GRADUATE INTO LIFE-LONG LEARNING

It is that time of year! Looking over the posts on my Facebook newsfeed, I can almost hear the brass band playing Pomp and Circumstance. You know the tune. Have you ever been to a graduation that didn’t play it? 

 A fun little fact about Pomp and Circumstance: Edward Elgar composed it in 1902 to be used for the coronation of Edward VII of Britain. He was the son of Queen Victoria. Yale University used it in the 1906 graduation when Elgar was given an honorary doctorate (but they used it as he left the stage after receiving his award, not walking up to it). Not to be bested by a rival ivy league school, Princeton then used it, and then the University of Chicago followed by Columbia. Pretty soon everyone was using the tune and I suspect your school did as well. 

 So it seems like every family is having a graduation this weekend: I have seen pictures of high school graduations, college graduations, law school graduations, seminary graduations. The one set of pics I have yet to see are pre-school graduation photos, but I know they are coming! 

With graduation comes an understanding that one has mastered something: a discipline or a field. There is all too often an underlying assumption that one has arrived, that learning is finished and living begins. But one quickly discovers that learning is a life-long task. No matter what one’s work is, it continues to entail new lessons, new ways of doing things, an integration of new information. 

 And even living one's life requires one to be a life-long learner. Many of us who surf the internet are not digital natives. We came of age in the dark BC age, Before Computers. Imagine what our lives would be like if we didn’t commit to learning new technology. During COVID, online worship would not exist. We would not be sharing in each others joys and concerns and holding one another in prayer. 

 Just like our work and our daily living requires us to be life-long learners, so does our faith. I have met too many people who think that once they have been confirmed, they have arrived and there is no need to continue to study scripture and grow in the faith. But what I have observed over the years as pastor, is that they have been left with a faith that addresses the life challenges of an 8th grader rather than an adult. Adult crises come as they do to all of us: death and disease, failure and heartbreak. But that 7th grade faith doesn’t provide a strong foundation to weather the stormy seas of life. 

  A mature life requires a mature faith. 

 Jesus spent three years teaching and training his disciples, helping them to encounter God and others through a new lens of love. But his teaching didn’t stop with his crucifixion and death. The risen Christ continued to teach his disciples, to both confirm the truth of his teaching but also to encourage them to go deeper still. And Christ requires the same of us. 

 Proverbs 4: 13 reminds us, Take hold of instruction, do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life.”

 Life-long learning bears the fruit of wisdom. Wisdom that is grounded in God and helps us navigate life’s challenges. Are you a life-long learner? What do you do to continue to grow spiritually as a disciple of Jesus? 

 Tomorrow is Pentecost Sunday but for we who are United Methodists, it is also another special Sunday: Aldersgate Sunday. This Sunday celebrates the day John Wesley experienced the assurance of his salvation. Now, Wesley was a very learned man who studied scripture as well as theologians. But it wasn’t until he was attending a bible study on Aldersgate street in London that he felt his heart strangely warmed. He later wrote that while he was listening to someone read Luther’s preface to Romans, “he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death." 

 This broke open not only Wesley’s heart but his life in Christ. It was not the conclusion of study, but the beginning of an even deeper dive into his growth as a Christian. 

 Wesley developed an understanding of the means of grace. While God’s grace is available to all of us and is unearned, we are to lean into this grace so that our faith might be strengthened and confirmed.

 The means of grace are divided into works of piety and works of mercy, and include both individual and communal practices. Works of Piety include things like reading, studying scripture, attending worship, fasting, Christian conferencing, and sharing the sacraments. Works of mercy include visiting the sick and those in prison, feeding those who are hungry, doing the work of justice and seeking to end oppression in whatever forms they take. 

 The means of grace, these works of piety and mercy, are ways we United Methodists keep growing in our faith as we experience God’s saving grace for our lives. Being grounded in this grace helps our faith remain vital and robust, ready to meet whatever challenges we face in life. I want to encourage you to not think of Sunday school as something we ever graduate from, or a final point of arriving at something called faith. Instead, utilize the means of grace to keep your faith flowering, growing, maturing, gaining increasing wisdom, this day and every day.

Take My Hand

My heart hurts.

Too many families are grieving this day as communities of color particularly suffer from the impact of illness and racism.

My heart hurts.

The ideological divide in our country has deepened to the point that the very actions that can keep communities healthy and thriving have been politicized and as a result, people are dying.

My heart hurts.

It feels as if the only news is bad news and I keep asking myself, “Is there any word from God?”

My heart hurts.

Social isolation is affecting mental health and recovery.

My heart hurts.

What is the state of your heart?

John Wesley, in his sermon, “Catholic Spirit”, wrote: "If your heart is as my heart, take my hand." 

We need to take each other’s hands. Connected to one another, through love, causes us to bear our siblings’ burdens. It opens us to the lives of others—their joys and their pain, the places where they hurt and the parts that are tender.

Just as God loves us with a love that will never let us go, when we hold each other’s hands we commit to staying connected even when we would rather turn away from the experiences of another. It causes us to stay in the conversation even when it is hard. It expands our view as we see through another’s eyes a world that may be so unlike our own. When we take each other’s hands, we agree to build a world together where suffering, injustice, pain and poverty are vanquished.

Whose hands do you hold? Whose lives are you willing to fight for?

I know my heart isn’t the only heart to hurt. Take my hand.

May we find comfort in the Psalms that promise us, “Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” Together, we can push back on all the forces that denigrate, defile and deny the image of God that each person possesses.

Be well! Stay safe! Wear a mask!

SOCIAL HOLINESS, SPIRITUALITY, AND SHOOTINGS

In the midst of the noise of our day, listening is a deeply spiritual practice. Listening to another person is a spiritual act. Listening to sighs too deep for words is a spiritual act. Listening to the wind blow through the trees is a spiritual act. All this is to assist us as we listen with open hearts for the voice of God.

Saturdays are a day of spiritual listening for me. After reading scripture in the morning, I strain the ears of my heart to hear God’s whisper. Today, I heard bird calls, a child laugh, waves lapping the shore. But where was God’s voice?

This evening, as I looked at my phone to catch up on the day’s news, I heard it: God was weeping. El Paso became the latest community to experience a mass shooting, with 20 shot dead in a Walmart, many buying school supplies. As of today, there have been 248 mass shootings in the United States in 2019. 246 people have been killed, 979 wounded, thousands have experienced trauma.

Tonight, I hear God weeping.

“Thoughts and prayers” ring hollow in the face of these numbers and mock the fact that the life to which Jesus calls us is one of engaged faith. The apostle Paul said, “Faith without works is dead.” John Wesley said, “The gospel of Christ knows of no religion, but social; no holiness but social holiness. Faith working by love, is the length and breath and depth and height of Christian perfection.”

When we bow our heads and pray for those whose lives have been irrevocably impacted by the El Paso shooting, what will we do when we rise from our pews? How will the holy practice we engaged in during worship be embodied social holiness in our daily living?

God weeps tonight. What will you do tomorrow, so that your “faith is working by love”?

We can stop the killings. We can ease the deep pain of those who weep. We can create beloved communities that draw the outcast in. We can work for better mental health access in our communities. We can let our elected officials know that it is past time that this nation passed sensible gun control laws.

We can do all this through Christ, who expects nothing less of us.

LGBTQ+ LIVES, GOD'S GRACE, AND THE UMC

When I was a campus minister, a student came to my office extremely troubled by an experience she recently had with a para-church campus ministry organization.

“I realized there was something missing in my life. I saw these students living with meaning and purpose. They were a part of this religious organization. I wanted what they had. They welcomed me with open arms and invited me to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That excited me! And so I began my journey to Christ and it felt so good! Then they discovered I was a lesbian and told me I was sinful and couldn’t have a real relationship with Jesus. If it’s a personal relationship, how could they decide if my connection to Christ was right or not?”

That student’s question has long stuck with me—if, indeed, each of us is invited to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, can we dictate to one another what that relationship must look like? Isn’t the point of a personal relationship that Christ meets us where we are—which is unlike where anyone is—to offer us the fullness of life in God?

We United Methodists are a people grounded in Grace: Grace, Grace and more Grace—Prevenient, Justifying, and Sanctifying Grace! This is what sets us apart from so many other denominations: there is a Love that will not let us go, that is always seeking us, going before us, inviting us to a relationship with God that heals, forgives, frees, and restores the image of God in us. John Wesley used the metaphor of a house to describe grace, breaking it down to a three part act: Prevenient Grace meets us on the porch, inviting us to take a journey with/towards God. This Grace is always available to us, just waiting for us to say, “Yes.”

What comes next is Justifying Grace. Justifying grace is the doorway, where we experience forgiveness as we turn towards the new life God offers us. It sets us on a path to salvation through the life, death and resurrection of Christ.

To enter the house is to experience Sanctifying Grace. Here we live and move in God’s generous and expansive grace as the image of God is restored in us and we increase in the knowledge and love of God and neighbor.

I love John Wesley. I am a bit (?!) of a MethoGeek. But I have found the house metaphor to be limiting. Recently, I was at a retreat center in Cody, Wyoming. The retreat center was the former home of an Episcopal priest/artist. Her artwork is throughout the retreat center. There, high on a shelf in our meeting room, was a perfect metaphor for grace—it is a picture of two dancing figures. While they are depicted as angels, I see in them humanity and God. Prevenient grace is God extending a hand, inviting us to reach for it; justifying grace is God teaching us the steps for this life of faith—the old steps that led us astray are replaced by the rhythm of God’s love that teaches us a new way to move in the world; sanctifying grace is allowing ourselves to lose ourselves so completely to the Divine Dance that we experience a oneness with God—we are made anew as the image of God is restored in us.

While United Methodist theology and spirituality are grounded in Grace, there are some who have sought to limit the reality and presence of grace in the lives of LGBTQ+ United Methodists. In fact, there are those in the church who refuse to believe—in spite of the spiritual gifts present—that LGBTQ+ people have truly experienced God’s grace and the new life that comes from submitting to God’s Law of Love. Because it is not their experience, because it doesn’t look the same as their (straight) life, there is a damning assumption that LGBTQ+ people are beyond the grasp of God and are instead mired in sin.

When will we understand that our human categories are far too small for the fulness of God? There is nothing holy or faithful when we segregate or sever from the Body of Christ those whom God has sanctified or impose sanctions on sacraments and rituals against those whose lives we may not understand. When we do that, we mar the image of God that exists in the lives of God’s beloved children and we do harm.

I love United Methodism and while I mourn that the denomination that helped me experience God’s Grace may be dying, I will do all I can to help those around me—no matter who they are, no matter race, ethnicity, ability, gender identity, sexual orientation, or age—fall into God’s waiting arms, so they can learn the unique dance steps God seeks to teach them, so that they may lose themselves in life in God, and thereby find themselves coming into the beautiful creation God intended for them.

When Love Grows Cold

The lectionary readings for September 28 include a familiar text: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, where Paul reminds us that the body of Christ is inherently, necessarily diverse. With uncompromising language, Paul emphasizes that Christian unity is not based on uniformity, but in fact is healthy because differences are recognized as necessary for a community’s wholeness. No one can be excluded from the Body. In fact, those who may have more power, prestige or privilege need to note that in God’s realm, the focus radically shifts:

“But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.” (1 Corinthians 12: 24-26)

I think this scripture ought to be read and meditated on by every delegate to General Conference. Actually, it should be read by every United Methodist as we approach the special General Conference.

There are voices who are seeking to limit who is in and who is out of the Body of Christ. There are some who would rather leave the denomination if we follow the lead of all mainline denominations in the United States and include lgbtq persons in the life and ministry of the church. John Wesley had stern words for those seeking to break relationship (and thereby the body of Christ) with others: 

“It is evil in itself. To separate ourselves from a body of living Christian, with whom we were before united, is a grievous breach of the law of love. It is the nature of love to unite us together; and the greater the love, the stricter the union. And while this continues in its strength, nothing can divide those whom love has united. It is only when our love grows cold, that we can think of separating from our brethren. And this is certainly the case with any who willingly separate from their Christian brethren.” John Wesley On Schism

Has our love grown cold, church?

In a world that is torn by divisions of race, class, ethnicity, political persuasions, sexual orientations, gender identities, and more, the Church of Jesus Christ ought to provide a vital and living witness that diversity need not divide but can and should be celebrated. We ought to bring hope in these fractured times, as we reach across our differences in love.

I am praying for not only for our denomination, but every local church where there is brokenness. May the fire of the Holy Spirit burn in our churches, lighting the flame of Love in each of us. May it open our eyes and hearts to recognize the image of God in others, even in those we disagree with. We each are created as a beautiful and blessed child of God. Where there is tension because of differences, may we lean more fully in love toward one another.

May we be surprised by what God does through Love.

Reflections During a Government Shut-Down

I have been reflecting on the early church and its commitment to generosity. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit enabled walls of division to fall between people. Folks were so amazed and wanted to know what was happening. Peter tells them about Jesus and his saving work and thousands were baptized into the faith.

The new converts learned of the ways of Jesus from the apostles and joined together in the “breaking of bread and prayers.” They grew as the body of Christ, with a sense of family and community that was so strong that “they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.” (Acts 2: 45-47)

It is time, dear church, for us to reclaim our heritage and this early zeal for the welfare of all people. The United State government shut down is in its 29th day. One quarter of the federal government is closed, and 800,000 individuals are furloughed or working without pay. These are fathers and mothers, primary providers of their family. These are young people, struggling to make ends meet as they begin their careers. These are people who don’t know how they are going to pay their rent or mortgage this month, who might have to choose between putting food on the table or keeping a roof over their heads.

These are our neighbors. These are God’s children and therefore our siblings.

What is God calling us to do?

This is a moment for you and me to remember the life to which we are called as disciples of Jesus: our love of God should be made plain as we love and care for our neighbors. It is time for us to step up and check in on people who have been impacted by the shutdown. It is time for us to gather our riches and share what we have with those who are suffering. It is time for us to prepare a banquet in our fellowship halls and invite our neighbors in.

The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, invites us to a generous expression of faith: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

May each of our 378 churches throughout the Mountain Sky Conference take John Wesley’s counsel to heart, as we reach out into our communities in life-giving, life-saving ways.

Goodbye, 2018. Hello, 2019!

Sunday is the last Sunday of 2018. I always love this pause between the old year and the new. It is a chance to reflect on the year that has been and give thanks for all those whose lives touched mine. It is also a time to reflect on the baggage I have been carrying and consider what I need to let go of in order to enter the new year unencumbered.

Because there are definitely things I need to leave in 2018. Ephesians 4 urges us:

“Everything…connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces God’s character in you.” (Ephesians 4: 22-24, The Message)

Where bitterness has hardened my heart, may I let go of it so my heart may learn to feel again.

Where guilt has frozen me in my tracks, may I let go of it so I can move forward.

Where shame has caused me to cower in a corner, may I let go of it so I can walk with my head held high.

Where fear and doubts have eroded my self-worth, may I let go of them so I can trust not only myself again, but also others.

Where anger has burned bridges of relationships, may I let it go I can begin to rebuild them.

Where I have closed myself to the movement of the Holy Spirit in my life, may I be open, so that God may be at work within me, creating in me a “life renewed from the inside”.

This is the time of year to let go of all that has weighed us down in 2018, particularly those things that prevented us from living a life in love that God desires for us.

My favorite prayer this time of year is the Wesley Covenant prayer. The prayer is nearly 300 years old. Each time I pray it, I think of all those who came before me who uttered these same words, desiring only one thing, to live in right relationship with God:

“I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.”

As you tuck away your 2018 calendar, and crack open your new 2019 one, may the empty blocks of days ignite your imagination with the creative and unexpected ways that you will encounter God and discern fuller ways to serve as a disciple of Christ, so that your life and this world may be infused with God’s grace and healing love.

SPIRITUAL CROSS TRAINING

For the past two weeks, our TV has been tuned to the Olympics, watching the winter sports event from S. Korea. My love of the Olympics began in elementary school, when one of my teachers introduced the event to us. I love watching young people from all over the world compete together in a spirit of good will.

There was a tipping point, over the years, when the athletes were no longer older than me. This was not a happy moment! Instead of dreaming about being an Olympic athlete (doesn’t everyone?!), there came a time when I “aged out” of the Olympics (except for maybe the luge). The Olympics were reserved for younger people who were dedicated in their commitment to better themselves in order to be the best in their sport. Once they reached for the gold, it seems they either became Olympic commentators, coaches, or simply slipped out of the public eye.

As United Methodists, we know we don’t peak early in our discipleship. John Wesley reminded us, we are “moving on to perfection.” But for many of us, our continued growth as Christians slowed sometime early in our lives. We have forgotten that every day is an opportunity to deepen our spirituality, expand the sharing of God’s love, and follow more closely the ways of Jesus.

This is the season of Lent, a time to prepare ourselves for Easter through prayer, fasting, study and self-examination. It is a time of Cross Training, of preparing ourselves for the risks of discipleship by committing ourselves more fully to Christ and community, no matter what it might cost us.

Whenever you enter worship, be prepared for a spiritual workout. May your soul be stretched. May your heart discover that it can hold still more love than you thought possible. May you fall head over heels in love with God all over again, and then leave to put into practice what you’ve learned.

The Christian walk is rigorous. It is demanding. It at times feels as if we are pushed beyond what is comfortable or even possible. But keep your eyes on the cross, and then the empty tomb. With God, nothing is impossible. Dare to be your very best, for God’s sake. Day after day after day, dare to be your very best self.

Can Anything Good Come Out of ____________?

In John 1:43-51, Jesus has begun to gather his disciples. After Jesus invites Phillip to join him, Phillip excitedly tells Nathaniel: “We’ve found the one Moses and the prophets told us about! Jesus of Nazareth!” Nathaniel scoffs, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”--because Nazareth is considered the other side of the tracks, the wrong side of town. For Nathaniel, who believes the lies he’s been told about the place, certainly Nazareth can’t be a place where a savior could be from?

Phillip doesn’t let him wallow in what John Wesley called, his “popular prejudices.” He tells him to put what he’s been told aside and see for himself. It is in his personal encounter with Jesus that his prejudices fall and he sees Jesus for who he truly is.

This weekend, may we put down the lies we have been told about others. May we drop our prejudices and biases and allow the truth of another’s life to shine the light of God’s love into our own life. This weekend is “Human Relations Sunday” in The United Methodist Church. It is always held the Sunday before Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. In these days when falsehoods are being fostered and prejudices are promoted, may we bear testimony to the world of an alternative vision that the Gospel provides and that King lived out in word and deed:

“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

May we challenge the falsehoods that diminish and deny the dignity and humanity of others. May we commit ourselves to inviting others to “Come and see” the love of God that dwells in the lives of those around us.

Songs of the Season: Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

Today was the first Sunday of Advent, and in homes and churches around the world, the first candle of the Advent wreath was lit as a way to mark our journey to Christmas. This is a season of waiting and preparation, as we live expectantly into the hope of Jesus' coming.

"Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus" is an Advent hymn written by Charles Wesley. Charles Wesley (1708-1788) was a hymn writer of epic proportions. Charles was the brother of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. In many ways, the spread of Methodism can be credited in part to Charles, whose lyrics imparted Methodist understandings of God's love and grace and the way of salvation.

"Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus" was written in 1744 and included in a tract of his hymns called Hymns for the Nativity of Our Lord.

Come, thou long expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.
Israel's strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.

Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne.

I find this a very comforting hymn. In Christ lies our liberation. Yet, the one who liberates is not a mighty warrior-king but a child who dwells in our hearts, offering our souls a blessed rest.