Sermon - The Way, Part 5

 Each Sunday, we share a Breakthrough Prayer together.  This is a time when we invite God, through prayer, to mold and shape us as a church.  That prayer is printed in your bulletin – take it home with you and pray that prayer this week. As a community, as a church, let’s pray together.

We hear this passage from Acts, and maybe we long for God to add to our church day by day, but an increase in members is a symptom of a church that is on the way, following God. Increases in membership is not the goal – the goal is to be open to the leading of God and to be reshaped into the church God intends us to be. If we can do that – through opening ourselves up to the means of grace God offers through study, fellowship, communion, and prayer – then I believe we will find “success” in God’s eyes as a church.

Everyday, our church community makes decisions – will we follow God and allow God to reshape us or will we resist the work of the Potter?  Sometimes, as I mentioned before, there are watershed moments when the community faces choices that have a profound impact on its future life.  I can imagine for this church that when we decided, as a church, in 1844, to be a Methodist Episcopal Church, South in support of slavery, that the decision was a watershed moment.  One for which we should repent. Who knows what damage was done to God’s children as a result of that decision.

In July of 2015, our church voted by an overwhelming margin to become a Reconciling Ministries Church, stating out loud that our doors are open to everyone.  I think that was a watershed moment for us. I hope it has brought grace and hope to many.

In 1927, Fairlawn Community Methodist Episcopal Church laid a cornerstone that, along with bulletins and buffalo nickels, held hate and racism. I’m grateful that when the church closed, the misshapen clay was not hidden, but reshaped into repentance. I’m grateful that around $400,000 was added to the In Our Time Fund at their Foundation to work for racial justice. It seems to me to be a fitting turning back to The Way.

What will our next watershed moment be? I don’t know. Maybe it will be something huge, like our alignment as a denomination was in the 1844. Or maybe it will be opening our doors and our hearts to one person – one person who needs the grace of God who we can help.

May we clear the way to be clay that can be shaped by God into the church we should become.

Sermon - The Way, Part 4

 Hear these words from Acts 2:42-47 about the early Christian Church.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.  Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds[a] to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

This passage provides us with a beautiful image of the early church – a church that saw wonders and signs, that believed together and had all things in common, including their possessions. They gave to those who had need, they worshipped together, and they praised God.  And day by Day the Lord added to their number.  This community was referred to as men and women of The Way.

But how did they get there?  And how can we use that as a model to become pliable clay in the potter’s hands as a church?  What is the way we should live in order to be the church God plans for us to be?

Let’s look at verse 42 again. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

First, they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teachings – I think we could see a parallel in our life in the church when study the Word of God.  Maybe we read devotionally at home, we attend Sunday school, Book Study on Mondays, the Reconciling Ministries study on Wednesdays, Great Decisions in its season. We hear the proclamation of the word on Sunday mornings.  In all of these ways and more, we learn about the apostles’ teachings, and hopefully, as a church, we allow the word to guide what we do, together.  We learn the way we should go.

Secondly, they experienced fellowship.  Gail Neal Hansen says, “A mark of authenticity and vitality in a congregation is the quality of peoples’ relationships and their efforts to include others in those relationships.”  How do we do that? It’s more than feeling that we are a friendly church – truthfully, those who haven’t found us to be friendly are probably not here anymore.  How do we offer radical hospitality? Greeters are a start – when someone comes in our doors on Sunday morning, a church volunteer says hello and directs them to worship. Works to make everyone feel welcome.  We can reach out before and after worship to those we do not know.  But there are more ways.  Maybe when we hand out water on hot days on the sidewalk – talk to Debbie McGinnis if you want to volunteer. Radical hospitality is providing children with food in a backpack for the weekend – hospitality is not just a welcome into the church building, it’s a welcome into community.  You are hungry, and we have noticed.  The church in fellowship is working outside the walls to make a difference.  What more can we do? Where is God leading us?

Thirdly, by breaking of the bread.  I think this is an obvious communion reference, and when we next share the bread and juice, I hope you will remember that this is part of how we prepare ourselves for transformation – it is a means of grace offered by God. But how else do we break bread together? When people come into the church on Thursday evening to share a meal during Common Grounds, we are breaking bread with the community. When we bring food for the Thanksgiving harvest altar, or donate the food of the month (tuna this month) to Cridlin Food and Clothing Closet, we are breaking bread together.  But if we as a church on are The Way together, who else should we break bread with?

Sermon - The Way, Part 3

This is an image to help Jeremiah understand that Israel is in God’s hands. This is a communal passage, not an individual one.  I don’t think this is about God, the potter, reshaping you and me as individuals, but God the potter in action in the community – and for us, I would say, God will be acting within our church communities.

If we think about Wellspring United Methodist Church again, I think the action of the Annual Conference in turning the assets of the closed church into something redemptive is evidence of God at work in this community. From 1927 until 2020, the church in New England had been remolded and transformed so that they felt a need to correct what the 1927 church had done. God’s reshaping work.

Sally Brown, in Feasting on the Word, says, “Jeremiah here is addressing primarily the life of the community, not the individual.  God means to shape the community of faith in its collective social, religious and political life to serve divine purposes.”  She goes on to describe three characteristics of God the potter.  First, God is invested in all common life – the potter has a purpose in what he is doing.  Secondly, the relationship between the potter and the community is robustly dynamic. The clay can resist the hand of the potter. The clay – the community – does not have to be reshaped. Thirdly, there are moments when the pot is removed from the wheel because the future shape is set – in other words, there are watershed moments when the community faces choices that have a profound impact on its future life.  We’re going to come back to that thought.

Have you ever held a piece of clay or even playdough and just shaped and reshaped it randomly? Just for the feel of it or out of boredom? That’s not what this is. This is God working within the community to shape it into the potential it has. As Wesleyan Christians, we often talk about “moving onto perfection” as an individual – being sanctified by God’s grace into who we were meant to be. That’s what this is – but it is sanctification for the community – for the church.  It’s God molding the church into what it was meant to be.

And what is that?  What image can we use to understand that? And how can we prepare for God’s work rather than resist it?

The Way - Part 2

Let’s start with the passage Jeremiah 18-1-11.

18 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” ³ So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. ⁴ The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.

 

⁵ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁶ Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. ⁷ At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, ⁸ but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it. ⁹ And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, ¹⁰ but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it. ¹¹ Now, therefore, say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord: Look, I am a potter shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, all of you, from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.

I think in order to explore it best, it’s good to understand the background against which it was written.  The writings we call Jeremiah were written during a time of political unrest. The book strives to come to terms with the destruction and exile of Judah in 597-582 BCE. In 597, Judah revolted against Babylon and provoked the first of three invasions and deportations.  Jerusalem, the city walls, the king’s palace, and the temple were all destroyed, as were the lives of many. 

It was turmoil. Imagine the questions that haunted the people who were exiled or who remained.  Had God forgotten his people? How could God allow this devastation? Had God turned away from the covenant? Was God less powerful than the gods of Babylon? How could the community survive?

In Chapter 18 God calls Jeremiah to the Potter’s House to watch the potter work.  I think when we hear or read this passage, we often think of how God shapes our lives. We hear about the potter being displeased with his work, reworking it into something that is pleasing to him, and we think about ourselves.  Is God pleased with us? Is God going to act as a potter in our lives, mashing the clay together and reshaping something more pleasing?

Can we set that interpretation aside for a bit?  Pay attention to verses 5 and 6: “Then the word of the Lord came to me: “Can I not do with you, O House of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.”

This is an image to help Jeremiah understand that Israel is in God’s hands. This is a communal passage, not an individual one.  I don’t think this is about God, the potter, reshaping you and me as individuals, but God the potter in action in the community – and for us, I would say, God will be acting within our church communities.

The Way - Part 1

The next few posts will be a sermon I preached late this summer.

On January 16, 1927 – less than 100 years ago – a church in Shrewsberry, Massachusetts, named Fairlawn Community Methodist Episcopal Church, laid a cornerstone.  In it, they stored items that were important to their church’s story.

Decades later, after the church had become Wellspring Community UMC, they were preparing to move to a new building. They dug up the cornerstone to move it to the new location, and they discovered what was inside the “time capsule” of the cornerstone.  Most of the contents was what you might expect: Conference Journals, some 1926 change, including a buffalo nickel, newspaper articles, bulletins, and list of the founding members.  Along with these expected items were multiple pamphlets and magazine published by the Ku Klux Klan.

The church decided to keep the information about their discovery to themselves.

In 2020, the Wellspring Community UMC members voted to close the church. In July of that year, their District Superintendent was gathering information from the church for the Conference Archives and found the contents of the cornerstone. She told Bishop Sudarshana Devadhar, who later said, “Fighting racism requires truth telling, confession, and repentance from us all.  We lift up this church’s history not to shame them, but as a lesson for all of us in the importance of facing the past and reconciling with it. We must start by understanding our past; that is the only way we can hope to create a present where there is true racial justice.”

A resolution was passed at the 2020 New England Annual Conference to close the church and to place the assets of the church in a fund at the United Methodist Foundation of New England called the In Our Time Fund.  The purpose of the fund is to support and sustain anti-racism work.  In addition, a project called “Cornerstone: Claiming our past, building a better future” was established and led by the former church’s district to focus on racial justice and repentance.

I tell you this story because today I want to focus on how God works with and through churches like Wellspring United Methodist Church, the New England Annual Conference, and our church to bring about transformation in the world.

Pentecost People

The following is a devotion I wrote for our Annual Conference devotional ministry.  It will be distributed on May 18, the day before Pentecost.

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. ² And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³ Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. (Acts 2:1-3)

 

How many times have you read this passage about Pentecost? Probably enough times that the idea of a violent wind rushing through the house and tongues of fire dancing among the people just feels interesting, but expected.  Take a moment and imagine what it was like for the people who were gathered together. I think they would have been afraid – they might not have understood what was going on.  Wind and fire in the house? Sounds like the stuff of nightmares. Who knew what would happen next?

 

I think we are living through a time in our church when it is easy to be afraid – when we don’t know what is going to happen next. As I write this at the end of February, General Conference approaches. The delegation has been and will continue to be praying using the words return, rebuild, restore. If you think about it, those are words full of fire and wind – power and unpredictability.  But read the next verse in our passage from Acts: All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. (Acts 2:4)

 

The wind that rushed through the house and the fire that touched them were of God. The Holy Spirit filled them, and while that can be frightening, it is a sure sign of the presence of God.

 

As I write this in February, I don’t know what the next few weeks, months, or years will hold, but I know God is present. As the new church gathered 2000 years ago, amid wind and fire, they spoke in other languages and understood each other. It was unity. It was a restoration of what community could be, and it was packed full of possibility.

 

Instead of focusing on the fear, consider the possibilities. What hope are we offered? What hope can we bring to others? Even amid our disagreements, we can be filled with the Holy Spirit; we can understand each other, and we can offer the possibilities the world needs.

 

Are you willing to be Pentecost people?

 

Prayer: God of wind and fire, send your Holy Spirit among us so that we can give up the fear of losing what we know, be the Church you call us to be, and offer every possibility of new life to the world. In your son’s name, Amen.

 

Chosen

One of the lectionary readings for last Sunday was Acts 1:15-17. and 21-26.  In the passage, Peter is standing among the believers, talking.  He tells them the scripture has been fulfilled in what Judas did, and that now it is time to choose another Apostle.  He lists two men: Barsabbas and Matthias.  They prayed and then they cast lots.  Matthias was chosen.

Last June, the Annual Conference voted on one more lay delegate to be part of our Jurisdictional delegation and to be a reserve delegate for General Conference. It's done by a majority vote - there were more than five - maybe eight - lay people nominated, including me.  A majority vote means that the person chosen has to have at least half plus one of the votes cast in order for the voting to stop.  We just keep voting until someone reaches that threshold.  Last year, that was me.

It wasn't casting lots, and I don't know if I am the one God chose, but I am grateful I was able to attend the Conference. 

I had heard (and watched via streaming) the vitriolic 2019 Special Conference.  I hoped before we went that it would not be like that, but that was part of my expectation - that there would be arguments and ugliness. 

Not everyone agreed about anything at General Conference; however, the tenor of the conversations were not ugly. There was a sweet spirit in the conferencing. There were difficult conversations - about the number of bishops, the budget, regionalization, the Social Principles, and the removal of language relating to homosexuals. I can count the number of conversations that turned close to ugly on one hand.  Most of the tough conversations were respectful and necessary. 

Being chosen to attend General Conference was a blessing. As I said, I don't know if God was involved in my election, but I do know and can witness to God's presence at the Conference and with me throughout the two weeks.

Changed?

 

I preached last Sunday.  The lectionary readings for John 20:19-31 and Acts 4:32-35.

The John passage tells of Jesus coming to the room where the disciples are, then doing the same thing when Thomas is in the room.  The Acts passage tells of the early church, sharing all they had so that no one was in need.

It struck me that for the people of the early church to have such a fearless and generous spirit, there must have been something transforming about the resurrection of Jesus.  

It reminds me of something someone's father once said - you can't help but be changed when you see Jesus.

Where have you seen Jesus lately? Were you changed?

A Witness, Part 1

 I'm a member of our Annual Conference's delegation to General Conference - I'm a reserve delegate.  Our delegation traveled around the state (and Garrett County, Maryland) to worship with the people of the district and to offer a time to ask quesitons and share concerns.  At each of these meetings, during worshiip, two members of the delegation shared a witness about how we have experienced God in our breathprayer: Return, Renew, Restore.  

Below (and tomorrow) is what I shared yesterday as my witness.

______

Jeff read a passage earlier today that the delegation found helpful when we spoke to Sue Nelson Kibbey about prayer.  Listen to versus 16 and 17 again (from Acts 15):

After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the dwelling of David, which has fallen;
    from its ruins I will rebuild it,
        and I will restore it,
so that all other peoples may seek the Lord—
    even all the gentiles over whom my name has been called.
Thus says the Lord, who has been making these things known from long ago.’

I have to admit that I was not enamored with the passage at first.  To me, the idea of God returning implies that God has left.  I’m much more willing to believe that we have left God, and that we need to return.  Or turn around.

Have you ever had God nag you so much that you eventually had to turn and go a different direction – the direction in which God was leading you?

I volunteer as the AC Director of Lay Servant Ministries.  In late 2020, there was a need for a Conference wide Certified Lay Ministry class.  The courses to become a CLM are intensive, and they take some time.  Some districts had been able to hold the classes, but not most of them, so the need for a Conference class was real.  So I said I would see what I could do about it.

Truthfully, I didn’t want to do anything about it.  I knew it would be hard work, and that it would take a large amount of time to develop the course and to figure out how to make it accessible in a pandemic and to students all across the Annual Conference.  For a couple of months, I kept trying to think up ways to get out of my commitment.  To find someone else to do it.  But God kept taking me by the shoulders and turning me back to the idea that I needed to do it.

Well, you can procrastinate enough that the only solution to a problem is to do what you don’t really want to do.  I turned to the path I thought God wanted me take, designed the course using a model from the Greenbrier district, read the books I needed to read to teach the course, and opened up registration. 

Lots of students signed up.  As of today, three cohorts of students have completed the 10 month course, and another cohort has just started.  I can’t tell you how much of a blessing the students have been to me. They come to this class with an awareness of their call, even if they don’t know everything about it yet. They know their gifts, and they are willing to do hard work.  I’m so grateful God led me to this, turned me to this, because the students have been such hope-bringers for me, and I’m certain for those with whom they minister.  I thank God I turned, and I thank God for what God has built.  I thank God for the hope.

Walk on by...

Today I was looking at Acts 3:1-10.  This is the story of Peter and John healing a person who could not walk who was sitting near the Beautiful Gate.  What caught my eye is this:  verse 1 says, "One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at three o’clock in the afternoon."  So Peter and John were walking with a purpose.  The man saw them, and asked them for alms as they passed.

What do we normally do when someone on the street asks for money? Walk on by, I think.  But Peter and John stopped to help the man.

The image that came to mind as I read this was Moses and the burning bush.  Exodus 3:3 says, "Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight and see why the bush is not burned up." 

To me, in both of these stories, the will of god was done because people stopped and noticed.  They payed attention.  Moses turned aside.  Peter and John heard the man who was asking them for help. 

Do we do that? Do we turn aside to ask why the bush is not being consumed by the fire, or do we walk on by? Do we seek to help the person who asks, or do we walk on by?

Pentecost Unity

Last Sunday in Sunday school, we had a debate about the nature of Pentecost.  One person thought it was a time when everyone spoke in tongues, and understood each other.  Another disagreed.  

Let's look:

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.  And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.  Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.  Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.   And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.  Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?   And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?  (Acts 2:1-8)

Have you ever noticed or compared this passage to one in Genesis?

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.   And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.  And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.   Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."  The LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built.  And the LORD said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.  Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another's speech."  So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.  Therefore it was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.  (Genesis 11:1-9)

I don't think the Pentecost passage is about speaking in tongues at all.  For one thing, speaking in tongues is a spiritual gift, given to a few.  it was not something that could be understood by anyone - it required (requires) interpretation.  In the Pentecost story, everyone can understand everyone else, and not only that, they are filled with the Holy Spirit - the spirit giving them this ability.  God heard and understood among them.

Think about the story of the Tower of Babel.  The people - scattered and unable to understand each other.  In this story, it seems the opposite has happened.  Everyone is understood, and there is a unity among them.

The church is born.

The Time of Disorder

In Sunday school yesterday, the teacher talked about times in our lives that are disorder.  We move through life, usually, with our lives in order.  I think we've come to talk about this time as normalcy.  One of the yearnings of the pandemic is / has been to return to normalcy.  Our lives are disrupted, and we enter a time of disorder.  Not routine.  Not normal.  We come through that time, hopefully, to a time of reorder.  It's what I hate to hear called "the new normal."

Jesus and his disciples had developed a time of order.  They traveled together.  Jesus preached; they learned.  Then came the crucifixion.  Disorder.  Nothing was the same, and truly, nothing would be the same again.

Pentecost is the time of reordering.  The Holy Spirit descended.  People understood each other.  The church was born.  The disciples gained the "sea legs" so to speak, and started lives lived in obedience to Jesus - following the call the master had made on their lives, empowered and gifted by the Holy Spirit. Reorder.  

In the Acts 2 passage that was the lectionary reading yesterday, Peter receives a gift of leadership - maybe that had all started on the shore of when Jesus cooked fish and asked Peter to "feed my sheep" - but anyway, it is obvious now.  Peter quotes Joel, and it sounds like an end-times passage to me.  I wondered about that.  Pentecost wasn't the end of the world.  Or was it?

When we are in a time of disorder, it can feel like the end of the world, can't it?  Whatever it may be, it can feel as if the world - our world - is ending.  Maybe something new will start, but we may not want it.  We may want only to return to what was.  Pentecost is the time when we enter reorder.  Lives are changed; worlds are begun, whether we want them or not.  And we realize the the Holy Spirit is with us, no matter what.  Worlds ending, worlds starting - God is with us.  

Devotional - Acts 4:32-35

Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.  With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.  There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold.  They laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. (Acts 4;32-35)

There is a gentleman in my church named Scott.  I think many churches have a scott – he’s an ever-present volunteer, a lay person who works in the church making repairs, gathering food for the food pantry, working on the backpack ministry, cooking in the kitchen, working with the United Methodist Men, reading scripture – Scott is involved in practically everything.  He’s a quiet presence, but he is always present.  When we are having an involved discussion in Sunday school, Scott’s answer to the question – whatever the question is – is “Love God – love your neighbor.”  This is what Scott believes, and I know that not only because of what he says, but because of what he does.

His actions reflect his belief.

Our scripture this evening is from Acts – the very beginnings of the church, and these verses describe that early church.  The passage begins, “Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul,”

What did they believe?  They were followers of Christ – probably not called Christians yet – but they believed in Christ, and they trying to live lives as disciples.  A disciple learns from the master, and their master, and those who taught in their master’s place, taught to Love God and love your neighbor.

Those who saw the early church may not ever have heard of Jesus – but they saw the evidence of what Jesus had taught by the actions of his church – The church preached of Christ’s resurrection, and they made sure no one was needy.  They loved God and they loved each other.  They loved their neighbor.

And we know the rest of the story – the church grew.  More people came to follow Christ and to live as Christ taught.

Sometimes, I think, when we are worried about church membership, we plan new and exciting programming.  When we are worried about church finances, we talk about how many bills there are to pay.  When we are worried that youth aren’t attending youth events, and children aren’t in VBS, we nag parents and bring guilt upon them. 

When, really, we aren’t following programming or bill-paying.  We aren’t called to live lives of guilt and worry.  We are called to follow Christ.  And when we do that – when we love God and love each other – the rest will take care of itself.  When we know WHY we are a church – and we tell others WHY we believe in Christ, then that is what calls others to join us.

Prayer:

Creating, loving, God, help us to remember that we are a church, created to love you and to love each other.  This is the WHY of what we do.  Help us to remember that as we do the work you have given us.  Inhabit our conversations and thoughts this evening, thank you for bringing us together, and create in us a commonality of purpose, reminding us of the WHY of what we do.  In your son’s name, Amen.

 

No Distinction

The lectionary reading from Acts a couple of Sunday ago was from chapter 11:1-18.  Reading it, this part of a verse caught my eye:  "The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us."

That verse caught my eye because I feel as if all we do today is "make a distinction between them and us."  Distinctions based on color, gender, political viewpoints, religious beliefs, neighborhoods, income, fashion, education, sexual orientation - them and us.

Don't you think it dehumanizes us? When we make those distinctions, it steals something from us.  Both of us.

How do we stop?

Acts 8: Faith Story

One more post about the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch...

As Mike taught this lesson in Sunday school, he asked, "Do you wonder what Philip said to the Ethiopian that convinced him, right that moment, to be baptized?"

What was the faith story that Philip told? Do you have a faith story? Do you know what it is? Will you share it?

What would you say to someone who asked, "Why should I go to church? Why do you go to Church?"

We need to know our answer. In order to convince someone, the answer can't be that you see your friends at church. It can't be that there are donuts there every Sunday. If going to church and going to a meeting of my sorority offer me the same thing, then why would I go to Church?

Why do you believe in God? What difference does it make in your life? What difference does God make in your life? 

Maybe we need to tell people that when we serve others through the Church, we find grace and fulfillment. Maybe we need to tell people that at Church, we are able to connect with other Christians in a way that helps us to see God better. If those statements aren't true, maybe we need to invite God to make them true in our lives.

What is your faith story? What would you tell the Ethiopian that would convince him to offer his life to God?

And, as a sidenote, how was the Ethiopian reading Isaiah, anyway? He didn't have a Bible (or a kindle). Imagine reading from scrolls in a chariot.

Acts 8: The Marginalized

Continuing thoughts about Acts 8 - the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch.

Consider for a moment the Eunuch. He has a thirst to learn about God. He has traveled all the way from Ethiopia to Jerusalem - a pilgrimage, but because he is a eunuch (and a gentile) he cannot enter the Temple. I don't know if he knew that or not when he decided to make the journey, but perhaps he was stopped from entering, or perhaps he traveled, knowing he would not be able to enter. Either way, imagine how marginalized he felt.

Do he meets Philip on the road, and Philip tells him about what he is reading. He is so convicted, that he says n verse 36, "'Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?'"  Apparently, nothing is. Philip baptizes him, right away.

The beauty of this to me is that this marginalized, unaccepted person is accepted. He is baptized. He is allowed to come before God, and God says, "You are mine. I love you and claim you." There is nothing that stops this from happening.

What do we do? Do we enforce rules like the ones that kept the Ethiopian out of the Temple? Or do we respond the way Philip did? Extending the grace of God to whoever will accept it?

Acts 8: Answering God's Call

A few weeks ago in Sunday school we looked at the passage from Acts where Philip meets and speaks with an Ethiopian Eunuch.  (Acts 8:26-39). In this story, Philip follows a call from God and encounters an Ethiopian eunuch who is riding in a chariot, reading the prophet Isaiah. Have you ever noticed how rich this passage is?

I want to focus today on how obedient to God both Philip and the Ethiopian were. 

Verse 26 says, "Then an angel of teh Lord said to Philip, 'Get up and go twoard the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.' (This is a wilderness road). So he got up and went."

That sounds simple. "So he got up and went." But imagine how much power is packed into that sentence. He heard God, so he did was he was called to do. It might as well have Mark's favorite word in it: immediately. No hesitation. No pondering. No wondering why God would send him on a road no one probably travels. Go. So he goes. 

And then there is the Ethiopian. He has traveled all the way from Ethiopia to Jerusalem to learn more about God. He's reading Isaiah (have you ever read Isaiah? Argh!) as he travels. He hears the word revealed to him, and then he jumps out of the chariot and is baptized. Just like that.

Their actions change the world. Christianity is spread. Faith is changed.

Do we do that? Do we hear God's call and respond? 

Logos: Acts 7:55-57

To set the scene for the scripture I chose today, the person about whom is is written is Stephen.  Remember Stephen? He was a deacon in the new church, martyred for his faith.

But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. (Acts 7:55-57)

You know the rest of the story, right? Those listening dragged him out of the city and stoned him to death, while Saul kept their coats.

I chose this scripture because of the image it created in my mind. A man of the church is telling those gathered around of his vision - he saw heaven, Jesus, and God, and he is telling them about it.  They covered their ears.

How often do we chose to not listen when the word of God is spoken to us? How often do we (maybe not literally) cover our ears? What word of God are we missing because we will not listen

Logos: Acts 2:26c

... therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; moreover my flesh will live in hope.  (Acts 2:26)

I see children who are fed,

who are cared for, 

who are nurtured,

even if they have no home.

My flesh will live in hope!

I see the one who has been hurt,

whose family has been killed,

whose life has been turned upside down

by someone else,

by someone who could be the object of hate,

but is instead forgiven.

My flesh will live in hope!

I see the man in pain,

who has lost his love to horrible disease,

who has suffered with her,

for her,

wishing to suffer instead of her,

but is now without her.

I see the church 

surrounding him with love.

He is not alone.

My flesh will live in hope!

I see the town 

destroyed by flood.

I see the mud, the loss, the grief.

I see the caring come to offer solace,

rebuilding,

help.

I see the resurrection of the town.

My flesh will live in hope!

Christ is alive

Christ is within us,

Christ is with us.

and my flesh will live in hope!

Know, Share, Retire - Part 6

Aldersgate UMC 

Aldersgate United Methodist Church is just down the road in Sissonville.  Like many churches, they have a food pantry and clothing closet for their community.  Brad Bennett, one of the pastors there, told me that they serve around 80 families a month through this ministry - and he considers this part of their evangelism ministry.  Of those families who are served, about two families a year come into worship, and everyone celebrates that.  Too often, I think, churches believe that evangelism is a membership campaign.  How many people can we reach so that they will become members of our church?  If that were the definition of evangelism, then Aldersgate's ministry would be a failure - 2 out of 80?  That's a terrible return for a membership campaign.  But that's not what evangelism is.  Evangelism is reaching people with the Good News of Christ, and I imagine that all 80 families, every month, have a better idea of the love of God through the Body of Christ that is assembled at Aldersgate.

Evangelism is not the program of the church that seeks to sustain the church's existence; it is the one of the very reasons we exist as a church at all.  Evangelism is not a task of the church that we can delegate to those who we feel are best equipped to do it, or even worse, a task that we set aside all together.  It is the mission God has given to us.  Ephesians says that we are given gifts by God "to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God."  (Eph 4:12a)

We live in a world much like the city of Athens, with idols all around us.  We live among a people who are searching for the "unknown God" to fill the spiritual emptiness that surrounds their lives.  As a gift of grace, we have come to know God and to understand the difference that God can make in our lives.   In the words of Randle Mixon:

 "What does it mean to be so fully rooted and grounded in God, so centered in our own experience of the Christian story, that we cannot keep from sharing it?  In the words of the old hymn, when we feel our faith in our very bones, "how can we keep from singing?"

Go from this place and let your words, your very life, be your song, so that everyone can come to know the Good News of Christ.