Nike

from my message on Mother's Day, 5/13/12, from I John 5:1-6

I like to win.  They say, "It does not matter whether you win or lose, but how you play the game."  "They" have obviously not been a football coach in the State of Texas.  What happens when you lose?  You get fired. 

We like to win.  I went to a 6 man football regional championship game while I was in San Saba.  The football field was right next to the church.  Cherokee was in my county and playing in the game.  I remember those cute little cheerleaders on the sidelines.  The cheer they led has been etched into my brain.  They said (pardon the grammar), "We don't take no chumps; we don't beginners; we don't no losers; we just take winners."

We like to win.  I remember going to a Mother's Day service with my Mama Barton, my grandmother, in Glen Rose, TX.  Mama Barton was a life long Methodist, but she had strategically placed herself at another congregation on this particular day in the hopes of winning the oldest mother attending the service.  The pastor invited all of the mothers to stand.  They were suitably recognized and blessed.  Then the competition bgan.  "All those 50 and older, please remain standing."  About 1/2 the moms sat down.  The pastor continued, "60 and older, 70 and older, 80 and older."  It was getting down to a handful, including Mama Barton.  "90 and older."  It was down to 2 persons.  "95 and older."  Mama Barton sat down, leaving one standing.  Mama Barton said, "I forgot about Miz Brown."

We like to win.  We don't like to lose.  We have greater losses in our lives than an oldest mother on Mother's Day contest.  I was sitting last night at a choir party across the table from Jean.  We were out in the country.  Maybe it was because there was a storm shelter on this ranch that Jean said, "It was 59 years ago yesterday that I was a nurse in Waco when 114 people lost their lives in a tornado. I worked over 100 hours that week."  That memory was as fresh to her as if it had happened yesterday.  This may be the first Mother's Day since you lost your mom in death.  It may be some other significant person.  How about losing a child?  Is there anything worse?  I had an email several weeks back from a woman who has been visiting our church.  The email said, "We got the doctor's report back. I can't have children."  Now there's a loss, the loss of a future, of what might have been.  You may be a woman in the State of Texas, wondering about health care for you as the state government continues to play with reproductive services.  Are they covered or not?  What kind of loss is that for you if you are poor?

About now you are asking, "Pastor Lynn, what does all this have to do with the scripture we read and that title, 'Nike.'  We have seen the swoosh logo; we have it on articles of athletic ware and on our shoes."  The Greek  word nike is used 4 times in this passage, traslated as conquers or as victory.  "For whatever is born of God conquers the world.  This is the victory that conquers the world, our faith.  Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Christ?"  Nike in Greek mythology was the goddess of victory, strengthy, and speed.  You can see why a shoe company would like that name. 

But how does Nike connect with Mother's day?  How does one live victoriously?  I am glad the passage says that "whatever is born of God conquers the world."  There's  a good Mother's day image, being born of God.  But how does that get lived out?  I was stuck here...till yesterday when I was walking the beach at Corpus Christi.  I really love that, hearing the sound of the wind and the waves.  It is very soothing.  My reverie was broken up though by the sound of 4 wheel ATV's going up and down the beach.  They were looking for turtles that come to nest and lay their eggs along the beach.  Especially Kemp-Ridley turtles which are endangered.  I was reading a report that only 89 have been sighted this year from Galveston to Brownsville.  There is a woman there, who has her doctorate in "turtle-ology."  To continue the species, they look for V-shaped tracks in the sand that indicate a turtle has come ashore.  They find the nest of some 60 to 100 eggs.  They take the eggs and sand surrounding the eggs to an incubator.  There they hatch them.  Then they release them at sunrise along the beach.  The little turtles are motivated by the sun; they are "heliotropic."  The Texas coast is perfect  for this as the sun rises in the East. The little turtles start moving their flippers heading for the water.  They are very fragile.  A park ranger is up the beach casting cheetos into the air to attrack all of the birds there and to distract them from the turtles.  All of this is done to imprint the turtles to this beach. 

You have been imprinted.  This is the victory that conquers the world.  You have been born of God.  No matters what happens to you, no matter how fragile you are, you are God's children.  You  are motivated by the rising of the Son.  You belong to Christ, no matter how many losses you face.  This is our faith. This is our victory.  Whatever is born of God conquers the world. 

Imagine a world where you live knowing that you are a child of God.  Imagine seeing others as God's children too.  Why you might dress in red so you could go down to the Capitol on a Tuesday at noon to express your displeasure to the state government, joining with thousands of others who don't want women's health to be a political football.  You see yourself and other women as being born of God.  You might be a woman in Cuba and dress in white and walk the streets of Havanna because someone you love has been taken into custody without any charges.  You know yourself and your loved one to be children of God.  You might be a bubushka in Russia.  Sometimes the machinery doesn't deliver goods and services so well.  So you take your place in line.  You shuffle forward a few steps.  You wait.  You move ahead a few more steps.  You wait all day if necessary for the bread or the toilet paper or whatever you family needs because you all are born of God.  You might not be able to bear children of your own, so you adopt a child, maybe even a child with a medical condition, because you know that whatever is born of God conquers the world.

How will you live Nike?  How will you live victoriously?

I have one last story to leave you inspired.  I will call her "Miss Hattie,"  not her real name, but close enough.  She was an old maid school teacher.  You have the picture in your mind.  She was a member of my church in San Saba.  She died.  She had very few family members, some nieces and nephews.  When I started her funeral service at the church, I was surprised to see that the sanctuary was filled.  As I preached her funeral sermon, I said, "Miss Hattie was never married.  She never had a single child.  But if you were one of her students, please stand right where you are."  Scores of teachers, doctors, lawyers, engineers, fathers and mothers stood.  I said, "No she didn't have a single child.  She had a multitude."

Miss Hattie lived the victory.  You don't have to be a biological mother in order to be a theological mother.  Whatever is born of God conquers the world.  That's the good news I have to share.

fierce conversations

5/9/12  One thing I am proud of is that I have developed trust with my staff, so much so that they are not afraid to have fierce conversations with me.  That is, they will not hold back their opinions of me, of what I am doing, or of what I have said.  They ask questions.  They hold me accountable.  They openly talk of their concerns.  What a gift it is to have such relationships!  I appreciate the fierce conversations.

Love,
Lynn

community

5/7/12  I am surprised that I have not written about this previously in my blog.  The concept of community is central to my understanding of the Christian faith.  We can not follow Christ just as individuals.  We do not know who we are except in relationship to others.  To make the point biblically, the most common image for the Church in the New Testament is "y'all," a word we Texans know as you all.  I had a meeting with my prayer/accountability group this morning.  It is no big deal; just 3 other pastors who meet with me 2/month to talk about our souls.  It is a huge deal; it is the life of sanity and wholeness for me.  I am writing this morning out of gratefulness for the gift of Christian community.

Love,
Lynn

love,love,love,love

from my message on 5/6/12 from I John 4:7-21

Love, Love, Love, Love.  I don't much about love, but what little I know is this:  it take more than one word to describe what love is.  Our English language is so limited because we have just this one word for love.  Thank goodness that years ago, I ran across  a little book by C.S. Lewis, called the Four Loves, which talks about the 4 Greek words used for love.  As I have taught about this in the past, some youth especially found it helpful to have words for what they were feeling.  I hope it helps you today to see where you are in relationship with others and with God.

Storge is the first word, which might be known as affection in English.  It is the humblest and most modest form of love.  It is the love that exists between parents and children.  It is natural, built-in.  Even animals practice this kind of love.  You can have a whole flock of sheep, and the ewe and its lamb will find each other out of the crowd.  For whom do you have affection?  Who has affection for you?  Is this where you with Christ?  Remember how he said that he is the good shepherd and that he knows his sheep and they know him?  Do you feel that affection for Christ?

Philia or friendship is the second form of love.  You have heard this in the American city, Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love.  It is often ignored, maybe because so few experience it. It is the least natural, instinctive, or necessary form of love.  We cannot choose our family, but we do choose our friends.  What a gift it is to find someone else who says, "What, you too?"  You find that you have a commonality.  Here's what I have found:  that you if you have 2 to 3 good friends over a lifetime, you are rich indeed.  Who are your friends?  Who is the person you could call at 3 a.m. for help?  Is this where you are in your relationship with Jesus?  Remember how he said, "I no longer call you slaves/servants; I call you friends." 

Eros is romantic love or being in love, the third word for love.  Here all rational calculations are thrown out the window.  They are irrelevant when it comes to being in love.  Maybe you have been in love?  Isn't it a bit crazy?  People try to talk you out of it.  Edwin Friedman, the rabbi/psychotherapist who taught me family systems,  said that he thought he never did any good when it came to pre-maritial counseling.  The couple was moving at each other at the speed of light.  They only had eyes for the other.  Nothing could penetrate that.  Have you been in love?  Maybe even now?  Have you ever been in love with Christ?  I have read a little book called The Dark Night of the Soul.  We think it is about being depressed or struggling in our faith, but that's not the impression I got when I read it.  The Dark Night of the Soul was about longing to be with the Beloved, about having a lover's tryst with Jesus.  Is this where you are?  Are you in love with Christ?

Agape is the fourth expression of love.  The best illustration of this love is Jesus on the cross.  It is the self-sacrificing, self-giving love.  It is the love that calculates the cost and yet still loves.  This kind of love makes one vulnerable.  To love like this means you will be hurt.  Lewis says, "the only  place outside of heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers of love is hell."  Twenty-nine times in this passage the word used for love is agape.  It is God's love for us.  But we can also love like this.  "We love, because he first loved us."  Once we have experienced this love, we can love others the same way.

Chuck Colson, one of Nixon's hatchetmen, was caught, convicted, sent to prison. He had a conversion experience and became a Christian.  He started a prison ministry.  He was talking with his son, Chris, about evidence for God.  The grandson, Charlie, then 4, interrupted.  "But grandpa, there is a God."  Chuck nodded, agreeing with him. "See, if there wasn't a God, people couldn't love each other." 

Is this where you are?  Have you experience the love of Christ to the point that you can love others, even the unloveable, knowing you probably will be hurt?

The General Conference of the UMC has just wrapped up.  This meeting of some 1,000 delegates from around the world comes together every 4 years to see how we can share Christ's love in the world.  It can be difficult as Robert's Rules of Order, 1000's of petitions, motions and seconds, and substitute motions get tossed about.  I was reading the blog of our lead clergy delegate from the SWTx Conf, Laura.  She shared a bright moment that came from a testimony from a clergy in our area, a woman named Lorenza Andrade Smith.  Lorenza's ministry is with street people.  She was trying to get into a homeless shelter in San Antonio to spend the night.  She was trying to bring her paten (plate for communion bread) and chalice (cup for the grape juice) into the shelter with her.  The shelter wouldn't allow for that, as her paten and chalice could be used as weapons.  So Lorenza went to sleep on a bench outside of the Alamo.  There she was arrested for vagrancy and taken to jail.  The punishment for her crime was to do community service...wait for it.. at the homeless shelter she was trying to enter!  These (holding up the paten and chalice from our communion table) are our weapons in the world, to share the love that Christ has for us with others!  That is the good news I have to share today.

transitions, part II

5/3/12 For many months, maybe a full year, we had looked for an assistant to the youth minister.  We tried parttime college kids from the Wesley Foundation.  We looked for students from the local seminary. We advertised on various websites.  No bites.  The right person was not found.  Finally, we bumped up the compensation package and looked for a full time person.  We found Diane, one who had just completed  a Master's degree from a west  coast seminary.  She wanted to move back to Austin, where she had gone to the University of Texas.  Hurrah!  We found a gifted, committed youth assistant.

About this time, Tonya, whom we had hired to help with the Point, a new movement involving worship and service, announced that she needed/wanted to move back to South Carolina where her mother lived.  How we find a replacement for such a one who could play the guitar, sing, do website design and maintenance, be good at relationships and organization?  The very day Tonya told us she was going to be moving out, Diane told us that she had a boyfriend who wanted to move to Austin (for obvious reasons).  This young man, Jonathan, had also just graduated from the same west coast seminary as Diane.  He played the guitar, sang, had been doing video production and web communication for a church in California.  Diane asked if we knew of anyone who could use his skills.  We got his resume' that very day.  In short, we hired Jonathan to start work with us on May 15, right as Tonya is leaving.

Now this week, our youth minister, J.D., announced that he will be leaving us so that he can go to seminary full time, instead of half time, so he can finish in 2 years instead of 4. 

At staff meeting, I closed as I often do, by asking them how Christ has shown up in that hour.  Tonya remarked that she had seen Christ at work in the providing of the right persons with the right gifts at the right time.  Christ had shown up in the transitions.

Love,
Lynn

transitions, part I

5/2/12  This is the time of year when United Methodist pastors and their families are thinking about moving.  Hopefully, they have heard from their District Superintendents by now about their new place of ministry.  This morning I had breakfast with Dan who is going to be the new pastor at San Saba, where Cathy and I were sent  in 1983, almost 29 years ago.  Dan wanted to get my impressions of that county seat, hill country town.  I was happy to oblige him over a super breakfast burrito from Mi Ranchito.  He asked all the right questions.  He demonstrated excitement about going to San Saba by entering their classic domed sanctuary for the first time and shouting "Wahoo!"  He and his wife have 2 little girls, just like Cathy and I had 2 little boys while out there.  I think they are going to make this transitions just fine.

Love,
Lynn

privacy

5/1/12  More than at any other time in my ministry, I am dealing with folks who don't want their situation in life to be shared with anyone else.  They value their privacy.  I have church members in the hospital for surgery, in ICU, for tests, etc.  Of course, the government passed the HIPAA law several years ago, where the H stands for Health, and the I for information, and the P for privacy.  Everyone is entitled to protect their individual health information and to share with others only what they want.  As a pastor what I find difficult is learning about these situations long after the fact and feeling distant from my congregants.  When does privacy become isolation?  I believe that the community of faith has a lot of healing to share through their prayers, their visits, their cards, their sharing of scripture and songs, etc.  The desire for privacy cuts folks off from the very thing they need most, the love of others.  Yes, I know that information has not always been used for prayerful purposes and that one's situation can become nothing more than gossip.  I understand that  privacy has its place.  But community also has its place.

Love,
Lynn