Last Sunday, in the opening of the Acts of the Apostles, we found Jesus making his last appearance with the disciples.  They were gathered on the mountaintop at Olivet and Jesus final words to them are reported with minor variances in the four Gospels, but there is a common theme.  In his final words, Christ commissions the disciples to go and preach repentance in Jesus’ name to all the nations.  In Luke’s Gospel, we hear:

Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of these things.  And see, I am sending upon you what my Father has promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.

Parallel texts can be found in all of the Gospels and in the opening of the book of Acts.

In John, we hear “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

In Mark, “Go into all the world and proclaim the Good News to the whole creation.”

At the opening of the book of the Acts of the Apostles, we hear “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

But the description of the final words of Christ that we know best are found in the Gospel according to Matthew:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

This Great Commission, as it has come to be known, along with the other scriptures, call all of us to a life of action.  Hear again the action words in the Great Commission.

We are to go.

We are to make.

We are to teach.

And, we are to remember.

When Jesus ascended to the Father as we heard it described in Acts 1, we hear these words: “While he was going and they (the disciples) were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them.  They said “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven?  This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”  The angels were telling them to get off their duffs, to stop looking and start living; living the life that Jesus had called them to live and living the commission that he had given to them.

The disciples returned to Jerusalem, to the same upper room that they have occupied since the time of the crucification and they wait.  Well, the waiting is over.  It’s the day of Pentecost.  The Holy Spirit has arrived and the Spirit has arrived with a vengeance.

We’re told that like a mighty rush of wind, the Spirit swooshes in upon them, descending upon them like tongues of fire.  In that moment, they are seized with a power to speak in other languages… not some gibberish “spirit language,” but languages that are the native languages of the folks passing by in the streets below… and the disciples are all telling of the Gospel of Jesus Christ fluently in these foreign languages and the people who hear them are amazed.  Everyone wonders what this is all about… some of the more cynical among them speculate that the disciples are drunk.

When Peter addresses the crowd, he reminds them of the words of the prophet Joel…

In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
    Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
    Your young will see visions.
    Your elders will dream dreams…
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Acts 2:17,21 CEB).

Peter continued the sermon, encouraging those who were listening to give their hearts and their lives to Jesus, to change their lives and at the end of the day, nearly 3,000 were baptized and they became a community of faith.

The believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the community, to their shared meals, and to their prayers. A sense of awe came over everyone. God performed many wonders and signs through the apostles. All the believers were united and shared everything. They would sell pieces of property and possessions and distribute the proceeds to everyone who needed them. Every day, they met together in the temple and ate in their homes. They shared food with gladness and simplicity. They praised God and demonstrated God’s goodness to everyone. The Lord added daily to the community those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47).

This was the day that the church was born.

Recently, we’ve heard the news from the Pew Study of Religious Life that Christianity is losing ground in America.  Almost across the board, the percentages of people in America who identify as Christian are dropping.  The number of persons identifying as having no religious preference, the “nones” are increasing…these folks aren’t necessarily atheist (people who believe that there is no god) or agnostic (folks who really aren’t sure if there is a god or not), they are typically folks who really don’t care either way.  There is another number that is increasing as well, and these are the “dones” the folks who have just dropped out of the church because they are tired of the infighting, the hypocrisy, and the close alignment between some factions of evangelical Christianity and a social conservatism that is shrill, hateful, and so far removed from the concept of loving neighbor…the 2nd part of the Great Commandment, if you can remember.

Now, I’m not worried about the Church.  The holy, apostolic, and universal (or catholic) church.  I’m not worried about it because Jesus told Peter in Matthew 16:18 “upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”

But I am concerned that we in North America just don’t get it  Not long ago, Dr Marsha McFee, a leader in worship design and practice presented this thought, “It’s ok if people hate you because you are a Christian.  It’s not ok if people hate Christianity because of you.”  This quote came from her atheist neighbor who heard it from who knows where.

In so many cases we have forgotten that the church is the people, broken people who have been empowered in their baptism and in the baptism of the Holy Spirit with gifts that are to be used to build the kingdom of God here on earth.  In too many cases, the focus of the church has become the building; in too many cases, that building has either become an albatross or an idol or both and it causes us to lose sight of our mission.

Paragraph 120 in the Book of Discipline tells us what our mission is: “The mission of the United Methodist Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”  That is the mission of every one of us in this room today.  The mission might sound vaguely familiar.  Matthew 28:19 anyone?  “Go and make disciples of all nations…”  I told the folks at our Wednesday night dinner and devotional that the Greek could also be translated this way, “As you go, disciple” which changes the word disciple from a noun… an object to be acted upon to a verb which connotes action.

With the idea that mission informs vision which in turn generates missions into the world, I want to share the vision statement of the Holston Annual Conference with you… it’s something that we should be hearing often… and believe me, you will:

God envisions
bold, passionate, and joyful communities of faith
where the spiritual hunger to worship God and to serve Christ
sets disciples on fire with Spirit-filled, risk-taking love for all God’s children
until Holston Conference reflects the saving grace
and redeeming justice of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Where is our boldness?

Where is our passion?

Where is our joy?

Several years ago, Bishop Swanson asked us to consider the question, “If you church closed its doors tomorrow, would anyone notice?  Would anyone care?”  It’s a question that has been haunting me for the last couple of weeks.

First, let me salute the ministries that are being done through the UMW, through the Food Pantry, through individuals working with Relay for Life , the Quilts of Valor program and others.  We do a pretty good job of caring for each other and, when we see a need we try to help.  This not only plays out in the local community, but elsewhere as well.  For example, when the Sand Mountain choir had its Valentine Dinner last year, a portion of the proceeds from that night went to Heiffer International to purchase a water buffalo for a family… a gift that will be a long term benefit to that family.

These ministries are great things, but I think we can do better.  I’m not suggesting that we should re-invent the wheel, but that we can find ways to work together with our other United Methodist churches in the area to make an even bigger difference in the lives of people that we touch.

Once again, this year’s Annual Conference mission offering is staying right here in the Holston Conference to fund block grants to churches and ministries within the conference that impact children in poverty.  These block grants will be divided among the 12 districts in Holston and they will be administered at the local level.  Bishop Taylor has challenged us to a minimum of $10 per regular attendee, not only that, but she has challenged each of us to give 10 hours of service to a ministry that benefits children in poverty… to my mind, the Tri-State Food Pantry fits that definition.

To put this into perspective, for this church:

Rising Fawn: $300 Sand Mountain: $310

That doesn’t sound like a lot, but if all of the churches in the Holston Conference, some 887 congregations, met the goal of $10 per average attendee, we would raise $685,000 to help children in poverty right here in our own back yard.  We proved that we could accomplish big goals 3 years ago with our $1 million dollar goal for Imagine No Malaria. We raised $1.2 million… pretty impressive considering the most that we had ever raised in a conference offering before was $175,000.

Finding ways to work together with Trenton, New Salem, Morganville, Slygo, Whiteside, Wildwood, and Payne’s Chapel and, of course, with (Rising Fawn/Sand Mountain), we can make a greater impact on Dade County than we could ever do on our own.  Finding ways to work in tandem with the Upper Sand Mountain Parish in the North Alabama Conference could help us to have an impact upon an entire region.

I’m not asking us to work harder, although that wouldn’t hurt, but by breaking down the barriers, whether they be jealousy, pride, or any number of things that provide stumbling blocks to our mission of making disciples and caring for the least of these, I believe that we can work smarter and reach more people who need to see the church in action, but more than that, they need to see Jesus reflected in all that we say, all that we do, and in all that we are.

And it doesn’t matter how old or how young we are, this calling is for all of us.  As we hear from the prophet Joel, your young will see visions, your elders will dream dreams.”  You’ve heard me talk about Peg Butler, telling you that at age 97 she considered her ministry to be driving the old folks to the store.  She died two years ago at age 104 and 6 months.  One of the stories told about her at her memorial service was from when she was in her mid 80’s and serving on a visitation team at Brainerd UMC. She would stop by to greet visitors to the church, leave them a basket of home made cookies and invite them to come again.  On one visit, as the story goes, as Peg issued the invitation, the person receiving it said, “I don’t know.  I’m 73 years old and find it difficult to get out.”  Peg’s response was “Well, I’m 86 and I’m there every week.”

On the opposite end of the scale, 7 years ago, a 10 year old boy named Jack Skowronnek, read a book about a 4 year old boy with cancer and his teenaged brother who shaved his head in solidarity with his baby brother when the 4 year old lost his hair from chemotherapy.  Jack started what is now known as Jack’s Chattanoggins and on July 17,  the 17 year old Jack will be at the Chattanooga Market where folks will be shaving their heads to raise money for Children’s Hospital at Erlanger.  So far, over $130,000 has been raised.

Your young will see visions, your elders will dream dreams…

As the body of Christ, we should be in the vision and dream business as we go about seeking God’s vision and God’s dreams for us and our communities and then making those dreams happen.

We are not alone.

We can make a difference.

Together, we can transform the world in Jesus’ name.

So, what are we waiting for?

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

It seems that there is one thing of which we can be certain: we live in a time of uncertainty.  We live in a time of great change. We live in an age where the Christendom paradigm, that structure which presumes that the vast majority of people around us share our faith and our values, is changing.  I agree with Roberts and Meade that the changes have been coming for some time and we have just been unprepared for the changes that come with the paradigm shift.

Our folly, I fear, is that our reaction to these changes has been the wrong reaction.  It seems that the loudest “Christian” voices have reacted with a shrill voice shouting out in the language of persecution.  Now, I will concede that in some areas of the world, especially in the Middle East where ISIS seems hell-bent on destroying anything and anyone that does not fit into their extremist worldview, persecution is real.  However, and you can disagree with me on this point, but, claims of persecution in the United States are, at best, a gross exaggeration.

In the midst of the changes that we see happening around us, we should be standing true to what Jesus identified as the “greatest commandment”: “‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31 New Revised Standard Version).  But, in too many instances, it seems to me, we react to the changes that we see happening around us in a manner that demonstrates anything but love.

In his sermon, “On Love,” Wesley addresses the passage in 1 Corinthians 13:3, “If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing” (NRSV), and he points out that our motivation means everything:

There is great reason to fear that it will hereafter be said of most of you who are here present, that this scripture, as well as all those you have heard before, profited you nothing. Some, perhaps, are not serious enough to attend to it; some who do attend, will not believe it; some who do believe it, will yet think it a hard saying, and so forget it as soon as they can; and, of those few who receive it gladly for a time, some, having no root of humility, or self-denial, when persecution ariseth because of the word, will, rather than suffer for it, fall away. Nay, even of those who attend to it, who believe, remember, yea, and receive it so deeply into their hearts, that it both takes root there, endures the heat of temptation, and begins to bring forth fruit, yet will not all bring forth fruit unto perfection. The cares or pleasures of the world, and the desire of other things, (perhaps not felt till then) will grow up with the word, and choke it.” – (http://www.umcmission.org/Find-Resources/John-Wesley-Sermons/Sermon-139-On-Love#sthash.WcqgUtXC.dpuf)

It seems that we have let perceived power and status get in the way of our true mission as given to us by Christ.  And I contend that, in a time when others advocate that we climb into our bunkers and hole up in our silos to separate ourselves from the world, that we should reject those calls to isolation and step boldly into the world to share “a more excellent way,” a way based in the love of Christ.

During the Easter Season I was preaching a series based upon the lectionary readings from the Epistle texts of 1 John which, along with the Gospel texts, focused primarily upon an attribute of God that challenges us as we attempt to live into the life that God calls each of us to live through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit… a life that is centered in the love of Jesus, the love of God, and the capacity of the Holy Spirit to give us the strength that we need to embody that love to a world that has no idea what love is.

John tells us that God is love.  He tells us that we love because God first loved us.  It is a message that the church needs to hear, because, to be perfectly frank, we haven’t been so good at this crazy and unruly thing called love.

And the wonderful, crazy thing about God’s love is this: God loves us whether we want God’s love or not – and it makes no difference whether we are worthy of God ’s love because, as I hope every one of us knows, we are most assuredly, most definitely un-worthy of God’s love and grace.  That might not mean a lot to those of us sitting in this classroom on a Monday morning in Atlanta, but it can make all the difference in the world to a person who has been beaten down by the stress of trying to be worthy of God’s love… something that is preached by too many of our brothers and sisters, but mostly brothers in denominations that are more about rules than they are about grace.  That’s the message that way too many of the people that we serve at the Tri-State Food Pantry have heard their entire lives… a message telling them that “you’re not good enough” and “if you don’t follow the narrow rules that we set out for you and use against you in our effort to define who’s in and who’s out then all you can look forward to is damnation to the eternal fires of hell.”

Now tell me, where is the Gospel in that?

The overarching story of God, personified in Jesus Christ and told to us in the fullness of Scripture is a message of love.  All of humanity is created in love, created in the imago Dei, the very image and likeness of God.  Paul reminds us in Romans 5:8, “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.”  Think about it: Christ died… for us… so that we might live and so that we might share that love with others in the name of Jesus.

We are the body of Christ.

We are a body that exists for one purpose: to love God with everything that we have and to love our neighbors as God loves us.

We are the body and we are Christ’s representatives to the world.  And those of us who claim the faith of Jesus must make our stand in the world to proclaim Christ to everyone in every corner of the earth. Just like the song by Casting Crowns says:

Jesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the Body of Christ 

But if we are the Body
Why aren’t His arms reaching
Why aren’t His hands healing
Why aren’t His words teaching 

And if we are the Body
Why aren’t His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
There is a way.

Jesus IS the way.

Jesus calls us to throw aside our prejudices and our fears and to go into the world and engage the world with his message of love to all people… period.

The work won’t be easy, but if we give our all to the honor and glory of God, then the rewards will be plenty.  And the best part is that we won’t be there alone and on our own, because Jesus, through the Holy Spirit will be by our side as we go about His work – the work not of a kingdom that is yet to come, but a kingdom yet to be revealed in the here and now.

We are the body of Christ and it’s time for us to get to work.

Thanks be to God.  In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

We continue our adventure with David, who, as you recall, has been anointed by God to become the new King of Israel to replace Saul. Last week, we watched as he found victory over Goliath of Gath. Now, this week we enter a new phase of David’s life as he prepares to ascend to the throne as the new king of Israel.

It has been a long, and dangerous journey. When David killed Goliath, he was hailed far and wide for his heroism, and this was a threat to Saul. In the meantime, David and Saul’s son, Jonathan, became very close friends. In fact, they became inseparable, almost like twin brothers from different mothers. They became closer than family… as close and dear friends can become… and their closeness bothered Saul too.

Saul wanted to keep David close at hand in order to keep a watch on him as his popularity with the people of Israel continued to grow. So, he brought David into the royal household to keep an eye on him. But Saul’s plans went awry very quickly. For one thing, Jonathan’s fondness for David grew quickly, and Jonathan could sense that his father did not have the best intentions for his friend.

Long story short, David ended up running for his life once Jonathan got wind of what was up with his dad. Jonathan did his best to protect his friend.

In the meantime, the Philistines regrouped and attacked the army of Israel and in the battle, Jonathan and his brothers were killed and Saul was gravely injured. His injuries were so great and his fear of being killed by the Philistines was so strong that Saul ordered his armor bearer to kill him so that he would avoid the indignity of death at the hand of his enemies. When his servant refused to kill him, Saul took his sword and committed the first act of suicide recorded in the Bible.

That is the backstory leading to our Old Testament text for this morning.

Once David has received word of the death of Jonathan and Saul, he leads the nation in mourning and lament over their death.

In the Jewish tradition, there is a prescribed period of mourning… it is the minimum amount of time that is expected for propriety sake, but it serves as the official time of mourning for all of the family and friends of the deceased. There is nothing that limits the time of mourning for as long as it may take, but the minimums are designed to give the family time to process their grief and hopefully work through their loss.

One of the problems that we have in our society today is that we have forgotten how to grieve. When a loved one is lost, there are many who try to comfort the survivor with platitudes that, all to often, don’t bring comfort, but bring more pain and sorrow upon them.
One of the best ways that we can help someone who is grieving is to give them the space to grieve. Give them the space to be angry at God, if necessary, and stand by them and support them in their grief.

I remember my Aunt Vola Mae and my Uncle Mac. They were married for 52 years. From what I understand, they argued incessantly for about 50 of those years. Imagine if you will, that Aunt Vola was Aunt Esther to my Uncle Mac’s Fred Sanford. If you get that picture, then you can understand what I’m trying to describe here.

When Mac died in 1986, it was after a brief illness, I seem to recall that from diagnosis to death was only about 2 weeks. And during those 2 weeks, Vola never left his side. Constantly caring for the man that I had only heard her refer to as “that old fool”… and that was when she was being nice to him.

I will never forget very early in the visitation at the funeral home, a long time neighbor of theirs told my Aunt Vola, “well, he’s in a better place” and my Aunt Vola lit into her “And you think that is supposed to make me feel better? Right now there is a hole in my heart that he filled ever since Olivia died (Olivia was their daughter who died shortly before her first birthday). All of the fussing that we did over the years was our way of coping with the death of our baby. You don’t know squat and I wish you’d just leave.” My aunt Vola died less than 2 weeks later… from a broken heart that had been held together for all those years by “that old fool.”

The book of Lamentations and the Psalms give us a window into the human condition. Alternate readings from Lamentations and the Book of Wisdom remind us that “God didn’t make death” that “God takes no delight in the ruin of anything that lives” and that “death entered the universe only through the devil’s envy” (Wisdom 1:13, 2:24 CEB). We are also reminded that in hardship and in death, “certainly the faithful love of the Lord hasn’t ended; certainly God’s compassion isn’t through” (Lamentations 3:22 CEB). Psalm 130 reminds us that God hears us when we cry out from the depths of our despair and our anguish, in the midst of our pain and our sorrow, and delivers us from all of that if we seek his face and rest in his amazing grace.

We are reminded that in the midst of our grief, God is with us. Ready to hold us. Ready to allow us to rest in God’s presence. Ready for us to rage and cry out and exhibit our grief in whatever way that we must so that healing may begin… so that wholeness may once again be ours. Our God is our help in ages past. He is our shelter when the stormy blast of life’s struggles and heartaches threaten to consume us in our grief, our anger, and our despair… and God in Jesus Christ is our hope for things to come.

Jesus tells us “I am the resurrection and I am life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, yet shall they live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. I died and behold I am alive forevermore, and I hold the keys of hell and death. Because I live, you shall live also.”

David placed his hope in the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. When we are faced with uncertainty, when we are faced with a changing culture, and when we begin to face tremendous change in our lives and in the society surrounding us, we don’t need to fear… we don’t need to hunker down in our silos and act like we’re under attack… we don’t need to waste our time lamenting the fact that things have changed and perhaps not to our liking. In times like these we need to get to our knees, seek God’s will in our lives and then step boldly into the world, not to condemn the world… even Jesus didn’t come to do that (cf John 3:17), but to engage the world with the love of Christ… a love ordered by God, exemplified by Christ and enlivened and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Instead of getting on our soapbox and crying woe is me and woe to you who disagree, we should be bearers of Christ’s love to all people. And we should show them that we are Christians by our love, not by shouting out what we are against.

For too long, the church has been in a comfortable position. It was pretty much accepted that people were Christians, whether they were part of a church family or ever even attended church or not. Ever notice how many times you see in an obituary that someone was of the “Methodist faith” or the “Baptist faith”… pretty much a declaration that the last time that person set foot in a church was well beyond anyone’s memory and probably beyond several folks lifetimes.

For too long, we’ve had it easy, whether folks were in the pews or not. And for too long we have let cultural hot button issues as defined by the folks with the biggest and loudest mouths, especially here in America, define what was or wasn’t Christian… what sins were important and what were not. We’ve had too many voices shouting out about the unborn while turning a blind eye to those who are born, not caring about poverty, or justice, or mercy.

We’ve singled out homosexuality to be a major sin while ignoring the other things that Paul lists like gossip, slander, gluttony, and divorce. And in the process of all of this, we have made the church look hateful, intolerant, and irrelevant in the lives of too many people.

We have emasculated our witness by shouting about what we are against instead of lifting up what we are about. We have forgone the love of Christ and the idea of doing unto others as we would have them do to us, to become nothing more than crybabies who throw tantrums if we don’t get our way. It’s been our way or the highway, instead of pointing to Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life for far too long and it has got to stop.

We are called to love… period. Jesus declared that the gates of hell would not prevail against the church, but we have abandoned the message of Jesus for a message of condemnation and the world has seen the hypocrisy that is evident in such a stand.

So, as society changes around us, we don’t need to abandon Christ, we need to hold on closer to Christ with both hands and boldly share with others the risk taking love of Christ. We need to look to Christ for our inspiration and we need to love others as he loves us.

It might not be easy. It might even be painful. But no one has ever said that following Christ would be easy or painless. We may not agree with someone’s lifestyle, but that has never given us permission to act in a hateful way toward them.

Friends, if we live out our lives seeking to exemplify Christ’s love in all that we say and do, we will do more to change lives and hearts than we can ever begin to imagine. Our protests against what we see as another’s sin will never lead that person to Jesus. Our living as though Christ makes a difference in our life can make all of the difference in the world. Thanks be to God…

Note: Seeing that someone had selected to follow my blog, a space that has been fallow for a while, I thought that it would be nice to post something for them to follow.  Alas, this post is a reblogging of a post that originated while I was at Emory for classes in July 2013.  In light of recent conversations, it is appropriate to my mood.

The following is part of a reflection that I wrote for a class in Personal and Social Ethics that I am taking at Emory University…

The three dimensional matrix demonstrated by the “tinker toy” model has certainly given me pause as I try to establish where I fit within the matrix.  From a political perspective, as shown on the vertical plane, I self identify to the far left.  On the vertical plane of denominational hierarchy, I am a local pastor, treasurer of the district ministers association, and a member of the Board of Buildings and Locations.  That places me not quite at the bottom, but on the lower end of the spectrum.  The third axis to determine where I fit in the modern to postmodern spectrum is the most difficult one for me to figure out.  I tend to be highly skeptical of what is perceived to be truth and certainty.  My BS meter is pretty sensitive and I prize authenticity above correctness.  I tend to search for grey amidst a worldview that seemingly demands black or white answers.  However, I do hold fast to the idea of an Ultimate Truth that is found in Christ and Christ’s revelation of the God of creation.  So, I guess that I will place my self somewhat to the postmodern side of the plane.

The rub in all of this self-identification, though, is that these points are not fixed.  They change as my life experience changes, as I become aware of new facts, as I interact with others, believers and non-believers alike, and they can change in response to specific situations at specific points of time.  They can also change depending upon where I happen to be in my understanding of God, my relationship to God, and my relationship to God’s people.  Does this make me “wishy-washy” in my views?  No, I believe that it makes me human and that it makes me true to myself and not just some arbitrary sets of rules and regulations that offer no flexibility and through which there is no place for grace.

Within the denomination, I shun the activism at both ends of the spectrum as I try to hold fast to the middle ground.  I believe that we do the Gospel a disservice when we are so dogmatic and rigid in our positions that we lose sight of the fact that we are dealing with people who are made in the image of God.  In a blog post that I read this week, Dr David F. Watson of United Theological Seminary questioned whether we were living in a time of “cultural cold war” in our nation and in the church as well.[1]  As the polarization becomes more pronounced, it is my hope that the voices of moderation, of which I feel I am one, would not be drowned out.

In light of Wesley’s sermon, “Catholic Spirit,” I believe that it is incumbent upon us to strive for the via media in all things.  We should hold fast to the values that strike at the heart of Christianity, but we should let grace abound and “think and let think” on those things that do not.  I admire Adam Hamilton and Mike Slaughter’s attempt at General Conference 2012 to amend the stance on homosexuality as stated in the Discipline to admit that we United Methodists are not of one mind on this issue and on others.  I despair that we cannot agree that we are in disagreement on these issues.  Dean Snyder, senior pastor at Foundry United Methodist Church, used to have a blog entitled “Untied Methodist.”  Unfortunately, I believe that we are becoming more untied than united.  With that in mind, I do wonder, if a split were to occur, what would this liberal, evangelical do and where would I go?  Would I stay with a more conservative church as a liberal voice in a place that would probably respect my status as a local pastor?  Or, would I choose to be a moderate to conservative voice in a more liberal church that would probably discount my calling as a local pastor?  Not an easy place to be.  So, I will continue to love God, love neighbor, and proclaim the Gospel as best I can.  I can do no other.

It seems that I will be attending several high school graduation ceremonies over the next couple of weeks.  Four seniors, three different schools, 2 churches… and none of the ceremonies are in conflict (yea!).  I’m proud of their accomplishments and wish them all the best on what will be an important night for them.  What I’m not looking forward to are the inevitable idiots who will hoot and holler, perhaps blow an air horn, and generally “act a fool” as my momma would say.  This attitude denies the graduate the dignity of the death that is occurring at that moment.

Let me explain.

Graduation marks an ending and it marks a new beginning.  The graduate experiences the death of what they have known and what has been, for many of them at least, a comfortable existence.  High School becomes a memory, not a presently lived experience.  For some, it will be a memory best forgotten for it was a time of brokenness or missed potential.  For others, it will be a time of fond memories.  It won’t matter if they are going off to college, specialized training, the military, or directly into the working world, their lives are irrevocably changed and life begins anew.  This cycle of death and life, new life, resurrection, if you will, will be repeated over and over throughout the journey that we all take on this terrestrial ball.

Those of us who are followers of Christ should be familiar with this concept.  Death and resurrection are all part of our experience, even if we would rather not experience them.  The thing is that we don’t have to face these realities on our own.  Indeed, we don’t face them on our own, for God is with us.  God never leaves us, even though we might not be feeling God’s presence or even wanting God’s presence at the time.  For me, that has brought a sense of comfort, a sense of hope, and it brings the strength to carry on in spite of what may be going on around me.

To the Class of 2014: May your sails be unfurled and the wind always at your back.  Dream big and never let your dreams be compromised.  Godspeed as you sail off into a new life and a new world.  Never forget, you are not alone.

Well, it’s been a while since I have blogged about anything.  I’ve waited to have something to say that I think that the few folks who visit here would be willing to read.  By waiting as long as I have, most folks who have cared about my thoughts have probably given up waiting.  And, those who have stuck around might be wondering why they even bothered after they read what I’m about to write.  Oh well, it is what it is.

Here we are in the season of Advent, a time when the Christian church and the followers of Christ are reminded that we live in a time of “expectant hope” (I know that I should attribute that phrase, but for the life of me, I cannot find where it originated).  We live with expectation of the coming of the Christ and the hope that he brings, at least we should.  But sometimes I think that our “expectant hope” gets lost in the busyness that marks this season.  By allowing the busyness and the cultural expectations of Christmas to crowd out the reflection and wonder of Advent, I believe that we truly lose all that is special about this time on our church calendar.

In this fast paced world of ours, I think that we need Advent more than ever.  We need to set aside time in our busy schedule to pause, to reflect, to listen, to seek, and to be.  And, if we take that time, even if it is just for “one brief shining moment,” we can find the strength that we need to move through this life.  Strength that comes from the One who was, who is, and is to come.

“For unto us a child is born.”  May we make time for Him to be born in us today.