Dying to Live

I write this from Cuernavaca, Mexico. Members of the Clergy Academy and I are here on a cultural immersion, learning Spanish and looking at social movements through the lens of liberation theology. We are studying at CILAC FREIRE and the school’s family of teachers, helpers, and host families have welcomed us with a generous hospitality that is humbling. 

Each day one of the clergy lead us in a time of devotions. Each day has been a rich time of sharing. One morning, Rev. Yevette Christy challenged us: “What do you have to allow to die within you so that the new can be born?”

I have been reflecting on that question ever since. Even though   our faith begins with the freshness of creation, finds its promise in the birth of a child, and leans into the unfailing hope found in the new life of resurrection, we cling to death as if our lives depend on it. 

What do I refuse to let go of, that prevents me from enjoying the fullness of new life? What defenses that once kept me safe have outgrown their usefulness and now stunt my growth? What relationships prevent me from living into my authentic self? Where do I remain at a literal or figurative grave and see only what was, failing to see the seeds of new life seeking to burst all around me?

Likewise, what are we holding on to in the church that needs to die so new life can rise up? What are those habits, traditions, and ways of being and doing that need to die because they belong to a bygone era that no longer serves us well? 

Do we have the courage to live into the power of our faith and let  die those things that no longer work? Are you willing to trust that on the other side of death is new life?

The Commitments We Make

This week, MSC clergy gathered in Estes Park for study, worship, renewal and rest. It was a rich time filled with brave conversations, laughter, tears, prayers, and singing. It was a vital time of reconnecting as a body and remembering our calls.

Of course, on the forefront of everyone’s mind is the future of The United Methodist Church. Will there be a United Methodist denomination after May 2020’s General Conference?  Who will we be? How do we walk through these uncertain, anxious days still focused on the ministry to which God has called us?

It is critical that we remember our mission. As United Methodists, it is to “make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” As we became the Mountain Sky Conference, we understood this contextually in our region to mean “The Mountain Sky Conference of the UMC will live in God’s grace and abundance as we lead a re-energized peaceful and compassionate movement to claim the life-changing love of Jesus Christ for ALL people.”

We aren’t there yet. We have made some important changes to our life together (like putting more resources out of the Denver Office and into our districts) but we still have a long way to go. As Wesley reminds us, “We are moving on to perfection”! We live together in grace as we seek to live into God’s future.

I know it is not easy living into these uncertain days. The cabinet and I have been in prayer together about our conference and what is needed for this moment. We also spent time with a consultant, Ben Kiker, who helped us focus our work together. It is in our desire to serve you better that we make these commitments.

As bishop and cabinet, we will serve you by committing ourselves to the following:

• Grounded Spiritually: We will be Spirit-led not ego driven, grace-filled, courageous, Always moving towards beloved community

• Authentic: Truthful, Integrity, Humility, Unity

• Inclusive: Expansive as we draw the circle wide, Generous gratefulness for our difference, Seek the whole

• Compassionate: Gentle as a dove, Undefended, Tenaciously tender

• Strategic intent: Visionary, Attentive to vision, Courageous, Wise as a serpent

That is our commitment to YOU. If you experience us as not living out these commitments, hold us accountable! Let us know! And together, let’s be expansive in the grace we offer each other as we seek to renew these commitments.

What commitments do you make to our MSC family during these anxious days? What can we count on from you as a part of this family? How will you live out your ministry, seeking to follow Jesus through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in all you do in your church and beyond? How will you show love and offer grace as we walk in the light of God?

“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” (I Peter 4:8-10 NIV)

The Oneness of Christ's Table

It was a requirement, when my sisters and I were growing up, that we were in our seats at the kitchen table for dinner. It didn’t matter where we were or what we were doing, my mother was firm that we would be present for supper. However, while my mother expected us to be at the table, it didn’t mean we had to say good-bye to the friends we were playing with. Our friends were always invited to eat over and our table of four often held 6, 8 or even 12. And somehow my mother was able to do a “loaves and fishes” miracle and make our meatloaf or pasta feed everyone present.

I realize this early experience of the table has shaped how I understand coming to Christ’s table: everyone is invited, and there is always room for one more.

Tomorrow, we celebrate World Communion Sunday. Christians around the world will gather before a table and with outstretched hands reach for the bread and cup as they recall Jesus’ words, “Do this in remembrance of me.” And as the grain of the bread mingles with the sweetness of the cup, a holy mystery occurs: we are made one in Christ. Divisions of nation, language, class, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, and race fall away as we become the Body of Christ, no part unlovely or unneeded, no law or polity able to compete with Jesus’ invitation: “Take, eat, do this in remembrance of me.”

Oh, how we need this reminder in these days of division. Our human tendency to erect walls of who is in and who is out, of distrusting those who aren’t like us, breaks down in the breaking of the bread. We are reminded of this in I Corinthians 10: 16-17

“The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? ¹⁷ Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”

Don’t hold yourself back from coming to the table tomorrow. There is a place for you! And as you raise the cup to your lips, who else is there with you? Who is receiving this gift from God not only in your own church but in other churches around the world? What does it mean to you, that you are made one with them in this meal? How does it inform your living?