Burdens and Grace

One of the illustrations I used today in my sermon in Barboursville:

Have you ever seen the movie The Mission? The film is set in South America, and there is a character named Rodrigo Mendoza. He is a mercenary and slaver of the indigenous people of the area. To condense the plot, Rodrigo kills his brother in a duel because Rodrigo’s fiancée has declared her love for the brother. Rodrigo has immense guilt over his action, even though legally, since it was a duel, he is not guilty of a crime.

A priest, Father Gabriel, challenges Rodrigo to take up a penance for this guilt. Rodrigo joins the Jesuits in their trip back to their mission, which is built above the Iguazu Falls (imagine Niagara Falls, only larger), but he drags with him a net containing his armor and weapons – through the forest and up the mountain to the mission. It’s a burden that is too large for anyone to carry anywhere, especially up a mountain.

We are like Rodrigo. We carry the burden of our sin with us, and we are stubborn. There are times when we refuse to let go of it.

God’s gift of his son, Jesus Christ, changed everything. Everything. No longer do we have to wonder what we are to do today to earn God’s grace. No longer are we on a treadmill of sacrifices. We never have to ask, “How long must I suffer in order to be forgiven.”

My Boys' Backs

Attended a swim meet and a "pianorama" this weekend. Talented boys.

Unanticipated

Steve and I went to G's swim meet this evening, and we were drafted into being timers. The job of a timer is to stand with a lane, start a stopwatch when he race begins and to stop it when the the swimmer touches the pad.

We were paired on lane 1. I was the clipboard person, recording the times, and Steve had the "pickle." Both of us had a stopwatch, and we both timed our lane. Steve had to push two buttons at the end of each race -- his stopwatch and the plunger on the pickle (to stop the time on the scoreboard.)

This was an unanticipated volunteer position. It was a surprise. What is the benefit of an unanticipated event?

• You don't have much of a chance to say "no" when you are asked. You just do it. God sometimes give us too long of a time to say "no".
• Watch out -- you are going to get wet. When the giant kid fell into the pool rather than diving in, we all got splashed. Involvement weather you wanted it or not.
• Non-anticipation can lead to unexpected enjoyment.
  

Behind

I'm behind in my reading for Disciple.

I'm behind in my preparation of our church's Advent devotional.

I'm behind in preparing a newsletter for mailing for our Emmaus Community.

I'm behind in getting our house ready for Thanksgiving.

I'm behind. I like being busy, but I do not like being stressed.

And how are you? ;-)

Image: Autumn trees in the park.

Reflections

This is the chalice we used for communion this evening. Can you see the bread reflected in it? That's the first thing I noticed about the chalice. do you see the vertical red shape in the middle of the reflection? That's me; I was wearing a red suit jacket.

I kept trying to get an image of the chalice with the reflection of the bread without me in it, but it was impossible.

I gave up when I realized that God doesn't want me to be out of the picture. Communion is a means of grace created to bring me (and all of God's children) into community with Christ. Remember him, and be re-membered, re-created in grace.

God want us to be transformed into the people we were meant to be, reflecting Christ.

Artifact

I'm preaching in another church this Sunday. In addition to delivering the sermon, I'll be doing the Children's moment. The pastor of the church has started a series for the children's moments which she is encouraging lay people of the church to help with. At a supervisor's training a few weeks ago, we talked about the importance of "artifacts" in building team community.

She is asking lay people to bring in objects for the children's moment that they can talk about with the children -- telling them why the object reminds them of who they are or who they want to be.

So that it my challenge for the moment. What object can I take that can remind us of who we are and who we want to be? How can I relate it to stewardship?

Thinking....

Growth

I've been hoping for about a year or more that our church would choose and adopt a new stewardship program. We've needed one. We keep doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results. No surprise; the same program yields the same results each year; results which are OK, but not very stellar.

This year we are using the New Consecration Sunday program, and it feels right. It's good to be focused on the spiritual call to giving -- to the idea of hoping to help the congregation toward growth in this area. Following God's call will bring us all joy.

Part of this program is to present to the congregation a step chart of giving -- the number of people who give at each level of weekly support. No names -- just a count. It surprised me how few people give what I would consider a lot of money.

I was reminded on Sunday of how generous our congregation is when the members understand that their gift will make a difference. I had been hoping for a stewardship program for a while; why should I have been surprised to find that our church needs one? They are generous; I'm excited about this program, and hopeful it will provide the leadership necessary for spiritual growth.

Five New Things

The Friday Five from RevGalBlogPals asks the question: "What five things do you ESPECIALLY like when they are new?"

1. Lipstick is great when it is just purchased.
2. I used to love fresh, new crayons. If I still used them, I would still love them when they were new.
3. A blank book, a notebook, a notepad -- any of those are especially great before anything is written in them.
4. I love new sheets. I love clean, freshly "installed" sheets almost as much.
5. Fresh bread, just out of the oven, is like nothing else.
6. Peanut butter, just opened, with a smooth, untouched surface is great.
7. New socks fit perfectly and are much more comforting than new shoes.

OK, that's seven, not five, but I could probably come up with many more.

Image: Leaves in front of Guyandotte UMC.

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Beginning of day at Lavalette UMC.

Radical Faith

Cross-posted from the JM Devotional Ministry, written by me and used as this week's devotional.

Please read Mark 12:38-44

The second half of the Gospel reading from the lectionary this week is probably familiar to many of us. Jesus is sitting in the temple, watching as people place money in the treasury. A widow comes and deposits two copper coins, equal to about one penny. Jesus tells his disciples that she gave everything she had – “all she had to live on.” He contrasts that to the many people who had contributed out of their abundance.

What is it that the widow contributed? She gave a very small amount of money in the “grand scheme” of contributions given to the temple. For her, it probably represented all of her money. For her, it was not a “small” contribution.

But that’s not all she gave. She gave EVERYTHING. When she offered the two copper coins, she was offering them to God in faith. I imagine that she believed what she was doing for God was going to make a difference – what she was giving to God had POWER. Can you imagine that? Could you place yourself in her shoes and actually believe that giving a penny to God would make any kind of difference at all? That’s radical faith.

What difference DID it make? The gift of her faith brought her closer to God – it brought her the joy of living in relationship with her creator. When we step out in faith – when we take any kind of action that is in response to a call from God – we are brought closer to Him. I imagine it made a huge difference in her life, and I know it can make a huge difference in our own lives. Joy comes with radical faith in God.

Did the penny make any difference? When we step out in faith, and move to the calling of God, it’s not a stretch to believe that God gives our actions power. She might never have known how lives were changed through her penny; we may never know the consequences of our actions done in obedience to God, but we can believe that God knows, and that what he calls us to do in His name makes a difference to someone else.

Do you think the widow could have imagined that we would be learning from her actions, even today, over 2000 years later? Could she have dreamed that her donation of a penny – everything she had – would inspire you and me to faithful generosity?

What difference does it make? It makes all the difference in the world!

Love and Duty

I was part of a conversation a few days ago with a pastor. He was discussing the possibility that some of us don't see a difference between duty and love.

Are there things that we do only out of duty and call love? Are duty and love tied together at time?

Duty speaks of obligation. There are things that I do out of obligation; I do them only because I have said that I would or because I have a responsibility to do them. It's not the same as actions taken out of love. Of course, there are times when I act out of obligation toward someone whom I love. I have an obligation to make sure my children do their homework, and because I love them, I want them to succeed in life, so I try to motivate them to do their homework out of love for them. Those two motivations could be separated, however.

What would it feel like to be loved out of duty? I don't think it would feel like love at all.

Love is grace. Duty is not.

Redemption

Adam and Eve ate from the wrong tree, sinned, and were separated from God. From that point on, God's mission was set. Redemption.

The Bible is God's story of redemption.

I read part of Ruth's story today -- a story which culminates in her marriage to Boaz. She becomes the great-grandmother of David, and the ancestor of Jesus. I've always loved the story of Ruth, but today is the first time I really saw it as a step in God's work of redemption.

Relentless. Tenacious. Gracious and steadfast.

Random thoughts

Random Thoughts:

• Being busy at work is good; worrying about the server crashing is bad.
• I'm not quite sure who my older son's parents are. I mean, I know exactly who they are, but sometimes I look at him, and I wonder how we created such a terrific kid.
• I'm not sure that granting my younger son's request for a facebook page was a good idea.
• I love taking pictures in the fall; I wish I had more time to do it.
• One good thing about our son being on the swim team is that he's learning how to work the dryer.
• Our dog cuddles close in the winter and stays at the far end of the couch in the summer. I think she gets cold. She's fails to realize that she doesn't leave me any room at all. Or she doesn't care.

Image: Cabell County Court House

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The theme for the November/December Alive Now is Refugees.

I was responsible for the devotional in our office meeting today, and that theme kind of stuck in my mind.

If we broaden the definition of refugee to mean someone who has entered a foreign land, then we are refugees. Our home is with God, and this place is separate from him.

It's hard to see God here. If it weren't for his grace, we wouldn't see him at all. He is hidden, and yet is right in front of us. He was hidden completely when he came to the world as a human, and yet, through that action, we were able to see him most clearly. He was hidden behind the veil of humanity, and yet revealed when that humanity died -- an action which revealed to us the very nature of the love of God (ideas from Weavings for this month -- Introduction).

We are refugees, chased, accompanied, and following a hidden and yet visible God. What we come to discover is that while we might be refugees in a foreign land, we are given refuge in our God, who is with us, never leaving us alone, even in this foreign land.