Tuesday, April 30, 2013

"Spirit Sight"

John 14:23-29

The Senses of the Spirit...how do we connect to the Holy Spirit through our senses? This week begins a short series on that theme.

Spirit Sight.  How do we see the Spirit?  Through good works and acts of charity? Through fellowship and public worship? Sure, those are all obvious places to see the Spirit alive and well.

But it is also more subtle.  In this week's gospel reading, John tells us of Jesus' words to the disciples right before his ascension, telling them of an Advocate who will come to walk alongside them.

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.


How do we "see" this Advocate in our lives? How do we gain a sense of Spirit Sight?  Jesus tells the disciples "I am going away and coming to you," hinting at his physical presence exiting, but being replaced with the spiritual presence of Christ.  This is where we begin to look for and SEE not the actual Jesus, the man who walked the shores of Galilee, but Jesus, the Christ, who resides in the hearts and minds of everyone who claims the title "Christian."

Spirit Sight is a challenge. It requires us to live lives that others clearly see as Spirit-filled. It also requires us to fine-tune or our own vision, open our own eyes that we might see... the will of God unfolding all around us in the world. In the lives of others, as well as in our own. It requires us to really see the world around us as if it is infused with the Spirit.  Look for the way that Spirit-infusion is waiting for us to help it along in ways that truly transform the world.

I have been wanting some time to find just the right person to help me with a new worship-related project/ministry.  Yesterday,  I just happened to be sitting in the library with the RIGHT person, and my eyes were finally OPENED to really see her in that role. She had been there all along, gifts openly displayed, but yesterday I finally found the Spirit Sight to know that she was the one I had been praying for all along.

Seeing IS believing, but sight is a tricky thing. And it doesn't always require physical vision.  How do you work on seeing the Spirit work?  In what ways is Seeing the first step to Acting in the faith?

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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

"Breaking Free of Dogma"


Who is in and who is out?  We're back to that again in the scripture this week. The religious leaders of that day were concerned with religious rites and practices that we aren't as interested in today, but still the message rings loud and clear.  The church often implements policies, procedures, sets of belief that exclude everyone from being at the table.

Dogma is defined by Merriam-Webster this way:
1. a: something held as an established opinion; especially: a defined authoritative tenet
    b: a code of such tenets
    c: a point of view or tenet put forth as authoritative without adequate grounds.

2. A doctrine or body of doctrines concerning faith or morals formally stated and authoritatively proclaimed by a church


Do you see the irony in definition one and definition two?  I find it alarming. 

Jimmy Carter decided a few years ago to leave the Southern Baptist Church, a church he had been a part of his entire life, because of their continued ban on women clergy.  He 'came out,' so to speak, in this statement.  He no longer believed the dogma of the church that taught the women may not speak in church. He no longer believed it spoke to the Christian faith of his current day reality.

I have spoken many times on the ways our global UMC is not inclusive and follows dogmatic principles in ways that don't seem aligned with showing the Love of Christ in the world. Dogmatic views often lead to exclusion and, if we aren't careful, radicalization, which, at least in part, seems to be the slippery slope of logic tread upon by the two brothers involved in the Boston Marathon Bombing last week. Views that had become no longer filled with the abundance of love and hope, but rather the abundance of fear and intimidation.

In this scripture, if Peter and others had not challenged the authoritative status quo on matters such as who in the body of Christ can eat with uncircumcised Gentiles, the Christian movement might have very well died right in its infancy.  It was the firm belief of the followers of the Way that Jesus Christ came for ALL people. This belief gave them the strength to challenge the status quo.

It is easy to complain about what our denomination continues to be dogmatic about. It is much harder to see what we become dogmatic about in our own congregation.  What rules, practices, opinions, points of view do we hold that prevent us from opening our arms, hearts, doors wide to new people, new ways of being, new theologies, new ministries?   It is the classic, "but we've always done it this way" conundrum.  It really is.

Let women be clergy! We can't do that. Men are clergy; we've always done it that way.    

Doesn't the same apply to when we fellowship, how and where we drink our coffee, who belongs in what Sunday School class, who engages in mission and who just writes a check?   We've always done it this way=we don't care about/are afraid of/can't face a tomorrow that is somewhat out of our control.

Let's change that.  Let's change the things that are most uncomfortable to change. Let's be like Jesus.

Questions? Comments? Email me or comment below.

Please continue to be in prayer for those who suffer in the wake of the Boston bombings last week.  Pray for peace in not only the city of Boston, but also in the world.


Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Breaking Out of Loss

Acts 9:36-43

This story displays the miraculous power of a disciple to raise someone from the dead.  Tabitha, also called a disciple, was someone evidently important enough in this motley crew of early followers of Jesus that Peter goes immediately when he hears news she is near death.

Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, "Tabitha, get up." Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive.  This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.

The book of acts speaks of signs and wonders that let the early Christians know that the risen Christ was among them. This is one of those signs.  A woman who had died being suddenly awakened by the words of another disciple who says to her, simply, "Get up."

Tabitha, also called Dorcas, was, the scripture says, devoted to good works and charity, and also a maker of cloth.  She was a needed member of the early Christian community because she was evidently a community organizer.  She made cloth and sold it for proceeds, she did good works, she helped those in need... she is one of those people in your church who does everything and keeps everything going.

No wonder they didn't want her to really be dead. No wonder Peter resurrects her.  Only that isn't what this is about. It isn't about someone's ability to make themselves so needed we can't do without them. It is about someone living fully into the Christian Jesus called her to be and others realizing the importance of her witness.  It is about taking the loss that was Jesus' physical presence and breaking away from that loss, transforming it into a new and resurrected way of seeing the world.

You see, Tabitha could have failed to see what was so important about Jesus once he was no longer with them. But, instead, she propelled his power forward into a new day.  She did works and devoted herself to charity. She gave her full self to the Way of Christ. She realized that resurrection involves action.

Tabitha had plenty of signs and wonders all her own. She made her life a life to be emulated. She created a presence so strong and vital that those around her needed it to continue.  We know people like that. Saints, we often call them.  Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., and others who devote their full selves to the Way of Christ, the way of righteousness and justice and peace and love.  Maybe you have your own personal example of such a saint. I know I have a few.  Good for them.  But if we really want to honor those persons who have propelled us forward in faith, we don't look back at the good they did, rather, we propel ourselves forward into following the path they blazed before us.

We break out of the loss their physical presence leaves in our lives. We resurrect the Way for ourselves, creating all the good we can, whenever we can.

Who do you consider a saint?  Who do you wish you were more like? What would it take for you to become a TRUE follower of the Way of Christ?

Email me or comment below.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

"Breaking Free of Paradigms"

Acts 1: 9-6, 7-20

When we read of the conversion of Saul, we often think it is one of those 'Jesus saved me" moments. That this conversion is only about Saul (Paul) encountering the LORD, being blinded, and then immediately realizing "Jesus saves."

What actually happens requires a commitment from the community to embrace one who has shunned and persecuted them. And it requires a commitment from Ananias to listen to God and heal one who has tried to harm his people. And it requires Saul to be at the mercy of those whom he has persecuted, to hope that they won't kill him, but instead will give him solace.

The God work here is amazing. Saul is brought into the center of the community he shunned. The interventions along the way on all sides are remarkable.  It isn't about one man being able to really "SEE," it is about a community coming together to really see one another and offer God's mercy and love in the midst of human weakness.

Evangelism is personal. Someone invites another into a relationship with God through the church.  But evangelism also always requires a community's embrace.  It is God's nudging us into opening up ourselves in a way that bears witness to the Reign of God here and now. And the Reign of God is defined by connection: how we live as a community that brings love, joy, peace and justice to the world and how we show God's love to set people free from that which prevents them from receiving love, joy, peace and justice.

How do we use the example of Saul's entrance into the Christian community to help us break free of the paradigms that we have set up for 'church' in our community?  Who are we leaving out? Who has turned their backs on us? How do we come together to bring about God's reign?


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Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Breaking Free of Conventional Wisdom

Acts 5:27-32

We must obey God rather than any human authority.


We reach the point as Christians sometimes when we do nothing but complain about each other. We decide that we are right and every other view is wrong and we know what God wants us to believe and who are you to challenge us?

One of the pastors of an area church this week said publicly he was against gay marriage because Jesus says marriage is between a man and a woman. People are furious because this church has put on the persona of being more inclusive.   My reading of the words of Jesus do not align with this pastor; I actually don't read that into what Jesus says at all, as he quotes from Genesis, but I refuse to be angry or lash out at this pastor for taking a stand. I do not have the sole authority to decide what Jesus means in any text. All of us are merely interpreters of scripture, based on our own traditions, reasoning, and life experiences.

We have got to quit 'lording our theological views' over one another. We have got to begin to see the world as Jesus saw it.  We have got to let go of the idea that there is one way to think about God and it is my way. Liberals and conservatives are equally at fault for creating an atmosphere of in-fighting, and I don't mean just politically.  Progressive thinking Christians often belittle or bemoan their conservative Christian brothers and sisters and vice versa.  It is one of the many reasons our denomination seems to struggle so much. We fail to listen to one another, or at the very least just let one another be.

In the end, it is God we obey. God that lives within each of our hearts, souls, and minds.  God that loves each of us, unconditionally. Until we are willing to obey what God is calling us to do, rather than what some 'human authority' might be calling us to do, we will never be able to fully claim the title Christian.

This month's sermon series is all about breaking free from things that keep us from being who God wants us to be.  Imagine ice frozen solid on a lake. Then it warms a bit, and begins to thaw.  But there are still ice particles stuck between the free flowing water and the ice bank.  We are in that place. Needing to be free from the bondage of the ice bank, but unable to fully let go or commit to a new way of seeing life.

God's way is the one we follow. That's what Jesus did. They nailed him to a tree for it, but that's what he did. God created resurrection out of a situation that was based on intolerance.  I challenge each of us to break free of the conventional wisdoms that hold us back and create resurrections in places we have barely tolerated before.

Who is it hard for you to love? What is hard for you to accept?  What do you need to break free from to live abundantly? You are not alone. Remember, we are all caught somewhere between the frozen ice bank and the free flowing water.

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