The Hope of the Church

   We live in a big world, and the news of the world is often heavy and disappointing. A school shooting that steals young lives or continued violence in Syria by the government on its own people with a death toll of 7500+ are both in the headlines this week. Allowing such news to dominate our spirits and breed in us a negative view of the world is an easy trap in which to fall. We are to mourn with those who mourn and we will indeed suffer. But "we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." (Romans 5:3) 

   It is that sense of hope and joy that explains why I am walking around with a spring in my step this week. Sunday and Monday were the first two nights of our eight sessions of Confirmation and a really super group of students has joined us so far, including Alex, Austin, Ben, Cheyenne, Dylan, Elizabeth, Kyle, Natalie, Payton, Reese, Richmond, Skylar, and Trevor. In just the first two sessions we've touched upon Creation, Sin, Redemption, the Holy Spirit, and the nature of the Church. In talking about the nature of the Church, we looked at how the United Methodist Church defines what it means to be Church:

The church is a community of all true believers under the Lordship of Christ. It is the redeemed and redeeming fellowship in which the Word of God is preached by persons divinely called, and the sacraments are duly administered according to Christ’s own appointment. Under the discipline of the Holy Spirit the church seeks to provide for the maintenance of worship, the edification of believers, and the redemption of the world. - Preamble to the UMC's Constitution

Of course, words are only symbols and signs pointing us to something else, but these words are lofty enough and large enough to prompt us to look upward for what being the Church might mean. We spent a few minutes talking through the overwhelming idea that we are called to help 'redeem the world'. Considering all of the conflict and pain and terror and suffering, how can we be expecting to make a dent, or to have an impact?
   The scriptures, anticipating such a question, tell the story of how the Church was started. Just before Jesus ascends into heaven in Acts 1, leaving the disciples on earth to be the hands and feet of his movement, he instructs us to wait on the Holy Spirit. It is only with the power of the Holy Spirit that they will exist. It is only with the power of the Holy Spirit that we exist. It is only with the power of the Holy Spirit that our mission to redeem the world could possibly be achieved. But, looking out into the faces and futures of the students who have gathered with us so far and knowing it is Jesus who goes with them, I like our chances. Grace and Peace to you, Scott

Jesus said, "Don't Bury It."

"For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money." 

Matthew 25:14-18

   These are the opening few verses of the Parable of the Talents.  They end with the master returning to find that some took and invested his money in order to get more, while others buried it or sat on it out of fear that they would lose it. This is a complex, and frankly troubling parable to read before modern ears, but it offers a core truth; disciples are commanded to invest and use the resources given to us, regardless of fears or worries about the future.   I believe this is relevant to the proposal before Epworth this weekend at the Church Conference on Sunday, February 26. Here are the questions I have already asked myself as the dreams of such a proposal have slowly become a reality; 

• Isn't it a lot to spend on a driveway, a place to erect a church sign, and 60 new parking spaces? 
• Should we wait for some better alternative proposal? 
• What happens if we don't spend the money we already have on hand for this project, particularly the funds from the Hamp Stevens merger?

   The answers that keep returning to my questions are leading me to vote Yes on Sunday. While no one would spend this kind of money on a driveway, this proposal is about so much more than that. This project would gain us visibility on the second-busiest road traveled by our neighbors and community. We'd have a chance everyday to connect their spiritual needs with the great offerings of God through this church. The chance to double our parking capacity, which so already desperately need, would only be icing on the cake. I also believe there is not a better capital project that better positions this church to grow its own members and reach new people with the Gospel. Finally, while the promise to hold the Hamp Stevens funds was extended in 2010 beyond the original agreement, at some point in the near future we are going to have to spend those funds or else risk having them spent by someone else on something else.    At the height of the parable Jesus is telling we hear, "For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away." Can we believe that we will receive, in the future, what we need? Can we believe that the same God who has provided, will continue to provide if we invest and spend what we have right now? I believe, Yes.

Prayer for GOD's People

O GOD, our Father, we know our own weakness. 
Our minds are darkened, and by ourselves we cannot find a know the truth.
Our wills are weak, and by ourselves we cannot resist temptation, or bring to its completion that which we resolve to do.
Our hearts are fickle, and by ourselves we cannot give you the loyalty which is your due.
Our steps are faltering, and by ourselves we cannot walk in your straight way.
So this day we ask you,
To enlighten us;
To strengthen us;
To guide us, that we may know you, and love you, and follow you all the days of our life.
Give to your Church your blessing and your protection. 
Guide her in her thinking, that she may be saved from the heresies, which destroy the faith. 
Strengthen her in her witness, that she may bring no discredit on the name she bears. 
Inspire her in her fellowship, that those who enter her may find within her your friendship and the friendship of their fellows on this journey.

- From Prayers for the Christian Year by William Barclay

We Could Be The Champions

   Imagine if championship-caliber teams or athletes aimed for lesser goals. Imagine if John Wooden's UCLA teams had been fine with collecting some wins, but not striving for more. Imagine if Jesse Owens or Jackie Robinson had been content to play only with persons of their color, instead of running through color barriers. Imagine if the next great Olympic female gymnast, in middle school now, gave up on her sport in order to catch up on reruns of the latest reality show on television.
   Could it be that we have settled for something less than the best for us? That comfort, false modesty, or ignorance have won out? I read these words this week during my morning devotional:

If you asked twenty good men and women today what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness.  But if you had asked almost any of the great Christians of old, they would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive.... The negative idea of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point. I do not think this is the Christian virtue of Love. The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself.  We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire. If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by an offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. (CS Lewis, The Weight of Glory, 1941)

   We could be the champions, too, if we did not settle for gains, goals, and desires far lesser than what God has placed out in front of us. Instead, we're too easily pleased with less. Must we strive for God's best? Must we struggle and compete to win? Yes. Paul says we are to press on toward the prize and disregard every hindrance as we run the race with perseverance (Philippians 3, Hebrews 12). Grace and Peace, Scott

We’ve been here before, but who wins this time?

   We’ve been here before. It is amazing how things repeat themselves. Sometimes we feel like we can predict the future simply because we’ve already seen it so clearly in our past. The repetitive nature of things can be found all over.

   Take this weekend’s Super Bowl XLVI, for instance. We’ve already seen this game before. In fact, Super Bowl marks the 13th Super Bowl that is a rematch of a regular season game. In case you are wondering, the loser in the regular season is 7–5 in these games, including 5–1 the last six times this has happened. This bodes well for the Patriots, since the Giants won earlier this year on November 6. But, not only have we seen these two teams compete already this season, many fans remember they faced each other in a Super Bowl a couple of years back. This is the sixth Super Bowl in which that has happened. Both head coaches (Tom Coughlin and Bill Belichick) and both starting quarterbacks (Eli Manning and Tom Brady) were in the same roles back 1998. The entire storyline, and certainly the commentary before and during the game, will be about the frequent times these opponents have faced each other.

   Which brings us to the Gospel.

   Isn’t it very similar in our own lives, too? We continue to face some of the same opponents. Our storyline is fond of repeating itself, isn’t it? And, it is not just us? How many of us have loved ones and friends that confide in us, and share their lives with us? How often do the frustrations and challenges they share with us repeat themselves? It is the same people, or the same situation, or the same stumbling block that continues to prevent them, and us, from moving forward.

   What are your adversaries? Gossip? Self-control? Greed? Stubbornness? An unhealthy appetite? Laziness? Arrogance? Isn’t it true that the same opponents line up against us, time and time again? In the contest of eternal proportions that is being played out in our souls, we’ve been here before, but who wins this time?

   We are the victors, in Christ. That is the Good News. That is the promise. 1 John 5 says it this way, “For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith.”

   May you face the opponents of our souls, that seek to crush the abundant live that Christ offers to each of us, and place your faith in the One who has already conquered death. He is Jesus. Love wins. Grace and Peace to you, Scott.