Perspectives: Crafting

Someone asked me one day what I do for fun when I'm at home.  This is one of the things - cardmaking. How do you answer that question?

I do have a blog about my creative pursuits, although it hasn't received an update in a few months.  I hope to get back to it soon.  (mom4gj.blogspot.com)

An Adventure with Your Name on it, Part 2

This post is the second in a series from a sermon.  It is continued on May 1, 2023

The scripture today is from John 20, verses 19-31. 

¹⁹ When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹ Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” ²² When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

²⁴ But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

²⁶ A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” ²⁸ Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

³⁰ Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. ³¹ But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

I think the structure of this passage is interesting.  It has two parallel stories with an interlude in the middle.  In the first one, the Disciples, without Thomas, are gathered in a locked room and Jesus joins them – it didn’t matter that the room was locked.  He shows them his hands and his side – the wounds.  The disciples rejoiced, and Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit on them and sent them out. 

 

They tell Thomas what has happened – “We have seen the Lord” - Did they say, “We have seen the Lord? Or did they say, “WE have seen the Lord!” (and you didn’t). Anyway, Thomas doesn’t believe them.

 

In the second, parallel half, almost the same thing happens – The Disciples are in a locked room, this time with Thomas, and Jesus comes in to the room.  He then responds to Thomas’s disbelief by providing what Thomas needs – to look at the wounds (just like before).  Thomas is convinced.

 

Thomas gets a new name – Doubting Thomas – or at least that’s what we call him.

 

Names are important, aren’t they? They identify us. My name is Kimberly Ann Brown Matthews.  Of course, I picked up the Matthews when I got married, but my name has not always been Kimberly Ann. For three days, after I was born, it was Terry Lee.  That was the name my parents decided to use – or maybe just my dad – because when I was three days old, Dad walked into the hospital room, and said, “Hi, Terry Lee.”  Mom told him that was not my name – she had changed it.  I wonder what I would have been like if my name had stayed Terry Lee.

 

Abram and Sarai received new names from God – Abraham, and Sarah.  Simon became Peter when Jesus renamed him, telling him he would be the rock on which the church would be built. If you remember the resurrection story from John, it was when Jesus said “Mary” that Mary Magdalene recognized him.  In some ways, we see Jesus with an additional name at his baptism – God’s spirit descended over the water, and a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved.”

 

We call Thomas “Doubting Thomas,” but Jesus didn’t. Jesus called him Beloved.  Jesus came back to the locked room, and provided what Thomas needed, and then, just like the other disciples, Thomas was called to faith.

 

I thought this Sunday after Easter – when the party is over and the trumpets are silent - would be a good time to talk about faith, and what difference it makes.

 

You do have a name in addition to the one your parents gave you. You are a follower of Christ – you are called a Christian.  What does that mean? 

An Adventure with Your Name on it, Part 1

This post is Part 1 of a sermon that will be continued on April 26.

Steve and I really enjoy the movie Apollo 13 – it’s one of our favorites. If you haven’t seen it, go fix that.

Anyway, the movie begins on July 20, 1969. That is the day that two astronauts from Apollo 11 – Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldren – first walked on the moon.  Jim Lovell, who was head of the backup crew for Apollo 11, threw a party that night for other people in the program so that they could watch the moon landing together.  Everyone is gathered in his living room, sitting, standing, laughing together as Walter Cronkite narrated the event from the television. There was champagne and snacks, friends gathered.

 

Do you remember the first moon landing? In the movie, you can feel the awe and anticipation as Armstrong steps onto the surface of the moon, and says those now famous words – one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

 

After the party, the scene cuts to the Lovell’s backyard.  Jim is in a lounge chair, looking at the night sky, and his wife, Marilyn, is walking in the backyard, looking at the mess from the party, dragging a bag of trash, overwhelmed by the detritus of the big event.  She says, “I can’t deal with the cleaning up – let’s sell the house.”

 

I think this Sunday, today, feels a little bit like that.  Last Sunday, we were here, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. There were tulips lining the aisles. There was music – every good party needs great music – we had trumpets and trombones. We had a great meal together – communion – and we sang Alleluia.  Christ is Risen, Indeed!

 

Today, though, it feels more like the aftermath of a party.  The meal is gone, even the crumbs have been swept away. The flowers are still here, but the chairs are stacked up, and the trumpets are back in their cases.  We’re singing a song we’ve never heard before. Not as many people got up early enough to come to church, and we don’t even have our regular pastor to preach.

 

Christ is still risen, but what are we going to do about it? Last week, we celebrated – we could almost feel the presence of Christ, and we were strong in our faith. This week, it doesn’t feel like that. Do we even believe it all happened?

Perspectives: Good Friday Candle

 

Role of a Creed

In my Women Speak of God class, we read an examination of the Apostles Creed by Susanna Wesley.  You should read things written by her - she was a wonderful theologian.

Do formal creeds matter? In my opinion, a creed or formal statement of faith has several roles.

1. As Susanna Wesley noted, the creed is a summation of the faith we find in the scriptures.  To be able to “boil it down” to a creed is helpful in teaching our faith as well as reminding all of us what is in the faith.
2. The creed, when it was written, can be a way that those at the time stated – formally – what they believed.  It gave them an opportunity to clarify for themselves and for those who were to come what was the common, orthodox set of beliefs.  Because of that, when we repeat a creed, we are reminded of the faith of those who came before; it is their legacy of faith to us – and us to those who come after us.
3. I think a formal creed succinctly reminds us of what we believe and has the potential to move us to action.  “If I believe this, then my actions should show it.” 
4. A creed can be a uniting factor in a church.  Pause for a moment during the next time you are asked to recite a creed in worship.  Listen to the words of those around you surround you with words of faith.  We are a church, a body of Christ, stating together our common beliefs.  I believe creeds have an important role in our church.

 

Hear the Corollary

I was in a meeting the other day.  A woman was talking about her experience as her husband was sick. She said that many people were praying for his healing, as she was, but that God has answered their prayers with “no.” Her husband had died. She had found God’s presence afterwards and was grateful for it.  Another person in the meeting told her that she should consider God’s response to the prayers as a compliment - that God was responded the way God did because she was strong in her faith and was able to persevere.

I said in the meeting that my theory is that sometimes bad things happen, and that God never says “no” to us; that God always answers “yes” with God’s presence. Horrible things happen, but God never abandons us in the suffering. I didn’t say, but I will tell you, that I call this my “sh*t happens” theory.

I believe this because the corollary to the other theory - that the woman’s experience was a compliment to her from God - is horrible to contemplate. Do you hear the opposite? That if her faith had been less strong, if she had been less strong, that God would have healed her husband? I won’t and can’t believe that.

I think the same thing when someone says, “God has been good to me, and has healed me from my illness. God must have plans for me yet.” I’m sure God does have plans for everyone. That said, imagine how someone who has lost someone to a car accident or an illness must hear that kind of faith.  I think they would hear the corollary: God didn’t have plans for your loved one, so God allowed him or her to die.

What may sound comforting to us would be horribly painful to someone in a different circumstance. 

Perspectives: Unexpected

We went to Canaan Valley State Park last weekend.  It was the first weekend of April. I didn't expect snow. It was fine - the roads were fine, but isn't it just like life to not go as we think it will?

Eyes of Resentment

Have you ever read a book because you were asked to read it? I don't mean in school - there are lots of books we are asked to read as part of an education. I mean a book that, because of you commitment to a group or team, you have been asked to read as part of the work of team.  Maybe you were asked to read it because the team leader thought having everyone read and discuss the same book would be helpful to the work of the team.

Right now I'm reading a book that I don't like. Each day, I pick it up and read a small chapter - the goal is to read this book in 28 days.  Each day, I start reading, resentful that I have to read this book because of my commitment to the team. Truthfully, I have limited reading time, and I don't want to spend it reading books I haven't chosen. And as I read this book, I am critiquing it - finding what is wrong with it (in my opinion).

It could be - and I think this is at least partially true - that the book just isn't to my taste. I'm not crazy about how it was written and some of its theology. I would not have chosen it.

But I think what is also at least partially true is that I don't like the book because I am determined to not like it.

What is it that we see through the eyes of resentment? What is it that we miss because we just won't see it through our previously formed opinions? What is it that could make a different if we just got out of the way?

Non-Negotiables

What are the non-negotiables on your faith?

I believe God is the creator of everything that is.  God’s character is love – a love we cannot understand and can only begin to experience.  God is not a God who creates and abandons.  God is involved in God’s creation, every day, all the time.  That involvement does not remove the will of God’s creation, for if it did, we could not love.

 

In God’s love, God sent Jesus, his son, and himself, to us to show us who God is – the infinite nature of God’s love. Through the son we learn that forgiveness, mercy, and grace are real and are for all of us. Through the son we learn how to live, here on earth, and there, in heaven.

 

God remains with us as the Holy Spirit, and through the spirit, as an example of God’s continuing grace, we can communicate with God, and are made whole.

 

God’s body on earth is the church – the union of God’s creation, sharing God’s gifts to demonstrate God’s love to all. 

 

These beliefs are derived from the whole picture of the Bible, from my experience as a member of the Body of Christ, and from the nudging of the Holy Spirit.  I pull back from the word non-negotiable; my faith is dependent on the truth of God, and is not a full or complete reflection of God’s truth.  In that light, the truth of God’s reality is the non-negotiable, not my understanding of God.  In other words, God exists outside of my beliefs, and where my beliefs fall short (and they will), the reality of who God is is the “gold standard” of my faith.

 

Perspectives: Sprocket

 This is Sprocket, our cat. Some day I'll tell you about him, and how we are loving him into loving us.  But for now, just know he is a monster in a cute little kitty suit, and we love him. 

Why Church?

Why Church?  Why, in particular, do you attend the church you have chosen?

Barbara Brown Taylor, in the book Always a Guest, says this about her church:

Like you, I keep coming back here because it is the place I feel most sane, most accompanied, most drawn out of myself to be with people whose lives may be different from mine as they can be, but whose hearts I trust beyond all reason.

I like this reason for choosing a particular church, and it resonates with me. I don't mean that my church is always this place, but when it is at its best, this is what it is. 

I've been thinking about the people we do not reach. We struggle with idea that what we are offering as a church doesn't meet their needs.  I don't think it is all a "they haven't heard about us" struggle.  I think some of it is a "they've tried us, and they don't need what we offer" situation. For me, when my church doesn't meet my spiritual needs, I come anyway. I have a home there.  I belong. For those who are not a part of us, they don't have that draw.

So what do we do? I think God calls us to be the church for all. How do we do that?

Maybe it starts with being the church. Be family for them before they are a part of who we are. When you have a family, you want to serve the other members - you want their needs to be met. So you talk to them. "How can I help you?"  You listen. You serve.

It may be that we have to stop offering what pleases us, and start listening for what would meet the needs of those who do not know us.

 

What is Compelling?

Yesterday, I attended a Ribbon Cutting ceremony for the Hope Meadows Recovery Complex in Burlington. It is a ministry of Burlington United Methodist Family Services. During the speeches, the CEO, Chris Mullett, asked us what we found compelling about Jesus. For him, it was best seen in the story of blind Bartemeaus (Mark 10: 46-52 (also Matthew 20:29-34, and Luke 18:35-43)) .  The man asked Jesus for help.  Jesus asks him, "What do you want me to do for you?"

For Chris, this question was very important. He told us that this is how Burlington operates. The ministry first asks, "what do you want me to do for you?"

This raises two important questions for me (and for you).

First of all, this is how ministry should be done. We are to do ministry WITH people, not AT them. Do we ask "What is it that you want me to do for you?" 

Secondly, what is it that you find compelling about Jesus? I've been giving that some thought, because I imagine what we find compelling about Jesus, others would find compelling, too?  Maybe this will show us the good news we are to bring. When I think about Jesus, I think about someone for whom no one was invisible, or worse yet, no one was their sin. He brought the tax collector out of the tree, he brought the woman out of the space where she was to be stoned, healed the woman who was excluded because of her bleeding issue. Jesus saw the person. To Jesus, people were valuable, and their value wasn't lost due to their sin.  That is good news for me, and for you, and is something we can share with others - either through our words or our actions.

But there is so much more - what is it that you find compelling about Jesus?