Poverty Rates and A Holy Meal

   Last week, it was reported that Georgia had the third-highest poverty rate in the country at 18.7 percent, with more than 1.8 million people counted as poor.  Last year, according to Census Bureau figures, Georgia’s poverty rate reached its highest point since 1983, as stubbornly high unemployment and the housing crisis put intense pressure on strained finances. The figures include 61,000 more Georgians than a year earlier, and left our state with the third-highest rate among US states (read more here in the AJC). I serve a church that is growing people who want to change these numbers for the good.

   Jesus said the poor will always be with us (see Mark 14). Why? Is it because some will always make bad choices that move them into poverty? Is it because there will always be circumstances, beyond our control, that will strain what people have in the moment? Is it because our competitive human nature will always create systems that result in winners and losers, even when entire households are counted as the latter? We don't know, exactly, but one ancient Rabbi did suggest our sins contribute when he said, "If thou shalt obey the words of the Lord, there shall not be a poor man among you: but thou wilt not obey; therefore a poor man shall never be wanting among you" (Rabbi Ibn Ezra).

   The first New Testament churches included those who were lacking in material possessions or monies. It was among entire crowds of varied peoples that the Spirit gathered the first converts to the teaching of Christ as the crucified and resurrected Son of God. The historical book, Acts, tells how members within the church would share with each other because not everyone had enough on their own.

   Later, as the church continued to sort through how its life together will look and operate, we read Paul's first words on celebrating Holy Communion. They are recorded as words of sacred practice and brilliant theology. He is instructing the church that every person should be included. It seems some people would rush to the meal they shared as a part of worship in order to eat first and have plenty, which left others out (see 1 Corinthians 11). There in the middle of Paul's instructions that shape how we still today celebrate this sacrament, we find poor people. They are always with us. Often, they are us.

   On this first Sunday, when the global church celebrate World Communion Sunday, may our eyes be opened to how connected we are, how best we can include each other, and how poor we remain apart from the grace of Christ. I encourage you to be present in worship this Sunday to celebrate.

BREAKING NEWS: John Travolta's Vintage Mercedes Stolen

   It seems John Travolta's vintage Mercedes sports car has been stolen. It happened in Santa Monica, California. Travolta parked the car on a residential street Sunday afternoon and stopped in at a nearby Jaguar dealership for about 10 minutes. When he returned, he found an empty parking spot and no sign of the car, a 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280-SL. You can read about it here in the AJC. There, you can also read about the efforts to have Troy Davis' execution stopped, a shooting at a preschool, deals on travel packages to Canada, a 3-year-old who fired a shotgun inside a automobile, a review of the first night of Dancing with the Stars, the latest on Charlie Sheen and Ashton Kutcher, and plenty of talk about the Atlanta Braves' recent woes. 

   It is staggering to think about the limitless stream of events and stories happening right now... How does any one newspaper decide what to cover and what to leave off? I think editors have a difficult job. This struggle extends out to a wide-range of media: newspapers, television, radio, and even internet sites. In one way, their task is reactionary: they print the news as it happens. In another way, they have some discretion as to what to send reporters out to cover. They have to think about sales, so winnowing down the list of topics must include some thought about public interest and preference; Columbus' residents are not interested in local politics of Saskatchewan. 

   In a real sense, we all have the same challenge, though. Each of us makes decisions daily on what gets our attention. What will we listen to on the television in the morning, in the car as we drive, or at night when we sit down to unwind? What stories do we read in the paper or online? I am no different; I get my print news by browsing the headlines that come across my twitter feed, where I follow news agencies around the country and world. I tune into one specific station on the radio, too. I am making conscious choices about what I tune into, with my ears or eyes. 

   From a very young age, we have learned that gaining and keeping attention is power; think about a young child calling their parent's name over and over and over again. It has been true across the ages. We grant power in our lives to those people and things to which we give our attention. Jesus said using our eyes can lead to destruction, and went so far as to suggest serious steps to prevent it from happening in Matthew 5. The Hebrew prophets proclaimed that we must give attention to the commands of God (see Jeremiah 7) and pointed to heartache and suffering when we failed.
   So....pay attention! Avoid gossip. Listen to people who speak the truth. Avoid conversations  on trivial matters. Tune into news that matters. Read good books and lengthy articles that expand your mind. Do all of these things that you might use the gift of your time and your mind for the glory of God, and not for the glory of something so much less.

Back to the Future

I have some questions about that first Sunday morning, 51 years ago. 

What was the first song that the congregation sang?

What was the sermon about on that first Sunday together?

Did the preacher stand behind a podium or just out in front of the people?

How much money was placed in the offering plate? 

Actually, what did they use for offering plates?

How many children and teenagers were present?

How many first-time visitors returned the next week?

How long before the first person was baptized?

What were the people most excited about?

Could they have ever dreamed what they started on that day would end up here?

   Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd captured our imaginations in the 1985 movie, Back to the Future. Fox's character goes back and nearly alters the future, forever. In this Homecoming week, my reason for going back with these questions is more educational and much less gripping than that Hollywood classic. Wouldn't you love to travel back in time and see what the people were doing and learn about what they were thinking? What unique personalities, spiritual forces, and acts of God's grace must have all come together for a band of forty-nine people to gather in a home on Rosemont one Sunday, and then three years later gather for worship in their own building with  five times number on roll? It did not stop there; Epworth saw 75 people join by Profession of Faith in the five years that their second pastor, Rev. Don Kea, served. It is amazing to think about it.

   This much I do know. It took hard work. It took lots of forgiveness. It require leadership, on both sides of the pulpit - whenever it was they finally got around to having one of those. It took vision. Vision for ministry is the aspect I have dwelt upon for the better part of seven months now. I think I'm on my eighth book specifically on the topic of shaping and casting vision, but more importantly have had twice that many conversations with folks within the church about what it might look like. Churches do not get started without vision. Churches do not continue and thrive without it, either.

   On this Homecoming weekend, 51 years after Epworth was first started in this very neighborhood, I am reminded of Paul's prayers to the first churches. Like Paul, my prayers are saturated with thanksgiving. I am thankful for those who came before us and for those who are with us now. My highest prayer is that the One True God who was worshiped on that first Sunday might be present and glorified on this and every Sunday we gather.

   Grace and Peace, Scott

I Was In My Office

   I was in my office, upstairs in the old home where the Fayetteville First United Methodist Church offices were located, when Gail called up from the front desk over the intercom. She asked me if heard about what happened in New York a few minutes ago, and told me to come downstairs. A television had been set up in the sitting area up front and the images it showed were unbelievable.

   I remember watching for a few minutes, and then going back upstairs to my office. This is terrible to admit, but I remember thinking that I needed to get back to work on that Tuesday morning because I had a lot to do. It was the first week back at school for me at seminary and that, combined with my full-time position as minister with students at this busy church, meant I spent most days trying to keep up. So, I climbed the stairs and sat down to try to get something done. Within a few moments, I was back downstairs watching and soon was home with Julie and Sam, who was about 10 weeks old at the time.

   None of us will never forget that fateful Tuesday morning when images came through television screens of the unimaginable. Planes, buildings, terror, and soon the awareness that thousands of lives were lost and the conflicts that had long raged overseas had breached our shores. September 11, 2001 was a day that changed things. Like a declaration signed, a cannon shot, a bomb dropped, a speech given, or a giant step taken, it was a moment that we will remember.

   It was a day of loss that, over time, led to days of hope for many people. Others are still found living between loss and hope. Where are you on that spectrum? Where am I? Can we turn our remembering of the past into energy and passion for our future? That is a question for more than just this coming Sunday. I offer this prayer from some of the resources United Methodists will be using this weekend:

A Prayer for the Anniversary of 9/11
O God, our hope and refuge, in our distress we come quickly to you. Shock and horror of that tragic day have subsided, replaced now with an emptiness, a longing for an innocence lost.We come remembering those who lost their lives in New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania.We are mindful of the sacrifice of public servants who demonstrated the greatest love of all by laying down their lives for friends. We commit their souls to your eternal care and celebrate their gifts to a fallen humanity.We come remembering and we come in hope, not in ourselves, but in you.As foundations we once thought secure have been shaken, we are reminded of the illusion of security.In commemorating this tragedy, we give you thanks for your presence in our time of need and we seek to worship you in Spirit and in truth, our guide and our guardian. Amen.

(www.gbod.org/worship, written by the Rev. Jeremy Pridgeon)