from my message on Christmas Eve, 2013, from John 1:1-14
(I start by lighting a candle and singing "This little of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. Let it shine, Let it shine, let it shine.)
(as the song ends, a spotlight goes on and shines on the rock wall behind me)
Oh, hello. Are you the light? (spotlight nods up and down for YES)
Did you hear us singing about you? YES
I'm glad you came here tonight. Are you glad that you came here? YES
Say, I was wondering, are the same light that was from the very beginning, when God said, "Let there be light? YES.
And nothing can put you out? (spotlight shakes side to side for NO)
Not even sin? NO
Not even when we hurt each other? NO
Not even when we hurt you? NO
Not even when lie or cheat or steal or love things more than people or for You? (light shakes faster and faster for NO)
So, it really is true that the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it? YES
Are you the light that shone around the angels when they they told the shepherds about Jesus' birth? YES
Are you the light of the star that led the wise men to Bethlehem? YES
Are you the light of Christ? (slow and big) YES
So you are the light of Jesus healing and teaching and feeding the crowds and raising the dead? (light nods faster and faster) YES
You didn't go out when your closest friends denied you, betrayed you and deserted You? (big and slow) NO
You didn't go out even when you died? NO
(light moves to the cross while expanding....pause)
You rose again...for us.....to give us hope? (slow and big) YES
You really are the light that shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it? YES
Thank you Lord Jesus for being our Light. May we carry your light into your world.
(start singing, "Hide it under a bushel? No, I'm gonna let it shine. Hide it under a bushel? No, I'm gonna let it shine. Hide it under a bushel? No, I'm gonna let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.)
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Monday, December 23, 2013
The Day is Dawning
from my message on Dec. 22, 2013, from Romans 13:11-14
Do you know what today is? Yes, December 22. It is also the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, the longest night. It is also the fourth Sunday of Advent. You nearly forgot that it is only 2 shopping days until Christmas. Then there is the classic poster, Today is the first day of the...rest of your life. For the Apostle Paul, today is also one day closer to the second coming of Christ.
I know we United Methodists don't spend a lot of energy during this season on the second Advent of Christ. We tend to focus on the sweet baby Jesus, the first coming of Christ. But Paul believed that Christ was coming again, and coming soon. The night is far gone, the day is near, he says.
I go to a Catholic retreat house, a house of quiet and prayer, called Lebh Shomea. Father Rocky (I am not making this name up) wrote in his newsletter that Advent is the season when we live each day as if Christ was coming that day. I know we don't have that same sense of immediacy and urgency, but I do believe that we believe that Christ is coming again. We believe that the God of creation is also the God of completion. We believe that the days are not just a series of random events but are actually leading to a conclusion.
I want to tell you some stories to back up this claim. There was a man who lived some time ago. I won't share his name or time just yet, because he seems to be quite contemporary. He was a spoiled child. I know we don't have any spoiled children around here today. He had lots of advantages. It allowed him to dabble in all of the esoteric mysteries of his day. He tried out all of the philosophies and mystery religions of his time. He was attracted to Christianity. A preacher named Ambrose had a special appeal as did the liturgy. Yet he was also drawn to sex and drugs and rock and roll. If there was something to stimulate his senses, he tried it. He would go to the church, and then go back to his wasting of life. He was really torn between the darkness and the light. One day, in a time of stress, when this conflict was raging inside him, he retreated to the backyard, to the garden of the house. There he heard a child singing. He could tell if it was a boy or a girl. He couldn't tell if the voice was across the fence or inside him. The child was singing, "take up and read. Take up and read." His friend had the letters of Paul in a bound book, which he handed to him. This torn man resolved to do whatever he placed his hand upon in the Bible. I do not recommend this method of Bible study to you. It could lead you to some dangerous places. Anyhow, he opened the book to Paul's letter to the church of Rome, to the 13 chapter, the 13 verse. "Let us live honorable as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy."
The light shone brightly in his life. Christ came in a powerful way. It was exactly the word that he needed to hear. He was never the same person again. He was immediately baptized. His name was Augustine. We call him Saint Augustine. He became a bishop in Hippo. He wrote extensively and shaped the life of the early church. He was the one who wrote, "our hearts are restless till they find their rest in thee."
Did you notice that the next verse after the one that got to Augustine said to "put on the Lord Jesus Christ?" This is baptismal language. We put on the light of Christ. In Godly play, the lesson on baptism involves giving each child a candle. Light is taken from the one Christ candle and is used to light each child's candle. The point is made that the light of Christ is not diminished even as it is shared. In fact, it only grows and grows. So it is with us and Augustine. We take on the light of Christ and grow into his likeness.
We believe that the fullness of the light of Christ will shine one day in hope. We believe in the second coming of Christ. I know we do, or else, why would we do some of the things that we do?
I will share some stories with no name mentioned but based upon actual events as they say in the movies.
You are an attractive female in your 50's. Your first husband has died, but you still have lots of life left. You meet another man, a widower. You fall in love and marry. Life is terrific, until after only a couple of years, he starts to forget things. Where are the keys? What did I just say? You go to all of the doctors. There cannot be a definitive diagnosis, but they say, "It appears to be Alzheirmer's." You cry......but you don't give up on the marriage. You said, "For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health." You hold up your light.
You are a man at a business conference. You are at the table with several persons from around the country. She's there at your side during the day, at your table. There's joking....brushes of the hand...it feels like flirting. At the end of the day at this convention center, she mentions that she has no dinner plans. It is innocent enough; you go to dinner together. She asks you to walk her to her room. You are a gentleman and do so. There at the door she has a line that means more than the mere words. She asks, "Would you like to come in?" And you have a wedding ring on, and here you draw the line, and you politely decline, "I need to get back to my room." And you hold up your light.
You are parents of grown children. You have brought them up well. You have brought them up in the Christian faith. These adult children have drifted away from that faith. In fact, they don't want to talk about that subject. When you bring it up, they get quite exercised in reaction to it. "We don't want to go there." You love them. You pray for them, by day and by night. You wait for them. You make every possible invitation to relationship. You hold up your light.
You are a student a school, middle school. And there's the kid the others like to pick on. You know the one. And most of the kids are pretty good, most of the time, but sometimes they can be mean, can be cruel. So this one day, when they are picking on the kid, you know the one, you stand beside the one being picked on and say, "Enough. He's my friend. Stop it." And you hold up your light.
You are here today. It's not Christmas eve; it's the fourth Sunday of Advent. School's out and you're here. It's cold outside and you're here. The Austin allergies are raging, and you're here. And you hold up your light.
Christ is coming. The day, His day is dawning. We are one day closer to the second coming. Life is not a series of random events, but moving towards His light.
The verse underlying this whole Advent series has been from the first chapter of John, talking about Jesus, "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."
Keep holding up your light until the light of Christ fully comes.
Do you know what today is? Yes, December 22. It is also the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, the longest night. It is also the fourth Sunday of Advent. You nearly forgot that it is only 2 shopping days until Christmas. Then there is the classic poster, Today is the first day of the...rest of your life. For the Apostle Paul, today is also one day closer to the second coming of Christ.
I know we United Methodists don't spend a lot of energy during this season on the second Advent of Christ. We tend to focus on the sweet baby Jesus, the first coming of Christ. But Paul believed that Christ was coming again, and coming soon. The night is far gone, the day is near, he says.
I go to a Catholic retreat house, a house of quiet and prayer, called Lebh Shomea. Father Rocky (I am not making this name up) wrote in his newsletter that Advent is the season when we live each day as if Christ was coming that day. I know we don't have that same sense of immediacy and urgency, but I do believe that we believe that Christ is coming again. We believe that the God of creation is also the God of completion. We believe that the days are not just a series of random events but are actually leading to a conclusion.
I want to tell you some stories to back up this claim. There was a man who lived some time ago. I won't share his name or time just yet, because he seems to be quite contemporary. He was a spoiled child. I know we don't have any spoiled children around here today. He had lots of advantages. It allowed him to dabble in all of the esoteric mysteries of his day. He tried out all of the philosophies and mystery religions of his time. He was attracted to Christianity. A preacher named Ambrose had a special appeal as did the liturgy. Yet he was also drawn to sex and drugs and rock and roll. If there was something to stimulate his senses, he tried it. He would go to the church, and then go back to his wasting of life. He was really torn between the darkness and the light. One day, in a time of stress, when this conflict was raging inside him, he retreated to the backyard, to the garden of the house. There he heard a child singing. He could tell if it was a boy or a girl. He couldn't tell if the voice was across the fence or inside him. The child was singing, "take up and read. Take up and read." His friend had the letters of Paul in a bound book, which he handed to him. This torn man resolved to do whatever he placed his hand upon in the Bible. I do not recommend this method of Bible study to you. It could lead you to some dangerous places. Anyhow, he opened the book to Paul's letter to the church of Rome, to the 13 chapter, the 13 verse. "Let us live honorable as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy."
The light shone brightly in his life. Christ came in a powerful way. It was exactly the word that he needed to hear. He was never the same person again. He was immediately baptized. His name was Augustine. We call him Saint Augustine. He became a bishop in Hippo. He wrote extensively and shaped the life of the early church. He was the one who wrote, "our hearts are restless till they find their rest in thee."
Did you notice that the next verse after the one that got to Augustine said to "put on the Lord Jesus Christ?" This is baptismal language. We put on the light of Christ. In Godly play, the lesson on baptism involves giving each child a candle. Light is taken from the one Christ candle and is used to light each child's candle. The point is made that the light of Christ is not diminished even as it is shared. In fact, it only grows and grows. So it is with us and Augustine. We take on the light of Christ and grow into his likeness.
We believe that the fullness of the light of Christ will shine one day in hope. We believe in the second coming of Christ. I know we do, or else, why would we do some of the things that we do?
I will share some stories with no name mentioned but based upon actual events as they say in the movies.
You are an attractive female in your 50's. Your first husband has died, but you still have lots of life left. You meet another man, a widower. You fall in love and marry. Life is terrific, until after only a couple of years, he starts to forget things. Where are the keys? What did I just say? You go to all of the doctors. There cannot be a definitive diagnosis, but they say, "It appears to be Alzheirmer's." You cry......but you don't give up on the marriage. You said, "For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health." You hold up your light.
You are a man at a business conference. You are at the table with several persons from around the country. She's there at your side during the day, at your table. There's joking....brushes of the hand...it feels like flirting. At the end of the day at this convention center, she mentions that she has no dinner plans. It is innocent enough; you go to dinner together. She asks you to walk her to her room. You are a gentleman and do so. There at the door she has a line that means more than the mere words. She asks, "Would you like to come in?" And you have a wedding ring on, and here you draw the line, and you politely decline, "I need to get back to my room." And you hold up your light.
You are parents of grown children. You have brought them up well. You have brought them up in the Christian faith. These adult children have drifted away from that faith. In fact, they don't want to talk about that subject. When you bring it up, they get quite exercised in reaction to it. "We don't want to go there." You love them. You pray for them, by day and by night. You wait for them. You make every possible invitation to relationship. You hold up your light.
You are a student a school, middle school. And there's the kid the others like to pick on. You know the one. And most of the kids are pretty good, most of the time, but sometimes they can be mean, can be cruel. So this one day, when they are picking on the kid, you know the one, you stand beside the one being picked on and say, "Enough. He's my friend. Stop it." And you hold up your light.
You are here today. It's not Christmas eve; it's the fourth Sunday of Advent. School's out and you're here. It's cold outside and you're here. The Austin allergies are raging, and you're here. And you hold up your light.
Christ is coming. The day, His day is dawning. We are one day closer to the second coming. Life is not a series of random events, but moving towards His light.
The verse underlying this whole Advent series has been from the first chapter of John, talking about Jesus, "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."
Keep holding up your light until the light of Christ fully comes.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Let there be light
from my message on Dec. 8, 2nd Sunday of Advent, from Gen. 1:3-5 and Eph. 5:8-14
(sanctuary is dark) Let there be light! (lights come on with laughter) I have always wanted to do that. What joy God must have felt in creating light. Our Hebrew ancestors in telling the story of creation made sure that the very first thing God said, the very first thing God created was light. Even before there was sun or moon or stars, there was light. And God said it was good.
Light is good. I bet you have been camping, way out away from civilization. You spread your sleeping bag out. When the sun goes down, it gets really dark. Imagine all of those thousands of years of human beings living without artificial light. No electric light, no kerosene lanterns, no candles, no olive oil lamps, no campfire. When the sun went down, it was dark. What a gift sunrise was. What a gift light was.
Light is good. You don't step on that child's toy on the den floor in your bare feet. You can go to bed and read a book by that bedside lamp. Light to explore the Marianas Trench, some 7 miles deep below the Pacific Ocean. Light to explore a blockage or tumor in your body.
Light is good. Yet light is not always welcome. I have been listening to a series on National Public Radio on sleep. Before the invention of the electric light, we used to average 9 hours of sleep a night. After the invention of the electric light, do you think the average went up or down? Down! We now average 7 1/2 hours per night. I want that extra 1 1/2 hours back! Some of you have trouble with florescent lighting. It causes you to have migraine headaches. And what if you stay out in the sun too long without protection? You get sunburned. Light is not always welcome.
In Hebrew thought, light is good. Light was a symbol of life, blessing, peace, knowledge, understanding. The scriptures were called in Psalm 119, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." The light of God enlightened us.
Light is good. In the New Testament, Jesus says in John's Gospel, "I am the light." In Matthew's Gospel, he says about us, "y'all are the light of the world." In today's scripture from Ephesians, we Christians are called no longer darkness, but "you are light." Not just "in" the light or "of" the light, but light. We are called to live as children of the light.
Light is good, but not always welcome. We have blind spots. They are unintentional. Our staff and church leaders went through a Partners in Ministry workshop recently that taught about communication, conflict resolution, visioning, and trust building. One exercise showed how we all have a part of us that is know to ourselves and others, a part that others see that we cannot see, a part that is know only to ourselves, and a part that is not known by ourselves or others, but only know by God. That part that others see that we cannot see is our blind spot. I know that when some at the workshop pointed out to me some of my blind spots, my first reaction was "ouch, that hurts." Only later, as I came to understand the depth of trust that took for those persons to share with me did I come to say, "Thank you." That takes a lot of love to shine a light like that. Light is good, but not always welcome.
We as a church may have had some blind spots pointed out to us in the Healthy Church Initiative. A group of consultants visited us 6 weeks ago and offered us 5 prescriptions to become a healthier church. Our first reaction may have been "ouch." Who are these people to tell us these things? Why are they so abrasive? I am hoping now we can say, "thank you. That took a lot of courage for you to tell us those things." Light is good, not always welcome.
Some of our hiddenness is intentional. We want it to remain in the dark, not bring it to light. I saw on the front page of our newspaper this morning, where the story of our D. A. driving under the influence of alcohol was there for all to see. This is not the kind of thing you want brought to the light. The next column over on the front page was of the city official in Jonestown caught in fiscal malfeasance, skimming money off a wind turbine project there. You don't want that brought out into the light.
Light is good, but not always welcome. However, there is no healing without the light.
For 16 years, I served on our board of ordained ministry. We were the group that qualified candidates for ministry. We read papers, we interviewed, we supervised. We also dealt with problems with ministers. For 8 of those 16 years, I served as the one responsible for clergy sexual ethics. This is an office that no one wanted. I was to insure that our clergy got training to keep them from acting out inappropriately. We had to intervene a couple of times. I remember one workshop I attended to get my guidance. A bishop in our church kept going back to this passage in Ephesians when it came to how to deal with incidences of clergy misconduct. We have to bring things to the light. Evil cannot exist in the light. Light cleanses and heals. Light is good, but not always welcome.
I need to gently bring some things to light for this congregation. We are too busy. We are trying to do too much. Instead of witnessing to the culture that we are saved by grace and not by our works, we look like the culture by being overfunctioning. I confess to you, I fall easily into this trap. On the scale from depression to mania, I lean on the manic side. I never met a need I didn't like! We need to slow down, we need to pare down. We need to focus on worship and doing a few things well.
Our Jewish friends may help us with the coming of light. Jewish sabbath begins 18 minutes before sundown on Friday evening with the lighting of candles by the woman of the house. It is time to slow down, to rest, to remember who God is. Being busy all the time is not the way to salvation. We need to welcome the light of sabbath.
Our Jewish friends just finished celebrating the holiday of Hannakuh, the festival of lights. The story goes that over 2,000 years ago, the Greek Syrians oppressed the Jewish people. They went so far to profane the Jewish religion that they sacrificed a pig on the altar of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Maccabean rebellion was born to overthrow the oppressors. When they reclaimed the Temple, they found a cruse of oil for the lamp, with only enough oil for 1 day. A miracle happened in that the oil lasted 8 days. Hence, the menorah has 8 candles around the one central candle. We need to remember that God still does miracles through light today.
My hunch is that all of us have blind spots where the light of Christ needs to shine. My hunch is that all of us have darkness that we intentionally hide that needs the light of Christ. I believe that you were not made for darkness, but for light. I believe the light of Christ can overcome any darkness. A key verse for this Advent season comes from John's Gospel, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."
Where does the light of Christ need to shine in your life bringing hope and healing. We may not always welcome it, but the light is good.
You may not have gotten anything out of the message to this point, so I want to share with you a song. It was written in 1948, by a man of the name of Hank Williams, Sr. You may have heard of him. The song was I Saw the Light. It was not a commercial success when it came out. Hank often closed his concerts singing this song. He suffered from alcohol problems. He was a follower of Christ. This is our situation too, I bet. We all have struggles with darkness. We all try to live in the light of Christ. Sing with me now.
I wandered so aimless, life filled with sin,
I wouldn't let my dear Savior in.
Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night,
Praise the Lord, I saw the light.
I saw the light, I saw the light.
No more darkness, no more night.
Now I'm so happy, no sorrow in sight.
Praise the Lord, I saw the light.
Just like a blind man I wandered alone.
Worries and fears I claimed for my own.
Then like the blind man that God gave back his sight,
Praise the Lord, I saw the light.
I was a fool to wander and stray.
Straight is gate and narrow the way.
Now I have traded the wrong for the right.
Praise the Lord I saw the light.
Light is good. May you welcome it this Advent.
(sanctuary is dark) Let there be light! (lights come on with laughter) I have always wanted to do that. What joy God must have felt in creating light. Our Hebrew ancestors in telling the story of creation made sure that the very first thing God said, the very first thing God created was light. Even before there was sun or moon or stars, there was light. And God said it was good.
Light is good. I bet you have been camping, way out away from civilization. You spread your sleeping bag out. When the sun goes down, it gets really dark. Imagine all of those thousands of years of human beings living without artificial light. No electric light, no kerosene lanterns, no candles, no olive oil lamps, no campfire. When the sun went down, it was dark. What a gift sunrise was. What a gift light was.
Light is good. You don't step on that child's toy on the den floor in your bare feet. You can go to bed and read a book by that bedside lamp. Light to explore the Marianas Trench, some 7 miles deep below the Pacific Ocean. Light to explore a blockage or tumor in your body.
Light is good. Yet light is not always welcome. I have been listening to a series on National Public Radio on sleep. Before the invention of the electric light, we used to average 9 hours of sleep a night. After the invention of the electric light, do you think the average went up or down? Down! We now average 7 1/2 hours per night. I want that extra 1 1/2 hours back! Some of you have trouble with florescent lighting. It causes you to have migraine headaches. And what if you stay out in the sun too long without protection? You get sunburned. Light is not always welcome.
In Hebrew thought, light is good. Light was a symbol of life, blessing, peace, knowledge, understanding. The scriptures were called in Psalm 119, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." The light of God enlightened us.
Light is good. In the New Testament, Jesus says in John's Gospel, "I am the light." In Matthew's Gospel, he says about us, "y'all are the light of the world." In today's scripture from Ephesians, we Christians are called no longer darkness, but "you are light." Not just "in" the light or "of" the light, but light. We are called to live as children of the light.
Light is good, but not always welcome. We have blind spots. They are unintentional. Our staff and church leaders went through a Partners in Ministry workshop recently that taught about communication, conflict resolution, visioning, and trust building. One exercise showed how we all have a part of us that is know to ourselves and others, a part that others see that we cannot see, a part that is know only to ourselves, and a part that is not known by ourselves or others, but only know by God. That part that others see that we cannot see is our blind spot. I know that when some at the workshop pointed out to me some of my blind spots, my first reaction was "ouch, that hurts." Only later, as I came to understand the depth of trust that took for those persons to share with me did I come to say, "Thank you." That takes a lot of love to shine a light like that. Light is good, but not always welcome.
We as a church may have had some blind spots pointed out to us in the Healthy Church Initiative. A group of consultants visited us 6 weeks ago and offered us 5 prescriptions to become a healthier church. Our first reaction may have been "ouch." Who are these people to tell us these things? Why are they so abrasive? I am hoping now we can say, "thank you. That took a lot of courage for you to tell us those things." Light is good, not always welcome.
Some of our hiddenness is intentional. We want it to remain in the dark, not bring it to light. I saw on the front page of our newspaper this morning, where the story of our D. A. driving under the influence of alcohol was there for all to see. This is not the kind of thing you want brought to the light. The next column over on the front page was of the city official in Jonestown caught in fiscal malfeasance, skimming money off a wind turbine project there. You don't want that brought out into the light.
Light is good, but not always welcome. However, there is no healing without the light.
For 16 years, I served on our board of ordained ministry. We were the group that qualified candidates for ministry. We read papers, we interviewed, we supervised. We also dealt with problems with ministers. For 8 of those 16 years, I served as the one responsible for clergy sexual ethics. This is an office that no one wanted. I was to insure that our clergy got training to keep them from acting out inappropriately. We had to intervene a couple of times. I remember one workshop I attended to get my guidance. A bishop in our church kept going back to this passage in Ephesians when it came to how to deal with incidences of clergy misconduct. We have to bring things to the light. Evil cannot exist in the light. Light cleanses and heals. Light is good, but not always welcome.
I need to gently bring some things to light for this congregation. We are too busy. We are trying to do too much. Instead of witnessing to the culture that we are saved by grace and not by our works, we look like the culture by being overfunctioning. I confess to you, I fall easily into this trap. On the scale from depression to mania, I lean on the manic side. I never met a need I didn't like! We need to slow down, we need to pare down. We need to focus on worship and doing a few things well.
Our Jewish friends may help us with the coming of light. Jewish sabbath begins 18 minutes before sundown on Friday evening with the lighting of candles by the woman of the house. It is time to slow down, to rest, to remember who God is. Being busy all the time is not the way to salvation. We need to welcome the light of sabbath.
Our Jewish friends just finished celebrating the holiday of Hannakuh, the festival of lights. The story goes that over 2,000 years ago, the Greek Syrians oppressed the Jewish people. They went so far to profane the Jewish religion that they sacrificed a pig on the altar of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Maccabean rebellion was born to overthrow the oppressors. When they reclaimed the Temple, they found a cruse of oil for the lamp, with only enough oil for 1 day. A miracle happened in that the oil lasted 8 days. Hence, the menorah has 8 candles around the one central candle. We need to remember that God still does miracles through light today.
My hunch is that all of us have blind spots where the light of Christ needs to shine. My hunch is that all of us have darkness that we intentionally hide that needs the light of Christ. I believe that you were not made for darkness, but for light. I believe the light of Christ can overcome any darkness. A key verse for this Advent season comes from John's Gospel, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."
Where does the light of Christ need to shine in your life bringing hope and healing. We may not always welcome it, but the light is good.
You may not have gotten anything out of the message to this point, so I want to share with you a song. It was written in 1948, by a man of the name of Hank Williams, Sr. You may have heard of him. The song was I Saw the Light. It was not a commercial success when it came out. Hank often closed his concerts singing this song. He suffered from alcohol problems. He was a follower of Christ. This is our situation too, I bet. We all have struggles with darkness. We all try to live in the light of Christ. Sing with me now.
I wandered so aimless, life filled with sin,
I wouldn't let my dear Savior in.
Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night,
Praise the Lord, I saw the light.
I saw the light, I saw the light.
No more darkness, no more night.
Now I'm so happy, no sorrow in sight.
Praise the Lord, I saw the light.
Just like a blind man I wandered alone.
Worries and fears I claimed for my own.
Then like the blind man that God gave back his sight,
Praise the Lord, I saw the light.
I was a fool to wander and stray.
Straight is gate and narrow the way.
Now I have traded the wrong for the right.
Praise the Lord I saw the light.
Light is good. May you welcome it this Advent.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Unto Us, A Light has been born
from my message on the first Sunday of Advent, Dec. 1, 2013, from Isaiah 9:2-7
Darkness. The season of Advent begins in darkness. Maybe you know something about darkness. In Hebrew thought darkness stood for chaos, ignorance, sin, suffering. Is this where we get the term Black Friday? I am just asking.
Maybe you know something about darkness that goes beyond shopping. You may be here in worship today with the darkness of loneliness, or loss, you suffer from depression, or you are going through a divorce, or you have a terminal illness.
You may want to know the context of the scripture passage from the prophet Isaiah. Darkness here meant the government. I am not making this up. The king had been a great disappointment. We know something about the government disappointing us. Let's not beat up on those in government. We have people, members of this congregation, who have served and continue to serve at the national, state, and local level. God bless them for putting themselves on the line. But we know about the darkness of disappointment in government.
You may remember from our Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, our story. The people begged the prophet Samuel to give them a king. He said, You don't know what you are asking. You better think this through. No, we want a king like other nations have, the people say. If you get a king, yes, you can fight with more unity against your enemies, but you may turn your back on the LORD God. You will be oppressed by your rulers. You will be disappointed. No, the people cry, give us a king.
And down through Israel's history, they had some good kings and some bad ones. At this point, some 700 years before the birth of Christ, the people were dwelling in darkness, in the failure of their king. At this point, the prophet Isaiah says that "the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness on them light has shined." What was the source of hope, what was the new light? It was the birth of a new ruler.
Remember this summer, what happened over in England? Now, we are Americans. We colonies broke away from England many years ago, but we still got all gaga over the birth of a baby. Kate and Prince William had a baby this July. We were wondering what gender the child would be. We were betting on the name of the child. Prince George came along. The third in line to the throne. We get so excited, so hopeful over the birth of any child, especially a royal child.
You can understand how the writers of the New Testament would pick up on this passage to connect it to the birth of Jesus, the one we call the Christ, our savior. In the midst of darkness, a light has been born to us.
How can we keep from falling into darkness? It is easy to blame the government, to blame others. But each of us must own the light and darkness within ourselves. How can we remove our blinders and look for the light of justice and righteousness?
I know what I am being called to do this Advent. I will be looking for light in the midst of darkness. I pick up my Austin American-Statesman this morning. There it is on the front page, the annual Christmas appeal to help 12 families. The article headline is "Light in midst of need." Thank you God for showing up in the newspaper. I go out walking early this morning, 5:30 a.m. It's dark. But overhead are tiny pinpricks of lights. Stars, like the star of Bethlehem, leading the wise men to Jesus' birth. Driving here, I got caught at a traffic light. Rats, I couldn't sail on through. Then I thought, the light can call me to prayer. Breathe, pray. You may see the brake lights of 2 miles of cars backed up on Loop 360, and instead of getting frustrated, use it as a call to prayer.
When we see Christmas tree lights, or houses with their Christmas lights, or reading light, or warning lights, may we pause and pray, and see the light of Christ.
More than that, may we carry the light of Christ into the world. Jesus said, I am the light of the world. But Jesus also said, Y'all are the light of the world. We bear the light of Christ. If we don't carry it, who will? We are to be on the side of justice and righteousness. How will you live that out this Advent? For whom will you advocate? What holy work will you do? How will you lift up the oppressed, those who live in darkness? How will you make the world a little lighter?
If you do these things for these days of Advent, they may become part of who you are. If you do something for 21 days in a row, it becomes imprinted upon your being.
You may be saying, it's too hard. The darkness is too big. Yet this is how God comes into the world, in Jesus, a tiny, vulnerable baby, to join us. That's how we do this ministry, in small hopeful ways.I am challenging you to look for the light this Advent. I am challenging you to carry the light to others. We are encouraged by the opening words of John's Gospel which talks about Jesus this way, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." May it be so for us this Advent.
Darkness. The season of Advent begins in darkness. Maybe you know something about darkness. In Hebrew thought darkness stood for chaos, ignorance, sin, suffering. Is this where we get the term Black Friday? I am just asking.
Maybe you know something about darkness that goes beyond shopping. You may be here in worship today with the darkness of loneliness, or loss, you suffer from depression, or you are going through a divorce, or you have a terminal illness.
You may want to know the context of the scripture passage from the prophet Isaiah. Darkness here meant the government. I am not making this up. The king had been a great disappointment. We know something about the government disappointing us. Let's not beat up on those in government. We have people, members of this congregation, who have served and continue to serve at the national, state, and local level. God bless them for putting themselves on the line. But we know about the darkness of disappointment in government.
You may remember from our Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, our story. The people begged the prophet Samuel to give them a king. He said, You don't know what you are asking. You better think this through. No, we want a king like other nations have, the people say. If you get a king, yes, you can fight with more unity against your enemies, but you may turn your back on the LORD God. You will be oppressed by your rulers. You will be disappointed. No, the people cry, give us a king.
And down through Israel's history, they had some good kings and some bad ones. At this point, some 700 years before the birth of Christ, the people were dwelling in darkness, in the failure of their king. At this point, the prophet Isaiah says that "the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness on them light has shined." What was the source of hope, what was the new light? It was the birth of a new ruler.
Remember this summer, what happened over in England? Now, we are Americans. We colonies broke away from England many years ago, but we still got all gaga over the birth of a baby. Kate and Prince William had a baby this July. We were wondering what gender the child would be. We were betting on the name of the child. Prince George came along. The third in line to the throne. We get so excited, so hopeful over the birth of any child, especially a royal child.
You can understand how the writers of the New Testament would pick up on this passage to connect it to the birth of Jesus, the one we call the Christ, our savior. In the midst of darkness, a light has been born to us.
How can we keep from falling into darkness? It is easy to blame the government, to blame others. But each of us must own the light and darkness within ourselves. How can we remove our blinders and look for the light of justice and righteousness?
I know what I am being called to do this Advent. I will be looking for light in the midst of darkness. I pick up my Austin American-Statesman this morning. There it is on the front page, the annual Christmas appeal to help 12 families. The article headline is "Light in midst of need." Thank you God for showing up in the newspaper. I go out walking early this morning, 5:30 a.m. It's dark. But overhead are tiny pinpricks of lights. Stars, like the star of Bethlehem, leading the wise men to Jesus' birth. Driving here, I got caught at a traffic light. Rats, I couldn't sail on through. Then I thought, the light can call me to prayer. Breathe, pray. You may see the brake lights of 2 miles of cars backed up on Loop 360, and instead of getting frustrated, use it as a call to prayer.
When we see Christmas tree lights, or houses with their Christmas lights, or reading light, or warning lights, may we pause and pray, and see the light of Christ.
More than that, may we carry the light of Christ into the world. Jesus said, I am the light of the world. But Jesus also said, Y'all are the light of the world. We bear the light of Christ. If we don't carry it, who will? We are to be on the side of justice and righteousness. How will you live that out this Advent? For whom will you advocate? What holy work will you do? How will you lift up the oppressed, those who live in darkness? How will you make the world a little lighter?
If you do these things for these days of Advent, they may become part of who you are. If you do something for 21 days in a row, it becomes imprinted upon your being.
You may be saying, it's too hard. The darkness is too big. Yet this is how God comes into the world, in Jesus, a tiny, vulnerable baby, to join us. That's how we do this ministry, in small hopeful ways.I am challenging you to look for the light this Advent. I am challenging you to carry the light to others. We are encouraged by the opening words of John's Gospel which talks about Jesus this way, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." May it be so for us this Advent.
Monday, November 25, 2013
A Disciple's Path: Walking in Witness
from my message on Nov. 24, 2013, from John 1:35-45
Brace yourselves. I am about to share a very scary word with you. Are you ready to hear it? Ok, here goes. Witnessing!
We have seen too many bad examples. TV evangelists with hair that could preach Jesus. Pushy people knocking on our doors, just wanting to share some literature with us.
We're Methodists. We're uncomfortable with witnessing. I can prove it by our Book of Discipline. We used to have only 4 vows, only 4 ways that we said we would be following Jesus: prayers, presence, gifts, and service. It took us until the year 2008 to add the vow of witnessing!
And we're Westlake Methodists. I mean isn't faith a personal, even private matter. We don't talk about our faith. And we inclusive, accepting. We get along with people of other faiths or no faith. We're afraid of offending others.
Today, we are finishing up this series on a Disciple's Path, the 5 ways we United Methodists say that we follow Jesus. Today, it is witnessing. I want to lower your anxiety about witnessing. We will not be using any cliches. You will not be asked to make cold calls on strangers.
In 1 word, witnessing is about relationships. You will be asked to talk to people you already know. I will give you 3 practical ways to witness.
The first is to connect our service, our missions projects with witnessing. I told you last week we would revisit this topic today. It is very simple. We already do a great job of witnessing to our faith with our works. I am asking you to join words to the works. Let me give you some examples.
We give out bottles of water or bags of grace to people on the street. What if we added a message with them, a written message. You don't even have to speak. It might say, "This is a free gift to you, just like God's love for you. This brings you refreshment, just like God's love. We want to invite you to experience more of God's love by coming to worship with us at Westlake UMC, 1460 Redbud Trail, at 9 or 11:15 a.m. on Sundays." That's not so hard.
Or it could be inviting someone to join you in a mission project. A young woman has been visiting us here. She has a hard time getting her husband to come to worship with her. However, when she invited him to join here for a Saturday at Habitat for Humanity, he jumped at it. At the end of the day, he said, "That was so much fun. When can we do that again?" People may not always join us for worship or Sunday School. Their first step in faith may be joining us at a work project. That's not hard.
In fact, I have been thinking about tweaking ReThink Church Day. We have done this now 3 or 4 years, a time when we call off worship here and go out into the world to do mission projects. What if this year, we invited someone to join us in that project? They might help us feed the hungry or pick up trash or go singing or take care of the service animals. It's not so hard.
I would like for you to pray right now. Who is that person on your heart? Who would be the one that you could invite to join you in a mission project? That's relationships. That's witnessing.
The second way we focus on relational witnessing has to do with the scripture lesson today. John the Baptist already has some disciples, but when Jesus walks by, John names Jesus as the one to follow. Two disciples do. Andrew then finds his brother Simon, and tells him he has found the Messiah, and brings him to Jesus. Philip does the same routine with Nathaniel, and brings him to Jesus. So there is a chain reaction of people telling other people, people they know, about Jesus.
Watch this video of Hector Ruiz, as he talks about those who told him about Jesus.
None of us got to know Jesus by ourselves. Someone told us. Who have they been in your life? For Hector, it was his father and that Methodist Missionary, who became his spiritual mentor. Who has witnessed the faith to you? I know Thanksgiving is coming up in a few days. Pause know and give thanks to God for those witnesses to faith in your life. Then this becomes part of your witness to others.
Let me share part of my story. I was baptized as an infant in the Methodist Church, confirmed at age 12. I was always part of the faith community. But I had my doubts. When I was a junior in high school, there was a girl name Sharon, the first girl I ever kissed, a Church of Christ girl (yes, God works outside the Methodists). I told I wasn't sure about going to heaven. She said I could be sure. That planted something in my. The next year I dated a Baptist girl (yes, not a Methodist). She showed me a verse in the Bible that led me to an emotional conversion. It was Ephesians 2:8-9, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God--not by works, lest anyone should boast. I had always try to earn God's favor, to prove that I was good enough for God to love me. I was set free. Salvation was a gift.
Later at A & M, I found a home at the Wesley Foundation, the Methodist Student ministry. The campus minister there saw gifts in me, gave me a leadership role as we Aggies would go out and roof a little country church on a Saturday. He asked me to consider ordained ministry. Later, a seminary, my Hebrew professor let me see the layers of meanings behind the words of the Bible, an intellectual conversion.
Those persons who led you to faith become part of your witness to others. You didn't get here by yourself. Others don't either. It's about relationships.
The third way of relational witnessing is listening, about meeting people where they. So each week on this disciple's path, I have been telling you a story from our 10 weeks of renewal leave this summer, from the Appalachian Trail, or climbing mountains in New Mexico. The story this week is off the trail, what we did when we weren't hiking. Cathy and I got hooked on the West Wing on Netflix, streaming video. We did binge watching. There are 7 seasons of the West Wing, 22 episodes a season, for a total of 154 episodes. That's a lot of intrigue and political maneuvering in the White House over a summer.
The chief of staff is Leo Magarity, a recovering alcoholic. He joins one of his staff members in their pain and tells a story. There once was a man who fell into a hole. Help, help, he cried. A priest was walking by. Help me, Father. The priest wrote out a prayer and tossed it into the hole. The man cried, Help, somebody, help me. A doctor walked by, heard the man, wrote him out a prescription and tossed it into the hole. His friend, Joe, was walking by. Joe, help me, I've fallen into this hole. Joe, jumps down into the hole with him. Why did you do that? Now, we both in the hole. Joe responds, Yes, but I've been in this hole before, and I know the way out.
We listen to people in their need, their pain. We meet them where they are. And we help to show them a way out. That's witnessing.
Each week, I have been focusing on some shoes for walking this path. Today, I am wearing my most comfortable shoes. These are Rockports, probably 20 years or more old. I polish them, replace the shoe strings, get them resoled. They fit me.
That's how we do witnessing, in the way we are most comfortable. It has to fit us. We have to be genuine, authentic, credible. Our witness has to fit like these shoes.
I have given you 3 ways to witness. There's a world in need of good news out there. Amen.
Brace yourselves. I am about to share a very scary word with you. Are you ready to hear it? Ok, here goes. Witnessing!
We have seen too many bad examples. TV evangelists with hair that could preach Jesus. Pushy people knocking on our doors, just wanting to share some literature with us.
We're Methodists. We're uncomfortable with witnessing. I can prove it by our Book of Discipline. We used to have only 4 vows, only 4 ways that we said we would be following Jesus: prayers, presence, gifts, and service. It took us until the year 2008 to add the vow of witnessing!
And we're Westlake Methodists. I mean isn't faith a personal, even private matter. We don't talk about our faith. And we inclusive, accepting. We get along with people of other faiths or no faith. We're afraid of offending others.
Today, we are finishing up this series on a Disciple's Path, the 5 ways we United Methodists say that we follow Jesus. Today, it is witnessing. I want to lower your anxiety about witnessing. We will not be using any cliches. You will not be asked to make cold calls on strangers.
In 1 word, witnessing is about relationships. You will be asked to talk to people you already know. I will give you 3 practical ways to witness.
The first is to connect our service, our missions projects with witnessing. I told you last week we would revisit this topic today. It is very simple. We already do a great job of witnessing to our faith with our works. I am asking you to join words to the works. Let me give you some examples.
We give out bottles of water or bags of grace to people on the street. What if we added a message with them, a written message. You don't even have to speak. It might say, "This is a free gift to you, just like God's love for you. This brings you refreshment, just like God's love. We want to invite you to experience more of God's love by coming to worship with us at Westlake UMC, 1460 Redbud Trail, at 9 or 11:15 a.m. on Sundays." That's not so hard.
Or it could be inviting someone to join you in a mission project. A young woman has been visiting us here. She has a hard time getting her husband to come to worship with her. However, when she invited him to join here for a Saturday at Habitat for Humanity, he jumped at it. At the end of the day, he said, "That was so much fun. When can we do that again?" People may not always join us for worship or Sunday School. Their first step in faith may be joining us at a work project. That's not hard.
In fact, I have been thinking about tweaking ReThink Church Day. We have done this now 3 or 4 years, a time when we call off worship here and go out into the world to do mission projects. What if this year, we invited someone to join us in that project? They might help us feed the hungry or pick up trash or go singing or take care of the service animals. It's not so hard.
I would like for you to pray right now. Who is that person on your heart? Who would be the one that you could invite to join you in a mission project? That's relationships. That's witnessing.
The second way we focus on relational witnessing has to do with the scripture lesson today. John the Baptist already has some disciples, but when Jesus walks by, John names Jesus as the one to follow. Two disciples do. Andrew then finds his brother Simon, and tells him he has found the Messiah, and brings him to Jesus. Philip does the same routine with Nathaniel, and brings him to Jesus. So there is a chain reaction of people telling other people, people they know, about Jesus.
Watch this video of Hector Ruiz, as he talks about those who told him about Jesus.
None of us got to know Jesus by ourselves. Someone told us. Who have they been in your life? For Hector, it was his father and that Methodist Missionary, who became his spiritual mentor. Who has witnessed the faith to you? I know Thanksgiving is coming up in a few days. Pause know and give thanks to God for those witnesses to faith in your life. Then this becomes part of your witness to others.
Let me share part of my story. I was baptized as an infant in the Methodist Church, confirmed at age 12. I was always part of the faith community. But I had my doubts. When I was a junior in high school, there was a girl name Sharon, the first girl I ever kissed, a Church of Christ girl (yes, God works outside the Methodists). I told I wasn't sure about going to heaven. She said I could be sure. That planted something in my. The next year I dated a Baptist girl (yes, not a Methodist). She showed me a verse in the Bible that led me to an emotional conversion. It was Ephesians 2:8-9, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God--not by works, lest anyone should boast. I had always try to earn God's favor, to prove that I was good enough for God to love me. I was set free. Salvation was a gift.
Later at A & M, I found a home at the Wesley Foundation, the Methodist Student ministry. The campus minister there saw gifts in me, gave me a leadership role as we Aggies would go out and roof a little country church on a Saturday. He asked me to consider ordained ministry. Later, a seminary, my Hebrew professor let me see the layers of meanings behind the words of the Bible, an intellectual conversion.
Those persons who led you to faith become part of your witness to others. You didn't get here by yourself. Others don't either. It's about relationships.
The third way of relational witnessing is listening, about meeting people where they. So each week on this disciple's path, I have been telling you a story from our 10 weeks of renewal leave this summer, from the Appalachian Trail, or climbing mountains in New Mexico. The story this week is off the trail, what we did when we weren't hiking. Cathy and I got hooked on the West Wing on Netflix, streaming video. We did binge watching. There are 7 seasons of the West Wing, 22 episodes a season, for a total of 154 episodes. That's a lot of intrigue and political maneuvering in the White House over a summer.
The chief of staff is Leo Magarity, a recovering alcoholic. He joins one of his staff members in their pain and tells a story. There once was a man who fell into a hole. Help, help, he cried. A priest was walking by. Help me, Father. The priest wrote out a prayer and tossed it into the hole. The man cried, Help, somebody, help me. A doctor walked by, heard the man, wrote him out a prescription and tossed it into the hole. His friend, Joe, was walking by. Joe, help me, I've fallen into this hole. Joe, jumps down into the hole with him. Why did you do that? Now, we both in the hole. Joe responds, Yes, but I've been in this hole before, and I know the way out.
We listen to people in their need, their pain. We meet them where they are. And we help to show them a way out. That's witnessing.
Each week, I have been focusing on some shoes for walking this path. Today, I am wearing my most comfortable shoes. These are Rockports, probably 20 years or more old. I polish them, replace the shoe strings, get them resoled. They fit me.
That's how we do witnessing, in the way we are most comfortable. It has to fit us. We have to be genuine, authentic, credible. Our witness has to fit like these shoes.
I have given you 3 ways to witness. There's a world in need of good news out there. Amen.
Monday, November 18, 2013
A Disciple's Path: Walk for Others
from my message on Nov. 17, 2013, from Romans 12:1-8
I know the title of this message says walk for others, but towards the end of the week, it became also walk with others. But you will see that in a few minutes.
I want to start by bragging on you. You do service really well. We are in a series of messages based around the 5 ways we United Methodists follow Christ, by our prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness. We are on a Disciples' Path. Today, it is the fourth way, the way of service. This is probably this church's number one strength.
We just finished Christmas in October, where we get ahead of the culture's emphasis on consumerism. You got involved in some 18 different ways of walking for and with others from helping with coats for kids to giving coffee to troops to volunteering to go caroling at a retirement center. We need to serve in this way as a counterweight to the "buy more" trend around us. I am amazed at how Black Friday is not the day after Thanksgiving any more. More and more stores are opening on Thanksgiving, first at midnight, then 8 p.m., then 5 p.m., and now 4 p.m. I think Black Friday has begun to be the day after Halloween!
You get involved at all ages. We have the F.I.S.H., the Fifth In Service for Him, who go on mission projects. Children. Then we have youth who go to do home repair in North Carolina at ReCre. Adults do home repair after tornadoes in Joplin, Missouri, and medical missions in Central America. All ages and stages walking for others and with others.
I have a drawer full of t-shirts for walk: CROP walk for hunger, NAMI walk for mental illness, Alzheimer Walk, etc. We walk a lot for others.
I went to a meeting this past Tuesday with some leaders of the Hispanic-Latino community. We United Methodists pastors were meeting with some folks who were not necessarily church folks. I felt a little intimidated. They had been on the front lines for decades organizing farm laborers, getting people registered to vote, and fighting racism One man Gilbert, who admitted he had not been to church in 40 years, asked us what the term "ministries" meant. We UM pastors tried to explain that for us faith meant not just sitting in the pew but getting to real human needs in the world. We didn't just have good words, but also healing actions.
The leader of the group asked me to brag on Westlake UMC. I got to tell how we house the offices of Mobile Loaves and Fishes which feed the homeless living on the streets. I got to tell how SCORE helps people write a business plan and get a small business loan. I told how our congregation got Any Baby Can started. I shared about our involvement with Foundation for the Homeless, Habitat for Humanity, and others.
I want to brag on you. You are walking for and with others. Give yourselves a hand.
Now, we are going through this Healthy Church Initiative process, where some consultants have offered 5 prescriptions for us. One of those is to do an audit of all of missions, our service projects. Some of you may have felt threatened by this prescription. "THEY are going to take MY special mission away." I need to lower you anxiety. There is no THEY. It is only US. WE will decide if some service projects need to be trimmed. We get to choose.
For us, our service projects could also be seen as one of the primary ways that we witness to our faith. It is often one of the first ways people get on the path of discipleship. They may first come to a worship service, but join us as we go into the world to make a difference in a hands-on mission. I think we could tweak this service component just a tiny bit to make it an even more effective witness, but that is next week's message. This is my teaser to get you to come back and hear more about witnessing next week.
I do know that we have some issues in this church when it comes to serving that we need to look at. We do so many things that projects compete for time and resources. Just yesterday our mission day to do home repair in Bastrop after the fires there didn't make, because we had only 2 people sign up. We get stretched pretty thin sometimes. Leaders get stretched thin, sometimes ending up exhausted. Guests to our church get confused about our central mission or how to get started in serving others. In others words, our message gets diluted. We don't have focus.
What does the Bible have to say to this? We read from Romans 12. After all, we are the church. We are not just another service club. God bless the Rotarians, and Kiwanis, and Lions, and ...so forth. But our motivation is different. We act out of a relationship with Christ. We come from a place of grace. Paul says to the church at Rome and to us, Therefore by the mercies of God. We act in response to God's love and forgiveness, a free gift to us. We serve others because God has shown love to us in Christ's living and dying and being raised again.
And we act in community. The imagery is that of the Body of Christ. We need all of the spiritual gifts in order to be a whole body. The list is not meant to be exhaustive. You can read I Cor. 12 and Eph. 4 to find other gifts. The point is that we need each other in order to walk for others and with others. We act in community, not just for those already a part of the church but for the wider world. We walk for and with others, the world community.
Now, I need to bring this home with a story about walking. Many of you know that Cathy and I got 10 weeks renewal leave this summer. I walked about 10 miles a day. One of my big hikes was to climb the highest point in New Mexico, Wheeler Peak, 13,161 feet. I called the leader of the hike to see if I could joint the group leaving from Angel Fire, NM. The person vetted me, "What kind of shape are you in?" "Well, I just spent the last 2 1/2 weeks walking about 150 miles of the Appalachian Trail. I have spent the last week and a half getting acclimated to the altitude here." They let me go on the hike. It was challenging. It was only 4 mile up, but it was a 4,000 foot climb over those 4 miles, starting at about 9,000 feet, thin air. Here's a picture of me standing at the top of Wheeler Peak. Do you see those storms clouds in the background? We had just gotten to the top when it became time to come down. Thunder and lightning. I am only afraid of 2 things: snake and lightning. The leaders said, "We have to leave now." They took off. One woman in our group said, "If I don't eat something, I will be sick. I suffer from vertigo." I stayed with her. We walked down in a hail storm with lightning. Watch the video of us slow stepping down the slippery rocks. This poor woman had blisters, vertigo, and more. She shuffled down the mountain like Tim Conway. I could have gone a lot faster by myself. But I put my agenda and timeline to the side. I was not going to leave her behind. We walk with others. It took us longer to come down than to climb up. I did all of my Stephen Ministry listening skills. I got her to tell me her story. She was a recovering alcoholic, sober for some 18 months. On the one year anniversary of her sobriety, her dad died. Her brother took his own life not long after. We had a lot of time to talk, to get down the mountain. We do not leave people behind. We are community. We walk with others.
Today, I have these work boots, I am going to give for others. We have the Methodist Free Store at 1717 E. 12th street. See their website. We Methodists let people shop for free, anything they want. But the point is that the servants at the free store establish a relationship with the shoppers. "What do you need? How can we be in prayer with you? How are things going in your life?" It is not just offering stuff, but a relationship....a relationship with another person, with Christ. Here's the amazing thing: many of the shoppers have now become servants, helping others shop. We walk for and with others. I am taking this boots to the free store.
The good news is that we were made to walk for other and with others. Amen.
I know the title of this message says walk for others, but towards the end of the week, it became also walk with others. But you will see that in a few minutes.
I want to start by bragging on you. You do service really well. We are in a series of messages based around the 5 ways we United Methodists follow Christ, by our prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness. We are on a Disciples' Path. Today, it is the fourth way, the way of service. This is probably this church's number one strength.
We just finished Christmas in October, where we get ahead of the culture's emphasis on consumerism. You got involved in some 18 different ways of walking for and with others from helping with coats for kids to giving coffee to troops to volunteering to go caroling at a retirement center. We need to serve in this way as a counterweight to the "buy more" trend around us. I am amazed at how Black Friday is not the day after Thanksgiving any more. More and more stores are opening on Thanksgiving, first at midnight, then 8 p.m., then 5 p.m., and now 4 p.m. I think Black Friday has begun to be the day after Halloween!
You get involved at all ages. We have the F.I.S.H., the Fifth In Service for Him, who go on mission projects. Children. Then we have youth who go to do home repair in North Carolina at ReCre. Adults do home repair after tornadoes in Joplin, Missouri, and medical missions in Central America. All ages and stages walking for others and with others.
I have a drawer full of t-shirts for walk: CROP walk for hunger, NAMI walk for mental illness, Alzheimer Walk, etc. We walk a lot for others.
I went to a meeting this past Tuesday with some leaders of the Hispanic-Latino community. We United Methodists pastors were meeting with some folks who were not necessarily church folks. I felt a little intimidated. They had been on the front lines for decades organizing farm laborers, getting people registered to vote, and fighting racism One man Gilbert, who admitted he had not been to church in 40 years, asked us what the term "ministries" meant. We UM pastors tried to explain that for us faith meant not just sitting in the pew but getting to real human needs in the world. We didn't just have good words, but also healing actions.
The leader of the group asked me to brag on Westlake UMC. I got to tell how we house the offices of Mobile Loaves and Fishes which feed the homeless living on the streets. I got to tell how SCORE helps people write a business plan and get a small business loan. I told how our congregation got Any Baby Can started. I shared about our involvement with Foundation for the Homeless, Habitat for Humanity, and others.
I want to brag on you. You are walking for and with others. Give yourselves a hand.
Now, we are going through this Healthy Church Initiative process, where some consultants have offered 5 prescriptions for us. One of those is to do an audit of all of missions, our service projects. Some of you may have felt threatened by this prescription. "THEY are going to take MY special mission away." I need to lower you anxiety. There is no THEY. It is only US. WE will decide if some service projects need to be trimmed. We get to choose.
For us, our service projects could also be seen as one of the primary ways that we witness to our faith. It is often one of the first ways people get on the path of discipleship. They may first come to a worship service, but join us as we go into the world to make a difference in a hands-on mission. I think we could tweak this service component just a tiny bit to make it an even more effective witness, but that is next week's message. This is my teaser to get you to come back and hear more about witnessing next week.
I do know that we have some issues in this church when it comes to serving that we need to look at. We do so many things that projects compete for time and resources. Just yesterday our mission day to do home repair in Bastrop after the fires there didn't make, because we had only 2 people sign up. We get stretched pretty thin sometimes. Leaders get stretched thin, sometimes ending up exhausted. Guests to our church get confused about our central mission or how to get started in serving others. In others words, our message gets diluted. We don't have focus.
What does the Bible have to say to this? We read from Romans 12. After all, we are the church. We are not just another service club. God bless the Rotarians, and Kiwanis, and Lions, and ...so forth. But our motivation is different. We act out of a relationship with Christ. We come from a place of grace. Paul says to the church at Rome and to us, Therefore by the mercies of God. We act in response to God's love and forgiveness, a free gift to us. We serve others because God has shown love to us in Christ's living and dying and being raised again.
And we act in community. The imagery is that of the Body of Christ. We need all of the spiritual gifts in order to be a whole body. The list is not meant to be exhaustive. You can read I Cor. 12 and Eph. 4 to find other gifts. The point is that we need each other in order to walk for others and with others. We act in community, not just for those already a part of the church but for the wider world. We walk for and with others, the world community.
Now, I need to bring this home with a story about walking. Many of you know that Cathy and I got 10 weeks renewal leave this summer. I walked about 10 miles a day. One of my big hikes was to climb the highest point in New Mexico, Wheeler Peak, 13,161 feet. I called the leader of the hike to see if I could joint the group leaving from Angel Fire, NM. The person vetted me, "What kind of shape are you in?" "Well, I just spent the last 2 1/2 weeks walking about 150 miles of the Appalachian Trail. I have spent the last week and a half getting acclimated to the altitude here." They let me go on the hike. It was challenging. It was only 4 mile up, but it was a 4,000 foot climb over those 4 miles, starting at about 9,000 feet, thin air. Here's a picture of me standing at the top of Wheeler Peak. Do you see those storms clouds in the background? We had just gotten to the top when it became time to come down. Thunder and lightning. I am only afraid of 2 things: snake and lightning. The leaders said, "We have to leave now." They took off. One woman in our group said, "If I don't eat something, I will be sick. I suffer from vertigo." I stayed with her. We walked down in a hail storm with lightning. Watch the video of us slow stepping down the slippery rocks. This poor woman had blisters, vertigo, and more. She shuffled down the mountain like Tim Conway. I could have gone a lot faster by myself. But I put my agenda and timeline to the side. I was not going to leave her behind. We walk with others. It took us longer to come down than to climb up. I did all of my Stephen Ministry listening skills. I got her to tell me her story. She was a recovering alcoholic, sober for some 18 months. On the one year anniversary of her sobriety, her dad died. Her brother took his own life not long after. We had a lot of time to talk, to get down the mountain. We do not leave people behind. We are community. We walk with others.
Today, I have these work boots, I am going to give for others. We have the Methodist Free Store at 1717 E. 12th street. See their website. We Methodists let people shop for free, anything they want. But the point is that the servants at the free store establish a relationship with the shoppers. "What do you need? How can we be in prayer with you? How are things going in your life?" It is not just offering stuff, but a relationship....a relationship with another person, with Christ. Here's the amazing thing: many of the shoppers have now become servants, helping others shop. We walk for and with others. I am taking this boots to the free store.
The good news is that we were made to walk for other and with others. Amen.
Monday, November 11, 2013
A Disciple's Path: Walking in Gratitude
from my message on Nov. 10, 2013, from Psalm 24:1-2 and II Cor. 9:6-15
Paul says, The Point is this, the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Pop Gunn, that's what he was called. His given name was Curtis C. Gunn, but everybody called him Pop, Pop Gunn. He was a member of the church I served in San Antonio, Laurel Heights. Maybe you have been to San Antonio and seen the Gunn auto dealerships? Pop started in the 1950's with one Oldsmobile dealership, but as you can see from the website, it grew to include Chevy, GMC, Honda, Nissan, etc. Pop was quite rich. Can you be rich and still be a Christian? I think so. Pop had a heart for Jesus. He sowed bountifully. Pop was one of the visionaries that started the Methodist Hospital in San Antonio. That has now grow to some 9 centers around San Antonio.
Pop was also very involved in the Permanent Endowment Fund at Laurel Heights UMC. He invited many of his church members and friends to support the fund. He sowed bountifully. When I got there as pastor, the fund had something like $1.3 million in it. Our Permanent Endowment Fund at Westlake UMC has a little under $40,000. Of course, Laurel Heights has been in existence a lot longer.
One day, Pop had me visit one of our church members who had an apartment in an assisted living facility. Mr. A. D. Larson was his name. He had been married, but his wife had died years before. They never had any children. He had never had a high office in any corporation. He had been a bookkeeper and an accountant. He had lived very modestly. Over the years he had made wise investments. When he died, he left a portion of his estate to the Laurel Heights UMC Endowment Fund. He left $1.3 million!!!! He doubled the fund with his one gift! Talk about sowing bountifully and reaping bountifully.
Not all of you can do. Not all of you are called to do this. My job is to preach the good news today and to offer some practical advice and then to tell you one story.
The good news is this: God owns everything. I know we pretend that we own stuff. We put our names on pieces of paper that say this house is ours, or this parcel of land, or this car, or this stock portfolio, but really we own nothing. The Psalmist says, The earth is the Lord's and everything in it. We are just borrowing the stuff for a little while. We are sharecroppers. What are you going to take into the next life after you die? Nothing. We sow and reap, but we are sharecroppers.
Really I find this to be quite liberating. We are freed from worrying about taking care of ourselves. We are freed to seeing how we can glorify God for this short time we are on earth. The stuff is his. How do we recognize that in our decisions?
This creates in us gratitude. We have been given so much. How do we say "thank you" to God? We sow in gratitude. We reap in gratitude.
And we do this harvesting with cheerfulness. Paul says that we are not to give out of guilt or compulsion, because God loves a cheerful giver. My prayer is God send me a church of cheerful givers. And it feels good to give. You know this. I went last night to a banquet for Foundation for the Homeless where many members of this church hold leadership positions. Oh, and people were laughing. They were giving away thousands of dollars and smiling! They were cheerful. It felt good to make a difference with our generosity. It is our thank you note to God.
Now the practical. Preparing for this message, I knew I had to be a person of integrity, so I got out my will. How many of you have a will? I know the last time we made an emphasis on the Permanent Endowment Fund, we found some folks who didn't have one. They were smart people, but they didn't have a will. If you don't have a will, the great State of Texas has one for you. Unfortunately, it just doesn't fit anyone who ever died. My brother David died without a will. It was a mess. The first practical thing I have to share is get a will. Especially as you have children, include guardians for them and trustees for the estate. Some of you will need to choose someone with durable power of attorney who can act on your behalf if you are incapacitated.
In your will, you could include the Permanent Endowment Fund. Again, as a person of integrity, I looked closely at my will. I have set aside 10% of my estate to the church. Not this church. I am giving to 3 places that shape my faith. The First UMC of Littlefield, Tx, that nurtured me as a child and youth. The Wesley Foundation at Texas A & M where I received my call to ordained ministry. The Perkins School of Theology where I did my seminary work. Maybe you can remember Westlake UMC in your will. It could be an insurance policy, or a stock, or a bond, or a piece of land.
Now as a person of integrity, I am giving to the Westlake UMC fund. I did it this morning as a cash gift. I went to our church website and charged it to my credit card....and got airline miles too! It only took a few seconds. Maybe some of you can give that way.
I am asking you today to walk in gratitude and to give a gift that has a long-lasting impact. Like Pop Gunn, we sow bountifully today, expecting a bountiful harvest that we may never see ourselves. We have future perspective. It is like supporting the Healthy Church Initatives. It is preparing for a future. It is making a way for those who aren't here yet. It is like being a veteran of the military. I know that tomorrow is Veteran's Day. You serve not thinking of yourself but others. Not just thinking about today, but about the future.
Now the story. Each week on this path of discipleship, I have telling you a story from this past summer's renewal leave and hiking part of the Appalachian Trail. Here's that picture of Cathy and me again. Look closely at the blue bucket at the base of the sign. It is filled with iced down Gatorade. That is called Trail Magic. Any gift along the path, that someone else freely gave, with no strings attached is Trail Magic. It might be watermelon slices. It could be a hamburger cookout. It might be candy bars. How wonderful it is be come upon Trail Magic when you are hot and tired and hungry!
Remember last week when I told about losing Cathy's expensive Canon camera and someone returned it? That's Trail Magic. Cathy and I got to practice Trail Magic. The next day after getting the camera back, we got to our car to find a young German couple who asked us for a ride into town. We helped them find a youth hostel. That was Trail Magic. Another day we passed out cookies. We met another German couple whose trail names were Hansel and Gretel. German television had shown a documentary on the Appalachian Trail, so we met a lot of Germans. We took Hansel and Gretel to Walmart to shop.
I am asking you to practice some Trail Magic. To give away for those you may not even know, without strings, for the future. I am asking you to do this with gratitude, cheerfully.
I am asking you to sow bountifully, knowing that God will reap bountifully.
Paul says, The Point is this, the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Pop Gunn, that's what he was called. His given name was Curtis C. Gunn, but everybody called him Pop, Pop Gunn. He was a member of the church I served in San Antonio, Laurel Heights. Maybe you have been to San Antonio and seen the Gunn auto dealerships? Pop started in the 1950's with one Oldsmobile dealership, but as you can see from the website, it grew to include Chevy, GMC, Honda, Nissan, etc. Pop was quite rich. Can you be rich and still be a Christian? I think so. Pop had a heart for Jesus. He sowed bountifully. Pop was one of the visionaries that started the Methodist Hospital in San Antonio. That has now grow to some 9 centers around San Antonio.
Pop was also very involved in the Permanent Endowment Fund at Laurel Heights UMC. He invited many of his church members and friends to support the fund. He sowed bountifully. When I got there as pastor, the fund had something like $1.3 million in it. Our Permanent Endowment Fund at Westlake UMC has a little under $40,000. Of course, Laurel Heights has been in existence a lot longer.
One day, Pop had me visit one of our church members who had an apartment in an assisted living facility. Mr. A. D. Larson was his name. He had been married, but his wife had died years before. They never had any children. He had never had a high office in any corporation. He had been a bookkeeper and an accountant. He had lived very modestly. Over the years he had made wise investments. When he died, he left a portion of his estate to the Laurel Heights UMC Endowment Fund. He left $1.3 million!!!! He doubled the fund with his one gift! Talk about sowing bountifully and reaping bountifully.
Not all of you can do. Not all of you are called to do this. My job is to preach the good news today and to offer some practical advice and then to tell you one story.
The good news is this: God owns everything. I know we pretend that we own stuff. We put our names on pieces of paper that say this house is ours, or this parcel of land, or this car, or this stock portfolio, but really we own nothing. The Psalmist says, The earth is the Lord's and everything in it. We are just borrowing the stuff for a little while. We are sharecroppers. What are you going to take into the next life after you die? Nothing. We sow and reap, but we are sharecroppers.
Really I find this to be quite liberating. We are freed from worrying about taking care of ourselves. We are freed to seeing how we can glorify God for this short time we are on earth. The stuff is his. How do we recognize that in our decisions?
This creates in us gratitude. We have been given so much. How do we say "thank you" to God? We sow in gratitude. We reap in gratitude.
And we do this harvesting with cheerfulness. Paul says that we are not to give out of guilt or compulsion, because God loves a cheerful giver. My prayer is God send me a church of cheerful givers. And it feels good to give. You know this. I went last night to a banquet for Foundation for the Homeless where many members of this church hold leadership positions. Oh, and people were laughing. They were giving away thousands of dollars and smiling! They were cheerful. It felt good to make a difference with our generosity. It is our thank you note to God.
Now the practical. Preparing for this message, I knew I had to be a person of integrity, so I got out my will. How many of you have a will? I know the last time we made an emphasis on the Permanent Endowment Fund, we found some folks who didn't have one. They were smart people, but they didn't have a will. If you don't have a will, the great State of Texas has one for you. Unfortunately, it just doesn't fit anyone who ever died. My brother David died without a will. It was a mess. The first practical thing I have to share is get a will. Especially as you have children, include guardians for them and trustees for the estate. Some of you will need to choose someone with durable power of attorney who can act on your behalf if you are incapacitated.
In your will, you could include the Permanent Endowment Fund. Again, as a person of integrity, I looked closely at my will. I have set aside 10% of my estate to the church. Not this church. I am giving to 3 places that shape my faith. The First UMC of Littlefield, Tx, that nurtured me as a child and youth. The Wesley Foundation at Texas A & M where I received my call to ordained ministry. The Perkins School of Theology where I did my seminary work. Maybe you can remember Westlake UMC in your will. It could be an insurance policy, or a stock, or a bond, or a piece of land.
Now as a person of integrity, I am giving to the Westlake UMC fund. I did it this morning as a cash gift. I went to our church website and charged it to my credit card....and got airline miles too! It only took a few seconds. Maybe some of you can give that way.
I am asking you today to walk in gratitude and to give a gift that has a long-lasting impact. Like Pop Gunn, we sow bountifully today, expecting a bountiful harvest that we may never see ourselves. We have future perspective. It is like supporting the Healthy Church Initatives. It is preparing for a future. It is making a way for those who aren't here yet. It is like being a veteran of the military. I know that tomorrow is Veteran's Day. You serve not thinking of yourself but others. Not just thinking about today, but about the future.
Now the story. Each week on this path of discipleship, I have telling you a story from this past summer's renewal leave and hiking part of the Appalachian Trail. Here's that picture of Cathy and me again. Look closely at the blue bucket at the base of the sign. It is filled with iced down Gatorade. That is called Trail Magic. Any gift along the path, that someone else freely gave, with no strings attached is Trail Magic. It might be watermelon slices. It could be a hamburger cookout. It might be candy bars. How wonderful it is be come upon Trail Magic when you are hot and tired and hungry!
Remember last week when I told about losing Cathy's expensive Canon camera and someone returned it? That's Trail Magic. Cathy and I got to practice Trail Magic. The next day after getting the camera back, we got to our car to find a young German couple who asked us for a ride into town. We helped them find a youth hostel. That was Trail Magic. Another day we passed out cookies. We met another German couple whose trail names were Hansel and Gretel. German television had shown a documentary on the Appalachian Trail, so we met a lot of Germans. We took Hansel and Gretel to Walmart to shop.
I am asking you to practice some Trail Magic. To give away for those you may not even know, without strings, for the future. I am asking you to do this with gratitude, cheerfully.
I am asking you to sow bountifully, knowing that God will reap bountifully.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)