Pushback

Pushback ... "a negative reaction or response."  That is the definition on Google for a term we use when describing how people respond to events, happenings or changes.  I have been reading a lot about this as Facebook is changing to Meta, TV commercials are increasingly pushing products where people are wearing VR headsets and it is becoming evident that we (all of the people) are having something new "pushed" upon us.  Virtual reality is a product and a way of life being introduced into our lives, and most of us aren't really aware.  Like many societal changes, the playbook is to tell us how "normal" and "fun" this new thing can/will be, without telling us how treacherous, addictive and damaging this new thing really is.

A few weeks back, I was watching the morning news and they were "selling" the metaverse.  Yes, I used the word selling.  Because to those introducing the metaverse and virtual reality, we are a market.  If you want, you can buy "virtual" real estate, "virtual" Gucci purses and "virtual" cars.  You can have "virtual" experiences ranging from the benign to the dangerous.  And people are betting that you will buy into this new thing in a big way.  Virtual reality is becoming part of the design of college courses, part of the marketing strategies of major corporations, and part of one more thing people can become addicted to or obsessed with. All the while, people are having more and more difficulty coping with the real world, real problems and real people.  What do we do?

I believe Christians become those people who embrace reality.  Jesus said, "I am the truth, the way and the life (John 14:6)."  Jesus came into the world to open our eyes to reality and bring us into a healthy perspective of living a real, abundant life (John 10:10).  Jesus came to give sight to the blind (Luke 4:18).  We embrace truth, abundance and sight, all in the reality of the world God has given us.

In one set of interviews about virtual reality, I heard parents and many 20-something adults talk about their concerns with the metaverse.  One of the parents said, "If my child is asked to take a course where the metaverse is introduced, I will take my child out of that class immediately!"  Some of you might say, "That is a pretty strong pushback!"  But others might say, "That is appropriate and right."  For me, I won't be introducing virtual church, virtual worship or virtual sacraments anytime soon!  We worship a God that is real.  We worship a God that leads us through the joys and challenges of real life.  We worship a God that has found us in the reality of our mess, and who takes us to the reality of His kingdom.  Billy Graham said, "Religions are about man's search for God ... Christianity is about God's search for man."  Come Sunday and meet Christ in the bread and cup, find Him in the reality of people who have joined together in the beauty of a messy table, with messed-up people and a God who is leading us to His real and perfect place!  Randy

You Move Me!

One of my favorite old Christian songs is called "You Move Me."  It is sung by Susan Ashton and is an expression of a faithful God that moves stubborn people like me from comfort to connection.  I love the lyrics that say, "You move me, out of myself, and into the fire" and "You move me, I can't go with you and stay where I am."  The song has been part of my faith journey as I have watched and experienced a God that won't allow me to be complacent, stagnant or indifferent.

How about you?  Do you feel the movement of God's Spirit, as He breathes new life into our congregation?  The new life and growth will bring challenges, choices and blessings.  Those things might seem like chaos, but God has a way of bringing order to chaos if we just watch, listen and pray.  I will be doing all of those things as I try to follow God out of myself and into the fire.

I love what Isaiah 43 says about those fires.  "When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned: the flames will not set you ablaze.  For I am the Lord your God (Isaiah 43:2)."  Earlier, God claims His people, saying, "Do not fear for I have redeemed you: I have called you by name and you are mine (Isaiah 43:1)."  Do you grasp those truths?  We are claimed by God.  We are protected by God.  God knows the situations we get ourselves into, yet He is with us and all around us!

So I enter this season and journey of change, expectant and assured that our God is here.  That is the God who looked into a formless void and brought order, light and life, breathing His Spirit into people like you and me.  That is the God we worship and serve.  So, "Lord ... move us where you will.  Give us life and grace, and move us out of ourselves and into the fire.  And we will give you the glory!" AMEN!

The Ride or The Journey?

As a pastor, I have a unique vantage point of looking at people.  I get the blessings of seeing the deep beauty, the deep moments and the deep cuts that we all experience.  I get calls about life events ... births, weddings, sickness, milestones, deaths ... from people that were/are part of the congregations I have served.  The life-long connections are deep, wide and lasting.

In saying the above, I want to share a little of my heart today.  This sharing is borne of 28 or so years of serving churches in Kentucky, Florida and Alabama and serving as a layperson in Louisiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, Kentucky and Alabama.  In all of these places I have worked and served alongside people who can generally be placed in 2 categories ... riders and journeyers.

I recently met with a person I would classify as a rider.  He talked about how he had attended 5 different churches over the last several years.  He recounted how each of those churches had failed him in some way.  He was disappointed, jaded and almost angry at these people/places that had "failed" him.  My friend was a rider.  He was on the church bus for a ride that was all about what he could get.  He had his agenda, his plan and his needs, all of which constituted his "check-box" for a church that was about him.  And he wondered why all of his needs were not met!  He left disappointed!

I thought about this man's story in the context of the "rich young ruler" from Luke 18:18-23.  The young man asks Jesus "Good teacher ... what must I do to inherit eternal life?"  Jesus hears the man give an account of his virtuous life, keeping all the commandments "since he was a boy."  Then Jesus says, "You still lack one thing.  Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then come, follow me."  The Bible says, "When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy."  This young man left disappointed for the same basic reason my non-wealthy and troubled friend left ... Jesus reminds both of them that faith, church and living with Christ involves something that is probably the hardest thing they will ever do ... giving up self for a deep relationship (a journey) with Jesus.  "Follow me," Jesus said.

So, do we want a ride or a journey?  Because a journey with Jesus is one that starts with giving up self.  I tell people being baptized that going under the water was a "dying to self" ... that being lifted up out of the water was a "being raised to life within the context of an imperfect, flawed but journeying Church."  That Church is about following Jesus' call to 1) "come" and 2) "follow me (Christ)."

So, I leave this reflection with a prayer for you, me and my friend.  The prayer is that my friend "sells all he has."  Sell (get rid of) the baggage, needs, rights, prejudices, control, and attitudes that blind our ability to see the Church Jesus has "called".  That Church is my dream and hope for all of us.  And my prayer is for "Christ to be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in him.  May your roots go way down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love, and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God's children should, how long, how wide, how deep and how high his love really is! (Ephesians 3:17-19)"

When you are a rider, trying to get to your destination, you will miss all of that!  But, if you choose the difficult, thankless but wonderful and joyful journey with Jesus, you will have deep roots, deep love, deep understanding and deep respect for who God is, what God has done and what God can do if we leave the non-eternal for the eternal.  That's my prayer for my friend and for all of those who share life, love and journey!  AMEN

Weather Vane

This morning I got a call from a friend who is struggling through the process of what to do about the happenings in the denomination (and truly the entire church).  As we talked, I remembered both the good things and the untruths that are so often found inside our decisions.  I will share a few of these as we try, as a church, to prayerfully proceed with "doing the right thing."

Before I talk about that phone call, I did want to remark about how deeply yesterday's worship moved me.  As always, the music was beautiful and seamless as it led us all into a spirit of worshiping the one true God.  I loved that Nicey shared how our church, as we invest life/love/Gospel into our community, sends little bits of Jesus out into our world as imperfect but Spirit-led messengers.  We go into the schools, into the jails, into the hospitals and nursing homes, into Belize, into community groups, into the sports teams and into the whole world as the Church.  Paul and Wesley reminded us of something we can never forget as we make these journeys into a world God loves ... "offer them Christ, and Christ crucified."

Now, back to the call!  My friend talked about how he had been a Methodist all of his life.  How he worried about getting a preacher, owning the cemetery at his church, having a voice in preacher appointments and other "nuts-and-bolts" issues of being a church.  My answer was, "You (if your church remains Wesleyan) will remain Methodist ... just maybe not United Methodist."  I told him the preacher appointment process, at least under the Global Methodist Church (GMC), would be collaborative.  That the voice of his church would be a strong part of that process as more and more new and old preachers become aligned with the GMC.  And I told him under disaffiliation his congregation would own all of their property, including the cemetery.

Then I changed the subject from the nuts-and-bolts to something more important.  I asked him, "Do you believe in Scripture?  Do you think Scripture should be the foundation of seminary training for your pastors?  Do you think Jesus is who Jesus said He was?  Do you think the Church should follow the ever-changing winds of societal whims, or should we follow the never-changing voice of God?"  Of course, his answer was yes to the first 3 questions and "the voice of God" on the 4th question.  Hopefully I gave him a few things to ponder as he had a churchwide meeting tonight to discuss how his congregation will respond to their own affiliation decisions.

As I talked and listened to my friend, I thought of a statement Dr. Karl Stegall made in a letter you should all have received and read.  Karl remarked, "a conservative bishop remarked, "Our church has traded the cross of Jesus Christ for a weather vane, waking up each day to see which way the wind is blowing."  Paul writes, in Ephesians 4:14, "We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery and by their craftiness in deceitful scheming."  Maybe the choice we are making is that simple.  Are we to be a weather vane for detecting and applying societally-accepted norms, or are we the Church that will 1) stand on the solid rock of Jesus, 2) hold to the cross of Christ and 3) stand and prevail (Matthew 16:18) even against the very gates of hell!?  

An Applied Choice

Sunday is communion.  I looked up the official definition of this word we use so often in the Church.  The word is 2 parts.  Union is one we all should know ... "the action or act of being joined."  Last week my friend Jess joined AUMC!  She and Renee are now in union with our congregation.  And I like the other part of that definition ... "action or act."  Union is an applied choice.

The prefix, "com" is also pretty easy.  Com is "A word-forming element usually meaning together or with (from Latin)."  The prefix forms words like community, common, and complete.  There is a sense that each time a new person becomes part of a congregation and joins with "the body of Christ" that body becomes more complete.  It has been going on since God created people and for some wonderful reason decided to relate to us in a personal way.  My messed-up, sinful and broken self has trouble fathoming why a perfect God would ever want to do that, but God has chosen this relationship in spite of me!  Wow!

Last evening Nicey Eller sent a song to Andy and me.  The title is Communion (go figure) by Brooke Ligertwood.  I would recommend checking it out on YouTube.  As I listened and pondered to lyrics (I am very lyric-focused) I marveled at how music and lyric can be so powerful in conveying a message that has been proclaimed ever since that Passover when Jesus said, "This is my body ... this is my blood."  Jesus chose union with His disciples, and all who have come to the altar since that beautiful and terrible night when He was handed over to the Jewish and Roman authorities.  The song repeats the thought of remembering the sacrifice, the blood, the only Son, the price paid, the wounds and the Lamb slain on the cross.  It is beautiful and, in the words of the song, "a bittersweet cup."

Sunday we will come.  Broken for sure.  Confused about many things, but sure of one great truth ... (again from the song) "His blood has power still and by His wounds we will be healed."  The reason we can make this bold statement of restoration and forgiveness is that the story, challenged by what is called "new" theology, is true, real and life-giving.  I can say this because the Bible is true.  I can say this because Jesus said He is "the way and the life."  I can say this because Jesus' life isn't some made-up story.  I can say this because (contrary to some "modern" theology) Jesus is the "sinless Lamb who was slain for our sins."  I can say this because I affirmed, as a new believer affirmed on Sunday, that "I confessed Jesus Christ as my Savior, placed my whole trust in His grace, and promised to serve HIM as my Lord."  If you haven't made this public statement, please come Sunday and confess your faith in Jesus!  

I hope you do come Sunday.  To be with other struggling sinners who gather to remember the sinless Savior that came to save the world (every person is eligible).  To kneel or stand beside the confused, convicted, the broken, the knocked-down, the self-focused, people.  Take action to join with others who will remember the blood, the sacrifice, the wounds, the only Son, the price paid and the Lamb slain on the cross.  All of this, so we could be with God here, in this life, and in eternity with the one true God.  "His mercy is enough for the many and the one!"  AMEN