Deep Within

2 Kings 5:1-14; Mark 1:40-45

Naaman was not happy when Elisha told him what would clean him of his ailment. The scripture actually says he is angry and says, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would have his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy!”  Naaman even continues his statements of anger by comparing his nation’s rivers to the Jordan.  I cannot help but point out that this man’s anger does not seem congruent with his quest.  He wants to be healed and actually travels for this cure to his enemy’s king, and then onto their prophet, yet he believes he knows how the healing should occur.  Naaman goes as far to say “…that for me..” now that is arrogant. Now the servants were quite wise and understood he was willing to seek an audience with the king of Israel and thus would have done anything the prophet suggested, why was he not willing do something he perceived was too easy.  Of course we know that he was made clean, because of there were people without any power leading Naaman to the healing power.

Naaman was his own biggest enemy.  He knew how the healing had to take place, or so he thought.  And even when he heard what the prophet said, he could not get over his ego.  His healing was desired because of his own ego and self care.  That should have a place, just as most of us check a mirror before the house, we care about ourselves.  The unnamed slave girl was moved by compassion to tell of the prophet in Samaria, that could heal.  At least I believe that to be true as she is not freed, receive any credit, or even named in the story.  Being moved to help because of compassion is what the Gospel lectionary is about.

In the Gospel of Mark, it is reported that Jesus is moved to compassion, and the word used is splagchnizomai.  To be moved to compassion from one’s gut.  A term for compassion used twelve times in the synoptic Gospels in reference to Jesus, or by Jesus in a parable.  It is a Greek term the root of which means gut, but specifically the inner organs of a sacrificed animal. 

Jesus is moved to heal not from His ego, but from His sacrifice.  If we want to share the Gospel, we most not think like Naamon and believe we know how, but to look deep within and act out of sacrificial compassion, in response to the grace we can never repay. 

Love Builds for God

1 Corinthians 8:1-13; Mark 1:21-28

Paul writes about being vegetarian, because the churches in the Gentile cities most meats were prepared in a temple in honor of an idol.  Of course Paul and others are quite aware there really are not other gods or idols, and thus the meat is fine to eat.  However, Paul realizes that knowledge does not transfer smoothly to new believers, or believers whose family still worships at the pagan temples.  As they discover the reality of the one true God through Jesus at the table, they may slip as Paul explains again in Galatians:

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods. Now, however, that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits? How can you want to be enslaved to them again? (4:8-9)

Paul sees this as an issue, but it is not knowledge that ultimately works to keep people focused on Jesus, it is love.  Knowledge puffs, but love builds.  Paul writes latter about maturing in the faith and you will notice knowledge is not mentioned:

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. (13:11-13)

Not only is it love that is more important we do not see clearly until face to face.  Which brings me to the Gospel scripture.  If we think we have the correct knowledge, we may be just puffed up.  In this scene with Jesus according to Mark it is not those following Jesus, those listening to Jesus, it is the unclean spirit that recognizes Jesus as the “Holy One of God.”  This is a humbling reminder that Love is what builds up God. 

February 2012

As a boy in elementary school, I would sometimes tussle with other boys. Generally we would not hurt each other, but sometimes it would result in a visit to the nurse’s office. One such incident I hit my head against the cement wall. It hurt some but I felt I was fine, however, the teacher did not believe me, but who would argue with a teacher that was allowing you to go to the nurse’s office and miss some of class, as we were just coming in from recess. The nurse examined me and asked questions. I was determined to be fine, diagnosis “boy.”

However, the last question posed was, “Are you seeing double?” My response worried her, as I stated, “No more than usual.” See I was seeing double often while reading and I just trained an strained myself to read both images simultaneously. The nurse concerned and curious, did some tests and discovered what I thought was normal; I saw double. What I also remember about her is she did not make me feel stupid for thinking that seeing double was normal and she did not make me nervous about this situation.

I went to the optometrist, and I must say that was an exciting experience. It was explained to me that everyone has a focal point in which when you get closer to the eyes, one will see double, but generally it is centimeters from the nose, not an arm’s length. This doctor prescribed intense exercises. I had various contraptions and ditto papers and spent one to two hours a day strengthening my eyes, so my focal point would be in a normal range. I was committed because reading which I greatly enjoy was much easier with only one image.

I share this story to emphasize the importance of the visioning process we are just starting here at First Christian Church of Durant. We are a great and loving church and God has a vision for us. The question is what is that vision? We cannot be church without doing the work that is necessary so we can truly sate and follow the Divine’s Vision for us as a local congregation. If we simply continue thinking we are, without exploring it, we will find we have poor vision. So please continue to pray for the visioning process and I encourage you to look to the programs and events the team will bring forth in the coming year, so we can do the work together to have vision and grow.

Let us pray as the Psalmist shares in Psalm 86:11:

Teach me your way, O Lord,

that I may walk in your truth;

give me an undivided heart to revere your name.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor JC

Merry Christmas

Luke 2:1-20

Do you remember the first infant you held?  The first infant that was yours, or a close family or friend’s?  It is a miracle in itself.  Each child is a little miracle and while holding the baby, you realize how helpless they are.  A baby can’t walk nor do much of anything independently from parents, honestly they are not even aware they are independent from others.  Every baby is a miracle and the Baby Jesus is no different. 

Imagine one of the shepherds being a boy who comes to Bethlehem after hearing the angel, to see the child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.  This young shepherd is encouraged the hold the infant, his first baby to hold.  Of course the chorus of Heavenly Hosts, he heard in the field would resonate in his heart, but you know that first time of holding a helpless infant is just as special.  Imagine with me, that 50 years later he holds another baby and recalls that time in the City of David.  Perhaps he even tells his experience to Luke.  50 years after that this baby, now a man, holds a baby, experiencing the miracle of a child.  And another 50 years or so that child does the same, and so forth.  That would mean that it would take only 40 people or so to have been directly connected to holding Jesus.  

I share this illustration to emphasize that our movement, the church, is not as old as we think.  First of all when the incarnation happened, Judaism in which Jesus entered was already over 3,000 years old.  It is arrogant for Christians to believe their generation is the end of the Age.  Jesus makes it clear we are to be ready and only God in Heaven will know. Calling the time of the incarnation “ancient,” and living in a time we call “post-modern,” keeps us from understanding the reality that we may simply be in the infancy of our faith.  God’s time is not human time.

Jesus as a baby demonstrated His greatest power.  The power of vulnerability.  All babies posses that power and that is why they thrive, for the parents, and even society does what is necessary for each child to live.  Jesus is no different and yet he walks into adulthood without shedding that great power.  Jesus served.  Jesus went to the cross and through that great vulnerability, the Divine Love was revealed in the empty tomb. 

As Christians, we need to follow Emmanuel who demonstrated the power of vulnerability, servitude, and love.  We must understand we are still each learning to do that, and even our movement, we call the church, is struggling to learn to be vulnerable for Love.

 

Father Richard Rohr’s Wish inspired this Christmas Day Sermon

Humble as a Child

October 2011 Newsletter Article

Jesus tells the disciples after they asked “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus called a child and stated, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:2-3). Well having a child and knowing many, I am very happy that Jesus does not stop with simply that statement, because there are a lot of things about children that I am happy I have out grown and that most adults have as well.

Jesus continues by saying one should become humble like a child. Often that is explained saying we should be as innocent as children. I can tell you that children are not always innocent (babies perhaps). We have to help them learn to share and be part of the group. That is actually the point. To be able to learn is what humility means here. Jesus wants us to continue to learn about God’s ways. We do not simply follow a bunch of legalistic rules; rather we are in a humble relationship with Jesus that teaches us constantly about God’s rightness.

That is a great lesson in itself, that we should be humble students, yet Jesus adds, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” (v. 5) Jesus desires us to remember hospitality is of foremost importance. In the beginning of the school year it is obvious that not every child in the classroom is equal on every subject, yet the teacher and especially the children welcome each other into the class. We all try to come humbly to church working on our relationship with Jesus, and we find ourselves working on different things. In worship when we shake each other’s hands and share some hugs, we are attempting to live up to this welcome of each other. It is wonderful part of our worship service and when we go out into the world let us welcome people by being children of God.

This reminds me of the prophet Micah’s words:

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God? (6:8)

September 2011 Newsletter - Hope

 "Hopefully" in Irish is “le cuidiú Dé,” directly translated it reads "with the help of God."

Hope is an important word, actually an important part of one’s life. All humans live with the awareness of the future, the difference is that some see the future with hope and some without which leads to despair.  As church we are to vision the future with hope.  This of course is our promised inheritance, our life with The Divine in Heaven, which should allow us to live with hope.  This is the promise for our eternal life, which has already started on earth.  So how do we vision hope on earth as it is in Heaven? 

Just looking at the Gospel of Matthew I am encouraged by Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, specifically the Beatitudes (Ch. 5).  They read with a future promise.  For example verse five, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”  Jesus also tells us, “So not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own.  Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (6:34) And Jesus states this with the command that we do strive for the Kingdom of God.  We are to pray according to Jesus, “Your kingdom come.  Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.” (6:10) We are to live our earthly lives with the knowledge of God’s promise made known to us through Jesus.  This is the promise of an eternal life and a promise of it fulfilling on earth as well.

 However, having hope does not mean it will be all rainbows and happy faces.  Honestly, having hope is most evident when bad things happen.  If we live looking at the future with Jesus’ teaching and the resurrection in mind, we will have hope.  We look hopefully to the future and realize it is all because of God. 

Tell It!

Luke 10:1-24

This scripture reminds me of my wonderful hiking boots I had as a teen.  They went over many miles of terrain, mostly in Maine when I was a teen.  I was reminded of these boots and backpacking because Jesus sends out the seventy packing light.  If you know anything about backpackers, they are always trying to pack light, not as light as Jesus orders the seventy, but that is because they will stop in each town for provisions, and the backpacker with have everything packed on their back.  The similarities do not end there.  Backpackers need to look forward.  This is not just because they are walking, but with a pack on back one must be looking forward and up not just at their feet, as to keep their airways open and to be open for new experiences, not just each step.  Nor can the backpacker obsess on the comforts they left at home.  Eventually it is great to get back home eating fresh food, showering in a hot shower, and slipping between clean cool sheets, but during the trip you will miss the point of backpacking.  You have to eat what is in front of you, and be flexible.  I remember a time where we had a raccoon eat some of our fruit and we planned to walk along the shore of a large lake, which seemed very easy until we realized that the spring rain, brought the water level up to the tree line in most places.  We had to bush-wack and walk a greater distance to cross the overflowing streams.  However, staying flexible we simply kept on enjoying the experience,  seeing where black bears had eaten berries, and realizing we could push ourselves further.  The greatest part of a backpacking trip is how it made each of us feel more whole and this was most obvious around the campfire.  We shared about how close we had come to the divine and celebrated that, not that we conquered the miles and hard work.  We celebrated how we had become more whole and looked forward to bringing that feeling to our lives out of the woods.

Brian McLaren shared at General Assembly that we need to be a Luke 10 church, and that is what Disciples strive for.  Jesus sends us out where He intended to go.  We are followers of Jesus, but it is clear that Jesus sees us also as pioneers and agents of His work.  We are to go out, and go out looking forward.  Thus we must be flexible and “pack light” for we do not know what the future entails.  We are to heal, that is make people whole, wherever we go and we tell people, not that Heaven is a future promise, but that the Kingdom of God has come near.  A peaceable kingdom, for we say that peace upon this house, this town.  And if they are not ready we move on, but we still mention the proximity of the kingdom.  And we celebrate, but not over the powers we conquered but over the wonderment of our success despite being flawed small group.  This is what we must tell.  We are a flexible, future oriented church that sees the peaceable kingdom now and celebrates that. 

Transformative

Romans 6:12-23; Matthew 10:40-42

Paul writes about how we are now under grace and not the law.  He is making it clear that we have done nothing for this grace, and also making it clear that we cannot simply except the grace once and then  go sin.  Paul makes it clear that we are to be obedient.  As Paul writes in Romans 6:17, “But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.”  It is clear that Paul believes that being under grace means we will act righteously.  We will spread the Gospel as Matthew writes in this scripture.

This made me think about how I learned to ride a bicycle.  My father, an engineer, made me read the manual, learn all the physical science, learn all the laws, and learn the history and tradition of bicycling (which was not too bad since it only started in the early 19th century) before I got on a bicycle.  Well that is not true, but I wrote this to demonstrate how crazy it would be to require all that learning before climbing on a bike.  When in fact we put a child on the bike with training wheels with only very basic instruction.  I remember the first time I rode my bike without training wheels.  I remember some basic instruction, but most of all the encouragement from my parents and the number of neighborhood children.  It was wonderful.

Grace is to me like riding a bicycle.  You are not required to learn all the church doctrines, tradition, know the Bible like a scholar, no you are simply are to go out practicing being Christian.  Now I am a person that can ride a bicycle (I would say a bicyclist, but that has connotations of having the outfit), and so is Lance Armstrong.  Now Lance practices riding a bike much more than I, and has even studied other parts to the art, and thus is a much better bicyclist, especially for races.  While Christians are not practicing to compete and one someone is a Christian they are equally saved with all other Christians (no matter how well versed or practiced another is), it is true that we mature in our relationship with Jesus if we practice more and more. 

The major point is that grace is a free gift and we have done nothing to deserve it.  For most there was a transformative time when Grace turned us to God for the first time.  We respond to that moment with baptism.  It is like riding a bike for the first time, and we remember that moment dearly.  The fact is grace is transformative always.  If you are pedaling along as a Christian you need to realize that every day, every minute the free gift of grace is there and is constantly a transformative force.  You are moving along in your faith and thus you are being transformed just as you were at your baptism.  And for those that have stopped pedaling, and/or have gotten off “the way.”  They need to simply remember the idiom “it is like riding a bicycle” for all you need to do is except the free gift of grace and head toward God as your teacher and practice Christianity.

Breathe Spirit

John 20: 19-23

When we think of Pentecost, we first think of Luke’s account of the gift of the Holy Spirit.  For Luke writes it was on the Jewish holiday of Pentecost, 50 days after the Passover.  There was a loud wind and tongues of fire on the believers heads.  Peter starts preaching and we celebrate this day as the birthday of the church.

Tradition does connect this gift of the Holy Spirit with Easter as we have kept the celebration of Pentecost 7 weeks from our Christian Passover, Resurrection Sunday.  John however connects the gift of the Holy Spirit directly with that day, as He gives them the Spirit on that very day.  Luke uses the term wind which in the Hebrew (ruach) means both Spirit and wind reflecting the wind of Genesis 1 that God used to create. John uses the word breathed, which would harken back to Genesis as well, chapter 2:7:

then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.

Or in Ezekiel 37 when God breathed on the dry bones to bring them back to life.  John is emphasizing with the gift of the Spirit that those received New Life in the Sprit. 

Peter and the disciples in Luke’s account knew exactly what to do with the gift of the Spirit; they evangelized.  In John even seeing the resurrected Jesus, it is not long before they take that gift and go fishing.  Jesus meats them at the lake and cooks them breakfast and reminds them, why He gave them the Holy Spirit, via his discourse with Peter:

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ A second time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’ He said to him the third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep. (John 21: 15-17)

Jesus is saying as He said in the locked room, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”  We are commissioned to share that gift.

Jesus breathed the Spirit to His believers.  They breathed it in, but to live one must also exhale.  We must breath the Spirit in and out.  This gift of the Spirit it not a gift we keep, it is a gift we must share.

 

Sovereign Grace

John 17:1-26

Today’s scripture is part of Jesus’ farewell dialogue.  It is however, not to us, it is a pray to His Father.  We are privy to this very personal prayer on behalf of the disciples, and for those that would believe because of their witness, thus ourselves.  There is a great intimacy evident by this prayer.  It is also very pastoral for us as there is a petition to the Father God that we see His glory, we make it to heaven.  This is to happen because Jesus asks the Father God to protect the believers who are no longer of the world and to keep them united. 

This reminded me of a wonderful illustration.  There was an Admiral who decided to take the control room from the Captain of the USS Oklahoma.  The sailors in the control room all had their respective jobs.  One was on the helm, radio, radar, maps, etc.  They knew their jobs and even knew the way to their safe harbor. 

The night was foggy and dark, but the sea was not too choppy.  The ship headed their normal direction.  The admiral saw a light in the distance, and commanded the radio man to send a message that the ship change course.  The report back was that we are requested to change course.  This went back and forth a few times, when the admiral got up and grabbed the radio and barked into it, “This is the admiral of the fleet, I command you to move.”  A second later, the response was, “Sir, I humbly ask you again to change your course, as the lighthouse keeper for two months and I have not figured out how to move.”  The men and women in the control room held back their laughter as best they could.

See the ship represents the church, and it is important for everyone to be in the proper position.  Just as Paul pointed out in 1 Corinthians 12:4-7:

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

It is true that the admiral did not depend on the people that knew the way, but neither did they speak up when they knew what the light was.  It is important for the church to be together and to have us working together as our gifts are given.  It is certainly much easier to navigate the sea of the world together then alone in a small dingy.

The lighthouse is the grace of God that shines out on everyone, but it is important we recognize it as Grace.  The ship could have ran aground if the reality that the lighthouse was warning them was not realized.  Grace directs us and protects us from the “evil one.”  The lighthouse keeps us from hitting the rocky coast, it is the answer to Jesus’ pray to His father, that we be protected and unified.  The lighthouse and the ship.

The ship may move with our help, but it is truly the lighthouse that should direct its every move.  God is truly in charge, God’s Grace is Sovereign.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Paul sums it up well here.  It is Grace that saves us and directs us, and we respond by good work of the church.

ALL ABOARD

As printed in Durant Daily Democrat June 3, 2011

Have you been stuck at a railroad crossing? If you run your errands around Durant, it is likely for that to happen a time or two. Have you heard the train whistles? If you live in Durant I am sure you have. I write this to emphasize how important these locomotives and rail companies are to our town and county. For many of the new industries that have come and those that will come to the Durant Area, rail is a key ingredient for receiving and shipping, as well as the trucks on 69/75. There is currently nothing as efficient and connected to the rest of the country as our rail system.

Many communities such as ours are lucky to have a class one carrier, yet we have been serviced by three. These are names we should know, but do not worry—I also had to find out the names. Union Pacific, Burlington Northern Sante Fe, and Kansas City Southern are the three class one carriers, reaching across our whole nation. To receive cars from these three lines requires the important work of the short-line carrier, Kiamichi-Rail America. These four rail companies are an essential ingredient to our community’s growth. So when I hear the train whistles or need to wait for a train, I think about how important it is to our community.

Now you may be asking why a minister is so interested in our local trains. The answer has two parts which I believe are related. The first is very simple and that is that our local churches are part of the same community and the reality is that churches need the community to be healthy on many levels, including economically. While some of our citizens have fallen on bad economic times, we are able to provide services in the community, such as (but not limited to) Loaves & Fishes and Families Feeding Families because many are able to give their time, talent, and money.

The second is how the train symbolizes our interconnection with the rest of the nation and even the world. What makes trains so important are how they provide efficient transportation from sea to shining sea. When you see or hear the trains in town, you know that the cars are filled with many different raw materials and finished goods, going throughout the land. This is a wonderful fact. Just as we have different churches in town, we have only one Gospel, one track. Paul states this in 1 Corinthians 12:12-14: “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many.” All Christians are baptized into one body, yet there is a diversity of gifts among the body, with Christ as the head.

Therefore when I see or hear the trains I think about how Christians from all walks of life and of all denominations may be different but are united by the tracks set by the Father God, the train that Jesus is at the control, and the Holy Spirit that powers the train. I believe today as the popular slogan in many frontier churches of the nineteenth century stated, “In essentials, Unity; in non-essentials, Liberty; and in all things, Charity.”

So when you now get stuck waiting to cross the tracks, or simply hear one of those impressive locomotives, I hope you will think about how blessed we are. We are blessed to have a town that has industry and jobs in part because of these railroads. We are also all blessed to be part of the wonderful Body of Christ, the church, which expands over the world like the rails, connecting Christendom, for “…God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body.” (1 Corinthians 12: 18-20).

So I leave you with the words of the 1965 hit single by The Impressions:

People get ready, there's a train a comin'
You don't need no baggage, you just get on board
All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin'
Don't need no ticket, you just thank the Lord

We can all get on board. Be it for our community, but even greater for Christ.

Called

John 10:1-10

Jesus tells us he is the shepherd at that gate and then emphasizes He is the gate, when the disciples did not understand.  Jesus tells us that only through the gate can you enter the sheepfold.  That thieves and bandits jump the fence and use violence.  In our contemporary language we see thieves and bandits as synonyms, but in the Greek thief does refer to someone who is stealing for their own benefit, while the word bandit would be better translated as insurgent,  someone doing crimes for political reasons.  Because some were waiting for a military messiah to save the people from the Roman occupation, it was a wonderful how Jesus combines both a petty thief and “bandit.”  Jesus goes on in the chapter to say He is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life, completely in contrast to those calling for a military response to oppression.  

That does set the scene for what Jesus says in these verses, He is the gateway to the sheepfold.  That is not simply to heaven as it is sometimes stated, but to the church (thus eventually to heaven).  This is an important nuance, for the church is called out of the society by Jesus and only Jesus.  The sheepfold represents the church and we are to enter it by following Jesus’ call to us, just as the disciples did when He said to them at the sea of Galilee, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” (Mark 1:17) 

Jesus calls us to be the church.  The word “church” comes from a Middle English word referring to the “Lord’s House.”  Today we do use the word to mean the building in which we worship, but we understand that the church is not simply the building and/or what occurs in the building.  Rather it is the mission of the Body of Christ that defines church.  In our Bible the word “church” is used once by Jesus.  Jesus says in Matthew 16:18, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”  Now it sounds like Jesus is using the term church as a building, at least in a metaphor, as He will build it on a rock.  Of course when we use the word “rock” to refer to a person, it is a metaphor about their character, but more importantly the word we translate as church does not have the same root as the English word, it is not a word for a building at all.  The word is more closely related to the definition of church we have come to understand, the mission of the Body of Christ.

The word is Ecclesia and it was a word used to describe a group of people gathered or assembled.  Specifically gathered and assembled for a specific, generally political reason.  Not unlike how we assemble people for jury duty.  The word refers not to a physical building at all, but a group gathered for a specific purpose.  Called.  The church is inherently the group called and those assembled by Jesus. 

I believe that the prophet Isaiah understood this when he wrote,

Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.’ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’ (Isaiah 6:6-8)

Jesus the Good Shepherd, the gate, calls each of us, and has triumphed over death with the last needed sacrifice.  The altar has been appeased, so that our sins are blotted out and our guilt departed, so we can hear Jesus asking and calling.  We answer, “Hear am I; send me!”

May Newsletter

May 2011

If you have not heard AJ, Mindi, and I will be closing on a house on North 10^th Avenue during this month of May. We are excited to own a home in our community. It has been over a year since I had a yard to play in as well as mow, and I look forward to both (of course the former most of all). We already feel at home here, and this is the obvious next step.

The two things I like about packing (if there I have to admit two things) are cleaning out things I do not need, and going through the meaningful memories. The cleaning out the old stuff and the things one does not need any more feels great. However, I find even more joy by finding treasures during a move that remind me of different periods of my life and seeing how they connect to the current move.

Of course moving from one home to another forces this process, but it is a good idea to do this process for our home now, and even more importantly with our own selves. What we discover is that we have varying gifts because of our experience and God-given talents. Thus we think of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 12: 12-17:

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot were to say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body’, that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear were to say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body’, that would not make it any less a part of the body.

Paul goes on and tells us that “God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.” Through prayer and careful self-reflection we can find where our skills, talents, and gifts fit for the Body of Christ, not simply at First Christian Church, but in our entire lives as the ministry of Jesus Christ. It is not limited to our congregation, but is how we live our lives everywhere: church, work, the library, the fields, malls, on the road, and of course at home.

So as you participate in your own spring-cleaning and clearing, remember the gifts you have been given and the experiences that have shaped your gifts for the work of Christ in the world. As we continue the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection, let us use our gifts in new ways for the building of Christ’s Kingdom.

Blessings,

Pastor JC

Christ’s Body, The Church

Christ’s Body, The Church

1/24/10

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

This scripture first makes me think about the human body, and I recalled a special I saw on soldiers that had come home from overseas with life changing brain injuries. During this special one wife of these brave soldiers was having a hard time dealing with this new reality when she met her husband’s hospital roommate’s wife. This woman asked her husband’s name and proceeded to address him directly. Knowing full well he could not comprehend or at least communicate back and that act changed how she viewed her husband, she saw his humanity. I too had found myself praying with just such a person with his mother, and during a prayer when I thanked God for his presence I could feel (and see) that she looked up and with her body confirmed I got it. Which is not that the soul is trapped in the body it is enmeshed in its earthly glory, as Paul writes in 1 Cor. 15:40 “There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one thing, and that of the earthly is another.” Paul is carefully straddling this mystery that we will participate in the bodily resurrection, but he is not clear what the heavenly body will be, but both have glory and a place.

I know that ancient Judaism was a religion of a specific landscape that is a specific land, a specific people, which is quite evident with the importance of the Temple. Christ comes fully human and fully divine with his body which hangs on the tree and is resurrected for our salvation. Jesus comes to Thomas with his wounds (not as a ghost or a spirit) opening salvation for every body, yes everybody, but every human body. We are therefore baptized into Christ’s body, so we can participate in the bodily resurrection prior to Jesus’ return and/or our heavenly body.

I believe this is important because if we simply think faith is to get us into heaven we would not fulfill the great commandment or commission. Our earthly bodies are not just purgatory for the soul but our opportunity to help God bring love to more people and bring loving order to the earth. (On earth as it is in heaven). This is why it is important to understand our free will to be with God is played out on this physical realm and to be in a correct relationship with God for an eternal life with the Divine, it must be fulfilled by the person you are on earth. Our thoughts, our feelings, are as much a part of our physical body as our personality or soul, so when we are baptized into the one spirit we have these bodies to work with and as the church we are Jesus’’ earthly body. This is bordering on metaphysics, but I believe strongly with this idea makes it more clear why we respond to God’s salvation with feeding the poor, healing the sick, comforting those that mourn, etc.

Thus we come to Paul’s point we are interdependent on each other, but also require diversity to make the church. This may even relate to the different churches and styles or Christianity, but it certainly is important for an individual congregation like FCC. We cannot all be preachers, or choir directors. We need everyone to find their calling that utilizes their gifts and talents.

It reminded me of a Sunday School I taught I while back. We split the class into two teams, boys and girls. We asked for them to blindfold one team member and told them that they would have to direct the blindfolded member to the object somewhere in the room. Well in this 4 & 5^th grade class I had the brothers Sam and Johnny. Sam was the younger and his hand shot up to be blindfolded. As he was being fitted, his brother Johnny said, “Listen to only my voice.” Well they figured out part of the lesson already. When I said go the girls were all directed the blindfolded girl who was confused and went slowly, while Sam took off like a sprinter, when his brother simply said, “Forward.” Before Johnny could say stop or careful, Sam had already bounced off the table across the room. I was terrified and laughing at the same time, and when I realized that this 4^th grader bounced well and was fine, I simply laughed, as he was directed to the object winning the game.

If we do church right we will all have that enthusiasm that Sam had when he heard forward. Just as our body when working correctly communicates smoothly and effectively, we will do the same when we get people in the right positions. We will live the resurrection with our bodies as the church, as the Body of Christ.