Belong, Behave, Believe: Follow the Verbs

In middle school, like many of us, I felt like an outsider. It seemed as if I had a lot of friends, but that was because I jumped around from clique to clique, trying to seem like I was popular. In actuality, I really had so sense of belonging while I was at school. During lunch, I remember sometimes sitting by myself pretending to be in lunch detention. I would rather sit alone than sit with no sense of belonging with the other kids in the cliques.

In Acts 8: 26-40, there is a fascinating encounter between Phillip and an Ethiopian eunuch. It is utterly amazing to me how these two specific people have this encounter. This is the third time that Phillip make an appearance in the book of Acts. He was one of the Greek followers of Jesus in chapter 6 who was chosen to take over the distribution of food from the Hebrew disciples as they traveled to spread the gospel. Phillip is a product of the expansion of the gospel! He was not Jewish, but Greek, but he followed Jesus (post-resurrection) and proclaimed the gospel. Just beautiful inclusivity of the gospel by the multiplication of disciples of Jesus.

So Phillip travels away from the religious hub of Jerusalem and finds himself in this interaction with the Ethiopian eunuch. By all intents and purposes, this person that Phillip finds would have been considered an outcast; he would have been extremely ineligible to worship God in Jerusalem with the Jews. This dark-skinned, non-Jew, unable to be circumcised  person would have had no place, had it been for Jesus, and Phillip carrying on his mission of proclaiming the good news.

This eunuch is reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. He is seeking God! I can't help but think of all those who perceive that they would not be welcome in our churches, because the face of Christianity is not so pretty right now. In an age where Christians are perceived as 1) anti-gay 2)judgmental and 3)hypocritical , it's no wonder our local churches are dying. The church is perceived as a place that is exclusive and manipulative, not a place where you may find belonging and community.

To recover our image as a place where we welcome the stranger and offer a loving community to all seeking it, we can learn from this passage in Acts, by following the verbs:

Go- not to church, but away from church (like Phillip traveling away from Jerusalem) to share the gospel wherever we are

Join- God tells Phillip to join the eunuch at his chariot. Before we expect anyone to join us at church, God invites us to join our neighbors and experience life with them

Listen and Ask- Phillip heard the eunuch reading Isaiah, and then asked him "do you understand what you are reading?" I know I fall into the trap of thinking that I have to do "all the work" when I share my faith. That's not the case: God was already there, preparing the eunuch to engage Phillip in this conversation. God is ahead of us, working to show the good news to others, inviting us to have the courage to meet God there.

After Phillp asks this question, the eunuch starts asking his questions. They engage in a rich conversation! Phillip is willing to give this eunuch a sense of belonging by first joining and asking the question. When this happens, they explore together their beliefs, and it leads to the eunuch's baptism. Such a beautiful encounter...

*Proclamation:

We've a story to tell to the nations,
that shall turn their hearts to the right,
a story of truth and mercy,
a story of peace and light,
a story of peace and light.

For the darkness shall turn to dawning,
and the dawning to noonday bright;
and Christ's great kingdom shall come on earth,
the kingdom of love and light.

*We've a Story to Tell to the Nations, The United Methodist Hymnal, 569

In Christ,

Jack

*My thanks to Paul Rock, who shares reflections on texts for preaching during the season of Easter in "A Preacher's Guide to Lectionary Sermon Series."

When You Say Nothing at All

"When You Say Nothing at All" is a country song written by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz. It is among the best-known hit songs for three different performers: Keith Whitley, who took it to the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart on December 24, 1988; Alison Krauss, whose version was her first solo top-10 country hit in 1995; and Irish pop singer Ronan Keating, whose version was his first solo single and a chart-topper in the United Kingdom and Ireland in 1999. (Wikipedia)

Think of a time where you knew that you were loved, that you felt cared for...Isn't it interesting that we most often have that assurance not through someone's words they tell us, but the presence they share with us? I can think of many instances where it was not what I said, but what kind of presence I shared with someone that made a difference. I often joke that half of my job as a pastor is simply to show up and know that God beat me to the spot; that God is already there. It is not very funny anymore, because it has been so true.

Psalm 23 illustrates this.

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
2     He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
3     he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
    for his name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
    I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff—
    they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    my whole life long.

This says nothing about the shepherd saying anything; this psalm shares what the shepherd does to show care for the sheep.

And John 10: 11-18 tells us what a "good shepherd" is like.

Raymond Brown translates kalos, which is translated "good" in the passage, as “I am the model Shepherd.” So "good" may not mean "good" to the sheep, but "good" as in the shepherd is "good" at shepherding. This shepherd shows us how to do it, that is, by laying down our lives for the sheep. 

A good shepherd is not concerned about salary, reputation, or success of the sheep. Jean Vanier puts it this way:

“To become a good shepherd is to come out of the shell of selfishness to be attentive to those for whom we are responsible, to reveal to them their fundamental beauty and value and help them grow and become fully alive. It is not easy really to listen. It is not easy to touch our own fears. It is a challenge to help others gradually accept responsibility, to trust themselves. When people are weak or lost, they need a shepherd close to them. Little by little, however, as they discover who they are, the shepherd becomes more of a friend and companion.”

Becoming like Jesus means becoming a good shepherd: putting away our own desires, our need for success, our own reputation, and noticing the need for care around us. To follow Jesus as his disciples is to both be the sheep in need of this care, and the shepherd that, in turn, cares like the shepherd does.

*Prayer:

O Thou, in whose presence my soul takes delight,
on whom in affliction I call,
my comfort by day and my song in the night,
my hope, my salvation, my all!

*O Thou, in Whose Presence, The United Methodist Hymnal Number 518

In Christ,

Jack

My thanks to Rev. James Howell who has much more to say about this topic, and does so highlighting the ministry of presence and care of the shepherd in his blog this week
(https://jameshowellsweeklypreachingnotions.blogspot.com/2018/01/what-can-we-say-come-april-22-easter-4.html)

Belong, Behave, Believe: In Defense of Doubt

It is no secret that the mainline church is dwindling in numbers. Part of the reason for this is that the Church seems largely "behind" the cultural and societal trends regarding involvement in particular communities. Gone are the days where you find community and belonging only in the area directly around you: your neighborhood, place of work, or other places that require minimal effort to get to. In short, with the advancement of vehicles and technology, we really do get to choose where we belong.





I say that to say this: in the Church's heyday, where the trend of finding the church on the corner and finding belonging there, there was a general process that someone went through. First, they'd attend the church out of a sense of obligation, at least initially. Within the first few months, typically, you'd attend the new member class and learned what the church believes. At the end of the class, you confessed to believe that stuff too. In those first few months, you also learned how to behave in the church: what we wear, what music we use, when to stand and when to sit...And then you joined. You belonged. So that was the process: believe, behave, belong....


....and Jesus flipped the script. On Easter morning, he did not give Mary a treatise of doctrine to believe. Only after he said her name "Mary..."  did he tell her what to do, to go and tell the disciples that she had seen him. Jesus' "formula," then, is belong, behave, believe. God gives us a sense of belonging by creating us and calling us to new life through Jesus. Only then does our life begin to change (we start to "behave") and we are brought to faith. We belong to God, our life changes, and we are confronted with who God is, bringing us to belief.

This week, we come to a post-resurrection passage in John 20: 19-31, where Jesus comes to meet the disciples in their fear and confusion. Thomas, knowing that he belongs in relationship with Jesus, is seeking confirmation in his faith when asks to see Jesus' wounds from the cross. His faith is confirmed. Thomas is often ridiculed or looked unfavorably upon because he "doubted," but I disagree. Doubt is part of the process of believing. He is not doubting as if he does not believe, but discovering his faith and belief in Jesus again.

Because we belong to God, we have been called by name and loved uniquely by God, we can come to God in hopes to affirm our belief or seek a way out of our doubt and confusion. This is good news.

As you ponder what this means for you, I invite you to engage with this song/prayer.

In Christ,
Amen.