The Times They Are A-Changin'

   The city of Columbus was incorporated in 1828 and the people needed a source for the news. So, the Enquirer newspaper was founded the same year. The Ledger started publishing in 1886 and in 1930 it acquired the Enquirer newspaper and began publishing a Sunday Ledger-Enquirer. Two printed daily papers was the way the people of Columbus got their news for nearly six decades before the two merged in 1988. Of course, television came along sometime in there and with it Walter Cronkite. But, print editions of newspapers and magazines long held the driver's seat in the arena of delivering news. 

   In October of this year news came that another giant in the world of delivering news was similarly consolidating and changing formats. Founded in 1933, Newsweek was ever-present on the coffee tables of many American homes for decades, keeping people abreast of everything from the Vietnam War to movie reviews. This week's issue dated December 31 is its last print edition as it transitions to an online-only format. It is both a stewardship of costs and also an awareness of how the times are changing, as traditional print news outlets witness an exodus of readers and advertisers to the Web.
   So, it is with must less fanfare or national attention that our Epworth weekly bulletin transitions to a new schedule and format next week. Based on the recommendations of a group gathered twice this year to consider the January 2013 changes in policy by the US Post Office, this will be the last bulletin mailed to over 230 homes before becoming a monthly newsletter format. The new format will be mailed just before the start of a month and will include the prayer lists and calendar for you to use.
   For many, this is a welcomed change: we already email out the midweek edition of our bulletin to over 150 people who receive it a day earlier, and expect this number to continue to go up. Others will want to know more details about the reasons why. The best explanation is that the USPS is requiring a more expensive paper to be used for bulk mail that will triple our costs. They are also changing the routing of bulk mail which will add a day to the delivery. The combination of higher costs and lowered effectiveness was the reason we are making the change. Wherever you fall on the spectrum of appreciating this change, we want to thank you for allowing Epworth to connect you more deeply with God's work in the world and God's people in this congregation. We also want to encourage you to be sure your signed up to receive the latest news and inspiration by email. Simply email church@epworthumc.com to sign up.
   Change is constant. This is made clear in the scriptures and in our experience, as well. May we be faithful throughout. Grace and Peace to you, Scott!

Help Me Be Strong

Help me be strong.

Help me be.

Help me.

   We can imagine these are the words being whispered on the lips of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the days, weeks, and months leading up to that trip from the northern regions of Galilee down to southern Bethlehem. But, they also could be her words as she and Joseph fled to Egypt with Jesus still a young child. They also sound like the words of a mother raising one as precocious and gifted as their son must have been. Remember when he was 12 years old, separated from his parents for at least three days, and they finally find him talking with the smartest minds in the nation gathered in the Temple? What parent wouldn't utter words of desperation and dependence at such moments?
   These prayerful words were sung in this weekend's Cantata so beautifully delivered by our Sanctuary choir. Written by Amy Grant and Chris Eaton in the song Breath of Heaven, they capture the emotions of a mother coming to grips with how powerless it feels to be a parent. They are words with such depth, and truth, they travel with us beyond the notes on the page.
   After Friday's tragic events in Newtown, Connecticut, I believe most Americans can relate to such feelings of helplessness. Whether you've ever had children that age or not, the news of the events at Sandy Hook Elementary School strikes deep in the soul. I have found that thoughts and images cannot be held back from overflowing the walls I built up in my mind to keep in the raw emotion of the loss and hurt. The hurt continues this week as the brief stories of each child are told in eulogies over their lives cut short.
   The dependence captured in this lyrics goes beyond the suffering of one moment of tragedy, though. I hear in these words the dependence that is the only natural reaction to the suffering of what it means to be human. I imagine these words on the lips of Jesus on lonely, dusty highways and surely in Gethsemane's Garden. A plea for help and a cry born out of dependence is the pinnacle of being human in the eyes of God. God desires that we would choose to depend on him. Paul describes how Advent works when he says Jesus "emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:7-8). That doesn't happen without dependence and faith.
   We are three weeks into the season of waiting for the Coming of Christ, and our eyes are opening to just how dependent we really are. Mary's song is our song. Help me be strong. Help me be. Help me.

The Sound of Other People's Children

   The sights and sounds of our front yard differ depending on the time of day. When school is out our boys are often seen throwing the ball, with our little white Maltese standing watch. However, when school is in session there is a different sound in the neighborhood. It is the sound of other children at play. The playground of the neighborhood school a block from our home isn't more than a hundred yards away. Our boys attend another school, about a mile from here, so the sounds I hear on days I am around the house are the sounds of other people's children.
   The sound of children at play is high-pitched and steady. We can remember from our own youth what kind of games illicit such sounds: tag, chase, cowboys, and the like. The details of the game never mattered much when we were that age, as long as we could stretch our legs and were not behind a desk. But, on this day, the sounds matter a great deal. It is a sound that is more important and more precious today.
   The news coverage out of Newtown, Connecticut today is terrible. Children and adults killed in senseless violence. Our nation is praying for those families. I am. I trust you are, too. Let our prayers not stop before they turn us to a deepened commitment to care and concern for other's people children every day and not just on days like this. I will embrace my children more tightly today. May it not stop there. For me or for you. May our passion for raising children to mature into adults who care for others and don't do harm extend beyond our own.
   The sound of someone else's children at play reminds me of what a precious stewardship we have been given on this earth. Many have rightly proposed that we are measured by how we treat other people's children. Jesus' own words offer important examples: If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. (Matthew 18:6). Earlier Jesus gives a positive example: And whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward." (Matthew 10:42)

   Our first reaction to the news from Connecticut is to pray. I hope we don't stop with a prayer. I hope we find a place to invest in the lives of other people's children. Volunteer at your local school to read or sit in the lunchroom. Offer to mentor a child through a local agency, like the Matthew Promise Academy at Open Door here in Columbus. Sign up to teach a Children's Sunday School class in your local congregation. Of course, not every person can do this directly but you can do something. Lend your support, contribute money, write notes of encouragement, and certainly keep praying. I want the sound of my children and others to remain that of joy and play.

Worthy of Your Attention, Your Time and Your Money

Our Sanctuary Choir stands before our gathered congregation every week through the year, save a few breaks, and inspires us in worship. They are prepared and they sing with joy. I can testify that they have fun while they do it, too. This week they move beyond the single anthem to lead us through the story of Christmas with the Cantata, All is Well. Based upon scripture and our own remembrances of the story, you will not want to miss this gracious act of worship.

During the season of giving we turn our attention to ways we can directly help three of our key partners in ministry through our Helping Our Neighbors at Christmas Offering. This was a great success last year and we can do it again. Our Missions Committee has set goals to support Open Door ($2,000), the Wynnton Neighborhood Network ($1,000) and Brown Bag of Columbus ($1,000). The total received will be shared among them. If you feel led to give beyond your regular contribution to Epworth, consider supporting this opportunity. Donations can be made in honor or memory of loved ones or you can receive a certificate to give directly as a gift at Christmas.

Epworth Christmas Parties have long been a great tradition of for families to celebrate the season. This year's Birthday Party for Jesus keeps the tradition going while pointing the direction of our celebration on the very reason for the season. In addition to the food (bring $1 to eat all you want), songs, reading the Christmas story, and fun, the kids are also collecting money to help purchase a gift for a village in need of help farming. The proceeds will go towards a farm animal they choose. Everyone is invited to attend on Wednesday, December 19 at 6:00 PM.

Accommodating the Mess: Life as Art and Form

To find a form that accommodates the mess, 

that is the task of the artist now. - Samuel Beckett

   I came across this quote while studying some from a personal productivity guru, David Allen. He wrote the book Getting Things Done and is a leader among leaders in the area of organizing your life and work in order to accomplish the stuff of your dreams: which might be conquering the world or just getting your desk cleaned off and email inbox down to empty. I don't much about Beckett but, his quote inspires me. He died in 1989 is widely regarded as among the most influential writers of the 20th century. I've read that "his work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature," which is exactly what my mind turned to when I saw his quote. Our lives are often the mess.
   Our lives are messy. One corner of my desk is messy and if you saw into the junk drawer in my office you would then know messy, for sure. The world is messy. Relationships, which make up most, if not all, of what it means to live in this world, are messy. There are loose ends. There are broken connections. There are unkept promises. There are lists not yet completed. There are spills and breaks and cracks and falls. There is hurt, there are tears and even blood that is shed. Our lives are messy.
   Beckett says that it is artists who find a form to accommodate the mess. I think it is the stuff of being human. We all try and make sense of the mess but, more than that, we all try and respond in a form that makes sense. What is the form for you? 
   The critical, epic, history-altering truth proclaimed by believers at Christmas is captured in the birth of Jesus Christ. Jesus' birth allowed for his life which set up his death and resurrection. But, as Christians, we don't stop at Easter and the life we have because of it. Jesus Christ doesn't just make life possible he also determines its shape.
   What form have you found to accommodate the mess? Everyone has one but, are we satisfied with the shape our lives have taken? In the busyness of December, how can we allow our lives to be patterned after the shape of the One whose very birth gives us reason to celebrate? Paul said we are to be transformed as we are conformed - not the world - to Christ who gives our lives shape and purpose (Read Romans 12). In the midst of the mess may we find the grace of Jesus.
   Grace and Peace be on you, Scott