Together

Last Sunday we learned that Sainthood is current (not confined to the dead), corporate (Saints gather and work with each other) and Christ-centered (Saints focus on and follow Jesus).  These are good things.  But why does the Bible call us to be saints?  Why is being called a Saint of value?

I heard a Ted-talk about mentoring.  As I listened the speaker reflected on how their pre-success life was filled with uncertainty, isolation and loneliness.  I went to several similar talks about being mentored and found that every single person, before they got to a better place, felt isolated, alone and without any real anchor.  We know what happens to a boat when the anchor is lost?  It drifts, consigned to go where the wind or the current takes it.  All of these people were in that situation before they found someone who would give them time, guidance, discipline and encouragement.  It was almost like they were sleep-walking through life and suddenly a solid and healthy relationship caused them to awaken, become focused and begin to grow into the person they were made to be.

In this context, I looked at Sainthood from a two-edged perspective.  First, it is clear that God desires us to live out our faith with other Christians.  Acts 2:1 finds the pre-Pentecost Church gathered "together in one place."  They didn't know everything that was about to happen, but they were called together so God could speak to them, lead them and send them out.  I can almost imagine that little gathering!  Some were probably arguing.  Some were telling stories and jokes.  Some were probably sharing the local gossip.  The serious ones were discussing plans, schemes and options.  Like a quiver of arrows, they were available, even if they were in a state of inaction.  They were together.

But there was something else happening in that little room.  Matthew 18:20 gives some insight here.  "Wherever two or more are gathered in my name, I am there!" Jesus said.  Romans 8:27 tells us that the Saints have God's Spirit with them.  They are together with each other, but God's Spirit intercedes for them, even when they are weak (actually, I think especially when they acknowledge weakness).  Our earthly friends and fellow believers are wonderful mentors and encouragers, but God's Spirit actually takes our needs straight to God.  That is powerful!

The Christian artist, Michael W. Smith shared a story about this.  He said he was living in his very ample house in Tennessee, doing life by publishing and performing pop Christian music.  He had friends (good Christian friends) who were there for him and who were his community of Saints, but something was troubling him.  That something came to him in a dream, encouraging him to regroup, re-center and re-think what his music had become ... performance.  God's Spirit (connected together with God and with us) continued to encourage a regrouping, rethinking and re-centering.  Finally, Smith relented to the nudging of the Spirit and he and a number of Christian artists gathered and recorded a new album devoted to worship and the centrality of Jesus.  He said that the verse that kept coming to him as he was working was Esther 4:14, particularly the phrase "for such a time as this."  The album was released on September 11, 2001.

Paul's words, God's Spirit and my heart seem together on one thing here.  We need those other people who will keep us accountable and be there for support.  We need God's Spirit to nudge us and lead us to God's plan, not our plans, passions or pet projects.  We need to worship in Spirit and Truth.  And we can do none of those things except through a God who loves it when we acknowledge His Lordship and our need for God and each other.  Romans 8 goes on to say that by this wonderful process, "all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose!"  Those people ... broken, weak, struggling ... are called Saints.  Praise God!  Randy

Past the Warts

At the end of this month, on November 1st, we will celebrate All Saints Sunday.  During the service (both services) we will read the names of all of our friends/family who have gone to their eternal home in glory.  It is both a somber time and a time of celebrating lives that have touched us.  Please let us know of any people you would like to have on our list, so we can include their names on November 1st.  So, over the next few weeks, I will be talking about saints ... who they are, why we use that term, and how we can see them in a way that is consistent with God's word.

This past Saturday evening we had a large gathering of folks for the Moonlighter Concert, one of our missions fundraising events.  I saw several people I hadn't seen in some time.  It was good to greet them and welcome them, even though I confess to wondering "where have they been?"  But, in the grace of God who models grace every time He uses me to do any good thing, I hope I expressed a heart of gladness.  It truly was good to see the smiles of folks as we shared a night of fellowship, good music and giving!

As I looked out from the sound booth, I thought about Paul's effort to constantly remind the people he loved (the Church) that they were Saints.  What did he mean by that term?

The dictionary definition is, "a person acknowledged as holy and virtuous, and being in heaven after death."  By this definition, I wonder if sainthood is something that happens after death.  Maybe that is why we read the names on All Saints Sunday!  But this definition clearly doesn't fit with Paul's concept of Saint.

Paul addresses 1 Corinthians 1:2, "to the Church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be Saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord ..."  Paul puts a lot in a small space.  Let's break it down.

Sainthood is a current condition for God's Church.  Paul says the people to which he writes "are sanctified!"  They are very alive, yet God has sanctified them for His purposes.  God calls them and they call on God's name.

Sainthood is a corporate condition. In a world where we revere people being rogue, self-focused and independent (I think we have truly messed up this little word), God seems to revere and require us to be connected to others He calls His Church.  Paul is reminding the Corinthians that they are connected to others of different ethnicity, different geography and different governance.  Christians in Jerusalem, Rome, Ephesus and Corinth are truly blood-relatives.

Sainthood is a Christ-centered condition.  One of my favorite passages of Scripture is 2 Corinthians 4.  The people and Church in Corinth are clearly suffering.  They struggle against real issues they can see right in front of them every day.  Yet they are called to live as Saints, right in the midst of trouble and conflict.  Paul says (please read the whole chapter) the people are fragile, broken clay pots, fallen, pressured and dying.  Encouraging, isn't it?  But Paul rebukes this negative thinking by reminding the people that the centrality of Christ trumps all of these things, because Christ is leading His Saints to victory.  We are not crushed, not in despair, not destroyed, not abandoned, and we are not dying a permanent death.  We live (and we do life) because Christ lives in and through us!

This week we will talk about living Saints.  They aren't the loudest talkers.  They aren't those we place on a pedestal because they say what we want to hear, act with brash recklessness, treat others with the disdain we feel, and spout our philosophy to the world.  Saints are the ones who have learned to follow Jesus ... submit to God's authority ... depend on the unseen but good things of God ... and rally the troops under the cross of Christ.  They are current, corporate and Christ-centered.  They belong to Jesus, our Lord and master!  Randy 

You Gotta Buy a Ticket!

There's an old joke about Abraham (not the Bible guy).  Abraham believed in the power of prayer, so every day for months he prayed to God that he would win the lottery.  After zero success, Abraham complained to God ... "I have prayed faithfully for Your help.  Why can't you bless me?  Doesn't Your word say to pray and it will be given to you?"  Abraham waited, and sure enough God responded ... "Abraham ... you gotta buy a ticket!!!"

We pray for lots of things in the church.  Better finances ... more children ... better attendance ... some might even pray for a better pastor!  But whatever you/we are praying for, we should remember Abraham's story ... "We gotta buy a ticket!"

How do we do this?  I will offer three possibilities this morning as I write my blog.  But first, a word about investment.  The parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) appears in a section of Scripture about God's judgement and what God expects from His people.  These expectations relate to our hearts, as we risk, invest and live sacrificially to do God's will.  Hearts invested in God and God's people are 'the sheep of His pasture' and these are the people that join God in His kingdom.  Hearts that risk, to allow God's investment in us to multiply, are blessed by God's reward and provision.  Hearts that are anchored to God (Matthew 24) are not swept away like the evil people in Noah's flood.  We invest.  We buy a ticket.

The first thing I believe we must do is realize God cares little about our comfort.  We love how things were in the good old days.  We live our ways of worship, and (I confess) I love many of these things including some of our traditions.  But our traditions are not our anchor.  I believe we can invest in our worship time by doing a little remembering and a little dreaming.  We will be reintroducing corporate reading of the Psalms.  My old friend Mildred would love this I think.  And we will be doing some minimal restructure of the worship services (we actually have done this in the 1st service with the Apostles Creed, the Lord's Prayer and a more connected time of singing).  In doing this we 'buy' a ticket to sharing God's Word and making our worship time flow.  Those of you involved in worship will be invited to share in how this worship will unfold.  We will buy a ticket!

The second thing will place 'our money where our mouth is.'  I hear (frequently) that "we need more children ... they are our future!"  I agree, but in today's world we must be willing to invest in ways to make this a reality.  I will be inviting some of you to share in some intentional children's time in/during the 2nd service and your willingness to help will decide if this will happen ... we must buy a ticket!  All of this will involve some quiet tolerance of little feet and voices in the first part of the second service and those little feet and voices finding some quality children's time with God's helpers after about 20 minutes.  Part of our investment will be 'letting the little children come to Jesus (Matthew 19:14).'  The 'Jesus' these children (and their parents) will see will be loving, patient, helpful people just like yourself.  You will be the Jesus they 'come to.'  We invest in the ticket!

Finally, I invite all of you to respond to some of the emails, announcements and texts that have identified needs in the church.  If we are to 'buy a ticket' we need what John Ed Mathison called, "Every member in mission."  Each of you is a minister, a worker, a servant and a vital cog in the wheel of God's plan here at AUMC.  I will tell you ahead of time, these things we must do will be inconvenient, sometimes frustrating, sometimes difficult and sometimes costly.  But I think the God we worship has an intimate understanding of costly, as God has invested (inconveniently, sacrificially and expensively) in you ... He has bought and paid for your 'ticket.'  And to claim your place in His kingdom, all you need to do is say ... yes, I want Jesus as my Lord (He is in charge) and savior (He is my only way into God's eternal plan).  Abraham ... buy a ticket!

Deliverance ... Keeping the Promise

Chapter 15 of Exodus is a beautiful song of deliverance to God for how He brought the Hebrews out of Egypt.  The song was well-intended and well-deserved.  The people had gone from a state of fear ("It's better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!" Exodus 14:12) to rejoicing at God's deliverance from the Egyptian army ("I will sing to the Lord for he has hurled both horse and rider into the sea." Exodus 15:1).  They felt hopeless in the first verse and felt joyful in the second verse.  It is what happens when we live and react out of feelings, but that is a story for another day.

In his song of deliverance, Moses and the people sing to the Lord.  That heartens me as I think of the work done in our music to reflect Scripture, point to God and sing about our own hope of deliverance.  The Hebrews are right, though.  God delivers His people from the enemy in very unexpected ways.  The story of the Egyptians being drowned in the Red Sea is just one of many stories where God keeps and affirms His promise to the people.

In the first service this Sunday, we will introduce and teach a new song that has only been written for a few months.  It is a call to all of us to be vigilant, persistent and passionate about one of our most important tasks.  The name of the song is We Bear Witness and it reflects God's requirement of His disciples to be witnesses of the truth of God's word, the certainty of God's promises and the timelessness of God's plan.  The chorus of the song is "pass the promise to our sons and daughters, God most high, God our Father, we bear witness." The song is all about the nature of God, the hope we have in Him and the need to pass our faith on to our children, our families and our acquaintances.  It is a song about God's power to deliver us from the enemies we face.

When I read Moses' song I was taken by two thoughts.  First, how the people and Moses come together and sing praises.  The song reminded me how we Methodists sing our faith and our theology in the midst of living life in this wilderness we call the world.  We follow and worship a God that (and we can sing about this) has overcome the world and has already established our victory over our enemies.  The end of Moses' song says, "The leaders of Edom are terrified; the nobles of Moab tremble; all who live in Canaan melt away. ((Exodus 15:15)"  It reminds me that 1 Samuel 17:47 is right ... "all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the Battle is the Lord's and He will give you (the enemy) into our hands."  We know this in our heads ... but do we know this deep down in our hearts?

My second thought is that the song of the people didn't match the practiced faith of the people.  As often happens, they/we are emotional about faith, but when it comes to practice we let fear, doubt and other priorities sidetrack us.  When the people saw the giants in Canaan, they balked.  When the people saw the harshness of the wilderness, they longed for Egypt.  When the people got hungry, they complained.

Our lesson?  When we pass the promise to our sons and daughters, let's make sure we pass the song and the witness.  For our witness affirms that we really believe those lofty words we are singing.  When we sing what we believe, we follow the song with practice!  I wonder what the sons and daughters of the Hebrews believed when they saw the adult singers standing at the Jordan river, afraid to cross into a place they spoke about then they said ... "You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain - the place, O Lord, that Your hands have established. ((Exodus 15:17)."  What say we make our lesson better, more faithful and more true by passing the promise AND bearing witness!  That's my take ... read Exodus 15:1-18 and give me yours!  Randy

Tabernacles and Thresholds

Today I want to share a little of my heart with you.  One of my favorite Biblical characters is a guy named Moses.  I think I identify with Moses because he was a flawed but faithful leader of the Hebrew people, as they faced victories and failures.  The people leave Egypt under fire.  They reluctantly enter the desert, quickly forgetting their miraculous delivery from the Pharoah.  Moses struggles as the people balk, complain and invite God's harsh discipline that causes them to wander 40 years in the desert.  If you read the Bible carefully, you will not find Moses as a seamless, perfect leader.  Instead, he fights doubts, stiff-necked people, family struggles and life.  He is my kind of guy!

During October we will travel with Moses and share his struggles.  We will see how he leads through the desert wilderness of the Middle-East.  And we will see how God worked good things through the plight and possibilities of the Hebrew people.  This week we will talk about tabernacles and thresholds.

Three points here.  First, Moses was, though reluctantly, a leader of the Hebrew people.  He was appointed by God, though his leadership qualities were suspect.  He stammered and stuttered.  He was wanted for striking down an Egyptian guard.  He really didn't want the job of leader.  God didn't choose him because of his gifts, passions or strengths (at least visible to others).  God used Moses and equipped Moses so he could lead.

Allow me to chase a rabbit here.  What is a leader?  Lots of leadership gurus define leadership.  An influencer, one who directs the mission or one who manages people are all used in this context.  But, in step with the Biblical idea of leading, I like the oldest root of the word, laedere.  It is an old English word that Peter Senge (my favorite leadership guru) says means "to go first across a threshold."  And this, Moses did well!  He went first, but his direction and his path were chosen by God, as a cloud by day and a fire by night led the people.  And, for this week, we will remember part of the whole process was to remember/keep/acknowledge God's presence with them, through the tabernacle.

We think of our tabernacle as the church building, but there are many lessons we can learn from the tabernacle (Exodus 25-31):

1.  The word means "to dwell," the idea being that God would dwell among the people.

2. God gave specific instructions about the tabernacle and the holiness of liturgy, worship, priests.  This included the actual construction of the tabernacle, which was explicitly portable. 

Let's stop on that portable idea for this week!

Tabernacles were not designed or intended to be comfortable, non-movable structures.  They were to be movable and moving on toward destinations that were thresholds.  The leader, here Moses, was to go before the people and lead them toward those thresholds that were God's plan and path.  How did they know where, when and how to go?

1. God gave them His ordained leader, Moses.  He was imperfect and flawed, but God equipped him, spoke with him and, when necessary, disciplined him.  Moses led the people till they were on the threshold of the promised land.  God then appointed a new leader, Joshua, to lead them across that threshold.

2. God gave them a cloud by day and a fire by night (Exodus 13:21-22).

3. God gave the leaders a place to worship and praise God, a place to make offerings and a place for the leaders to receive guidance.  It was the portable dwelling of God, able to go with the people so they never forgot God's presence, provision and power.

4. God, in this design, reminded the people that He was a God on the move.  God calls us to move the things that are good ... music, liturgy, people (most of them), love, prayer, listening, things that connect us to God.  God calls us to leave some things behind ... things that aren't glorifying to God, anger, self, stagnation, comforts that keep us stopped, some people that won't leave Egypt.

God is, and always has been, moving.  God's leaders follow 'the cloud by day and the fire by night' as they go out in front of the people to cross the thresholds God leads us across.

We have some thresholds to cross.  While we have a church building that is located at 100 E. Kelly St., we are called to be a moving church.  God's Word is a cloud by day and a fire by night.  Will you/we be those people that cross over to the places and challenges God has laid out for us?  I hope so!  Randy

Stand

It is almost comical to see people take 'stands' in today's world.  If it wasn't funny, I would recount the Biblical passage about people following their hearts in these 'stands' ... "the heart is deceitful above all things, and is desperately wicked! (Jeremiah 17:9)."  Yet, people stand in their heart-felt ideas, forgetting this stark and clear warning.  They stand for political agendas ... they stand for political figures ... they stand for their rights ... they stand for their football team.  But what about God?  What does God's word say about standing, and what we should stand for?

1 Corinthians 16:13 says, "Be on guard.  Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.  And do everything with love!"  But probably the most quoted verse about standing is from Ephesians 6:13, "Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor, so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil.  After the battle you will be standing firm."

Some of you are saying, "We are warriors ... we must attack."  Others envision themselves in the great battle from Revelation 20, where Satan has assembled a great army to storm God's city.  Guess what God's people do in that battle?  Nothing, except stand!  Guess what God does in that battle?  Everything, as fire rains down from heaven and destroys Satan's army!  Paul reminds us that we have a job ... stand!  Paul describes the tools we need to stand in God's power!

Let me remind you why this lesson and this good word from Paul is needed at this appointed time.  

Paul says the belt of truth is needed!  We have an enemy that needs to be resisted in this time of evil.  Paul reminds the Ephesians that there are "evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world ... mighty powers ... evil spirits in heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12)."  I believe many of us feel something is wrong ... we just blame and label people, rather than seeing past our human frailties to the evil of the unseen world.  And never forget this evil resides in the political right and left ... even in heavenly places (like church gatherings).  So, we must be equipped to 'stand.'

We must have truth (the belt of truth Paul says).  Wesley said we need to learn to discern God's truth by remembering that God reveals Himself in the story of the Church, the experiences of God's people, the reasoning ability God has given us to use our mind, and (most importantly) Scripture.

We must have God's righteousness.  God's word says our righteousness is 'filthy.'  Note that 1 Samuel 17:47 tells us that God does not save with sword and spear.  Instead, Samuel tells the people "the battle is the Lord's."

We need to put on the shoes of peace, even when we don't feel peaceful.  I get that!  I want to do something!  I want to act, and sometimes that is the right thing to do.  But here, God says to stand ... not my preference, but God's Word!

We need to put on the shield of faith, for Satan never stops firing arrows at us.  Jesus demonstrated this during His temptation as he expressed His faith in God by quoting Scripture to Satan.  Paul demonstrated this as he writes of faith, hope and sound doctrine from prison.  We demonstrate this when we look to God instead of charismatic speakers, ear tickling speeches and self-affirming advisors for guidance.  Paul says, in 2 Timothy 4:7, "I have fought the good fight.  I have kept the faith."  Satan's arrows followed Paul everywhere he went, and Paul's life was a testimony to faith and faithfulness.

We are to be both assured and protected, as we wear the helmet of salvation.  For God's work in us and for us, gives us assurance to hope and press on, even when we see an upside-down world.

Finally, we are to wield the sword of the Spirit, which Paul says is the Word of God.  Here is where I invite and caution you.  So many of us think we can get into God's Word by being in church for an hour on Sunday.  Isn't God's sword worth knowing, exploring, engaging and struggling with?  If we want to know God, wouldn't it be prudent to know what He said?

These tools are how and where we stand.  Will you stand beside me and with the one true God?  Randy

Rented or Owned

When I entered the workforce in the 1970's, I was pretty caught up in one idea of the American Dream ... home ownership.  I didn't have the income to own a home (at first) but I had always been told about the need to press toward the goal of moving from renting housing to owning property.  I was told that when you rent you must work with (sometimes pester) the landlord to repair the property.  Also, when you rent the landlord gets both the tax benefits and equity benefits of money spent on monthly house payments ... renters get neither.  So, we worked, strived, and finally purchased our own home.

While I won't go into a long discussion about renting vs owning, this idea brought something spiritual to mind that is worth discussion.  In Ephesians 3:17, Paul puts forth a prayer for the Church and for his people.  He says, "And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in Him!  May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love."  This passage describes his desire and, I believe, God's desire for you, your family, your children and your church.  Here are a few thoughts about this passage.

First, when you read this, what is your desire?  Do you want to be rented or owned?  I think one of the most important and vital issues for the Church today is that we have too many people who like God hanging around, but love the idea of being rented.  If you are rented by Christ, you don't have the responsibilities the come with ownership.  You can call upon God when you need God.  God has an arms-length investment in you, and when something goes wrong, God can come in and fix it.  When the pipes burst, the dishwasher fails or the roof leaks, it is someone else's fault!  But you can still be owned by something or someone else.  While we can talk about this "tongue and cheek" I do have some bad news for the "wanna be" rented ... God doesn't rent.  If you want a rental arrangement, you must look elsewhere.

Second, God's Word expresses, again and again, that God wants an ownership arrangement with you.  Paul prays for God to have a home in your heart.  We have lots of songs about this like "Since Jesus Came Into My Heart." One of my favorites (I believe the oldest song in the hymnal) is "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence," which says, "Christ our God to earth descendeth, our full homage to demand."  Where a renter's roots are shallow, an owner's roots are invested in the responsibility (financial, physical and security) of owning the home.  And the owner expects equity from the investment.

So there it is ... do you want an owner-arrangement or a rental-arrangement from God?  Are you down with God's full ownership, full investment and expectation of equity for what God has invested?  For God has paid the full price for you.  He gave His son.  He erased your indebtedness.  He provides care and security.  And He will never sell you out or leave you.  God wants your roots to go "way down deep into the soil of His marvelous love."  Randy