A Little Closer to Home

A Little Closer to Home …

Map, Morph, Melt.  
As members of Salem UMC we all know our goal is to live a life worthy of being a disciple of Jesus Christ.  We all know we are directed to offer ourselves sacrificially.  We all know this means our attention, our time, and our money.  We all know we must gather and celebrate in worship, grow in personal and corporate discipleship, and go to the world in service.  We all know as we do these things, the body of Christ will continue to expand and God will be honored by our attempts at faithfulness.

A new generation of believers is beginning to make themselves known.  We seek to not make them like us, but rather we send them forth from our places of tradition and ritual not unlike young birds venturing from the nest.  These new believers, this next generation now emerging, will have a voice in how the church looks and acts.  To deny them would be to revert our practice backwards into one of entitlement and security rather than ministry and a complete reliance upon God.

Who are these new believers and what are they asking of us who make up and lead the church today?  Well, they are few in numbers but deep in passion.  They are young in age but mature in the things of Christ. They may look like children, but do not be fooled as many have read their Bibles and offer daily prayers expecting miracles within the kingdom as naturally as expecting the sun to rise in the morning.  I am just beginning to be able to hear them.  I have to listen very carefully.  They sing new songs and offer new dreams, but they are walking the same paths we followers of Christ, we pilgrims of the cross, have trod for over 2000 years.

For me it is to gather, grow, and go.  It serves me well.  Offers me a daily direction and instructs my going out and my coming home.  And yet the small voice I hear from a new place is one of Mapping, Morphing, and Melting.  Mapping is a way of finding where you are by taking careful attention to where you have been and what you now find all around you.  Mapping allows us to go into new territory and not become lost or overwhelmed.  Mapping is a time of stopping and taking a little bread and wine to strength us for the yet awaiting journey.  Morphing is like growing in a sense, yet it contains a flavor of change that continues as we journey.  The apostle Paul said he becomes all things so that he may influence all people.  Paul was morphing.  Melting is just like is sounds, we melt into the fabric of life and in an almost unseen way begin to move the whole towards God.  Melting is going in mission in a deep and fruitful, sacrificial way.

I am not suggesting that we give up our gather, grow, and go.  But I am suggesting we take a fresh look at our lives and how it is we are accomplishing our goals.  I am suggesting we take some time to listen carefully for the new songs being sung around our camp and continue to be willing to think new thoughts and attempt the impossible.  For surely God is with us on our path, and the world is still hurting and is dying for a savior.  

See You Sunday,                       Rev. Dave Weesner