What did he say?

I'm preaching at our church a week from Sunday. Remember, I am not a pastor, of any kind. I'm a lay member of our church. One of the great things about the United Methodist church (as well as other denominations) is the belief in the idea that we are all ministers -- that ministry within and from the church is the responsibility of both the clergy and the laity. I think that that is a very wonderful concept.

We are currently in the middle of a series of sermons exploring our new Vision and Mission statements. The committee that worked to discern those statements has several members -- two of those members are ordained elders, who are preaching most of this series, but two of the members, JtM and I, each agreed to preach one of the sermons of the series.

Anyway (I seem to be making a short story much longer than it needs to be), I'm currently working on the sermon. I think that this is a very heavy responsiblity -- to attempt to proclaim the Word of God. It's not just a speech -- it's a sermon. I pray about it. I work on it and try to discern what God wants it to say. I talk it over with my husband and friends. I try to make sure that I've done my homework.

Why do I do that? Because what I say has the possibility of affecting someone's faith (Yes, I know, it's a long shot, but the possibility exists!). I want that effect to be what God would have it to be.

I've heard the results of a survey concerning the non-Christian viewpoint of Christians. It's not always very positive. What we say and what we do has an impact.

Today in my email, I received a message from a retired minister -- a chain mail message, if you know what I mean. The email was called "Untimely Deaths." I'll share the beginning of it with you (although not the whole thing).

Here are some men and women who mocked God :

• John Lennon (singer ): Some years before, during his interview with an American Magazine, he said, "Christianity will end, it will disappear. I do not have to argue about that. I am certain. Jesus was ok, but his subjects were too simple. Today we are More famous than Him ' ( 1966 ). Lennon, after saying that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, was shot six times.
• Tancredo Neves (President of Brazil): During the Presidential campaign, he said if he got 500,000 Votes from his party, not even God would remove him from presidency. Sure he got the votes, but he got sick a day before being made President, then he died.

This was a much longer list, but I don't want to grant these worthless statements any more blog room that this. Is it any wonder, if these are the words that we are sharing with the people around us, that they don't think very well of us? This is not the Word of God.

Images: Our crabapple was crying today as the ice melted.