happy new year

12/31/09 For me as a pastor, there is a lot that happens in the church at the end of a calendar year. We had 4 services on Christmas Eve, of which I only preached at 3. I am getting older and wiser, so I let my associate lead the 11 p.m. service. We have lots of reports and financial matters to wrap up at the end of the year. I have a great staff that I can trust most of these business matters to. For me as a person, the end of the year also carries a lot of meaning. Cathy and I have our wedding anniversary on Dec. 30 (can you tell when is the best time for a teacher and a preacher to get married? Over the holidays!). We always try to take off some time at the end of the year. We went out to Big Bend where there are no cell phone towers and no Wifi. We had beautiful weather and wonderful hikes. On our first hike we saw some Auodad sheep. Cathy logged some 70 birds on our trip. I gave over the Sunday service to my intern pastor. I am learning some things as I get older. Over the last 2 days I have made some hospital calls and phone calls. I have also caught up with staff. Tonight, Cathy and I have a very sedate dinner party with some other pastors and their spouses. We will probably be in bed by nine. I wish you and yours a very happy new year.

Love,
Lynn

she remembered the words

12/23/09 Yesterday some of our staff members went out Christmas caroling after we finished our staff luncheon. We went to our homebound members. We asked them, "What is your favorite carol? Do you have a request?" Mostly, the people responded, "we like them all." One of our stops was to the skilled nursing facility of retirement center nearby. An older woman who is in declining health, physically and mentally, lives there. She used to sing in the choir. When we asked what she wanted us to sing, she gave the usual response that she liked them all. We sang Silent Night and Away in a Manger. Although she is not functioning so well on many levels, she sang along with us. She remembered the words. We left with tears in our eyes because we remembered the Word who became flesh.


Love,
Lynn

tuba Christmas

12/2/09 One of Cathy's favorite things to do at Christmas time is tuba Christmas. We went for years down in Corpus Christi, where we lived before here. We have attended the last 3 years here in Austin. Tuba Christmas is a gathering of all the low brass--tubas, sousaphones, basses, euphoniums, French horns, trombones, etc.--in some public place in order to place Christmas music. Yesterday on the south steps of the Capitol, some 200 players came together. Cathy and I remarked that we were surprised that the playlist tended toward the religious, not the secular. They played O Come, All Ye Faithful and Joy to the World, and many others. Yes, they played Jingle Bells and Deck the Halls, but these tended to be in the minority.

We ate our lunch in the bright sunshine and listened to the music. We watched the crowds--people of all ages and stations and races--likewise eating, listening, and enjoying the day. What I like most of all yesterday was seeing children sitting on cannons. It was a metaphor for Christmas. May we turn all of our cannons into resting spots for children.

Love,
Lynn

stature

12/21/09 I have been reflecting today on I Sam. 2:26, "Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the LORD and with the people." My first thought was how similiar this sounds to what Luke says about Jesus as he was growing up, when he was in the Temple as a 12 year old. But then I thought deeper about what stature means. I think that it means more than just height or physical size. I hope it means to mature in wisdom, faith, respect, action. I may never be very tall (about 5' 7"), but I hope I grow in stature.

Love,
Lynn

vertigo

12/17/09 On Sunday, I had vertigo. I was never nauseous, but I did feel light-headed and near fainting. I prayed, "Please don't fall down while you are preaching and get all of these people anxious on your behalf." Luckily, my physician is a member of the church, and he told me to go to a website on benign positional vertigo. There I found some exercises to do (they are simply turning one's head to a side and holding that position, and then going the other way, and they sitting up, and repeating.) It was good to know that it was an inner ear problem (crystals form inside there which mess up balance) and that there was something that I could to correct it. The thing that got me the most was brushing up against my mortality. I exercise a lot and eat well and cruise right on through life. I am in great shape for 56. But vertigo got my attention: that this mortal body will not last for ever.

Love,
Lynn

magnify

12/16/09 My breath prayer today comes from Mary's song in Luke 1:46-47, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." The song has long been called the Mgnificat, from the first word in the Latin translation. As I walked in the cold air this morning, I tried to magnify my praise, to enlarge it, to fill the universe with my song of thanksgiving.

Love,
Lynn

fulfillment

12/15/09 My prayer verse for the day is Luke 1:45, "And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord." What fulfills you? Work? Money? Possessions? Relationships? Dreams? Worship? Elizabeth is speaking these words to her cousin Mary, who made herself available for the coming of the Messiah. Is that what would bring us fulfillment?

Love,
Lynn

I believe

12/14/09 Yesterday, I preached from Luke's Gospel, where John the Baptist says something like if you have 2 coats, give one away to anyone who has none. So I finish the sermon, and we have the ushers come forward for the offering. As they are passing out the plates along the pews, some of our youth from the back of the church are walking forward carrying their coats in their hands. They lay them on the altar.

At that moment, I could truly say that I believe.

Love,
Lynn

what to do while waiting

from my sermon on 12/13/09, Luke 3:7-18

What then should we do? Do you enjoy what you do? I do. Several of you have said to me, "You look like you really enjoy preaching." I do....I love to tell good news....even when the bread is crummy....like last Sunday. I have been trying to welcome everyone to the table so we came up with gluten free bread. For two months there was no problem, but last Sunday it was crummy. Oh, there were crumbs on the floor and crumbs floating on the top of the juice in the chalice. One of you told me there was a little boy who was coming to take communion last Sunday who just grimmaced and closed up his body as if to say, "Please don't make me!" I have my best people working on it so that we can have communion on Christmas Eve. As I got to reflecting on it though, I thought this business of welcoming all, of communicating grace, of sharing good news is messy.

What then should we do? I love to preach good news. I have rarely begun a sermon with "You brood of vipers...who warned you to flee from the wrath to come....the axe is already at the root....you will be burned with unquenchable fire. I did't attend the John the Baptist school of preaching! I have some good news for us. I am preaching about waiting this Advent. I have a really good punch line in this sermon if you wait for it. While we wait, I want to share some of what this church has been doing.

Sunday night, the Fellowship Class had their annual progressive supper. Many left their cars here and carpooled. At the end of the evening, someone came and hit our church sign out front in view of these members. It caused considerable damage to the sign and to the car which had to be towed away. Well, the police got involved, and the insurance companies, and bids on the sign. It a bit funny to me....the Trustees had already been talking about getting a new sign. Someone said to me, "I didn't know how far you would go to get a new sign, Lynn." Well, I am trying to say that it has been involved this past week....and we haven't even begun to talk to the city of Westlake Hills yet. It's messy. What then should we do?

On Monday night, I went to the UM Women Christmas party. It says in our book of Discipline that the pastor is a member of the UMW, so I went, and I was the only rooster in the hen house. The food was good and the conversations were wonderful. What really got me was on the kitchen counter were sign-up sheets for visiting the homebound and taking casseroles to new moms. Then on the dining room table were cards to sign for those in the military and those in the hospital. In the business session, they talked about the Storybook Project. Some ten of our women have already been trained, and a dozen more are nearly certified. Every other month, they go to the women's prison in Gatesville. They go with books and a tape recorder. They sit with the women in prison and help them record the story. Those recordings and books are then sent to the children of the women, so that the children can hear their own mom read them a bedtime story. It's messy. What then should we do?

On Tuesday, after staff meeting, Terrie joined us. Terrie is our chair of the Service Committe, and she wanted us to bless all of the stuff you have given for Christmas in October as a part of the worship service. She wanted us to give thanks for the mountain of blankets, mittens, gloves, baby formula, and diapers we have given. Pushing back from the other side were those who said we didn't want the altar area cluttered, lookin junky. So you see what we did at Children's time, how we rolled in the cribs full of stuff to be blessed. It was messy. What then should we do?

On Wednesday, Robert and I visited the tax appraisal district. When we bought Bldg. M, we said that we wanted to use it for missions, so we let Mobile Loaves and Fishes and SCORE use space in it. Only problem is that there were tax implications. So we wrangled with the authorities...really they were very accommodating, looking for ways to work with us. We will need to rewrite some documents. It was messy. What then should we do?

On Friday, I helped at Habitat for Humanity. I found out that in the Austin area this past year, 26 new homes have been built and 22 older one rehabbed. On Friday, we were trying to finish up this church's second house this year so it could be a part of the blessing of 9 houses this coming Saturday. We were putting in lock sets, baseboards, and dabbing on paint. It was cold and wet...it was messy. What then should we do?

If you are getting this, waiting is not easy. It has an active component. We are leaning into the reign of God. We are anticipating it, acting like it is already here. It sometimes gets messy.

I love how Luke says it, that the crowds or the multitudes were coming to be baptized. Not just the religious leaders, but everybody, even toll collectors and mercernary soldiers. They knew that baptism was not the end. They asked, "What then should we do?" John says, "Don't quit your day job, but do it as a Christian. Take care of the basic needs of others....food and clothing. Don't use your power as an excuse to abuse. It's not about greed; it's about generosity. It's not about a budget; it's about your baptism. It's about your identity in Christ. It is who you are. It's messy."

At the end of the week, I picked up some commentaries. I always like to see what others are saying about the scriptures. One really got to me. He said:
--remember the word "do" is the same word that is translated at "bear fruit" or "produce" when it talks about the trees. We say, What then should we produce or what fruit should we bear?
--any English majors here? You are going to love this word "should." It is in the subjunctive mood. It is not in the imperative, as in you ought. We say, If I could do anything, what might that be?
--"we", you know how I like to talk about the importance of community. You cannot do this Christian thing by oneself. It is a team sport. It is "we....we...we....all the way home."
--"what", we need to keep asking so that we don't become isolated and insulated up on this hill in West Austin. There is the danger that we become too comfortable here. What then should we do?

Hiliary helped break my shell open this past week. She has a real passion for the poor. She is drawn to help our neighbor across I-35, Parker Ln. UMC. They have poverty at their doorstep. They have an afterschool program for the kids nearby. The director of the school just turned 21 yesterday. I love her name. Her name is "Angel." Hiliary is helping to mentor Angel. Angel is teaching Hiliary about poverty. Hiliary gave me a book she got from that church, "What every chruch member should know about poverty." I will give an illustration from the book: when it comes to food, if you are poor, you ask "Is there enough?" If you are middle class, you ask, "Is it good?" If you are privileged, you ask, "Is it well presented?" Where are you on the scale?

Pastor Tina of that congregation said that there were 3 kids who were fighting to get the dish washing job for after school program. They wanted the job so that they could lick the plates. it is messy.

Christ has come and is coming. What then should we do?

rejoice

12/10/09 My breath prayer today comes from Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, Rejoice." We sing at this time of year, "Joy to the World," and "Good, Christian Men, Rejoice." It is a good thing to go through the day or through life, rejoicing. Looking at some old notes on this passage, I find that "rejoice" and its cognates are used 14 times in this little letter of Paul.

Love,
Lynn

bread

12/09/09 The communion bread on Sunday was gluten-free but too crumbly. We had used this same loaf for the past 2 months, but this past Sunday, it just fell apart. It made a mess on the floor, filled the chalice with crumbs, and generally as icky. In my on-going attempt to welcome all at the table, I have created more problems. But yesterday, we found another source for bread. In an experiment it tore well without coming apart. It tasted good (our other one was fairly blah). It held together when dipped in the cup. It is baked in California, and the bakery will ship us cases of it as whole loaves, frozen. I believe it is worth it...to include as many as possible at the Lord's table.

Love,
Lynn

umw

12/08/09 UMW doesn't stand for the United Mine Workers. In our denomination, UMW stands for United Methodist Women. Last night I was the only rooster in the hen house, as the UMW gathered for their Christmas party. Yes, there was lots of laughter and good food, but I was impressed with what they were doing for others. There were signup sheets for folks to take casseroles to moms with new babies, or to visit some of our homebound, or to host a neighborhood gathering. There were reports of the Storybook Project where our women visit women in prison to help them read stories on tape to their children. We already have 12 women doing this, and 10 more getting the training to do it. The women were planning their annual retreat where they will focus on their relationship with Christ, letting Him renew their spirits so that they can continue to do His work in the world. By the way, the pastor, no matter their gender, by our denomination's understanding is a member of UMW. I am proud to be a member of our UMW.

Love,
Lynn

the waiter

from my sermon on 12/6/09 from Luke 3:1-6

Hello, my name is Lynn and I'll be your waiter this morning. I see you have already found your seats. Isn't it wonderful that we are so informal around here and that you can sit anywhere you like. Some of you want to sit close to the front, and more of you fight to sit in the back!

But no matter where you sit, you are welcome here! All are welcome here. No shirt, no shoes, no problem! You are welcome here. You may have doubts about God, can 't understand why
God has come in human flesh in Jesus, and have a hard time with the Holy Spirit, but you are welcome here. You may have questions about divorce, about disease, about death, but you are welcome here. You may wonder about war and you may worry, but you are welcome here. Some of you may think you are too young to eat the feast, but we have a children's menu. Some of you think you are too old and have outgrown the faith, but we have a seniors' special. All are welcome. Some of you are angry at God. Some of you haven't eaten at this table in a long time. Some of you know that you don't deserve to be here, but you are all welcome here.

As some of the head waiters from our past, Isaiah and John the Baptist, have said, "Our job as waiters is to make the uneven places level, and the crooked places straight and the rough places smooth, so that all may see the salvation of God." We are to set the table for the feast of life so all may partake.

On the menu today...well, it's fairly simple...bread and grape juice. The bread we serve here is gluten free. We found that some were being excluded because of their allergies. The chef is still working on the recipe so that we can accommodate those with allergies to wheat, eggs, and milk. We want all to be welcome here.

We use grape juice, out of our concern for those who have problems with alcohol. John Wesley who start the Methodist reform movement in the 1700's lived in an England where the common folks medicated their feelings with gin. The phrase from that time was you could get drunk for a 1/2 penny and dead drunk for a penny. We have long been on the side of abstinence.

But there is so much more going on besides just bread and grape juice. We are bold to say that this is Body and Blood of Christ. We really meet Him here in this meal. We give thanks at this table, remembering all the ways our God has saved us down through the ages, especially in His coming to us in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. We look forward to His coming again and sharing with Him in an eternal banquet. We remember how Jesus had many meals with common people and even ate with sinners. He continues to share in this meal with us and makes us community. More than that he changes people's hearts. All are welcome at this table.

Now you may be wondering about the tip. Fifteen to eighteen percent is the usual standard. Smile just a little bit. Ten percent would be wonderful. However, most UM's give on average about 2%. Please know that you don't have to give anything. You get to make a gift for the service you have received. I suspect some of you have been waiters in the past. You know that any gift is appreciated.

I hope some of you might feel called to become waiters. You know that you don' have to be ordained like me to be a waiter. It is part of being a Christian who is waiting for the coming of Christ. It is active, not passive. It is like what happens in this story.

A room-service waiter at a Marriott hotel learned that the sister of a guest had just died. The waiter, named Charles, bought a sympathy card, had hotel staff members sign it, and gave it to the distraught guest with a piece of hot apple pie. Mr. Marriott, the guest later wrote to the president of Marriott Hotels, I'll never meet you. And I don't need to meet you. Because I met Charles. I know what you stand for. ... I want to assure you that as long as I live, I will stay at your hotels. And I will tell my friends to stay at your hotels. -- Roger Dow and Susan Cook,Turned On(New York: Harper Business, 1996).

The table is set. All is ready. Come, eat. It is my pleasure to be your waiter today. That is the good news I have to share.

confident

12/4/09 My breath prayer comes from Philippians 1:6, "I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ." I like to believe that all things begun and continued in Christ, He will bring to a wonderful conclusion. If God is the Creator, He can also be the Culminator.

I saw an example of this today as I visited in the local high school where one of our youth did her presentation for her senior project. She worked with Mobile Loaves and Fishes, the only one of her class to partner with a non-profit. She developed a garden in a box so that people could grow healthy food for the homeless. She was poised, articulate and passionate about her project. It gave me hope for the future.

I am confident Christ will bring this project and all His plans to completion.

Love,
Lynn

ways

12/3/09 My prayer verse for the day comes from an old song about John the Baptist and Jesus, Luke 1:76b, "for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways." I have read this verse countless times and preached from this passage more than once, but I never before noticed that it said "ways." It is plural, ways, not singular, way. It got to wondering how many ways does God show his love for us. I thought too that God might even use us as channels of the many ways God breaks into this world.

Love,
Lynn

prepare the way

12/2 I can't get the phrase out of my head, "prepare the way of the Lord." I can hear our praise band singing it. I can hear the old tune from Godspell. I can hear the words of the prophet Isaiah. I can hear John the Baptist repeat it. I hope the words are for us, for me, during this Advent. Prepare the way of the Lord.

Love,
Lynn

ministry in a digital age

12/1/09 I was at the outpatient surgery center early this morning, at 6:40 a.m. The little girl who was to have surgery was perfectly content, watching a video on her mom's Iphone. While waiting for the procedure to begin. The dad took a photo of mom, the little girl, and me, on the Iphone. They said, "We will post it to our website later."

When I got back to the office and was going through my emails (what did we do before the days when we spent hours going through these communications?), I found that one of our church members had set up an interactive website at carecalendar.org for one of our youth who had been injured in a horse riding accident. At the website, I found out how the girl was progressing. I also found where people had signed up to bring meals or to help with carpools.

About that time, my cell phone rang with a call from my wife who had to go to the doctor's office.

Now, I am writing about all of this on my blog!

By the way, our sermons are now posted on our website at www.westlake-umc.org, where you can download them as podcasts!

Ministry in the digital age.


Love,
Lynn

the waiting room

from my sermon on the first Sunday of Advent, 11/29/09, from Luke 21:25-36

How good are you at waiting?

Three persons arrived at the Pearly Gates at the same time. St. Peter came but said he had some pressing business and would they please wait? He was gone a long time, but finally he came back and called one of the new arrivals in and asked if she had minded waiting."No," she said, "I've looked forward to this for so long. I love God and I can't wait to meet Jesus. I don't mind at all."St. Peter then said, "Well, I have one more question. How do you spell 'God'?"She said, "Capital-G-o-d."St. Peter said, "Go right on in."He went outside and got another new arrival, told him to come on inside, and said, "Did you mind waiting?"The man said, "Oh, no. I have been a Christian for fifty years, and I'll spend eternity here. I didn't mind at all."So St. Peter said, "Just one more thing. How do you spell 'God'?"He said, "G-o-d. No, I mean capital-G."St. Peter said that was good and sent him into heaven.St. Peter went back out and invited the third person in and asked her if she had minded waiting."As a matter of fact, I did," she replied. "I've had to stand in line all my life - at the supermarket, when I went to school, when I registered my children for school, when I went to the movies - everywhere - and I resent having to wait in line for heaven now!"St. Peter said, "Well, that's all right for you to feel that way. It won't be held against you, but there is just one more question. How do you spell 'Czechoslovakia'?"

How well do you do at waiting? How many shopping days till Christmas? Did you get caught up in the lines and the traffic of Black Friday? How soon did the stores start putting up Christmas decorations? The day after Halloween. There was one store, Nordstrom's, that said, we will not put up Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving. One holiday at a time, they said. But most of this season is rush, rush, rush--a frenzy. There are so many ads, so many events....I wonder if we will miss Advent.

Advent means coming. We give thanks that Christ came in human flesh as Jesus the child. We anticipate Christ coming at the end of the age to bring all things to completion. I think that Advent is the Waiting Room of the Christian year. We live in the time between Christ who has come and Christ who is coming. Advent is the waiting room of the church year.

This idea came to me of course while I was sitting in Seton hospital in a .....waiting room. Shannon's mom was having surgery, and I was there waiting with Shannon and her sister. It struck me how many times I had been in this place...a waiting room. It struck how much of my life I had spent in waiting. We wait for someone in surgery, for test results, sometimes for the birth of a child (how appropriate for this season).

I bet you have done your share of waiting.....at the hospital, at the airport. I wouldn't be suprised if you weren't waiting for someone to arrive over the Thanksgiving holiday or to get a phone call that someone had made it safely home after traveling.

We know about being in the waiting room. It struck me what important work this is....waiting. What a privilege, what an honor, what trust...for someone to say, "Will you wait with me?"

We join a long line in the waiting room as we read the Bible. The LORD says to Abraham in Gen. 12, "I want you to leave security behind--home, family, country--and go to a land that I will show you." How long does that take? The people are in bondage in Egypt and cry out, "How long, O Lord?" They are set free but wander in the wilderness for how long. Entering the promised land, they eventually establish a kingdom that lasts only a short while before they are taken into exile in Babylon. Again they cry, "HOw long, O Lord?"

Then they are the cries of the sick, the poor, the oppressed.....insert your favorite Job story here....who say "Why do the innocent suffer...How Long O Lord?" These words sound awfully familiar to us today. How long will the unrighteous prosper? How long will Israel and Palestine continue to fight over this tiny strip of land? How long will people continue to medicate their feelings with alcohol and other drugs? How long will the powerful take advantage of the weak? How long will we suffer from depression and not feel like getting out of bed in the morning?

How long O Lord? This is what the disciples were asking about in this section of Luke. Now Luke is writing 30 to 40 years after Jesus spoke at a time when the Temple had been destroyed about 70 A.D. A generation had passed, and the people's worst fears had been realized. But Luke remembered the words of Jesus which gave hope.

First, "Your redemption is drawing near." Now all of the pronouns here are not singular "you." They literally say as we do in Texas, "y'all, you all." We were made for community. We don't go through this alone. What happens in an ICU waiting room? You become bounded together. "How is your dad doing today?" "His blood pressure was a little bit up which was a good thing." "Oh, I am so happy to hear it." Our vulnerability doesn't put up walls, it lowers them. I hope that we could see this passage is not about our individual survival, but that we are all in this together. We as a global community are in this waiting room together. We are all fragile. We need each other very much. The waiting room is a place for intimacy, for trust.

Second, "My words will not pass away." I need to teach you some theological jargon at this point. The word is "eschatology." It means the study of last things. But in my Aggie way of understanding, it means the study of lasting things. Jesus says, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." The waiting room bring a wonderful clarity to our lives. What is really important? What can we let go of? The waiting room is the place to focus on what matters, what lasts.

Third, Pray. "Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that take place." What are you going to do in the waiting room but pray? The waiting room invites us to slow down, to turn to God, to pray. The waiting room is not a trap; it is an invitation to grow closer to God. Some of you may be rookies at prayer. We have Advent devotional guides for you. This is a great season to begin praying or to deepen your prayer life.

I have much more to say to you, but I can't get it into this sermon. Next week we will look at John the Baptist as a model of "the Waiter." Then the next week he gives us instruction on "what to do while waiting." I have more to say...if you can but wait.

The good news is that Jesus joins us in the waiting room.

abound in love

11/25/09 My breath prayer for the day is from I Thes. 3:12, "And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you." That's what I wish for you and yours this Thanksgiving.

Love,
Lynn

waiting

11/24/09 My breath today comes from Psalm 25:5b, "For you are the God of my salvation; for you do I wait all day long." When I was in Perkins School of Theology, I was a part of the Seminary Singers. Each Christmas break we would take a weeklong trip, going on a concert tour, stopping in local churches along the way. My first year in 1977, we went all the way to Minnesota and back. Our theme for that year was speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. One of the songs we learned was a direct quote from Psalm 25. We had to memorize all of the music, so when I read this psalm today, the words and music leapt immediately to my mind. How comforting that is to have this psalm so deeply placed in my life and my heart, especially as we await the coming of the Savior here at the start of Advent.

Love,
Lynn

I like to preach

11/23/09 I didn't preach yesterday. Abby and Jim who work with me on staff both needed to preach in order to meet qualifications for the the Board of Ordained Ministry. So Abby led the 9 a.m. service and Jim the 11:15 a.m. service. I played the backup role doing prayers and other parts of the liturgy.
Several people, including my wife, asked, "Aren't you glad to have a Sunday off?" And the truthful answer is, "I like to preach." I like the rhythm of preparation, followed by the release of the presentation. I am a very dialogical preacher. I like the give and take of the sermons I preach. I like connecting with the congregation in this way. In short, I like to preach.

Love,
Lynn

change for change

11/19/09 Our church is completing Imagine No Malaria, the United Methodist Church's goal to rid the continent of Africa of malaria by 2015, working with other global partners. This past Sunday, the children made their contributions to the campaign in the form of coins. A few weeks ago they were given Chinese food take-out boxes and were asked to fill them up. They did! We half-filled a huge red wagon with all kinds of coins. The counting of the coins has been the biggest problem. Our bank no longer has a coin counting machine in Austin. The coins would be shipped to San Antonio and counted maybe within 2 weeks' time. Counting machines at grocery stores usually charge around 9%. We didn't want to do that. So, office angels have been patiently stacking and rolling change. I know we have already counted more than $600 in quarters. I hope we can finish the dimes and nickels today. Yesterday we took the pennies to one of those couting machines. It cranked out more than $117, after taking out the 9%. It all adds up. Change for change.

Love,
Lynn

a to z

11/18/09 My breath prayer today comes from Revelation 1:8, "I am the Alpha and Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." I am dealing with people who are trying to figure it all out--wars, poverty, disease, depression, hunger, abuse. I am glad that I know a God who knows it all from alpha to omega (the first to last letters of the Greek alphabet), or in English from a to z. Although I agonize over many of these same things, i am learning to turn them all over to the One who is and who was and who is to come.

Love,
Lynn

testify

11/17/09 My breath prayer for today comes from John 18:37b "For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth." Jesus speaks these words to Pilate just before His passion and death. This morning as I was walking, I was wondering if we could speak them as well. That our purpose, like Jesus', is to testify to the truth.

Love,
Lynn

imagine no malaria

from my sermon on 11/15/09 from Ephesians 3:14-21

Imagine no malaria. I am so glad that the UMC didn't call it, Work Harder to Overcome Malaria, or Wrestle with the Problem of Malaria, or Worry over the Disease of Malaria. Big problems don't require more hard work or wrestling or worry. The require imagination, creativity, turning to God. And this problem is big--5oo million people are affected by the disease of malaria each year. One million die from it, most of them in the sub-Saharan region of Africa, many of them children under 5 and pregnant women.
The UMC wants to rid the continent of Africa of malaria by 2015. It is ridiculous, impossible, except for the word "imagine." I love this passage of scripture because it is chockful of words like power, might, energy. I love the ending benediction, "Now unto him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."
I actually read commentaries to prepare for these sermons. Often they are dry and boring. But this past week, one of them said about this scripture, "In spite of mixed metaphors and hyperbolic language, this passage is designed with a practical end in mind, i.e., that God's power my be seen at work within the church in which God's fullness dwells by presence of Christ and His Spirit." The only way we can address this huge issue of malaria is through imagination, Christ's power flowing through us.
In 2008 the UMC set a global health initiative of Imagine No Malaria. They had partners with the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, the NBA with the Nothing But Nets Campaign, UN Fund, and other global partners like the Red Cross and Red Crescent. The UMC was given the lead to combat malaria in Africa because we have credibility, we have built relationships, we have the infrastructure. We can go places the government can't. We will give out bednets to Moslems without forcing them to convert to Christianity. We see all as our brothers and sisters. We have health care workers and clinics, we are developing communication systems, we are training people in the use of bednets and early detection.
The Southwest Texas Conf. of the UMC was offered by our Bishop, Jim Dorff, to take the lead for the denomination. Our Austin District Superintendent, Bobbi Kaye Jones, offered our district to be the guinea pigs. Our church is one of the first in the whole denomination to come up with the plan for Imagine No Malaria. There is no blueprint, no template to follow. We are writing the textbook on how the whole denomination is going to fight malaria.
All we have is our imagination. And you have been imagining. Children bringing coins today in Chinese food take out boxes--change for change! Youth making pledges of $1000 over the next 3 years. At our Bee Cave Barn dance a few weeks ago, we had a bug stomp, where we tried to pop balloons, that raised 100's of dollars. People have taken the spiritual gifts inventory that was incentivized by some anonymous underwriters $10/inventory that netted $540. We have sold these green bracelets for $10. I wore my yesterday to McKinney Falls State Park. One of the rangers helping asked, "What is that green bracelet for?" I said, "The UMC is in a campaign to rid Africa of malaria called Imagine No Malaria." "I didn't any church did anything like that," she said. I felt proud to be a part of this church. And last week you unselfishly ate pizza. You ate at Mangia's $2841 of pizza. That traslated to $284 for Imagine No Malaria. Mangia is giving us coupons that will net us $3000 more. What I love the best is our public witness in all of this. People see the church making a difference in the world.
Now I have a degree in math, but it is from Texas A & M, so I have had to count using a lot of fingers and toes. But I did a little figuring this past week, and it looks like we have already given and pledged about $20,000 from this congregation. Imagine that!
I know many of you will want to add to that today. I know that I have asked you to give a lot. I have set a vision of this church being a 50/50 church where we spend 50% on us and 505 on others. This Imagine No Malaria is part of that vision. I was thinking about how I ask you to give to the ongoing mission of this church and to the capital campaign and wondering if it was too much. But then the thought came to me, I am not supposed to protect you from giving, I am called to stir up your imaginations to what is really important. This is.
One of my best friends in the world is Dr. Dennnis Shanks. He was the best man at our wedding. He was a M.D. in the U.S. army for many years, retiring as a full bird colonel. He is now working for the government of Australia. His disease is malaria. I emailed Dennis this past week asking him for input on malaria. He emailed me back saying that he was actually in the States at his parents' house in Georgia. Dennis and I talked for about 30 minutes Wednesday night. He said that bednets absolutely work. Low technology but great results. He says to target malaria is doable. It is preventable. It is treatable. He say the Gates Foundation targeted malaria not for economic or medical reasons. They did so for moral reasons. It got to them that children could get this disease and die simply as an accident of where they were born.
Aren't we all a part of God's family? Isn' that what the passage says that every family in heaven and on earth takes God's name?
I would like for you to stand and join me in the closing illustration. Take your right hand and go over the top of your head to touch your left ear. You have to be 5 years old in order to do this. I know because I practiced with our pre-school children this past week. In Liberia, children do not get a name until they are 5 years old. Liberia is one of the countries in Africa we are trying to rid of malaria. Until age 5 children are known as "son #1" or "daughter # 3". Too many die before age 5. Extend your right hand over to your left ear. Imagine children reaching age 5. Imagine children getting a name. Imagine No Malaria. Amen.

faithful

11/12/09 My breath prayer for the day comes from Hebrews 10:23, "Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful." Cathy and I carpooled to work this morning, which means I got to walk around Lady Bird Lake. It is finally fall here, and it is absolutely gorgeous. All of the different trees are trying to outdo one another with their display of colors. The air is cool and fresh. It was a joy to walk and breathe these words of scripture.
I really like that the tone of the verse is plural, communal. Surely each one of us can't maintain hope by oneself. "Let us", "our hope" give me encouragement. But the biggest factor is that God who promises are faithful. As I walked, I held people and situations before the One who is faithful.

Love,
Lynn

up

11/11/09 Cathy and I saw the new film "UP," on DVD last night. We give it two big thumbs up. There was a section early in the movie when no words were spoken and a married couple's relationship was captured only in a series of images that made me weep. The values in the movie, the development of the plot, and the message all left us feeling up. We watch a lot of movies, and this one is right UP there with the very best.

Love,
Lynn

house blessing

11/10/09 Last night I led an order for a blessing of a home for our Music Director, Diana, and her family. They had waited for more than a year for their old house to sell before finding this new home that is so much closer to church and to their friends. There are some set pieces in the liturgy: greeting, prayers, scripture readings, etc. But I like to personalize it by having the invited guests and family go from room to room and ask specific prayers for that particular space. Those spontaneous prayers were very moving. I saw a few tears. We have a home....a church home, a family, a dwelling, a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens...we are blessed.

Love,
Lynn

living in grace house

from my sermon on 11/08/09 from Romans 8:28-30

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 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's the rumpus about?" he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity's unique contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, "Oh, that's easy. It's grace."After some discussion, the conferees had to agree. The notion of God's love coming to us free of charge, no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity. The Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of karma, the Jewish covenant, and the Muslim code of law -- each of these offers a way to earn approval. Only Christianity dares to make God's love unconditional.Aware of our inbuilt resistance to grace, Jesus talked about it often. He described a world suffused with God's grace: where the sun shines on people good and bad; where birds gather seeds gratis, neither plowing nor harvesting to earn them; where untended wildflowers burst into bloom on the rocky hillsides. Like a visitor from a foreign country who notices what the natives overlook, Jesus saw grace everywhere. Yet he never analyzed or defined grace, and almost never used the word. Instead, he communicated grace through stories we know as parables.-Philip Yancey, What's So Amazing About Grace? (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1997), 45.

I have been preaching a series of sermons on basic UM beliefs. Here is one foundation stone; we build on God's grace. Here is a definition: justice--you get what you deserve, mercy--you don't get what you deserve, grace--you get what you don't deserve.
As UM's we believe there is one grace that is known in 3 movements. John Wesley who started the reform movement that later became the UM denomination used the analogy of a house when it came to understanding grace.
We start on the porch which relates to prevenient grace. That's a strange word to many of you, a uniquely Methodist word. It sounds a lot like prevent, doesn't it? That is one way to think of it, the love of God that prevents us from moving so far away we can't respond to God. It tries to keep us on the porch.
We also see the "pre" part of the word. It reminds us of the passage from Romans where God "pre"knows us and "pre"destines us. Now, don't get all Calvinist on me with predestination. What we claim is that God has a destiny for each of us and all creation. God is "pre", out in front of us, drawing us into God's future. We are not fated. We can refuse, but that does not keep God from wooing us, inviting us into God's plans for us. Prevenient grace is the love that God has before us, before we are even aware that we are loved.
We see prevenient grace in baptism, especially that of a child like we have in worship today. We write these prayers and blessings for Natasha today. Someday when she makes her own profession of faith, we can say to her, "You have been loved all along."
We see prevenient grace in marriage. Sometimes, the couple will be standing before me and the congregation all nervous. I will have them turn around and look at the family and friends who have come. I will say, "You didn't get here all by yourself. You have been loved all along."
We see prevenient grace sometimes most clearly when we look backwards. Sometimes I will be with a person in hospice care, and we will do a life review. They will say, "Now I know that that even was a God moment."
Prevenient grace is the love that goes before us. It is the porch.
The door to the house is justifying grace. It is represented in words like conversion, being born again, entering the new life in Christ, being saved. God cannot make us enter the house; it is our decision, but justifying grace is there helping us to accept our acceptance.
To make this more nuanced, I must admit that I have had several conversion experiences in my life. I knew justifying grace when I went through confirmation at age 13. I had an emotional conversion at a revival in my senior year in high school. In seminary, I learned to read the scriptures in their original languages of Greek and Hebrew and had an intellectual experience. Your moments of justifying grace may be emotional or not, come quickly or be drawn out.
Justifying grace feels like "just-as-if-I'd" never sinned. We are washed clean. We are made right.
Some well-intentioned folks will try to nail you down by saying, "Are you saved? Tell me the exact moment and place of your salvation." You can reply, "I was saved about the year 30 A.D. on a hill just outside of Jerusalem, when my Lord said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
Justifying grace is the love God has for us. It is the door to the house.
Once we enter the house, enter salvation, we never do anything again, right? No! Living in the house is sanctifying grace. Sanctifying sounds like sanctuary, like holy. That's what it means, to grow in holiness and wholeness for the rest of our lives. Romans talks about us being glorified. That is code language in the New Testament for the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ. We are to become Christian, "Christ-like", "little Christs." The passage talks about us growing into the likeness, literally the icon, of His Son. When people see us, they may see Christ.
Every UM pastor goes before the bishop who asks the question, "Are you going onto perfection?" You are supposed to answer "Yes." I like it when the bishop explains, "If you are not going onto perfection, then where are you going?" Every Christian is called to go onto perfection. This is our thank you back to God. This is sanctifying grace. This is living in grace house.
So today we come to worship to grow in relationship with Christ. We go to Sunday School and Bible studies and prayer groups to grow our souls. We serve on mission projects like Imagine No Malaria. And during this past week when what happened at Ft. Hood, we are mature, and we don't demonize a whole race of people or whole religion like Islam for the actions of one man. In fact we stand with people of other faiths or no faith and say, "This is not what God intends for us."
So grace is always going before us, helping us enter salvation, and calling us to grow in holiness. Grace is always before us, for us, and in us. Where are you today? On the porch, at the door, or in the house? Maybe your experience is like mine as I have wandered in and out of the house many times.
I have know several realtors over the years. I remember asking Joslin once how she knew what was the right house for her clients. She said, "I can tell you of my own experience. My daughter and I were looking for our house. I had all the facts and figures, the demographics, the square feet, the prices. We looked at a lot of houses. My daughter finally said, 'This is the one.' How do you know? She said, 'This house is just hugging me."
I hope the grace house of God is hugging you. That's the good news I have to share today.

restorer

11/5/09 My breath prayer for the day comes from Ruth 4:15a, "He shall be to you a restorer of life." Ruth has been given a son out of her marriage to Boaz. This makes Naomi something close to a grandmother. The women of the village say these words to Naomi about the newborn that he shall be a restorer of life. Of course I took the words to mean that the God revealed in Jesus (who is in the birth line of this son born to Ruth) is the one who restores us to life. What a great concept....that we can be down and out, broke, broken, hopeless, tired...and God provides a restorer.

Love,
Lynn

obedient

11/4/09 My breath prayer today comes from Ruth 3:5, "all that you tell me I will do." It is actually Ruth speaking to her mother-in-law Naomi, saying that she will follow her advice and go to their near kinsman Boaz. But for me today, it is what I am saying/praying to God, "all that you tell me I will do." It is the posture of obedience.

Love,
Lynn

a redeemer

11/3/09 Cathy and I got to carpool today (in my Prius, thank you very much). We are trying to save the planet one day at a time. She works at Austin High School, which means I took my walk around Lady Bird Lake on one of the best mornings ever. My prayer verse is from Ruth 4:14a, "Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a redeemer." A redeemer is one who sets free or who pays the price for freedom. In Ruth's context, it is the closest male family member who has the power to do the right thing and take care of 2 widows, which Boaz does by marrying Ruth. They have a child, who becomes part of the family tree for David, who becomes part of the family tree for Jesus. We have a redeemer.

Love,
Lynn

on our behalf

11/2/09 My breath prayer today comes from Hebrews 9:24, "For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, not to appear in the presence of God on our behalf." I was thinking how wonderful it is to have the very best intercessor in all of creation, the Lord Jesus Christ, carrying all of our prayers to God. Maybe that is another way to understand why we pray in Jesus' name. What confidence we have because of the One who pleads on our behalf.

Love,
Lynn

not left behind

from my sermon on 11/1/09, All Saints' Sunday, from Rev. 21:1-6a

Left Behind....have you read any 0f the books? I have. Not because they are great literature, which they are not. However, there is plot, character development, drama, a love story. Not because they are biblically and theologically correct, at least not according to what I believe. I read them because they were popular. Some 12 or 13 volumes have sold more than 60 million copies. I read them because people in the churches where I served were reading them.
What I didn't like most about the books is similiar to what I don't like most about the Halloween is going. Halloween seems to be about ghosts, goblins, and ghouls. In a word about fear. The Left Behind series seemed to be about scaring people into the faith.
The Revelation to John is about something else. In fact, I can tell what the book is about in one word. It's about hope.
Some people say that it is written in code language. It is not. It is not about trying to stay hidden. The very title says it about revealing, about unveiling. There are lots of symbols in the book, but most of the time they are explained right there in the text. Ten or multiples of ten are numbers of inclusion. Twelve or its mulitples are numbers for the people of God. So, when 144,00 are among those saved, it is saying alll of God's people are included, not left behind.
I took a course this summer with Mickey Eiford, a recongized scholar on the Reveleation to John. He confirmed what I had long felt about the book, really a sermon. He gave me confidence to preach from it this day, as it rarely comes up in the lectionary cycle.
He said that there are a series of visions. They are not predictors of the future, but bring hope for today. They repeat over and over again the message of hope. I had a member of my former church who happened to be an Aggie and who taught Sunday School. Bill said, "I've read the end of the book. God wins." That's the hope in a nutshell.
Today's scripture is the last vision in the REvelatkion. God makes all things new. Mickey said that new didn't mean to create, but to transform. In advertising language, we would say new and improved.
No more death. For the early readers, no more martyrs' death. No more mourning, crying, pain. for the early readers, no more persecution. It was dangerous to be a Christian at the end of the first century when this book was written. The text still resonates with those who are being persecuted for their faith around the world today.
We don't live with the pressure of being excluded from the social and economic circles like those early Christians. WE don't live with a death threat hanging over us. So how are we to appropriate these words?
The basic truth is still the same: Even when it seems as if things aren't so good, God is still in control; we keep on keepin' on, keeping on, doing the right thing, even if others don't; our reward is sure, if not now, in the age to come; evil is real and must be dealt with.
And the best news is that God dwells with us, and will be our God, and we will God's people. The word for home and dwells is literally, tabernacle. Remember when the Hebrew children wandered across the wilderness for 40 years, and God's presence went with them in the tabernacle. That's what it says here: God tents with us. God will be with us wherever we go. In life or death. Emmanuel, God is with us.
I actually got to know the 3 saints of this church who died this past year. Anne loved the mountains of New Mexico. She had a lingering terminal disease and used the time she had to prepare all of us for her dying. When she died, she was buried in Santa Fe, N.M. Carolyn was a church lady. She was our church secretary for many years. Edith was a charter member of this congregation, helping to mow the lawn in its early year. When her husband Tom died after 42 years of marriage, she continued to see him in their house. When I did her funeral service just one week ago, I talked about how they were inseperable. We who believe in the communion of saints, who's to say that they aren't.
The good news for today is that God doesn't want any left behind. God tents with us, in life and in death. That is our hope.

a new vision

10/27/09 We got awful close last night. We (the church council) reviewed some 100 vision statements generated from our congregation. I challenged us to discover Christ's call upon us. Last night we kept refining those until we got a handful of phrases. The one I liked best was "Making Christ real for all." It is awful close. Keep praying for our discernment in this process.

Love,
Lynn

we have met the enemy and he is us

from my sermon on 10/25/09 from Genesis 3:1-13

I learned Hebrew the old-fashioned way. We picked up the Hebrew text and began reading from Genesis chapter 1, verse 1. In beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Hebrew was hard. You turn to the front of the book...it's the back! Hebrew reads from right to left. That really scrambles your brain. The syntax is different, the grammar is different, the letters are different. The pronunciation has lots of gutteral stops. I once say a Jewish commedian on TV, who said that on the day of his bar mitzvah, when he was supposed to stand up and read from the scroll, he had a terrible cold. He walked up, coughed, cleared his throat, awful sounds and the rabbi said, "That's close enough. YOu pass."
And the story begins with a wonderful poem. God says, Let there be. And it was. God speaks and it happens. Light. Land. Water. Sky. Animals. Humankind.
In the second chapter, there is another creation story. It is so good, it is not told just once but twice. This story is probably the older story. It is very earthy, with God getting down in the dirt (adamah) to create humankind (adam). We are only a bunch of chemicals until God blows the breath of life into us and we become living beings.
Then there is the third chapter that we read today. We all knew it was coming in class. It happened to be a Monday afternoon. It had to be on a Monday. We were taking turns reading the Hebrew out loud and then translating into English. I don't know about anyone else, but this is what was going on in me, "STOP! Can't you see what you are about to do? " But they don't stop. A cloud outside the window blocked the sun. It grew dark in our classroom and in our souls.
It is called the Fall in classic theology. Although the word Fall is not used n the passage, we know that we have lost something. We are less than what God intends. The word sin is not used in the passage, yet it tells us a lot about the nature of sin.
Can we see that this is a story about who we are? I know some of you say that we Methodists don't talk about sin much, but today we are going to. Maybe you can find yourself in the story as we slow it down.
There is a sssssnake. I hate ssssnakes. I have been bitten by a sssssnake. The ssssnake is crafty. It is ssssubtle, ssssneaky, sssseductive, sssslippery. Most appropriate for characteristics for sin. The sssssnake doesn't make humans do anything. I grew up with the commedian Flip Wilson, who used to say, The devil made me do it. That's not the case here.
The ssssnake ssssimply talks to woman, and places doubt in her mind. Did the LORD say you can't eat? And the woman in reply adds to the LORD's words by saying, "Nor touch it." It is a dangerous thing to talk to the ssssnake and start adding to God's words, to go beyond God's authority. Some commentators say that this is the beginning of sin.
There is only thing the LORD has asked humankind not to do. And what do they want to do more than anything else? That one thing! When you can't have it, you only want it more. We have two sons. They used to fight over a toy. So we would buy them identical toys. What would they do? Fight over the one the other had. But yours is exactly the same, we would say. But I want his, they would reply.
The ssssnake says that humankind want die. They will know good and evil. What's wrong with knowing good and evil. If you read the start of the 4th chapter of Genesis, you will find that Adam knows his wife Eve and they conceive and have a child. To know means to create. We want to create our own standards for good and evil, make our own rules.
Adam and Eve both eat. I am sorry guys but we cannot put it all on the women. The Hebrew is pretty clear that Adam is a willing, passive, and silent partner throughtout the whole drama. I understand that this passage has been wrongly used over centuries to put all the weight on women.
When they eat, their eyes are open. They realize that they are naked, vulnerable, exposed. And they try to cover up. Do we hear this phrase today? Oh, almost every day. Someone does something wrong, and there is a cover-up.
And now we find some Jewish humor. With shat do they use to make clothes? fig leaves. Have you touched a fig leaf lately? They are scratchy like sand paper. Imagine wearing fig leaf underwear! Our attempts at cover-up are often ill-advised and painful.
They hear God walking in the cool of the evening, and they hid. I know you have never hidden your sin from God, run away from the One who made you. God asks, "Where are you?" I used to hear this as an accusation. As I have gotten older, I know hear the loneliness of God. "Where are you? I miss you. I made you for relationship." I know that there is a lot of sin in the world because there is a lot of loneliness in the world. This is not what God intends. Can you see that sin is more than they breaking of law? It is also the breaking of relationship.
"Did you eat?" the LORD asks. And the man says, "The woman gave some to me." And the woman says, "The snake." Blame assignment runs rampant even today. We point the finger at someone else, at something else. Only problem is that when you point the index finger at someone else, how many are pointing back at you? Three! We cannot avoid our culpability.
There was an old comic strip called Pogo, whose lead character was a possum. In 1953, Walt Kelley, the cartoonist, in a panel that was actually about taking care of the environment has Pogo say, "We have met the enemy and he is us." This is the story of sin. There is no one else to blame.
What are we to do? We are sinners. What does God do? Yes, there are consequences for our actions, but there is also grace. God makes clothes for the human beings, not out of fig leaves. God demonstrates fierce love, coming to human kind in Abrahan and Sarah to start a covenant people, to Moses who liberates, to the judge Deborah, to the prienst Samuel, to Ruth and Naomi, to King David, to the prophets like Jeremiah, and finally in God's own Son, Jesus, the Word made flesh. It is as if God says, "I will keep at this until I find a way for them to come home to me. I will not give up. I want you back."
It may feel like this to us today. Every Monday morning at our house in south Austin, I roll a big garbage container to the curb. Every Monday morning someone comes and takes it away. It doesn't matter how much it is or who generated it, it is simply gone. All the trash is taken away, and I get to start clean again.
In this house, it is every Sunday. God doesn't ask how much you haveor whose at fault. God simply takes it away. God wants us to be clean. God wants us back. That is the good news I have to share with you today.

rescue

10/22/09 My breath prayer today comes from Psalm 34:19, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD rescues them from them all." Being a believer doesn't mean that things will go easier, or that we will have fewer problems. In fact, we may encounter more resistance, more temptations, more trouble. We may feel more empathy with those in pain in the world. I am glad that our God stand with us. For me, that is enough. God's presence is enough rescue.

Love,
Lynn

free time

10/21/09 I had a Board of Ordained Ministry meeting that began yesterday at 11 a.m. in Kerrville and was supposed to go until noon today. Thankfully, we got all of our business done by 7 last night. I drove on home and got to sleep in my own bed. I feel like I have been given the gift of an extra day....free time. I have really needed it as one of our charter members, EdithTombrello, died this morning. There have been some other issues that have popped up as well. My breath prayer for the day has come from Psalm 34:4, "I sought the LORD, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears."

Love,
Lynn

role reversal

from my sermon on Children's Sabbath, 10/18/09, from Mark 9:30-37

I really enjoy doing the children's time in worship. I figure if little children understand that Jesus loves them, then that's a good thing. For my first 4 years in ministry, doing the children's time was my major responsibility in the worship service when I was associate pastor at St. John's here in Austin. Now there was a Dunkin Donuts on Burnet Road that was not too far from the church. They were my fall back position whenever I didn't have anything better to do with the kids. This is before Cathy and I had kids, and before I knew what sugar could do, so I often got donut holes to share. One Sunday this passage came up. I showed the children the donut holes. I asked them to line up and I would give them each a donut hole in order. Of course, after some scrambling and mild wrestling the 20 children lined up with one of the larger boys bullying his way to the front of the line. I opened the box. I went up to him and walked right past him. I went all the way to the end of the line where, I kid you not, his little sister was the last one. I gave her the first donut hole. Why? Because the first shall be last and the last first. The kids got it. Isn't that great? Jesus reverses all of our roles. He turns everything around. The last are most important.
What is not so great is what was happening with the disciples. Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem. We remember what that means in Mark's Gospel, as half of the book has Jesus moving through his passion, death, and resurrection. What are his closest friends doing? They are arguing who is the greatest. Who is number one. Who is first.
Jesus talks with them. You want to be the greatest? Then become last of all and servant of all. Then Jesus acts out a parable instead of speaking it. He takes a child--the Greek word doesn't indicate gender or age--it could be any child--it could be every child-- maybe that is the point. Jesus takes this child into his arms. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me and not just me but the one who sent me.
Here we want to go, Ah, isn't that sweet. We want to sing, Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world... I didn't know how radical it was for Jesus to do what he did until I read the commentaries this past week. Little children in that culture were non-persons, invisible, without power, considered examples of the least and lowliest.
This runs counter to our faith upbringing. Our Hebrew forbears circumcized little boys on the 8th day of life, claiming them as part of the faith community and precious to God. The Jews did not practice child sacrifice as some of the other religions did. If a couple was barren, it was a bitter thing. Children were considered a blessing. They provided economic security and passing on of the family name. In the early church, Christians rescued little babies that were thrown out to die. They took them in and raised them.
So when we hear that children were once counted as nothing, we say, Thank God, it's not that way today!
We love our children, want only the best for them, the best houses, clothes, food, education. We want them to go to the right pre-school so they can go to the right elementary school then middle school, high school, college, get the right job, and make a lot of money and be happy.
One of our ushers asked me if I was okay this morning. Why, I asked. You seem down. Ah, I said, I have some heavy comments to make in the sermon. People may not like them. A very perceptive usher we have.
What I need to say to you on this children's sabbath it that it seems to me we place a lot of pressure on our children to perform. Make good grades. Excel in athletics, band, etc. Grow up so fast, a book is called So Sexy, So Soon. There is no room for play, for creatity, for wonder, for failure.
In psychological terms, our children become projections of us. They are "mini-me's". In theological terms, children become idols. They become objects not persons. They become products, not persons.
I wonder if we are not closer to the culture of Bible times than we care to admit. We can make children into objects by expecting too much as well as ignoring them.
Is there any good news here? I give thanks for Jesus' patience with his followers. How many times do his closest friends not get it. How stupid, how clueless they seem. And yet he continues to teach them. Only here in Mark do we find Jesus "in the house" with them. He sits down to teach them, taking the traditional posture of a rabbi who is giving instruction. He welcomes a child into his arms and their midst. Maybe that's what we need to do also.
I am proud to be a Texan. I was born and raised in Texas. Spent most of my life here. But I am not proud about this next part, again a heaviness descends upon me. Texas is last when it comes to children who do not have health insurance. More than 1.4 million children, more than a in 5 don't have health insurance. I read an article from the James A Baker III Institute on Public Policy at Rice University on the economic impact of uninsured children. Economic....how about the emotional, or relational, or spiritual impact? They resurrect an old line, An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Another great quote from Frederick Douglass, It is easier to raise a healthy child than to repair a broken man. When we talk about health care reform, we need to welcome child into our midst, maybe one who finds it hard to qualify for insurance.
I have a fantasy of childen sitting at the board room table. As we try to make business decisions, we could have children playing rock/paper/ scissors like they are doing here on the front pew. We need new bottom lines that welcome children.
When it comes to the environment, we need to welcome children. What do the native Americans say? Don't make any decision without thinking about how it might affect the next 7 generations. It not just about clean air, water, or soil, it is about the children.
When it comes to church, I would love to have children at the church council meetings, coloring pictures, reading stories, while we try to decide the vision that Christ has for this congregation.
I want to praise this congregation. You welcome children. You help at Any Baby Can. You host Interfaith Hospitality Network where homeless families with children live in our building. You make meals for Mobile Loaves and Fishes, where many of the people on the street are not just single men, but families with children.
I am glad that our worship services welcome children. Don't you like the children's time in worship about the best? I am glad that welcome children at this table. I love to serve children the sacrament of communion. I get right down on their level, and hand them a piece of bread, and say, This means that Jesus loves you very much. So many times, the response comes back, Thank you. May it ever be so. Amen.

great

10/15/09 My breath prayer for the day comes from Psalm 104:1, "Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD, my God, you are very great." I walked in the quiet beauty of the early morning, reveling in how Great Thou Art. It is good for me to feel small in the presence of God's greatness. In my preaching from Mark's Gospel, the disciples are bickering over who is the greatest, who's first, who's most important. All of that pettiness falls away in the face of God's greatness.

Love,
Lynn

questions

10/13/09 My prayer verses today center around Job 38:1-7, where God asks Job, Who? Where? Who? What? When? God answers Job's questions with deeper questions. I know that we question God. Today I wonder what questions God has for us.

Love,
Lynn

service

from my sermon on 10/11/09 from Mark 10:35-45

What do you want? What would you ask Jesus for? I know it seems brash, but it is exactly what James and John do. We are uncomfortable with this. Margaret who read the scripture for us today in worship traded e-mails with me during the week. "Isn't there another translation?" We want to tone it down, edit it...this jockeying for position, this ill-conceived request.
The Gospel writers are equally uncomfortable. Matthew has the mother of James and John make the request. Luke and John omit the story entirely.
We don't like this story, but we are familiar with it. Don't we all come to Jesus with our lists? Our wants? It may be for ourselves ....to be healthy, wealthy, and wise. But it is also for others. We pray for Jacob, the 19 year-old, who was injured in a car accident in Italy, as he is barely hanging onto life. We pray for Edith, a charter member of this church who is actively dying, and just wants to be released. We pray for peace in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine. What would you ask Jesus for?
And here is amazing grace...Jesus accepts their request...without a rebuke. But more than that, he reframes their request. "You don't know what you are asking." I was reading my journal from many years ago about a UM church asking for a younger pastor. You have never heard something like this before I know....but this was an older, dying church, and they asked the bishop for a younger pastor to attract younger families back to the downtown Cincinnati church. They got their younger pastor. Then they asked for funds for advertising, to try to get people back to the old cathedral-type church. They got those funds as well, and people started coming back. But what they didnt' ask for was an awareness of the community around them. They started to notice the folks right outside their door. "Where do these people sleep at night? It seems that there are a lot of people who have just been turned out of institutions who have no place to go. It looks like there are a lot of people who have drug and alcohol problems."
The church said, "We have the location. We have the space. We have the money. We see the need. We need to do something." And that church took off developing missions to the community where they were. The pastor said, "I can't imagine our congregation being any other way than it is today. We wanted to pay the light bill. What we needed was to witness to the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. What we wanted was to survive. What we needed was to serve."
We really don't know what we are asking. We don't get what we ask for. We get what we need.
Jesus gives a sacramental answer. "Can you drink this cup?" What does that remind us of? "Can you be baptized with this baptism?" What does that remind us of? So these are not sweet, sentimental acts, but are cross-shaped answers.
Jesus also gives an example for us to follow. The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many." We want Jesus to be a powerful military leader, politically astute, successful in business, and accepted as a religious leader, but what we get is a Savior who is a servant. Because Jesus is this way, the church, his church is a servant church. Fifty times in 18 different writings in the NT, Christians are referred to as servants.
Today, I am finishing up this series on our vows as United Methodist Christians. If you haven't guessed it so far, it's about service. Now we know that we have to serve, right? NO! We get to. We need to practice saying this word when it comes to all the requests that come our way. Say it with me, NO.
We can say no because we have been set free. Jesus says that he is a ransom. Now we use this word in a limited context....in kidnapping, we pay a ransom. But originally a ransom was paid to release a prisoner of war. You have heard of a king's ransom? Or it was paid to release a slave or a criminal. A ransom is paid to set someone free. We have been set free. We can say no. We don't always do want people want us to do for them; we do what they need. We do what pleases God, not other people. Ultimately, the one we serve is Jesus.
I once had a young man come into the office, inebriated. The front office staff tried to deal with him, but he said, "I want to talk to him "(me, the senior pastor). We sat and talked. He had scars on his leg and scars on his soul. What he asked for, money, I could not do. I tried to send him to Caritas and Salvation Army and a dry out center, but he wanted no part of these. He cussed me out, the church out, and Austin out. We let him use the phone to determine his future.
I am upset by encounters like this, but I understand that I need to let people make their own mistakes and that the body of Christ is a lot larger than just me or this congregation. I like that prayer that says, "Lord, help me to remember that I am not personally, totally, irrevocably responsible for everything that happens today."
I our freedom, we realize that others have gifts to serve too. This past week Minnie invited me to her house. We had a pleasant conversation. She had baked me a cake. I was wary though, I asked Minnie if there was some agenda, something she needed to talk about. You see, people ask me to do a lot of things for them. "No," she said, "I wanted to give you the cake and I wanted to thank you for letting me write the care notes." Please understand, that last week, we took communion elements from this table to Minnie, because she doesn't get around so well. She was thanking me for letting her write notes to people exactly like her.
It feels good to serve. In fact, that's why we serve, because God only wants our deepest happiness. If you would take out the orange sheet on "Christmas in October" you will find 14 different ways you get to serve in the next two months. Here's Terrie, the chair of our Service Committee, to tell you more about it.

word of God

10/8/09 I have been using Heb. 4;12-13 for my centering prayer today, "Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account." What I like and dislike about this passage is how the word of God reveals us as we are. Nothing can be hidden. May I accept this as a gift and not a threat.

Love,
Lynn

yet

10/07/09 Still reflecting on Psalm 22, I am impressed by the number of times, the conjunction "yet" is used. There will be a litany of abandonements, distresses, pains, etc., interrupted by "yet" followed by an affirmation of faith. May that is what we believers are called to do: in the midst of much evidence to the contrary, "yet" we make sense of our exitence through God's saving actions in the past and we pray, in the future.

Love,
Lynn

forsaken

10/06/09 My prayer verse for the day comes from the opening words of Psalm 22, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest."
You may recognize these words as some of the last words that Jesus said from the cross. Jesus certainly identifies with our feelings of abandonement. I am glad that our Bible contains the whole gamut of human emotions and experiences. Is there anyone who has not felt this sense of being deserted and alone?
In my prayer time walking this morning, I gave up to God some of those experiences in my life past and present. I also remembered that this Psalm ends with a strong affirmation of faith in God, in God's providence, and in God's promised future. May it be so.

Love,
Lynn

the welcome table

on 10/4/09, World Communion Sunday, I told the story by Alice Walker, entitled "the Welcome Table," from her book of short stories, In Love and Trouble

I had a woman enact the part of the old black woman. Some men for the usher and husbands who finally threw her out. Here is a brief synopsis of the story:

This story is about an old, rundown black woman who staggers the necessary distance in the freezing cold to attend an all-white church. The white people are at a loss when they see her near the entrance of the church and do not know what to do. Some people take her in as she is, an old black woman with a mildewed dress that is missing buttons. She is lean and wrinkled with blue-brown eyes. Her appearance makes some of the white people think of black workers, maids, cooks; others think of black mistresses or jungle orgies. Still others think that she is a foreshadow of what is to come - black people invading the one place that it still considered the white person's sanctuary, their church. They see her and transfer their fear of blacks onto her.
The old woman makes her way inside the church. The reverend says something to the old woman, but no one knows what and the old woman does not respond. Inside the church, the old woman sits at the first bench in the back; she is shivering. Outside it is freezing and inside the church it is cold. The rest of the white people sit at the front of the church away from her.
The usher approaches the old woman and tells her to leave, but the old black woman shoos him with her hand and tells him to go away. The women of the church finally take the matter into their hands and dare or demand their hesitant husbands to throw the old colored woman out of the church. The white women look with contempt at the old woman in her bedraggled state and are insulted that their husbands expect them to sit in the same church as her. This sufficiently motivates the husbands to grab the old woman and physically throw her out of the church into the freezing cold. The white women feel vindicated and hateful toward the old black woman. No one at the church speaks of the incident afterward, and the church service begins.
The old lady is surprised to find herself outside, for she had been singing a song in her head. The old lady looks down the highway and sees something that makes her smile, laugh, sing, and jump up and down in joy and excitement: the old lady sees Jesus himself walking down the highway toward her. He looks exactly like a picture she stole out of a white woman's Bible.
When Jesus approaches her, he instructs that she follow him. The old woman happily obliges. They walk in silence for a while, and then the old woman tells Jesus the story of her life, how she has worked for, cleaned for, and nursed the white people. Jesus listens and looks at her with kindness. The old lady indignantly recounts to Jesus how she was just thrown out of the white people's church. Jesus smiles at her and she instantly feels better. She tells Jesus of how she has his picture hanging over her bed. She alternately sings for Jesus, talks to him, and walks in silence beside him. They pass her house and the old woman doesn't even notice. She doesn't know where they are going but knows it will be wonderful. She feels as if she can walk forever by His side.
The white people from the church never finds out what happened to the old black woman who tried to attend their church. The white people do hear of a black woman who died on the highway after having apparently walked herself to death. They think this woman is silly and do not connect the two black women as one and the same. Black families witnessed the old lady walking by herself down the highway, sometimes singing, talking, and walking in silence, smiling. No one knows where she was going all by herself; they just assume she was on her way to visit some relatives.

two shall become one

10/01/09 My breath prayer today has been from Jesus teaching about marriage and divorce as recorded in Mark 10:2-10, especially verse 8, "the two shall become one flesh." In my walk this morning and throughout the day, I have been praying for marriages. I have also been praying for those who are going through the pain of divorce. From the beginning God made us for each other. The intimacy between husband and wife is so great that two become one.

Love,
Lynn

one

9/30/09 My breath prayer today comes from Hebrews 2:11, "For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father." I have been giving thanks today that Jesus is not only the Son of God but our brother who makes us one in our Father. I am so glad to be part of this kind of family. Yes, I give thanks for my biological family, but my faith family has seen me through a lot. We may not always be happy together, but we are one big family.

Love,
Lynn

steadfast love

9/28/09 My prayer verse for the day has been Psalm 26:3, "For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in faithfulness to you." I know that steadfast love in Hebrewis "chesed." It is covenant love, God's love, love that does not fail. I have trying to keep that love before me all day, starting with my walk this morning out under the beautiful stars. I saw it at a meeting I led in San Antonio, how people worked so well together. I anticipate tonight as our church council meets.

In steadfast love,
Lynn

gifts

from my sermon on 9/27/09 from Mark 10:17-31

Today was supposed to be Consecration Sunday, the day we make our gifts to Christ and to His Church. It is a day that no matter how we dress it up, you know calling the card an estimate of giving card or a commitment card, still feels like I have to fill out a pledge card to support the budget of the church.
Today, and here I am expecting many amens, hallelujahs, much clapping, dancing in the aisles, and so on, there will be no pledge cards!
Why? Let me illustrate...because let us all say together our church's mission statement....oops, we don't know it. When I came for my introductory interview 2 1/2 years ago with the Staff Parish Committee, I asked them if the church had a mission statement. "Oh yes, " was the reply. "What is it?" "Oh, it's there on the front of the bulletin...it's on our newsletter." "OK, but do you know it...does it motivate you?"
Whatever else you may say about Jesus, know this: he was very clear about his mission. In this passage Jesus in on his way to Jerusalem. That's the context for his encounter with the rich man and his imperatives: go, sell, give, come, follow. WE have tried to soften them. There are 3 major ways we have blunted the words:
1. the early Christians expected Jesus to return soon...so yes, give away everything to the poor. But Jesus didn't come back, we take a more reasoned approach, we are in it for the long haul.
2. This was meant for a few spiritual elite...like nuns and monks and ascetics....not for the ordinary masses.
3. Jesus used symbolic language. We are to get rid of anything that would keep us from following him, not just money.
Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem. What does that mean? Just after this passage, he says for the 3rd time in Mark's Gospel that when he gets to Jerusalem, he will be reviled, spit upon, and killed. Much to the chagrin of those who preach a prosperity Gospel, all health and wealth, Jesus goes to the cross. Peter and company, say, We've left everything to follow you. And Jesus says that they will be rewarded with land, and houses, and families.....and persecutions. Ouch! We don't like to see that it costs us something to follow Jesus.
Jesus was clear about his mission, and somehow a group of followers was engerized by that vision and was willing to endure the cost.
I have an idea...no money till we get clear on our mission. No pledge till we get clear on our purpose. No talk about budget until we are sure we are following Jesus.
We get to do this, participate in Christ mission for the world. You may remember we are in a sermon series on what UM believe. I am going through our vows; prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness. We get to do all of these things.
The rich man missed this. He thought they were "have-to's". His question was, "What do I have to do....and get this next phrase in all of its financial glory...to inherit eternal life?" He had kept all the rules but he missed the relationship. Jesus said: go, sell, give, come, follow. But the man could not. Jesus looked at him with love. The man kept all the laws but he missed the love.
Jesus in teaching the disciple uses reiteration...twice he says it, How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. He uses humor and hyperbole. How big is a camel? How small is an eye of a needle? How hard is it for a camel to go through? The disciples say, as we do, "Then who can be saved?" It's impossible for mortals. But all things are possible for God. It is gift. We are saved by what God has done not by what we do.
I need to tell you a story. A pastor friend from the Metroplex area told of a family that visited his worship service. Like I do, Eric would call guests on Sunday afternoon. This particular family of husband, wife and middle school daughter sounded like they needed something. Eric says I usually don't visit in the home until after several times people come to worship, but I asked them if it was alright for me to visit. Yes, they said. Eric when to the nice neighborhood with large houses. He rang the doorbell. The man opened the door, revealing a full size olympic pool inside the house! The man was gracious taking Eric back to a den with coffee service. He got to know the family over several visits. Along the way, the wife called Eric one day, asking him to visit her husband in the hospital. Of course Eric went. As he entered the room, he noticed things from his prior training as a hospital chaplain. There were no flowers, no cards, no other visitors but the wife. Eric returned a couple of days later. Same script. He was bold enough to inquire, "I notice that you have no cards or flowers, and only your wife as a visitor. You do have friends, don't you?" "Besides you, you mean?" Eric said, I am your only friend? The man said, "I got so rich so fast that I couldn't trust anybody." Eric thought to himself, "He has everything....he has nothing that really matters." Eric continued to work with the man and his family. He invited him to the United Methodist Men, you know our cholesterol club. The man could tolerate the older men who still fought the wars on land of old and the wars of today in papers. He cooked for them and washed dishes. He took Disiciple Bible Study and found out that God loved him and had a community for him. He went on medical mission teams. He got involved in meals on wheels. In short, he found his mission. He was saved and turned on to helping others.
Today, you have a gifts sheet. I would love for you to fill this out and put it in the offering plate. What mission or cause or purpose has Christ place on your heart? What grabs you so deeply that you must invest in it? I have prejudiced you with my preaching, talking about us becoming a 50/50 church where we spend 50% on us and 50% on others. I have talked about us unbinding our hearts, about becoming credible witnesses in the world. I know you say that we have to pay the light bills, but can we do that in order to share the light of Christ in the world. I know we have to pay staff, but can we do that so tha t staff can empower others to be in ministry?
I am hoping we can come up with our mission phrase. The United Methodist Church has one: making disciples for the transformation of the world. Our Southwest Texas Conference, these 78 counties and 120,000 Methodists have one: Offering Christ to all. That's what I want something we can remember and get behind.
Yes, we will come up with a budget...but it might not be until January or February. This year we didn't adopt a budget until March and the world didn't stop turning.
Mission comes before money. We represent the One who befriends those who don't know they have a friend. Amen.

blessing

9/24/09 I grew up on a farm in the Panhandle of Texas. I know the value of rain. We never viewed rain as an inconvenience. We saw it as life. So the past two days I have not minded getting my feet muddy as I have been walking and praying in the mornings. I have been giving thanks, especially after the long period of drought here in central Texas.
The second time I went to the Holy Land, on the last day we were in Jerusalem in January, it was raining hard. Some were complaining, they hadn't brought rain gear, their feet were wet, etc. Our guide said, "do you know what we call rain here?" "No," we replied. He said, "Blessing."

Love,
Lynn

gluten-free

9/23/09 Last night at our worship committee meeting, I celebrated the sacrament of communion with the some 10 persons there. Lisa had bought a gluten-free loaf made with rice flour for us to try out. We have several folks in our congregation who bring their own wafer or cracker or bit of bread to communion because they have food allergies. Lisa and I were trying to find a loaf, one loaf, that we could all partake, to symbolize our unity in the body of Christ.
It was funny to do the evaluation after we had all eaten. Some asked about allergies to rice, or eggs, or milk. Would this gluten-free loaf work for them? The loaf was also too crumbly. Could it made where it stuck together better?
I was reminded of the quote from Kathleen Norris, who was asked for the first time by her little Presbyterian church to get the communion elements. As she was being checked out at the register, she pondered, "when it comes to the body and blood of Christ, is it paper or plastic bags?"
I am glad that we have a God revealed in Jesus Christ who comes into a world where other humans have food allergies and meets us where we are.

Love,
Lynn

answers to prayer

9/22/09 Thank God for the rain. I have, you have, many people have been praying for rain in this extreme drought-stricken part of the world called central Texas. This is truly an answer to prayer...to wake up to generous, life-giving rains this morning.
Yesterday, I was visiting with a man whose family I have been praying for diligently. He was sharing that a job opportunity was opening up for him today. Another answer to prayer.
It was great to see Lizzie and Don back in worship after their surgeries. Some healing going on...an answer to prayer.
Some folks are stepping up to help us with our Imagine No Malaria campaign. Some 117 lives were saved this past Sunday as we had donated more than $1170 for treated nets. Another answer to prayer.
I invite you to pray a lot. Sometimes the answer we get is no...or wait...but sometimes God answers our prayers better than we pray them.

Love,
Lynn

Gifts

from my sermon on 9/20/09 on Ephesians 4:1-16

Every one of us is gifted for ministry. Last Sunday before our contemporary service, a little 4 year old girl named Sammi, came up to me and said, "Will there be ballet music for me to dance to today?" She was wearing her tutu and dancing shoes. I said, "I don't know. Go talk to Frank (who directs the band)." I didn't know it but she did, and Frank said that it wasn't ballet music but it was ok to dance. So during the first song, Sammi took her steps and did her twirls. And we smiled. "How sweet. How precious," we thought. After the passing of the peace and the announcements, the band started playing again, and Sammi was dancing again. Now I sit on the very front pew, so my back was to the congregation, and I didn't see this, but Jay, the chair of our worship committee was walking up the aisle. Some people told me later that they were anxious, "Oh, no. He's gonna tell her to stop. He's gonna shut her down." But when Jay got to the front, he began dancing with Sammi. She would shake her little behind. Jay would shake his somewhat larger behind. It was wonderful. I was crying. I was praying, "Dear God, don't let this moment ever end."
Everyone of us is gifted for ministry--no matter how young or old, male or female, no matter our level of ability--mental, physical, or whatever. The passage says, "Each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift."
And it feels good to share our gifts. You may remember I am preaching about our basic UM beliefs, starting with our vows of prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness. Today, we are on gifts. We "get to" share our gifts for the building up of the body of Christ in the world. It is like dancing together in the house of the Lord. Don't lose this joyful image.
Some of us will be intimidated by this list of gifts in the passage. "Oh, no. Not me. I am not gifted." May I bring this list down to a place we can approach them?
Apostles...."I can't be in that inner circle of 12 that was with Jesus. It's impossible," We say. But I know my Greek. An apostle is one who is sent on a mission. Could that be us?
Mara, a senior in Westlake H.S., came to my office on Thursday afternoon. She is coming up with her senior project. Everyone else in her class is shadowing a doctor, or engineer, or computer software writer. No shame in any of that, but Mara is shadowing Alan Graham, head of Mobile Loaves and Fishes. She is the only one in her class whose project involves a non-profit. Mara wants to create micro-gardens, a garden in a plastic storage bin. Each would have soil, seeds, and airholes in it. People would take them, add water, and grow vegetables. The fresh vegetables would be given to the homeless who live on the street. Pretty cool, huh? Is Mara an apostle, one sent on a mission?
Prophets are not fortune tellers but truth tellers. I am proud of some of our Sunday School classes engaging in the health care debate. The view they are bringing to the discussion is that of the poor, the most vulnerable, who often get left out of the debate. That is the role of the prophet, to speak the hard truth that comes from God.
Evangelist...now we get really scared about this one. We think that we must have "hair that praises Jesus" ( I got that from an American Baptist theologian). But you remember that we did the Unbinding Your Heart series in the spring. What we were learning is that the world wants credible witnesses, people like us who live the faith everyday, who are not afraid to talk in our families, in our neighborhoods, etc. We share good news wherever Christ sends us. That's what evanglism means, "good news." I have a "help wanted" ad in evangelism. I need help with these worship services--people to do technical direction, to film, to audiotape, to link up with our website, do podcasts. Are there some evangelists out there?
Pastors....you may think that just applies to people like me who are ordained, but the work in Greek is literally "shepherds." "Help wanted" ad again...I need some folks who can help me tend the flock. I can't do it by myself. We have formed a Caring and Calling team to follow up on person who miss worship and Sunday School for a time. You see, when someone gets overwhelmed by life, they drop out of everything, even church. We call, and say, "How's it going? We have missed you?" Are there any shepherd out there?
Teachers....okay, we are pretty clear on this gift. I want to put a challenge to the men. We tend to have lots of females who do this ministry. But children and youth desperately need to see positive male role models. We barely have enough teachers in our children and youth departments. Are some of you men gifted for teaching?
There are many more gifts that we find in letters of Paul in I Cor. 12 and Rom. 12 that go beyond our passage, but everyone is gifted for ministry for equipping the saints and building up the body of Christ.
I hope that I have made these gifts more assessible to you. Today, I am asking some of you who were afraid of being gifted to choose one passion that you may pursue. I am asking some of you who do too much to cut back one passion to be more healthy.
A great way for you to find your passion is to go to our ministry fair and take the spiritual gifts inventory. You may find it at our website also. To incentivize (I just love how we make nouns into verbs) the process, we have an anonymous donor who will give $10 for every survey taken to our Nothing but Nets campaign. Ten dollars buys a treated mosquito net for a family of four.
You may have heard that the UMC is trying to rid the continent of Africa of the treatable disease of malaria in a campaign called Imagine No Malaria. You will be hearing a lot more about this in the future. It seems to be overwhelming. How can we possibly do that?
I came across a great analogy this past week. A single snowflake seems so small, so fragile. But put enough of them together in a snowstorm, and they can stop traffic. Or put enough of us together, and we can stop a disease.
That's what this passage is about--unity. Did you see how many times "one" was used? One body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.
It was probably a baptismal creed, capturing the essentials of the faith for those who felt drawn to become part of the church. Any baptized people here?
I need to tell you a story that comes from Fred Craddock, a Disciples of Christ pastor, theologian, writer, and speaker. I don't remember all of the details, but it goes something like this:
When Fred was first starting out, he was serving a country church, that practiced baptism by going down to the riverside and baptizing person there. By the way, we UM's can baptize by immersion, "Dunking", as well. So Fred and this adult man went down into the river. Fred asked those ancient, ever-new questions: Do you reject the power of sin? Do you accept the freedom and power of God? Do you confess Jesus Christ as your saviour and want to be part of his inclusive church? The man did and was taken under the water that cleanses and brings new life. He came out on shore and was wrapped in a blanket. A big bonfire was there on the beach. He stood next to its warmth while the whole church gathered around him in a circle. One by one, the members of the church said something like this, "My name is Betty, and I cool pretty good. I would be happy to cook for you and with you for others." "My name is Tom, and I'm handy with tools. I would be happy to work for you or with you for others." On and on they went. "My name is Ralph and I like to study the Bible. I would be happy to do that with you and with others." "My name is Millie, and I like to pray. I would be happy to pray with you." After they all had their say, an older man took Fred aside, and said, "Preacher, around here, we call that baptism."
Are you baptized? Are you standing in the circle? What would say is your gift? Everyone of us has been gifted for ministry. That is the good news I have to share with you today. Amen.