8/31/09 My breath prayer for the day is Proverbs 22:1, "A good name is to chosen rather than great riches." I have been reflecting on what's really important today, upon how we will be remembered, upon what impact we have upon the world. I think a good name, that is, a reputation for integrity, for faithfulness, for justice, for peace is what I would choose to be remembered for. I give thanks for the riches I do have, but more than the material ones, I give thanks for the relationships, the memories, the holy encounters that I have had.
Love,
Lynn
Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Have-to's and Get-to's
8/30/09 from my sermon from Ephesians 2:1-10
Hello, my name is Lynn, and I am an eldest son, super-responsible, high-achieving, goody-goody, workaholic. I have been in recovery for many years, but I have also had many relapses.
I don't know where I got it--from my family of origin, or Protestant work ethic, or where--but somehow I thought if I were only good enough, God would have to love me. I know that I am the only one who has ever felt this way. (Laughter)
Some of us get confused. We think that Christianity is about doing good works, being perfect, and earning our way into heaven. It is like there is a points system. I know all of the St. Peter at the Pearly Gates jokes only reinforce this. "Well, let me check in my book, and see if you had enough good deeds."
The problem I had with this was that even though I was working very hard to please God, I never felt very happy. I felt a sense of obligation. I felt I never could do enough. I was always disappointing God...others....and maybe what was the worst...myself. I felt like the passage says, dead in my trespasses.
Thankfully, in my senior year in high school, my girl friend showed my a passage of scripture. It was right before a big revival. I didn't need the revival. The verses from Ephesians 2:8-9 were exactly what I needed to hear. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not because of works, lest anyone should boast." What a relief! What a burden lifted! It wasn't about what I did, but about what God had already done. It was a gift, not about my good works.
Now I have fallen back many times, trying to prove that I deserve to be saved, but this is the gospel. We are saved by what God has done in Jesus Christ.
When I went to seminary, I found that I was in pretty good company. Martin Luther, of the Protestant revolution, went through the same process. He crawled up the steps of St. Peter's in Rome on his knees, and many other things, trying to prove how good he was. But it was a verse in Romans that got to him, that said, faith was made him righteous, not his good works. John Wesley, who started the Methodist reform movement, that eventually became our UMC, had nearly the same exact story. He visited in prisons and even became a missionary to these American colonies in the 1700's , trying to convert others, but having no assurance of his salvation, until his heart was "strangely warmed" by God's grace.
You know that I am an Aggie, so I keep things simple so that I can understand them. So I came up with this distinction between have-to's and get-to's in understanding God and salvation. Let me illustrate. Some people look at the 10 commandments as have-to's....they are rules not to be broken. If you look at the rest of the OT, you find that they get expanded to some 630 commandments. Then when the scribes and Pharisees come along, they grew to thousands in number as they were applied to every part of life.
But I look at the 10 commandments as get-to's. They are about relationships...between God and us. Remember how they begin...."I am the LORD, the one who brought you out of bondage in Egypt." There are only 10 simple things to tend to, only 8 of them in the negative. I like what Godly play teaches about these with children. They are called the 10 best ways of living.
Then when Jesus comes along, remember how he approached the 10 commmandments in Matthew's Gospel, in the sermon on the mount, chapter 5. "You have heard it said...you shall not murder," number 6 on the top ten list, "But I say to you, if you harbor hatred and anger in your heart, you have just as well murdered." "You have heard it said....love your neighbor, but I say to you, love your enemies." Jesus takes us way beyond what the law requires to what love is.
Have-to's feel like "what is the minimum I need to do in order to pass this class?" Get-to's feel like "how much can I give back to you for all you have done for me?" Have-to's feel like rules. Get-to's feel like relationships. Have-to's feel like fear of punishment. Get-to's feel like gratitude. Have-to's feel like law. Get-to's feel like love.
May I tell you a story? When you used to go camping in the mountains of New Mexico, several families would go together meeting near Tres Ritos. After setting up camp, we would go further up the mountain to get firewood, filling up a pick-up with huge logs. Back a camp, my Dad among others would say, "Now you boys work up that firewood." A have-to that we resisted. But Mr. Wattenburger would say, "Now Marty, I bet no one could split that log in just 5 ax blows." "Oh, yeah, watch this!" And proceed to do it. He would say, "Now Lynn, you and Duffy couldn't saw through that big log with the cross cut saw in under a minute." "Oh yeah, watch this." And we did. He made it into a get-to. Have-t0's feel like work. Get-to's feel like fun.
I came across some quotes from years ago. I don't even remember where I got them, but they are keepers about have-to's and get-to's. "The church is not an institution forcing us to follow its rules. It is a community of people inviting us to quench our deepest thirsts at is table. Doctrines are not alien formulations to which we must adhere, but the documentation fo the most profound human experiences which transcend time and place, handed down from generation to generation as a light on our darkness. Jesus never threatened people into church. The only ones threatened were the religious ones."
So should we do good works? Absolutely, but only as a response to our salvation, not as a way of earning it. Verse 10 says, "For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works , which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life." Once we have received the gift of our salvation, we spend the rest of our lives saying thank you to God by our deeds.
This is what I have found to be true: People will do things out of love that they would never do out of law.
We give backpacks today to people we don't even know because we get to.
We go on mission trips to New Orleans to do home repair. Understand this, we pay money to go work long days, putting up sheet rock for no pay, then stand in line waiting for one of the showers before going to bed in our bunk beds in the dorms. And we say it's fun, because we get to do it.
I am starting a series of sermons today on the foundations stones of what we UM's believe. I want to be clear from the beginning that all of our vows and sacraments are get-to's not have-to's. So we don't have to pray, we get to. We don't have to be present, we get to. We don't have to give money, we get to. We don't have to serve with our spiritual gifts, we get to. WE don't have to witness, we get to. We don't have to come to this table, we get to. We don't have to be baptized, we get to. We don't have to be saved, we get to. We don't have to have peace in our lives, we get to.
I want to be the pastor of a get-to church.
Hello, my name is Lynn, and I am an eldest son, super-responsible, high-achieving, goody-goody, workaholic. I have been in recovery for many years, but I have also had many relapses.
I don't know where I got it--from my family of origin, or Protestant work ethic, or where--but somehow I thought if I were only good enough, God would have to love me. I know that I am the only one who has ever felt this way. (Laughter)
Some of us get confused. We think that Christianity is about doing good works, being perfect, and earning our way into heaven. It is like there is a points system. I know all of the St. Peter at the Pearly Gates jokes only reinforce this. "Well, let me check in my book, and see if you had enough good deeds."
The problem I had with this was that even though I was working very hard to please God, I never felt very happy. I felt a sense of obligation. I felt I never could do enough. I was always disappointing God...others....and maybe what was the worst...myself. I felt like the passage says, dead in my trespasses.
Thankfully, in my senior year in high school, my girl friend showed my a passage of scripture. It was right before a big revival. I didn't need the revival. The verses from Ephesians 2:8-9 were exactly what I needed to hear. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not because of works, lest anyone should boast." What a relief! What a burden lifted! It wasn't about what I did, but about what God had already done. It was a gift, not about my good works.
Now I have fallen back many times, trying to prove that I deserve to be saved, but this is the gospel. We are saved by what God has done in Jesus Christ.
When I went to seminary, I found that I was in pretty good company. Martin Luther, of the Protestant revolution, went through the same process. He crawled up the steps of St. Peter's in Rome on his knees, and many other things, trying to prove how good he was. But it was a verse in Romans that got to him, that said, faith was made him righteous, not his good works. John Wesley, who started the Methodist reform movement, that eventually became our UMC, had nearly the same exact story. He visited in prisons and even became a missionary to these American colonies in the 1700's , trying to convert others, but having no assurance of his salvation, until his heart was "strangely warmed" by God's grace.
You know that I am an Aggie, so I keep things simple so that I can understand them. So I came up with this distinction between have-to's and get-to's in understanding God and salvation. Let me illustrate. Some people look at the 10 commandments as have-to's....they are rules not to be broken. If you look at the rest of the OT, you find that they get expanded to some 630 commandments. Then when the scribes and Pharisees come along, they grew to thousands in number as they were applied to every part of life.
But I look at the 10 commandments as get-to's. They are about relationships...between God and us. Remember how they begin...."I am the LORD, the one who brought you out of bondage in Egypt." There are only 10 simple things to tend to, only 8 of them in the negative. I like what Godly play teaches about these with children. They are called the 10 best ways of living.
Then when Jesus comes along, remember how he approached the 10 commmandments in Matthew's Gospel, in the sermon on the mount, chapter 5. "You have heard it said...you shall not murder," number 6 on the top ten list, "But I say to you, if you harbor hatred and anger in your heart, you have just as well murdered." "You have heard it said....love your neighbor, but I say to you, love your enemies." Jesus takes us way beyond what the law requires to what love is.
Have-to's feel like "what is the minimum I need to do in order to pass this class?" Get-to's feel like "how much can I give back to you for all you have done for me?" Have-to's feel like rules. Get-to's feel like relationships. Have-to's feel like fear of punishment. Get-to's feel like gratitude. Have-to's feel like law. Get-to's feel like love.
May I tell you a story? When you used to go camping in the mountains of New Mexico, several families would go together meeting near Tres Ritos. After setting up camp, we would go further up the mountain to get firewood, filling up a pick-up with huge logs. Back a camp, my Dad among others would say, "Now you boys work up that firewood." A have-to that we resisted. But Mr. Wattenburger would say, "Now Marty, I bet no one could split that log in just 5 ax blows." "Oh, yeah, watch this!" And proceed to do it. He would say, "Now Lynn, you and Duffy couldn't saw through that big log with the cross cut saw in under a minute." "Oh yeah, watch this." And we did. He made it into a get-to. Have-t0's feel like work. Get-to's feel like fun.
I came across some quotes from years ago. I don't even remember where I got them, but they are keepers about have-to's and get-to's. "The church is not an institution forcing us to follow its rules. It is a community of people inviting us to quench our deepest thirsts at is table. Doctrines are not alien formulations to which we must adhere, but the documentation fo the most profound human experiences which transcend time and place, handed down from generation to generation as a light on our darkness. Jesus never threatened people into church. The only ones threatened were the religious ones."
So should we do good works? Absolutely, but only as a response to our salvation, not as a way of earning it. Verse 10 says, "For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works , which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life." Once we have received the gift of our salvation, we spend the rest of our lives saying thank you to God by our deeds.
This is what I have found to be true: People will do things out of love that they would never do out of law.
We give backpacks today to people we don't even know because we get to.
We go on mission trips to New Orleans to do home repair. Understand this, we pay money to go work long days, putting up sheet rock for no pay, then stand in line waiting for one of the showers before going to bed in our bunk beds in the dorms. And we say it's fun, because we get to do it.
I am starting a series of sermons today on the foundations stones of what we UM's believe. I want to be clear from the beginning that all of our vows and sacraments are get-to's not have-to's. So we don't have to pray, we get to. We don't have to be present, we get to. We don't have to give money, we get to. We don't have to serve with our spiritual gifts, we get to. WE don't have to witness, we get to. We don't have to come to this table, we get to. We don't have to be baptized, we get to. We don't have to be saved, we get to. We don't have to have peace in our lives, we get to.
I want to be the pastor of a get-to church.
Friday, August 28, 2009
ear to mouth ratio
8/28/09 My breath prayer for the last 2 days has been from the book of practical wisdom in the New Testament, James 1:19, "Let everyone be quick to listen, be slow to speak, and slow to anger." I am really good at speaking. Most people call me a "preacher." Speaking comes with the territory. But I have concentrating not on what I have to say but what others are saying. People like to heard. People need to be heard. God likes to be heard. God needs to be heard. Maybe that is what keeps us from getting angry so fast--listening to others and to God.
Love,
Lynn
Love,
Lynn
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
overflowing
8/26/09 My prayer verse for the day is Psalm 45:1, "My heart overflows with a goodly theme." I tried to live into the truth of this verse as I walked early this morning by letting my heart be filled with God's presence and then letting that grace wash over all the people and all the situations I was bringing before God in prayer. Only God has the resources to meet all of our needs.
Love,
Lynn
Love,
Lynn
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
marriages
8/25/09 My reading this morning was from the Song of Solomon or the Song of Songs 2:8-13. This is a book that got into the Bible because it depicted the relationship between God and us and that of lovers. I think the book also celebrates the goodness of marriage, the joy of our sexuality, and the intimate trust that exists in marriage. So today in my prayers I am remembering many marriages, people who know this joy, and some who are struggling in their relationships. I give thanks for my marriage to Cathy.
Love,
Lynn
Love,
Lynn
Monday, August 24, 2009
New School Clothers
from my sermon on 8/23/09, Ephesians 6:10-20
Boy and girls, do yo know what you are going to wear tomorrow on the first day of school? I always loved those new school clothes. You adults, how important are clothes? Do you have a power suit? Designer Labels? And you youth, how conscious are you of what others are wearing? Is there ever a clothes competition? I know that many schools have gone to dress codes and school uniforms.
So clothes are important. Mark Twain said this, "CLothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society."
As Christians what should we wear? This letter to the early church has some fashion advice. It says, "put on the whole armor of God." I know you may have some problems with the military imagery as I do, but remember who the dominant power was at that time...Rome. So the writer is simply referring to an image that everyone would be familiar with...that of a Roman soldier. Note also that 5 of the 6 dress items mentioned have to do with defense. They are non-violent terms. They provide protection. No part is left uncovered. In fact the word in Greek for the whole armor is a word that we sometimes use in English. It is the word panoply.
We need the whole armor to stand or withstand, a Greek word that is used 4 times in this passage, the rulers, cosmic powers, the evil one. Now I know you will have trouble with this imagery also, saying, we are sophisticated and have moved beyond this dualistic understanding of the world. But stay with me a moment. Isn't there evil in the world? Especially as we go back to school. When I was in grade school, the James Bond movies were just coming out. I remember a kid in my grade, a chubby kid, who came to school one day with a 007 sweat shirt on. That day on the playground, I hear another kid say to him, "I didn't know James Bond was fat." OUCH.
What the writer is saying here is that evil is more than just personal, it is systemic. Walter Wink has written extensively about this topic. He says that there is a domination system, that evil has become part of institutions, organization, and societies. To illustrate, he talks about a friend in the clothing industry who wants to provide health insurance for her employees. I know that is hot potato right now. She wants to do right by them and provide them with a benefit. But there is a cost to offering this coverage. She may not be able to compete with others in the U.S. much less with the sweat shops in 3rd world countries that offer no benefits, low wages, and long hours. Walter Wink says, "You don't have to be greedy. The system will be greedy enough for itself."
So what are we to wear in confronting evil? The belt of truth. The breastplate of righteousness. I take righteousness to mean right relationships. We are ready to run with the good news of peace with our shoes. We have a shield of faith. Now this was a large shield, that covered the whole body. What's more it was made to interlock with your fellow soldiers so that you could stand together and withstand the flaming darts. I take this to mean we need each other; we need Christian community. We have the helmet of salvation. And the only offensive weapon we have is the sword of the Spirit, the word of God. That's why we read the Bible. That's we are starting Disciple Bible study again.
Let me give you some examples of what this might look like. Remember Ghandhi in India and what he wore....the sari, the simple dress of a peasant. He took on the government with non-violence and by his stance was able to show the powers what their abuse meant. He brought about a transformation of his society. Corazon in the Phillipines did something very similiar and what did she wear? Yellow....and truth and righteousness..and... The system doesn't know what to do with the non-violence and so has to reflect upon itself and possible change.
So what you will wear tomorrow as you go to school or to work or to play? Jesus says, "don't be anxious about what you are to wear." Remember this from Matthew's gospel. I had a house blessing this past week. Yes, we pastors still make house calls. One of the suggested readings was from Matt. 6. It said, something like, don't worry about what you are to wear. Consider the lilies of the field, how they neither toil nor spin, and look how God clothes them with even finer robes than even Solomon in all of his glory had. I won't forget this passage because one of the little girls in this house was named Lily, and she looked up when she heard her name mentioned in the passage.
So we don't need to worry. In fact, we can wrap ourselves in prayer. That is how the passage ends. We pray a lot as a staff. Yes, we plan and calendar and coordinate, but we also pray a lot. This past staff meeting, Pastor Jim had a great story for us about prayer. Remember last week that Jim wasn't in worship with us. He was finishing up his questions for ordination. We are all students, life-time learners, aren't we? Well, we as a staff covered his parts without trouble. What we didn't know is that last Saturday night Jim was working on his laptop using a little flash memory drive. He stood up, the laptop slid off its lap board, crashed on the floor, breaking off the flash drive. Jim had not backed up anything. Half of his answers were on the flash drive. Now when I was a kid, we used to say, "The dog ate my homework." Today we can say, "The flash drive broke off in my laptop." Jim was devastated. He prayed. He said, "Help." He remembered other times when he felt helpless like taking Hebrew in seminary. His prayer then and now was, "God, help me. Help me take just the next step." Jim finished his questions by the Monday deadline. Prayer reminds where we get our help, our strength. Remember how this passage begins, "Be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his power." It is not by ourselves that we make it. It is by God and the community. So we wrap ourselves in prayer.
What will you be wearing tomorrow? I am hoping that as you get dressed you will be putting on the whole armor of God.
Clothes are important. They make the person. But I disagree with Mark Twain about naked people. What was Jesus wearing in his last hours? About all he had on was truth, righteousness, peace, faith. I know these seem so small against the cosmic powers. But I remember his helmet of salvation, a crown of thorns. I remember his word, his prayer, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
These are always in style. They always overcome. That's the good news I have to share.
Boy and girls, do yo know what you are going to wear tomorrow on the first day of school? I always loved those new school clothes. You adults, how important are clothes? Do you have a power suit? Designer Labels? And you youth, how conscious are you of what others are wearing? Is there ever a clothes competition? I know that many schools have gone to dress codes and school uniforms.
So clothes are important. Mark Twain said this, "CLothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society."
As Christians what should we wear? This letter to the early church has some fashion advice. It says, "put on the whole armor of God." I know you may have some problems with the military imagery as I do, but remember who the dominant power was at that time...Rome. So the writer is simply referring to an image that everyone would be familiar with...that of a Roman soldier. Note also that 5 of the 6 dress items mentioned have to do with defense. They are non-violent terms. They provide protection. No part is left uncovered. In fact the word in Greek for the whole armor is a word that we sometimes use in English. It is the word panoply.
We need the whole armor to stand or withstand, a Greek word that is used 4 times in this passage, the rulers, cosmic powers, the evil one. Now I know you will have trouble with this imagery also, saying, we are sophisticated and have moved beyond this dualistic understanding of the world. But stay with me a moment. Isn't there evil in the world? Especially as we go back to school. When I was in grade school, the James Bond movies were just coming out. I remember a kid in my grade, a chubby kid, who came to school one day with a 007 sweat shirt on. That day on the playground, I hear another kid say to him, "I didn't know James Bond was fat." OUCH.
What the writer is saying here is that evil is more than just personal, it is systemic. Walter Wink has written extensively about this topic. He says that there is a domination system, that evil has become part of institutions, organization, and societies. To illustrate, he talks about a friend in the clothing industry who wants to provide health insurance for her employees. I know that is hot potato right now. She wants to do right by them and provide them with a benefit. But there is a cost to offering this coverage. She may not be able to compete with others in the U.S. much less with the sweat shops in 3rd world countries that offer no benefits, low wages, and long hours. Walter Wink says, "You don't have to be greedy. The system will be greedy enough for itself."
So what are we to wear in confronting evil? The belt of truth. The breastplate of righteousness. I take righteousness to mean right relationships. We are ready to run with the good news of peace with our shoes. We have a shield of faith. Now this was a large shield, that covered the whole body. What's more it was made to interlock with your fellow soldiers so that you could stand together and withstand the flaming darts. I take this to mean we need each other; we need Christian community. We have the helmet of salvation. And the only offensive weapon we have is the sword of the Spirit, the word of God. That's why we read the Bible. That's we are starting Disciple Bible study again.
Let me give you some examples of what this might look like. Remember Ghandhi in India and what he wore....the sari, the simple dress of a peasant. He took on the government with non-violence and by his stance was able to show the powers what their abuse meant. He brought about a transformation of his society. Corazon in the Phillipines did something very similiar and what did she wear? Yellow....and truth and righteousness..and... The system doesn't know what to do with the non-violence and so has to reflect upon itself and possible change.
So what you will wear tomorrow as you go to school or to work or to play? Jesus says, "don't be anxious about what you are to wear." Remember this from Matthew's gospel. I had a house blessing this past week. Yes, we pastors still make house calls. One of the suggested readings was from Matt. 6. It said, something like, don't worry about what you are to wear. Consider the lilies of the field, how they neither toil nor spin, and look how God clothes them with even finer robes than even Solomon in all of his glory had. I won't forget this passage because one of the little girls in this house was named Lily, and she looked up when she heard her name mentioned in the passage.
So we don't need to worry. In fact, we can wrap ourselves in prayer. That is how the passage ends. We pray a lot as a staff. Yes, we plan and calendar and coordinate, but we also pray a lot. This past staff meeting, Pastor Jim had a great story for us about prayer. Remember last week that Jim wasn't in worship with us. He was finishing up his questions for ordination. We are all students, life-time learners, aren't we? Well, we as a staff covered his parts without trouble. What we didn't know is that last Saturday night Jim was working on his laptop using a little flash memory drive. He stood up, the laptop slid off its lap board, crashed on the floor, breaking off the flash drive. Jim had not backed up anything. Half of his answers were on the flash drive. Now when I was a kid, we used to say, "The dog ate my homework." Today we can say, "The flash drive broke off in my laptop." Jim was devastated. He prayed. He said, "Help." He remembered other times when he felt helpless like taking Hebrew in seminary. His prayer then and now was, "God, help me. Help me take just the next step." Jim finished his questions by the Monday deadline. Prayer reminds where we get our help, our strength. Remember how this passage begins, "Be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his power." It is not by ourselves that we make it. It is by God and the community. So we wrap ourselves in prayer.
What will you be wearing tomorrow? I am hoping that as you get dressed you will be putting on the whole armor of God.
Clothes are important. They make the person. But I disagree with Mark Twain about naked people. What was Jesus wearing in his last hours? About all he had on was truth, righteousness, peace, faith. I know these seem so small against the cosmic powers. But I remember his helmet of salvation, a crown of thorns. I remember his word, his prayer, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
These are always in style. They always overcome. That's the good news I have to share.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
strong
8/20/09 My breath prayer for the day has been from Ephesians 6:10, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power." I will be preaching from this text on Sunday, so my study of the Greek reveals that the opening verb would be better translated as "be continually empowered." So we realize that is not so much a command to us as a process in us. We realize that is not our strength whether that is education, or money, or office, or body, but God's power at work in us. And we realize that this strength is not violent or aggressive, but is able to defend us against the worst foe even suprahuman powers and principalities.
Love,
Lynn
Love,
Lynn
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