11/30/11 My breath prayer for the day comes from Psalm 85:2, "You forgave the iniquity of your people; you pardoned all their sin." I really need to hear these words. I carry the burden of guilt around. I feel my incompleteness, my failure, my lack, my sin. I love what these words say, that God has already forgiven, already pardoned. It is done. It is over. It is in the past.
Love,
Lynn
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
stand
11/29/11 My breath prayer today comes from Isaiah 40:8, "The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever." In this time of drought, I have seen the dry grass, the fading flowers. Even trees are dying. It is more than the usual fall slowing down of plant life. Many plants are giving up. The lack of water has finally done them in.
However, there are some plants left standing. The mighty oaks trees, some hundreds of years old in the park behind our house have withstood such challenges before. They continue to thrive.
We realized how fragile life is...how fragile each one of us and all of humanity is...how fragile our ecosystem is. We wither and fade, but God's word will stand forever. May we stand secure in that hope.
Love,
Lynn
However, there are some plants left standing. The mighty oaks trees, some hundreds of years old in the park behind our house have withstood such challenges before. They continue to thrive.
We realized how fragile life is...how fragile each one of us and all of humanity is...how fragile our ecosystem is. We wither and fade, but God's word will stand forever. May we stand secure in that hope.
Love,
Lynn
Monday, November 28, 2011
wake up time
from my sermon on 11/27/11 from Mark 13:24-37
It's Wake up Time! In a couple of moments, we are going to sound our alarms, so I give you permission to get out your smart phones. I will give you some time to go to that alarm sound, or ring tone, while I talk.
Happy New Year! Yes, it is the beginning of a new church year. It's the first Sunday of Advent. Advent means coming. We celebrate the coming of Christ in the flesh some 2,000 years ago in Jesus of Nazareth. We anticipate the coming of Christ at the end of time, when he brings all things to completion. We live in the "in-between" time. This Advent, I am preaching a sermon series on time.
You still have another moment to find that sound while I tell a little story. I have been listening to 102.7 FM, all comedy, all the time, radio. I am not suggesting that you do, because some of the comics are quite raunchy, having a potty mouth. However, they have some of the classics on like Bill Cosby and Joan Rivers. It's great when you are stuck in traffic to hear a stand up comedian do his spiel. So two weeks ago I was listening to this comedian. He said, I travel all the time, working the clubs, making the rounds, staying in a different motel every night. I checked into this one motel and asked them to give me a courtesy call at 10 a.m. to get me up in the morning. At 6 a.m. the phone rang and I said, Hello?! The woman on the phone said, You have wasted the last 15 years of your life.....Now that was a real wake-up call!
Let's hear what gets you up in the morning...sound those alarms and ring tones now.
In this passage, Jesus sounds the alarm. He gives a wake up call. You know that the gospel was not written until some 40 years after Jesus died and was raised again. The temple in Jerusalem is probably being destroyed. People were remembering what Jesus said...that the destruction of the temple did not mean it was the end of time. This whole 13th chapter of Mark is known as the "little apocalypse," where Jesus talks about signs of the end.
It is a hard chapter to understand. I need to do some explaining. That line about this generation will not pass away until all of these things have taken place is difficult. How long is a generation? 20 years, 40 years? The first Christians expected the imminent return of Jesus. It didn't happen. My understanding of generation is this: the life span of the entire human race.
When will the end come? I like what Jesus says about the angels not knowing, not even Son knowing, but only the Father. When it comes to predicting the end, a little humility is in order. This year there have been 2 end times already predicted. Next year 2012, we have already gotten worked up about the Mayan calendar saying it is the end. Too many times in my brief life, I have heard such misguided predictions. At A & M, I got scared reading the Late, Great Planet Earth. It didn't happen according to that author's plan. In the last years, we have had the Left Behind Series. A little humility please when it comes to the end times.
There are signs that can be misleading. My first roommate at A & M was Danny, a good Catholic boy who attended Catholic schools. One of the nuns, his teachers was overly concerned about the end times. That fall was a false spring like this one. Have you noticed that after our drought, we have had a little rain and warm temperatures, and some of the trees are budding out in the fall? That fall, a fig tree started budding out, and the nun took it as a sign that the end was near. Please lower your anxiety about the end times.
We don't know when. Instead of being so concerned about the nearness of the end times, I would have us be more concerned with the nearness of the Christ. Christ comes, quickly, unexpectedly. Holiness comes suddenly into our lives. Jesus words are Be alert, Beware, Keep Awake.
I have an example from A Streetcar Named Desire. There are a lot of great lines from that play...Stella....but the one I quote comes in scene six, an exchange between Blanche and Mitch. They have just come back from a date. They are awkward with each other. Mitch is sweating profusely, but keeps his coat on to hide his perspiration. Blanche is fixing a drink. Slowly, they start peeling back the layers of their lives, sharing more, revealing who they are. Blanche finally tells about how her young husband took his own life. Mitch hugs her. He says, You need somebody. I need somebody too. They kiss. Blanche says, "Sometimes--there's God--so quickly." Christ comes so suddenly.
Your name is Isaiah. It is your turn to work in the temple. You are not expecting anything. It's just your job, your shift to fill, punch in at the time clock and get on with it. But suddenly the temple is filled with smoke and angels singing. Holiness comes near. You hear a voice, Whom shall I send and Who will go for us? You reply, Here I am send me. It is your wake up call.
You come to worship here. There are the announcements, the scripture reading, the sermom, the songs, but wait...all of a sudden a line from a song hits you....Here I am, Lord, is it I Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go Lord, if you lead me...I will hold your people in my heart. It is your wake up call.
Your name is Mary. You a good girl, but you are just a girl. You go to synagogue. You do your chores. But one day an angel comes to you...an angel! The angels says, You are blessed...you are going to have a child... this child will be the Messiah...the Savior of the world! You say, Let it be....I am the handmaiden of the Lord. All of sudden, the Lord comes near you. It is your wake up call.
You are a girl who goes to school at Columbine High School. It is just another class day...except this day, two misguided young men go crazy and start shooting people. One of them holds a gun to your head, and asks if you are a Christian...and you say yes. You witness to the nearness of Christ with your last breath.
I was out walking early this morning when I heard a rooster crow. It took back to one of those closest to Jesus...yes, Peter. He was there in the courtyard that last night of Jesus' life. Others would come up to him...... I know you are one of his followers.....you must be, you speak with a Galilean accent....you are one of his disciples....and 3 times you say, I don't know him. You deny him. And the cock crows. And you realize that was your wake up call.
Your closest friend invites you over. In the living room are family members and other close friends. One by one, they say something like, I love you very much, but I am concerned about your behavior as it relates to alcohol. I remember that time, you came home drunk, slurring your speech. You tried to hit me. I was so scared. I care about you. After everyone has spoken, you realize that this is an intervention, and that you have been living in denial. This is your wake up call.
Several of you have been asking about Pastor Jim. What did you do with him? I have set Jim free to pursue this new ministry here called the Point. Jim is starting a worship gathering on Sunday evenings where people come to then be sent into the world to serve. On most Sunday mornings, Jim has been at the local Starbucks, drinking coffee, doodling on the computer, reading, jouraling. Two weeks ago, Jim was there, and a woman came up to him. She said, I notice your name badge, Jim Austin, Rethink Church. What does that mean? she asked. Jim explained that he was a pastor exploring this new vision for church called the Point. The woman nodded and started to walk away. As she go to the door, she turned back, and approached Jim. You said you are a pastor...would you pray for my 2 children? Christ comes just that suddenly. There are many people outside of these walls who need a blessing, who need our prayers.
Let me be candid. It is hard to stay awake. In the very next chapter of Mark, Jesus takes his inner circle, Peter, James, and John, up to a garden on the Mt. of Olives to pray with him. It is his last night upon earth. He asks them to remain here and keep awake. It is the very same word in our passage. Three times he comes to them to find them asleep. Could you not stay awake 1 hour and pray with me? he asks. They cannot. We cannot. The amazing, incredible good news is that we are the very people that Christ came for. This Advent we need to wake up to the fact that we need a Savior.
It is too easy to fall asleep in our culture. The message of Christ gets buried in the advertising, the crowds, the crazy busyness, the rushing of this season. How will you stay awake? Cathy and I are trying to simplify, to cut back on buying, on scheduling, on overfunctioning. How will you stay awake this Advent. Christ comes so quickly.
It's Wake up Time! In a couple of moments, we are going to sound our alarms, so I give you permission to get out your smart phones. I will give you some time to go to that alarm sound, or ring tone, while I talk.
Happy New Year! Yes, it is the beginning of a new church year. It's the first Sunday of Advent. Advent means coming. We celebrate the coming of Christ in the flesh some 2,000 years ago in Jesus of Nazareth. We anticipate the coming of Christ at the end of time, when he brings all things to completion. We live in the "in-between" time. This Advent, I am preaching a sermon series on time.
You still have another moment to find that sound while I tell a little story. I have been listening to 102.7 FM, all comedy, all the time, radio. I am not suggesting that you do, because some of the comics are quite raunchy, having a potty mouth. However, they have some of the classics on like Bill Cosby and Joan Rivers. It's great when you are stuck in traffic to hear a stand up comedian do his spiel. So two weeks ago I was listening to this comedian. He said, I travel all the time, working the clubs, making the rounds, staying in a different motel every night. I checked into this one motel and asked them to give me a courtesy call at 10 a.m. to get me up in the morning. At 6 a.m. the phone rang and I said, Hello?! The woman on the phone said, You have wasted the last 15 years of your life.....Now that was a real wake-up call!
Let's hear what gets you up in the morning...sound those alarms and ring tones now.
In this passage, Jesus sounds the alarm. He gives a wake up call. You know that the gospel was not written until some 40 years after Jesus died and was raised again. The temple in Jerusalem is probably being destroyed. People were remembering what Jesus said...that the destruction of the temple did not mean it was the end of time. This whole 13th chapter of Mark is known as the "little apocalypse," where Jesus talks about signs of the end.
It is a hard chapter to understand. I need to do some explaining. That line about this generation will not pass away until all of these things have taken place is difficult. How long is a generation? 20 years, 40 years? The first Christians expected the imminent return of Jesus. It didn't happen. My understanding of generation is this: the life span of the entire human race.
When will the end come? I like what Jesus says about the angels not knowing, not even Son knowing, but only the Father. When it comes to predicting the end, a little humility is in order. This year there have been 2 end times already predicted. Next year 2012, we have already gotten worked up about the Mayan calendar saying it is the end. Too many times in my brief life, I have heard such misguided predictions. At A & M, I got scared reading the Late, Great Planet Earth. It didn't happen according to that author's plan. In the last years, we have had the Left Behind Series. A little humility please when it comes to the end times.
There are signs that can be misleading. My first roommate at A & M was Danny, a good Catholic boy who attended Catholic schools. One of the nuns, his teachers was overly concerned about the end times. That fall was a false spring like this one. Have you noticed that after our drought, we have had a little rain and warm temperatures, and some of the trees are budding out in the fall? That fall, a fig tree started budding out, and the nun took it as a sign that the end was near. Please lower your anxiety about the end times.
We don't know when. Instead of being so concerned about the nearness of the end times, I would have us be more concerned with the nearness of the Christ. Christ comes, quickly, unexpectedly. Holiness comes suddenly into our lives. Jesus words are Be alert, Beware, Keep Awake.
I have an example from A Streetcar Named Desire. There are a lot of great lines from that play...Stella....but the one I quote comes in scene six, an exchange between Blanche and Mitch. They have just come back from a date. They are awkward with each other. Mitch is sweating profusely, but keeps his coat on to hide his perspiration. Blanche is fixing a drink. Slowly, they start peeling back the layers of their lives, sharing more, revealing who they are. Blanche finally tells about how her young husband took his own life. Mitch hugs her. He says, You need somebody. I need somebody too. They kiss. Blanche says, "Sometimes--there's God--so quickly." Christ comes so suddenly.
Your name is Isaiah. It is your turn to work in the temple. You are not expecting anything. It's just your job, your shift to fill, punch in at the time clock and get on with it. But suddenly the temple is filled with smoke and angels singing. Holiness comes near. You hear a voice, Whom shall I send and Who will go for us? You reply, Here I am send me. It is your wake up call.
You come to worship here. There are the announcements, the scripture reading, the sermom, the songs, but wait...all of a sudden a line from a song hits you....Here I am, Lord, is it I Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go Lord, if you lead me...I will hold your people in my heart. It is your wake up call.
Your name is Mary. You a good girl, but you are just a girl. You go to synagogue. You do your chores. But one day an angel comes to you...an angel! The angels says, You are blessed...you are going to have a child... this child will be the Messiah...the Savior of the world! You say, Let it be....I am the handmaiden of the Lord. All of sudden, the Lord comes near you. It is your wake up call.
You are a girl who goes to school at Columbine High School. It is just another class day...except this day, two misguided young men go crazy and start shooting people. One of them holds a gun to your head, and asks if you are a Christian...and you say yes. You witness to the nearness of Christ with your last breath.
I was out walking early this morning when I heard a rooster crow. It took back to one of those closest to Jesus...yes, Peter. He was there in the courtyard that last night of Jesus' life. Others would come up to him...... I know you are one of his followers.....you must be, you speak with a Galilean accent....you are one of his disciples....and 3 times you say, I don't know him. You deny him. And the cock crows. And you realize that was your wake up call.
Your closest friend invites you over. In the living room are family members and other close friends. One by one, they say something like, I love you very much, but I am concerned about your behavior as it relates to alcohol. I remember that time, you came home drunk, slurring your speech. You tried to hit me. I was so scared. I care about you. After everyone has spoken, you realize that this is an intervention, and that you have been living in denial. This is your wake up call.
Several of you have been asking about Pastor Jim. What did you do with him? I have set Jim free to pursue this new ministry here called the Point. Jim is starting a worship gathering on Sunday evenings where people come to then be sent into the world to serve. On most Sunday mornings, Jim has been at the local Starbucks, drinking coffee, doodling on the computer, reading, jouraling. Two weeks ago, Jim was there, and a woman came up to him. She said, I notice your name badge, Jim Austin, Rethink Church. What does that mean? she asked. Jim explained that he was a pastor exploring this new vision for church called the Point. The woman nodded and started to walk away. As she go to the door, she turned back, and approached Jim. You said you are a pastor...would you pray for my 2 children? Christ comes just that suddenly. There are many people outside of these walls who need a blessing, who need our prayers.
Let me be candid. It is hard to stay awake. In the very next chapter of Mark, Jesus takes his inner circle, Peter, James, and John, up to a garden on the Mt. of Olives to pray with him. It is his last night upon earth. He asks them to remain here and keep awake. It is the very same word in our passage. Three times he comes to them to find them asleep. Could you not stay awake 1 hour and pray with me? he asks. They cannot. We cannot. The amazing, incredible good news is that we are the very people that Christ came for. This Advent we need to wake up to the fact that we need a Savior.
It is too easy to fall asleep in our culture. The message of Christ gets buried in the advertising, the crowds, the crazy busyness, the rushing of this season. How will you stay awake? Cathy and I are trying to simplify, to cut back on buying, on scheduling, on overfunctioning. How will you stay awake this Advent. Christ comes so quickly.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Hindsight
from my sermon on Nov. 20, 2011 from Matthew 25:31-40
They say that hindsight is....20/20. In other words, in looking back, we see better, we can say, "Ah, that's how it really was."
In this passage, those who honored the Christ didn't see him until they looked back. It was in how they treated the most vulnerable....giving food to the hungry, water to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, taking care of the sick, visiting those in prison. They didn't do it to get credit, or earn salvation, or even to to see Jesus. They did it because it was the right thing to do. It was only in looking back, in hindsight, that they saw Jesus.
Looking back, we may see Jesus as well. I want us to look back over our recent past. Twp years ago, our church began to participate in Imagine No Malaria. To date, we have given over $35,000 to this cause. The Austin District was the pilot program for the whole denomination and has given almost $1 million. The UMC as a denomination has given more than 588,000 bed nets, trained more than 35,000 health care workers, and resourced more than 15 health clinics. We have the boldness to say that we want to rid the continent of Africa of the disease of malaria by 2015. Can you see Jesus here?
in this past year, Our congregation sent mission teams to Haiti, Uganda, Honduras on the international front. We sent youth and adults to North Carolina to ReCre, to do home repair. We sent a team to do home repair in New Orleans area. How long ago did Katrina hit? We are still there serving people. Now we are going to Bastrop after the wildfires. I know that I am leaving out many other missions, but these give you some idea of how we have been serving in the wider world and closer to home.
We are a 5 star mission church. That means we pay all of our apportionments or "a portion meant" for others. This current year that means out of our $1 million budget, we are giving $119,689 for others. We also give to many internation, national, and local missions. I have a certificate here that thanks us for being a 5 star mission church.
Westlake UMC has a tradition of Christmas in October. Already you have given $7,630 plus many blankets, coats, scarves, clothes, etc. Others have taken care of pets or given coffee to troops.
Westlake participates in Any Baby Can, Brackenridge Sewing room, Capital Area Food Bank, Caritas, Family Eldercare, Foundation for the Homeless ( recognize Robert and Peggy Davis for their service), Grace Food Pantry, Habitat for Humanity, Meals on Wheels & More, Mobile Loaves and Fishes, Montopolis Center, New Life Institute, Safe Place, Women's Storybook Project...and many more. Can you see Christ here?
If you come around this church, you will be encouraged to join us in our vision statement of "Following One, Serving All."
There is a danger in not seeing. I tell a parable that I got from Clinebell's Basic Types of Pastoral Counseling, a story that was written in 1953. Let's see if it still fits.
On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur there was once a crude little lifesaving station. the building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, buththe few devoted members kept a constatn watchover the sea, and with no though for themselves went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. Many lives were saved by this wonderful little station, so that it became famous. Some of those who were saved, adn various others in the surrounding area, wanted to become associated with the station and give of their time and money and effort for teh support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews trained. The little lifesaving station grew.
Some of the members of the lifesaving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be porvided as the first refuge of thsoe saved from the sea. So they replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building. Now the lifesaving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it beautifully adn furnished it exquisitely, because they used it as sort of a club. Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on lifesaving mision, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work. The lifesaving motif still prevailed in this club's decoration, adn there was a liturgical lifeboat in the room where the club initiations were held. About this time a large ship was wrecked off teh coast, and the hired crews brought in boatloads of cold, wet, and half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick, and some of them had black skin and some had yellow skin. The beautiful new clud was in chaos. So the property comittee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where victims of shipwreck could be cleaned up before coming inside.
At the next meeting, there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club's lifesaving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted upon lifesaving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a lifesaving station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save the lives of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own lifesaving station down the coast. They did.
As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a club, and yet another lifesaving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself, adn if you visit that sea coast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore. Shipwrecks are frequent in those, waters, but most of the people drown!
God save us from ever becoming a club! May we always see ourselves as a lifesaving station!
I challenge you: Where do you see yourself in mission? Where do you see Christ? I have shared with you many ways for you to get in mission through this church. The worship bulletin and the website have many other ways every week. But I want you to see yourself in mission in your business place, your neighborhood, your school, your family. Don't wait for me to call you; Christ has already called you. The point for each of us is this: me in mission. Everyone of us in mission.
There are some folks practicing this in our midst. Karen was talking to me. She said, "I want to hold babies." We thought and we prayed and we looked. It turns out that St. David's Neo-natal ICU needs people to hold babies...to feed them...to talk to them...to hold them. Karen found her place in mission. There is a man in our midst who has a passion for the soldiers returning home. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are winding down. Many troops are coming home. Some have a difficult adjustment. You know the unemployment rate among these troops is higher than the general population. This man is working with the Red Cross to help these soldiers. There is another man who sees the high unemployment in the Texas Valley. He is creating a non-profit to provide training for the Latino population. The fifth graders get it. Two Sunday ago at their Fifth in Service to Him they collected some 173 lbs. of food for the food bank. Our youth get it. Last Sunday at the youth council, one of the young women said, "I come to worship and Sunday School and Bible Study. I get it about God and the Bible, all the teaching. What would get me here for UMYF (United Methodist Youth Fellowship) is not games and sugar or more teaching. What would get me here is mission. I want to make a difference in the world.
I am going to allow for some silence. I want you to look back over your life. Where have you seeen Jesus? That may be God nudging you into that particular ministry. Might this be your calling? Then look ahead. How will you be in mission? Where you see the Christ?
They say that hindsight is....20/20. In other words, in looking back, we see better, we can say, "Ah, that's how it really was."
In this passage, those who honored the Christ didn't see him until they looked back. It was in how they treated the most vulnerable....giving food to the hungry, water to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, taking care of the sick, visiting those in prison. They didn't do it to get credit, or earn salvation, or even to to see Jesus. They did it because it was the right thing to do. It was only in looking back, in hindsight, that they saw Jesus.
Looking back, we may see Jesus as well. I want us to look back over our recent past. Twp years ago, our church began to participate in Imagine No Malaria. To date, we have given over $35,000 to this cause. The Austin District was the pilot program for the whole denomination and has given almost $1 million. The UMC as a denomination has given more than 588,000 bed nets, trained more than 35,000 health care workers, and resourced more than 15 health clinics. We have the boldness to say that we want to rid the continent of Africa of the disease of malaria by 2015. Can you see Jesus here?
in this past year, Our congregation sent mission teams to Haiti, Uganda, Honduras on the international front. We sent youth and adults to North Carolina to ReCre, to do home repair. We sent a team to do home repair in New Orleans area. How long ago did Katrina hit? We are still there serving people. Now we are going to Bastrop after the wildfires. I know that I am leaving out many other missions, but these give you some idea of how we have been serving in the wider world and closer to home.
We are a 5 star mission church. That means we pay all of our apportionments or "a portion meant" for others. This current year that means out of our $1 million budget, we are giving $119,689 for others. We also give to many internation, national, and local missions. I have a certificate here that thanks us for being a 5 star mission church.
Westlake UMC has a tradition of Christmas in October. Already you have given $7,630 plus many blankets, coats, scarves, clothes, etc. Others have taken care of pets or given coffee to troops.
Westlake participates in Any Baby Can, Brackenridge Sewing room, Capital Area Food Bank, Caritas, Family Eldercare, Foundation for the Homeless ( recognize Robert and Peggy Davis for their service), Grace Food Pantry, Habitat for Humanity, Meals on Wheels & More, Mobile Loaves and Fishes, Montopolis Center, New Life Institute, Safe Place, Women's Storybook Project...and many more. Can you see Christ here?
If you come around this church, you will be encouraged to join us in our vision statement of "Following One, Serving All."
There is a danger in not seeing. I tell a parable that I got from Clinebell's Basic Types of Pastoral Counseling, a story that was written in 1953. Let's see if it still fits.
On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur there was once a crude little lifesaving station. the building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, buththe few devoted members kept a constatn watchover the sea, and with no though for themselves went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. Many lives were saved by this wonderful little station, so that it became famous. Some of those who were saved, adn various others in the surrounding area, wanted to become associated with the station and give of their time and money and effort for teh support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews trained. The little lifesaving station grew.
Some of the members of the lifesaving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be porvided as the first refuge of thsoe saved from the sea. So they replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building. Now the lifesaving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it beautifully adn furnished it exquisitely, because they used it as sort of a club. Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on lifesaving mision, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work. The lifesaving motif still prevailed in this club's decoration, adn there was a liturgical lifeboat in the room where the club initiations were held. About this time a large ship was wrecked off teh coast, and the hired crews brought in boatloads of cold, wet, and half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick, and some of them had black skin and some had yellow skin. The beautiful new clud was in chaos. So the property comittee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where victims of shipwreck could be cleaned up before coming inside.
At the next meeting, there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club's lifesaving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted upon lifesaving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a lifesaving station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save the lives of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own lifesaving station down the coast. They did.
As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a club, and yet another lifesaving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself, adn if you visit that sea coast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore. Shipwrecks are frequent in those, waters, but most of the people drown!
God save us from ever becoming a club! May we always see ourselves as a lifesaving station!
I challenge you: Where do you see yourself in mission? Where do you see Christ? I have shared with you many ways for you to get in mission through this church. The worship bulletin and the website have many other ways every week. But I want you to see yourself in mission in your business place, your neighborhood, your school, your family. Don't wait for me to call you; Christ has already called you. The point for each of us is this: me in mission. Everyone of us in mission.
There are some folks practicing this in our midst. Karen was talking to me. She said, "I want to hold babies." We thought and we prayed and we looked. It turns out that St. David's Neo-natal ICU needs people to hold babies...to feed them...to talk to them...to hold them. Karen found her place in mission. There is a man in our midst who has a passion for the soldiers returning home. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are winding down. Many troops are coming home. Some have a difficult adjustment. You know the unemployment rate among these troops is higher than the general population. This man is working with the Red Cross to help these soldiers. There is another man who sees the high unemployment in the Texas Valley. He is creating a non-profit to provide training for the Latino population. The fifth graders get it. Two Sunday ago at their Fifth in Service to Him they collected some 173 lbs. of food for the food bank. Our youth get it. Last Sunday at the youth council, one of the young women said, "I come to worship and Sunday School and Bible Study. I get it about God and the Bible, all the teaching. What would get me here for UMYF (United Methodist Youth Fellowship) is not games and sugar or more teaching. What would get me here is mission. I want to make a difference in the world.
I am going to allow for some silence. I want you to look back over your life. Where have you seeen Jesus? That may be God nudging you into that particular ministry. Might this be your calling? Then look ahead. How will you be in mission? Where you see the Christ?
Thursday, November 17, 2011
when did we see you
11/17/11 I am preaching this week from Matthew 25:31-40, where Jesus tells a parable of judgment, as the Son of Man separates the sheep from the goats. The sheep, those at the right hand of the throne, the blessed ones, the righteous, are amazed at their good fortune. They ask over and over again, "When did we see you, Lord?" Of course the answer is that we see Jesus in the most vulverable--the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the sick, the lonely, those in prison. How well do you see? Whom do you see? When did we see you, Lord?
Love,
Lynn
Love,
Lynn
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
it's personal
11/16/11 My breath prayer for the day comes from Ezekiel 34:11, "For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out." We know the familiar words of the 23rd Psalm, "The Lord is my shepherd." Similiar imagery is found here in the prophet Isaiah. We have a God who doesn't want a single one of his sheep to go missing, to be lost. We have a God who is not far off, uninvolved, unconcerned, but one who is near, invested, and concerned. For this God, they are "my" sheep. For this God, "I myself" will look for them. With this God, it's personal.
Love,
Lynn
Love,
Lynn
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
enter
11/15/11 My breath prayer today is Psalm 100. It is one of those passages that I have memorized through Disciple Bible Study and through Christian songs....make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye, all ye lands....and...I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart...I will enter his courts with praise....I will say this is the day the Lord has made...I will rejoice for he has made me glad.
It is about to rain outside. It is such a rare event. I am about to enter into a time of praise for this miracle. On my walk this morning, I have been singing the Christian songs from Psalm 100, entering into a time of praise.
Love,
Lynn
It is about to rain outside. It is such a rare event. I am about to enter into a time of praise for this miracle. On my walk this morning, I have been singing the Christian songs from Psalm 100, entering into a time of praise.
Love,
Lynn
Monday, November 14, 2011
does anybody know what time it is?
from my sermon on Nov. 13 from I Thes. 5:1-11
Do you know what time it is? Time is a funny thing. Last Sunday, we went from Daylight Savings Time to Central Standard Time....and we gained an extra hour...how cool is that? We could use an extra hour every week or every day, couldn't we?
Last year Cathy and I went to Australia and New Zealand. We left LAX late at night on a Tuesday. We got on our Qantas flight and journeyed for some 12 hours. We woke up and arrived in Brisbane, Australia, and it was Thursday morning. Where did Wednesday go? That pesky International Date Line just took away a whole day. Here's the amazing thing: flying back from Aukland, NZ, to LAX, we actually arrived before we took off!
There's time and then there's timing. One of my favorite jokes: do you know what the most important thing in comedy is-timing.
Paul uses two words for time and timing in this passage. I know you love it when I become Mr. Language Person so the word translated as "times" in English is the word "chronos" in Greek, from which we get chronology and chonometer. It is clock time, seconds, minutes, hours, days, etc. It might sound like this (Westminster chimes). The other word translated into English as "seasons" is the word "kairos" in Greek. It is the fullness of time, the right time, God's time, the proper time. It might sound like this ( sing "To every thing, turn, turn, turn, there is a season, turn, turn, turn, and a time to every purpose under heaven").
So what time is it? The clock on the wall says about 9:30 a.m. But the liturgical calendar from Godly Play says it is the second to last Sunday of the church year. Children, help me. In two weeks, we get into these 4 purple Sunday, a season of preparation we call....Advent. There's Christmas in white. Then comes these Sundays of green...epiphany...a time of revealing who Jesus is. Then comes these Sundays of purple and preparation again....Lent. This white is Easter. If we didn't have this holy day, we wouldn't have any of these other days. After Easter, there is this red Sunday....Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit. Then these Sundays of green, Ordinary time, which is really extraordinary time, because of the coming of Christ. We Christians tell time differently from the rest of the world. We tell time by the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ.
What time is it? There are some other time metaphors in this passage. One is the day of the Lord. It is a day anticipated by such prophets as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, and Zephaniah. It would be the time when the Lord would come and set everything right. It would be a day of judgment, of reckoning, when the righeous would be rewarded and the evil would be punished. Paul says the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. He picks up on language that Jesus used about the coming of the Lord. Do you know when the thief comes? NO. That's the point. It's unpredictable. Paul also says it is like labor pains. Any women here have give birth? You are given a due date. But does the child come on the due date? Sometimes. Sometimes sooner. Sometimes later. You are not in control. You need to be ready. You have the hospital bag packed. You have the neighbors on speed dial so they can come in and take care of the pets. You don't know when, so you live in a prepared state.
Time and timing are important. Chronos can become kairos. John Wesley started the Methdodist reform movement that grew out of his control and became the denomination that we know today as the United Methodist Church. He practiced and preached the value of time. He kept a journal of what he did....every 15 minutes of the day. He was just a tiny bit obsessive-compulsive. He said things like, "The meeting shall begin on time....never spend time idly."
There was a time on April 24, 1738, where as he writes in his journal, "I went very unwillingly to a meeting on Aldersgate street where someone was reading from Luther's preface to the letter to the Romans." It sounds like pretty dry stuff, doesn't it? But Wesley's heart was strangely warmed. He had a conversion experience. Chronos became kairos. He still struggled in his faith, but a year later, on May 2, 1739, he went out to a coal field, dressed in his vestments, and preached to the coal miners as they came out of the ground. He preached about salvation in Jesus Christ as a gift. They believed him. A reform movement became a spiritual revolution. Chronos became kairos.
In truth, Paul uses the terms almost interchangeably. We know that clock time can become God's time. This past week, I attended a meeting of the Austin District professionals, pastors, educators, youth workers, musicians, etc. We heard testimonies from our Phoenix pastors, those who have come through the wildfires. Andy Smith, the pastor at Bastrop, reminded us of the timeline. The wildfire event itself took 2 weeks time. The relief period is 10 times as long, therefore 20 weeks in duration, of which we are only 1/2 through. The recovery period is 100 times longer, or almost 4 years. We live in a rescue society, where we focus on the immediate fix. I am here to tell you that we will be with the Phoenix pastors and churches for the duration. We will make these years into God's time.
Cynthia Engstrom is the associate in Bastrop. She told us that some 30 families in that congregation alone lost everything. There were many more families that didn't know the status of their homes. The neighborhoods were closed off by police. Some were given only 10 minutes to return to see if they still had a home or not. Those who did still have a home and that short time used it to grab what linens and food they could....not for themselves but to give to others. Chronos became kaipos.
There is a prison ministry, that usually begins on a Thursday evening and goes through Sunday afternoon. It mirrors passion and death and resurrection of Jesus of Holy Week and Easter Sunday. Talks about the Christian faith are given. Communion is celebrated once a day. The prison is inundated with cookies, thousands of cookies. Some of you have baked cookies for these weekends. You know what this prison ministry is called? Kairos...God's time.
I don't often do this...get so personal, but I want to tell you what happened on this past Father's day, the third Sunday of June. We went out to lunch with our older son Joel. He has been pushing off against us....as an almost 30 year old is wont to do. We were eating at Jason's Deli. I was having my 1/4 muffeleta with vegetarian vegetable soup. It was pleasant. Joel gave me the obligatory Father's Day card. It was some Peanuts cartoon, Charlie Brown and Snoopy theme, totally forgettable. At the bottom of the card, Joel wrote, "Dad, I want to spend more time with you." All of a sudden, the meal became the sacrament of communion. The prodigal son was returning home. Chronos became kairos.
I have so much to say about time that I can't fit it all into this message. But Advent is coming, and I will take the time to do a sermon series as follows:
Nov. 27 Mark 13:24-37 Wake Up Time
Dec. 4 II Peter 3:8-15a Marking Time
Dec. 11 I Thes. 5:16-24 Forever Time
Dec. 18 is Lessons and Carols or Carol Time
Dec. 24 is Christmas Eve or Celebration Time
Do you know what time it is? Hear this good news: the Lord God holds all of our times and seasons in his hands.
Do you know what time it is? Time is a funny thing. Last Sunday, we went from Daylight Savings Time to Central Standard Time....and we gained an extra hour...how cool is that? We could use an extra hour every week or every day, couldn't we?
Last year Cathy and I went to Australia and New Zealand. We left LAX late at night on a Tuesday. We got on our Qantas flight and journeyed for some 12 hours. We woke up and arrived in Brisbane, Australia, and it was Thursday morning. Where did Wednesday go? That pesky International Date Line just took away a whole day. Here's the amazing thing: flying back from Aukland, NZ, to LAX, we actually arrived before we took off!
There's time and then there's timing. One of my favorite jokes: do you know what the most important thing in comedy is-timing.
Paul uses two words for time and timing in this passage. I know you love it when I become Mr. Language Person so the word translated as "times" in English is the word "chronos" in Greek, from which we get chronology and chonometer. It is clock time, seconds, minutes, hours, days, etc. It might sound like this (Westminster chimes). The other word translated into English as "seasons" is the word "kairos" in Greek. It is the fullness of time, the right time, God's time, the proper time. It might sound like this ( sing "To every thing, turn, turn, turn, there is a season, turn, turn, turn, and a time to every purpose under heaven").
So what time is it? The clock on the wall says about 9:30 a.m. But the liturgical calendar from Godly Play says it is the second to last Sunday of the church year. Children, help me. In two weeks, we get into these 4 purple Sunday, a season of preparation we call....Advent. There's Christmas in white. Then comes these Sundays of green...epiphany...a time of revealing who Jesus is. Then comes these Sundays of purple and preparation again....Lent. This white is Easter. If we didn't have this holy day, we wouldn't have any of these other days. After Easter, there is this red Sunday....Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit. Then these Sundays of green, Ordinary time, which is really extraordinary time, because of the coming of Christ. We Christians tell time differently from the rest of the world. We tell time by the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ.
What time is it? There are some other time metaphors in this passage. One is the day of the Lord. It is a day anticipated by such prophets as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, and Zephaniah. It would be the time when the Lord would come and set everything right. It would be a day of judgment, of reckoning, when the righeous would be rewarded and the evil would be punished. Paul says the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. He picks up on language that Jesus used about the coming of the Lord. Do you know when the thief comes? NO. That's the point. It's unpredictable. Paul also says it is like labor pains. Any women here have give birth? You are given a due date. But does the child come on the due date? Sometimes. Sometimes sooner. Sometimes later. You are not in control. You need to be ready. You have the hospital bag packed. You have the neighbors on speed dial so they can come in and take care of the pets. You don't know when, so you live in a prepared state.
Time and timing are important. Chronos can become kairos. John Wesley started the Methdodist reform movement that grew out of his control and became the denomination that we know today as the United Methodist Church. He practiced and preached the value of time. He kept a journal of what he did....every 15 minutes of the day. He was just a tiny bit obsessive-compulsive. He said things like, "The meeting shall begin on time....never spend time idly."
There was a time on April 24, 1738, where as he writes in his journal, "I went very unwillingly to a meeting on Aldersgate street where someone was reading from Luther's preface to the letter to the Romans." It sounds like pretty dry stuff, doesn't it? But Wesley's heart was strangely warmed. He had a conversion experience. Chronos became kairos. He still struggled in his faith, but a year later, on May 2, 1739, he went out to a coal field, dressed in his vestments, and preached to the coal miners as they came out of the ground. He preached about salvation in Jesus Christ as a gift. They believed him. A reform movement became a spiritual revolution. Chronos became kairos.
In truth, Paul uses the terms almost interchangeably. We know that clock time can become God's time. This past week, I attended a meeting of the Austin District professionals, pastors, educators, youth workers, musicians, etc. We heard testimonies from our Phoenix pastors, those who have come through the wildfires. Andy Smith, the pastor at Bastrop, reminded us of the timeline. The wildfire event itself took 2 weeks time. The relief period is 10 times as long, therefore 20 weeks in duration, of which we are only 1/2 through. The recovery period is 100 times longer, or almost 4 years. We live in a rescue society, where we focus on the immediate fix. I am here to tell you that we will be with the Phoenix pastors and churches for the duration. We will make these years into God's time.
Cynthia Engstrom is the associate in Bastrop. She told us that some 30 families in that congregation alone lost everything. There were many more families that didn't know the status of their homes. The neighborhoods were closed off by police. Some were given only 10 minutes to return to see if they still had a home or not. Those who did still have a home and that short time used it to grab what linens and food they could....not for themselves but to give to others. Chronos became kaipos.
There is a prison ministry, that usually begins on a Thursday evening and goes through Sunday afternoon. It mirrors passion and death and resurrection of Jesus of Holy Week and Easter Sunday. Talks about the Christian faith are given. Communion is celebrated once a day. The prison is inundated with cookies, thousands of cookies. Some of you have baked cookies for these weekends. You know what this prison ministry is called? Kairos...God's time.
I don't often do this...get so personal, but I want to tell you what happened on this past Father's day, the third Sunday of June. We went out to lunch with our older son Joel. He has been pushing off against us....as an almost 30 year old is wont to do. We were eating at Jason's Deli. I was having my 1/4 muffeleta with vegetarian vegetable soup. It was pleasant. Joel gave me the obligatory Father's Day card. It was some Peanuts cartoon, Charlie Brown and Snoopy theme, totally forgettable. At the bottom of the card, Joel wrote, "Dad, I want to spend more time with you." All of a sudden, the meal became the sacrament of communion. The prodigal son was returning home. Chronos became kairos.
I have so much to say about time that I can't fit it all into this message. But Advent is coming, and I will take the time to do a sermon series as follows:
Nov. 27 Mark 13:24-37 Wake Up Time
Dec. 4 II Peter 3:8-15a Marking Time
Dec. 11 I Thes. 5:16-24 Forever Time
Dec. 18 is Lessons and Carols or Carol Time
Dec. 24 is Christmas Eve or Celebration Time
Do you know what time it is? Hear this good news: the Lord God holds all of our times and seasons in his hands.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
contempt
11/10/11 My breath prayer for the day comes from Ps. 123:3, "Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt." I know many places in the world where Christians face persecution, harrassment, even death. They know the bite of "contempt." When I was doing my work on my Doctor of Ministry degree, one of my professors, Ralph Underwood, said that we Christians in the USA may face a more subtle form of contempt, that is, to be ignored. We may be counted as irrelevant....one might say beneath contempt. I pray for God's mercy not only for us who believe but also for those who hold us in contempt.
Love,
Lynn
Love,
Lynn
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
look
11/9/11 My breath prayer for the day comes from Psalm 123:3b, "So our eyes look to the LORD our God, until he has mercy upon us." The world can be an unforgiving place, making sure every debt is paid, every crime punished, every wrong revealed. I can be very unforgiving towards myself, holding myself in harsh prison cells for slight faults. I look to the Lord until his mercy comes. Looking upon His presence is enough until I experience His mercy. What do you see today? How do things look?
Love,
Lynn
Love,
Lynn
Monday, November 7, 2011
encourage one another
from my sermon on All Saints' Sunday from I Thes. 4:13-18
Encourage one another with these words, Paul says. Therefore, we shouldn't shorten one of the opening verses to "do not grieve." Christians grieve. Faithful, believing persons grieve. When someone dies, we feel the loss and we grieve. When I was going to seminary, a new book had just come out by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross called On Death and Dying. She broke the taboo. She actually talke to people who were dying and asked them what they were feeling and thinking. You remember the stages of grief that she discovered. Denial....this can't be happening to me, I don't believe it. Bargaining....God, I promise I'll be a better person if you will just make this go away. Anger....this is so unfair. Depression....I just want to crawl into a hole and not talk to anyone. And finally Acceptance. In my early ministry, I tried to push people through the stages. That didn't work so well. I quickly learned this: everyone grieves uniquely. Some will omit a stage. Some skip around, back and forth through the stages. Some get stuck in one stage. Sometimes the best a person can do is to die angry. What I have learned is to stay with the person and accept them right where they are in the grieving process.
Paul says Do not grieve as those who have no hope. I can't make anybody do anything, but in the dying process, I do offer hope. The main thing I try to do, if people are willing, is to help them come to peace....at peace with their past, at peace with their relationships, at peace with God, and at peace with themselves. We have the hope that with God's help, we can find this peace.
Paul is a pastor trying to help people deal with their grief. He offers the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. Here's what is unique about the Christian faith: we have a God who has taken on our flesh and know all that we go through, this God dies like we do, and this God is raised again from the dead. Our hope is in Him, Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
Paul offers hope through an analogy. It is not clear in the NRSV, but 3 times when the word "dead" is used, the language is actually "those who have fallen asleep." It is not a great analogy, but Paul is saying those who have fallen asleep have the potential of waking up again.
Paul is a pastor, and he is trying to comfort people. He is not just trying to do a theological treatise; he is trying to meet people's real concerns. In the early church, there was the expectation that Christ would come back again very quickly. When that didn't happen and some of the first believers started to die, the community had questions. So Paul says that those who died first would be raised first. I ask you, Does that really matter to you, the priority of who gets raised first? It doesn't to me. Paul says that the coming of the Lord will be evident. There will be a shout from the Lord, a cry from an archangel, and a trumpet blast. Any these signs all that important to you? They aren't to me. What is important is what paul says...we will be with the Lord forever! Encourage one another with these words.
I want to offer encouragement around 4 saints from this church who died this past year. Barbara Dare was granted a sweet release after a long illness. I remember at her funeral, Tim Bushong sang the contemporary Christian song, "I Can Only Imagine." It has that wonderful line about when we are in the presence of the Lord, we won't know what to do--whether to dance or in awe to be still. Thelma Fisher was a "rounder." She love to party. There was nothing better to have a bunch of family in, sleeping on pallets all over the house. She loved playing cards and having a good time. She couldn't hear worth a lick, but she loved to be in worship. "I just love being in my church home with all of my friends around," she said. John Musgrove loved his family, and it was shone in 2 ways. One, he loved Italian sports cars, Ferraris and Porsches. Just the year before he died, his family was named Porsche family of the year. Two, his family has a loving dog named Bonnie. I have blessed that dog 5 times at the annual Blessing of the Animals service. The night before John died, I was in his house, gathered in the bedroom with his family. John just wanted to be released. We stood in a circle around him as he lay in bed with Bonnie. As I prayed, Bonnie came and gave me a kiss on the lips, a big wet dog smack. J.C. Thomas was a trainer of acolytes. At his service, I said that was his job, to help bring the light of Christ into worship and then to take the light of Christ out into the world. He was an usher and a greeter. He never knew a stranger. He was the most welcoming kind of guy. As a lawyer, he was also a defender of the poor, taking many cases pro bono. He was a charter member of this congregation. We are built on a good foundatin. We give thanks for their witness this All Saints' Sunday. Encourage one another with these words.
I close with a story. I serve as the chair of the Order of Elders. One of the persons on my Advisory Board is a black pastor. Before a recent meeting, I asked if Jack could make it. He replied, "I'll be there as long as I can be back at my church by 4 p.m. I have an appointment to meet with a family to prepare a homegoing service." I said that I didn't know that term "homegoing." He said, "You folks in the white church have funerals and memorial services, but we in the black church have a homegoing." Encourage one another with these words.
Encourage one another with these words, Paul says. Therefore, we shouldn't shorten one of the opening verses to "do not grieve." Christians grieve. Faithful, believing persons grieve. When someone dies, we feel the loss and we grieve. When I was going to seminary, a new book had just come out by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross called On Death and Dying. She broke the taboo. She actually talke to people who were dying and asked them what they were feeling and thinking. You remember the stages of grief that she discovered. Denial....this can't be happening to me, I don't believe it. Bargaining....God, I promise I'll be a better person if you will just make this go away. Anger....this is so unfair. Depression....I just want to crawl into a hole and not talk to anyone. And finally Acceptance. In my early ministry, I tried to push people through the stages. That didn't work so well. I quickly learned this: everyone grieves uniquely. Some will omit a stage. Some skip around, back and forth through the stages. Some get stuck in one stage. Sometimes the best a person can do is to die angry. What I have learned is to stay with the person and accept them right where they are in the grieving process.
Paul says Do not grieve as those who have no hope. I can't make anybody do anything, but in the dying process, I do offer hope. The main thing I try to do, if people are willing, is to help them come to peace....at peace with their past, at peace with their relationships, at peace with God, and at peace with themselves. We have the hope that with God's help, we can find this peace.
Paul is a pastor trying to help people deal with their grief. He offers the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. Here's what is unique about the Christian faith: we have a God who has taken on our flesh and know all that we go through, this God dies like we do, and this God is raised again from the dead. Our hope is in Him, Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
Paul offers hope through an analogy. It is not clear in the NRSV, but 3 times when the word "dead" is used, the language is actually "those who have fallen asleep." It is not a great analogy, but Paul is saying those who have fallen asleep have the potential of waking up again.
Paul is a pastor, and he is trying to comfort people. He is not just trying to do a theological treatise; he is trying to meet people's real concerns. In the early church, there was the expectation that Christ would come back again very quickly. When that didn't happen and some of the first believers started to die, the community had questions. So Paul says that those who died first would be raised first. I ask you, Does that really matter to you, the priority of who gets raised first? It doesn't to me. Paul says that the coming of the Lord will be evident. There will be a shout from the Lord, a cry from an archangel, and a trumpet blast. Any these signs all that important to you? They aren't to me. What is important is what paul says...we will be with the Lord forever! Encourage one another with these words.
I want to offer encouragement around 4 saints from this church who died this past year. Barbara Dare was granted a sweet release after a long illness. I remember at her funeral, Tim Bushong sang the contemporary Christian song, "I Can Only Imagine." It has that wonderful line about when we are in the presence of the Lord, we won't know what to do--whether to dance or in awe to be still. Thelma Fisher was a "rounder." She love to party. There was nothing better to have a bunch of family in, sleeping on pallets all over the house. She loved playing cards and having a good time. She couldn't hear worth a lick, but she loved to be in worship. "I just love being in my church home with all of my friends around," she said. John Musgrove loved his family, and it was shone in 2 ways. One, he loved Italian sports cars, Ferraris and Porsches. Just the year before he died, his family was named Porsche family of the year. Two, his family has a loving dog named Bonnie. I have blessed that dog 5 times at the annual Blessing of the Animals service. The night before John died, I was in his house, gathered in the bedroom with his family. John just wanted to be released. We stood in a circle around him as he lay in bed with Bonnie. As I prayed, Bonnie came and gave me a kiss on the lips, a big wet dog smack. J.C. Thomas was a trainer of acolytes. At his service, I said that was his job, to help bring the light of Christ into worship and then to take the light of Christ out into the world. He was an usher and a greeter. He never knew a stranger. He was the most welcoming kind of guy. As a lawyer, he was also a defender of the poor, taking many cases pro bono. He was a charter member of this congregation. We are built on a good foundatin. We give thanks for their witness this All Saints' Sunday. Encourage one another with these words.
I close with a story. I serve as the chair of the Order of Elders. One of the persons on my Advisory Board is a black pastor. Before a recent meeting, I asked if Jack could make it. He replied, "I'll be there as long as I can be back at my church by 4 p.m. I have an appointment to meet with a family to prepare a homegoing service." I said that I didn't know that term "homegoing." He said, "You folks in the white church have funerals and memorial services, but we in the black church have a homegoing." Encourage one another with these words.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
mercy me
11/3/11 My breath prayer for the day comes from Matthew 5:7, Blessed are the merciful for they will receive mercy. It is really hard for me to admit, but I can be hard/demanding/unforgiving of other people and ....especially of myself. In my walking/prayer time this morning, the prayer of my heart was "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." In driving to work, it came to me that I would be given opportunities to show mercy to others....let that car into the traffic flow. It came to me to be aware that others would show mercy to me....I am sorry that I hurt you, please forgive me. May it be so.
Love,
Lynn
Love,
Lynn
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
ham pie
11/2/11 Don't expect anything deep or moving from today's entry....just a little something to tickle your funny bone. Yesterday I had lunch with some of my pastor friends as we talked about Reconciling Ministries within our congregations. The lunch was provided by the office assistant at First UMC downtown. She asked if everyone was okay with eating quiche. She said that her husband wouldn't eat quiche...along the lines of the famous quote, "Real men don't eat quiche." So the next time she fixed quiche, and her husband asked what was for supper, she said, "It's ham pie." He had some. He liked it. He asked for a second helping of "ham pie." It is all a matter of labeling, isn't it?
Love,
Lynn
Love,
Lynn
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
all saints day
11/1/11 Last night was Halloween, All Hallow's Eve. Cathy and I did the escape route. We went to see a light-hearted movie, Puss in Boots. Then we went out to eat. We avoided the doorbell, the candy, the crowds.
Today is All Saints' Day. I am about to lead a staff meeting. Then I am going to meet some pastor friends for lunch as we talk about Reconciling Ministries Network. With both groups I am going to lead a song in our hymnal, #712, I Sing a Song of the Saints of God. The last line of each verse really gets me. It says, "I want to be one too."
Love,
Lynn
Today is All Saints' Day. I am about to lead a staff meeting. Then I am going to meet some pastor friends for lunch as we talk about Reconciling Ministries Network. With both groups I am going to lead a song in our hymnal, #712, I Sing a Song of the Saints of God. The last line of each verse really gets me. It says, "I want to be one too."
Love,
Lynn
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