Eyes to See

There is a story in the Gospels in which Jesus restores the sight of a man born blind.  It is a great miracle, but it is the conversation and conflict that the healing provokes that takes up most of the story.  There is a dispute as to whether the man is truly the one who was born blind, so his parents are asked, and they insist that the religious leaders “ask him!”  The story concludes with the “born-blind-but-now-seeing-man” telling the religious leaders that they are the ones who cannot see.  It is a great story (you can read it in John 9), and it prompts us to consider what we see and what we don’t see.

Earlier this summer at the conference I attended in Montreat, the preacher did something each day in worship that has stuck with me.  Now, I must admit that at every conference I attend  there are always things that I like (agree with) and things I don’t like (rub me the wrong way).  But, 99% of the time there are several things that stick in my mind for a long time.  Such was the case with Montreat this summer.  Here’s what I’ve been carrying with me.

Every day in worship the preacher, at some point, would pull out a pair of bright red, heart-shaped, costume glasses and she would make a huge deal about putting them on.  She would talk about things that we see and things we don’t see.  She exhorted us to keep our glasses on, to fix our eyes, so that we may see God at work in our midst.  She would put the glasses on at the beginning of the sermon, and she would put them on when she gave the benediction.  This practice caused me to consider, how often do I see God at work around me?  I know that God is always at work, but how often do I see it, notice it, realize it is happening in my midst?  The problem is not an absence of God, the problem is that I don’t have my “glasses” on to see it.

It is easy to see all of the bad in our world.  It is all around us.  As the hymn writer says “and though the wrong is oft so strong…”. And I get so focused on the wrong that I simply miss seeing God at work.  “Here is an amazing thing,” that healed man says in John 9, “that you are a religious leader and you do not see…”

A strange thing happened through that week in Montreat.  By Tuesday morning, the preacher wasn’t the only one with the red heart-shaped glasses.  I noticed that when the children’s choir stood to sing, a couple of elementary age kids had their own pairs of glasses.  A youth would go to the pulpit and read scripture with their own pair.  The Routley Lecturer, when he led the hymn festival, he was wearing a pair.  More and more people were wearing red heart-shaped glasses, reminders to themselves and others, that God is working and those with eyes to see will see it.

That is the church.  A group of people with their eyes open to seeing God at work in their midst and in the world.  Put your glasses on.  Keep your eyes open.  God is at work.

Windshield or Rearview Mirror?

Early this past Spring I had a conversation with my 13 year-old-daughter riding home from softball practice.  She was frustrated with her play on the field during practice that night.  She had just moved up an age division, and the competition had become much more intense.  She had had a rough night, and it had been a bumpy start to the season.  I asked her, “which is bigger, the windshield or the rearview mirror?”  “Here we go again,” she though, “another lesson from dad the preacher.”  She wouldn’t say anything, so I answered for her.  “Of course the windshield is much bigger than the rearview mirror.”  Do you know why?  She finally responded, “because you need to see where you’re going more than what is behind you.”  Exactly right.  Of course I was trying to tell her to spend more time thinking about the next practice, the next game, the next time she put her glove on her hand.

I recently read a piece from another pastor who used the same illustration.  Peter Marty even measured his windshield and rearview mirror.  His rearview mirror, he says, is 9 inches by 2 inches, and his windshield is 5 feet by 3 feet.  He says this is because “drivers benefit from having an optimal view of where they’re headed.”

It is easy to spend time looking in the rearview mirror.  Considering and rehashing mistakes, successes, fights, failures, struggles, wins, hurts, and joys, all visible in the rearview mirror.  And, there is value in looking at where we have been.  But we should spend the vast majority of our time looking where we are going.  Individuals and churches can spend so much time gazing into the rearview mirror.  Remembering what has been, good and bad, and spending little time looking to where we are going.

By all accounts most churches have had a tough couple of years since the beginning of the COVID pandemic.  Specifically, May Memorial has had a bumpy couple of years.  Pandemic, regathering, more pandemic, heating boiler breakdown and no heat, and then a serious staff issue.  Bumpy is an understatement.  And even in the midst of these bumps, there have been great joys and blessings.  The joy of fellowship and community, missions (Just Kids!), baptisms, new members, new staff members, and the steadfast presence of God leading and speaking.  These are great joys.  And it is always easy to keep looking back.  To the “good old days,” or the “bad old days.”  To spend our time in the “remember whens.”

The call is to keep our eyes looking through the windshield, to what lies ahead, to where we are going.  Yes, glance in the rearview mirror, considering wonderful memories and learned lessons, but our eyes should be focused on what God has in store.

Paul puts it this way, “My friends, I don't feel I have already arrived. But I forget what is behind, and I struggle for what is ahead. I run toward the goal, so I can win the prize of being called to heaven.”

As a church, as individuals, let us look ahead, let us run toward the goal.  When we look through our windshield we see that God is at work, and the incredible good news is that we can join Him in that work.

The Memory of Old Jack

Whenever I am away for Continuing Education or vacation I find great joy in spending time reading.  Over the past few weeks I read a few books, and in my next several newsletter articles I’d like to mention a couple of those.

For several years I have loved the Port William novels of Wendell Berry, in which he describes the lives, stories, loves, work, and faith of the members of the Port William “fellowship.”  I highly recommend all of the novels from the Port William series.

In The Memory of Old Jack, readers are able to spend with Jack Beacham the last day of his life.  He is a man in his 80’s, he has moved away from the farm where he spent his life, and on that last day he spends it working through the important memories of his life.  He remembers the day that his brothers leave to fight for the Confederacy, never to return.  He remembers the day in church when he is “stricken” with the beauty of the woman who is to be his wife.  He remembers working on his farm, paying off debt, and his fight with his farm-hand.  He remembers his failed marriage, his affair, the birth of his daughter, and the death of his mistress and eventually his wife.  He remembers his daughter marrying and moving away to the city, forsaking the simple farm life that was so important to Jack.

Old Jack’s story is filled with good and bad, strength and struggle, virtue and sin.  And, Wendell Berry tells it in a way that is beautiful, a way that causes me to read and re-read words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs.  But what becomes most clear is that Old Jack’s life is much like mine, and like yours.  It is a mixture of good and bad, and even with the bad, it is a life worth remembering.

As Jack remembers his years as a young man and farming his fields, there are things about the “modern world” that he just can’t understand.  He can’t understand why our nation would tax and spend millions on developing bombs that have the power to wipe out hundreds and thousands of humans.  He also can’t understand the “modern” notion that people have, believing they shouldn’t have to work in order to eat.  He just can’t believe that people would have that assumption.  Because Jack was a man who could see a direct link between the land, the hard work of farming, and providing for himself and his family.

Old Jack dies in the old Port William hotel, it had been converted for “permanent residents,” the elderly who would go there to never leave.  Old Jack called it the “Port William airport,” where he was waiting to take his final journey to the heavens.  The preacher had strict orders for the graveside service, “only read these three Psalms, nothing less, nothing more.”  The preacher almost stuck to his orders, and that rural community laid Old Jack to rest.  But his memory, in the mind of Wendell Berry and for those who pick up this gem of a book, continues to touch, heal, move, and spark the thoughts of what it means to be human and faithful to the places we call home.

Worshiping at Montreat

  There are not many times when a pastor gets to worship without leading worship.  I know, I know, leading worship has worshiping “built in,” but there is a difference.  When I preach I too, in a strange way, am also a hearer of the sermon; when I pray publicly during worship I am giving voice to my personal praise, confessions, and petition; when I read scripture I am also listening for God’s Word “for me today”; and certainly when I sing hymns I am offering my praise to God just as anyone else in the sanctuary.  But all things considered, there is a difference.  When a pastor leads worship there is always the thought of what is next, how to make a transition, how long to pause during silent prayers, how to read a text so the story is understandable, and how to have a reverent pace while not dragging the energy out of a time of worship.  These things and more are always before a pastor when he or she is leading worship, and I enjoy taking part in all of these and trying to get them all “just right.”

            But sometimes I like, I need, to simply worship.  To be able to sing a hymn and not think about my prayer that comes at the end of it.  To be able to help one of my children locate the scripture text in her Bible because I am sitting beside her.  To think about a Bible story and be able to turn to read it during the children’s sermon.  To let my mind wander, to miss something in the liturgy, to allow God to guide my thoughts to something that hasn’t been said out loud, to count the number of chandeliers in the sanctuary, to quietly protest what the preacher is saying, and to wrestle with the text for the day.  I like to be able to pray about my personal prayer requests while the pastor is leading a prayer, to sing without people looking at me, and most of all I love to be served at the table as a follower of Jesus.

            Sometimes I need to worship without leading worship, but those times are few in the life of a pastor.  While these times are few, I do find opportunities throughout the year.

            One of the ways I am able to worship without leading worship is the one week a year when my family and I attend a conference in the beautiful little village of Montreat.  This coming Sunday we will go to Montreat, and it is the 22nd year Beverley and I are attending the Worship and Music Conference at Montreat.  I don’t know what I would do without it.  In addition to the many classes and seminars that are held throughout the day there is an eleven o’clock worship service each morning in which nearly 1,000 pastors, musicians, and church members assemble in a beautiful stone auditorium for excellent music, creative praise, and wonderful sermons.  Each night there are different offerings: a hymn festival, an organ concert, a choral concert, and additional worship services.  Over the years this week has became the highlight of my year.

            When I first went to Montreat in 2000 it was not much of a place to me, it was just another little mountain community among many.  It was much like that place that Jacob came upon in the middle of the night in Genesis when he was running for his life from Esau.  But much like Jacob, I now look back and realize that “I didn’t even know it, but this is the house of God.”  That is what the word Bethel means, house of God. 

            There is a hike my family and I take every year while at Montreat called Lookout Mountain.  It takes us about 90 minutes and at the top is a rock outcropping from which you can see down to Montreat and out toward Asheville.  It reminds me of the Biblical language used to describe that first Bethel in Genesis, a high place, set apart with stones.  Jacob took one of those stones, anointed it with oil, and named it Bethel.  I thank God for my “Bethels,” they are all over the place—at May Memorial each week, at Christ the King once or twice a month, and yearly at Montreat.  What an amazing thing—these have truly turned out to be the house of God, and I didn’t even know it.

Inviting Beverley to Vacation Bible School

When my wife, Beverley, was in kindergarten at Brogden Primary School in Dudley, NC, her teacher’s assistant attended a local Baptist Church.  The end of the school year was quickly approaching, and that teacher’s aid’s Baptist Church was gearing up for Vacation Bible School.  The teacher’s assistant invited Beverley to attend her church’s VBS where she taught a class, and Beverley’s parents were happy to take her each day.  As a result of that Vacation Bible School, Beverley, her mom, and her dad, all professed faith in Christ and were baptized.

That event in their lives made an indelible mark on them.  Beverley’s dad would become a faithful worshiper, a deacon, and a member of the Building Committee that oversaw the construction of a new sanctuary.  Beverley’s mom became a faithful worshiper, taught a children’s Sunday school class, served as a Girls in Action Leader, and helped with just about every social gathering in their church.

Beverley’s parents, primarily her mom, also saw to it that Beverley was taken each week to piano lessons, given by the organist at Goldsboro’s First Presbyterian Church.  And, when Beverley was in middle school, her mom “volunteered” her to be the church’s assistant pianist.  A couple of years later she became the official church pianist.  She continued to play the piano at Emmaus Baptist through her time as a Music Education major in college, and after college graduation and a two year stint as a high school band director, she returned to graduate school for organ and Church Music.  Since then she has served as organist and director of music in several different churches from Wilmington, NC, to Richmond, VA.

I tell this story not to brag on my wife and her parents (maybe to brag just a little), but because this story reminds me of how important a simple invitation to Vacation Bible School can be.  That one teacher’s aid in my wife’s Kindergarten classroom, by offering that kind invitation, changed the course of Beverley’s family’s life, and in turn through Beverley’s ministry it has continued to touch lives through hymns, anthems, preludes, weddings, and funerals, even until now.  It was simply a kind, natural, low-pressure invitation, and five years later that teacher’s aid probably didn’t even remember inviting Beverley or teaching her VBS class.  It was a simple invitation to a simple, traditional, old-fashioned Vacation Bible School, but in God’s hands it was a tool to bring about His plan for Christ’s Church.

God is in the business of taking ordinary things and using them in extraordinary ways.  In God’s economy, sometimes multiplication happens when we only expect addition, and it comes in ways that we never expect.

May Memorial is currently in the planning phase of our Vacation Bible School.  As always, it will be the traditional, Monday-Thursday morning event filled with crafts, Bible Stories, recreation, music, snacks, and a lot of fun.  Volunteers are needed, and I wonder, will you allow a simple action to be used by God in an extraordinary way?  Who knows?  Who knows what God will do through you!

Heaven Shall Not Wait and Just Kids

Heaven Shall Not Wait

            John Bell is a Scottish Presbyterian, a hymn writer and preacher.  He is a member of the Iona Community, an ecumenical Christian Community that attracts pilgrims from around the world.  John Bell was the preacher one summer when my family and I were at Montreat, and when he entered worship and stood to preach he always did so barefoot.  When asked why, he told us that he knew that he was standing on holy ground.  

            John Bell wrote a hymn text and tune a few years ago titled “Heaven Shall Not Wait.”  Each stanza begins with that phrase, “heaven shall not wait,” and then it goes on to describe the things that our hearts yearn for, that we normally imagine happening when God comes at the consummation of the age and sets everything “to rights.”

            We love to think of a coming day when wrongs will be made right and all things set straight, but in his hymn, John Bell proclaims that “heaven shall not wait,” for Jesus is Lord now and has already ushered in His Kingdom.  This reflects an “already/not yet” reality that is foundational to our faith.

It seems to be a characteristic of established congregations to “move slowly,” and sometimes even to talk things “to death.”  A wise retired pastor told me one time that the older the congregation the slower it will move and change.  And he was right.  But sometimes, we must not wait.

Yesterday afternoon our youth met in the youth house and cleared out space for our new “Just Kids” clothing ministry.  As a part of this work the youth arranged their space in the largest room in the youth house, and it looks wonderful.  The team that is leading this ministry has been working hard and they have not wasted any time.  Sophie, our middle daughter, is serving on this team, and I don’t know that I have ever seen her so excited about something at church.  The entire team’s energy is contagious.  They will not wait.  That is what happens when God’s people see a need in the community and catch a vision of what God is calling us to do.

As I have felt the excitement from the Just Kid’s Team, my thoughts have been drawn to the hymn, Heaven Shall Not Wait.  This is a great recording of the hymn, led by Tom Trenney, another Montreat Conference regular, at his church in Lincoln, Nebraska.

I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light

Over the next few weeks I am going to share some of the songs, hymns, or anthems that are meaningful to me, not just musically, but spiritually.  There are many songs and hymns that I have carried with me for many years, that I continue to listen to, think about, and sing, which move my heart and mind.  The first hymn that I would like to share is I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light.

Quite often the hymns we sing have two sources.  First, there is the text writer, the author.  This is the person who writes the words of the hymn.  Second is the composer of the tune, the melody (and maybe even the harmony) which gives the musical line to the hymn.  Frequently the text has a name (many times it is simply the first line of the text), and the tune also has a name.  In our bulletin each Sunday the tune name is printed in upper case letters on the right side of the page.  Once in a while, the same person writes both text and tune, as is the case with I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light.

Kathleen Thomerson is an organist, hymn writer, and university professer who has served churches and taught in Missouri, Illinois, and Texas.  While she was visiting The Church of the Redeemer in Houston in 1966 she was inspired to write this text, and paired it with her tune, titled HOUSTON.  This simple yet beautiful hymn has been sung by churches around the world, and appears in many hymnals.  This recording is the congregation and choir of First-Plymouth Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, directed and accompanied by Tom Trenney.  

The hymn is simply beautiful, and this recording of it is moving.  And I love it in part because of the simple, short statements, several of which begin with “I want…”. 

I want to walk as a child of the light

I want to follow Jesus

I want to look at Jesus

I want to be with Jesus

The Biblical image of “the light that shines in the darkness” also echos  throughout the hymn, in both the stanzas and the refrain, and the hymn ends with the prayer “shine in my heart, Lord Jesus.”

This is a hymn that I find myself singing many times as I ride down the road, as I hear it come up on my Apple Music Playlist, and each time it brings me hope and encouragement.

I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light

HOUSTON

Text and Music by Kathleen Thomerson

1.  I want to walk as a child of the light

I want to follow Jesus

God sent the stars to give light to the world

The star of my life is Jesus

Refrain:

In Him, there is no darkness at all

The night and the day are both alike

The Lamb is the light of the city of God

Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus

2.  I want to see the brightness of God

I want to look at Jesus

Clear sun of righteousness, shine on my path

And show me the way to the Father

3.  I’m looking for the coming of Christ

I want to be with Jesus

When we have run with patience the race

We shall know the joy of Jesus

Favorite Hymns

There are hymns that I love for objective reasons.  I could spend all day talking about the “why’s” and “why nots” about these hymns.  I normally don’t like hymns with repetitive refrains.  I generally don’t like hymns that the music relies on only three chords (I, IV, and V chords).  I also don’t normally care for hymns that are in compound meter: give me a sturdy 4/4 or even 3/4 meter.  I really dislike hymns in which the text and tune don’t “match.”  Some hymns take a serious, somber topic, such as the cross, and pair it with a tune that is too “light” or even flippant.  This happens in “At the Cross,” the one that takes Isaac Watts’ hymn “Alas and Did My Savior Bleed” (a great hymn), pairs it with a lighthearted tune, and then adds a refrain ending with “and now I’m happy all the day!”  Singing about the cross and my sinfulness makes me many things, but flippantly “happy” is not one of them.  As I said, I could go on and on about this.

But, in the end, my favorite hymns end up not being my favorites because of objective criteria.  My favorites don’t ultimately rest on the depth of the text or the complexity of the tune and chord progressions.  My favorite hymns normally are the ones that we sing well.  And this past Sunday, we sang Because He Lives very well.  I was moved by the singing of the hymn, and I was moved when I saw how so many in our church were moved by singing it.  Sometimes something happens above the notes, rhythms, and text, and our minds and hearts are moved.  Such was the singing of Because He Lives this past Sunday.

It was a holy moment among many holy moments in worship this past Sunday.

When our daughters were little we would always leave for summer vacation on Sundays.  Beverley and I would pack the car early on Sunday morning, head to church, and then we would be ready to pull out as soon as worship was over.  Our girls would be brimming with excitement, they were ready to go.  They would ask me, “daddy, how long is your sermon?”  I would tell them.  Then they would ask, “can we just sing the hymns and then leave?”  Meaning: let’s just skip the sermon.  Of course I never did.  But I always thought, there are some days that I could leave church, skipping the sermon, and the hymns have been enough.  For me, this past Sunday, we could have just sung the hymns.

Thank you for singing so well.

Keep Christ in Easter?

During the past year one of our neighbors has started putting seasonal decorations at the entrance to our neighborhood.  At Christmas there was greenery, wreaths, and red bows.  At Valentines there was hearts of red and pink.  At St. Patrick’s there was glittering green clovers, and now it is decorated again.  It looks like an explosion of springtime.  There are eggs, pastel bunnies, and colorful tulips.  It reminds me of my daughter’s spring preschool pictures, which on some years would include a real-live bunny.  Those photos, on a cuteness scale of 1-10, were a strong 11.

I loved those pictures, and I love the decorations at the entrance to our neighborhood, because of the season of the year that they signal.  The colors, flowers, and even the bunny rabbits indicates that our long winter has come to an end and new life is being born.  I love springtime.  To see the greening of the earth, the flowering trees and bushes, even the dusty coat of pollen brings me joy in anticipation of warmer weather, longer days, and summer vacation.  I also love Easter Egg hunts.  This Sunday morning the deacons have planned a wonderful Easter Egg Hunt, and we will watch our children with their baskets in their hand and smiles on their faces as they search for the sugary treats hidden in the church yard.  This reminds me that springtime is here.

            What our culture celebrates this time of the year at the vernal equinox as the earth’s northern hemisphere tilts closer to the sun is a natural occurrence.  Daylight is no longer outmatched by darkness.  The sun has more time to warm the earth.  Sap rises in the trees, buds appear, flowers bloom, and all of God’s creatures experience a lift in spirits.  The earth is fertile, eggs are everywhere, and animals begin to multiply—rabbits being the most proficient at this natural process.

            Most people don’t realize that Christians face the same danger at “Easter” as we face at Christmas—that our faithful celebration of Christ’s resurrection may be overshadowed or “tacked on” to our culture’s celebration of something else.  Even the word “Easter” is a term that came into English from a pagan Germanic goddess named Eostre.  It is easy in this cultural celebration to simply take Christian’s resurrection story and syncretize it with the bunnies, the eggs, the flowers, and springtime.

            But remember, while the greening of the earth is a natural event that we know is coming year after year, the story of God’s resurrection in the world is a totally unnatural event.  A human body is not like a bulb—when it is planted in the ground it is not natural for it to spring forth from the earth—and that is what we celebrate in the Church.  An unnatural truth in which God intercedes in our world to break all natural law in order to bring us new life.

            So please bear with me as I call “the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox” Resurrection Sunday and not Easter.  It is a day of unnatural occurrences, of a story that makes no natural sense, a story that is due only to the fact of God’s miraculous involvement in the world.

Attitude at Lunch

One of my “family jobs” is to make everyone’s sandwich for lunches each morning.  Most mornings I make four sandwiches, but one morning last week I made only three.  I did so hoping that I would have the opportunity to eat something a little better than my normal PB&J for lunch on that particular day.  Sure enough, almost as an answer to prayer, I had a text from a church member inviting me to lunch a little later that morning.

We met at The County Seat, and had a good time catching up with each other.  I love hearing about people’s families, old stories, and how people get to where they are in life.  On this particular day I heard about how my friend’s mother had such a deep influence on his life.  It was a good story.  But the conversation took a turn and we talked about the importance of positive attitude.

The conversation reminded me of the story in the book of Numbers when God instructed Moses to send spies into Canaan, into the Promised Land.  The twelve went into the land God had promised to their ancestors, and they saw a great land, flowing with milk and honey, and clusters of grapes so big two men would have to carry them between them on a post.  (I think I learned that in Sunday school).  It was everything the Hebrews could have dreamed of.  The spies return to give their report, and ten out of twelve suggest that there was no way they could take and occupy the land.  There were only two, Joshua and Caleb, who insist that they can.  All twelve looked at what God had called them to do, but only two had the faith that they could do it.

Life has not changed a lot for God’s people.  It is easy to get the attitude that “we can never do that!”  And that could be a lot of things.  Every aspect and ministry of church life has thats.  Some are big, and some are small.  But these “thats” tend to reveal which group you are in: the ten, or the two.

I invite you, be one of the two.

Those two didn’t have their yes attitude because they thought the Hebrew people were so great and powerful, but because they knew that God would give them the ability to do what God had called them to do.  And because of that belief, one of those two proclaimed and “I want that mountain” when we get there.

I left lunch last Thursday thinking again about my attitude, and how often I’m in the ten, and how often I’m in the two.  How about you?

Fox Elementary, the City Jail, and Saying Yes

I saw it on the news again this morning.  Richmond’s First Baptist Church opened their doors to students from Fox Elementary School whose building burned last month.  There, on the early local news, were images of the church and all the welcome messages to the students and teachers on church bulletin boards.  The gym is decorated and set up, not for church activities, but for the normal day in the life of an elementary school community.  Every time I see the story on the news, I think about all that was involved for a church to host a public school in their facility.  I also think about the process of Richmond’s First Baptist deciding to say YES to this bold opportunity.

Downtown Wilmington North Carolina is a beautifully revitalized historic district.  In that district are several churches, including First Baptist.  For years there was only one other building on the block where First Baptist sits, and that was the New Hanover County Jail.  One day it was all over the news: the County was closing the downtown jail and opening a new facility farther out in the County.  Several people at First Baptist had a dream of what their church could do with that building, and the most bold plan was to purchase it and provide space for different non-profit organizations that served the New Hanover County area.  It was a bold idea, and the church did not have the millions that the plan would cost.  But they made the decision that they were going to do it.  And they did.

It is no secret that many churches are not what they used to be.  More and more folks no longer attend church, and many Americans (even Powhatan residents) identify as non-religious.  For years pastors and church leaders have attended seminars, read books, hired consultants, and fervently prayed for a secret, a strategic insight, that will enable their church to flourish or just survive in the culture in which we live.  And each year there is another guru who offers the “silver bullet” to church growth and vitality.  Churches will buy the program, make adjustments, put the new plan in place, hopeful that “this one" will be the “jello that actually sticks to the wall.”  And the next year they are at it again.  Churches have done many things:  toss the piano and organ, hire a band; take out the choir loft and get a new plexiglass pulpit;  remove pews, add chairs, and start calling the sanctuary “the auditorium”; encourage people not to “dress up” for worship.  The list goes on and on.

I admire churches for trying what they can, but when I look at all of these things, I just don’t think they make a difference, especially when churches are faithful to who God has put them together to be.  In other words, I would look like a phony preaching in shorts and a Hawaiian shirt.

But, the one thing that I think makes all the difference in the world for a church is this.  It is the courage to say YES when an opportunity presents itself.  Richmond’s First Baptist saw a great opportunity in hosting Fox Elementary, and they said YES.  Wilmington’s First Baptist saw an opportunity to buy the old city jail and use it for God’s work, and they said YES.  Both of these were risky choices.  Both of these YES’S held many potential issues that would have to be worked out, but in faith they said YES.  And in the end, it was God who was presenting both of these congregations with the opportunity to be bold and risky and respond with a YES.

This weekend May Memorial has an opportunity to say YES to something we’ve never been able to do before.  To say YES to a newly created full-time staff staff position, Associate Pastor for Community and Families.  Saying yes will stretch us financially (slightly).  Saying yes will cause us to consider new opportunities and ministries.  Saying yes will cause us to see church life in a different light.  It might hold some risks to say YES, but I believe this is a chance to say YES to an opportunity that God is offering us at this time.

My heart is thrilled at this opportunity.  Our candidate is all we could have ever hoped for.  She is competent, caring, credentialed, and full of energy for her vocation.  She senses a call to May Memorial, and everyone from May Memorial who has been involved in the process sense the same call, that God is calling her here.  I look forward to allowing God’s Spirit to lead us through this exciting time and to understand the potential our future holds.  Sometimes there is a lot required of God’s people to move forward, but sometimes it is just a simple YES.

A Simple Prayer and a Sophisticated Theological Term

The memorized meal prayer that I prayed at my family table growing up started with the phrase “God is great, God is good.”  It is a simple children’s prayer that has been prayed at millions of meal tables of Christian people.  “Let us thank Him for our food.  By His hands we are fed.  Thank you Lord for daily bread.”

In that opening phrase of that children’s blessing exists one of the greatest (maybe THE greatest) challenge to Christianity.  To put it simply, if “God is great,” and if “God is good,” why is there suffering and evil in the world.  If God is all-powerful, doesn’t God have the “might” to do away with evil.  And, if God is good, doesn’t God have the will to use that might to eliminate evil and suffering?  Even though I didn’t know this as a child when I prayed this prayer, this struggle, or problem, has a fancy theological name: Theodicy.

For many Christians in the past two-hundred years the question of evolution was seen as the biggest challenge to Christianity and a belief in God.  Charles Darwin and eventually the Scopes “monkey” Trial in Tennessee represent this struggle.  While many Christians thought this posed a great challenge to the Christian faith, it has been widely accepted now that science should not be seen as a challenge to faith or scripture.

But the theodicy question still remains.  It has existed in different forms throughout Christian history, and many of the great theologians of Church History have attempted to explain the tension in that children’s prayer: if “God is great” and “God is good,” why does suffering and evil exist in our world?

This Sunday in worship we will hear a story from Luke’s gospel in which Jesus is asked about suffering, with the suggestion that those who suffer do so because they are sinful.  “What about those who were killed while offering sacrifices in the Temple?  They must have been sinful for such a tragic thing to happen.”  “And what about those who died when that tower collapsed?  They must have been sinful for that to happen to them, right?”  And Jesus answers plainly: no.

We long for reasons as to why terrible things happen.  Because we can’t bear to think we live in a random world.  Why did the hurricane hit Haiti and thousands of people die?  Why did COVID  begin and spread across the globe?  Why did she get cancer?  If I can just find a reason, maybe I can keep it from happening to me.  And yet random evil things do happen.  Good people suffer and people we may not think are good suffer.  And we can’t find a reason.

It bothered those who questioned Jesus, and it still troubles faithful people.  Jesus doesn’t give all the information we would like, but he does answer the question.

Join us Sunday in worship and join the conversation with the confidence that God will speak to us as we listen for Him.

Chocolat

            One of my favorite movies is Chocolat.  The 2000 movie is set in a small French village in the late 1950’s, and stars Juliette Binoche, Judy Dench, Alfred Molina and Johnny Depp.  I love it because it is a good movie, but more than its cinematic quality I love it because of its message.  In the movie Vianne is a skilled maker of chocolate who wanders throughout France and finds herself settling and setting up shop in a very traditional French village.  When she arrives in this village, there is great distrust and even hatred toward her and her daughter.  This animosity involves many factors, but it is pinned on the fact that she has the nerve to open a chocolate shop right in the middle of Lent.  For the citizens of this village, Lent is seen as a time of denial and repentance, and when one in their village does not conform to their practice they do everything they can to drive her away.  The leader of the town tells Vianne early in the movie that their ancestors drove those accursed Huguenots away in a matter of weeks and that she presents a far less challenge than they did.

            What makes the movie difficult is that Vianne, though an outsider, befriends hurting people and treats them with love that should have been coming from the Christian community.  She helps a lady who is abused by her husband, and welcomes a group of drifters while the village launches a campaign to “boycott immorality.”  The priest of the church is caught in the middle of all of this.  He knows that something is wrong with the way the Christians are acting, especially the mayor of the town who writes his sermons for him and coaches him all along the way.

            What challenges me most about the movie is precisely the thing that I need to hear the most: too often Christians are far more concerned with their rules, rituals, and pious appearances than they are with welcoming the stranger in their midst or offering healing to the hurting.  Chocolat makes this point abundantly clear, and I hope you’ll watch this movie.

            It is said that the Baptist preacher and sociologist Tony Campolo was once speaking to a group of conservatively pious Christians and told them that “every day 30,000 children die because of hunger and preventable diseases[1] and you don’t give a damn.”  He quickly continued, “and what’s so bad is that you are more upset that I said damn than about the 30,000 children who are dying today.”

            May God bless us to major on the majors and minor on the minors.

          [1].  Ronald J. Sider, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity, New ed. (Lanham, MD: Thomas Nelson, 2005), 3.

Adjective or Noun?

In a recent Christian Century Editorial, Peter Marty describes a plumber in his community, a man who describes himself as a “Christian Plumber.”  Marty wonders, what makes his plumbing work Christian?  Is there a special quality to the plumbing parts he uses?  Is there a way to solder an elbow that is unique to Christians?  Is there a way the Christian Plumber’s work differs from that of a Jewish Plumber?  Or an atheist plumber?  Of course the answer is no.  But Marty points this out to call attention to how we use adjectives and nouns.  Marty quotes the great N.C. Baptist Pastor Carlyle Marney who says that Jesus had a very clear picture of how nouns and adjectives should be used.  Jesus showed us that words like leper, samaritan, and sinner should never be nouns.  The nouns we should use are human being, child of God, and person.  

This Sunday we will baptize one of the members of our youth group.  She is a part of a wonderful family that is beloved at May Memorial.  And as Blaire is baptized this Sunday, she (and all of the Church) is reminded of her true identity, her noun, her name.  And that is Christian.  God’s Child.  God’s Beloved.

After a person is baptized they will continue living and will become many things.  Some good things, some not so good things (we’re all human).  But whatever else happens, that noun stays at the center of who we are as God’s Beloved People.

Making this shift in the nouns we use when thinking and speaking about other people could have a significant impact on how we experience others. This shift could remind us that none of us can be reduced to one particular part of who we are, good or bad.  

For Christians, understanding our noun, our core identity, is essential.  We are more than our biggest mistake and our identity is forever in Christ.  And I wonder, what words do we need to retire as nouns?  What words should be only used as adjectives when speaking of another person?  An adjective describing nouns like person, human, or Christian?

As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:27-28)

A List for Lent

Wednesday begins the Season of Lent, the six week/forty day period (not counting Sundays) from Ash Wednesday to Resurrection Day when the Church takes a solemn turn to consider Jesus’ journey to the cross.  We consider our sinfulness, repentance, and our own mortality.  It is a season of soul-searching, a time to return to the Lord in ashes and repentance.  Jesus entered the wilderness for 40 days after his baptism, and the season of Lent designates forty days that we may enter the wilderness and fully rely on God.

Traditionally, Christians have decided to “give up” something during Lent.  Chocolate has always been a favorite, caffeine, cigars, or alcohol.  Many people decide to take a “social media” fast, giving up Facebook or Instagram.  All of these are fine, and some people may find spiritual growth in refusing a reliance of these so that they may rely on God.  This year, my thoughts are drawn toward those things that I may need to give up, not just for the season of Lent, but permanently.

The Prophet Joel will proclaim to us on Ash Wednesday that God calls us to return to God with all our heart.  God doesn’t call us to get everything cleaned up and then come, but to come with our hearts.  God is concerned with those things we do or don’t do, but God also wants our hearts, God wants them to be pure.

Nadia Bolz Weber, a Lutheran pastor in Denver, offered a list for the season of Lent several years ago, an action for each day, and it has been helpful to me.  I offer it to you again as a reminder or a plan of how we may offer our hearts to God and observe a Holy Lent.

Day 1: Pray for your enemies

Day 2: Walk, carpool, bike or bus it.

Day 3: Don’t turn on the car radio

Day 4: Give $20 to a non-profit of your choosing

(Sunday)

Day 5: Take 5 minutes of silence at noon

Day 6: Look out the window until you find something of beauty you had not noticed before

Day 7: Give 5 items of clothing to Goodwill

Day 8: No bitching day

Day 9: Do someone else’s chore

Day 10: Buy a few $5 fast food gift cards to give to homeless people you encounter

(Sunday)

Day 11: Call an old friend

Day 12: Pray the Paper (pray for people and situations in today’s news)

Day 13: Read Psalm 139

Day 14: Pay a few sincere compliments

Day 15: Bring your own mug

Day 16: Educate yourself about human trafficking 

(Sunday)

Day 17: Forgive someone

Day 18: Internet diet

Day 19: Change one light in your house to a compact florescent

Day 20: Check out morning and evening prayer online at The Daily Office.

Day 21: Ask for help

Day 22: Tell someone what you are grateful for

(Sunday)

Day 23: Introduce yourself to a neighbor

Day 24: Read Psalm 121

Day 25: Bake a cake

Day 26: No shopping day

Day 27: Light a virtual candle 

Day 28: Light an actual candle

(Sunday)

Day 29: Write a thank you note to your favorite teacher

Day 30: Invest in canvas shopping bags

Day 31: Use Freecycle

Day 32: Donate art supplies to your local elementary school

Day 33: Read John 8:1-11 

Day 34: Worship at a friend’s mosque, synogogue or church and look for the beauty

(Sunday)

Day 35: Confess a secret

Day 36: No sugar day – where else is there sweetness in your life?

Day 37: Give $20 to a local non-profit

Day 38: Educate yourself about a saint www.catholic.org/saints

Day 39: Pray for peace

Day 40: Pray for your enemies (you probably have new ones by now) then decide which of these exercises you’ll keep for good

The Ugliest Church Meeting I've Attended

The ugliest church meeting I ever attended happened about fifteen years ago, and I remember it like it was yesterday.  It was a meeting of the Music Committee, and in addition to the committee the Music Director and I were in attendance.  It was the only church meeting I’ve ever been present at in which someone “dropped the f-bomb,” and it was the ugliest church meeting at which I’ve ever been present.

            What makes the memory of this meeting peculiar is that I don’t remember the particular topic of the meeting. I don’t remember the reason the meeting was called, and I certainly don’t remember the printed agenda.  What I do remember are the tears, the hurtful words, the rising tempers, which all ended with the seventy-year-old Music Director standing to his feet, slamming his hands on the table, and telling the committee that he hoped they knew never to bother with him again.  He left the room quickly, and the rest of us sat there speechless for what seemed like an eternity.

            The music director was a long-time member of the church whom I deeply cared for, as I did for every other member on that committee.  They were all people who had brought their talents and gifts to the church and for many years had used them for the worship, work, and witness of God in the community.  But something went terribly wrong in that meeting as it had in the weeks leading up to the meeting.

As the pastor, what I was most criticized about in this conflict was what happened after the meeting.  The music director was someone that I cared deeply for, and we had a close relationship for years before that terrible night.  After the meeting I continued my relationship with him, mainly as pastor.  After a cooling off period I invited him back to church, not in the role of music director, but as a worshiper and maybe as a choir member.  I continued to care for him, we went to lunch, and I tried to continue to include him in the life of the congregation.

            The chairperson of the music committee didn’t like this one bit.  Her thinking was that because of his actions we should let him go, never invite him back.  Basically, good riddance.  I had a conversation with her about this one day, and the thing I told her was this.  “I don’t think you (or anyone in your family) would ever do anything like he did.  You’re not that type of person.  But, what I hope you know is that if you or someone in your family ever blows it like he did, I’m still going to love you and that your church is not going to give up on you.”

            She understood what I was saying, but she still didn’t like it.  She never liked it.  And to be honest, I didn’t like it either.  It would have been easier to have let him go, especially after he acted in such an un-Christian way.  But here’s the thing—we all have the real potential to act in un-Christian ways, and some (most?) of us have realized that potential.  I need a church that refuses to give up on people, however inappropriate their actions.

            The church cannot condone harmful behavior, Jesus sure didn’t.  But within the limits of good boundaries and not allowing people to be hurt we do not give up on each other and we do not stop loving one another.  “How many times should my sister or brother offend me and I forgive him?” seven times seven”? Jesus was asked.  “I tell you, not seven times seven, but seven times seventy,” which is saying that there is no limit on our forgiveness.  

St. Valentine

“Which holidays are Christian?”  That was the question the leader of the Bible study asked.  “Of all the holidays we celebrate, which ones started as Christian celebrations?”  He then passed out a list of our normal American holidays: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, MLK Day, Valentines, Mother’s Day, etc.  As we “graded” our own papers it was interesting, if not a little shocking, to see which holidays actually started as Christian, and which ones didn’t.  Surprisingly, Valentine’s Day is a Christian Holiday.  It started as a saint’s day, the feast day of St. Valentine.

St. Valentine was a Christian who was in love.  He lived in the third century in a time when it was illegal for Christians to gather for worship.  Christians were arrested when the Roman authorities caught them in worship, or for simply believing in Jesus, professing that “Jesus is Lord.”  Valentine, who loved Christ and His Church, would visit those Christians who had been tossed into jail.  The Romans started to figure this all out—Valentine must be a Christian too.  So he is arrested and is sent to trial.  If Valentine would have had a really good attorney he would have been told to keep his mouth shut, to not say anything.  But Valentine was a man in love, in love with Jesus, and he couldn’t stop talking about the Jesus he loved.  So instead of staying quiet and pleading the fifth before the judge, Valentine opened his mouth and told the judge about Jesus.  The judge was moved by Valentine and his love for Christ.  He refused to punish Valentine, and the judge commits himself to Christ and was baptized.

The Roman emperor was not happy.  Claudius decided if the judge was not going to take care of Valentine he would.  Claudius had Valentine brought before him so that he could put an end to it all.  When Valentine appeared before Emperor Claudius he started doing what he always did: talking about Jesus.  He was so in love he couldn’t do anything else.  This is what happens when you are in love.  Claudius was not happy that Valentine wouldn’t stop talking about Jesus and that he was trying to convert him to Christianity.  The Emperor told Valentine: you have a choice.  Either stop talking about Jesus or I’m going cut your head off.  For Valentine, that was not really a choice, because he was a man in love.  In love with Christ.  And loving Christ and talking about Jesus meant more to him than anything else.  And he gave his life, because when you’re in love you just can’t stop talking about the thing you love.

Our culture celebrates a holiday today of romantic, emotional, sentimental, erotic love.  And this is not a bad thing…we need more committed love in our culture.  But as Christians let us remember that today is a Christian day, a “holy-day,” when we remember one of our ancestors in the faith who was so in love with Jesus that he would give his life for Him.

Pastor's Letter About the Boiler

On Saturday, January 22 the church’s boiler, which heats the sanctuary, upper level, and fellowship hall experienced a quick and complete breakdown.  Fuel oil was leaked into the boiler room, a mild “puff” of an explosion occurred, and smoke filled most of the building.  As you know, we have been unable to use our building because of the odor and lack of heat.  We are now returning to all scheduled activities in our building.

The odor is nearly gone, and we are leaving doors open during the day this week to finally eliminate the smell.  Because of the strong smell, Trish, our financial secretary, has not been able to be in the building to do her normal work.  This is why there has been no financial updates in the bulletin, along with the reality that we haven’t taken up an offering in three Sundays.  A gentle reminder—your giving and stewardship matter, especially at a time like this.

Many of you are interested in what happened and what is being done.  Here’s a pastor’s explanation.

First, the boiler is older and it has been on the Building and Grounds radar to replace it soon.  The boiler has been regularly serviced, and no one saw this coming.

Second, to repair the boiler now would cost in the neighborhood of $15,000.  This includes work on the chimney, totaling about $5,000, which would have to be complete before the boiler could be relit.  

Third, the Building and Grounds Team wants to gather quotes and plans for the best way to replace this equipment.  Propane is a good option, and because of the higher level of efficiency with a new system we will not have to use the chimney and can close it off rather than repairing it.

Fourth, I don’t think it is in the church’s best interest to spend $15,000 to repair our current equipments for the remainder of this winter when it will be replaced in the coming months anyway.

Fifth, there is a chance that we will have some coverage from our insurance.  The Board of Directors and Facilities Manager is working on this.

Sixth, we have put in a temporary heat source in the sanctuary at a very minimal cost that will keep us warm through the rest of this winter and early Spring.  This enables us to stop the process of trying to repair our boiler and find a good solution that will work for the church for years to come.  The sanctuary will be warm for worship and any other events that are planned there or in the fellowship hall.

This has been a major event for the Building and Grounds Committee, and they, along with Arlie, have worked hard to move this process forward.  The Committee is meeting tomorrow night, and have already scheduled appointments with HVAC contractors to plan a permanent solution for the heating needs.

I hope this helps explain what has happened and the difficult process of finding a solution.  Unfortunately the work of being the church is not always related to “Connecting to God, Each Other, And the World,” but we do know that in everything that happens God is working, even if it is in the background.  

Asset or Liability?

I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church.  This is the title of a book that I read in 2008, and the book deeply affected me then and I still remember parts of it today.  It was reading this book that led me to call a group together at my church in NC where a conversation began through which God led us to start an additional (contemporary) worship service.

There is much I don’t like about that book, I didn’t then, and I still don’t.  Mainly, I hate the title, maybe even the foundational idea, that “dying” is something to be avoided at all costs.  We serve a Lord who willingly died, and it was in his dying that new life is resurrected.  In baptism, we imitate the dying of Christ, and it is in that dying that we are raised to the “newness of life.”  So, we are called to die, to ourselves, that we may live.  So in some ways we should be dying.  And, some things in church need to die.  There are programs, traditions, and habits that have been limping along on life support for years that should die, and when they do we know that God will bring forth new life in ways we couldn’t even expect. 

But one of the truths of the book I have never forgotten is the insistence that when a church looks at its balance sheet, at its assets and liabilities, that a church’s buildings should clearly be categorized as a liability, not an asset.

Everywhere you look there are churches who have buildings that are 50, 60, 100, 125 years old, and these huge aging buildings drain the church’s budgeted dollars and keep the church from using those dollars on ministry.  We also live in a time in which owning and maintaining a building for meeting is less and less important.  The ability and even preference to gather in public spaces, in people’s homes, and even online has lessened the importance owning and maintaining buildings.

For churches like ours, we have inherited large and aging buildings.  They are expensive to maintain, and many churches like ours have faced the realization that in order to reach people with Jesus we must get out of our buildings, go into the community, and carry the good news of Jesus to those who will not come to where we are.

If you have read this far into this article you are probably expecting me to wrap this piece up with a twist that reassures that this issue is really as not as difficult as it seems.  But I don’t have that.  The best churches have figured out is to find good organizations who have worthwhile missions and share the space.  This is what we are doing with the Coalition of Powhatan Churches.  But we must understand that our core mission is not tied to brick and mortar.  Discipleship, community, Christian formation, missions, love, holiness, evangelism, these are not tied to a building, but to a people who go forth in the community to accomplish that mission.

In John 1 we read that the Word Made Flesh went on the move, in fact the Living Word of God, Jesus Christ, moved to where we are that we may be brought closer to God.  Jesus “tented” among us, not waiting for us to go to him.  And we are a part of that same story as it continues in our community and world.

I Dream a World...

Early this morning when I turned on the radio I heard the announcer interviewing a contributor who was asking for submissions from listeners.  The submissions could be in the form of a list, an essay, or a poem.  If the listeners chose to send a poem, it could rhyme but didn’t have to.  The contribution should complete the prompt “I Dream a World...”  Of course, this was offered today because it is the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday, a connection with the “I Have a Dream” speech.   But all morning I have been thinking, and even praying about the world of which I dream.

            I dream a world…

            where swords are beat into ploughshares, and spears into pruning hooks…

            where Jesus, the Prince of Peace, rules in the hearts and minds of all the world’s people…

            where there is no need for abortion clinics or death row…

            where we hear more news stories that are life-giving…

            where we fully realize that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life…

            where we finally see each other as God sees us…

            where we understand that Jesus is as concerned with our life in this world as he is life in eternity…

            where all children have a safe home, enough food, and parents who care for them…

            where all the world’s citizens are free to worship as their conscience leads them, whether I agree with them or not…

            where we are grateful for all that God has given us…

            where we know that we cannot end violence with violence…

            where teachers and social workers are paid more than professional athletes…

            where our heroes are peacemakers and not fear-peddling warmongers…

            where everyone realizes their God-given potential for good in the world…

            where God is not blamed for evil that happens in the world, and people no longer do harmful things in God’s name…

            where Christians understand that the “kingdom of God does not arrive on Air Force One, no matter who occupies it” (C. Colson)…

            where we understand that we cannot make poor decisions as individuals and as a nation and always expect someone else to bail us out…

            where we understand that God created the world in such a way that we reap what we sow, so we work to sow carefully…

            where we know and live in the reality that God will have the final say in all things, and that God’s ways are not our ways.

            These are a few of my “dreams” for the world, and as I think of these and others, I am grateful that while I look to the future for their fulfillment, I know that some of these are already being realized in God’s kingdom.

            What are your dreams?  The world you dream about, how do you see it?  Maybe you can consider today that world, how God is bringing it to pass, and how God is calling you to make that world a reality in our small circle of influence.