Personal Perspective in a Selfie World

   If we ever make it to Mars in the next five decades, there is a NASA spacecraft waiting there to greet us! Despite being built to stay in service for only two years once it landed in 2012, the Curiosity has performed so well NASA has extended its mission indefinitely, saying it could operate as long as 55 years. "We've already decided with this plan that we will continue to operate Curiosity as long as it's scientifically viable," says John Grunsfled, NASA's associate administrator for science. The nuclear-powered rover has enough plutonium on board to last 55 years, says Grunsfeld.

   That is a long time. What will it do, alone on a planet? It will be working. Along with sending massive amounts of data from the Red Planet, the Curiosity is able to send photos and videos. But like an American teenager, Curiosity is using the camera for something else: selfies. A selfie is a picture you take of yourself. This image was taken by Curiosity not long after it landed on Mars. 

   The only thing with the photo it took of itself - it couldn't do it alone. Because of the short distance of its arm and the particular lens it was using, the image required lots of work to 'stitch' it together. A team of NASA engineers spent hours using software to turn this image into something that actually looked like reality. 

   Are you with me? Sometimes our perspective is too close.  Sometimes we look through the lens and what we see is distorted. Most of the time, we are not able to gauge reality on our own. Actually, all of the time. It is a part of our human condition. We are fallen. We have blurred our vision and can no longer see things as they are. Like the Curiosity on Mars, we need other people and their software to help us. The people who do that are Christians (it's up to you to allow them to help) and the software is found in God's Word (the Bible is the most accurate lens through which we can see reality). 

   We believe that Epworth's mission is to connect you to others and to equip you with what you need to keep reality in perspective. Not every idea you have is right. Not every impulse brings God glory. Our personal perspective is sometimes poor. But, together we can see things clearly and continue to operate for good for decades into the future!

Where Will Your Name Appear?

   One of the great and enduring joys of my childhood started on one trip to visit my grandparents' home in Brunswick. I was probably in middle school, back then, when my grandfather introduced me to one of his favorite pastimes: reading Louis L'Amour westerns. He had nearly every one of them and dozens of duplicate copies. L'Amour wrote novels filled with action that taught me invaluable lessons about right and wrong, tough choices, courage and, most important of all, never sit with your back to the door of the saloon!
   Jokes aside, the L'Amour books I loved reading the most were from his seventeen-novel series that follows the Sackett family from the British Isles to Colonial America and then across the Wild West. So, when my oldest came looking for a book the other day, I was delighted when he accepted my recommendation of Sackett, first published in 1961.
   When I went online to find reviews that might jog my memory of any content too adult for my son (it turns out they are fine for teenagers), I stumbled upon a note I never knew: his first books were written under a pseudonym that he never claimed to have used. He was commissioned to write four books in 1950 for a series called Hopalong Cassidy. Originally published under the under the pseudonym, "Tex Burns," L'Amour denied writing them until the day he died, refusing to sign any of them that fans would occasionally bring to his autograph sessions. It seems everyone knew he wrote them, but he said, "I just did it for the money, and my name didn't go on them. So now, when people ask me if they were mine, I say 'no.'"
   This is fascinating to me. A famous and influential writer - Ronald Reagan gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984 - would not claim books that he wrote because of the original intent he had in writing them: just for the money.
   What about us? Have we ever created something to which we we later did not want our names attached? Have we ever written something, spoken something, or done something that we would later want to distance ourselves from?
   The good news, really it is the Gospel, says that we can move forward and past the things and places from our past. Our names might be attached, but we don't have to be defined by them. And L'Amour wrote that very thing once in a book when he said, "The way I see it, every time a man gets up in the morning he starts his life over. Sure, the bills are there to pay, and the job is there to do, but you don't have to stay in a pattern. You can always start over, saddle a fresh horse and take another trail."
   May we be about the creation of words, actions and lives that are worthy to bear our names and the Name of the One who created us. Grace and Peace, Scott

Do We Need Jesus in Our Death Penalty Conversation?

   A leading voice in the Southern Baptist community, Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, responded to the tragic botched execution in Oklahoma earlier this month with this statement to CNN this week:

"Should Christians support the death penalty today? I believe that Christians should hope, pray and strive for a society in which the death penalty, rightly and rarely applied, would make moral sense." 

His 1200-word opinion piece went on to say that he worried that the use of the death penalty would decline in the US and that Christians should stand up and work to defend the death penalty. Read the entire piece on CNN.com. His argument included some references to Scripture - he mentions that Moses, David, and Saul (later Paul) all committed murder, but were not executed - but he leaves out one notable, and often very quotable source: Jesus.
   Before I go on, I should say that I have personally been against the death penalty for a couple of decades now. The evidence, as I see it, points to the overwhelming slant based on personal economics and race. That doesn't even mention that the latest studies find at as many as one in twenty-five persons executed are actually innocent! The United Methodist Church's official stance, crafted at the quadrennial General Conference, includes this statement:

We believe the death penalty denies the power of Christ to redeem, restore and transform all human beings. 

   It was Shane Claiborne's take on all of this that caught my attention this week, though. He was the first to note Jesus' absence from Mohler's statement. Here are snippets of Claiborne's article:

Consistently, Jesus said things like “I did not come for the healthy but for the sick, not for the righteous but for the sinners”…“blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy”…“inasmuch as you forgive you will be forgiven”…“judge not lest you be judged”…“You’ve heard it said ‘an eye for an eye’ but I tell you there is another way....” We dare not forget the story – of a God who so loved the world that Jesus was sent, not to condemn the world but to save it.   We must not forget that much of the Bible was written by murderers who were given a second chance. Moses. David. Paul. The Bible would be much shorter without grace.

   What do you think about the death penalty? Since it's return in the US in 1977, is murder down? Does it work. And finally, do we need Jesus in our conversations about the death penalty, gun rights, healthcare, taxes, Little League baseball, and all of the other stuff that occupies our attention? I think yes.
   Grace and Peace, Scott

God Is Big Enough

  One conversation at the church earlier this week involved the capacity of roll-off dumpsters. You know, the large containers used by contractors to hold the materials left over in a demolition project. One person suggested that one size would be adequate, while another was wondering if we could save a few bucks by going with a smaller size container.
   The parking lot expansion project has started this week. The first phase is to remove some trees, but before that can happen the "past-its-prime Eagle's Nest shed" that has been home to many an insect and spider for decades now needed to get removed. A word of thanks to Jimmy Bridges and his crew for making quick work of the task. Some of its contents were kept, others are being offered to local churches who could use them, while the rest were placed in the 30-yard capacity container that will be hauled off later this week.
   How much can a container hold? The answer depends on its size.
   How much can God hold? That answer is given in Scripture. 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you." Another translation says cast all your cares, while another says put all your troubles, and still another says give all your worries to God. God is big enough.
   Oh, what a promise. Can it be true? Is there a limit to God's capacity to take on our worries, troubles, sins, fears, anxieties, and suffering? There is no limit. The God who spoke a word and created galaxies and constellations a billion miles wide, has more than enough room.
   That is a word I need to hear. I need to hear that I can give my grieving to God. Your fears are welcome in Him. God welcomes your doubts and even your anger. He cares about you and about me.
   Grace and Peace, Scott

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   While the demolition and construction of the new driveway and parking lot in the rear of our church got started this week, we anticipate that we can park there one more Sunday (this May 11). We are making plans for the following Sundays. We will have greeters out front to offer help and volunteers in the porte-cochère (our fancy word for the covered driveway) to valet cars to safe places on the streets. We do not want anyone to stay away from worship because of this week. Please let us know how we can help.

Entrusted With A Great Treasure

   What a blessing for each of us to offer vows and gaze on as these young people stood before us on Sunday to confirm their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and move forward as those growing as disciples:

Samuel Davis Hagan

Avery Anderson McManus

Lauren Elizabeth Middleton

Malori Ann Perryman

Jackson Lee Phillips

David Bret Vinson

Taylor Lee Walsh

with Taylor Nicole Middleton being confirmed this Sunday

   I am proud of each of them, and said as much to each of them as they stood to return to their pews. There was a lot of 'holy pride' on display in the Sanctuary, wasn't there? Families were sitting in the pews. Former Sunday School teachers, youth and VBS leaders, and family friends were there, as well. Standing with me on Sunday were two grandfathers who stood over their children's children to speak the historic words of the church. If I was proud on Sunday, it is safe to say that the Reverends Dick Reese and Riley Middleton were doubly proud of what they were witnessing. 

   The New Testament includes two letters written to a young Christian named Timothy. The second letter starts with a remembrance of where Timothy came from and specifically names his mother and grandmother. It says, 

"I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands...Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us." (2 Timothy 1)

   This passage takes on another level of meaning this week with the news of the passing of my grandmother, Augusta Carruth. I relish in the idea that her faith lives on in us. What a week it's been: standing over my son as he joins the Church to then later standing at a funeral to speak about the life of one who meant so much to so many.

   For every one of us who stepped forward on Sunday to remember our baptism and renew our faith, may we acknowledge those who kindled a fire in us and may we guard the good treasure that has been trusted to us.

   Grace and Peace, Scott

Confirmation is Counter-Cultural and that is a Good Thing

"Our consumer culture is organized against history. There is a depreciation of memory and a ridicule of hope, which means everything must be held in the now, either an urgent now or an eternal now."

Walter Brueggemann in his book The Prophetic Imagination, 1978

   Our world and the culture that is so pervasive would have all of us reduce the timeline of history down into the mere present. Things have to be done now. Trust is lessened because it requires faith in the future. Most of all, the crime of culture tempts us to devalue the past because we've bought into the myth that our present is so different. Brueggemann, the Bible scholar and living legend in the world of church and academia, is speaking directly about us. 
   Yet, the church is called to hold the present in tension with the past and the future. There is more to history than right now. So, we read from the sacred texts of the Bible every week in worship and have volunteers teaching our children to memorize them every month. We sing songs that were not written to sell records. We gather in a place that was built by the hands of others who came before us. We go forth believing that our purpose in life is larger than our appetite or needs or impulses. This is the very essence of the church's counter-cultural response.
   Confirmation is also about honoring history, empowering our sense of memory, and finding hope in both the past and the future. As Confirmation Sunday approaches this weekend, I am looking back on the past three months spent in close proximity with the young people who have participated. I am in awe of what a blessing it has been for me personally. They are smart, funny, engaged, and every moment spent with them has been a tremendous gift. I am thankful to Andy Unger for his steady and faithful leadership in the lives of these young people. I am thankful to all of the parents who helped these young people to keep this a priority, and especially to Jenifer Middleton who attended every session and assisted in numerous ways as mom and leader. 
   We are more than just the present moment. The young people who stand in front of the church are embracing the past and staking a claim in the future. This is what all of us are called to do, every day. Faithfulness and trust in the Creator from our past and Savior of our present and future is the stuff of every day for Christians. Grace and Peace, Scott

God draws close at Easter

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Here is your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), "I am thirsty." A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, "It is finished." Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. 

    The Gospel of John offers these details about the last moments of Jesus earthly life in chapter 19. Jesus' final words were "It is finished." His body could no longer endure the suffering. Yet, there is something more going on with Jesus' last words. Marcus Dods, from his Footsteps in the Path of Life, suggests:

The purpose of God in the history of man was accomplished when Jesus breathed his last upon the cross. The cry “It is finished” was not the mere gasp of a worn-out life; it was not the cry of satisfaction with which a career of pain and sorrow is terminated; it was the deliberate utterance of a clear consciousness on the part of God’s appointed Revealer that now all had been done that could be done to make God known to man and to identify him with men. God’s purpose had ever been one and indivisible – declared to men in various ways, a hint here, a broad light there, now by a gleam of insight in the mind of a prophet, now by a deed or heroism in king or leader, through rude contrivances and through the tenderest of human affections and the highest human thoughts. God had been making men ever more and more sensible that his one purpose was to come closer and closer into fellowship with him, and to draw them into a perfect harmony with him. Forgiveness and deliverance from sin were provided for them, knowledge of God’s law and will, thus they might learn to know and to serve him – all these were secured when Jesus cried, “It is finished.”

   God draws closer to women and men at Easter. History is indeed filled with the efforts of God to awaken humanity to the goodness of intent of our Creator. God hinted here, revealed there, spoke then, and nudged us again and again. Easter is different. Easter is both declaration of intent and the erasing of past grievances. Easter is the forgiveness for the past and the new promise of the future.
   May our songs, as varied as we are, and our attention to God's holy story draws us and others closer to the truth of all that Jesus accomplished in that first Holy Week.
   Grace and Peace, Scott

Prayer is Not Like That or That...So Slow Down

"The great thing is prayer. Prayer itself. If you want a life of prayer, the way to get it is by praying. We were indoctrinated so much into means and ends that we don't realize that there is a different dimension in the life of prayer. In technology you have this short horizontal progress, where you must start at one point and move to another and then another. But that is not the way to build a life of prayer. In prayer we discover what we already have. Start where you are and you deepen what you already have. And you realize that you are already there."

Thomas Merton, 1980

   Just last week, I wrote about progress: about moving from one place to another. Our construction has been progressing. Our Vision Team - tasked with discerning how the Spirit of a God has made Epworth unique compared to 10,000 other churches - has been progressing. But, to be honest, I've had a sense that I've been standing still. 

Thomas Merton

   In the quote above, Thomas Merton, the contemplative giant of the last century, says that prayer is unlike the progress seen in these modern examples. Prayer is not about progress or movement from one place to another. It is discovering what we already have. I believe this helps to explain the struggle I've lived with this Season of Lent. I have struggled to pray. I have prayed - but not in the amounts or the quality that I know Jesus desires. It is not for trying. One part of my Lenten observance was to fast from Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I've accomplished that goal almost flawlessly for five weeks now and have loved the extra time, but I have not translated this gained time to better prayer. 

   It is then that I re-read another passage from Merton that drives home how difficult this is. It is learning to slow down to the pace we were made for and give up the exhilarating, addicting speeds that our world now would have us believe are normal (and required if we are going to be counted as successful). Merton writes,

"If we really want prayer, we'll have to give it time. We must slow down to a human tempo and we'll begin to listen. And as soon as we listen to what's going on, things will begin to take shape by themselves."

   May this Easter come with a renewed sense of how much God loves us and wants to speak to us through the gift of prayer. May we be silent enough and slow down enough to experience this. Grace and Peace, Scott