Without

In a generation that has mostly had everything given to it free of charge there is little connection to this term 'without.'  There are few examples or concept that connect us to the idea of sacrifice ... doing without ... giving from either scarceness or even abundance.  Yet this little term is found throughout the faith we call Christianity.  We are forgiven because God's plan was the sacrifice of His one and only Son for the atonement/forgiveness/washing of our sins.  That truth is vital, foundational and wonderful!

There is a word used to describe the early Church in Acts 2 (specifically verse 46).  The people enjoyed fellowship with 'sincere hearts'.  What does that mean?  The Biblical idea of sincerity is rooted in a phrase John Riley has used and I will attempt to convey.  It is a very practical term flowing from the practice of selling marble and marble sculptures.  In the old days when a marble sculpture was sold it was to be sold 'without wax' (the root concept for sincerity). When marble was carved there were often imperfections.  If a sculpture had an imperfection it would bring less money and might even be too defaced to sell.  So dishonest merchants would melt wax and fill in the imperfections with wax.  When it got hot (maybe if the sculpture were placed in the sun) the wax would melt and the owner would realize he/she had been cheated.  So sincere means without (sin) wax (cera).  Hopefully you get the point!

A trait of the early Church was this sincerity.  They lived life openly.  They shared meals and shared hurts, victories, pain and pretty much everything.  They shared their possessions and were willing to pitch in when needs were identified.  I believe, in those early days, there was an honesty and sincerity.  And this is a trait we should strive for.  No scheming, undercurrents or hidden agendas for us!  Because we are to be those people who are the same on Sunday, Monday and every other day.

I sometimes struggle with this.  I rationalize ... "If they knew, they wouldn't like me!" ... "If they were aware of my plans they would be against me!"  ... "If they knew my doubts they wouldn't believe or follow me!"  All of these statements have 2 things in common.  Did you see the word 'they'?  As I scheme, cover up, obfuscate, inveigle, evade and generally cover my true self with wax, the purpose isn't noble.  It is totally self-centered.  That brings us to the 2nd word ... 'me.'  Insincerity is all about me and it divides me from the other people I call they.  It breeds divisiveness, hate, dishonesty and all manners of bad things.  It should not be in the lexicon of the Church!

The early Church couldn't be self-centered and Christ-centered.  Our country's founding couldn't have been self-centered and successful.  Many people had to debate, disagree, compromise and cooperate in a setting where there was trust and focused purpose.  No wax.  "Lord ... keep our hearts sincere, open, transparent and 'without wax.'  Thank you!"  AMEN

Front Porch

What do those words bring to mind?  Front porch.  Rocking chairs ... dialogue ... quiet ... laughter ... rest ... resetting ... you can add what you will.  Joy Williams of The Civil Wars (a singing group) has named her solo album Front Porch.  In an interview she reflects ... "looking at my life, I actually have begun enjoying the little things a lot more than I had in the past. I think I always used to be racing ahead to the next big thing and now I’m more interested in watching my daughter discover what her hand looks like in the shadow."  She continues ... "Oh yeah, my face is starting to change a little bit." But I remember my mom telling me that it’s good for your face to tell a story, and so my laugh lines are getting deeper and my forehead is starting to show more signs of how much I’m squinting and thinking and, you know, chasing after my kids or reading a book at night. Those are good signs of life. Vanity would say otherwise, but I think reality might be a little bit more important than my vanity."  Where do we stop ... rest ... listen ... interact ... and live on the front porch?

The Acts 2 Church had a front porch ... places and times where interaction takes place among the believers.  We have a front porch too.  Last night, as I waited in the sound booth in the Family Life Center, I heard front porch discussions among adults and children as they sat down to a nutritious hot dog dinner.  They all stopped ... ate ... enjoyed the real things in life.  They looked at each other differently.  Non-confrontive and non-judgmental was on the menu.  Laughter was frequent.  I listened to the sounds of life.  In Acts 2:42-47 the passage twice mentions eating together and 'sharing their meals with great joy.'  The Church is doing something that has value, meaning and worth by living life together.  What a concept!

For the early Church there were difficult challenges.  Shrill, angry voices came from the Jewish church leaders calling them heretical.  Mistrust and enmity came from the Romans who saw this group as a threat.  The People of the Way (the early Church) responded by doing life, focusing on the good and real things and being 'in the world' but not 'of the world.'  

Maybe we can learn something from this.  I have heard shrill/angry voices and mistrust/enmity from people I know in the North Carolina church.  They are upset about how sexual offenders are being treated.  Other people in Atlanta are upset over the abortion debate, worried that actors and performers will boycott their state or local area.  As I read that God added to the Acts 2 church 'every day,' I see my friends in Atlanta and the Research Triangle (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill) in North Carolina on a list of the top 100 Post-Christian cities in America.  I wonder ... is the 'cause' of Christ, the nurture of our souls, the reality of the spiritual and life in the Spirit important in our reactionary world?  Are we willing to sit on the front porch and dialogue with each other?  Are we more worried about our vanity, our swag, our devices, our stuff and our outward appearance than we are about living life 'in Christ?'  Can we recapture the joy of children eating the best food ever at Vacation Bible School, sitting on their 'front porch' and gathering to praise a God who has overcome this world?  Do we love Jesus more than our causes?  When we 'go everywhere' do we go to the front porch with our neighbor and share our meals with 'great joy?'

Acting Like The Church

Our Vacation Bible School (VBS) begins next weekend (June 16, 17, 18 from 5:30 pm till 8:30 pm).  As we pray with each other about how God will show up to help us teach, lead, sing, praise and love, I can't help think about the Bible book I read from Sunday.  The book is Acts.  It is all about how God continues, after Jesus' life, to move into this neighborhood called 'the world.'  For God said, in John 3:16 (one of our VBS Scriptures), that He loved the world (people) so much that He gave His son so that whoever (that's all of the folks in that world) believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life.  Those people who choose to believe in Jesus are called something we fail to perceive as sacred ... but it IS sacred.  It is called THE Church.  And that book (Acts) is all about the early Church.  It describes how we should act.  It gives us some examples of things not to do.  And offers us a picture of the flawed, broken Church somehow, with the Holy Spirit, moves into the known world with the message of the Gospel.  Pretty cool!

Over the remainder of the Summer that is where we will journey.  I hope you will jump into the boat with all of the messed-up Church folks who are friends, fellow travelers, companions and Christians.  Acts will be our source material.  Let's see what we can learn and how we can become more like the Church God envisioned when he told the disciples "You will be My witnesses everywhere" (another VBS Scripture from Acts 1:8).

Our first step in the journey through Acts will look at the pattern of the early Church.  It is expressed in Acts 2:42-47.  Here are the 10 things we see as the early Church starts the ministry led by the Holy Spirit.  1) devotion to being taught, 2) communion/sacraments, 3) wonders/signs, 4) shared stuff, 5) generosity, 6) meeting in the temple, 7) eating together, 8) sincerity, 9) praise of God, 10) the encouragement of shared favor.  That's a lot ... it may take us a few weeks just to get through these, so bear with me as I try to unpack this beautiful and challenging passage.  But that is what happens when we journey together and are led by a God of mystery and grace ... we just don't know where God will send us.  I hope you will join the journey and find joy in our journey together.  Thanks ... Randy

Flipped

For all of the football fans in my midst there is a term you might know.  It can be applied when a turnover (fumble, interception) happens.  It can be applied when one team punts and drives the other team backwards.  It is called "flipping the field."

As we enter Acts 2 and Pentecost Sunday I want us to think about flipping the field.  When the disciples wait for the realization of God's promise of the Holy Spirit they look out on a broken society, a broken church and lots of broken people.  Add to this the chaos of many people from many nations in Jerusalem for the Pentecost holiday.  Then it happened ... the field got flipped.

As I thought about this event, which signifies for many the birth of the Church as we read about in the book of Acts, I can't help but reflect on what this flipping represents.

From the perspective of the Jewish leaders and the 'church' institution, they might have felt that their world was turned upside down.  These upstarts actually believed that the Messiah had come and had proclaimed release to the captives, sight to the blind, healing for the sick and light to those living in darkness.  But from the standpoint of God and for those who were lost, the field was flipped right side up.  In the midst of turmoil and chaos Jesus, and the presence of the Holy Spirit, turned everything right.

From the perspective of the Christians, they 'flipped' from waiting to going.  These uneducated fishermen, hated tax collectors and ne'er-do-wells barged out of that upper room and began to preach, proclaim and boldly become missionaries in a world where the 'church' said all was just fine.  That day the Church began a spread that continues today.

Don't believe these things still happen?  At Annual Conference we heard from a Tanzanian missionary who professed that they had started a church 'accidentally.'  The began a children's worship in an orphanage and the people from the town were curious and started to come.  The people began to ask how to join this group and before a few months had passed 45 people were baptized.  No training ... no plan ... no intentionality ... no direction from the institutional church.  Just people meeting and telling the Good News of the gospel to children.  I believe the Holy Spirit flipped the field.

On June 16th Vacation Bible School will begin.  We have lots of good people and even have some plans.  But I, for one, feel ill-equipped for this task that hasn't happened at AUMC in many years.  But, when I heard this story from Tanzania, I became encouraged.  What if God's Holy Spirit came like tongues of fire upon us at VBS?  What if the mighty river of God's power rushed out and took our inadequacies, our fears, our brokenness and our failings and infused His power into them?  What if God flips the field in Abbeville through the many ways we leave our upper rooms and stop waiting and start going?  What if Acts 2 becomes real in our time and in our presence?  Come, Holy Spirit, come ... we invite your presence and power!  Randy 

What if we wanted it all?

There are lots of songs on the 'all' spectrum.  There is Adele's song, "We Could Have Had It All."  But my favorite is John Legend's song, "All Of Me."  The lyrics go ... "All of me, loves all of you, all your curves and all your edges ... "  I like that line a lot!  Because Jesus has lot's of curves and edges!

John 21:15-19 describes one of these 'all of me' conversations.  Peter and the disciples meet Jesus on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.  They have a fish breakfast (we had catfish at the monthly Fellowship Breakfast last week) and then Jesus starts up a conversation with Peter.  "Do you love me more than these?" Jesus asks Peter.  You remember the conversation.  Peter answers Jesus three times and then Jesus ends the dialogue with two words ... "Follow me!"  Follow Jesus through the difficulties.  Follow Jesus when you are caught up in the throes of life.  Follow Jesus through the curves life sends your way.  Follow Jesus when it takes you to the very edges of your faith.  Follow!

What if we truly wanted all of Jesus?  Not just Jesus the friend.  Not just Jesus our Savior.  But Jesus, the leader of the army that will storm the very gates of hell.  Or Jesus, our Lord!

It's easy to love and like Jesus the friend.  That's what Peter does when he answers Jesus with "Yes, I 'phileo' (friend, brother) you.  That Jesus fits snugly into our comfort zone.  That Jesus is the one we chum around with.  But that Jesus is only a small part of what/who Jesus should be.  Jesus wants us to have it all.  Jesus wants us to love all of Him!

It's hard to give up control to our true commander.  That Jesus sends us into the battle that causes us to sacrifice everything, even our lives.  "For what good would it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? (Matthew 16:26)."  Jesus has unpredictable curves and hard edges.  The edges are sharp ... "For the Word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart! (Hebrews 4:12)."  Does that sound comfortable or painful?  But that is the devotion and dedication our commander asks.

And Jesus our Lord is demanding ... not docile.  I love the quote from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis as the girl Susan talks to Mr. Beaver ... "Is he quite safe?  I feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."  "Safe?" said Mr. Beaver ... "Who said anything about safe?  'Course he isn't safe!  But he's good!"  If you want a safe ... tame ... docile lord, you are not seeking Jesus.  If you want an unsafe God who looks all the way into your soul, dividing 'joint from marrow ... soul and spirit' then you are in luck.  Because that God asks ... "Do you love me?"  and then commands ... "Follow me?"

What if we wanted it all?  Randy

What if we remodel?

I love asking "what if" questions.  They make me reflect ... think ... grow ... look forward.  They also remind me that there is lots of work for God and me to do.

The question for this week might be "what if we remodel" or, more accurately, "What if we ask God to remodel us?"  If I remodel the work won't be lasting and it will lack attention to the things I really need to change.  If God remodels, it will be perfect for me and for all of the people in my life.  So ... what might God do?

I think God, in and to me, might focus on the three things I often see on those remodeling programs on TV (Property Brothers ... Fixer Upper ... you know the ones).  They buy a house with obvious issues because it is cheap.  They decide what work will make the house functional, livable, attractive and good for the new family that will move in. Here goes.

First, almost all of the houses on TV need electrical work.  Old wiring and new appliances, devices and electronics don't mix well.  Did you know that the human brain can also be rewired?  It is called 'brain plasticity' and it is the new thing in dealing with the mess our world has made out of our minds.  The Bible said we need to have our minds transformed (Romans 12:2).  God knew this is possible and is part of our design.  Counselors, psychiatrists and mental health practitioners have discovered the 'new' science of brain plasticity and are, through MRI technology, discovering some very interesting things.  I think God already knows these things, and we see them play out when people allow God to change them.  I, for one, submit myself to this rewiring ... I hope you will too.

Second, the desired thing, in many of these remodeling projects, is the 'open floor plan.'  This means less rooms and more open space.   Let's think about this from a 'mind-centric' point of view.  I grew up in a culture that sells the idea of lots of rooms with lots of compartments.  I heard my secular bosses say, more than once, "well that's just business" to justify bad behavior and a less-than-honest way to treat an employee, a competitor or someone you wanted to pass on the ladder of success.  I have heard many people say, "I keep my faith to Sunday and church."  We have been sold the idea that we, as Christians, should separate Church and State.  This is classic western thinking ... rooms, compartments, walls.  The Hebrew mindset (as prompted in Scripture) is vastly different.  There is a concept in Hebrew faith called 'one thing.'  It is generally summed-up like this ... life is one thing.  It is why Deuteronomy 6 says that God is 'one' and that we, as people of faith are to love God as a totality with all of life ... when we wake up ... when we walk along the road ... when we lie down at night.  Loving God is something we do with the totality of our lives ... we do not place God in His room to control Him like another one of our compartments.  You get the point!

One final thing ... on TV the houses are bought cheap because they are broken.  I love that image for us as broken vessels.  But God does something amazing ... He, because He loves and values us, pays top dollar for us.  And then He invests Jesus life and His Spirit into those broken vessels, making us beautiful, whole, useful and worthwhile.  That is the amazing message of the Gospel and of life with God.  I would love for God to take me on as a remodeling project, and, in fact, He has.  "Lord ... do Your good work ... make me whole ... make me beautiful to you ... make me who/what You will!"  AMEN ... Randy

What if WE are the plan?

One time I was given the task (at Vacation Bible School [VBS]) of constructing an igloo.  I know it sounds insane to even think of such a thing in the middle of summer in Florida, but there I was ... trying to figure it out.  Now while I can be creative, I am not the person you would pick to be 'crafty.'  Lee is far more crafty than I am.  But the task needed to be done, I was selected and I WAS the plan for the igloo.  I wanted to say, "Are you crazy?  I am the last person to be selected for this task."  I can think of 100 reasons why I was totally inadequate.  But ... there I was!

One of my youth and I began to think, ponder and plan.  We started to collect empty plastic gallon milk jugs.  We washed them out.  Then, we started gluing them together.  Before long a familiar shape began to appear ... an igloo in the middle of the summer in Florida!  Pretty cool!  Funny how we can be stretched, used, challenged and effective when we just give it up to/for God!

In Acts 1 Jesus is having a last conversation with the disciples.  It would have been (temporally) just after the resurrection and just before Pentecost (June 9 this year).  Jesus tells the disciples 2 things (Acts 4-8).

First, "wait for the gift (Holy Spirit) my Father promised!"  Jesus presents the Holy Spirit as God's gift to the disciples.  He knows that this 'gift' will enable the disciples to do the great things He is planning.

Second, Jesus says "you will be my witnesses!"  They are the plan.  They are the ones Jesus is sending to tell the world the Good News of the Gospel!

The breakdown of these verses is pretty simple.  Jesus gives the disciples the internal power to complete His mission ... His plan.  The Holy Spirit will come to specifically 'gift' those who are believers.  In the Greek this gift is the result of an unconditional promise ... a summons to act ... something that comes down from God and 'happens' verses something that we control.  The idea is much like creation in which God speaks everything into existence and it happens.  Don't ever say you are not gifted or that you are unable to do what God's plan leads you to do.  The power is there to either flow or be resisted.  YOU are called/gifted.

The second passage is the sending that comes from Jesus himself.  You (we) will be His witnesses.  We are Plan A to achieve the mission of telling the Good News.  There is no plan B.  YOU are sent.

As we prepare for VBS (for the first time in many years) the theme of VBS will be "Who We Are."  The VBS team talked about the Great Commission from Matthew 28 being our theme ("Go into all the world") but I wonder if Acts 1 might be more accurate ... ("You will be my witnesses ... 'everywhere'). 

In this passage God is speaking His witnesses ... His Church ... into existence.  It is a gifted Church.  It is a 'going' Church.  You and I can be empowered and sent.  Or ... we can decide that God's plan isn't so good.  Just remember ... ALL disciples are empowered and sent.  WE are a working Church.  It is who we are!

Do you buy into God's plan?  Then let Him gift you.  Let Him send you.  Let Him challenge you.  Let Him stretch you.  Let Him give you a life that you never thought possible!  AMEN