If I Were Preaching this Week on Easter

If I were preaching this week I would be working with the Gospel reading from John 20:1-18.  This wonder-filled story of Mary finding Jesus in the garden moves with grace to the heart of the gospel message.  I never tire of reading and retelling this story because the depth of the mystery of God is right on the surface and ready to be shared. 

Easter sermons are unique among sermons.  They can be overwhelming for the preacher because of the workload of the week.  Pastors will most surely be running on fumes by Sunday morning.  The sermon which felt so powerfully awesome on Tuesday can be a difficult fifteen minutes to deliver by Sunday.  Therefore, I believe, it is important to prayerfully prepare with focus on theological basics using your particular communication strengths.

This is not the day to go long and add the extra story that is your favorite, or to introduce your personal theological twist.  There will be folks listening who only hear a few sermons a year.  Others who hear every sermon you preach will be listening for something extra on this day of days.  

This is the day to preach our doctrinal standards.  If you can find a quiet moment, take a new look at our Basic Christian Affirmations on page 47 of the 2012 Book of Discipline.  Let these statements of faith inform your preaching on Easter.  “We hold in communion with all Christians a faith in the mystery of salvation in and through Jesus Christ.”  I say, “Get out of the way and let the Gospel speak on this day; bring it.” 

This passage invites us to consider our surprise and response at Jesus speaking our name.  We come into the church on Easter with grief, pain, and all forms of discomfort.  We come hoping to hear a word which offers hope and life.  We will come to your church on Easter much like Mary came to the garden. And as we are fed the Gospel message that Christ is alive, we will not be disappointed.  If we can accomplish nothing else, we should tell this Gospel story with truth and passion in our hearts and voices.   To hear the story changes everything. 

I struggle with the idea that the season of Lent is culminated in Easter and we can now take a rest until Advent.  The Good Friday words of, “it is finished,” were not meant to describe the life in the church following Easter. And yet we all forget that every Sunday is a little Easter and the Holy Spirit will move even stronger for a few weeks because of all your good preaching and the good work of so many faithful church members.  I am praying for your preaching this week and plan to remember each of you by speaking aloud your name on Easter Sunday.  Go with Christ.

Is It Safe To Come Out Yet?

After the busy Christmas week we may feel a bit like this pup.  If you are feeling like me there were too many miles on slick roads and too many, "I'll have just a bite of that."  My mind, like my body, is a bit weary and yet still strangely hungry for something more.  I am reminded of Bono's  lyrics, "And I still haven't found what I'm looking for."

Maybe Christmas always keeps us guessing and the mystery is like our life in Christ.  We never seem to get the total fullness even as we embrace the mystery, we are found still yearning for just a bit more.  And so as I peek out from under my tree, I can proclaim it was a good Christmas, even with the remaining mystery.

I started off Sunday morning at the Des Moines Korean congregation for a meeting.  They were eating and it smelled wonderful.  Rev, Gunsoo Jung and the others invited me to have something to eat (hospitality is their thing and it comes naturally, perhaps it always does.)  We drank tea and visited about the needs of the church while the families were finishing.  The kids were outside sliding in the snow,  just like a Norman Rockwell painting.

Cheryl and I finished  Sunday at the Ankeny First "Eve Eve" Service held at the downtown campus.  We had a great time as Rev. Martha Ward always does a nice job leading a service and music was excellent with Jan Boehm, Lindsay Drake, and Melody Web and family. Rev Bob's preaching was thoughtful as we considered the reality of Jesus' birth.  The highlight personally for us was Tim, Molly, and little Maggs as the holy family.  At one point, Molly had been kneeling for over 7 minutes and just got up when the time came.  I am pretty sure I would have had to crawl to the alter and get a good grip without knocking over all the lit candles, or drop and roll to the stairs to get up after being down for that long.  We got to watch Ellie and CC and my mom, who came with us.  They all did very good and grandpa didn't have to yell at any of them during the service.

On Christmas eve day, our two sons and families and my mom with nine grandchildren gathered at the house.  It was glorious most of the time.  The twins and Maggs were doing their collective baby thing.  The older kids had lots of fun.  It was a good day.  After a huddle, we all decided to have home church and not take all the babies out in the weather.  So we sang hymns with the guitar, we lifted up concerns and thanksgivings around the circle.  Grandma read the birth story from Luke and I interpreted.  We prayed and sang Silent Night using the flashlights which came in the stockings earlier in the day.  The boys both commented  no offering was a nice touch.  The service lasted over 45 minutes.  After church we all read the A Christmas Carol together from a great popup book Wendy gave us last year.

After the kids headed for home, Cheryl and I went out to Granger, Emmanuel for their Ten PM Candlelight service.  The church is in the midst of a pastoral change and they needed an Elder to preside over the Communion.  Lay Pastor Donna Fultman presided and the traditional service of Carols and Lessons was fun and easy.  Donna's husband played his Little Martin guitar along with Barb Chambers on the piano to lead us.

We headed home into the cold winter night just before midnight, noting the lack of traffic on I-80.  After a week of no power for a full day and the remaining pieces of the storm in tow, It was good to know and sing the words, "All is calm and all is bright."

Home in Altoona

Stayed pretty close to home today for worship in Altoona UMC.  Knowing it would be a huge service I was hesitant to ask Pastor John if I could speak, but did anyway as I wanted to share my pride and excitement for all that is happening through this congregation.  Knowing they had just received over $65,000 for their turkey dinner last month and the excitement for mission this had generated made it a no-brainer to go in person to offer my thanks and encouragement for even greater things for the kingdom of God.  And so I did, and John was gracious to allow me a slice of time at the 9:40 AM service. 

The church as usual was filled to overflow and there were 40 folks in the choir along with a full orchestra.  It was an amazing worship experience. With min-sermons coming like waves washing over the congregation.  Perhaps best of all were the children singing and dancing.  After the violence of the past week we were all soggy eyed by the authentic worship of the children.  Perhaps best of all for me was a young girl who shared a ballet as the choir sang and orchestra played which disarmed everyone.  We all became like children in our hearts as she danced our dance in front of God and the world.   

If you visit prepare for amazing as the Spirit is moving in significant ways.  You can contact them or take just look at http://altoonaumc.org/  They are planning to live stream the services in the near future which may allow them another way of growing the kingdom without moving bricks and mortar.  If you are currently without a church home consider Altoona UMC as a possibility for Christmas Eve.

Worship in a Barn

On Saturday evening Cheryl and I worshiped in a barn.  Not a working barn mind you, but the smell of hay and the rich visual of the inside of the old haymow was enough to send me cascading into my childhood. 

River of Life UMC which is the new church plant of Des Moines New Hope held Christmas services at the Johnston Barn.  It was packed to overflowing at the 5 PM service; what a blessing. 

The pastor, Craig Ferguson, led a powerfully simple service of carols and nativity.  The gathered congregation was lively and engaged.  Even Santa was present and shared a poem about Jesus. 

In his sermon Craig shared top rated gifts received and offered over the years beginning with Mr. Potato Head to Pong to Tickle-Me Elmo dolls.  And he finished with, yes, best of all is the gift of life through Christ.  We were left with cookies, warm wishes, and an ornament for the tree to remember the night.  It was a Spirit filled encounter with the traditions of Christmas and we were blessed.

If you are looking for a church home in the Johnston area or just want to take a quick peak at the ministry, then head to the website for the latest information http://www.johnstonriveroflife.org/

O Foggy Night!

Let me clear the air a bit of the Advent/Christmas fog.  I am consistently hearing from good Christian folks that Advent, these precious days leading toward Christmas, are special days to get busy by preparing ourselves.  While I understand the logic, too often feels like a “Santa Clause religion.”  You know the drill, Santa is going to find out who is naughty and nice and then there will be sort of judgment day on Christmas Eve, so you better be good.  I hear the church echoing some of the same insights such as; you better get busy and be productive for Christ, you better prepare the way of the Lord, you better forgive, attend, witness, and offer or else you might miss the “real” Christmas.  In a strange humorous way, as a superintendent for the church, I can appreciate the guilt path of “you better be good,” because many times it works. 

However, as a theologian and child of God, I am here to proclaim it just isn’t so.  Christmas doesn’t need our good works, our good gifts, or our good anything.  Truth is you/we do not deserve Christmas, not a bit.  Truth is we cannot seem to do much of anything worthy of God’s love, never have.  And this is the power of the season.  Christmas is something God is doing and we cannot change a single thing about it.  It will be what God wants it to be.  Period.  And that is grace so large my eyes begin to leak water.

I do not give myself to the season because God needs me to do so.  I give myself because I believe in Jesus Christ as the Lord of the entire world.  My faith is secure that Jesus came to save all people, those who care and those who do not; those who sing in choirs and those who curse in darkness; those who give with all their hearts and those who have yet to find their hearts, let alone their ability to give.

My heart tells me to sit quietly and listen for the voice of God during this season.  My soul wants to sing praise to God, not of my need to act.  “Get busy or miss the season”; sounds like more Santa talk to me.

“Come and sit here by me Mary.  Sit and listen to what your heart is telling you.  Martha, come quickly and join your sister Mary.  She has chosen the better path which will never be taken away from her.”   My paraphrase of Luke 10:38 FF

Bury Me With the Remote

Several of our pastors in the district have been quite busy with funerals the last few weeks, which is not unusual for January.  It can be difficult to keep up with all the day to day and provide for the needs of hurting families, as we also attempt to deal with our own grief.

Funerals and the grief work surrounding them can also be surprisingly humorous at times.  I offer this personal experience from a few years ago.

As the pastor, I was in the lead car of the funeral procession.  We had to stop before entering the cemetery gates because of oncoming traffic leaving the cemetery.  As a work-van sped past us to make room in the gateway I noticed the business logo in colorful bold type. It simply read, “Cable TV.” 

Now I am sure there was a valid reason for that crew to be in the cemetery during the middle of the day, but to tell you the truth, I chuckled and wondered aloud that some things in life are probably not as they appear.  To this day I smile thinking about that work van driving past a mile of cars and all those folks who were thinking the same thing. 

What Will We Look Like?

I recently answered a number of questions as part of the Program Review process.  One, in particular, struck me and I share both the question and my response here:

The mission of the United Methodist Church is “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”

The mission of the Iowa Annual Conference is “to make disciples, develop leaders and transform the world.” 

What will the Annual  Conference look like if this mission is accomplished?

We cannot know how the Iowa Annual Conference might look when the mission is accomplished.  Some believe the Annual Conference would look more like a powerful political party with strength and leadership taking center stage. This view engages the idea that the Annual Conference would be the center of life for the disciples called United Methodist and all would act and work together in concert with no little ability to make change for the good within our area of influence.  Some believe the Annual Conference would look much less robust, even somewhat ordinary or pedestrian.  This view understands the transformation of the world could make the work of the Annual Conference obsolete or at the very least diminished. 

The view from the Central District is that, regardless of the direction the wind may blow, making Disciples is and will be a continuing process as new people come to the church, others grow in their relationship to the church, and still others come of age within the church.

We cannot know the future, but we can understand this vital point, we shall be changed.  What we shall be has not yet been revealed, but we know we will be like Christ.  Perhaps our humble willingness to be changed, transformed, or born again, is as close to an answer as we are able to provide.  In hope, in truth, in love we shall be changed.  We shall all be changed to offer grace and peace in ways which defend and reconcile all persons.  We shall be changed to hold together in tension the very best of truth and love.

And we believe this must be done with an incredible sense of urgency and must include addressing the four areas of focus identified by the denomination:

•              Initiating new faith communities and revitalizing existing congregations

•              Leadership Development

•              Alleviating Poverty, particularly for Children      

•              Eradicating Killer Diseases

 Central District Leadership will work toward setting specific goals in these areas of focus.