O What Fun It Is!

Over the last four Saturday mornings, our congregation engaged in discussions about our future. We prayed, we talked, we laughed, and we broke bread together. We spent time reflecting on our past successes and failures, and our present situation. We allowed God to rekindle a fire among us, and in our prayerful listening we have begun to discover God’s vision for our future. We have developed short-term and long-term plans to enact that vision in a myriad of ways. There is a sense of energy and excitement in the air, and we are beginning to embody the hope to which we are called.

First UMC of West Newton is at a critical point in its 170-year history. After some tough times, we’re turning the corner. We have chosen to invest our time and energy in letting God make us a new creation. I’m excited about the possibilities for God to work through us in amazing ways. I’m deeply humbled by the trust the congregation has placed in me as their pastor, and by their willingness to follow where God has led us all. As I reflect on our discussions, and the last 13+ months here, I wonder if it is possible to have more fun serving as a pastor than I am having right here, right now. What a joy and blessing it is to serve a congregation so willing to look hopefully toward the future, placing their trust in a 26-year-old pastor, but ultimately placing complete trust in God. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for us!

God STRENGTHENS

Sermon for Sunday, August 2, 2009

Scripture: John 6:24-35

(Part 3 of a 4-part Sermon Series on Igniting God's Vision at West Newton UMC)

On the day I graduated high school, my family drove me to our high school’s baseball field. I didn’t know why we were going there, but they kept saying they had a surprise for me, and my sister had a strange, giddy look on her face the whole way. When we got out of the car, there were 2 kids playing catch out on the infield. My sister kindly asked if we could borrow the field for a few minutes. They obliged, and then my family told me to run the bases.

“Why?” I asked.
“Just do it,” they all replied.
"This is stupid,” I said as I rolled my eyes. “Do I have to?”
“Yes, you have to,” my mom said.

So off I went – still in my cap and gown, mind you – starting at home plate, running to first, making the wide turn and heading for second, then making my way to third, and finally jogging down the home stretch. All of this, I’m doing with 2 younger high school kids sitting in the dugout, undoubtedly getting some laughs at my expense. I looked so silly out there. Well, when I got to home plate, my family was waiting for me. And as I approached the plate, there was an envelope lying on top of it. Inside was a card from my sister explaining how proud she was that I had graduated high school, and 2 tickets to a baseball game at historic Fenway Park in Boston.

I’d always wanted to see a game in Fenway, and now, that dream would become reality. As a graduation gift, my sister was taking me on a road trip to Boston – a pilgrimage to see one of baseball’s most holy temples. It was a wonderful trip, one I still remember vividly. It remains one of the greatest gifts anyone has ever given me.

Fast forward a few years. I’m a senior in college, and my sister and I haven’t spoken for almost 2 years. Not after that huge fight we had – the one where I said some really nasty things I shouldn’t have said, and where she said some really nasty things she shouldn’t have said. And we’re sitting together in the same room for the first time since that fight, using our extended family as a buffer between us so we don’t have to speak to one another. But occasionally, our eyes meet, and we see the pain in each other’s eyes. We see the pain each of us has caused in the other in our fighting, and the pain we have caused in my mother. And so we make the decision to begin toward reconciliation.

Fast forward to the present day. My sister and I still aren’t fully reconciled, but we’re getting there. We’re talking again, spending time together again, and trying to figure out how to really love each other after those years of bitterness and broken relationship. We’ve never been the type of siblings to profess love for one another, but we know that love is there. I know that despite what’s been said and done in the past, she loves me, her brother. And I know that I love her, my sister.

But sometimes, I still doubt that love. Sometimes I wonder if my sister ever did love me, or if she just pretended to love me, just to make our parents happy. And when I have those moments of doubt – those moments where I wonder if my sister cares for me or not – I think of that trip to Fenway. I think of how much love went into giving me that gift. If my sister didn’t love me, she wouldn’t have taken me on my dream road trip to Fenway. If she didn’t care about me, she wouldn’t have spent the money to make it happen. If she didn’t enjoy my company, she wouldn’t have taken the time out of her busy college life for a road trip with her geeky kid brother. That gift, that thoughtful, selfless, loving gift, is a manifestation of the love my sister has for me.

God gave us a gift as a manifestation of His love for us. He gave us the gift of his Son, Jesus Christ. And we hear in the Gospels of this Son, Jesus Christ, traveling all around teaching, preaching, and enacting miracles, signs, and wonders. Last week, we heard of Christ’s ministry with the beach crowd, where he fed 5000 people with just a few loaves and a couple fish. This crowd is the same group of people who have tracked him down in this morning’s lesson. They want to know why Jesus’ trip to their area was just a day trip. Why did he leave so quickly, they wonder. He gave us this generous gift of abundant food, and then left! They wanted to see a sign, and they saw it, but now they want more! Now that they’ve tasted the presence of Jesus Christ in their lives, they’re hungering for more! “We want more of the gift!” they shout.

So, as they approach Jesus, they have many questions. “Why’d you leave?” “What must we do to perform the works of God?” “If you’re really God’s son, why did you only give us bread once? After all, Moses gave our ancestors manna in the wilderness each day! And we want you to do the same! We’re starving!”

And Jesus lovingly draws them in, responding to each question in turn. And when they hunger for more bread, he gently teaches them about the true meaning of the manna, and the true meaning of the giving of the loaves. He teaches them that in both cases, the bread came from above – it came from God in heaven. He tells them that these gifts came not because people asked for it, and not because they deserved it, but simply because God loved them. And as they clamor for another few loaves of bread, Jesus kindly but firmly instructs them that He is the bread which they hunger for. Not manna in the wilderness, not loaves on a beach, but the Son of God. “I am the bread of life,” he says. “Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

The crowd received the gift of bread, but they didn’t understand it. They thought their gift, good though it may have been, is already gone. They thought it was a one-time gift of food, and are seeking the same gift once again. But Jesus, revealing himself as the bread of life, shows them that they have already received the gift which they seek. You see, all along they thought the bread was the gift. But the real gift was not the bread. The real gift was the love of God who sent Jesus Christ to teach them, to heal them, to redeem them, and to walk alongside them as they journey through life. The real gift is the everyday presence of God, through Jesus Christ, in their lives. And it is that same everyday presence of God, through Jesus Christ, that is the greatest gift in our lives. The real gift is the love that we see in the death and resurrection, but also the LIFE, of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In chapter 3, verse 16, John writes, “For God so loved the world…” What? Do you know the rest?

For God so loved the world, that he gave us the bread of life. For God so loved the world, that he gave us a son who “surely” is with us “always, to the very end of the age.” For God so loved the world, that he continues to walk alongside us, teaching us when we do not understand, feeding us when we are hungry, healing us when we are sick, being our rock when we lose our footing, guiding us when we are lost, and being our strength when we are weak. For God so loved the world…

Some of you may know the poem, “Footprints in the Sand” by Mary Stevenson. I’d like to share that poem with you now:

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
Other times there were one set of footprints.
This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life,
When I was suffering from anguish, sorrow, or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.
So I said to the Lord,
“You promised me, Lord, that if I followed you,
You would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life,
There have only been one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”
The Lord replied,
"The times when you have seen only one set of footprints in the sand,
Is when I carried you.”

You may not always know it or feel it, but God is always with you. Christ is always walking beside you, and when you are weak, he is your strength. That gift has already been given to us. The crowds hungered for more material gifts from Jesus. But in doing so, they missed the point. They thought the bread itself was the gift, but as Christ teaches them, the bread itself is not the gift. No, the true gift is the Christ that carries us along the beach in our times of anguish, sorrow, and defeat. The true gift is the nourishing, strengthening, sustaining presence of Christ in their lives. Any nourishment the crowd receives from a loaf of bread is fleeting, but the strength and nourishment they receive from Christ lasts forever. The best gift of all is the love of God manifested in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that love that keeps us going when life overwhelms us.

My sister gave me the gift of a trip to a historic baseball park. But I know that the baseball pilgrimage itself was not the gift. No, my trip to Fenway was a manifestation of a perfect gift: the gift of a sister’s love for her kid brother. The bread, this bread right here, is a manifestation of the perfect gift: The love of God that finds the lost, redeems the sinners, restores the broken, reconciles the estranged, heals the sick, teaches the confused, protects the abused, strengthens the weak, and feeds us all – from just one loaf.

This IS the body of Christ. It IS the presence of Jesus Christ, right here, right now, at this moment in our lives. It IS the gift of love, given freely and abundantly for each one of us, not because we asked for it or deserve it, but because God loves us. Let’s enjoy this blessed gift together. Amen.

Program or Mission

Here's a little breakdown of program vs. mission churches that I came up with. A faithful church has a balance between programs and missions, and a balance between each of the sub-sets listed. See the "FLAME" post for more explanation on why I created this.

Program-oriented church – Ministry within the congregation and church building is emphasized

1. Fellowship – primary goal is building relationships with each other.

2. Discipleship – primary goal is growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ


Mission-oriented church – Ministry outside of congregation and church building is emphasized

1. Supporting mission – primary goal is support, financial and otherwise, to mission opportunities that are being carried out

2. Hands-on mission – primary goal is engagement as the hands and feet of Christ.

FLAME: Igniting God's Vision

At West Newton UMC, we’re in the middle of a visioning/planning process called FLAME: Igniting God’s Vision. Like good Methodists, we created and acronym -- FLAME stands for “Fostering Love and Ministry Everywhere.” We’re meeting Saturday mornings at 8:30 for breakfast, with conversations beginning at 9 am. The intent is to reflect on ourselves and our context, then moving into conversation, prayer, and discernment about how God is calling us to use our gifts and talents to be in ministry with the world around us. Since the church already has pretty good mission and vision statements developed several years ago, we are not developing new ones. Instead, we are trying to determine how best to live out these statements, which are:

Mission Statement: The mission of First UMC of West Newton is to become faithful disciples of Christ so we may effectively minister with others.

Vision Statement: Our church is so spiritually alive that God’s love overflows into our community and the world.

Week 1: We talked about the state of our church. We shared past and present programs and ministries – some that went well, others that didn’t quite turn out as we’d hoped. We shared insights about who we are, what gifts and talents God has given us, and how we see ourselves. It became quickly apparent that all was not lost. Despite the “doom and gloom” atmosphere that has prevailed here in recent years, we have been doing ministry. We have been experiencing God. There are still positive ways in which the Holy Spirit is moving through our congregation, even in the midst of painful situations, lack of clergy and lay leadership, mistakes and poor decisions, and the prevailing attitude of “surviving” rather than “living abundantly.”

Week 2: we tried to look at ourselves from an outside perspective. We shared reflections on how we might better serve each other, how we might better serve the West Newton community, and how we might better serve all of God’s creation. We learned about the Four Areas of Ministry Focus developed by the denomination. We also learned the differences between a program-oriented church and a mission-oriented church. For that, I developed my own explanation, which you will find in a subsequent post. Finally, we talked about the difference between serving others with the goal of “increasing attendance, membership, and tithing” as opposed to serving others simply because it’s what Jesus would do. We talked about the difference between being a “successful” church as opposed to being a “faithful” church. After all, we are not seeking to ignite our own vision. No, we are seeking to let God ignite His vision in our congregation and community.

This Saturday, we will begin to harmonize the gifts of the congregation with the desperate cries of need that surround us. We will lay the groundwork for programs and service opportunities that will help us “become more faithful disciples of Christ so we may effectively minister with others.” If you are a part of our congregation, I invite you to join us if you haven’t already. In addition to attending meetings, we ask you to pray. Pray for FLAME. Pray for God to ignite that vision to which He is calling us. Pray for God to “rekindle the gift of God that is among [us],” not with “a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and love and self-discipline.” (2 Tim. 1:6-7)

If you are not part of our congregation, please join us in prayer. Pray that God may illumine our hearts and minds so that we may grow into deeper discipleship, leading to loving, humble service of our neighbors. As we go forth, we will trust in the words of 1 Peter 5:10-11: “And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. To God be the power forever and ever. Amen.”