Thankful for Names and the Lives They Represent

   How many times do you write your name in a week? In a life? Who else is writing our names down? Think about it. The examples seem endless. Yet, how many of those instances endure beyond our lives?
   Psalm 69 is the first reference in the Scriptures to the Book of Life. Paul, himself an Jewish scholar and teacher, refers to women and men he has worked alongside in his letter to the Philippians whose names will be included in this list. And, of course, the Book of Revelation is the place where the Book of Life is most often named. Seven references there help make clear how firmly the early church was convinced that God is keeping a list of names. In every case, it is a list on which faithful people want to be included.
   I was thinking about names and lists on Sunday afternoon, after seeing Walter Champagne honor Jimmy Bridges as the 2014 Lonnie Whitehurst Man of the Year recipient. I was thinking how his name joined the faithful workers who have come before him. It prompted me to return to the wall where they are honored and spend a few moments appreciating them. Here they are, for you to appreciate, too:
Lonnie Whitehurst, Bobby Clark, Eddie Reid, Wesley Crews, Lem Sawyer, Earl Haynes, Bob Thompson, Jim Carter, Judson Mullican, Glenn Griffin, Dick Stallings, Bill Hughes, James Johnson, Carroll Ward, Frank Littlefield, Tom Patrick, Gene Frantz, Buddy Dunn, Wayne Morris, Tommy Mayton, Harold Morris, Steve Sawyer, Gary Ledbetter, Bill Pharris, Jerry Brown, Mike Morris, Ron Weese, Ted Bush, Walter Champagne, James Waters, Shawn Jandreau and now Jimmy Bridges. I am grateful for them.
   I pray that this week that starts a season of holidays and celebrations is good. We have much for which to be thankful and celebrate. I pray that the people you gather with, and the names you remember and cherish, will spur you on to faithfulness and a life that pursues God's love. Grace and Peace, Scott

Do Worry What People Think (and See)

   There is merit in the adage that we are not to worry about what other people think. Life should not be measured by popularity, or public opinion. There is more to life than getting so-and-so to like us. Paul says in Ephesians 4 that we are not to be blown around by the efforts of other people.
   And yet, there is something to be said for what people see in us. Specifically, a fundamental tenet of classical Christianity is the witness that our lives give to our beliefs. How do our actions support the claims we make with our hearts? Jesus says of his own ministry, "For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you," (John 13). He came to be an example and we are to be examples, too.
   All of this was stirred up on Monday, when I found an offering envelope in front of the church, surely where it landed when boys hit the front doors after worship to spend a few precious moments throwing the ball in our church's front yard. First thinking it was trash, I soon discovered the hidden treasure sketched on the back. It is the family tree that Carter drew. His parents confirmed the hunch I had based on the fact that he was listed first, before all of his siblings. My eyes were immediately drawn to his representation of his parents, Kelli and Stacey. He showed them holding hands.

   I love this. There is no better witness to a child by their parents than the image that you love your spouse. I love this.
   How do people see you? How would those closest to you draw you? What actions or emotions have you left in their minds and their hearts?
   One of the core values of our congregation, spoken into reality through our Vision Team earlier this year, is that Epworth is real people. What you see is what you get. People are watching and our responsibility is to set an example for other believers and even those outside the church of who we are and what we believe. What better time than December to show people what we stand for? Our witness is in our attendance, our speech, our giving, and our Spirit.
   Grace and Peace to you, Scott

I Don't Know Anything

   The English proverb suggests, "Good things come to those who wait." This week, Epworth received approval from the City of Columbus to move forward in the new construction of a storage room that will adjoin the Fellowship Hall, as well as with renovations to the Fellowship Hall. ROCON had done as much as they could in preparing the walls, duct-work, floors, and electrical fixtures up to the point that the first inspections would take place and allow the work of putting things back in place could begin. The progress inside and outside will pick up quickly now that the permit is approved and on site. Good things are going to come quickly!
   I've learned so very much throughout the previous ten months that Epworth has been engaged in renovations. From fire and building codes that keep us safe, to energy-efficient light fixtures, and the latest HVAC units that heat and cool spaces for a fraction of the cost of previous designs, it has been a fascinating journey for someone who likes to learn new things. Glenn Griffin (architect), Andy Rolling (contractor) and Laura Jane Murphy (city inspector) are just three of the countless folks who passed through our hallways offering both knowledge and care to our congregation's buildings and future.

   The most recent lesson was a refresher in a course I've had many times before. It came as I stood behind a giant concrete truck - someone told me that when full they weigh 67,000 lbs - and watched a crew of workers spread and smooth the perfect combination of rock, water and chemicals into trenches that had been perfectly dug, measured, covered and then reinforced. I was struck: I would not have a clue how to do this correctly! For as much as I have learned over the years from my grandfather in his shop, from the mission teams from Albany First UMC along the hurricane-damaged coast, and recently with Riley Middleton on one project after another, I don't know anything about pouring concrete to create a new room. Thankfully, I don't have to!
    One of the greatest and most beautiful truths of the church is that we are not in this alone. Romans 12 tells us our team is like the body of Christ, Ephesians 4 tells us that each has been given various gifts for ministry, and Hebrews 12 reminds us that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. And 1 Corinthians 3 proclaims that underneath it all is the perfectly poured foundation of Jesus Christ which the hymn-writer Samuel Stone turned into the tune in 1866 that even now sings in my heart, "The Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord...."
   May the grace and peace of Jesus, upon whom our salvation is built, be with you! Scott

Jesus Wants More and Less from Me and You

   It is November. The Methodist Men will soon be tempting is with selling delicious desserts for the holiday week. Thanksgiving is drawing closer. People are supposed to be thankful - the calendar and the Hallmark company say so. But, why is gratitude something that needs to be scheduled? Brene' Brown, one of my current favorite authors, shared this passage from one of her favorite authors.

“For me, and for many of us, our first waking thought of the day is "I didn't get enough sleep." The next one is "I don't have enough time." Whether true or not, that thought of not enough occurs to us automatically before we even think to question or examine it. We spend most of the hours and the days of our lives hearing, explaining, complaining, or worrying about what we don't have enough. We don't have enough exercise. We don't have enough work. We don't have enough profits. We don't have enough power. We don't have enough wilderness. We don't have enough weekends. Of course, we don't have enough money - ever. We're not thin enough, we're not smart enough, we're not pretty enough or fit enough or educated enough or successful enough, or rich enough - ever. Before we even sit up in bed, before our feet touch the floor, we're already inadequate, already behind, already losing, already lacking something. And by the time we go to bed at night, our minds are racing with a litany of what we didn't get, or didn't get done, that day. We go to sleep burdened by those thoughts and wake up to that reverie of lack. This internal condition of scarcity, this mind-set of scarcity, lives at the very heart of our jealousies, our greed, our prejudice, and our arguments with life” 

- Lynne Twist, The Soul of Money, 2003

Does this speak to you? It does to me!
   Brown goes on to connect this hunger for more joy with our lack of gratitude. We want because we don't recognize what we already have. We bought the lie that abundance can be measured and have shunned the notion that sufficient is okay. We have the power to claim the truth: "We have a sufficient amount. We have enough."
   It was Marianne Williamson who said, "Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are." In John's Gospel, Jesus explained his ministry and teachings to the disciples this way: "I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!" He was not promising an abundance of anything that could be purchased, sold, touched, or even seen. He was promising the very thing that defines everything else: joy.
   Jesus wants more from me and from you. At the same time, Jesus is perfectly fine with us having less of some things: worry, shame, regret, and the weight of scarcity around our necks.
   Grace and Peace, Scott