Between the Waves

If you have been hanging out in the Methodist Church, you should know that there are seasons in the Church year.  Some of these are pretty obvious.  Christmas, Lent, and Easter should be very familiar to you.  Also, Pentecost should be an important day/time in your view of the Church.  But the season we are in, Eastertide, isn't talked about a lot.  Eastertide is the season between Easter and Pentecost.  It is a 40-day period that happens between two very important high points of our liturgical year.  Easter is an obvious peak, as we celebrate the risen Lord.  Pentecost celebrates the birth of the Church, recounted in Acts 2.  So Eastertide is a "between the waves" time.

When I was little, our family would travel to Myrtle Beach every summer.  Dad and I would fish, and Mom and the rest of the family would bask on the beach.  I wasn't much of a beach person, but when I went out on the beach, I would body surf (we couldn't afford a surfboard).  It was a lot of fun to ride those waves in on a windy day, and I was skinny and wiry (not like today) so I was pretty proficient at body surfing.  But in looking back on those days, there were moments of the "high" of riding the waves, and hours of swimming back out, fighting the waves, to get to the next euphoric wave.  Most of the beach time was spent trudging through the push of the waves and the pull of the backwash.

I think that is a bit like life!  We love the peaks.  Waves, vacations, Easter, Pentecost ... the high moments and mountaintops.  But a lot more time is spent in the work and life between the peaks of the waves.

11 disciples are between the waves.  They get glimpses of the glory of God, manifested in the resurrected Jesus.  But these glimpses are moments that happen amid a life that involves uncertainty, peril, persecution, and waiting.  For these 11 disciples, and numerous other followers,  life between the waves can be frustrating.  "When will we see Him again?" "What did He mean when He said He is sending the advocate (John 14:26)?"  "Is there a message embedded in His appearing to us on the seashore (John 21)?"

Between now and Pentecost we will examine life "Between the Waves."  We will look at how we can learn to enjoy, relish, and thrive in these times in the valley of life.  I hope we can learn together, and I hope we will come to find the hope and joy in doing life together ... "Between the Waves."

Where Did The Blood Go?

We, as Christians, and particularly Southern Christians, might be a little focused (maybe rabidly) on the blood of Jesus.  We sing Precious Blood, Nothing But The Blood, Oh The Blood ... you get the point.  Jesus' blood is precious, healing and cleansing.  I had a strange thought as I was reflecting on Easter, the Crucifixion and upon passages like Revelation 12:10-11 ... "And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now is come salvation and strength, and the Kingdom of our God, for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before God day and night.  And they overcame them by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives, unto the death."

Three things stand out from this apocalyptic passage from the middle of a great conflict in heaven and on earth.  The first is the term, "they."  Who are "they?"  My answer ... The Church! Jesus lived, loved, and poured Himself into this mission to save the world through His sacrifice, and the vehicle that He brings into existence, beginning with Matthew 16 is, the Church.  His blood flowed into the ground at the foot of the cross, but His lifeblood flowed into the Church.  And, in Matthew 16, Jesus said, "and the very gates of hell will not prevail against it (the Church)."  Jesus blood flowed into the Church, and they (the Church) overcame them (the minions of evil) "by the blood of the Lamb."

Jesus' blood also flowed into the words of faithful testimony.  Another component of the victory in Revelation 12 is the "testimony of the Saints."  This, to me, highlights the value of the parts of our worship where we share our "stories."  It is the very act of being "living stones" which are witnesses to what God has done.  In the words of Kim Hill, "When I remember what You've done, when I remember the shedding of Your blood, I can't help but worship you!"

She is witnessing to the truth of God's salvation through Jesus!

Finally, Revelation 12 reflects the need to love and live beyond our narcissistic tendencies.  If life or Church is about us, it is not about Jesus or the Bride of Christ.  We are constantly choosing the smallness of self and "ME" or the vastness of God's Kingdom.  The voice from heaven in Revelation 12 proclaims, "Now has come salvation and strength and the Kingdom of God."  Our salvation and the strength to do life, comes from Jesus and being "in the Kingdom."  The Church does life in the beauty and depth of the Kingdom of God (on earth as it is in heaven).  Jesus' blood flows through the river of His Kingdom.

David said, in Psalm 118 ... "The Lord is my strength and my salvation."  The Church of Revelation 12 accepts and applies this strength and salvation by being covered by the blood of the Lamb, by sharing their testimony about the goodness of God, and by living in His Kingdom amid a warring and troubled world.  I don't know about you, but I choose the blood of the Lamb that was slain ... the one who is salvation ... the one who takes away the sins of the world!  AMEN!

The Last Stone

During Lent, we (Wednesday and Sunday) immersed ourselves in the idea of building an altar.  We shared thoughts on God's desire to provide us space to encounter, embrace and worship Him.  It was a time of depth, self-searching and lots of "holy conversation" as we gathered for worship and Bible Study.  This week I want us to think about the last stone on the altar.  What will "top off" this season of reflection and send us off in our journey from Easter to Pentecost?

I had two thoughts about this idea of a final stone to express our love and devotion for Jesus, our Lord and savior.  The first thought is to look into what Jesus did as He also made the journey to the cross and beyond.  Jesus provided a beautiful example of being "all in" to life with His Church, His foot soldiers and His ambassadors.  Jesus laid Himself on the altar.  We heard about it during Holy Week as we remembered.  We cried on Good Friday, as we thought about Jesus carrying our sins and the weight of our transgressions to the cross.  We heard His voice as he cried, "It is finished!"  Jesus' final stone on the altar of total devotion to the Father was Himself!

The second thought (for those of us following "Wake-Up-Call") revolves around Paul's expression of God's love in Ephesians 3:14-21.  In this passage, Paul expresses his desire for the Church to "grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ."  Paul wants us to spend time investing in knowing this Jesus that loved us so much He laid His own body down in death to rescue and redeem us.  Paul considers this endeavor a life-long laying down of self so that he can become more and more rooted in Jesus.

While I don't particularly like the song, the first words of "Are Ye Able" capture Jesus' question to the disciples in Matthew 20.  The song says, "are ye able, said the Master, to be crucified with me?"  In Matthew 20:22, Jesus says, "Are ye able to drink of the cup I drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?"  I think Jesus is asking, "are you willing to get up on that altar with me, sacrifice self and become what I am making you?"  In doing this, we can become so rooted in Jesus that everything else becomes unimportant.  Everything else becomes secondary.  Everything else is placed in its proper priority, and Jesus takes the place He deserves ... first.  By placing yourself on the altar, and giving your will to Jesus, "the things of the earth become strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace."

We (I, me, self) are the last stone!  Randy  

A Long Run

When I was training to run a marathon, I had 2 young children (around 4 and 7).  This presented an obstacle.  We were living in Louisiana, and all of that running didn't always fit into our schedule.  So, I had to get creative.

To get in my training miles, I decided to do something pretty drastic.  I would go to work in the morning and would run home (a little over 10 miles) after work in the Louisiana heat.  It was oppressive and grueling, but it got the job done in the window of time I had available.  I ran and finished that marathon!

In Church work, when Easter is over, most of us take a deep breath and say, "That was wonderful, but I am glad that season is done!"  When I began ministry, the Methodist preachers even had an Easter Monday golf outing in Bonifay.  It was our expression of, "Whew, I'm glad that is done for another year!"

But the story of Jesus reminds us of something this "deep breath of relief" missed.  Easter is not an end ... it is a new beginning.  On Easter morning I preached about the response of 2 women (Matthew 28).  The women meet the resurrected Jesus and they 1) run to Him, 2) embrace Him and 3) worship Him.  This is the 1st of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances and it marks, for us, an example of our response to what Jesus has done.  For the race is long, and the road ahead is filled with the toil of that long journey ahead.  How will we handle that race?

I think we remember this response on Easter morning by 2 women.  In the book of Acts, there is a theme in Luke's writing.  The theme is "continuance."  The early Church doesn't just do one thing and then change to another thing.  They do things continually and repeatedly.  They continue to "run to Jesus" by meeting/worshipping together, studying the Apostle's teaching, and praying.  These are ways this church "startup" and 2 women "run to Jesus."

We run to Jesus ... and we embrace Jesus.  Tell me about the week you have planned.  Do you embrace Jesus with these activities?  If Jesus is "friend," "your solid rock," your "all in all,"  how are you showing that?  In the resurrection, Jesus embraces the whole world with the possibility of forgiveness and eternal life.  He asks for us to believe and embrace Him.

The 2 women worshipped Jesus.  I believe Jesus intends this as a primarily corporate endeavor.  In Acts, the Church is often shown in the context of being "together."  They were together in the Upper Room, awaiting the Holy Spirit.  They were together as they prayed for Peter's release from prison.  they were together when a blind Saul comes to receive sight and a new name, Paul.  We worship Him, and we share the context of fellowship as we share life, light and Jesus.

Life in Christ isn't an event where we make some statement and then go our independent way.  Life in Christ is a journey ... training ... a race.  The race is long and filled with obstacles.  But Jesus, and His Church share that race with you.  And remember, those women had a short-term and long-term destination.  They ran TO Jesus, then and there.  But Jesus was heading off to Galilee, to meet up with His disciples.  That was a destination too!  Then (Acts 1) the disciples are sent to wait together for the coming of the Holy Spirit.  When the Holy Spirit comes the early Church experiences joy, fellowship and a massive persecution ... no good deed goes unpunished, I guess!  But they keep on running the race, even when the course morphs into struggle.

I remember the words of an old Petra song ... "There is a way, that leads to life, the few that find it never die, past mountain peaks, graced white with snow, the way grows brighter as it goes, sometimes a shadow, dark and cold, lays like a mist upon the road, but be encouraged by the sight, where there's a shadow, there's a light."  We have an everyday destination ... Jesus.  We have an eternal destination ... eternity with Jesus.  Let's continue in the faith together!  AMEN 

Do We Get It?

I think all of us love our Easter Music and our Easter rituals.  Here we say, "He is risen," and the enthusiastic response is, "He is risen indeed!"  I love that!  We bring flowers for the cross (please bring lots so the cross will be beautiful).  Jim Carter and I will assemble the tomb, and Jim will place chicken wire on the cross so that the flowers can be placed.  There will be flowers, songs, lots of good music as we gather at 7am for the Sunrise Service, 9am for the Contemporary Service and 11am for the Traditional Service.  There will be a lot of preparation and work that will happen during the week as Andy practices, the Praise Team gathers to make sure all is good, Tina gets our 11am service stuff together, Monica does bulletins, and all of the "behind-the-scenes" things are done.  Most of you never see these things, so I encourage you to tell the participants, "Thank you!"  But in the midst of all of these things, do we get it?

Do we get the magnitude of the resurrection as we sing, "Christ The Lord Is Risen Today ... Lives again our Glorious King, Where O death is now your sting?, once He died, our souls to save, where's thy victory, boasting grave?"  Is this worth our devotion, our priority, our worship?

Do we understand that this event is the culmination of the Good News of the Gospel?  "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17)!"  God has brought us new life, new hope and He has allowed us to put away our old proud, greedy, self-focused self!  Have we put away pride, greed and self?  Has our life in Christ changed our patterns, or do we revert to that person who is supposed to be dead (the one who leaves Christ and follows our emotions)?  Do we get it?

Do we enbrace Christ, or do we embrace our culture that sees Holy Week as a chance to "take a spring break?"  Our community has decided it is a good time for the circus to come to town!  Do we treat Christ and the Church as the driving force, or do we treat them both as an afterthought?  Do we get it?

I am sending this blog early this week.  There will be plenty of details to "put to bed" as next week travels from "Hosanna" to "Crucify Him" to "He is risen, He is risen indeed."  I hope to see all of you, and sing the praises of the Lord Most High!  We will meet for communion Thursday (7pm), and remember His betrayal.  We will meet Friday (7pm), and remember His crucifixion.  We will wait expectantly Saturday and hope in the promise of His resurrection.  We will meet Sunday and sing those beautiful songs that some think are worth their twice-yearly journey inside the doors of the church.  

My prayer for us ... our body of Christ ... our congregation, is this.  That we get the God who is above our culture, above our petty patterns, and, above even death!  That we come, serve, worship, smell, taste and touch the God who is calling, "Come home!"  "He arose!" "He is alive!" And we are the plan to tell the world this Good News!  Will you join me and His Church, as you leave self and follow Him?  Will He change you ... will you get it?  Thanks for listening!

Struggle

We are entering the last week of the Lenten season as we make our journey to the Cross and the Resurrection.  I am mindful and reflective of what a struggle Jesus encountered as he made His way back to Jerusalem and back to a week of shallow praise, deep evil, and beautiful sacrifice.  We will share, together, the stories of this week.

In my devotional time, I read the story of Jacob's wrestling match with God, as Jacob struggled with every aspect of life.  Jacob had brother issues.  Jacob had family issues.  But Jacob also had an identity issue.  In the wrestling match from Genesis 32, Jacob struggles with God all night.  The match ends with God blessing Jacob, but also changing his name to Israel.

As I thought about this story, I thought about something that I hadn't before.  Why did God change Jacob's name?  Here's what I think!

The passage says, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome (Genesis 32:28)."  I think this passage can apply to all who read it.  We all struggle with God.  We all struggle with people.  We all struggle with ourselves.  And, I think the greatest struggle is deciding exactly who we are and who we belong to.

Jacob's name change was a reminder that he was part of something bigger than himself and all of his little issues.  Jacob had a big God with a big picture view of the world, and Jacob's life/responsibility stretched over generations and over the whole world.  Israel was called as a witness and blessing to all nations.

Jacob's name change was God's claim on him.  Jacob was a man with lots of problems.  Israel was a father of great nations that would produce one who was the savior of that whole world.

Jacob's name change was a call to see himself as part of a great movement of God.  That movement, as Jesus comes to Jerusalem, sees God's plan overcome even death, as Jesus is praised, betrayed, crucified, buried, and resurrected, all in the span of a week.  And the movement of God's salvation plan moves from the temple, out into the whole world.

Are you willing to be renamed by God?  Are you willing to move from your petty struggle just to exist, into God's plan to bring the whole world to Him?  Can you, just for a moment, place your pride, distrust, and self on hold, so you can grasp what Paul (also a recipient of a new name) meant when he said ... "and may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is."  Maybe we should grapple with that, rather than our pettiness!  AMEN

Renewing a Promise

Have you ever been in a high and holy moment?  Not a contrived time to elicit your emotions, or a time when you are basking in something good that has happened to you.  I am speaking about a time when God's presence is so evident that you can taste, feel, and touch it!

I can think of several of these times.  There was my 1st real experience with God, when I came to the altar as a 7-year-old.  I knew God was there!  There was a time, on a mission trip to Brazil, when we worshipped at the exact center of the South American continent, and looked out on a beautiful vista.  I remember thinking, "Lord, you are truly God above all!"  There have been moments in time when, in that high and holy experience, there is an intense need to reset my relationship with God and with the people God has placed in my life.

In Joshua 8:30-35, we find the Hebrew people in a state of change.  Moses has died, and Joshua has just achieved a great victory over the King of Ai.  But that victory was not the high and holy moment.  After the Hebrews had prevailed, they built an altar and offered a fellowship offering.  This was done as a pause in the fight to take Canaan, the land promised by God.  It was a reset to consider 1) who had brought the victory, 2) how they could continue to be connected to God as the battle continued, and 3) who they were as a people.  It is very interesting how Joshua reinforced these three things.

First, he built an altar, "according to what is written in the Book of the Law."  I love this "first" act, because what we do first conveys what is in our hearts and minds.  They had a massive worship service and made burnt and fellowship offerings, focused on a reset of their relationship with God and one another.  Pretty amazing!

Second, Joshua copied/re-wrote the law of Moses that had been given by God.  And, they had no copy machine!  All of this was in the context of a worship service.

Third, the worship time continued as Joshua "read all the words of the law, the blessings and the curses."  I wonder if he preceded his reading with, "I've got good news and bad news."  This must have taken days!

Finally, Joshua made sure that every human ("the whole assembly of Israel") heard what was read.  Men, women and children ... foreigners living among them ... all the people.

How could Joshua assemble such a group, and make sure everyone was present and listening?  They were all focused on one thing ... following the commands of God.  They owned the mission, owned their part in the mission, owned the leadership God had provided and they believed in the source of all, the God of Israel.

How can we reset?  We can renew our promise and live into God's promises!  Maybe we can place the commands of God as our focus and priority.  Maybe we can own the mission to "take the land God has given" by making disciples of Jesus who worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly.  Maybe we can realize that these things happen when we are participants, and not bystanders.  Maybe, we can decide to engage and encourage our leaders, and become the leaders God has called us to be.  Maybe, we can become believers in Christ so much that we actually decide to follow Him!