Reflections on a "Leafy Branch"

During Lent, I am doing a sermon series entitled "Seven Days and Counting." The intention of the series is to focus on a life giving week at the end of Jesus' ministry. Without the week, we would have no resurrection. Without the death, there would be no resurrection. Simple, right?

Today, I focused on the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. I did it today in order to place emphasis on all the days of the week, especially on his death later in Lent. I really wanted to focus on one thing, and that was our praise of Christ. I think we did that in worship.

However, I made a mistake. I bought palms. I did it intentionally knowing that the whole act of Palm Sunday was being played out in our music and worship. However, I realized today that had I not brought in the palms, it would have played out. Message given, message received.

The problem is that our human capacity to understand the day is so wrapped up in this simple leafy branch that we seem to place more emphasis on the palms than the day or the message. We place more emphasis on the branch than we do on the reason that we are waving it in the first place. I had more questions about why we were handing our palms (which I fully expected) and why we wouldn't be doing it on the sixth Sunday of Lent.

I think we've actually made an idol out of this palm! The palm has become more important than our relationship with Christ and our ability to praise and worship him, allowing him to enter our lives.

I wish I had thought about that a little more. If so, I wouldn't have even brought the palms into the worship service. The message could have been simple. "As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise god joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen." Luke 19:37

Next year, I might be doing Entry on Palm Sunday, but I might also be rethinking palms.

Calming the Storm

I know someone who likes the saying, “Into every life, a little rain must fall.” It was often said in response to something happening or something going wrong. I can’t find any references to who said it first, but I know that if I was eight years old, the person to whom I am referring probably would have taken credit.

I think that I heard that saying back in 1996. I was married for about 2 weeks, when Tracy and I encountered our first hurricane. We were living in a basement apartment when Hurricane Fran unleashed herself on us in Durham, North Carolina. We didn’t have a large pine tree shatter our living room like a neighbor, but we did have about 4 inches of water in our basement apartment the morning we stepped out of bed following the storm.

“Into every life,” is probably not what the people of the Gulf Coast wanted to hear over the past few days. They’ve had their share of rain over the past years. I heard one person note on the news that they would have been finished with their repairs from Katrina sometime this week, had it not been for this latest storm.

You’ve probably heard or read the story about Jesus calming the storm. The Bible retells several times that Jesus was out on a boat with his disciples when a storm arose. The disciples were terrified by it, and yet Jesus was sleeping. The storm was so great in one telling, that the boat was taking on water. When Jesus awakes, he calms the storm. He rebuked the wind and the raging waters and the storm subsided.

I’m sure that I am not the only one using this passage today in reference to the latest storm in the Gulf Coast. I’m also sure that I will not be the only one to offer reasons for the storm. I probably stand with some, and differ with others.

Hurricane Gustov battered the Gulf Coast this weekend. While the storm still raged, I believe that God was able to calm the storm even as it rained. I also believe that God still stands able to calm the storms that we experience. As I prayed in the midst of Hurricane Fran, it certainly didn’t go away, but I do believe that our fears were calmed and our lives were protected. I am also sure that the same is true today for those who experience the storm in the Gulf this past weekend.

Yes, into every life some rain will fall, but I believe that the God of the storm is present with us, and has the power to calm our fears and protect us in the midst of the rain.

Let’s continue to pray for those who have been living in the midst of the storms this season. This is not the last one for the season!

O God, you divided the waters of chaos at creation. In Christ you stilled storms, raised the dead, and vanquished demonic powers. Tame the earthquake, wind, and fire, and all the forces that defy control or shock us by their fury. Help us, in good times and in distress, to trust your mercy and yield to your power, this day and for ever. Amen (Andy Langford, UMBOW, p. 509).

Please pray for me, and know that I am praying for you.
Greg

What is God doing? And are we seeking it?

This week, the General Conference of the United Methodist Church is meeting in Fort Worth, Texas. General Conference convenes once every four years. It is the legislative body of the church and is the only body that can officially speak for the church. Delegates from around the world gather for a period of discerning where God is leading the United Methodist church over the next four years. By Discipline, there are no more than 1000 delegates, 500 clergy and 500 lay. College Hill United Methodist Church is fortunate to be a church with a delegate from amongst our peers.

It is quite interesting to reflect on General Conference from afar. There are opportunities to read reports, digest some legislative petitions, read some blog posts, and even find some reports on the events through media outlets. Interesting, and yet quite difficult at the same time.

There is always a part of me that worries about this time every four years about what the United Methodist Church will look like following this global gathering. That comes from the part of me that worries about change and at the same time covets change that is positive. And yet there is always the part of me that finds the event rather frustrating for its lack of movement forward.

I tried to look up some legislative proposals. You can do that on the UMC website. You can check it any number of ways – I’d hate to be the person that has to keep that updated. But, maybe because I was looking at the wrong passages, or maybe I just clicked on the wrong proposal – but it seemed like most of the petitions were editorializing the Book of Discipline rather than providing any real ministry focus. For example I found one petition that actually proposed changing one word, “pastor” to “pastor-in-charge.” My first thought there was – are you kidding me? Where’s the ministry?

I read a pastor’s blog entry for the other day. He jokingly asked for someone to remind him if this was all still about Jesus? Sometimes in the ways that we do things, we major in the minors, get caught up in the minutia, and lose focus. That is probably not only an indictment against a quadrennial meeting, but also in our own ministry.

This coming Sunday, I think we will have an opportunity to regain some focus. We are coming to the end of the season of Easter, and entering into the season of Pentecost. But before that, we must move through Ascension Sunday. It is the day that we remember that Jesus Ascended into heaven, as the Creeds remind us, and are instructed to wait on the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that reminds us and teaches us everything that Jesus told us to do.

But there is a word from the Gospel of Luke that is very important for me as I reflect not only on our General Conference, but also on the tasks that lay before us. Jesus said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations.” Luke 24:46-47.

And that leads me to one question for us this day. Are we doing it? Are we making an impact? Are we seeking the things that God is doing? Are we as a church proclaiming repentance and forgiveness of sins? Are we proclaiming Jesus?

Not that you asked, but that’s what I’ve been thinking about today. Now I am going to seek ways of living that out! We’ll also have to see whether or not our General Conference seeks it as well.

Please pray for me, and know that I am praying for you. And while you’re at it, throw one up for our General Conference and the international delegation that is seeking to make this all about Jesus.

Greg

God Will Provide

It is hard to believe that next week will be October already. I hope that you have enjoyed the wonderful weather that we have been having. I keep saying to others, “Great Sleeping Weather.” It won’t be long before we will have to start closing the windows at night, and the heat will be turned on. For now, I guess we’ll just have to enjoy the weather we have.

October reminds me of harvest more than November does. Maybe it’s because of all of the late vegetables that you can get at the market, the apples, and the pumpkins. Maybe it’s the hayrides that begin to take place or maybe its just about giving thanks a little early.

In my devotional yesterday, I read a passage from the 17th chapter of First Kings. It begins by saying that there will be no dew or rain, except when God speaks. But it doesn’t take long in that passage for God to speak to Elijah and tell him to go and wait by a river. It is there that God provides for him, more than just dew and rain.

In a related text, today I read from Luke’s twelfth chapter where Jesus tells his disciples not to worry about what they will eat, or about what they will wear. Life is more than food.

As I read that Word, and the Word from the Old Testament, I kept coming back to the same thoughts and the thoughts of October Harvest. More than November, October reminds me of the abundance and the constant supply that we have in our lives.

Think back to a time in your life when you didn’t have to worry about what you would eat or drink. It may be right now, or it may be as far back as when you were a child. Without a doubt there were times when you didn’t have to worry much. I remember with gratitude my childhood years when there was always more than I could ever imagine. It is as if God was supplying my needs through my parents. Now, I am the parent and I am able to provide. Things just happen, food is on the table, and abundance is supplied.

Sure there are times when you have some stress when you are running to the end of the pay period, but God continues to supply even in the midst of those lean times. I imagine that if you went to your cupboard right now, there would be more than enough to make a meal. Maybe the children wouldn’t be thrilled that you were having tuna noodle casserole, but there would be food.

Often times, we take for granted that we have been given so much. We neglect to think about the supply that we have been given even in the midst of scarcity. Abundance is around us, and we should not worry.

Today, I am giving thanks for so much. I am thankful for everything that I have. I am thankful for the gifts that I have received, the roof over my head, my family, and most importantly my life. I hope that you have an opportunity to give thanks too.

“Almighty God, in whom I find life, health, and strength, and through whose mercy I am clothed and fed, grant to me a thankful and faithful heart. In the name and spirit of Christ. Amen.”

This week in worship we will be hearing a message entitled, “When the Game is Over” based upon 1 Timothy 6:6-19. We will begin to distribute copies of “Treasures of a Transformed Life” as we begin our Transformed Living Congregational Study. I hope to see you there.

Please pray for me, and know that I am praying for you.
Greg