No ... I haven't gone totally crazy (well, maybe I have!). As you look at the blog title you might wonder what these three things have in common. You might also wonder why this title appears in a sermon series about the needed shifts in American churches that will re-center us on the message and mission of Jesus. Well ... here goes!
Lacy is the glue that binds those other two references to my mind and heart. She was a little girl that lived in the house beside us in Kentucky. She was just another little girl, living in a small town with her mama and daddy (the local Sheriff). I think she was the first townsperson I met in Mt. Olivet, and she had something to do with my first act of ministry as a Methodist pastor. We had just moved into the parsonage, and old building with ties to the Underground Railroad and that little town. I heard a knock at the door and little Lacy, forlorn, was standing on the front porch. She said, "Are you the new Methodist Minister?" I said, "Yes." She said, "My cat is in a tree." I followed her across the street, and sure enough there was a small kitten up in a tree. In true, and professional ministerial form, I climbed the tree and scooped the cat into my hand, carrying it down to a happy little girl. I learned two lessons from that story. First, ministry isn't so much about eloquence and expertise ... it is about meeting a need during a time of crisis (there was no Seminary course in tree climbing or cat scooping). Second, ministry is meeting people where they are, just like Jesus did. Jesus (Luke 19) used his pulpit (the street) to get a tax collector named Zacchaeus out of a tree, and out of a life of cheating people. When Jesus left Zacchaeus' house, salvation (Jesus' message of forgiveness) had come to that house!
My next remembrance of Lacy was a 4th of July Parade/Party in Mt. Olivet. The town (go figure) was into racing like the rest of Kentucky ... only not horses. They had built a 4x8 plywood racetrack, complete with lanes. That is where they had the terrapin (turtle) races. Little kids would catch a turtle, enter it into the race, and make noise to scare the turtle into moving. Lacy's turtle was named "flat tire" because it only had 3 legs. Flat tire was not whole, but darned if he didn't win the race! I learned two more lessons from this story. First, people are far too caught up in entertainment for their own good. That turtle race was better attended than Sunday morning church in that little community. Second, things that aren't whole can win the race. Zacchaeus was far from perfect, and he was despised by his own people for the things he had done. But Jesus chose to save him from his sins and to redeem him anyway. Zacchaeus repented and became accountable for his mistakes, and Jesus treated this social outcast like He treated anyone ... for "Jesus didn't come into the world to condemn it, but to save it (John 3:17)."
Both of these stories bring me to our shift for the week ... the shift from popularity to transformation. Jesus' statement in John 3:17 was probably not popular. People were happy to hear they were "chosen" and were also pleased that the law (the teachers/priests) condemned those who were not so popular and not so whole. Lepers, sinners, blind people and Samaritans were all looked down upon for what they had done or what their infirmity suggested they had done. Surely those hurts, pains and conditions were because they or their family had done something wrong. But (if you remember from last week's sermon) God looks at the heart.
The question is, where are our hearts? In many modern churches, the stage and musical performance has become central to the "experience" of Sunday morning. Are our hearts all into the musical ambiance, the beat, the guitar and drums ... or do God's Word and the Holy Spirit speak Jesus to us? Have we become inconvenienced by things like sharing prayers, hurts and the lives of fellow worshippers, or do we embrace the collective struggle that true faith brings? Have we sought to make our congregations convenient, compliant and culturally-correct, but forgotten that carrying our cross and following our Savior involves struggle and work?
I don't know where little Lacy is today. Her family was far more focused on parties, work and the culture of our little town than they were on church. I hope Lacy will one day remember that we are all more like a kitten up in a tree ... lost, afraid and unable to extricate ourselves from the mess we have gotten into. Maybe Lacy will remember that we sometimes need to call on someone to help. Someone who can climb up, scoop us up into His arms, and take us to the safety of solid ground. I hope Lacy found Jesus along the way! Randy
