State of the Church

Here is my message from Sunday. The text was 1 John 3:1-3:

It has been my practice for most of my years in ministry as the end of an appointment year comes to and end and a new one begins to take the time to look back at what we did in the past year and more importantly where we were going in the next year which I have called the state of the church message. Now I didn’t do that the first two years here, I think it was, because of what was happening it was too hard to plan for the next month, let alone the next year. But we did do it last year, and we do it again as I complete my fourth year serving this congregation, and I’ll be honest that sometimes it feels like it hasn’t been that long, and other times it feels like it’s been at least a decade here. But today we’re not looking back, even though we have some great things we have accomplished but I want to spend the looking at where we are going as a congregation, how we might get there and what all of us, as the body of Christ, need to do to do that work. But let me give just a little context for everything.

In 2008, Phyllis Tickle published a book entitled The Great Emergence, which we have a copy of in the church library, and the Los Alamos Library has a digital copy. But one of the arguments that she has in the book is that every five hundred years or so the church faces a great upheaval, that there are tectonic shifts that happen and, in her words, the church “cleans house” and holds a great rummage sale in which it decides what to keep, what to get rid of and what new things to introduce. And while I’m not going to go into all the details, and there is certainly room for debate in her argument, it think it’s largely correct. And the last time the church went through this major disruption was at the Protestant Reformation. Does anyone know what year the reformation is said to have begun? 1517, so basically 500 years ago. And of course, it didn’t actually begin that year and it didn’t end that year, it went on for a while, as did the other turmoil she cites.

Do Not Hold On

Here is my message for Sunday. The text was John 20:11-18 and it was also a recap of Annual Conference.

Bill Belichick, who is the head coach and general manager for the New England Patriots football team is widely regarded as one of, if not the best football coach of all time. What he is also known for is the ruthlessness in how he treats even his star players when it comes to the end of their careers. He has said that he would much rather cut a player a year too soon and still have them perform for another team, then to keep them a year too late and have them underperform for him. It’s like the disclaimer we hear on investment commercials that tells us that past performance is not indicative of future performance. But all too many people, us probably included, even if we also have a what have you done for me lately mentality, do look backward at what was and hold onto it for the present and want to forecast it into the future. Sometimes we do it because it’s what makes us feel comfortable, sometimes it’s because it’s all that we know and therefore cannot imagine something else, sometimes it’s because we are afraid of change and sometimes its because whatever it is worked for us and therefore it has to be the same for others and the same path forward.

So, for example, we had annual conference this past week, and we’ll talk more about that in a little bit, but in the opening message the Bishop talked about how important VBS was for him as a child in forming his faith that led him into the ministry and then to his current position. Now he did note that this was sixty years ago, but simultaneously seemed to emphasize how important doing that same thing now, because of how it might impact a young person today in the same way. Now I am not discounting the need to engage children and youth, although the number one indicator of whether a child will be engaged in faith as an adult has nothing to do with these things, but instead with the religiosity of their parents. But I do have an issue of saying that because something worked sixty years ago means that it is still going to work today, or should even be taking place. And that’s why I chose the passage I did for today as we think about the church and the events of Annual Conference while also concluding our series on the nots of Jesus by jumping back to the Easter story. We originally started this be looking at just a week after Easter when Jesus tells Thomas do not doubt, but today we go back to the original resurrection appearance.

Do Not Store Up Treasure

Here is my message from Sunday. The text was Matthew 6:19-21:

I was having a conversation with a member of a United Methodist Church that was going through the disaffiliation process, which means they were talking about leaving the United Methodist Church, and he supported that movement. And he said that he was doing so because he took the Bible seriously and followed every injunction. And since he was then trying to imply that I therefore didn’t take the Bible seriously and didn’t know what I was talking about, I decided to challenge him a little bit. And so, I asked if he gave to everyone who asked for him for money, to which he said no, and then wanted to make a statement about “those” people.  But I told him that Jesus explicitly says that we are to give to anyone who begs of us (Luke 6:30) And then I asked him if he wore clothing that had mixed fibers, which he did. He also had a tattoo, which is forbidden in Leviticus. He also had fruit trees, and he didn’t leave some of the fruit for people to glean from his trees. And I, of course, could have gone on and one about the things that he apparently didn’t take very seriously, largely I think because they applied directly to him, rather than only applying to others, and as conversation was deteriorating, I decided to leave it there. And yes, I will totally admit to my culpability in this, especially since we just talked about last week that we should put away anger and malice and that our words should build up and convey God’s grace. But all of that leads us up to what is Rev. Adam Hamilton, who is the pastor of the largest United Methodist Church in the country, often counters this same issue by asking the other person, often to clergy, if they have a retirement plan and are contributing to it. And when they invariably say yes. He then says, to quote today’s passage, “so what part of do not store up treasure’s in heaven do you not understand?”

And so that’s where we find ourselves today in our series on the nots of Jesus, the things that Jesus tells us not to do. So far, we have looked at the injunctions not to doubt, fear, judge, worry, sin, stop children from coming, and complain, and now do not store up for yourself treasure here on earth. And just a funny aside, Julie pointed out that in the preparation for this service that I had written do not store up for yourselves treasurers, which we actually want to do, and to thank Kim for her service as our treasurer, and this has nothing to do with her. So, there are several things here. First is that this isn’t all about treasure being bad. There is a place where Jesus specifically says that we are to store up treasure, and where is that? In heaven, where, we are told, moth and rust and thieves won’t be able to get to it. But the problem is, Jesus does not tell us here how to do that, although in my research those who wanted to try and tackle this seemingly were arguing for a sense of works righteousness. that is do good things in the world in order to build up this treasure in your account for when the judgment comes. I don’t know that those who were arguing would necessarily see it that way, but that’s how I interpreted what they were saying. And so, this is a reminder that we are saved by faith alone, and one of the reasons, as Paul tells us, is because otherwise we would brag about it and what we had done, and there is definitely some of that that plays in role as we think about our treasurers. And so, when it comes to that, I have some good news and some bad news.

Do Not Complain

Here is my message from Sunday. The text was John 6:35-48:

I’ve mentioned it before, I can be a little vocal towards others when driving. Not like rolling down the window and yelling at them, but yelling at them in the car. A little while back I was driving with Lizzie, and I yelled “come on you idiot” to someone in front of me, and so Lizzie asked what was wrong, and I said that this driver doesn’t know what they are doing. And she responded, “so that’s why they’re an idiot?” Proud parental moment right there, and that’s sarcasm by the way. As every parent knows our children are much more likely to do as we do, rather than do what we say, especially if they don’t correspond. But how we act also says much more about who we are then anything that we say we believe. And so, with that, we definitely have to think about the power of our words, and how they not only affect the world but also how the affect us, and so we move onto the not that I have been worried about the most, even though one of the things we are not supposed to do is to worry, but today we tackle the injunction not to complain.

Now while I think this not is a generally good idea, while noting there are times when complaints are important, and we’ll get back to that idea, there is a very specific context in which this injunction, and the complaining he is pointing out are made. As Cathy said in the introduction, before this interchange, Jesus has just fed the 5000 on a mountain, and this is a section of John which is known as book of signs as Jesus does things that to John prove he is the Messiah, or that John wants to give than meaning. Then while Jesus walks on the sea of Galilee, a little more impressive than simply parting waters, the people also go around the sea to the other side, and there they ask Jesus what sign it is that he will do so they will believe, after all God gave their ancestors manna, or bread, in the wilderness. Hopefully then you are seeing the clear illusions to the Exodus taking place here, and then Jesus says that he is the bread of life, which is one of his I am statements, and remembering that the name of God given to Moses is I am. But this causes the religious leaders to begin to complain as we heard this morning, or to grumble as the NIV translates it. So, two important points here.