Travel Light

Where do we start?  A new denominational connection?  A new name?  A new clarity to our mission?  Lots of new stuff!  Some of us are reading this and saying "Change, change, change ... I am tired of all this talk about change!"  Others are excited about the newness and clarity of a clear starting point and a clear destination.  You may fall in one of these camps, or maybe you are somewhere in between.  But next Sunday is January 1st, 2023.  Can you believe it?  How do we begin this new year?

I could give you lots of advice.  But I think my advice will be short and sweet ... brief ... concise.  Because I wonder if we make life and journeys far more complex that we need to.  To 12 disciples that were sent out into a hostile world with an unpopular message, Jesus had this advice ... travel light!  ""take nothing for their journey except a staff - no bread, no bag, no money in their belts - but wear sandals and not put on two tunics (Matthew 10:8-9)."  Hebrews 12 says, when we run the race set out for us, "throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles."  You get the point ... travel light!

How do we relate these passages to us?  I could go in many directions with this.  I could ask us to get our priorities straight ... out of our plan and into God's plan.  I could advise us to throw off the things we worship ... the things on which we spend the lion's share of time and money.  But I want to start simple with just one thing.

Last summer we took the grandkids to Washington, DC.  It was a fun trip, but one of the days was earmarked for seeing museums and monuments.  We packed snacks, water and sunscreen.  My little backpack was very light.  During the day, we ate some of the food and drank some of the water.  So my pack got lighter, didn't it?  Well ... yes, technically it DID get lighter, but as I carried it it seemed heavier and heavier.  Lee tracked the miles and after a pretty long day her watch said we had walked 8 miles and we were not back to our hotel.  That little pack was pretty heavy by that time.  When we got back it seemed to weigh 50 lbs.  When we carry weights for a long time, that is what happens.  And when those weights are worries, fears and other "weighty" things, they just get heavier and heavier ... like my backpack, but worse.

So here's my advice for starting a new year.  Travel light!  Take up the journey, but put down some things that will weigh you down.  The Bible says put down sin that entangles us.  I have found myself being drawn into some criticism of the United Methodist Church for placing us in the position we are in.  Then I thought ... why am I spending time, energy and thought on a denomination we are no longer affiliated with?  We've a story to tell to the nations, and that story is not about the United Methodist Church ... it is about Jesus.  The song says, "a story of goodness and mercy, a story of love and light!"  I need to leave that "entanglement" behind!

The Bible says, put down worry.  We can't add to life by expending it on worry!  Worry gets heavier and heavier as we carry it along.  It is like my backpack, that seemed manageable at first .. but backpacks and worry get heavier the longer you carry them.

Finally, stop carrying fear.  See the truth of God's love, because "perfect love drives out fear (1 John 4:18)."  Fear is a heavy burden, and fearing what God has overcome bears no fruit for us.

Our journey is filled with unknowns, pitfalls, enemies and danger.  All of those things are part of the world in which we live.  But Jesus has promised "I have overcome the world (John 16:33)."  The question is ... do you believe Him?  I do, and He has never let me down!  Throw off sin, put down worry, and lay down your fears.  Travel light!  Randy

Lighting the Christ Candle

This year we have the rare event of lighting the Christ Candle of Advent twice.  On Christmas Eve we light the candle to celebrate the birth of our Lord.  On Christmas Day we will relight the Christ Candle to remind us of the centrality of Jesus in the life of the Church, the people of God.  Both events are joyful.

In our Christmas Day reading we will share Paul's words from 2 Corinthians 4:6.  These words say ... "For God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness" has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."  Let's unpack that passage ...

First, the supernatural power of God has spoken all things into being.  I watched an interview with Michio Kaku, a modern physicist.  This week there was a major breakthrough in nuclear energy as the use and power of nuclear fusion has come a step closer to reality.  Since fusion does not produce harmful waste and does not melt down, it could solve many of the world's energy problems.  Kaku's quick explanation about why fusion is an energy game changer was very simple.  He said, "Nuclear fission (our current nuclear plant technology) is not how nature produces energy."  I am sure I am oversimplifying this, but when I heard this I thought ... "God's design works."  Wade and Ciara read a prayer that asked that supernatural God (who started the fire of creation) to speak light and life into our world.  Light our darkness!

Second, we worship a God that wants to be known.  His word (according to Scripture) is "near to your heart and your tongue (Deuteronomy 30:14)."  God didn't hide His word.  He sent it to be taught, preached and proclaimed.  We have had a long history of ignoring and attempting to make God's word fit our will.  But in the end, God's word is offered to be known and followed by people.

Finally, we are able to see and know God's glory, because we can see and know Jesus Christ!  The glory of God that happens when we seek and find the face of Jesus Christ.  Shepherds saw the glory of God and rejoiced in Luke 2.  Mary, in the same chapter, reflected and treasured God's glory found in her little child.  Stephen found God's glory as he marveled at the scene of Jesus standing at the right hand of God in Acts 7.  Throngs saw the glory of God as Jesus is worshipped as "worthy" in Revelation 7.  The worshippers say, "Worthy are you O Lord our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power.  You created all things and because of your will they existed."

There is a lot of darkness, but God's light shines in the darkness.  God's Son, Jesus, has overcome the world.  And, if we remember to allow Jesus to be the centerpiece of life, we can see God's glory, know God's plan and experience the supernatural power of the God who spoke all into existence.  Let's meet and light that candle together!  Randy

The GOAT

Over the last few years, I have watched several terms totally change in meaning.  Dope used to be a bad thing but now the term means something good.  Cloud used to be a visible mass of condensed vapor, but now it is a storage medium on the internet.  Then there is GOAT.

When I grew up, you didn't want to be the goat.  The "goat" of the game was someone who did something that caused calamity to befall their team.  But now GOAT is the "greatest of all time."  We Americans like to use our words to be confusing, don't we?

The Bible has a GOAT.  Paul reminds us there are eternal things or virtues to which we should aspire.  In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul says, three things "remain" (are eternal) ... "faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love! (1 Corinthians 13:13)."  What does God's word tell us about this "greatest" thing?

Love is a companion of truth.  In Ephesians 4, Paul warns his people to "no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of doctrine. "  Then Paul uses the word love to describe how we offer doctrinal correction to those who need to hear and know the truth.  In Celebrate Recovery this GOAT is played out by being open and non-condemning, while offering the truth of God's correct path to healing.  People are welcome to come, cry, try, struggle and express frustration, but always (at every meeting) truth is offered that is Scripture-based and God-breathed.  Hebrews 12 reminds us of this when it says, "the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastens everyone He accepts as a son."

Love is a companion of another GOAT ... the greatest commandment.  "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind (Luke 10:27)."  The love of God encompasses our entire being.  The heart is the center of human life.  Love of God should be central to who we are.  The love of God flows from the breath that God gave us as He breathed life into us.  Our feelings, desires, affections and aversions should flow from our relationship to God.  The love of God should be an investment of our physical strength.  It is good and proper that when we love God this way, we describe the result as "a good tired!"  And, love of God should capture and challenge our intellect.  I wonder if this is why the Old Testament often says God acted, "so that they will know that I am God (Ezekiel 33.29)."

Friday, part of the struggle of disaffiliation will be completed.  The Abbeville Methodist Church will have new deeds that will name the AMC corporation as the owner of this property some of us call our church.  But as we celebrate this new thing in the life of Abbeville Methodist Church, I hope we will only consider this milestone as a part of something that is much greater than deeds or property or our often shallow concept of "church."  For Jesus, Church is God's people whom God loves with perfection.  The Church is Jesus' bride who will be claimed by Jesus when He returns.  And the Church is the people God loves with the greatest love ever ... love that gave Himself for us by living, dying and rising for the people He loves.

Nothing on this earth is greater than the love that God sent us that first Christmas.  We light the candle of love to remind us that God's love is perfect, complete and without comparison.  I only have one word that can come close to describing how much God loves us ... that word is Jesus.  AMEN

Joy Beyond the Reset Button

Isaiah 65:18 is a beautiful expression of something we all love ... the reset button.  Last Sunday, as the panel of outlets that heat the coffee for the 1st service went out, I was hoping for that joy.  Unfortunately, it didn't happen that way.  The surge protector didn't have a reset button, and it took Steve Sasser's help to find the correct circuit breaker.  A reset button is certainly a blessing.

In the book of Isaiah, the Hebrew people have lots of reasons for anxiety.  The Northern Kingdom has been destroyed/disbursed (722 BC).  The Southern kingdom will soon be in exile to the rising power of Babylon (597 or 586 BC depending on source).  Bad choices, bad political alliances and just ignoring God's prophets has brought Israel to a place where they have no control except for history to play out.  Isaiah warns the people, to no avail.

But, at the end of Isaiah's prophecy, God makes a statement that seems both beautiful and impossible.  It is beautiful, because God's promise is that he will restore His people.  It is impossible, because God uses some very specific wording to announce this joyful thing.  "But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight (Isaiah 65:18)."  You might be saying, "If I read that right, God is 'creating' these people.  How can that be?"  Here's what I think!

First, we should be "glad and joyful" that we are smack in the middle of God's plan.  We are the Ecclesia ... the Church ... the plan of God for the announcement of God's kingdom to the whole world.  We have just joined with a rapidly-growing number of congregations that are heaven-bent on telling the world about the Good News of Jesus Christ.  David Knapp thanked us Sunday for joining with Radical Life Ministries in Costa Rica as we tell people to follow Jesus and submit to God's plan spelled out in the authority of God's Word!  We are doing the same as we feed school children every week (BFF), tell people that recovery is both possible and desired by God (Celebrate Recovery), show love by feeding people in our community (Reverse Advent Calendar/Food Pantry), invest in the lives of our Belize partners (Ed and Arita Lemas), and do what our new mission says ... worship passionately, love extravagantly and witness boldly.  You should be joyful that God is using your church and that God wants to use you in the context of His Ecclesia.

Second, be amazed that God is not just shining up an old car that He has restored.  God (it says it right here) is CREATING!  "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away;  behold, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)."  While I am satisfied with pushing the reset button, God is planning something bigger, better and beautiful ... God is creating something new.  Twila Paris writes, "could it be that He is only waiting there to see, if I will learn to love the dreams, that He has dreamed for me?"  "Behold, I am making all things new" Jesus says in Revelation 21:5.  You can believe the negativity of the world, the anxiety of our culture, the negativity of our critical natures ... or you can believe God.  I choose newness, because that is what I need to allow in my life.  The joy of that little baby in the manger is that He makes us new!

Finally, do you read that God is making His people a delight?!  That is the people of Israel and the people of the new Jerusalem (His Church).  Are YOU part of this plan of God to change the world?  Because all of this (and all of the above) is about becoming part of God's plan and leaving behind the small plans and petty dreams of the culture.  Are you a delight?  Are you more excited about your church than about the other things swirling around you?  Is your focus on being new ... delightful ... engaged in your part of life in God's plan and God's Church?  Is your engagement, passion and purposeful attention to God's plan to create you as a delight in the forefront of your mind?

God is creating something new, delightful, big, bold, good, wonderful and worthy.  God's plan is a party and you are invited!  In the midst of the devotion, hard work, and heavy-lifting, God promises His plan will happen.  And that plan will end in forever-rejoicing, creation and a kingdom of delightful people.  So ... if you don't have something more important, I am inviting you to this kingdom-party.  Wanna come?  Randy