Dear Family,
A popular song, by Bon Jovi and Jennifer Nettles, is titled, "Who Says you Can't go Back," wrestles with the question of whether or not we can return to our places of origin, the places where we grew up, the places where our narratives began. The song makes it clear that one can go back, in fact it is good to go back, because only in the genesis of our story do people really know us and embrace us as "one of their own." But i challenge that. I dont think we can, nor do i think we should, go back.
Why?
Because the same people who have helped author our narratives, at least the early chapters, have a hard time seeing past those chapters. If we are a good kid, or the son or daughter of someone significant in the community, we will always be that person. Regardless of how far we have grown from that little boy or girl. Not that being good is a bad thing, but living in the shadow of a parent or sibling can not only limit our development as whole persons; it can handcuff our effectiveness as an adult. Going back always brings back those labels, those memories, and those stories.
And that's if the stories are positive. What happens if you are the dark sheep, the lost boy or girl? How hard is it to shake that reputation? How easily do people "forget" what you have done in the past? If you were a trouble maker in high school, even though you go away and change the world for the greater good, when you come "home" often times the people still see the high school kid they had to keep their children away from, and not the saint that has done so much.
That is the danger of going back, and that is the reason Jesus says, "Only in his hometown is a prophet not accepted."
Our hometowns are full of good people with great intentions, but memories are long and hard to erase, which often boxes in young people, for good. Once a saint, always a saint. Once a sinner, well you know.
So why go home? Why go home at all? That's a pressing question and one i dont have an answer to, not now. I can't go back to McPherson and expect the call to pastor; the people know my story too well, and they would never get past the wild eyed 19, 20, or 21 year old who like so many at that age, explored and embraced life. The people, as good and godly and loving as they are, at the McPherson Church of the Brethren, would not embrace me. They know my story, and that story will always remain in the forefronts of their memory, limiting my ability to minister or lead.
This is why people have a hard time going home.
Who cares? Right? Just never go home, right? That's the answer. Or is it? Perhaps the question shouldn't be raised to the leader but the people in the church or hometown. Perhaps it is time to reflect on our inability to forget the stories of persons, especially ones that are dark or disturbing, because our refusal to forget will injure whoever it is we hold the memory of. If we are unable to give all persons, regardless of their past, a clean slate every time they come into our presence, we, like all the other hometowns in the Bible, limit the power of God.
However, if we can, unlike what is normative and acceptable, can erase their past from our memories and help them rewrite a new narrative with us, well then we have emerged from the darkness and stand in the light. And it is in the light, only in the light, that the miraculous power of Jesus is unleashed for all to experience.
In the light or not? Forget the past or not? These are our choices. God is waiting to hear our answers before He sends us His prophets... Amen.
Shalom,
jerry
Friday, February 25, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Harvest time?
Dear sisters and brothers,
I am not a patient man. More and more i am realizing that i am far from being patient, at all. I find that i, in fact, am impatient. I want results now. And if/when i do not experience/see those results, i find that i often give up or move on. For example, in 2007, after witnessing the results of not caring for our bodies while a chaplain at Grandview Hospital, i chose to get busy working out. I ran. I elipticalled. I biked. And i lifted. I did this from August to December, expecting to be ready to wow all the people with the huge biceps and chiseled six pack i had for a stomach.
It didn't play out like that. Though i had lost weight, nearly twenty pounds, i still had a long ways to go. After our vacation in January, i quit. I think, in my mind, i told myself if i hadnt seen the results already, i would never see them, so i quit. And guess what? The weight and gut returned. Note to all who actually read this: I went from a keg for a stomach to a pony keg, which is a good move, but i desired a six pack, which as stated above, i never experienced. So i quit.
Now every six months or so, i return to the ymca for a few months, promising to stick it out. After a few months, with little results, i find other things to do. The idea of waiting seems foreign and unlikely for me.
And yet, as i read Jesus' words in Matthew 13, i get the sense that is exactly what i should be doing. I should persevere and keep working hard, and eventually, EVENTUALLY, the fruit will come to bear, and i will experience the goals i seek. But if i continue to give up and continue to seek instant results, well i can expect to never get close to where i want and need to be.
This holds true for the church as well. We have to extend Jesus' love to any and all who grace our presence, without the expectation that the reaching out will produce instant fruit. The seeds of love we share and plant today will, eventually, produce fruit. We might not experience it, but who cares? We aren't in the business of collecting trophies; we are in the ministry of touching lives, healing souls, and loving the broken, unlovable, and forgotten. It is a thankless job, at first site, but seventeen years down the road someone might come up to us and say, "You know that one day when you just showered me with love, when you gave me that coat from your clothes closet, when you allowed me to collect food from your pantry, when you repaired my house, or when you visited me in the slums, remember that?"
We will say yes.
Their response, "well that huge act of love helped me get where i am today: a minister building churches and ending poverty in the name of Jesus, all because you did what you didn't have to. You cared for me. I am eternally thankful."
That is the wheat we seek, and it takes time. Something i am still learning, and something i hope we can continue to learn, together. Instant results are shallow and often whither away like the tree that sprouts in our gutters. But seeds planted that are given time and love to nurture, grow, and mature, well they turn into that strong oak we let our kids, grandkids, and great grandkids climb. So lets build trees and let future generations enjoy the fruit of our ministry. Amen.
Shalom,
jerry
I am not a patient man. More and more i am realizing that i am far from being patient, at all. I find that i, in fact, am impatient. I want results now. And if/when i do not experience/see those results, i find that i often give up or move on. For example, in 2007, after witnessing the results of not caring for our bodies while a chaplain at Grandview Hospital, i chose to get busy working out. I ran. I elipticalled. I biked. And i lifted. I did this from August to December, expecting to be ready to wow all the people with the huge biceps and chiseled six pack i had for a stomach.
It didn't play out like that. Though i had lost weight, nearly twenty pounds, i still had a long ways to go. After our vacation in January, i quit. I think, in my mind, i told myself if i hadnt seen the results already, i would never see them, so i quit. And guess what? The weight and gut returned. Note to all who actually read this: I went from a keg for a stomach to a pony keg, which is a good move, but i desired a six pack, which as stated above, i never experienced. So i quit.
Now every six months or so, i return to the ymca for a few months, promising to stick it out. After a few months, with little results, i find other things to do. The idea of waiting seems foreign and unlikely for me.
And yet, as i read Jesus' words in Matthew 13, i get the sense that is exactly what i should be doing. I should persevere and keep working hard, and eventually, EVENTUALLY, the fruit will come to bear, and i will experience the goals i seek. But if i continue to give up and continue to seek instant results, well i can expect to never get close to where i want and need to be.
This holds true for the church as well. We have to extend Jesus' love to any and all who grace our presence, without the expectation that the reaching out will produce instant fruit. The seeds of love we share and plant today will, eventually, produce fruit. We might not experience it, but who cares? We aren't in the business of collecting trophies; we are in the ministry of touching lives, healing souls, and loving the broken, unlovable, and forgotten. It is a thankless job, at first site, but seventeen years down the road someone might come up to us and say, "You know that one day when you just showered me with love, when you gave me that coat from your clothes closet, when you allowed me to collect food from your pantry, when you repaired my house, or when you visited me in the slums, remember that?"
We will say yes.
Their response, "well that huge act of love helped me get where i am today: a minister building churches and ending poverty in the name of Jesus, all because you did what you didn't have to. You cared for me. I am eternally thankful."
That is the wheat we seek, and it takes time. Something i am still learning, and something i hope we can continue to learn, together. Instant results are shallow and often whither away like the tree that sprouts in our gutters. But seeds planted that are given time and love to nurture, grow, and mature, well they turn into that strong oak we let our kids, grandkids, and great grandkids climb. So lets build trees and let future generations enjoy the fruit of our ministry. Amen.
Shalom,
jerry
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Is Jesus Relevant?
Folks,
Even though i am not preaching on Sunday, i am wrestling with an incredibly tough question, and i am sure i have wrestled with it before in previous blogs, but since i dont seem to have an adequate answer, my sense is that i will continue to struggle with this question. What is this nagging question? Is Jesus relevant?
I know we all love Jesus, at least we profess to loving Jesus, we proclaim our devotion to Jesus, and we adamantly defend our Jesus as our Savior. But does that make Jesus relevant or just popular? Some things can be outdated, and we relegate those items to the antique store or the throw back jersey or the retro room. We rarely bring those items forward, expecting and demanding they reveal some truth or power out of their own context. So again, i ask, is Jesus relevant?
If Jesus means anything to us, at all, then how do we show it? If Jesus is real and authoritative, then how do we surrender our lives, our wishes, and our beings to Him? If Jesus is relevant how is He impacting the culture today? If we say no to his impact, if we suggest that our lives do not reveal Jesus' authority in our lives, and if we do not live in such a way that illuminates how important Jesus is to us, then Jesus has become irrelevant. Simply has.
Many will jump all over this statement and proclaim, proudly, Jesus is my LORD and Savior, and i am going to heaven because He died for me, and He rose again. GREAT! That's awesome. I'm happy for you. But in the existence we call life, does looking to heaven really do any good? Arent Christians supposed to do something about this world, now? Arent we supposed to usher in God's Kingdom, in the here and in the now? Aren't we supposed to live in such a way that people will know we are Christians, and no folks not by the moral purity we exude, but by the power of love that we share. If we only look to the heavens; Jesus is not only irrelevant, but He becomes impotent.
However, if we choose to live in such a way that honors Jesus' story and His teaching, we rescue Jesus from the oppressive past and transform Him from a memory to a powerful reality. We must do this. We must act and live in such a way that Jesus comes first, second, and last. Our relationships anchored in Jesus. How we treat those in our Church Communities must show Jesus' hand in our lives. Reaching out to minister to those outside the doors of the church will reveal Jesus' heart in us. And our ability to go against the grain to welcome the other, stand up for the oppressed, struggle for justice, throw off the shackles of prejudice will illumine Jesus real presense in our being. We cannot follow and believe and claim to love Jesus if we do not live as He did.
Jesus is more than a cross and an empty tomb; He is the footsteps planted in soil of broken hearts and souls, creating spaces for healing and restoration. And in His physical absence, Jesus' disciples, which we claim to be, take up the cross and do all that He did. This alone will make Jesus relevant and real again. And this alone will usher in a new day, a new dawn for the church. We will go from a dead instituion to a living, breathing, vibrant community full of God's Amazing Spirit, and the walls WILL come tumbling down. Amen..
Shalom,
Salaam,
Peace,
jerry
Even though i am not preaching on Sunday, i am wrestling with an incredibly tough question, and i am sure i have wrestled with it before in previous blogs, but since i dont seem to have an adequate answer, my sense is that i will continue to struggle with this question. What is this nagging question? Is Jesus relevant?
I know we all love Jesus, at least we profess to loving Jesus, we proclaim our devotion to Jesus, and we adamantly defend our Jesus as our Savior. But does that make Jesus relevant or just popular? Some things can be outdated, and we relegate those items to the antique store or the throw back jersey or the retro room. We rarely bring those items forward, expecting and demanding they reveal some truth or power out of their own context. So again, i ask, is Jesus relevant?
If Jesus means anything to us, at all, then how do we show it? If Jesus is real and authoritative, then how do we surrender our lives, our wishes, and our beings to Him? If Jesus is relevant how is He impacting the culture today? If we say no to his impact, if we suggest that our lives do not reveal Jesus' authority in our lives, and if we do not live in such a way that illuminates how important Jesus is to us, then Jesus has become irrelevant. Simply has.
Many will jump all over this statement and proclaim, proudly, Jesus is my LORD and Savior, and i am going to heaven because He died for me, and He rose again. GREAT! That's awesome. I'm happy for you. But in the existence we call life, does looking to heaven really do any good? Arent Christians supposed to do something about this world, now? Arent we supposed to usher in God's Kingdom, in the here and in the now? Aren't we supposed to live in such a way that people will know we are Christians, and no folks not by the moral purity we exude, but by the power of love that we share. If we only look to the heavens; Jesus is not only irrelevant, but He becomes impotent.
However, if we choose to live in such a way that honors Jesus' story and His teaching, we rescue Jesus from the oppressive past and transform Him from a memory to a powerful reality. We must do this. We must act and live in such a way that Jesus comes first, second, and last. Our relationships anchored in Jesus. How we treat those in our Church Communities must show Jesus' hand in our lives. Reaching out to minister to those outside the doors of the church will reveal Jesus' heart in us. And our ability to go against the grain to welcome the other, stand up for the oppressed, struggle for justice, throw off the shackles of prejudice will illumine Jesus real presense in our being. We cannot follow and believe and claim to love Jesus if we do not live as He did.
Jesus is more than a cross and an empty tomb; He is the footsteps planted in soil of broken hearts and souls, creating spaces for healing and restoration. And in His physical absence, Jesus' disciples, which we claim to be, take up the cross and do all that He did. This alone will make Jesus relevant and real again. And this alone will usher in a new day, a new dawn for the church. We will go from a dead instituion to a living, breathing, vibrant community full of God's Amazing Spirit, and the walls WILL come tumbling down. Amen..
Shalom,
Salaam,
Peace,
jerry