12/24/10 It is raining outside...a generous, soaking rain....after nearly 3 months without any moisture. It is Christmas eve. It is raining God's grace down on us. Merry Christmas.
Love,
Lynn
Friday, December 24, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
sing
12/23/10 My breath prayer for the day comes from Psalm 96:2, "Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day." It struck me this morning as I was walking and praying that the listener of our singing, the One to whom we sing, is the LORD God. We don't sing to ourselves or to the congregation, we sing to God. So as I walked this morning, I sang...out loud sometimes...inside my soul sometimes. I have often said this earthly life is simply a rehearsal for what we will be doing for all eternity, and that is singing praise to God. So on this day before Christmas eve whatever else you do.....sing!
Love,
Lynn
Love,
Lynn
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
strong
12/22/10 I visited Lizzie Strong in the ICU in Brackenridge Hospital yesterday afternoon. I have seen a lot of Lizzie and her family over the 3 1/2 years I have been pastor at this church. You see, Lizzie had just come through her 31st surgery in last few years. Lizzie was intubated, which means she had a breathing tube inserted down her windpipe, so she couldn't talk. She can sign, but I can't read sign language. I asked her to type on her computer, which she did, so I could understand her. She had pneumonia and some fever, but overall was doing pretty well. Her birthday is Dec. 25th, so she has a special connection to Jesus. She must have a special connection to Jesus to keep her faith through all the surgeries and recoveries. She and her family have shown tremendous resilience. It is by no accident that their family name is Strong.
Love,
Lynn
Love,
Lynn
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
smile
12/21/10 On Saturday afternoon, I attended a blessing service for 3 families who were receiving 3 houses from Habitat for Humanity. If you have never been to one of these events, they are quite moving. There is a prayer. We have recognition of the sponsors who put up the money to build the houses. The volunteers who worked on the houses are affirmed. The families are given a basket with bread, salt, and sparkling cider. Family members are invited to say a few words of thanks. Instead of cutting a ribbon, the families saw through a board. Each family is given the keys to their new home. When this happens, they smile. I would have come just for that, the smile.
Love,
Lynn
Love,
Lynn
Monday, December 20, 2010
generosity to the extreme
12/20/10 The following came from Bob Batlan who is a regular at delivering meals to the homeless in Austin through Mobile Loaves and Fishes.
Well today’s Mobile Loaves run was truly fun. We had wonderful chaos with tons of kids helping with make ready. We had our annual Knitzvah run where we gave beautiful hand knit items to people we fed.
In return we also got that feeling of warmth that comes only from helping others in a significant way.
Today a man at our last stop outdid us all. We were at a place called the Tallows. It is one small step above being on the streets. We came in with very little food, but the residents appreciated every bit. They were thrilled with the Knitzvah items. As I was driving out, a man motioned for me to stop. I was feeling bad because we had nothing left to share. However, he just asked if I would accept a donation. When I told him I would, he handed me two $100 bills folded together.
I am still trying to process that act of generosity.
Well today’s Mobile Loaves run was truly fun. We had wonderful chaos with tons of kids helping with make ready. We had our annual Knitzvah run where we gave beautiful hand knit items to people we fed.
In return we also got that feeling of warmth that comes only from helping others in a significant way.
Today a man at our last stop outdid us all. We were at a place called the Tallows. It is one small step above being on the streets. We came in with very little food, but the residents appreciated every bit. They were thrilled with the Knitzvah items. As I was driving out, a man motioned for me to stop. I was feeling bad because we had nothing left to share. However, he just asked if I would accept a donation. When I told him I would, he handed me two $100 bills folded together.
I am still trying to process that act of generosity.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
hallelujah
12/15/10 I usually don't do this....simple give you a link to a youtube video, but as I read through my emails this morning, I decided to go to this one sent by a friend. It is the singing of the "Hallelujah Chorus" in a mall food court. The claiming of that place as holy ground really moved me. My old cynical self was moved to tears. Here's the link.
http://www.youtube.com/user/AlphabetPhotography
Love,
Lynn
http://www.youtube.com/user/AlphabetPhotography
Love,
Lynn
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
drained
12/14/10 This past Sunday left me emotionally and spiritually spent. In a word, I was drained. First, we had these four beautiful, talented young women who comprise the Southern Belles. All four played handbells. Two of them sang while the other two danced. It was marvelous. I was moved. Second, we had Jennifer Sample from our Methodist Mission Home in San Antonio give a testimony. Her words were clear and direct about all the good we do with unwed mothers, adoptive parents, those with hearing impairment, and those with other physical challenges. The video she showed of the students graduating from their program left me in tears. Third, at the 11:15 a.m. service during my sermon, a women in the congregation had a fainting spell or stroke episode. Fortunately, this congregation is blessed with many doctors. Within 30 feet of Jo were persons from almost every major medical discipline. My job was to lower anxiety, so after calling for the doctor's help, we paused and prayed. We continued in silence for a few moments until Jo was able to walk out of the service. By the way, tests have revealed no major issues. That afternoon, I had the pleasure to play my guitar and sing carols to residents of Lyons Gardens, a retirement facility. We had a great Disciple I Bible study class. Then the day finished with outstanding music and readings from our handbell choirs. It was all good. God showed up all day long. After a day like this though, I was drained.
Love,
Lynn
Love,
Lynn
Monday, December 13, 2010
stay in love with God
from my sermon on 12/12/10 from Colossians 2:6-7, finishing up John Wesley's 3 Simple Rules
Kissing. I want to talk to you today about kissing. Now, you may be thinking that this is quite a leap as we finish up the 3 simple rules of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement. But those 3 simple rules are: do no harm, do good, and stay in love with God. That’s not too big a stretch to go from kissing to staying in love with God.
When we think of God, we may have many images: Creator, Shepherd, Judge, Redeemer…but I wonder how often we think of God as Lover.
Rueben Job who wrote this book on Mr. Wesley’s 3 simple rules helps us in this regard. Mr. Wesley said to practice the “ordinances;” things like worship, scripture, prayer, fasting, and communion. Rueben Job says by following these spiritual disciplines we stay in love with God.
Worship for some may be drudgery. “I have to get up on Sunday morning, I have to put on dress clothes, I have to go to church.” There was a little girl who was just learning to attend worship. After going several times with her parents to church, she then went to her grandparents church, a big cathedral. It had marble floors and pillars. It also had plaques along the wall. The little girl asked her grandparents what the plaques meant. “Oh, they are memorials to those who died in the service.” The little girl hesitated before asking, “The contemporary service or the traditional service?”
What if going to worship meant dating God, getting to know God in an intimate way? At Sunday School this morning one young woman said that she grew up in the church in Texas. When she went away to college it was a long way off in California. She didn’t know anybody. She attended worship services at her new place of living. She said, “when I went to worship, it was like going home.”
Another woman I once knew was baptized in the church and confirmed in the church, but really stayed away from church for decades. Then she found the UMC and heard that we were about love and not laws, about relationships and not rules. She thrived in this environment. She loved attending worship. She grew in grace. She became a new person. She found a poet John O’Donahue who had the words for her, “May I have the courage today, to live the life that I would love, to postpone my dream no longer, but do at last what I came here for, and waste my heart on fear no more.”
In staying in love with God, worship is dating God.
Scripture is encountered in worship, and in Bible study, and in personal devotions. Several years ago, I went back to my seminary, Perkins, for Minister’s week. Many scholars presented many wonderful papers, but what I remember most is what Cecil Williams said. He was the pastor of Glide Memorial UMC in San Francisco which had a ministry to the homeless, those with HIV, etc. If you say the movie, the Pursuit of Happyness, you saw this pastor and church. On the same pew would sit a bank president and a prostitute. Cecil quoted a scripture that I had read many times, but I had never let get to me. It was Isaiah 43:4, “Because you are precious in my sight and honored, and I love you.” The people in his congregation needed to hear that. I need to hear that. Maybe you do too.
Every morning I go to a little book that directs me to a piece of scripture. I stay with that passage until I find something that resonates with me. I try to breathe that verse all day long. Today, it is from Matthew 11, “I am sending my messenger before your face to prepare the way of the Lord.” I think that I would be crazy if I didn’t practice this.
In staying in love with God, reading and hearing scripture is like getting a love letter from God.
In prayer, we may be good at asking God for things. The pastor was delivering the prayer in the worship service, when it was interrupted by a loud whistle. After the prayer, a mom leaned over to her son, “Gary, was that you?” “Yes.” “Why did you whistle right then?” “Well I was praying to God to teach me how to whistle, and right then He did!”
In praying we may not be as good when it comes to listening for God. Once I was trying to teach a man about how to listen for God by practicing my form of breath prayers. I was trying to help him clear out all of the clutter so he could hear God. As we went along he said, “You know that I am a recovering Catholic. I grew up learning rote prayers. I always thought of them as punishment! You would go the priest and say, “Father, I have sinned….” He would reply, “Say 3 Hail Mary’s and 5 Our Father’s.” Now I know that I could have used those as breath prayers to listen for God.”
In staying in love with God, prayer becomes pillow talk.
The discipline of fasting we may not practice so much these days….or do we? How many times have you waited dinner? “I know you are hungry kids, but daddy isn’t home yet. We’ll eat when he gets here.” How many times have I been in the surgery waiting room with the parents whose child is in operating theater? “Would you like to get something to eat?” I ask. “No, we’re not hungry,” they say. Fasting is waiting on the one you love.
Fasting may be literally going without eating food. I recently encountered a pastor who went on a Daniel fast. For 21 days, he did not eat meat or fat or sugar or milk; he mostly ate fruits and vegetables and grains. He did it with his wife, then with the church leadership, and then with the whole congregation. Amazing things happened in the church. Fasting is not a manipulation of God. It is waiting on God. It is done in conjunction with prayer.
Fasting may also may mean going without other things. I know a man who….listen up you guys…went through the football season without watching one football game on TV so he could devote more time to his family. Others might fast from spending so much time on the computer or from cursing.
In staying in love with God, fasting is waiting on the one you love.
We have the sacrament of communion here month after month at this table. I wonder if we take for granted the power of the risen Christ in this meal. I once helped with a spiritual retreat for young men. One of the young men was outstanding in every way: he was a scholar, he was an athlete, he was active in his church. He was also a perfectionist. He never felt good enough. He felt he never did enough good for God to love him. On the 3 day retreat we had communion once each day. At the closing communion after hearing about God’s grace, God’s unmerited love for him, he said, “Every time before when I took communion, it has always tasted bitter. Now for the first time, it tasted sweet.”
In staying in love with God, communion becomes like dinner out…and God picks up the tab.
So John Wesley called such things ordinances. We don’t like that word. It sounds like laws. But what if we dug deeper and found that such ordinances are what bring order to our lives? What if they brought the harmony we desire in intimacy?
We have these 3 simple rules. We don’t like that word either. It also sounds like laws. But various Christian communities have had a “rule,” a code of conduct, a pattern of living. What if these rules helped us find the way of life?
And what does the Colossians passage have to do with this? It says that we are to continue to practice what we have been taught so we may thrive as Christians. We are to walk in the way that we learned, or in other words to stay in love with God.
And what does all of this have to do with kissing? I got this sage advice from Phoebe the Clown a long time ago at a clown workshop. She said, “Shaking hands is good. Hugging is better. But kissing….kissing is the best of all. Why not the best?”
Why not the best? Stay in love with God.
Kissing. I want to talk to you today about kissing. Now, you may be thinking that this is quite a leap as we finish up the 3 simple rules of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement. But those 3 simple rules are: do no harm, do good, and stay in love with God. That’s not too big a stretch to go from kissing to staying in love with God.
When we think of God, we may have many images: Creator, Shepherd, Judge, Redeemer…but I wonder how often we think of God as Lover.
Rueben Job who wrote this book on Mr. Wesley’s 3 simple rules helps us in this regard. Mr. Wesley said to practice the “ordinances;” things like worship, scripture, prayer, fasting, and communion. Rueben Job says by following these spiritual disciplines we stay in love with God.
Worship for some may be drudgery. “I have to get up on Sunday morning, I have to put on dress clothes, I have to go to church.” There was a little girl who was just learning to attend worship. After going several times with her parents to church, she then went to her grandparents church, a big cathedral. It had marble floors and pillars. It also had plaques along the wall. The little girl asked her grandparents what the plaques meant. “Oh, they are memorials to those who died in the service.” The little girl hesitated before asking, “The contemporary service or the traditional service?”
What if going to worship meant dating God, getting to know God in an intimate way? At Sunday School this morning one young woman said that she grew up in the church in Texas. When she went away to college it was a long way off in California. She didn’t know anybody. She attended worship services at her new place of living. She said, “when I went to worship, it was like going home.”
Another woman I once knew was baptized in the church and confirmed in the church, but really stayed away from church for decades. Then she found the UMC and heard that we were about love and not laws, about relationships and not rules. She thrived in this environment. She loved attending worship. She grew in grace. She became a new person. She found a poet John O’Donahue who had the words for her, “May I have the courage today, to live the life that I would love, to postpone my dream no longer, but do at last what I came here for, and waste my heart on fear no more.”
In staying in love with God, worship is dating God.
Scripture is encountered in worship, and in Bible study, and in personal devotions. Several years ago, I went back to my seminary, Perkins, for Minister’s week. Many scholars presented many wonderful papers, but what I remember most is what Cecil Williams said. He was the pastor of Glide Memorial UMC in San Francisco which had a ministry to the homeless, those with HIV, etc. If you say the movie, the Pursuit of Happyness, you saw this pastor and church. On the same pew would sit a bank president and a prostitute. Cecil quoted a scripture that I had read many times, but I had never let get to me. It was Isaiah 43:4, “Because you are precious in my sight and honored, and I love you.” The people in his congregation needed to hear that. I need to hear that. Maybe you do too.
Every morning I go to a little book that directs me to a piece of scripture. I stay with that passage until I find something that resonates with me. I try to breathe that verse all day long. Today, it is from Matthew 11, “I am sending my messenger before your face to prepare the way of the Lord.” I think that I would be crazy if I didn’t practice this.
In staying in love with God, reading and hearing scripture is like getting a love letter from God.
In prayer, we may be good at asking God for things. The pastor was delivering the prayer in the worship service, when it was interrupted by a loud whistle. After the prayer, a mom leaned over to her son, “Gary, was that you?” “Yes.” “Why did you whistle right then?” “Well I was praying to God to teach me how to whistle, and right then He did!”
In praying we may not be as good when it comes to listening for God. Once I was trying to teach a man about how to listen for God by practicing my form of breath prayers. I was trying to help him clear out all of the clutter so he could hear God. As we went along he said, “You know that I am a recovering Catholic. I grew up learning rote prayers. I always thought of them as punishment! You would go the priest and say, “Father, I have sinned….” He would reply, “Say 3 Hail Mary’s and 5 Our Father’s.” Now I know that I could have used those as breath prayers to listen for God.”
In staying in love with God, prayer becomes pillow talk.
The discipline of fasting we may not practice so much these days….or do we? How many times have you waited dinner? “I know you are hungry kids, but daddy isn’t home yet. We’ll eat when he gets here.” How many times have I been in the surgery waiting room with the parents whose child is in operating theater? “Would you like to get something to eat?” I ask. “No, we’re not hungry,” they say. Fasting is waiting on the one you love.
Fasting may be literally going without eating food. I recently encountered a pastor who went on a Daniel fast. For 21 days, he did not eat meat or fat or sugar or milk; he mostly ate fruits and vegetables and grains. He did it with his wife, then with the church leadership, and then with the whole congregation. Amazing things happened in the church. Fasting is not a manipulation of God. It is waiting on God. It is done in conjunction with prayer.
Fasting may also may mean going without other things. I know a man who….listen up you guys…went through the football season without watching one football game on TV so he could devote more time to his family. Others might fast from spending so much time on the computer or from cursing.
In staying in love with God, fasting is waiting on the one you love.
We have the sacrament of communion here month after month at this table. I wonder if we take for granted the power of the risen Christ in this meal. I once helped with a spiritual retreat for young men. One of the young men was outstanding in every way: he was a scholar, he was an athlete, he was active in his church. He was also a perfectionist. He never felt good enough. He felt he never did enough good for God to love him. On the 3 day retreat we had communion once each day. At the closing communion after hearing about God’s grace, God’s unmerited love for him, he said, “Every time before when I took communion, it has always tasted bitter. Now for the first time, it tasted sweet.”
In staying in love with God, communion becomes like dinner out…and God picks up the tab.
So John Wesley called such things ordinances. We don’t like that word. It sounds like laws. But what if we dug deeper and found that such ordinances are what bring order to our lives? What if they brought the harmony we desire in intimacy?
We have these 3 simple rules. We don’t like that word either. It also sounds like laws. But various Christian communities have had a “rule,” a code of conduct, a pattern of living. What if these rules helped us find the way of life?
And what does the Colossians passage have to do with this? It says that we are to continue to practice what we have been taught so we may thrive as Christians. We are to walk in the way that we learned, or in other words to stay in love with God.
And what does all of this have to do with kissing? I got this sage advice from Phoebe the Clown a long time ago at a clown workshop. She said, “Shaking hands is good. Hugging is better. But kissing….kissing is the best of all. Why not the best?”
Why not the best? Stay in love with God.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
3 H
12/9/10 My breath prayer for the day is Psalm 146:5, "Happy are those whose help in the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD their God." I grew up with 4H programs in the schools. I believe the 4 h's are head, heart, hands, and health. I like this passage because it has 3 h's for us, Happy, Help, and Hope.
Love,
Lynn
Love,
Lynn
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
great things
12/8/10 My breath prayer today comes from the Magnificat which Mary sings in Luke's Gospel, chapter 1;49, "The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name." We had a great church conference last night. Mary Lou thankfully thought about providing hospitality and had coffee and cookies for us. Helen had all of the papers in order. Jim had done a wonderful video of great things God has been doing in this congregation. Gordon had pulled together a powerpoint presentation of great things. Corey gave a succint finance report. Kim helped with the staff-parish items. Sarah handled the membership issues. Our District Superintendent invited testimonies from the 40 people gathered for our annual accountablity session. I would have come for these heartful stories alone. Christ is moving in our church and doing great things.
Love,
Lynn
Love,
Lynn
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
highway
12/7/10 My breath prayer for the day comes from the prophet Isaiah 35:8 & 9c, "A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way....the redeemed shall walk there." My usual routine is to rise early, read a bit of scripture till something sticks with me as a breath prayer, and then to walk and pray. So as I walked this morning along the paths in the park behind our house I imagined that I was walking along God's highway. I imagined the street sign read, "Holy Way." I imagined that same path for the many people and situations that I carry in prayer.
Too many people think they live on a street whose name is "Wrong Way" or "Do Not Enter." I believe that God has another direction for us, a highway called "Holy Way."
Love,
Lynn
Too many people think they live on a street whose name is "Wrong Way" or "Do Not Enter." I believe that God has another direction for us, a highway called "Holy Way."
Love,
Lynn
Monday, December 6, 2010
Do Good
from my sermon on 12/5/10 on Acts 10:38
A family visited us for the first time last Sunday. They had done considerable research on us through our website. In talking with the mom that afternoon, she said, "I really like your vision statement, 'Following One, Serving All.' It's so clear, so simple. That resonates with me."
This season of Advent we are trying to be clear with our church wide study on this little book, Three Simple Rules: Do no harm, do good, stay in love with God. This week we focus on doing good. I want to affirm you Westlake UMC: you really do well at doing good.
You have seen those pictures in the paper, on TV, and on the internet of a company presenting a huge check for $5,000 to some charity. Well, I am not going to spoil the environment with more paper, so I will project these huge checks on the screen. The first one is for $121,406 that this congregation is giving this year to apportionments. That is Methodistspeak for "a portion meant for others." You don't even see this out of our $1million dollar budget how much you are giving for the needy through our Methodist connections. The second check is for $48,486 that we have already given this year to other missions like Haiti relief, Imagine no malaria, etc. The third check is for $31,100 that we are spending this year on local service projects like Any Baby Can, Mobil Loaves and Fishes, etc. In addition, we are giving to Christmas in October some 12 mission projects and Alternative Gifts Market in November...and on and on. I want to thank you today for your doing good.
Mr. Wesley who founded the Methodist movement and wrote these 3 simple rules said that we were to do good by taking of people's bodies. He was very present to the here and now. We are called to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, visit those who are sick or in prison. We are further called to take care of people's souls. We are doing this. Women from this church go to the Gatesville prison to help inmates read stories to their children in the Storybook project. Person from this church take the altar flowers to the sick and homebound. We visit those who are in grief, not just once, but many times over a year. We listen to people, pray with them, and encourage them.
Here's the first point: most of the time nobody will ever see us doing good. It won't make the headlines; it won't even get reported. Most people won't know. But that's okay. We play to an audience of One. God sees. That's enough.
Secondly, we do good because it feels good. I try to work on Habitat for Humanity on Friday mornings. I get to work with my hands. I get to work with some other guys. Gerard our boss and church member calls me "Rev. Lynn" on the jobsite. You should hear how the language changes when I show up and am identified this way! Kevin, a Roman Catholic man, who works there recently gave me a book. It is called The Power of Kindness by Pierro Ferrucci. You remember last week when we talked about doing no harm and how we were fighting global warming. Well this author on kindness talks about how in relationships today we are facing and Ice Age of the Heart. We sometimes lead cold, hurried, impersonal, uncivil lives. We need to do good to melt hearts. The author says that when we do good, when we practice kindness we are at our best. We are more like our true self here than anywhere else in life. We are at our most efficient and most effective because we are not wasting energy in worry, resentment, suspicion, manipulation, and self-defense. It feels good to do good. We are our best selves.
Thirdly, we do good because Jesus did and the church continued this. That's what is happening in the passage from Acts. Peter has gone to Cornelius's house to preach the good news. A former Jewish man converted to Christianity is going to the house of a Roman soldier, a member of the occupying army and a gentile. Peter realizes that Jesus who went about doing good to all wants to put no barriers on his love. God shows no partiality. All are included in God's grace.
Which brings me to one of our latest Long Range Planning meetings. Our chair, Ron, asked us if we really meant it when we say in our vision statement about serving all. Can we do that? Serve All? I think we need it in our vision statement or else we become comfortable. We put up the limits, the barriers too soon. And think about how it would sound if we said, "Following One, Serving Some." Or "serving those whom we like" or "serving those who are like us."
My response was that we can't meet all of the needs, but we need to be challenged by the "all" so we don't quit too soon. The way we determine those whose needs we can meet is to focus on the first part of the vision statement, "Following One." It is only by staying close to Christ that we discover with those we are called to do good. We stay close to Christ by staying in love with God, but that is next week's message. It starts with coming to this table today, praying, reading the Bible, and holding each other accountable. We can't serve all of the needs, but Christ will lead us to serve some.
We called to do good, but more than that to do what is godly. The object is not to be busy but to be close to Christ and what He would have us do. Some of us overfunction. We need to keep it simple and cut back and do what is godly, not just what is good.
I want to affirm you this day of all that you do good that no one but God ever sees. I want you to know the best selves that come out when we do good. I want us to continue doing the good that Jesus did.
A family visited us for the first time last Sunday. They had done considerable research on us through our website. In talking with the mom that afternoon, she said, "I really like your vision statement, 'Following One, Serving All.' It's so clear, so simple. That resonates with me."
This season of Advent we are trying to be clear with our church wide study on this little book, Three Simple Rules: Do no harm, do good, stay in love with God. This week we focus on doing good. I want to affirm you Westlake UMC: you really do well at doing good.
You have seen those pictures in the paper, on TV, and on the internet of a company presenting a huge check for $5,000 to some charity. Well, I am not going to spoil the environment with more paper, so I will project these huge checks on the screen. The first one is for $121,406 that this congregation is giving this year to apportionments. That is Methodistspeak for "a portion meant for others." You don't even see this out of our $1million dollar budget how much you are giving for the needy through our Methodist connections. The second check is for $48,486 that we have already given this year to other missions like Haiti relief, Imagine no malaria, etc. The third check is for $31,100 that we are spending this year on local service projects like Any Baby Can, Mobil Loaves and Fishes, etc. In addition, we are giving to Christmas in October some 12 mission projects and Alternative Gifts Market in November...and on and on. I want to thank you today for your doing good.
Mr. Wesley who founded the Methodist movement and wrote these 3 simple rules said that we were to do good by taking of people's bodies. He was very present to the here and now. We are called to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, visit those who are sick or in prison. We are further called to take care of people's souls. We are doing this. Women from this church go to the Gatesville prison to help inmates read stories to their children in the Storybook project. Person from this church take the altar flowers to the sick and homebound. We visit those who are in grief, not just once, but many times over a year. We listen to people, pray with them, and encourage them.
Here's the first point: most of the time nobody will ever see us doing good. It won't make the headlines; it won't even get reported. Most people won't know. But that's okay. We play to an audience of One. God sees. That's enough.
Secondly, we do good because it feels good. I try to work on Habitat for Humanity on Friday mornings. I get to work with my hands. I get to work with some other guys. Gerard our boss and church member calls me "Rev. Lynn" on the jobsite. You should hear how the language changes when I show up and am identified this way! Kevin, a Roman Catholic man, who works there recently gave me a book. It is called The Power of Kindness by Pierro Ferrucci. You remember last week when we talked about doing no harm and how we were fighting global warming. Well this author on kindness talks about how in relationships today we are facing and Ice Age of the Heart. We sometimes lead cold, hurried, impersonal, uncivil lives. We need to do good to melt hearts. The author says that when we do good, when we practice kindness we are at our best. We are more like our true self here than anywhere else in life. We are at our most efficient and most effective because we are not wasting energy in worry, resentment, suspicion, manipulation, and self-defense. It feels good to do good. We are our best selves.
Thirdly, we do good because Jesus did and the church continued this. That's what is happening in the passage from Acts. Peter has gone to Cornelius's house to preach the good news. A former Jewish man converted to Christianity is going to the house of a Roman soldier, a member of the occupying army and a gentile. Peter realizes that Jesus who went about doing good to all wants to put no barriers on his love. God shows no partiality. All are included in God's grace.
Which brings me to one of our latest Long Range Planning meetings. Our chair, Ron, asked us if we really meant it when we say in our vision statement about serving all. Can we do that? Serve All? I think we need it in our vision statement or else we become comfortable. We put up the limits, the barriers too soon. And think about how it would sound if we said, "Following One, Serving Some." Or "serving those whom we like" or "serving those who are like us."
My response was that we can't meet all of the needs, but we need to be challenged by the "all" so we don't quit too soon. The way we determine those whose needs we can meet is to focus on the first part of the vision statement, "Following One." It is only by staying close to Christ that we discover with those we are called to do good. We stay close to Christ by staying in love with God, but that is next week's message. It starts with coming to this table today, praying, reading the Bible, and holding each other accountable. We can't serve all of the needs, but Christ will lead us to serve some.
We called to do good, but more than that to do what is godly. The object is not to be busy but to be close to Christ and what He would have us do. Some of us overfunction. We need to keep it simple and cut back and do what is godly, not just what is good.
I want to affirm you this day of all that you do good that no one but God ever sees. I want you to know the best selves that come out when we do good. I want us to continue doing the good that Jesus did.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
details
12/2/10 This is the time of year that takes me to parts of my job that I like the least--the details. Church Conference, an annual meeting with our District Superintendent, is in a few days time. I have been working on nominations for all the chruch leadership roles, getting compensation forms filled out, writing my pastor's report, checking the membership audit, getting financial info together, obtaining reports from other pastors related to this church, etc. It is necessary, it is important, but it is not fun for me.
People say that the devil is in the details. I pray that God is also in the details.
Love,
Lynn
People say that the devil is in the details. I pray that God is also in the details.
Love,
Lynn
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
yes
12/1/10 For several weeks now I have been working with our Lay Leadership Committee. This is the group that prays and discerns, hoping to be led to the right people to take leadership roles in our congregation. We make phone calls, emails, text messages, and personal visits asking people to consider serving in the various ministries. I must admit sometimes that it is frustrating and exhausting. We can't reach people ( we get answering machines and calls aren't returned). We get a negative response ( maybe we weren't listening well to the Spirit's leading).
But over the last 2 days, we have gotten the response "yes" many times. What an upper that is! People actually saying, "That sounds like fun! Count me in! When do I get started?" The last 2 nights I have had a hard time going to sleep because I have been high on faithful folks saying "yes."
Love,
Lynn
But over the last 2 days, we have gotten the response "yes" many times. What an upper that is! People actually saying, "That sounds like fun! Count me in! When do I get started?" The last 2 nights I have had a hard time going to sleep because I have been high on faithful folks saying "yes."
Love,
Lynn
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