Down To Business

January 13th (WOW, already a half-month of 2025 has gone!) is a reminder of what Gordon Lightfoot writes in a song ... "time doesn't wait for nobody to find what they're after, It just keeps on rolling on down the deep canyons and through the green meadows into the broad ocean." That lyric reminds me of what my friend Jimmy Rane told me one day ... "Daylights a' burning." Time is a finite resource. So ... with a lot of chaos in the world around us, we remember that Jesus said, "You know the saying, 'four months between planting and harvest.' But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for the harvest! (John 4:35)."

There are 3 instructions in what Jesus tells his disciples in this prologue from the story of the Samaritan woman. They are simple, but necessary if we are to proceed with any urgency toward what God is calling us to do.

1. Wake Up - In his Wake Up Call devotional, JD Walt begins each devotion with a prayer. It says, "Wake up sleeper ... rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you!" The prayer comes from Ephesians 5:14, and harkens from passages in Isaiah and Malichi. The Bible is in a constant state of calling God's people to wake up. I did a sermon once called, "I Believe In Zombies." Zombies are, of course, walking, dead people. I see them every day. We walk past the stricken traveler on the side of the road. We walk past the signs, warning us that something is right. We know differently. Last week we sang "Is He Worthy." The first line of the song is a statement and reply ... "Do you think the world is broken? We do!" We see fires, floods, broken people, pettiness, anger, deceit, destruction, and all manners of struggle. Yet, we are content to be a cog in the wheel of time. JD Walt says, wake up! Rise from the dead. We are called and equipped for such a time as this!

2. Look around - Isaiah 43 says, "Behold, I am doing a new thing! Do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert (Isaiah 43:19)!" We know we are living in this time of wilderness. I think we, if we look around, can see and feel the parched desert. God's word has said this would happen. Amos 8:11-12 says, "A time is coming, says the Lord, when I will send a famine upon the land. Not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord!" We HAVE the word of the Lord in the Scriptures we have been given. We HAVE God's Holy Spirit to open, teach, and unpack the word of the Lord. What we are missing is eyes to see and ears to hear. Notice the passage from Amos says ... 'a famine of HEARING the word of the Lord.' I wonder if this is why Jesus (and John in Revelation) frequently say, "Let he who has eyes see and let him who has ears hear." We are called and equipped for such a time as this!

3. See the ripeness of the fields - Here is what we often miss. In our sheltered settings ... in our pristine buildings ... in our preferred styles of worship ... we forget about the mission and purpose. In 2025 I will pound the mission and purpose into our consciousness. Forgive my repetition, but the Mission is to be God's blessing to the world (not just America, which, by the way, isn't hearing/seeing/perceiving our message) ... Genesis 22:18. Our Purpose is to be part of God's plan to "bring people to Himself (Exodus 19:4)."

Wake up! Look around! The fields are ripe! The Church has a mission. The Church has a purpose. Time keeps "rolling on down the deep canyons and through the green meadows into the broad ocean." We worship and follow the Lord of the harvest. Let's get down to business!

Wise Advice

I have an acquaintance who is in charge of a large school system.  He is a good leader, and, best of all, a wise witness to students who share his challenging upbringing.  He didn't rise to his position easily ... it took lots of effort, education, struggle, and hard work.

One day, a person working with students with discipline and learning challenges asked him to speak to these struggling students. They might listen to someone who had similar challenges in education and life.  Here is what he said was the #1 thing that would lead these struggling students forward.  "Do not be, or allow anyone to make you a victim.  Being a victim is a crutch, a cultural sham, and a lie.  It will cause you to focus on how others are the cause of your situation.  Remember ... you are who you choose to be.  If you become a victim, you will never be accountable for anything.  It will always be some other person's fault, and you will live in anger, mistrust, and falseness.  Live and grow past this attitude.  Make choices that will grow you and challenge you.  Work hard.  Be the person you were created to be, and don't let victim mentality take that away from you!"

John 21:21-22 addresses this head-on.  Peter gets in victim mode as he sees John following while he is conversing with Jesus.  Peter asks Jesus, "What about him?"  Jesus (in what seems to me a snarky tone) says, "If I want him to stay alive till I return, what is it to you?  YOU must follow me!"  What is Jesus saying here?

1. Stop coveting - The 10th Commandment (Exodus 20:17) tells us "Do not covet!"  To Peter, Jesus is saying, "Stop diluting your witness, your walk, and your actions based on what other people are doing ... follow me!"

2. Stop worrying - You get the impression that Peter is still caught up in diva mentality ... he wants to be the top dog.  Yesterday Tyrek Hill, Miami Dolphins wide receiver, said, "I want out ... I'm a competitor and I don't want to just go out there and be there."  My comment to brother Hill would be ... "Are you saying that the other players on your team don't desire to win and compete?  Are you saying you are better?"  Peter is part of something bigger than him ... divas are not needed in ministry!

3. Stop sifting life through your perceptions and feelings - Maybe Peter feels threatened by John's relationship with Jesus.  Maybe Peter feels like what happens to John diminishes what Jesus has to offer him.  For a group of students struggling with school and authority, a wise administrator is telling them to drop the concept of sifting their life through what happens to other people.  Work hard.  Trust leaders who are investing in you.  You are not better or worse than other people, but you are different.  Your gifts, when used by the master, are just what the master needs.  Be taught.  Be led. Be you. Be God's.  Be completed by the only one who can complete you.  Let the other doubts, emotional impulses, and Satan-led (yes, I said it!) perceptions be negated by the God who says, "With God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26)."

You say, "Ok pastor ... that is what we stop doing.  What do we do?"  We do to others as we would have them do to us (Matthew 7:12).  We live in the thin place of serving God, washing feet, spending time with the brokenhearted, extending mercy, loving justice, and walking in humility (Micah 6:8, Psalm 34:18, John 13).  We worship with all we got (Psalm 150).  We share the Good News with everyone so that disciples of Jesus are made (Matthew 28).  And, we pray a lot, using our 2 ears more than our 1 mouth (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17).  This should keep us busily doing what Jesus told Peter ... "You must follow Me!"  AMEN

Plain and Beautiful

I was cleaning up after Christmas Eve communion.  The mess was pretty substantial.  But communion mess doesn't bother me.  I think about communion and remember the mess.  That first time in a room with 12 disciples was pretty messy.  It was presented as a different covenant ... a new promise sealed by Jesus' blood.  In fact, it is what "New Testament" means.  It was framed by great passion from Jesus, great confusion by the disciples, and great betrayal by Judas.  Messy!

We are pretty messy too!  While some of us think highly of ourselves, we, as a group, are tarnished, dirty, and (the old song says) poor and needy.  We are carrying the dirt and dust of the world. And though some of us look shiny and pristine, down deep we are all as plain as a ball of clay.  Messy!

It is only appropriate.  The story of Jesus is messy too.  He walked through the dust and dirt of Israel and surrounding areas.  He encountered filthy and demon-possessed people.  He had a run-in with pig farmers.  He ate with sinners and tax collectors.  He met a Pharisee in the dark of night to answer questions, and he talked one of those tax collectors down out of a tree.  He was beaten, jailed, schlepped from one palace to another, and then asked to carry His own cross up a hill.  Messy!

That is one reason why I love our time of communion.  It reminds us of our messiness and the messiness God (in Jesus) endured for our salvation.  One song says it like this ... "It is true we are as fallen as an angel, but you and me, we're also holy as a prayer."  I think God likes it that way.  And, in our communion this Sunday, we will gather with messy people who are bound together by plain wood and simple nails, put together in the shape of a cross.  It was the messiest of deaths.  As two very common substances come together to become a cruel cross, I am reminded of the good and bad uses of plain things.  Some become cruel.  Some become beautiful.  Maybe the choice is ours, as we either become haughty, demanding, and proud, or obedient, submissive, and moldable.  Isaiah pondered this (45:9) when he said, "Does the clay tell the potter, "What are you making?"  The implied question is, do we (the plain, messy ones) tell God (the one we call Lord) what to do and how to do it?

So I will begin this year with an attitude that acknowledges what I am ... a big old mess!  I wonder ... when we meet with our Church Council at NOON today, will we, collectively, have that attitude?  Will we, as leaders here at Abbeville Methodist, see ourselves as plain wood and nails, usable as building materials for something very good?  In the song "Wood and Nails," Audrey Assad ponders the uses of wood and nails.  Will they build little crosses that crucify Christ again?  Will they build coffins, becoming the whitewashed tombs of Scripture?  Or ... in the hands of the great carpenter, will they/be be used to build an unshakable kingdom that will become a blessing to all people?  That would be beautiful, wouldn't it?  We have the capacity to allow either of these 3 options.  What will our choice be?   

What to Keep

A few years back we had a crisis at Abbeville Methodist.  We were setting up for Christmas, with the usual anxiety and chaos.  There are always things that are hard to find.  But we were missing one major thing.  Our long-time baby Jesus was nowhere to be found.  We looked and looked.  Finally, someone found him in one of the upstairs rooms, and all was well.

But I wonder.  As we take down all of the Christmas trappings ... trees, wreaths, candles, nativity scenes ... do we ever throw out the most important thing?  Do we throw baby Jesus out, while carefully storing away the things we use to "dress up" the church?

The Scriptures tell a story about Jesus as a boy.  The story in Luke 2:41-52 tells a Biblical "Home Alone" story in which Jesus is left behind at the Temple.  Our family is particularly connected to this story because we (in Mobile) once left Christopher (my son) at church (I'll unpack that story on Sunday).  Stuff like that happens, and the story from Luke makes me feel less like a bad parent.  But this story reminds us that we must all be attentive to remember the most important thing ... Jesus.

We are entering a new year.  We will take down the Christmas decorations (eventually).  We will put the Cantata books in the file till we bring them out another year.  We will find a new section of hymns in the hymnal, appropriate to either Epiphany, Lent, or Easter.  The Christian year will move on.  But let's remember the baby Jesus that wrapped humanity around Himself, so He could bring us to God's Kingdom, both on earth and in heaven.  If the New Year is about, for, and with Jesus, the year will be good for the Kingdom and glorifying to God.  Don't throw out the baby!  AMEN

Embrace

Last week we asked if we view the manger scene as a "drive-by" or a place we would like to visit.  This week I am asking, "Do you want to embrace the child?"

When I began ministry in 1997, I was a little intimidated at some of the expectations of serving as a pastor.  Funerals, weddings, prayers in the hospital ... it all was just so big!  And I was so small!  But one thing was particularly intimidating ... holding a newborn child.  It was one thing to hold my own children.  Stephanie and Christopher were no less fragile, but they were MY children.  But, when someone hands you a little baby, just into the world, soft and puffy ... WOW!

Sunday, I want to place you in an intimidating and very reverent situation.  When Jesus came into the world (when He moved into the neighborhood), He didn't come as a strapping young man, or as a majestic king.  Jesus came as a newborn infant.  He was small, fragile and very much like those little babies that intimidated me when I was new in ministry.  What I want you to do on Sunday is embrace that little baby.  Hold Him. Take Him in.  Wrap your arms around Him.  And think ... this child is for you and me.  Are you open, willing, and eager to embrace Him?  Or, are you stand-offish, reluctant, and fearful?  "Is there room in your heart ... is there room in your heart ... is there room in your heart ... for God to write His story ... you can come as you are ... but it may set you apart ... is there room in your heart ... for God to write His story?"

Come Sunday, and embrace the child in the manger.  You won't break Him, but if you are open and willing, He will break, reshape and renew you.  Jesus wants you in His story!  AMEN

Encounter

I was reminded, in a Wake Up Call devotional, that we are experts at missing things because we are focused on the wrong things.  We miss miracles, wonders, beauty, sacred moments, and glory, all because our faith is based on what we get instead of who He is.  We miss an encounter with God because we settle for drive-by vs intimate encounters.  JD Walt quotes Elizabeth Barrett Browning, "Earth is crammed with heaven, and every common bush is afire with God, but only he who sees, takes off his shoes ... the rest sit round it and pluck blackberries."  Browning is so on target here!  We go TO church to get ... entertained, comforted, amused, fill in your own blank.  All the while, God calls us to encounter Him ... His glory, His grace, His peace, His beauty, His voice.  And this only happens in those thin places where we are willing to enter into His place.

I have to admit ... I let it happen to me this morning.  During our Christmas Cantata, I spent time with God, mouthing the lyrics, watching the children, thinking about the Scriptures, and seeing Mary, Joseph, angels, shepherds, and wise men (and women), all focused on the manger.  It was an encounter with God, and I felt myself take off my shoes for awhile, and just be a child of God.  Our Sanctuary was "filled with God and heaven."  Then, my mind drifted to a pressing duty.  The benediction and closing.  Would I forget to mention someone?  Would I say the right things, so everyone felt invited to the meal?  Maybe these concerns seem small, even inconsequential to you ... but I know our culture is all into being mentioned, being stroked, and getting attention.  We are taught a lot about picking blackberries, and not so much about taking our shoes off and taking in a God that wants to fill us with His Spirit, His Presence and His Son (that "God With Us" thing).

Here's the thing: My encounter was derailed by my inability to see and talk about heaven all around me, all because I wanted to be everything to everybody except God.  So, I am asking your forgiveness for failing to tell you about the little piece of heaven I saw.  And, I am asking you to take a break from picking blackberries and reflect on the beauty of God's gift to us today.  See the light in the eyes of little girls dressed as angels.  Hear the voices of the choir, the director, and the musicians, as they laid it all out for God.  Think about the over 70 people who were able to see the service online.  Close your eyes and hear the narrator's voice quiver, because those Scriptures meant something to her.  Reflect upon the reverence of the wise men, as they laid down gifts at the manger.  Give yourself permission to imagine Mary and Joseph as all of this was a complete wonder to them.  Ponder how dirty, lowlife shepherds received the greatest gift and honor of their lives.  And think about the words of a song we will sing this coming week ... "Noel, Noel, Come and see what God has done."  And, remember, blackberries aren't in season, but heaven is!

Bells

You might not believe it, but there is actually a "theology" of church bells.  Church bells, because of their loud peals and purity of tone, are thought to 1) drive away evil spirits, 2) expel negative thoughts/attitudes, 3) call people to worship, and 4) announce the "sending" of the saints (this is one way they function at AMC as little girls and boys ring them after service on Sunday).  By any standard, our bells are beautiful and compelling.

Wednesday, our handbell choir will serve at our Community Tree Lighting, and all of the above traditions will be at play.  I expect the bells will ring with purity through the cold evening air.  I hope everyone gathers at this annual "ringing in" the Christmas season!

There is another very American story about bells.  The song, "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day," was written by the great American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  Longfellow's life was marked by several events that shaped the song and offer hope, even to those of us who have lost much.  His wife, the love of his life, was sealing envelopes, in 1861, when the flame ignited her clothing, and she was burned to death.  In 1863, Charley, his son, unknown to Longfellow, joined the Union Army.  Later that year, Charley was wounded in battle.  So Longfellow, with his son barely recovering from the wound, was faced with a Christmas nursing his son back to health, and caring for the 5 other children. On Christmas Day, 1863, he sat down, overwhelmed by war, responsibility, and loss, and did what poets do.  He wrote.  Here are some of those words: 

I heard the bells on Christmas Day, their old familiar carols play. And mild and sweet their songs repeat, of peace on earth, good will to men

And in despair I bowed my head. There is no peace on earth I said.  For hate is strong and mocks the song, of peace on earth good will to men.

Then rang the bells more loud and deep.  God is not dead, nor does he sleep.  The wrong shall fail, the right prevail.  With peace on earth good will to men.

Then ringing, singing on its way, the world revolved from night to day.  A voice a chime, a chant sublime, of peace on earth good will to men.

These words are as true today as they were then.  And, for Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, those bells did all of those things written above.  They drove out evil, expelled negativity, called him into worship, and then sent him out to serve God.  He served well, as we share his song, his hope, and his longing for "peace on earth, good will to men." AMEN