Sunday June 7th, 2015---"Give us a King"

Coming off of Pentecost, you may be thinking of the birth of the church. The Holy Spirit came that day, and the church as we know it began with a bang, a rush, a wind...a fire. When we think about that day, it seems pretty dramatic! What it must have been like to see the fire, to feel the wind, to hear everyone in their different languages. It seems very different than what we see and experience today.

Although that may be the case, the God who gave the spirit to those gathered there on that day remains the same. God remains the source of all we do in the church. God remains the one who leads, protects, and loves us. God's Spirit is still with us.

In  a sense, God is our King. God is the one we serve, and God is the one who provides for us. In our world; in our country, we do not have kings. America never did; we were founded on the idea of democracy, not monarchy. So the image of kingship may not mean the same to us here in the U.S. as it may in a country that has had kings and queens. Even for countries like England, Australia, and Canada, who name Elizabeth II as their queen, may in fact treat her position as a mere title.

Still, there are many countries in the world who are ruled by queens or kings . Kings ruled in the days of the Old Testament (and the NT, too).

1 Samuel 15:34-16:13 tells a story where David gets anointed as the next king by the prophet Samuel. The people of Israel desired, expected, and needed a king. It takes the rest of the 1st book of Samuel for Saul to die, and David becomes king in the 1st chapter of the 2nd book of Samuel. We know David as a great and mighty king, a "man after God's own heart," even though he had his, shall we say, "lesser" moments (he pretends to be crazy, and we all know about his encounter with Bathsheba). We will talk more about David later this summer.

This passage introduces two kings of Israel, Saul and David, but now God is the King of our lives. We worship God and we depend on God. God's love is more than anyone can ever give us. God's care is more complete than anything anyone can ever give us. God provides us with more than we could ever need. So, will we turn towards God and accept what God has for us? Will we accept God as our king?

I will admit, this "kingly" language does strike me as a bit of an odd analogy to God. The idea of being ruled by a king or queen is an earthly, human-made concept that is carried out in a variety of ways that end up oppressing people and, ultimately, not providing what God give us. God gives us life, hope, salvation....love. I take comfort in that, because God is more than we see in kings. No king can measure up to God. That's good news, friends.

See you on Sunday.

Sunday, May 31st, 2015: Tri-Unity

The understanding of the Trinity is a unique one. There is no teaching on it in the Bible, but it permeates the New Testament. The idea of the Trinity came from Scripture and seeing God at work in the world. In the NT, we see reference to the Trinity in baptism (e.g. Matthew 28:19) and benediction (e.g. 2 Cor. 13:13), and in daily life we experience the revelation of God in different ways. God is one, understood in 3 "persons." In God, we see a tri--unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The NT readings for this Sunday, Romans 8: 12-17 and John 3: 1-17, reference this this tri-unity of God by using all 3 terms. This same God is at work in the OT readings of Isaiah 6: 1-8 and Psalm 29, which would be considered sacred text for John, Paul, Jesus, and Nicodemus, whose voices are heard in these NT readings.

At Pentecost  last Sunday we celebrated the coming of the Spirit, which unites us in our different "languages," backgrounds, cultures, etc. This same Spirit has been with God and in the world since the beginning. The Spirit is referenced in the Old Testament (i.e. Genesis 1:2; Exodus 31:3; Numbers 27:18; Job 33:4; Psalm 104:30; Nehemiah 9:20), so the understanding of God having this form has been known for thousands of years.

I myself have trouble "understanding" the tri-unity of God. Maybe that is the point. We cannot fully understand God, but God still shows up in mysterious and powerful ways in this world and in our lives. The point of this doctrine is not so we can fully understand God, but so that we may open our lives to God in many ways. We may also understand that God represents the relationship we should have with each other and with this world. God is powerful, God is mysterious, God shows up, God is perfect, and God is for us. Praise God!

Sunday, May 17tth, 2015---Newness of Life:Live God's Testimony

1 John 5: 6-13 talks a lot about the words "testimony" and "testify." These words carry large weights in the world of courtrooms and congressional hearing rooms. When testifying or giving a testimony, witnesses must swear to "tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God." These witnesses give evidence. They prepare statements. They prepare proof of their testimony and their witness to a truth that they attempt to convince others of.  Then, their testimony is challenged, refuted, and subjected to what others testify as true.

Each witness, defendant, and prosecutor inevitably will have some angle, some bias, some sort of agenda in giving, challenging, and hearing these testimonies. The testing of a witness involves probing their testimony for inconsistencies, discrepancies, and different interpretations of what it testified. This is all done because the goal for these cases is to reach an objective ruling based on the facts, removed from any bias, emotion, perception, or agenda.

The author of 1 John seems to have a similar process in mind when it comes to our testimony, our witness to the truth. Other "truths" or "spirits" must be "tested" so that it may be determined that what they say represents Jesus' truth.

The truth we testify is that God has saved us through Jesus Christ. This testimony is not one that is thoroughly laid out in a courtroom, but known in our hearts and expressed through our lives. We have eternal life through Jesus. This is not an opinion; this is the truth. How will we "prove" it? Talking about it is not enough; talking about this truth is only a portion of the way in which it is testified: the majority of this testimony is expressed through our actions, our behaviors, the way in which we love God and love others. In this way, love is the language in which we testify to the truth of God's salvation through Jesus Christ to the world.

Sunday, May 10th, 2015---Newness of Life: Born of God

Two of our readings for this Sunday are intrinsically linked:  Our passage from 1 John says that "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born from God...This is how we know that we love the children of God---when we love God and keep God’s commandments," that is, as Jesus made clear, and as John 15:13 reiterates, to love our neighbor. 

As Mother's Day approaches, I cannot help but reflect on who my mom has been for me. And then I cannot help but think of how my parent's have impacted my life so much. When I begin thinking about one of my parents, I naturally turn to reflect on the both of them. The apostle John, through these texts, links together love for God to love for Christ----"Who defeats the world? Isn’t it the one who believes that Jesus is God’s Son?" “As the Father loved me, I too have loved you." 

John 15 continues, saying that Jesus no longer calls his disciples servants, but friends, "because servants don’t know what their master is doing...because everything I heard from my Father I have made known to you." Jesus seems to be saying that friendship is the ideal relationship that we can have with him and with God. And so, I think of my relationship with my parents. Surely, there was a time in my life where I simply obeyed them (or was told to obey them) because I didn't really understand the reason I should do what they say. It wasn't that I didn't love them or trust them, I just didn't have any experience to tell me that following their direction is actually the best thing for me.

Isn't that how our spiritual maturity is? As a new follower, we don't understand the depth of God's love for us; that God has our heart; that God knows what's best for us. As we grow, we begin to learn that. As we obey, we take joy in following Christ's way. As we depend on God, we grow in friendship with God. 

It is one of my true blessings that I see my parents as my friends. I understand that the way they have loved me throughout my life has helped to shape me into who I am today. I understand that when they told me what to do, they were looking out for me. They were helping to shape me into their son, a man who could love people well. 

The possibility of friendship with Christ is a gift of grace in and of itself. This grace is attainable. You CAN be considered a friend of Christ in how you love others. It is then we may say with confidence that our prayer to be freed "for joyful obedience" (UMC Communion Liturgy) has been truly answered. In following Christ, we understand Christ's motives for our lives, not for a burdensome way, but for a way that leads to newness of life. 

See you Sunday!

Sunday, May 3rd, 2015---Newness of Life: Remain in Me

Jesus likes to speak in metaphors. The images he uses are familiar to his first followers, and to us as well. Last Sunday, we heard Jesus self-identify as a "Good Shepherd," and this week we hear Jesus tell us that he is the "True Vine." Both of these "I am" statements are part of a larger group of metaphors that Jesus uses to identify himself in familiar terms....bread, light, door, life, way, truth.

All of these metaphors are powerful not because they define a thing, but because they point to something else... a relationship with God, with Jesus, and with each other.

Most of you have probably seen or owned a vine before. When you forget or refuse to tend to them; when they are left alone, the vines will grow uncontrollably and result in a big ole tangled mess. Someone needs to keep those things in order! In addition to trimming it back in order to keep it nice and pretty, the vine grower must also cut away lifeless and unproductive branches and prune the branches that are productive so that they will keep producing. At some point, all of the branches need to be cut. Vineyards are long term investments  and they need a watchful eye, a careful and committed worker, and lots of patience.

The vineyard worker and the branches need to abide, or remain, committed to the process of producing fruit. This is where the metaphor involves us as branches of the true vine that is Jesus Christ. He is the source of our fruit; He is the reason we produce what we do; He is the true vine. To produce good fruit, that is, to live a life worthy of Christ, to live life abundantly, to make the most out of our relationship with Christ, we must remain in Him. We must stay in place, endure, and hold out for a more abundant life (these phrases come from the Greek root of the word we use for "remain" or "abide"---which is meno). God remains steadfast for us, so we must remain in God. That is our relationship.

If Jesus is our true vine, let's be His true branches.

See you Sunday!

Newness of Life: With the Shepherd

Psalm 23 is one of the most cited psalms out of them all, and for good reason. These words comfort and give strength; they help us make sense of our relationship to God; they give us hope in the midst of all that life brings us:

The Lord is my shepherd.
    I lack nothing.

He lets me rest in grassy meadows;
    he leads me to restful waters;
       
He guides me in proper paths
    for the sake of his good name.
 Even when I walk through the darkest valley,
    I fear no danger because you are with me.
Your rod and your staff—
    they protect me


John 10: 11-18 places Jesus as the shepherd that is described in Psalm 23, the Good Shepherd, saying: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

We read these two passages in tandem because, in a word, they complete each other. Ever since God has spoken to God's people, God has guided, strengthened, and given hope to them. And God does that now for us. Now, we experience and know that Jesus is truly the Good Shepherd, who did in fact lay down his life for his sheep, you and me.

Jesus knows us each by name (cf.when he called out Mary's name outside of the tomb, and she believed), and gathers us into the fold, creating the community in which we grow with each other and worship God.

Our job is to be the sheep: to follow Jesus, to gather together, and depend on our Good Shepherd.

Praise Jesus, who leads us to grassy meadows and restful waters; who calms our fears by protecting us; who gathers us into the fold.

See you Sunday!

Sunday April 12th, 2015---Newness of Life: Doubting Thomas

This past Sunday was Easter Sunday, and we all showed up to church to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! It was personally a great experience, to be with so many as we observed this Holy day together. Now, we enter into the season of Easter, where we observe each of the next 6 Sundays as Sundays of, not Sundays after, Easter. This is the season where we know our lives are different because God has saved us by his Son’s living, dying, and rising. We have new life in Christ.

This Sunday’s gospel lesson is John 20: 19-31. This tells the story of “Doubting Thomas.” Thomas does not believe that the resurrected Jesus is in front of him, so he asks to touch the piercings in Jesus’ hands. The other disciples have trouble believing, too. But Jesus does not chastise them; he embraces them and extends grace to them.