teacher & sustainer

4/14/11 My breath prayer for the day comes from Isaiah 50:4, "The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word." In order to be a teacher, I first must be as one who is taught, that is, a pupil. I am learning to listen for God' s word, to look for God's presence, to feel God's movement, and to depend upon God's power. Out of these experiences, I am called to sustain others, especially the weary. The weary include: those out of work, the depressed, those whose marriages are struggling, those who cannot bear to watch the news on TV because it is too overwhelming, those addicted to various drugs including work, and so forth. I need to stay close to God or my resources for sustaining the weary soon run out, and I become a weary one too. Love, Lynn

the LORD has made

4/13/11 My breath prayer for the day is a classic. It is hymn in our hymnal. It is often memorized. It is the verse that was written in the front of the Bible that I was given when I was a 3rd grader. Psalm 118:24 says, "This is the day that the LORD has make; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Most mornings I begin the day with a time of reflecting on the scriptures until something sticks with me. Then I go walk in silence and solitude. Most mornings I get to watch the sunrise, as the sky goes from darkness to light. This morning, like most mornings, I give thanks for the dawning of the new day. I remember that I did not, indeed cannot, create this day. Only the LORD can make a new day. I did not speak a word and call into being the who universe. I did not set our earth on its axis and have it revolve once every 24 hours so that we see the sun come up. The LORD "makes" the day. I rejoice and am glad. There are so many things I cannot do. There are so many things that only God can make happen--changed hearts, a new worshipping community, outreach to the poor, etc. Thankfully, God chooses to make them happen. I rejoice in what the LORD has made. Love, Lynn

to pray

4/12/11 Yesterday I was reading Communitas, a quarterly journal put out by Austin Seminary. The whole issue is on the Art of Preaching. Actually, as I look at the journal, it is one from last year that I never got to read until yesterday. All of the articles are good, hitting home, giving me encouragement to continue this practice of getting up week by week before the congregation and daring to speak a word from God. There was one line from the poet W. H. Auden that pierced my heart: "To pray is to pay attention to something or someone other than oneself." In our self-absorbed society, I cannot think of a better definition of prayer. To get ourselves off of the throne, out of the spotlight, and to let God get a word or vision in is to pray. Love, Lynn

early easter

from my sermon on 4/10/11 from John 11:17-27 Do the math with me. From the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday, March 9 this year, to Easter, April 24 this year, there are 46 days. Yet the season of Lent is only 40 days. So how do we get only 40 days out of 46 days? The 6 Sundays don't count as part of Lent. They are not called the Sundays of Lent, but the Sundays in Lent. Every Sunday is a little Easter, a day when we celebrate the resurrection of Chirst. Every Sunday is an early Easter. Especially today when we read about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. In John's Gospel, there are 7 signs, 7 events/miracles that point to who Jesus is. Jesus changes water into wine, heals a royal official's son, feeds the multitudes with only a few fish and loaves of bread, walks on water, cures a paralytic, and cures a man born blind. Today, the trump card, the ace in the hole is Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. An early Easter. And in case we didn't get it, Jesus has all of these "I am" statments in John's Gospel. So today Jesus says something that I have used as an opening line in every funeral service I have ever done, including the funeral I led here on Friday for Thelma Fisher who was 100 years young. Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and every one who lives and believes in me will never die." Jesus then asks Martha, "Do you believe this?" Martha says that she does....even before Jesus raises her brother up from the dead....even before she sees Jesus die and be raised up. She says, "Yes, Lord, I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the One coming inot the world. It is an early Easter. I ask you today, "Do you believe?" I am asking you to act on your beliefs. Today we are doing Rethink Church. I am asking you to be the church in the world. I am asking you to go into the world that may not know the good news that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Not in some future, end of the world or when I die kind of way, but today, right here and now present reality. You are called to become the message in the world: to bring good news to bad news, to bring healing to hurt, to bring life to death. Next week we will share pictures and stories of your living faith, of how Easter came 2 weeks early this year. You are the sign that Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. Go to celebrate an early Easter.

dealing with death

4/7/11 Yesterday, one of our dear saints, who lived to be 100 years young died. We had celebrated her birthday with a cake at church after a worship service. Generations of her family were there. Many who knew her from Sunday School, worship, and United Methodist Women wre there. Thelma had a charm, a wit, a sense of humor, a joy of life that was infectious. This week's gospel passage is from John 11 where Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. It includes that classic verse that I have said at every funeral I have ever done, and will say again tomorrow at Thelma's funeral, "Jesus says, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die." May it be so. Love, Lynn

carpooling

4/6/11 Along with our Disciple I Bible Study class, Cathy and I have undertaken the Lenten discipline of fasting. Yes, we are going without some food, so that we can become aware of our hunger for God. But more than that, we are going without driving so much. Yes, the recently escalating prices of gasoline play into our decision. But more than that, our Lenten journey is calling us to be more aware of God's creation and our role in taking care of it. So Cathy and I are able to carpool almost every day this week. Besides saving money, which we will redirect to the poor, we are having more quality time to be together to talk as we go to and from our places of work. Who knew that Lent would lead us to carpooling? Love, Lynn

coming to see

from my sermon on 4/3/11 from John 9:1-41 How well do you see? I was in my late 30's still reading stories for our 2 boys at bedtime. One of them said, "Dad, you missed a word. In fact, you missed several words." I had to go for my first ever eye exam. The opthamologist did the dilation, the looking inside the eye, the pressure test. He did the different lens, "Is 1 better or 2, 2 or 3?" After an hour, he said in a very grave voice, "You have presbyopia." I asked, "Is it serious?" He said, "It means you have elderly eyes. Go to the drug store and get some reading glasses with 1.25 diopter." How well do you see? Do you notice in the passage, Jesus saw a man born blind. The disciples didn't see him. All they saw was bad theology, "Master, who sinned this man or his parents that he should be born blind?" We are so quick to assign blame. Sometimes we do something bad and must pay the consequences in a cause and effect kind of way, but lots of stuff in life just happens without cause with no one to blame. Today we celebrate Igor Petreski's 21 st birthday. He did not do anything wrong to cause the accident that left him paralyzed. His parents did not sin to cause him to become paralyzed. Jesus says that the man is born blind so that God's glory may shine forth. God can bring glory out of any situation. It has certainly been true in the case of the Petreski family. Haven't we seen healing? Haven't we become family? Sonja has been baptized and professed her faith in Jesus Christ. Zvonko and Igor have confirmed their faith. Igor has improved dramatically. God doesn't cause the bad accident, but God can bring glory out of it. The neighbors don't see the man born blind. All they see is a beggar. They are stuck in their old ways of seeing. We are trying to see in new ways as a church. This next Sunday we are going to Rethink Church. We are going to start with a light breakfast at 8:30 a.m. from the Mobile Loaves and Fishes trucks. Then we will have a brief worship service here at 9. I will send you out into the world to be the church at 9:45. As you go, can you see Christ in the homeless people you serve at Church under the Bridge? Can you see Christ in those you sing to in the nursing home that no one has come to see in a long time? Can you see Christ in the joggers by Lady Bird Lake as you pass out water bottles and oranges? Can you see beyond the beggar to Christ? The Pharisees don't see the blind man. All they can see is that Jesus broke the law. Jesus made clay, he kneaded, and that is work, and we don't work on the Sabbath. Jesus healed, and that is work, and we don't work on the Sabbath. Can we see that Christ works beyond the law? Can Christ work outside of Robert's Rules of Order? Must everything be moved and seconded and voted on? Can Christ work even beyond our UM Book of Discipline? I like to ask the question at our church meetings, "How has Christ shown up here....or were we just busy?" The parents don't see the blind man. They are too afraid. What fears keep us from seeing Christ at work. Are we afraid of change? This weekend we held a Partners in Ministry training on communication, conflict resolution, and visioning. Some things that came out are we need to be more intentional about a clear path of discipleship. Can you see that you are here to grow your souls? You could start with my Methodist 101 class, then take Jim's class on Who is Jesus, and then take the Bible from Scratch: New Testament for Beginners, and then Disciple I Bible Study....Could you see us developing a new worship service for people who aren't here yet? How willing would you be to let the contemporary service be at 11 and the traditional service be at 9? Oh, it gets scary! Can you move beyond your fear to see Christ at work? How well do you see? In the beginning, Christ sees a blind man. Over time the blind man comes to see...first a man called Jesus, then a prophet, then a man from God, and at last, "Lord, I believe." At the end, the blind man sees Christ. Jesus says, "I am the light of the world." How well do you see? Others may have had eyesight, but the blind man has insight. He sees Jesus as the Christ. How well do you see? In a former church here in Austin, I had a couple, Larry and Susan, who asked me to perform their marriage. They both were blind. I asked them, "How out of all the people in the world, do you choose to marry someone else who is blind?" They said, "We understand each other. You don't have to explain yourself." As we went throught the premarital counseling, they asked if they could be married on a Sunday morning. "Yes," I said. So we did that as a part of the morning liturgy. For those of you out there thinking about this, you could do it too. So we had their wedding service as a part of morning worship, and it was wonderful. That Sunday also happened to be a communion Sunday. So after Larry and Susan were pronounced man and wife, I had them turn around and serve communion elements to others. And what did Larry and Susan see as people came foward? Did they see how old one was or rich or poor or tall or short or had acne or balding head or .....? No. All they saw was in everyone was "This is the body of Christ for you. This is the blood of Christ for you." All they saw was Christ. May it be so for us too.