Ordinary 24C Luke 15:1-10 Welcoming Sinners

"This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."

I recall a scene from the movie The Man in Black. Johnny Cash has just been through detox hell. He has had a "come to Jesus" crisis with the aid of June Carter and her parents. He goes to his record company and says he wants to do a concert in Folsom Prison.

Record Company Executive says, "Your fans are church folk, Johnny. Christians.
They don't want to hear you singing to a bunch of murderers and rapists...
trying to cheer them up."
Johnny Cash replies, "Well, they're not Christians, then."
Record Company Executive: "I'm fine with you doing a live record. Just not at a prison. That's my compromise."
Johnny: "January 13th, I'll be at Folsom Prison with June and the boys. You listen to the tapes. You don't like 'em... you can toss 'em."

I can't tell you how many times I have heard complaints of the same thing. Growing up in the parsonage I heard good "Christian" people's constant complaints about "those kind" not being wanted in church. Apparently many think church is a club for people just like me.

I don't like it either. Why do I want God to rejoice over one sinner rather than the ninety-nine righteous people? It seems we spend most of our time as pastors taking care of the righteous, right? Perhaps we are looking at it all wrong.

Brennan Manning has shaped a lot of my thoughts along this line...after reading his book, The Ragamuffin Gospel. He is a monk/alchoholic. Yes, both. He goes sober for a while and then hits the bottle again. He speaks of his journey in the book.. Evangelicals have a hard time accepting that a man can be a Christian and an alcoholic???? Can God use a ragged ol' monk who can't stay sober? So when does one of the fold become one of the sought after lost? Will Jesus leave the fold and go and seek an ol' preacher who gives into addictions over and over? Does he ever give up? Does he ever write us off and give us over to the evil one? These parables he tells us remind us that he can't let go.

Most of us don't like having sinners invade the church because they remind us of our own sin. Shutting out people who "shack up" make us feel better when we indulge in any type of sexual sin.

Ask friends who have known me since high school and they will tell you I pointed fingers and judged all the time. I preached at people constantly. It was a serious bout with temptation in my early 20s that taught me a lesson. We are all capable of sin. When we can confess that in honesty and say we are all just trying to seek God in the best way we know how we forget to judge people.

A youth pastor intern I had once started bringing in all kinds of kids to church. One of the older ladies whispered to me as I joyfully watched a huge group of kids playing basketball in the church yard, "That kid does dope." I looked at her and said, "Praise God he's here."

Perhaps we can all learn a lesson from the Man in Black.

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Ordinary 19 C Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 What is a hero?

My perspective on heroes changed as I lay flat on my back once again looking at the ceiling of an ambulance. One hero inserted an IV into my left hand as the other hero attached the heart monitor. The first hero kept assuring me I was stable now and to try to relax as I shook with horrific shock. I knew I must be stable when I did not hear the sirens as we drove down the country road at 70 miles an hour. Yes, they were speeding, but I must be ok. I'm breathing, my heart is beating, I must be OK.

Earlier that evening as I worked at church camp on the Oklahoma/Texas border I had made the stupid mistake of wearing flip-flops in the grass. I KNEW I was allergic to fire ant stings since I had another ambulance ride 3 years previous due to a tiny sting. Why had I done something so idiotic???

As I felt my heart race and my face swell, my daughter saying, "Mommy, use your shot!" (EpiPen), she & I ran to the camp nurse instead. Let's just say there was a horrible mistake and the EpiPen did not go into my leg. I fell on the floor and told Lisa (a close friend) to call 911. Someone ran to get my husband.

Everything is foggy from then on until I got in the ambulance. For 10 minutes I faded in and out...never quite losing consciousness but "zoning" and not able to speak or move. Lisa and her husband, Doug, took control and found an inhaler and a nebulizer to try to keep me breathing.

Lisa and Doug are heroes. Dwight, the camp director and a long time friend, is a hero. I heard his voice through the haze...and he drove my husband to the hospital and drove us both back to camp...I heard the prayers of the camp director through the haze as 200 campers were in chapel and knew what was going on in the back of the room....Yes, a little ant can cause such a fiasco.

Hebrews 11 is about heroes of the faith. When Abraham set out on his journey he was simply obeying God and not planning to be a hero. When Sarah gave birth to Isaac she simply did what mothers do...love their sons. None of these biblical heroes set out to be famous. They did the task in front--sometimes with protests (Moses)...yet finally obeying God...and the community of faith remembers the journey they took.

Lisa, Doug, Dwight, Chris, Shane, you are heroes.

Trinity Sunday John 15:26-16:15 Review of "Into Great Silence"

Yesterday I sat with 5 friends in the downtown OKC Art Museum theater and watched a breathtaking film, "Into Great Silence," a documentary on the life
of Carthusian monks of the Grande Chartreuse, way up in a remote area of the French Alps (Chartreuse Mountains). When I say "watched" I mean it in every sense of the word since "listening" only happened occasionally. 2 hours and 40 minutes of near silence with occasional French words with English subtitles. When there was natural sound we heard it...rain falling, chairs scraping, steps in the crisp snow...the monks live in silence except for a few hours on Sunday. I did not realize it until 20 minutes into the movie when I finally heard a sound and breathed a sigh of relief that sound is comfort in a noisy world.

Today is Trinity Sunday. Like most theologians, I have attempted to wax eloquent on the Trinity in the past. I've read the books and written the papers. Yet I do not understand. The monks do understand. Trinity is about unity; togetherness; community. It is about staying together no matter what. It is about living and breathing the air of the other. It is about a vow to live communally not taken lightly.

The 30something monk rubbing ointment on the shriveled back of a skeletal octogenarian brought flashbacks of another 30something washing feet.

Could I live this way? I could live without technology. For a few weeks. I could live without shopping. For a few days. But it would take a major duck taping on the mouth to keep me from talking for a week at a time.

You can read more about the film here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_Great_Silence or the official website at http://www.intogreatsilence.nl/. The official website is a little hard to navigate, esp. if you pull up the German version. If you are looking for a brief description, go to the wikipedia link.

Pentecost Acts 2:42-47

Acts 2:42-47

The early church was devoted to the Apostles' Teaching.
What is this? That Jesus was born, lived, died, and rose again. The Apostles had lived as part of Jesus’ story and by being devoted to the teaching the people were becoming a part of the story too. How do we do this? Preaching, yes, but there has to be more. That is why we have Sunday school. To share the story of why we are here. If you don’t come to Sunday school you don’t have a grasp on why we are here, then it becomes much easier to not be here( in the church).
Fellowship
"We shall have to break our habit of having church in such a way that people think they can be Christians and remain strangers."
Ordinary Christians living ordinary Christian life before people
EVERYONE WANTED TO BE TOGETHER! Sure they were different. Sure there were fishermen and shopkeepers and widows and children and so many differences! But they cared more about what they had in common—belief in this story Jesus crucified and raised. Why? Because it gave them more hope than hanging out in the streets. And. . . ……..
Worshipping
Breaking of bread—worship. Jesus commanded his disciples to share communion every time they met for worship. They did it EVERYDAY and it didn’t get old!! Boy I sure need it more than once a month that’s for sure. They were not coming together to sit on pews and have someone preach at them or see a spectacular show on the big screen…they were coming together to worship GOD.
Praying TALKING to this JESUS CHRIST They preached about.
Unified ONE PURPOSE>>>>IT'S ALL THAT MATTERED! Sure tomorrow they could be crucified the same leaders still walked the same streets….sure tomorrow they could be thrown in prison ( and were) sure tomorrow they could die of starvation but TODAY WE WILL BE TOGETHER
Generous and honest
The church gave all and lived communally. Now This would be extremely difficult with the size of the church now but we still have a taste of it with our belief in tithing. Malachi 3:8 We also have a taste of it with our offerings for missions…we still owe $1200 for our World Evangelism fund.
The Holy spirit doesn’t like it when people lie. Peter could have thought, this is just over a piece of real estate. Who cares if they lie?
Tithing is 10%. God says in the Bible that we are robbing him if we don’t pay it.
This church would have no financial problems if everyone who attended regularly gave 10% of their income. That’s just the way God wants it to work. Now you may say that you’re not very blessed financially. Ends may not be meeting at all for you. I’ve been there too. I read in my diary which I have kept since I was nine this week a few pages when my family was experiencing financial hardship. I was 14 and praying for some new shoes. I was thanking God for sending me a babysitting job where we had earned $5 so I could go and look for shoes on the clearance rack of Wal-mart. But I know that I gave 50c of that $5 to my church. How could I not? God had sent me the money so I would give him his portion or be ungrateful.

Praising
WHY? BECAUSE JESUS SENT THE HOLY SPIRIT
As a RESULT OF THIS
GOD ADDED TO THER NUMBER DAILY
WHY? BECAUSE EVERYONE WANTED TO BE LIKE THEM! THEY SHARED EVERYTHING! THEY ATE TOGETHER…THEY PREACHED ABOUT SOMEONE WHO OVERCAME DEATH…SOMETHING THEY FACED EVERY DAY.
None of the nice-smelling formelyhyde at funerals—it was a stinking dead body buried that day or else. Children died often…

God did the adding! They went about being the church. Doing the things that Jesus commanded them to do, being GOD”S PEOPLE. And when they DID THIS
GOD ADDED TO THEIR NUMBER!

The church is the only organization that exists for those who are not members.
What does that mean?
Do we have a purpose? Does God have a purpose in mind for this church? If he does, do we believe in it wholeheartedly? Enough to pour time, energy, money and talent into it?

Easter 7C John 17:20-26

Unity. This week I went on a field trip with my daughter's class to Little River Zoo in Norman, Oklahoma. I have never learned so much about animal life in one day. I did learn that very few animals like to live alone. Even different species are fenced together for companionship. If you look closely you can see a turkey and a goat standing side by side. Neither seems to notice the other is different. The geese live with the ducks...the wolf lives with a dog...and both pace with saliva dripping as the chickens walk by their cage.

In John 17, Jesus prays for our unity...people. It seems we have something to learn from animals. We all need each other. Let's try to get along.

Mother's Day

Ok, so I break from the lectionary once in a while. I'm a mother. It's mothers' day. Sorry lectionary lovers.

We learn the love of God in the arms of our mother. In my earliest memories I am always crawling out of bed (so I've always been a night owl) and walking up to my mom who sat on the couch in a t-shirt & jeans watching Mary Hartman or Johnny Carson with a bowl of popcorn & a glass of iced tea with lemon..."Mommy, I can't sleep. There are monsters in the closet." Or "Mommy, there are needles in my hand (my hand was asleep)." Or "Mommy, baby brother won't quit crying." Now, I don't know what you moms say but I usually say "Go back to bed."

My mom usually got around to that, but first there was a hug...a solution (God won't let monsters in your closet)...

More later....I think my kids are up.

Back...they weren't up. It was the cats. What I'm trying to say...my mom is always ready to listen to my problems...from monsters in the closet and now to questions about how to handle my own children. I find such metaphors in motherhood about God's love...Whatever I bring to God, God listens. More later. Mom & Dad are at the door. The kids & cats are going crazy cause they brought Uncle Xander (the Dachsund). Maybe I'll finish this post before Mothers Day. Maybe.

Easter 5C John 13:1-5

When my family and I came to our current church in about four years ago, I had just resigned from the pastorate of a church, completely devastated emotionally, spiritually, and physically. I sat in SS class and in worship services and sobbed for 2 months. I had 2 degrees in theology and 8 years of full time ministry, pastoring was all I had ever planned to do. Yet in July of 2000 I experienced severe post partum depression after the birth of my second daughter. After two years of attempting to pastor in spite of the black clouds of depression, I had to leave the stress of the ministry to heal.
In the beginning, I was so broken all I could do was cry. I couldn’t sing. I could barely participate in Sunday School. All of my adult life, I had done nothing but lead, teach, and preach and here I was simply occupying a pew, absorbing God’s presence. Yet God knew that is exactly what I needed. No one asked me to be any different. No one insisted I stand and praise when all I could do was sit and cry. Anytime Pastor gave an altar call, you could find me kneeling. When I needed someone to pray with me, I looked up and there was someone. When I couldn’t look up into anyone’s face, I still felt the pressure of a pastor’s hand on my back, letting me know that I was not alone.
I was given space to find where I best fit into this community. My husband and I were welcomed into a wonderful Sunday School class that three years later—we now teach.
The first year I served as a sponsor in the senior high group. I didn’t do much but attend one fall retreat and lead a discussion group on wed. night. I felt so guilty thinking here I am educated, ordained, and experienced and this is all I’m doing in church. But no one belittled me for that. The teens befriended me, ministering more to me than I ever did to them.
I found grace in the nursery. My daughter was welcomed with open arms. In the children’s department, my older daughter the same welcome from the children's pastor.
I was graciously asked to join in Women’s Bible study. When I needed advice, the leader invited me to her home where we prayed and I received God’s grace.
When we moved to another house a few months later I called the church to ask the adminstrative assistant if she knew of anyone who could help us load a truck. She offered to help us and she and her husband came to load and unload our truck.
When I tried to teach children’s church and discovered I was still too wounded to handle it, the children's pastor wiped my tears, hugged me and said let me know when you’re ready to serve. This year that time came.
I had to learn to allow others to not only wipe my tears, but wash my feet.
I learned this
1. By participating in a worshipping community of faith
2. By allowing the pastors to minister to me.
3. By listening to Pastor preaching about the grace of God that has no limits. God would go to any lengths to rescue me…. God continues to rescue me from the depths of my own depression and despair.
I have seen God reaching out through Christ to embrace me through this church. I experience this transforming grace in this community of faith. I continue to heal in order that I might praise God and anticipate eternal celebration with God and redeemed creation.
John 20:1 says, “Early on the first day of the week while it was still dark Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been rolled away.” I know this is true because I have experienced resurrection hope in this community of faith.