the world becomes more pleasing to God.
Our
mission statement does not just give us something to do, but
it also tells us how to do it.
We are not just directed to bring people to Christ or
transform the world, but we are directed in how to do this
love.
Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or
sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or
sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have
not seen. (1
John 4:20)
The scriptures implore us to be a people and a
community of love.
Jesus was clear about this.
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have
loved you.
(John 15:12)
As people
compelled to love, we find ourselves asking the question:
What can we do to show our love?
1 John is helpful in this regard.
How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s
goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses
help? (1 John
3:17)
Simply put, what 1st
John guides us to do is open our eyes to the needs around
us. “Find a
need and fill it; find a hurt and heal it.”
Our desire
to be a people who love others so that we may bring them to
Christ leads us to continually ask, “How can we show our
love to the world?”
What can we do today that shows our love for others
rooted in God’s unconditional, unmerited love for us?
We strive
to teach our young people this truth with activities like
Serve Ashland, doing yard cleanup without getting paid, or
the Joshua Trip, performing home repairs free of charge.
We also live our love through projects like sending
care packages to our college students, and creating a
Christmas for families in need.
Many years ago the question was answered by starting
a farmer’s market in our parking lot.
What an amazing history this missional event has
brought to the community of Ashland.
The
challenge of any well established “love” ministry is the
ongoing communication of why we do what we do.
We do it for love, but “the reason for the season” is
a perennial communication concern.
Christians of every era must learn how to explain who
and what we are, and why we do what we do.
Most
recently the United Methodist Church has started a campaign
to reach the 18 to 29 year old generation.
The campaign is entitled, “Rethink Church.” The
“Mosaic” generation, as the sociologists call them, are a
generation of people who are skeptical about the
institutional church, while still being open to a
relationship with Christ if it manifests itself in
transformed lives and experiences that make a difference in
the world. So
the Church is responding by an invitation to rethink what
they think they know.
“Rethink
Church” is a campaign to explain the transforming power of
love that leads us to be in mission in the world and about
the business of changing lives and loving others.
(A website to check out is
www.10thousanddoors.org,)
The campaign seeks to explain that the church is not
as a place to come to and stay within, but as a base of
operation for expressing faith by moving out into the
community and around the globe to become part of God’s plan
for world transformation.
As we seek
to bring people to Christ, we may want to invite them to
rethink what they know about the church, but most especially
invite join in the blessings and joy which comes from the
work of transforming the world through Jesus Christ.
Being a disciple of Jesus Christ always involves the
concrete work of putting our love into action.
We who have been in the church all our lives may not
have to “rethink church” so much as “remember church”–doing
what we already know.
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From the Pastor’s Study . . .(May 2009)
“For
by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not
your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of
works, so that no one may boast.”
(Ephesians 2:8-9)
Grace is sometimes a hard thing to comprehend.
(Maybe that’s why it’s amazing.)
Part of the problem in understanding grace is that it
must be comprehended in both our heads and our hearts.
This is a “must,” at least, if we want to feel its
life changing, life guiding power.
Most of us know the story of salvation.
It’s in our heads and we can recite it.
We can say with our lips that Jesus is my Lord and
Savior. While
we can affirm our faith outwardly and intellectually, we may
still struggle inwardly with feelings of doubt and
assurance.
Because we are so focused on human behavior, on our own
striving for goodness, we find it hard to completely rely on
God’s goodness for our salvation.
But as long as we think human goodness is necessary
for salvation then our salvation is in doubt.
Doubts are raised within us because we know our sin.
We know our faults and failings.
We know how easy it is to be wrong and do wrong.
We know that we are not good enough to be saved.
Because the world around us seems so based upon a reward
system, it seems foreign to trust God’s grace.
We are used to a consequence “if-then” system that
says, “If you do this, then this will be the result.”
“If you work hard, then you will get a promotion or a
raise.”
It seems more unusual to trust a “because-therefore” system
that says, “Because I died for you, therefore you are
forgiven and accepted.”
Or “Because you love me, therefore I will love
others.” How
can we really trust an action that was and is out of our own
control?
Conditional love based upon our own actions makes sense to
us; unconditional loved based upon God’s actions seems
harder to understand.
We can easily understand striving to be good enough to earn
god’s pleasure or messing up enough so that god will just
give up on us.
It is much harder to believe in a God who accepts, forgives
and loves us in spite of our goof-ups and attempts at being
good enough.
Salvation by grace through faith is trusting that in the
salvation equation, God’s goodness is far more important
than our own goodness.
We are saved because of God’s faithfulness, rather
than human faithfulness.
We are saved because of Christ’s sacrifice, rather
than human sacrifice.
The question immediately arises that if everything of
significance in the equation depends upon God, why can’t we
do anything we want?
Why can’t we sin without worry or conscience?
I believe that our behavior gives testimony to what we hold
in our hearts.
If we hold in our hearts a faith that trusts God’s goodness
and love, then there is no room for irresponsibility.
Grace is not a license to sin.
Grace is our liberation from sin, so that we can walk
in paths of goodness in the present.
Grace is what puts us in relationship with God so
that the love we receive becomes the driving force for
everything we do.
Every moment brings the choice.
Either we live under the burdens and shame of our
past. Or we
live assured of our future salvation and God’s ultimate
goodness. The
goodness we have is not ours, earned by our deeds, but God’s
goodness given, received and revealed in our lives.
“If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you
will be saved.”
(Romans 10:9)
Claim the promise of God.
Have faith in God.
Trust Jesus.
Be assured that you will be saved!
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From the Pastor’s Study . . .(April 2009)
As we move toward the end of Lent and the great celebration
of Jesus’ victory over death on Easter, my thoughts go to
the changes and transformations that have come about through
Jesus Christ.
At the Resurrection, Jesus changed the world forever.
He conquered the powers of evil and suffering.
His victory casts out fear.
For those who believe, human existence is
significantly transformed for ever.
One of the places that I personally experience Christ’s
transforming power is in worship.
How is it for you?
Does worship on Sunday change you?
I don’t just mean in a feel good way.
Most people who have the habit of regular Sunday
worship will report that their week just doesn’t feel the
same if they aren’t in church on Sunday.
That’s the way I feel.
There is something about worship that completes the
rhythm of our lives and our weeks.
Feeling good is a great by-product of worship, but I’m
talking about something more.
The question is about something deeper: how is it
that we grow mature in the faith?
How is it that people are transformed by the spirit
of God?
I have a sneaking suspicion that most of us are shaped and
molded more by the demands of our culture, society, and
families, than by the living word of God.
How do we turn this around?
How do we reach a place where our lives are lived
more in accordance with the scriptures than with the
culture?
I marvel at the mystery of how some Christians seem to have
such a deep and mature faith.
How did they get there?
I wish there were some easy formula that could be
bottled and reproduced to grow faithful disciples.
Alas, I know of no sure-fire formula, but it seems to me
that at least two things are necessary for disciples to grow
spiritually. The first is a willingness to be changed.
The second is purposeful attention to the process.
Like so many things, the harvest we reap is largely
dependent upon the energy we put into growing.
If you want a good marriage, you will have to invest
some energy. If
you want to be successful at work, you will have to invest
some energy. If
you want to grow spiritually, you will have to invest some
energy.
The attention we give to the spiritual life is frequently
marginal. It is
often concerned with only the externals of religion, rather
than the internals of the soul.
We focus on special religious activities, but not on
lifestyle. We
become concerned with worship, but not with values.
We focus on blessing, but not commitment; prayer, but
not service.
One of the perennial issues within religion is our tendency
to worship God with our lips, but not with our lives.
The prophets speak of how that kind of worship is a
stench in the nostrils of God.
When we worship in spirit and truth, I believe that we do so
by opening ourselves up to have our lifestyles changed.
We are opening up the center of our existence to be
shaped by the love of God.
We are willing to see ourselves in a new way.
Since most of us would agree that there is not a perfect
person among us, then it seems reasonable to expect that an
encounter with God in worship would lead to some kind of
change in our lives.
Do you attend worship just to have your views and
behaviors blessed and sanctified?
Or do you attend worship to be challenged and
changed? Are
you only seeking a God who agrees with you?
Or are you also seeking a God who knows you and wants
you to be more that you were yesterday?
A life of obedience is not a one time event, but a
lifetime journey.
Jesus came not to bring peace but a sword, the kind of sword
that will continually perform surgery on human hearts full
of imperfections.
Therein lies the hope for humanity and the hope for
our souls. Come
to worship and care for your soul in a way that keeps you
growing in the faith.
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From the Pastor’s Study . . .(March 2009)
Our theme for Lent this year is the journey from death to
life. The
scriptures from beginning to end are the story of God’s
life-giving purpose in creation and the struggle against sin
that resists this purpose.
God desire for life is seen at the beginning of Israel’s
history as Moses declares the choice before God’s people.
19I
call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I
have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.
Choose life so that you and your descendants may live,
(Deuteronomy 30:19).
God offers us life, indeed it is God’s desire that we have
life, and it is God’s word that exhorts us to choose life,
but it is still our choice.
We are free to live in obedience or die in our sin.
It is the age-old cliché, “You can lead a horse to
water but you can’t make him drink.”
Lent is a time to reflect on our choices and whether
or not they are leading to the life God wants for us.
There clearly are things we can do that have life-giving
consequences and there are things we do that have
death-giving consequences.
An example of this is the control of our tongue.
The things we say do have consequences that nurture
or destroy the life in our relationships.
How often in our lives does a hastily spoken word
result in great destruction?
The scriptures acknowledge how dangerous the tongue
can be. James,
chapter 3, compares the tongue to a forest fire.
How quickly a raging fire can be started by one
uncontrolled word.
We can choose to control the tongue.
We can choose to refrain from gossip about our
neighbor. We
can choose to refrain from tearing down our leaders in the
church. We can
choose a path that leads to life or a path that leads to
death. Far too
often the mission of the church is undermined by we who give
in to the temptation to gossip or tear down.
Yes there are lots of things wrong with the church today,
but there are also lots of things right with the church
today. Is it
better to be vocal about what is wrong with the church today
or vocal about what is right with the church today?
Which would you say is the path of life?
When bonds of trust are broken, as they will be from time to
time, we are again faced with a choice between life and
death. The
choice is whether we will cling to the hurt or strive to
forgive and find reconciliation.
Which do you think is the path of life?
Which do you think is God’s desire for our lives?
The whole point of the cross is reconciliation between God
and humanity.
When Jesus calls us to follow him, he invites us to pick up
our cross. He
leads us to the life-giving work of being a community of
reconciliation.
Choosing the path of life may be the right choice, but it
may not feel like the easiest choice.
Forgiveness and reconciliation are not a natural part
of human interaction.
We more naturally understand judgment and
retribution. It
may be easier to explain keeping a grudge than letting go in
forgiveness.
As the church in which we proclaim Christ as our head, we
are challenged to choose the path of life that grows out of
reconciliation.
To walk in Jesus’ steps and to strive to become more like
Jesus means making the hard choices that give life rather
than the easy path of destruction.
It seems so much easier at times to criticize and
tear down than it does to encourage and build up.
The choice of life and death is ever before us.
The amazing thing about this season and the good news of
Easter is this: God’s love does not abandon us regardless of
our choices. We
are people who choose obedience and disobedience, sometimes
even in the same day.
We are sinners, but we are not forever trapped in our
sin. The
resurrection of Jesus Christ shows that God has broken the
power of sin.
We are never discarded or rejected as being hopeless.
Repentance is ever an option for us.
And especially as we grow to understand God’s
unconditional love through Jesus Christ, we discover again
the possibility of unworthy sinners returning to the choices
that lead to life.
The choice of life and death is ever before you.
What will you choose today?
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From the Pastor’s Study . . .(February 2009)
Last November our Administrative Board approved a new
mission and vision statement which has grown out of the work
of our Growing in Christ retreat and continuing task group.
Our Mission is to love God, love others and bring people to
Christ.
We envision that Christ UMC is becoming a place where people
come to Christ, grow in Christ and transform the world
through Christ.
As Christ followers, we realize that the only way to fulfill
our mission and become what we envision is through faithful
discipleship to Jesus Christ.
Our vision of a faithful disciple is someone who
truly knows Christ in a personal relationship; is growing in
Christ manifesting the gifts of the spirit and spiritual
maturity; is actively involved in the service of Christ
through ministry; and shares Christ with others motivated
solely by the desire for others to experience the amazing
love of God.
The whole purpose of a mission and a vision is to keep us on
track. As a
wise sailor once said, “If you don’t know where you are
going, you will never be able to tell the difference between
a fair wind and an ill wind.”
Christ is most certainly our destination.
We want to love God through Christ and to learn how
to love others through Christ.
Through this new statement of mission we are responding to
the voice of Jesus who is calling us to share our faith with
others. We need
to learn again the skills of being an evangelist for Jesus
Christ.
There was a day when our energies were caught up in just
providing quality programs for those who were on there way
or already professed Christians.
But the world and the culture has been changing while
we have been busy programming.
Our core assumptions of living in a “Christian” culture are
being shaken at their foundations.
I was disturbed recently in reading the book, “Unchristian”
by David Kinnaman of the Barna Group, to learn that the
mosaic generation, those 16 to 29, have a predominately
negative perception of Christians and the church of Jesus
Christ.
Quoting from the book,
“One outsider put it this way:
‘Most people I meet assume that Christian means very
conservative, entrenched in their thinking, antigay,
anti-choice, angry, violent, illogical, empire builders;
they want to convert everyone, and they generally cannot
live peacefully with anyone who doesn’t believe what they
believe.’”
At the core of our mission is love.
How do we love and reach out to people who might view
us in a negative light?
Have we lived our faith in a way that has turned off
a generation?
Are there some truths in the negative perceptions others
have of us? Do
we have the capacity to repent and live a more radical
obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ?
Though we and/or the church may have become a stumbling
block, Jesus still looks good.
Jesus still saves lives, forgives sins, heals the
soul. Jesus
still gives us the power to live an abundant life, to assess
our priorities, to overcome temptation and to live for
something more than ourselves.
Jesus still transforms lives and that’s the kind of
work we need to be about today.
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From the Pastor’s Study . . .(December 2008-January 2009)
Advent is the season of preparation to celebrate Christ’s
coming. In fact
the word “advent” stems from the Latin word, “to come.”
The season is full of scriptural exhortations to
prepare the way for his arrival, watch and wait for his
coming, wake up, be alert.
Don’t let the world lull you into a false security.
The Lord comes at an unexpected time.
With the impatience of our culture and the media, we almost
miss the focus of patient, alert, watching and waiting.
With fast-food expectations we don’t want to wait for
anything. We
want all the good feelings of Christmas right now.
Yet we can’t rush time, as much as we hate it, we
must wait.
In advent we are mostly focused on Christ’s coming as a babe
in the manger and celebrating Jesus’ birth.
But a broader and more expansive understanding of
advent also considers his coming into our hearts in the
present time and his coming in final victory at the end of
time. Jesus is
not just a man of history, but a living Lord who comes into
relationship with creation at all times—past, present and
future.
We live in the “in-between’ time, caught between the time
that Jesus walked the earth and the time when he comes to
establish his reign.
The “in-between” time is that place between the
Kingdom of God already present and not yet fully present.
An analogy that I think describes this time is to compare it
to a pregnancy.
From the moment of conception, the baby is already with us
but not yet fully present.
We feel it kick within the womb.
We prepare a nursery and we sort through possible
names. We
experience the promise and we plan for its arrival.
But it is not until labor and delivery that we
experience the fullness of the promise. Not until the baby
is born do we experience it fully with crying and feeding
and diapers and the blessed warmth of that baby sleeping in
our arms.
Pregnancy is an “in-between” time, between the already and
the not yet.
With the birth, life, death & resurrection of Jesus, the
Kingdom of God was conceived in creation.
But there are aspects of that Kingdom which are still
not fully present.
We live in a time of pregnant expectation, when
creation is literally pregnant with the Kingdom of God.
The promise of the Kingdom is sure.
We see the signs of it kicking as the spirit moves
among God’s people.
We sing about it.
We make preparations for it.
We change to accommodate it.
We celebrate it.
We are certain of its presence with us.
But there are still aspects of the kingdom for which
we must wait for their fullness to come.
There are still parts of the Kingdom that we long for
and wait for.
The Kingdom promises an end to evil and the struggles
against the evil one.
The Kingdom promises a day of justice and peace, a
day when everything wrong is made right.
The Kingdom promises a day of truth and light when
everything we don’t understand is made clear.
We know this day will come, but for now we must wait.
For now we must celebrate the signs of victory and
the kingdom of God when we see them.
In this holy season of Advent do not be so busy that
you forget to watch and wait.
Plan for some stillness so that you will be able to
see Jesus kicking within the womb of creation.
Feel him with you, remember the promise, make plans
to welcome him when and wherever he comes.
Kate and I wish you a very blessed and holy Christmas.
You are all in our prayers and we feel so blessed to
be in your midst.
Your faith and your faithfulness continue to
encourage and strengthen us.
Grace and Peace to you all!
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