Luke 10:1-11
This week (if technology is kind to us) we will hear young voices talking to us about Luke 10 and what it means for the next generation. We will see video excerpts from youth, some you will recognize, others you won't.... and we will get their perspective on this text we have been digging into all month... what does it mean to go as lambs into the midst of wolves if you are a young person... are we the wolves they find themselves in the midst of??? What does it mean to go out into the harvest, to shake the dust off your feet, if you are young and headed toward your adult life.
It is important to listen to and really hear the voices of youth. To hear and take to heart their perspective on what the church should be doing to connect with young people today.
It is time to hear young voices for a change. And to prayerfully consider the wisdom in their words, their actions, and their hearts.
We cannot move forward in any direction if we don't include and acknowledge the wisdom of the young people among us. It isn't that we hope they will lead us tomorrow, it is that we need them to lead us now.
Hope to see you Sunday.
Questions or comments? Email me or comment below.
Monday, June 17, 2013
Monday, June 10, 2013
“Living Into Our Dust”
Luke 10:1-12
But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.' I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.
This week at our church we will honor the Native American and remember our painful legacy as Christians and Methodists in our attempts to either colonize or 'christianize' the native people or to outright kill them, as in the Sand Creek Massacre. Our role this Sunday in worship is not to 'objectify' native peoples, but to stop for a moment and appreciate the deep spirituality they bring to their lives and their culture. And to remind ourselves of the very painful place Methodists find themselves when we remember the Sand Creek Massacre.
I invite you to spend some time this week finding out more about these people, if you aren't familiar:
Col. John Chivington, Methodist minister and Army colonel who led the troops into battle against the Cheyenne and Arapahoe people who were living on government protected area in a 'peace camp,' leading to what we now call the Sand Creek Massacre.
Chief Niwot: One of the 'peace' chiefs killed in the massacre that day.
The NUMC Book Club and I are encouraging everyone in our congregation to read the book Chief Left Hand by Margaret Coel.
As you learn more about the Methodist minister whose hate for the Indian people led to the slaughter of peace Chief Niwot at the Sand Creek Massacre, dwell for a while on the legacy that our name Niwot United Methodist Church carries on both sides of this tragic history.
This week's message is called "Living Into Our Dust." The writer of Luke points out that if someone enters a town and is rejected they can dust their feet off and move on. Think for a few minutes about what it means if WE are the DUST that is being shaken off. What if we are the ones that rejected a people and as a result, they are shaking themselves free of us and moving on? What do we do to live into our 'dust' in regards to Chivington and Sand Creek? How do we best work for peace and brother/sisterhood with our Native American neighbors?
Dig around in the muck and dust this week. I'll see you on Sunday after Annual Conference.
Email me or comment below.
But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.' I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.
This week at our church we will honor the Native American and remember our painful legacy as Christians and Methodists in our attempts to either colonize or 'christianize' the native people or to outright kill them, as in the Sand Creek Massacre. Our role this Sunday in worship is not to 'objectify' native peoples, but to stop for a moment and appreciate the deep spirituality they bring to their lives and their culture. And to remind ourselves of the very painful place Methodists find themselves when we remember the Sand Creek Massacre.
I invite you to spend some time this week finding out more about these people, if you aren't familiar:
Col. John Chivington, Methodist minister and Army colonel who led the troops into battle against the Cheyenne and Arapahoe people who were living on government protected area in a 'peace camp,' leading to what we now call the Sand Creek Massacre.
Chief Niwot: One of the 'peace' chiefs killed in the massacre that day.
The NUMC Book Club and I are encouraging everyone in our congregation to read the book Chief Left Hand by Margaret Coel.
As you learn more about the Methodist minister whose hate for the Indian people led to the slaughter of peace Chief Niwot at the Sand Creek Massacre, dwell for a while on the legacy that our name Niwot United Methodist Church carries on both sides of this tragic history.
This week's message is called "Living Into Our Dust." The writer of Luke points out that if someone enters a town and is rejected they can dust their feet off and move on. Think for a few minutes about what it means if WE are the DUST that is being shaken off. What if we are the ones that rejected a people and as a result, they are shaking themselves free of us and moving on? What do we do to live into our 'dust' in regards to Chivington and Sand Creek? How do we best work for peace and brother/sisterhood with our Native American neighbors?
Dig around in the muck and dust this week. I'll see you on Sunday after Annual Conference.
Email me or comment below.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
When Nothing Is Everything
Luke 10:1-12
Take nothing with you... no purse, no bag, no sandals...and greet no one on the road.
This scripture encourages us to move out into the world, but not with a big bunch of freebies to offer or a video of how we can change your life. This scripture says to go into every town where God intends to go.... and to take absolutely nothing with you, not even your purse or shoes. And for those of us with more purses and shoes than we can imagine knowing what to do with, this IS perplexing information. Wow. We are to take nothing with us.
It reminds me, though, of when we see the Spirit most clearly. Think of the days after a natural disaster like the tornadoes in Oklahoma. In the midst of people losing everything they have, we see the Spirit at work, people entering the scene to help with rescue efforts, neighbor helping neighbor pull people and pets and fragments of their life out of the disaster-torn areas they once called home. There is a sense of community connection and grace and hope that one rarely sees in our day-to-day lives filled with more than we can ever hope to enjoy.
This is not to say that we wish for natural disasters to shake us into our senses of what matters. Of course not. It is just the most blaring representation that what we really need from one another, or need to offer one another, is not a 'thing' but ourselves.
So, I don't know about you, but it tells me a lot about how we really connect with people. We don't need slick programming or a cool hip pastor or a blaring sound system or a million different activities to connect with our neighbors.
What people really want is the hand reaching out to grab them when they find their lives in rubble. Or the smile greeting them as they try to make the most of a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day. Or a purpose for being in and among the people of God.
Take no bag, no purse, no sandals. Take yourself to the world. Offer your ear, your hand, your feet. And realize THAT is all God intends for you to take in order to spread God's love.
How do you show God's love in your day-to-day life? How has it been shown to you? Email me or comment below.
Take nothing with you... no purse, no bag, no sandals...and greet no one on the road.
This scripture encourages us to move out into the world, but not with a big bunch of freebies to offer or a video of how we can change your life. This scripture says to go into every town where God intends to go.... and to take absolutely nothing with you, not even your purse or shoes. And for those of us with more purses and shoes than we can imagine knowing what to do with, this IS perplexing information. Wow. We are to take nothing with us.
It reminds me, though, of when we see the Spirit most clearly. Think of the days after a natural disaster like the tornadoes in Oklahoma. In the midst of people losing everything they have, we see the Spirit at work, people entering the scene to help with rescue efforts, neighbor helping neighbor pull people and pets and fragments of their life out of the disaster-torn areas they once called home. There is a sense of community connection and grace and hope that one rarely sees in our day-to-day lives filled with more than we can ever hope to enjoy.
This is not to say that we wish for natural disasters to shake us into our senses of what matters. Of course not. It is just the most blaring representation that what we really need from one another, or need to offer one another, is not a 'thing' but ourselves.
So, I don't know about you, but it tells me a lot about how we really connect with people. We don't need slick programming or a cool hip pastor or a blaring sound system or a million different activities to connect with our neighbors.
What people really want is the hand reaching out to grab them when they find their lives in rubble. Or the smile greeting them as they try to make the most of a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day. Or a purpose for being in and among the people of God.
Take no bag, no purse, no sandals. Take yourself to the world. Offer your ear, your hand, your feet. And realize THAT is all God intends for you to take in order to spread God's love.
How do you show God's love in your day-to-day life? How has it been shown to you? Email me or comment below.
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