We left two magazines at the store, they’re part of my ritual of self-care, so I went back to pick them up. Mike had just gotten back from fixing a bass pedal and he asked how I was. My heart is cloudy and rainy like the sky in Summerville this afternoon and as I listened to Needtobreathe’s Difference Maker from their Wastelands album. The jumbled thoughts from the Judicial Council decision and our divisive political climate where weighing heavy on me. As I preach Children’s Sabbath on Sunday, I’m struck by the theme “Walk by Faith.” I didn’t know who to call, to express my grief, looking for hope, so I began talking to Jesus, as the tears began to fall.
I wish there weren’t “winners” and “losers.” I wish we didn’t demonize the “other” side. I wish we could listen and not be planning our counter-attack in our head. I know, love and respect some clergy that will leave the UMC if the Traditional plan passes at General Conference and I know, love and respect some that will leave if the One Church Plan passes at General Conference, not to mention the people in the pew. I also know, that God will still be God, and some of my blog readers and most of my friends don’t much care what happens in our denomination. (smile) But earlier, I turned on the news…….I have no words, much less for an explanation for my 9 and 11 year old who are full of questions.
As I was mulling these things over in the car I realized, I need to “Walk by Faith.” I don’t know how to navigate the denomination divide/political climate/interpersonal relationships with all kinds of the land mines out there! But I know Who makes crooked lines straight. I know someone that says He’s the way, the truth and the life. I know that I will ask the Holy Spirit to guide and lead me in the coming months of navigation. The Devil is alive, y’all. Evil is real. He seeks to disrupt. He seeks to divide. And isn’t he having a field day in our lives today??!! Progressive. Conservative. Moderate. Libertarian. Liberal. Evangelical. Democrat. Anarchist. Republican. And everyone in between.
We all need Jesus.
I need thee, O I need thee, every hour I need thee; O bless me now, my Savior, I come to thee.
We all need hope. We all need the light. We all need to seek the good in the world. We all need Jesus. When the world is at it’s darkest, when all hope seems lost, we TRUST and MOVE and have our very BEING in the One who commands even the wind and the waves with a Word.
My prayer as we continue to be bombarded by all sorts of “stuff” is that we rest on the Almighty love and grace of God. We trust Jesus to shield us and He seeks to work all things for our good. Remembering as we go on the twists and turns of this journey who we are and Whose we are. Holy Spirit come down and heal our hearts. Give us the ears to listen and the words to speak. Give us your boldness to speak up. Blow peace where you will, igniting, uniting, and sometimes dividing when we do more harm than good. Give us your wisdom and discernment and shine your all-encompassing light on every thought and situation. Help us to seek to be followers of Jesus who walk in the way that leads to life. We walk by faith, not be sight. Please give us Your vision for Your kingdom come. Amen.
I preached this at Point Hope UMC this morning. They were very gracious to me and we had a delicious lunch after church that Mike and the kids have raved about all afternoon. Thanks for being with me on this crazy journey called life. I want you to share your stories with me too! ‘Cause we’re not meant to do this life alone. Amen?
Psalm 77
1I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, that he may hear me.
2In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted.
3I think of God, and I moan; I meditate, and my spirit faints. Selah
4You keep my eyelids from closing; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5I consider the days of old, and remember the years of long ago.
6I commune with my heart in the night; I meditate and search my spirit:
7“Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable?
8Has his steadfast love ceased forever? Are his promises at an end for all time?
9Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?”
10And I say, “It is my grief that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”
11I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord; I will remember your wonders of old.
12I will meditate on all your work, and muse on your mighty deeds.
13Your way, O God, is holy. What god is so great as our God?
14You are the God who works wonders; you have displayed your might among the peoples.
15With your strong arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
16When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; the very deep trembled.
17The clouds poured out water; the skies thundered; your arrows flashed on every side.
18The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lit up the world; the earth trembled and shook.
19Your way was through the sea, your path, through the mighty waters; yet your footprints were unseen.
20You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Some of you may be wondering what on earth is this preacher doing using a Psalm as her text on her first Sunday. The Psalms get to the heart speak. They get down deep, to the nitty gritty. They’re full of real people celebrating their Good Shepherd and crying out desperately to God. Both the mountaintops and valleys, the fullness of the human experience, is captured in the Psalms.
Let me tell you a story. In my previous appointment I went to Costa Rica for a Spring Break mission trip in 2013 with Pura Vida Ministries. Listen to their mission statement: “We exist to transform lives by providing Christ-centered, life-changing mission adventures. We believe that following Jesus is Not an Event, but a Life!” Not an event, but a life. Not an event, but a life. I believe that. You will hear in my messages and hopefully see in my life a fervent desire to live our faith out loud, no matter the storms or challenges. They had different merchandise you could buy with “Not an event, but a life” so I brought back a mousepad for my office, not knowing then that I would have my second brain surgery later that May.
At a conference in Winchester, VA I had my first seizure. It was 2010 and I was 30 at the time. I was diagnosed with a brain tumor that they removed most of two weeks later. My tumor has a Harry Potter spell-like pronunciation to it – an oligodendroglioma. I had no complications or deficits after surgery. I mean I had a tube coming out of my head with a blood bulb that I would put in the pocket of my hospital gown when I went to the bathroom but you go through what you have to. I had the surgery on Friday and I was out on Sunday. My son Enoch had just turned 3 and Evy was 1;
so I recuperated at my brother Josh’s house. I was back home and at work the next Thursday, less than a week later, easy, peasy, lemon squeezy.
I remember writing on the prayer request card from Pura Vida at the end of the trip that I would have an MRI the following Monday. The MRI unfortunately showed the tumor had grown and so I began sharing with people that I would have a second surgery. I thought it would be like the first surgery, so I agreed to do a wedding 3 weeks later and was set to do a workshop in Chicago that June and set to preach at camp for a week in July. Unlike the first surgery where I had no complications, when I woke up I could understand everything the nurses, doctors, and my family were saying but I had lost my ability to speak. The doctors and speech therapists call it apraxia. Apraxia is the inability to execute learned purposeful movements, despite having the desire and the physical capacity to perform the movements. Oh, I had the desire in spades. In other words, the words were still there but the ability to form sentences was broken, non-existent.
The tumor is on the motor cortex, that’s why they didn’t get it all the first time, so I had no feeling in my right arm or hand, and I’m right-handed. I texted these words to my husband, Mike, with my left hand over two weeks later, “The quickness with which I speak comes back?” It took me 45 minutes to text that. I did 30 radiation treatments, 6 months of chemo, physical, occupational, and speech therapy over that year and then I went to the Ukraine to speak at a conference, but that is another sermon.
I’ve learned to rely on God because I HAVE to. I am an independent, non-conformist person mixed with a perfectionistic people pleaser and I ALWAYS relied heavily on my communication skills. I didn’t know how much until I couldn’t rattle off a prayer or answer a theological question or explain simple things to my kids or preach without a manuscript, or even the little things. I used to carry around a small calendar in my purse to jot stuff down in, I used to type x number of words a minute, I used to love to send handwritten notes to people. The ease and what came naturally to me before was lost and I still sometimes grieve that loss. It’s okay to grieve. God is with us when we mourn. God promises to bring joy in the morning, so I went back to preaching in June. I could read things and I reused every sermon that I had full manuscripts for that summer. My oncologist, who I met with more frequently that first year and now at least every 3-4 months, was an older man who was all business and had a wry sense of humor. Dr. Stahl always asked me if I was still preaching every week and I would always say yes. He doesn’t know, by him asking me that question every time that I’m just stubborn, bull-headed and tenacious enough to see that as a challenge and with God’s strength, to make it happen! He wrote this to me when he found out as I was moving, “It has been a privilege and a pleasure to have you as a patient-You have remarkable courage and determination-both of which have you served you well.”
We at the time had services every Sunday at 11 and every Wednesday night at 8:30 and shared in communion each time and it was a challenge to say the least. A number of things helped me get through that time great students and other church members, Gator Wesley had been a local church and our older members sent me cards of encouragement almost every day, my speech therapist being patient and pushing me and saying your brain will rewire itself, songs like “Lord I Need You,” movies like “Rise of the Guardians” talking about what is your center and having faith even when you cannot see and “The Legend of Bagger Vance” talking about each of us has one, true, authentic swing, when I didn’t feel confident in my own voice, and y’all’s prayers, cards, and prayer shawls from around the United Methodist connection. When I didn’t have the strength or the words or even the desire, on the dark nights of the soul, God was faithful. When my primary care doctor said to me that September, I don’t think this brain tumor’s going to kill you, let’s get you healthy and strong, God was working through her to give me the hope that I needed to keep putting one foot in front of the other. God can and does use us to be lights in a world full of darkness. I knew then and I know now that God is with me every step of the way, continuing to strengthen me for the journey. How do I know? God gives us proof. The little reassurances along the way – the person that says something and God’s speaking to me through their voice, the song that happens to come on the radio or the itunes shuffle at just the right time, the passage of scripture I happen to read that morning…it doesn’t just “happen.” It’s a God thing. Claim it. Know it. Trust it. Be the person that Mother Teresa emulated as she said, “I’m a little pencil in the hand of a writing God, who is sending a love letter to the world.”
God is ever present reminding me I am enough even when I don’t have the words. I am worthy even when I don’t have the answers. I can claim my inheritance by simply resting in the surety that I am a child of God. We all can. We are all worthy and enough. If I have learned anything over the past 6 years is it’s not enough to just merely have these quick fix Jesus highs, these Psalms of praise alone – no matter how great they are – because they won’t sustain you when the ship hits the sand or when the rubber hits the road and you’re left bereft. Developing a real, in depth relationship with Jesus will. Developing a faith that lasts and is rooted and grounded in scripture will. A verse, a song lyric, a prayer….When the storms of life are raging, I know where my hope is and that is in Christ alone. We sang the hymn, “In Christ Alone” at Annual Conference in 2011, one year after the first surgery, and we sang it just now before the sermon. It’s a song that means very much to me, especially the last verse.
No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.
At a retreat a year after the second surgery, the facilitator asked us to write questions on 3 cards. They were to be questions where we needed the Holy Spirit to intercede, questions that were rolling around our heads but we had never articulated. Then we were to paint and cut out pictures from magazines for each card without seeing what questions were on the back. So I went to a place by myself and I invited the Holy Spirit to come by lighting a candle and I wrote these questions:
1. What do I need more of in my life?
What do I need to embrace?
2. What obstacles of the joy God wants for me do I consciously or subconsciously allow to hinder me from experiencing that joy?
3. What do I need to let go? Why am I so afraid to share my story?
I went through the cards and picked colors and themes as I felt the Spirit leading me to. Despite my skepticism, this activity ended being one of the most powerful practices that I have ever experienced. I had gotten so caught up in my designs and cutting anything out that struck me that I had completely forgotten the original questions.
The answer to the first question was this: written in pencil “In Christ Alone, cancer, and colors. I needed to embrace my cancer. I was a cancer survivor. And I need to place my trust “in Christ alone.” Even the part about the skin was pointing to me embracing myself. I had the dot tattoo so they could line me up to do my radiation and I had the scars from both the surgeries, but in the back of my mind I was still hiding.
We had been singing “In Christ Alone” during this retreat and when I shared that piece of my story later when all of us were sharing, we sang that as a closing song, which brought me to healing, relieving tears, like I let go of a burden. The second question was this picture. I look at this picture, I feel peace and beauty, and I needed more of that in my life after the year I had so I made a commitment to make room for beauty and positive and calming messages, so that’s why my office and home are decorated in such ways.
The last question of “What do I need to let go?” was the safe question. God was leading me to ask what I really needed. And the Holy Spirit was so loud in me, that I scribbled down the last question. It was surprising to me because I try to be real and authentic in all aspects of my life. That’s why I created the blog in 2010. I didn’t want to actually talk about my blog or anything that I wrote. And it was self-preservation and a bit of laziness to be sure because it was a way to share with my family, friends, students and the communities that raised me and fed me and are praying with me something I couldn’t say out loud. It was to share authentically with the world what was going on with me. It was a way to update everyone at once with what was going on inside my head. I rarely re-read and edit. So this question was surprising to me. But Proverbs 3:5-6 says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” It struck me as I was writing this sermon that I use “afraid.” And I think that is telling. I admit now I was afraid and I am afraid of being misunderstood, of losing my words, of not being in control…but as 1 Timothy 1:7 says God does not give us a spirit of fear, but rather a spirit of power and love. God doesn’t call us to be silent, God calls to be bold and step out in faith and God will give us the words to speak.
Everything. I needed to let go of everything. And I felt safe in the arms of Mike in it all, but more than that I felt like God had and is protecting me from the storm. God was creating the perfect shelter, an eye in the hurricane. God was also giving me a clear message with these cards. I needed to share my story, integrating the cancer, no matter how hard, personal, and vulnerable.
I’ve claimed the words of Isaiah 41:8-10 (NRSV) “8 But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; 9 you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”; 10 do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.”
Bob Goff in his book Love Does says, “I once heard somebody say that God had closed a door on an opportunity that they hoped for. But I’ve always wondered if, when we want to do something that we know is right and good, God places that desire deep in our hearts because He wants it for us and it honors Him. Maybe there are times when we think a door has been closed and, instead of misinterpreting the circumstances, God wants us to kick it down. Or perhaps just sit outside of it long enough until somebody tells us we can come in.”
God wants us to dream large God-sized dreams. God wants us to sometimes kick doors down. God wants to give us a future with hope. As Jeremiah 29:11-14 says, “11 For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. 12 Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. 13 When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, 14 I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.” Or as it is in 1 Corinthians 2:9, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.” Or as it is in Ephesians 3:20,“Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine.”
We’re not meant to walk this road alone. I want to walk with you and hear your stories so that in the mountain tops and the valleys, we can share with one another, come alongside one another, praying for each other, being church with one another. It’s a crazy cool relay race in the United Methodist Church’s system of itineracy. Joe passed Walter the torch. Walter passed me the torch and I am ever grateful for that torch and the care in which he handed it off. In 1 Corinthians 3:6, “Paul wrote, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” The earth is fertile here at Point Hope and God is indeed in your midst making things grow and making all things new. I trust God to rock our socks off! That’s the beautiful and crazy gift of having life in Christ. You follow where God has called you, no matter that you’re too old to have kids, like Abraham, no matter if you’re a prostitute, like Rahab, no matter the speech impediment like Moses, no matter if you don’t want to, like Jonah, no matter if you’re left in a foreign land with your mother in law, like Ruth…and that’s just the Old Testament. The Bible is chock full of stories about God doing extraordinary things with ordinary people. God didn’t stop writing stories two thousand years ago. I’m reminded of the Big Daddy Weave song that weaves in the hymn “This is my story, this is my song.” The lines are
If I told you my story
You would hear hope that wouldn’t let go
If I told you my story
You would hear love that never gave up
If I told you my story
You would hear life but it wasn’t mine
If I should speak then let it be
Of the grace that is greater than all my sin
Of when justice was served and where mercy wins
Of the kindness of Jesus that draws me in
To tell you my story is to tell of Him
We all have a story and when we take a moment in our busy lives to catch our breath and let the God that came and dwelt among us have room in our lives, we create room for God to share with us. If you’re thinking you don’t have a story, ask God and God will reveal your story. Or if the problem is not you not knowing, but getting it out or just not telling it, than Marianne Williamson says it this way, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be. You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” Let your light shine that the world may see and know. If we all share our lights together – we will – with God’s strength – rock their socks off!
I had no idea before the age of 30 that my story would include a brain tumor, but I know I have life, indeed abundant life in Christ. Not just surviving but thriving. Too often I hear that we’ve just got to get through high school or college or grad school or we have to get our first job or get married or have children or retire to figure out what in the heck to do with our lives, but God doesn’t want us to let life pass us by so that we’re only barely surviving. God wants us to thrive. Jesus didn’t come so we could have a complacent life. He came for us to have abundant life.
I want each of us to be a part of God’s larger. Broader story, in our own particular way, with our own spiritual gifts, strengths or weaknesses that God works for good. Look under your chair, some of you might have peeked already, and that’s perfectly okay. This is to basically sum up my sermon and it was made by one of my favorite artists Suzanne Vinson. Here’s the full quote from Frederich Buechner.
“The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn’t have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It’s for you I created the universe. I love you. There’s only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you’ll reach out and take it. Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too.”
I would like you to take this with you. Keep it in your wallet or in your dashboard or on your bathroom mirror. Let it be a reminder that nothing can separate you from the love of God and God’s abundant grace, and though beautiful and terrible things will inevitably happen, we are not to fear, because we know the One who spoke things into existence, who is our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. Amen. Let us pray.
* Music that I was listening to while I wrote this sermon. TobyMac “Move” Hawk Nelson “Drops in the Ocean” “Lord I Need You” Lauren Daigle “Trust In You” Sidewalk Prophets “Prodigal” Ryan Stevenson “The Eye of the Storm” Aaron Shust“Ever Be” Hollyn “Alone”
A friend from high school sent me a facebook message the other night and her question gets at something I think that many of us struggle with. We each wonder about these things and reconcile it within us in different ways.
“Hey Narcie I hope you are doing well. I am sitting home tonight watching a special on 9/11. I’m not trying to question God but how did all those good people die that day? There are a lot of bad people in this world and they are still here. I know you aren’t suppose to question God. I just don’t understand and thought you could help me. Thanks for your time.”
My Response:
“I think God is big enough for all of our questions and that God welcomes those questions. Faith is faith, but it’s not blind faith where if you question – than you’re wrong or punished or unfaithful. We all have times of questioning God, especially whether God is good all the time or why terrible things happen or even just the mildly sucky things. I believe (and thankfully the United Methodist Church/Wesleyan theology believes) that God is good. God is a loving and just God and those two things can both be true. That when Adam and Eve made their choices in the garden and sin entered the world, that with that came free will and our choices for good and bad. That free will means that sometimes really evil people do terrible things – like crash planes into buildings or kidnap people, etc. It also means that all of creation is fallen as well – ie. earthquakes, tsunamis, etc. Remember that text where Jesus is on a boat in the storm, and he “rebukes” the wind and the waves? If you were in control of everything, you wouldn’t have to rebuke it, right? It’s not saying that God can’t do whatever God wants – God is God. All powerful, all knowing, all present. God can paint the sky purple with green stripes if God wants. But it does to me mean that God doesn’t directly cause everything to happen. God is not some puppet master. God let’s us make choices and the people around us make choices, and consequences arise from those choices.
That doesn’t mean that God doesn’t work good out of the situations – because God does work things together for good. That doesn’t mean that God doesn’t care. Because God cares intimately about all of us. God wants to love and be in relationship with every single one of us. God hurt with those people. God hurts with the families still grieving. God is present with us in all the good, the bad, and the ugly.
That also doesn’t mean that God’s turning a blind eye and just set this thing in motion and then walked away. Now – I do wonder why God “allows” some things to happen and others not to. Or why it seems that God answers some prayers or miracles happen in some places, but not others. But I also know that we don’t always understand everything and that what we think are answers aren’t always…as well that consequences are consequences, even if it’s something we had nothing to do with. Yes, it’s not fair and yes, it sucks sometimes. And I think it’s fine if we say that. God knows that we feel that way. It’s not like we’re fooling God. God knows what we’re thinking and our hearts. And it’s not like people go around cheering saying, “Heck yes, I have cancer!” or “Isn’t it awesome that God made my husband cheat on me.” But we do wonder, why these things happen and how all of this works. We wonder about order and control and what all of it means. What I know for sure and for certain, our God is a God who loves us. God wants to know us. God doesn’t cause hurtful things to happen, but God walks with us and gives us encouragement and strength and grace and peace and perseverance in the midst of it all.
And the most beautiful thing for me – is that good does continue to win. Good does continue to conquer. And it happens all the time. Maybe not in ways that we want or expect, but eventually, sooner or later – God wins. Evil is defeated. Whether in this life or the next – evil is no more. And that’s pretty freakin awesome. When I go on trips or hear people’s stories and I see people who have had absolutely no reason to believe in God because they’ve had a cruddy time of it and yet they continue to persevere and believe – it’s amazing to me. I think that’s awesome. It’s a witness to us all. I also though think it’s awesome that we have a God that wants to know us and welcomes us as we are – whether angry, sad, questioning, frustrated or anything else. We each have adversity to deal with, some of us more visible than others, but we keep pushing through trusting in grace and love – even when we doubt the heck out of it.
Hope that makes sense. Prayers as we all wrestle with this today and in all that we do.”
What do you think? How would you answer the question?
One of my absolute favorite parts of being able to advocate for campus ministry for two weeks at General Conference 2012 was getting to know amazing campus ministry colleagues from around the connection as we lived together in two homes in Ybor City.
First of all, if you’re with people for 24 hours a day for two weeks – eating together, sharing living space, driving back and forth together, taking breaks together – you get to know them really well. In the midst of legislative committees and watching debate you find out really quickly where people stand.
We had specific legislation that we were tracking that related to campus ministry and advocating was a lot of what was on our agenda as members of the United Methodist Campus Ministry Association (UMCMA). One of the other things that was a goal of ours was to make campus ministry visible and to tell a positive collective story. We did this by handing out awesome buttons, cards, creating a prayer station for delegates, helping staff “Higher Education and Ministry night,” and overall telling the story to anyone we saw. When we first arrived at the Tampa Convention Center we were constantly being stopped by someone that one of us knew. I might not know that person from Cal-Pac but chances are that Rob or Alissa did. I might not know that person from Iowa, but there’s no doubt in my mind that West and Paul did. By ourselves we have our own contacts, but together we handed out buttons to people from all over our church.
It was beautiful.
It was amazing sharing in the Monday night Higher Ed reception and getting to talk to our African brothers and sisters about campus ministry, while spreading the word about all of the critical and necessary work that our general agencies do on behalf of those of us that don’t look quite like a typical local church.
Our collective voice is so much stronger when we come together.
This is not to say that we didn’t have some disagreements. I realized quickly those first few days in the house that I was the only one from the SEJ (Southeastern Jurisdiction) or SCJ (South Central Jurisdiction) and we are not always the rest of the church’s favorite group of people. Yes, my name is Narcie and I’m a member of the SEJ but I don’t want to squash your voice, I’m not an old white man, and I can jam and have a good time right along with the rest of you. Just having that back and forth dialogue about perceptions was critical in all of us knowing and understanding each other better. I’ll never forget Alissa, a Clairmont graduate, and Richard, an Asbury graduate, getting to know each other and bonding saying that they should stand up on the floor of General Conference, say where they went to seminary and that they are friends, and then drop the microphone. I’ll never forget my mom as I drove her to the airport saying that getting to know everyone and talking to everyone helped her understand so much more about campus ministry and our connection, and her then sharing that she now understood why sometimes people look at our name badges that say South Carolina and they don’t have the happiest look on their faces.
You see as we all have learned, have said, and know it to be true that – it’s all about relationships. It’s a heck of a lot harder to try to demonize someone if you’ve shared a meal with them. It’s a heck of a lot harder to shut your ears and ignore someone if you’ve been living with them for a week and you have a whole other week to go.
The reason we handed out so many buttons and had voices at many of the tables is because we had formed relationships with many of these people and in our crazy world of Methodism there’s not many a time when you can’t figure out some kind of connection with someone. That’s one of the beauties of campus ministry – we know it’s all about relationship. We know that this most sacred “work” and journey comes out of community. We have seen students that fundamentally disagree with each other on many levels come together around the communion table. We have seen people join together in a common cause whether on a mission trip, local service, or outreach. We know that’s where transformation takes place.
So those two weeks – although they were crazy and I still have a hard time articulating the insanity – were a gift. They were an absolute gift from God. Because whether we agreed or disagreed or whether our “side” won or lost, we all came together at the end of the day as one and we all were hopeful and ready to start the next day as we piled into the cars to head back over.
My campus minister during his retirement speech said that the only way to live life is in community and I couldn’t agree more. What if instead of living out of hotel rooms for two weeks, delegates lived in community with each other or with others in the local community? What if instead of just sitting at tables together and making quick introductions, committees and sub-committees actually shared meals and got to know one another before lines are drawn? What if we could re-create the schedule of General Conference completely and the focus not be on the “business” but on building relationships with one another so that the work and ministry flowed naturally out?
I hope that the community built in two lovely little homes in Ybor continues to bridge into the rest of our church. I know one thing for sure – we’ll be getting some houses for Portland. After this special time with colleagues and the perspective of being a little bit out of the bubble – I wouldn’t have it any other way.
It’s been an interesting process the past couple of days as our search committee at Winthrop Wesley interviews candidates for the Director/Campus Minister job. I have been thankful to not be directly a part of the process and able to spend time at the end of each candidate’s interview times being able to answer questions and affirm them.
What I’ve found from a lot of them as well as from some of my current and former students is that our church is not always in the practice of affirming our young, capable and qualified leaders if their calling is something other than that of the local church.
As a member of a District Committee on Ministry and as someone who was loved and affirmed in my calling and in this process, I’ve seen some of this from both sides. I felt some of this as someone going through trying to articulate something that didn’t necessarily include a steeple or a pulpit. But, call me crazy, I thought that with all of the research talking about young people going into ministry and with it being over 10 years since I went through our process that things had gotten better. That committees and boards were more open to young people seeing church in sometimes different ways and wanting to live out their calling in ways that doesn’t always fit the life-long career path of previous generations.
I have people tell me all the time that they feel called to campus ministry and want to work with young people but that their committees on ministry or their senior pastor or those giving them counsel on how to get larger appointments with higher paying salaries warn against this because of their career or how they’ll be perceived or pigeon holed asking questions like, “Why would you waste your gifts there?” Yes, I have really heard this.
It feels like we just want to lift up people that look like and talk like us…40 years ago and we want them to follow our exact life map. We’re talking about the Call to Action and vital congregations and I’m all about us having that conversation, but changing our general agencies in no way completely solves the problem of our relevance or our connection with the world. If we ask the same questions that we asked 40 years ago and we expect the same answers, leaving no room for change or growth or a flip the script moment, we’re setting ourselves up for great failure. Not as a Church, not as a body of Christ, not as a movement but as a system – a structure that exists to continue its existence.
In contrast to all of this our amazing intern Erica just got back from her interview process with the General Board of Global Ministries for the Mission Intern program, which would train her to be a missionary 16 months internationally and 16 months domestically. She had an awesome experience. She felt affirmed. She felt heard. She felt like it was actually intentional and discerning and open…and she is bubbling from the experience! Hers is not the most traditional road to ministry, but it is such a rich and wondrous thing to witness. It’s exciting. It gives me hope for our church. Hearing about her wanting to share the Good News of Christ makes me excited that the United Methodist Church sends out missionaries all over the world – with all of their quirks, oddities, diversity, and high caliber!
I want to be able to encourage young people into ministry – whether ordained or in great UMVIM or GBHEM or World Race or whatever opportunities. I want to know that yes, they are questioned and people help them discern and give them counsel, but I also want them to be affirmed that God has called them to serve God’s kingdom – not in a particular venue or in specific cookie cutter ways. Not hating on the cookie cutters because I love them and I am related to them, but we’ve got to lift up our young people and listen to them and hear their hopes, dreams, and passion. We’ve got to see and believe, not just say that all of these ministries are not just valid but just as “important” as the other. And this can’t just happen in our campus ministries. Our students can’t just be affirmed here, in the safety of our communities. The larger church has to be willing to affirm this calling as well and there has to be room made at the table.
I’m sitting here listening to Erica tell two of our students about her experience and what she could possibly do and it’s so contagious that we all need to hear it. We all need to hear this joy and passion. We all need to have a chance to sit down with a group of young people and listen to how they see the world and how they view the church.
So a huge thank you to all of those who have affirmed some of us crazy folks that love the local church – absolutely love it – but are called to serve in a variety of ways. A huge thank you to those that see quality, solid people and don’t say things like – you don’t want to serve there, you want to be able to move up our system, why would you waste your gifts with such a transient and changing group. A huge thank you to those that support these crazy ministries that we do and who believe in the work that we are doing. A huge thank you to our advocates who have stepped into the gaps, who have tried to translate for us, and who have journeyed with us.
May each of us experience times of affirmation and calling, as well as time of challenging and questioning. AND may we as a church realize that some of our larger struggles are not just structural, but so much more. Help us Lord to not just break glass ceilings in our particular ministries but may the greater church realize the gifts, graces, and beautiful ministry that is happening throughout our connection as we seek the already and not yet of your kingdom.
There’s something about that saying, “I want to go home.” We’ve been at the beach this past week with my fam and the kids had a blast playing in the ocean and the pool and going to the inlet to see Aunt Guyeth and catch crabs and play with Nemo the dog. It was a great week. But it’s funny, every time Enoch would get tired or cranky or even not get his way, he would say, “I want to go home.”
Now that didn’t mean that he really wanted to go home. We would ask him if he wanted to pack everything up and get in the car, and of course he said no. But there’s something about saying, “I want to go home.”
This past Wednesday parsonage families across the South Carolina Annual Conference moved. These families are always close to my heart during this time of year because I remember how that was as a preacher’s kid in a parsonage family myself. I don’t attempt to speak for all preacher’s kids because we all have different experiences and see things differently, but for me “home” was a big concept.
In the early years, my two brothers and I were sent to our grandparents house while Mom and Dad moved everything from one house to another. They would set up our rooms with the our “stuff” and toys in them and it would feel a little more like home by the time we got there. In one of these first houses, apparently I wrote my name and our phone number on the mattress in my bedroom in case it got lost. I didn’t realize that not even the bed came with us and this was a running joke for the family that came after us.
We’ve gone down the road of explaining to people, yep, in our church one family moves out in the morning and another family moves into the parsonage in the afternoon. For some reason, that’s a hard one for people to get. It is a little strange.
As we got older we knew that when Mom started playing Steven Curtis Chapman’s “For the Sake of the Call” that we better get ready to move. The Spring around the Cabinet convening time was always a time of anticipation/nervousness/fear that this would be the year when we moved. And different families do this so many different ways in terms of how it’s communicated to kids, how the transition is made, how much of your own furniture goes, preparing the child to move, etc.
Now I want say that every move was great. Or that every transition was smooth. Or that each of us felt the same way about each place we lived. There were definitely highs and lows and everything in between at each place. But however we were taught to understand it, we knew that we were moving and that this wasn’t just something that was Dad’s job – it was his calling and that God would take care of us too. Does that mean everything was always sunny and rosy? Nope. But I think I can speak for Josh and Caleb as well when I say that we wouldn’t be the people we are today if not for all of these experiences.
Even those times when we would say, “I want to go home.” And that home be a house that now had another family living in it at our old church. Some clergy couple friends have said that their daughter is having a hard time saying goodbye to her friends and her school and I totally get that. It’s hard and tough and not fun. And not all of us cope well. Not everyone makes new friends easily and wants to leave the old town behind, but I think there are a great many of us that learn some things about ourselves along the way – making new friends, being able to talk to a wide variety of people, seeing different places and different communities and how different churches work, and all sorts of things that are just engrained.
So blessings on those this week in between “homes” and trust that not just home is where the heart is but home is also where you make it and how you create it. Even if it’s the one picture hung on the wall or that one stuffed animal or everyone being together. May we know and trust that our home is with God and that it’s not just something we cling to when we’re scared or angry or things aren’t going our way, but is something that is eternal and can’t be taken from us. May we feel it and may we know it.
Prayer for Moving Preacher’s Kids
Lord Jesus, please bless all of these children moving this week whether they’re toddlers to teenagers. Give them peace and strength and courage as they move from place to place. Help the move be an easy one. Give them the friends that they need and the comforts and hope they need for them to feel at home. Create a haven and shelter for them in this new place and a community of faith and support to surround them and lift them in this time of transition and uncertainty. Provide the teachers, youth leaders, people that will give them that word of encouragement and will nurture and help them grow into the people you created them to be. Give their parents strength and clarity and the rest they need to not only be pastors and leaders but also spouses and parents. Give them the time and priorities and balance of both church and family and the vision and tenacity to know what needs to happen when. Help these families find the special things that they need and locate the right box or restaurant or grocery store or park. Give them not just a physical house, but a real and spiritual home. Help make their way easier and for them to know and trust in your providence and love for them. Surround them in your grace and peace that they may be wrapped in your mercies anew each day. In your name we pray. Amen.
Y’all know I’m a lover of Broadway and with all of the Tony’s it received Sunday night – I’m not the only one who thinks The Book of Mormon is one of the funniest and heart-felt musicals to hit Broadway in a while.
The story follows Elder Price and Elder Cunningham as they are sent to Uganda, Africa. Elder Price really had his heart set on Orlando, but they’re sent to Uganda. All sorts of hilarity as well as the tension of real issues of faith, theodicy and how to deal with the crud of life ensues.
One of the songs at the beginning of the musical that highlights Elder Price’s being the shining star of all things and his belief that he’s going to rock anything he does is called “You and Me (But Mostly Me).” I think it says a ton about how we see ourselves in ministry sometimes. Rev. Bob Howell during his leadership seminar during Annual Conference talked about the Lone Ranger who have heard about a ton in the old model of ministry. In the midst of an election year, there’s always a bit of the sense of self-promotion or arrogance or those type words that get thrown around. Thoughts like – but I’m smarter than the person or have put more years of service in or have a harder appointment or would study harder or would be more balanced or am wiser than so and so. There’s a sense of competition or a if this person gets this, what does that say about me kind of thing that takes place sometimes. I don’t entirely know how we combat that, but I feel like a lot of it is setting a tone that we are all in this together and that it’s for the good of the church.
Who wouldn’t want to be the one to do this big thing??? That’s sort of what the song is saying. But you know – how much more powerful and contagious is an entire movement??? I don’t see the GC and JC folks we elected as having these shiny halos or spotlights on them like movie stars, but as servants of the church that stepped up and who are making decisions in the church with all of us. The thing about the present and future of our church whether you’re a death tsunami-er or a let’s die to live person or a let’s just get the Spirit of God moving and continue growing into what it means to be Church-er, we all want the same thing. Or at least I hope we are. I don’t care if one person or a body of people or what I’d like – a movement of people – begin this renewal, reformation, outpouring of the Spirit, commitment to prayer, spiritual practices and the scripture – putting it all into action. We just need to do it. To live it. To breathe it. To commit to it. To prayerfully and intentionally go forward.
We are all in this together. Whether fresh out of seminary, whether just commissioned or ordained, whether second career, whether retired, whether right in the middle of our pastoral ministry, whether young or old or not wanting to be classified as either, whether man or woman, no matter where we are on our journey or what we may look like.
How do we feel when the person beside us is lifted up? What are our motivations? What role or part can we play in our particular time and place? What does renewal in The United Methodist Church look like? Not just what’s a vital congregation or Call to Action, but what does renewal and revival look like where you are? What are the gifts and graces given to each of us? How can those be used? Instead of just hearing and absorbing what we hear and learn and are inspired by, what are our next steps?
For some of us, we hear these inspiring things at conferences or on podcasts or in articles and we’re so tired and worn out and blah from the day to day or the uphill battles, that it’s hard to go forward. See, the thing about being lone rangers and thinking it’s all about us, is that we forget that we’re all in this together. Not just a cliche or a good thing to throw out there in theory or during a presentation, but seriously. Is there someone that you can be for real with and can bust open the good, the bad, and the ugly, and you know it will be okay? Who do we depend on to be our church?
This is not just a “but mostly me” but something that if we are to survive, if we are to be a stronger, healthier, more grounded body – we’ve got to be supporters, advocates, confidants, friends to each other.
This isn’t just the church or ministry folk, but all of us. It’s not about this congregation or that. It’s not just about shuffling our membership to churches as we like the pastor or not or the youth program or not or that they talk too much about money or focus too much on social justice. It’s about what’s essential and what the mission of the Church is. How do WE make disciples? How are WE in ministry WITH the community? How are WE growing and learning and changing and praying and leading and growing?
It’s a heck of a lot more exciting and a lot less pressure when it’s not just all about me, but about all of us. Let’s celebrate that.
How and why do we make it all about us??? What are some assumptions and world views that might change if it’s not so me-centric? What does the Bible say about all this me stuff??? How is evangelism a whole new ball game when it’s just about you, but it’s about the world?
Annual Conference this year was both a whirlwind and a marathon. Busy-ness or business was everywhere and it was both challenging and inspiring, a call to action and a test of will as we waited/persevered to the end.
I’m starting to think I’ve become more and more emotional as I grow older. There were several times over this past week when I felt tears come to my eyes. Some of those times were times of happiness and thanksgiving – feeling the Spirit move as Telley preached at Annual Conference, Josh’s ordination, the prayerful and powerful way our South Carolina delegation laid hands on Dad and prayed over him after unanimously deciding he would be our episcopal nominee. There were so many great moments from the teaching to the preaching to the videos shared like this:
It was also a great time to camp out for Imagine No Malaria and to train some amazing Students In Mission (SIM) to commit their summers to being in mission = ministry with. Much to be joyful about!
Sometimes the tears were both thankful and a little bit of just overwhelming gratitude. It was surreal being back at Annual Conference this year. Last year, I came in for two days right before the brain surgery and although some probably thought I was insane for coming, for me, it was my church. The conference – both lay and clergy – are our people and that’s where we as a body share our joys and concerns. I didn’t realize going into this how much being back at conference would bring up for me in terms of last year’s struggle.
We sang the song, “In Christ Alone” during the opening worship and those words and all of us a large body singing together was such a powerful witness and testimony to the love and providence of God. (A video and lyrics are below.) I’m glad we also sang this song during the ordination. What a powerful song for our commissioned members and ordinands.
My mom’s birthday is June 11th and the brain surgery (left frontal craniotomy) was on her birthday last year. There’s a part of me that would love to forget that date and not have any mark or reminder of it. There’s another part of me that knows that it was everyone’s prayers and the grace of God that brought me through and it should be celebrated. Don’t know which one is winning yet. The jury is still out. I get teary just typing about it. Does that mean I haven’t fully dealt with it yet? Could be. Too soon? Maybe, but not entirely. Does that mean that was a mucho grande big deal and it’s still crazy to me that all of that happened a year ago and wasn’t just a bad dream? Yes. It’s hard to believe that that was me and if I didn’t have my lovely scar that I worry about getting sunburned, I might forget.
It’s hard to process things. There’s a certain grief and emotion that swells up when you least expect it sometimes. And it happens to all of us. I was sitting in the Memorial Service for ministers that have gone to be with God over the past year on Mom’s birthday on the anniversary of my brain surgery and I just couldn’t do it. I got through the sermon but the slide show of the pictures just did me in. It’s always been a powerful service to me since in my mind the South Carolina Annual Conference is my home/my church and I know that one day there will be a service for each of us. And there goes a Sandi Patti song and slides of the pastor that helped during my Gandaddy’s funeral and I have to head on out. Even in the midst of the thanksgiving for life, even in the midst of the joy of the swelling of the Spirit, even in the midst of realizing that nothing can pluck any of us from God’s hand – there’s still both the realization that something really scary and really serious happened and a something that’s even beyond the word thanksgiving that describes that depth of feeling behind all that could have been and is now.
As I think about those that have faced such devastation in the storms and floods this year, those that have lost loved ones, those that are facing moves and transitions, those that are searching for hope and a rock to lean on when it feels like the walls are closing in around you – I know that the great Comforter is at work in our world and is blowing, inspiring and surrounding us every step of the way. I am grateful that it is in Christ alone our hope is found and that we will never be turned away from it. It’s available to each of us.
What are you grieving today? What are your struggles? When’s the last time you felt that ground swell of emotion? How do we see the Spirit at work in our world? What are the fears and frustrations that we’ve held on to and not given over to God? What are those buttons of grief that can be turned in to sources of joy in our lives?
We are given songs or videos or movies or sermons or scriptures or friends or emails or a beautiful tree or the melody of the ocean or the stillness and quiet to claim as our promise from God. It’s there waiting for us. May we open ourselves to the Word God would speak to us this day. May we claim it and know it and feel it to the depths of our souls. May we know and trust.
In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless Babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live, I live
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin?s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ
No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From a life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Could ever pluck me from His hand
Til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I stand
I will stand, I will stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground, all other ground
Is sinking sand, is sinking sand
So I stand
One of my favorite places to worship and reflect is Tillman Chapel in the Church Center Building across the street from the United Nations. I like so many things about it from the stained glass, to the religious symbols, and the beautiful words inscribed from the Gospel of Luke chapter 19:42, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace!” It’s appropriate across the street from the United Nations and it’s appropriate as we take students on UM seminars to learn about people other themselves from places other than their homes facing circumstances that they may never face. It’s also appropriate for us as we go about the tug and pull of the life of Christ in light of recent events.
While I was in ethics class in seminary, my brother Josh was living with us at the time and offered me great food for thought as we went back and forth over issue after issue. We’re both pretty stubborn and because I love and respect him, I could hear things that challenged me and that I didn’t entirely agree with, that I would chew on for awhile. Josh fits in well with the belief that The United Methodist Church is a peace church. He does and we need people like him. Even as he walked in a few minutes ago and I’m telling him about so many people posting on this, he has no hesitation in saying not just that we shouldn’t rejoice, but that we shouldn’t kill. Violence does not solve violence. I’m the one when watching the horror movie or drama on tv or when someone I love is hurt violently or tragically, that jumps to the let’s take action – go get ’em! – shoot the person already, etc. When watching it in the movies of course you want the person being stalked by the killer to get away and the killer to be brought to justice, and we cry for justice just as much in “real life” as well. It’s such a fine line between justice and wanting people to answer for what they have done and for the pain they have caused, and letting yourself be swept away by the hate that knows no bounds and just seems to be spraying everywhere.
I was a senior in college when 9-11 happened. I got engaged the night before the attack and it was a beautiful September morning as I left for class. In my first class of the day, English with Dr. Jones, we talked a little bit about someone having heard on the radio that a plane had accidentally flown into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. We continued on with class thinking that it was just an accident. By the time I went to my 9:30 class, History with Dr. Silverman, he had turned on the television in the classroom and as we watched, we saw the towers fall. I remember girls in my class holding up my hand to look at my engagement ring as we watched all of this from the classroom. That class was then cancelled and I made my way over to The Wesley Foundation where my then fiancee Mike and my campus minister Jerry were sitting in the living room watching everything on the television. I remember our silence and our disbelief, our fear and our sadness, our uncertainty and our anger. I remember having class that afternoon in Plowden Auditorium and our education professors led by Dr. Dockery and Dr. Vawter saying that we were not going to let terrorists disturb our day to day lives. We were not going to give them the satisfaction and we were going to have class anyway. I remember talking to the junior high youth group that I led and trying to answer their questions in youth and Sunday school about what had happened and where was God in the midst.
Over the years, as the anniversaries have come up, I’ve talked more and more to students and heard their stories from that day. Many of them were between 8 and13 or so. Hearing their perspectives and how this event has shaped their lives has been illuminating and fascinating to see how such a big event has shaped so much. I try to think back to what I would have remembered at that age and I think about the Oliver North trials or for me, pivotal was the falling of the Berlin Wall in 1989. It was the first bit of big news I actually remember. When I think about our 9 year olds today and how they perceived the news Sunday night that Osama bin Laden had been killed, I wonder what their stories will be. Was their family elated, throwing a spur of the moment party, as many of our students on campuses were doing? Did their family solemnly watch the news, thankful that it was over and that justice had been done? What did they think about the reactions of the press, of facebook, of their classmates or teachers? What did their friends say?
Over the past days watching facebook light up the first night with so much passion and excitement about someone’s death and then over the last few days with scripture and sayings in response to that fervor, it’s been a study to watch the polarity. I admit my own feelings are pretty mixed. As Mike and I were watching the Celebrity Apprentice Sunday night (yay Lil John won $40,000 more of the United Methodist Children’s Home in GA) we saw the interruption bulletin and we thought it was about Kadafi. When they then said that it was about bin Laden we were floored. We, the United States, finally got him. All of the families who lost loved ones in 9-11 finally get at least that much closure. Yep, I was happy that that part of the story was over. I watched families talk about their loss of loved ones and the pain that they still feel on the morning news. I saw all of the commentators and military personnel talk about this as a shot in the arm for our military. I’m not speaking at all against any of that. We do need to support our military – the actual people – the ones that are suffering and fighting for us – whether we agree with the military action or not. We do need to support these families and all of those affected by 9-11. We as pastors do need to journey with our congregations and the mix of emotions they feel. We do need to be mindful and intentional and praying for wisdom and discernment as we offer words in the days and weeks ahead.
But even as my most patriotic go get em’ self, I pause at all of the fervor surrounding this. As Mike and I sat on the bed and watched this unfold, he looked at me and said, if you ever wanted to know what a lynch mob looks like, look at facebook. There’s something about band wagons that make me pause whether it be jubilation expressed or scripture expressed or even the sayings of MLK that end up not being entirely true. Some say we shouldn’t post anything at all to facebook because it’s not a real place of dialogue, you don’t know what people really mean, or can’t hear the emotion in their voice, etc. But I feel like it is a place for us to engage and can be meaningful and insightful if we let it be. It’s definitely interesting to see the wide diversity of some of our thoughts and opinions especially within the Christian faith.
Several of my students posted scripture yesterday and sayings and I was glad that they were in the mix. The lovely Ashlee Warren posted the quote, “An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.” They were participating in the discussion. They weren’t just sitting back, but were speaking up. I was sitting back. I didn’t even want to check facebook to see what was being bantered about. But then I began to see that there were other people struggling to figure out how to feel or how to articulate a Christ who turns the other cheek and shows us the way of the cross. This is a Christ who challenges us in Matthew 5 verse 43 (also echoed in Luke 6), “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” It’s hard to argue with that. It’s hard to reconcile that to some of our feelings. You can’t make that statement easy. As much as I’m relieved that bin Laden is gone and that his reign of terror is over, I know that there are more stepping up to the plate. I hope that his death will affect this “war” on terror in profound ways in turning terrorists away from their intentions and that they are discouraged and are brought to new life and peace in real, just and deep ways. I also hope it helps us in thinking about “what makes for peace” as Jesus cries in Luke.
What makes for peace? Does demonizing someone (a country, faith, race, person, gender, sexuality, region, political party, education, or skill) make for peace? Does killing innocent people as was done in 9-11 make for peace? Does making blanket statements and assumptions about people without actually trying to engage in real dialogue and not just bullying people into buying in, make for peace? Does hanging out with like minded people that always agree with us and being comfortable in our recliners with either our beer or our hot tea or our fair-trade coffee, make for peace? Does throwing out scripture or quotes or opinions without being ready to stand up for them, apologize for them, or at least engage with others on them, make for peace? If we continue down this road, it’s hard to know what we do that makes for peace in this world, where are we culpable and where we accept responsibility.
And yet, I find Christians wrestling with these things and struggling to find integrity in the midst of this event, as something that gives me hope. I have been proud of my fellow United Methodist and other clergy as they have posted on both sides of this issue, as they have challenged each other and their parishioners, as they have stood up as sometimes a still small voice articulating and being a voice in the midst. To me, us being in dialogue and engaging in the world showing that as Christians we sometimes disagree, we sometimes struggle with how to respond, we sometimes are counter cultural and other times struggle with a voice – this, this engagement has been breathtaking to see. It has gotten our blood flowing and our brains firing and our hearts hopefully turned to what it means to have peace and justice and hope and grief and remembering and rejoicing and what it will be in a time and a place where war will be no more.
I can’t help but think of 1 Corinthians 13 and the love described there. I hope that in the days and weeks ahead that we as clergy offer not fuel for hate, but fuel for love. I don’t mean a love in a sunshine, flowers and rainbows, pansy type of love. I mean a full, robust, no holes barred, Jesus is all in and extending grace to each of us, kind of love. I hope that the scriptures that challenge us or our own feelings that make us a little uncomfortable will spur us on for more study and for more discovery and journey. My prayer is that we will continue to search and act and live the ways that make for peace in our hearts, in our homes, in our church, in our country, and in our world.
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
13If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast,* but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end.9For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12For now we see in a mirror, dimly,* but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
Blessings on the Journey 