Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can't Lose!

One of the most under-rated television shows in recent years, in my humble opinion, was Friday Night Lights.  The series followed the lives of a Texas high school football coach, his family, and players on his team.  Coach Taylor is known for his rousing pep-talks both on and off the field in the series.  One of the lines that has become well-known from the show is "Clear Eyes. Full Hearts. Can't Lose!"  

I don't say things like this very often, but I feel that God continues put the notion of a church visioning process in front of me.  In order for a church to do more than simply survive but to thrive, it needs a clear and compelling vision.  In the book Climb Higher: Reaching New Heights in Giving and Discipleship, authors Scott McKenzie and Kristine Miller highlight the truth that pastors, sessions, and even Presbyteries try to deny: that often times a church's vision is merely to pay the bills and keep the doors open.  For many of the smaller churches out there, this is a gargantuan task in it's own right.    These days there are so many organizations out there asking for people to donate their hard-earned money to this cause or that charity, the voice of one crying out, "In the wilderness,prepare ye the way of the Lord" is lost in a cacophony of other voices, other needs.  

Maybe, just maybe, the reason that our cries are muffled is because we aren't asking the right questions!  Anyone can ask for money, anyone can say, "this is the budget, help us meet it."  Anyone can pull off a stewardship campaign and perhaps get back a small percentage of pledge cards.  In truth, we aren't saying in our churches, "we are preparing a way for the Lord" or "we are making disciples of all nations" we are saying, "here are the numbers, help us keep the lights on."  The questions are not "How much do we need? How much do I give?" The questions are, "Why should I part with my money to give to the church? What will be the effect of my giving to the church rather than say, the American Cancer Society or Children's Miracle Network?"  Friends, do not hear me saying that these are not worthy causes, they certainly are!  My point is, people want to see their money, time, and talents transforming lives!  

Our mission is given to us in the scriptures, it is the great commission.  It is the vision portion that is difficult.  We have to put in sufficient time and effort, in work, study and prayer to discern where our strengths intersect with the needs of the community.  What is it that God is calling us to do in this place and at this time?  

It is time for our church to ponder the difficult questions:
Who are we?
What is our context or community for ministry?
What does God want?

Then, and only then, will we find the inspiration and the motivation to support the ministries of the church, the activities and the people, rather than simply paying the bills.  Clear Eyes. Full Hearts.  Can't Lose!  

Rules For A New Life

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

25 So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbours,
 for we are members of one another. ²⁶Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun 
go down on your anger, ²⁷and do not make room for the devil. ²⁸Thieves must give 
up stealing; rather let them labour and work honestly with their own hands, so as to
 have something to share with the needy. ²⁹Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, 
but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give 
grace to those who hear. ³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you 
were marked with a seal for the day of redemption.³¹Put away from you all bitterness
 and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, 
³²and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, 
as God in Christ has forgiven you. 5¹Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 
²and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering 
and sacrifice to God.

Rules For A New Life

For several weeks Michael has been saying to me, “You should watch this new show The Newsroom, its awesome!”  And for several weeks I continued to tell him that I would get around to it eventually.  Finally, one evening I felt motivated to watch the show and so I began to watch the six aired episodes in a marathon fashion.  I am absolutely hooked!  The premise of the series is that a jaded and slightly arrogant news anchor, his executive producer, and the rest of the staff for the cable news show begin a serious mission to report the news well in the face of corporate and commercial obstacles.  Within the fictitious plot of The Newsroom, its breaking news stories for News Night are based on real reported events in America’s recent history.  Last week’s episode revolved around the staff breaking the story of the death of Osama Bin Laden.  Throughout the episode three of the characters are stuck on a plane in LaGuardia airport, unable to get to the news station to participate in breaking the story.  One character in particular, a hotheaded producer named Don continues to rage to the stewardess on the plane that the plane is stopped on the runway, that there is no reason that he should not be allowed to get out of his seat, and even more so that he absolutely must get off the plane!  As the trio begins to piece together what the monumental news from the President will be, Don becomes more enraged and he jumps out of his seat and begins to get the attention of the entire plane, as whispers from the cabin begin to erupt about a possible terrorist attack, threat of war etc.  The stewardess calls for the pilots to come out and as Don wheels around to continue his tirade about the ridiculousness of his circumstances he suddenly realizes just why the stewardess and the pilots would be nervous, why these rules have to be implemented on flights.  It is then that Don reports the news.  He tells the pilots that he is proud to announce to them that on that very night Osama Bin Laden had been killed. [1]

It was a very powerful moment for me in the show, especially to see that a character that I tend to despise does have some redeeming qualities.  It reminded me that we are all human and we all have flaws.  We are all prone to sins of anger, greed, and malice.  But, as Christians, we must let the image of God in us shine through the mire.  This passage from Ephesians today encourages us to live a new life.  Our reading this morning gives us an occasion to think about what it means not to be just a name on the rolls of a church, but a living, breathing, follower of Jesus, with our hearts and minds transformed by giving our lives over to God in Jesus Christ.  Last week we read about Jesus’ second encounter with the crowds after he served the multitudes.  When asked how they should do the work of God, Jesus simply responded that they must believe in him.  This passage teaches us what comes out of living that faith.  The letter of James tells us that faith without works is dead.  We need not do works for salvation, we need only believe as Christ tells us.  But our faith should naturally compel us to lead lives in which good works are done.  Our faith should compel us to follow these rules laid out in Ephesians.  If we are truly given over to Christ, truly transformed, people will be able to see it. 

We are called in this passage to speak the truth to our neighbors.  It seems to me that in our world today ‘speaking the truth’ and ‘first amendment rights’ have become more and more a battle of sensationalism and extreme confrontations.  The questions of civil rights and freedom of speech come down to the slogan of “to eat or not to eat more chicken!”  We argue over gun laws in circles incessantly because we are afraid to face the truth that our systems for treating the mentally ill are not working!  We are afraid to admit some civic responsibility when innocents are killed while watching a movie or worshipping in their own faith tradition.  And the sad truth is that I saw a lot more of my fellow Christians posting articles and pictures online about a chicken sandwich than I have seen regarding the shooting at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin.  Is this what being members of one another looks like?  I don’t see any media coverage of Christians on either the  so-called liberal or conservative side protesting at gun shops or rallying for better care of our mentally ill civilians because the commandment “Thou Shalt Not Kill” has been broken in horrific ways in the past month, not to mention multiple times each and every day. 

Could it be that we in the church spend so much time talking about sexuality, property, and authoritative interpretations in order to avoid telling the truth in love? Rev. Katherine Huey challenges that,  “perhaps we also want to avoid talking about the even larger questions of generosity: the forgiveness for example, that comes with a gentle and generous spirit that lets go of resentment, anger, and old grudges, not to mention the death-grip that we often have on our own self-righteousness! Even more paralyzing,” Huey says, “is our fear of the truth, of telling and hearing the truth.  And yet, a faith community that is both truthful and loving is an immeasurable gift in our lives.  This passage begins with an exhortation to tell the truth, but that command is tempered by love, and later by kindness.”[2] 

The author of this letter goes on to write: “Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy.”  Have you ever had something stolen from you?  I have, and I have friends who have, and it is such a disheartening and frustrating experience.  And if it is an object that is stolen from your home, your car, your office, it makes you feel unsafe, violated, and exploited.  It seems strange to me to have this portion of the rules plopped down in the middle of language about angry, harsh words.  But then I think about how thieves have made me feel in the past and it begins to make sense.  As I continued to read through this passage I was also struck by the encouragement to forgive.  Being wronged is hurtful but in not forgiving, you only hurt yourself.  And, in a situation of being stolen from, I have to remind myself that hopefully the person needed that which was lost more than I did, that I was able in that moment to provide for someone in need. Being a Christian means living a life that you are proud of, one that is rooted in decency. One in which you use your gifts and talents not only to provide for your own life but to also share in the lives of others.

  “Do not make room for the devil and do not let evil come from your mouth, but only what is useful for building up,” verses 27 and 29 tell us.  Don’t let anger rule your life.  As a Christian we are called in this passage to let our words give grace to those who hear it.  In the midst of the debates about Chick-Fil-A last week, I heard far more anger and resentment coming from people on both sides of the issue rather than words that give grace to those who hear it. Perhaps we don’t understand that every time we speak it is an occasion for building up, an occasion for grace…perhaps we forget the power of words since we sling them about so freely. 

http://www.sodahead.com

Rev. Huey begs the question, “If we know ourselves as members of a body, how can we be at war with one another, outwardly or underneath the surface and behind one another’s back?  If we truly belong to one another and to the Body of Christ, how can we hurt one another with angry words and actions? When we act out of anger, we hurt ourselves, in a very real sense, as the members of a body should not and would not hurt each other.”[3]   It is true that we are humans and humans have emotions and those should be accepted and validated.  We also are called to take ownership of our emotions.  But the scriptures tell us that the emotion we must let go of is anger, it is poisonous to us if we do not. ?”   The author of this letter urges us to resist acting out of anger.    We have all seen anger simmering within congregation members from time to time.  Quiet angers simmer within us individually, in our homes or our workplace and yes, though we would rather not admit it, here in this church.  When this happens, when we hold on to anger, when we become passive-aggressive in our behavior, or when we chose to walk away from our Christian brothers and sisters rather than bother with the difficult work of forgiveness, we grieve the Holy Spirit.  We feed bitterness, a disposition that cherishes resentment.  We cling to former grievances, real or imaginary.  Our fury can build until we have violent outbursts or shouting matches.  All of these are harmful to the Christian community.    The church, whether it is a local congregation or a denomination at large, is always beset by conflict and anger.  The players and the problems vary, but the sins persist.   Today, we are called instead to forgive, to speak the truth in love and build one another up with our words!

Perhaps we have to ask ourselves if those people beyond our doors encounter us each day as gentle spirits and tender hearts.  Would our conduct and manner betray us as followers of Jesus?  Is our faithfulness authentic or is it more like a bumper-sticker band-aid that hides the dings and dent in the paint?  I can’t help but think of those lovely stickers we see so often in these parts that read, “not I but Christ.”  Oh I see, was that Christ that just cut me off in traffic?  Was that Christ who parked illegally in that handicapped spot?  Was that Christ who just shook his fist out the window at a stoplight?  Our faith should be revealed in actions, not just stickers and slogans.  Today we are reminded we are made in an image of God that is to be reflected as much as possible.

“If God has been generous and forgiving of us, how can we who belong to God be anything but forgiving, anything but kind to one another?”   The author of this letter urges us to resist acting out of anger.   We are called to forgive one another as Christ has forgiven us.  Do you remember when we took those health surveys months ago?  There were some questions on there about our spiritual health.  Guess what, the struggle that stood out the most from our results was that of forgiveness!   Each day, difficult as it is, we must try to forgive those who have wronged us, those who have angered us.  And we must remember that we have probably angered or hurt someone in the past and we would desire that they forgive us as well.  This may be an ongoing process for us, but thanks be that God is the ultimate judge not us, and thanks be that our God is a God of grace!

http://babblingflow.blogspot.com/2012/06/kindness-in-forgiveness.html

We are told here to be imitators of God.  Larry Patten wonders, “How can anyone claim to mimic God?” The truth is that rather than mimicking God we often end up limiting God.  Patten confesses that even though he as one person matters so little and that he will likely oftentimes fail, he will strive to imitate God by trying to “widen the circle of love.”[4] 

In truth, a passage as short as this one can make us feel very unworthy of God’s love.  How can we ever measure up to this, how can we think of imitating God?  We can look to Paul and other people in the Scriptures as examples.  Paul never hesitated to confess his own short-comings but he always strove towards perfection.  As he wrote in Philippians 3:14, “press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” If the world does not look upon us and see the One we claim to follow, then we have a problem.  I daresay with the way many Christians have been carrying themselves through the world these days, this is the case.  Ephesians urges us to avoid empty gestures and the sins of anger, greed, and malice, and to focus instead on the practices of kindness that faithfully reflect our belief in Christ Jesus.  Let us leave here today and seek to follow these rules for a new life. Amen.

---

[1] www.hbo.com/thenewsroom internet accessed 8/7/12

[2] Rev. Katherine Huey, www.ucc.org internet accessed 8/7/12

[3] Rev. Katherine Huey

[4] Larry Patten, www.larrypatten.com internet accessed 8/7/12

Authentic Worship

Photo by: Andy Locascio, Montreat 2012

 

1,000 people gathered together
in a large worship space
built from local mountain stone.
Wooden beams soared overhead
and lanterns dangled from the rafters.
The pews, we'd been told
were older than our grandmothers
and we should treat them with the same respect.  
Large windows were open to let in the breeze
from the cooling summer air. 
Electricity, I felt waves of it,
as if we touched our neighbors to the left and right of us
we would be shocked with a jolt of the Spirit. 
A hush fell over the congregation, 
bursting with silent expectation.
Then I heard it, 
a strong beat
on a solitary
djembe drum. 
As the rhythm grew,
stretching out like a  r i b b o n   u n f u r l e d
voices began to chant from various corners of the auditorium, 
they moved about us, 
rising up from our midst and 
joined together a dozen in number on the stage.
"Will you listen?" one side of the room would chant
"Come follow me" the other side would respond.  
They carried the beat in their feet, 
they matched the intensity of the rhythm with their voices, 
"I. Will. Make. You. Fish. For. People!"  
Final beat, actors froze, lights went out.
I was enthralled. 
I felt my heart pounding, blood coursed through my veins,
and the Spirit left me with goosebumps as she blew through the room. 


--LorenKemperTateMitchell  7/14/12


(I was fourteen years old when I attended my first conference at Montreat.  I had yet to be baptized but I knew in that moment that I would be. I had seen the Holy Spirit move and I was without a doubt, absolutely certain that this type of worship, this kind of faithful expression was exactly what I needed to do, where i needed to be.)

A Spoonful of Sugar

I woke up last night from the strangest dream.  I thought to myself, "well now that was profound, I must have been really asleep!"  In this dream my dear friend Katherine appeared to me.  We were in some sort of dim room, almost like a basement, but behind us was a huge picture window that looked out over a desert landscape with train tracks running past and far into the distance. Katherine asked me some sort of question that I know pertained to my personal and professional character. Something along the lines of, "How can you be a friend to us and a pastor at the same time?" My response to this seems like a riddle: "If I cannot be both, then I am neither."  What does this mean??


As I lay awake in my bed for a few brief moments the thought occurred to me that Katherine is like my very own Mary Poppins!  I laugh even as I write this for it seems so absurd but I thought, yes Katty is quite like Mary Poppins, she is witty and smart and her heart is full of love for people, bottomless as Mary Poppins' carpet bag!  And above all else, she is a lady in the very sweetest sense of the term, but also loves a good ride around the carousel!  I considered this dream conversation to be like Katherine coming to me in a musical and singing "Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down!"  What does this mean??
  
Here is what I gleaned from this late night epiphany dear reader.  I am more than just a one-trick pony, and let me never forget it!  I cannot be a friend and neglect my calling as pastor any more than I can neglect my friends and continue to be a good pastor!  I am a wife, a daughter, a niece, a cousin, a friend, a neighbor, a Christian sister, and yes yes a pastor.  It is all of these things that make up who I am and if I cannot authentically live into each of these roles which make up the whole of who I am, I cannot be anything but a knot on a log!  


The authenticity is the trick!  Katy Perry belts out in my mind "this is the part of me that you're never gonna ever take away from me!"  As I think on so many of my friends in ministry who struggle this day to walk the fine line between full disclosure/self expression and that boundary where you protect yourself and your ministry so  it doesn't  become 'all about you', I pray that we can all find ways to skip along this tightrope to live fully into the being that God created us to be. If we say too much, we could lose our jobs, we could cause unnecessary pain in the life of our congregations.  But, if we say too little, we can become isolated and depressed without an outlet for our griefs and our triumphs.   God knows all about us, and yet he still called us, it is a miracle!  


So, after two years I hope that I have been true to myself in my little church here in Appomattox, just down the road from the railroad tracks!  I hope this congregation feels like they know me.  I am in truth a pretty liberal person.  I am in truth a snarky and sarcastic little woman with a penchant for blurting out comments at inappropriate times.  I am in truth one who loves to laugh and to make others laugh.  One who loves lazy days of laying around and reading. One who doesn't care if she gets cookie crumbs in the bed.  And one who delights in each of her friends and family and the particular ways in which they help her maintain her sanity in the midst of this crazy ride we call the ministry! But I am also in truth one who loves liturgical lines of praise and preaching from the lectionary.  One who gets excited about the possibilities of partnering with other churches in youth ministry.  In truth, I am one who geeks out every time I witness another connection of friends within the little PC(USA) family. I am one who still believes very much in the future of the PC(USA) and hopes in my heart of hearts that we can survive the punches that beat us down both from the outside and within.  Perhaps these are the little spoonfuls of sugar that help the distasteful medicine go down!


If I cannot faithfully be all of these things dear friends, then I am neither pastor nor friend. I thank God for the grace to continue to try.  Amen. 


"When trying to express oneself, it's frankly quite absurd,
To leaf through lengthy lexicons to find the perfect word.
A little spontaniaty keeps conversation keen,
You need to find a way to say, precisely what you mean...
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!"

soapbox moment

Friday morning I went home to Bedford to have lunch with Mom.  I met her at Goose Creek Framing where she has a studio to do her artwork.  As we were leaving a woman from town came in and we were introduced.  She asked, “So Loren are you home for the summer?”  As you can imagine I have grown quite accustomed to people mistaking me for a high school or college student but I have never had this question presented to me, so I tried to respond graciously, in a way that would not embarrass this refined southern lady.  “Oh no, I am just in town for the day” was my reply.  But, my mother, bless her soul, always wanting show pride in her little Presbyterian preacher stood a little taller and said, “Loren is the minister of the Presbyterian Church in Appomattox; she has been there for two years.”  Flabbergasted but ever-poised, I have to give the woman credit; her jaw did not drop to the floor at this announcement.  Instead she asked how old I was and stumbled over a sentence of, “well… I would love to hear all about your life.”  I assured her that it was a relatively quiet one.  She then commented that she would love to hear a message from me sometime. 

Not that I should ever compare myself to our Lord and Savior, but I have to wonder if this is how Jesus felt, returning to his hometown.  Did Mary walk with him through the marketplace, anxious to introduce him to her neighbors, hoping they had heard of all of his great work?  Did people comment on how he had changed since they last saw him or inquire how old he was?  Did he fight the urge to be blunt with them, rather than humbly and simply answer questions, “No, I am no longer doing carpentry with my Father.”  “No I have not returned home for good, just passing through.”    Did he hear whispers behind women’s hands as he walked to the synagogue?  Did he hear the men in the market stalls swapping stories about his family, his childhood, rumors of his current ministry?

www.concordpastor.blogspot.com

  As we soon discovered in the gospel of Mark, accepting that God’s power was at work in Jesus was not easy for the people of Nazareth to wrap their minds around.  Surely, the people have heard of the miraculous things that Jesus had been doing in the surrounding villages, we all know that good gossip travels fast in small towns.  But perhaps stories of healings, exorcisms, and bringing a little girl back to life had a better ring to them than the Word that Jesus preached! Everyone wanted to see miracles but not everyone was ready to hear about the amazing and yet unsettling good news those miracles proclaimed.[1]

We are told in the gospel of Luke what Jesus said in his hometown to make his old friends so offended.  Luke tells us that when Jesus came into the synagogue he was handed the scroll of Isaiah, which he unrolled to where it read: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (Is. 61:1-2).”  Jesus then returned to his seat saying “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”  While it may have been reasonable to accept Jesus as a man with the gift to heal, maybe even a prophet, his obvious proclamation that he was the Messiah was ludicrous![2]  

Jesus, obviously hurt by their rejection and lack of faith left his hometown to spread the good news to people whose ears were more open to hearing it, perhaps to people who did not have preconceived notions of him, people who did not know him in the first thirty years of his life.  Beverly Zink-Sawyer reminds us that perhaps we should put ourselves in the shoes of those villagers.  She begs the question, “How quickly would we accept our next-door neighbor as a ‘miraculous teacher’, let alone the reputed Son of God?” Perhaps this is a call to consider who we consider ‘worthy’ of teaching us.  Katherine Huey asks, “How do we even begin to look at one another with the eyes of God, to see in the most unexpected of people, those whom God has chosen to lead?  Would we really have chosen the youngest one, the one without the flocks to be anointed as the next king?  Would we really open our hearts and minds to a hometown, homegrown boy, we’ve known all of his life?  Could anyone of importance really come from here?  Who and what are we failing to see, what and whom are we missing?”[3]

www.pcusa.org

When I read these questions I thought of our churches in Appomattox.  I thought about how this congregation, without a doubt chose the youngest one, and a woman to boot!  I thought about Rev. Rusty Small of Liberty Baptist and the facts that he is indeed a homegrown boy who people in this community have watched grow up.  Perhaps in these ways Appomattox is already ‘light-years ahead’ of Nazareth.  But I have to wonder if the risk is greater for us as part of the younger generation of pastors, to be run out of town, if we make a mistake, if what we practice and preach challenges the status quo?  I think about our denomination and our conviction that we as Christians are a “priesthood of believers,” that we are all responsible for preaching the gospel.  But, do we really enable our members to live into such a call; particularly when we are a denomination that has high standards for theological education for its ministers.  Not that I think this is all wrong, I am the first to question a pastor’s theological background, I am the first to fall into the trap of pride pertaining to my seminary degrees.  Over the past week our denomination’s General Assembly has convened.  At GA there are a number of YAADs present; these are young adult advisory delegates and they range in ages 17-23. As I have followed some of the commentary on GA, I’ve seen some snide comments about YAADs and their love of coming to the microphone on the floor.  My question is when did it become wrong for a person to put their voice behind their beliefs?  If 25 and older this behavior is acceptable, but any younger and it is merely attention seeking?  Who is to say that Jesus can’t work through ordinary people?  Do we stand in judgment of the evidently blind Nazarenes or do we hold up a mirror in front of our faces?

 Perhaps the truth is that we Christians find ourselves in the place of the Nazarenes, rejecting Jesus and to that end, the world’s population calls our bluff and rejects us! Rev. Rick Morley puts it bluntly in his recent blog post that “Christianity in the West is in trouble.”  In America 25% of adults have left the religion of their youth and do not claim any religious affiliation.  Rev Morley argues that the central problem is not “secularism, pluralism, or the lack of a good bass guitarist in the praise band.  The root of the problem,” he writes, “is trust.”  Overwhelmingly and alarmingly the truth of the matter is that people do not trust the Church anymore and why should they?  Consider the reports that we have heard on the news in recent years.  The Roman Catholic Church has been embroiled in one sexual abuse scandal after another.  We have evangelical pastors who have railed against homosexuality in their preaching but who have been found to seek male prostitutes or have relationships with teens in their churches.  We have high profile church leaders making sweeping statements about hurricanes being the result of homosexuals and abortions. And if I may be so bold on my soapbox to say a word of our own denomination, we argue incessantly about the definition of marriage while one in six people created in the image of God go hungry!  We vow to create 1001 new worshiping communities in the over the next 10 years when we can’t maintain the churches we have, more rural congregations are closing their doors every day!  “Who would entrust their spiritual health, or the spiritual health of their children to the church? Honestly, the fact that anyone trusts us these days is quite remarkable!”[4]

“Jesus certainly faced questions of trust when he returned home.  The congregation questions where he gets this authority from because they know of his humble beginnings.  But Jesus has to earn their trust, to keep going; he has to keep teaching and changing peoples lives. He has to die on the cross, he has to rise again.” In Morley’s blog he reminds us that if we as the church are going to survive we are going to need to do a few things.  The first of these is to fall on our knees in humility, making it clear that we recognize that the church has made horrendous mistakes in its distant and recent past.  We have to continuously repeat that while we are an institution with inspiration by the Holy Spirit, we are also humans who are fallible and will fail again. We must try to win back peoples’ trust and to do this we must remember who we represent.  When we look bad, we make God look bad!  Morley says, “We don’t need to update our website or write some more praise choruses, we don’t need to look more hipster and grow a soul patch.  We need to gain people’s trust, and only then will they consider anything we have to say.” Third, we must remember that God is faithful.  Jesus struggled to get the people to trust him, but he was found most worthy of the trust that people put in him because God is ultimately in charge. Finally, we have to accept that not everyone will come to trust us or God.  Some will receive us with open arms and some will reject our message and God.  Jesus knew this and prepared his disciples for this.  And when we get rejected, we are to wipe the dust from our feet and keep going.  Morley closes with these profound words. “Until we start showing the world that we are capable of humility and some degree of trustworthiness, it will be us who are covered in dust.”[5]

And so I believe our challenge for today is to make the shift from being the community who rejected the teachings of Jesus, to the disciples who become representatives for Jesus.   Jesus not only left Nazareth, but he sent forth his entourage two by two to expand his ministry, to be his field agents in the world.  The disciples were sent out and enabled to do amazing things through the power of Jesus.  Richard Swanson writes, “This is no rootless wandering, the disciples do not look like itinerant preachers, they are sent out to attach demons and heal.  Like Jesus and John the Baptist before him, the disciples are sent out to call for change (Provoking the Gospel of Mark).” Katherine Huey urges us that our call is to do the same, “as those sent with power and authority to heal, to attack demons that plague our society and the world God loves, to share the good news.”[6] 

It would seem that Jesus gives us very little in the way of material things for our journey.  Discipleship is a call to lead a simpler life it would seem, the clothes on our backs, the sandals on our feet, a stick for protection or more likely to lean on, and our most valuable resource, each other.  In truth, we don’t need much, material things become crutches, security blankets that we cling to and hide behind.  In the sending out of his disciples the message from Jesus is clear, you don’t need to depend on these material goods, depend instead on God to give you what you need.  Eugene Peterson translates Jesus’ words this way: “Don’t think you need a lot of equipment for this.  You are the equipment.”  And Henry G. Brinton provides us with the imagery of serving Jesus by doing something tough, by performing the Lord’s work in hard to reach places.  He says that we have to “leave the comfortable road of conventional wisdom and face the rocks, logs, and any other barriers that society might throw in our way.”[7]  I would and to this the barriers we might throw in our own way! 

And so as the church of the 21^st century, we must cut through the tension and make sense of where we are at this pivotal moment in history, and where we are going.  How do we open our ears to the prophetic voices of those whom we may not have expected to hear?  How do we make the shift from the community that denies the truth of the good news, the community which people are leaving and shaking the dirt from their sandals as they go, to becoming the disciples that travel with the message of the gospel? Amen.

Project Burning Bush, 2008

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[1] Katherine Huey, www.ucc.org, internet accessed 7/2/12

[2] Thomas L. Butts, www.textweek.org internet accessed 7/5/12

[3] Katherine Huey

[4] Rick Morley, www.agardenpath.com internet accessed 7/5/12

[5] Rick Morley

[6] Katherine Huey, www.ucc.org internet accessed 7/5/12

[7] Katherine Huey

Mission Possible II: Rebuilding Pulaski

As I sit here on my own front porch watching the slowly setting sun, my skin is a few shades darker and my eyes, well, they feel a little bit more tired, but I smile, because this week these eyes have witnessed God's hand at work in wonderful ways.  

The planning and preparation began months ago.  Myself and some other colleagues in the Presbytery of the Peaks Cluster One Churches wanted to engage our youth in mission work.  We are all smaller congregations with a few youth and our hope as we began "Mission Possible" last year, was to begin to build relationships between our churches' teens so that we could sow the seeds God's love in them in a positive way.  We wanted them to understand that the Church needs them, they are indeed the present of the church, not just the future.  With that in mind, we set our sights last fall on Pulaski, VA.  A community that little over a year ago was ravaged by a tornado.  Pulaski is in our Presbytery and we felt it important to go and support the community in its efforts to rebuild.  "Mission Possible II: Rebuilding Pulaski" was born. 

Sunday afternoon we loaded up our team of 9 youth and 8 adults and made the 3 hour trek to beautiful Dublin, VA.  About 5:30 we pulled down a long tree-shaded drive to New Dublin Presbyterian Church.  We were greeted there by the most genteel and generous people you will ever meet.  After Rev. Andrew Taylor-Troutman gave us a tour of church we gathered and broke bread with the membership of NDPC and heard from some of their members about recent mission trips in which they had participated.  Following this was a time for our group to get to know one another better.  Our membership was in fact from a variety of churches with youth from Cumberland, Guinea, Farmville, and College churches with adults from their churches as well as myself from Appomattox and 2 from Buffalo Presbyterian (we also received generous financial & material support from Bethlehem, Buffalo, Douglas, and Eureka Baptist.)  We played some games which were filled with much laughter and smiles as we all began to learn each others names and break the ice.  We finally had some devotion time before bed.  

Monday morning we loaded up and went into Pulaski and got our work assignment and arrived on site.  Our assignment was pretty straight forward: shovel lots of dirt into wheelbarrows and haul said dirt to fill in around the house and put down seed for grass.   In addition to this we also had a garage that needed footers to be dug out more and prepared for concrete to be poured.  Monday was a pretty hot day so we preached a lot of 'hydrate!' and it paid off, no one got too hot or ill from the heat.  Our lunch was provided both days by Our Daily Bread, which is in part funded by the presbytery's 2-cents-a-meal collections. Rev. Andrew was the deliverer of these delicious meals for which he was instantly labeled hero for eternity!  Our lunch breaks were taken on the back deck of this home in the shade and the kids would line up along the ramp there which became "the child gauntlet" when one needed to pass through.  We were definitely ready for our showers at the YMCA by 3pm and we packed up just before the afternoon rain shower began.  After we were cleaned up we headed out for dinner, MK's Pizzeria.  We really enjoyed the local cuisine, it hit the spot!  That evening we were giving passes to the Pulaski Mariner's Baseball game.  We really enjoyed ourselves, the game was great (Mariner's won)!  The boys finally went out into the parking lot and managed to get a foul ball!  Unfortunately, someone's car in the parking lot also caught one!  We were actually recognized by the announcer at the game, which was a special moment for us as a group to be welcomed by the community.  In our evening devotions one of the girls mentioned that she had noticed it appeared that a teenager lived in the house and it made her realize just how easily it could have been her family who had lost their home.  It was great for me to see them really making a connection.

On Tuesday, we returned to our work site to finish what we started. Even though we were doing same work, I never once heard a complaint and we actually felt like the second day went much faster than the first, even though we worked a bit longer.  I think it says something about the maturity and dedication of the young people and the adults as well that we got into our rhythm and worked to see results, rather than grumbling about the task at hand.  Shoveling dirt may not have been as glamorous as building a home, but it was just as important and meaningful for the family we were helping. About lunch time we received word that our General Presbyter's husband was in the hospital.  We immediately stopped our work, circled up, and offered prayer.  This brought tears to my eyes to think of how connected we all are, sharing support, pouring out love, sending waves of it home to them.  Later in the afternoon a few of us got to go do some painting on a house a few blocks over.  We did not get as much done as we would have liked but we met a few of the neighbors there who were so kind as to go bring us some paint stirrers and paper towels when we discovered we did not have any.  After another smooth trip to the YMCA we went to Patty's Kitchen for dinner, another local favorite.  I am so thankful for these two restaurants for allowing us to make reservations and bring a tired but somehow still rowdy group into their restaurants!  

Tuesday night when we got back to New Dublin Pres (did I say how awesome it was that we were able to stay there!?)  we had some scripture passages from 2 Corinthians (8:1-9:15 & 9:1-9) for the kids to reflect on.  I divided them into two teams and they had about 45 minutes to come up with a skit for our Pulaski Peace Theatre (come on it is a good play on Masterpiece Theatre)!  They did great!  These kids to have just met each other worked extremely well together and accepted input from everyone.  We had a good mix of ages too and I was pleased to see that this did not hinder them from giving us a thoughtful interpretation of the scriptures and how they applied to our work in Pulaski.  They had begged us to let them play outside so following the skits they went for a walk down to the end of the lane while waiting for darkness to fall and then (given permission) they went out to play in the graveyard. A couple of the other adults and I thought it would be fun to scare them while they were out there, and while we probably were not very good at sneaking up on them, we had an excellent time trying!  To close out the evening we popped some popcorn and watched Finding Nemo before bed.  

We closed this morning with devotions and Rev. Tom Robinson, pastor at Farmville PC talked a little bit about the inspiration he felt from the trip.  I believe we all felt that a spark had been started to revive our efforts to bring our youth together more often, to do more activities along with mission work.  It seemed like the kids were receptive to this idea.  I believe some of the girls were already making plans to get together over the weekend.  Before coming home today, the Tornado Relief folks had also cleared it for us to go to Randolph Water Park so the kids got to go swimming before we returned home.  The park had a great little beach area for smaller children, a lap pool, and most tantalizing of all a 38 foot spiraling water slide!  What a great reward for some hard work!  

While I am sad that none of the young people from my church could attend this trip for various reasons, I am so thankful that after all of the planning, I was able to go.  I love doing this kind of ministry with youth, it really rejuvenates me and my passion for the church.  I could not have asked for a better group of teens and adults to go with.  I don't think I have ever seen a trip of this nature go so smoothly.  The truth is a felt the Holy Spirit as she took the form of calloused hands and aching muscles.  I tasted the bread of life in each meal we had together and I saw the Body of Christ each time I had to climb over the "child gauntlet" to get to afternoon meal.  I saw the face of Christ in each person as we worked side by side.  We didn't have enough tools all the time for everyone to be working at once, but we all made sure to take turns to give each other a break.  As we worked we cheered each other on for a job well done and we laughed and talked the entire time, which made the work seem light.  In these three days I saw a hope for the church as all of us, of various ages and genders worked together. If one did not feel confident in knowledge of a particular task, we followed the direction of the person who did.  If one needed sunscreen, band-aids, hats, gloves, or water...there was a ready shout of, "I got it!"   Why can't our larger congregations, our presbyteries, and our denomination at large get along with each other as this tiny-microcosm of Presbyterians did?  We were all from different backgrounds, all at different levels of skill, all at different places in our journey of faith, and yet we were able to accomplish something, however great or small it was, together, without letting our egos get in the way.  Not for our joy, but for our neighbors, and not for our glory but for Gods glory! If these kids are to be the "future of our church" we are headed in the right direction!  What's more important is that they are the present, so we can all begin taking our cues from them, right now!Amen. 

"Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  And God is able to make grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work."-- 2 Corinthians 9:7-8

I Have Hope

Below is a copy of the homily I preached this morning at the Community Lenten Service that is hosted by the Appomattox Co. Ministerial Association.  To give you some context, the gathering is held at Appomattox Christian Academy so the congregation is made up largely of children K-12.  I wanted to share something that would be relevant to them.  There are also usually several pastors there and maybe a few people from the community sprinkled in.  I will preface this with the honest truth that there are a lot of wonderful organizations and efforts being made by many different people in the music industry that I could have drawn upon as an example for this message.  Jars of Clay's Blood Water Mission and the  40 days of water  challenge that people are taking throughout Lent come to mind (www.bloodwatermission.com).   As does David LaMotte's work in Guatemala building schools and his newest endevor with the book White Flour (www.davidlamotte.com, www.pegpartners.org).  All of these things were swirling in my mind, and I encourage you to look them up as well.  In the end, I had to speak from the heart and share something that gave me great passion and has inspired me (all of the above do so as well), something I was very familiar with.  So, take it or leave it...but I hope you take it. 

ACMA Lenten Service

March 14, 2012

 Psalm 15, 2 John 1:4-6

I Have Hope

As I stand here before you, students, colleagues, and members of the community, I am sure you are thinking to yourself, “Who is that young girl up there in the t-shirt? Why is Pastor Loren dressed so casually?  What in the world was Rev. Lo thinking when she got out of bed this morning?”  When do pastors usually look like this, maybe on Saturdays!  I assure you I mean no disrespect,  all I can say is that I hope as my homily continues this morning you will begin to understand.

Ever since I was a little girl, once I realized I loved something, that was it, I loved it for life!  As a little girl I had one doll, Princess, who went everywhere with me.  She now has a special resting place in our home.  I had one favorite skirt that I wore every Saturday until I wore it out.  I’ve had the same best friend since I was seven years old.  I know this is beginning to sound like a good Lord of the Rings narrative…one ring to rule them all!  But let me give you one more example: I have loved one band since I was 14 that was larger-than-life inspiring to me. 

I bet you all, especially my young friends up front here, have musicians that you love; an artist or band that makes you belt out their songs in the shower.  Maybe you have a song list that you play over and over again on your iPod.   When I was 14, which was actually 14 years ago, not just last week…I listened to the first Hanson album every single day.  As I grew up, so did the members of my favorite band, who were in fact the same age as me, and their music evolved too.  In 2007, this band of three brothers released an album called The Walk.  And they did something really special with it.  They decided that instead of just writing songs about great meaning in life, they would do something that had great meaning in life.  They decided to go to Africa and learn more about the HIV/AIDS epidemic.  They visited villages, schools and hospitals.  They met with researchers and played with little children.  They sang with a children’s choir there and recorded their voices on this album, The Walk. The Hanson brothers put out their first single from that album which was entitled The Great Divide, which featured the children singing in their native language “I have hope.” 100% of the proceeds from that single went directly to one of the hospitals they visited in Africa. 

That ties up their humanitarian efforts into a neat little bow doesn’t it?  But that isn’t all that happened.  After this trip to Africa the band went on tour and before each and every show across the country they held a walk, in which everyone was encouraged to walk one mile barefoot, to have just the tiniest of experiences of what it is like to live without(www.takethewalk.net) .   This trek raised money for AIDS, clean water, and education charities as well as providing shoes for the poor.  For every fan that attended these walks, Hanson gave a dollar.  And more often than not that dollar was matched by the fans.  Hanson teamed up with Toms Shoes.  If you don’t know about Toms Shoes as a company, look it up (www.toms.com).  For every pair of Toms you buy, another pair goes to a child in need.  It’s hard to believe that good can come out of corporate America these days, but it does! To date, over 50,000 miles have been walked for this cause.  Because here’s what happened, Hanson fans the world over started organizing their own walks in their own communities!  So now, maybe my attire starts to make a little more sense!  Every time I put on this t-shirt from The Walk tour and I slip my feet into these Toms, I am reminded that I have the power to make a difference in the world.  That Christ has called me to be his hands and feet in the world and that means I can do something.  

It is safe to say that not all of the people we put on pedestals in this country deserve to be there.  We have to choose our role models wisely.  I wouldn’t say Snooki is the best role model, or Chris Brown, or the majority of politicians on Capitol Hill. We have to be careful about who we support/listen to/follow on Twitter/Iike on Facebook.  These things are a reflection of our character.  I know that these guys that I told you about are faithful; I know that they believe in their Creator.  But they don’t have to say it, or write it blatantly in their music… its more about how they live their lives.  I admire them so much for living authentically.  They are bearing witness to Micah 6:8 with their very souls, S-O-U-L-S and soles S-O-L-E-S.  Micah 6:8 tells us that the Lord requires of us to do justice, and love kindness, and walk humbly with our God.  In walking with God we are called to walk with our neighbor, to see the spirit of God that dwells in each person.   And I believe that this is what our walk with Jesus Christ is all about—living a life worthy of Christ’s glory.  Jesus didn’t just sit in the temple to read the Torah or to teach his disciples.  He taught in motion, until his very last breath on the cross, he lived his words.  How fortunate are we that we can have our ultimate role model in Christ; by God’s grace, we are given the opportunity to try time and time again to be witnesses and disciples of Christ. 

One of my favorite passages in the New Testament is the story of the Road to Emmaus.  This is one of my favorites because it is only when the disciples lived out the teachings of Jesus by breaking bread with a stranger that their eyes were opened and the recognized Jesus standing before them.  We see Jesus’ face most clearly when we engage with other people, sharing God’s kingdom in random acts of kindness, one mercy at a time.  The Apostle Paul tells us in his letter to the Galatians: “you were called to freedom brothers and sisters, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.   For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” 

Jesus’ movement was grass roots to its core.  Change doesn’t have to be a monumental thing.  Don’t think that because you are one person you can’t create change in the world.  My friend David LaMotte says that “you change the world each time you take a breath.”  The gesture doesn’t have to be grand, it just has to be from the heart and reflect God’s glory.  Jesus does not promise that this will be an easy task.  To take up the cross and bear it with him is painful, the burden is heavy.  But the reward of our faith is so great.  It is true that we don’t deserve the grace we are given, but our lives can be a response of thankfulness to that grace in the way we live.   As we continue on this Lenten journey, this pilgrimage, this walk, let us remember that Lent doesn’t have to be a time when we take away something, but maybe it is a time when we take on something!  I challenge you today to think of the ways you can be a cause of change in your world. I have hope.  Amen.