To Win!

The Annual Conference of the Alabama Emerald Coast Conference of the Global Methodist Church begins this coming Sunday.  Last year's Annual Conference was inspiring, focused, worthwhile, and worthy of my time.  In the former denomination, I can't think of one Annual Conference I could make that statement about.  I am excited to be part of this annual gathering of clergy, laity, and friends!  The theme of this year's conference is, Run To Win.

In 1 Corinthians 9:24, Paul says ... "Don't you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one wins the prize."  Paul was obviously far from modern society and participation trophys.  But Paul's advice here is sound ... if you plan to enter the race, strive to win the race!

A few weeks ago I got the chance to go out on my kayak.  I love bay fishing, including all of the beauty, the required planning, the skills, the observation techniques, and the work of making a fishing trip happen.  On this particular trip, I was pulling back to the bank after catching 8 large redfish (sadly you can only keep one, and only if it is within the 'slot-limit').  There was a guy at the landing who said, "I like your kayak ... and you are pretty serious, aren't you?"  I said, "Yes, but why do you ask?"  He responded, "You seem ready for pretty much anything!  You have 6 rod/reel combos, live bait, artificial lures, a cooler bag for the fish, and 8 rod holders!"  I said, "When I spend the time to get things ready, get the kayak to the bay, buy bait, check the rigging on the rod/reel combos, and get here at 6am, I am playing to win!"

Winning is pretty well-defined when you are fishing ... 1) catching fish, 2) not doing something to hurt myself, 3) not getting caught by the game warden, and 4) having some very fresh fish to eat.  But in the 1 Corinthians passage, what is winning?

Paul defines winning, in 1 Corinthians 9, as several things:

1. Paul relishes the idea that God has chosen him, appointed him as an apostle, and allowed him to preach the Gospel.  For Paul, his work in God's word and with God's Spirit, is a great prize!

2. Paul considers it a blessing to become a servant to all people (v. 9:19) so that they (both Jews and Gentiles) can be brought to Christ!  For Paul, he wins when God's kingdom is built one person at a time!

3. Paul is not pressing toward a trophy that will melt away.  Paul is seeking an eternal prize (v 9:25), that will last forever.

All of the above is summed up in what Paul says in v. 9:23.  "I do everything to spread the Good News and share its blessings.  Remember Genesis 12:2?  "I (God) will make your name great, and you are to be a blessing."  And, also Genesis 22:18, "You have obeyed me, and so you and your descendants will be a blessing to all nations on earth."

We are those "chosen, called, people."  We are those whose prize is to bless others by spreading the Gospel.  Wesley said Methodists were to "spread Scriptural Holiness throughout the land."  Let's play to win!  

What Are You Looking For?

Lots of the time we find what we are looking for.  It is amazing how much of life is defined by our attitudes.  I wonder how this played out on your Easter morning?

On that 1st Easter, it seems that everyone expected a body ... not a living being.  The Romans and the religious leaders, the disciples, 2 men on the road to Emmaus, all were caught up in an ending of a story that had played out over 3 years.  They were all looking for an ending and were mulling over what that ending would mean.  They were ALL wrong!

I wonder how often we make this same mistake?  We draw the picture of our expectations with a permanent marker.  We cast our small vision of what is ahead in concrete, watching it harden and dry along with small dreams, short-term wants, and logical outcomes.  All the while, God is painting big dreams, world-changing hopes, and an ever-changing canvas that is bigger than the whole world.  We get what we are looking for, and God watches, hoping we will open our eyes and hearts to His plan.  I wonder if He gets frustrated with me, as I try to confine an infinite God to my own expectations?

We, our church, our denomination, and our little body of believers are in a season of hope.  How do we seek the living Word and vast plan of God, as we wrestle with our small dreams?  I have a few suggestions:

1. We choose fulfillment over fickleness - Our faith is sometimes fickle.  It rests on our negativity and our willingness to settle for visions that fit the box in which we hold God.  Yet, God has a big plan.  We see that it includes children, youth, new faces, struggles, barriers, and blessings.  Our 2nd service, yesterday, ended with a song called The Blessing (from Numbers 6).  If you read the Numbers passage, there is both blessing and fulfillment.  Have you read what it says?  This blessing isn't just a benediction.  It is a generational blessing, for those that hear it, and for those who will come after.  In the song, I love the line, "for your family, and your children, and their children, and their children ... ."  God's dreams for us are generational ... big ... vast ... fulfilling His great plan.

2. We see and seek what God values - In Matthew 13 a man finds a pearl of great value.  He sells all he has so that he can buy that pearl.  When have we confined the church, our faith, our Christian walk, inside our expectations?  When have we allowed our attitude and mindset to become fog, that blurs our sight of God's bigger, better, vast plan?  This little parable shows a God who found a pearl of great value.  That pearl could be named Randy, Jimmy, John, Mary, Bob, Andy, Sandra, Kristina ... you get the point.  All of those names ... and all of us who are part of this church ... are valued by God.  How valued?  The merchant (God the Father) sees that pearl of great value.  So the merchant (God) gives the most valuable thing He has (Jesus the son) to pay our price.  "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you!  I have called you by name and you are Mine! (Isaiah 43:1)."

As we come into worship, into our time of praise, music, offering, message, and liturgy, I hope we can begin to grasp the depth of what is really happening.  We must get out of the mindset that the primary thing every Sunday morning is, "What are we doing today?"  We must get into the mindset of, "What is God doing today?"  Look, and expect God to be doing something that fulfills His plan.  Participate!  Look and seek what God is seeking.  Participate!  You, we, all of those names above are not the painters ... we are the painting.  You, we, all of the names above are not the potter ... we are the clay.

"Could it be that you were only waiting there to see, if I will learn to love the dreams, that He has dreamed for me?" Twila Paris

Beyond

As I am writing this the Masters Golf Tournament is playing in the background.  It is interesting how much hype is spoken by the announcers.  A shot is remembered as heroic.  Another shot is touted as the downfall of a golfer.  The roars of the crowds rise and fall with the changes on the leaderboard.  And, being a pretty avid golf fan, I can get caught up in all of it.  I have been there, and it is pretty exciting!  But, if I am honest with myself, it isn't that important.  My life won't be altered by anything that happens on that beautiful golf course.

But there was an event that changed everything.  The course of history.  The direction of the whole world.  It was, and is, beyond expectations and belief.  One morning disciples found an empty tomb. A woman wept in a garden. And they all learned something beyond belief.  Jesus was not dead ... He was alive!

They all should have known.  The prophets predicted it.  Jesus talked about it.  But no one could place what was happening inside the realm of their belief.  It was beyond reason, beyond belief, and beyond the scope of this world.  Carolyn Moore calls it supernatural.  Wesley called it "Amazing Love."  What do you call it?

In the Gospel of John, Mary calls it sight and hope.  "I have seen the Lord (John 20:18)," Mary exclaims!  Her statement is appropriate ... for John is all about teaching us to see beyond worldly vision, to what and how Jesus sees the world.  In John 1:50, Jesus tells the new disciples they will see "greater things."

Also in John (20:22), disciples call it power.  "Receive the Holy Spirit," Jesus said.  Do you live in the power of the Holy Spirit, or do you rely on the powers of this world?  We are called, and blessed, beyond the power of this world!

For the Church, what happens in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is the defining purpose of every person who calls himself or herself Christian.  We are called to Christ, to Jesus' place, to His eternity that is beyond even time.  Do you see it?  Do you have hope and faith that Jesus is truth, direction, and life?  Do you live in the powerful name of the one who was, is, and is to come?  

We will sing about this beautiful and powerful mystery this Sunday.  Holy Song says, "What mercy to me Lord, to choose me for your own, that you would make my heart your dwelling place."  That is beyond reason, beyond what we deserve, and beyond imagination.  But, it is not beyond a God who loves us so much that He would die to save, forgive, and claim us from beyond earthly reach, to bring us to Himself.  For He is risen ... He is risen indeed!  AMEN   

Holy

This coming Sunday, Palm Sunday, begins the week we call Holy Week.  Our congregation will celebrate and remember as Saturday brings our Egg Hunt (11am), Sunday brings our Easter Cantata (10am, one service followed by a meal), Thursday brings Maundy Thursday Service (7pm), Friday brings Tenebrae (7pm), and Easter Sunday brings Sunrise Service at First Baptist (6:30am), Contemporary Service (9am) and Traditional Service (11am).  It is a busy time, but we need to dismiss the business and claim the term Holy.

This time is Holy, because it is a time when God's presence, story, provision, and passion fill our lives.  God does something amazing in the Easter story.  Jesus, in spite of torture, betrayal, misunderstanding, injustice, politics, toil, and even death, made all of these things Holy.  They become Holy, because they are part of God's master plan to redeem the unredeemable ... namely, us!  All of the negatives listed above flow from the human heart.  The prophet Jeremiah (17:19) wrote, "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked.  Who really knows how bad it is?"  The question is a good one, but in that 1st Holy week, Jesus found out the answer.  The human heart brought about the death of God's only begotten son.  And in that death, even death becomes Holy, worthwhile, usable by God, and redeemed.  Do you get the magnitude of that?

For those who feel they are unsavable, Jesus redeemed even death!  For those who feel unworthy, Jesus' presence made all of those negative things used and usable by God! The life, death, atonement, and the resurrection of Christ changed everything.  It is the changing point of human time.  It is the moment when the flow of God's forgiveness is extended to the whole world.  It is an empty cross, an empty tomb, and a full pardon, for all who believe.  It is hope for the hopeless and sight for the blind.  It is Holy!