The Christ Is One of You

July 1 is an important time in the lives of United Methodists: it is the start of a new appointment year. As I pray during this time of new beginnings as well as what is going on in our nation and world, these words of Jesus keep rising up in my prayer:

"I was a stranger, and you welcomed me..."

What a radical statement by Jesus. Can we order our common life together from this perspective of incarnation and generous hospitality?

I’m reminded of the story of a monastery which was no longer drawing visitors or new members. Those who remained had hearts that had turned inward and cold. Everyone got on everyone else’s nerves. With such a cantankerous community, it was little wonder why no one wanted to visit or join.

The abbot realized the community would eventually die off unless something changed. But what? He had a colleague he often turned to for insight and wisdom, so he went to his friend and explained the situation at the monastery. For a long while, the two sat in silence as the friend pondered the abbot’s words. Finally he said, “I don’t have an answer to help you change things. But there is one thing I know, the Christ is one of you.”

This astounded the abbot, and when he returned to the monastery, the monks were anxious to hear what the friend recommended. “Tell us, tell us!” they clamored.

“He really didn’t have anything much to suggest. But he did say this peculiar thing: the Christ is one of us!”

The monks sat in amazement. What?! Well, they said, Brother Peter is so caring…maybe he is the Christ! But then they thought some more: Could cranky Brother William be the Christ? Or was it Brother Thomas, who barely said a word?  Or was it hyper Brother Charles, who always got on everyone’s nerves?

Wondering but not knowing who could be the Christ, they began to treat one another differently. The monastery took on a different tone: there was more love, more joy, more focused work. People in the village could tell something had changed, and made their way often to the monastery to drink in the rich spiritual life of the brothers. Young people began to make inquiries about how they could belong to such a vital and vibrant community.

All this, from someone recognizing, “The Christ is one of you.”

Tomorrow, look around at the congregation. Christ is there, waiting to be found. It could be any one of the people in your pew, or the choir loft, or behind the organ, or stepping into the pulpit. It could be one of the crying children, the elderly one who needs help getting to a pew, or the harried single parent with a string of children in tow.

"I was a stranger, and you welcomed me..."

What would happen in our churches and country if we really believed this?

For Everything There Is A Season

The last Sunday in June is a bittersweet one in United Methodism. It is the last Sunday of the appointment year. For some churches and clergy, there is a sigh of relief that pastor and parishioners were reunited for another year. For others, there is consternation that there is no change. For still others, it is a time to say goodbye and put closure on the life and ministry that was shared.

This reflects the cycle of life. Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us:

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

Take time to reflect on the ministry you shared together in the past year. Remember when your breath was taken away by the presence of the Holy Spirit. Tell of how you were surprised by the power of God to transform your life, the life of other, and even entire communities. Celebrate the new life that has emerged from your shared ministries.

Don’t be afraid to admit the mistakes and missteps that were made. Confession really is good for the soul. Let go of the disappointments and unmet expectations and offer one another the fullness of grace that is extended through forgiveness.

In the tenderness of the day, remind one another of how each one is made in the image of God, beloved and equipped by God for the task of ministry in the world. Ministry will go on as you all claim this power. Perhaps you can’t even get a hint of it yet, in all the emotions of this time. But trust in the knowledge that God is not done with us yet!

Welcoming the Stranger

In the news, we have seen disturbing reports and pictures of children being taken from their parents and placed in detention centers by our government. Their crime was fleeing their homeland due to violence and threats of death, to make a perilous journey over harsh geography to seek safety within our borders.

I remember another time a family crossed a border for similar reasons. When Jesus was born, Herod, who was in power, became threatened by the news of his birth since some were already calling Jesus “King of the Jews”. He sent wise men to see the boy. Herod told them it was so that he could honor him, but he really wanted to know his whereabouts so he could kill him. The wise men, after laying their gifts before Jesus, were warned in a dream not to return to Herod and Jesus’ father Joseph was also warned in a dream to flee with his family. They became refugees in Egypt, where they stayed until it was safe to return home. When Herod learned that he had been outwitted, he ordered the murder of every boy in Bethlehem under the age of two.

This event is known as the “Slaughter of the Innocents.” Matthew describes the scene with a quote from the prophet Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.” (Matthew 2: 18)

Can you hear Rachel weeping for her children?

The horror that is happening to children in our country was multiplied when government officials used scripture to justify these actions. We who follow Jesus know that God keeps widening the borders of who is in and who is out through the Jesus’ life, teachings and ministry, Paul’s Damascus road experience, and Peter’s vision. If the law is not rooted in the Love Ethic of Jesus, who keeps expanding our understanding of who is our brother and sister, it harms and invites death rather than reconciles and brings life.

Can you hear Rachel weeping for her children?

Scripture reminds us over and over again to welcome the stranger:

Exodus 23: 9: “You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Leviticus 19:34:  “You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

Deuteronomy 1:16:  “Give the members of your community a fair hearing, and judge rightly between one person and another, whether citizen or resident alien.”

Deuteronomy 10:18-19:  “For the Lord your God...loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”

Deuteronomy 24:17-18: “You shall not deprive a resident alien...of justice.”

Matthew 25:31-46:  “For I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”

Hebrews13: 2: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

Some of us learned a lesson about how to encounter the Bible when we traveled to Cuernavaca last fall. For the members of the base Christian community we visited, bible study is more than just reading and reflecting on God’s word. It requires action that is transformational. The Word of God should intersect with the lives of God’s people, so as they read the Bible, they look around at what is happening in their community, then think about what scripture is compelling them to do. This is followed by action. The community then evaluates what they did so they could learn more. And then they celebrate.

May the cries of Rachel be heard in your sanctuary. As scripture is read and prayers offered, may you listen for what God is asking of you and your community. May you respond as faithful followers of Jesus, who calls us to create Beloved Community, that place of love, compassion, connection, and justice for all of God’s children.

O Love That Will Not Let You Go!

As a pastor, my heart grows heavy when I see God’s beloved children unaware of God’s great love for them. As a result, they have doubted their self-worth. They have isolated themselves from others, feeling unworthy of love. Their souls have been scarred by the world’s hatred instead of healed by God’s bountiful grace.

Do you know how much God loves you?

The psalmist was overwhelmed by God’s love: “O God, you have searched me and known me…you are acquainted with all my ways…such knowledge is too wonderful for me. I can’t take it all in. You know me very well. Nothing, nothing at all is is hidden from me. Even when in the midst of basking in that love my shadow self emerges and I reveal to you my hatred and pettiness, you stick with me, helping me turn from hurtful ways of being and thinking and leading me to what is life indeed.” (Psalm 139)

There is nothing about us that can make God turn away from us: nothing in who we are, nothing in the people God created us to be; nothing in what we have done; nothing in what has been done to us, that can loosen the grasp of God’s love on our life.

When the power of this truth breaks into our life, we become changed. This is what it means to be born again. When we accept the power of God’s love in our lives, we are can’t help but be changed, from the inside out.

God knows everything about us, and yet for many of us God remains a stranger. For some, it’s God’s magnificence that is too great to comprehend that keeps God a stranger. For others it is fear of experiencing intimacy with One who knows so much about us that causes us to keep God remote.

But still God envelopes us with a love that will not let us go. This love promises us a much greater life if we will only open ourselves up to its healing and power.

As you gather in worship, bow your head and let God’s love pour over you. Find yourself showered with it! Feel the power, embrace the presence of this love. Feel the wounded and hurting parts of your life be restored to wholeness by God’s love.

And then, allow this love to flow through you and into the lives of those around you. No one should doubt God’s unconditional love for them. Sometimes, the only way they will know this truth, the only way they will be able to experience this amazing grace, is through your loving actions.

I pray that no soul will doubt that they are loved for simply being who God created them to be (including YOU!).