Dear Family,
We celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday, and i hope that you all took time with family and friends, and i also hope that you all took time to reflect on just how blessed we truly are. As i write these words, it seems North Korea is doing all it can to push South Korea, and by proxy and being their ally, the United States of America into war. The last few days have illuminated the acts, desperate acts, of a maniacal leader, and i am nervous where this could lead. North Korea is at a place, economically, that it would do anything to emerge from its financial crisis, even declare all out war. And by the way, North Korea has nuclear capabilities, but we never invaded North Korea to stop them from amassing weapons of mass destruction. Just think about that for a while.
Anyway. As i type, reflecting on the fact that another war could be upon us, i have to take time to be thankful for how blessed i am. When i examine my life, my family, my career, my schooling, and my church family, i feel incredibly touched by God. No amount of uncertainty can change the fact that God has touched my life, immensely. I cannot complain, and i would feel rather self-absorbed and disconnected if i didn't celebrate God's presence and blessings in my life.
Which paves the way for the greatest season of the year: Advent. It is a season to celebrate hope, joy, peace, and love, as we journey towards the birth of Immanuel: God with us. On Sunday we will honor our emergence into Advent by naming what this season promises: hope. And each successive Sunday will illumine another promise of the season, moving us to Christmas Eve, when we will honor Jesus, the promise made real.
Is it enough to worship Jesus who promises hope, joy, peace, and love? Is that all we should focus on during Advent? These are vital to our well-being, but is there more? Should we expect more? Should God expect more of us?
This year, i want us to journey, together, through a series i named LITE. It stands for Love Inspires Together for the benefit of Everyone. This Sunday we will jump into Romans 13, where Paul tells us that love, not legalism, doctrine, dogma, perfection, moral rigidity, but love is the fulfillment of the Law: Love of God/Love of neighbor. But what does it mean to love God? Love our neighbor? Who is our neighbor?
These questions should motivate us to find/discover the answers, because i sense they are going to be different per person, per community of faith, and per season of our journey. No matter how these questions reveal themselves to us, i know we will never uncover the answers, unless we journey, as one body, together, into the depths of whatever ministry God has created us for. Love is only truly love, when our lives, our ministries, and our passions are shared with other sisters and brothers. Only when our lives are shared, honestly, zealously, together, will we experience the true power of the Divine.
And now, more than ever, we need some Divine Intervention. So join me and your other sisters and brothers on an adventure that will change our lives and the world. Amen.
Shalom, Salaam, and Peace...
And in the words of a classic Christmas Hymn: "Joy to the World! The LORD has come.."
jerry
Friday, November 26, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
The Church with Low Standards
Dear Family,
I have a friend who tried to get into the PhD program at the University of Chicago. She was wanting to look at how theology could still impact and affect our society, even though many outside the walls of the church simply ignore anything and everything the church might have to say about certain topics. She had the grades. She had a strong reference, from an established and well-respected alum of the University of Chicago. And her written work/ thesis was above and beyond worthy of being published. It seemed a slam dunk, even in the prestigious standards of the University of Chicago. Perceptions are not always realities.
She didn't get in. They didn't accept her. They didn't have to. They had a long list of other "candidates" who were more University of Chicago style, and my friend went west, to California, where she earned her PhD at another strong university. I realize that higher education has these standards, these "yokes" if you will, which they place upon prospective students, to ensure the highest standards for those institutions. If one doesn't meet the "yoke," or if one can't carry the "yoke" well then one fails to either get in or one fails to leave there with a degree. These institutions have reputations to protect, and they just cant accept anyone, right?
We don't fault them, do we? We don't condemn for their stringent acceptance policies; we challenge the folks to raise their level of work and meet the institutions standards, but wont this always leave some people out, without a chance to prove their worth? Sure i hear the protests already, there are other places, other schools, so those who cant get the grades, do the work, or meet the requirements, should simply lower their expectations and go where they will fit. But how does this enable even the least likely to succeed to want to move beyond his failures to become something greater?
Which is what Jesus addresses when Jesus says, "Come to me all who are weary, and i will give you rest. For my burden is easy and my yoke is light." Jesus knew how hard it would be, for most of the population, to meet the high standards of the religious leaders, so what did Jesus do? He made an open door policy for any and all that would never be welcomed, accepted, or embraced in those places which require strict adherents to their "yokes." Jesus became the One who would accept and empower those persons who would never meet the standards. And Jesus, yes the One we claim to follow and believe in, this Jesus sought after those persons that not only the religoius leaders scoffed at, but society in general relegated and too easily forgot about. Jesus chased after them and said, "Hey you, yeah you, you, there, in that dusty hat, wearing those dirty clothes, covered in sheep dung, come here, and i will embrace you. I know the world has forgotten and dismissed you, but I, Jesus, want to empower you to build a Kingdom."
There is something powerful and amazing when people who have always been relegated to the margins all of a sudden become the center of what's happening. What is amazing? What is powerful? God moves in.
If thats how Jesus approaches the marginalized, what are we doing for them? If Jesus promises rest for the forgotten, how are we taking care of them. And if Jesus' words about yoke and burdens is true, that His are light and easy, then what demands are we putting on those who want to enter our church family? Can people say of us, the West Milton Church of the Brethren is a place for rest. It is a place where they create spaces for healing and restoration. It is a church family that carries the load with you. And it is a place of refuge. Can and do people say these things about us? They did about Jesus, and the people ran to Him, by the thousands...
Amen.
Shalom,
jerry
I have a friend who tried to get into the PhD program at the University of Chicago. She was wanting to look at how theology could still impact and affect our society, even though many outside the walls of the church simply ignore anything and everything the church might have to say about certain topics. She had the grades. She had a strong reference, from an established and well-respected alum of the University of Chicago. And her written work/ thesis was above and beyond worthy of being published. It seemed a slam dunk, even in the prestigious standards of the University of Chicago. Perceptions are not always realities.
She didn't get in. They didn't accept her. They didn't have to. They had a long list of other "candidates" who were more University of Chicago style, and my friend went west, to California, where she earned her PhD at another strong university. I realize that higher education has these standards, these "yokes" if you will, which they place upon prospective students, to ensure the highest standards for those institutions. If one doesn't meet the "yoke," or if one can't carry the "yoke" well then one fails to either get in or one fails to leave there with a degree. These institutions have reputations to protect, and they just cant accept anyone, right?
We don't fault them, do we? We don't condemn for their stringent acceptance policies; we challenge the folks to raise their level of work and meet the institutions standards, but wont this always leave some people out, without a chance to prove their worth? Sure i hear the protests already, there are other places, other schools, so those who cant get the grades, do the work, or meet the requirements, should simply lower their expectations and go where they will fit. But how does this enable even the least likely to succeed to want to move beyond his failures to become something greater?
Which is what Jesus addresses when Jesus says, "Come to me all who are weary, and i will give you rest. For my burden is easy and my yoke is light." Jesus knew how hard it would be, for most of the population, to meet the high standards of the religious leaders, so what did Jesus do? He made an open door policy for any and all that would never be welcomed, accepted, or embraced in those places which require strict adherents to their "yokes." Jesus became the One who would accept and empower those persons who would never meet the standards. And Jesus, yes the One we claim to follow and believe in, this Jesus sought after those persons that not only the religoius leaders scoffed at, but society in general relegated and too easily forgot about. Jesus chased after them and said, "Hey you, yeah you, you, there, in that dusty hat, wearing those dirty clothes, covered in sheep dung, come here, and i will embrace you. I know the world has forgotten and dismissed you, but I, Jesus, want to empower you to build a Kingdom."
There is something powerful and amazing when people who have always been relegated to the margins all of a sudden become the center of what's happening. What is amazing? What is powerful? God moves in.
If thats how Jesus approaches the marginalized, what are we doing for them? If Jesus promises rest for the forgotten, how are we taking care of them. And if Jesus' words about yoke and burdens is true, that His are light and easy, then what demands are we putting on those who want to enter our church family? Can people say of us, the West Milton Church of the Brethren is a place for rest. It is a place where they create spaces for healing and restoration. It is a church family that carries the load with you. And it is a place of refuge. Can and do people say these things about us? They did about Jesus, and the people ran to Him, by the thousands...
Amen.
Shalom,
jerry
Thursday, November 11, 2010
What now?
Dear Family,
Are we thankful? Are we truly thankful? I am not talking about what we do every year at Thanksgiving, which, at least for me, has become another reason to expand the American waistline. But are we truly, honestly, earnestly thankful? Do we actually take time, in our busy days, to show our Creator thanks? Do our lives reflect a deep sense of gratitude? And what about our church family/church community, can those outside our walls accuse us of being full of thanks? If not, why not?
Again, i am not wanting to descend into a debate about the role of Thanksgiving, which we all celebrate. No i am not wanting to discuss Thanksgiving. Because truth is, other than expanding our waistlines, i wonder if it, more than anything, paves the way for the Christmas shopping season, so even Thanksgiving, in its truest form, has been long lost. Anyway, what about us? What about our lives? Our churches? Have we lost the gift of being thankful?
It seems Jesus knew this would happen, when he addresses those cities that had experienced His power, and they did nothing in response to His miracles. They simply go about business as usual, which incites Jesus to bring down "woes" upon them. I fear this is our future. I fear that we have forgotten, truly forgotten, the miracles that Jesus has performed, already, in our midst, and our short term memories, more like self-serving memories, would rather attach themselves to that which is not Godly: money, wealth, status, arrogance, comfort, unfaith, complacency, apathy, spiritual malaise, etc. You get the picture.
I think, as i look not only at our church community but the entire western church landscape, i sense a deep malaise, and i wonder if Jesus isn't ready to, once again, condemn us with a series of "Woes."
Why? Because we have experienced the miraculous, and yet how have we responded? Are we making the world better? Do we chomp at the bit to get here on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc, to worship and honor our God? Are we ready to take up our crosses, no matter what? Is our community closer to the Kingdom of God because we are doing what God calls us to do? My sense, at least in my small understanding of what is of Christ, is that these questions would be answered in the affirmative if we honored Jesus.
So what are we about? Faith? Unfaith? Ministry? Judgment? Healing? Disease? Community? Dysfunction? Restoration? Destruction? Love? Hate? Some of these are of God, some of them are not. Some honor the Christ. Others dishonor Him. And some bear fruit. While the others lead to a fig tree withering away, never to bear fruit again. Which are we? Which do we want to be? The answer holds our future, and it is ours to claim.
The cities that experienced Jesus' miracles just went about business as usual, and Jesus brought some woes to them. What does Jesus have in store for us? It is not too late to invite Him to sit at our table and enjoy the fruits of our ministry, with us. Amen.
Salaam, shalom, peace,
jerry
Are we thankful? Are we truly thankful? I am not talking about what we do every year at Thanksgiving, which, at least for me, has become another reason to expand the American waistline. But are we truly, honestly, earnestly thankful? Do we actually take time, in our busy days, to show our Creator thanks? Do our lives reflect a deep sense of gratitude? And what about our church family/church community, can those outside our walls accuse us of being full of thanks? If not, why not?
Again, i am not wanting to descend into a debate about the role of Thanksgiving, which we all celebrate. No i am not wanting to discuss Thanksgiving. Because truth is, other than expanding our waistlines, i wonder if it, more than anything, paves the way for the Christmas shopping season, so even Thanksgiving, in its truest form, has been long lost. Anyway, what about us? What about our lives? Our churches? Have we lost the gift of being thankful?
It seems Jesus knew this would happen, when he addresses those cities that had experienced His power, and they did nothing in response to His miracles. They simply go about business as usual, which incites Jesus to bring down "woes" upon them. I fear this is our future. I fear that we have forgotten, truly forgotten, the miracles that Jesus has performed, already, in our midst, and our short term memories, more like self-serving memories, would rather attach themselves to that which is not Godly: money, wealth, status, arrogance, comfort, unfaith, complacency, apathy, spiritual malaise, etc. You get the picture.
I think, as i look not only at our church community but the entire western church landscape, i sense a deep malaise, and i wonder if Jesus isn't ready to, once again, condemn us with a series of "Woes."
Why? Because we have experienced the miraculous, and yet how have we responded? Are we making the world better? Do we chomp at the bit to get here on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc, to worship and honor our God? Are we ready to take up our crosses, no matter what? Is our community closer to the Kingdom of God because we are doing what God calls us to do? My sense, at least in my small understanding of what is of Christ, is that these questions would be answered in the affirmative if we honored Jesus.
So what are we about? Faith? Unfaith? Ministry? Judgment? Healing? Disease? Community? Dysfunction? Restoration? Destruction? Love? Hate? Some of these are of God, some of them are not. Some honor the Christ. Others dishonor Him. And some bear fruit. While the others lead to a fig tree withering away, never to bear fruit again. Which are we? Which do we want to be? The answer holds our future, and it is ours to claim.
The cities that experienced Jesus' miracles just went about business as usual, and Jesus brought some woes to them. What does Jesus have in store for us? It is not too late to invite Him to sit at our table and enjoy the fruits of our ministry, with us. Amen.
Salaam, shalom, peace,
jerry
Friday, November 5, 2010
John goes first
Dear family,
There is a famous quote, and i will paraphrase here, "If i succeed at anything, it is because i stand the shoulders of giants." In other words, if i achieve anything, if i leave any sort of legacy, and if i can make any difference, it is because i have stood in the steps of those who went before me, making it possible for me to experience success. We need trailblazers, to ease the rough roads, so we can continue their challenge and further their calling. It doesn't matter if we are talking about cancer research, discoveries in mathematics, building a beautiful garden, or continuing the work of Jesus: Peacefully, simply, together.
And its natural, biblical, to depend on the work of previous generations to guide and direct our work and our ministries. Abraham paved the way for Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Moses paved the way for Joshua and the others. Saul paved the way for David, Solomon, and the kings. Sarah proved women have a voice too, as she illuminated a path for Rebekah, Ruth, and Esther.
Hebrew heroes aren't the only ones showing us how to continue the work, but John the Babtist paved the way for Jesus, who paved the way for the 12, who paved the way for the first century church, who paved the way for Martin Luther, John Calvin, Menno Simons, and our own Alexander Mack. Mack paved the way for migration to the United States and people like Sarah Righter Major, Anna Mow, Ted Studebaker, Dan West, Norman Reeder, Kay Baker, Michael Feely, and Gina Roberts.
Each generation depends on the previous for success. It is natural. It is biblical. It is Godly.
But if the "new" generation remains in the past, well it has not carried the work on. It has, as too many churches are discovering, relegated the entire story, of their church, to a time when people went to church on Sundays and pastors were seen as model citizens and not people who perverted power and society for their own gain. So though we must not forget where we came from and who helped get us here, we must not let their addition to our story be the last words written.
To honor them and their work, their ministry, their mission, and their sacrifice requires us to write new and exciting chapters to what they begun. Jesus did it with John. Jacob did it with Abraham. And now you and i have the awesome responsibility to do with Mack and all the other Brethren voices who have made it possible for us to be here, at such a time as this. But what we do with it, well that will determine what we leave for the next generation.
You see that is the other part of the challenge. We must lay foundations for those coming after us. And we must not let the story end with us. We could lament the declining membership, attendance, and giving, or we could see this for what it is: a great challenge, given by God, to rise up and say no to fear, say no to anger, say no to dysfunction, and say no to doubt. Not us. Not now. Not ever.
We will, like our ancestors, live in faith and ministry, and we will, just like our ancestors, leave a legacy for future generations to pick, carry on, and add to. Are you with me? Only the future of our world lies in the balance.. Amen.
Shalom,
jerry
There is a famous quote, and i will paraphrase here, "If i succeed at anything, it is because i stand the shoulders of giants." In other words, if i achieve anything, if i leave any sort of legacy, and if i can make any difference, it is because i have stood in the steps of those who went before me, making it possible for me to experience success. We need trailblazers, to ease the rough roads, so we can continue their challenge and further their calling. It doesn't matter if we are talking about cancer research, discoveries in mathematics, building a beautiful garden, or continuing the work of Jesus: Peacefully, simply, together.
And its natural, biblical, to depend on the work of previous generations to guide and direct our work and our ministries. Abraham paved the way for Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Moses paved the way for Joshua and the others. Saul paved the way for David, Solomon, and the kings. Sarah proved women have a voice too, as she illuminated a path for Rebekah, Ruth, and Esther.
Hebrew heroes aren't the only ones showing us how to continue the work, but John the Babtist paved the way for Jesus, who paved the way for the 12, who paved the way for the first century church, who paved the way for Martin Luther, John Calvin, Menno Simons, and our own Alexander Mack. Mack paved the way for migration to the United States and people like Sarah Righter Major, Anna Mow, Ted Studebaker, Dan West, Norman Reeder, Kay Baker, Michael Feely, and Gina Roberts.
Each generation depends on the previous for success. It is natural. It is biblical. It is Godly.
But if the "new" generation remains in the past, well it has not carried the work on. It has, as too many churches are discovering, relegated the entire story, of their church, to a time when people went to church on Sundays and pastors were seen as model citizens and not people who perverted power and society for their own gain. So though we must not forget where we came from and who helped get us here, we must not let their addition to our story be the last words written.
To honor them and their work, their ministry, their mission, and their sacrifice requires us to write new and exciting chapters to what they begun. Jesus did it with John. Jacob did it with Abraham. And now you and i have the awesome responsibility to do with Mack and all the other Brethren voices who have made it possible for us to be here, at such a time as this. But what we do with it, well that will determine what we leave for the next generation.
You see that is the other part of the challenge. We must lay foundations for those coming after us. And we must not let the story end with us. We could lament the declining membership, attendance, and giving, or we could see this for what it is: a great challenge, given by God, to rise up and say no to fear, say no to anger, say no to dysfunction, and say no to doubt. Not us. Not now. Not ever.
We will, like our ancestors, live in faith and ministry, and we will, just like our ancestors, leave a legacy for future generations to pick, carry on, and add to. Are you with me? Only the future of our world lies in the balance.. Amen.
Shalom,
jerry
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