from my message on Oct. 13, 2013, from Gen. 3:7-8, Matt. 4:18-22, start of A Disciple's Path series
Cathy and I hiked part of the Appalachian Trail this past summer. I did 150 miles from the James River to Front Royal, Virginia. Cathy did 90 miles. We were slack packers, day hikers. We stayed in B & B's and motels at night. We were not through hikers, who would start in Georgia and go to Mt. Katadin, Maine, carrying all of their gear with them, 2,180 miles. On the night before we took our first hike, we stayed at the Dutch Haus B & B in Montebello, VA. There over supper, we met Slow and Steady. I don't know what her real name is, but her trail name was Slow and Steady. She was older than I was, in great shape, and a through hiker. At supper, she shared some wisdom with us that I would like for you to take to heart. She said, "It's not how far you walk. It's not how fast you walk. It's not how much you're carrying. It's putting your feet on the trail." That's how she was doing it, Slow and Steady.
Pastor Jim leads our worship service on Sunday nights, called the Point. Every week, he starts the service saying this, "Everyone of us is on a spiritual journey, whether we acknowledge it or not." Today, we start this 6 weeks series, A Disciple's Path. You can get a workbook. You can join a Sunday School class. You can come to these worship services. All I am asking you is to put your feet upon the trail.
I looked it up in my Bible dictionary. "Path" in the Bible is the typical metaphor for our relationship with God. Where are you on the path today? What's your pace? What are you carrying? Are you growing closer to Christ? To others?
We begin in humility on the path. Most of the time we read the story in Genesis 3 as the story of the Fall of humankind. The story of original sin. We may think it has nothing to do with us today. But I ask you, how many of you know something about overreaching. Do you book 2 or 3 things on your calendar at the same time? I have. Are you overcommitted, overfunctioning? We still listen to the snake, who says, "You can do it. There are no limits on you." We have such a hard time saying no...to anything. We overreach just like the first humans did. Then we find out our vulnerability, that we are naked. We have to play Hide and Seek with God.
What if the story was not just about original sin, but original blessing. Look closely at the story. In the beginning, there was such intimacy with God, we were naked and not afraid. No facade. No mask. No hiddenness. There was intimacy that the usual pattern was for God to go walking in the garden in the cool of the day....with us...as partners.
When we overreach, when we recognize our vulnerability, we hide. When God comes looking for us, God doesn't cry out an accusation, "Where are you?" God cries out a "I've missed you. I long for you. I want to be with you again. I am lonely without you." God's original and enduring desire is to walk with us.
God wants to restore this original blessing. We begin in humility. Humility comes from the same root word as humus (not hummus the food!), but the rich soil, the good earth. Human comes from the same root word. We begin in humility. We begin by getting grounded, by getting down to earth.
I have a book from 1983 in my library by Matthew Fox, entitled Original Blessing. He says, Humility is the opposite of arrogance, of saying we don't need God, that we can do it by ourselves. He says, Humility begins not with sin, but with God's creativity. Humility is not about despising oneself, but befriending our earthiness. Humility is not about seeing ourselves as sinners, but as royal persons, created in the image of God with the ability to choose to create or to destroy. Humility is not ego-logical, but eco-logical.
We take our shoe off, like Moses did in the presence of the burning bush, in the presence of holiness. We get grounded, like I have today, by preaching barefoot. You may know some of our younger pastors who do this, like JD, Abby, Pastor Tina. Preaching with humility.
In humility today, we acknowledge that we all choose crooked paths and wander off the path of righteousness. We go our own way. We think we know better than God.
What happens to us when we do this? God gives up on us? God destroys us? NO! NO!
How many of you have a GPS in your car? Yes, and does it talk to you? Yes, it says things like, "In 200 yards, make a right turn on S. 1st Street." What happens when you past S. 1st Street without turning? It will say a word to you. It will say, "Recalculating."
That's what God says to us when we go the wrong way, Recalculating. God is upset at humankind's wickedness and sends a flood, but starts over with Noah and the ark. Recalculating. God calls Abram and Sarai to become a blessing to all of humankind. Recalculating. God leads the people out of bondage in Egypt across the wilderness to a Promised Land. Recalculating. God sends judges, and prophets, and kings and queens. Recalculating. We Methodists call this grace. God's unmerited love. Pure gift. In humility, we accept it.
God sends Jesus, the very presence of God in human flesh. Recalculating. Jesus walks along the Sea of Galilee. He sees some people fishing. He says, "Follow me." Jesus is on a journey. He wants us to walk with him. Immediately, they do. They leave nets and boats and family and follow him.
What do you need to leave behind in order to walk in humility with Jesus? Slow and Steady said, "The trail very quickly teaches you what you need to carry and what you need to leave behind."
The first hike Cathy and I took was from Punchbowl Mountain to the James River, some 11 miles. That first day we carried too much stuff, extra clothes, bug spray, sun screen. I even took not 1 but 2 journals thinking I would have time to write on the trail. By the end of our hiking, I would spray up at the beginning and leave the can behind. Put on sunscreen at the beginning and leave the tube behind. I carried water, food, my phone, knife, lighter, rain gear. Not much else.
What do you need to leave behind to walk in humility? Some of you have been carrying old hurts. You have given them more power than the healing presence of Christ. Some of you are carrying the weight of shame, feeling like you will never measure up. Some of you are carrying guilt, yes, you have sinned, but you can't accept forgiveness. On the trail, I left behind worry and anxiety. What do you need to leave behind?
21 times in the 4 Gospels of the New Testament, Jesus says, "Follow me." He always calls for decisive action. The destination of every disciple is a life completely centered in loving God and loving others. Where are you on the path? In humility, may you say, "It's not how fast or how far or how much I carry. It's about putting my feet on the trail."
Amen.
Monday, October 21, 2013
Monday, October 14, 2013
Life Coach: Encourager
From my message on Oct. 13, from John 14:15-19, 25-27
Encouragement. Could you use some encouragement today? A word of hope? You may have had enough of entrenchment, and encroachment, and entrapment, and entitlement. You may need encouragement today.
That's what Jesus promises us in the coming of the Holy Spirit. I know we have a hard time grasping the Holy Spirit. God as Father, we get it. God coming as Son in Jesus, we understand. But Holy Spirit is difficult for us to grasp. Today I want to claim the Holy Spirit as the Encourager.
This is the last in our series on Life Coach, where we have been placing ourselves under the God revealed in our holy book, the Bible. Today our Life Coach is the Holy Spirit, the Encourager.
There is a special Greek word used for the Holy Spirit here in John's Gospel. That word is Paraclete. It is hard for us to translate this work into English, so our Bibles will have the following words for Paraclete: Counselor, Comforter, Consoler, Advocate, Intercessor, Teacher, Guide. Paraclete literally means, "one called to the side of." I want to claim the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, today as the Encourager.
In this video from Coach Jennifer White, we hear her talk about the Holy Spirit as "the One who takes me to a place I cannot go by myself." That is a good definition for the Encourager.
In this section of John's Gospel, Jesus is giving his farewell speech. His disciples are sad. How will they carry on without him? They are afraid of being left alone. Jesus promises that his absence will make possible the coming of the Paraclete, He will not leave them alone. He will be with them. He will be in them, in the Holy Spirit, the Encourager.
There once was a pastor trying to talk to the children about the Holy Spirit, about how God was in each of them. He asked them to feel their hearts, to feel the presence of God inside each one. One boy David, put his hand inside his shirt. The pastor asked, "How does God feel?" David replied, "Damp, very damp."
The Holy Spirit is inside each of us encouraging us. Jesus said that he would not leave his disciples orphaned. You may think that this means without a parent. But when a rabbi would die, his students were said to be orphaned. Jesus is saying that he will not leave his followers without a teacher, the Encourager.
This past week, I was at Mt. Wesley, where I was called to be the spiritual director for 12 persons who are on track to be ordained as elders in the United Methodist Church in June. I had them divide up into groups of 3. One person would spend a few minutes sharing a situation around which they desired prayer. Then the 3 would spend 9 minutes in silence, listening for what God was praying. They would be seeking an image or a scripture or a word or a song. They they would spend several minutes sharing what came to them out of the silence. We are so good at telling God stuff. We have a lot to learn about listening to God. At the end of the time, several of these candidates for ministry said, "Where did that come from, those words, those images?" I said, "It's just prayer." They said, "No one ever taught us this in seminary. It was amazing. It was so simple. To reverse praying. To pause and listen for what God is already praying for this situation."
It was encouraging to me and to them, to know that we continue to learn, to be taught how to pray. The Encourager takes us to a place we cannot go by ourselves in prayer.
The Encourager is also called the Spirit of Truth. Sometimes, we need to hear the truth about ourselves. On Thursday this past week, I was part of a Partners in Ministry workshop where we as a staff and church leaders were learning about communication, conflict resolution, trust building, and visioning together. Something was said in my table group that was so truthful it laid me open. Donna said, "I once heard a preacher say how we treat our closest families so differently, often worse than we treat our business associates or clients. With our business contacts, it's 'how may I help you, how can I serve you, it was good to visit with you.' With our spouse or children, it's '#$%&*."
Ouch. I remember the time early in our marriage when Cathy refused to come to worship one Sunday morning. When I got home, I asked her about it. She said, "I just couldn't stand to see you up front there dressed in your white robe, talking about love and forgiveness, when at home, I knew it wasn't true!" Ouch. Sometimes the Encourager takes us to a place, a painful place, a place of truth, that we cannot go by ourselves.
Jesus says this Encourager will teach you all things. It's not just more content, taking on more information. It's going deeper, into the true meaning of Jesus' words. As a Church, a world religion, we still have a lot to learn. I look back over our history as a faith community and confess we have not realized Jesus' words. We have practiced schisms, we've gone on crusades against other faiths, and we've discriminated against people because of their gender, or race, or sexual orientation. I pray that the Encourager is not through with us yet. We still have much to learn. We can't go there by ourselves.
This congregation is still leaning about Jesus' words. We have an opportunity to go deeper in 2 weeks' time. We will be having a consultation weekend where some consultants are coming to visit us, to pray with us, and to offer us 5 prescriptions for further health. It is not that there is anything particularly wrong with us. It is just that we have more to learn. The Encourager is teaching us all things, taking us to a place we cannot go by ourselves.
Lastly Jesus offers us peace. What encouragement! A pastor friend of mine has been dealing his mother's declining health. He is an only child. He would get the calls from the bank in the little town in which he grew up, those calls wondering if his mom was making good decisions. It is one of the most difficult transitions to make, to deal with aging parents and finding them proper care. My friend after months of conversations finally got his mom to move out of her home of more than 60 years to a place near the church where he serves. He was going through his old home, separating out what they would keep, what they would sell, and what they would give away. Up in the attic, he came upon a box of letters and cards. They were all about him, about the time when he was a youth and had a near fatal heart condition. The cards and letters were full of prayers for him and his family. He began crying at the outpouring of love from more than 50 years ago. He realized he had not gotten to the ministry, to the place in life he was today by himself. He was encouraged.
This Holy Spirit, this Encourager is in you, in us today. That is the good news I have to share.
Encouragement. Could you use some encouragement today? A word of hope? You may have had enough of entrenchment, and encroachment, and entrapment, and entitlement. You may need encouragement today.
That's what Jesus promises us in the coming of the Holy Spirit. I know we have a hard time grasping the Holy Spirit. God as Father, we get it. God coming as Son in Jesus, we understand. But Holy Spirit is difficult for us to grasp. Today I want to claim the Holy Spirit as the Encourager.
This is the last in our series on Life Coach, where we have been placing ourselves under the God revealed in our holy book, the Bible. Today our Life Coach is the Holy Spirit, the Encourager.
There is a special Greek word used for the Holy Spirit here in John's Gospel. That word is Paraclete. It is hard for us to translate this work into English, so our Bibles will have the following words for Paraclete: Counselor, Comforter, Consoler, Advocate, Intercessor, Teacher, Guide. Paraclete literally means, "one called to the side of." I want to claim the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, today as the Encourager.
In this video from Coach Jennifer White, we hear her talk about the Holy Spirit as "the One who takes me to a place I cannot go by myself." That is a good definition for the Encourager.
In this section of John's Gospel, Jesus is giving his farewell speech. His disciples are sad. How will they carry on without him? They are afraid of being left alone. Jesus promises that his absence will make possible the coming of the Paraclete, He will not leave them alone. He will be with them. He will be in them, in the Holy Spirit, the Encourager.
There once was a pastor trying to talk to the children about the Holy Spirit, about how God was in each of them. He asked them to feel their hearts, to feel the presence of God inside each one. One boy David, put his hand inside his shirt. The pastor asked, "How does God feel?" David replied, "Damp, very damp."
The Holy Spirit is inside each of us encouraging us. Jesus said that he would not leave his disciples orphaned. You may think that this means without a parent. But when a rabbi would die, his students were said to be orphaned. Jesus is saying that he will not leave his followers without a teacher, the Encourager.
This past week, I was at Mt. Wesley, where I was called to be the spiritual director for 12 persons who are on track to be ordained as elders in the United Methodist Church in June. I had them divide up into groups of 3. One person would spend a few minutes sharing a situation around which they desired prayer. Then the 3 would spend 9 minutes in silence, listening for what God was praying. They would be seeking an image or a scripture or a word or a song. They they would spend several minutes sharing what came to them out of the silence. We are so good at telling God stuff. We have a lot to learn about listening to God. At the end of the time, several of these candidates for ministry said, "Where did that come from, those words, those images?" I said, "It's just prayer." They said, "No one ever taught us this in seminary. It was amazing. It was so simple. To reverse praying. To pause and listen for what God is already praying for this situation."
It was encouraging to me and to them, to know that we continue to learn, to be taught how to pray. The Encourager takes us to a place we cannot go by ourselves in prayer.
The Encourager is also called the Spirit of Truth. Sometimes, we need to hear the truth about ourselves. On Thursday this past week, I was part of a Partners in Ministry workshop where we as a staff and church leaders were learning about communication, conflict resolution, trust building, and visioning together. Something was said in my table group that was so truthful it laid me open. Donna said, "I once heard a preacher say how we treat our closest families so differently, often worse than we treat our business associates or clients. With our business contacts, it's 'how may I help you, how can I serve you, it was good to visit with you.' With our spouse or children, it's '#$%&*."
Ouch. I remember the time early in our marriage when Cathy refused to come to worship one Sunday morning. When I got home, I asked her about it. She said, "I just couldn't stand to see you up front there dressed in your white robe, talking about love and forgiveness, when at home, I knew it wasn't true!" Ouch. Sometimes the Encourager takes us to a place, a painful place, a place of truth, that we cannot go by ourselves.
Jesus says this Encourager will teach you all things. It's not just more content, taking on more information. It's going deeper, into the true meaning of Jesus' words. As a Church, a world religion, we still have a lot to learn. I look back over our history as a faith community and confess we have not realized Jesus' words. We have practiced schisms, we've gone on crusades against other faiths, and we've discriminated against people because of their gender, or race, or sexual orientation. I pray that the Encourager is not through with us yet. We still have much to learn. We can't go there by ourselves.
This congregation is still leaning about Jesus' words. We have an opportunity to go deeper in 2 weeks' time. We will be having a consultation weekend where some consultants are coming to visit us, to pray with us, and to offer us 5 prescriptions for further health. It is not that there is anything particularly wrong with us. It is just that we have more to learn. The Encourager is teaching us all things, taking us to a place we cannot go by ourselves.
Lastly Jesus offers us peace. What encouragement! A pastor friend of mine has been dealing his mother's declining health. He is an only child. He would get the calls from the bank in the little town in which he grew up, those calls wondering if his mom was making good decisions. It is one of the most difficult transitions to make, to deal with aging parents and finding them proper care. My friend after months of conversations finally got his mom to move out of her home of more than 60 years to a place near the church where he serves. He was going through his old home, separating out what they would keep, what they would sell, and what they would give away. Up in the attic, he came upon a box of letters and cards. They were all about him, about the time when he was a youth and had a near fatal heart condition. The cards and letters were full of prayers for him and his family. He began crying at the outpouring of love from more than 50 years ago. He realized he had not gotten to the ministry, to the place in life he was today by himself. He was encouraged.
This Holy Spirit, this Encourager is in you, in us today. That is the good news I have to share.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Life Coach: Family Matters
from my message on Oct. 6, 2013, from II Tim. 1:1-7
How many of you have blue eyes? How many of you have brown eyes? How many are lucky enough like me to have green eyes? Did you ask for your color of eyes? No. They are just given to you. Your mom and dad, their genetics determine what color your eyes are. Can we pass the faith on the same way? No. There is no such thing as a Christian gene.
Maybe faith can be passed down by rote. If you memorize the 10 Commandments, and the Beattitudes, and the Lord's Prayer, then you would be a Christian, right? No.
Faith is not passed down through genetics or rote. In fact, studies have been done around this topic of passing on the Christian faith. The most effective way the faith was continued was through families...not the church or the school, but families.
Here in this letter to Timothy, a young protoge' of the apostle Paul, we find that in the first century, Timothy is already a 3rd generation Christian. His grandmother and his mother have shaped his beliefs. How does that happen.
Hilary our director of children's ministries and I teach a class on baptism and faith development. Hilary shares 3 ways that families can pass on the faith.
First, talk about faith in every day life. I was visiting with a young mom this past week. She said her son like rocks. He gathers rocks. He stacks rocks. He throws rocks. He washes rocks. She could say to him while he is doing his rocking, "Thank God for rocks!" In hard times, we can say with our children, "We really need to turn to God now." We use whatever is going on in our lives as a reference to bring God in.
Second, we can participate in family devotions, prayers, Bible reading, and worship. I bet many of you have grace over meals and prayers at bedtimes. You may have a children's Bible that is mostly pictures. You can participate in our Advent workshop coming up and make an Advent wreath or calendar to mark the season of preparation before Christmas. You can come to the blessing of the animals service this afternoon. One little girl coming into worship this morning said, "Do you know what pastor Lynn? This afternoon, our dogs are going to get baptized!" I love it. Family worship times.
Third, families can do service projects together. You can be ushers at church. You can help on ReThink Church day by making manna bags together or caroling. You can make meals together for Mobile Loaves and Fishes.
It is about this point in the message that I got a bit sad. What if you did everything right, and still your child didn't get it. Or wandered away from the faith. This is what Cathy and I are feeling. You have modeled the faith, and your child doesn't follow the path. Here the scripture helps me. Paul says that he remembers Timothy constantly in his prayers. And so do I remember our boys in my prayers. Almost every morning Cathy and I are praying there in the kitchen before I head off to church. This is my prayer almost daily, "God bless Joel and Matt, and may they come home to you."
Here is the most powerful and effective way the faith is passed down. God's grace. God's unmerited love for us. I love our sons so much. I can only imagine how much more God loves them. It is a mystery the way grace seeks us out. God is staying up late, getting up early, looking for all of us. God doesn't want to lose a single one of his children. I believe this.
Sometimes, our children get it. John Michael got it. I know his grandparents. I know his mom really well. John Micheal allowed me to use his story. He shared this past Sunday night at the Youth Stockholder dinner. The youth were telling about their mission trips this summer to those of us who invested in them. There were funny stories. One boy pretended that he got hit in the head. When he awoke, he could only speak German. Sarah thought it was true for the longest time. It was hilarious. They were digging ditches for a sewer line. Not once, or twice, but three times before they got it right.
John Michael went to ReCre, a youth mission that does home repair in North Carolina. He went not just for 1 week of work, but 3 weeks as a counselor. He got up early and stayed up late to resource the other youth coming in to work. John Michael said, "It wasn't just that Christ was affecting my life. Christ was affecting other lives through me. I'd wake up so excited in the mornings, to see how Christ would be using me, working through me to help others."
The faith is passed down. It is always a gift. That's the good news I have to share.
How many of you have blue eyes? How many of you have brown eyes? How many are lucky enough like me to have green eyes? Did you ask for your color of eyes? No. They are just given to you. Your mom and dad, their genetics determine what color your eyes are. Can we pass the faith on the same way? No. There is no such thing as a Christian gene.
Maybe faith can be passed down by rote. If you memorize the 10 Commandments, and the Beattitudes, and the Lord's Prayer, then you would be a Christian, right? No.
Faith is not passed down through genetics or rote. In fact, studies have been done around this topic of passing on the Christian faith. The most effective way the faith was continued was through families...not the church or the school, but families.
Here in this letter to Timothy, a young protoge' of the apostle Paul, we find that in the first century, Timothy is already a 3rd generation Christian. His grandmother and his mother have shaped his beliefs. How does that happen.
Hilary our director of children's ministries and I teach a class on baptism and faith development. Hilary shares 3 ways that families can pass on the faith.
First, talk about faith in every day life. I was visiting with a young mom this past week. She said her son like rocks. He gathers rocks. He stacks rocks. He throws rocks. He washes rocks. She could say to him while he is doing his rocking, "Thank God for rocks!" In hard times, we can say with our children, "We really need to turn to God now." We use whatever is going on in our lives as a reference to bring God in.
Second, we can participate in family devotions, prayers, Bible reading, and worship. I bet many of you have grace over meals and prayers at bedtimes. You may have a children's Bible that is mostly pictures. You can participate in our Advent workshop coming up and make an Advent wreath or calendar to mark the season of preparation before Christmas. You can come to the blessing of the animals service this afternoon. One little girl coming into worship this morning said, "Do you know what pastor Lynn? This afternoon, our dogs are going to get baptized!" I love it. Family worship times.
Third, families can do service projects together. You can be ushers at church. You can help on ReThink Church day by making manna bags together or caroling. You can make meals together for Mobile Loaves and Fishes.
It is about this point in the message that I got a bit sad. What if you did everything right, and still your child didn't get it. Or wandered away from the faith. This is what Cathy and I are feeling. You have modeled the faith, and your child doesn't follow the path. Here the scripture helps me. Paul says that he remembers Timothy constantly in his prayers. And so do I remember our boys in my prayers. Almost every morning Cathy and I are praying there in the kitchen before I head off to church. This is my prayer almost daily, "God bless Joel and Matt, and may they come home to you."
Here is the most powerful and effective way the faith is passed down. God's grace. God's unmerited love for us. I love our sons so much. I can only imagine how much more God loves them. It is a mystery the way grace seeks us out. God is staying up late, getting up early, looking for all of us. God doesn't want to lose a single one of his children. I believe this.
Sometimes, our children get it. John Michael got it. I know his grandparents. I know his mom really well. John Micheal allowed me to use his story. He shared this past Sunday night at the Youth Stockholder dinner. The youth were telling about their mission trips this summer to those of us who invested in them. There were funny stories. One boy pretended that he got hit in the head. When he awoke, he could only speak German. Sarah thought it was true for the longest time. It was hilarious. They were digging ditches for a sewer line. Not once, or twice, but three times before they got it right.
John Michael went to ReCre, a youth mission that does home repair in North Carolina. He went not just for 1 week of work, but 3 weeks as a counselor. He got up early and stayed up late to resource the other youth coming in to work. John Michael said, "It wasn't just that Christ was affecting my life. Christ was affecting other lives through me. I'd wake up so excited in the mornings, to see how Christ would be using me, working through me to help others."
The faith is passed down. It is always a gift. That's the good news I have to share.
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