Perfect Love Casts Out Fear

I write this from Chicago, on the eve of the start of the Council of Bishops meeting. As many of you know, this is the meeting where we will receive the report from the Commission on the Way Forward and discern and deliberate on what will be presented to the Special Session of General Conference 2019.

There is so much anxiety and fear within our denomination right now. What will the church look like in February 2019—will there still be a United Methodist Church, or will we be an Untied Methodist Church? Will we reconcile with one another and our differences, to find a way to include all persons in the life and ministry of our church--regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity--or will we allow differences to divide us and the body of Christ? Fear of the future causes many to press the pause button, waiting “to see what will happen.”

Within our Mountain Sky Area there is fear and anxiety as well as we consider a new way of being an annual conference. Since 2011, there have been task forces and committees and discussions and studies about how we in the Mountain Sky Area can be the Mountain Sky Conference. But change is never easy. There is never a “right time” to implement change. Even we who have agreed to follow Jesus sometimes shrink back from that which we are called out of fear of the unknown.

When I look over my own life and ministry, I realize that there are times when my fear has left me frozen in my tracks instead of heading into the future God invites me to. The demands of change were just too much for me and I shrank back from the path. However, those times when I pushed through my fear led me to experiences, growth, and blessings beyond my wildest imagination.

In these days of anxiety and fear, may we sink into God’s love. In I John 4: 18 we are reminded: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” When you find anxiety clinging to your soul, when fear leaves you frozen, remember to open up to God, who is love. This love will help diminish your fear and free your feet to go where God leads.

Dare to Live a Resurrection Faith

Tomorrow is the Sunday after Easter. Last week we celebrated the resurrection of Christ. The scriptures throughout this week told of how a scattered group of disciples were reunited as they encountered the risen Christ. Doubt and fear was replaced with hope and a boldness to reclaim the life he offered them. Because God broke the chains of death by raising Jesus from the dead, a shattered community found wholeness once again.

These early Jesus followers began to reorganize their life together. Acts tell us that “the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold.  They laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. (Acts 4: 32-35)

When we encounter the power of new life in Christ, nothing can stay the same. We are connected with other members of the body of Christ (some whose names we may never know) in deep and profound ways. This connection changes how we live our lives. We see how everything we do, every choice we make, impacts other members of Christ’s body. We live knowing our wellbeing is tied to their wellbeing.

Last week, we sang our “alleluias” as we retold the story: “Up from the grave he AROSE!” This week, will you be like those first disciples and allow the reality of this truth to sink in. What will be different for you because Christ is no longer in the tomb? Will you share the story with others? Will you allow a great grace to rest within your heart? How will you extend that grace to others? How will you share what you have with those who have little, so that there will be “not a needy person” among us?

The resurrection of Christ dares us to live in new ways. Are you willing?

WHY I AM IN WASHINGTON, DC ON APRIL 4, 2018

On April, 4, 1968, I turned 10. Double digits! Birthdays were always special in our family, and this one did not disappoint. My dad came over for dinner. We had my favorite meal. My mom made an ice cream cake, complete with “surprises” inside—pennies, dimes, and nickels, folded in wax paper, that were placed in the batter before it was baked. We played some games, and then I sat down to watch Sally Field play Sister Bertrille in The Flying Nun.

Except it wasn’t on…there was breaking news about an assassination. A man named Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had been shot in Memphis Tennessee.

I didn’t know who he was. I watched the broadcast and learned about this remarkable man of faith. As I listened, the scales of innocence that I wore as a child fell off. I realized that my experience of the world was not everyone else’s experience. I didn’t know what “racism” meant when I was nine, but at 10, this word entered my vocabulary through the murder of Rev. Dr. King.

Ever since that date, my birthday has been tempered by this act of violence that took the life of this pastor/prophet who was seeking to help a nation regain its soul by living into its cherished values of liberty and justice for all. Every year since 1968, I have read more of his speeches and sermons, learned more about his life, and have come to a better understanding of the impact of both his life and death.

My vocation as a pastor has been informed by Rev. Dr. King. His words and witness have challenged me to understand racism and the privilege that is granted me by my whiteness, the overt and subtle ways racism limits lives and the generational trauma that slavery has inflicted on African Americans. I have had to speak out when some have sought to diminish, disregard, or dishonor the dignity of another because of their race. We all, every one of us, are made in the image of God. To deny the sacred worth of someone because of skin color mocks our Maker.

It has been fifty years since King’s death. Fifty years of birthdays. As I turn 60, I knew I had to be in Washington Dc for the ACT to EndRacism Rally. Racism continues to fracture and harm the human family. I am here to recommit myself to the hard work King called us to engage in: to challenge and confront anything that creates tombs of death and stands in the way of justice and fairness, anything that seeks to create second class citizenship, anything that attempts to deny the dignity and self-worth of any of God’s beloved children.

Fifty years ago, a gunman sought not to defer a dream, but to put it to death. But his bullet simply shattered it, so its pieces live on in those of us who seek to bring healing to the human family, so that every person is seen as precious, as we create Beloved Community together: that place whose hallmark is love, justice, compassion and kindness.